Three for Thursday

(1.) The FBI seems to be on a roll lately, having made several high profile arrests. The latest was this week's capture of one of their Ten Most Wanted, "Whitey" Bulger. Bulger had been on the lam for years, apparently with the complicity of some law enforcement people who had been paid off to turn a blind eye. Some of those folks are already serving long prison sentences and, with the capture of the man himself, it is possible that others will soon follow. Bulger, who is thought to be responsible for at least 19 murders, should be right behind them. We sometimes get the impression that our law enforcement agencies are incompetent, but the FBI is going a long way toward redeeming its reputation. It's very nice and confidence-building for the average citizen to see things working the way they are supposed to.

(2.) If Rick Perry decides to run for president, it seems that he will have a rumor problem. The rumor is that he is gay. Whether or not there is any truth to the rumor, these things just have a way of spreading and building. Just ask "Kenyan born" Barack Obama. Perry has an advantage over Obama in the rumor mill department in that Perry will NOT have Fox News and all of right-wing radio beating the drums to keep the thing going as they did with the Obama "birther" rumor. Of course, some might make the point that Perry's hair obsession reveals a gender confusion - but only those who believe in stereotypes.

(3.) My beloved Houston Astros - and their fans - are suffering through an awful season. They are currently 20 games below .500 and possess the worst record in all of major league baseball. There are a number of reasons for that. Topping the list is their youth and inexperience. They are a very young team and most games find them with a line-up heavy with rookies or second-year players. Another reason is injuries. They have been plagued with a spate of injuries that has forced them to constantly regroup and reassign people. Still, that's not to say they are a boring team. On most nights they are competitive. They play hard and with passion, and sometimes, like last night, they are rewarded. They came back from a deficit in the ninth inning of a game with their hated intrastate rivals, the Texas Rangers, and won the game 5-3. Thus, youth and justice were served. If necessary, I can live off of that for several days. Live and hope for more games like that.

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