My Sick Mind

... the most bacteria-infested place on earth is the handle of those hand sanitizers. Thousands of people with dirty fingers are pushing that plunger. ... that, and those pneumatic-tube money carriers at the drive-in bank. Think of the fingers on those things. Ick. ... when the story about the ambulance carrying someone out of Tiger Woods' house surfaced on Tuesday morning, how many of you thought it was either Tiger or his wife, having been bludgeoned by a golf club? ... when it turned out to be his mother-in-law, how did you feel about that? Some things are impossible to live down. President Obama proposed a new program Tuesday that would reimburse homeowners for energy-efficient appliances and insulation, part of a broader plan to stimulate the economy. The administration didn't provide immediate details, but said it would work with Congress on crafting legislation. Steve Nadel, director at the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, who's helping write the bi...

Sometimes we do what we're told whether or not we have given it much thought or considered the alternatives. Christmas is one of those times. Holidays in general get me to thinking, and as regular readers know, getting me to thinking is both dangerous and purposeful. Since we were children, we've been indoctrinated with the so-called Spirit of Christmas and all that it entails, including massive debt, some guilt and an overwhelming feeling of obligation. Merry Christmas. But we go along to get along, and if we eschew the tradition (a.k.a. obligations) of the holiday we are committing social suicide and risk being a cast out in our social circle, such as it is. Peer pressure is a huge part of most holidays, and none more than Christmas. It's the reason I can't fault drug addicts and compulsive gamblers for falling in with the wrong crowd. We've fallen in with the wrong crowd too, only our crowd is called Society and we rationalize it because the mob mentality has...

Suddenly, it dawned on me. I'm a little slow, so you'll have to bear with me. Television has turned music into competition. No kidding. It started with the nonsense known as American Idol, transformed into such other nonsense as Dancing With the Stars , So You Think You Can Dance and the grammatically incorrect America's Got Talent . I was innocently watching Sunday night's football game when I saw NBC promoting a program called The Sing Off (no jokes please) where I assume singers face-off in a competitive talent competition that is probably to be decided by viewer votes (via telephone for money) with a two-hour premiere next week. It is hosted by Nick Lachey (we're supposed to know who he is) and judged by Ben Folds, Shawn Stockman and Nicole Schwerzinger. Go ahead and Google them, because I'm pretty sure you only know Ben Folds because his name is on a group that he fronts. The web site asks us who do you think will win (also grammatically incorrect) ...