Random Mish-mash

Well, the holidays are over.  Hope everyone survived them OK.  We actually had a white Christmas at our house.  According to the news, the first one in about 100 years.  Was very pretty.

Got a few things to get out of the noggin.  So, if you’re interested, here we go:

• The family went to Disney over New Year’s weekend.  Celebrated the new year and the twins’ 10th birthday.  Have never seen that many people in one place.  They reached capacity at 11 am on December 31.  The good news was, with the exception of one ride, we didn’t have to wait more than an hour for any attraction.  The fireworks show at the Magic Kingdom that night was the best I’ve ever seen.  Period.  Only had one real complaint about the whole weekend.  Rented a locker on New Year’s Eve.  When you return the key, you get a $5 deposit back.  When I returned my key, that particular register was out of cash and they gave me credit on my debit card.  I paid cash so I expected cash back.  After all, they had been raking in lots o’ cash all day long so know they had it there somewhere.  Anyway, the crowds thinned out starting on January 1 so the rest of the weekend was even more enjoyable.  The wife and I agreed we were glad we experienced it, but we’re not so sure we would want to do it again;
• The new Congress starts this week.  Hope they accomplish some things that get our country back on track.  Have read the Pubs are going to spend the first few weeks doing things that look good but don’t have much meat to them such as repeal Obamacare.  Before you start to panic or celebrate, President Obama has the power to veto any repeals so it’s not very likely to happen since there are not enough Pubs to override a veto.  Would rather they immediately get to the meat, even though I’m still not sure what their plans are.  Will hope for the best on that.  Also read they are about to take a two week break.  Wish I could take two weeks off after starting a new job.  Oh well, guess those pesky things like unemployment will solve themselves eventually;
• Speaker of the House Boehner cut Congressional staff budgets by 5%.  Some people have commented how this is only a small drop in the deficit bucket.  Reckon it’s mostly symbolic, but guess you have to start somewhere.  Looks like they are going to raise the debt ceiling again, which indicates spending will continue to increase.  The more things change, the more they stay the same.  Wish I could raise my debt ceiling at will like that;
• Saw where the Pubs are going to read the Constitution out loud during an upcoming session.  Wonder if anybody will learn anything from it?  Frankly, will be surprised if many of the Congressmen hang around to hear it.  They have too much important stuff to do than hang around listening to someone read our most important document.  You know, things like planning junkets to exotic countries, attending lunches with special interest groups, working out at the gym.  Important stuff like that.  It is a good gesture, though.  If it helps one representative remember they are there to serve the people, it will be worth it;
• Got the big BCS Championship game between Auburn and Oregon coming up.  Auburn is in the SEC and I like Oregon so it doesn’t really matter who wins to me.  Ultimately, my loyalty to the SEC will probably win out, though.  Think it will be a great game.  While Oregon hasn’t faced a defense like Auburn’s, Auburn hasn’t faced an offense who thinks they are going too slow if the ball isn’t snapped before the play clock hits 20.  Oregon definitely hasn’t faced a player the caliber of Cam Newton, either.  Won’t be surprised with either team winning.  Only thing that will surprise me will be a blowout by either school;
• Heard the Ohio State fans were taunting the Arkansas fans with chants of “SEC!” after they barely beat the 4th or 5th best team in the SEC.  Congratulations, Big Ten fans, your conference went 1-3 against the SEC, including one of your co-champions losing by 42.  Can see where you would want to celebrate that accomplishment; 
• Feel bad for TCU.  They’re undefeated with no chance of even being considered for the national championship.  More times than not, the BCS Championship game has had the two best teams playing in it.  In years like this one and 2004, you are left wanting a little more closure.  The NCAA says they don’t want a playoff because it will keep the athletes out of class too much.  The current bowl system stretches into the middle of January now.  How much more class would they really be missing?  Hope they will at least go to a “plus one” system in the next couple years.  We shall see.

Well, that’s all I got for now.  Going to get back to posting weekly again now that the holidays are over.  As always, thanks for hanging with me.  Please feel free to leave a comment or two.

Happy New Year!

A Little Bit of This…

Well, fall is finally in the air.  Football season is under way, the NHL is playing exhibition games, the temps are falling, and there are political ads out the wazoo.  What more can you ask for?  Got a few things to talk about this week.  Hope you’re interested enough to hear me out.  Gonna end on a positive note this week, too.  So try to stick around if you can.  Promise you’ll enjoy the last snippet.  With that being said, let’s get ready to reeeeaaaaaddddddddddd:

• Not gonna be able to run in Birmingham’s Susan G. Komen, a great and wonderful cause, 5K run this year.  Was able to run a 5K here a couple weeks ago.  Was sponsored by Time Warner Cable and $5 of every entry fee went towards breast cancer awareness, whatever that means.  Have had a tough time running in both races.  Get to thinking about my grandmama and mother both beating breast cancer.  Also think about my Aunt Trisha losing her battle with it.  Well, she always figured she was going to win either way.  She was either gonna beat the cancer or get to meet Jesus face-to-face.  Will always admire the attitude she had during her fight.  Never really care about my time or what place I come in during these races, it’s more about the cause to me.  Highly encourage each and every one of you to be sure to check yourself for lumps on a regular basis.  That includes you, too, men.  If you think men can’t get it, just look up Ace Frehley on the internet one day.  Might be surprised.  And, women you should also be sure to get a mammogram whenever you get a chance.  It’s been proven over and over again they detect cancer at its earliest stages, which is the best time to beat it;
• Ain’t political ads fun to watch?  They’re usually more about the lies the other guy has told than what the politician it’s about is  gonna do.  Think the best one I’ve seen is one about a politician who stopped a crime from being committed.  Sounds like he got beat up pretty bad in the process.  There’s an ad for him that talks about how this shows he has great character.  I think it’s great that he stepped in and saved the day.  But, part of me also thinks, if he had such great character, he wouldn’t be trying to use this to his advantage in an election.  But, in his defense, there’s no “I’m so-and-so and I approve of this ad” statement at the end.  So, it could be some his supporters have put this ad out and not him.  (Just for the record, though, his wife speaks in the ad.)  However, have noticed he sports a very obvious, bright white bandage on his hand in the ads he does approve of.  Sad thing is, I can’t even tell you what office he or his opponent are running for.  In my defense, it is an ad for a politician in a state other than the one I live in.  Only pay about half attention to those ads in my home state.  Pay about half of that in someone else’s state.  At least they’re trying to talk about his positives.  Have said it once, and will say it again:  if all you got to brag about is you’re not your opponent, you ain’t got much to offer, either;
• Been hearing a lot of yapping bout folks being disappointed that Obama ain’t solved the world’s problems in two years.  Now, ain’t a fan of the man nor his policies, but anyone who thought he’d cure everything in two years should probably not be allowed to vote again, ever.  Well, not really, but it does show the short-sightedness of the American electorate.  In case you ain’t been paying attention, this is a world-wide economic downturn.  We are so dependent on the world economy, there’s only so much we can do as a country to improve things.  Reckon we’ll just keep overturning our elected officials until things finally straighten out.  Our economy has always gone through cycles.  We are currently on a downturn.  Part of me thinks some of the problem is we’ve basically legislated out the depression phase of it.  Great prosperity has always followed a depression whether we want to admit it or not.  Ain’t wishing a depression on us, but my point is eventually the economy will cycle through this downturn and things will get better.  None of the legislation passed during the 1930’s brought us out of the Great Depression.  But, it gave Americans hope, which goes a longer way than just about anything else.  Most of the hope was created by creating jobs.  Can’t say any of the legislation passed in the last four years or so has given folks much hope.  Reckon that’s why President Obama is in such trouble, if you believe the polls, anyway.  Imagine it ain’t a coincidence they just announced the recession has supposedly been over since June…2009.  Not really sure how they come to figure that out now.  But, will say it’s mighty convenient it was announced right before the mid-term elections when the Dems are supposedly trailing badly in many races.  Maybe I’m just being overly suspicious, though…;
• See where Lady Gaga has gotten involved in the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” debate.  Think a majority of Americans (including our elected officials on both sides of the aisle) support doing away with this silly policy.  The problem is the language which does away with it is wrapped into other stuff which ain’t so good.  This is the problem most of the time.  Kind of like the debate which said the Pubs were agin extending unemployment benefits a while back.  They weren’t agin extending the benefits, they were agin the way they were going to be funded.  There’s usually more to a story than most Americans want to dig into.  Not sure why this is not just a bill in and of itself.  Would pass with flying colors.  Anyway, at least Ms. Gaga appears to be taking the issue seriously, unlike Stephen Colbert when he was called to testify about illegal immigration.  Read Congress will sometimes call celebrities to bring attention to a particular cause.  Not sure what knucklehead thought calling Colbert was a good idea.  First of all, they had to know he wasn’t going to take it seriously.  Second, this is a pretty hot topic right now so tricks shouldn’t have been needed to draw attention to this subject.  Nice to know our elected officials are taking things so seriously right now;
• Been lots of brouhaha about Katy Perry and her duet with Elmo.  Saw the video.  Think it’s much ado bout nothin myself.  Seems like the kids on lots of kid’s shows dress a lot racier than she did.  The Sesame Street folks have been doing this a long time.  Would think people would trust their judgment by now.  But, some folks nowadays just like to complain bout everything.  By her standards, her dress was pretty tame.  In just about every picture I’ve ever seen of her, she usually has a very low cut top on with a push-up bra shoving those things halfway up to Canada.  To me, it’s hard to tell she has any cleavage in the offending outfit.  But, in the long run, Sesame Street is getting a lot of publicity out this whole thing.  Proving once again that any pub is good pub;
• Heard an interesting debate the other day bout whether golf has lost it’s mainstream status now that Tigger’s struggling.  My man TK Stack Money (that’s Tony Kornheiser to most folks) was saying golf never has been a mainstream sport, especially in comparison to the other sports.  As much as it pains me to say this, have to agree with that statement.  Think Tigger has been mainstream, but not golf itself, least not at the pro level.  (Lot more people play golf than watch it on TV.)  Lot of people today don’t watch for the golf.  They watch to see what Tigger is doing.  Supposedly, TV ratings go way down when he’s either not in contention or not playing in the tournament at all.  Just proves they ain’t golf fans, they’re Tigger fans.  Such a shame, too.  Many people complain about the it’s-all-about-me attitude of many professional athletes these days.  Pro golfers are just about as polar opposite of this that you can imagine.  That’s both the men and the women, by the way.  I actually prefer to watch the LPGA cuz they show their personalities a lot more while they are playing.  It’s a real shame more folks don’t watch them.  Anyway, if you want to watch a sport where the players have honesty and integrity, take a little while to watch some golf on the telly.  It’s actually kind of relaxing;
• OK, here’s the positive ending I promised.  Ever heard of Ike Ditzenberger?  Well, you are about to.  He’s a 17 year old boy with Down Syndrome.  He goes to Snohomish High School out in Washington.  He also happens to be on the football team.  The coach promised Ike he will play in practice as long as he keeps his shoulder pads on and his mouthpiece in.  Every time he does, Coach Mark Perry closes practices with The Ike Special, a play where Ike gets to carry the ball for a touchdown.  Ike’s dream has been to score in an actual game.  Last Friday night in a game against Lake Stevens High School, Coach Perry called The Ike Special on the final play of the game.  Ike ran it 51 yards for the touchdown!  Now, Lake Stevens was in on it, and they let him score.  But, the defenders added touches of realism by “trying” to tackle him, even diving and missing several times.  Lake Stevens won the game on paper 35-6, but in my opinion, both teams won that game.  My hat is off to both coaches.  This is what sports should be all about if you ask me.  If you want to read the story and/or see the play, just follow this here link to see The Ike Special.  You won’t regret it.

Well, that’s all I got for now.  Appreciate you hanging in here with me, and hope you’re having a great week.

I’m out!

Are You Serious?!!!

Got several things to talk about that just make me want to say “are you serious?”  Warning, some of these are just things I need to get off my chest so I can start focusing on other things.  But, try to end on a brighter note.  So, just going to jump right into ‘em:

• Saw a video of an Hispanic UCLA professor ranting about the United States and immigration.  Among the things he said were Americans are against Hispanics coming to the US cuz we’re scared they’re going to take over.  He also called for Hispanic people to revolt within the United States.  Now, got several problems with this dude and his so-called logic.  First, any American who is against LEGAL immigration is an idiot (Native Americans excepted).  There’s not a single person in this country who is not either an immigrant or the descendant of an immigrant (again, Native Americans excepted).  Americans are not scared Hispanic people are going to take over.  People of Hispanic origin are elected to public office, run businesses, etc all the time.  Most citizens are grateful LEGAL immigrants are coming here.  What most Americans are opposed to are ILLEGAL immigrants.  We have rules.  Follow them.  Lots of other people followed them and they are now legal citizens of the US.  To me, they should be the most upset with the ILLEGAL immigrants cuz they want to shortcut the rules the LEGAL ones followed.  The second thing I’m opposed to with this dude is he is calling for an open revolt against the US government.  That could be considered treason cuz he ain’t talking about taking over through the ballot box.  Should probably post the video but have spent enough time on the idiaht.  Which leads me to my next topic…;
  
• Saw where 5 students were disciplined for wearing American flag t-shirts and bandanas to school on Cinco de Mayo.  School officials said they were incendiary.  So, you’re telling me displaying the American flag in the United States of America is an act of hostility?  That is RIDICULOUS!!!  When the school board said the school officials were wrong for punishing the boys, 200 Mexican students walked out of school in protest.  Now, I understand Cinco de Mayo is a Mexican day of celebration for a military victory over the French, and it’s something Mexican people should be very proud of.  However, you are in America now, not Mexico.  America celebrates lots of holidays which came with immigrants from other countries, and, by all means, please continue to celebrate Cinco de Mayo.  However, please keep in mind, if you are going to choose to live in the United States, become a citizen, and take advantage of all the benefits of living here, you should respect the laws and customs of the country you are living in.  And, in our country, people have the freedom to display the flag any time they want to (please see the 1st Amendment under the part about “freedom of speech”).  Not to be rude, but, if you don’t like it, you always have the choice to go back where you came from or find another country to go to.  All right, enough of that soap box;
  
• Comedy Central is developing a show about Jesus.  As they used to say on Malcolm in the Middle, “This…will end….badly.”  Right now the premise is going to be Jesus is now living in New York City and is having a difficult time adjusting to the modern times and God is too busy with other things to help Him.  Now, when God, The Devil and Bob came out, people were in an uproar, and you could make the argument that show was based on the book of Job in the Bible.  Do they really think there won’t be a real uproar over their show which will have no Biblical basis?  Part of me thinks this is being thrown out there cuz they’ve recently been in trouble with the Muslim world over Muhammad being in an episode of South Park.  I don’t know.  Just don’t see how this show will have any chance of making it, at least I hope it won’t;
  
• Pretty odd what happened with the stock market last week.  Dove about 900 points in an hour, possibly cuz someone hit a ‘B’ instead of an ‘M’ on a keyboard, changing a stock sale from millions of shares to billions.  The whole stock market went into a tizzy cuz of the sell-off.  At least, that’s what they think happened.  No one really knows.  Maybe our recovery is not as strong as some politicians would like us to believe.  Wall Street reminds me of the stories you hear about how a buffalo herd would stampede cuz of a shadow.  Pretty scary to think a large part of our economy is based on a system which decides how it will spend its money based on whether Geither scratches with his left or right hand when he gets up in the morning;
  
• The former Chastity Bono is now officially Charles Bono.  OK.  So, what makes this such a big news story?  He’s only famous for being the child of Cher and Sonny Bono.  Maybe it’s cuz people thought he/she was so cute on his/her few appearances on the Sonny and Cher Show and still remember that.  I don’t know.  If Chastity decides to go through with being Charles, that’s her/his decision to make in a private setting.  Could care less about it myself and it shouldn’t be played out in the national media;
  
• Sad to hear Lena Horne died.  Hate to admit all I really know about her is she was a singer/actress and Fred G. Sanford had a big crush on her.  In reading about her today, she was a real civil rights pioneer.  RIP, Ms. Lena;  
  
• All right, now that I’ve brought everybody down, time to liven things up a little.  As of right now, I have 112 followers on Twitter.  Even got included in my first list this week.  (Thanks @flaysomewench!)  Hit 1,000 tweets, too.  Been lots of chattering about the British elections this week.  Been some pretty good jokes on Twitter about the whole mess so that’s one positive…for me, anyway.  One of the coolest things which happened this week was having a chat with @TheChristinaKim, the LPGA star.  Talked about restaurants in Mobile, AL, which is where the LPGA is stopping this week.  She doesn’t follow me, yet, but maybe some day…;
  
• Tigger’s catching a lot of grief for pulling out, er, withdrawing, er, quitting during the TPC this weekend allegedly cuz of a bulging disk in his neck.  One female commentator on the Golf Channel reported live on the air he left cuz of a “bulging d*#%.”  Whoops!!!  Talk about a slip of the tongue!  Guess the jokes were out there pretty quickly.  Anyway, if he really is having neck problems, could be from stress.  Been known to happen to folks.  And, now that he’s “cured,” reckon he doesn’t have a way to release all that tension, anymore.  Reckon his game will suffer until there’s some kind of conclusion with Elin one way or the other.  Has to be difficult for him waiting on the other shoe to drop.  Hard to feel sorry for him, though, when he’s got no one to blame but himself.  Don’t mean he should be judged by us, just hard to feel any empathy for him;
  
• Ended up running 66.9 miles in April, which is more than I ran from November to March combined.  Am up to 6-7 miles on most of my runs now.  If someone would have told me I’d be running that far a month ago, would have told 'em you’re nuts.  Have somehow managed to still gain 4 pounds, though.  Can’t figure that one out… 

Well, thanks for letting me vent.  Hope to be a little more upbeat next time. 

Y’all have a nice day!

Synapses Gapses

Certainly been some interesting things in the news here lately.  Floods, bombs, and lots o’ oil just to name a few.  Would it surprise you to find out have some thoughts on them?  Didn’t think so.  By the way, tonight’s music has nothing to do with the content.  Just what I felt like playing.  If you’re ready, here we go:

• Up to 95 followers on Twitter now.  Hoping to be up to 100 sometime soon.  Got my first celebrity tweetback last night.  Sent Kelsey Grammer a tweet about how much the Mrs and I love Frasier.  He tweeted back “Thank you.”  Have noticed he’s pretty good about responding to people, but wasn’t expecting a reply from him myself.  Yes, short and sweet but still purty cool to me.  Am glad made the decision to join Twitter.  Have “met” interesting people from all around the world.  Been a lot of fun and informative all at the same time.  Several friends speak different languages about half the time.  (@GadgetClo – Spanish; @ingek73 – Dutch, I think)  Really enjoy them when they speak English.  Someday will have to learn how to read their languages cuz sure whatever they are saying in it is interesting, too.  If you follow me on Twitter, thanks for the follow!;
• Speaking of different languages, one of the things which has intrigued me the most about Twitter is seeing how different American English is from British English.  There’s been several times I’ve had to either ask what something meant or looked it up on Google or Bing.  For instance, yesterday was some sort of holiday so lots of folks were off work.  Several people were talking about going to car boot sales.  My first thought was a lot of people sure need tires over there.  Turned out they are similar to flea markets and/or garage sales over here in the States.  In Britain, a car boot is the trunk so a car boot sale is someone selling stuff out of the trunk of their car.  Have seen several people use the term “knackered,” too.  Think it means “tired,” but I’m not completely sure about that.  Thus endeth the lesson.  Amazing how we use the same words but speak such a different language all at the same time;
• Been watching the big oil slick out in the Gulf, especially since used to live that way.  Before all this is over, there will be plenty of lawsuits.  Heard the sharks, er, lawyers are already circling around all along the coast.  Within a couple of days, there were already about 10 suits seeking class-action status.  Only in America.  Saw a quote where the BP chairman said there will be lots of fraudulent claims filed since this is America.  Sad statement cuz it’s true.  Seems like BP is trying to do the right thing.  Have seen some folks complaining about how slow our gov’t has been to react to it.  Not really sure what they could have done differently at this point.  But sure we’ll find out soon enough.  Hope it gets contained quickly;
• Got a big election coming up in Britain on Thursday.  Will be interested to see who wins and how it ultimately affects the US.  Not really sure who I should be rooting for.  My Twitter friends from over there have made compelling cases for two of the candidates.  About the only thing they seem to agree on (I think) is none of them really want Gordon Brown to win. Most of them watched all three debates.  Sad to say, didn’t watch a single one of ours in the last election and can’t remember the last time I did watch one.  Keep hearing something about a hung parliament, but have to admit not really sure what that means.  Think it’s where no party has a clear majority.  As I understand British politics, that will make it difficult to choose the next prime minister.  Could get real interesting to see what happens with one of our strongest (if not THE strongest) allies.   If you’re from Britain, make sure you vote.  As someone told me once, if you don’t vote, you got no right to complain.  Just don’t be like rural Alabamians (and several other Southern states) who vote early and often;
• Gonna be interesting to see who all is involved in the Time Square bomb plot.  Somehow doubt this dude acted alone.  Keep hearing about what a hero the police officer is who recognized what was going on, and rightfully so.  Don’t hear much about the vendor who told him about it, though.  Seems like he should be getting some credit, too.  Anyway, dude almost got away with it(why do I hear “And I would have, too, if it wasn’t for those meddling kids” in my head).  Another 5 minutes and he would have been gone forever.  Now folks are arguing whether it’s the gov’t’s or the airline’s fault he almost got away.  Seems to me like TSA should have known he was on the no-fly list before the airline did and not let his sorry butt through security.  Someone in Customs was supposed to be checking his papers before he got on the plane, weren’t they?  See another long investigation coming on this, too.  How much you wanna bet we don’t find any fault with ourselves?;
• Did you hear about the Philadelphia Phillies fan who got tasered at the game the other night?  Some 17 year-old kid decided it would be a good idea to jump onto the field and run around.  Even asked his dad if it would be OK before he did it.  Supposedly daddy didn’t say yes but didn’t say no, either.  Anywho, while he was running on the field, a police officer pulled out a taser and shot him with it.  Now people are giving the officer a hard time about it.  To me, the idiaht deserved everything he got.  Should have gone up in the stands and got daddy, too, for not at least trying to stop him.  Maybe this will stop others from running out there looking for attention.  Puts a lot of people at risk when dopes run out on the field like that.  Will say it again: idiaht;
• Been watching America: The Story of Us on the History Channel.  Overall, think it’s been pretty good even though they are glossing over a lot of things.  Have noticed a slight liberal twist to most of it.  Bout the only conservative who’s been on there is Newt Gingrich, so far, anyway.  Still, been some interesting things on the show.  Seem to be going out of their way sometimes to talk about the contributions of some folks in our early history you don’t normally hear about.  Has been good to see how much African-Americans contributed to the cause during the American Revolution.  Thought they went a little too far when they talked about Baron Von Stueben having to leave the Prussian army over rumors he was gay.  Not really sure what that had to do with anything other than just to throw it in there.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that.  But, recommend tuning in to it.  Gonna talk about the Civil War this week;
• Know I’ve been pimping the Stanley Cup playoffs in my last couple of blogs, but I’m gonna pimp them some more.  Have been some awesome games this year.  Some of the goalies have been nothing short of spectacular.  Been some real hard hits, too.  There’s nothing in sports like Stanley Cup playoff hockey in my opinion.  You should really check it out.  Who knows, you might love it!!!

Hope you’re having a great week!  Let’s hope they figure out a way to round up all that oil before it destroys too much coastland.

Peace out!

My Takes

Both of you who read this blog are probably wondering why I haven’t had any comments on the news lately.  Well, as you may have seen, been on vacation part of the time.  And, it’s been kind of slow in the news department so just haven’t been motivated to write…What’s that you say?  There has been some news?  Are you serious?  Just kidding.  Just needed to blog on the funner stuff first.

So, in case you’re curious about my thoughts, here we go: 

• So, healthcare reform finally passed.  Not real sure what I think about it to be honest.  Am happy there’s no “public option”…yet, anyway.  Have to imagine that will be debated again in the years to come.  From what I’ve read and heard about the current version, am willing to see what will happen.  Although my instincts are not real happy about it, my rational side hasn’t seen anything that really upsets me.  Am certainly not like the nut mentioned in U S Common Sense or any of the other people out there threatening Congressmen with physical harm.  Reactions like that just cause more people to turn agin ya rather than fer ya.  If you really want to hurt a politician, vote against him and/or donate to his opponent;
• Have been hearing all the hullaballoo about VP Biden dropping the mother of all curse words before some press conference on healthcare.  Nobody ever said he was the brightest bulb in the bunch, but think this is being way overblown.  I’m of the same opinion expressed by Seth Frederikson in his blog.  You should definitely think before saying something like that in front of microphones and cameras.  As a disclaimer, while I agree with Mr. F’s take on this situation, I did not vote, will not vote, and certainly did not work to elect nor will work to re-elect the current administration.  But, just cuz we don’t see eye-to-eye politically, don’t mean we can’t get along and just agree to disagree on some things.  Anyway, learned all I needed to about Ol’ Joe when he plagiarized a speech way back when he ran for the Oval Office.   Bottom line, if you’re going to be dropping f-bombs, only load them in the bomb bay doors when you are far from the never blinking eyes and ears of the media;
• Have read a little about the lesbian in Mississippi causing the prom to be cancelled.  Now, if she wants to wear a tux and bring a girl with her to the dance, that’s her business as far as I’m concerned.  My issue is why did she ask for permission in the first place?  The conspiracy theorist in me thinks she got the answer she was hoping for so she could draw attention to herself and/or her cause.  Could be wrong, but…Otherwise, why not just show up with who she wants to be with wearing whatever she wants?  And, of course, the media has played along just like the lapdogs they are.  But, reckon if idiots like me didn’t click on the links to read the stories, they wouldn’t follow these stories…;
• The Indian military has made a weapon out of the bhut jolokia, a.k.a. – the world’s hottest pepper.  It’s a bomb which guess can be called the nuclear bomb of all the tear gasses.  To give you an idea of just how hot these peppers are, a jalapeno rates up to 8,000 units on the scale used to judge the heat in peppers.  This one rates at over 1,000,000.  Pretty dang hot.  The plan is to use it as a non-lethal weapon in their war against terrorism.  Reckon they figure to smoke more information out of them by turning up the heat.  The article also said they are looking to develop it for civilian self-defense.  Talk about too hot to handle;
• Have you heard of Corey Poitier?  He’s a Republican running for Congress in Florida.  The other day he made a comparison to Buckwheat in one of his campaign speeches.  People have interpreted it to say he was talking about his Dem opponent (who is black) or President Obama.  So, you’re thinking just another white, male Pub without a clue, right?  As one sports dude would say, not so fast, my Friend.  Mr. Poitier is actually black.  For the record, he says he was referring to the healthcare bill and not to anyone in specific. (Guess I would, too)   He also said he and his brother have used that term for years and it essentially means “dummy” to them.  To me, just goes to show there’s people on both sides of the aisle who need to think before they open their pie hole;
• Been an exciting year for the NCAA tournament this year.  Lots o’ good upsets.  This is what sports should be all about.  Everyone has a chance and folks love to root for the underdogs.  People say the basketball tournament proves that a football playoff would work.  Not so sure about that cuz, in college football, people like for the powerhouses to win the championship.  Anywho, as of tonight, the SEC still has two teams left so I’m still really interested.  If and when they go out, will only remain interested enough so my sports-minded friends will still think I’m cool.  OK, sort of cool.  Well, not as big of a geek…hopefully;
• Was looking at my friend suggestions on Facebook the other day.  Some of them I understood cuz we have mutual friends.  Some of the others made no sense at all cuz, not only do we not have any mutual friends, got no idea who they are in the first place.  Just wonder what criteria they use to make those suggestions;
• Still thinking about the Twitter thing.  Have almost made the decision to try it out although I’m not really sure why.  Might be a little too long-winded for the 140 character limit.  Will have to see;
• A friend of mine said he went through a drive-thru the other day and they asked him if it was for here or to go.  Guess someone was having a long day.

Well, that’s all for now.  As always, thanks for making it to the end with me.  March 27 marks the one year anniversary of my very first blog.  Where does the time go?  Want to thank every one of y’all who let me clear out the voices in me noggin.  Well, quiet ‘em down, anyway.

Y’all have a great weekend now! Ya hear?

More Stuff

Hope everyone’s had a great week.  Mine’s been pretty good.  Even though the week started with more snow in the Deep South, gonna be an awesome weekend weather-wise here.  Sunny and 60’s.   Can’t wait.

Gotta few things to comment on and wanted to throw them out there while they’re still fresh in me noggin.  So, if you’re willing to proceed, here we go:

• A North Carolina congressmen has submitted a proposal to replace Ulysses S Grant on the $50 bill with Ronald Reagan.  Now, I’m about as big a Reagan fan as you will find, however, not so sure about this one.  In the grand scheme of things, Grant did more for our country by winning the Civil War as a soldier than Reagan did during his presidency.  Think all the current folks on our money should stay put.  If they want to honor Reagan with his mug on some money, they should probably come up with another coin like a $0.20 piece.  That would help cover those $0.99 plus tax things you always have to find extra change for.  Just a thought;
• Saw where Scott Matheson was nominated by President Obama to be a federal judge.  So what, you may be asking.  Well, turns out he’s the brother of Jim Matheson, a Dem congressman from Utah, who also happens to be undecided on his healthcare reform vote.  Imagine that.  Now, Obama claims that has nothing to do with his selection, and from what I’ve read, Scott seems qualified for the position.  But, it still looks a little fishy no matter how you slice it.  Just goes to show the more things change, the more they stay the same;
• President Obama had a press conference the other day with a bunch of doctors standing behind him wearing white coats.  Why do doctors have to wear these things when they are out in public?  You see them all the time making public appearances wearing their white coats or surgical scrubs like they just left a waiting room full of patients or someone on the operating table.  Guess they think it lends an air of credibility or something.  Think it makes them look like they are trying to distract you from the dribble coming out of their mouths myself;
• Joined a blog promotion website called SeededBuzz.com.  The concept is you read other blogs and then provide a link to their blog on yours when you use theirs as inspiration on yours.  Sounds more complicated than it really is.  So, if you’re a blogger, suggest you check it out to see if it might be for you.  Ain’t a charge to be a basic member, but, naturally, you can upgrade for a small fee if you like.  They encourage you to remain a free member, though.  Say all this to let you know I will provide comments on other blogs from time to time now.  Will also provide a link to the blog so you can read it for yourself if you like;
• Read about a law being introduced out in California to outlaw cursing for a week on An Authors Journey (link here).  The politician who proposed it says cursing leads to all kind of social mayhem so it should be illegal for a week.  Should be noted there is no penalty if you break the law if and when it is passed.  This brings several thoughts to mind.  One, why worry about this $@^# when California has an economic crisis worse than the US?  Someone else agrees with this question in limerick form here  Two, at what point in language history did these words become bad to say?  If you think about it, why is “manure” or “anus” any better to say than their more colorful alternatives?  Even some innocuous words such as "hole" can be seen as offensive, I guess.  Have watched shows before where the speaker has said “ass” and the second half of the word is bleeped out.  To me, would think they would bleep the former rather than the latter.  Anyway, just seems like a politician wanting to tell his constituents he’s getting legislation passed when it comes time for re-election.  Better hope no one asks him what it is;
• US Common Sense (link here) has a commentary about Starbucks refusing to kowtow to the anti-handgun movement.  Seems California (and 42 other states) has a law which states you can openly carry handguns anywhere you want.  The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence went to several businesses asking them to prevent people from coming into their places if they were openly packing heat.  Several capitulated but Starbucks refused saying they always follow the local laws and regulations.   I say good for Starbucks!  It irritates me when people want to push their beliefs by trying to hold corporations hostage.  Went out and bought a venti non-fat latte this morning just to show my support.  Now, will say I’m not a big fan of handguns myself; however, I will fight to the death your right to own one (legally) if you so choose.  But, that is a topic for a whole ‘nother blog;
• Gonna have an interesting trial coming up here shortly.  Anthony Galea, a sports medicine doctor in Canada, is being tried for attempting to have HGH smuggled from the US into Canada.  He’s treated some big-name stars including Alex Rodriguez and Tigger Woods.  Of course, they deny taking HGH and say they were taking part in some sort of blood-cleansing type therapy the doc is famous for.  Could get real interesting, though.  Not usually a conspiracy theorist, but have always thought it was a little odd that Tigger blew out his knee the year the PGA started testing for performance-enhancing drugs.  Not that I think it gave him an unfair advantage if he did take PED’s.  His mental toughness is what separates him from everyone else.  Probably didn't take them.  Still…;
• Did you see where McDonald’s has struck up a sponsorship deal with…brace yourself…Weight Watchers?  Yup.  Happened in New Zealand.  McD’s will be able to use the WW seal of approval for several of their meals including chicken nuggets and filet-o-fish sandwiches.  Needless to say, not all health advocates are crazy about it seeing as how McD’s is always the poster child for unhealthy eating.  Never would have thought it would happen myself, but more power to them if that’s what both parties want to do.  It’s their name and money 0n the line.  Will be interesting to see if it makes its way to this side of the pond;
• Could be an interesting weekend in Alabama.  The bingo parlors have opened back up.  The state authorities have said they’re gonna raid them.  The county authorities have said they gonna stop ‘em at the door.  And our politicians wonder why people, including our own citizens, make fun of Alabama;
• March is one of the best months of the year for sports fans.  The NCAA basketball tournament (a.k.a – March Madness) will be starting soon.  Baseball spring training has started.  Basketball and hockey are wrapping up their seasons to start the playoffs.  Will be lots of stuff for sports folks to yak about.  Should be a fun month.

That’s all the news that is the news…to me…for now, anyway.  Thanks as always for trudging through it.  Hope you enjoyed it or at least have a few more things to think about, if you need more.  Please be sure to check the links on the left, too.  Some good stuff over there.

Have a great weekend!

A Whole Lot of Another

Been lots of interesting things in the news here lately.  Everybody must be trying to get things in before the Super Bowl since things always seem slow down afterwards. So, if I can thaw my fingers out, will try to give you a little food for thought if nothing else.  Here we go:

• Man!  What a Super Bowl!  Didn't care a whole lot who won.  Only hoped for a good game, and it was delivered.  Was glad to see the Saints pull it off.  They and their fans certainly deserve it after 43 years of heartache.  They played a great game and Sean Payton showed he wasn't just glad to be there.  Calling for an on-sides kick to start the 2nd half took some real courage.  WHO DAT!!!;
• Thought this year's ads were just kind of OK.  Liked the Doritos ad where the kid told the man not to touch his mama or his Doritos.  Didn't realize the Tebow ad was on until he tackled his mother and had to rewind it to pay attention to it.  Like many other things in life, it was much ado about nothing.  Certainly wasn't as controversial as you would have thought.  Think some groups decided to "protest" it beforehand just to get their name in the papers.  Can't always believe the hype, I reckon.  Imagine that.  Did read where one group said tackling his mother encourages violence against women.  Guess they had to complain about something since the ad didn't live up to other expectations.  Would think most people are smart enough to see the humor in it and don't think the ad is saying it's OK to tackle women, especially your mother;
• Did anyone know we are apparently fighting in Pakistan now?  Or, at least we have sent "advisers" there. (Ain't that how we got started in Vietnam?)  Anywho, three were killed in a suicide bombing the other day.  Looks like the reigning Nobel Peace prize winner may be expanding the war on terror, or, whatever they are calling it these days.  (Apparently that phrase is a no-no with the White House and its staff.)  Anyway, not saying there's anything necessarily wrong with it.  Just wondered if you knew about it;
• Read where Michelle Obama is catching some flak about using her daughters as examples in her fight against childhood obesity.  Said might be setting them up for eating disorders and/or poor self-esteem later in life.  Think as long as she keeps it in proper perspective for them, they will be OK.  If the doctor said they need to lose a little weight, she should be praised for trying to do something about it (as long as she didn't do anything out of the ordinary) instead of ignoring the problem.  Shouldn't be anything wrong with using a personal example, either.  Just hope they don't turn it around later and say they don't want their children to be in the spotlight.  Can't expect to have it both ways if you are going to put them out there yourself.  That don't mean someone should go out of their way to put them out there in a bad way, though;
• Sarah Palin spoke at the Tea Party convention over the weekend.  Had notes written on her hand like she was cheating on a civics test in high school.  Not sure about all the particulars as to why she wrote on her hand and not on note cards.  Maybe she thought of something she wanted to be be sure to mention as she was walking to the stage.  Don't know.  But, it don't look real good.  Not very professional at best.  Mostly unprepared at worst.  Just something someone already looked down upon by the media should consider; 
• Read some speculation the other day that the Feds are being tough on Toyota since they are competition for Government Motors (that's what some folks are calling General Motors nowadays).  Since we the people own most of GM now, it will help our bottom line to make the competition look bad anytime they can.  Not saying I necessarily buy it, but some interesting food for thought;
• Hard to believe NASCAR has started back up again.  Got the Daytona 500 this weekend.  Looks like Danica Patrick will run in the Nationwide (one step below the Sprint Cup in case you don't know) race on Saturday.  Could be interesting.  Hope she does well.  The sport could use a little boost.  Lost interest myself last year when they flat out caught Jimmy Johnson and Mark Martin cheating in a Chase race and did nothing about it. Both cars were about an inch lower than NASCAR allows.  Don't sound like much, but it was a race they totally dominated over the rest of the field so it must have been something.  If they allow the drivers to start racing again instead of just driving around in circles, will probably watch again this year.  Will have to see;
• Read an interesting snippet on Dale Earnhardt, Jr, this week.  Someone asked him if he had to win to be a central figure in the sport.  His reply: "Apparently not."  Purty astute if you ask me.  Hasn't won a race in a couple of years, and he's still the most popular driver, probably for no other reason than who his daddy was and how he died.  Think all he wants to do is race and be himself.  Too many other folks want him to be his daddy reincarnated, and that ain't fair to him.  Ain't but one Ironhead and there won't ever be another.  If you ask me, all of The Intimidator's fans should have gone to Tony "Smoke" Stewart.  He's the closest thing out there to Number 3.  Anyway, hope Jr has a good year this year.  While Smoke is my favorite driver, will be rooting for anyone but Jimmy this year;
• Certainly been some odd weather around the country this year.  Heard last year that if there's thunder in January, there will be snow in February.  Well, we had thunder around here in January.  Will see if it happens this year.  Had thunder last year and snow on March 1, which was purty close.  Had some snow flurries Saturday and Sunday.  Might have to count that.  One odd thing is, with all the snow we're having in the States, read they are having to haul snow in for the Olympic snowboarding events next week in Canada.  Strange days indeed. 

Well, that's all I got fer now.  Thanks for hanging in this long.  Y'all have a good'n!

Later.

Things in the News

Been some interesting things in the news over the last week.  Have some comments on a few of them.  So, if you're interested, here we go:

• The Democrats lost the senate seat formerly occupied by Ted Kennedy.  Shouldn't be that much of a surprise.  If memory serves right, seems like he had to struggle to win his last election.  Shows what happens when people take things for granted.  The Republican ran on the mantra the seat belongs to the people, not Ted Kennedy.  Have read the Dem didn't do a whole lot in the beginning cuz she thought she was a shoo-in for the seat cuz he did.  Time they figured out she wasn't, it was too late.  Guess people are still wanting change.  Politics are a lot like sports, the fan favorite is usually the guy sitting on the bench when they don't like what's happening on the field. (Independents are a fickle bunch) Even though the Republicans got rid of the supermajority, they still only have 41 votes.  Will be interesting to see how this affects President Obama's agenda and what happens later in the year during the mid-term elections;
• The governor of our great state is agin legalizing casinos cuz he believes gamblin's immoral.  Alabama has set up a task force under his watch to get rid of illegal gambling in the state. Anyway, the head of the task force won $2,500 (legally) in a Mississippi casino last week and had to resign.  Guess it's wasn't immoral to him, anyway.  Yet another politician with the do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do syndrome. Purty sad;
• See where the president wants to tax banks to get the TARP money back from 'em.  Just have one question, where does he think they will get the money from?  That's right.  Most likely it will come from increased fees being paid by the customers and reduced interest being paid to the customers.  Banks move money, they don't create it;
• Lots o' coverage about the Haiti earthquake, and rightly so.  However, won't be too long before Americans will reach their saturation point and start tuning it out.  Whenever I get onto CNN.com on my iPhone (which shows fewer stories), all the news stories are on the earthquake.  Not that there's anything wrong with continuous coverage, but there are other things going on in the world folks probably need to know about;
• Saw where Danny Glover blamed global warming for the earthquake.  Read the article several times and still not sure what his angle was.  Said something about the earth warming caused the quake (hard to believe he really thinks that), but think mostly he was saying it was retribution for nothing getting accomplished in Copenhagen.  Can't help but wonder why he didn't get the same press Pat Robertson got for his comments.  Guess preachers are easier targets;
• Favorite Facebook post over the weekend:  Romo on the ground, Romo on the ground, Looking like a fool with Romo on the ground!  (Thanks, Donnie P!)  Not sure if it was copied or original, but thought it was purty funny.  Picked all four games and got three of them wrong.  Guess that's why this ain't a sports blog, for the most part.  Any offers to pick against your favorite team this weekend?

Well, that's all the time have for now.  Just needed to get a few things out of me noodle.

As always, thanks for reading.  Added a new blog link over on the left-hand side.  Please feel free to check it out along with the others.  Hope you enjoy the daily quotes and useless knowledge at the top, too.

Peace out!