Heroes

I heard the tale end of a radio show about heroes this AM on the way to class. I didn't catch the guest who was talking about heroes, but did get some of the host's comments and phone calls. (BTW, another radio host who said this AM, "It could have became...." is not a "hero.) We need heroes, as role models, as people whose good qualities we can aspire to emulate, for their ideas and ideals. I don't remember if it was the host or a caller who talked about one of my favorite nebulous days, "Presidents' Day." What kind of crap is that!?!?!? What happened to Lincoln's Birthday and Washington's Birthday, two days to honor two Presidents deserving of honor? Instead, some fool(s) decided we'd let Abe and George share their honor with the likes of W.H. Harrison, Jimmy Carter, Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton, James Garfield, and even the racist and elitist Woodrow Wilson. As the host or caller asked, "How did we let that happen?" I guess we were too busy watching Dancing with the Stars, the NFL on CBS, or the Simpsons. In that vein, on more than one occasions I have suggested to the local school board that school names be changed to reflect "heroes," be they national, state, or local. Now, names reflect plants and bodies of water! Of course, I received no responses, none. But that was to be expected. Remember Mark Twain's observation of more than a century ago, with not much changing, "In the first place God created idiots. That was for practice. Then he created school boards." Let's share "the wealth" with that, too. In the three-county Detroit Metro area, only one high school is named after Lincoln (and it may be closed), none after Washington, and one after ML King. (Yet two are named after Adlai Stevenson, who didn't even realize when he had a quarter-size hole in the sole of his shoe and was swamped twice in elections by Ike!) Fools all around me....

"Greed." Isn't that one of the catchwords of recent times? Yet, flipping through the radio stations this AM, I heard talk of two MLB infielders (I never heard of them) who the Tigers should consider acquiring. Talk turned to their price tags. One was $8 million a year!!!!!! But the other was $12 million annually!!!!!! Why aren't the Future Bums of America, er, the Wall Street Protesters picketing on their lawns or, at least, MLB front offices? And the NBA is on strike (and, no, I don't know if the players won't play or if the owners locked them out--I don't care). I read on the op-ed page of a kid right out of high school, signed by the NBA to a six-year contract worth $126 million! Now, the players lament, that contract could only be as high as $76 million--yep, only $76 million. And remember that guard who complained about having to sign for three years at $21 million, "Hey, my kids have to eat, too!" Where are the FBA, er, WSP on that one?

K is watching some silly show about people buying houses. Invariably, young couples, in their 20s or early 30s, are looking for houses worth $500K or $600K or more! Sometimes I think the only lesson of history is that we don't learn anything from history. Of course, perhaps they've learned from the recent past: those who live within their means are increasingly being forced to pay for people who don't live within their means.

I've written how the CKLW radio lady in the AM seems to be a very hard worker, that her show reflects that whenever I tune in. I heard for a few minutes this AM and a caller was telling us we should know our history about Halloween being a pagan holiday, that Christmas shouldn't be celebrated because the early Christians picked a pagan date for it. I immediately thought, "A little knowledge is dangerous." The lady was right; we should know our history--all of it, though. She left out some important pieces of the puzzle in her assessment of these "pagan" holidays. She also, I guess, doesn't consider the joy of giving during the Chris season to be a Christian attribute.

Out to build a castle with blocks with the Codester and then finish grading a set of papers.