By now, I’m sure you’ve heard about Radio ”shock jock” Don Imus and the fact that he apparently thinks the Rutgers women’s basketball team is comprised of ”nappy headed ho’s”.

And whether you think that is “funny” or not is subjective. If Ice Cube had said it, would we think it was funny? Imus’ sponsors didn’t think it was funny, and they jumped ship. Then MSNBC decided they wanted to distance themselves from the fire, and they bailed. Of course, that began the million man march of Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, et al, and now CBS has fired Don Imus from his radio show.

Wow. It’s amazing what one off the cuff comment will do to your reputation! To be fair, I’m not defending Imus. In fact, I’ve never once even listened to him. I do know that he and the Rutgers team have made up. I do know that he is well known for making disparaging comments that walk the racial and gender driven fine lines. That I do not excuse. But I also think it’s important to note that the man has held his job for over 30 years, and has raised tens of millions of dollars for charity from his annual radiothon. In fact, he opened his own charitable ranch for children suffering from cancer or serious blood disorders, and children who’ve lost brothers and sisters to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

The real question here is, has our society grown too sensitive? Has it gotten to the point that no-one can say anything without offending someone else? Some folks seem to think that it’s a condition that applies more specifically white males – even Charles Barkley commented as such on ESPN. To some degree, I have to agree. But I don’t know if it’s even that limited in scope. You decide.

As for Imus, I’m sure he’ll land on his feet on satellite radio, somewhere near Howard Stern.

I was honked at the other day, and it wasn’t my fault. What made it worse is that I was cursed at, too!

It was innocent on my part, really. I turned off the bridge into downtown and immediately slid into the lane that turns right onto the next street. The light was red at that intersection, but this intersection is different in that traffic moves both directions UP TO the intersection where I was sitting. After that, it becomes a one-way street, with traffic only allowed to proceed South-bound. Since I was heading North onto the two-way portion, I knew there would be no traffic coming from the other way (South). And since I was ON a one-way street facing west, I knew there would be no traffic from that direction, either. I looked into the intersection, saw nothing, and proceeded forward…

That’s when I heard something akin to a goose in a blender. HONKAHONKAHONKA! Wondering what the heck, I slammed the brakes in time to allow two idiots riding bicycles, on the crosswalk, heading the wrong direction on the one-way street, to pass in front of me. Thanks to the SUV next to me, I had not seen them coming. Luckily it was a warm day and I had my window down. The lady on the second bicycle proceeded to lambast me with words that would make a trucker blush. She was still mumbling and shooting me dirty looks as I got the green light and proceeded on.

There is nothing more annoying than being cursed by someone who is totally in the wrong. I wish I could have caught up with them and informed them that, when on bikes, they are NOT pedestrians and are subject to vehicular laws. Maybe I could have done something with that horn, too. But something tells me they wouldn’t have understood. Some people are just intended for the bottom of the food chain, and honking will only buy them time.

I was thinking yesterday about the big guy… you know, SC, aka Mr. Kringle. We were having a discussion at work about when you found out the “truth”, which turned to discussing how & when our kids would find out. One guy said he told his son when he was three (his son, that is)! We were a bit surprised. Now granted, it’s his choice. He said they discussed the history of SC and how the story came about. Which is fine, if 3-year-olds really understood history or for that matter cared about it. Again, his choice. Please understand that I am not criticizing his choice, so much as I am just disappointed in it.

You see, as we grow older there seems to be less in this world we can believe in. Science sets out to prove or disprove anything that appears to be a miracle. For whatever reason, as adults we seem to have an innate need for “proof” before we can believe. Not so as a kid. Your mom and dad tell you a big guy in a red suit flies around the world in the middle of the night, comes down your chimney with a sack of presents, and knows exactly what you want… and we believed it. Why? Well, of course we trusted our parents, and trusted they were telling us the truth. You better watch out and not pout, right? But there was also some magic in the whole story. Sort of a real-life fairy tale kind of thing. My kids don’t need to know the real status of SC, because they are kids. They believe because they can. And in that belief, well, we all find a little magic. It might not last long, but I’m going to enjoy it while I can.

Here’s hoping the cookies are oatmeal raisin, and the milk is still cold this Christmas.

The weather outside had been a little crazy, but it seemed we were in a lull. I looked outside to the west and could see sunshine. The map on the television showed more storms were headed our way, but for the moment we were in the clear. Certainly, I thought, I had at least a half hour before the next round hit. That should be enough time to run over to the grocery store and pick up my wife’s prescription. Our son was scheduled to be delivered the next morning via c-section, and she needed this picked up beforehand. I had plenty of time… or so it seemed.

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Among the things I’ll never understand are the ‘rituals” carried out by the followers of some religions. As a Christian, there are certainly certain rituals I take part in (such as communion), and for the most part they are healty. However, I just can’t fathom the acts taken by members of some religions that include self-mutilation.

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I was reading an article the other day about a recent AP Poll which presented that “People Link Income to Happiness“. According to the article “People who make more than $75,000 a year are far more likely than those who make $25,000 or less to say are “very satisfied” with their lives � 56 percent of the higher-income group compared with 24 percent of the lower-income group…”

Really!? You think?!

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Although I have often spoken in not-so-favorable ways about how technology has impacted our lives, I think it is important to note that I’m am NOT the next “unibomber”. I make my living on managing technology, and I firmly appreciate new things when they have an impact upon improving my quality of life. But too often these days, it seems we employ technology just for the sake of technology itself. The approach appears to be that if it’s new and good, it should be widely adapted asap — which isn’t always true.

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