Random Thoughts

I saw a commercial for "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" tonight, and noticed that at the end, the MPAA adds this: "Rated PG-13 for sequences of science fiction action and violence." That's important, because there might be 11 or 12 people in the world who don't know what to expect from yet another "Star Wars" movie.

Vladimir Putin is running for a fourth term as president of Russia. I sure hope he can keep the US from interfering in the election.

After Trump announced he would recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel (though I doubt he could find it on a map, let alone recognize it), several pundits said "this throws a crimp into the Middle East peace process." You mean the Middle East peace process that's been so successful over the last, um, 70 years? Seems to me it's been nothing but non-stop crimps.

There's a debate raging in the NFL over the league taking harsh action against some Steelers and Bengals players after their blatant and repeated shots to the opponents' heads the other night. Have these guys not followed the news of veteran players, long after their careers ended, having severe problems with brain injuries like chronic traumatic encephalopathy? How many ex-NFLers will have to die (some at their own hands) in their forties and fifties before this generation of players wises up and stops the cranial contact? While the NFL denied these injuries for years, it's good to see the league taking pro-active measures to try to cut down on it -- but the players have to do their part. For instance, even on the sidelines, players must stop congratulating each other by bashing each other on the helmet, or sometime smacking their helmets together. It's your skull, dammit, the place where you keep your brain, which should be telling you to stop doing that!