Observations of how ridiculous things in this country have gotten as we all get back to business after a long Labor Day weekend:

*** A school in Colorado has outlawed the game of tag on the schoolyard playground. Really.

“It causes a lot of conflict on the playground,” said Cindy Fesgen, assistant principal of the Discovery Canyon Campus school.

Running games are still allowed as long as students don’t chase each other, she said.

Guess that means no more soccer and football either, I guess. (Hat tip: Drudge)

*** Seems Leona “Queen of Mean” Helmsley left $12 million to her dog so it could live the rest of it’s life out in luxury. Seems it’s a growing trend:

Leona Helmsley’s decision to leave $12 million to her dog so it could live out its life in luxury proved once and for all that she was not one of the little people.

But legal experts say that, size aside, Helmsley’s gift to her beloved pet — a Maltese named Trouble — wasn’t unique.

A growing number of people, not all wealthy, have been setting up trust funds or adjusting their wills to ensure that their pets are well cared for if they die, according to attorneys and animal welfare groups.

Helmsley’s dog (a Maltese named ntrouble) ought to thank his lucky stars Michael Vick isn’t executor of her estate.

*** OK, I heard it in the supermarket last week. I heard it again while waiting for tires at Firestone this week.And today, I heard it in the bump music on one of the nationally-syndicated radio sports talk shows. So I ask, is there a song more indicative of the whiny, narcissistic, self-indulgent culture we live in than Sheryl Crow‘s “I’m Gonna Soak Up The Sun”? I mean, just check some of these lyrics out:

My friend the communist
Holds meetings in his RV
I can’t afford his gas
So I’m stuck here watching TV

I don’t have digital
I don’t have diddly squat
It’s not having what you want
It’s wanting what you’ve got

I’m gonna soak up the sun
Gonna tell everyone
To lighten up (I’m gonna tell ’em that)
I’ve got no one to blame
For every time I feel lame
I’m looking up o I’m gonna soak up the sun
I’m gonna soak up the sun

I’ve got a crummy job
It don’t pay near enough
To buy the things it takes
To win me some of your love

Every time I turn around
I’m looking up, you’re looking down
Maybe something’s wrong with you
That makes you act the way you do
Maybe i am crazy too

Never mind the fact the fact that, outside of an admittedly catchy hook for a chorus (the kind that gets in your head and stays there all day), the song doesn’t: a) have a decent middle eight or even an easy transition between verses and chorus. And yet, it was a huge hit. For the life of me I can’t understand why.

Oh well. At least it was a hot but relaxing Labor Day weekend…