Saturday Newsbreak: 9/15

--The recent discovery of someone, apparently working for the NFL’s New England Patriots, videotaping the defensive signals of their opponent, the New York Jets (in flagrant violation of stated NFL rules), has caused many people to rethink just how legitimate this team’s phenomenal success (three Super Bowl victories) has been in the last few years. Being a Miami Dolphins fan, I wonder myself how much this cheating contributed to my team missing the playoffs, especially in the 2002 and 2005 seasons. But the truth is that this type of speculation can develop into a sort of mind trap that can lead to one doubting the legitimacy of anything. Better to say that the world always has had within it an element of corruption, and that, hopefully, offenders with be caught often enough and punished effectively enough to lend the different institutions involved a general sense of legitimacy. Other than that, there’s not much more that one could reasonably hope for. Anyway, it will be interesting to see how the Patriot’s “vaunting” offense, led by overbearing, arrogant quarterback Tom Brady, fares in the ensuing weeks without their “advantage”!

--On a more ominous note, Humberto developed from a tropical depression to full-blown hurricane in the record time of 18 hours and then immediately slammed into the Texas-Louisiana coast. This may be a portent of things to come this hurricane season, now that the La Niña effect is in full swing out in the Pacific. We may be in for a rough couple of months!

--Presidential candidate Fred Thompson seems to have chosen the strategy of generalities and fuzziness as a proven method of gaining his party’s nomination and, ultimately, the Presidency itself. Proven, because two previous Republican candidates initially won their offices the same way: Richard Nixon and George W. Bush.

--Last Wednesday, another strong earthquake, with 8.4 intensity, occurred in the Indian Ocean near Indonesia’s populous island of Sumatra. They, as you probably know, were stricken with a horrible tsunami a couple of years ago, bringing mass loss of live and devastation. But the tsunami wave from this quake went almost totally in the opposite direction from Sumatra’s shore. I rather doubt that my advice will be taken, but I’m going to give it anyway. To those in Sumatra living near the shore: take the hint, pack up your belongings, and head for the hills!

--A recent French-language newspaper carried an editorial cartoon with a variation of the oft-asked question, “What were you doing on 9/11?” In this cartoon, the question is being posed to mass murderer, monster Osama bin Laden, who is shown sitting in a comfortable chair in his cave hideout, surrounded by henchmen and holding a sheet titled “attack plans”. Bin Laden answers the question by stating, “Exactly the same thing!” But according to my own government, he is no longer relevant. If that’s the case, then why don’t we just release all of our own convicted murderers as well, since we’re apparently letting this creep off the hook?!