Archive for A Perfect Winning Smile
Getting Rid of an Enemy
Posted by: | CommentsHello this week to my passel of readers. Well, I guess the news this week is all about ridding the world of Bin Laden. Even at this good news, there are detractors who are against the killing. I don’t view it as killing a person; I view it as ridding the world of some evil. Unlike some of the factions in this country who don’t, I believe there is much evil in the world and it is the job of good people to eliminate it. Besides, we are the USA and we should not be afraid of what others think. If they retaliate, so will we. There is no need that we should be worried about provoking them. Instead, we should be in a position of strength to dare them to try. We need John Wayne in charge; shoot first and ask questions later. Also, why should we care what Pakistan thinks; we have been helping them all the time they have been hiding Bin Laden. They are not our friends!
The Reds are continuing to slide. I think maybe last year was a fluke when everything went right. Several questions exist. How long are the Reds going to stick with Gomes before trying someone else in left field? Why are they continuing to let Renteria dictate where he will play? Janish is the best SS around and should be left there. Renteria should be told to play third base or else. Lastly, how long will the management stick with pitchers who can’t get past five innings under 100 pitches? Cueto and Volquez both don’t have a clue how to manage their game. However, I’m not sure the pitchers are totally to blame. I have observed that the pitchers perform much better when Hanigan is behind the plate. Some hitting should be sacrificed for better handling of pitchers.
The last loser topic is the Bengals. What other club in a possible lockout year is trying to replace a QB, RB, and two WRs at the same time? That is insane! Many experts are congratulating the selection of TCU’s QB as a brilliant choice. He is, however, 6’2” which I espouse is too small to be successful in the NFL. I guess time will tell.
Until next week, Doc.
Any honest officials out there?
Posted by: | CommentsTo my body of loyal readers. Time to update the big tourney. My brackets were shot down early. The Big Least ruined my brackets. When will the committee and I learn that Pitt always flames out? So do teams that overachieve during the regular season. Teams with talent show it in the post season but not always in the regular season. I still like my pick of Kansas to win it all. The old school talent again rose to the top as the ACC leads with three teams remaining. Journalists are still trying to defend eleven teams from the Big Least but a lot is predicated on thinking those teams are better to begin with, therefore your RPI goes up every time they play each other—a fallacy of reasoning.
Do we have any honest officials anymore? First, we find out that Judy Green is giving all dentists a bad name by not paying her property taxes, IRS taxes, and cheating the government out of $350,000 in student loans. Then it was revealed she paid members of her family with city funds. Now this week it is reported that 90% of the discretionary funds controlled by Metro Council members have no expense reports accounting for the money. Is this any way to run a city? It was also reported that three members of the MSD board have done city business with their own companies for work not put up for bids. One member has done over $500,000 in business with his own company. Where is the ethics? Our new mayor has his work cut out for him.
P.S. I will never understand people who know nothing about what is going on in government, the economy, or foreign affairs; but care deeply what happens on “The Bachelor” or “Dancing with the Stars.”
Until next week, take care. Doc
A Few Current Events on My Mind
Posted by: | CommentsGreetings to my loyal coterie. Just in the paper today was a discussion concerning a compromise on the pseudoephedrine-meth issue. Instead of making pseudo strictly a Rx item, people would still be able to buy the liquid and gel forms without an Rx. This seems a very acceptable compromise to allow people who need the meds to get them while curtailing its use in solid form to make methadone.
On the subject of the controversy of allowing optometrists to perform ophthalmology services, I say no. If people want to perform MD services, let them become MDs. Doctors go through an extraordinary numbers of years and training to do these procedures. If we keep giving away medical rights to non-medical personnel, we soon will not have any physicians left to be available when we need them. Medical quality should not be placed in the hands of semi-medical personnel just in order to save costs. Our health is too important.
One quick comment about the public union controversy. They should not have collective bargaining rights because there is no adversary to bargain against. They aren’t bargaining against corporations who have to contain costs and make profits. They are soliciting money from elected and other non-elected public employees who are basically on the same side to begin with. It is the taxpayer who gets stuck as they lavish campaign money through union dues to “buy” whatever perks they desire. This is why they have higher salaries than their private counterparts and a whopping 45% more in benefits. It is just a vicious cycle that must be halted.
Until next week, Doc.
Are We “Obsessed About War” and UK basketball?
Posted by: | CommentsGreetings again this week to my reader pride. I noted the article in the Courier on February 14 about the electronic correspondence by a class at Trinity with a class in Poitiers, France about the stereotypes that each country has about the other. I found some of the French observations to be valid. They remarked that Americans are egocentric, overweight, obsessed with celebrities, and “all about war” to name a few. I don’t think Americans are “obsessed about war,” but I do think we have gone overboard worrying about safety. It seems every business must adopt every safety precaution that is dreamed up or risk a lawsuit. But I digress. The students were then to discuss the validity of the stereotypes. Some were valid. We are the most obese nation and the media devotes an insane amount of resources to all things celebrity. What I found glaringly absent from the article was any mention whatsoever about our opinions of the French. As with many others these days, the article only dealt with US faults and shortcomings. For all our faults, I will take our country over France six days of the week and twice on Sunday.
My beloved Cats continue to struggle on the road and cannot close out games even at home. I think the players are caught in between playing hard but pacing themselves and being aggressive but staying out of foul trouble due to the lack of a bench. This is strictly the coach’s fault for being undermanned. He should have known that when you recruit players who are only interested in getting to the NBA, they will jump ship even as a long shot. He also should have known Kanter was problematic from the start. Calipari remains committed to the dribble drive with all Michael Jordan type players even though no one has ever won a championship with this style of play. To win in college, you must have role players who can fill a certain niche against varying opponent style. I’m sorry, but even Michael Jordan couldn’t stop Shaq inside. You have to have a wide body inside to win. The sad thing is we could be in the same shape next year. Bear with me here. Just as Orton and Bledsoe left last year, we could lose all three prominent freshmen this year plus senior Harrelson. Poole will, in all likelihood, transfer. With five new players coming in that would leave just ten players once again next year including Vargas, Hood, and Paulson and not a legit center. At this point, you are right back where you are now.
Food for thought.
See you next week, Doc.
