Whil
e I was on the road today I heard a curious story on NPR: the 109 non-management employees of the Ohio Education Association, which is Ohio’s largest teachers union, may go on strike if they don’t get a new contract to replace the contract that is expiring. The OEA’s non-management employees are members of the Professional Staff Union. The Professional Staff Union’s president says the possibility of a strike against a fellow union is embarrassing, but the OEA is “behaving as badly as the worst school boards and school administrators in negotiations with teachers.”
When one union guy says that about another union guy, that’s got to hurt — but at least he didn’t call him a “scab.”
Traficant formerly was a Democrat who served 17 years in Congress. In 2002, he was convicted on 
There are lots of weird facets to this news item. For example, why is the United States “required” to file a report about its internal affairs with the United Nations Human Rights Council? (If we didn’t file the report, would the Council “flunk” us?) Why should we be reporting to 
First games always make me nervous, and this game is no exception. The other team hasn’t played, and you don’t have any film or tendencies to study. In addition, in the past few years Ohio State has played their second or third game of the year against a marquee team — including Texas, USC, and, this year, Miami — and I always wonder whether the Buckeyes will look past their first opponent. It 
As for the Buckeyes, the big question will be whether the team will continue to progress in the same positive direction we saw in the Rose Bowl. Offensively, Ohio State has an experienced offensive line and a cadre of very solid, multi-dimensional running backs. Terrelle Pryor, now a junior, made significant strides as a passer last season after the disastrous Purdue game, and Buckeye fans will be hoping that the improvement continues. The receiving corps has been depleted but returns some quality receivers. Defensively, Ohio State lost some exceptional players from last year’s defensive line, but that unit looks to have great depth and a returning stud in Cameron Heyward. The linebackers are experienced, rangy, and able to hit. Ohio State’s question on defense will be the defensive backfield.
I’m not sure what to make of such stories. With Katrina, the federal government did not cover itself with glory in dealing with an enormous catastrophe, and neither did the state or city government. People were marooned on the roofs of their homes, were not readily supplied with food and water, and could not be evacuated quickly from the hellish environs of the Superdome. We learned that the federal government is a ponderous entity that does not move with lightning speed. Was that unique to the Bush Administration? Apparently not, because we recently saw a plodding, uncoordinated federal government make a similarly muddled response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Katrina also taught us that the Louisiana state government and the New Orleans city governments were corrupt, inept and seemingly hamstrung by politics. Has anything changed in that regard?
If I had my way, every retrospective story on a disaster like Hurricane Katrina would focus not on what happened — we can safely leave that to historians — but on how things have changed to make sure that it doesn’t happen again. No blame-shifting politicians or social scientists could be quoted. Instead, facts would be the focus. Have the levees been sufficiently strengthened? Have cumbersome federal bureaucracies been streamlined to better deal with disasters? Are evacuation plans reasonable and capable of being implemented? If Katrina were to happen again today, would the results be any different? If so, why? Those are the tough questions that “retrospective” stories tend to leave unanswered.
I don’t care. Although I no longer eat Twinkies, they are a fondly remembered staple of my grade school and junior high packed lunches. And so, in the honor of the Twinkie and its epic contribution to the lunch times of generations of American children, I offer this bit of doggerel (with apologies to Walt Whitman and his poem, 
Ohio and Michigan are divided by a state line located just a bit north of Toledo, and Ohio State fans and Michigan fans are divided by decades of hatred, bile, venom, and bitter rivalry, but we can and do agree on one thing — The Game is special and sacred, and shouldn’t be tinkered with for reasons of revenue, or ratings, or “branding,” or anything else. Michigan fans understand this, Ohio State fans understand this, and any real college football fan in the country understands this. Can it really be that the Big Ten powers-that-be don’t understand something so basic, so obvious, and so powerful?
On this morning’s walk, however, there was a decided coolness to the air and a fine breeze. As Penny and I walked we noticed some leaves on the ground from early shedding trees.
I admit, my response wasn’t entirely true. I first became aware of the program when the President was criticized for claiming he did not know who “Snooki” is. Russell watched the show when he was here before returning to college, and as a result I saw a few snippets. The parts I saw consisted of shirtless guys who look like they work out constantly and absurdly overtanned, scantily clad women walking around, whispering about their problems, talking earnestly to the camera about supposedly important relationship issues, and similar activities. The parts I saw, at least, looked hilariously insipid. I really don’t give a crap about body-proud twenty-somethings strutting in front of the camera, getting drunk, making out, and wrestling with their obscure and uninteresting personal issues, and it is hard for me to believe that anyone else does, either.
Webner House 