Thoughts

All of the 9/11 memorials, both locally and nationwide, were inspiring and heartwarming. Kind of made you think it was Memorial Day weekend, didn't it? One thing about Americans, they never forget. Thank goodness.

I can't believe we're into the last week of summer. Let's just hope for a long autumn and a short and mild winter. And we can do without any more hurricanes, earthquakes and floods.

I thought the National Football League and Major League Baseball did themselves proud with their 9/11 tributes.

Our hearts go out to the people in the Wilkes-Barre, Bloomsburg and Hershey areas who were devastated in last week's flooding. Overall, we who live in this area were very lucky. Most of us only experienced some inconvenience.

I'm not real optimistic about Obama's jobs plan. It looks to me like it's just another stimulus package, but we can't call it that because the last stimulus package launched by the president was such a fiasco.

George W. Bush's remarks during the 9/11 service in Shanksville, honoring the victims of Flight 93, were inspiring and touching. Bill Clinton didn't do badly either.

Twelve people were arrested for looting in the Wilkes-Barre area during last week's flooding, when hundreds of homes had to be evacuated. I'm glad to see the Citizen's Voice newspaper ran photographs of them. Readers have the right to see what low lifes look like.

Many area residents will be saddened to know that the popular Knoebels Amusement Park in Elysburg was really hit hard by last week's flooding. Many of the rides were also destroyed.

I love baseball, but I have no desire to see the new movie, "Moneyball."

I think Major League Baseball dropped the ball when they wouldn't allow the New York Mets wear special caps Sunday honoring the emergency service groups who answered the call on 9/11.

I haven't seen my Pittsburgh Steelers get a butt kicking like they got last Sunday from the Baltimore Ravens in many a moon. Seven turnovers? What have they been working on the past six weeks during pre-season? Oh, well. The season still has 16 weeks to go. Too early to panic.

The two best managers in baseball are Tampa Bay's Joe Madden (a Hazleton product) and the Angel's Mike Sciossa.

You're showing your age if you still refer to the Boyer's Markets in Lansford and Tamaqua as the "Acme".

Is it me, or are there more Eagle Scouts being recognized these day? It seems not a week goes by that The TIMES NEWS doesn't report on another scout attaining that rank. That's a good sign about the commitments being made by our young people.

Here's a good thing. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that smoking has droppd from 21 percent of adults in 2005 to 19.3 percent last year. That's a decline of 3 million smokers. It still means, however, that there are more than 30 million adults still puffing away. And that makes for a lot of second hand smoke.

I'll bet 10 times the number of pumpkins are used for decorations than for eating during the fall season.

I'm anxious to try Yuengling's new "Oktoberfest" beer, just in time for the fall.

The Yankees' Mariano Rivera got his 600th save this week. I'm betting that the record he sets before his career ends, will never be broken.