Happy 2009!

Happy New Year, blogfans!

Unfortunately, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

In Illinois, that bastion of political righteousness, soon to be ex governor Blagojevich nominated Roland Burris, an African-American, to fill the vacated senate seat of Barack Obama.

Now, this opens so many questions, I don't even know where to begin!

First, I was unaware that one of the two senate seats from Illinois had been designated "black only." When did that happen? Second, does governor Blago...ch have a brain in his head? He's all but impeached, convicted, and removed from office. Does he really think this nomination will just be agreed and forgotten to smooth transition? Obviously, Burris doesn't think so; he's asked the courts to step in and certify the nomination before the ink's even dry! Does anyone (not living there) really take Illinois politics seriously? Finally, why is it that only African-American reporters are allowed to report this story? Perhaps there's no formal restriction there, but I haven't seen any non-black journalists reporting on this story! Even guest comments on it are coming only from AA commentators. I thought this was 2009? I thought we were past all of this "black only" or "white only" stuff!

The more things change, the more they stay the same!

On another note, the NCAA is apparently turning a blind eye to bowl participant perks, causing questions to arise from some watchdogs in the sports world. One commentator said something along these lines; "Let's drop the pretense; NCAA athletics is professional athletics and we should just accept it and treat these athletes for what they are and pay them in the open for their services."

Anyone price a college education lately? I thought a full ride scholarship WAS remuneration for their services? Let's not pretend like that little detail is insignificant; it's not! After all, for every NCAA athlete who is able to enter the NBA, the NFL, or some other major league sports organization and get paid to be a professional athlete, there's at least 200 who do not! That scholarship is their ticket to a bright future! It IS remuneration for services rendered!

Why the outrage over Israel retaliating in Gaza? Didn't Hamas start this squabble? Didn't they fire their little rockets into Israel, aimed at no one in particular? That's what I thought! So, when you poke the tiger, how can you feign surprise when he turns around and bites back?

Maybe everyone wants peace there ("everyone" being every non-Arab in the world at large), but there will never be peace there, at least not until the Arab world accepts that Israel is there to stay and stop all of this ridiculous effort to eliminate them.

If the antichrist won't even be able to get it done, how are your little rockets going to make it happen, Hamas?

May 2009 be a year of peace, prosperity, and love.

It's not starting out that way!