Happy New Year

Well, 2009 is a memory and a brand-spanking new year is upon us. I have a few of those random thoughts rattling around in my brain, left over from last year, and I wanted to start the new year with a clean slate. So here are the holiday leftovers:

• We've now found out that there was yet another uninvited guest at that State dinner at the White House back in November - that's in addition to the smiling couple who had their picture made with the President. Here's my question...How in the world do we expect to keep terrorists off our airplanes when we can't even secure the White House?

• Speaking of terrorists, I see that the Arab-American League (or whatever) is screaming that we're "profiling" because we're taking extra precautions with people from 14 countries with known al-Qaida ties. OK, so we're profiling. What's your point? To me it's not profiling, it's common sense. If you don't like being singled out, talk to the people doing the bombing. Let's see now, all the terrorists so far have been of Arab decent......I'd call that a pattern.

• And consider the would-be bomber from that Detroit flight on Christmas day. Maybe it's just me, but if I was a bomber-in-training and they told me to put the explosives between my legs and set them off, I'd have some serious questions for my instructor. And as a word of caution, if you're in an airport and you hear someone say "Abdul, them's some dynamite drawers you got on there", you might want to get in the other line.

• Have you seen the ads for Chantix, the drug to help you stop smoking? Have you paid any attention to the side effects? This is right off their website: "If you, your family, or caregiver notice agitation, hostility, depression, or changes in behavior, thinking, or mood that are not typical for you, or you develop suicidal thoughts or actions, anxiety, panic, aggression, anger, mania, abnormal sensations, hallucinations, paranoia, or confusion, stop taking CHANTIX and call your doctor right away. The most common side effects include nausea (30%), sleep problems, constipation, gas, and/or vomiting." Are they serious? Being from the Woodstock generation, this sounds more like an ad for LSD. I wonder if you wouldn't be better off taking your chances with the cigarettes?

• And what about 'Bifidus Regularis'? Not familiar with it, you say? Well, it's the active ingredient in Activia, the laxative yogurt. First of all, laxative yogurt just doesn't sound appetizing to me. Second, I'm not sure I want to introduce any living organisms into my colon. Their website says it 'plays a beneficial role in your intestinal ecosystem.' Boy, those marketing guys can spin anything! And third, who wants a laxative that takes two weeks to work? OK, I'll stop now.

• And finally, where are all those global warming tree huggers this week? We're about to set a record for consecutive days below freezing here in Nashville. Wonder if Al Gore has all his solar panels facing the right direction in his big mansion across town? These global warming guys are trying to take about 120 years of suspect data and make projections on something that's been here millions of years. That's like analyzing one day out of the life of a 50 year-old man and deciding how he ought to spend the rest of his life based on that analysis. Is that reasonable?

So here's hoping that the new year holds great things for all of us. After all, the new healthcare plan won't go into effect for a couple of years. Watch out 2012!

Till next time...........