EMPTYING MY MIND'S DESK DRAWER

There are times when right hand drawer of my mind's unused and unprocessed information needs to be emptied out in order for new clutter to begin accumulating; when non-sensical, sometimes valueless data impedes the memory bank process.  This is one of those times.  I press DELETE.

JACK KEVORKIAN, Doctor Death, is running for Congress.  What runs through this guy's mind?  What runs through his veins?  Has he no introspective abilities at all?  Also, who are the people who have encouraged his candidacy?  What are they like?  Will anyone actually vote for this convicted murderer?  What would be their political views?  

CONGRESS' approval rating is less than 10%.  It has completed, perhaps, its least efficient session in some 30 years.  Harry Truman had his "Do Nothing" Congress.  What should we term this one?  Maybe the "Do Something, Anything at All" Congress?  I know I plan on voting for the Senate and Congressional challengers this fall.  I don't even care if they're not millionaires!  So what if my state and district lose seniority?  They have little to show from the incumbents anyhow.  I'm going to do my small part in trying to change Washington's political deadlock with the emphasis on dead.  How about you?

I HATE to think of the day when books will all be digitized, and I won't be able to physically turn a page and feel the crisp paper between my thumb and forefinger.  I won't have shelf after shelf of wonderful bindings and colorful dust covers in my library.  I'll just have a "device" on the corner of my desk.  I hate to think that it might end up in the right-hand drawer.

I DON'T have much of a "yen" (sorry) for the upcoming olympic games.  I see China's political agenda powerfully overshadowing all.  Its search for world class respect smothering in smog the world class athletes that will compete in the games.  That's all it seems to be to China is a game - to be used as a vehicle so that it can wear a laurel leaf on the middle stand of the podium of world opinion.

BRETT FAVRE seems to have taken to heart too many of the lauditory editorials written upon the occasion of his retirement.  Mr. Niceguy needs to understand that the Green Bay Packers are not simply going to allow him to unretire and to continue his career where ever he may choose.  He has value as a player, and Green Bay wants compensation for that value.  Favre started this brouhaha with the Packers.  He needs to understand that the situation has passed him by.  If he wants to continue his career, it needs to be elsewhere, out of the conference, and with due compensation for a future Hall of Fame quarterback.

ALEX RODRIGUEZ should be more than thankful that he is a New York Yankee.  The New York City environment can take in stride his off-field antics and still appreciate his considerable baseball abilities.  No other city, except perhaps Washington, would endure this type of public posturing and questionable behavior.  From a distance I don't much care whether he strikes out or scores with Madonna.  Because I do care about the affect of all this on his children, I hope he takes a walk from the current stupidity.

THE TAMPA BAY RAYS are the feel-good story of this baseball season.  From last place to first with no respect for the Red Sox or the Yankees.  Check them out.  They're young, exciting, and they believe in their achievements.  The antithesis of Congress.

I admire the French for their honesty in dealing with their orthodox muslim population.  They haven't avoided the situation nor abrogated majority responsibility to a minority viewpoint.  Several years ago they banned religious garments from public schools, and recently they denied a muslim woman French citizenship because she had not assimilated herself appropriately into French society.  The woman insists on wearing a niqab, layers of clothing covering her completely from head to foot with a narrow slit for her eyes.  The basis for the legal decision was that the niqab was representative of suppression and narrowness of thought. While there is a delicate balancing act between freedom of religion and the government's restraint on interfering with that constitutional right, the French attack the problem head-on.

More than likely, we in the U.S. would come down on the side of, "Let her do her own thing."  If one analyzes that late '60s philosophy, it becomes the single most destructive element in evading civic responsibility, a cornerstone of our country's strength. 

We continually allow minority groups to express their beliefs and practices and to ignore the majority.  There once was the philosophy of a melting plot, the assimilation of small groups into the greater whole.  Now that has changed into a tossed salad, where each entity retains its full identity at the expense of the whole.  There is no assimilation.

While I still order Freedom Fries because of my dislike of the Gallic view of the United States, I reiterate my admiration for their dealing with situations that we continue to avoid.

My wife Carol and I have recently returned from a visit to Colorado to meet our newborn fifth grandchild and second grandson.  "Tenny" is a great little guy with a developing personality and an insatiable appetite.  We are so pleased to have finally met him, and we miss him greatly.  

For My Grandson, Tennyson Parkhurst (with apologies to Alfred Lord Tennyson)

Bald-headed grandson whose name is one

with mine.

Filled with laughter and babble and earth's

new wine

Now that the time of more than a month

is thine

O little man of mine and David

of mine,

Smile, for the name at the head of this

verse is thine.

May you always take pride in your name

and of mine.

Oh, Willie! Look What You've Done Now!

Sometimes in this world we see tragedy invoked upon an individual through circumstances completely beyond one's control.  Death by terrorist might be a contemporary example.  Death in an airliner through pilot error, or death at the side of the road because of a substance-using driver.  However, it seems that self-destruction is the more common American tragedy these days.  The embezzler, the druggie, the sop.

Take Willie Andrews the now former defensive back of the New England Patriots.  Willie had shown some on-field promise by accumulating many special teams tackles, and this last season he even ran a kick-off back for a touchdown.  Willie reached the pinnacle of his profession by playing the last January's Super Bowl - a high attainment.  But Willie Andrews (not Willie Loman) couldn't handle his life.

In February, just two days after the Super Bowl, Willie was arrested locally and charged with possessing a half-pound of marijuana and some $6800 in cash.  Oh, Willie!  Just last week Willie was arrested again!  He was involved in a domestic dispute in that he took a fully loaded, high powered Glock pistol and held it against his girlfriend's temple.  Now he's in jail for possessing said pistol without a permit and assault with a dangerous weapon.  Oh, Willie!

Andrews had also been arrested and jailed in his native Texas for for gun possession while out on bail for some sort of criminal activity.  Oh, Willie!

Willie has also caused social tragedy to his girlfriend of three years and their young child.  What do they do now that Willie will be out of commission for some time?

Even though no one was killed, one assumes that could easily have happened.   Through stupidity, criminal activity, and neglect of others, Willie has not only lost his chance at the brass ring, but also he has hurt two others through no fault of their own.

Oh, Willie!  You're a central figure in a social tragedy, but I don't feel sorry for you.  Could my loss of feeling and empathy for you be another casualty in the social process.

Oh, Willie!