A couple of weeks ago I eagled the first hole at Heritage Hills from 115 yards out while playing with Jim Lemon, Ben Coburn, and Ole Olson. That just goes to prove that even a blind squirrel finds an acorn every now and then.

While flipping through my DirecTV channels this past Sunday, I was amazed to find two disgraced former big-time televangelists still doing their thing. Jim Bakker, former co-host with his wife, Tammy Faye, of the PTL Club, was discovered having a tawdry affair with one of the female employees of the vast media conglomerate which ended his marriage. He was then subsequently convicted of accounting fraud and served a prison term.

While Jim Bakker's trials and tribulations were front page news, a fellow television preacher, Jimmy Swaggert, appeared on the "Nightline" television show with Ted Koppel and proclaimed that Jim Bakker was "a cancer on the body of Christ" and should be removed from any position of authority within the church. Swaggert was later found to be making frequent visits to a prostitute, having been busted by a jealous fellow evangelist who decided to follow Swaggert around to see if he was as "pure" as he claimed to be. Swaggert's dalliances also became headline news, resulting in a public statement by the prostitute who said that Swaggert repeatedly tried to talk her into bringing her teen-age daughter with her when she would meet Swaggert so they could have a threesome.

Swaggert eventually confessed his sins and, through copious tears, begged forgiveness from God and his parishioners on national television. A few months later, he was caught with a different prostitute.

Most rational people assumed this would be the end of both Bakker and Swaggert's public religious persona but it was not. Jim Bakker and his new wife now host a religious show from Branson, Mo., while he tries to secure funding to build another mega-church and Swaggert, with the tears still flowing, hosts a Bible-study television program with his wife and sons. Both are still asking for money, of course. Seems like this is taking the old adage, "Not perfect but forgiven," to new heights.

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As the presidential campaign heats up, it's important for all of us to be able to separate the wheat from the chaff when we hear about the supposed misdeeds of the candidates. Thanks to the Internet, we receive e-mails daily purporting to tell us things we didn't know about the two men running for the highest office in the land. Anyone can say anything they choose to say about someone else and it's up to us to fact-check the things they tell us. Unfortunately, a good many of us don't, especially if we're being told things we want to believe. I've read recently that John McCain is in the early stages of dementia and would most likely not be able to serve out even one term if elected. This is not true.

I've also read that Barack Obama is a Muslim (not true), is sneaking Iraqi terrorists into the country (not true), took his oath of office to the United States Senate on the Quoran instead of the Bible (not true) and does not place his hand on his heart when he recites the Pledge of Allegiance (not true).

People on one side will say anything trying to get votes for their candidate and it's essential for all of us to find out the truth about any rumor or innuendo we hear before casting our vote. Most of these misstatements can be checked out at snopes.com. If we really want to cast an informed ballot based on the facts, it's crucial we find out what the facts really are.

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The most amazing story to come out of the Summer Olympics so far has nothing to do with the Olympics themselves. As the host country China marched into the Birds Nest in Beijing, China, led by their flag bearer, Yao Ming, a young boy was hustled to the front of the line to walk alongside Ming. The boy was nine-year-old, Lin Hao, who had rescued several of his classmates from the ruins of the school he attended immediately after the massive earthquake that hit that region of China.

When asked why he put his own safety in jeopardy to rescue his mates, he replied that he had been selected as a hall monitor and it was his responsibility. Regardless of the political messages we continue to receive from the Olympics, his message, through his actions, will hopefully be the enduring theme that comes out of the 2008 Olympics.

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Finally, what wonderful new neighbors we have in the personages of Jesus and Yaloany Ayala. Most of you read in this newspaper how they helped Laura Ford and Daniel Frasier clean up vandalism done to a local business.

A random act of kindness is what this is usually called and it seems we have always had a cadre of folks in McCook who are ready at the drop of a hat to help those in need.

And now we have two more. They volunteered to do this of their own accord, not having any idea it would become public knowledge but, thanks to Gloria Mefford, it did.

So a tip of the hat also goes to Gloria for showing us the selfless, caring side of two of our newest neighbors and business owners. They will be opening a new Mexican restaurant called El Puerto in the old Mexico Lindo location within the next week or two and I know that many of you will stop by to try out the new food and welcome them to our community.