GARGOZO MANUSCRIPT

Am I the only person who is annoyed by the barrage of over-blown sentiment for 9/11 first responders?  Don't misunderstand me, 9/11 was indeed tragic for all of the victims and their families.  I expect that the police and fire department employees that died were hard working and conscientious folks, but this effort to anoint them with sainthood is a sham.  The parroting of their virtue has become nothing more than a tool for movers and shakers to generate a sympathetic response from the public for products, charities, political aims and TV shows.   This first responder bandwagon reminds me of the red menace of the 1950s.  They both are an unabashed, in-your-face, old-fashioned form of arm twisting that's been  wrapped in the American flag.  The first responders were not the first and only American workers that lost their lives while on the job.  In 2010, 29 miners perished in an explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine in West V...

How weird is it to wear a surgical mask?  Not all the time mind you, just when I am cleaning the house, sticking my head behind the refrigerator, or playing with my grandkids on the floor.  All it takes as I'm doing these things is one normal breath to suck in the dust and I can feel it hit the back of my throat.  The instant that I feel it I know that there is nothing I can do to avoid a week of misery.  In exactly 24 hours I will begin to experience severe cold symptoms that will need to run their course.   I do this to myself at least once a year because I never remember to keep some surgical masks around.  Last Sunday I was at my daughter-in-law's house playing on the floor with my grand kids and inhaled some dust.  Today, Friday, 6 days later, I am at last beginning to feel almost human as the sneezing, runny nose and coughing has finally worn down.   I will attempt to make up for my first mistake by going to Wal-Mart today and purchasing a gro...

Of the current flurry of cop shows on TV, I can only sit through Blue Bloods and Elementary .  Even these I find difficult to tolerate and usually when I do watch them it is because I am too lazy to do something worthwhile.  Below I will take on Blue Bloods and save Elementary for another day. Blue Bloods is a weekly series about the Reagan family who for generations has been part of the New York City Police Department.  Tom Selleck is the Police Commissioner as was his father before him.  Nepotism seems a non-issue as Selleck has 2 sons on the force and a daughter working for the DA's office. Selleck portrays a one-dimensional old school character who maintains a permanent scowl throughout every frame of every episode.  A good 5 minutes of every show has his face filling the screen with an implacable the-troubles-I've-seen expression.  He has either gained a lot of weight or has volunteered for some sort of experimental botox pro...