Mark Knows It All

   I'll be honest.   Turning 63 last month was a sobering experience.   I have had several of "difficult" birthdays over the years, and not necessarily traditional age landmarks.   I handled 50 just fine.   49 was another matter.   I handled 60 okay.   63 was a bit much.   I have joked about senior night at the Perkins.   We go every Tuesday.   I attended an event at the symphony over Valentine's day.   It was a wonderful event but the crowd was "older" which made me feel uncomfortable.   The State of Ohio is pushing legislation requiring financial advisors to report suspected "elder" abuse for clients, financial or otherwise, over the age of 60.   Sixty...really?   I have always made fun of mall walkers as I have walked at the mall myself feeling smug that I am not one of them.   Last time I walked I realized that I am one of them.   Which leads me to the mall walk...

This past week has proven nothing more than how fragile our lives are. We all like to think we are in charge. Think again. Forces around us, man or nature made, call the shots. Whether it is God or life forces or Karma or the river of life, we are at the mercy of events; not the other way around. So you’re driving down the street in Chelyabinsk, Russia, when a streak flashes across the sky followed by a blinding flash of light followed by an explosion that shatter glass all over the city causing injuries to over a thousand people. Was it North Korea? Was it Iran? Was it Obama’s latest kill the bad guys drone? No…it was a ten ton meteorite that exploded in the sky then landed in a frozen lake outside the city limits. Meteorites seem to have an affinity for Mother Russia, the last one landing there in 1908 wiping out about 1000 square miles of Russian wilderness. We in North America are not immune either. The one that landed in the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico did nothing more ...

A close and dear friend of mine who does not share my political views asked me the other day about the background of the hosts of Fox and Friends, FNC's morning show entry. I responded that their names were Steve Doocy, Brian Kilmeade, and Gretchen Carlson whose backgrounds were weather guy, sports guy, and former Miss America respectively. Sounds pretty unimpressive, doesn't it? That started me to thinking. Just what are the backgrounds of many of the reporters who are our nation’s gatekeepers to information and interpretation? What separates these “journalists” from you or me? Is there anything in their backgrounds that makes them smarter than you and me?  Does a degree in Journalism give them some special insight...some education specialty?  I concluded what these folks don't know is a lot.  Yet we grant them the status of opinion maker.   Let’s start with the Fox and Friends hosts. Steve Doocy was born in Iowa and rai...