Monday Newsbreak: 12/10

--Senseless shootings in our society seem to run in patterns. Earlier this week, a young man randomly killed several people at an Omaha, Nebraska shopping mall before taking his own life. And now, in two different incidences in Colorado, at least three people have been shot and killed, apparently with some connection to the victims' practice of Christianity. The idea of going on a rampage like this is so repugnant that there can be no hint of sympathy regarding the perpetrators' grievances or sufferings. Still, it's important to get inside the minds and motives of this disgusting vermin in order to head off future occurrences.

--I see that Oprah Winfrey is openly campaigning for her preferred Presidential candidate, Barack Obama. Good for them! I like Obama too, and I also believe that he has a good shot, once and if he receives the Democratic nomination, to attract enough broad support to win the general election. But I also believe that Oprah's endorsement carries little value for him in this quest. Just four years ago, right before the Iowa caucuses, several notables lined up to endorse then-frontrunner Howard Dean. Even Al Gore publicly backed him, but to no avail. Dean's campaign disintegrated from the disappointing (for him) Iowa results, as well as from the New Hampshire primary. If Obama wins Iowa, I doubt that it will have had that much to do with celebrity endorsements.

--According to a recently released intelligence report, Iran ceased seeking nuclear weapons development back in 2003. But the Bush administration continued to criticize and ostracize this country, with the President only a few months ago raising the spectre of World War III regarding an Iran with nuclear weapons. I remember, as a kid, Soviet Communist Party General Secretary Nikita Khrushchev being portrayed as mad and trying to take over the world. This is exactly how Bush and his warmongering supporters are portraying the current Iranian president. Only back in the early 1960s, we had a statesman in John Kennedy, who realized the necessity to sit down with his Soviet counterpart and come to some mutual understanding regarding such a grave issue as nuclear armament. Unfortunately, there is no such statesman currently inhabiting the White House.

--University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow won the prestigious Heisman Trophy as the best college football player in 2007. I'm happy for Tim, but I think that any of the other three that were selected as finalists deserved the award as well. And one of these could very well be playing next year for the hapless Miami Dolphins, who at 0-13 are also virtually assured of having the NFL's worst record and, consequently, next year's first draft pick. After all, who else finished second in the Heisman voting to Steve Spurrier in 1966 but Purdue quarterback Bob Griese. Griese was picked in the draft by the Dolphins and went on to win two out of the three Super Bowls that he started for with them as well as go on to the NFL Hall of Fame! I'd love to see Miami get hold of somebody like Darren McFadden or Colt Brennan!