Maybe it's global warming, sunspots or pre-fracking hysteria, but hasn't last week had more than its share of peculiar editorial columns, insane settlements, bizarre verdicts and outlandish causes?
On Oct. 1, we read a column in The Daily Star lamenting about condemned men in Texas not being given their choice for a last meal. Oh, the poor souls. How could we be so cruel and cheap?
Let's focus. WE ARE KILLING THEM! They are murderers and rapists, who have been through endless appeals, and finally after 15 to 20 years, their sentences are being executed. Who cares what they want for a last meal?
Rest assured these criminals have been treated much more humanely than they treated their victims. Besides, heartburn from a heavy meal can lead to esophagus erosion, and we all know how dangerous that can be.
Secondly, we have the city of Oneonta and its insurance company paying $135,000 to a man who was charged with third-degree aggravated unlicensed operation, resisting arrest, second-degree harassment and unlawful possession of marijuana.
A beating occurred, after he fled on foot. An attorney for the police said the officer used justifiable force when the suspect reached into his pocket while he was on the ground.
It reminded me of earlier days in the Black Rock district of Buffalo while in college.
Because of folks behaving like drunken fools on weekends, the Buffalo police would patrol the fraternity neighborhoods and get downright physical if we didn't cooperate.
Resisting arrest and reaching into one's pocket were not options. A real beating and lead poisoning would have certainly resulted. Besides, we knew we were wrong, and we never blamed the police for doing their job.
The true danger here is the intimidation of police. Some day a young cop will be afraid to react or will hesitate to use force and therefore be killed. Surely, the young widow and her fatherless children will understand.
Next, direct from the Italian Riviera, we welcome Amanda Knox, aka Foxy Knoxy, the American She-Devil, and the next O.J. Simpson. They could not prove her guilt. Does botched DNA, bloody footprint and only circumstantial evidence ring a bell?
The poor Italian authorities were confronted with a huge media frenzy and a smiling young lady too beautiful to be a killer. I can hear them now: "Send her home and let the crazy Americans make a movie. She might even be in Playboy!"
Interestingly, Amanda Knox after four years in an Italian prison was able to address the court in "fluent" Italian. So what's the problem with Hispanics in the U.S. not speaking English?
Finally, we have the left's answer to the Tea Party, "Occupy Wall Street." This is an organization of misfits who champion the destruction of capitalism and call for an end to wealth inequality and corporate influence in government.
Their tactics include civil disobedience, civil resistance, occupation and picketing. Recently they had two protests in New York City totaling 2,700 people with more than 780 arrested. That's about a 30 percent arrest rate. You may find this hard to believe, but in little Otego, we had two Tea Parties totaling more people and a 0 percent arrest rate. How about that?
Occupy Wall Street wants a presidential commission created to separate money from politics. Good luck on that one! With my President Barack Obama due to raise almost a billion dollars in campaign contributions, it's unlikely he'll hoist that banner.
They have the backing of Michael Moore, rapper Lupe Fiasco, Radiohead, Roseanne Barr and billionaire George Soros. Now that's odd! George Soros promoting a group that wants to get money out of politics!
In the New York City rally, it was obvious that most were students, and with the exception of a beautiful blonde dressed like a '60s hippie, they appeared to be rather tattered, and shall we say, polluted.
Let us compare the typical Tea Party member with the typical Occupy Wall Street member. Tea Party member bathes daily, OWS doesn't. Tea Party member has a job, OWS doesn't. Tea Party member pays taxes, OWS member lives off them. Tea Party member is sober and can use complex sentences, Occupy Wall Street member inhales.
How did we come to this? Why are the people who pay taxes called selfish for not wanting to pay more, yet those who do not pay taxes and are demanding that others pay more are not called selfish? Go figure?
Yep. Quite a week! Executions on an empty stomach, police paying law breakers, a beauty that may have gotten away with murder and a return to the 1960s "power to the people."
Chuck Pinkey is the owner of River Valley New Holland Inc. in Otego. He can be reached at chuck.rvnewholland@gmail.com.
Chuck Pinkey
Things seem to be a little strange these days
- Chuck Pinkey
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Blessed is he who is not offended by me
A few weeks ago in our column, we included an old joke about the advantages a tractor has over a woman. We received the following email: "I was offended by your jokes about a 'good woman' in the April 10, 2012 column. This type of humor lacks taste, and unnecessarily offends people. Please do not include this type of humor in your column."
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Remembering Patton's Third Army at Buchenwald
NetSummary
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President Obama provides little hope and change
With a little luck and divine providence, my President Barack Obama will be elected again. He certainly deserves another four years.
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Tebow, Zimmerman are suffering the slings and arrows
After watching the news for the last few weeks, I have to wonder what the heck's going on. To any rational person, things are little skewed. To illustrate, let's follow the saga of two young men.
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Entitlement in U.S. has created 'permanent poor'
In the early '80s, our family began a farm equipment dealership on Route 10, south of Stamford. I had put an ad in the paper for a mechanic and the same day the ad came out, I was at that store, and there was a classic Delaware County January blizzard.
- Tuesday, March 13, 2012
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Anti-drilling activists wasting time on inevitable
As Otis Redding once sang, "I'm just sitting on the dock of the bay, wasting time." This pretty much sums up New York state and the gas drilling issue.
- Tuesday, February 28, 2012
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Who is really to blame for global warming trend?
Last Monday evening, my wife was at a meeting about funding a World Vision well for a Kenyan village. So, not having to watch any "Law and Order" reruns, I tuned to the National Geographic Channel and they were profiling the Alaskan village of Shishmaref, located on the island of Sarichef.
- Tuesday, February 14, 2012
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GOP gets no credit for caring about the working man
During this election season that never seems to end, I've noticed that the Democratic Party is called "the party of the common man" and the Republican Party is referred to as "the party of business and industry." Is that so?
- Tuesday, January 31, 2012
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On the Right Side: 'Robin Hood' can teach us a thing or two this election
A few nights ago, we needed to make a decision. Should we watch another heart-stopping Republican presidential candidate debate or the swashbuckling movie, "Robin Hood," starring Russell Crowe?
- Tuesday, January 17, 2012
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Guns should be seen as protection, not danger
Yesterday, 85,000,000 American gun owners, with their 350,000,000 firearms, shot no one.
- Tuesday, January 3, 2012
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Top 10 wishes for 2012
It is now a new year, and time for River Valley New Holland's Top 10 Wishes for 2012. Warning: Some may find the following graphic nauseating, or hallucinatory.
- Tuesday, December 20, 2011
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'Merry Christmas' should not cause controversy
A good friend of mine is a retired Jewish fellow now leading the equestrian lifestyle in the mountains of Delaware County. I asked George a couple of years ago if he'd be offended should I wish him a "Merry Christmas."
- Tuesday, December 6, 2011
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Cain scrutiny was needed on Obama's birth certificate
Imagine you live on Mars and are using an interplanetary-pulse reduction-flux-capacitor-transponder, supplied by the Obama administration's seventh stimulus package. By thus being able to receive broadcasts from Earth, you would conclude that we have the most depraved, sexually permissive society ever.
- Tuesday, November 22, 2011
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It's hard to blame companies that flee, except Ommegang
In 1932, Will Rogers said: "This country has gotten where it is in spite of politics, not by the aid of it. That we have carried as much political bunk as we have and still survived, shows we are a super nation."
- Tuesday, November 8, 2011
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Beware of group seeking to control drilling rights
Today is Election Day. Thank goodness the campaigning is over! Seems like every October and November, our roads are lined with thousands of campaign signs and slogans. There are so many that one begins to ignore them, much like "Rollback Pricing" at Walmart.
- Tuesday, October 25, 2011
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Occupy protesters do little to help their own causes
The liberal left has a new "darling." With the sweeping success of the conservative Tea Party movement in the 2010 fall elections, liberals and their media allies were grabbing at straws. Like Dorothy in the Land of Oz, they found their scarecrow, but unlike Oz, there is no wizard.
- Tuesday, October 11, 2011
- Tuesday, September 27, 2011
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Obama to push for oil, gas drilling fees, tax increase
A Sept. 19 Fox News article on the proposed Obama administration's fees and tax increases states: "Another proposal would charge $4 an acre on non-producing oil and gas leases on federal lands, raising $1 billion over a decade. The idea is to prod energy companies to get their leases into production or give them up and allow others to develop them."
- Tuesday, September 13, 2011
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The mindset of Mother Nature 'is senseless'
Last Tuesday evening, my wife, our son Adam and I took a drive to Prattsville, Gilboa, Middleburgh and Schoharie. We had heard about all the flood damage from Hurricane Irene, and having friends and customers in that area, we decided to visit and see if we could be of help.
- Tuesday, August 30, 2011
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'You have made mothers mad, you'll wish you hadn't'
"As far as I'm concerned, the Tea Party can go straight to hell." -- Congresswoman Maxine Waters, D-Calif.
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Blessed is he who is not offended by me
