Today I have heard many people making rash judgments about MMA fights being too violent. I know they are just parroting what they have heard from some talking head who has never watched a single mixed martial arts fight. So here is a rant against people who want to ban mixed martial arts matches from primetime television.

Sure Kimbo Slice is huge and menacing looking but is his fight with James Thompson really going to be more violent than the numerous murders portrayed on television each night? I hardly think so!
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Lorenzo Odone, who doctors said would die in childhood, has passed away. He lived 20 years longer than expected, mainly due to the dedication of his parents Augusto and Michaela Odone.

Lorenzo Odone’s parent’s battle to save him from a nerve disease was brought into the public consciousness with the movie “Lorenzo’s Oil.”
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Two of the most popular MMA fighters are sure to boost CBS’s ratings tonight when “EliteXC’s Saturday Night Fights” debuts (9 p.m. ET). The deal to bring MMA into primetime has been rumored about since last year.

Kimbo Slice and Gina Carano are the most popular male and female mixed martial arts fighters. They have lots of fans as mixed martial arts is said to be the fastest growing sport in the world. And with the price of gas going through the roof I think many a NASCAR fan will be converted.
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The title of this blog post says it all, Anjali Datta is the valedictorian of her class at Grapevine High School. I don’t care about the fine print in some school board manual that is usually doing nothing but collecting dust.

The facts are rather simple, Anjali Datta has the highest GPA and she was encouraged to pursue a fast track graduation. She was told by her counselor, a school official, that doing so would not affect her status as valedictorian.

Unfortunately lawyers got involved. That’s right, the school board’s lawyers were called in to determine the legalities of this matter. Sheesh! Can nothing be decided without lawyers these days?
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Two thumbs up and a big rave for Mother Nature. Why? She has created a berry that will change the way our palates render food. Just think, a miracle fruit tablet at dinner and parents will no longer have to fight with their children about finishing everything on their plates.

But apparently adults have found another use for this miracle fruit and that is hosting “flavor tripping” parties. Read the rest of this entry »

Sometimes I really cannot believe what I read so I have to actually see it to believe it. Today’s rant is about unsportsmanlike conduct.

I just read a news article about a sucker punch thrown during a little league game. Normally I would chalk up a punch thrown during a game to boys just being boys. However after watching the video of the punch I realize this was sadly different. You see this punch wasn’t thrown during the game during the heat of the moment of some super important play. No, this punch was completely unprovoked and done after the game while the teams were slapping hands and congratulating each other. At time when the game is over and the losing team is supposed to at least accept their defeat if they cannot accept it graciously.
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All soldiers are well aware of the term “friendly fire.” It is a sad fact but friendly fire happens in the heat of battle. However recent news stories add a new “friendly” form of death, that by execution. I’m going to term this “friendly execution.” And it is the topic of today’s rant.

Apparently twelve documented cases of service members being killed in Iraq due to improperly grounded electrical wires have surfaced. The latest being of Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth, a highly decorated Green Beret.

Losing a soldier is always hard to take but when our brave service members die in manners like this it is really difficult to comprehend. Why would the military knowingly allow a problem to continue when it is so easily fixed? Read the rest of this entry »

Unfortunately Dianne Odell passed away today. She lived in an iron lung for the majority of her life. While she didn’t let it hold her back, she did manage to graduate and write a children’s book, I feel for the life she could have had if the polio vaccine had been discovered just a few years earlier.

Polio didn’t claim Dianne Odell, a power failure did. However we should not forget that science and medical advances are what kept her (as well as many others) alive for years longer than expected.

So here is a big rave for all the people who have worked so long and hard at developing the treatments and technologies that allow all of us to lead much longer and happier lives.

When we reflect on the life of Dianne Odell, please also say a word of thanks to everyone who allowed polio and its devastating consequences to be such a minor worry in our modern world. It is hard to imagine now the fear that the mere mention of the word polio once caused.

There are two polio vaccines in use throughout the world today, and they have nearly eliminated the disease. We owe a debt of gratitude to Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin as well their research teams and the numerous animals who gave their lives to advance the vaccine. The world is a better place due to your work. Thank you.

The Blue Man Group and the blue people of Kentucky are getting competition…

Today’s rant is about drinking colloidal silver. Several people have turned blue from drinking colloidal silver but I have never heard of anyone dying from it. I’m not sure why it is dramatized. I guess Oprah needs ratings.

Whether colloidal silver is good for you or not is up for debate. Please do your own research. The one thing many noted about the Oprah story is that the drinking glass full of what was supposed to be colloidal silver looked nothing like any glass of it we had ever seen.

I’m not going to imply that there is a conspiracy about colloidal silver. What I do want to stress is that television shows do stories for ratings, which means they go for drama - sometimes at the expense of an unbiased review.

That being said… Silver is too damn valuable to drink it! LOL

Good health to everyone who reads this, whether you drink colloidal silver or not.

As a veteran, Memorial Day is a holiday that I take to heart. I sat out in my backyard today and just took a few minutes to reflect on all of my Army buddies, especially those who are no longer around to celebrate.

I bought RhondaHolland.com awhile back to make is easier for people to track me down. I am amazed at how many of my former unit members have actually found me via a Google search. And even happier that they took the time to do so. It is days like today that I miss them more than ever.

About an hour ago I got a telephone call from someone I served with in Japan back in the late 80’s - early 90’s, he was quick to wish me a happy Memorial Day and it brought a tear to my eye. He served in a special ops unit and has lost many friends who served in some of the most dangerous places on Earth for a soldier. I remember the nights when we sat around drinking beer asking all the questions service members ask themselves when they actually have time to reflect. I think in the end we still feel it was our duty to serve and we do not regret it. Read the rest of this entry »