One day before the big elections, I have to comment on the massive waste of resources and dollars characteristic of our electoral process.   Here in Florida, well over $100 million has been spent on a gubernatorial election pitting the incumbent governor, Rick Scott, against challenger Charlie Crist.   This in a state that has no income tax, no ugly oil wells, a healthy state budget surplus, no greedy public worker unions strangling the rest of us financially, and one of the best job growth rates in recent years among all states.    If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Oh, did you notice that I did not mention which party has been in charge ?   It doesn’t matter if it works.    What a waste.                           WHAT THE HECK !

I live in Tampa, home of MacDill Air Force Base and the U.S Central Command, the unit running the campaign against ISIS in Syria and Iraq.  Our military presence is proudly lauded every Friday along our main waterfront thoroughfare by volunteer individuals waving flags and showing visible support for our servicemen and women.

So imagine how stunned we all are that the bigwigs at MacDill have advised all personnel to downplay their military affiliation in the community by not displaying apparel, bumper stickers ,hats,  car stickers, etc. referencing the armed forces, and generally lowering their public military profile.  This applies particularly when in public  with their families.   We can thank and attribute  this overreaction to an aggressive recent social media campaign from Muslim terrorists seeking personnel personal information, and  seeking visible targets.

What a world we live in.  I’ll take a wild guess that the military personnel in this town (and the locals),  proud of their country and of their  service, will go out of their way to publicly display pride in our military.  Where can I buy a USAF shirt ?                                        WHAT THE HECK !

Following the NCAA’s granting of some autonomy to the biggest five athletic conferences in August,  and as the result of a U. S. District court ruling in the Ed O’Bannon case, which opened the door for colleges to compensate football and basketball players for use of their names, likenesses and images, it was just a matter of time until some school with wealthy donors opened the spigot for athlete compensation.

Thought that a full college scholarship, worth north of $100,000 at most schools was a fair exchange for athletic efforts, but I guess not anymore.   But should we be surprised  in light of the recent revelation of the U. of North Carolina’s  cheating scandal involving several thousand “student athletes” over 20 years.  I suppose UNC made the decision a long time ago that it wasn’t about the education.   What a disservice to those individuals involved, particularly the ones never enjoying a professional paycheck from their respective sports.  Now there might be a just and fair use for several of those filthy rotten tort lawyers !

Back to Texas (UT) though.   I’m a big Longhorn football fan, and have been since Darrell Royal’s invention of the wishbone offense.  Vince Young (2005) is still one of my sports heroes.  I’m so sad that UT is now the first major college to announce annual $10,000 payments to all its athletes, with no  distinguishment between its QB and the center back on the womens’ soccer team.    With arguably the largest athletic department budget (ND may be close), bolstered by its special TV football deal,  Longhorn recruiters in all sports can now essentially buy the best athletes out of high school by dangling some dollars in front of them.   Real college sports, with actual student athletes,  like they have in the Ivy League and hundreds of smaller schools like Stetson and Lehigh and Davidson will soon go the way of the rotary phone and manual transmission.                     WHAT THE HECK !

Reflecting on today’s Muslim terrorist (yes, I said that !) attack in Ottawa, I have to wonder how long the civilized world will treasure political correctness over common sense.  Who in the world attacks Canada ?    Well, the crazies of the Muslim cult, perpetrators of 99.9% of the world’s terrorist activity, and mass intolerants, relieved yet another family of their husband and father today.  If you wince at the last sentence, too bad.

Four years ago, I applied myself to becoming a youth soccer referee, an adventure way out of my comfort zone and at an age probably way, way past my prime.  Over the years that my son played, it has become obvious that soccer is indeed a contact sport, not a collision sport like football, but definitely requiring players to have a willingness to bang bodies.  My approach to games in which I am in charge is to let the players play and bang until they no longer deserve to do so.   Once that line is crossed, more fouls are called to control the tempo and avoid a melee, with the yellow caution card and the red sending off card additional tools for the referee to control the game and protect the players’ safety.

This cult no longer deserves the benefit of the doubt; they have crossed the line of decency; they no longer deserve our tolerance.  Muslim leaders around the world fail to disparage/criticize/attack the alleged 10% that are bloodthirsty animals.   As a loyal Pennsylvanian, I can attest to the fact that the Amish would have shunned the whole bunch a long time ago.

I do not know the answer, except to say that we need to start talking about the obvious, and not hide behind tolerance and political correctness.   I’m a little tired of being so tolerant.   Give me your thoughts.  Whining without solutions is not my typical approach, so I could use some intelligent feedback.    I’m afraid that showing the crazies a red card just won’t cut it.        WHAT THE HECK !

Last week, Trez Jackson, a sophomore football player at Stetson University in Deland , Florida, picked up the tab at the local WalMart for a mom with five children who had been told that her food stamps were not valid, and that she had less than $20 on her person.   The college athlete paid the nearly $100 bill and sent the grateful Mom on her way, then left the store anonymously.   When tracked down and asked the reason for his generosity, Mr. Jackson said, “The items in my cart were irreleveant, she had kids she was trying to feed. You could tell she was having a rough time of it. It just seemed like the right thing to do.”

Trez Jackson actually pays for the privilege of playing Division 1 college football.   He’s just a regular college student, pinching dollars to get by and relying on parents to help with college costs.  In the press these days, we only hear about college athletes mistreating women, with subsequent judgments weighed against the dollar value of that athlete to his school’s athletic department.  We never hear about the good guys.  WHAT THE HECK !    Stetson’s football program is brand new, and frankly the results so far have stunk.   But let  Seminole and Gator fans brag about their school’s football feats, while not mentioning the shameful acts and allegations of some of its star players, but let all Hatter fans hold their heads high with pride.  Maybe they have the right idea down there in Deland.

As of October 9, 2014,  instructions for obtaining a Canadian passport now include the phrase “mouth closed, no smiling”.  Coinciding with more important things like the commencement of ice hockey season, many experts  have concluded that this effort is the cornerstone of modern-day Canada’s anti-terrorism campaign.           WHAT THE HECK, EH !

From The Houston Chronicle today comes the story of the unnamed elected city fathers of Houston, plus mayor Annise Parker, issuing subpoenas demanding that several area pastors turn over transcripts of any sermons dealing with homosexuality, gender identity and/or anything to do with Mayor Parker.   The hubbub follows passage of a strict anti-discrimination law by the Houston City Council in June.  One of the more objectionable items in the law allows men to use public ladies rooms, and vice versa.  The pastor of Grace Community Church was also required to hand over all email communications with members of the congregation regarding the anti-discrimination law.

What a blatant attempt to “out” the selected pastors as anti-gay bigots, and to ironically muzzle and limit  free speech and dissent regarding cultural issues in the name of social tolerance.    This isn’t about homosexuality or gay marriage.  It’s about violation of free speech,  intolerance of Christians, and an annoyingly rapid growth of bullying by public officials into everybody’s personal lives.    What a novel we are living in.             WHAT THE HECK !

It is easy to become de-sensitized to all the awfulness happening around the globe.  I felt that as a teenager listening to Walter Cronkite (CBS) recite daily fatality numbers from Vietnam at my family’s dinner table.  And today, do I just take for granted the gradual spread of a biological plague, armed aggression, mass kidnap/rape and televised be-headings ?    I pray about resolution and peace and God’s guidance of leaders, but does my daily level of outrage match up with the outrage of the atrocities ?  Probably not, as I go about my daily activities.    I scare myself with indifference.                           WHAT THE HECK !

Sorry for the title, but I just returned home from a Pink Floyd tribute band show (a fine one I might add – Australia Pink Floyd), and one of the lyrics seemed to fit my intended topic.   Today’s lunacy comes from Richland, Washington where the local school district has banned swing sets from their public schools.  Administrators there say that swinging is “simply way too dangerous”, and they fear that children may hurt themselves.  Is it any wonder many of our 25 year olds are living at home with their parents ?                                   WHAT THE HECK !

Over the weekend, and hours after the end of the sacred Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, swastikas were found spray painted on the walls of the Jewish fraternity house Alpha Epsilon Pi at Emory University.  Police officers now stand guard outside the house in suburban Atlanta.

One could have asked the same question of Germans in the late-1930s, but what in the world have believers in the Jewish faith done to harm anyone on this earth ?  Have the perpetrators of anti-Semitism in Atlanta never been taught that  the Jews are God’s chosen people ?  “The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.” (Deuteronomy 7:6).  This was a solemn and permanent covenant between God and those of the Jewish faith.   And have these idiots in Atlanta never paged through the book of Revelation, which pretty clearly shows that, in the very end, the Jews win ?

I’m so glad that I’m not the judge, and secondly that I’m not judged fairly according to my sins and misdeeds, but how stupid is it to hate and attack those specifically picked out by God as His chosen ones forever ?  Give me their phone numbers so I can text them and warn them !                                    WHAT THE HECK !