After almost a full year of posts on topics ranging from sports to politics to social issues, I’m going to afford myself one annual rant about the fairer sex.  I now know what the term nauseous means, because a I am  feeling a simply horrible unsettled feeling in my gut as I sit upstairs at my desk.  Just had a new refrigerator delivered, replacing our perfectly good one that just happened to be eight years old.   The new specialized one cost three times (not two times) what the most expensive one I could possibly find in the Sunday newspaper ads could have set me back.

As I slinked down the stairs to see what new features our new refrigerator possessed, I was stunned to see what looked like our old refrigerator, which  I thought we sold yesterday on Craig’s List for peanuts, sitting there in the kitchen.  Same silvery color, same doors, same freezer compartment on the bottom, same size.    And when I opened the main compartment doors, it was laid out exactly the same as the old model.   It was as if a blind person bought this model to make it easy to remember where everything was located.

I thought at a minimum that soft drinks would flow from the front of the unit, or that I wouldn’t have to bend down to obtain ice cubes, or that it might spew out free popsicles. But no, it’s deva vu all over again !   What am I missing ?  Do I really want my food colder ?  What am I missing about females ?                           WHAT THE HECK !

I accidentally tuned in to the last ten laps of the Daytona 500 today, and I just don’t get it. Twenty two cars finished within twelve seconds of the eventual winner, and some dude named Allmendinger (apologies to his parents, but gee, change your name) finished in twentieth position, one spot ahead of the token female driver, Danica Patrick.  And before anyone challenges me for that sexist comment, remember that the last time she sniffed the winner’s circle was in a go-kart race at age ten against her brothers at the county fair.

Purists will say that twenty  cars within twelve seconds of the winner underscores the keen competitive level in the sport. I say it looks like a traffic jam of brightly colored vehicles driven by guys unable to make the big time.   Give me Formula 1 anyday.   Oops, gotta go and hear the winner tell a national audience how his # 22 Krispy Kreme, Firestone, Luv’s Adult Diapers, Fruit Loops,  Scientology fired Chevy ran hard on all its cylinders today, and to thank all the rednecks who managed to change his tires so efficiently.                              WHAT THE HECK !

I’m celebrating a birthday with a rather high number this weekend, and sometimes, between the achy back and failing eyesight, I’m not too upset with the progression of time. Today for example.  Tree hugging four- time Proglibocrat Oregon governor John Kitzhaber will be stepping down soon over some monetary conflicts of interest involving his girlfriend, Cylvia Hayes.  According to the New York Times, the two got together several years ago over “a shared passion for a low carbon energy future.”   Dreamy, huh ?    If indeed I am so out of the love loop that such things are really occurring today between members of the opposite sex,  then I am so thankful that I was born in the 1950’s and came together with the fairer sex for an assortment of way-more-fun reasons.   WHAT THE HECK !     I’ll throw out a wild guess that, at least from Governor Kitzhaber’s perspective, his motives had more to do with a 20 year gap in age than with his desire to save the planet !

Yesterday, angry mobs of public union workers (a phrase I find to border on oxymoronic) loudly demonstrated at the home of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s parents’ suburban home.  Yes, I said his parents home for goodness sake.  Imagine for a moment being in your late 70s or early 80s, and having your holiday disturbed by sign-waving, marching, megaphone shouting kooks on the street in front of your house.  Yes, everyone knows that public unions detest the governor of Wisconsin, probably because he had the courage to defy and fight their ridiculous demands over the past five years.  I come from a union family, but I get increasingly peeved  particularly at public union leaders and their members greedily trying to get more than their piece of the pie at everyone else’s expense. And to push for it at  Granny’s house ???????

I just hope that the Lord takes me before some assortment of teachers, municipal workers, firefighters, etc. make fools of themselves in my neighborhood, or in front of my local high school.  It will indeed be worth a few nights in jail to raise a little hell !    WHAT THE HECK !

In ancient times, last century, schoolchildren and workers alike celebrated the birthdays of the father of our country (February 22) and the President with the most “stones” (February 12).  Yes, at that time our nation felt that the accomplishments of these two historical leaders warranted two separate and important holidays.   Now we have Presidents’ Day, when we are to celebrate the feats of such hallowed presidencies as those of Grover Cleveland, Jimmy Carter and Herbert Hoover (just to spread the politics around).   In my Florida county (Hillsborough), there was no school holiday, and many businesses remained open.

Now I’m going to get into trouble.  Too bad !     We take the day off to celebrate a Spaniard who accidentally discovered the Americas in the 17th century.   And before anyone calls me a racist, I am in awe of the racial mending process put into place by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., both in speech and in deed in the 1960s, but can anyone tell me with a straight face that Abraham Lincoln is less deserving of a holiday for his deeds (for those living in Birdsboro, think Civil War, 13th Amendment, Gettysburg Address) in righting a horrible wrong in our country ?   Just because his actions took place in the 1860s doesn’t make them any less notable.

Did you ever wonder what message we are sending out to our schoolchildren, studying their little hearts out yesterday in Hillsborough County, regarding the role of history in their education ?      Thankfully the sun has set once again on my least favorite holiday.                                    WHAT THE HECK !

A Faustian bargain refers to the medieval legend of Faust, who made a contract with the devil, exchanging his soul for worldly gain.  Modern day Faustian bargains are being made by the scientific community.  In a wonderfully written piece by Daniel Henninger in the WSJ this week, it is  suggested that any scientific cause championed by politicians is subject to capitulation from the scientific community in exchange for money in the form of tenure, scholarships and grants (worldly goods).    Three years ago when global warming morphed into climate change, egged on by Al Gore and Bill Clinton and Kofi Annan,  it was a sad sign that the debate was being waged by politicians, and not scientists.

When such politicians front the idea, and lead the charge to defame or defund scientists that fail to fall into line, a Faustian temptation has been manifested.   Scientists either fall in line, and receive the goodies in the form of grants or appointments, or face public and professional humiliation for their integrity.   I just scratch my head when the local meteorologist fails to accurately predict heavy rains tomorrow, yet our leaders want us to fundamentally change our habits based on forecasts of the impact of changes in climate forty years from now.      Think I will just keep recycling, driving more fuel efficient cars, and voting for legislators who pledge to work hard to force industry to use the abundant resources we are blessed with in an ever  increasingly efficient and clean way.                     WHAT THE HECK !

I just finished watching the 2006 film, Idiocracy, for about the sixth time.  The movie, starring Luke Wilson and Maya Rudolph, displays the results of decades of personal enlightenment, political correctness, political corruption, and the dumbing down of educational processes, all of which result in a uniformly unthinking society absent intellectual curiosity, social responsibility, faith in anything beyond oneself, and general stupidity.   The movie was  recommended to me by my wise niece, who I I believe uses the flick to periodically cleanse her brain.  The society in the movie suggests a possible path that we may be embarked upon today.

I needed to watch it before celebrating today’s 1st annual Global Divestment Day, a two day, multi-city attempt by climate activists  to cajole university endowment fund managers into divesting all fossil fuel related equities.  Advocates of this investing strategy suggest that there will be little or no impact on long term total portfolio returns, or if they are wrong, that you will  at least be considered  a  really cool climatologist.

The stunning part is that several major university endowments have, or are seriously considering the group’s advocacy.    But now that I’ve re-viewed Idiocracy, it just seems to fit in with the direction of our culture.   Global Divestment Day would be a perfect add-in to the movie.                            WHAT THE HECK !

This story is a little dated (September, 2014) , but political correctness seems not to have a statute of limitations.  California’s Ventura High School, in preparation for the school’s Fall football campaign, decided to ban the football booster club from selling Chick-fil-A sandwiches at home games.  Principal Val Wyatt stated, “With their political stance on gay rights and because the students of Ventura High School and their parents would be at the events, I didn’t want them (Chick-fil-A) on campus.   Superintendant Trudy Tuttle Ariaga summed up the position of the correctness cops, saying, “We value inclusivity and diversity on our campus, and all our events and activities are going to adhere to our mission”.

Hmmm, where in the inclusivity guidebook is the part about limiting free speech ?   And why is it that the cultural preachers of inclusivity and diversity seem to often be the least inclusive and the least diverse of all ?    To me , this isn’t about gay rights; one could substitute any number of topics for the bone of Principal Wyatt’s contention.  It is about a small, smug, self-appointed group of Proglibocrats that we as a society are allowing to dictate what we say and what we think.    Stop them, they’re soft anyway. !                           WHAT THE HECK !

Who exactly votes each week for the top 25 college basketball teams ?   Are they knowledgable, honorable sports pundits with a few miles on their pencils, or just a bunch of uneducated, lazy sportswriters with assorted axes to grind.   And yes, I admit, this is not the most crucial issue of the day, but, what the heck, it’s my blog, and I’m ticked off !

What squeezes my cheeks is the fact that the fraternal order of sportswriters places the Gonzaga Zags as the #2 team in the nation, with victories over Texas Southern, Cal Poly, Portland (not the NBA Trailblazers), Pacific, and two barnburners against Santa Clara.  The Zags’ only venture into the ranked world this season resulted in a loss to Arizona.  Where is Gonzaga located, anyway ?

Beneath that lofty ranking, at #3, are the Virginia Cavaliers, with victories so far over an assortment of ranked teams including North Carolina, Maryland, VCU, Notre Dame, and tonight Louisville.   Not only is the record clearly superior to the Zags (what is a Zag ?), but the Cavaliers actually seek these lofty heights while at the same time attending normal classes and taking tests/exams without assistance (sorry for the cheap jab, UNC).  So again, why is Gonzaga #2 and U.Va. #3 ?                                        WHAT THE HECK !