Is God A Coward?!?

After a headline like the one above, an appropriate response might be, "And a Merry Christmas to YOU (me), too!!!"

I wasn't going to write a blog today or next Wednesday because of the holidays, but a paid for advertisement on the front page of today's Los Angeles Daily News and a Christmas joke sent by one of this blog's readers made me decide to write a short blog today, no blog next Wednesday and back to business as usual on January 6th.

The headline I wrote above, "Is God A Coward?" is the word for word headline in the paid advertisement on the front page of today's L.A. Daily News. And here comes what was written under that headline; "Suppose......There was this really bad guy holding a gun on both you and your kid with no way to escape. He then tells you that he intends to shoot and kill only one of you, either you or your kid, with the choice being yours entirely. What would you do?

In a blink, most parents would scream, 'Kill ME, kill ME, not my KID!!!'

So why didn't our Heavenly Father die for our sins himself, but rather allowed his son, Jesus, to die for us instead?

In a blink, the Father would have eagerly died for our sins, rather than permit his obedient Son to be killed on the cross for us. The reason he didn't is that our redemption REQUIRED the absolute ultimate sacrifice for our sins, which gets no greater than a parent watching their child be murdered, all the while with unlimited power to stop it.

COWARD? Hardly. HERO? Totally.

'For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.'

John 3:16

Merry Christmas, G.R."

I have no idea who this G.R. person is. Underneath the G.R., is this email address; toyvention@gmail.com

Now let's examine G.R.'s premise. Giving up our kid as opposed to giving up ourselves would be considered to be HEROIC? Yeah, I know there's a religious hook to that premise, buuuut...

With all due respect to "believer" G.R. and all other believers, I don't think that would be the heroic move at all. I'd be saving my KID!

All that we know about John 3:16 is that it's in a book. A book requiring faith when it comes to believing what's written because there's no actual proof. Muslims buy into what they're told is in a book, too. About a whole bunch of virgins waiting for them if they choose to die for "the cause". Faith. And maybe what's in THEIR book is true, TOO!

THOUGHTS OR COMMENTS ABOUT THIS? scottstjames@sbcglobal.net

I told you this would be a short blog...

Views and thoughts about two new films are next and I'll close with a Christmas joke.

Tuesday, I saw the new James Cameron film, "Avatar". This is Cameron's first film since "Titanic".

"Avatar" is almost three hours long, but it had my attention the whole way. A couple of "bad-ass" characters almost steal this film. Colonel Miles Quartich, who is played by, Stephen Lang and the baddest big bird in the world, ridden by the hero of this film, is a bird that gives a new definition for the word, "ferocious".

We are told that it cost a lot of money to make this film and you can certainly how the money was spent and you can see the great effort that was put into making this film.

But "Titanic", it AIN'T!

I believe that "Avatar" is worth the price of a ticket, but "Avatar" is not a film I would have interest in watching twice.

Today, I saw the film, "Up In The Air".

I don't know anyone who doesn't like George Clooney because he is a humanitarian, seems to be a great guy and a guy most people would enjoy being in the company of, but is he a bona fide movie "star", or is he a movie "personality"?

Big difference in the two terms.

I LOVED Clooney in the film "Out of Sight" and I especially loved the sexual chemistry between Clooney and Jennifer Lopez. "Out of Sight" came out in 1998. I don't think Clooney has had chemistry like that with a woman in a movie SINCE 1998. UNTIL "Up In The Air" and the sexual chemistry Clooney has with Vera Farmiga and good chemistry of a different kind, with Anna Kendrick.

"Up In The Air", directed terrifically by Jason Reitman, is a film for adults because it's about adult issues. Like the pain of losing your job and in two cases, the pain of losing what may have been the loves of their lives. Pop quiz: Do you remember the love of YOUR life? If you're lucky, you married her or him or are still dating him or her. But there's a good chance you're dating or married to someone else.

Anyway, in "Up In The Air", we feel the pain others are feeling when they lose their jobs and we feel the lost dignity that often goes with the taking away of our jobs. And in "Up In The Air", that loss of job, coupled with loss of dignity, is brilliantly portrayed by actor Steve Eastin who happens to be a friend of mine and who is also one of Los Angeles' finest acting teachers.

The very fine actor, J.K. Simmons is also very effective as a guy who wonders if maybe all hope is lost for him until the Clooney character shows the Simmons character some "light" at the end of the dark tunnel Simmons has imagined for himself. Another one of many marvelous scenes in "Up In The Air", buuuuut, please don't get me wrong....

This is not just a "Woe is me!" film. Not at all. You'll laugh a lot, too. But when this film ends, if you don't find yourself lost in thought, you need to see the film again.

And yes, "Up In The Air" is a film I WANT to see again.

One final thought...George Clooney, welcome back! You're more than a movie "personality" again!

AND NOW, THE CHRISTMAS JOKE...

Blog reader and writing friend, Patrick Gallagher sent me a joke and I laughed out loud at this joke's punch line. I hope this has the same effect on you.

This is titled, "To God", and it goes like this.....

There was a man who worked for the Post Office whose job was to process all the mail that had illegible addresses.

One day, a letter came addressed in a shaky handwriting to God with no actual address. The postal worker thought he should open it to see what it was about.

The letter read:

Dear God,

I am an 83-year old widow, living on a very small pension.

Yesterday, someone stole my purse. It had $100 in it, which was all the money I had until my next pension payment.

This Friday is Christmas, and I had invited two of my friends over for dinner. Without that money, I have nothing to buy food with, have no family to turn to, and you are my only hope. Can you please help me?

Sincerely, Edna.

The postal worker was touched. He showed the letter to all the other workers. Each one dug into his or her wallet and came up with a few dollars.

By the time he made the rounds, he had collected $96, which they put into an envelope and sent to the woman.

The rest of the day, all the workers felt a warm glow thinking of Edna and the dinner she would be able to share with her friends.

Christmas came and went.

A few days later, another letter came from the same old lady (Edna) to God.

All the workers gathered around while the letter was opened.

It read:

Dear God,

How can I ever thank you enough for what you did for me?

Because of your gift of love, I was able to fix a glorious dinner for my friends. We had a very nice day and I told my friends of your wonderful gift.

By the way, there was $4 missing.

I think it might have been those bastards at the post office.

Sincerely, Edna.


THOUGHTS AND OR COMMENTS? Write to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net. I respond to every email that is sent to this address. Don't write to the blog, because there's no way for me to know your email address so I won't be able to respond to you. All "anonymous" emails are ignored.

THE NEXT BLOG?

Wednesday (late afternoon or evening), January 6th.

MERRY AND HAPPY, EVERYONE!!!

2010 HAS to be a HELL of a lot better than 2009 has been!!!

DOESN'T it?!?

If The Financial Institutions and the Health Insurance People AREN'T Reined In, We Will Definitely Have GREAT DEPRESSION TWO!!!

I know, most people would rather read about Tiger Woods. And later in this blog, you'll be able to read the "latest" and at the end of this blog, you'll be able to read a new joke about Tiger Woods.

But right now, let's get deadly serious about the condition of our country, The United States Of America.

Deregulation began during the Reagan years. Unlike most of the talk show hosts you hear or watch, I actually knew President Reagan. He did a couple of big favors for me and I was a big believer in his policies. Someone much smarter than me once said, "Hindsight is 20/20!" and my hindsight tells me President Reagan was wrong. President Clinton gave us NAFTA and he was responsible for passing the law (or whatever it was/is) that has virtually destroyed the radio business and may yet destroy the over the air television business as we know it. Those businesses were the victims of more deregulation.

President George W. Bush presided over the passage of the "Prescription Drug Benefit" and also the "Pulling the plug on Grandma" argument that Republican lawmakers scream about now. A contingent of a virtual Hall of Fame group of current Republican senators were wildly in favor of both things, but to hear them now barking like wounded dogs now, you'd think otherwise.

Most recently, it was the Republican leadership that got us into the financial mess we're in, but during the Clinton years, President Clinton was whacha call "an aider and an abettor" of policies that helped lead us to the financial mess we're in now. Before that, it was President Reagan.

When President Obama was elected, he inherited two wars and a recession that was dangerously close to "depression" status.

Do I think what President Obama has done so far is the kind of stuff that will get us out of this mess sooner, rather than later?

NO I DON'T!!!

First of all, I think he spends too much time on television shows. I would rather that he, behind closed doors, grabbed Generals, Senators and Congressmen and women by their shirt collars and instead of being "Mr. Charming", is an out and out asshole. He needs to tell Generals that HE'S the By God, Commander in Chief and the next time one of 'em pops off in public before talking to HIM, the President, that General is gonna wake up the next morning being one star short of the stars he had before he got stupid and somehow thought he outranked the President.

President Obama also needs to (again, behind closed doors) tell Senators and Congressmen and women that HE, President Obama, doesn't CARE about the money they've gotten from lobbyists that will help those Senators and Congress folks get reelected because what we (as a country) are facing is a financial crisis of the very first order and we must ALL "keep our eyes on the prize" and concentrate on FIXING this thing.

I know, it wouldn't do him any good to do that to Republican office holders because they're simply hell bent on being unreasonable obstructionists. But President Obama CAN approach Democrat office holders this way and he should.

ENOUGH OF THE "NICE GUY ACT", MR. PRESIDENT. BE AN ASSHOLE!

Behind closed doors, of course but for us to avoid "Great Depression Two", we absolutely have to have clear goals established regarding these two very expensive wars he inherited. We also absolutely have to be sure the financial institutions are on a tight leash and that the health insurance industry gets their feet put to the fire.

It's called REGULATION, folks! DEREGULATION is sending us to the POOR HOUSE!!!

These outrageous bonuses that financial institutions give their executives is with money that we, the taxpayers gave them and it's time for this nonsense to stop permanently. There should be NO financial institution that should be considered to be "TOO IMPORTANT TO FAIL"!

If you fail (financial institution), "SEE YA! DON'T WANNA BE YA!"

We absolutely DO need serious health care reform. The health insurance companies are bleeding us dry. THIS SIMPLY CANNOT CONTINUE! If it does, the financial mess we're in NOW will look great compared to what will happen if WE DON'T CHANGE THE WAY WE'RE ALLOWING THESE HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANIES TO OPERATE!

This is NOT a Democrat/Republican issue! It's not! It's a SURVIVAL issue! OUR survival! The financial survival of the United States of America!

WHEW!!!

TIGER WOODS!!!

Before telling you the latest about Tiger, I'd like to give you a quote. And thank you, Newsweek magazine for reminding me of this.

W. Somerset Maugham once said, "It is dangerous to let the public behind the scenes. They are easily disillusioned and then they are angry with you, for it was the illusion they loved."

That quote reminds ME of Tiger Woods!

The very latest, as of the late evening of December 16, is that Tiger's wife, Elin plans to divorce him. This is being confirmed by (among others) ABC News, NBC News and People magazine.

She has been seen without her wedding ring and she is not living with Tiger.

The gossip website TMZ is reporting that Elin is negotiating a marketing deal with Puma, which is a rival of Nike, which is Tiger's biggest sponsor.

ABC is reporting that Elin will take her time regarding the divorce because, "She wants all the dirty laundry to be out on the table before she signs anything."

KA-CHING!!! AS IN...."YOU'RE GONNA SHOW ME THE MONEY, BIG BOY!!! LOTS OF MONEY!!!

Meanwhile, US magazine is reporting that Tiger has remained in contact with Rachel Uchitel and that he has paid Uchitel three million dollars to keep quiet. US magazine is also reporting that Tiger and Uchitel are currently together in West Palm Beach, Florida, where she has family and Tiger has a 22-million dollar yacht named "Privacy".

The amount of women Tiger reportedly cheated on Elin with? At least 14.

Sudden thought: Ms. Rachel Uchitel is considered to be quite the "playah" her ownself, so one wonders if Tiger considers her (for lack of a better term) a "heavenly connection" during his time of strife or is he looking at her as an "equal" as in, "She's my soulmate! She sleeps with as many people as I do!"

Brief Entertainment Stuff...

Another terrific episode of "The Good Wife" on CBS last night, the 15th. Now, like all the other weekly shows, "The Good Wife" will be on hiatus for a few weeks.

Two terrific season ending episodes were on Showtime this past Sunday. "Californication" left us with a fun to wonder about cliffhanger regarding fidelity and sex with a minor, but the season ending episode of "Dexter" was a real shocker at the very end when we discovered that Dexter's wife had been murdered before Dexter murdered that murderer.

Confusing? Not if you're a fan of that show. And I am!

Okay...Enough about cheating husbands, serial killers and our horrible economy.

Bill Mouzis. 93/KHJ Boss Radio legendary engineer, reader of this blog, WWII decorated veteran and a man I'm proud to call a friend. Bill sent me a Christmas holiday appropriate story that I would like to share with you.

We'll call this story, "Little Johnny".

It's the last day of school prior to the Christmas break. The students have turned in all their work and there is really nothing more to do. They're restless, so the teacher decides to have a quiz to allow some of the students to leave early.

Teacher: "Whoever answers the questions I ask, first and correctly, can leave early today."

Little Johnny, sitting in the back of the classroom in his crisply starched Levis, ironed white t-shirt and his Michael Jordan shoes, says to himself, "Good, I wanna get out of here. I'm smart and I can answer the questions."

Teacher: "Who said 'Four Score and Seven Years Ago'?"

Before Johnny can open his mouth, Susie says, "Abraham Lincoln."

Teacher: That's right Susie, you can go home."

Little Johnny is mad that Susie answered the question first.

Teacher: Who said 'I Have a Dream'?"

Before Johnny can open his mouth, Mary says, "Martin Luther King."

Teacher: "That's right Mary, you can go."

Little Johnny is even madder than before.

Teacher: "Who said 'Ask not, what your country can do for you...'?"

Before Johnny can open his mouth, Nancy says, "John F. Kennedy."

Teacher: "That's right Nancy, you may also leave."

Little Johnny is boiling mad that he has not been able to give the answer to any of the questions.

When the teacher turns her back, Johnny says, "I wish these bitches would keep their mouths shut!"

The teacher turns around and hollers, "Now WHO said THAT?"

Little Johnny: "TIGER WOODS!!! See ya next year!!!"


QUESTIONS AND OR COMMENTS?

Write to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net If you write to the blog, there is no way for me to know your email address, so I won't be able to respond to you. When you write to scottstjames@sbcglobal.net, I write back to everyone. Those who write anonymous emails are ignored.

THE NEXT BLOG?

Because Christmas is 9 days from now and New Year's is right after that, I might not write a new blog until January 6th.

But on the other hand, I might write a new one next Wednesday evening, December 23rd. If I do, then that one will be my last one until January 6th.

If I don't write a new blog next Wednesday, I want to (now) wish you a Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukkah and a very Happy New Year! Hopefully, 2010 will be much better for all of us.

9/11? President George W. Bush, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and General Tommy Franks were Absolute FAILURES!!!

One day, the whole history of 9/11 will be written. 9/11 involved a group of (mostly) Saudi Muslims who attacked the United States and murdered more than 3,000 of our citizens. This barbaric plot was put together by a tall, skinny, ugly Muslim named Osama bin Laden. The Bush administration promised to do everything possible to "get" Bin Laden. Dead or alive. More than once, the observation was made by me that "bringing his head back on a stick" would be acceptable.

When President Bush first learned about planes crashing into New York towers, he was with children in a classroom setting. Witnesses describe President Bush losing color in his face and looking "zombie-like". I have no problem with President Bush's immediate reaction. I mean, who figures this is going to happen? And after his initial shock had subsided, President Bush obviously knew that he was going to have to do something because he's the President of the United States, for crying out loud.

We sent troops to Afghanistan because our intelligence people said (and have been proven to have been correct) that Bin Laden was hiding in caves and tunnels in eastern Afghanistan at an area called, Tora Bora, just a few miles from the Pakistan border.

The above paragraph is in a report recently released by our Foreign Relations Committee and Bin Laden's location was authenticated by the U.S. Special Operations Command. What does the Special Operations Command do? They're responsible for the activities of Delta Force, the Green Berets, Navy Seals, etc.

You can look up this report and read it for yourself, but the bottom line is this; Because of what appear to have been political considerations, General Tommy Franks, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and President Bush refused to give the "full speed ahead" order and instead handed it off to what are described as "unreliable Afghan and Pakistani allies".

Afghan and Pakistani ALLIES? Did the Bush White House really BELIEVE we had ALLIES in Afghanistan and Pakistan? If so, they were dumber than I thought they were and all along I've felt they were pretty dumb. But now I'm thinking that maybe they were ROCK dumb!

So here's what we ended up doing. We never got Bin Laden, we pretty much did next to nothing in Afghanistan (but we didn't leave), we came up with a phony excuse involving WMD's (weapons of mass destruction) and a phony Saddam Hussein-9/11 connection and attacked Iraq.

I'm not going to repeat a bunch of stuff I've written in the past about the massive amount of mistakes that were made by Rumsfeld, Franks and President Bush, but this latest report about the missed opportunity to get Osama bin laden in December of 2001 leads me to believe without question that when the total historical narrative has been published about the consequences of 9/11, President George W. Bush, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and General Tommy Franks will go down in history as having been ABSOLUTE FAILURES!!!


And Speaking of Muslim Terrorists...

Did you read that story about all the "home grown" Muslim terrorists our intelligence officials are discovering. "Home grown" as in Muslims who are born HERE!!! I'm a freedom of religion supporter, but if it looks like we're allowing/tolerating a religion that appears to be worse than a worshiping of the Devil kind of religion, are we still supposed to be "tolerant"?

Just asking.

ONE MORE THING ABOUT AFGHANISTAN...

Remember when President Obama said he was sending the additional 30,000 troops and would (in essence) begin withdrawing from Afghanistan in July of 2011? If so, you might also remember me writing that I didn't believe him.

Now we're told there's a good chance we're going to be there for an additional 15 to 20 YEARS, if not longer.

Meanwhile, writers to the Letters to the Editor of newspapers and magazines along with some columnists are bringing up a subject you've read about here! They're saying what I've been saying and that's if these wars are so damned important for ALL Americans, why is it that less than a fraction of 1% of all Americans are doing all the fighting? In other words, if these wars are THAT important, why don't we reinstate THE MILITARY DRAFT?!?


Tiger Woods...

How many women have come forward? 10? 12? Still counting?

Here's what's scarier for Tiger. When's the last time you saw a commercial he's in? Before he ran over the fire hydrant, crashed into a tree and was either rescued by his golf club swinging wife or assaulted by his golf club swinging wife, there were (at least) four current commercials he was in.

But while his net worth has gone down, his wife's net worth has gone up. Way up!

Tiger Woods is a guy.....

Let me start over....

Does anyone have any idea about how this might all play out for Tiger? I certainly don't. I mean, he could bounce back and be the forceful golfer he's always been and someone who's (again) loved by the masses, ORRRR....The Tiger Woods story could have a Shakespearean type ending that's worse than anyone would imagine.

ENTERTAINMENT STUFF...

Because of the upcoming holidays, a lot of television shows are showing reruns, but a few are still showing original episodes.

The season ending episode of "Dexter" will be shown on Showtime this Sunday. I love that show and this has been another great season for "Dexter". Great, great performance by this season's "bad guy" who has been played wonderfully by John Lithgow.

Tonight's episode of "Glee" will be the last new episode for a few months. There will be a new episode of that terrific new show, "The Good Wife" next Tuesday on CBS, but (for a while) there won't be new episodes of (among others) "Flash Forward", "Mercy", "House", "Desperate Housewives" and "Brothers & Sisters".

This past Sunday, "Desperate Housewives" and "Brothers & Sisters" left us with cliffhangers to contemplate until sometime in January.

Speaking of January, isn't that when the new seasons of "24" and "American Idol" will begin?

QUESTIONS AND OR COMMENTS? Write to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net. I respond to everyone. Don't write to the blog because there is no way for me to see your email address so it becomes impossible for me to respond to you. If you write and ask that I not mention your name, no problem. Your request will be granted. But if you write as an anonymous person because you don't have the courage of your convictions, you will be ignored.

THE NEXT BLOG?

Unless something unforseen comes up, a week from today which will be the evening of December 16.

Tiger Woods and his B.O.G.'s!!!

Didn't Tiger Woods learn anything when he saw what happened to Michael Jordan? Not to mention any number of other guys he could have learned something from. Guys like him (Tiger), who because of the charmed life they've lived, begin to believe they're (he's) BULLETPROOF!!!

Oh, in case you hadn't heard, Tiger Woods has apparently been having sexual relations with women who aren't his wife. Big, big story about it in the December 14 issue of Us Weekly.

During most of the last 30+ years, I've lived in the Los Angeles area. And before taking a shot at acting, I was seen on television every night here while performing duties as a sports anchor. Trust me...If you're a guy who's on television every night ANYWHERE, it's not hard to get a date. When you're on television every night in Los Angeles (HOLLYWOOD), it's pretty darn easy. Being a visible minor celebrity (like I was) is like catnip to a breed of cat I came up with a name for that became (in my circle of friends) a nickname. "B.O.G.'s". When you say it outloud, it's, "Bog's" As in "BEST OFFER GIRLS".

If "hooking up" with some of the most attractive women on the planet was easy for a minor celebrity like me, how easy do you think it is for someone like TIGER WOODS?

Hold on, now! Before I go any further, let me be real clear here. I was single during my "Bog" days and in NO way am I condoning adultery. But I'm also not going to judge people who do "stray". If you get caught by an angry spouse, a few things can happen and most of 'em are whacha call, bad! Like getting the crap kicked out of you which might have happened to Tiger. Or getting shot. Or losing everything you've worked hard for in a divorce! And specifically in Tiger's case, a hit to an "image" you've cultivated for yourself.

A guy like Tiger HAS to be "on guard" when deciding to play with a "B.O.G." I mean, he's a very famous guy. This Jaimee Grubbs person apparently had an off and on affair with Tiger for 31 months. And then when SHE felt like SHE was being "cheated on", went to Us Weekly and got herself a very nice payday for telling her story. Hmmm....What kind of girl might do THAT?!? Hmmmm.....A "Best Offer Girl"? Ya think?!?

To verify her story, Bog Jaimee Grubbs had a collection of almost 300 text messages from Tiger, messages that in some cases were sexual in nature.

TIGER WOODS WENT TO STANFORD!!! Smart, SMART guy! But after he was through having himself some "strange", he got as dumb as our L.A. Mayor did and any number of other guys who suddenly don't think with their head(s) above their neck(s), but in fact, are only thinking with the head that's behind the zipper of their pants.

GUYS....And this goes for you gals, too....Long before email, twitter, texting and all the other modern ways to send messages, you had to hand write your message on a piece of paper and mail it or hand deliver it. I bring this up because of something I learned a long time ago from a poet who wrote the following lines; "Say it with flowers, say it with mink, but never, EVER, say it with INK!"

Do you understand what I mean by that? If not, write to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net and I'll do my best to explain it better for you.


PRESIDENT OBAMA IS WRONG!!!

I've said it before and I'll say it again; I'm a lifetime Republican who voted for Barack Obama. He's the first Democrat I've ever voted for.

I think he's dead wrong about the Afghanistan business. If he wants to authorize a full bore assault into Pakistan to get Osama bin Laden, I would support that. But this Afghanistan business is crazy! It's an "outlaw land" that the Russians couldn't change and we won't be able to change it, either. And when President Obama says we'll be out of there in 18 months, I don't believe him. I think we're going to end up being stuck having who knows how many troops there for a long, long time.

Senator John McCain has been popping off about how an arbitrary withdrawal date (a stated 18 months from now) is bad because (according to McCain), "The way you win wars is to break the enemy's will."

I read that, take a deep breath and am immediately aware that when a long time McCain supporter who is also a long time reader of this blog and a long time friend of mine reads what I'm about to write, he will get angry, buuuut.....

"The way you win wars is to break the enemy's will."??? And you know this because you've been on the winning side, how many times, Senator McCain? In fact, Senator McCain, like former President George W. Bush is a guy who has "daddy issues". As in, neither one of 'em lived up to their daddy's expectations and in McCain's case, it was a daddy and a granddaddy. Guys who became BIG time Navy Admirals who held very important war command positions. When you clear away the dust, John McCain barely graduated from Annapolis, because he was a reckless pilot he crashed close to 6 planes before his final crash which turned him into professional prisoner of war. What he had to endure as a POW is not to be sneezed at. I can't imagine what that was like. Physically, emotionally and spiritually. But to try to characterize Senator John McCain as a war expert or leader of any kind is a serious stretch of one's imagination.

Personal note: Sorry, McSid.

OTHER STUFF...

In the December 7 issue of Newsweek, columnist Jon Meacham's headline is, "Why Dick Cheney Should Run In 2012".

In last week's blog, I told you there's been a lot of (quiet) talk about this possibility.

Cheney against Obama in 2012? As Meacham points out, "A contest between Dick Cheney and Barack Obama would offer us a bracing referendum on competing visions."

Hard to argue with that, huh? I invite you to read the whole column.

In the December 7 issue of Time, columnist Nancy Gibbs headline is, "The Gospel of Glee. Is the breakout TV show anti-Christian or replete with teachable moments?

I've mentioned this show before. It's "must see" television for me and in less than 3 hours from now, I'll see the new episode of "Glee" which airs Wednesday nights on Fox at 9pm, 8pm Central. After next Wednesday's "Glee", it won't return until April. I think that's because of "American Idol".

And how about all the publicity the new film, "The Blind Side" is getting. Lots and lots of columns have been written about this film because critics seem to be surprised about how big of a hit it has become. As I wrote last week, I LOVED "The Blind Side".

FINALLY....

Charlie O'Donnell is a long time friend of mine. He is also the long time announcer on the television show, "Wheel of Fortune".

I mention this because Charlie sent me an essay that I would like to share with you. An essay titled, "Urine or You're Out".

And it goes like this...

"Like most folks in this country who work, they get paid, pay taxes and the government distributes the taxes as it sees fit. In order to get that paycheck though, the worker is required to pass a random urine test (which is no problem).
The problem is when the distribution of the taxes go to people who don't have to pass a urine test.

So, here is my question:

Shouldn't a person have to pass a urine test to get a welfare check because the workers do not have to pass one to earn it for them? Please understand, there is no problem in helping people get back on their feet. There IS a problem though with helping someone sitting on their ass...doing drugs, while others work. Can you imagine how much money each state would save if people had to pass a urine test to get a public assistance check?

I guess that program could be titled, 'Urine or You're Out'.

Really though, something has to change in this country...and soon!!!!!"

Thank you Charlie O'Donnell!

QUESTIONS AND OR COMMENTS?

Write to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net. I respond to everyone. If you write to the blog, there is no way for me to know what your email address is, so I can't respond to you. So always write to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net ANONYMOUS emails will be ignored.

THE NEXT BLOG?

Unless something unexpected comes up, a week from today, which will be the evening of December 9.