CYLDESDALE/JOKES AND WATER COOLERS?

The first time I saw a Clydesdale horse in person, it was waiting, patiently standing in a lot next to a non-descript bar in Upper Darby, PA. I was coming back from the airport and there it was standing next its trailer and the trainer who had brought him for a special event. I had seen the horse before on television, but to see this animal in the flesh was a real treat.

Yesterday, it was announced that the Clydesdale would no longer take part in the Super Bowl Commercials. Even though they were featured in about ten Super Bowl game commercials before. The new producer and some beverage industry consultant explained that the commercials with the horses would not create the water cooler buzz a humorous one would.

Now with everything else to be considered, I wondered if a one-liner at the water cooler will be remembered longer than watching those magnificent horses?

OTHER BIG KIDS ON THE BLOCK?

Recently, I read a columnist's account of his life when he was 14 growing up here in Missouri. He spoke of the freedom to explore the country side on his bicycle. He concluded by saying, he doesn't think that technology has anything to do with the difference between who we were then, and who we are now. He wrote that he wasn't sure what it was, but something was changing in our country. I am not sure either, but I have given it some thought.

For a long time, we thought of ourselves as invincible. We were hard workers, scientists who excelled, farmers who grew the healthiest crops,and we produced quality products. We built the most modern buildings, affordable homes and the trains ran on time. Two great oceans protected us East and West. Our neighbors North and South of us, for the most part, were friendly. Unions grew stronger to overcome corporate greed and newspapers flourished. Even so, throughout our history, people were abused by some of our systems.

Suddenly we were confronted with other "kids" who wanted our "toys." In some cases we had the "new kids" build them. Just as many countries throughout the world, gave up a policy of colonization, we began to look for colonies of our own, even though it cost us human and material treasure. Our farms became factories, and we suddenly found ourselves angry. Angry at the new kids. Angry at the loss of jobs and homes. Angry at being taken in by our leaders. Angry with ourselves and others.

We have abandoned trust in ourselves, in others, in our ability to reason, and we are angry. It's time to recall our trust in ourselves, trust in others, to reason and drop our fear of the future and the other "kids on the block

FOGGY BOTTOM OR ST. LOUIS?

About ten days ago, fog rolled in and encompassed the area. It came with torrential rain storms and lighting. Some times the fog was so thick I could not see the Cathedral from my 15Th floor perch. It is still here.

On New Jersey's shore, fog usually rolled in from the ocean for an acceptable amount of time. The fog there knew her place. After a short visit, she picked up her skirts, and the smell of oysters washed up on the beach, and went someplace else.

I am not that well versed on how atmospheric pressures interact to produce fog. But I do wish they would interact someplace else other than St. Louis.

HAITI : GOING BEYOND NATIONALISM

Here in St.Louis, the horror of the earthquake in Haiti and its toll on people is featured daily in local newspapers, on radio and television. Synagogues, churches, schools and The Symphony Orchestra, along with supermarkets, restaurants and other specialty shops are raising money for the rescue effort.

Families seeking news about missing relatives use cellphones, or twitter or anything that could help bring them word of what is happening. Some get good news. Some get news of incomprehensible loss. Organizations, such as "Meds and Food for Kids" and "Wings of Hope" and others stationed here in St. Louis are working to get through with relief efforts. None of this is unique or exceptional. The whole world has come together to help lessen the awful plight of people without resources who have been hit by the full fury of nature.

In doing so, Haiti, in its hour of need, has made all of us citizens of the global community.

P. T. BARNUM AND THE WORLD'S TALLEST BUILDING

In 1881 P.T. Barnum, co-founder of the Barnum and Bailey Circus, coined the phrase, "There's a sucker born every minute."

On January 4, 2010, the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, 160 floors high in Dubai, Arab Emirates opened to much hoopla. It has all the amenities one could imagine for luxurious living. Fifty-four elevators, reaching speeds of 40 miles per hour take visitors up to the observation deck for views that reach 60 miles. Since its opening, more than 10,000 people have come to see it and take the ride to the observation deck for which there is a hefty charge.

Ten days later, after its glitzy opening, another report was much grimmer. Occupancy in other buildings in the area is down, planned construction site machinery are still, and much of the landscaped areas are overgrown. One visitor, unfazed by the telltale signs of down turn explained that Dubai's success comes from risk taking and that won't change.

That's when I remembered Barnum's famous quote: "There's a sucker born every minute."

GUNS: PROTECTORS OR DESTROYERS?

This morning, January 7, we awoke to a bright sun shimmering on the snow and ice and with the news that a man with a shotgun and a hand gun had walked into a large electrical supply complex, shot five people, killed three and may have shot himself. The news broke so fast, that we are uncertain about numbers, motives or even who the perpetrator is/was.

When I listen to arguments that it is un American or against the Constitution to want to curtail the sale of weapons to private citizens, I listen in disbelief. Webster Groves, once a quiet suburban area, home to 23,000 plus people, has now lost lives and a way of life because somehow a gun was in the wrong man's hands.

Yet, we continue to accept the unacceptable ownership of weapons which can turn a quiet snowy morning into a morning of horror.