It's been a while

Blogging has been light of late as I take care of issues at work and at home. Sorry about that. Here are some random thoughts about what has been rattling through my pea-sized brain over the last few weeks.

1) That "cease fire" in Gaza has really worked out well for Israel, hasn't it? Only one side has ceased firing (that would be Israel), while rockets and mortars still get launched regularly from Israel. Gilad Shalit is still a hostage, and the public opprobrium against the Jewish state has if anything increased--we now have the spectacle of possible "war crimes" trials starting in Spain against Israeli leaders and officials. Funny how no one on the left seems very concerned about what Hamas did (and is continuing to do). Well, something will change in the next few days, if only because Israel is about to hold an election. Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party currently holds a slim lead, but Ehud Olmert's Kadima Party is rapidly closing the gap. Given Olmert's miserable leadership over the last 3+ years, I have to wonder what Israelis are thinking, but maybe this is more a commentary on the opposition that he is facing.

And we thought that it was bad over here?

2) It's old news now, but the Pittsburgh Steelers won their sixth Super Bowl title eight days ago with a 27-23 come-from-behind win over the Arizona Cardinals. After a fairly dull first three quarters of the game (with the notable exception of James Harrison's 100-yard interception return for a touchdown to end the first half), the fourth quarter featured 23 points, two lead changes and Ben Roethlisberger stamping his name among the great Super Bowl quarterbacks with a defining 88-yard touchdown drive that rivaled any done by Montana, Elway or the other NFL greats.

Here are some interesting Super Bowl Facts: The Cowboys and 49ers have five apiece. The Patriots, Raiders, Packers, Giants and Redskins each have three. That means that a total of eight franchises have won 31 of the 43 Super Bowls played, leaving the other 24 franchises to share the other 12 titles. When you add in Miami's two titles and Denver's pair, that means that the other 22 franchises have combined to win eight titles.

3) The Montreal Canadiens of 2008-2009 are officially the "Hab-Nots". As readers of this blog, I am a die-hard Montreal Canadiens fan. I grew up in Montreal, and being a Habs fan is in my blood. But, this year's team is as dislikeable as any team in recent memory, because it is wildly inconsistent and, more importantly, the players as a group seem to not even care if they win or lose. Right now, the Canadiens are lollygagging in fifth place in the conference, playing well below their potential, and not even within shouting distance of the first place Boston Bruins. In fact, even making the playoffs is lock for this collection of underachieving stiffs. In a year which had so much in the way of expectation, compounded with it being the 100th anniversary of the team, that is simply unacceptable. There will be blood in the streets of Montreal (figuratively speaking, of course) if that happens.........

4) The Iranians have for the first time launched a satellite into orbit. Yes, yes, I know that this is no ICBM, and that the technology used to launch is closer to that which the Russians used to launch Sputnik into space 52 years ago, but the fact that they did it is worrisome to say the least. I know that it won't make a bit of difference to the Obama Administration in its rush to "engage" with the Mullahs who run the Islamic theocracy, but this is a warning shot across our bow, and it is especially troubling--or, it should be, anyway--to Israeli leaders. Iran is not launching satellites and pursuing nuclear technology because it has nothing else to do. There is an end-game for the Iranians, and that end game will, if the Iranians have their way, involve a direct military confrontation with Israel and then the United States. Like it or not, Israel is the canary in the coal mine here, and the Iranians are going to gauge how we will react to its actions by how we respond to what it does vis-a-vis Israel.

5) There are reports out that New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez tested positive for steroids (A-Roid?) in 2003, when he was still with the Texas Rangers, leading a friend to e-mail this to me:

TEXAS RANGERS' ALL-JUICED TEAM

It goes from the position to the player and how they are linked to steroid use:

CF
Gary Matthews Jr.
Mitchell Report
C
Pudge Rodriguez
Teammate allegation
SS
Alex Rodriguez
Media report
RF
Juan Gonzalez
Teammate allegation
1B
Rafael Palmeiro
Tested positive
3B
Ken Caminiti
Acknowledged
DH
David Segui
Acknowledged
2B
Randy Velarde
Mitchell Report
LF
Chad Allen
Mitchell Report

A-Rod of course is the biggest "fish" to be linked to steroid use since Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens. He is also the most prominent player on the most prominent franchise in the sport. I guess that if you needed another reason to cheer against the Yankees, here it is.

6) Being an Obama government appointee doesn't mean never having to say you're sorry. What it does apparently mean is that you don't have to pay your taxes (those same taxes that Vice-President Biden told us it is patriotic for us to pay--I guess that Tim Geithner, Tom Daschle and Nancy Killefer aren't very patriotic). The MSM has reported on the story, which has led Daschle and Killefer to withdraw their names from consideration. However, the inevitable tone of the reports has been to complain about Republican opposition to confirming these individuals. You can be sure that if this had been a Republican President seeking to name his/her government officials, this would have been Page One, above-the-fold headlines in virtually every newspaper in the country for days on end. MSNBC would probably have devoted at least one specific show to the story every day...........

7) On Saturday, January 31, I took the oldest BHG child to his first ever Hockey game in Montreal for his tenth birthday. I have to say, even as ticked off as I am at the team this season, there is no sporting environment--none whatsoever--which equals watching a Montreal Canadiens game live in Montreal. The Canadiens won the game 4-3 over the Los Angeles Kings by scoring two goals in the final two minutes of the game. He now has a memory that will hopefully last him a lifetime, and the best thing about it is, so do I................

8) The Australian Open tends to be the least regarded of Tennis' four "Majors", but I always try to watch at least some of it. On the men's side, Rafael Nadal stamped himself as the clear #1 in the world with an impressive five-set victory over Roger Federer. Last year, we witnessed Nadal take two of the four Majors, including the monumental five-set win over Federer at Wimbledon in what many are already calling the greatest tennis match ever. Down Under, they went five sets again, and Nadal emerged victorious one more time. He now has a 5-2 record against Federer in the Majors, and he has proven to be Federer's superior on clay (where he never loses. Period.), grass and hardcourt. He also has six Major titles, and even assuming that Federer does as expected break Pete Sampras' record of 14 Grand Slam titles (he's only one away), one has to wonder how long that record will last anyway. Nadal is still in his early twenties, and his best tennis may still be ahead of him.

On the women's side, we saw what happens when Serena Williams is serious about playing tennis. When she is, she wins Majors. Nobody else on the women's side can play with her when she is focused. She now has 10 Major titles, and while I don't think that she'll catch Steffie Graf's record of 19, she may come close.

Where am I?

Some random thoughts regarding just about everything............

1) Has anyone else noticed how Senator Barack Obama, now that he's the President-Elect, is now delivering comments and speeches in font of a podium which reads "Office of the President Elect"? How %^@!! presumptuous and full of oneself can this guy be? Nobody has ever done anything like this before him. That is just the height of hubris.

2) Robert Malley was supposedly pushed out of the Obama foreign policy team, but that may not be true after all. It seems as though Mr. Malley took a trip to Cairo and Damascus shortly after the election to inform the dictators running those countries that they could expect some changes in U.S. foreign policy once Barack Obama is sworn in as the President: http://reformsyria.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&catid=84:us-european&id=2211:obamas-road-to-damascus&Itemid=201 (translation: He will be more pro-Arab). Well, gee, I am shocked. It's only what I have been saying for months. Now, the groundwork is being laid for it to actually happen. Assuming that it does, every supporter of Israel who voted for him will have a lot of explaining to do.

3) I'm still stuck in a post-Disneyworld rut. No one ever wants a vacation to end, and this one was no exception. It's hard for me to believe that just a week ago today, I was trekking around Disney Hollywood (formerly Disney MGM) Studios. Mrs. BHG and I are already talking about the NEXT Disney vacation, which unfortunately won't be for a while. We'd like to stay at the Animal Kingdom Lodge for that one. The oldest of the little BHGs already asked if we can go back next year. I had to break it to him that these vacations aren't exactly cheap.

4) I see that oil prices have dropped nearly 62% from their July high of $147/barrel. They are currently hovering around $56.50/barrel, with some analysts forecasting that they will continue to drop, possibly as low as $40/barrel. I don't know if it will go that low--OPEC will continue to cut production in order to prevent the price from dropping too far. However, while we are all happy about the over 50% decrease in gasoline prices over the last four months, we should also be mindful of the fact that the biggest reason for this decline is decreased demand caused not by the high prices but by the global economic slowdown (and in particular, the one here in the U.S.). If and when the economy picks up, so will the price of oil (and gas). The mantra I was chanting during the price run-up remains just as true now as it did then--We need to get ourselves off the oil addiction, and soon. All we are doing by continuing it is to fund countries who by and large hate us.

5) Amazingly, I got to see something the last week of October that this area of the country hadn't seen in a quarter century, which was a local professional sports franchise get crowned as a champion. The Philadelphia Phillies were deserving winners of the World Series, going 11-3 in the playoffs and losing no more than one game in any series. In the World Series, they throttled the American League Champion, the upstart Tampa Bay Rays. something that the Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox had utterly failed to do in the post-season. Here's what I found most impressive about the Phillies' win: They didn't lose a game at home during the playoffs, going 7-0. In Baseball, home field advantage means less than it does in other sports, so that kind of a run is hard to achieve. I may be wrong about this, but I think that the last team not to lose a game at home in the playoffs was the 1998 New York Yankees, a juggernaut that won 114 regular season games (22 more than the 2008 Phillies). That's pretty impressive company. Better yet, on October 31 there was a season-ending celebration at Citizen's Bank Ballpark, where the team plays, and I was able to take the eldest of the little BHGs, who is a sports nut, to it. As I told him, sports champions from this area are all too rare, so he should enjoy this to the fullest.

Disneyworld, Part Two

So, now we've gone through Animal Kingdom (loved it), one day at the Magic Kingdom (watching the one-year old BHG scream with delight when she hugged Piglet was worth the entire cost of the trip), and yesterday at EPCOT (word of advice to all: Come to EPCOT during the food and wine festival. Then you too can eat and drink your way around the world!). Today it's back to the Magic Kingdom, and Disney Hollywood Studios tomorrow. The best ride so far: Soarin', at EPCOT. I absolutely loved it. The little BHG's loved the bad jokes made during the Jungle Cruise, and Splash Mountain was a huge hit...........

Disneyworld

My self-imposed break from blogging is over, at least temporarily. I am with the BHG family, as well as mother- and father-in-law BHG, at Disneyworld. Mrs. BHG and I haven't been here in 11 years, and it's the first time we've been here with the little heathens--I mean, the little BHGs. We're staying at the Polynesian, where I last stayed almost 29 years, when I was 14 years old. I love this place. It may be campy, it may be dated, but it never loses its appeal for me. The kids are thrilled so far, if a little hyperactive from sitting on the plane for 2 1/2 hours.

I'll post updates as I find the time. On tomorrow's agenda: Animal Kingdom.

To answer an inevitable, non-Disney question, I will post an entry on the Presidential/General election at some point while we are here. I just don't know when.

An expansion of the blog?

A number of people have e-mailed me privately to ask why the blog is "so political". They would like to see a broader range of topics covered--more on sports, which I used to discuss more often than I do these days, it seems; more on my family, more on the commando basset hounds, etc.

The reason that the blog is "so political" is that as I have gotten older, my interests have shifted. I used to be a sports freak, watching sports over just about anything else on television, particularly if that sport was hockey! I would say that this was true even as I got well into my thirties. However, I have always been an Israel freak, and the (planned) eruption of the Second Intifadah made me focus more on the crises facing the Jewish state. Then came 9/11, which will forever be one of the defining events of my lifetime. Like so many others in this area of the United States, I knew someone who died in the Twin Towers. I thought then that the world had changed forever, and continue to believe that this country--or at least a significant chunk of it--simply does not understand the threat it faces from the Islamofascism. As as result, I have become a largely political person.

Don't get me wrong, I am still very into sports. I will forever be a fan of the Montreal Canadiens, Miami Hurricanes, Boston Red Sox and Chicago Bears. When I pay attention to the NBA, I will follow the travails of my new favourite team, the Los Angeles Clippers (no, that isn't a misprint. Someone has to be a Clippers fan. Why not me?). It's just that my interests have been focused elsewhere (on political stuff) of late.

That said...................I think that perhaps I should "expand my horizons", so to speak. Though I have only been blogging for about 10 months, I don't want to burn myself out on politics. Sports remains an interest for me, so why not spout off on that subject as well? I also will bring in some more discussion of my family, what I am doing, etc. I love my family, and Lord knows, the actions of the kids and the dogs certainly provide me with plenty of material. The blog will still be heavily political, but some other topics will work their way in.

So, that's where I plan to take the blog, or at least I'm going to make an effort to do so. I hope that you'll stick with me for the ride!

I'm selfish

Why am I selfish? Because I have had kids. How do I know this? Because a woman who has never had kids--and never will--got pregnant, had an abortion, and subsequently had herself sterilized so that she can never have kids because anyone who has kids is selfish: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/femail/article.html?in_article_id=495495&in_page_id=1879.

Here's the thing. My kids aggravate me. Every kid aggravates their parents. Sometimes, it seems as though that is their sole mission in life. And you know what? I wouldn't trade having any of them for anything in this world. This shallow, incredibly self-absorbed woman can spout off all she wants about this subject, but she has no clue, and she never will.

A great forward

Someone e-mailed this to me and it was so adorable that I could not resist passing it on. Anyone who has kids will be able to relate, I am sure. In a very touching way, it summarizes so many of the emotions that we as parents go through with our kids, especially as we desperately try to get them to go to bed in order to get a couple of minutes of peace and quiet at the end of the day!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uISuvTiTYJA

Non-existent blogging

My apologies to all. This was a crazy weekend, as we had a baby naming (the Cantor who did the service did a marvelous job) for the newest Little BHG today. Family was in from out of town (one of the BHG nieces and both sisters) and it was absolute chaos from the moment they flew in Friday night until they left just a short while ago. I will try to get some posts up at some point tomorrow. I hope that everyone had a great weekend!

Not so FAN-tastic

As readers of this blog know, I am the father of four. My oldest is now of an age where he appreciates sports--in fact, he's quite obsessed. However, I have never taken him to a professional sports event, and am leery of doing so anytime soon. The long and the short of it is that I simply do not want to expose him to the frequently hostile atmosphere which exists at these events. There is a fascinating article on the subject in today's Wall Street Journal, of all places: http://www.opinionjournal.com/la/?id=110010740.

The closest major city to where I live is Philadelphia. Though I have not been to an Eagles game at Lincoln Financial Field ("The Linc"), I had been to Eagles' games at Veteran's Stadium, the team's home until 2004. The behaviour of the fans there was loutish at best. Who would want to expose their children to that? Generally speaking, the atmosphere is better at Phillies, Flyers and 76ers games, but there are episodes at those teams' events as well of abusive fans.

Look, I'm all for supporting your team, and if a fan of another team wears their jersey in your building, some good-nature razzing should be expected. But, does it have to result in expletive-filled abuse or even violence? What does it say about our society that we permit this conduct and (in some areas) even encourage it?

Classic Comedy

My late parents used to absolutely love Victor Borge's comedy--and it really is wonderful stuff. Clean, funny, and classy at the same time. So, whenever I get sent a link to a Victor Borge comedy bit, it not makes me smile out of amusement, it brings back happy memories of my parents, who I miss greatly...............

http://www.boreme.com/boreme/funny-2007/victor-borge-piano-duet-p1.php

Little BHG Update

The littlest BHG was born Friday, at 12:03 p.m., weighing eight pounds, three ounces. She has great lungs and thankfully, looks nothing like her dad! Mother and baby are doing well!

:-)

Blogging will be light (or non-existent) for the next few days......

.............as Mrs. BHG and I head this morning to the hospital this morning for the birth of the fourth little BHG!

Happy Fathers Day!

Hope that you're not going to spend it doing chores, like me!

Have I poisoned the little BHGs?

Well, if you believe this article, I have: http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3275264&page=1. This is the type of thing that causes me angst. Mrs. BHG and I have spent literally hundreds of dollars on the Thomas the Tank Engine toys...............

Here is a partial list of the items recalled so far: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml07/07212.html#http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml07/07212.html. I can't imagine that it won't get longer.

Musings from a Saturday Night

Like it isn't normally hectic enough with three little BHG's roaming around, not to mention a hormonal, pregnant Mrs. BHG and the three commando basset hounds, we played host tonight to a friend of one of the little BHG's, and he is spending the night here. So, we popped some popcorn and sat down and watched "Night at the Museum", which we had previously seen on an Imax theatre back in January.

I can't really explain it, but some movies just bring the whole movie theatre experience back to me. Night at the Museum will never win any Academy Awards, but nonetheless, it is one of those movies to me. When we saw it in January, we did so with one of my sisters, my brother-in-law and their three kids, and watching it tonight made me think back to that day, and amazingly, it made the little BHG's think of the same thing.

The little BHG's may look nothing like me (which, trust me, is a GOOD thing), but it's kind of nice to know that at times, they think like me which, trust me, is only a good thing depending on your perspective. ;-)

Are we scaring our children?

Wall Street Journal Op-Ed columnist Peggy Noonan certainly thinks so: http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/?id=110009992. I have to say, I can't necessarily disagree. Mrs. BHG and I are constantly checking what the kids are watching because, frankly, we don't want them be traumatized by what they see. Maybe it's just the curmudgeon in me, but I can't help but think that there is far more violence on tv than should be acceptable, and it is on at hours when kids can and will see it. Actually, it's usually included within many of the cartoons which kids normally watch. Yes, I know that when we grew up (I'm in my early forties), there was plenty of violence in those cartoons as well (anyone esle remember the Bugs Bunny/Road Runner show?), but that was truly cartoon violence. The stuff we say today is, as some say, more "sophisticated". I prefer the term "graphic".

I wonder, are we trying to turn our kids into adults before they are ready? The consequences of that just can't be good. The companion question is, are we desensitizing our kids to just about everything (violence, sex, you name it)? And what are the consequences of that??? Mrs. BHG and I have three kids eight and younger. These are the types of things that keep us up at night............