With apologies to Bob Ryan, from whom I shamelessly steal this idea from time to time...



So, Wall Street is struggling, every time we turn around there's another bank failure, and Congress has pretty much decided to let the automakers fail. Seems that the malaise is spreading up the ladder, too. Suppose you were part of Bush's base, and maybe you're having a little Christmas guilt. So, you make some big charity donations to make yourself feel better. You'd hope that maybe the money would do some good, right? WRONG!





Hey, since he bilked mostly Boston donors, at least it was a Ponzi Scheme. Charles Ponzi was originally from Italy, but he bilked his first million right here in Boston. Some things never change...


Speaking of change, let's change gears!

Many of us Christians are gearing up for the major holiday of the year in just a few days. Our Semitic friends are readying for Hannukah to start at sundown on December 22. But what about the third Abrahamic religion? Our Muslim brethren have just completed the Hajj, the annual pilgrimmage to Mecca by having the four-day feast of Eid-al-Adha.

There are many religious rituals around the world that many of us don't know much about (Hey, and Pagans, too. They'll be celebrating the Winter Solstice around the same time)...and the Globe has an enlightening photo essay about this years pilgrimmage, which was blessedly free from trouble. (Allah be praised!)




Finally today, we'll stay with the religious theme and check in with the region's largest faith...Red Sox Nation.

Earlier in the week, the Red Sox announced some new alternate home and road uniforms.

To this learned eye, the logo doesn't look much different from the current one, and they're moving away from the traditional road grays to a snazzier dark blue, and a bright red uniform for some home games.

But why would the Sox toy with arguably the best-known logo of one of the oldest and most storied franchises in baseball history?

I have a theory....money.

Back around November, the Sox announced that they would "hold the line" on ticket price increases for next season. So, instead of coughing up $5 extra dollars per seat for the one or two games we might go to next year, the average fan will shell out hundreds of dollars to outfit themselves in the new gear. Very shrewd, indeed.

Of course, that doesn't address the "pinkhats", as us die-hards derisively call the fair-weather fans that have outfitted themselves in nontraditional alternate colors.




So....It's Saturday, I'm working this afternoon, so I hope we'll all get along without a hard-hitting blog. Gotta take it easy every now and again, hmm?

:peace: