From the "For What It's Worth" Department.....A few random thoughts that recently invaded the otherwise vacant space inside my skull:
Ø Didn't every Senator and Representative sitting in Congress take some kind of oath pledging to uphold the Constitution and protect the best interests of the United States? Then how is it that 26 Senators (26 %) and 161 Representatives (37 %) could possibly think that it was in this nation's best interest to go into default on our credit obligations? That is exactly what they implied by voting "NO" on the Debt Ceiling Compromise legislation at the midnight hour on August 1 and 2. Seems to me that impeachment procedures would be in order for each of these 187 whining adolescents who think that the word "compromise" is the unpardonable sin. All I can say is: I hope these poor saps aren't married. I have yet to see a marriage succeed without mutual compromise.
Ø Along that same line, possessing a driver's license is a privilege. It is not a right. One must prove the ability to drive safely and the maturity to respect all traffic laws. Therefore, if somebody had the courage to propose legislation that a person convicted of Driving Under the Influence (DUI) of either alcohol or any illegal substance would automatically be barred from possessing a driver's license for, say, five years minimum, I would be supportive of it. If they caused a fatal accident while driving under the influence, a lifetime ban from sitting behind the wheel would be in order. For comparison, Pete Rose is banned, for life, from any association with major league baseball. This includes a lifetime ban from membership in the sacred shrine known as the Baseball Hall of Fame. Why? Because he is accused of having placed wagers on baseball while manager of the Cincinnati Reds. For the record, Pete Rose has more career hits in professional baseball than any other athlete in the history of the game. That, in itself, should give him an automatic ticket to Cooperstown. Yet he is banned for life - - and he was never even convicted, only accused.
Ø I live in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch Country. Every day as I drive to work I see between 6 and 12 horse-drawn Amish or Mennonite carriages, as they refer to them. We "English-speaking" people usually refer to them as buggies. This is accompanied by another 6-8 plain Mennonites on bicycles. Then I get to repeat the experience on my way home in the late afternoon. To some it is a foolish and irrational obstruction; a traffic accident begging to happen. But I have to tip my hat to the "plain people". They are among the bravest humans I know. I don't think I could ever have the courage to be at the reigns of a horse that is pulling me in a flimsy carriage while we are pulling out into maddening traffic on PA 23 or US 322. Sadly, too many drivers around here have no respect for these neighbors of ours.
Ø One more thought on driving..... How can a person own a car without any auto insurance? In Pennsylvania a car owner has to disclose their auto insurance carrier on their annual registration renewal application. Now, I am no genius, but if they cannot list any insurance how can they possibly receive an valid registration? Doesn't anybody check to see if the policy that is listed is in fact current and genuine? Duh......
Ø For years I have joked that I wish I could be a meteorologist (aka a weatherman). It’s the only job I know of where you can be wrong 70 % of the time and come back the next day with a perfectly believable explanation as to why you were wrong. Well guess what? I was wrong! I finally thought of another job with an even poorer success performance: BASEBALL! Think of it: a great baseball hitter today is one who has a batting average of .300. That means they make an out 70 % of the time. In other words, they FAIL 70 % of the time. How difficult is it to only fail 70 % of the time in baseball? Apparently its pretty tough. The Philadelphia Phillies currently have the best record in all of the Major Leagues (I just had to point that out, since I am a big Phillies Phan!) yet they only have two batters as of this writing who have failed less that 70 % of the time. 23 of the 25 players on the team are hitting below .300. And the two who are above that mark? Newly acquired Hunter Pence is batting .347 (34.7 % success rate) and Shane Victorino is batting .312 (31.2 % success rate). And people are calling this the greatest Phillies Team of all time??? Maybe success is measured by the salaries these guys make!
Ø Another baseball thought: Last summer Roy Halliday pitched only the second perfect game in the long, one hundred and twenty-eight year history of the team. Yet I propose to you that there is no such thing as a perfect game in baseball. For the record, baseball rules declare a pitcher's efforts to be "perfect" if he only faces 28 batters and he successfully gets all 28 of them "out". No runs, no hits, no walks, no errors, no hit-batsman - - nothing. Yet in the truest sense of the word, no game is perfect because to date, no pitcher could possibly throw a strike every time. Yet anything less than this would have to fall shy of perfection. For comparison, take a look at bowling. A perfect game at the "alley" is defined as 12 strikes - - or a score of 300 (there's that number again!!) There is no room for errors. Every time you release the ball it goes exactly where you want it to go and it is a strike. Every pin falls down every time. Absolutely no margin for errors. That's perfection. Yet a so-called perfect game in baseball involves an untold number of balls as opposed to strikes. Even though he may not have walked the batter by pitching a total of four balls during the "at bat", still he did not throw the ball exactly to where he wanted. In other words, there is a small margin of error permitted. Hence, I declare there is no such thing as a truly "Perfect" game in baseball.
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