A Potpourri for the Uninitiated

I'm gonna take the easy way out today and just throw a couple darts up on the board. I understand it's a cheap way to start a blog but it might give those who don't know me a little more insight into the thought process behind these typing fingers.

Memo to Mr. R. Pitino: Rick, buddy...this turned out to be an expensive one-nighter, huh? Look, I'm not about to wax rhapsodic about Pitino's lack of morals (or taste, as the case may be). What I would say is I don't know why people get shocked when stuff like this happens with celebrities, sports figures, hollywood types, etc. We really don't know these people. I mean, Tom Hanks is one of my favorite actors. But for all I know the guy could be an axe murderer. I know he's not, but you see what I mean. You see, if your local minister is caught cheating on his wife the cynic might just roll his eyes, but most people would be genuinely surprised. Why? You figure you know the guy. You've spent time with him, prayed with him, had he and his wife over for dinner, whatever. There is, or at least should be, a sense of familiarity. But we assume a lot when we take an interest and become 'fans' of celebrities. All we know is what we see on the screen and what we hear in those annoying sycophantic interviews done by Billy Bush, et al. My wife watches Access Hollywood on a regular basis and, truth be told, I'll take a glance at it with her more often than not. It's right after Jeopardy and sometimes I'm just too damn lazy to get off the couch! And to be honest, some of those stars and their stories can suck you in sometimes. Then, all of a sudden there's a story about one of these dopes who just got arrested for alcohol, drugs, spousal abuse, whatever. And the world seems absolutely shocked! Don't be shocked people. You have no idea who these people really are. And as for Mr. Pitino, I hope it all works out for him. This did happen 6 years ago, and without giving him a pass, it seems to me that all of the important people (his wife, his employer) have forgiven him. I'll cheer for his team when they play UNC and Kentucky, I'll just have a better idea of what kind of guy he is.

I read a disturbing article the other day. Without boring you with a lot of details the gist of it is this: In August 2008 Congress passed a law that would ban the re-sale of used children's books that were published prior to 1985. This was done in response to the Chinese lead toy scare in 2007. It seems that prior to 1985 ink, in miniscule amounts, was common in kids' books. They've eliminated this part of the process but, obviously there are boat loads of books still hanging around with this so-called danger. Now, booksellers can be fined $100,000 for breaking this law by either re-selling them or simply giving them away and the bottom line is, thousands, if not millions of books will be trashed. Are you kidding me? George Orwell, call your office. I understand that I'm not a parent, but I WAS a child once. I don't remember my friends and I sitting around the playground eating books, as this is the only way lead can be harmful to a youngsters' health. You know, we bitch and moan that our kids aren't learning, don't read, etc. Everyone's yelling (or should be) that they just sit around playing video games, watching MTV or that they're texting each other until all hours of the night. The plight of the inner-city kid is worse. At least the lucky parents in the 'burbs have a decent school system for their kids to go to. You're telling me that these books wouldn't help some of those kids in the inner-city as well as the suburban kid? Please. This is like a bad Ray Bradbury novel! I'm not saying it's a cure-all. I'm not even saying that every kid is going to read these books (I'm a cynic, you know). But isn't that better than just tossing them? These books are perfectly safe. According to a spokesman at the Center for Disease Control, "This problem rates about an 0.5 on a scale of 1 to 10." And at the risk of being called a capitalist pig, I didn't even mention the fact that a lot of mom and pop bookstore owners will lose a nice chunk of change by not being able to sell these used books. (Well, I guess I just mentioned it. Have at me people.) As one store owner said, "These guys must have been drunk when they passed this law." Oh, and by the way; these dangerous, lead-filled books are heading to the land fill. So much for the green-friendly approach to legislation. If you're interested in more on this, go to www.thenewatlantis.com.