Presidential Pecs; What's the Message?

The president removed his shirt in front of cameras while on vacation this month.
Not Bush. Putin.
The Russian president liked the results so much he posted several images on his presidential Web site.
It gained him a lot of feminine admirers since he looks quite muscular.
It also gained him gay admirers since they felt he was pleading for more tolerance for homosexuality, which shows anybody can get anything out of a photo.
The Putin pecs were revealed at about the same time it was charged that the magazine Paris Match airbrushed the love handles out of a photo it took of French President Nicolas Sarkozy canoeing on Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire.
In the bare-chested bonanza that has followed, Kremlin-watchers are trying to figure out the message.
After all, Putin says he plans to step down next year at the end of his second term. So why’s he need good P-R?
Among things for which President Bush will be remembered is his quote after meeting Putin in June 2001.
“I looked the man in the eye. I was able to get a sense of his soul,” said admirer Bush.
The mutual admiration — Putin strongly supported Bush for re-election in 2004 — is long since gone. Putin’s soul doesn’t look all that pure.
If Putin had been shirtless when he first met Bush, one wonders if Bush would have noticed his eyes enough to made his miscalculation.

Retribution or Forgiveness?

Stephen French of Ocean City pleased guilty Aug. 17 to driving while intoxicated and to aggravated manslaughter. He had driven into three bicyclists on Ocean Drive in Egg Harbor Township, killing Richard H. Branca, 17.
The accident happened July 14, 2006. He has been free on bail the last 13 months.
French, 55, will be sentenced Sept. 27 as a result of the plea bargain. He could get a sentence of 16 years, and would have to serve at least 85 percent of the term, nine years and three months.
“I think it all sucks,” said Branca’s mother, Sherri, “but the quicker I get that man in jail, the better.” She said she’ll fight against any parole.
“I want him to suffer,” she said.
I doubt many of us would fault her feelings.
But there is another attitude: forgiveness.
Anglican Bishop N. T. Wright argues in “Evil and the Justice of God” that Jesus took our sins upon himself and that we should follow by repenting of our sins and offer forgiveness to others.
The book was reviewed by Rev. Michael P. Orsi, who has served a number of Catholic parishes in Cape May County including Stone Harbor, Wildwood and Cape May. Fr. Orsi is a research fellow at Ave Maria School of Law in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Wright, points out Orsi, says forgiveness “is the knife that cuts the rope of sin, anger, fear, recrimination and death.”
Orsi points to the timely and inspiring example of when the Pennsylvania Amish community extended forgiveness to the murderer of their school children last year.
I’m sure many of us have had fearful moments, when we thought of dangers to our loved ones. And many of us have wondered how we would react if an evil person did them harm. Lead the charge to retribution or extend forgiveness?

Mickey Quits Smoking?

New developments on two previous blog issues: smoking and colleges getting kickbacks from the student loan industry.
The news took place at Walt Disney Co. and Rutgers University, sorry to say.
Authorities say the Rutgers Athletic Department promoted a firm called University Financial Services in return for kickbacks.
According to the authorities:
The promotion consisted of free ads on the department’s web site.
The payment was to be $15,000 plus $75 for every loan.
Rutgers is the only New Jersey college involved in the nationwide probe — so far.
The ongoing smoking question generated a couple pretty radical responses to the smoke-free policy Cape Regional Medical Center announced for anywhere on its grounds in June.
After that, we reported a story that the Motion Picture Association was considering making smoking a factor in rating films. That drove some right-to-smoke people ballistic.
But now Disney has announced it will:
• Eliminate smoking from all films released under its label.
• Discourage smoking in films under its Touchstone and Miramax brands.
• Insert a public service announcement on any DVD of a family film that includes smoking.
To get on the bandwagon, Universal Pictures said it has started a policy to reduce smoking in youth-oriented films.
So there you go. Respond, but remember, this isn’t Spout Off.

How Much to Tip?

How much to tip in restaurants? That’s a question with as many answers as there are people.
Frequently, it is things over which servers have no control — prices, time to prepare the order, how good the food is — which determine the tip.
I used to tip 15 percent for reasonable service, 20 percent for special. Somehow that has crept up to 20 percent most of the time.
Servers complain that they are paid well below minimum wage and must depend on tips, which is true. Some customers think restaurant owners should pay better.
Peter Kilgore, CEO of the National Restaurant Association, wrote to the Wall Street Journal recently that most tipped employers get a lot more than the minimum wage when their tips are included.
He said a national association survey showed the average hourly wage ranged from $17.10 for entry-level servers to $22.20 for more experienced.
He also said these jobs can lead to promotions, management and “ownership opportunities.”
What’s your attitude on tipping?