"I have been through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened." - Mark Twain

Played 18 on the regular course this afternoon, the first half of which went rather well.
AAAARGH!!

We got our tag renewal form for the Sorento in yesterday's mail. Our first thought was the same: "It doesn't seem like we've already had that for a year."
Our second thought was the same, too: "At these prices it's a good thing I'm not still driving Stealth Reliabity!" At 11 mpg (downhill with the wind at my back) it would cost a week's wages to back out of the driveway.

We haven't seen the show, just the ads for it on BBCAmerica. I can't even remember the name of the show but it looks Tonight Show-ish with celebrity guests. In the clip they show in this spot the celebs are in a game show where they have to interview someone and then decide whether they're "Gay or European?"
Can you imagine anything like that on U.S. television?

From Slate Magazine, an interactive map showing the rate of childhood obesity in each of the 50 states. Interesting.

I know two guys with the Phoenix Police Dept. and we have a Goodyear cop at Pathway. Out of the five churches I've pastored three had at least one law enforcement officer in the congregation. Which is to say I'm inclined to have a positive attitude toward LEO's. That's why it bothers me to read a series of stories in the local press about serious issues with several of the agencies here.

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office is the subject of an FBI investigation and the second in command has been suspended and is under separate investigation for a variety of offenses including misappropriation of funds. Sheriff Joe Arapaio, the "toughest sheriff in America," is an embarrassment, and few will be surprised if he's charged by the feds.

The Phoenix PD has several problems including officers under indictment in a scam involving doctored time sheets, and now the Police Chief has been "reassigned" because he's suspected of doctoring records, inflating the number of kidnappings, in order to get a $1.7 million grant from the Feds to fight that crime. (Phoenix was designated the "kidnapping capital of the U.S." based on those stats.)

A Goodyear cop has been indicted for a variety of crimes involving falsified time sheets that bilked the city out of $13,000.

Hey, I understand that LEO's are just like everybody else. We've certainly been reminded over the last few years. that clergy can be crooks and scoundrels. But that's the problem. When those in positions of special respect or authority turn out to be bad guys there's a serious disruption to the order of things. It's what Peter had in mind when he wrote that not many in the church should aspire to be teachers because they (we) are judged more harshly. That's as it should be.

I don't like that when I see a Maricopa County Sheriff's Office patrol car my reaction is negative. Not as it should be, so I work to change my thoughts. And I hope they get the problems straightened out in all the local agencies very soon. A society needs to have a justified trust and respect for its authorities.