As someone who is passionate about environmental issues along with common “be good to your planet” sense, I am thrilled to see large retailers like Home Depot pushing the new types of light bulbs that last up to thirteen times longer than an incandescent bulb.  Being also a pessimist at heart, I wonder what Home Depot’s “angle” is for long-term profits on this item.  Yes, the initial cost of people paying slightly more for these bulbs will provide a nice padding of the bottom line for a few years as people switch over but what’s in it for them after that?  After the initial purchase, where do they make the same kind of profit?

Folks, we’re running down a slippery slope when it comes to free speech in this country.  It’s bad enough that radio personalities on “terrestrial” radio have been fired with an alarming frequency but now this has spilled into satellite radio.  Last week, Greg “Opie” Hughes and Anthony Cumia of the Opie and Anthony Show, were suspended by XM for comments made the previous week by a homeless man they had on the show.  Not only are they off the air for 30 days, the channel that’s dedicated to their broadcast and re-broadcasts (202) has removed all traces of their shows during this period and are airing the much inferior show (Ron and Fez) that is normally on from 12-3 and rerunning it nonstop.

You all know how I can get tweaked off the slightest driving infraction, sending me into a blind rage although I have mellowed out as of late.  I don’t claim to be a perfect driver but I do think I tend to follow proper driving habits, have a good knowledge of the rules of the road plus I am overflowing with plain common sense.  The latter part is where I think a lot of people behind the wheel fall short.  This subspecies is probably the same group of mouthbreathers who vote for American Idol contestants multiple times.

I’m assuming everyone has those type of commuting days where it seems as the forces of nature have conspired to crash your car, throwing every idiotic person in front of you to cut you off or make your commute unsafe using a myriad of methods to make this happen.  Slammed-on brakes, honked horns, loud cursing and potential hand gestures are necessary accoutrements on days like this when everyone but you (of course) is a nimrod.  Here’s a perfect example.  The entrance ramp that I use to get on the highway actually spits you out (unsafely) into the fast left lane.  Not only do you have to ramp up to the speed limit just to not get run over whil ...

Today’s post isn’t mean to incite, rather to make one think.  When you think of small town America, sometimes the mental image of the folk who live there being like the citizens in the movie “Footloose” comes to mind.  Then an article will come out which confirms your suspicions of rural America and their puritanical ideas on ideas like religion and alcohol.

It didn’t really hit me until I was talking to the cop who normally guards the referee locker room for the Gladiators games.  He gets paid extra to work the hockey games and after the game he would head off to his night shift.  Since Saturday was St. Patrick’s Day, he was not looking forward to dealing with all the drunks.  He said “St. Patrick’s Day is for amateurs” and I have to wholeheartedly agree.  He’s allowed to talk shit since he’s a 6’5” Irishman who pounds beer on a professional level.

While the wackos who still display the John 3:16 signs behind the goalposts at most NFL games will never go away, there’s another subset of people who bring a certain set of items to a professional game that deserve ridicule.  It shows not only an utter lack of creativity, but also an oblivious sense of not knowing they’re the butt of a joke.  The people in question are those at sporting events that have the “D” and the “fence” signs.  Yes, this was a truly clever gag…when skinny ties were still in fashion and Lionel Richie hadn’t adopted a future cokehead yet.  I resist the urge at games to say to these people “Hey, Alf's dad, 1985 called.< ...

As much as I walk, I will almost always be on the side of pedestrian rights but there is one habit which I will not support.  There was a several-decades-old trend until the 1990s to not include sidewalks in suburban areas.  This really exacerbated the car-as-the-only-way-to-get-around mentality in most of suburban America.  Pedestrians always need to be alert if they choose to walk on the side of the road, especially in walker-unfriendly cities like

As I was doing our weekly grocery shopping last week, two thoughts hit me when it comes to food being labeled “All Natural”.  First, the term “natural” has become so misleading.  I’m sure Hostess could find a way to include the term “natural” on a box of Suzy-Qs by saying that it contains traces of flour.  The term “natural flavors” sometimes listed in ingredients can be anything BUT natural.