IN THE NEWS

I'm a news junkie. I admit it. Before I stopped working, my intake of the news was like most working men - check out the sports page while gulping down a cuppa coffee on the way out the door, maybe watch a few minutes of the network news while I dozed off before dragging myself to bed. Now, I read the local morning paper cover to cover; check in on the New York Times and Washington Post on-line and tune in Wolf Blitzer (CNN) in the afternoon to see what's up in the world. A load of info for my 62 year old brain. 3 things I want to comment on today.

MADOFF. If ever there was an appropriate name for a thief, it's this guy. Most of the folks who will read this little blog of mine know it is pronounced "MADE OFF" - as in, Made off with his investor's money. Here's what really bothers me about this guy. Yesterday, a judge ruled that he didn't have to go to jail while he awaited trial. Instead, said judge confined him to his $7 million penthouse apartment, under "house arrest". Isn't that kinda like punishing a kid by sending him to his room - which happens to be filled with a Color TV; Telephone; Stereo; I-Pod; and all the latest in video games, etc.??

Madoff swindled his investors out of some $50 million bucks. An average, low-life bank robber who gets away with maybe $4,000 gets thrown in the slammer to await his court date. What's wrong with this picture?

PRINCE HARRY. The big to-do that has Prince Harry in the news these days is that he called one of his Mates in the British Royal Army (or whatever they call it) a "Raghead". Not a nice thing for him to say, though most of my friends use the term "Towell Head', or have taken to the popular joke, "Sheet Head". The point is when you are a "Royal", a leader of some sort, or celebrity, for that matter - you simply cannot utter any type of racial or religious epithet. Though guys who are buddies, in particular, are fond of calling each other such names as Dickhead or referring to one another's ancestry - Dago, Mick, etc., as a term of manly endearment, when you are on the national or wordly stage, it is a BIG NO-NO.

A good example of this male bonding through the use of nasty name calling can be found in the Movie "Gran Torino", starring Archie Bunk....make that Clint Eastwood. Clint who growls his way through this movie using every known slam on Asians, shows in a particularly funny scene (for guys, anyway) how men insult each other and think it's great. My wife, and the other woman in our party were aghast that this happened, and asked if it was true. My buddy and I laughed and told them both "Absolutely." They were horrified.

THURSDAY NIGHT GOODBYES. Just read in the paper that President W. plans to address the Nation on TV on Thursday night, giving his farewell address. He's asked for time from all the major networks - about 15 minutes - at 8est/7cst. Interesting that it is the same night that Gil Grissom of the original CSI will also be saying goodbye to the role he created. Based on their respective ratings, I know which will be missed more.

Old Fart Mike