Freedom of Speech

I am more than a little concerned about the tendency to immediately demand sanctions on people because they say something you don’t like.

Both the Left and the Right think it’s OK to demand people get fired for speaking their mind just because what they say isn’t what some group wants to hear.

The last time I looked, Freedom of Speech was still in the Constitution. That means the freedom to express unpopular, sexist, homophobic, anti-capitalism and even racist opinions. We can criticize people for saying that sort of stuff but we can’t punish them by throwing them in jail OR getting them fired from their jobs.

Now this is different from violating rules. If there’s a company policy that says no political buttons or no political posters on your office walls and you ignore that despite requests to comply, then get ready to pack your bags. But you shouldn’t be disciplined for something you say outside of work on your own time.

This also doesn’t include boycotts. If a company engages in a public policy that you disagree with, or does stuff you find offensive, then you are within your rights to shun their products and try to convince others to shun their products. That is a version of Free Speech.

No organization or company is exempt from criticism and that includes religions. Islam will never be compatible with Western Democracy as long as it teaches that criticism of Islam is a crime. At least for the moment, you cannot be both an obedient Muslim and a patriotic American. Luckily most Muslims ignore the more barbaric tenets of their religion in the same way that Christians ignore the ugly parts of theirs.

Even if you are championing a righteous cause, squelching the freedom of others to express different viewpoints violates the very core of what a democracy is supposed to stand for.

If I wanted America to Fail

The group Free Market America released the anti-environmental video “If I wanted America to Fail” on Earth Day. The video is a concentration of right wing arguments starting with coal is good, drilling for oil anywhere is good, environmental regulations are bad, ANY regulations are bad and don’t worry Capitalism will take care of you.

You need to notice a few important things about this video. It presents no facts; it makes no arguments. It relies upon assertion, accusation and innuendo while not backing up with facts or data anything it presents. It argues from consequences and attempts to frighten you while not providing any evidence that what it says is correct or that there is reason for concern. It appeals to emotion and not reason or logic. It presents points that are known to be false and items that are the result of simple human error as some sort of nefarious conspiracy. In other words, it's a load of crap.

It also strongly implies that if you don’t agree with it, you’re somehow disloyal or a traitor of some kind. It presents the opposition as a conspiracy rather than just well meaning people who happen to be wrong.

The video doesn’t surprise me. It’s about what I expect from the right wing. However I continue to be amazed at the number of people, based upon the comments, that are taken in by this sort of nonsense. You learn nothing by watching this film for four minutes about anything.

Tebow Booed at Yankee Stadium

Tim Tebow was at the Yankee game the other day and, when shown on the big board, was roundly booed by the crowd despite wearing a Yankees cap!

I have five possible explanations for this.

#1 – These are baseball fans who are sick and tired of football overshadowing their favorite sport.
#2 – They were mostly Giants fans who would have booed any Jet no matter who he was.
#3 – Mark Sanchez is a lot more popular in New York than anyone is willing to admit.
#4 – They’re all just sick and tiring of hearing about Tebow.
#5 – This is the Bronx Zoo we’re talking about. Since when do they need a reason to boo someone?

I had to stop and think what would have been my reaction. I think, based mostly on #2, I would have joined in the booing as well but it would have been good natured rather than mean. Hey, booing the other team is all part of the fun.

George Zimmerman Charged

As expected a Florida state attorney yesterday announced that George Zimmerman would be arrested and charged in the shooting of Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman has been charged with Second Degree Murder.

I heard it in passing at the gym yesterday and my immediate reaction was that they’ve charged him with something they’re not going to be able to prove. I would have thought Voluntary Manslaughter would have been more appropriate.

Second-degree murder is ordinarily defined as an intentional killing that is not premeditated or planned, nor committed in a reasonable "heat of passion." Voluntary manslaughter is commonly defined as an intentional killing in which the offender had no prior intent to kill, such as a killing that occurs in the "heat of passion."

It’s going to be especially tough in Florida because there SEcond Degree Murder requires acting with a “depraved mind showing no regard for human life.”

That’s going to be really hard to prove especially since that doesn’t seem to have been the case. Manslaughter in Florida is defined as “Committing an act that was neither excusable, nor justified that resulted in the death of another person.”

That sounds much more to the point. If Zimmerman was defending himself as allowed under the “stand your ground” statute then the act was justified. If not, then he’s guilty of Manslaughter but not necessarily murder. Second Degree Murder sounds like the wrong charge.

This sounds like political horse pucky. Yes they’re going to arrest and charge him but with a crime he probably won’t get convicted of.

Can the jury acquit him of Second Degree Murder but convict him of the lesser charge of Manslaughter? I suppose, but that just adds to the complexity of the case doesn’t it? I see a plea bargain coming.

Rick Santorum suspends Campaign

Rick Santorum has announced that, given his daughter's illness, he has suspended his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination and conceded to Mitt Romney.

This is good news.

The fact that Santorum managed to get this far given that his head is wedged up his rear end on so many issues speaks ill for the future of the Republic. But at least he got no further.

Now on to the main event!

If the election were today I would vote for Obama although I'm not happy with his apparent lack of a strategy to address the serious financial issues facing the country. I could be convinced to go otherwise IF someone managed to put such a plan on the table AND could convince me it wouldn't cost turning the social progress clock back 100 years.

Sanchez or Tebow?

According to a Quinnipiac poll, New Yorkers say, by an overwhelming majority, Mark Sanchez. 43% overall, 61% of football fans and 66% of Jets fans say Sanchez should start. Only 16%, 17% and 19% respectively say Tebow should start.

I agree. Sanchez is the better choice. At least for the moment.

Luck or RG III?

With draft day rapidly approaching it’s a sure thing that Andrew Luck from Stanford and Robert Griffin III from Baylor will go 1-2. The question is who will be 1 and who will 2?

The Colts have the first pick and most people seem to think they’ll pick Luck but some rumblings out of Indianapolis have suggested that may not be a sure thing. The Redskins traded for the #2 pick with the clear intention of drafting RG III but if the Colts cross everyone up, I’m sure they’ll be thrilled to get Luck instead.

These are the kind of decisions that can break a GM. Think back to how many sure fire QB picks turned into complete busts. Let’s remember the last time there were two sure fire franchise QB picks. The Colts got Peyton Manning and the Chargers got Ryan Leaf.

So, if I were the Colts, who would I pick?

I think I would take RG III. He just strikes me as the kind of guy that will adapt better and have more impact sooner.

Of course that would be hell of a risk by the Colt’s GM in going against the conventional wisdom but I wouldn’t be surprised. I'll be at MetLife Stadium on April 26th for the draft party when it happens. Should be interesting.

Death Penalty Update

I stopped doing these because they tend to depress me. My last death penalty post was in September of 2011 shortly before the execution of Troy Davis in Georgia.

The big news is that Connecticut is poised to abolish the death penalty despite polls that claim 62% of the population think that would be a mistake. The State Senate passed the bill on April 5; the House is expected to follow and the governor is expected to sign the measure. However the legislation is not retroactive and would not affect the eleven men currently on death row. Connecticut has only executed one person since the Supreme Court reinstituted the death penalty in 1976 and that was what is known as a “volunteer,” someone who foregoes the full appeals process.

Connecticut would be the fifth state in five years to abolish the death penalty joining New Jersey, New Mexico, Illinois and New York. It would leave only New Hampshire and Pennsylvania in the Northeast Region with the death penalty. New Hampshire hasn’t executed anyone under its current statute and Pennsylvania has executed three, all volunteers.

There were a total of 43 executions in 2011, down from 46 in 2010. Of the 43, 31 (72%) were in the South and 13 (30%) were in Texas. There have been 12 executions so far in 2012, 10 (83%) of which have been in the South and 4 (33%) of which have been in Texas.

Since 1976 there have been 1289 execution. 1058 (82%) have been in the South; 150 (12%) have been in the Midwest; 77 (6%) have been in the West and 4 (0.3%) have been in the Northeast. 481 (37%) of the executions have been in Texas. Nine of the ten states with the most executions are in the South. The tenth state is Ohio, in 8th place with 46 (3.6%).

So, have the murder rates in the four states that have eliminated the death penalty sky rocketed? Nope, there hasn’t been any significant change. If anything they’ve gone down as part of the general trend of the murder rate going down.

The Death of Darwinian Evolution

The collapse of Darwinian Evolution may well be on the horizon.

No, I haven’t suddenly embraced Creationism and I’m being more than a little overly dramatic, but the science of Epigenetics may well cause us to rethink a lot of our current ideas about evolution.

Jean-Baptiste Lamarcke (1744-1829) had hypothesized that animals could pass on traits they had acquired during their lifetime to their descendents. This idea for an evolutionary mechanism was abandoned when Darwin proposed Natural Selection. Now however scientists are taking another look at Lamarcke due to what is known as Epigenetics.

Epigenetics deals with how strongly, or weakly, genes express themselves due to environmental factors through what are known as “epigenetic marks.” These differences in gene expression appear to be controlled by the cellular material, the “epigenome,” that sits on top of the genome.

Environmental factors such as diet, stress and prenatal nutrition appear to be able to impact the epigenetic marks and turn genes on, turn them off, and adapt how strongly they assert themselves. Even more interestingly, it appears these marks can leave an imprint on genes that can be passed to succeeding generations at least temporarily.

This is pretty wild stuff. It means that adaptation to severe environmental changes, which would be a form of stress, could occur within a generation and the adaptation could be passed on to succeeding generations as long as the environmental change persisted and perhaps even longer.

This would also explain many of the observed differences in identical twins despite the fact that they have the exact same DNA.

This adaptation occurs without changing the gene so no mutation is required. The question of course becomes can these epigenetic adaptations become permanent or can they guide or influence genetic changes to match the epigenetic adaptation as a sort of directed evolution?

This could reduce the time scale of evolutionary change from millions of years to a few generations and allow rapid adaptation to a rapidly changing environment.

Of course, before we get carried away here, there is as yet no evidence that epigenetic adaptations can be permanent or can direct genetic change. But that sure would resolve some issues with how some life managed to survive rapid environmental change.

I can hear the creationists now saying how epigenetics allowed the emergence of the millions of individual species from the “Kinds” that were loaded on the Ark and, interestingly enough, that would be a better argument than the super evolution they claim at the moment.

Epigenetic adaptation lines up better with Punctuated Equilibrium than Phyletic Gradualism so, possibly, two points for Gould and Eldridge.

Of course Natural Selection doesn’t go away, it simply gets another new partner to help strengthen the Theory of Evolution.

Two for the Road

The Right never seems to tire of coming up with new and increasingly sneaky ways to accomplish their objectives without a frontal assault.

The latest are laws in Tennessee and Mississippi dealing with evolution and abortion.

In Tennessee the governor is ready to sign a bill that protects teachers that allow students to criticize scientific theories. Read that allows the bashing of evolution and global warming in the classroom while nodding stupidly. The sponsor of the bill claims it’s not religiously based. Aside from the fact that I’m not stupid enough to buy that one, and neither is the ACLU or NCSE, what then is the purpose?

In Mississippi, hospitals tend to not extend admission privileges to doctors that perform abortions so the Mississippi legislation thinks it’s a great idea to require doctors that perform abortions to have admission privileges at as local hospital. Can you say Catch-22 fast three times?

The sole remaining abortion clinic in Mississippi says that it may be forced to close if the bill passes although it may challenge the law first in court. Fat chance with that one.

That means that women in Mississippi that want an abortion either need to travel to another state or they have to do it the old fashioned way along with all the risks that entails.

After a while you just get tired of the sheer arrogance of ignorant people.

Just the Facts Please

In the one thing the whole Trayvon Martin story has made crystal clear is how quickly misinformation can spread in the Information Age and once it’s out there, it’s almost impossible to eradicate.

There are two types of misinformation. There are honest errors and there are flat out lies and I’ve seen both. Part of the problem is people are too willing to accept information at face value. That’s especially true if the information supports a preconceived notion or opinion.

We seriously need to get back to being a lot more careful about insuring information is accurate before we publish it. And that’s goes quadruple for the news media including radio, television, print and internet.

Another problem I see more and more are sensational headlines that don’t come close to accurately reflecting the contents of the story. Some of these are harmless but others aren’t and they leave readers that just see the headline with the completely wrong impression.

The headline crap is especially an issue on-line. Yahoo is one of the worst offenders but MSN and others aren’t far behind.

People are making important decisions based upon totally bogus data. We need to remain skeptical and if what you're reading proves you were right all along, then you better be especially skeptical.

The Health Care Law

The SCOTUS has begun hearing oral arguments on the Obama Health Care Law.

There are two primary issues. The first issue is whether congress had the right to expand Medicaid, a joint Federal and State venture, and then condition Federal funding based upon state participation? States challenging the law say this is a form of coercion.

The second issue, and perhaps the more critical one or at least the one that has people jumping up and down, is whether the Federal government has the right to mandate that everyone buy health insurance?

The first issue is a big problem for states already strapped for cash and facing growing budget deficits.

The second issue raises the question if the Federal government can force you to buy health insurance, what else can it force you to buy? Savings bonds? A GM or Ford car rather than a Toyota?

The reason for the mandate to buy insurance is the Free Rider Problem. Given the new regulations about not denying health insurance due to pre-existing conditions, what is to prevent people from not purchasing health insurance until they actually need it? If you don’t have everyone contributing to the system, it becomes unsustainable.

If you remove the individual mandate the whole thing doesn’t work.

This isn’t a great law, but it does address some serious shortfalls in health care and attempts to do so while reining in health care costs. Notice I say “attempts;” the jury is still out on whether it will actually succeed and, to be honest, it’s not looking like it’s going to be all that effective in that regard. If you remove the individual mandate, it’s going to be a disaster.

I’ve found that most people don’t really understand what the Health Care Law is all about. It’s primary focus is to make health care insurance, and thus health care, available to the 30 million or so Americans that don’t have it today. It also reforms some current health insurance practices such as not denying insurance due to pre-existing conditions as previously mentioned, extending coverage for children until a later age and eliminating maximum coverage amounts.

I never believed it wasn’t going to cause a rise in premiums. How can you get more without paying more? Still, I thought overall, although it wasn’t perfect, it was a good start and I still do.

I don’t need it. As a matter of fact I was assuming it would cost me money. But I find it amazing the number of people who are violently opposed to it despite most of them not having a clue what it says. I’m amazed by how many people think it’s a health plan that everyone is going to be forced to use. This is the news media again failing in its mandate to inform the electorate.

As for the SCOTUS, I can’t imagine the conservative court majority allowing this law to continue on unscathed. Forget the law and forget the Constitution, politics and political philosophy demand that the finding on both issues will be that congress exceeded its authority and the law is unconstitutional. After that it doesn’t matter about the remaining provisions, without the individual mandate, the thing becomes unsustainable anyway.

So the number of Americans without health insurance will continue to raise, health care in the U.S. except for the well off will continue to degrade, health care costs will continue to rise and the republic will continue its slide into third world mediocrity.

The sad thing is that a lot of the people yelling the loudest against the Health Care Law are among those that will suffer the most when it’s gone.

The Trayvon Martin Shooting

I’ve been sort of watching the Trayvon Martin case from the sidelines.

My initial impression was a black teenager named Trayvon Martin was challenged and gunned down by an over reaching neighborhood watch member named George Zimmerman.

The initial information was that Zimmerman, after making a call to 911, tracked Martin despite being told by the 911 operator to back off and let a patrol car which was on the way handle the situation. Exactly how things deteriorated into violence wasn’t all that clear. The initial impression given by the reports was that Martin took a “dim view” of Zimmerman tracking him and Zimmerman opened fire. Note that the definition of “dim view” was always a tad hazy.

In any event, Zimmerman struck me as a potential poster child for gun restrictions. Sort of a “would you want this idiot to have a gun” kind of approach.

As additional information leaks out, it’s beginning to look as if “dim view” may have been a physical confrontation with Martin decking Zimmerman and proceeding to bag his head on the sidewalk. Zimmerman then shot Martin in self defense or so the story goes. Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” statute might well allow for deadly force in such a situation.

In the meantime Martin’s mother is trade marking phrases with Trayvon in them such as “Justice for Trayvon” and “I am Trayvon.” Perhaps I’m naïve, but one would think that would about the last thing on her mind. I’m starting to get a bad feeling about this one.

I think I will reserve judgment until I have more information.

The 2012 Presidential Election

As I’ve said before, Romney will win the Republican nomination.

To some extent that is a vindication of democracy and provides hope that the Republican party still has a few marbles left.

If the election were held today, Obama would probably win. Obama will also probably win in November ASSUMING that things do not spin out of control either in the economic or international arenas.

Are there possibilities for that? You bet there are. I still think the economy is a lot more fragile than it looks especially with gas prices continuing to spiral upward. Romney almost has to base his campaign on the economy and, if it begins to look like prosperity is ahead, he’s going to look awfully silly doing it.

While not precisely an economic issue per se, the fate of the Health Care Law could have an impact as well. If the SCOTUS declares all or a large part of the law unconstitutional, it would give Romney another bone to chew. It’s always difficult to predict the SCOTUS but I can’t believe the conservative majority is going to let the Health Care Law through unscathed. The only question is how bloody is it going to get?

On the international side the potential problem is the Israel and Iran tug of words.

I don’t believe that Israel is in any danger from Iran even if Iran manages to develop nukes. What I don’t know is what the Israeli’s think. I know what they say, but what do they really think? I suspect they’re smart enough to know that, at least for the moment, there’s no danger. So what I expect is a lot of talk and hand wringing designed to keep the aid and donations flowing but no military action.

The bottom line is there is a pretty good chance Obama wins. Congress is harder to gauge but the Dems could well hold onto the Senate. Even if the GOP manages to take the senate, but loses the White House, there will be a good deal of soul searching in the GOP.

If we were talking about only the rational GOP business faction, the result of that soul searching would be a shift toward the center because it would have been the center that beat them.

Unfortunately, the other factions of the Republican Party are far from rational and facts mean little or nothing to them. A swing to the extreme right for 2016 would not be impossible. Couple that with the Democrats penchant for nominating lack luster candidates and we could be facing a perfect storm of political catastrophe where someone like a Santorum or a Bachmann might actually have a chance to win.

Of course if Romney wins, that might pull the GOP into the 21st Century but I wouldn't count on it.

I wonder if Hillary Clinton, since she’s going to resign as Secretary of State, is going to run? That would certainly prevent the Dems from nominating a lack luster candidate and watching the Religious Right foaming at even the thought of a Clinton presidency would be incredibly amusing.

Tebow and the Jets

Well, after a minor hiccup last night, it’s official, Tebow is now a Jet and already the media blitz is beginning.

First there’s the report that the Jets want Tebow to live in New Jersey and avoid New York City which they’re afraid he might not be prepared for. I wouldn’t worry about it. Tim’s a big boy. He crosses the street all by himself and everything.

Then again, I can see certain influences in the city looking upon Tim as a challenge. Corrupting him would be like winning some sort of faux trophy.

The sports media figure Tim’s going to be prominent in the Wildcat formation and provide some value in pushing Mark Sanchez. I believe I said something about Tebow and the Wildcat for the Giants two years ago.

Actually, the Giants might turn out to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the Tebow trade to the Jets. The Giants are a team that likes to fly under the radar. The less media focus the better is their philosophy and that’s not an easy thing to achieve when you’re the current Super Bowl Champs.

But with the media going all gaga over Tebow and the Jets, that will give the Giants the kind of breathing room and peace and quiet that they like. They’ll need it while they’re trying to figure out how to put together a team to compete in what looks to be a four team slug fest in the NFC East next year after losing so many free agents.

Tebow to the Jets

Goes to show you what I know.

The ink isn’t even dry on my prediction that Tebow would go to the Jaguars and it gets announced that he’s headed for the Big Apple and the Jets.

Look out Broadway, here comes Tim.

The Saints pay for Bounty System

The NFL came down pretty hard on the New Orleans Saints for the illegal bounty system they had running under ex-defensive coordinator Greg Williams.

The head coach, Shaun Peyton, has been suspended without pay for the entire 2012 season; the GM was suspended without pay for the first eight games of the 2012 season and the team has been fined $500,000 and stripped of second round draft choices in 2012 and 2013.

Mr. Bounty himself, Greg Williams, has been suspended indefinitely with a review to occur after the 2012 season. That puts the Rams, who just hired Williams, in the market for a defensive coordinator I suppose.

The $500,000 is almost a joke but the suspensions and loss of draft choices have some teeth. I would have taken away both first and second round choices myself or a first round in 2012 and a second round in 2013.

But at least it was more than a slap on the wrist.

Peyton Manning

As an ardent NFL fan I was very much interested in where Peyton Manning would play next season.

Originally I thought it might be Miami or the Jets to set up twice yearly confrontations with Tom Brady. But the Jets, correctly I think, stuck with Mark Sanchez and the Dolphins are just too dysfunctional a franchise right now to attract a Peyton Manning.

For a while I thought it might be the Redskins but, again, they made the right move by trading up in the draft for Robert Griffin III. I should be spending many future afternoons watching the Giants defense chasing him all over MetLife Stadium.

It finally seemed to come down to the Titans, Broncos and 49ers.

I still think the 49ers were the best option as the most Super Bowl ready team. After watching them in them in the NFC Championship game it was clear their biggest question mark was Alex Smith at quarterback.

Don’t get me wrong, Smith is a decent quarterback, but Manning, assuming he’s healthy, would have been a significant upgrade especially with the addition of Mario Manningham as a target. I think Manningham needs an “I got it all under control” QB like Peyton or his brother Eli. I’m not sure Smith is there yet after the years of crap he’s been handed in SF.

But what do I know? Manning decided that Denver was the place for him.

That sort of extended the soap opera because now the question becomes what happens to Terrific Tim Tebow? The latest rumor is he goes to either Jacksonville or the Jets. The Jets!? You can’t do that to that nice boy. I can see it now, Broadway Tim Tebow, hanging out in all the NYC best places.

I suspect it will be Jacksonville though since Tim wants to go home.

As for Peyton, the pressure to bring a championship to Denver is going to be enormous. In 2012, since they won the division in 2011, the Broncos get Houston and New England in addition to the six games against divisional opponents, the AFC North and the NFC South. The Chargers, who I suspect will be their primary antagonist in the AFC West, get the Jets and Titans instead.

It should be interesting to watch. I’m already assuming the Giants will have a big down year next year, as they always seem to do after winning a championship, so I’ll need something to keep me amused.

In 2013 the Broncos get the NFC East. The Giants should be resurgent by then, Robert Griffin III should be coming into his own and the Eagles and Cowboys should be pretty tough as well. If the Eagles don’t win it all in 2012 they should be downright wide-eyed and foaming at the mouth by 2013.

The Super Bowl for the 2013 season is also at MetLife Stadium. Now wouldn't it be something if Peyton won a ring in Eli's house?

Remake America

Yahoo is tracking six families struggling in the soft economy. So far I’ve looked at two of the stories and, to be honest, while I sympathize, you really can’t say they’re in the mess they’re in due solely to bad luck.

Let’s consider the family from Little Falls New Jersey.

The short video shows them with a stack of bills and a balance sheet showing $5700 in income and $5300 in expenses, not including food, for six people. Husband, wife, three high school age children and the wife’s 74 year old father.

They also have $350,000 in debt including three maxed out credit cards and two mortgages. The husband has been out of work since July.

I’ve having a lot of problems with this. First of all, how do you rack up $350,000 in dept including maxing out three credit cards and having a second mortgage? This didn’t happen in the six or seven months hubby has been unemployed.

Second of all, on the income side, I didn’t see any contribution from the wife’s father. He must have some income. Social Security if nothing else. Where’s his contribution? Even $300 or $400 a month would be enough to get them out from under water.

Third of all, let’s talk about the credit cards, at least one of which hubby groans he’s paying 27% interest on. He says that’s ridiculous, and he’s right, it is ridiculous. The question is how did it get that high? For an interest rate to be that high, your credit rating has to be disastrous and it’s unclear that it could dive bomb to that level in six months.

I think it’s likely the family has been in debt and was making some bad financial decisions well before Hubby got laid off. Losing his job was the final nail so to speak.

But that’s all water under the bridge, the question is what do you do now?

I have two suggestions. The first is to figure out a way to get rid of the credit card debt because 27% interest is going to kill anyone. My second suggestion would be based on the question of why grandpa wasn’t contributing anything to the balance sheet? He must have some income and a couple of hundred dollars would go a long way toward getting this family above water.

The second family is a couple that, according to the video, planned to retire at 59 but hubby had a stroke at 55. He couldn’t continue to function at his executive position so he was let go.

At that point, rather than go on long term disability, they decided to open a hardware store. And not just any hardware store, a huge affair in a strip mall. Unfortunately that business went belly up and they’re trying again with a store of more modest size.

Owning a small business is always tough and this is no exception. Sounds to me like they’re barely surviving.

Again, I’m having some problems with this. If you were planning on retiring at 59, how far away could you have been at 55? Opening a massive hardware store at that age was a high risk decision especially since, given the age of the couple, there was no obvious recovery path.

At age 55, given the health issues, extreme financial conservatism was called for not a high risk new venture.

But , again, that’s water under the bridge, now what?

Clearly these folks are in worse shape than the first family and most of my sympathy goes to them. I really have no idea what our hardware store entrepreneurs should do other than dump the store and live as best they can on Social Security. I think the problem right now is they continue to sink assets into a losing proposition.

The first two cases got me so depressed I think I’m going to skip the other four.

Racist Chant in NCAA Game?

In the NCAA tournament game between the University of Southern Mississippi and Kansas State, the USM student body got on Kansas State’s star Angel Rodriguez with a chant of “where’s your green card.”

Well, no one expects class from anyone from Mississippi anyway and Rodriguez got his revenge with an “in your face” 13 point and 4 assist performance in Kansas State’s 70-64 win.

Now here’s where it gets surreal.

Southern Miss president Martha Saunders felt obligated to issue a formal apology. The only problem was she MISSPELLED Angel’s name as “RODRIQUEZ.”

Sort of makes you doubt the sincerity of the apology doesn’t it?

Apparently even the presidents of universities in Mississippi are idiots. I wonder if she’s part of the 60% of people in Mississippi that think Barack Obama is a Muslim or the 25% that think interracial marriage should be illegal?

Like Phil Ochs said, “Mississippi find yourself another country to be part of.”