Kathy Augustine murder case continues to be a mystery, unless you have paid attention.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Obama
was in Carson City earlier in the day, which begs the question why in the hell he ran a half-hour late for his Reno speech.
After all, Carson City is only about 30 miles south of Reno.
More Barack.
He went to PTA meetings, barber shops and beauty shops. He said people would ask him two questions. One of them was how he got the name "Barack Obama." After joking about some of the names people called him, he explained to people he got his name from his dad, who was a Kenyan. His mother was from Kansas, certainly an interesting combination. The second question bears on the presidential race. Why would you go into something dirty and nasty as politics? That's because it is a result of cynicism. We get a sense people are long on rhetoric and short on follow through. Half of us don't vote. Half of those who do vote vote against the other candidate. Mentioned the lesser of two evils. At most we hope the government doesn't do us harm. He talked about when we start believing again, the lobbyists and so forth hold sway. They lead us down a path good for the few but bad for the many. There was a sense of discouragement in his first race and is true now. There has always been another tradition in politics, which he talked about in his 2004 speech. The idea we are all connected as a people, that we have mutual responsibilities, no matter where we live. We have mutual impact. Talked about veterans eating out of dumpsters because of no services and how that diminishes our patriotism.
We as Americans take pride in our individualism, in our self-reliance, but we also believe in the idea of community, that we are all in it together, that we aren't all on our own. The idea has been lost over the past six years. The whole philosophy seems to be "you're on your own." Obama then ran through a litany of things that have happened to far too many Americans, but the attitude of those running our government is "you're on your own." I always like it when politicians hit on the same catchphrase, which helps tie their speeches nicely together.
He believes America wants to "turn a new page" from the politics of selfishness. They want a government that reflects the "core decency" of the American people, and that's what they are going to get in 2008.
We can do better than we're doing right now. It's possible to turn the page and create the health care system that serves every single American. It makes no sense to spend 2 trillion a year and have the worst outcomes...He talked about his new health care plan. He believes in affordable health care for all. "We can do it without breaking the bank." Talked about online medical records, prevention, and take some smart sense we can have universal health care and not have to wait twenty years for it. Obama promised we would have it by "the end of my first term."
People want to turn the page on the education system, which is leaving too many children behind. Obama talked about the lack of funding for NCLB, a law that should be ditched. Talked about what we need to do in school, early childhood education is important. There is no reason why we can't have those investments and teachers paying more. Give teachers the resources they need. We need to have more respect for teachers.
Obama talked about the energy crisis and climate change. The planet is getting warmer, and nobody has a greater stake than the people out West. We need to increase fuel efficiency standards to decrease our dependence on foreign oil. Talked about alternative fuels, trapping greenhouse gases, we could create a new technology that would provide green jobs.
We can turn a page on the economy. Talked about Dow Jones at an all-time high while families are living from paycheck to paycheck. We know what it takes to raise the minimum wage, and invest in economic development in cities and in rural areas, invest in educating new engineers and scientists for new technologies, and people having the right to organize unions.
People know we need to turn a page in our foreign policy. Obama hit upon the war in Iraq, a war we never should have been involved in, costing us a half a trillion dollars and over 3,400 lives. Talked about Afghanistan and drew a contrast between that and Iraq. Talked about his early opposition to the war in Iraq, which he voiced in 2002, when he ran for the Senate. He introduced legislation this year a bill about a phased withdrawal from Iraq. It was a responsible plan but realizes there would not be a military solution to the problem. People want a thoughtful, clear plan. We passed a timetable for withdrawal but our dictator vetoed it. He thinks Iraq is like Korea, that we may be there for decades to come. "That is not acceptable. That is not the way to make us more secure. We have to bring this war to an end." We need to change the votes in support of a timetable, but we need sixteen more votes for a veto-proof majority. Urges people to urge their representatives and senators to support a timetable. Promised one of the first things he would do as president is end the mess in Iraq.
He wants to stand before the world that America is back, that we want to work with you and not against you on a variety of issues. He wants to close Guantanamo and restore habeus corpus, and other issues.
He is confident in his capacity to lead this country and confident the people will turn the page. He can do it if the people support him. Talked about Bloody Sunday of 42 years ago. Their adventures were hard, but millions of people saw what took place, and it changed their minds about civil rights. People joined in the Selma, Alabama, march and in the end the Civil Rights Act of 1965 became law. Going on that bridge 40 years later moved Obama. If it hadn't been for them he wouldn't have run for the U.S. Senate, he wouldn't have run for president, he wouldn't have been a rock star, he wouldn't have been the media darling of the year.
Obama closed with an upbeat message about believing in America again. That's how we ended slavery, how we got women the right to vote, how we got the end of the end of the Vietnam War, how we are going to end the Iraq War, and if we all stand together and believe in this better America, not only are we going to give Republicans a heck of a time, not only are we going to win this campaign, we are going to transform this country.
And that was the end of his speech which I paraphrased in my own inimitable style.
I stopped taping the speech, but Obama then added a few words about the importance of signing those pledge cards, although he has raised more money than almost anybody else in the campaign so far.
Barack Obama.
At a little bit after one this afternoon, Barack Obama took the stage. He thanked the previous speaker and other people who "charged the crowd up." He thanked everybody for coming out. It's hot, he likes it hot. Nothing wrong with hot, he noted. When you're from Chicago, there's nothing wrong with hot. It gets hot about three months a year there. He's been running for about four months now and it was an absolutely thrill. He met people from everybody from all walks of life from all over the country. He talked about the huge crowds he generated: 20,000 in Atlanta, 20,000 in Austin, 8,000 in Cleveland. He wondered how on earth he got to be standing in front of that many people. He said he wasn't from Chicago, he moved there after college. He said he was inspired by the civil rights movement. He was too young to participate in the movement but there was something about working for the betterment of America. He liked the bottom-up way the movement worked. He talked about his early career, where he made 12 grand a year and drove a broken-down old car. He worked in helping people in a variety of situations and found the work rewarding. He found that "ordinary people can do extraordinary things when given an opportunity."
Ordinary people want to be involved in their communities and such.
Then he talked about law school and getting involved in voter registration. He was involved in 150,000 voter registrations. He taught constitutional law after getting his degree. Some people later asked if he was interested in running for state office. He said he did what other politicians do, and that's pray and consult their wives. Obama said in effect he consulted two higher powers, God and his wife, and not necessarily in that order, to see if running for office was the right thing to do.
Obama is doing what he does best, and that's knowing how to pose for the cameras. I agree with the estimate of 4,000 people at the rally; there was no way it was only 1,000 people. (Andy Barron, Reno Gazette-Journal)
I
have tried to rehydrate myself after attending the Barack Obama rally at Wingfield Park. There were at least a couple of thousand people there jammed in the park, and believe me, it got damned hot before too long standing out in the sun.
I was standing behind the "VIP" areas that were roped off, and therefore I got a decent view of the event. However, Obama, who was going to speak at 12:30 so working people could attend the rally during lunch, was at least a half hour late. I was packed in like a sardine, like the Kerry rally of October 2004 at Lawlor, and it was pretty scary stuff. There was a lot of security, with police positioned at nearby Arlington Towers and the Washoe County Courthouse.
When he finally came in, he spoke for twenty minutes or so. He was lucky because he was wearing a light white shirt with the sleeves rolled up part of the way. I will admit he is a good speaker, although not in the league of a Barbara Jordan or a Mario Cuomo, but a good speaker. He would have made a good car salesman. He made damned sure he pronounced "Nevada" right. It was much appreciated by the audience. When John McCain mispronounced the state during his visit, the crowd didn't let him forget it (in his case it being odd because he is from Arizona). I recorded Obama's speech, and if I get any ambition at all, I will give a summary.
I did take some pictures following the speech, but I don't think any of them will turn out that great. As always after a candidate's speech, I made sure I got up very close. I was no more than a couple of feet away from the senator, but he didn't sign much in the way of autographs, if any at all, and I didn't get to shake his hand. I just missed that.
But I'll tell you, by the time he left, there was practically nobody left in the park. Everybody was in a hurry to get back to work. In fact, quite a few people left early.
Barack should have known better.
Our Dictator
uses all kinds of rhetoric to justify the continued mess in Iraq, but his talk doesn't match the truth, as usual.
The Booming Economy Casualty List for 5/24-5/31.
The majority of the USSC once again proves it is not on the side of working people.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Presidential Notes II.
Fred Thompson edges closer to a formal bid.
As has been pointed out in many places, Republicans will scream and bitch about Hollywood, but when it comes to candidates, they love the Hollywood types.
_____
Barbaro News.
One of the Big Stories
of the past couple of days is the modern day version of Typhoid Mary.
That guy had a lot of gall to care more about his wedding and honeymoon than public safety.
Jeff Gerth
has once again reared his discredited head and has a new book coming out trashing Hillary Clinton.
And since he has chosen to get into the spotlight, it's time to reexamine his rather shoddy journalistic techniques.
Presidential Notes.
Obama's Reno appearance tomorrow is generating some excitement.
I may attend the event tomorrow.
_____
Because Few People
can afford to retire, many people continue to work until they literally can't work anymore.
Naturally there are some who "choose" to work, but most can't.
As the World Turns.
A Medford, Oregon, man made it up Mt. Everest and survived to tell the tale.
But he is haunted by the deaths of others:
I have been looking through my pictures from my eight-day summit bid. One is of two dead Korean bodies that were being lowered down the mountain while I ascended the Khumbu Icefall for the seventh and last time. That was a bad day on Everest. Five climbers were killed in one day. It was a sad sight to have to step over the Koreans' bodies and look into the eyes of their surviving teammates who were on the edge of tears as they lowered their comrades down the icefall.
In all, I stepped over or passed by six dead climbers while on my summit bid. Of course one was Scott Fischer (Mountain Madness founder) and another a Sherpa who died in 1991 on the upper mountain. I also sat down and took a break in the exact spot that Rob Hall died on the South Summit. It reminded me of how dangerous climbing Everest is and how I needed to try to focus my hypoxic brain at all times or I would be going home in a box myself.
Two days later Pemba Sherpani fell 1,800 vertical feet to her death down the Lhotse Face. Although I did not see her fall, I did see her broken body lying up on the Lhotse Face, which claimed two climbers' lives this season. When Willie, Jaime and I arrived in Camp III, the Sherpas recovering Pemba's body lowered her down into our campsite for the night. I ended up seeing her shattered body up close which once again shocked reality into me of how a simple mistake on the Lhotse Face leads to a long fall.
So you would take pictures of the dead? What in the hell?
Mountainteers are batshit to begin with. This is not something to brag about.
_____
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Delta and Dawn
are just about ready to make it to the Pacific Ocean, but there are still risks ahead for the pair.
Presidential Notes II.
Eight Individuals,
including famed trainer John Veitch, who trained Alydar, and horses Moms Command and Silver Charm, will be inducted into horse racing's Hall of Fame.
Veitch, 61, retired from training in 2003 and is now chief steward in Kentucky. Silver Charm, who won the 1997 Kentucky Derby and Preakness before faltering in the Belmont, is at stud in Japan.
Hopefully he has a "Ferdinand" clause in his sale agreement so he doesn't wind up like the 1986 Horse of the Year--in the slaughterhouse.
Presidential Notes.
The corruption of the political process continues unabated, aided and abetted by corporate interests.
_____
Monday, May 28, 2007
Frank Buckles
describes what it was like to serve in World War I.
Buckles, 106, is one of only three surviving American World War I veterans and the youngest.
Snip:
Besides Buckles, the VA has identified the only other living World War I veterans as Harry Landis, a 107-year-old living in Sun City Center, Fla., and Russell Coffey, a 108-year-old in North Baltimore, Ohio.
After the last Navy veteran and the last American woman to serve in World War I died days apart in March, the VA made a public appeal to identify any other veterans of the war, but found no others, said VA spokesman Matt Burns.
...
Canada and Britain will mark the end of a generation with a tribute after the last World War I veteran dies. There are four or five living veterans in Britain and at least one in Canada, according to historians. In the U.S., the VA and historians have only begun talking about how to commemorate World War I veterans. Paul said the story of "the war to end all wars" has been eclipsed by the "Greatest Generation" of Americans who fought in World War II.
As the World Turns.
Actor Charles Nelson Reilly, a fixture on television talk shows and game shows, has died at the age of 76.
He was an openly gay actor. Not that it matters, but the article made mention of it.
_____
Presidential Notes.
Naturally to run for president these days, one has to be rich or have rich connections.
Of course the WSWS saves its biggest bile for John Edwards, for he basically steals their thunder about economic inequality.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
I Haven't
seen the PBS documentary, but searching the web I found this interesting information about "Typhoid" Mary Mallon.
The linked article seeks to explain why, after she was quarantined and told repeatedly not to work in jobs requiring the handling of food, she continued to work as a cook.
It appears other options weren't avaiable to her that would have allowed her to sustain a halfway decent living.
CourtTV's Crime Library has more.
Presidential Notes II.
Since Jesus hasn't returned to Earth as of yet to take over the world, theocrats have to settle for the bottom of the barrel in the GOP; unfortunately for them it's slim pickings for next year.
They are very unhappy, but in the end I think they will back whoever the party bosses nominate.
_____
Presidential Notes.
Democratic candidates still persist in their wrongheaded campaign to boycott Fox for the debates.
How is it worse that Brit Hume or any of the other Fox people moderate debates and ask questions than the rotten job Brian Williams or Chris Matthews did for MSNBC?
Actually Fox did WAY better with the Republican debate of a couple of weeks ago. That was good.
Democrats shouldn't act chickenshit.
_____
As the World Turns.
Other towns are being hit with library closures.
_____
Now it's okay for medical experiments to be conducted without your consent.
Just for fun, here is the article about the infamous David Reimer case, whereby a quack--excuse me, a distinguised doctor, the late John Money--helped force this person to take on a female identity when he was little as a result of a botched circumcision.
It was widely reported in the media in the early 1970s, and many feminists referred to the case as somehow challenging conventional ideas about male and female roles and identity.
Well, it was quackery, but unfortunately after a very difficult life, Reimer committed suicide in 2004.
_____
The Golden Gate Bridge turns 70 today.
_____
Delta and Dawn continue on their way to the Pacific Ocean as researchers try to determine what is causing the growths on their backs.
_____
Jimbo Eruptions.
Who could imagine Brian Krolicki being forced out of office before the dipshit governor?
Saturday, May 26, 2007
I Also
missed the 2005 death of racehorse Stop the Music, who, like Lyphard, spent his stud career at Gainesway Farm and lived to a very old age. He was 35 when he was euthanized.
This horse is probably best known for having handed Secretariat the second loss of his career. In the 1972 Champagne Stakes, Secretariat won the race, but he was disqualified for bearing in on Stop the Music, and so he was placed second.
For some reason many Gainesway/Greentree stallions live a very long time. Arts and Letters, 1969 Horse of the Year and Belmont Stakes winner, lived to be 32. Stage Door Johnny, winner of the 1968 Belmont, lived to be 31.
As the World Turns.
I Have Been Reading
Lawrence Scanlan's The Horse God Built, one of the few books solely devoted to Secretariat. This book is supposedly about Red's groom, Eddie Sweat, who was a big part of the champion's saga. Unfortunately, because he was paid so little for his efforts (trainer Lucien Laurin was notably tight-fisted about finances), Sweat died in 1998 penniless. He fared much worse than exercise rider Jimmy Gaffney, who has helped finance his retirement by selling off much of his extensive Secretariat memorabilia (for example, he had a grand total of 40 horseshoes the horse wore, and in one case, he sold one of those shoes for $13,000) on eBay and other venues.
Scanlan tries to straighten the record and give Sweat his due, although the author has a tendency to wander off into tangents. Still, it is a highly readable book.
This blog has a review of the book.
Well,
I certainly missed this little tidbit obituary of a couple of years ago, as I thought top racehorse and leading sire Lyphard had died a long time ago.
Incredibly, he lived to the ripe old age of 36 before being euthanized two years ago next month, which means he must have been one of the oldest thoroughbreds ever recorded, certainly the oldest top-flight racehorse and sire on record.
At least that I am aware of. I had long believed Gallant Man, who lived to be 34, was the oldest. He was certainly the oldest American classic winner on record.
John Henry could well outlast them all at the rate he is going.
This Writer
has some great things to say about writer Bill Nack's new book about racing great Ruffian.
I bought the book yesterday, along with Man O'War and The Horse God Built for possible summer reading. Nack's book is very thin, but he's such a great writer, it doesn't matter.
And yes, "Pure Heart" is probably the greatest magazine article of all time. Apparently that essay is in the latest edition of Nack's book about Secretariat.
It is interesting there are few books exclusively about Red. Nack's book, and Raymond Woolfe's coffee table book (first published in 1974 and since reissued a couple of times) covered everything about the champion. There aren't many writers out there who have anything to add of book length about this horse.
Presidential Notes.
No-shot Democratic candidate Dennis Kucinich has a six-foot-tall secret weapon.
Reading blogs and discussion boards, I have to laugh at the double standard. Possible Republican candidates Newt Gingrich and Fred Thompson are vilified for having far-younger wives, yet Kucinich is given a free pass.
Actually, this May-December crap, which might be appealing especially for young women, isn't so appealing to older women. A guy who marries a far younger woman and even has kids with her has some maturity issues, to say nothing about selfishness. What woman would go around with an old guy, waste all of her youth on him, and then, when he croaks, there aren't men out there anywhere near her age to grow old with?
When I was young, I didn't think it was any big deal to run around with far older men, but now the thought of it is appalling.
_____
Authors are going to make a killing trashing the Clintons.
_____
Friday, May 25, 2007
Jimbo Eruptions.
It's kind of misleading the title of this post, for this isn't about old Dipshit at all.
This is about the man who "would" be governor.
Presidential Notes.
Does Hillary Clinton hurt Bill Clinton's chances for a third term?
There is a conflict of interest that simply cannot be dismissed.
The Democrats
have come under (justifiable) attack regarding the continued funding for the Iraq war despite the fact the public is overwhelmingly in favor of bringing the troops home and getting out of there.
I suspect the congressional Democrats are looking to 2008, and they think that not voting for the funding would be viewed as not "supporting the troops." My feeling is they would support the troops if we'd just get the hell out of there.
But a lot of people are mad, and Democrats are going to have to do a lot of explaining.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Presidential Notes.
It's open season on Hillary Clinton.
Note that one of the books is co-written by Clinton liar Jeff Gerth, a man who should have been shitcanned by the NYT over his bogus Whitewater stories.
The Booming Economy Casualty List for 5/17-5/24.
Congress passes an increase in the minimum wage, but of course it won't become law.
The Great Sports Writer
William Nack, who wrote among other books the definitive book on Secretariat, gives his take on horse racing, both currently and in the past.
There is no doubt the 1970s were the pinnacle of the sport. I am very glad I was around then to see all of those great horses, either on television or in person or both.
Nack has a new book on the great filly Ruffian, a book I will get. As he notes in his comments, the death of Barbaro was far less painful to the sport than the death of Ruffian or even Go for Wand. The entire world got to see this wonderful horse try everything in his power to survive, and they also an education about how difficult it is to save even the best horses from the ravages of laminitis. That made the difference.
Ruffian could have possibly been saved today, although her fractures did break the skin. After all, the surgery to repair her leg was a success; it was her coming out of the anesthetic which ended up in her destruction. This day and age she would have been put in a pool until she woke up from surgery.
Nack's obituary of Secretariat, "Pure Heart," which appeared in Sports Illustrated some months after the champion's death, is one of the all-time great articles. I cried my eyes out when I read it, perhaps because I was lucky to see that horse just weeks before he came down with laminitis and had to be put down. I saw him July 31, 1989, only about a month before he got sick.
Here are a couple of comments from Nack about Secretariat:
Loma Rica, CA:
Who do you think was a better two year old, Ruffian or Secretariat?
Nack:
Dear Loma---This is a question that I have been asked many times and I deal with it this way. I think that Ruffian would have given Secretariat a terrible time of it going 5 ½ or six furlongs, as I think she probably would have whipped any two-year-old I’ve ever seen at those distances, but I do not believe that she or any two-year-old I have seen could have whipped Secretariat going a mile (as in the Champagne Stakes) or the 8.5 furlongs of the Laurel Futurity or the Garden State Stakes. His performance in the Laurel Futurity was simply magnificent, a juvenile display for the ages. He won in a laugher by eight lengths in 1:42 4/5s, just a tick off the track record, and no doubt would have crushed the record had Turcotte not folded up on him. I have long held that Ruffian’s wind-sail around Saratoga in the six-furlong Spinaway Stakes was just stupendous, the greatest performance ever by a two-year-old at Saratoga, at least in my time as a turfwriter, more impressive in its own way than Secretariat’s victory in the 1972 Hopeful Stakes, which he marked by a dazzling charge around the far turn that swept him from last to first in the blink of a tornado’s eye.
Yet, as fast as he ran that day, I see him having trouble catching Ruffian off that last turn at the Spa, with her coasting five in front at the quarter pole, ears pricked; in fact, every time I try to see it, she beats him to the wire as he charges to her side.
Alas, Loma, add another quarter mile to this scenario, including one more turn, and the whole thing changes.
I do not believe she could have handled him at any distance as a three-year-old.
And this:
Versailles, KY:
Really enjoyed your talk at Jo-Beth in Lexington the other evening. I was the guy with the copy of Big Red of Meadow Stable. Anyway, in a world of what if's who wins the Ruffian/Foolish Pleasure match, and a Dr. Fager/Secretariat at a flat mile?
Nack: I think she was a faster and better racehorse, but his busy career---against the best and toughest colts of his generation---gave him the edge in the match race. I talked to a lot of trainers about this before the event, and while they thought Ruffian was the greater of the two as a racehorse, most of them thought that he was the one who was going to take the most beating.
I think Secretariat beats Dr. Fager doing anything. Most people don’t realize how truly fast Secretariat was because he became a legend winning at classic distances, but Turcotte always said that Secretariat was the fastest pure running machine he’d ever been on, regardless of distances, and that, in a match race against Dr. Fager, he would run head and head with him until the turn for home and then, with that giant heart pumping Secretariat home, would draw away to win it.
The really great match race is Dr. Fager and Seattle Slew at a flat mile, Belmont Park, 126 pounds each..
How do you see that one?
Curlin
preps for the Belmont Stakes, to be held on June 8.
By that time I will be in Las Vegas. I might be able to catch the race there, but I won't be able to blog about it.
As the World Turns.
I Will Be
sure that when Sicko comes out on June 29 that I see it.
I suspect, however, Moore will insert himself into the documentary again. He has that habit, and it is irritating.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Gonzalesgate.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
This Man
gets the Darwin Award for his idiotic attempt to murder his girlfriend:
A man tried to kill his girlfriend Monday by parking their car in front of a speeding Metrolink commuter train, but instead died when debris from the crash struck him after he had been ejected from the car, police said.
His girlfriend, who was in the car when the train slammed into the vehicle's passenger side, was seriously injured but is expected to survive.
Homicide detectives said they were trying to determine the motive of the man, who was identified late Monday as Brandon Julius Funches, 21, of South Los Angeles. They said they believe he was trying to kill the 23-year-old woman, whose name was not released, and they were unsure whether he also intended to commit suicide.
Whether he intended it or not, he sure as hell did it.
Anti-Abortion Fanatics
are now emphasizing less on the so-called rights of the fetus and now are claiming banning legal abortion is for women's "good."
They've always had a thinly-veiled contempt for women anyway. After all, women are seen by them either as madonnas or whores, so they have to crack down on all of that illicit sexual behavior of uppity women and young girls.
The abortion debate was always about the status of women and how they are value in this society.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Given How
public attitudes and the courts have changed into accepting the bogus "right-to-die" arguments, it's no wonder disability rights activists are more than a little concerned about the return of eugenics.
Presidential Notes.
Governor Richardson has made it official.
_____
I thought Elizabeth Harper Kucinich was 31 and not 29.
Jesus, what in the hell was he thinking? A woman more than half his age, almost twice as tall, and with a tongue stud to boot.
Both of them are New Age nutballs, so I suppose they deserve each other.
_____
Vegetarians
would argue that stupidity, not the diet, was responsible for the baby's death.
But vegetarianism is mostly a quasi-religious lifestyle. It has less to do with health and science than it does with the zealotry their lifestyle is superior to everybody else's.
It isn't.
Former President Carter's
remarks blasting our dictator have gone largely ignored by the national media.
It's Time
to recognize the fact NCLB is a failure for a variety of reasons.
Not that Congress will pay a bit of attention, however.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Presidential Notes II.
Newt has decided to make his political comeback by pandering to the religious nuts. His claim is that "Christians" are under "siege" by the nasty secularists.
Never mind the truth non-Christians, agnostics, and atheists are far more persecuted in this country.
The Baltimore Sun's Jerry Jackson caught Curlin and Street Sense right at the wire in yesterday's Preakness.
I decided to post the YouTube of Secretariat's 1973 Belmont Stakes win, even though I have the race on tape and on DVD.
I might add the Derby and Preakness as well.
Presidential Notes.
The DNC has a giant mess on its hands now that Florida wants to leapfrog over almost every other state in the primary process.
The frontloading of primaries is utterly ridiculous in the first place. Next thing you know, we will have primaries later this year instead of early next year.
_____
Andrew Beyer
was quite impressed with Curlin's Preakness victory yesterday.
The colt began to gain ground, stride by stride, and Street Sense -- who had finished so powerfully to win the Derby -- couldn't offer resistance. Racing fans may debate whether this was all Curlin's doing, or whether Street Sense lacks a killer instinct in such situations, but the two combatants hit the wire almost simultaneously. The finish was so close that television viewers couldn't tell who won, but Borel knew. He turned to his friend Albarado and said, "You got me!" and Albarado raised his whip in triumph.
This would have been an amazing performance for a veteran racehorse -- let alone one whose racing career began only 3 1/2 months ago. Curlin's maiden win was so smashing that a partnership, harboring Kentucky Derby dreams, paid $3.5 million to acquire him. Curlin ran away with his next two starts and went into the Derby with much acclaim. But everybody knew the history he was trying to overcome. No horse with fewer than five career starts had won the Derby since 1918. No horse without 2-year-old experience had won it since 1882. Despite these competitive disadvantages, and despite being blocked in the run to the first turn, Curlin managed to rally and finish third.
Just Because
the radical right has had some "setbacks" in recent times, don't for a minute believe they are going to give up everything they have clawed, lied, cheated, and stole in order to have attained power.
Carl Nafzger
was disappointed his Street Sense didn't win the Preakness yesterday, losing to Curlin by literally a whisker, but he is now looking forward to a rivalry.
Perhaps therein lies Street Sense's lone flaw: the failure to realize that a race isn't over until the winner crosses the finish line. After the colt passed the field and saw nothing but empty space ahead, he apparently let up.
"When my horse gets to the lead, he's just sort of happy. He won't quit running, but he's not intense," Nafzger said. "And Curlin ran an unbelievable perfect race today."
Especially over the final 100 yards.
"It was almost a match race at the end. One champion and another potential champion," one of Curlin's owners, Jess Jackson, said. "Street Sense deserves a lot of credit."
Maybe so, but that won't get him a Triple Crown.
It sounds like Street Sense "loafed" on the lead and never saw Curlin coming.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
For Fun,
here is a YouTube video of Secretariat's 1973 victory in the Belmont Stakes, a performance that is arguably the greatest single performance in the history of sports.
There will never be another one like him. He was a genetic freak.
Former President Carter
says what everybody in the world knows this side of Free Republic that our dictator is the absolute worst when it comes to international relations.
That's in addition to him being the worst at everything else.
As the World Turns II.
Floyd Landis claims he didn't cheat by doping himself up in last year's Tour de France or cheat any other way.
Call me a skeptic.
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Accused killer Darren Mack simply couldn't keep his mouth shut.
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Complete Coverage
of today's race can be found at the Baltimore Sun.
In some sad news, Mending Fences broke down in another race on the card and had to be put down. He was a Grade 3 winner and five years old.
Curlin caught Street Sense right at the wire to win the Preakness by a nose. Another step and Street Sense would have won. (Photo by Z/Vincent Dusovic)
It Seems Appropriate
trainer Michael Matz would win the first running of the Barbaro Stakes with his colt, Chelokee.
It
was one hell of a race today, as it appears Curlin has won by a whisker against favorite Street Sense in this year's running of the Preakness.
Curlin won by a head in 1:53 2/5. Hard Spun was third in the race.
Street Sense seemed to have the race won, but Curlin caught him in the last steps in a photo finish.
This was the best Preakness since the Easy Goer-Sunday Silence matchup in 1989.
As the World Turns.
Northwest tire magnate Les Schwab, 89, has died. He had been in poor health in recent months.
He bought a dilapidated tire store in 1952 and ended up with a chain of over 400 stores throughout the West generating over a billion a year in sales.
Schwab was the personification of Prineville, Oregon.
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Have Paul and Heather arrived at a truce?
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Presidential Notes.
There is no way the public is going to vote for a Mormon president, according to this piece written last December, but that I overlooked.
People have the right to believe whatever they want, but any knowledgeable person knows LDS founder Joseph Smith was a con man, much the way L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology, was.
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Barack Obama was in New Hampshire trying to sell himself as the anti-war candidate.
His opposition to the Iraq War was of course made when he didn't hold national office.
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Don't People Who Support
frills like libraries know that everything can be looked up on the internet or can be downloaded as ebooks at home?
Who needs something stupid like libraries?
Unfortunately, proposals in Congress to funnel money to Oregon's counties are being attached to other bills, bills that our dictator would likely shoot down.
I hate this shit because libraries are SO essential to communities. No private collection can match what public libraries have to offer.
Some of Barbaro's
many fans have decided to carry on his legacy.
They aren't as nuts as some of the Elvis fans.
The Wolfowitz Resignation
gets the full WSWS treatment.
His apologists have claimed "set-up" and other such nonsense, but, as noted in the piece, many of them were hellbent on impeaching Bill Clinton over nothing.
The NYT
editorializes about the Reading First scandal.
It shouldn't surprise anybody. Anything that was proposed by the Republicans, whether in Congress or in the White House, was surely designed to be a handout to corrupt interests.
You know, the free market knows best, even if often doesn't.
Friday, May 18, 2007
I Guess
I should post the annual list of the world's best restaurants because I am now thinking about travel and all of that sort of thing.
El Bulli in Spain once again topped the list.
Instead of Looking
at the life and times of the late Jerry Falwell, it is more appropriate to have a round-up of his latest hits:
"AIDS is not just God's punishment for homosexuals; it is God's punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals."
"I believe that global warming is a myth. And so, therefore, I have no conscience problems at all and I'm going to buy a Suburban next time."
"God doesn't listen to Jews."
"Tinky Winky is gay."
And there's more at the link.
As the World Turns.
The Ashland Food Co-op is one of the top organic food co-ops in the United States.
I've been in there at least once. I think the thing is a rip-off, but there are enough vegetarians and health food nuts around that part of the country to help the business make a killing.
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Mayor V. of Los Angeles has backed down in his attempt to take over LAUSD.
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Southern Oregon, including Ashland, faces a libraryless summer.
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Cycling great Greg LeMond revealed more than he should have.
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Presidential Notes.
Joe Conason proves he's as capable of being a partisan hack as anybody on Fox News.
The media hostility towards Edwards is increasing, and it is increasing for quite obvious reasons.
In 2004, the media simply ignored him both during the primaries and in the general election, and this year they have decided to trash him on trivialities or just plain bogus crap like the "hedge funds," which is too much like Jeff Gerth's stirring "investigative reporting" on Whitewater.
Too bad Conason has fallen sucker for it, too.
The WSWS
shows its support of unfettered illegal immigration by attacking congressional proposals to curb it.
This is one issue where this outfit, which is Trotskyite in its beliefs, really shows how far out of the mainstream it is (although it often has some good insights into some events and issues). They won't admit the whole purpose of exploiting illegal immigrants is to lower living standards of American workers by corporations, the same corporations that the WSWS condemns for outsourcing and the like.
Actually, insourcing of illegals complements perfectly outsourcing of jobs overseas. The ultimate objective is the same.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Presidential Notes.
JRE will be visiting Utah June 1.
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Michelle Obama, a strong and intelligent woman, tries a balancing act hoping like hell her husband doesn't drag her along with him into the pit of political irrelevance.
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Some New Congresspeople
had campaigned about dramatically revising or repealing NCLB, but now they are wavering in favor of reauthorizing this stupid law.
The WSWS
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Presidential Notes.
As the World Turns.
Yolanda King, oldest child of MLK and Coretta Scott King and an activist and actress, has died at the age of 51 of an apparent heart attack.
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No surprises here.
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Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Idiots
in Jackson County, Oregon, are turning down the library levy to reopen the county system.
What dumb shits. Do they hate libraries that much?
Presidential Notes.
I didn't receive the satellite signal from Fox News and therefore didn't watch most of tonight's GOP debate.
What I've seen of it, though, is far better than MSNBC's debate broadcasts. It's very lively.
I hope C-SPAN will rebroadcast it.
The Big Story
of today was the untimely death of evangelist and political boss Jerry Falwell, 73, who collapsed in his office this morning. He wasn't that old, but in any case, he had a pretty full life.
Falwell's biggest contribution, for good or bad, was his helping bring about machine politics to the so-called "evangelicals," thus creating what is now known as the "religious right," the "Christian right," or "Christofascism." His best years, before he decided to scale back his political activities, were in the 1980s, when he helped start the Moral Majority. By the end of the decade, he disbanded the group, but the movement lived on and thrived without him.
Falwell's ego got so big he couldn't take vulgar ribbing from publisher Larry Flynt, and he pursued his "slander" or "libel" suit all the way to the USSC. The USSC, then more sane than now, sided with Flynt and the First Amendment.
Falwell was also involved in the so-called "hostile takeover" of the PTL Network when the Bakkers (Jim and Tammy Faye) went down in scandal. The Bakkers didn't think much of him, charging that he wanted to get his mitts on the satellite network to use for his own purposes. In the end, Tammy Faye at least finally forgave him, but much of the rest of the United States has not forgiven him for helping to bring Elmer Gantryism to a point of respectability.
NYT
WP
The Lynchburg News & Advance has a slew of articles about the late evangelist.
Snips:
On Monday afternoon, Falwell had traveled to the top of Candlers Mountain with his son, Jerry Jr., to look a new gazebo that had been put in place near a huge "LU" monogram on the side of the mountain.
"He said he was feeling good," Falwell Jr. said. "He said he was feeling better than he'd felt in a while."
For the past couple of weeks, Falwell Sr. had complained about feeling tired.
On Tuesday morning, Falwell met Godwin for breakfast at the Bob Evans restaurant on Wards Road in Lynchburg.
"The breakfast lasted until about 10 a.m.," Godwin said. "Then he went to his office and I went to mine."
About 11:10 a.m., an LU employee called Godwin because Falwell was late for an appointment at the church.
"The secretary started looking for him because it was not like him to be late," Falwell Jr. said. "I told campus security to start looking for him. They went to his office and tried to resuscitate him, but it was too late. He died between 10 and 11:20 this morning."
He had been scheduled to preside in four days over the commencement of the first graduates of the Liberty University School of Law.
It's time to take a look at the life and times of Falwell.
I suppose I should mention Falwell's ties to Rev. Sun Myung Moon, but that's all I will do. I'll leave it to Robert Parry to write about Falwell's relationship to the corrupt cult leader when he does his obituary.
Oh, hell, here is a Parry article.
Better yet, here is a search page from the website.
In the 1960's, Falwell was a major supporter of civil rights:
Although most churches were segregated in Lynchburg then, Falwell was labeled a racist as he broadcast his views on the airways. In 1964 the church was the target of a civil rights demonstration.
The 1964 demonstration occurred when three teen-age members of the Congress on Racial Equality attempted to accompany a black teenager to Thomas Road Baptist Church.
In the late 1960s, Falwell changed his position, one he had been taught in college, and baptized his first black family. "I think I was wrong, I interpreted (the Bible) wrong and said so," he said.
He later turned his attention towards bashing gays, feminists, liberals, Teletubbies, and anybody else not politically fascistic.
If you are in a somber mood you can sign his guestbook.
Gonzalesgate.
Deputy AG McNulty has decided to jump ship after only 18 months in office.
The fallout has led to a deepening rift between Gonzales, who was upset by the testimony about former U.S. attorney Bud Cummins, and McNulty, whose supporters believe he has been tarred by missteps and possible wrongdoing by former Gonzales aides, according to numerous Justice officials. McNulty has told congressional investigators that D. Kyle Sampson, then Gonzales's chief of staff, and Monica M. Goodling, then the department's White House liaison, did not brief him fully before his testimony.
The UAW
just fucked over unions and workers by capitulating to the Chrysler carve-up.
Nobody even cares the damage this is causing.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Masherama.
The state GOP is very upset with Arnold.
He is governing too much like a Democrat for their tastes.
I wouldn't be surprised if he ditches the GOP altogether and becomes an independent, or, heaven forbid, a Democrat.
I have come to the conclusion state Democrats deliberately "threw" last year's gubernatorial election by allowing Angelides to run an incompetent campaign because they managed to get Arnold to work with them on legislation.
Presidential Notes.
It's Time for Me
to head out to Yosemite this year.
I am going to see several national parks this summer, but I'd like to go back to Yosemite again, though not in that hair-raising shit I went through last Labor Day weekend.
Gonzales v. Carhart
was a case of a poorly decided opinion which takes women back to the old days when they were considered nothing other than wives and mothers.
Which at bottom is what the anti-abortion movement is all about. As a group they DESPISE the women's movement and any means by which women can achieve equality in this society.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
A Year Ago,
the owners had to make a quick decision whether or not to try everything they could to save Barbaro.
Money was never a factor in their decision. That's what the second-guessers and animal rights nutjobs can't figure out in their lamebrained assault on a sport they don't understand. The Jacksons did it because they loved the horse. He was their pet, much the same way Tony and Sam are my pets.
There's nothing they would not have done to save him as long as he was not suffering. Plus the fact, that although his ultimate chances for survival were low because of laminitis and other complications, his injury was not a compound fracture.
When it appeared he would not make it when the laminitis started affecting his forelegs, then they made the decision to euthanize him.
If You
have the strength to be curious enough to find out why the far right in this country is so screwed up--and screwed up this country in return--look no further than the case of Oklahoma's Tom Coburn, surely one of the nuttiest of the bag of Republican nuts in the United States Senate.
No Matter
the fact Katie Couric has driven the CBS Evening News ratings even further down the toilet, the tarnished Tiffany network is standing by her.
Edward R. Murrow is spinning in his grave.
A Milestone
or millstone or gallstone has been reached today, as this blog has finally reached the 100,000th visitor to the site (the Site Meter total shows somewhat less than the real amount), including about 90,000 from the blog site owner.
I know 100K ain't much in the blogosphere, but I don't make it a habit to advertise myself on other sites or even post on other sites that much. That limits the readership.
I could have more people if I opened up comments, but I don't plan to do that anytime soon.
Not Surprising
is this report that the White House was involved in attempts to suppress voter turnout last election by pressing for bogus "voter fraud" investigations.
Although the Justice Department has released thousands of documents related to the inquiry, officials haven't said whether they considered firing more prosecutors.
McClatchy Newspapers has reported that the department targeted at least four other prosecutors, including Biskupic.
Another former U.S. attorney, Todd Graves of Kansas City, Mo., revealed this week that he was asked to step aside for another candidate. He also said he had refused to sign off on a voting-rights lawsuit, which another Justice Department official later approved in Washington. The official, Brad Schlozman, later became Graves' temporary replacement.
Gonzales denied that the department considered removing Graves as part of the same firing plan.
Presidential Notes.
Obama is losing his touch, as he attracted only hundreds instead of thousands of supporters yesterday in St. Louis.
Okay, people had to PAY to get in, but you'd think he'd do better.
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Speaking of the Audicity of Hype, I missed this article which appeared in the New Yorker.
If I have about ten hours of free time to spare, I'll wade through this concise article.
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As the World Turns.
This was pretty good:
"Now, I know I'm supposed to offer some kind of parting wisdom. So I thought back to my own graduation. And I tried to remember the advice my graduation speaker gave to me. But I couldn't recall who gave that speech at the University of Texas [at Austin] back in 1973. And maybe that's because I skipped the ceremony. But I did look it up, and I found out who gave that address. And you can imagine my surprise when I discovered it was some guy named George Bush. Four years after that speech I married his son. We never know where life is going to take us."
You could say the same for the country, Laura.
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LAUSD teacher
Rose Gilbert, 88, has no intention of slowing down.
Fun fact:
Rose Gilbert is 88. With the retirement last year of a 93-year-old health teacher in Sylmar, Gilbert became the oldest full-time teacher in Los Angeles Unified School District, apparently the oldest in California and one of the oldest in the nation. She has taught for more than 50 years — first at University High School in West Los Angeles and then at Palisades Charter High School in Pacific Palisades, from its opening day in 1961.
As for me, I wish I had gotten into the field back in the 1970s by finishing up my degree at Southern Oregon University, and then I would have qualified for retirement from this school district two years ago.
It's a pisser because there are a lot of other things I want to do.
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Speaking of older teachers, Olivia Neubauer is even older than Rose Gilbert.
She is 95 years old. She teaches at a private school in the Chicago area.
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Thanks to climate change, migratory birds are getting fouled up on their flight patterns.
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Women who can't imagine life without children are willing to do anything to become mothers, no matter what the cost, the risk, or the ethics.
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Texas once again has a big scandal.
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Saturday, May 12, 2007
As the World Turns.
Barbaro News.
On Thursday, Dr. Richardson had an online chat with Blood Horse readers:
Pasadena, CA:
I understand that every effort was made to save Barbaro, and am no way trying to find fault. The question I can't seem to reconcile in my own mind is how Barbaro's status could change so quickly, from talk of discharging him in early January to his death on Jan. 29. What was the turning point (or was there a single turning point)?
Richardson:
The biggest problem is that he began to get more sore on his laminitic left hind foot. That occurred even though he had been fairly stable on it for several months. This is NOT unusual, however. All of us who work on this type of case have seen one be comfortable for months to years and then suddenly have a crisis. In Barbaro’s case, when he became lame on the left hind, he badly overloaded the right hind limb. The latter, as you know, was healed but not perfect. The result of the overload on the right hind leg was that he developed a severe subsolar abscess on that foot. We tried to protect the RH foot by placing him in transfixation pins. This allowed him to bear full weight again on the RH but it wasn’t enough to offset the development of laminitis in both front feet. I have described it as a deck of cards falling and still find that to be an apt analogy.
Presidential Notes.
The Republicans are going overboard with their zeal to trash John Edwards for the simple reason that he can win against any of their candidates, announced or not.
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This
is truly insane:
Despite pleas from the public not to do it, the state Board of Education on Thursday unanimously recommended that students with disabilities be required to pass the California High School Exit Exam in order to receive a diploma.
Those students could take the test with special circumstances -- such as using calculators or having it read aloud to them. But to make a test taken with such modifications count toward graduation, kids would have to get a waiver. The board's recommendation on Thursday calls for several changes to the process of getting the waiver.
But teachers, advocates and special education experts said tweaking that process is not enough. They asked the board to allow students with disabilities to be freed from having to pass the test. Those students -- who have learning disabilities, autism, deafness, mental retardation and a host of other conditions -- should be allowed to show a portfolio of their work instead of taking the standardized exam, they said.
"More than 50 percent of the students (with disabilities) will fail and not graduate under this system," said Jo Behm of the Learning Disabilities Association of California, a parent activism group.
"I beg of you, please consider the (portfolio) approach."
Know-nothings are allowed to proceed with destroying children's chances in life.
As the Knife Turns.
Contrary to widespread speculation, it appears the washed-up movie actor, one-time football great, and acquitted murderer will not aspire to become a civil rights hero.
Instead, his attorney is claiming the restaurant owner, Jeff Ruby, is using the entire episode as a publicity stunt.
But somebody has decided to take up O.J.'s noncause:
The Louisville Metro Human Relations Commission confirmed it contacted Galanter yesterday.
Kellie Watson, executive director of the commission, said it is considering filing a complaint against Ruby and needed to get a statement from Galanter and find out if he would be filing his own complaint or lawsuit.
Watson said the commission still is investigating the incident and has 180 days to file a complaint against Ruby.
Ruby could not be reached for comment last night.
Galanter said he would cooperate with the Human Relations Commission or any other regulatory agency looking into the matter but that he would not be taking any action himself.
Galanter said his comment earlier in the week to The Associated Press that Ruby "screwed with the wrong guy" was taken out of context. He said he meant that when you pick on someone like Simpson, "you are bringing the spotlight to yourself."
Galanter said that while Simpson did not mind being asked to leave the restaurant on May 4, he has been upset by Ruby going on television and "adding fuel" to the incident.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Presidential Notes.
The more Rudy tries to explain his stance on abortion, the more confusing he sounds.
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I've noticed old Mitt is running ads on television, and this is months before the primaries.
It seems like yesterday the 2004 elections ended.
I guess he is going to be on 60 Minutes Sunday, and allegedly in the interview he is going to bare his soul to the world and admit he waited until he was married before he had sex.
It doesn't surprise me because the Mormon faith is rather big on that, and Mormons often marry quite young.
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The media continue to crown Hillary Clinton the frontrunner for the Democrats and Obama the runner-up, this despite the fact Edwards polls very well in state matchups against Republicans like Rudy.
And here.
And here.
And here.
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As the Mouth Yaps.
Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner at the Grand Sierra Resort on June 11 to hear the Mouth yap.
I am sure he will have some good things to say, but I am going to be gambling in Vegas, looking down in the Grand Canyon, and driving around several national parks in Utah.
I will probably miss some other celebrities coming to Reno while I am on my three trips this summer.
Jimbo Eruptions.
Oh, Jesus Christ:
Sources close to the investigation say a key focus is a lavish week-long Caribbean cruise in March 2005 by Gibbons, his wife and son, and Trepp, who paid for almost everything. In photos obtained by NBC News, Gibbons is seen hamming it up — kicking back with a drink and posing with his wife, Dawn, Trepp and Trepp's other guests.
Software designer Dennis Montgomery was also on that cruise with Gibbons. He estimates the trip cost "probably $20,000 a person," claiming he saw the invoice. Montgomery says his former business partner Trepp chartered a 727 to fly guests from Nevada to Florida and back and picked up the tab for penthouse rooms, private meals and expensive wines.
Nothing about cocktail servers, however.
Thanks
to some recent scandals, the Department of Education is coming into some oversight, and what is now known isn't pretty.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Here
is an article about Gonzalesgate.
Somehow my satellite TV thing is messed up. I am trying to fix it, but to no avail so far. Therefore, I am missing out on so much.
As the Mouth Yaps.
The Mouth risks alienation his fans by embracing evangelicals, particularly in light of earlier comments about the Republicans being a "white Christian party."
Here's More
about the Reading First scandal.
NCLB is such a scandal. It would be funny if it weren't so tragic.
Gonzalesgate.
The scandal ought to get really good when Goodling testifies.
Snip:
As the former senior counselor to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, and principal liaison between Gonzales and the White House, Goodling is a key witness to the role of Bush and his top political aide, Karl Rove, in the politically motivated purge.
Seven of the prosecutors were fired last December 8, while the eighth was discharged a few months earlier. The firings had a clear political motivation: nearly all the US attorneys were under fire within the Bush administration and from congressional Republicans because they had either prosecuted high-level Republicans on corruption charges or declined to bring bogus vote fraud cases against Democrats in states that were closely contested politically.
Until now, Goodling, who resigned her position March 29, had refused to testify about the circumstances of the firings, citing her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. It is almost unprecedented for a top official of the chief law enforcement department of the federal government to invoke the Fifth Amendment, an action that suggests that the dismissal of the US attorneys could involve crimes, such as obstruction of justice.
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
The Plot
to screw Democrats over began far sooner than Gonzalesgate:
One of the aims of the abortive purge of U.S. attorneys was to punish those who refused to toe the line on the new emphasis on alleged voter fraud. A few fired prosecutors would serve as examples to the rest –- either move to criminalize the election process or face dismissal.
But the assault on voter fraud was a solution looking for a problem. As part of the Help America Vote Act, Republicans insisted on creating the Election Assistance Commission, which commissioned studies of the asserted problem. When the studies failed to turn up evidence of fraud nationwide, appointed Republican officials on the EAC insisted that the language say only that "there is a great deal of debate on the pervasiveness of fraud in elections" -- the same approach to inconvenient evidence that's made the Bush global-warming policy the envy of the world.
Some Families
of Down Syndrome children are speaking out about the joys of caring for somebody disabled, in protest to the all-too common decision by prospective parents to wipe these kids off the face of the earth because of amniocentesis and abortion.
As the World Turns.
Kansas tornado victims certainly got a lot of help from the National Guard.
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Why the hell would anybody go into monstrous amounts of student loan debt, only when graduating find they can't even make 10 bucks an hour?
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Tuesday, May 08, 2007
This Is Sad
from Tammy Faye Messner:
The doctors have stopped trying to treat the cancer and so now it's up to God and my faith. And that's enough! But please continue to pray for the pain and sick stomach.
My precious daughter, Tammy Sue, and her wonderful friends are staying with me while Roe builds churches. They don't want me falling down the stairs. I am down weight wise to 65 pounds, and look like a scarecrow. I need God's miracle to swallow.
Seattle's Children's Hospital
has admitted it broke the law when it went ahead to sterilize profoundly disabled "Ashley X" as part of her so-called "treatment."
Note her parents still justify this shit. If it were a so-called "normal" child involved, the parents would be charged with child abuse.
The advocacy group, WPAS, a statewide nonprofit organization, says that without that court order, the surgery violated Ashley's constitutional and common-law rights.
Ashley's parents did not respond to interview requests, but they have written on their Web site that they believed the surgery was legal because Ashley will never be in a situation to choose to become pregnant. The sterilization was a side effect of the surgery, not the primary intent, they said.
These morons have no business having children, much less one disabled, if they are so fucking ignorant of the law.
More here.
You can read the investigative report here.
As the World Turns.
Boxer Diego Corrales, 29, was killed yesterday in a motorcycle crash in Las Vegas.
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Computers are hard on the eyes and hell on the attention span, you billionaire, robber baron idiot.
Real books, newspapers, etc., will NEVER go out of style.
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It's not known whether any steak knives were stolen:
He said he went to Simpson's table and said, "I'm not serving you." Ruby said when Simpson didn't respond, he repeated himself and left the room.
Ruby said Simpson soon came up to him and said he understood and would gather the rest of his party to leave.
Simpson's lawyer, Yale Galanter, did not immediately return phone calls Tuesday night seeking comment.
"It was the first time since 1994 he has ever shown any class," Ruby said. "He showed it that night in the restaurant" by leaving quietly.
Ruby said after Simpson left, people in the restaurant started applauding him. He said he has received about 100 positive e-mails since the incident.
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So help me God, if Arnold does this, HE will probably be recalled.
There are some good comments over there.
The well-publicized petition is here.
The problem with Paris Hilton is that she is a spoiled rich brat who thinks the rules don't apply to her. Well, too bad, so sad.
She got off easy as it was. It's a wonder she didn't go out and kill anybody.
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Tiny dogs are more and more being stolen.
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Republicans Love
politicians who talk a good line of tough talk, but these politicians don't display a lot of political acumen.
This
article was written before favorite Street Sense--not Curlin, as mentioned in the piece--won the Kentucky Derby, but it is interesting to see how favorites have fared in the past in the Run for the Roses.
Naturally
most students who are special education have to take the same grade-level tests as their peers in the general student population.
That's nothing new or unique to one location; it is standard operating procedure throughout the country.
Most of the kids in special education are normal intellectually, but for whatever reason, including being taught inappropriate curricula early on in school, they are put in special education.
Monday, May 07, 2007
There is Little Doubt
this poll is correct in naming Dark Star, the Kentucky Derby winner of 1953, the biggest upset winner in the history of the race.
He handed favored Native Dancer, who later won the Preakness and Belmont, his only defeat in 21 starts.
Of course, the biggest upset in racing history has to be the 1919 Sanford Stakes, where Man O'War lost for the only time in his career, and to a horse named Upset.
Our Dictator
is well on the way to being the least-popular resident of the White House of all time, and therefore he makes a good political issue for the 2008 elections.
However, Democrats shouldn't sit back and take his rotten poll numbers for granted. When I read about polls showing matchups between different Democratic candidates against Republican candidates, I question their validity, as elections aren't determined by popular votes but by the Electoral College, except for our dictator's two "elections," of course.
State-by-state polls would be a better indicator of how well Democratic candidates fare against the Republicans.
Presidential Notes.
A Carson City coffee shop is a popular hangout for presidential candidates.
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The only stretch is the notion Obama could actually win the election.
There's no way he could carry a single state John Kerry didn't win or have stolen from him.
It's impossible.
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Is Fred Thompson rehearsing for his biggest role yet, or is it just a teaser to keep his name "out there" in the public?
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