Odds, Ends, and Observations

 **Now that it's been revealed that presidential candidate Michelle Bachmann suffers from headaches--this shouldn't be a surprise. With a head like hers, it's supposed to hurt.

**Here's another surprise: After signing new coaches for football and basketball at the University of Maryland for a price of $3.9 million per year, the college president has formed a panel to look into the spending of the athletic department. It appears they do not make enough to pay the bills. Heck, all Division I schools need a squad of 80 players on scholarship to compete in a game in which the ball is in actual play for 12 minutes.  

**The great thing about reading books as opposed to watching TV, there's no commercial when the book gets exciting. Support your local library or bookstore. I like anything by Rick Bragg.

**With all the talk of cutting the national budget and raising the debt ceiling, no elected leader has mentioned pallets of $100 bills going to the Afghan war lords, the inability to track the billions used in Iraq and Pakistan, the huge defense budget, or the in excess of $1 billion per day to fight two wars.

**During this heat wave, half the pools are closed in Baltimore, and still the Ravens pay no rent on a stadium constructed with public funds.

**During the NFL lockout I am trying to picture life without pro football--I like it.

**Pennsylvania has started adding another ribbon of concrete to their section of Route 83 and it appears on the Maryland side that the surveyors have been busy. This is a highway that experiences about 45 minutes of traffic snarl during a 24 hour day. The Pennsylvania residents who commute to Maryland for work should try moving closer to their work, riding more than one in a car, leave earlier, or use the Rabbit Transportation coming from York. At the same time we are trying to lose our dependency on foreign oil, but building more roads is like stocking an alcoholic's liquor cabinet.

**It appears the NFL settlement will help us avoid the Ray Lewis's predicted crime wave. Restricting pro football players training camps and curfews should reduce things like DUI and family assaults.