The way my brain works - Lombardi is having a brain aneurysm.

Maybe it’s my mother’s fault and how she raised me. Then again she’s too good a woman to be blamed for anything I do or think. I tell my friends I’m not able to say even 10% of what rattles around in my brain. The ten percent that does leak out of my mouth is normally filtered and repackaged before I dare utter much of it. Today I’m having an aneurysm over much of what I’m reading. So today I intend to dedicate The Iowa Edict to headlines and other idiocy.

Play this video while you read because there is a train coming down the tracks and sooner or later it’s going to run you down. They call the train no rhyme or reason.

UNDERSTANDING MY BRAIN

I hear or read things and automatically my brain takes over and has a debate with my alter-ego. "Yes or no, are you kidding me, they said that, are they stupid" (my mother loved that saying, that one is her fault) and so on and so forth. Saturday as I sat down to review headlines and write this week’s blogs there was an abundance of sustenance to feed my inter-brain's Id-Superego debate. At times it’s the headlines and other times while the headlines are accurate, the story makes me wonder about the sources or the people involved. Let’s warm up this conversation with headline news.

A FOREGONE CONCLUSION

From the AP we get this headline. Iowa inmate dies while serving life sentence, KGAN CBS 2 News

Isn’t death for a lifer a foregone conclusion? I thought convicts serving life sentences died while serving a lifetime in prison; why is this news.

NOT THE BRIGHTEST BULB IN THE DRAWER

The headline reads: Iowa To Let Lottery Players Check Own Tickets

I’m not a government official but I’m thinking, “Is this a good idea?” Who would declare themselves a loser and say, “Oh shucks, I lost. Better luck next time.”

PROVE THE ASSUMPTIONS YOU ASK ME TO MAKE

WHAT HAPPENS IF OUR ASSUMPTIONS ARE WRONG?

In reviewing the financial news I have to wonder about trade numbers between the Chinese and the rest of the world. The way my mind works leads me to think about the Chinese numbers being reported. What if the Chinese government is lying to the world about how well their economy is doing and in particular about the trade surplus? What if the trade surplus numbers are phony and the Chinese government is simply nonstop printing currency and using those phony Yuan to buy commodities they are stockpiling in China. Is there really a trade surplus or is there simply a surplus of Chinese currency? If the U.S. economy is in a recession-depression (you pick) then who are they selling made-in-China too? What if they are printing money and stockpiling mineral resources, intending to sell it all back to the world at inflated prices and to obtain a competitive advantage in later sales. What if? Are our government officials smart enough to even understand the possibility?

THE PARTICIPATION TROPHY SYNDROME IS ALIVE AND WELL

Our last story today is about getting a bachelor degree in crime. To understand the degree requirements let’s examine the Iowa state revenue department’s court-fine amnesty program. The way the program works is to reward people who have been criminally irresponsible the longest. According to the news story 217,000 people owe court fines that were recorded and remain unpaid for more than four years ago. As taxpaying lawyer my first thought was to arrest them or seize what they own. Apparently that's not what Iowa government thinks is a good policy. The powers-that-be came up with different ideas.

Under a new amnesty program, if the person that owes the fine agrees to pay 50 percent of their overdue debt in one lump sum, the other half will be forgiven. Hmmm... that sounds interesting.

So let’s see if I understand the policy of this program.  Be a criminal for at least four years and successful at not paying your fines for those four years and the State of Iowa will forgive half of your irresponsibility. Do I have that right? Okay, I feel brilliant today. Then again perhaps I just need to visit with a good psychoanalyst.

Need to hear more of the blues harp? Tap the link to listen as Sonny Boy Williamson performs, Your Funeral and My Trial; then keep reading.

AWARDING A BACHELOR DEGREE IN DEFECTIVE CHARACTER

And why four years? Why not three or two or ten? Why four? What’s so special about four years that deserves a participation trophy? Am I to assume our government policy revolves around rewarding longevity in the business of crime? So those that have played duck-n-run for only three years aren’t worthy of amnesty? What no trophy? I showed up, where’s my trophy? You do realize, if you don’t give a trophy to everyone who participates that they could feel bad about themselves for not being a winner.

For additional reading go to the Participation Trophy Syndrome?

PARTICIPATION TROPHY'S AREN'T ABOUT THE PLAYERS, THEY ARE ABOUT GUILTY MINDED PARENTS LOOKING FOR A QUICK FIX. NOW GOVERNMENT IS HANDING THEM OUT TO NONPARTICIPATING TAXPAYERS - WHAT'S NEXT?

I've spend quite a few days discussing what I call the Participation Trophy Syndrome. It is being made to feel like a winner when the team lost the game. Boiled down to its essence a participation trophy is really about stealing. The losing team is stealing the thunder from the team that put in the hard work and did win. In this case the winning team is supposed to be law abiding citizens who are now being told it pays to be a criminal.

As a former soccer coach I know that only losers want and will accept a participation trophy, winners want to win one. Handing out participation trophy's develops a malformed character where people expect to get paid just for showing up; rather than actually doing the hard work it takes to be a real winner and to earn that trophy. In this instance the longer you’ve been ducking the law and not paying your fines the less you will be required to pay. It pays to be good at being a criminal. The message is clear: The longer you act irresponsible, the bigger the trophy.