I saw the sign as I drove up to a gas station convenience store on Halloween night.
"Remove mask before entering."
Awww - why can't I have a little fun seeing if they'll sell a Dr Pepper to Chewbacca. Actually, I don't have a mask. At least one I can "remove."
But the idea of removing your mask is worth thinking about a little. Because most of us have at least one. Not a mask made of latex. It's made of pretense.
I watch the world going in circles over the latest Middle East crisis. Precipitated by the massacre of hundreds of innocent people. I'm thinking ... "Our world is really complicated. Impossibly complicated."
Oh, we agree that using chemical weapons is horrific. But we're having a hard time figuring out what to do about it. Even the most powerful nation on the planet. Sometimes power feels so powerless.
"She let us down."
That's what one ten-year-old said about Miley Cyrus' more-than-suggestive performance at the MTV Awards. That little girl nailed it.
Miley's romp - looking all "little girl" - became an obscene public display of stripper moves and sexual suggestion. Unfortunately, now it's popping up on newscasts.
She was once the innocent Disney girl, Hannah Montana. I guess she feels that shedding clothes will shed that image.
As I’m writing, people in 24 states are watching the water rise. Flash flood warnings or watches as the rain keeps falling.
We’ve been in some of those monsoons the past few days. In a nearby community, the water was rising a foot evry ten minutes. Barely time to get out.
Cyber-Bullying
by Guest Blogger Doug Hutchcraft
Another day, another news story that ends tragically for a bullied young person.
This time, her name was Carolina Picchio. An attractive, outgoing 14-year-old Italian girl that made the mistake of posting a video of herself on Facebook where she was drunk. Her ex-boyfriend and “friends” used social media to ridicule, demean, and bully her. Soon after, Carolina took her own life…but not before crying for help multiple times on her Facebook page.
When Healing Seems Impossible
by Guest Blogger Doug Hutchcraft
This is probably not the first or last article you’ll read about the George Zimmerman trial. The questions and confusion can be maddening: Was the shooting racially motivated? Was it self-defense? Sadly, we will probably never know the vital details of that night.
Okay, I'm admitting it. I wore my Superman t-shirt to sleep in last night. That's about as close to being Superman as I'll get.
I sometimes have trouble opening a jar. I doubt I could bend steel in my bare hands. As far as leaping tall buildings in a single bound - I have trouble getting up off the floor.
But with the new "Man of Steel" movie rocking the box office, Superman is popping up - or landing - all over the place.
Folks keep burying Tim Tebow. But he keeps coming back.
Six weeks ago, the likeable but controversial quarterback was summarily cut by the New York Jets. And no other NFL team signed him. Game over.
Bingo. Suddenly he's been signed by the New England Patriots. He still has to earn a spot, but at least for now, the Comeback Kid has come back again.
Our sons were - and are - crazy about baseball. Now our grandsons are. They know the players, the standings, the stats. Crazy about baseball.
But dark clouds have again rolled in over America's baseball stadiums. With reports that some stars - kids' heroes - cheated to be great.
PED are not the initials for some new government program. It's a performance-enhancing steroid. Yes, it's against the rules of baseball to have it in your system. But, hey, it's all about winning, right? And, besides, I'm a star and the rules don't really apply to me, right?
I saw the movie "Twister." It was hair-raising. Even for a guy with not much hair to raise. But I kept telling myself, "It's just a story. Special effects."
What happened to the Weather Channel's Mike Bettes last week wasn't some computer-generated fantasy. The tornado they were chasing took an unexpected turn, picked up their vehicle and threw it some 200 yards.
The vehicle was flattened. Thankfully, Mike and his crew weren't. Some scratches, a couple of broken bones - but, amazingly, they're alive.
