NCAA Basketball tournament- Gonzaga

Every year for decades I have looked forward to the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament as a solid way of surviving the last few weeks of hard winter. The competition is intense and filled with college age emotion and energy. Bringing the thrill into our living room in a bang, bang, fast paced fashion for days and weeks. Put that with the opportunity many lower seeded teams take to surprise the higher seeded teams by whipping them in jaw dropping offensive and/or defensive battles from one end of the court to the other, Loser goes home. Whew! Gets me going just writing about it.

This year, my long time favorite, Gonzaga is a top seed and looking smarter, better and fresher and more athletic than ever before. From the coach through the player line up I am impressed by what I see. Not only was their record of 32-1 pretty dad gone good but the main reason I follow them and root for them is their standards of discipline, integrity and fair play. I am all about that sort of stuff, especially at the college level. Actually I do not follow professional basketball any more. In my opinion in recent history, since the mid 1980's, although the players are exceptional athletes, I find them, for the most part far too mechanical in the game. The emotions are more personal and selfish for me to be bothered with. Give me a local high school basketball game with the likes of Godwin High School and I'm a happy camper.

White privilege and culture

I was accused of being a result of "white Privilege" a few weeks back. "All my upbringing was based upon white privilege and all the benefits surrounding that privilege are denied people of color." Wow! I never knew that hard work, social adjustment and cultural assimilation was a privilege. According the the critic, simply having parents that cared and loved and set a good example was also a privilege denied people of color. Although I highly regard this person's education and knowledge in many areas, I find I have to take issue with her analogy. Over the course of history various cultures an societies have enslaved people of other ethnicity, religious, color or other reason. Modern society is working on that. Personally, in my lifetime alone we have made excellent strides forward in that regard. Acknowledging those issues and taking steps, difficult steps at that takes time even though we'd like to solve them yesterday. All that being said, her statement about my being a result of white privilege, in my opinion was both ignorant and lacked common sense. Ignorant because it is based upon someone else's, rather radical opinion she has read and not through her own experience in my shoes. Lacking in common sense in that it denies the ideal of the nuclear family and matters of love and sacrifice of caring and responsible parents. The nuclear family is not a privilege!

In my opinion, based on my life experience and observation, much of life is what you make of it. We are not all guaranteed happiness, financial security or an environment of total acceptance regardless of personal behavior or life style. Good fences make good neighbors. In other words, some rules are appropriate in all facets of life. Survival is nature and society is predicated by observation and adaptation to certain norms, avoidance of dangerous behavior, social patterns, language, culture etc. In other words assimilation to one's chosen environment. Not total giving up of one's self but following certain accepted standards. In this case I mean those of the United States.

That is my opinion and I'm sticking to it. When everyone thinks they can act any which way they want, dress any way they want, speak any way they want, and simply throw accusations at those people who are working hard to improve their lives and others around them because they have better lives as a result of that hard work and call it privilege, I believe they in fact are denying themselves the opportunity to participate in that "privileged" life experience. Not the ones they are accusing.

Use of initials instead of words= A pet peeve

POTUS- SCOTUS BOGUS? Whatever! How in the world am I to understand every cotton picking set of initials someone in the know throws out there. I realize speaking an entire long name can take oodles of time. RE: NAACP- NSPCA etc. But come on now, I work for a living, I don't have time to decipher every set if initials for every little name someone is simply too hurried or lazy to actually say the whole thing. I think those who use bunches of initials are actually elitist and want to appear superior. In my humble opinion it's getting ridiculous of late. I realize it's maybe just me but that's OK, I understand me. I don't understand a bunch of capital letters so much. Would you have guessed these?

MMATG- My mechanic at the garage
ATCHK- All those Catholics having kids
HWPUS- Hard working people of the United States
GCTV- Goofy comedians on TV
BWRO- Bloggers who rattle on

I rest my case!

Health insurance and the Affordable Care Act

What a mess this health care situation eh? I am impressed by how more transparent the negotiations are as opposed to the quick shoo in of the ACA was. Myself I find it a vast improvement on just how our government elect works. In my opinion, eventually, after the smoke clears there will be some sort of answer. Of course, not everyone will be happy with it but that is how negotiation works with wins and losses on all sides. And I do mean all sides. When it comes to health care there are far more than two opposing opinions. Even within political parties. I don't have the answer but that is why I vote, hopefully the officials I help elect will surround themselves with those experts who are knowledgable enough to come up with a reasonably acceptable solution.

Ah, that ever so elusive solution we all hope and pray for. I think we all agree that we would appreciate having adequate health care available when we need it without having to sell the farm and lose everything. whether it is a "right" or a "benefit" depends on who you are asking. so we won't get into that. But, naturally on a subject so important to all of us, and including the fact that I am expressing myself here, it is most obvious I am about to put in my two cents worth. Yes I am!

In my humble opinion, Until all people receiving pay and benefits from any type of government agency, including but not limited to: mayors, commissioners, judges, city workers, county workers, teachers, aids, bus drivers, governors, representatives, senators, and presidents, a fair and equitable settlement on health care will not be achieved. If government workers, educational employees and elected officials do not have skin in the game, truly universal health care insurance availabl to everyone will remain impossible to attain.

Facebook and language

Hello, good morning, afternoon or evening, whatever may be the case.Welcome to my blog and thanks for stopping by. Blogging is much different than facebooking in my opinion. Perhaps a bit more sincere or thought out at more length, similar to writing a letter. I very much enjoy blogging. Now the subject matter at hand.

This facebook is an amazing place for keeping in contact and being aware of those we know both near and far. And, to be completely honest, I find many of the humorous postings get my day off to a laughing start. The political stuff is getting to meso I simply scroll past and put it behind me. Then it comes to posting about various facets of life as a social being and family member. Mot are wonderful, informative and heartwarming posted by people I love and respect. Then comes the aweful, for me anyway, language. More specifically the "F" word. When I see this word, in an otherwise acceptable posting I find it unnecessary and tasteless. Especially when posted by a parent or grandparent, knowing full well it will be read by their children or grandchildren as well as dozens or perhaps hundreds of impressionable young minds. In my mind it is rather disgusting. Their post, their rules, I offer no comment or critique as I am only a guest so I move on as quickly as possible.

I am not without sin here. I have used that word, not often but on occasion. I do not use it in front of kids, women, or people I do not know. I do my best to be a respectful husband, father, grandfather and hopefully role model for others around me. Who more should you be able to trust to lead you in proper, respectful language skills than dad, mom, grandma or grandpa. I don't consider it a compliment to be proud of if any kid told someone that any one of us taught them how to use the "F" word in the best and most wonderful way. Mistakes are mistakes but in my opinion it's just not right and if, intentionally we do teach children language like that there is a terrible price to pay.