Hump Day Thoughts

1) I will start off with some poetry (no, it's NOT good poetry, so you're forewarned) about my gutless weasel Habs. Without further ado, some Habs Haikus:

The Habs are a joke
Kovy quit quite long ago
No parade this year.

Plekanec floats by
Nowhere near the boards he goes
He has zero heart.

Price can be sieve-like
Halak is not much better
They let in long shots.

Carbo seems confused
Outcoached, he is constantly
Losing continues.

Schneider is so old
A high price for him they paid
They still will not win.

Habs wasted my time
Bitter about them, I still am
The team lacks courage.

2) These days there are any number of stories that transcend the sports world and cross over into what is generally considered to be "mainstream news". One of those stories involves A-Rod and the use of steroids (more about that below). Another is the barring by Dubai from its WTA-sanctioned tournament of Israeli tennis star (she is in the Top 20, amazingly enough) Shahar Peer from the tournament for no other reason other than the fact that she is Israeli. I am gratified by the reaction of the WTA and ATP, both of which have said that they will review Dubai's right to host WTA- and ATP-sanctioned events, and by the Tennis Channel's decision to not broadcast the tournament (as well as by the Wall Street Journal Europe's decision to pull out as a tournament sponsor), but I am more than a little disappointed by the fact that not one of her fellow pros, as far as I know, have said a word in her defense. Not one has said "If she doesn't play, I'm not playing". Tennis players in general have a reputation for being spoiled, self-indulgent and myopic. Of course, there are always exceptions, but the lack of response by any other tennis pro to this action on the part of Dubai certainly feeds into that stereotype.

3) I can't bring myself to look at the stock market today, which is rapidly closing in on a 50% loss in value since it peaked in October of 2007. That's my retirement, your retirement, and everyone's future income being washed away in a sea of bad business news, earnings reports, government red ink and general financial malaise. It took the stock market close to 6 1/2 years to recover from its losses after it peaked in April of 2000, but I think that the road back this time will be much longer.....if we even manage to get all the way back. The fundamentals of our economy are so weak at this point, and we are so heavily indebted as a society that we won't be out of debt for generations.

4) It's a story that has finally crossed over from the so-called "right wing blogosphere" and into the main media. Muzzammil Hassan, who founded a television station in his home of Buffalo which sought to show Americans that Muslims aren't different from them, beheaded his estranged wife, Aasiya, and though police seem to be suggesting that this is "just a case of domestic violence gone bad", it certainly appears to me that it is yet another "Honour Killing". What has struck me, however, has been the reaction of Women's rights groups, or should I say, the complete non-reaction. The head of the local chapter of NOW made it clear how abhorrent she thought that this act was, and more power to her for doing so. However, where is the national chapter? Is it too busy commenting on the activities of rappers? You never hear a thing out of NOW whenever one of these horrific killings takes place. Nothing. If NOW truly is the advocate of Women's rights that it claims to be, it will not ignore this ongoing story.

5) So, Iran has now launched a drone which can reach Israel. At the same time, the Iranian nuclear program is steaming ahead. The Iranian regime continues to propagate Holocaust denial and threats of Israeli's extinction. Gee.............you think that maybe, JUST MAYBE, there might be a small link between these three things? Only those in the West seem to not think so.

6) As I mentioned above, one of the sports stories that has become a news story is Alex Rodriguez "confessing" to using steroids while he was with the Texas Rangers. As far as I'm concerned, his numbers are now as bogus as those of Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Rafael Palmeiro, Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire, etc., etc. There is another factor at play here, too, which is that 103 other players tested positive. Why was only A-Rod's name leaked? In the interests of "fairness", we really should see who the other 103 players are. Admit it, any Baseball fan is curious, regardless of whether or not they believe that steroid use taints the numbers of the player who used them or not.

7) I've already expressed my disgust with the Habs above. There is another team that is following a similar pattern, and that is the New York Rangers. New York got off to an incredible start, but over the last month or so, it has been awful. Really, when you think about it, the Canadiens and Rangers are mirror images of each other. They're both a collection of tin men, devoid of any heart.

8) One of the strangest stories to cross my radar over the last week is that of the transgender woman in Ohio who exercised her 73-year old husband to death. I'm not exaggerating here. A jury convicted this "woman" of Reckless Homicide and she will serve at least one year in jail. Frankly, if the reports I have heard are true (he died of a heart attack in the swimming pool and had attempted on numerous occasions to either grab the side of the pool and to get out, but she kept kicking his hands off the side of the ledges), then one year is way too little time in jail.