The news, of late, has caused me to dwell on certain subjects that have been transmitted over our beloved television and print media, ad nauseum.

This snapshot in time makes me wonder, “What next?”

Tiger: My number one news item which has me in a tizzy is Tiger Woods. Poor little Tiger, pain in the neck, whoops, I mean his sore neck caused him to withdraw from the recent Players Championship.

We all know that his quitting wasn’t due to a sore neck, but a sore ego. Quitting after he teed off is a sure sign of spinelessness. He knew he wasn’t in the hunt for first place so he bowed out, ungracefully.

This man, a former hero, is a jerk, in my opinion. While winning lots of times and lots of money, he never has had the rapport of other notable golfers like Arnie, Nicklaus or Mickelson, just to name a few. These guys have a bond with fans that Tiger never had, or will have.

Tiger is too intense, curses and throws clubs on national TV. You never saw Palmer or Nicklaus do this. Tiger always looks mad. Never smiles, even when he sinks a great putt. Just a boring fist pump. He is too enamored with himself to share his success on a friendly basis with followers. Tiger will never change in spite of his therapies, insincere confessions and promises to be good.

Recently, in the Players Championship, Lee Westwood sagged in the end from a comfortable lead on Saturday. When he missed a putt, he just turned and smiled. Tiger would have bowed down over his putter and cursed.

Golf is exciting without Tiger.

Arizona Illegals: The governor of Arizona took a bold move in helping to identify people that feed off the USA illegally. She did this for at least two reasons.

One, because our United States government has failed to quell the influx of Mexican panhandlers; and two, because her state of Arizona is close to bankruptcy, owing to the pressure on her budget by aliens who receive many services for free. I’m with her all the way.

But I know, even here in North Carolina, illegal aliens can get fake green cards just as kids used to get fake driver’s licenses.

I worked here locally with a ­landscaper who hired a few Mexicans. I became friendly with one — a young kid about 21 years old. He said he had crawled under the fence near Tucson and, through an underground network, arrived here in the Sandhills because it was a well-known area for such ­intruders.

Greece and the Euro: Greece’s ­problems are shared by Spain, Portugal, Italy and several others that have not yet surfaced.

They’re all broke, just like California and a few more. The only difference between us and Europe is that our way of fixing deficits is to just print more money. Europe doesn’t have this luxury.

How can we abide a double standard that allows our government to spend and consume more than it has while we peons are expected to balance our private budgets?

Apocalypse Now: Disasters with Iceland’s volcano and the Gulf of Mexico’s oil spill may signal tougher times ahead but, at least with the ­volcano, there can be no finger pointing.

A country that can fly to the moon and back can surely cap an oil leak; one would think.

If a Martian dropped by and found these news snippets I wonder what he, she or it would think. Might be a bit confusing!

Andy Thomas lives in Pinehurst. Contact him at dahtmuth58@aol.com.