No Wedding For Me

Well don't that just beat all? No sooner than I get my "Save the Date" card from Sarah, Bristol goes and cancels her wedding to Levi. What I heard was that Bristol had some suspicion Levi might have done to somebody else what he did to her.I reckon it would be right hard on a marriage to get started with a stepchild who was born after the child of the parties getting married but before the wedding of the parties theirselves.
I hope this little bump in the road does not keep the two of them from following through on that reality TV show being talked about. You can go back to that guy named Lance 20-25 years ago and come right on up through the Osbournes; octopi mom; the Kardashians; Jon and Kate and them; and the Real Housewives of Everclear Trailer Park and I don't think Bristol and Levi and their folks would be any less qualified than anybody just named. I'd watch.

Drill Baby, Drill

With the BP well hemorrhaging oil off the coast of Louisiana, I am not surprised at the nervous nellies who would use this as an argument against off-shore drilling. As near as I can tell,"off-shore" simply means you just don't start out with the oil on-shore. In fact, the BP failure should be treated as an encouraging event, calling attention to the rarity of such disasters. The Valdez mishap was really more like a traffic accident. So wouldn't you think that it would be a pretty good while before another blow-out? Depending on your age and physical condition it might not be a problem at all. Plus, I'll bet the oil companies will be REALLY careful now. BP has acknwledged that after paying full reparations it might be necessary to reduce its dividend payment. That should be deterrent enough. Having talked with property owners from thw Wrightsville Beach-Figure 8 Island area of NC and the Hilton head area of SC prior to the Louisiana event,I think I am safe in saying that an overwhelming majority would welcome drilling right off their shore. At least that's the way I took it from their enthusiastic support of Gov. Palin, who it was explained to me was not talking about family members when she promoted the mantra to "Drill Baby, Drill"

The Customer Is Right

I could feel the frustration of the Goldman-Sachs executives as they testified before Congress. In an open and forthright manner they described the marketing stratagies they employed shortly prior to the recent unpleasantness. In the simplest terms Goldman had a lot of things it wanted to sell- let's optimistically call them "securities". The reason being, they were about to become worthless. The people who bought them didn't know this. Now, who's fault is that? If Goldman had told potential purchasers,who didn't ask, that these securities were about to become unsecurities they likely wouldn't have bought them. What kind of free market stratagy is that? Goldman had exactly one decision to make-who did it want holding this crap when it launched its assault on the fan. Free martket ideals support the Goldman position. The purchasers have the benefit of a valuable learning experience.Assuming that they might ever have the ability to invest again(not a foregone conclusion)they will have history to remember so that they are not condemned to repeat it. Hard to argue with the inherent fairness of that system.

What Were They Thinking?

Really, don't you wonder what the women were thinking? I'm talking about the one in Argentina and the one on the bus. Power is thought to be an aphrodisiac. So far so good. But then Governor Sanford made plans to see his sweetie in Argentina by telling his wife; his children; his staff; and anybody else w'ho would listen that he was going to hike theAppalachian Trail by himself over the Thanksgiving holidays. Do you see the flaw in this schedule? That's right-there are no televisions on the trail, making it impossible for him to see the college football games over the weekend. His later description of his lady friend as his "soul mate" is certainly not well thought out, but thinking no one would question his voluntary absence from the traditional T.V. rivalry games is sheer idiocy.
The conduct of Senator Edwards is as sketchy. I am reasonably sure he has second thoughts about filming his pre-natal exam of his baby-mama. Don't even ask about giving the tape to the first baby-daddy, Andy Young. What really casts a shadow over his conduct is his promise to have U2 play their wedding reception. Forgetting the inconvenience of having a live,lawful wife when this promise was made, there is a larger issue. The Senator would most likely to be dependent on the influence of Senator Helms, then senile and now deceased, to book the band. See the problem?
Really, don't you wonder with what were those women thinking?

Smoke Alert

I am some years removed from the academic study of business and economics. Even then I was never unperplexed. Recently I have realized how truly ignorant I must be. On a daily basis I hear an ad on radio for "Smoke Alert", a product promoted as a stop-smoking aid. Credit for the product's development is given to Dr. Richard Sandfor,or Sydnor. According to the announcer,Dr.Syndor(it sounds like that too)is so certain of the effectiveness of his creation that he is offering it to the public for FREE. This is a business plan with which I am unfamiliar. Assuming some profit motive existed during the development of the treatment,it would seem the customer should be require to make at least a modest investment in it. As it stands, this promotion constitutes the most brutal attack on the "money-back guarantee" promise I have yet seen. If the product fails, what's the consumer to do? If,on the other hand, it works it will certainly be recommended to others. Either way seems likely to bankrupt the company. Totally ignoring this commercial, or failing to act on it, seem to be the only ways to assure the survival of this health-producing creation.

Tiger Returns

The return of Tiger Woods to play in THE MASTERS serves as a reminder to all of us on the importance of being prepared for unexpected emergencies. Had his wife Elin not kept a two-iron in her first-aid bag this particular affair might have ended on a more somber note. The role played by Stevie Williams in club selection has been considered and rejected. One can only shudder at the thought of Elin having discarded her two-iron in favor of the optimistically named, but as yet unproven, rescue club. Had she failed in her heroic attempt to extract her husband from his SUV, which had been destroyed by a fire hydrant, it is likely that law-enforcement officers would have performed this task. No good could have come from that.
I saw Earl Junior somebody being interviewed in the lobby of the Aynor, S.C. Resume Safe Speed Motel right after the conclusion of THE GRITS INVITATIONAL bowling championship (a nutrition unlike any other). Earl seemed to think a 16 pound bowling ball would have served Elin's purposes just as well as a two-iron. I expect he's right.