As the New Year Approaches.

I'm taking the week off from posting in the blog, but I am reading them.
We had a great Christmas and hope everyone else did as well.

This is s busy time of year and we still have a couple of parties to attend. The post Christmas / pre New Year rounds continue.

It's amazing how many people do not work this time of year.

I have two new clients coming in to town tomorrow and will, if all things go well, be even busier after the New Year.

RIP, James Brown and President Ford.

Stay away from eggnog; it gives you gas.

Happy Holidays

I want to wish you the best of the Holiday.

Don't eat too much.

Lunch leanings.

Looks like people went to see Gibson's movie; It was the top grossing flim at the box office this weekend.

I am looking forward to the Eastwood film coming out next week.

A brief on Tiger.
When he mentions starting a family all I can think of is whther or not his kids will play golf and how good they might be.
This was not one of those nice to knows, from the Washington Post


"Maryland is one of the lowest-ranked states in the country in terms of preparedness for health emergencies such as bioterrorism or pandemic flu, but Virginia is among the 14 best-prepared states, according to a report issued by a health advocacy group yesterday."

Common life.

A Christmas Light show, putting up the tree and one of those parties I mentioned in an earlier post, was my weekend.

I'd be remiss if I didn't post this:

Scotland's World Cup dreams end in play-off

I lead a dull life.

now....Jailing Journalist , next....Brutalizing Bloggers

Increasing number of web journalists jailed

A third of all journalists currently imprisoned around the world publish their work on the internet, according to a new report by a watchdog group which reveals that China continues to jail more reporters than any other nation. The group says the growing number of jailed web journalists shows that repressive regimes are acting to suppress the radical opportunities presented by internet.

---------

The US is listed in joint 7th place, with three journalists currently detained. One of those, Sami al-Haj, an al-Jazeera cameraman has been held at Guantanamo Bay for more than five years. Another, Bilal Hussein, is a photographer with the Associated Press who has been held for eight months without charge.

Makes me glad I'm just a lowly blogger who posts links to others.

Makes me mad too.

Day after midweek.

I usually read the golf news daily.
No one can blame me for getting stuck on the following article for more than a few minutes.

Sophie Sandolo continues to turn golf fans' heads with 2007 calendar.

Never would have come across it had I not been reading about golf, so I don't feel in the least bit guilty.

Honest.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to keep up with the postings of my blogger friends.

Pia has her blogging down to a couple times a week, or so she says but I don't think she will stick to it.

Cooper is frustrating me with her post at Blog Critics, I was never good at talking about economics and I wish she would act her age and post about ipods, or at least something most people her age would be posting about. I'd have a chance of keeping up that way.

Just joking cooper.

Shayna, is having a quiet time and I hope all is well with her and maybe we'll see her around more in a few months.


This is what we call a day after mid week post.

The Tribune reveiw of "Apocalypto".

Neither Gibson's fans nor his detractors are likely to accuse him of excessive subtlety, and the effectiveness of "Apocalypto" is inseparable from its crudity. But the blunt characterizations and the emphatic emotional cues are also evidence of the director's skill. Perhaps because he is aiming for an audience wary of subtitles, Gibson rarely uses dialogue as a means of exposition, and he proves himself to be an able, if not always terribly original, visual storyteller. He is not afraid of clichés - the slow-motion, head-on sprint toward the camera; the leap from the waterfall into the river below - but he executes them with a showman's maniacal relish.

And it is, all in all, a pretty good show. There is a tendency, at least among journalists, to take Gibson as either a monster or a genius, a false choice that he frequently seems intent on encouraging. Is he a madman or a visionary? Should he be shunned or embraced? Censured or forgiven? These are the wrong questions, but their persistence reveals the truth about this shrewd and bloody-minded filmmaker. He is an entertainer. He will be publicized and he will be paid.

I'll pass.

Today

Clever spammers stay 'one step ahead' of law

This article tells us to give up, spam is here to stay.

A good article by the editor of a site called BBS news.
Dennis Prager Inspires Muslim Haters to Expose Themselves

Right Wing America Becoming Even More Dangerously Unglued

America's Health Rankings.

Looks like New England has the monopoly.

It begins again.

Went out early and choose our Christmas tree; we go to a tree farm where we get a tree, and plant a tree, drink free cider and pick up a couple of wreaths to decorate.
The tree will sit on our deck for a week and we'll put it up next week.

This weekend starts the rounds of various social events, some worthwhile some a pain in a ass, to which we are invited every year. From now until the holiday we will be attending dinners, open houses, and what one invitation describes as "a mysterious night of fellowship to celebrate the time of year with our friends of all or no faiths". It was something like that I can't remember the exact terminology.

The first of these many events occurred last night, making me wish I was once again young, carefree and could take off to Barbados for the rest of the month.

Good weekend to all.

Nothing much this week.

I thought the lawn mowing was over but I had to do another pass just to crush up the leaves. We don't bag them; we just crush them and let them sit. That's what happens when tow city kids moved to a two acre lot in the country - what used to be the country that is.

Pelosi won't pick Hastings to run intel panel
Speaker has not disclosed her choice, but it's unlikely to be Harman

A significant predicament for the incoming speaker.

I'm not sure I want the head of my intelligence committee to have believed we were standing up to evil.

“Do I think what we're doing today means we're going to war? No. I think we're standing up to evil,” Harman said when the House voted to authorize Bush to attack Iraq in 2002."

Do we fear the blue dogs?

Nothing else from here this week, business, and more business and
I'm grateful for that.

Post Turkey Day

First, happy blog anniversary to Alice. May there be many more.

We had a good holiday and I worked most of today but ventured to the ice skating rink, and my son had his first ice skating experience. The rink was pretty empty because everyone was out shopping.

I am an average skater and really need to work on my triple toe loop, no one seemed to care especially my son; he had a good time and fell less often than his father.

Good way to work off a meal.

Try it.

Happy Turkey Day

Had to do this before I pass out on the couch.

Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving.


Cooper

Shayna

Pia


For getting me into this blog thing, very therapeutic.


Dinner was great, it’s raining, we are all full and there were only a few minor arguments about religion and politics.

Time to sack out.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Enjoy the weekend, your family, and your friends.

Red Red Wine

Reading about the key ingredients in red wine which increases endurance just makes me want to down a few bottles.

I think we will be drinking red not white with out turkey this year.


My wife does not cook and we are having a large group for dinner; she has decided she is going to cook this year because she wants to play. ;(

I'm in shock and have nothing further to say.

I was disappointed on the decision regarding Murtha. Old Abscam...

Rainy Day.

I started this, then the post disappeared into blogger hell.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 16 — House Democrats chose Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland as their majority leader today after a bruising fight that cast a cloud over the party’s post-election celebration.

The storms are raging here; it's raining cats and dogs. We are under a tornado watch until this evening and a severe thunderstorm warning for a while longer.

We have family coming in next week, for the holiday. I can't take the time to travel this year, my business is new and I have too much that needs to get done during the holiday. Instead we are having out of town guests.

I took an accent test at Shayna's site and I came out Southern. I don't speak with much of a southern accent at least not that I notice, I did do my undergrad in the south but I am not from there. In the state I currently live in the accents can be southern or northern depending on where you are but people, not from here, tend to think people in Maryland have a bit of a southern drawl.

Pia has another podcast and a new picture blog.

I borrowed this link from the Liberal Avenger.

Pope Considers Lifting Celibacy Rule
Rule Would Be Lifted For Priests Seeking Marriage

That's it for me.

A marketing consultant's noon break.

The blogger beta is killing me, so remember my wordpress blog - the same thing but at wordpress. Link on the side.


Gunmen Wearing Police Uniforms Abduct Up to 150
Universities Ordered Shut After Four-Story Raid at Baghdad Institute

As if these folks have not had to endure enough.

Tiger Woods finally loses Hate to see him lose but if he doesn't lose once in awhile the other children are not going to want to play with him.;)

Shayna has baby pictures and a creepy boss.

Cooper does a bitchslap, a term used by the library man , of some guy who moderates wordpress codex forums and looks for women while doing it. Read it and you'll see why he doesn't have a chance.

I choose Murtha.

Do I get a vote?

Nothing but plugs

Nothing but plugs.

Virginia is declared for Webb.

'60 Minutes' Anchor Ed Bradley Dies

No one really knew he was that ill.

I will miss him.

Rest in Peace.

Shayna is plugging and very worthy - Project Valour IT.

Obtaining laptops for our soldiers with arm and hand injuries so they can use speech activated software.

This is the link to Project IT direct.

Pia is now a podcast.

The Tribe Has Spoken

The Tribe has Spoken.

Vote

I'm going to do what every American over the age of eighteen should do today.

I'm going to vote.


That's it for today.

You know what you got to do.

Post Halloween sugar crash.

I hope you all had a good Halloween.

Not enough Snicker bars here, my son had more fun passing out the candy to the olde kiddies latter in the evening than he did obtaining it.



U.S. Site Suspended for Posting Nuclear Documents.

The kid next door tells me he could probably make one. Think I should move?


a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/nationalaffairs">Quote from Rollng Stone.

I’ve actually got a lot of sympathy for Ted Haggard.

You head a 30 million strong coalition of born-again Christians. You’ve got a standing Monday phone date with the White House. You get second billing to _the_ James Dobson on “The Battle for Marriage” Simulcast…

But you buy meth from a massage-giving homo-gigolo, one time!, and everyone turns on you like you’re some sort of two-faced demagogue.

Seriously. What kind of world are we living in when our moral leaders can’t take the edge off with a little crystal and some deep-tissue homoeroticism?

I wish my last name were Jones. I could use a vacation.

Brings to mind, "Me and Mrs. Jones, we got a thing going on,"

Wonder if I can find that old CD.

I won a big arguement with my wife years ago when she insisted Al Green was the artist behind the hit "Me and Mrs Jones". I won, it was Billy Paul.

Trick or Treat.

Tonight I Trick or Treat.

We've taught my son to share.

I hope he is overwhelmed with Snickers.

;)

Fall Back

Testing the Waters - The NewYorker

David Remnick interviewed Senator Barack Obama at the American Magazine Conference in Phoenix, Arizona.


Fall Back - tonight for some of us.

Frantic Friday

This weekend will be a frantic one.

Out of towners.

You know how they are.

Hungry.

Many are semi retired from blogging.

For Pia that means posting about as much as I do now.

Shayna is still discussing the disgustiing commentary on the MJ Fox Video despite here pregnant state.

I'm singing coopers song.

Picked up another client this week so I told my son I could treat him to McDonalds.

No comments on how bad the food is for us, every so often I need all that fat; it keeps the brain cells funtioning.

What happended to Detroit anyway?

Pleasant Mood

Things I've seen today that leave me in a pleasant mood.

New Jersey Court Rules for Same-Sex Rights

New Jersey's highest court rules that same-sex couples are entitled to the same rights as heterosexual couples. Now, it will be up to the legislature to rewrite state laws to provide for gay marriage or some other form of civil union.

I'd move there if it weren't almost seven degrees colder on average.

This was a disaster. GOP retires ‘Playboy’ ad in Tennessee
I heard the Congressman say that the people of Tennesee were smarter than to take words at face value, smart enough to look for the truth. I hope so.

Shayna has a question to weigh in on.

Cooper rewrites and dedicates a song to Pia.

So far I give the day a rating of 7+.

Following the crowd today.

I can't help it I am going to follow the crowd today and direct you to the Essay written by Kevin Tillman.

There are referrals to it all over the web, I missed the article originally - you can read it here at Truthdig.

Editor’s note: Kevin Tillman joined the Army with his brother Pat in 2002, and they served together in Iraq and Afghanistan. Pat was killed in Afghanistan on April 22, 2004. Kevin, who was discharged in 2005, has written a powerful, must-read document.

I will be around.

Do people purchase and consume egg salad from outside sources? I’ve always thought that was dangerous.

I’m busy working on some potential ways of product branding an organization which has contracted with me for two years. Two years is good for a first time client most people will give you one campaign two year will give me two maybe three. There will be little time for blogging over the next fee weeks, maybe well into and past the holiday season. I'll do my best.

My lunch hour is the time of day I usually read and post in blogs. In the evening my wife and I exchange our day, each competing for the "most diffifcult day" position. I spend the rest of the time with my son. I don't teach him anything we just play -t- ball, kick the ball, read me that book, jump on daddy's back and get black newspaper print all over. I sometimes read him my proposals, he finds this funny but at times is quite attentive. I can tell by the look on his face he is just humoring me.

Often while reading the news I want to bury my head in the sand. It’s easier to read stories about egg salad killing seventeen people than to read about the mess we have still in Afghanistan, the continued death toll in Iraq, the worsening genocide in Darfur.

I will be around but if not I'm not lost just putting food on the table.

Sunday - football is all.

Baltimore Falling Behind, Election Worker Training

This is not good. Maryland in general could have quite a mess come election time with all the problems they had in Montgomery County during primaries. I'm not looking forward to this.

Will it be Hilary vs Obama or just Obama?

"Sen. Barack Obama acknowledged Sunday he was considering a run for president in 2008, backing off previous statements that he would not do so."


Cooper mentions she bought his book and is keeping a spreadsheet on potential political candidates.

Maybe we all should.


I like that she has me pictured as potential enemy on her sidebar now in her acknowledgment of the Baltimore%20Falling%20Behind,%20Election%20Worker%20Training'>Military Commissions Act of 2006. She's right, we are all a little behind in out concern for out basic freedoms.


Shayna has an interesting guest at the Music Highway - I wish I spoke Italian.

Pia does love her Capote.

The Prez - pissing on everything again.

Bush Marks His Territory in Space

Comments - Iraq: time to signal a new era for health in foreign policy

All the dicsussion over the last few days as to the untruth of this study has me reading it again and again and thinking - about things other than my new clients and the work stacked up long into the forseeable future of my existence.

I thing that however faulty one originally thought this study might be, reading it again and absorbing some of the minute details, calculating how long it took to do the surveying of the individuals and then in general looking at the conclusion it makes more sense to me now than it did at the onset.

I have read more on the deaths in Iraq, from various sources, over the last few days than I have since the beginning of this war, and my conclusion is that this study is not unreasonable and, although possibly a little on the high side, it is not as high as some would like us to believe.

From what I can see the death toll now is admittedly be significantly higher than what this administration and the people who support it have been claiming, they are admitting it despite the fact that they have disregarded this study.



From

The Lancet.com

In 2004, Johns Hopkins researcher Les Roberts and colleagues reported findings that suggested the risk of death in Iraq was 2·5-fold greater after the military invasion in 2003 than before.1 They estimated that there were 98 000 more deaths than expected, with violence accounting for most of these casualties. Their work provoked great political controversy, not least because the 95% CI around the 98 000 figure was wide, ranging from 8000 to 194 000 deaths. Despite rigorous methods, critics found this uncertainty hard to take seriously.

Since 2004, and especially recently, independent observers have recognised that the security situation in parts of Iraq has deteriorated dramatically.2–6 This week, The Lancet publishes a follow-up to the 2004 study by the same research group.7 Their findings corroborate the impression that Iraq is descending into bloodthirsty chaos. Gilbert Burnham and colleagues completed a mortality survey in over 1800 households in Iraq between May and June this year. The death rate in this sample before the 2003 invasion was 5·5 per 1000 a year, rising to 13·3 per 1000 a year for the entire postinvasion period. Interestingly, and reassuringly, the trajectory of the death rate up until September, 2004, closely matched that of their earlier survey. But now the estimated number of excess deaths has increased by an enormous amount.

They calculated that 654 965 excess deaths have taken place as a consequence of the war. The lower 95% CI on this figure is still huge, at 392 979 deaths. Violence—gunfire and car bombing in particular—remains the main cause of this excess mortality.

Given the controversy surrounding the previous Iraq paper that we published, it is worth emphasising the quality of this latest report as judged by four expert peers who provided detailed comments to editors. All reviewers recommended publication with relatively minor revisions. For example, one adviser noted that “this is an important piece of research which should be published because it is possibly the only non-government funded scientific study to provide an estimate of the number of Iraqi deaths since the US invasion.” She underscored the “powerful strength” of the research methods, a view supported by other reviewers. Indeed, this study adds substantially to the new field of conflict epidemiology, which has been evolving rapidly in recent years.8–10

The US administration recognises the peril of the present anarchy in Iraq, albeit in often unrewarding ways. Although a recent US report produced differing interpretations, the US National Intelligence Estimate did conclude that the situation in Iraq was likely to have increased the terrorist threat to the USA at home and abroad. US government officials are now blaming Iraqi leaders for this escalating spiral of violence. “You do not see them taking the levers of sovereignty,” Republican senator John Warner declared last week, according to a report in the Washington Post.11 And Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has impatiently urged the Iraqi government to step up its efforts to quell sectarian violence.

The natural response to this deteriorating situation is despair. Military action in Iraq has dragged on, inflaming an already volatile atmosphere. Diplomacy seems to have broken down. The absence of any plan for reconstruction after the 2003 invasion has provided an inviting vacuum that continues to suck in violence and terror. And the rhetoric of democracy and freedom sounds little more than empty hope.

Of most serious concern must surely be the collapse of a foreign policy based, in UK Prime Minister Tony Blair's words, on “progressive pre-emption”. His doctrine of international community was forged on the humanitarian crisis in Kosovo. At that time he claimed that “The most pressing foreign policy problem we face is to identify the circumstances in which we should get actively involved in other people's conflicts”. A longstanding principle of non-interference in the affairs of other states was no longer credible, he argued. Intervention based on values as much as territorial ambition was to be the new military strategy. “The answer to terrorism”, he has said, “is the universal application of global values.” And in August, 2006, he called for “a complete renaissance of our strategy to defeat those who threaten us…by showing that our values are stronger, better, and more just, more fair than the alternative”. Yet the splinter of our presence in Iraq is increasing, not reducing, violence. By making this a battle of values, Tony Blair and US President George Bush risk pitting one culture against another, one religion against another. This could rapidly become—and for many it already is—the politics of humiliation.

Yet absolute despair would be the wrong response. Instead, the disaster that is the West's current strategy in Iraq must be used as a constructive call to the international community to reconfigure its foreign policy around human security rather than national security, around health and wellbeing in addition to the protection of territorial boundaries and economic stability. I would go as far as to say that health is now the most important foreign policy issue of our time.

The advantages of using health as an instrument of foreign policy are at least four-fold. First, focusing on health is strategically correct. By protecting nations against health threats (eg, HIV/AIDS, emerging infections, non-communicable disease epidemics), governments will promote internal stability.12 Second, focusing on health will produce unequivocally positive benefits—social cohesion, equity, and a strengthened national infrastructure. Third, focusing on health is a valuable diplomatic tool in its own right to promote good bilateral relations and to signal good leadership. Finally, focusing on health will encourage trust between nations and across global multilateral organisations. This strategic reappraisal of foreign-policy thinking would introduce important new actors into policy formulation, including academic leaders in global health, health-related non-governmental organisations, human development institutions, and new strands of public and media opinion.

Traditionally, public health becomes an important foreign-policy matter only when there is an immediate crisis—eg, the outbreaks of severe acute respiratory syndrome—or when the scale of a health problem seems too large to ignore (eg, HIV/AIDS). Yet the longitudinal importance of health as a human security concern argues against this kind of discontinuous thinking. And the signs are hopeful that agencies and governments are beginning to lay the foundations for health as a broader policy instrument. WHO is taking a promising interest.13 A welcome joint ministerial initiative led by the Norwegian and French Governments aims to produce a preliminary analysis of the value of health in foreign policy early next year. And the issue has even surfaced in the debate about who should become WHO's new Director-General.14

Globalisation has changed the terms of human engagement at many levels—in trade, aid, economic development, environmental protection, and agriculture. Yet foreign policy is still governed by principles that had their origin in the 19th century, based, as they were, around notions of national sovereignty and economic and geographical self-interest. Those principles need to be radically revised. Health and wellbeing—their underpinning values, their diverse array of interventions, and their goals of healing—offer several original dimensions for a renewed foreign policy that might at least be one positive legacy of our misadventure in Iraq.

Monday Stuff.

I just showed this to my wife - I got it off of a feminist website, which I check out every now and then.

As many of you know my wife is an attorney, she has a great sense of humor and I find her gorgoues but that's hardly the point.

She said, and I quote,"what a bunch of idiots on both accounts".
"Are lists the only way these people can get people to read their blogs"?

She has a good point.

I've signed three new clients over the last week so if I'm scarce don't be surprised.

Cooper, makes some good points at taking place, she also has some commentary on the much ignored Bob Herberts op-ed.



My eye is on Obama.

I'm still posting to both websites during the change; this could last forever.

Weekendish.

Weekend links only today - short lunch hour.

Pia is getting roasted, it's the first roast I ever attended and admit to feeling uncomfortable roasting others.
But go feel free to take a shot.
Shayna may be giving up her blogging slippers, this would sadden me, but Iunderstand.

Cooper reminds us of the The Tibetan Massacre - Unmitigated Atrocity or at least she points us to some links which tell us about it. I had never read this before so it is surptrising to me how much horror can occur in the world without out knowledge.

For me: Winter has arrived here at least for the weekend and I have to meet a potential new client for a late lunch.
Wish me luck, my son needs shoes.

A Meme from the Music Highway

A Meme I stolen from Shayna


1) Five Minutes to yourself. How would you spend them ideally?
Playing or watching golf.

2)Five Dollars to spend right now. How and where would you spend it?
A capucino from a place in the city near where I used to work.

3)Five Items in your house you could part with right now
the rug in the lower family room it's a disaster and should be burned
a vase of some kind given to us for Christmas by my parents - it's the ugliest thing you have ever seen
the phone - it rings way too much
the "old magazine holder" and everything in it

4)Five Items in your house you positively, absolutely could never part with.
my computer
my palm pilot
my coffee make
rmy golf clubs
Our family pictures wall thing...don't know what it's called a collage of some kind.

5)Five Words you love.
son
golf
sunshine
yes
breakfast

feel free to meme yourself

Rainy weekend update.

Check out my renter.

Tell them I sent you.

I am posting at both blogs but posting the same thing, read whichever one you prefer.

I still can't figure out how to get Shayna's musichighway code up on my wordpress blog, because in the free wordpress blogs you can't change the code in any way. The rental code doesn't work there either.


This makes me sick.

I'll not mention golf today except to say because of the weather I can't play.

My son wants to go to this park, a park which opened here last year on the side of the highway and has continued to grow and now sports a roller coaster, a roller coaster which by all accounts was put in illegally without proper permits, a roller coaster which came from another site and has been traced back to at least 1976.

My son is too young for roller coasters, he just wants to ride the merry go round and if it stops raining that is where I will be this afternoon, and if the sun comes out maybe I'll take him to hit some golf balls, it's never too early to learn.

Oil Remains Below $60 A Barrel

I just love me some cheap cheaper gas.

If you are flying around the internet go take a peak at Shayna's baby pictures.

Be aware of Darfur at Cooper's blog Hell on Earth, a lot of worthwhile reading their this week. While you're at it check out her personal musings.

Check out pia's guest posters; interesting people.

I'm sorry I mentioned golf twice.

Pre weekend rambles.

Same-sex marriage ban upheld by court
Ruling says change can come only from voters or Legislature
What strikes me a shameful in all this is that there is some statistical evidence that beibg married - unlike just living together and having a legal contract - it's good for your health both mentally and physical. It allows you to live longer and be happier.

ALMOST inevitably in the way of these scandals, if disgraced Republican congressman Mark Foley ends up facing criminal charges, he will do so because of legislation that he championed.

Priceless.

Bush Pitches Incentive Pay For Teachers
It's not about choices it is about fixing the schools which are not doiung their job; if most schools are not doing their job it is clear the problem is the whole system and this little bandaid will not work.

If you do any research you will see that most charter schools fail as well.

Check out my renter, not my usual read but I needed the money.;)

Rankings.

I've posted a couple of posts at the wordpress blog, it's more pleasing to look at template wise. It is not ranked in google because it's new so I am going to keep posting here.

The other problem is on wordpress I can't put the code for the music highway.

I finally have a google ranking; I know it's not that important and it is all screwed up and means nothing but damn it so what.

My ranking comes mainly from my inbound links from cooper, pia and shayna, Cooper being my first real link, not including the now defunct political notio, with Shayna following shortly afterwards.

Goes to show I know how to pick them.

Speaking of cooper, she reminds us of Darfur day.
I'm giving up all my iced tea, coffee, you would be surprised how much that stuff costs.

A Simple Man

I've kept it light over the last few weeks because the news is not good and like cooper and the library man both say it is not even news. At hell one earth too. People fret over the most insignificant things while the real news passes them by.

Detainee Legislation Gives President New Powers

This sums it up.

I have a bad case of lethargy.

On the other hand it's cool and crisp here, post the storms last evening.
Nothing like a few downed trees to stir me into action.

My list.

Fill out Shayna's questionaire for my interview. I keep meaning to do that but funny thing, everytime I look at it a different song pops into view.

That's it, the list is short, I am a simple man.

Going to check on Pia's guests, she is on vacation and her guest are pretty strange.;)

crossposted to The Average Businessman

when I find the time.

Golf Obsessed

Americans Can't Finish Off Great Start


I'm golf obsessed for the week.

The scoreboard switched from American red to European blue about as quickly as sunshine gave way to rain, a tug-of-war that never let up for 11 hours and produced the tightest opening-day matches in Ryder Cup history. Little good that did the Americans.

They still couldn't seem to finish.

The Europeans hit their stride on the closing holes and grabbed a 5-3 lead Friday by getting points from all 12 players on a team they claim to be their best ever.

Golf

Hitting the green: Ryder Cup preview & pick

Tiger out our Soliders still in

Woods and Furyk make early


He is human afterall.


I've done my hiring for the week and have just signed a contract with two more clients.

From Slate. Won't Deploy? Can't Deploy.

Watching Jim Lehrer last night, an episode about the traumatic brain injury suffered to many of out soldiers due to the type of explosions used these days; this was a scary revelation to me.

Often times just the explosions. from the improvised explosion devices, cause the brain to rock back and forth inside the skull causing brain damage which at first often goes undetected; the potential is great for the soldiers who have been rocked by these blasts to somewhere along the line be found to have damage, it often goes undetected until someone all of a sudden starts acting strange, not as sharp, not as likely to follow orders, has personality changes, or starts forgetting things- including their family.

This was an update on an older series they have been covering, but I’ll tell you it hit me hard.


The estimates of the number of soldiers who have this are high and getting higher.
There is an mp3 link.

What are we doing?

head over to the new site it looks great.

Landlord again.

Check out my renter on the sidebar ladies and gentlemen.

Looks like an interesting blog and I guarantee she won't give you a headache.

I VOTE for US to win Ryder Cup

Cross posted that Average Businessman Wordpress.

I voted in our primary yesterday.

Maryland had some hiccups in that area. I hope this doesn't happen in November.

"Comptroller William Donald Schaefer, whose political career spans six decades, lost in his bid to retain his job."

Every dog has his day and Donald’s day has long past.

My wife and I hate a late afternoon "date" to vote. I knew that one of my blogger friends was working the poll where I vote and so we went a little early so we could meet her before she left. She was a sign holder, pamphlet passer and she was doing a fine job. Who wouldn't stop and grab a pamplet from her anyway?

Great and strange meeting someone from the internet; she was exactly what I would have expected and we all took off for Rachael's - a local coffee shop tavern.

My wife fell in love with her; they looked at pictures of our son, and talked about the local women’s group "Women in Black", women attorneys, and vegetables and the. I chimed in about marketing a campaign and we talked for a short time about the Republican Congressional Rep for the district and the changes of the Democratic rep defeating him in November.

There is a sixth degree of separation I am convinced. It turns out my wife knows someone Cooper knows quite well.

Other news.

The Ravens won a big one Sunday.

Redskins lose again.


The Ryder Cup. One area where the presence of the Tiger has never seemd to help us.


Pia has had some very good guest writers.

Shayna is adding to her family so go congratulate her on a job well done.

This is Great - Ohio State the best.

Texas two-stomped

This is great.

And if there was any doubt before, there isn't anymore - Ohio State is the No. 1 team in the country.

This is my song - for the asking.

Have yet to move to wordpress for real but I’ll be posting all posts on both blogs for now.

I won’t have time to do much of anything related to this blog over the next month.

I am starting up my own business while finishing some prior commitments at my former place of employment. I’m fortunate enough to have two permanent clients already and four new one time clients, but I have to work my ass off around the clock.

I’m also interviewing candidates for the esteemed position of “assistant”.

A few things before I spend my weekend buried in work- and a round of golf.

I filled up my gas tank yesterday and it was a relief to see it is cheaper than it has been in a long time.

May this trend continue!

Is it no surprise that most of what the industry does is deliberately misleading? Especially Disney.


And from the New York Daily News another quote which irritated my wife.

Couric, who accessorized her black jacket and skirt with three strings of pearls, also continued to tout the show's new user-friendly interactive features, including its ongoing quest to solicit viewers to choose her signoff.

Did they ever comment on Dan Rather’s accessories?

I'd liked this commentary and am willing to give Couric a chance.

Pia is winding down with some good stuff before to leaving us in the hands of some mystery guest bloggers as she goes off to write her book, and Cooper suggests flogging Fay Weldon for her orgasmic advice even as she ( along with the library man ) continues to promote awareness of the non relenting tragedy in Darfur.

I found another good blog while reading my bloggers buddies links.
The Fat Lady Sings.

jacob out

Tuesday already.

Tiger does it again. No elaboration needed.

Damn, it's pouring rain again.

I was fortunate to get in a couple of rounds yesterday.

Labor Day was a perfect day for golf.

All things must end.

Trying to catch up on my favorite blog reads.

Be sure to check out Shayna's Music Highway Project,on the sidebar. Her guest this week is the lovely Emily of "Bloggers with Boobies" Fame.

There's a lot of news on Darfur and Cooper and Jason are keeping up with it at Darfur, an unforgivable hell on earth.

Can't wait for Katie to sugarcoat the news and deliever it in a way that will make it fun and discernible.

News shouldn't really be "news" anyway. Can't enjoy it that way.

Kudo's to Keith.

I won't be moved over to wordpress for a little while longer.

Don't forget to check out my renter.

My kind of blogger.

My new address.

This will be my new address.

Average Businessman

I don't think I'll fully activate it until blogger is out of beta and I can import my posts.

For those of you thinking of leaving blogger, and I highly recommend it, import your posts prior to switching because they do not import to wordpress frOm the beta version that is going on.

Switching

A little addition so just read yesterday's post.

I think I am switching to wordpress, will look later on to see if I can get my averagebusinessmanname over there. I'll wait until my renter is finished renting and then move.

I do not like this at all - signing in with my google name bugs me.

To much google following me aroung going on.


I have just learned it is not possible to import my posts to wordpress from this beta version of blogger.
grrrrr.

So to anyone thinking of switching. Import your blog posts first.

I am landlord

As you can see I am a lowly Insect in the system.

I am on a quest to become a Slimy Mollusc.

I was surprised to be as high as Insect AFTER ONLY A YEAR , so I am celebrating my good fortune.

I am getting the hang of this blogging thing now.

Link to me and tell me and I will link back.

I know some of my cyber friends will have great disdain for this tactic, Cooper I do mean you specifically, but I have no pride; I'm in Marketing.

I do not link to blogs filled with hatred, racism or any of that garbage otherwise
lay it on me.

I even link to blogs about shoes.


If only I didn't have to work I could sit in front of the computer all day reading blogs.


Please check out my renter over there on the sidebar.

Scooter McGavin's 9th Green
Eclectic mix of pop culture and some golf.

Go say hello and tell him I sent you.

Shayna is having a one year party soon and here's to to MJ, who disappeared but the old " if not for " I would not have read cooper or shayna's blogs and not have found the rest.


I am not happy with this beta version of Blogger: it bothers me that Google now owns everything, and has access to both my blog and my mail and can link them together and all sorts of havoc with my life should I decide to go into say, espionage or politics.

I am investigating Wordpress and so far I like it.

Less invasive as far as I'm concerned.

Good afternoon.

Sunday review.

I was going to switch to blogger beta but I figure it is too new and as much as I post in this blog I don't really need to switch yet.

I have never shied away from new things but it is just not worth any headaches that might ensue.

US politics 'obsessed' with ads

Nothing more true.

Finding cash to fund TV commercials is "the only thing that matters in American politics now", former US Vice-President Al Gore has said.

"The person who has the most money to run the most ads usually wins," he told the Edinburgh TV Festival.

It was "astonishing" that the average American devoted nearly five hours a day to TV viewing, he added.

And Mr Gore asserted the internet was making TV more accessible and letting people join a "multi-way conversation".

He called this an important move because people could find and distribute information, and then watch as it was judged by others in terms of quality.

Does the average American really devote five hours a day to TV viewing?
That is awfully high and if so it is no wonder we are in such a state.
I watch golf, and Curb your Enthusiam when I have the time, and I catch a few movies on the old HBO, but five hours?

Where does work, reading, family and fun fit in?


Adding this for fun. Stolen from Pia.

Your Fortune Is

The best way to save face, is to keep the lower part of it shut.

The Wacky Fortune Cookie Generator

Forgot to remind everyone to check out the new interview on My Music Highway. Or click on that long board at the right.

I want to thank Alice for that picture of Gin ( Bombay Saphire to be exact ) it almost makes me want gin, and I don't care for gin. It might have been the birth control pills that make the picture interesting.;0

This guy { they call him a zenformation professional} is not your average librarian, at least according to my wife who has proclaimed him “hot ".

My wife is a thirty year old attorney and it is rare she uses the term " hot " unless she is talking about the soup I so lovingly prepare for her when she is ill, or the stove when she mistakenly lays her hand on it.( this happens often as the stove is still pretty unfamiliar territory to my wife ).

I lied, I switched and now I'm tired.

Heading our to get some really hot Mexican food.

Vacation Over.

We’re back and it was worth every "relaxing sit on my ass except for golf" minute.

Our son loved the beach, I think too much because we couldn't drag him away without something that resembled a seizure occurring.

I am just getting my home office situated and have made several trips in and out of the city over the last couple of days, so I haven't had time to write anything.

We got home Sunday just in time to catch Tiger's twelfth win.

There was never a doubt.

He is the greatest golfer of all time.

I'm going to check out the " blogger beta" and see if I want to switch over.

I am going to check out all my favorite bloggers now and I have to get to the questions for the music highway project and go take another look at cooper's knees and of course catch up with Pia after her vacation.

Before I go.

Leaving Saturday very early, I've been packing all week in order to make sure we have room to fit the golf clubs in the car.

I'm not sure how much blog reading I'll get in while away, if any, but I am going to try to take a look here and there.

My son has been to the beach only once. I think he'll enjoy it this year. He is old enough to appreciate the sand, and not just for purposes of consumption, now.

I'm sure all the psuedo Republicans will be coming out in support of Lieberman now.

I joined the music highway you can see by my banner over on the right. Great idea - more highways on the internet where we find out little things about people.

Penn and Teller - several free videos for you to enjoy. Worth it if you do't get Show.
Digg has a purpose after all.

Alice makes a point about pubic hair and vows to start a web ring for bloggers who don't care one way or the other about pubic hair fashion. I love that girl.

Nothing much.

Woods Finishes Off Field for 50th PGA Tour Title

Trying to find the video of the apple that rolled acrosse the green on one of his putts but can't find it. Saw it this morning on the news.


I joined The Music Highway you can see it on the left.

Watching Wrestling Linked to Teen Dating Violence - This is some crazy stuff. Consider who watches this stuff.
Did they consider level of education, IQ , routine environmant?

Dementia risk linked to lifestyle:

Scientists at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden have identified risk predictors in middle age that could help identify people more likely to suffer dementia in later life. They include education, raised blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, obesity and lack of exercise, which are similar to risk factors for heart disease and strokes.

"The key point for all these factors is lifestyle changes," Miia Kivipelto, the lead researcher, said in an interview.

I'm going to take my walk now.

Hot Hot Hot

This time of year is often full of local tragedy.

Yesterday several baseball players from the local minor league franchise of the Orioles collapsed at their game and had tobe brought to the hospital with
heat exhaustion.

I just read a high school football player died somewhere in Georgia due to heat stroke.

Last year a young man died at the academy here where they train fire fighters; he died after a five mile run on over ninety degree heat.

I know the next month will be full of this kind of thing.

I wonder when people will figure out that it is not worth it.

My wife, as some of you know, is a lawyer and is currently in Chicago.

You'd think it would be temperate there but she has informed me that it is extremely hot in the city this week and she wishes she were in Canada instead. That wasn't an option.



I'm doing my part in not running any heavy duty appliances during peak times.



I took my son swimming last evening after six and it was horrible even at that time.
Kid for some reason don't seem to notice it.

Everyone stay out of the heat will ya.

I know you've seen this a hundred times but I like it.

I'm working at home in the lower level of the house because it is quite cool being partially underground.

Even two heat pumps doesn't cut it this time of year and at the end of the day the upstairs is hot no matter what we do.

Can't trust em

It scares me that we really can't trust the people who make our bridges and possibly our homes and office buildings.

Nor can we trust the people who drive our ships.

We already know we can't trust our government.

What's next?

Vacation plans.

I have this nifty little program that holds blog and email address so when I want to go to them I can just click and paste.

I have made a few mistakes and put other people blogs or email address in when I am not paying attention.

I think I put cooper's address in one and shayna's address on one today so far.

So girls forgive me I am babysitting while working at home.

We are heading to the beach in North Carolina next the second week of August.

This is a " with kid" vacation.

Quiet place, reading time and golf along with some ocean activities.

I hope the weather holds out with no hurricanes.

I'm not sure about internet access; it is probably nil unless we hit a cafe.

We are bringing along two teenagers as paid babysitters for the times when we want a little piece and quiet. They will be responsible for four children ages two and a half thru four.

I'm hoping this isn't too much for them.

Tiger does not come up short today

Three of a kind
Tiger comes up clutch to win third British, 11th major

One month after missing the cut for the first time in a major, Woods was ruthless as ever on the brown-baked links of Royal Liverpool, making three straight birdies to turn away a spirited challenge by Chris DiMarco and win golf's oldest championship for the second straight year.

I wish they would not ask those incredibly stupid questions afterwards.

Listening to his interview on the Golf Channel, and having to hear the incessant questions about his father and what he is going to do tonight is frustrating.

He won, he ain't going away for some time, he will break all records if he chooses


Tiger admitted to planning a celebration with his drink of choice but when asked if they could ask what his drink of choice was he said "no", then changed it to " yes you can ask you just did". He declined to answer what that drink of choice was but said he will have more than a few.I believe the exact quote was " as many as I want".

Going to play a round of golf.

Later folks.

Birthday Wishes.

It occured to me that I should have wished Pia Savage a Happy Birthday on my blog.

I just got a ping from Cooper's blog and my memory was tipped.

The news is so overwhelming that I have taken a few days off from any kind of posting while I let it all sink in.

That and something seems to be wrong with blogger some of the time.

So many things.

So many things going in and just when I decided to update this thing a killer storm looms out of the west.

I'll be back.

A manly man screamed because of this????????????????

Looking at it this way is a little embarrassing.

I recovered quickly.



Blood Saves

A Manly man I am and keep your Jesus off My Penis.

I will post a picture of the snake we got out of our shed later.

We have a shed where we keep the lawn equipment; it’s a cool manly shed where the lawn tool and lawn mower are kept.

When I need to feel manly I head out to the shed and grab me a lawn mower, a hoe, or a rake and get to work.

Embarrassingly enough yesterday while in the shed, doing things that manly men do, I came upon a large black snake.

The scream that erupted from my manly mouth was heard halfway around the world.

Don't tell anyone.

Not to be irreverent but I saw this on BIO this morning and it cacked me up.

Forgive me.

I don't get out much.

It's a bird, it's a plane..........it's a missile

China and Russia - expletive times ten.

UN weighs sanctions on North Korea

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Japan, backed by the United States and Britain, called on Wednesday for a U.N. Security Council resolution imposing sanctions on North Korea for its series of missile launches.

But Russia and China, after an emergency council meeting, made clear they would oppose any sanctions. Both nations, who have veto power, favor a weaker council statement.

Saying Russia had "serious concerns" about North Korea's actions, Ambassador Vitali Churkin said he opposed sanctions and favored a diplomatic solution.

Leiberman go home.

First Aid for Firework Nights ?????????

My tired old butt is going to watch fireworks from my house.

The neighbors will set them off at 9:30.

There is a lot of land here but I can't help but feel the need to tether my son to my side and carry the garden hose with me; that is if I dare get within fifty yards of these people.

You will understand my concern when I tell you that the people setting off these fireworks are husband and wife team, a sculptor and a cartoon artist respectively and I'm certain they haven't taken classes in firework production.

These are the “not legal in your state" kind of fireworks.

These are "The Big Ones".

Now I'm frightening myself.

Have a good one.

While I go google "first aid for fireworks".

Happy July 1st

Have a great weekend.

I hope it's extended.

Happy Weekend

Happy July 1st - 2006.

Have a great weekend.

Madness

Horrible rain,many roads flooded.

We lost electricity for a few hours yesterday and I think a couple hours today while we were working.

Madness I say, Madness.

Rainy weekend.

Raining like cats and dogs. Golf plans shot to hell too.

Can't do yard work.

We wanted to see "Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man" but the release is limited and not playing anywhere local.

W'ere going to opt for "Click".

Through a needle's eye
JooAng Daily Opinion

Despite all the hardships that occur in everyday life, occasions like this make it all worthwhile.

The world's richest person, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, announced that he would step down from day-to-day control at the company he founded to devote more time to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Out of his estimated personal wealth of $50 billion, he has announced that "only" $10 million will be set aside for his family, with the rest to be used for charity. We can easily understand how difficult the decision must have been to leave work at 51, at the peak of his career.

Mr. Gates said at a press conference that he had decided to change his priority from work to charity. He said he had an obligation to return his wealth to society in the best way possible.

This is a breath of fresh air to Koreans, who have been accustomed to seeing the wealthy using dirty methods to hand over their riches to their offspring as long as they can get away with it.

Through Mr. Gates, we are able to learn that wealth can truly be a wonderful medium. He made human life more convenient by developing computer software and, thanks to his charity efforts, the whole world will become a brighter and more comfortable one.

The Bible says that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.

The world will lose one of its best entrepreneurs, but at the same time it has gained a great person to respect. It seems fitting to present Mr. Gates with the nickname, "The Great Gates."

We hope that his recent decision sets an example all of the rich people in the world and imposes an ethical burden on them.

It must have taken some mind searing thought to come to the decision that his family could live off of ten billion dollars.

Good for him despite it all. Now maybe someone can come up with a really good Widows Platform.

I've finally gotten off my ass and added a few links, links I may read. Most of them are stolen from Miss Alice because she has good links and doesn't fall into a trap of linking everyone who comes along or linking the most popular blogs. The only expcetion she made is joining that cult.

I added the librarian guy even though he looks like James Dean and may have to eventually give up and add the Wombat even though the amount of attention that boy gets from those women
is enough to stir up that little green monster.

Weekend Gone

Opponents Make Progress Toward Referendum


Lawmakers: Early Voting Rights Will Boost Ballot Numbers

In a year where Dems are only keeping their fingers crossed with very little hope of taking district eight and district six from Republican incumbants Erlich is doing his Republican best to make sure it doesn't happen.

Father's Day weekend was great, I ended up having to work a few hours, got in a round of golf and wathed Phil Mickelson blow one of the surest wins in the history of golf.

Father's Day

History/ Faather's Day / wikipedia

United States

In the United States, the driving force behind the establishment of the celebration of Father's Day was Mrs. Sonora Smart Dodd, born in Creston, Washington. Her father, the Civil War veteran William Jackson Smart, as a single parent raised his six children in Spokane, Washington. She was inspired by Anna Jarvis's efforts to establish Mother's Day. Although she initially suggested June 5, the anniversary of her father's death, she did not provide the organizers with enough time to make arrangements, and the celebration was deferred to the third Sunday of June. The first Father's Day was celebrated on June 19, 1910, in Spokane.

Unofficial support from such figures as William Jennings Bryan was immediate and widespread. President Woodrow Wilson was personally so feted by his family in 1916. President Calvin Coolidge recommended it as a national holiday in 1924. In 1966, President Lyndon Johnson made Father's Day a holiday to be celebrated on the third Sunday of June. The holiday was not officially recognized until 1972, during the presidency of Richard Nixon.

For me it s a day where I will get to eat food never usually found in this vegetarian encalve.

No Time for Blogging Just Reading

I won't have a lot of time for blogging this week I'm putting together a couple of proposals for a joint business venture I hope to become involved in soon.

I'm reading a few blogs here and there so I am staying on top of the blog reading.

I have been establishing a home office and this has been beneficial to my family, and believe it or not, I get more work done at home than I do in the city.

I live it what was once considered rural around here.
No longer rural but still a little way from the mainstream I enjoy spending office hours looking at birds out of the large window of my home office. I also get to spend countless hours with my son so call me what you will I’m having a good time.

Opinions - and changing template

Currently playing with template and switching to blogrolling so links may disappear for some time.


Nothing like a day off in the middle of the week and golf from seven till noon to put me in good spirits.

Michelle Wie did not make the cut and frankly at age sixteen it is probably a good thing. She did hang tough until yesterday I give her that.

I agree in some respects with this assessment from Sports Fan Magazine.

Before I get all the nasty e-mails, I am not a "Michelle Wie hater". I think she is a prodigious talent for a 16 year old; I would not argue if someone were to say she is the best golfer in the world of high school age; I think she shows poise and grace playing the game; I think she should become an outstanding professional golfer if she does not succumb to the monetary temptations outside the game that take time away from her game. I also think she is reaching way beyond her current capabilities in trying to play - and make the cut - on the men's PGA Tour. Maybe some day, but not yet. Right now, it would really be worth something to put some substance behind all the hype that is her created image - such as to win a tournament somewhere against players of some stature greater than high school students or amateurs in Hawaii. It's really been a while since she's won a tournament of any kind let alone one of any import. It's getting to be that time when one draws comparisons between her and Anna Kournikova. We're not there yet, but we're getting close...

Except having watched her play I think there is more substance and I don't see any indication that she will go the way of Kournikova, and besides that who can blame Anna for succumbing to the monetary temptations which were there without her having to work twelve hours a day in the hot sun on a hard court.

Alice opines on the Rolling Stone /Duke Lacrosse article.
She questions the articles intentions and hopes that it is mere parody.
Sadly I think no parody exists in this case.

This just makes me want to yell.

Heck with it all.

June 3 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush, calling marriage the ``most enduring and important human institution,'' urged Congress to pass a constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage in the U.S.

``Ages of experience have taught us that the commitment of a husband and a wife to love and to serve one another promotes the welfare of children and the stability of society,'' Bush said in his weekly radio address. ``Government, by recognizing and protecting marriage, serves the interests of all.''

The Senate Judiciary Committee last month approved, along party lines, a proposed constitutional amendment to define marriage as a union between a man and woman. The Republican- controlled Senate might vote on the measure as soon as next week. It has little chance of passage because it would require a two- thirds majority, and Republicans have just 55 of the 100 seats.

Ridiculous enough to drive me mad.

Please tell me how this is going to help any in this country?

Aren't they supposed to be passsing laws that will increase our abilty or get healthcare and a decent education?

The universe is falling apart sir and this is what you concentrate on?

The Purpose of Memorial Day

The purpose in all its simplicity is not to support anything in particular or to go on a three day shopping binge.


The purpose of Memorial Day is to honor our war dead and reflect upon the sacrifices they, and their families, made for our country.

That is where my thoughts are today.

I'm adding a link to a post at BIO which is heartbreaking.

I'm going to edit this because Pia has a beautiful post up and cooper has a funny dis against " right wing rock list " and American Idol that I think are worth noting for all the ten people visting this blog each day.

Holiday Approaching

I don't care about the Clinton marriage one way or the other. Are we not just a little too concerned about things that really don't affect us and not nearly concerned enough about things that should.

We'll be doing some entertaining this weekend which means we don't have to travel.

Friends and family from out of town and one day of complete peace is looking good right now.

I don't have much to write because , face it, I am a boring writer. I am a consultent for a Marketing firm and I do that well but writing in this blog well some would say"man that's just wrong"; not just some, my brother said it just the other day when I showed it to him.

My brother is one of those people who suggests thing like classes on firewalking classes for entertianment.

There are still a lot of people out there who do not read blogs. There are even more who read them but do not have them.

I think a campaign to the world to entice everyone in this country to blog would be great.

Post Preakness Blues.

I went to my first Derby this year and decided to go to the Preakness.
As many have already heard I'm sure it was a sad situation that occured when the Kentcuky Derby winner broke his leg. The last line of this article is true.

Regardless of Barbaro's ultimate fate, many fans in 2006 will have the same reaction as their counterparts in 1975. They will find it difficult to watch a Thoroughbred race or muster enthusiasm for the sport for a long, long time.

The place was madenss for sometime afterward. There were even a few threatened arrests of a news team froma local NBC affiliate.

I don't know that much about horse racing. A gentelman next to me said something about this case scenario beibg a hazard of running three year olds. This , I guess means that they are young and the anticiaption of the race and the adremilin produced there of nothandled as well by a three year old.

Another thing someone told me and which I was unaware is that a three year old horse is actually often closer to two years old in human bio terms.

The whole thing was horrifying.

Nice day out and I am not dealing with grubs today.

Hope you are all having a great weekend.

Thursday Rant.

What ever happened to this guy?

Listened to the general this morning sorry I am not convinced.

I may be the only one but that's the way it is.

Will Gay Marriage Sway Election?

Can we not just let people live their own lives and get on with real legislation.
Something that will help out the average American and something that really needs to be addressed.

EDUCATION -- COLLEGE GRADS FACE BURDENSOME STUDENT DEBT: While the USA Today reports some good news that college graduates are entering the best hiring market in the past few years, the Christian Science Monitor notes that those same students will be burdened by massive student debt. "Student-loan debt encumbers almost two-thirds of the Class of 2006, according to federal statistics. With tuition costs continuing to rise far faster than inflation and interest rates on federal student loans about to increase, the debt load for future graduates is set to become so heavy that it's likely to turn more students away from low-paying occupations like teaching." As the Center for American Progress recently reported, the growing student debt is hurting American families. The debt of the typical American family earning about $45,000 a year rose 33.1 percent from 2001 to 2004, primarily due to the increasing costs of education, housing, and health care. But as "60 Minutes" documented recently, the debt crunch for students has provided great business for federal loan providers. Federal student loans are now a $62 billion industry, according to the College Board. "With rates rising and tuition outpacing inflation, there is no end in sight to the student debt escalator."

Mother's Day Thoughts on Blogs.

I’ve gotten away from the pox for a few minutes.

I’m going to try not to mention grubs or my lawn.

It has been rainy on and off, and cold so that won’t be hard.

It was a pox ridden weekend but it wasn’t bad. He has a mild case due to vaccination and he seems to be no worse for wear.

I’m going with something different tonight in the few minutes I have online.

First let's start with Darfur, something I knew very little about until on reading
political notio , sometime last summer, I started to read comments from a girl called Alice, from wonderland or not and consequently began reading her blog.

My full intention was to read mainly political blogs, a fair share which are on my newsreader. Alice had more of a mixture and she was a younger blogger than those I had planned to be reading. Nevertheless I started to read and was capitivated.

It wasn't a political blog per say it was a personal blog but it was full of politics and humor and an intelligent and sometimes raw banter which I enjoyed and would not have expected to find from a twenty year old.

Alice's is where I first heard about Darfur and lately the talk about Darfur on the web and otherwise has been heading in a direction leaning more toward the real solution instead of the pretense of being concerned. I feel a real solution is something that is going to be difficult to arrive at but if it is keep in the news we surely will have to try. I thank Alice for bringing Darfur to my attention and for also thinking about it and making posts beyond the basic humanitarian effort.

She started a new blog devoted totally to Darfur and so far my favorite post there is
Considerations on Darfur: Is it Genocide? Again and of course the Darfur: Happy Mother's Day post hit home, pictures always do.


Political Notio is where I found people could actually discuss politics and not yell it or ram it down my throat. Womderland or Not is where I found out that there is hope for the future as there is wit and brilliance and humanity there and not all twenty - year old spend all day watching MTV or shopping and when they do it is funny.




In case you missed Al Gore on SNL.








I'm going to leave this Sunday night with one opinion and I know that there is a lot of wavering on this. I think Bush should be impeached but not only impeached but possibly hanged.

The Pox

NEWS OF THE WEIRD
By Chuck Shepherd

LEAD STORY

A Texas jury decided in 1991 that Steven Kenneth Staley, now 43, should be put to death for killing a restaurant manager, but three days before his February 2006 date with destiny, psychologists testified that he is mentally ill, and the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that a mentally ill person cannot be executed. The solution, declared state judge Wayne Salvant in April, is for the state to inject Staley with enough psychotropic medicine to make him sufficiently sane to understand why he is going to die, at which point he can be killed. (In similar cases, drugs improved Charles Singleton enough for his 2004 execution in Arkansas, but have failed since 1999 to restore Texan Emanuel Kemp's competency.)

Justice is totally messed up in this country.


My son has The Chicken Pox.

My wife has a conference for which she left with much prodding on my part. I was planning to work at home all weekend anyway. Sixty percent of my work is done at my home office because most of it is consulting.


Chicken Pox is visually quite and ugly condition even when mild. My son has a mild case. I am guessing it is because he was vaccinated.

I wish you all a good weekend and a Happy Mother's Day.

Post Kentucky Derby and Killing Grubs.

The Baltimore Orioles stayed in the game with four home runs and then got a much-needed win with a soft single. Coming off a road trip on which they went 0-5 and were outscored 35-12, the Orioles rallied three times for a 7-6 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday night.

Yea, they needed it.

The Derby was a very interesting affair. The weather was excellent and I drank a lot. The horses were spectacular to look at. It was nice to get away from it all and do something different. The winner boards in Maryland. I think I’ll be heading to the Preakness this year.



I keep meaning to expand the base of blogs I read on a daily basis but for some reason by the time I get through with the ones I do read I never have time.
Cooper has a interesting read at Darfur: An Unforgivable Hell on Earth. The girl does think. She also refuses to pontificate on Virgin Pledges at Wonderland or Not but makes us laugh anyway. MJ is doing something different with his blog as well by mixing it up and I like it.

Shayna is alive and well after a close call and
Patriotic Cowgirl just returned from the Derby as well and Pia at Courting Destiny does what she does best. Write

I've got to deal with a lawn that appears to have some grub problems. See you all later.

Post Kentucky Derby and Killing Grubs.

The Baltimore Orioles stayed in the game with four home runs and then got a much-needed win with a soft single. Coming off a road trip on which they went 0-5 and were outscored 35-12, the Orioles rallied three times for a 7-6 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday night.

Yea, they needed it.

The Derby was a very interesting affair. The weather was excellent and I drank a lot. The horses were spectacular to look at. It was nice to get away from it all and do something different. The winner boards in Maryland. I think I’ll be heading to the Preakness this year.



I keep meaning to expand the base of blogs I read on a daily basis but for some reason by the time I get through with the ones I do read I never have time.
Cooper has a interesting read at Darfur: An Unforgivable Hell on Earth. The girl does think. She also refuses to pontificate on Virgin Pledges at Wonderland or Not but makes us laugh anyway. MJ is doing something different with his blog as well by mixing it up and I like it.

Shayna is alive and well after a close call and
Patriotic Cowgirl just returned from the Derby as well and Pia at Courting Destiny does what she does best. Write

I've got to deal with a lawn that appears to have some grub problems. See you all later.

The first of May.

Things have been busy and I have time to comment but nothing very elaborate to write.

Spring here is gorgeous and it is in full bloom.

Looks like Shayna got interviewed over at Political Notio.
It is a great interview if you haven't seen it.

Cooper has been at a rally in DC for Darfur.

She also reminds us of May Day in it's various forms.

We have been invited to the Kentucky Derby. Never having been and not being a horse person I'm not sure if we are going but I hear it is festive and fun and we have childcare for the day and evening.

I might just be headng down to Kentucky this weekend.

Weekends

Weekends are slow for most people as far as blogs are concerned.
Lately for me it is the only time I get to post.
My life is consumed with two marketing campaigns at this time and this is going to be going on for several more weeks.

I'm disappointed with the Oriole's pitching thus far.
It is early in the season so my fingers are crossed.

Many things I was able to scroll through today and it seems that Nepal is having some not so unexpected trouble.

Cooper makes note of a Bin Laden tape at her Darfur: An Unforgiveable Hell on Earth blog.

Shayna is busy but still manages to entertain us and touch our hearts at the same time.

Pia is having a guest poster this Monday.

I have a few more links I need to add to this thing when I get time. I am considering going to blog rolling sometime this week and handling it that way because it just appears easier.

Have a Good Weekend.

It's a great day here.
I'm going to play some golf and enjoy it while it lasts.
We have family coming on this evening and will hit up a new retaurant in town.

The country is going to hell and Bush, again, is standing by his man. This is getting very old.

I'm going to take the weekend off and worry about the fate of the world next week.

I get this " vision of doomsday" daily. I have a son I'd like him to know a different world.

Have a good weekend.

Not all That.

I'm having a hard time keeping up with it all.
The working vacation I took not too liong ago has resulted in a lot more loose ends than I had anticipated.

The weather here is great today and I am thinking of getting in a late afternoon round of golf. I suck at golf but I play sometimes and every year a week or so after the Master's I get in a few holes.

Baseball season has sprung and I just don't know what's going on with those Orioles.
They haven't had a good year in some time and every year the fingers stay crossed until it is evident there will be no redemption.


I'll get to a more elaborate post this weekend.

Everyone take care noe.