Friday's Odds and Ends

Okay, professional sports has gone way beyond nuts. Used to be when a team won a major title the home city had a nice parade, with maybe some confetti and lots of cheering fans. But there was no violence. No riots. No looting. Then somewhere along the line all that got added to the victory celebration and the cost for cleanup was substantial.

I thought that was bad enough, but in a new twist, this week there were riots and looting in Vancouver, but not for winning the Stanley Cup. Thousands of fans took to the streets and trashed the city, injuring 150 people, because the Canuks lost the championship hockey game.

Could we all just grow up?

The latest news to come from the riots is a picture of a couple kissing in the midst of the rioting. A young photographer caught the moment and the photo has gone viral on the Internet. Ned Potter of ABC News wrote:

One headline called it "love among the ruins." History will decide, but one could imagine it becoming as iconic as the famous Life magazine shot of a sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square the day World War II ended.

 I think not and I think it is an insult to make that association. Here is a link to the photo. You judge for yourself. 

So Weiner finally decided to resign. Good thing, too. I'm not sure I could have listened to his whiny little voice making another excuse for his behavior. And the latest news is that Hustler Magazine has made him a job offer. I thought it was a joke, but it's not. Details here if you are so inclined.

If anyone is dying to buy my book, One Small Victory, in Turkish, here is your chance. I just received links from the Turkish Publisher.  

The book is listed on a number of sites and the publisher sent me links to all. Of course I vistited each one and it was all Turkish to me. LOL

I do like the cover. What do you think?

Friday's Odds and Ends

Okay, who doesn't care about Weiner's wiener? Raise your hand. So glad to see all my friends and family waving madly.

Ack! Tell me it isn't true. The latest news report says Texas Governor Rick Perry is ready to launch a White House campaign. As my husband said, "O goody, now he can screw up the other 49 states."

Police in Kansas City, MO, are treating the death of an 18-month-old boy who drowned in a bathtub as a potential homicide, after a 5-year-old girl told social workers that she held him under water to stop his crying. Police said the girl, who was left with other children in the care of a teenager, was considered a possible suspect in the toddler's death last week, raising complicated legal questions about how a court could proceed with a case against such a young suspect.

I have nothing snarky to say about that. It is just a horrible tragedy, and I am glad I am not the person having to decide how to handle the case. How could a five-year-old even know what she was doing?

A recent column by Leonard Pitts quoted the results of a study of Historical Illiteracy that found that a majority of college seniors could not identify the words of the Gettysburg Address, and they didn't know the significance of Valley Forge. His column was in response to Sarah Palin's gaffe regarding Paul Revere and his infamous ride. The point that Leonard made so well is that, as a nation, Americans are poorly educated when it comes to history. Classes in history are no longer required at a lot of the nation's top schools.

Leonard ends his column by highlighting some of the most important events in history and writing, "And we allow all that to be forgotten at our own peril. How can our children write the next chapter of a story they don't even know?"

I have nothing to say to that, either. Leonard said it all.