There was a time when cheating brought with it the stigma of embarrassment, turning a person into a social outcast. There was a time when the phrase cheaters never prosper resonated in the minds of people looking for integrity, causing them to think twice before cheating, and in many cases, stopped a person from cheating. But, such is not the case these days. Instead, cheaters seem to be exalted. As a matter of fact, cheating seems to be expected in many arenas.

Barry Bonds*, the poster boy for cheating with steroids, gets defensive when it’s pointed out that he cheated all the way to the record books. When he found out his record breaking baseball would end up in the Baseball Hall of Fame with an asterisk
on it, Bonds* said if the ball is placed in Cooperstown with an asterisk on it, he would never set foot in the building. Reality is this, Bonds* shouldn’t even be considered for the hall of fame. Pete Rose will never be named to the baseball hall of fame because of gambling. If Rose will never find himself in the hall of fame, why should Bonds* show up there.

What does all of this mean? Apparently the phrase cheaters never prosper has morphed into cheaters are made hero’s.

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American swimmer Michael Phelps entered the record books over the weekend winning his eighth Olympic gold medal as his swim team won the 400 meter medley. With the win, Phelps surpassed the previous record held for 36 years by Olympian Mark Spitz. Facing reporters following the race Phelps said it was not an easy feat. Commenting on the accomplishment he said, “Everything had to fall into perfect place. If we had to do this again, I don’t know if it would happen exactly the way we wanted it to.”

Leading up to the record breaking swim by Phelps, all eyes seemed to be on the Olympics wondering if he would topple the 36 year old record. Now that it’s happened, will people still watch the Olympics? Do people really care about the Olympics? In the big picture, do more people watch the Summer Olympics, or the Winter Olympics? I have no idea what the answer is to any of those questions, but I do know one thing for sure, the first modern Games have been around since 1896.

Since the Games started, many events have come and gone. Some good, some bad…

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Flying the friendly skies has been costing more and more for quite some time. Of course if you fly the friendly skies a lot, you also know the skies aren’t always friendly. There are long lines at check in, long lines at security, and long lines while boarding! Then, there’s the fact that for a long time airlines have stopped offering any kind of food or drink on flights. They say it’s all a matter of cutting costs and making it more affordable to fly. Have you checked the price of an airline ticket lately? It’s hardly affordable. Of course since few airlines offer food during flights anymore, there’s always some guy sitting nearby who decided buying some kind of hot, spicy and smelly food from the terminal would be a good idea for the flight. Give me a break!

Now, making matters even worse, many airlines say they’re trying to off-set the high price of fuel, but charging extra, for what should be part of the flight. That’s right, it all started as a way for airlines to supposedly make up for lost dollars because of high gas prices. But, now this is really getting out of hand and it’s time for airline passengers to say “enough is enough.” Many airline carriers now charge for checked luggage, and in some cases they’re even charging for soft drinks, coffee and even that little bag of three peanuts.

But JetBlue has gone even further in the cash-grabbing-ways of airlines by no longer offering free pillows and blankets. That’s right folks, if you fly JetBlue and want to take a nap on a pillow, it will no cost you!

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The Rochester, New York school district has long ranked very low when it comes to graduation rates and test scores in the nation. When the new School Superintendent arrived in town about a year ago, Jean-Claude Brizard vowed to see both test scores, and the graduation rate, go up. True to his word, test scores did indeed improve. The school district may have found a creative way to do so, but at the same time, it’s created quite a stir. Everyone applauded the district when the latest report showed record gains in test scores on state exams. But, it of course also led to the question of just how did they do it.

The process of raising the test scores, as I already mentioned, has caused quite a stir. As a matter of fact, now Superintendent Brizard is worried that the recent Social Studies fiasco could overshadow the school district’s gains on the state exams.

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In New York State political news, the Independence Party of Monroe County asked for the resignation of Rafael Colon from his chairman’s post. He agreed to the request, and has resigned. The Executive Committee of the County party asked for the resignation of Colon and his wife after reports surfaced that Jack Davis, the Democratic Congressional candidate for the 26th District, paid Blanca Colon $5,000 in consulting fees. On the surface one might say, “So what.” But, here’s the catch, According to Davis’ campaign manager, the goal of the payments had nothing to do with consulting. Instead, he readily admits that the Democratic candidate made the $5,000 payment with the sole goal of building relationships with Independence Party members.

In other words, mulit-millionaire Democratic candidate Jack Davis from the Rochester, New York area, readily admits he’s looking to buy votes.

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A new study, or is it an old study. It’s really hard to tell because most of these things seem to cycle around and around and around. This time there’s a new/old study which says cell phone use might be hazardous to your health. Dr. Ronald B. Herberman, the head of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, is warning his faculty and staff to limit their use of mobile phones. Of course his warning flies in the face of studies that have shown there’s no definitive link between cell phone use and contracting brain cancer.

In issuing his warning, Dr. Heberman states, “At the heart of my concern is that we shouldn’t wait for a definitive study to come out, but err on the side of being safe rather than sorry.” Some scientists have warned about the effects of electromagnetic radiation on the brain since cell phones first hit the market. They stick to the claims even though it’s never been much of a concern among brain specialists.

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At a recent fundraiser for a Texas Congressional candidate, President Bush joked about Wall Street being “drunk.” When asked about the struggling economy, President Bush said, “There’s no question about it. Wall Street got drunk. It got drunk and now it’s got a hangover.” He then went on to pose the question, “How long will it take to sober up and not try to do all those fancy financial instruments?” With that question President Bush was referring to documents representing a legal agreement involving monetary value which some blame for the current mortgage meltdown.

Now some would consider his comments reckless. However, I for one find his comments refreshing. The President of the United States talking candidly, and realistically, about what’s going on with the economy. Some are trying to make this a big political stumble because he made the comments “off camera.” Obviously those tactics are not working. No one is picking up on his comments. Could it be the President is on to something here? Wall Street and other financial institutions spend their days shuffling paper, and in many cases, non-existent funds. Somewhere along the line the bubble had to burst, and I believe that’s partly what we’re seeing here.

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