I do believe in a higher being.  I have seen his work at Yosemite, the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone.  I have read and heard of his promise to return.  I think the time for that to happen will be dependent on the actions of the ants in this ant farm.  And I also think we are getting pretty close.

Recently a school teacher in our fair city was fired for having sex with a student.  Not a young man who was in her classes but the football star.  He was 17, she a bit older. She was discovered because the young man had video taped their encounter with his cell phone and then put the Metro Goldwyn Meyer on the situation by distributing the film to a few thousand of his nearest and dearest friends.  This made him so popular that he was voted homecoming king at the high school.  The teacher was positively identified by the tattoo across her butt that read “insert tab here”.  She was surprised when she was fired because she said that the boy was 17.  However she did plead no contest to another similar charge with another student.  You would think that her dismissal would have ended this event.  No NO monsieur , quite the contrary.  The teacher then sued both the boy and his mother.  The boy was sued for the unlicensed distribution of the film and the mother for defamation of character. The teacher said she did not give her consent to the filming or to its release.  She also didn’t care for the mother of the boy referring to her as a slut.  Sweet Jesus of Nazareth , can a person get any stupider ?  Yes, they apparently can.  Last week the teacher , her attorney, the boy, his mother and their attorney were all guests on the DR. PHIL television show.  The teacher was seeking an apology on national TV from the mother and her son.  Didnt happen.

Back in the “good ole days”, something like this would have been a very rare occurrence .  First, because the teachers apparently didn’t start their teaching careers  until they were in their late 50’s and second there were no cell phones and damned few tattoos on women.  Can you imagine you having to pause in the midst of what you were doing to get your partner to pose for the shot you were taking with your Kodiak brownie?  Can you imagine circulating the picture of you and the English teacher?  No, none of this would have aided you in your attempt to become Homecoming KIng.  What would have happened is that you and the teacher would have been quietly escorted to the edge of town and told never to cross the county line again.  Oh, that would be after the scarlet S was branded in the teacher’s forehead.  But we live in a different world.

We live in a world where this kind of behavior has become common place.  We live in a world where the odds on favorite to become our next president is a buffoon who announces on national TV that he would like to “punch him in the nose”, referring to someone in the audience.  We live in a world where dignity has vanished.  Airing dirty laundry is commonplace and is best washed before an audience of millions through the use of television talk shows.

I am pretty much entertained these days by television shows concerning nature and the Alaskan wilderness.  I try to refrain from watching any show that points out just how stupid we have become.  It’s hard to find enough shows to keep me entertained until around 9:00 pm which is the time I figure I have seen all I can stand for the day.

Chuy (in disbelief) Cowan