Disappointed

By all accounts, the events of last Saturday, where a gunman shot 19 people, killing five in Arizona, were tragic. But, today, I want to write on something that has the potential of becoming a far greater travesty than those events.

I'm taking a break from the usual topical fare, so I can focus on this current events issue.

I was angered and saddened to learn of the shooting. But, the public events that have followed have me fired up. Within a couple of hours after Congresswoman Giffords and the 18 others were gunned down, the Pima County sheriff uses his first press conference as a political bully-pulpit.

With no evidence at all -- read that ZERO EVIDENCE -- Sheriff Clarence Dupnik made the claim that the suspect was a) a crazy man, and b) influenced by conservative talk radio and politicians. Dupnik expounded on those statements by claiming that it was the vitriolic words of the conservative right that led to events like Saturday's murders. (BTW, vitriolic is already the most overused word of the year.)

Sheriff Dupnik was extremely careless, reckless and completely unprofessional. And, it is possible that he may have blown the prosecutions case right out of the gate. He has essentially handed the defense it's insanity case.

But, the sheriff's fate is for the people of Pima County to decide. It is what has happened after the sheriff spoke that has me worked up.

In the four days since the shootings, we have witnessed liberal politicians and pundits laying the blame for the shooting on conservatives like Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh. Not only is it irresponsible to blame other people for one individual's actions, in this case it was a blatant and intentional lie. Further investigation has revealed that the shooter has been influenced by communism and liberal ideologies.

I am very disappointed in the people who are supposed to be truthful and reliable, but have sold their souls in order to push an agenda.

Christmas is over ... NOW WHAT?!?

As December winds down, you can hear it all across the fruited plain. A big sigh of relief. December is almost over.

What is supposed to be the month when we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ has become a month filled with stress and an endless stream of parties, programs and family gatherings.

It's nice to get together with friends and family, but it would seem that the stress to buy gifts, to meet schedules and beat the deadlines in December is bringing us to the breaking point. Someday, we'll tip that scale, and all our over-scheduling for the holidays will come crashing down.

Here's a suggestion: make plans today to build some margin into your schedule next December. You have eleven months to prepare your "can't make that event" speech.

Green Week

I see where the network television channels owned by NBC Universal are once again in "Green Week" status. Essentially, this is NBC corporate's somewhat annual push to encourage people to buy environmentally friendly products in an effort to save energy...and save the world.

All week long, you will see television shows, and news stories about the importance of salvaging the environment from those who would destroy it.

There's only one problem. Only one tiny, little problem. The NBC network chain is owned by a company that directly benefits from your buying "green" products -- namely, General Electric.

NBC ran into trouble the last time they pulled out this campaign, because they sold out any news credibility they had, so they could push pro-green stories. The catch-22 really backfired on them, but since the dollar is mighter than any criticism, we get blasted all week long with how we need to buy GE products.

Convenient, too, is when NBC Universal/GE chose to run this "green" campaign. It's no mere chance that this propoganda campaign hits televisions the week leading to Black Friday.

GE and NBC Universal are repulsive. They have no shame. Selling their integrity so they can coax people into going "green" right a the time of year when consumers will be spending a lot of money.

There isn't anything necessarily wrong with cleaning up our communities, but promoting environmentalism just so you can make a buck is wrong. Shame on you GE.