Truth in Advertising hits Law Enforcement

INTERVIEW

I invited Teri over at Family Tree Junkie to interview me and she took me at my word. Here are the questions and my answers-straight up:

1. If you could change your present career, what would you do?

This is tough because I really enjoy what I do. However, I think it would be cool to be the director of a world-class ballet company, like American Ballet Theater. I know that it's damn hard work but think of the interesting people you would meet.

2. Besides your spouse, who is the other person that most influences your life and why?

No contest - my mother. She was a red-hot liberal living in the south and didn't care who knew it. She taught me that race is meaningless and to respect people for who they are, not their color. She also taught me to appreciate beauty (see number 1).

3. What is the most important place you want to see, thing you want to do, before you die?

I want to visit the Isle of Skye in Scotland to see where my ancestors came from. I am very curious to see the actual spots in person and not on TV.

4. If the seven "ancient wonders" of the world were still around, what would you most like to see?

I think that the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were probably pretty cool (pun intended).

5. If you could do one thing to change the world, what would it be?

Make everyone the same color and religion. Then we would have to search harder for reasons to hate each other.

PERSPECTIVE

Last Monday, 33 people were killed by a crazed gunman in Virginia. I will not deny that this is tragic and outrageous. This happens almost every day in Iraq since George Bush liberated the country. Where are the television special reports? Where are the editorials? The vast majority of those dying are not soldiers but innocent Iraqis going about their daily business. Do we think that their lives are less valuable than those of the people in Virginia? I promise you, the Iraqis don't.

Planet Earth - The Series

Has anyone been keeping up with this series on Discovery Channel? It has absolutely been blowing my mind. My grandson mentioned it to me and my first thought was, "Yeah, yeah, another National Geographic ripoff". National Geographic wishes it could get images like this.

A while back, we decided to get a high definition TV. One of those 42-inch flat panel jobs. The picture was cool and the hi-def channels were nice but I really wasn't that impressed until I watched an episode of "Planet Earth" on Discovery HD Theater. The images were like really excellent 3D.

This series is not for everyone as it largely concentrates on animals and has many scenes of bug animals eating small animals. It's not really gory but young kids might have a problem with it. It is also sad. The episode exploring life at the North and South Pole featured a vignette about a male polar bear. Since the Arctic ice pack has receded so far due to warming, polar bears can no longer find seals by waiting by holes in the ice as there are now huge expanses of open water even in winter. Therefore, this polar bear swam 60 miles to an island where there were walruses. He had to rest for an entire day before he could try to attack one. He could not deal with an adult walrus because they are huge so he tried to break through their protective front to get at a calf. He tried and tried to no avail. Exhausted and wounded by walrus tusks, he finally gave up, walked a distance away, lay down and, over a period of time, just died. I am afraid that, unless something changes, my great-grandchildren will never see a polar bear.

Anyway, watch an episode and see what you think.