Trifles
Flu slams into my house. First time in awhile that we've been hit. I went down first, but I was feeling much better by bedtime yesterday. I'm still not sure that it was the flu that got me. It might have just been a really bad migraine. * * * * * * * We've bailed out the auto industry and Wall Street. We've bailed out home buyers who bought more brick than they could afford. We bail out the unemployed and the lazy. And now we're getting ready to bail out those who borrowed too much money for their education. And don't forget: Those student loans cost you directly, if you've gone to college during the past thirty years or have paid for your children to go to school. By flooding colleges and universities with money, the institutions have freely ratcheted up tuition and fees on everyone. And now you get to pay for those student loans again, indirectly, as a taxpayer. * * * * * * * On the same day that I read about the student loan bailout, I saw this headline: "How college students think they are more special than EVER: Study reveals rocketing sense of entitlement on U.S. campuses." Great, just flippin' great. Inflation all around: inflated tuition, inflated egos. * * * * * * * And oh yeah, we're also helping to bail out strip clubs: Welfare recipients take out cash at strip clubs, liquor stores and X-rated shops. Okay, my blurb here is neither fair nor accurate. Those strip clubs don't need a bailout (they rake in the cash) and they're not getting a bailout. This is merely a subsidy. * * * * * * * Well, my alma mater took it on the chin last night. To be honest, I never fully bought into ND, primarily because they struggled mightily with Michigan (even though Michigan had six turnovers . . . three of them stupid ones, the other three arguably triggered by ND's aggressive defense) and I don't think Michigan (my other alma mater) is very good. After ND beat Stanford, Oklahoma, and USC, I began to believe in them, but just a little bit. Mostly, I considered them an enigma: "How can this team keep winning? They're simply not very good. Well, maybe they are really good. Etc." Last night, the puzzle was solved. ND football is on the right track, I suspect, but it has a long way to go.
