It’s been a pretty sobering week for us. We’ve been bombarded with stories of budget cuts and constantly reminded of how much money the university, the state and the nation need to stay afloat.
We wish we could crank up our MP3 players and tune out the problems the same way we tune out people on Turlington Plaza, but we can’t.
Or can we? Let’s look the other way for a couple of days with the when-the-going-gets-tough-the-tough-go-to-the-beach edition of Darts & Laurels.
We need to look on the bright side. Sure, in our Thursday interview with Bernie Machen, the president showed how worried he is about our beloved university coming to a grinding halt.
And yes, we’re wondering what’s going to happen at the state level for K-12 education. But at least Washington didn’t shut down.
Congress passed a spending bill that will keep it up and running for another two weeks on Wednesday. Of course, that’s just a short-term measure, and the tougher decisions are still ahead.
We’d like to give a we-don’t-need-anything-else-going-to-pot-right-now LAUREL to both houses of Congress. Shutting down parks, museums and monuments and delaying the processing of passports and bankruptcies doesn’t sound too good to us.
Our bickering politicians settled down and agreed to get down to work, but we can’t say the same for some of our favorite athletes and their bosses.
Both sides of the NFL lockout debate are probably still arguing as you read this, but their Friday deadline is after we check out for Spring Break. So we’re assuming the NFL Players Association is decertifying and will allow players to hit owners with anti-trust suits in the case of a lockout. Say what you will about union debates, but to us it looks like 32 filthy rich people are jeopardizing the livelihoods of all kinds of employees.
We’re not just talking about the players and their families, but everyone from secretaries to team doctors to concession stand workers. And what about places like Green Bay, built around a football-based economy? For being greedy, we’re going long and hurling a now-what-are-we-supposed-to-do-on-autumn-Sundays? DART at NFL team owners.
We’ll find something to entertain us. But unlike many people, it won’t be Charlie Sheen. Because we’re sick of hearing about him, we’re slinging a you-should-report-on-a-crazy-person-who-actually-matters DART at the media for feeding into an ego problem. If you want crazy, just take a look at Libya, or around Gainesville, for that matter.
That said, the world has gotten a wee bit saner in the past week. For centuries, Christians have blamed Jews for killing Jesus, but they won’t have the Vatican backing them up.
For refuting a reason for hatred with an analysis of scripture, we’re handing a thanks-for-getting-around-to-clearing-that-up LAUREL to Pope Benedict XVI.
And, because we’re feeling generous, we’d like to throw an extra we-don’t-care-where-we-get-sand LAUREL at Spring Break.
The weather’s beautiful, and we could use the break after midterms.
Until next time, have fun and stay safe, Gators.
