April 24, 2012

1. Disappointed to read I did not make Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world this year.

2. I did read something there that caught my attention and gave me hope. A fellow named Salman Khan has created a website designed to help teenagers with their education in subjects such as math and science.

            Khan came up with this idea trying to help his teenage cousin solve algebra problems. Since she lived far away, he attempted to help her online. He succeeded.

            Bill Gates wrote that this idea has morphed into an amazing service covering a multitude of subjects. I decided to check it out myself. In five minutes, Khan taught me how to do logarithms. Folks, you have a better chance of teaching my pet dogs to talk than Khan did of teaching me logarithms.

         If you have teenagers, what I about to give you will be very valuable to you. It is a link to Khan’s website…. http://www.khanacademy.org/

3. Great line from ESPN’s Colin Cowherd… To paraphrase – What a week in sports when a player named Meta World Peace gave another NBA player the worst elbow to the head in memory, and a team called the Saints are anything but.

4. Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez announced his retirement last night at Rangers’ Ballpark. Believe it or not, no “expert” ranks him the greatest catcher of all time. Are you kidding me?

            Look at some of his stats—Gold gloves: 13, the most by a catcher in MLB history; Silver Slugger Awards: 7; All-star selections: 14; 1999 American League MVP; .296 career batting average (Mickey Mantle’s was .298); 311 career home runs; threw out 45.68% base runners… a MLB record.

            This guy was an offensive gem and a defensive stud. He played in two World Series, winning one. He was the MVP of the 2003 NLCS.

I think, in time, he will move up the list.

5. RIP Charles Colson.

*Thanks to Peter King for the inspiration for this blog's title.

April 17, 2012

1. TIME magazine had a fantastic cover story in this week's issue. It is called “The Worlds Most Exclusive Club” and is taken from a new book written by Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy called THE PRESIDENTS CLUB.

            The article highlighted several fascinating insights into the relationship of the current president and the ex-presidents. Two of the highlights for me are: 1) President Clinton and the Bush family have not only overcome the bitterness of the 1992 presidential election, they have grown so close that Clinton has vacationed with George H. W. Bush, raised money with George W. Bush, escorted Barbara Bush at the funeral of Betty Ford, and received the nickname from the Bush family “Brother from Another Mother”, and 2) President Clinton would often call President Nixon late at night to consult with him about foreign-policy matters and other presidential issues. Nixon sent Clinton a letter shortly before he died in 1994. The letter assisted Clinton so much that he makes it a practice to read the letter every year.

2. I agree with many I've heard on talk radio, who wonder why in the world New York fans booed Tim Tebow the other night at a New York Yankee ballgame. As “Mike and Mike” said yesterday morning, why take your time booing somebody who is building hospitals for orphans and auctions off opportunities to spend the day with him as he ministers to children in children's hospitals–with the hundreds of thousands of dollars raised going to charity.

3. I still don't know where we are going to get all of the money to pay for what the federal government spends in a year.

4. Mark Bergin wrote last week of an incredible plan by Oklahoma State University that backfired. The board opted to purchase life insurance policies on 27 elderly boosters back in 2007. Each policy was valued at $10 million. Two years later, there was a problem. None of the boosters had died. During that time, OSU had paid out over $32 million in premiums. In 2009, OSU canceled the policies and sought litigation to recover a portion of the money they had paid in premiums. Not only did they lose in court, the judge ruled that OSU had to pay the insurance company for the cost of litigation.

5. Charles Colson is recovering after falling ill at a conference and undergoing surgery a few weeks ago. The founder of Prison Fellowship had surgery on March 31 to remove a clot of blood from the surface of his brain after he had an intracerebral hemorrhage. Colson has shown some encouraging signs. I’m praying for you, Chuck Colson.

           

*Thanks to Peter King for the inspiration for this blog's title.