I heard the sad news that a founding member of the band The Band died. I must admit I don't know the band The Band. I am no expert on music but I would think that if your band is named The Band, then you better be so good that everybody knows who you are. I mean a band that represents a city, state or the whole country should be quite famous. America, Chicago, Boston and Alabama, for example, are all well known bands. Young people hearing John Denver singing "Rockey Mountain high" must think that Denver represented Colorado, even though he was not from there until late in life. So when you hear the band The Band, it has to be the band of all bands.

Of course there are examples of total arrogance. I see many French restaurants named Le Cafe. They can't all be THE Cafe! Are they telling us their cafe is better than all others? They can't all be right. Then there is Le Petit Cafe near my house. Talk about lack of self-esteem. Can't they think of a better original name than to be someone elses' smaller version? Standford has the gall to call themselves The Cardinal, not cardinals. THE Cardinal usually mean the Pope. Does Stanford think they are the most powerful school of the NCAA? Then there was that movie called "The Doctor". Come on, there are thousands of us who are quite good, nobody can't be the ONE. Why not just call it "The Movie"?

OK, enough ranting for no reason. I forgot to rank college hockey last time. I would rate it just below world class soccer. I agree that a lot depends if I have a team to root for so those are rankings based on no particular team I am rooting for. I did not know George Takei has same birthday as Hitler!

No major story to get excited about for me lately. So I will just rant about a few things.

Romney accuses Obama of anti-women because the great majority of jobs lost during the past 3 years were held by women. Of course Romney discounts the fact that the first jobs lost during the recession were in manufacturing and construction which were jobs mostly held by men. Since then, due to the deficit, lot of government jobs in teaching, clerical and nursing were lost. Those jobs were overwhelmingly held by women. Now I thought Romney and the Republicans want to cut government jobs. So they were rooting for more women to lose their jobs? Also a lot of blacks lost government jobs and the unemployment rate is much worse for them. Is Romney going to say that Obama is anti-black now?

Secret service agents caught taking prostitutes to their room while on the road with the president! The oldest trick in the world for spies to get info from the other side is using the seduction by women. So these knuckleheads put the president and national security in great danger. My question, besides what the hell are they thinking, is that is this an isolated incident or just happen to be the one time they are caught? I think the latter!

The GSA is caught have a "conference" in Vegas for $800,000 of taxpayers' money. My question is that is this an isolated incident or just happen to be the one time they are caught? I think the latter!

Obama proposes the Buffet rule which was dead on arrival. The same with whatever tax cuts the Republicans propose. Let's be serious, both sides. We need to get rid of the stupid tax code we have. Just have a flat tax, no deductions, no loopholes. Having benefited from deduction for my children all these years, I never understood why you get a deduction for having children. Nor do I understand why we get a deduction for our mortgages. I don't understand why $800,000 "conferences" are deductible for private businesses either. Get rid of all these. You can make a tax code on couple of sheets of paper! Do what Hong Kong did (I don't know if this is still true under China rule), a flat tax and tax the hell out of luxury items like Rolls Royces.

Hockey, to me, is the most uncivilized of the major sports. Football is violent but you are hitting during the course of action. If you fight or hit someone after the whistle, you get penalized. In hockey after the whistle the players will still hit each other. Unless they drop the gloves and fight, no penalty is called. And even when there is fighting for several minutes, nobody gets ejected. In any other sports, including football fights like that would lead to automatic ejection and suspension. Are the hockey players more temperamental? It just seems to me they are out of control as human beings and the league encourages this behavior.

I welcome any comment to these few rants and any other rants that you may have!

Rick Santorum has quit before the Pennsylvania primary. I had predicted that this may well happen because there was a good chance that he would lose Pennsylvania. If he had lost his home state, not only was he finished for this election but maybe out of any future election as well. Remember he had lost his senate reelection bid in 2006 by a wide margin. So it was not like he was popular even within his own state. That is why he surprised many people, including myself when he came in second in this nomination campaign. By dropping out now after a relative good showing, he can claim to be the torch bearer for the conservative wing of the Republicans in 2016. Like Romney, who came in second in 2008, Santorum may well get the support of the Republican establishment in 2016. This is assuming that Romeny will lose to Obama, which I am sure Santorum is counting on. So this is an expected and good move for Santorum. And if he was to lose Pennsylvania, then his career in national politics would have been over.

My question now is would conservatives hate Romney so much that they run behind Gingrich and help him win Texas? Now that would be an embarrassment for Romney and a disaster for the Republican establishment!

A few comments about recent competitions in the news. Kentucky wins men's basketball tournament. With no underdog in the final four, I didn't really care who wins. But given the number of one and out players on Kentucky this year and recently, I would say KU is my least favorite. Well, I guess the team with the best players did win this year.

Baylor wins the woman's tournament tonight. Am I the only one who thinks that Griner looks and sounds more manly than the other Baylor stars, including RG IIII? Compare to other women, Griner is a cross between Yao Ming and Dwight Howard, the tallest and most athletic center.

Mitt Romney's win in Wisconsin tonight pretty much sewed up the nomination. Rick Santorum insists that he is staying in. But if polls show that Romney passes him up in Pennsylvania, I think Santorum will quit before that primary to prevent the embarrassment of losing in his home state.

Tiger is back. I predict a Masters win for him this weekend!

My favorite sports to play when I was young were basketball and tennis. This explains my lack of dancing ability. Monica Seles, Meta World Peace and now Martina Navrotilova were all the first star to exist from the DWTS. If I had actually gone into speed skating, gymnastics or figure skating, my dance ability would be a lot better. Jack Wagner going out the second week and Missouri losing in the first round, maybe I have jinxed Tiger!

I was outraged when Dharun Ravi was convicted in bullying Tyler Clementi, who committed suicide. Yes, it was invasion of privacy, a very stupid thing that Ravi did. But to be treated as a criminal? After watching his interview on 20/20, I am more convinced that he did not intend maliciousness toward Clementi. He never broadcast any sex tape on the internet as was alleged in the media when the case first came out. He sent an e-mail apologizing to Clementi and wanted to stay as his roommate. This does not seem like an action of an anti-gay person.

Unfortunately, Clementi probably never read the e-mail. This is an example of how new technology allowing people to communicate without talking to each other actually hurt. Both Ravi and Clementi read each other's tweets. But they hardly talked to each other, even after the incidence had occurred. If they had just talk instead of looking at tweets and sending e-mail, maybe this tragedy would have been avoided.

What Ravi did what stupid. But what 18 year old does not do stupid things? I doubt it that Clementi killed himself over this. It was reported in 20/20 that he was depressed before this. There was also a note that was found. Was it a suicide note? Would it help to understand his state of mind? That was not possible because the prosecution did not give it to the defense. That was one possible area of appeal.

What about the 30 year old that was Clementi's partner. He was shielded by the prosecution for his identity. I don't think that a 30 year old who had sex with an 18 year old should be excluded in the discussion of the suicide. Was Clementi more depressed because this older man had used him and then dumped him? I don't know but if a 30 year man had sex with an 18 year old woman and then the woman committed suicide shortly after, I am sure everybody, including the woman's parents, would find him very creepy.

I had wondered why Ravi did not take the plead deal where he would get probation and community service but no jail time. Turns out he would have to admit that he did all these because he was anti-gay. Ravi would rather take the chance with jail time than admit something that is not true. I don't know if that was a smart thing to do, but now I certainly respect his decision.

Couple of comments on the NFL. I don't understand why Denver needs to trade Tebow. Sure Manning is the starter but he is old and just came off an almost career ending injury. How can they be sure that he can even finish the next season? Sure, Tebow is not a good starting qb yet but he is young and can learn under Manning and get better. Denver got a 4th and a 6th round draft choice for Tebow. But they drafted Tebow in the FIRST round! So after starting for most of the season plus winning one playoff game, Tebow's value is much lower than 2 years ago? Plus God is not going to forgive them for this. This may be the curse of the Broncos!

The big suspension of the Saints head coach and former assistant is just one publicity stunt for the NFL. This is a league that glorifies violence. If not for that violence there would be a lot less fans who would watch the games. I think there must be some understanding among the players, coaches and league that this type of bounty hunting is tolerated to a certain degree. I mean there are a lot of switching teams among players in this league. Wouldn't something like that be common knowledge? I think once it was exposed, the league had to clear its image of caring for the safety of the players and so it had to come down hard on the Saints. My question is: Are there other teams with the same policies? And did the league knew about these type of things before this revelation? Also for the fans who criticize the Saints, are you not a little hypocritical?

I read in the LA Times that Mary Brown, who is one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against Obamacare that has reached the Supreme Court, has just filed for bankruptcy. Among the debts that she and her husband owe are thousands of dollars in medical bills. She is one of three individuals that conservatives put out as Americans who belief that the health care law is unconstitutional. Whether the law is unconstitutional or not will be ruled by the Supreme Court soon. Meanwhile ironically, she is an example of why a mandate is necessary.

There are many flaws in the new law but it was the only law that could have passed two years ago. The law does not offer much control regarding skyrocketing cost of health care. The insurance companies still do not have much competition, can continue to raise prices and rake in huge profits. Sure, they are being forced to take in people with preexisting conditions, cover young adults up to 26 years old under the parents' plan and may have to pay for contraceptives. But the insurance companies will get lot more clients under the law and let face it, contraceptives will decrease pregnancies and pregnancies would cost insurance companies a lot more money than contraceptives.

The polls show that most people don't think the law is a good idea. One reason for that is that the majority of people HAVE insurance. Many of them get the insurance from their job and so they are afraid of any change. But anyone can lose their job or get a catastrophic illness and then suddenly they will feel different about the law. If you lose your job and have a preexisting condition, insurance companies will not take you. Many people can't leave jobs they hate because they or their spouses are sick and can't afford to lose the insurance. But of course in order for people with preexisting conditions be guaranteed coverage, everybody has to be in the risk pool. Otherwise, nobody would buy insurance until he is sick!

Mary Brown believes it is her right to decide whether she buys a product. But this is not a product of choice. We all are or will be consumer of health care unless we die suddenly without going to the hospital! Sixty billion dollars in health care cost were not paid by patients last year. Hospitals and doctors raise prices, when they can, on people who can paid. Thus the $10 aspirin the hospital charges. The government pays a big portion of the 60 billion now. So it is not a free lunch for taxpayers. Mary Brown will probably add to that uncompensated care amount with her bankruptcy.

One more thought on this case before the Supreme Court. I am sure the outcome will ride on Anthony Kennedy's decision. So there is a good chance the law will be overturned regardless of its merit. The other 8 judges will be split 4-4, I am sure. This is all so partisan as are so many things in our country today. The take I have is this: Whatever side wins in the Supreme Court may well lose in the presidential election. Which ever side loses will be so angry that they will come out in force to try to elect their candidate in November because they believe the Court is stacked against them and they want their presidential candidate be able to nominate the next justice.

Last week envoys from the U.S. and UK went to Israel to try to convince the Israelis not to attack Iranian nuclear facilities. I have a bad feeling that Israel will bomb Iran this year, probably in the next few months before the U.S. election. The Obama administration has said that all options are on the table, including military action. But, unlike his Republican opponents, Obama will not attack. I think bombing Iran to try to stop its nuclear weapons program will not be good in both the short and long term. But Israel does not see this and it will try to drag Obama into it during this election year, knowing that to not stick with Israel will cost him politically.

Most experts believe that even a successful bombing will only delay Iran from getting the bomb for a couple of years. The thing is you can't bomb away all the centrifuges. As long as the knowledge of how to do it is in the brain of scientists, Iran will eventually build a weapon. That is why there maybe more assassination attempts on Iranian scientists and then retaliations to Israelis by Iran. I can understand the Israelis want to delay Iran as long as possible since they are Iran's most likely target. But I don't see why Israel's worry should dictate our policy which in the long term will certainly failed. If we help Israel or even approve its action, our position of being an honest broker in the Middle East will deteriorate tremendously. Also an attack will raise nationalism in Iran and I think will allow the unpopular regime to stay in power much longer in the future. It will only serve to make Iran much more determined to get the bomb.

What about the short term? Israel will face artillery strikes from Hamas and Hezbollah for sure. Iran can't really shut down the oil lanes but will be forced to try and thus cause energy prices to skyrocket. This in turn will stop our economic recovery and perhaps lead to world economic collapse. More terrorists attacks against U.S. and Israel will certainly occur. Certainly Israel will be more isolated than ever after such an attack. I think Obama should, in no uncertain term, tell Israel that we would not support such an attack. Unfortunately, I don't think Israel will listen because it knows that once Obama is reelected, he certainly will not back an attack. So Israel will likely force his hand, probably as soon as the Republican nominee is known.

It is Feb. 16, 2041, and new President Jeremy Lin had just took office last month. He became the first Asian American president by putting an unusual coalition of minorities, Christian conservatives, college graduates of high academic standings, and independents who are tired of the partisanship that was affecting both Democratic and Republican rule since the beginning of the century. By forming the Lindenpendent Party, Lin was able to defeat the two established parties with his coalition. Now of course comes the hard part, governing. He is hoping that his expertise in economics will help him improve the pocketbooks of Americans. But he also realizes it is a smaller world now and that he must have good team work with the leaders of other countries. Thus, he has called for a summit and invited most of the major leaders of the world to attend.

First there is Yao Ming, the first freely elected leader of China. Lin realizes that achieving world peace is a tall order. So who better to consult first but Yao who has made peace with Taiwan to unify China with the help of the president of Taiwan, Yani Tseng. Lin also will depend on Gary Kasparov, the first democratically elected Russian leader, to come up with an end game to checkmate terrorist organizations who are trying to get nuclear weapons. While Lin is trying to help other countries, he will need to get assists from Steve Nash, the premier of Canada. Also expected to attend the summit are Yu Darvish, the first Japanese president of mix races, Manu Ginobili, president of Argentina, Pau Gasol, president of Spain, David Beckham, prime minister of Britain, Dikembe Mutombo, head of African Union, and of course Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines who has been the leader of that country for 30 years.

Yes, world peace was all but a dream 30 years ago. But then 30 years ago nobody would dream that an Asian American from Harvard who was not drafted would become a star in the NBA either. Ever since that became a reality, people all over the world have dared to dream bigger, until what is achieved today, Feb,. 16, 2041.

A few things I like to comment on quickly. First, I underestimated Rick Santorum. Romney is still going to win the nomination but I have to apologize to Santorum for calling him Michelle Bachmann light. Bachmann in turn was called Sarah Palin light by me. So that made Santorum really light. Instead with his 3 victories on Tuesday, I am going to call him Gingrich heavy, if it is possible to be heavier than Gingrich. But whatever, all I know is Obama is thanking Santorum secretly.

Speaking of Obama, I don't agree with his mandate on birth control coverage. Since Obamacare is not a single government payer plan, I don't see how he can tell insurance company and employer exactly what medicines to cover. I don't agree with the Catholic church's stand on contraceptives but they have their right to religious freedom. Healthcare is part of the employee's health benefit. If any part of the benefit is not acceptable, the employee can not accept the job. I know that is a difficult thing in a tight job market, but you can't always have everything. If it is up to the insurance company, I would think that they would want to cover contraceptives since pregnancy would cost them a lot more.

I don't see why Karl Rove and other Republicans are all upset about the Clint Eastwood commercial. Eastwood is a Republican, he is not trying to help Obama. Most people who watched the commercial are not going to think about the auto bailout. By bringing it up, Rove is helping Obama because now more attention is paid to the bailout. And since GM and Chrysler are doing a lot better than before, the more people paid attention to this, the more Obama likes it.