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Featured Column
Week of 10.16.2006
Fast thoughts!

No More

          Please don’t let Al Gore, Hillary Clinton, John McCain or John Kerry run for president of the United States. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had enough of all politicians. There must be some great pay and benefits for so many politicians to sell their souls to get and keep their jobs. Maybe we need a new cabinet post – “Department of Integrity and Honesty.” This department would assure us that all of our elected officials would understand that it’s a “no-no” to take bribes, to trade their votes for cash or sex, to accept free rides on fancy jets, or to become friends with anyone named Jack Abramoff or to consort with anyone wearing really dumb looking black gangster hats. Only problem would be – who is going to keep an eye on the people in the “Department of Integrity and Honesty.”

U.N. Human (Un-human!)

          What the hell is going on with the United Nations? There have been 200,000 murders in Darfur in the nation of Sudan. Over 2.5 million people have been displaced since the atrocities started. It’s time to take action. These poor people need our help. Stop the debates and get U.N. troops into that country and start saving lives. Remember, U.N. people – “Do unto others…”

Bad example

          Keep that Cowboy end Terrell Owens off our television screens. Young kids may see and hear him and think he’s a cool guy. There are names that psychiatrists give to guys like this. And one of them isn’t “normal.”

Petty deal

          Are you telling me that all our scientists have to do is pick on poor old Pluto. C’mon, let good old Pluto be and spend your time finding a cure for cancer and athletes feet. And don’t start fooling around with our Moon. It’s a good Moon. We like our Moon.

My hero

          Arnold Palmer is 77 years old. Last week, after hitting a few consecutive bad shots Arnold decided that it was time to stop playing competitive golf. When he finished his last round he said, “I’ve been doing this for a long time and, first of all, to stand out there and not be able to make something happen is very traumatic in my mind.” Now Arnold knows how I feel.

What’s up?

           Okay, we got Saddam Hussein out of there.We beat the stuffings out of the Iraqi army. We showed the Iraqis how to vote. We trained thousands of Iraqis to be cops. We sent in Halliburton to sell our soldiers sandwiches at $168.00 each. Now what are we going to do? C’mon, Cheney, c’mon, Rumsfeld, c’mon Bush. Think of something. You know this can’t go on forever. I hope!

Too close

          What’s with these super close-ups of the baseball players faces? Those telephoto lens are zooming in so close on one third baseman I felt like I was invading his sinuses. Back off a bit. I’m really not interested in their nasal hairs, pores and pimples.

No I in team

          When watching the baseball playoff games we could see that the New York Yankees play like a bunch of rich, spoiled brats. Watching the Detroit Tigers is like watching an old fashioned, well trained baseball team. The Tigers say “All for one.” The Yankees say, “All for me.”

Iraq wreck

          The Shiites want us to leave. The Sunnis want us to leave. The Kurds want us to leave. Everyone wants us to get out of Iraq – except the guys from Halliburton.

Remember 

          Do you remember this quote, spoken by President Bush on March 19, 2003. Our goal is “to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger. Have we accomplished any of those three goals? 

Sanity 

          Are we nuts, or is it just me? How can one baseball player be worth 25 million dollars a season? What would a Babe Ruth get if he was playing today? Of course if Babe Ruth was playing to day he would be shagging fly balls from the back seat of a Rolls Royce.

Killing fields

          Let’s face it, Iraq is a giant killing field. News is being reported daily about the hundreds of murders between the Sunnis and the Shiites. I’m sure the Iraqis would like to call a cop, but the Iraqi police force has already fired over 3,000 employees, mostly for corruption. Calling a cop there is like calling Charles Manson for help. 

More us 

          When I was a kid going to school the population of the United States was 157,000,000. This week the 300,000,000th American was born. That’s a big increase. I thought our local Trader Joe’s was getting crowded.
      Ron was born in the Bronx, New York. He was raised in Southern California and lived in Honolulu, Hawaii for three decades. He attended Inglewood High School and U.C.L.A.. His youthful goal was to become a major league baseball player. In Hawaii Ron played on a series of championship softball teams. He is an active tennis player.
      Ron’s career began at the Inglewood Daily News where as a youngster was enrolled in a publisher training program. He served as an advertising salesman, circulation manager, writer and layout and design staffer. He has been a newspaper publisher at the Oregon City Oregon Enterprise Courier, the Beloit Wisconsin Daily News, the Elizabeth, New Jersey Daily Journal and This Week Magazines (Hawaii).
      Ron lives with his wife, Marilyn, in San Diego, California. His two children, Douglas and Diane also live in the San Diego area. Ron’s interests range far and wide and are reflected in his columns diverse topics.
     
Ron Cruger