Passings

Three stories of things passing:

• Steve Jobs - I was never a huge Apple fan, but like most of America and the world I did have some Apple products.  My daughter wanted a MacBook for college and over four years later it's still kicking.  Back in 2005 I bought the whole family iPods, back when they were a lot clunkier and not quite so slick.  My wife and kids got 4 gig iPod Minis, and I got a 20 gig classic iPod.  A couple of the minis are still working, though the battery life is not so great, and I still use the 20 gig model in quartet rehearsals to run our background tracks.  I've also used iTunes for years to manage my recorded music and burn CDs.  Bottom line, all of the Apple products I've used have worked as advertised without disappointment.  Jobs changed the world in his 56 years.  Not many can say that.  And an interesting side note - the nuts at Westboro Baptist announced they would protest Jobs' funeral.  They sent the announcement out on Twitter via an iPhone.
• Sarah Palin's Presidential Aspirations - All that ended officially yesterday, but in my opinion they ended the day she left her job as Alaska governor a year-and-a-half early.  Had she remained in the job for the entire term she would have been a natural candidate for president in 2012.  Leaving early allowed an image as a "quitter" to set in, and although she had good reasons for making her decision, that image wasn't going to change.  Also hurt by her announcement:  Tina Fey and Levi Johnston.  Fey was given a prestigious national humor award mainly because she could imitate Palin, but that part of her career is pretty much over, and Johnston can now go back to being the low-life he truly is.
• Hank Williams Jr. and ESPN - ESPN has formally fired Hank Williams Jr. for the crime of analogy.  Political correctness still reigns at ESPN and the NFL.  Williams claims his First Amendment rights were violated, but sadly, Williams doesn't know as much about the First Amendment as he probably should.  It doesn't apply in this situation.