More Music Stuff

As some of you know, started posting song lyrics on Twitter and Facebook every morning.  Some have specific meanings, some are just for fun.  So, been thinking a lot about music lately (not that I ever really stop).  Got a few things thought I’d share with y’all.  Maybe you’ll agree, maybe you won’t.  Don’t really matter.  That’s why there’s lot of choices on your radio dial.  But, if you’re curious what’s in the deep, dark recesses of my mind, let’s get started, a-one, and-a two, and a-three:

• Know I’ve said this before and it really sounds a little crazy, but think The Police are really underrated by a lot of folks.  Every time I post lyrics from them, always get a reply from someone, usually bout how much they love The Police and their songs.  Yet, whenever a best-of list comes out, you rarely see their name on there, or, if you do, it’s way down the list.  They are the only band who’s elicited a response every time I’ve posted a lyric by them.  Just seems odd that they rarely get mentioned in the rarified air of the all-time greats;
• Whenever I hear “Eruption/You Really Got Me” by Van Halen now, always think about our trip to Sea World last year.  They played this song during their finale in the Saturday night show.  Actually had a live guitarist play Eddie’s parts and he was purty awesome.  That was one of the best vacations we have ever taken and probably ever will.  These songs will bring back warm memories for me from now until I can’t remember no more;
• A Twitter friend of mine, @sharongooner, took a poll for the best frontman and frontwoman in rock history.  Freddie Mercury won for the men with 21 votes.  Next closest person was Morrissey with 10.  And, just to prove my point on The Police, out of 145 votes cast for men, no one, and I mean NO ONE, voted for Sting.  Ironically enough, means I didn’t either.  Voted for Freddie and Bonn Scott (who tied for 5th along with David Byrne, Mick Jagger, and Michael Stipe with 5 votes each.)  Debbie Harry won the female vote.  Out of over 75 votes cast, she received 24 of them.  Next closest was Karen O (?) with 6 votes.  I voted for Debbie and Chrissie Hynde, who was alone in third with 5 votes.  Can’t argue with the overall results.  Thought they turned out pretty well.  Did show me there’s a lot of singers I’ve never heard of.  Reckon I need to branch out more.  If you’re interested in reading the blog, you can click on this link: sharongooner.  She also has the results of a poll she took on best guitarist ever.  Oddly enough, the two people I voted for in that poll also finished first and tied for fifth.  Strange…;  
• The Deadliest Catch team played some awesome music during the whole Captain Phil saga.  Thom Beers’ choice to play Johnny Cash’s “Redemption Day” during the montage representing Captain Phil’s death was flat-out pure genius.  His choice of “All Roads Lead Home” by Golden State for the memorial sequence was awesome, too.  Can’t say I’d ever heard either song before then, but each was the perfect choice for the situation.  The episode where the crews find out about his death is on right now.  Getting goosebumps and this is the third time I’ve seen it…anyway, I digress ;
• On the subject of depressing things, every time I hear a Nirvana or INXS song, think about how sad it is that both lead singers are no longer with us due to their own hands.  Don’t think anyone was surprised to find out Kurt Cobain had some real demons circling around in his head.  Imagine most folks were surprised at how he decided to silence them, though.  Have heard several theories about Michael Hutchen’s death.  No matter what led to it, it’s still sad such a talent ended that way;
• On a happier note, read that Roger Waters and David Gilmour had a on-stage reunion the other day.  Needless to say, the crowd was stunned when Mr. Gilmour walked out on stage.  They were the classic yin and yang pair of musicians.  Roger knows how to tell a story with lyrics and David can weave quite the tale with the guitar.  Not sure how long the reconciliation will last this time around, but hope it sticks this go around.

Well, that’s all I got this time.  Appreciate you taking the time to read it, especially if you made it this far.  If you know who Karen O is, would appreciate if you’d drop me a note about her.  Will leave you with this: 

Take your time, hurry up.  The choice is yours.  Don’t be late.  Take a rest, as a friend, as an old memory….

Until we meet again… 

I’m Back

Howdy, y’all.  Don’t know bout you, but it’s been pretty dang hot everywhere I’ve been this summer.  Definitely glad God gave someone the smarts enough to invent A/C.  Know it’s been a few weeks, but have been a little busy and haven’t really had anything just felt the need to talk about.  Now I’m all rested and recharged. Got a few things on my mind this week so here we go:

• Travelled out to Summerlin, NV last week.  Trip was great until got ready to fly home.  They loaded us on the plane then decided to fill the empty seats.  Trouble was, the computer was broken down so they had to fill the empty seats by hand.  As a result, we were 45 minutes late leaving the gate.  Now, besides the fact it was 116 outside, what’s really aggravating is they held up a plane with about 300 folks already on board just so they could put 10-15 more folks on it.  This resulted in about half of us missing our connecting flights in Atlanta, and seeing as how we got to ATL after 11 pm, there were no other flights until the morning.  Did I mention they were also out of hotel rooms and most of the restaurants were closed?  So, they inconvenienced about 150 people for the sake of 10-15 people.  Wonder how they thought that was providing good customer service?  And they wonder why people get are so angry at the airline industry all the time;
• Best part of my trip was getting to meet fishing legend Bill Dance.  He was on my flight out to Nevada.  He’s every bit the nice guy you see on TV.  If you know who he is, you know he always wears a University of Tennessee ball cap.  He had it on and even had one attached to his brief case for some reason.  Have watched his show since I was a kid.  It was a real thrill to meet him even though it took me a long time to build up the courage to talk to him; 

                                                   

• Went to Gulf Shores, AL, a couple weeks ago.  Great time to go.  Hardly anyone on the beaches, free parking everywhere you went, and a short wait at Lambert’s.  Media reports of the oil are greatly exaggerated (imagine that).  There was some oil there but it was just a thin coat.  You would think there was oil about a foot deep the way the media’s been carrying on.  If you enjoy the beach, but not so much the water, you can still enjoy yourself.  Many rooms have reduced rates right now, too.        
• Speaking of oil and the media, the local news in Mobile started each night with about 10 minutes of oil coverage.  One station even had “breaking news” about every hour just in case you somehow forgot the oil was still out there.  Think the worst story I saw was a 5 minute piece on a dead turtle found in the Intercoastal Waterway.  At the end of the piece, they quickly mumbled something about no one knows if it’s death was related to the oil or not.  Good grief.  Talk about stretching for a news story.  But, now that the oil has apparently been capped, the media will be able to focus on something new now…I hope.  Love how President Obama took 42 days to address the nation while the oil was still flowing, but it took him less than 24 hours to speak out after it had been capped.  Just sayin’…;
• Mid-term elections are coming up.  Wonder how many Dems will continue with the “It’s-all-Bush’s-fault” theme?  Pretty sad that’s all they really have to fall back on after two years.  Think the biggest disappointment to folks is the perceived lack of jobs being created as a result of the big stimulus package which was passed last year.  Part of me wonders if the jobs are out there but they aren’t the ones people want.  When the New Deal was passed, it created blue collar jobs.  Nowadays, folks want to tell others how and where to dig the ditches instead of using the shovel themselves.  Would think it’s hard to create white collar jobs out of nowhere.  But, the perception is out there that the Dems are more interested in handing out unemployment checks than creating jobs.  Americans always talk about being free.  Have to wonder how much freedom we are giving up when we always have our hands out to the government looking for our “free money?”  Got news for you, Folks, ain’t no such thing as free money.  Now, there are always some folks who actually need a helping hand.  Ain’t talking ‘bout them.  Talking about those folks who can be independent but choose not to.  And, in my mind, every time you take a handout from the government or give up a freedom to the government, you are becoming less independent.  Maybe I’m wrong, though;
• Anyone else watching Big Brother this summer?  Pretty funny they had this big “twist” all planned out by having someone play the part of a saboteur.  Bad thing was they were voted out the first week.  What’s even funnier is only one person even had a notion as to who the saboteur was, but the whole group took credit for getting them voted out.  Hmmm, folks taking credit for blind luck.  Sounds like a bunch of politicians, don’t they?  These House Guests are just about as interesting, too.  We have Showtime 2 now and get to watch Big Brother After Dark this year.  They haven’t really been all that interesting during the times we’ve sat down to watch them.  Almost like watching C-SPAN.  Hours of mindless blathering with a few good nuggets thrown in every now and then.  But, still feel the need to watch although I don’t know why…;
• Last week’s Deadliest Catch was the episode where Captain Phil passed on.  Thought the production team handled it about as well as they could.  Definitely proved why they’ve made this show as good as it is.  Have said it before, but it’s hard to believe how empty people have felt for a guy (and his family) they’ve never met in person.  Another sign of a great production team cause they’ve managed to let the real guy through without any embellishments.  Hope you’ve pulling up lots of full pots in Heaven, Capt Phil;
• Well, another real American icon passed last week, Mr. George Steinbrenner.  Whether you loved him or hated him, have to admit he changed the game of baseball forever.  And, you might not have liked his tactics, but he was an owner who was all about winning.  Too many owners out there nowadays who only care about the bottom line.  Mr. Steinbrenner also inspired one of the greatest comedy characters of all-time on Seinfeld.  RIP, Big Guy…

Hope everyone is doing well out there.  Appreciate you taking a few moments out of your day to read my thoughts.

Y’all have a good one!

Happy Independence Day!

Below is one of the greatest speeches of all times.  Even though it has been over 11 score now and it is about one specific event, the meaning behind it is just as important now as it was back in 1863 when Mr. Lincoln gave this speech.  Please think of those who are fighting for us now, have fought for us in the past, and especially those who have sacrificed all so that we can enjoy the food and beverage of our choice on this day which celebrates our birth as a nation and the freedoms we continue to enjoy.

 

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met here on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of it as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But in a larger sense we can not dedicate - we can not consecrate - we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but can never forget what they did here.

It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they have, thus far, so nobly carried on. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us - that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion - that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom; and that this government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.  - Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln, 1863

 

May God bless you, your family, and the United States of America along with our allies worldwide!

Whole Lot of The Other…

Haven’t been in much of a mood to blog lately, but there’s some things going on need to yak about.  So, here we go:

• So, did you get your iPhone4, yet?  Ordered mine on the day you could pre-order them.  Got one for The Mrs, too.  Ours were even delivered a day early.  My wife loves hers.  Have been out of town so haven’t been able to use mine, yet.  A friend here got his so I have been able to see one.  Can’t wait to see mine.  Took Apple two months to sell 1 million iPads.  They’ve already sold more than 1.5 million of the iPhone4’s.  In reality, it’s taken about five days to sell that many.  Unbelievable.  Like the man said, if you build a better mouse trap…;
• Been lots of talking about the U.S. Soccer team and the World Cup.  Reckon congratulations are in order for making the elimination round.  Not much of a soccer fan myself.  Have to admit had fun on Twitter during the U.S.–England match.  Many of my English friends were cracking jokes.  Best one I saw was from my bud @LordNeil who said something about the Americans showing up around 19:41.  Retaliated with we just might show up in the mid 17’s or early 18’s.  He came back with yes, but the English would have been around since the 14’s.  Purty funny for a history geek like me.  Turned out we scored our goal at the 40 minute mark.  Told him reckon we really do show up in the 40’s.  Guess we did OK, though, even if the English goalie pulled a Bill Buckner.  Lots of Englanders got a kick out of the New York Post saying we won by tying the game.  Anyway, not sure soccer/football will ever take off here in The States, though.  Figure if guys couldn’t get interested when ladies were running around taking their shirts off, there’s not much hope;
• That was some match at Wimbledon tween John Isner and Nicolas Mahut.  11 hours and 5 minutes total with 138 games in the final set alone.  Most matches that go 5 sets probably average about 60 games for the whole match.  Now, I realize they played over 3 days, but you have to have a lot of endurance to play that kind of match.  Pretty amazing.  Not much of a surprise that the winner of the match, Mr. Isner, lost his next match pretty quickly.  Had to be worn out.  But, it gave folks something to talk about and also reminded people that Wimbledon is even going on;
• Lots of talking last week about General McChrystal stepping down as commander over the Afghanistan operation.  Still ain’t sure if he quit or got fired.  Either way, he had to go.  Can’t have someone that high up in the food chain making fun of the Commander in Chief and the Vice Commander in Chief in a public forum like that.  Have to give him credit for one thing, though.  At least he didn’t try to squirm out of it by saying he was “quoted out of context” or anything lame like that.  Or, if he did, I didn’t hear about it.  Know there’s lots of folks who agreed with what he said, but just cuz folks agree with him, don’t make it right.  Freedom of speech don’t apply in the military, but I sure appreciate them defending my right to have it;
• Well, last Friday marked the one year anniversary of the death of a true icon, Farrah Fawcett.  It was touching to see all the tributes and…what’s that you say?  You only saw the ones for Michael Jackson?  Yeah, me, too.  Not saying they weren’t deserving.  Think what makes me wonder a little is the fact his family is now trying to claim he was murdered. According to LaToya, he was murdered for his back catalogue of music.  Didn’t even know she was still talking to the family.  As shocking as his death was, it was a tragic accident to someone with a sad addiction.  That doc may have been a nincompoop, but doubt he was purposely trying to kill the King of Pop.  Just a sad, sad story;
• Speaking of sad stories, The Deadliest Catch has finally gotten to Capt. Phil having his stroke.  Came shortly after finding out his son Jake is an addict.  Have been thinking all season that Jake was acting like an addict so wasn’t that surprised to find out he is one.  Hope he gets the help he needs.  In an odd way, it led to Capt Phil being in port when he had his stroke.  They came in early so Jake could go to rehab.  Ended up not saving Phil, but at least he had a chance.  Am curious how the producers are going to handle this whole situation.  Have read they are going to stretch it out over 6 episodes.  Not sure how much will focus on Jake but know Capt Phil will definitely be a main focus.  Hope I can make it through without crying…;
• Just so I can end on a higher note: who in blue blazes is Lady Gaga and why should I care what she’s doing at Mets and Yankees games?!  And, even more, why should I care what Jerry Seinfeld thinks about her?!  Now, I know who she is, and I understand she’s a big star and everything, but could care less how she’s dressed at a baseball game and whether or not she was allowed in the dressing room after the game.  Just stick to singing, Honey, and, put some clothes on when you’re out in public.  You got the cash.  Spend a little of it to help out the clothing industry if nothing else.

Y’all have a good one!

Does God Really…?

A Twitter friend posted some interesting questions and comments about God the other day.  They got me to thinking of some responses.  Since I needed more than 140 characters to respond, thought I’d post my response here.  I’ve been working on a blog along these same lines for a couple of weeks, anyway, so this gives me just another reason to go ahead with it.  I’m not trying to convert anybody with these ramblings.  Just putting my thoughts out there.  It’s up to you to decide what you choose to take from ‘em.  So, here I go:

• I don't believe in the Christian God [but] I've seen enough "miracles" and heard strange stories to think that I can't deny the possibility of supernatural – To paraphrase the great mind Yoda, there either Is or Is not.  There either is a God who has dominion over everything or there isn’t.  There is no Christian God, Jewish God, Muslim God, Hindu God, or any other specific brand of God.  There can be only one God.  I choose to believe there is a God cuz I’ve seen and heard lots of things that have convinced me He is here, but I will get into that a little later;

• Why do Christians automatically expect their God giving them just blessings? - Hear this question a lot, especially in the context of sports when the winner thanks God for helping them win.  Don’t think Christians (and followers of other religions) think God only blesses them and their kind.  After all, why would God care who wins the Super Bowl?  Think people are just misunderstanding the response.  To me, the response is thanking God for giving them the talent to succeed in that particular situation, which is not to say the other team has not been given the same gifts or that He has willed for the Saints to beat the Colts.  Instead, these folks realize they’ve been given a gift above others.  After all, lots of folks can play football in the backyard, but most of them don’t have the talent to make it in the NFL (or to play in the FIFA World Cup for my overseas friends).  “Religious” people realize where this talent comes from.  God gives this to them at birth, long before they’ve made the choice whether to follow God or not.  It’s not just limited to Christians, either.  Jews thank Yahweh.  Muslims thank Allah.  Christians just get more press about it cuz there are more in the high-profile sports for whatever reason.  The fact you are a Christian does not necessarily grant you more blessings than others…on Earth.  We’ve all seen successful people who aren’t “religious.”  The greatest blessing for believers will be after they pass from this lifetime and live eternally in the Kingdom of God.  Bottom line is: Christians (and others) realize where their blessings come from and like to give thanks where thanks are due.

• God is guiding me everywhere right on time, but millions die in floods, diseases and natural and other disasters?  Don’t think God controls my every movement or anything like that.  Do I think He watches out over me?  Yes, but, like any other child, I don’t always listen to Him so I do things He’s not necessarily happy about.  But, just for the sake of argument, let’s say He does guide me everywhere.  That still will not shield me from disasters.  The world ceased being a perfect place once Adam and Eve made the decision to eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge.  Therefore, bad things are going to happen.  Could God stop them if He chose?  Yes, and I believe sometimes He does, especially if He has a higher purpose for you being here.  Now, that don’t mean only the bad die young.  Heard a preacher say once there is no explanation why good people die before we think they should.  Unfortunately in life, there are things we are just not meant to understand nor be given an answer to;

• Why do I believe?  (This is my question, not hers)  There are many reasons why I believe.  One is because I do.  My heart of hearts tells me there is a Higher Being out there Who looks out over us and was gracious enough to let us be born.  Christianity is the only religion which worships a savior with an empty grave.  This is because Jesus conquered death by rising three days after he was killed on the cross.  With all the early Christians went through to keep it going, hard to believe it would still be around if God did not exist and Jesus didn’t rise from the grave.  Another is there are just too many things which had happen at the right time in the right place for us to be here for me to believe they happened by luck or coincidence.  But, if you are a real pragmatist, here is something to think about:  No one disputes the Bible is thousands of years old.  Many believe it is inspired by what God told the writers.  If you read Genesis 1, it says God created the heavens and earth.  Then He created life in the oceans before creating life on the land and in the air.  It also says He created the animals before He created man.  Science believes this is the same order life as we know it was created in.  The Bible told us about this thousands of years ago, long before scientists existed much less proved this to be true.  And, for the record, have always believed Who created us and why is much more important that the actual how.

So, these are my thoughts on the matter.  Like I said earlier, not trying to convert anyone.  My purpose is to give you some things to think about.  It’s up to you to decide whether you believe them to be true or not.  If God cannot make you believe, what chance do I have?  If you decide not to believe them, I will still love and respect you as a friend, and I hope you will feel the same about me.

May the Peace of the Lord be with you!

My Take

Been some folks having bad PR weeks lately.  Also been a few with some good PR.  Am feeling the need to comment on a few of both.  So, if you’re ready, proceed at the risk of your own intellect:

Some of the folks gettin’ some bad PR lately:

• President Obama – Between recent losses by his political allies, a couple of candidates saying he basically tried to bribe them to drop out of the races and the whole BP mess, he’s had some rough weeks here lately.  Some of it’s not his fault.  Ruling parties traditionally lose seats with each progressive election after they take the White House.  Promising people jobs if they’ll drop out of races, if he did have anything to do with them, is something he could have totally avoided.  Not sure what I think about the whole BP situation.  On the one hand, people talk about how government is getting too involved in things.  Then, folks complain when they don’t.  Have said before think this fell under federal jurisdiction so maybe they should have done something earlier.  At the very least, Mr. President shouldn’t have waited 40+ days to say this whole thing makes him mad.  Not sure what else he could have done differently, but, sometimes a leader has to look like he’s doing something even if he ain’t or it won’t do any good.  I have a bigger beef with the folks who keep blaming everything on W. Bush.  Nancy Pelosi even tried to blame this whole mess on Bush being cozy with the oil companies.  Guess she didn’t know they are one of Obama’s biggest contributors, too.  Bush has been gone for almost 2 years now.  Time to stop blaming him for all your shortfalls;
• BP – Now, they’ve had some real bad PR for the last 40+ days and deservedly so.  What happened to that rig and the resulting spill have been real tragedies.  Eleven men were killed and lots of sea life is either dying or will be.  Think some of the bad stuff being said about them is going a little overboard, though.  People talking about how BP don’t care about cleaning things up, saving the environment, won’t pay for anything, etc.  That’s just a bunch of hooey!  They’ve been trying everything they can since Day 1 to solve this mess and keep the oil from leaking out.  Ain’t a company in the world that would intentionally want this kind of PR.  They haven’t tried to shirk any of their responsibility in this.  In fact, they are already handing out money to folks on the Gulf Coast who’ve lost jobs cuz of this whole mess.  And, to all of you thinking about boycotting BP cuz of this, how bout waiting until the clean-up is over.  If you stop buying from ‘em now, they might run out of money to take care of all this.  Contrary to what some folks may think, only the government can create money out of nothing.  Businesses can only get it from their customers.  Can’t blame you for being mad at BP.  Just want to give you something to think about.  And, no, don’t own any BP stock that I know of;
• Israel – Not really sure what they were thinking raiding that flotilla.  Obama’s getting some flak over this, too, cuz he won’t make a strong statement against Israel on this.  Actually think he’s doing the smart thing and waiting until more information comes out.  The natural knee-jerk reaction would be to say the Israelis are completely in the wrong on this one.  Have something telling me there’s more than meets the eye to this story.  They either had some bad intelligence or the whole story ain’t been told, yet.  Maybe they were in the wrong.  Don’t know.  Reckon there’ll be a lot more coming out on this before it’s all said and done;
• Helen Thomas – Case you don’t know who she is, she’s a reporter who’s been in the White House press corps since Washington was president.  She was asked what she thought about Israel and she said they should all go back to “Poland…or Germany…or wherever they came from.”  Saw the You Tube clip myself on Twitter.  Maybe she should read the Bible a every now and then to learn where the Israelites come from.  Anyway, conservative pundits have jumped all over this saying it shows how daft the liberal media is.  Personally, not sure why this is even a story.  She may be a role model for a lot of reporters, but imagine most regular folks could care less what she says or thinks.  Besides, thought she retired several years ago.  Reckon it’s time for her to go back to the old hack reporters’ home;
• Baseball Commissioner/Umpires – There was already some nyah-nyahing going on cuz some of the umps have had hair-triggers on ejecting people this year.  Then, the whole mess with the perfect game that wasn’t cuz of a bad call by the umpire came along.  Have to give the ump credit for admitting he made a bad call after he watched it on replay.  Even went over to the Tiger locker room to apologize.  Not many people would have done that.  Think the worst thing in this whole mess is Commissioner Selig still insisting baseball won’t join the 21st Century and have instant replay apply to something other than questionable home runs.  Was agin it myself for a long time but am slowly coming around to they need to get it right.  Come on, Baseball, get in the game!

Now for some folks who’ve had some good PR here lately:

• Armando Galarraga – In case you don’t know, he’s the pitcher who lost the perfect game cuz of the bad call.  He’s handled this whole situation with a level of class that you wish more people would.  He didn’t argue at all with the umpire about the call, not even in the heat of the moment.  Just smiled, shook his head, and walked back to the mound.  He accepted the ump’s apology by giving him a hug and telling him it’s OK.  You should use him as an example to your kids how people should react to adversity.  Like my wife said on Facebook, people are going to remember him more cuz of the way he reacted to not getting the perfect game than they would have if the call had been correct.  Keep up the great work, Armando!;
• NHL – The Stanley Cup finals have been great this year!  In fact, the entire playoff season has been great.  If you want to see exciting games between two evenly-matched teams with players who go all out on every play, this series is for you.  Been lots of scoring and even more hard hitting.  Glad the refs let them play in the finals.  NBC and Vs. have done a great job covering them, too.
• Dennis Hopper – Hard to say someone who just died is having a good week.  But, there’s been lots of nice things said about him since his passing.  He was one of my all-time favorite actors.  He played a lot of roles, but my favorite was the photographer in Apocalypse Now.  The most surprising thing I read was that he considered himself a Republican.  This is the man who wrote Easy Rider, one of the ultimate anti-establishment movies.  Go figure.  Him doing those retirement fund ads makes a lot more sense to me after reading that.  Rest in peace, Mr. Hopper! 

All I got this time.  Made it to 47 miles running last month.  Not quite to my goal of 50 but I’ll take it.  Hit my 2,000th tweet over the weekend.  Didn’t take as long as I thought it would.  My Twitter name is @scotps23.  Approaching 150 followers now and always looking for more.

And that’s the news that is the news the way I see it.  Y’all have a good one!

Remember Why...

Hope everyone has a happy Memorial Day!

As you are cooking out, drinking your beverage of choice, and just overall enjoying your day, please take a moment to reflect on why we have Memorial Day. It is a day to honor those who have fallen defending your right to be free.  There is no greater sacrifice someone can make than dying for you and your freedom.

I know this is primarily a holiday to remember American heroes, but please also remember those brave folks from other countries who have made the ultimate sacrifice at our side.  We've fought beside a lot of brave allies over the years. There's also not many countries in the world that do not have at least one of their descendants in our country and/or military. 

Most of all many thanks to all of our vets and their families, especially those who suffered a loss in the name of our freedom.  Remember, we are free because of the brave!

God bless the men and women in the military, God bless America, and God bless you!

Thoughts on Things

May’s ending on some big notes.  Most reality TV shows are crowning their winners.  The NBA and NHL are about to start their finals.  And, Congress is about to make one final push before their summer break.  Let’s just hope they do some good. 

Got a few things want to talk about.  Hope you’re as interested in reading about them as I am in thinking about ‘em:

• Went to the grocery store and bought 8 items to the tune of $28.  Not sure what’s more shocking: the fact I spent $28 on 8 items or that I “saved” $12 by using my super saver card.  Now, come from a farming family and am all for farmers getting what’s owed to ‘em.  But, can remember food prices going up when gas prices skyrocketed a couple years ago.  Now that gas has come back down to more reasonable prices (relatively), seems like everything that went up cuz of higher delivery costs should come down, too.  Doubt the farmers are seeing much from the higher prices;
• Been a little over a month since oil started spilling into the Gulf of Mexico.  So far the Obama administration has been content with letting BP manage the clean-up.  Have to wonder why the Feds haven’t been more involved in this.  Believe this is something which falls under Federal jurisdiction. As I understand it, the states control 2 miles off the coast and the Fed control out to about 200 miles.  Could be wrong about that.  Either way, still seems like something they should have a bigger hand in.  When Katrina hit, folks were upset that the Feds didn’t step in right away when things should have been the responsibility of the city, then the county/parrish, then the state way before the Feds should have been involved.  Wonder which celebrity will step out and say Obama hates fishermen and the environment?  Have to wonder what would have been said if this had happened 2-3 years ago.  To be fair, not really sure what they could be doing any differently.  But, would like to think something would be better than nothing.  Then again, we are talking about the US Gov’t…;
• There’s been a lot of yakking about all the oil in the Gulf and how no one seems to care about cleaning it up.  Would like to point out there were 11 men killed when the explosion happened.  You just don’t hear much about them and their families.  Think it’s sad no one wants to talk about them;
• Looks like the Kagan hearings will start next month.  The Clinton library is saying they won’t be able to get her documents they have together in time for the hearing.  Wouldn’t think it would be that hard to get them together.  Just go to the Kagan section.  Of course, this is the same institution that said they wouldn’t be able to get any of Hillary’s documents out in time for any of her elections.  Seems to be a pattern here.  Anyway, short of saying Hitler and Stalin were just misunderstood, doubt anything she’s written will matter.  Naturally, the Dems are behind her.  From what I’m reading, the moderate Pubs support her, too.  So, looks like she will be confirmed without much of a battle twixt the Left and the Right;
• Arlen Spector lost his bid for the Democratic senate nomination in Pennsylvania.  Serves him right in my opinion.  It’s one thing when you switch cuz you believe more in the other side.  Seems pretty obvious he only switched parties cuz he thought it would save his butt in the upcoming election.  He was already trailing in the Republican race when he switched.  Guess he was trailing on the Dem side, too.  Guess you really can’t fool all of the people all of the time.  Wonder how many Pubs voted in the Dem election just to vote against him?;
• So, have you heard the latest out in Arizona?  Appears they are searching out teachers who have heavy accents so they won’t teach English to non-English speaking students.  Sure wouldn’t want someone to learn how to speak a second language from someone who had to do it themselves.  As the great philosopher Mr. Bugs Bunny says, “What a bunch of maroons!”  Not only is this just downright stupid, it also plays right into the hands of folks who claim their immigration bill is racist.  Idiahts;
• And now for some things completely different.  Was a lot of discussion again about if the right person won Survivor this season.  There’s no doubt Russell is a master manipulator/borderline bully.  However, his scorched-earth policy leaves him no friends on the jury, who are the ultimate deciders of who wins the $1 million.  Not really sure how someone who makes it to the end without making waves is any less of a survivor than the person(s) apparently pulling the strings.  You have to manage to stay out of the crosshairs while building relationships with the people you are voting out.  Sounds like an ultimate survivor to me.  Humans are social creatures by nature so we naturally gravitate towards those who know how to make friends and turn away from those who don’t.  That being said, while I am happy with Sandra winning, thought Parvati should have won.  She was targeted by everyone from day one and still made it to the end.  While her decision to team with Russell might have gotten her to the end, it ultimately cost her with the jury.  They hated him so much they wouldn’t vote for Parvati, either.  Just proves the adage bad company corrupts you more than it helps you in the end;. 
• Pacman turned 30 years old last week.  (And, am talking about the video game, not the football player.)  Hard to imagine that was cutting-edge technology back then, especially when you consider how realistic video games are today.  Was never very good at it myself.  Was more partial to Asteroids and Zaxxon.  Still…Happy birthday, Pacman!!!;
• Ran almost 67 miles in April.  So far, have only run about 27 miles in May.  Don’t think I’ll make 67 this month.  Can probably make close to 50 before June rolls around.  Will just have to see.

That’s all I got for now.  Hope y’all have a great week.

I’m out!

Misfiring Synapses

Hola!  Got some random things to comment on.  Kind of passionate about one or two of ‘em.  The others, well, just need to get the voices out of me head.  So, if you’re ready, here we go:

• Been trying to make good on learning Spanish to read the tweets from a couple folks I follow.  (Hi, @GadgetCLo and @MacoElenita!)  Took Spanish in college and learned a little more while I was working in Miami after Hurricane Andrew.  Still remember some Espanol and can occasionally pick up the gist of what they’re saying.  Just completely lost on some others and resort to Google to help me with it.  Try to write in Spanish every now and then.  Always had trouble with tenses and syntax and probably still do. Imagine they probably just laugh and are too polite to comment on my ineptitude.  @ingek73 has even started teaching me a little Dutch.  Some words I can figure out from what little German I remember from high school, but that ain’t many.  Doubt I’ll ever be fluent in either language, but, if I can get to where can half-way read ‘em, that’ll be a start; 
• So, President Obama has named his choice for the Supreme Court, one Ms. Elena Kagan.  Now, I’ve heard a lot of things people are concerned about.  Some of them may be legitimate.  ‘Tis true she has liberal leanings, has no experience as a judge, and very little paper trail for people to investigate.  These might bother you depending on what you think makes for a quality Supreme Court justice.  However, there’s one thing people are diving into which I think has absolutely no bearing on how she will be as a judge: is she or isn’t she a lesbian?  Can anyone tell me why we should care about this?  There’s gay folks on both sides of the proverbial aisle.  So, whether she is or not should in no way determine if she’s qualified for the court.  Yes, the Bible says homosexuality is an abomination before God.  But, it also says it is not for us to judge others.  That is for The Big Guy to do whenever and however He sees fit.  There might not even be anything for Him to judge on this.  Have said it before and will say it again, got quite a few gay friends (and several I suspect) but could care less about it.  Far as I can remember, we’ve never even talked about it after they told me.  Sort of our own don’t ask, don’t tell policy, I reckon.  I love them just as much as my straight friends and, if for some reason we ever have a falling out, their sexuality will have nothing to do with it.  Anywho, I digress.  There’s lots of things to debate on this lady.  Let’s leave her sexuality out of it;
• Been reading some nyah-nyahing about the fact Eric Holder, the US Attorney General, has been criticizing the Arizona immigration bill without actually reading it.  This coming from some of the same folks who criticized the healthcare reform bill and lots of other things.  Highly doubt they actually read those bills.  Guess that’s OK since they were the ones doing the criticizing.  Fact of the matter is, people comment on stuff they don’t know about all the time (myself included), and ain’t a thing in the world wrong with it, either.  Heck, people vote on stuff they don’t understand all the time.  Bottom line is, let him who is without sin cast the first stone.  Think I hear a lot of stones dropping out there. So, if you’re going to criticize him for commenting on something without reading it first, you better be sure you’ve read everything you criticize, too.  And, summaries on-line or in the newspapers don’t count;
• Been some yammering in the sports pages about Brian Cushing, the 2009 NFL defensive rookie of the year, testing positive for a performance enhancing drug masking agent last year.  The AP was so “enraged” it decided to revote on the award.  Find it hard to believe there were no rumors out about this out there when they were voting last year.  These guys hear things all the time they don’t report on.  Someone probably talked last year about something this big.  And, he didn’t even test positive for a PED, just the masking agent, which turns out to be produced naturally by the human body.  Think most people could care less about the whole mess.  It’s not very shocking when an NFL player tests positive for anything like this.  Most folks figure it just ain’t natural for people to be as big as the players are without some sort of chemical help.  Comes across as a bunch of hollow indignation by the sports media guys.  Gives ‘em something to talk about, I reckon;
• Been bad and haven’t run in almost a week. @FitBottomedGirl posted an interesting question on her blog, fitbottomedgirls.com, about whether exercise affects your mood or not.  Not really sure it affects my mood or not.  I’m purty even-keeled for the most part regardless of what’s going on.  But, sometimes can find solutions to things while I’m out running.  Maybe running helps me relax or just have to think about something during all that time.  Have quite a few friends who tell me they can feel their nerves changing when they haven’t exercised in a while.  So, maybe there’s something to it for some folks.

Well, that’s all I’m gonna write about for now.  Have some comments on the outcome of Survivor: Heroes vs. Villians, but will save those for later in case someone DVR’d it and ain’t had a chance to watch it. 

Dankjewel!

Tschuss!

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!

What a Bunch of …

Been an OK week so far.  Weather’s been nice.  Pollen is gone (for the most part).  And, been some interesting things in the news.  Have a veritable smorgasbord of topics to cover this time.  See if you can stretch your imagination to figure out the common theme.  Hope you enjoy:

• Did you hear about Boobquake?  Seems an Iranian cleric said we are having all these earthquakes cuz women ain’t covering up like he thinks they should.  So, some American lady started a movement on Facebook for women to show a little cleavage so folks could test that theory.  It quickly spread onto other outlets such as Twitter.  Even saw a story on several of CNN’s outlets.  Not sure how many people really participated in it, but it’s amazing how quickly things like the color of women’s bras and exposed cleavage on Facebook get coverage in the mainstream media.  Talk about titillating coverage.  Anyway, last time I checked, still haven’t been any major earthquakes cuz of it.  Maybe y’all should try again. Uh, in the name of science, of course;
• Seems KFC is selling chicken in pink buckets to advertise the fact they are making a big donation to the Susan G Komen Foundation, a great and wonderful cause.  Should be noted, money is NOT being donated based on each individual purchase.  They are just making a big donation.  Anyway, some group I’ve never heard of came out this week saying KFC is taking advantage of poor people and the SGK Foundation, a great and wonderful cause, shouldn’t be attaching their name to something unhealthy like fried chicken.  Guess they haven’t heard KFC sells grilled chicken now.  Anyway, think the most absurd statement I saw from the group I’ve never heard of was “poor people can’t help it if they don’t make healthy choices” or something to that effect.  As the late great Lewis Grizzard used to say, “Do what?”  Now, I know healthy food does tend to cost more than not-so-healthy food.  But, there are affordable healthy choices, too.  And, funny how people in the Great Depression weren’t pushing 250.  Besides, last time I checked, the grilled chicken at KFC is the same cost as the fried.  To me, this is just another case of a group you’ve never heard of trying to take advantage of something to get a little free publicity.  If you don’t like it, don’t buy it; 
• Lane Bryant recently produced a TV ad for lingerie which several networks said was a little too racy to be aired during the “family hour” of TV.  Saw the ad on another blog site (thanks for posting it, Sue Mac) and don’t think it was worse than anything else you’d see on network TV nowadays.  Actually liked it more cuz the models are a lot more realistic.  Better lookin’ to me, too.  Anyway, lots o’ folks are speculating it was turned down because the women in the ads ain’t what you normally see in these types of ads.  Personally, just cuz they show the other ads, don’t mean they should be, especially in the so-called “family hour.”  But, if they are going to show the size 0’s, they should show the size 10’s (and larger), too.  Wouldn’t feel too sorry for Lane Bryant, though.  They got a lot more publicity out of the free media coverage than they would have by paying for the ad time.  Maybe there was a method to their mad-ness…;
• Speaking of free publicity, Apple sure got a lot of it after the prototype for the latest iPhone was left in a bar.  Totally on “accident,” of course.  This case may end up solving a lot of issues.  First, were lots of rumors out there about the new phone before and this has answered a lot of ‘em.  Second, was this really an accident?  Some folks think the dude who left the phone may have planted it as a free market test.  Eh, maybe, maybe not.  Third, the question of whether bloggers are considered media or not may be resolved once and for all.  Seems there’s a California law which says members of the media cannot be forced to give up their confidential sources.  There’s been all kinds of search warrants and police questioning trying to find out who found the phone and sold it to the bloggers who broke the story.  The bloggers say they are members of the media so they should be exempt from all this harassment.  Imagine we will be hearing about this stunt for years to come.  If we are considered media folks, where can I send my request for media credentials to the Super Bowl and the Masters?;
• Reckon you’ve heard about the immigration bill passed by the State of Arizona.  Lots of folks ain’t necessarily agreeing with the new law.  Do believe there is cause for concern that legal citizens could be subject to random questioning by the police.  What I can’t understand is why folks are concerned about the rights of the ILLEGAL immigrants?  They are not exactly law-abiding citizens since they are in the US ILLEGALLY.  Would think people who came here legally would have the most to gripe about, too.  Why should someone who entered ILLEGALLY have the same rights of someone who did it the right way?  Think most folks seem to be missing the other point that Arizona passed the law cuz the Feds won’t do anything about ILLEGAL immigration reform.  Do I think the Arizona legislature made a wise choice?  Probably not.  In the end, guessing the courts will overturn the law based on the 4th amendment.  Can’t just stop a citizen without due cause.  Last time I checked, the way you looked ain’t considered due cause, either.  At least it better not be; 
• Been a lot of chatter about Gordon Brown, Prime Minister of Great Britain, calling some lady a bigot the other day while leaving a photo op for the upcoming election.  Apparently he forgot he was still wearing a wireless microphone.  Naturally, the media heard the comment and immediately put it out for everyone else to hear.  He’s now apologized twice and some reports say the lady has even forgiven him for the comment.  Think this is much ado bout nothin’ myself.  Politicians are human just like everyone else.  They have their opinions and biases just like everyone else.  They should be entitled to make ignoramus comments just like the next guy, too.  One poll said 90% of those asked said this won’t affect the way they will vote.  Reckon the media has to have something to yak about.  Some things I’ve read indicate he wasn’t too far off with his comment, but would still suck for him to call me a bigot whether I deserved it or not.  Think he was already behind in the polls so not sure this will cost him the election.  Purty sure it won’t help, though.

Well, that’s all I got for now.  Were you able to figure out the theme?  You may have to think literally and figuratively on this one.

Y’all take care.

More Musical Memories

Music is such a wonderful thing.  It helps us feel good, wallow in our sorrows, feel better, think about stuff, and a wide variety of other things.  Music can even take you back to specific moments in time.  Thought I’d share more of my musical memories with you.  Maybe they’ll trigger some of yours, too.  Will list them by song title and the artist most famous for performing them:

• Ring of Fire (Johnny Cash) – Ah, the “Down, Down” song.  That’s what my kids called it when they were around 3 years old.  We’d get in the truck and they’d want to hear the “Down, Down” song.  They pretty much liked all of Mr. Cash’s songs, but usually asked for this one in particular.  Could tell they were going to have a real appreciation for music;
• Sir Duke and Over the Rainbow (Stevie Wonder/Judy Garland) – Marching band, freshman year of high school.  Enjoyed my four years in the band, but will always think of this one as the best.  Had some real characters that year, and we were pretty good if I have to say so myself.  Can still see a fellow trombone player flipping over backwards cuz he was trying to play real loud during one performance.  Good times…;
• Piano Man (Billy Joel) – Saw him in concert during his Nylon Curtain tour.  My bud Jimmy and I were sitting about halfway up in the balcony at the back of the arena.  Jimmy said he was amazed cuz Billy was making the harmonica sounds with just his mouth.  Pointed out he was actually using the harmonica he’d put around his neck.  The lady sitting next to me let us borrow her binoculars to confirm it.  Purty funny.  And, yes, we were completely sober.  Really miss talking to Jimmy.  He’s still alive.  Just don’t get to talk to him;
• Comfortably Numb (Pink Floyd) – You may remember listed this last time.  But, have another memory associated with this song, too.  One morning when Mr. Mayhall was late…again…was listening to this with Ronnie, Jud and Sean in Ronnie’s car.  When the little piano plink representing the pin prick played (wow, look at that alliteration), Jud reached up and flicked Ronnie on the ear.  I know, an odd thing to remember, but it’s in there;
• Bridge over Troubled Water (Simon and Garfunkel) – Was listening to this song on the radio and had to get out before it ended.  Drove me so crazy not being able to hear the ending had to go buy it on tape.  True story;
• Wild, Wild West (Kool Mo Dee) – This song may shock some of you.  But, used to listen to it when I would go out onto the Wesley Foundation balcony to watch the nightlife on the Tuscaloosa strip.  Saw some purty wild things…Also listened to Bon Jovi, Stevie Wonder, and several other bands while out there;
• Riders on the Storm ( The Doors) – Was listening to my walkman radio while writing a paper one night in college.  This song came on and swear could feel raindrops falling on the back of my neck.  Pretty eerie feeling which was cool all at the same time.  And, yes, again, was completely sober;
• Photograph (Def Leppard) – First real heavy metal song I ever liked and among the earliest music videos can remember seeing on MTV when we first got it.  Still remember the air band competition from high school.  The dudes that did this song won the whole thing and deservedly so;
• Cult of Personality (Living Colour) – Saw them on Saturday Night Live.  Still see Corey Glover slinging his braids around during the guitar solo every time I hear it on my iPod.  Awesome song wrapped around a pretty good history lesson.  Almost bought tickets to the Stones concert just to see these guys open for them;
• Sweet Home Alabama (Lynyrd Skynyrd) – Way back when I was in school, they used to play this before every Bama home game.  May still do.  I don’t know.  Anyway, the entire student section would keep the beat with our shakers.  An awesome sight for this Tide fan;
• Jump (Van Halen) – Chicago Cubs baseball back in the 80’s.  Every time I hear it still expect Harry Caray to come on and say,”Hello again, everybody!  It’s a great day for baseball!” when the music fades away;
• I Melt with You (Modern English) – Can see that couple dancing in the video every time I hear that song.  Still haven’t been able to figure out if the blonde guitarist in the white shirt was male or female;
• Smells Like Teen Spirit (Nirvana) – Have always liked the song even though have never understood the lyrics.  Can hardly figure out what Kurt Cobain is singing but they still don’t make much sense when I read them.  Finally figured out a couple of weeks ago they’re not supposed to make sense cuz the teenage mind quickly jumps from thought to thought, at least it did when I was one.  That’s what I think, anyway.  Only took me 20 years to come up with that theory.  I’m such a gueenius…

Well, hope this list triggered some memories in you, even if you thought of some different songs.  Will probably be a part three sometime.  The hard part will be picking the soundtrack for this blog.  Too much to choose from…

Y’all have a good one.

Sporadic Thoughts

Well, the pollen has finally died down a little where I’m at, and that makes me happy.  Was actually able to wear my contacts all day today.  Woo-hoo!!!  Hope it’s better where you’re at, too.

Not really much going on in the news which interests me, but have a few things rattling around in me noodle that need to come out.  So, if you’re ready, here we go:

• Started posting song lyrics on Twitter and Facebook this week.  Most of the time they reflect my mood and/or different thoughts going through me brain.  Sometimes I’m just being silly.  Always enjoy it when someone continues the lyrics.  Only had one response which threw me a little.  Anyway, if you follow me on Twitter or on Facebook, hope you are enjoying them and/or recognize most of the songs.  Due to character limits on Twitter, don’t usually credit the artist, but, if you want to know, feel free to ask.  And, if you’re curious enough about the trainwreck, you can follow me on Twitter @scotps23;
• Have told y’all before about my European tweeps.  Think what fascinates me the most is they tend to have actual conversations using Twitter.  Don’t see that much from my American tweeps.  Americans just tend to throw their thoughts out there but not comment on others.  Least not what I can see.  Not really sure why, either.  Maybe it’s unique to the folks I follow.  Or, maybe folks just think I’m boring.  Don’t know.  Anyway, it’s a lot of fun to watch their conversations ebb and flow throughout the day;
• Well, now that the airline industry lost billions cuz of the volcanic ash, the blame game has begun over who’s idea it was to ground the planes.  Believe you should always err on the side of caution when it comes to air safety.  Bottom line is no one really knew what, if any, effect the ash would have on the planes.  In the end, you have to ask yourself what’s worse, being inconvenienced or dead if you crash?  How would you like to be the airline executive who made the decision to fly when the plane crashes?;
• Been a lot of stuff out there about this whole Goldman Sachs mess.  Folks getting all excited cuz President Obama took almost a million smackers from them.  Well, they gave money to just about everyone on both sides of the aisle.  Someone asked if Mr. Prez was going to give it back.  He basically said no cuz it was from the employees rather than the company itself (long story how that is but true from what I’m reading).  Who in their right mind would think a politician would ever give that kind of dough back?  Anyway, his administration still appears poised to go after them fer now.  We shall see.  What concerns me more is the fact the Goldman Sachs indictment (or whatever it was) conveniently came out just as they are starting to make a push for Wall Street reform, whatever that means.  Nothing like using the judicial system to push your political agenda.  Of course, they are saying the timing is all just coincidental.  Uh-huh.  Whatever…Will just have to wait and see what happens;
• The Stanley Cup playoffs have been pretty awesome so far!  Lots of overtime games.  Even the ones that don’t go to OT have been pretty close.  The Stanley Cup commercials have been pretty good, too.  Have forgotten just how exciting playoff hockey can be.  Best thing about OT in the playoffs (other than the excitement of wondering which shot will be the last) is no TV timeouts;
• Been lots of hullaballoo about the NFL draft this week.  Hard to believe they are devoting an entire night of primetime just to the 1st round.  Guess it will REALLY be big time if it ever lands on a major network, not that ESPN is a slouch to be on.  Actually know some people who are going out of their way to watch them.  Will follow it close enough to see where my fellow Bama alums are going, but not much more than that;
• Peace reigns where God is present. Peace reigns when Love is present. Simple formula then: Where you have Love and God, you find Happiness – Posted on Twitter by Billy Corgan.  Billy Corgan?  Of Smashing Pumpkins fame?  Yep, that one.  Have always liked him;
• In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on. - Robert Frost

Y’all think about it…

A Little Mish-Mash

You’re not just reading the blog of any half-brained nitwit.  You’re reading the blog of a half-brained nitwit who was quoted in Cory McCartney’s NASCAR article on SI.com this week.  Who says having a little redneck in your blood don’t pay off every now and then?  Anywho…

Got some thoughts on a few topics this week.  So, here we go:

• My son called me today and the first words out of his mouth were, “I luuuuv youuuuu!” just like his momma does from time to time.  Knew right away they either wanted to buy something or had already bought something.  After much hemming and hawing, he finally fessed up they’d bought another cat.  Black cat by the name of Zoe.  Makes three cats in less than a year.  Could have been worse.  Figured they would have bought one already.  Wonder what took ‘em so long?;
• May have seen a friend of mine posted a comment ‘bout me taking up for both President Obama and Sen. Chuck Schumer in my last post.  What can I say?  Even a broke clock is right twice a day.  Well, the ones that actually have a face, anyway.  Besides, wouldn’t be right for me to criticize folks for not seeing both sides have some good points if I didn’t acknowledge when someone is right myself.  Or should that be left?;
• Reckon you’ve heard about all the volcanic ash over in Europe.  Somethin’ else!  Travel plans getting ruined all over the world. Even President Obama had to cancel his trip to the Polish president’s funeral cuz of it.  Someone tweeted it’s a good time to be filming shows set in the Middle Ages cuz won’t have to worry about airplane contrails being in the background.  Now, that’s the power of positive thinking.  Anyway, read this volcano is considered a small one.  Hate to see what will happen when a big one finally goes off;
• This is a great time of year to be a sports fan.  Baseball’s going strong, the NFL draft is coming up, the NBA playoffs are starting up, and, best of all, the Stanley Cup playoffs have started.  Been watching them this week.  Forgot just how exciting playoff hockey really is.  You should drop by VS tv one night and check it out.  If you are lucky enough to catch an overtime game, you might just be hooked for life.  And, if it’s a game 7 in overtime, you definitely will be;
• Read today that Peter Angelos, the owner of the Baltimore Orioles, refuses to hire Cal Ripken, Jr, an Oriole legend to say the least, to help out with the ball club.  Says he doesn’t want to ruin Ripken’s legacy if it doesn’t work out.  Also allegedly said he doesn’t want Ripken to get the credit if they finally start winning.  That’s a shame.  Just goes to show Mr. Angelos is not about the team winning.  He’s all about himself winning.  Very sad.  Think Ripken is one of the classiest players who ever played the game.  Never wanted him to break Gehrig’s record.  But, when I saw how classy he was in finally breaking it, became one of his biggest fans.  He was the reason I came back to baseball after the strike.  Still get goosebumps every time I think about him taking that victory lap.  Even saw him at Epcot in 1996 but wouldn’t go talk to him cuz he’s so classy didn’t want to bother him while he was with his family.  Sure hope Angelos changes his mind.  Imagine a lot of Orioles fans do, too;
• Get to listen to Pandora when I work on Saturdays.  It is TOTALLY AWESOME!!!!!  Have three stations:  Guns ‘N’ Roses, Pink Floyd, and Nirvana.  Used to have Metallica but some of the songs were too hard even for me.  In case you’re not familiar with Pandora, you choose a band you like then it programs songs for that channel based on songs in the same general category.  Although, have heard the Beatles on both Pink Floyd and Nirvana and Led Zepplin on all three.  Pretty amazing if you ask me.  The station plays that band about every third song or so, sometimes even sooner.  Highly recommend you check it out if you haven’t already.  You may ask why not just listen to your iPod?  Well, you got me there except you may hear songs on Pandora not on your iPod.  Still purty cool.  Don’t cost a dime, either;
• A lot of folks I follow on Twitter are European.  Mostly British and Irish but some others thrown in there, too.  Pretty interesting to follow their conversations.  Been a lot of talk about the volcano ash this week, naturally.  But, it gets really interesting whenever there’s a football game being played.  (That would be soccer to those of us on this side of The Pond.)  Seems like they all are watching it.  Same thing when Britain’s Got Talent is on.  (You know, that’s the show Susan Boyle got famous on).  Have been some interesting political discussions, too. Sometimes I have to ask for clarification on a few topics and they are always nice enough to provide the extra explanation this dumb American needs to follow along.  It really is a small world after all;
• Gotta couple new blog links to the left.  One by Girl Gone Healthy (follow each other on Twitter) and the other by Forevafit.  Ms. Forevafit just started following my blog today.  Not sure how she got here, but welcome!  Checked out her blog.  It’s still in the developing stages but looks pretty neat!  Ms. Healthy’s does, too.  Both are related to fitness.  Know you will probably enjoy both just as much as I will;
• Special shout out to my friend Sue Mac!  She has several blogs over to the left, too.  She ran a 15k race this weekend that bills itself as the toughest run in the South.  Has two hills in it that must be killerz cuz everyone she talked to about it told her to walk up the hills, even the dude who signed her up.  You know those jokers have to be bad!!!  Well, she managed to finish in under two hours.  Pretty good considering she just started training for it last week.  Congrats, Sue Mac!  And, no, I’m not gonna run in it next year…probably;

Well, that’s all I got for now.  Appreciate you hanging in here with me.  Y’all have a great weekend.  Looks like I will be out buying some new running shoes myself.  Wore the tread off of the old ones doin’ all my runnin’!!!  Woo-hoo!!!

Y’all keep ‘em straight out there!     

More Gapses in the Synapses

Been some great weather where I am, but the pollen is still thick as all get-out.  Driving my eyes nuts, especially when wearing my contacts.  The more I blink, the more my eyes feel gummy. Yuck!  Anyway, have some more random thoughts to share this week.  Hope they interest you:

• The White House press corps got its panties in a wad this week cuz President Obama broke protocol and slipped off without them one afternoon.  This was the first time in about a bajillion years that a president has done that.  Oh, the horror!!!  It’s “protocol,” in other words, tradition, not the law, that the press goes with him everywhere.  Know he’s the most powerful man in the world and all that, but he should be allowed to sneak out every now and then.  So, just exactly where was he going?  Turns out he was going to watch his daughters play soccer.  Shame on him for not wanting the press to disrupt their game!;
• Speaking of the press, if you want to see how fickle they can be, hope you’ve paid attention to the Masters coverage over the last week.  Starting last Monday, Tigger was just about the only golfer they would talk about.  Thursday through Saturday you would have thought he was leading the tournament with all the coverage he was getting, and Thursday two legends of the game were leading when the day was through!  Now that he didn’t win, the press is talking about how horrible he played, he shouldn’t have played, Elin wasn’t there, etc.  Folks, he came in tied for fourth after not playing competitively for five months.  Pretty dang impressive to me, and y’all may recall ain’t exactly one of his biggest fans.  Just another example of how the press builds folks up just to tear ‘em back down.  Oh, by the way, congratulations, Phil, for winning!;
• Very sad what happened to the Polish government over the weekend.  Shows why our leadership and most big corporations won’t let all their powerbrokers fly together.  Sad thing about this is it could have been avoided.  The pilot totally ignored the air tower’s warning not to land.  Very sad;
• The Vatican sort of apologized for statements they’ve made about the Beatles in the past.  Made it in their newspaper while commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Beatles’ last album.  Probably goes without saying the Vatican was not happy when John Lennon said they were more popular than Jesus.  Anyway, someone asked Ringo what he thought of the apology.  He basically said they have more important things to do than apologize to the Beatles.  Don’t think he was trying to slam the Vatican.  He was just trying to keeps things in perspective.  Guess he felt he and Paul moved on long ago so they should, too.  In the grand scheme of things, he’s right.  Gotta love that man!;  
• An update to an earlier observation.  Senator Charles Schumer, D-NY, said he was going to introduce legislation outlawing airlines charging for carry-on luggage.  Now, can probably count on one hand and cut off some fingers the number of times I’ve agreed with Chuck on anything, but glad to see him come out against the airlines trying to pull this crap.  Fly quite a bit and see all these yahbos try to carry half their house onboard, but they really are the exception.  No need to punish the rest of us cuz of these knuckleheads.  Stick with it, Chuck!  Guess I’d better sew a finger back on, too;
• A friend of mine is a school nurse.  Said a little girl was sick enough to check out of school but didn’t want them to call her mother cuz “Mommy’s job is very important” or something to that effect.  Not passing judgment on the momma (could be she’s a single parent with 2 or 3 jobs), but it really struck a nerve with me.  Makes me worry that my kids might think the same thing about me.  Hope my kids don’t ever think they can’t call me when I’m working, especially if there’s an emergency;
• Have read Kitty Kelley is releasing an unauthorized biography of Oprah.  Thing is, none of the usual talk shows want to help pimp it cuz they’re scared of Oprah.  That’s pretty sad if you ask me.  But, with as wacky as some of her followers are, they probably won’t buy the dern thing no matter who’s trying to sell it.  Will probably get more pub this way, anyhow;
• Have really been enjoying Twitter.  (I’m @scotps23)  Have made lots of comments to folks but haven’t received many back.  Oh well, it’s still fun.  Am following a few celebs but don’t expect any of them to follow me back or even comment on my occasional comments to them.  Rick Harrison of Pawn Stars started following me this week.  He actually followed me first.  Think it’s cuz one of my tweets was about the show.  Pretty cool!  Have “met” some neat people on there.  Speaking of which…;
• Know some of you are health conscious.  You might be interested in one of my new blog links from the Chubby Chick.  Follow each other on Twitter.  Anyway, she’s blogging about her journey to lose weight.  She’s doing a great job with both!  Hope you’ll drop by and give her some encouragement.  Everybody needs a little dose of that every now and then.

That’s all for now.  If you live in the US, don’t forget your taxes are due April 15.  Gotta pay fer all this stuff Congress is passin’ somehow! Hope you’re having a great week and that the pollen ain’t choking you out, too.

Out!

Random Randomness

Sometimes I have a theme, sometimes I don’t.  Have some real random thoughts this week.  Can randomness be a theme?

Anywho, here I go:

• Some women in Maine marched topless the other day to protest the fact men can legally go without shirts and they can’t.  Then, the organizer got mad cuz a bunch of men stood around and gawked.  Let’s see.  You’re protesting to draw attention to your cause, then you get mad when people pay attention to your cause.  Makes sense to me.  Guess if it ever does become normal for women to walk around topless, men won’t pay attention to things like that.  Nah, doubt it;
• Can see a swingset out of my office window.  Saw a grown lady swinging on it the other day.  Thought how awesome it was that she apparently can still get a thrill out of that part of her childhood.  Far out;
• Why does it seem like you are always going uphill no matter which way you go when you are running?  Probably a metaphor on life there somewhere;
• Pollen sucks.  Sorry, that’s a little crude, but there’s just no other way to put it.  Know it’s an important part of the circle of life, but it sure makes my eye miserable this time of year.  Can’t hardly wear my contacts more than a couple hours at a time;
• Can tell I’ve lost weight over the last year.  Put on a pair of pants today that I had to hold my stomach in just to button this time last year.  Noticed they were bunched in the front today from where my belt had to hold them up.  Should probably help stimulate the economy by buying some new ones;
• See where Spirit Airline is going to start charging people for carry-on bags.  First bag will be free.  Will have to pay for the second one.  Can’t remember if a woman’s purse counts or not.  Guess airlines will start charging you extra to sit down before too long.  “Will that be standing or sitting?  Oh, and by the way, it’s illegal to stand…”;
• Was the Butler/Duke game awesome or what?  That, my friends, is what sport is really all about.  Drama for all 40 minutes of the game.  Even if you are a Duke hater, you still have to admit both teams played well.  Butler proved without a doubt that they belonged in that game.  You have to wonder why the media keeps calling them Cinderella when they had more top 100 recruits (3) than Syracuse (0), who were picked by several folks to win it all.  Makes a better story, I reckon;
• Saw an article the other day that said passage of the healthcare bill is a sign of our decline as a country.  Said history has shown people start losing their ability to be innovative as they start relying more and more on the government for stuff.  Interesting theory.  Not sure I totally agree with it, but may have some merit;
• People are already calling up insurance companies asking if they can get their free health insurance now.  Folks just don’t pay attention, I reckon.  Still won’t have free health insurance…yet.  Anyway, most of the provisions in the bill don’t even go into effect until 2014.  Never heard either side mention that, did ya?  At least not very loudly if they did;
• Read today that 50% of Americans don’t pay any kind of income taxes.  Wish I was one of ‘em…;
• Jessica Simpson posed for Marie Claire magazine without wearing any makeup or having any computer touch-ups to her pictures.  Wonder what it says about society in general that this is even considered newsworthy. Thought she still looked nice from the picture I saw.  Personally think women don’t really need it.  Dread the day my little girl starts wanting to wear it all the time;
• Have enjoyed Twitter so far.  Lots of information to digest if you can keep up. Very fast-paced, especially if you start following a lot of people.  Have “met” some interesting people from all over the world (literally) on there.

Done for now.  Thanks as always for reading.  Since you can’t tip your waiters and waitresses here, be sure to check out my blogging buddies on the left.  Some haven’t written in a while.  Other have, though, and they’re usually pretty interesting.

Peace out.

Proud To Be An American!

Have seen some things this week that have really made me proud to live in the good Ol’ USA.  Mean that literally and sarcastically all at the same time.  Got stories from both sides of the aisle, too, and the best story is last.  You may notice there’s no soundtrack.  You’ll see why later.  Anyway, here’s what I’m talking about:

• President Obama gave a 17 minute reply to a woman who said we are being overtaxed.  He outlined seven, count ‘em, SEVEN points to the woman. No one is sure he if even answered her comment.  There’s two things that tell me he probably did not give her a truthful answer.  First, he’s a politician.  Politicians and telling the whole truth are two things which do not belong in the same paragraph, much less the same sentence.  Second, (and, if you’re a female, about to let you in on a secret you may have figured out anyway) the more a man talks when answering a question, the more likely it is that he’s lying, or at least stretching the truth.  Probably cuz he’s trying to convince himself at the same time.  Anyway, twice said his answer was going on too long so he realized what he was doing but still couldn’t stop.  Appears even he knows the definition of “the rich” will expand before it’s all said and done.  Must have left his teleprompter at home that day, too;
• Phil Hare, the Democratic Congressman who represents the 17th District in Illinois, recently said “I don’t worry about the Constitution” on camera when asked if the healthcare bill was Constitutional. (You can hear it for yourself)  He went on to say the Constitution “says people have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”  When asked if he read the bill, he claimed to have read it 3 times.  People have jumped on this as an example of how out of touch politicians are these days.  In his defense, the cameraman said, “Jackpot, Brother” after the first remark, which leads me to believe they goaded him into saying something(s) stupid.  Rep. Hare later released a statement saying he meant he’s not worried about whether it will pass the Constitutionality test.  Willing to give him the benefit of the doubt on his intent.  The Constitution does give government the right to promote the general welfare of the people.  However, the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is in the Declaration of Independence, not the Constitution.  Again, in trying to give him the benefit of the doubt, maybe an easy mistake to make in that situation.  However, have to throw the BS flag on reading the 8,100 page bill 3 times before voting on it.  Let’s say it took 2 minutes per page just for argument’s sake.  That would be 16,200 minutes, or 270 hours, which breaks down into 11.25 days just to read it once.  So it would have taken him about a month to read it 3 times if he read 24 hours a day with no breaks.  You can break it down even further if you want.  Even if he really did read it, is it possible he comprehended all of it since he would have essentially been speed-reading?  The American public may not be all that smart, but we ain’t that stupid, either…are we?;
• Just so y’all won’t think I picking on the Dems, it came out this week that the Republican party approved an expense report with a tab close to $2,000 from a bondage-themed strip bar around Hollywood.  Was supposedly for meals.  Seems the fiscal conservatives don’t mind stimulating the economy (insert your own joke here) in some settings, anyway.  Along those same lines, the Pubs also sent out a fundraising letter this week with the phone number to a telephone sex operation on it instead of the party’s.  (Why does it seem phone number mistakes are always to sex lines?)  Talk about a typo.  Pretty sad when you don’t even know your own phone number.  There’s nothing I can say in defense of either one of these blunders.  Guess they’re taking the ‘P’ in GOP seriously these days;  
• All right, now onto something that does make me forevermore proud to be an American.  Heard of the Patriot Guard Riders but had never seen this.  No comments can do it justice other than “THANK YOU!!! YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME!!!”  You just have to watch the clip to see why.  This was put together by the family of United States Army Specialist Bobby Russell West, who gave his life serving our country in Iraq.  Be sure to turn your sound on and watch it all the way through.  WARNING – Watching this may cause tears, choking sensations, and a sudden urge to give a standing ovation and salute.

 

Our veterans are truly a different breed.  May God bless you always!

Hope you had a happy Easter!  Thanks as always for reading.