Nowhere but in America would we allow a drunken, drug-using, name calling, girl hitting and all around reckless character to get paid $1.2 million dollars for his work on a half hour television sitcom. Except if you're Charlie Sheen. I’m talking of course about Charlie Sheen from CBS’ “Two and a Half Men” - the newest Hollywood bad boy. He’s now ranting and raving to anyone who will listen, after the network and production company agreed to cancel the remainder of this season’s production schedule, due to inappropriate and lude comments he made on a popular radio show. Shocking isn’t it? Are ratings and advertising dollars so important to television studios that we’d allow this clown to show the world that this kind of behavior is not only acceptable, but…
From the Tony’s, to the Oscar’s to the Grammy’s, award shows all practice a familiar pre-ceremony tradition as the stars make their way inside the auditorium – critiquing their wardrobes. It's all about fashion and style. My favorite is the way they phrase it – “So who are you wearing?” Who are you wearing? Shouldn’t that be “what” are you wearing, because the last time I checked there wasn’t another human being draped across their shoulders like a sweater on a preppy dresser. But then again, I never really understood society’s fascination with what is and is not considered fashionable. To me this common red carpet tradition screams marketing ploy. Designers get their names spewed across the airwaves for free and soon hundreds of thousands of fashion conscious individuals flock…
"God Bless America - land that I love." Yesterday, I was scrolling through my iPod for something fresh to listen to, but I couldn’t find anything. I don’t know how that’s possible with a thousand songs always at my fingertips, but nothing was really appealing to me. I guess I was in one of those moods, where the sounds amplified through my car speakers annoys me more than soothes me. I finally landed on Celine Dion’s memorable version of Irving Berlin’s 1918 patriotic song, “God Bless America” – which Berlin wrote while serving in the US Army at Camp Upton in Yaphank, New York. Much like Christmas tunes, it’s not the kind of music I typically listen to on my way to and from work, but it had been a…
Recently, I stumbled upon an interesting fact about baseball great Babe Ruth and other athlete salaries. It’s been reported that Ruth earned a higher salary during the Great Depression of the 1930’s then President Hoover - publicly defending his $75,000 earnings by saying, “Why not? I had a better year than President Hoover did.” While professional baseball players are skilled at the game they’re playing, I’m not sure their salaries should be more than someone guiding our country through one of the most difficult times in history. Think about this – our current president earns some $400,000 a year - seems like a lot of money, right? Hold on to your hats folks. In 2010, Derek Jeter of the Yankees earned almost $23 million, the average player’s salary among the…
Some of you reading this might feel I’m a little biased towards the subject matter at hand. After all, my wife is an educator in on of the New Jersey teachers and this blog highlights a growing issue, nationwide, about the state of education in this country. But I assure you that my appreciation for this profession has always been a part of my character, ever since I was a teenager petitioning the Board of Education to reconsider teacher dismissals. As many of you might already be aware, the state of New Jersey, under the leadership of Governor Chris Christie, is facing radical changes. One hot topic continuously in the headlines is that of our current educational system. The argument however, has proven to be anything but straightforward. Propaganda has…