TOP SUBJECTS OF THE WEEK

TOP SUBJECTS OF THE WEEK, (Frazer Chronicles)

A subject that has always been a bone of contention for me is how our judicial system deals with rape and child abuse. Almost without exception a victim of an alleged rape finds themselves on trial, defending their clothes, an attitude, the sound of their voice and even the perfume that they choose to wear. The worst part of any rape trial has to be the history of the sexual exploiters of the victim, whether they were promiscuous and the number of partners they had.

In the case of child molestation, some of the accused are guilty until proven innocent, the exact opposite of how our judicial system is supposed to work. Over zealous child protective agents, police department officials active in child protection seem to work in concert to overwhelm an alleged suspect, leaving him, or her little choice but to seek legal advice, sooner then later.

Do not get me wrong, I detest any kind of inapproeate activity or contact with a child, it repulses me and I think prosecution should be sought as vigorously as possible, but under the letter of the law, no differently then for any other crime that can result in jail time. I also feel that there should be no publicity regarding these types of crimes, as I do with most crimes. Law enforcement ends up using the press and other news media  almost as an arm of their investigation, often times to taint the public feeling and their reaction.

What follows is one man's struggle not only to win a trial for his freedom, but the journey to reclaim his life and reputation. The trip through the court system was different then that of a drug dealer or that even of an accused murderer. The guilty until proven innocent mentality effected almost every facet of the case and sadly even continues today.

PROTECTING A CHILD, PROTECTING AN ADULT, (Washington Post)

Sean Lanigan was living a dream life, his dream life. A soccer fanatic and at ease around kids, Lanigan fit in easily as a teacher and coach at a middle school in Centerville, Virginia, some 40 miles from Washington D.C.

Lanigan had played soccer, volunteered as a coach and decided that he felt his life was basically going nowhere in  the mortgage business, so he returned to George Mason University, where he had obtained a business degree, to gain  a teaching certificate in physical education. It was a tough decision, based on a love for a sport, but Lanigan also had found a new love, watching kids develop, grow and mature into productive young people.

After obtaining his second degree in 1998, Lanigan first worked at Stone Middle School in Centerville before he was placed at Centre Ridge Middle School at the beginning of the fall of 1998. As one co-teacher explained, "Sean's heart was really with the kids, he'd pick them up, twirl them around," he liked playing with them, "but school work always came first."

Sean Lanigan did like to play with kids, it made him feel good and it made the kids feel good. Some people don't understand that feeling, but I do. Many people do not understand the feel that a person can get from seeing a child succeed at something that you taught him, or to bring out an ability that nobody knew was there. What Sean Lanigan got out of his association with kids was fulfillment, was, in a way, was a sustenance for Lanigan . He would never jeopardise what was so important to him, so much a part of his life, by some overt act that could take it all away. I know, I speak from experience.

Lanigan had a history with his accuser, being the head of the school's safety patrols, he had admonished the 12 year old girl for abrasive behavior to other kids while she was on patrol. In addition another teacher also told the girl that she could lose her position as a news reader on Centre Ridge's morning television news show.

The girl, using a page right out of a script for Law & Order's S.V.U. called Mr. Lanigan a "jerk" and said, "I'm going to make him pay."  Friends and teachers, according to trial testimony, overheard the remarks by the girl.

The girl in fact did lose her patrol position, in January 2010, and shortly thereafter begin telling a story about Sean Lanigan "picking her up" during PE PALS, a program where kids help pick up gym equipment and then are allowed to play there. The girl and a friend reported that Lanigan carried the girl over his shoulder into a main equipment room, briefly touching her breast and buttocks.

Once inside the room, Lanigan laid the 12 year old girl on  a stack of blue tumbling mats, began messaging her shoulders, then laid on top of her and told her he would treat her "like a Queen" while the other girl stood in  the doorway. The accuser tried to get up, but that the teacher pushed her back down and asked "where are you going." The girl said that she had patrol duty, and Lanigan let her go.

The accuser told her parents that she had been molested by her PE teacher and the parents contacted James Baldwin, Centre Ridge principal and he promptly called police. The case was given to Nicole Christian who would become the lead detective.

Next Fairfax County child protective services social worker, Krista Davidson interviewed the girl. Davidson and another police detective had interviewed the accusers parents before talking with the girl. Watching from a second room was lead detective Christian, but never met with either the parents or the 12 year old girl.

Christian, Davidson and Steve Kerr, school investigator, spoke to the accusers friend who corroborated the girls story. The three also talked to two boys who were in the guy at the time of the alleged incident who said they saw nothing. The three talked with the accusers friends who related what the girl had told them.

On January 20th. 2010, Lanigan was pulled out of his class by the school's principle and taken to the principle's office where detectives Christian and Rick Mullen began some "small talk" talk for the next 25 minutes or so. Nicole Christian finally ask Sean Lanigan "if he knew why he was in the principles office," to which he answered, "no."

Lanigan was then asked whether he had picked up the girl some 8 days earlier in the gym and did he "fondle her." "Did you carry the girl to the equipment room," There were a lot of scenarios around, Lanigan said, they wouldn't take my word for anything, it was like they were "trying to trick me into a confession or something."

He however "stuck to his guns" and was released from the interview, however badly shaken. He next met with school investigator Kerr who demanded his keys  and school badge and learned that he had been suspended from the school with pay.

In short order Lanigan's pay, like the teacher/coach would be suspended as well. For all intense and purposes, Sean Lanigan's dream life was over, he just didn't know it yet and he probably doesn't know it to this day. As he related to the Washington Post, "when I drove off school property, I stopped and just sat in my car, stunned that this could have happen to me."

Of course the usual scenario in the case followed, a felony warrant was obtained and charges of abduction and aggravated sexual battery were brought against Sean Lanigan. He turned himself in and spent the next 4 days in jail.

After a preliminary hearing where the accuser and her friend both recanted the claim that Lanigan laid on top of her, the judge still sent the case to a gran d jury for indictment. Lanigan and his attorney met with the county prosecutor and  asked for him to dismiss the case, which was met with refusal.

As the trial date approached, the Lanigan family began to suffer financially, and Sean Lanigan suffered because he was not allowed contact with his school, the students or his soccer team. He was offered a deal, plead guilty to misdemeanor assault, no sex offense, no jail time, Lanigan refused and, realizing that he wanted the entire truth to come out, to get his life back.

The trial lasted several days, testimony was given by the accuser, her friend, the same questions were asked and the same answers given, but now the recanted evidence was revealed to the jury. The same questions were posed to Sean Lanigan, and he answered the same way as he had throughout this ordeal.

It took the jury less then a half hour to bring back a verdict of not guilty in the case, an extremely short period of time when a child molestation case is being considered. Celebration was in order for the Lanigan family and their friends who had remained at his side throughout the ordeal.

However the celebration was short lived, Lanigan did not return to Centre Ridge Elementary school, and his legal fees have yet to be paid by the school district. He has been shipped around to different schools, put on part time duty and then "de-staffed," meaning that he must re-apply in the district for work.

Cases like Sean Lanigan  happen every year around the country, it's the atmosphere, it's the attitude, it's law enforcement, over zealous prosecutors looking for a springboard to a higher office  and fear. In 1981, Congress enacted legislation to deal with actual cases of child abuse  by requiring states, as a condition for the funding of state programs, to enact mandatory reporting laws.

Defining sexual abuse to include virtually any inappropriate activity as defined by individuals schooled in inappropriate activity, whatever that means. The non definition, or loosely defined activity leaves a large area for a child protection agent to work in. In 1981 there were 1.2 million reported cases and by 1987, more then 2 million cases annually.

Another reason that people like Lanigan, especially living in the Washington D.C. area might find beating a molestation case tougher is the fact that the National Center for the Prosecution of Child Abuse is located in Alexandria, Virginia, a subsidiary of the National District Attorneys Association who prints handbooks on the subject.

I am all for putting these scum bags away for the rest of their lives, those individuals who even try touching children. There should be no limit and if found guilty, no mercy. But for Gods sake, the court better be right and there should never be a rush to judegment.

   





BITS & PIECES

BITS & PIECES, (Frazer Chronicles)

My favorite day of the week.....wee, Saturday and Bits & Pieces, a chance for your editor & chief to really expand the horizons of journalism and in the process make my loyal readers think a bit outside the box. One side note, there was no blog yesterday do to the fact that there was some sort of national break-down, but were back today,  so without further or do, lets get started. 

BIN LADEN, A DIRTY MINDED TERRORIST, (Frazer Chronicles)

My sources confirm, what I felt all along and with  a sizable stash of pornographic movies found in the terrorist's compound, finally your editor & chief is vindicated, Osama bin Laden was just like millions of other men around the world, sexually frustrated, even with his 21 wives, he still needed warmth, comfort and understanding. The man was simply frustrated, craving understanding and a sympathetic.....shoulder to cry on. With the right women, a war could have been averted and thousands of people would still be alive today.

I have received a partial list of the most entertaining movies that were some of the terrorists favorite, they are as follows with a brief description:

Rebel Without a Condom,

"James Dean like you've never seen him before."

Sexbusters,

"I ain't afraid of no sex."

American Booty,

"Everybody has sex with everybody."

Missionary Position Impossible,

"It feels so good.....if you decide to except it."

Sluts and the City,

"A new twist on an old series, with an amusing end."

THIS MAN KNOWS HOW TO ENTERTAIN,  (San Diego Union-Tribune)

Jesus Gandara decided to "break bread" with some of his co-workers, the Sweetwater Union High School District Superintendent knew exactly how to his message across, impress people, get feed-back, to accomplish a board mandate and entertain all at the same time and do so at taxpayers expense.  

You might say, "what a guy," but wait, there's more, Gandara was not only following the school boards directive of  "doing more in the community with his outreach dinners," he was making himself available at board members convenience, like after their working hours in  the evening, or Saturdays.

Most common meal partners for Gandara were members of the school board, 238 of 366 meals that totaled $12,560 on a Sweetwater School District credit card. One board trustee dined with Jesus Gandara 92 different time, could anything other then school business have been going on, we here at Chronicle headquarters will not comment, but we might speculate.

A watchdog group discovered what they considered "gorging at the taxpayers trough" and confronted Mr. Gandara this past March. He turned in his credit card and discontinued his "outreaching" dinners, refusing any comment.

FISH FLAP, (Toledo Chronicle-Telegram)

Thousands of fish are washing up on the beaches near Toledo, Ohio and wildlife researchers are stumped as to what might be causing the carnage. The fish, Walleye, are dead or dying and causing quite a stink to locals and beach walkers. Trust me, hundreds of fish, either dead or flopping around on a beach really gives off an odor that will open up your sinuses like nothing else.

The weather is a possible cause, as one Ohio state biologist stated, given the fact that the spring has been unusually cold. Another reason cited might be connected with the Walleye's psyche, feeling  the strain of  spawning all those fish eggs, I know I wouldn't feel very good after I dumped a thousand or so eggs.

The stress factor might be the most logical reason for the unusual deaths, D.N.R. officials said and they saw no problems with the coming summer sport fishing season. We here at Chronicle headquarters however do see a problem if the fish on the beaches aren't removed soon, Lake Erie smells bad enough without thousands of dead bodies on their beaches. We also have a suggestion for the Ohio D.N.R. "give your Walleye some Valium."

CASH AND GO, (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

Elyria residence are at it again, this suburb some 20 miles west of Cleveland has some of the nicest people that you would ever want to meet, I know, I've been there. However a 64 year old man took being friendly a step further and I for one want to me this guy.

The man had received a disability check for more then $20,000 on May 4th. and was celebrating at a local watering hole, buying a few rounds and doing all the silly things that guys over 60 do.....that I know for sure, you see, I'm 67.

Enlisting a friendly female bar patron, he opened a savings account where be deposited $15,000 in a savings account and a checking account of $10,000. The man kept $500 out of his checking account, leaving a balance of $9,500. Everything was fine over the week-end,  until he checked his balance on Monday morning and found out he was $3,500 light.

The man quickly notified the police and his bank. Giving a description of the women made me salivate, "a 50ish, brown haired 5'-4" sporting a stocky build, "sounds like my plumber," and only knew her by her first name. Elyria, keep up the good work as one of Ohio's ambassadors of friendly cities.

STRIKE THREE AND I'M OUT.

STRIKE THREE AND I'M OUT, (Frazer Chronicles)

Sadly there won't be three additional flesh peddlers adorning small communities, two in the upper Midwest, the other in Maine. I blogged my faithful readers the other day about the exploits in Vassalboro, Main and the eventual closure of the Grandview Coffee Shop sometime next month. As an avid flesh watcher in my own right, "I feel your pain Vassalboro."

Now comes news that an attempt to open a pole clinging establishment in the northern resort hub of Traverse City, Michigan lost it's battle with the prudish city council. I can think of no better indoor sport in the dead of winter, when the winds of winter come calling, then to be watching a talented young vixen swinging around on a pole, while locals enjoy the show with a glass of their favorite libation.

I used to live in Traverse City and I can remember a few magical nights of bear skin and lap dances at nearby  Williamsburg strip club on old U.S. 31. The beer was cold and the babe's were great, all except that one with the tattoo's of Johny on her bicep, I didn't think girls were supposed to have biceps, bigger then mine.

Now we come to what amounts to a double whammy here in Green Bay, Wisconsin, the home of the world champion Packers. I will say this, the attempt to create good man entertainment was truly innovative. As a licence was applied for at one location, the same owners were checking out the market at another location that they owned. And to top the whole thing off, one of the owners was also a wood-be politician and the other a substitute grade school teacher.

The Press Box has been in business here in Green Bay for 20 or 30 years, needless to say "I have been there.....once." Outdoor volley ball courts highlight summer activity and the owners, observing the usual slow winter months, hit on a novel idea, allow armature pole dancers the chance to "pole around" a bit to liven up the crowd.....and it worked.

Deciding to become completely legitimate, there was an application to open up a pole spot several miles from the Press Box in a vacant bar. Sadly the Protection and Welfare Committee turned down the request and further, busted the Press Box pollsters, why I'll never understand. This one slipped right by me, I had no idea that Green Bay had the possibility of another flesh spot, the Oval Office is one of two others. Green Bay is a progressive community that offers all types of art.

I can understand a rejection of a stripe club where the building is located, three blocks from an amusement park for kids, but shutting down the Press Box, man, that's raw. Don't you know, all a guy has to do is give one of the pole riding babes  $20 in a birthday card and it's no longer a pole or lap dance, it's just a guy giving a girl a birthday card and that's legal, you can look it up, it's a state law.

IMMIGRATION CONTROVERSY, NOT REALLY

IMMIGRATION CONTROVERSY, NOT REALLY, (Frazer Chronicles)

As Sophia used to say on Golden Girls, "picture it," a pallet plant in the south-eastern  part of Chicago, the company, U.S.A. Pallets has more then 100 employees, producing more then a thousand pallets every day. The workers, in a blur of activity, each with his own specific duty, work 12 hour shifts to break down old pallets, save whatever they can, and then  pushing the left-overs down a production line to the next station, where re-construction begins.

In another shop on the west side of Chicago, workers cut steel shapes out of 8'x16' sheets of 1" steel. There are more then 150 workers on  2 shifts 5 days a week. Here the tempo is a bit slower because the steel sheets need to be eased into place on the "rack table" and a computer needs to be programed to the shape size. A laser then cuts the shapes and workers load them into crates for shipping.

A plastics company north of Philadelphia manufactures forks, knives, spoons and cups, shipping them all over the United States. They have been in business for more then 40 years and today are doing better then ever before. The company employees more then 100 men and 50 women on two shifts during their five day work week

A small village in northern Wisconsin, has a  recycling company that recycles tires into all sorts of rubber bi-products that are shipped throughout the Mid-West, dipped in vats of specifically coded paint, bagged into 500 pound bags and transported all over the country to be used in playgrounds, along major thoroughfare's and in landscaping. Although the company employs less then 30 people, it non the less is an important part of the community.

What do each of these businesses have in common, 9 out of every 10 employees are immigrant Mexicans. Of that 90% figure, at least 6 in 10 are illegal. They speak little or no English and are paid sub-standard wages, often in  cash, have no benefits of any type, even Workers Compensation for injury on the job.

The top pay that I could find was with the steel shape makers and that was $10 an hour. The worst, $5 an hour at the pallet company. In  fact the pallet company was raided, and the entire workforce was deported back to Mexico and the owners were fined $10,000.  It didn't matter though, a month later the facility was up and running with another full crew of workers, all different and I'm sure still at $5 an hour.

I hear every  few weeks, here in Wisconsin that "these unskilled hard working immigrants are necessary for all sorts of business to continue. From farming, to manufacturing, to lawn care to the service industry, these workers fill jobs that Americans are unwilling to do. Must be that the work, washing dishes, picking fruit, milking cows, or cutting grass is below the standard of what Americans Joe Blow will do.

Business talks about these foreign people, not only Mexicans, but other nations as well, with almost a humbled tone, citing how hard they work, what a great job they do and how their labor helps to keep prices competitive not only in America, but the world as well. I guess so, the wages alone make them competitive.

Immigration to the United States has been a major source of population growth and cultural change throughout much of the history of the country. The economy, social, political, ethnicity, economic benefits and crime  have all been effected by immigration. During the latter half of the twentieth century, the United States accepted more legal immigrants as permeate residence then all other nations in the world combined. I have learned from much research that U.S. business has never done anything out of the goodness of their hearts and treating these cheap immigrant workers is no different.

Without exception, each spike in immigration to the United States coincided with a major expansion requiring large amounts of cheap manual labor that could be manipulated through an uneducated foreign speaking work force.

Over half of the immigration during the 17th. and 18th. centuries arrived as indentured servants, were not paid wages, owing their "owner" for passage and were usually laborers or servants.  Their food, lodging and other "benefits" were provided for during their 3 to 7 year period of work to pay off their debt. There was less then 1 million of these immigrants during this period of time.

Between the 1830's to around 1914 more then 30 million Europeans, some actually scouted, or recruited to do specific work in the coal fields or the iron ore ranges, entered the country. According to immigration records, the peak year of European immigration was 1907, when more then  1 million entered the country. By 1910 there were more then 13 million legal immigrants living and working in the United States.

Many of these people during this time were employed in the mining industry, making up almost exclusively the work force in these underground operations. With very little exception, management positions in the mining industry were made up of English speaking Americans or immigrated English people that could speak English.

From the early 1850's through the middle of the 1870's there was an influx of Asian peoples to fill those jobs created for railroad companies and the spread of the rail system throughout the western part of the country. When their use was over, they were usually cut loose to fend for themselves, suffering horrific treatment including death.



Today there is defiantly a criminal element connected with many of the groups that have entered the United States over the past 15 or 20 years. The culture of the United States is being effected, illegals are costing tax dollars for medical care as well as the educational process. In addition there is no question that the criminal element has skyrocketed in certain areas of America, costing law enforcement time, effort, tax dollars and in some instances, death.

We beef up border patrol, put fences up and install all types of motion detectors. We fight the drug trafficking between the United States and Mexico, we fight human trafficking  as well as undocumented workers, all to no avail and little success.

The header of this blog proclaimed that the immigration controversy wasn't really controversial, the country has all the laws and statutes in place to control any foreign immigration problem that might come up. What we as a nation don't do is enforce the laws and statutes that we have on the books to stem whatever tide might arise.

I take a different view of combating this problem that is getting bigger and more costly by the year, and it's easy, non political and has not even one talking point. The simplicity of my cure even mystifies me and that's hard to do, after all, I'm simple.

A. Make our borders secure, fences do not work, they were all erected to be breached. We are spending billions in foreign wars, bring the troops home to secure the borders.

B. Round up as many illegals as possible, no reputable papers, off you go to the country of your origin, illegals would now be essentially trapped in America by secure borders. The round-up would cost billions, but the cost in lost taxes, services offered and crime would be cut, plus there would be money left over from the wars we are no longer fighting.

C. Those employers that use illegals are severely punished, something like a year in prison for each illegal employee. He would also lose his business for his illegal activity and a regional board would assume control of the business and would sell it to the highest bidder.

D. If you have lived and worked in the United States but are here illegally, you don't have the right to be here, what part of the word ILLEGAL don't you understand? You have no rights and you have no vested interest here, other then to make money and send it home to your family.

These are harsh rules, they make no exceptions, if your here and you shouldn't be, you will be sent packing. There is a reason that more then 12 million Mexican people are here in the United States, there homeland is a joke, jobs are scarce and your government has little interest in developing jobs for you to take advantage of.

Mexico is a third world country, corrupt and ruled by ruthless drug lords that traffic in killer drugs as well as human flash. NAFTA takes advantage of the Mexican people as it does the American worker, possibly the worst trade agreement ever written.

I know that the vast majority of illegal Mexicans are here to better their lot in life and that of their families. But the United States needs to clean up it's act, we no longer can afford to "front" the worlds poor. The United States needs to, step by step right the direction of where we are going and today needs to be the first day, before it's to late.

  

AS THE WORM TURNS

AS THE WORM TURNS, (Frazer Chronicles)

For those of you who aren't professional basketball fans, let me  introduce you to one of the very best rebounders in the history of the game, on any level. Dennis Keith Rodman was by far one of the most dynamic of the board-men to have ever played the game. Rodman lead the National Basketball Association in rebounding five times during his 14 year professional career.

A top defender, he was voted the league's top defensive player twice, emerging as one of the top rebounders of all-time    during the latter part of his career. Playing the bulk of his career with the Detroit Pistons, his last two years with the Motown club, he established rebounding averages of 18.7 and 18.3 per game, both marks club records.

Rodman was born in Trenton, New Jersey in 1961, he came from a troubled and unhappy childhood, his father abandoning the family when he was 3. His mother moved her family of 3  to the Dallas, Texas area where Rodman grew up. Rodman's two sisters, Debra and Kim were considered better basketball players then Dennis, routinely knocking his sox's off in pick-up games. Debra was an all-American at Louisiana Tech, while Kim was the same at Stephen F. Austin.

His basketball career in high school did not give any forewarning of the basketball player that he would become, there wasn't any. Rodman couldn't even hit a layup, he was a 5'6" non-athletic type and was devastated that he made neither the football or basketball teams. However a year out of high school and Rodman had a growth spurt of a little more then a foot and a buddy tipped off the Cooke County College in Gainesville, Texas.

At Gainesville, Rodman was the schools top scorer and it's leading rebounder. Sadly the worm lasted little more then a single semester before he flunked out due to poor academic performances. Rodman transferred to Southeastern Oklahoma State University were he was a three time All-American, would average 25.7 points a game and 15.7 rebounds.

A pro career followed in which he would achieve 5 league titles, two with the Pistons and 3 with the Chicago Bulls. He closed out his professional career in the N.B.A. in 1999-2000 with a 12 game stint with the Dallas Mavericks where he averaged more then 14 boards a game.

Dennis Rodman seems to have come full circle, electric marriages, antics on the court as well as off, a man known for different hair colors, body piercings and tattoos, he was enshrined into the N.B.A.'s hall of fame as a fitting tribute to his ability and impact on the game. He has had his jersey retired and been an inspiration to many basketball players,  that effort can pay dividends.

Now comes the highest honor that could possibly be bestowed on the rebounding machine, the worm, the man whom many man know as simply "Dennis the Menace." He will have his number 10 jersey retired by the Gentleman's Club, a strip club in New York city. Other big top sports stars sneak around and go in the back door to their favorite strip joints, you Dennis never did. You walked right in the front door, big as life with your multi colored hair and sat right down with the babe of your choice. Congrats big boy.

PREVIEW OF 2011 MIDDLE EAST SEASON

PREVIEW OF 2011 MIDDLE EAST SEASON, (Asian Times)

Much like baseball in American and what springtime brings, hope for your favorite baseball  team, that phenom or veteran who will lead your team to a championship, springtime in the Middle East also represents hope of a new season. Although the stakes are a bit higher then an American League title or a world championship parade that Americans cheer for, the Middle East wonders about the possibility of another summer of war.

Instead of rookies making the team, or a wily veteran getting one more year out of his ability, the questions in the Middle East are whether a multi-billion dollar summer-time war will break out and where it will be staged. Codified into an elaborate ritual with ever-shifting alliances, incidents, threats, every accelerating arms procurement and large speculative bets on the financial markets, it resembles major league baseball.

Historically military campaigns in the Middle East have happened during the summer and is true today, the reason, simply enough, the weather. Air power and ground maneuvers get the best results and are most efficient during this time. To boot, harvests have largely been collected, freeing up manpower and is readily available and wars pose less a challenge to nations economies.

Like American sports pundits, expert  analysts and call-in sports talk shows, Middle- Eastern politicians and investors become unusually restless and try to predict, if not determine where and what will happen. It is a game  including risky bets, secret maneuvers, a game of intricate tactics and strategies, where short bouts of violence are encountered, but lasting for, at the most six or seven months. Sounds exactly like a major league baseball season.

The history of Middle East summer-time combat issues, since 1948 bears out the short-season plan of attack, mostly because of the enormous costs of modern warfare and the re-supply issues. Even better then America's national pastime, the teams can change not only from city to city, but country to country. This years potential line-up is jam packed with possibilities for a truly great season, possibly the best of all time.

Among the contenders, a great Arab revolution, or a counter-revolution, and a growing crisis in the Persian Gulf region. Worsening Sunni-Shi'ite relations across the entire Middle East could be a highlight of the coming season, but don't count out the Palestinian declaration of Independence slated for September, as a sleeper for the overall champion. Of course the major wild card is a possible war in, or with Israel by some upstart independent team that nobody can identify. Of course nobody can count out the old war horses, Syria as well as Lebanon.

All in all, 2011 should be a banner season, what with reduced ticket prices, the possibility of  alcohol sales and rock bottom concession and souvenir prices. An added attraction this year, Wednesday nights at every war site will be ladies night, where every women entering a war zone without a burqa will be admitted free. Friday nights are designated as family night, where every family member bringing their AK 47 will receive a free soda and a hot dog.

Sadly 2011 will not be hosting the annual all star bash, usually held in Mosul, Iraq. The damage inflicted at last year's mortar contest, which was won by Ali "lobes" Husinfat haven't been repaired. However plans are under way to hold the 2012 game at the fabled Jack of Diamonds park, if renovations are completed.

Many new faces will dot the rosters of the combatants, from the rich middle ranged missile shooters, the Hezbollah, Hamas and Kurdish militants, as well as other rogue sources. In addition, late season call-ups could help some of the waring parties, coming from, "Uncle Curly" as Muammur Gaddafi is affectionately called, from his Libyan guard.

Iran would have been a league favorite if not for the fact that a problem came up with their front office leadership, and they were forced to cancel the 2011 season. Rest assured, the "Oil Tap Men" will be back next season to defend their 2010 championship season.

See how easy it is to create a baseball season out of waring countries that have hundreds of years of war like activity. I think baseball has helped to keep America around for so long, with little exception, baseball molds peoples from all walks of life together, the rich, the poor and those in between. We come together as one and marvel at our diamond hero's and their exploits, it's what makes us unique as a people. Couldn't the world take a page from the United States history books,  with regards to how they might better resolve their issues, play ball.

"SLEEPY" TAKES ONE ON THE CHIN, (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Republican lawmakers are forming ranks against (some) of Governor Scott "Sleepy" Walkers proposed 2011-13 budget. But they do remain solidly behind the freshman governor's overall attempts to solve the $3.5 billion dollar shortfall without raising taxes. 

Two high ranking Republican officials said that the "Walker plan is a good frame-work," but it was not perfect, and work was needed to prioritize further the cuts in several areas. Cutting recycling aid to local governments by $32 million dollars, overhauling Senior-Care prescription drug plan, forcing thousands to enroll in expensive federal Medicare Part D plans where just two knotty issues that some Republicans have.

Additionally, the difficult fight that lays ahead over budget repair measures laid out by the Walker operating budget, he, "Sleepy" had to use politician capital (I don't know what that means, is it like money with his picture on it) to push his budget ideas by his own party, will be a battle royal. 

Walker's budget is being held up by a Madison judge, who is blocking it because of allegations of an open meetings violation. The budget is scheduled to take effect July 1st. assuming the judge finds in the governors favor, and the budget is then passed by both houses of the legislature. Stay tuned my loyal readers. 

OUCH! *%&@#!

OUCH! &**%@#!, (Los Angles Times)

Strangely it seems that uttering a well placed swear word now and then seems to help pain, a study from the Neuro Report has found. Using an occasional swear word after hitting a thumb with a hammer, or twisting an ankle can actually be therapeutic, even though it doesn't sound very good.

According to the report, there is no need to feel bad in using what my mother called "guttural language." I can attest to the fact that swearing after I hit my thumb with a hammer does ease the pain, I just didn't know at the time that, if I hadn't used some foul language, it would have hurt worse.

Researchers in England asked test subjects to put their hands in ice water and see how long they could keep them immersed, (a common practice because no damage is done) before they had to take them out of the water. Those that were allowed to use foul language feared better and reported less pain.

Those subjects that refrained from anything worse then a golly gee, or a holly smokes said that they suffered more pain then when they were allowed to let loose with a few expletives.

The findings have to be true, the study was conducted over a two year period at Keele University in Staffordshire, England. We all know how stuffy and dry those Brits are, here in the United States and how serious they take their research.

These findings give credence to one of my beliefs, if a person  doesn't drink, smoke or swear, he can't be trusted.  A person who won't use "locker room language" is, well, strange. I always found that some of the best athletes were the guys that swore like a drunken sailor, (I swear.)

Sadly the research program also found that the use of swearing after an injury helped those people that didn't usually swear, to that I can only say @&*%^$@.