Hello again! It’s Monday … the beginning of another brand new week for each of us – carpe diem!
As usual, here’s to hoping your weekends went well. When I think back to the days of studying and teaching about the Roman Empire, these times resemble it more and more! In some circumstances, we have more choices than ever to do whatever we want short of a public visit to the likes of a “Roman Bath” in this country. Just last night on “60 Minutes”, there was a segment on medical marijuana production and sales in the state of Colorado. Very interesting to say the least.
Today, in Boca Raton, Fl, there is a lot of “hub bub” surrounding the third and final presidential debate for the Election of 2012. It appears that all of the varying view points that one may hold has been narrowed down into two distinct “camps”, represented by now Pres. Obama and his opposition, Mitt Romney. Who says the USA doesn’t have one of the most exciting election strategies in the world today?! Chavez won again in Venezuela, and, last night they said the notorious Fidel Castro was sighted alive in Cuba. Anybody seen Tupac, “Biggie” Smalls or Elvis?! (Just my own spin of keeping it light in the land of controversy today!)
I recall a course I took at Princeton University when I was studying there for my degree in Sociology. It was entitled, “The Politics of Controversy”, and was quite interesting. For me, our coming election is clearly one of the same “events”, if you will. If you can figure out half of the things that these two candidates are talking about, you may need a college diploma. Also on “60 Minutes” last night was a South African scholar who had risen high at the infamous “Goldman Sachs” investment house on Wall Street, NY, USA. He mentioned how his colleagues were selling retirement plans that were so complicated that one might need a Ph.D. in economics just to figure out that you were being ripped off in the first place! Starting to feel like the Roman Empire to you yet? Hopefully, one is not just ignoring everything going down around us. Nevertheless, it is clear that there are two distinct camps … choose wisely … and remember all the “crap” people talked to create this hostile political environment here in the “Land of the Free, Home of the Brave”!
In closing, may we tip our hats to one of the men who was a legacy in contemporary American politics, Sen. George McGovern. Even Bob Dole, a Republican, had this to say about the senator: “He was truly a man who cared.” May he rest in peace …
Have a great week all!
Always in peace,
John I. Cook, Director
Educational Excellence 