The Boston bombing has taken the attention away from the Senate’s failure last week’s to pass the bill to expand background checks. This failure is devastating, embarrassing and shameful. It’s statement on how broken the system really is. I’m angry, disappointed and embarrassed. I’d like to see everyone of the senators that voted “NO” be defeated in their bid for re-election because of that “NO”. How does a bill that had a 90% support of the country…fail?

 

Why are thousands of flights being delayed?? The sequester is another example of the dysfunction coming out of Washington. I’m frustrated by the BS of this government. I see seniors who can’t afford medication…seniors going though garbage bags looking for food that has been thrown out because of expiration dates…and yet we have a government pissing away money on a lot of BS.

 

When everything comes out about the Boston Marathon bombing I won’t be surprised if it turns out that once again our law enforcement agencies drop the ball.

 

Two days ago, we watched again as an act of unspeakable brutality was committed against innocent victims. I witnessed the Towers coming down… Boston conjured up many memories of 9/11. On 9/11 I thought about an incident that had happened to me many years prior. I was in Tel Aviv and had bent down to buy a newspaper from a man sitting on the ground in front of a supermarket. Just I bent over a bomb went off in the supermarket …if I had been standing up my head would have been blown off. It changes who we are when we watch acts of unspeakable brutality committed against innocent victims.

 

 

When I had knees I was avid runner. My goal was to run the New York Marathon unfortunately between shin splits and my knees the goal was never fulfilled. I was an active member in Front Runners …I enjoyed the camaraderie among the Front Runners as much as I enjoyed running. There’s a special unifying bond between runners especially those training for a marathon…running a marathon isn’t about wining but more about personal challenge.

 

My thoughts and prayers go out Bill Richard and his family in Boston on the loss of his son eight year old son Martin. Wishing a speedy recovery to his wife Denis who is in critical condition with brain injuries and his young daughter six year old Jane that has lost a leg and is also in critical condition.

 

Runners, Bostonians…Americans are resilient. We’ll defy the terrorists, by not allowing them control how we live our lives.

 

 

My gripe of the week….TEXTING!!! I guess my age really shows because I don’t understand why people HAVE to walk down the street and text. When I’m out walking my dogs I have to be ever vigilante never taking my eyes off of who may be walking straight at the dogs and me. Yes, we live in a world of spontaneity….everything is in real time. The other day two guys were standing in the middle of the sidewalk ….both texting. I had to ask them to move because there wasn’t enough room for me to pass. I asked what was so important….turns out they were texting each other! Has human communication gone so low that two people standing next to each other can’t talk to each other?

 

Even during Macbeth there were people on their cell phones texting…now come on ….it was an hour and forty five minutes….I think there’s something wrong unless you’re a doctor or handling an emergency that putting your phone in your pocket for that short a time shouldn’t be that difficult.

 

The other day I ran into a friend of mine who performs with the Metropolitan Opera. He told me that when he first noticed all these glowing lights from the audience he didn’t realize they were coming from cell phones. He said that it’s amazing that during a performance there are tons of people on their phones…and that it’s not only rude to the people around them but it’s also distracting to the performers.

 

My friends know that if we’re going out I appreciate that their phone be in their pocket. I give them my undivided attention and I ask the same in return.

So what do you think?? Am I asking too much?

I LOVE COLLEGE BASKETBALL!!! Last night I watched two fantastic women’s NCAA Elite Eight games. I’m surprised my neighbors didn’t complain about my screaming at my TV.

 

Back when I owned a car I often went down to Rutgers to see both the men and women’s team play. I’m a huge fan of C. Vivian Stringer, the women’s coach. She leads by being a power of example. Yesterday when the news broke about the Rutgers Men’s Basketball Coach Mike Rice I was extremely upset. As the story unfolded what became more disturbing was that Rutgers officials knew about his behavior, including the anti-gay language, for months before acting on it. There are also reports another employee first reported Rice’s behavior as early as last June, and yet Rice was not disciplined until December. In December Rutgers suspended Rice for three games and fined him $50,000. Big deal!!!

 

Here’s another example of a college sweeping under the rug egregious behavior in order to not upset the men’s sports program. Why did it take Penn State years to stop Sandusty? It took Rice’s disturbing video going viral for Rutgers finally terminate him.