Playing Unfair

If you are an amateur photographer like me - (emphasis on the word "amateur") then you better hurry before all the leaves are blown off of the trees and you won't get great shots like these....thank you very much. Well, thank the digital camera.

I take my camera with me nowadays wherever I go; just leave it in the car....this shot was taken behind a vitamin shop store not too far from my home!

And oh, if you like sushi, you better get it while it last, because my wife and I have a friend who seems destined to eat all of the sushi on the freakin' planet before the end of the year!

I watched a football game yesterday and I won't say which one, considering I am still pissed off because my team lost. Anyway, I believe the pivotal point of the game came when my team was given a penalty for having too many players on the field at one time.

You are only allowed 11; these jackasses had 12. You would think that with all of the coaches, coaches' assistants and other synchophants hanging around, somebody would have noticed the extra man. The penalty gave my team's opponent a more managable field position, which allowed them to go on to win the game.

I got to thinking that this is a perfect metaphor for life and politics. You break the rules, and there are penalties. Sometimes, the penalties are costly, like losing a game, a spouse, a job etc. Other times, they are not so bad. Whatever the case, I am reminded that it pays to pay attention to details; it pays not to have an extra man on the field, an extra "woman on the side" as they say.

There are also consequences when countries play unfair. There are penalties.

I think that the United States is playing unfair with other countries. I don't think we have a right to dictate what other countries should do with their nuclear intelligence, unless we are open to listening what they are going to say about what we should do with ours. Furthermore, I do not think that our President was playing fair when he targeted countries like Iran and North Korea as part of his "axis of evil". I thought he was playing unfair. And, I might add, as a result, it has cost us dearly. Sure, North Korea's leader is a moron, we know, but guess what? He isn't the only one.

And finally, I think that our very questionable one-sided policy in the MiddleEast has made our position internationally very precarious. This alone, has resulted in a big penalty from some very angry radical Muslims, who demonstrated this on 9/11. Our country unfortunately has a history of playing unfair - "with an extra man" if you will - so as I see things, the "penalties" will last for generations.