40+ Hours per week seems pointless

We all want to get ahead somehow, some way. Whether it is to get ahead career-wise or just to keep up with the bills, many of us need to work extra hours on the job or even take on a second job. The one thing that these require is time. More time to be away from family, hobbies or social time. The one thing that we can never get back is time. The big question now is: is it worth it?

Americans tend to be the most overworked and unhappiest people in the world. We do not get enough time to rest whether it is vacation time or just enough for a good night’s sleep. There is nothing wrong with a strong work ethic, if anything this has contributed to the greatness of this country. Yet, we can only work to the limits of our bodies.

Knowing this first hand from working more than one job at a time, your body gets tired. A tired body leads to a tired mind and when the mind starts to go forget it. If anything all of this equals a negative return on investment physically and spiritually. The mind and body need to rest, therefore leading to a more productive life.

Sometimes it is necessary to work more time for extra bucks. Yet, if this leads to more aggravation than financial reward then you need to ask yourself: is it worth?

Football makes it ok

It seems that former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky was considered a ‘likely pedophile’ back in 1998. The question which arises is: what took so long to take action? Sandusky was not charged with a crime until 2011, which is almost 15 years after the fact. He has been charged with molesting two young boys, but 15 years is a long time and who knows how many other possible victims there have been.

This brings back the painful memories of the Catholic Church priest sex abuse scandal which rocked the nation but Boston in particular. Growing up Catholic in Boston during the reign of Bishop Bernard Cardinal Law was no easy chore. Cardinal Law reigned supreme and preached about being virtuous, yet his clergy were committing despicable crimes with young children. What did Cardinal Law do? He hid these acts from Catholics and instead of dismissing these priests he moved them to other parishes where they continued their crimes. Law put the institution of the Catholic Church above the children it was to protect.

The same could be said of Penn State University which seemed to be more interested in protecting the image of its football program instead of the youngsters which Sandusky allegedly abused. This whole situation ran from the same script of the Boston church scandal but in this drama the role of Cardinal Law was played by Penn State head coach Joe Paterno. “Papa Bear Joe” had a godlike status on the campus of Penn State. He had led a legendary program only to have it end in shame with the Sandusky fiasco. What could Paterno have been thinking? Did he put the football program above the welfare of children?

Here it would appear that the religion of football was more important. This is sad where football has replaced God’s role in the lives of people. Yes, we are all human and we make mistakes but the failures of Law and Paterno show that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Thank goodness for helmets

Tragedy was avoided last night in an on-ice involving Brandon Dubinsky of the New York Rangers and Tyler Myers of the Buffalo Sabres. During a scruffle in front of the Buffalo Sabres’ net, Myers was flipped on to the ice with his skate scraping the side of Dubinsky’s helmet. Good thing that NHL players are required to wear helmets. Sure, there are those who argue that helmets invite more blows to the head (at least according to the old-timers from the pre-helmet days). Yet, I am sure after seeing this they may have second thoughts about that position.

Romney wins IL

Romney wins the Illinois primary easily. As part of this, he gave the usual victory speech. So, why am I not excited?

Well, for starters, I am happily independent. No political affiliations for this guy. There is no way that I can identify with either party. There really is no difference between them. Just look at the members of Congress.

Politicians in Washington listen to their corporate masters, not you. Who works for who here? The people in Congress are supposed to work for the American people not the other way around.

What is going on?

The identity of the U.S. soldier who allegedly shot and killed 16 Afghan civilians has been identified. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales according to his attorney, John Henry Browne, seemed to be upset about his fourth deployment into a war zone. The killings seemed so senseless. Why would Sgt. Boles take out his aggressions on innocent civilians, most of whom were women and children?

The war in Afghanistan is becoming more unpopular by the day here in the United States. The question is now why are we staying there? The Afghan people do not seem to want us there just look at the riots that were there recently over the burning of the Koran by American soldiers. Perhaps, Sgt. Boles’s alleged actions are just the tip of the iceberg for our service men and women abroad. They are coming back traumatized and stressed out which is not good at all for the general morale of our country’s finest.

What has the United States have to gain from staying there? The war has not only cost this country billions and billions of dollars but thousands of U.S. lives. So, the question that now needs to be asked is whether the war effort in Afghanistan is still worth it or not. If the alleged action of Sgt. Boles are any indication, it certainly does not seem good.