Dispute Leads to Wrecked SUV and Some Bruised Feelings

Let's see. A prominent sports figure and his wife were having a shouting match in their home in an exclusive gated community at 2:00 a.m. No blows are exchanged but the room was blue with the torrid language. The wife wanted to know why the tabloids reported that he was having an affair. If it was not true, she says, they couldn't print it.

The sport hero argues that it is not true at all, tabloids always print lies, but eventually loses his temper and tells his out-of-control wife that he is leaving. He scrambles downstairs to the garage, still in his daytime clothing, as they have been arguing since they headed for bed and hadn't changed.

He climbs into his luxury SUV, hits the garage door opener and begins to back out. As he clears the garage, he sees his wife waiting on the long driveway with his Big Bertha golf club. He continues to back out, but she begins to strike the club at the SUVs windows. She manages to knock out the driver side rear window with the massive club. He stops, shocked that she could be this violent. This gives her time to get the other side and, after a few direct hits, knocks out the other rear window.

Truly fearing for his safety, the sports icon backs down the driveway faster, trying to get away. He misses the end of the driveway in his haste and caroms off a fire hydrant.

The truck still is operable, so he puts in in Drive and begins to head down the street looking back to see if his wife is chasing him. He oversteers, jumps the curb, and crashes into a neighbor's tree. He feels his face in pain before he passes out in the seat.

His wife, upon seeing the crash, now knows it has gone too far. She loves her husband and rushes to his side only to find the doors jammed. She remembers she is holding the golf club and batters the car until it gives up her husband. She pulls him from the car, lays him on the lawn and calls 911.

Well, it could have happened!

2012 - Movie Review

The previews for the "blockbuster" 2012 were intriguing, if not over the top. The CGI was great (special effects) so we thought it worth the price of senior tickets to see John Cusack and family romp around the earth looking for a place untouched by the Mayan pronostication of the end of the world.

The concept was far-fetched but not nearly as ridiculous as the story line itself. Yet, it somehow all seemed worth it to see landmarks and shrines fall to dust while thousands of human lives were snuffed out. It held my attention at least long enough to make me not recall that I ate a whole large bucket of popcorn, by myself.

I started to get antsy in my seat at one and a half hours, glancing at my watch during a bright scene, wondering when it was going to end so I could relieve myself of my large Diet Coke. At two hours, I shifted in my seat getting ready to bolt for the door when the credits started crawling, but had to wait until the whole 158 minutes ran by before the exhausted crowd all lurched toward the exit. Other than the comedic story line and the incredible length, it was not too bad. I'm sure glad I got the discounted senior rate, however.

Cruises Can Cause Obesity

We just returned from our sixth cruise adventure in about 20 years. Last year we cruised with Royal Caribbean Cruise lines to the so-called Mexican Riviera, stopping at the ports of Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, and Mazatlan. This year, somewhat unhappy with Royal Caribbean, we returned to Carnival and hit the other Riviera ports in Mexico: Acapulco, Zihuatanejo/Ixtapa, and Manzanillo.

My wife and I, being a little on the "fluffy" side (Ewes not fat, ewes fluffy), worked to lose a little weight before we boarded the funship, Carnival Spirit. Knowing that food is a highlight, (heck, the centerpiece for many), we thought it would be prudent to pre-lose the 5 pounds one puts on during an 8-day cruise.

While we cannot be sure, but judging from what we saw on board, many cruisers fit the profile of the 60% of Americans who are obese. Few looked like they starved before the cruise, although in fairness, either did I look malnourished. What I noticed on this cruise compared to others was the sheer number of obviously obese people on board. Cruising is certainly anathema to weight loss. The Biggest Loser reality show would not stage an episode from a cruise ship.

Although I came out even after the cruise (lost 5, gained 5), I was shocked at the number of morbidly obese people who come on a cruise. I actually include myself in that group, but still marvel at the people stuffing their faces with pizza or ice cream or escargot (OK, I ordered two escargot appetizers, but those little guys are seafood, aren't they? Never mind the melted butter).

Cruises offer three full dining room meals each day, and if you don't like the more formal dining arrangement, the buffet on the Lido deck offers many more selections. The pizza place and ice cream shops are open 24 hours, as is the great room service (we took advantage of that a couple times too).

The ships do offer fitness centers and swimming pools as well as a running track and there were many people doing all of those things. But it was the wrong people. The skinny Minnies (and Mickeys) were the ones sweating on the Stairmasters and treadmills, racing around the deck, weaving between the fat folk as they completed their laps. I did, however, see a few of the more portly in the swimming pools and hot tubs, but they were only bobbing up and down - not a great workout.

So my advice to the plumpsters like me is to avoid cruises altogether. They are not healthy places, and who knows, the cruise lines may make you buy two seats in the lifeboat.

Government Accountability? Really?

I love my country. I have always loved my country and have never joined any radical group seeking to tear it down. I would never burn a flag or fail to stand for the National Anthem. I am proud of most of our history as a standard of freedom. Nobody is perfect, as we are fond of saying when we slip in some fashion, but our country and its leaders don't even come close to perfection.

Our constitutional framers noted that we should "form a more perfect union..." They meant that we should strive toward perfection knowing that we might only achieve a "more perfect", not completely perfect union. But I think we are slipping

We are now trying to spend our way out of a recession and that concept might work, except for the enormous waste of precious dollars. Government contracts seem fraught with fraud and lack of accountability, particularly in the war zones. Billions cannot be accounted for, and we are daily amazed at who is on the "payroll."

Bank bailout funding failed to attach a condition that would have made the banks turn the money around to make safe loans. There were no conditions, or weak ones at best, to limit executive pay when these firms still owe the U.S. Treasury billions of dollars. Instead, some of the companies continue their risky business as if that is their undeniable right.

The SEC still doesn't get it, even after the Madoff debacle, that there needs to be some oversight and regulation to protect the lowly investors from disaster. Saying that they were "asleep at the switch" (and still are) is laughable. They weren't asleep; they were wide-awake aiding and abetting this horrible fraud on people by their inaction and tacit approval.

Our government can't seem to handle even the most crucial things. It seems that no one is capable of steering this incredibly large ship, and instead think only locally and not globally. The distribution of the H1N1 vaccine is the latest example. Setting the shortage aside (or blame it on the manufacturers), the distribution system is so flawed as to possibly cause unnecessary deaths. Americans should not have to stand in long lines, waiting hours to get a shot, or worse, to be told they have run out. Europe seems to be able to do this in an orderly fashion, but we are rank amateurs.

The U.S. life expectancy is less than many other nations, and our mortality rate for newborns is climbing. We tout ourselves as a leader in the world, but we see our influence has ebbed in many areas, and now the "almighty dollar" is falling from grace as the world monetary standard.

Congress has the lowest approval rating in years, yet they continue to dither on important matters, making the issues so partisan that nothing can be accomplished. Health care, as important as it is, will not arise as a bold new plan, but instead we will settle for a series of compromises that please almost no one. The are few, is any, real statesmen anymore - those legislators who were willing to do the right thing without regard to their own re-election or campaign donations.

If you have been to western Europe you would note the condition of their transportation system - highways, rails, trains, subways - are all far superior to our dirty, graffiti covered, rail systems. Our infrastructure is deteriorating more rapidly than we can repair it. Roads and bridges are failing, the electrical grid is one attack away from chaos, and our schools are falling apart, both literally and figuratively. Our students skills are far less than they were, and far, far less when compared to many other industrialized nations. Where we were once the leader, we now seem willing to follow with a "good enough" attitude.

"The Rise and Fall of the American Empire" is a book waiting for the last chapters to be written, but it is closer than we think. America needs to act now to right these most egregious problems, stop the terrible waste of precious dollars, and hold others accountable to the highest standards.

It can be done, but it has to start soon or we will slip into mediocrity and become a second-class nation, fallen from its once magnificent glory.

Noor Almalecki - R.I.P.

On Monday, November 2, the 20 year old Iraqi born girl who had been run over by her father on October 20 for being too "westernized", died from her injuries. Her father will be likely be charged with intentional homicide. "Honor killing" must be an oxymoron.

Being Peevish - Language Errors Again

Many in my family roll their eyes when I point out misspellings in restaurant menus, in news channel crawls, signs, or nearly any other place they crop up. Some think I should lighten up and let the errors roll off my back and take a laissez-faire attitude about our language.

I can't.

When I hear some say "ex cetera" instead of "et cetera", or "excape" instead of "escape" (there is no "x" sound), I get crazy.

The latest irritation was a CNN interview with a retired army officer regarding the Fort Hood Massacre, when he started with saying that shootings occur on "all army posts's", adding a superfluous "s" to the plural. The plural of post is posts - very simple. Just as some say that they made a round of "conference breakfasts's. " Breakfast is singular and if you must have a plural, it is "breakfasts."

The nice gentleman went on in the interview to use the above "ex cetera", and then capped it off with the pronunciation of the word "heinous" (usually followed by "crime") as "heeny-us" instead of the correct "hay-nus." Some will say "hee-nus", still wrong, but better than "heeny-us."

The last error of this veteran soldier was perhaps the most egregious. He was a former officer in the 1st Cavalry unit, yet he still made the error many others do. He said "Calvary" instead of "cavalry." Christ died on Mount Calvary, and horse mounted troops (or tanks, today) are "cavalry." A good way to remember to say the right thing is to use one of their own adages: "If you ain't Cav, you ain't."

Now about that use of "ain't"...

Take Some Responsibly For Yourself, Please!

Two years ago, a police officer stops a car and driver for drunken driving. The 21-year-old female passenger is also drunk but not incapacitated. She is not wanted for anything else. The cop arrests the male driver, places him in his squad, secures the vehicle, and takes the passenger to a nearby convenience store so she can call for a ride. She has a cell phone and is walking upright.

The passenger walks in and out of the store (as seen later in security cams) and seems able to walk in a straight line. She has her cell phone in her hand.

This female passenger is now complaining about the Tempe (AZ) Police Department because after the officer left to process her male drunken partner she opted to take a ride from two strangers (male and female), who then took her to a vacant house in Mesa where the female proceeded to sexually assault her. It seems it is now the cop's fault because she made some very poor choices.

The investigation later showed that she, indeed, drank to excess. She then got into a car with another drunk person who was caught driving while intoxicated. She was free to go at the scene of the stop, but was given a ride by the Officer to an open business. She then opted to get into a car with strangers instead of calling other friends or a taxi for a ride.

Those bad choices led to a very unfortunate event where she was sexually assaulted. Facts. She now wants to blame the police for her situation, when the real culprit is the assaulter. How could any cop have reasonably known that a 21 year old tipsy woman, who he left at a populated place, was going to be raped?

Before I get accused of "blaming the victim", I find the assault and the other actions of the strangers to be repugnant and well as heinously illegal. But where do we draw the line on whose life is it anyway? Who is responsible for being in this situation? Could the police officer have done something else? Of course. He could have called for another officer to provide "taxi service" to this woman. He could have had her taken to a detox facility if she was incapacitated, but didn't think she was. She was never his responsibility beyond getting her off the street to civilization where she could secure her own ride. Imagine if the police had to take responsibility for every adult they come in contact with that had too much to drink.

I suspect there is an "ambulance chasing" shyster somewhere in the mix. But I could be wrong.