I've read The Way We'll Be: The Zogby Report On The Transformation Of The American Dream and have written a review.  As possibly the most accurate pollster of our time, Zogby has his finger firmly on the pulse of the American public. In his book, he attempts to predict the future.  Only time will tell, but I rather imagine his prognostications will fall by the wayside, as is usually the case with all zealots, regardless of their political or social orientation.  continued here

I'm not sure if it's true, but I've read that BP is setting up a $100M fund for those workers that have been unemployed because of the drilling ban.  I realize that the drilling ban has been a reaction to the "big leak", but the ban is Obama's decision.  This seems awfully generous on BP's part and forgive me if I question BP's sincerity, but corporations are not inherently generous.  This smells like the same type of business & government arrangement that led to the current economic mess.  If BP is feeling generous, why doesn't it just cut the price of gas by a buck at it's US stations and give our economy a boost?

What's happening is a shame, because everyone seemed to have such high hopes for Obama.  I guess this is what happens when style trumps substance.

Chow


July 7, 2010

It's hot . . . and muggy . . . and sticky.  It's the dog days of summer.  High School football teams are knee deep in conditioning; youth baseball is winding down to the playoffs; the pool is everyone's favorite hang-out; families are heading out for summer vacation road-trips; kids are off to camp and it seems everyone is doing yardwork.  Yes, it's summer in the good old USA and although I've said it before, I'll say it again:  Is this a great country, or what?

We spent last Saturday watching a baseball doubleheader . . . deja vu all over again.  Travis is playing some summer baseball for a team comprised of college age players vying to make it to the next level; be it Division 1 or The Bigs; and they're coached by Major League scouts.  Make no mistake, this is good baseball.  However, as I sat in the bleachers watching Travis play baseball on a hot July afternoon, I couldn't help but wonder, will this ever end?  Then again, heaven help me when it does.

Although I'm not a big fan of the Tonight show, I enjoyed this Jaywalking segment on what the 4th of July means.  FYI, an 8 year old on my coach-pitch baseball team got most of these questions right.

And while we're watching YouTube, check out this bit on the guy that the Obama DOJ is protecting.

I spent a couple of hours last Friday afternoon with an agent that has been calling on Jason.  This particular agent, as well as a few others, seem to think it's important that they introduce themselves to the parents and I must say this is refreshing.  The choice will certainly be up to Jason, but I imagine he values our thoughts and you have to have concerns about any prospective agent that isn't interested in what the folks think.  At any rate, this is another interesting development in the whole child-rearing thing.  Personally, I don't think where he is drafted, or if he is drafted, is all that important.  There is no shortage of guys in the NFL that If Jason wants to play in the NFL, he will, even if he has to walk-on.  If or where he is drafted will only affect the signing dollars.  Yes, I know that can be significant, but this shouldn't be all about the money.  There's plenty of big money available after the first contract.  Where or if Jason is drafted will merely demonstrate how smart the NFL personnel guys are.




June 22, 2010

HOLY SHIT!!!

BOTH THE KELCE BOYS MADE THE DEAN'S LIST

Yes, you read that correctly.  Both Jason and Travis had a Spring Quarter GPA above 3.4 for the quarter and that gets them on the Dean's list.  Wow, what a Father's Day gift!  Whoda thunk it?  The rumor is that Travis was in attendance at every class this past spring.  If that's true, it will be the first time since middle school.  Jason has always flirted with good grades and occasionally achieved some success in that regard, so this isn't a total surprise.  However, Travis has always been one of the most academically lazy students on the planet, although no one has ever doubted that he has the ability to be an excellent student.  Now he's shown his true capacity for academic excellence, the onus is on him to continue along this path.

You know, Obama can't, and shouldn't, be held responsible for the oil spill.  The blame for the spill rests with BP, as well as the government regulators that oversee oil and gas drilling; both big, bloated bureaucracies that were asleep at the switch and unprepared for this type of tragedy.  This should not have been a surprise, given the cozy relationship between the industry and those government regulators.  However, POTUS and BP's slow reaction to the containment of the spill; the refusal to embrace international assistance; the prolonged inaction on Bobby Jindal's request to dredge up barrier islands to protect Louisiana’s marshes; resisting the requests by small businesses like Ocean Therapy Solutions or Osprey Biotechnics to showcase their technology; all of this inaction makes me wonder. Is this a case of not letting a serious crisis go to waste so you can do things you wouldn't be able to do without the crisis?  Are we sacrificing the Gulf States shores for the sake of Cap & Trade?

And what’s up with this idea that we won’t close the borders unless it’s part of comprehensive immigration reform?  We certainly need a re-evaluation of our immigration process, but we need to close the border NOW.  After we do that, everything else is up for discussion.
And to those morons that claim immigration laws are contrary to America’s melting-pot history; or to the nitwits that always ask me, “Where did your ancestors come from?”; I say this, “they came over from other countries and stopped in New York, or Boston, or San Francisco or wherever and registered themselves. And they learned the language."  What was good enough for the Irish, German, Italian, Polish and every other immigrant in the past should be good enough for the Mexicans.

If we can get to the mid-term elections without passing any more brain-dead legislation, we should be okay.  Some old-fashioned gridlock may be the best thing for this economy . . . and our country.


May 10, 2010

One more comment about the healthcare bill; although I don't like what was done, I have to give Obama credit for doing something.  The cost of healthcare has been an issue for as long as I can remember.  I recall a conversation I had with a conservative friend in the early 70's.  He said something to the effect of, "I don't like the idea of national healthcare, but I don't see an alternative."  Don't misunderstand me, what the leftists in power did was bad for America.  However, Republicans/conservatives could have made this debate unnecessary if they had done something about the problem in the past.  Addressing healthcare costs has always been at least as important as NAFTA or any other trade agreement.  By their inaction, Republicans enabled this legislation and must share the responsibility for it's disastrous effects.
Ditto for the illegal immigration problem.

May 4, 2010

40 years ago today, 4 students were killed and another 13 or so wounded by National Guardsmen at Kent State University.  There was no justification and I would never attempt to say anything that minimizes the loss on that day.  However, there were a couple factors involved that are rarely mentioned, such as:

It is a miscarriage of justice that no one was held accountable for the shooting and I don't mean the troops.  Someone in leadership positions in the Guard should have been held accountable.  But, that's not all.  There were outside agitators that traveled to a variety of college campuses and encouraged violence and the destruction of property; and the Vietnam War did not necessarily motivate those agitators.  They were committed to the destruction of American society.  Some weren't committed to anything; they were just anti-social, anti-authoritative punks who liked to throw rocks at cops.  It was reported that Jack "they call me assassin" Tatum was seen throwing bottles at the police on the OSU campus.  When asked about his thoughts on the Vietnam War, he supposedly said, "I don't give a fuck about the war; I just like to throw shit at cops".  Now, I don't know if Tatum actually said that, it may just be a rumor.  I don't even know if he was on campus at the time or what his political beliefs were, much less if he ever attacked the police.  But the story illustrates an important fact about "the movement"; that there was no shortage of thugs having fun by burning buildings, attacking the police and violently wreaking havoc for no apparent reason.
The William Ayers types of this world are just as responsible for the killings at Kent State as any government officials and until we assign responsibility to everyone that contributed to that tragedy, there will be no true justice for the victims.


The spring game was a miserable event; it rained most of the day and throughout the game.  However, there was a little clear weather before the game and the boys held a mini-camp for kids.  It was, without a doubt, the best event of the day.

Jason's got the blood pressure under control and is nursing labrum  pains as well as some residual effects of last year's stingers.  But he is confident he can work those issues out in the weight room and be ready for his final college season.


The news coming out about the health care bill just keeps getting worse.  We've all heard how some of the largest companies in this country are going to take big hits to their bottom lines as a result of that legislation.  Now we're being told to prepare for increases in our insurance premiums.  The more we learn about the bill, the worse it becomes.  However there is something that needs to be said; for 20 of the last 30 years, the Republicans have held control of the Presidency and for 14 of those years they also controlled both houses of Congress.  During all those years they never proposed meaningful solutions to the health insurance crisis.  Obama deserves credit for at least trying to do something, even if his solution sucked.  But we can't blame him solely.  Consider the following:

The responsibility for all these issues rests squarely on the shoulders of the American people.

YOUR VOTE MATTERS!!!
THINK NEXT TIME !!!

4/15/10

Jason is working primarily at guard, but snaps a few times at center each day.  He is doing the long snapping as well.  There has been another development physically: he may have a slight tear in the labrum of his right shoulder.  His right side is considerably weaker because of the stingers he had last season.  Now the labrum is acting up on that right shoulder.  This is limiting his spring practice somewhat, but he is confident that he’ll be prepared for the upcoming season.  Apparently the right side weakness, last year’s susceptibility to stingers and the problem with his labrum can be addressed in the weight room between now and the first game next August.
Travis started spring practice on the sidelines.  He blew off quite a few classes and the coaches busted him and he was suspended from team activities.  Then his grades came out and he had an A, a B and 2 Cs.  So he was reinstated to the team.  Now he has suffered a class 2 ACL strain in his knee.  He’s on crutches and wears a brace to limit the movement of the knee.  This should not be a long-term problem, but GEEZ, this kid can’t catch a break.  I’ve always said that a little adversity is good for the soul, but this is a little overkill with a foot that was broken twice and now the knee.  This kind of adversity, much like athletic participation itself, doesn’t build character . . . it reveals character.  I guess we’ll find out what the Travman is made of.



3/22/10

GREAT NEWS!
OBAMA’S HEALTHCARE TAKEOVER PASSES

This really is good news and will prove to be good for the country in the long run.  I say that not because I believe the government can do any good controlling our healthcare; I say it because this may very well be the one thing that unites the American people against the European style socialism that Obama wants for the US.  There is nothing that the liberal elitists can do in the next 3 years that can’t be undone.  The healthcare takeover passed last night might not even pass a constitutionality challenge in the courts.  Even without a court challenge, this is not over.  In the next few months, details in this bill will be revealed and the American people will become even more outraged.  The bogus numbers sent to the CBO for a cost analysis will be exposed.  This is gonna be a real mess and the economy will continue to suffer as a result.
But there is a silver lining to this cloud.
The American people will voice their outrage at the polls.  I believe we will have another Gingrich/Reagan style revolution that will toss out the liberals and eventually raise the standard of living for all of us, as well as restore America’s greatness.  Our children can look forward to decades (or more) of strong economic growth.  We can expect actual healthcare reform rather than healthcare nationalization.  I realize it won’t all be good, or easy: the working poor will suffer the most when inflation takes off as a result of the uncontrolled spending, but they’re always the ones hurt most by liberal policies.  However, a rising tide lifts all boats and the standard of living for all Americans will ultimately rise. 
This President and his comrades in the Congress have done us a great service; they’ve shown us what happens when we give leftist fanatics a little power.

Chow


2/27/10
Somebody said it was going to snow this week, but I didn’t think so.

Last Monday I started my 60th year on this earth and considering the average lifetime age of the men on my father’s side of the family, I’m truly an old fart.  However when you look at the average lifetime age of the men on Mom’s side, I’m still a kid.  Go figure.

I first wrote about the Twitter feed, shitmydadsays last fall.  Since then the kid has a facebook page of the same name and word on the street is that there is a book and possibly movie deal in the works.  Is this a great country or what?

Butch Jones, the new coach of the UC Bearcat football team has a blog with lots of off-season videos about the kids.  Check it out here.

The Norwegian Curling Team’s colorful pants have their own Facebook fan page with a half million fans.  That’s reportedly 300,000 more fans than the Sport of Curling has.

Jason has recently been diagnosed with high blood pressure.  This could be caused by a variety of issues: body fat content, lifestyle, heredity factors or a combination of all those.  It could be a diet thing exacerbated by a different type of workout started by the new coaching staff.  He’s thinking of dropping down to 255 lbs and playing linebacker or DE, but coaches, NFL scouts and prospective agents are telling him he could be a high draft pick at guard in 2011.  Changing positions would cost him millions in the beginning, but I firmly believe that he could make the switch and still play in the League.  He wouldn’t be drafted and would have to walk on, but hey, it would merely be déjà vu all over again.  The team has had him see a cardiologist and he is on meds to control his blood pressure.  We’ll just have to wait and see how things play out.  I hate to sound blasphemous, but playing in the NFL is not the be-all, end-all to life. 

After hearing Obama’s comments at the Republican gathering a couple of weeks ago and then again at the health care summit, I’m struck by the arrogance of this administration.  This guy is a true liberal elitist, i.e. we are all just too stupid to understand the complexities of modern economics or the factors that affect health care cost and delivery.  We should just shut up and do as we’re told.  The only outside experts that are qualified to comment on policy issues are those that POTUS has ordained as qualified.  If he had campaigned honestly, John McCain would be President. 
On the subject of Obama’s speeches, listening to his SOTU speech was like being lectured by a drunk about the evils of alcohol.

1/20/10
Yesterday's vote sent a strong message to Washington.  The question is, is anyone there listening?  The will of the people has never been much of a consideration to the elite leftists that are currently in charge and I doubt that they will alter their strategy, but I bet that the moderates will.  If they continue to vote for a leftist agenda, they won't be re-elected and there is nothing a bureaucrat values more than his or her position of power.   The downside to yesterday's vote is that it will empower the far right and I've got no use for them either.

We had a bit of a scare last week; Jason's blood pressure was elevated.  It was high enough to give him headaches during workouts.  The new strength coach's regimen includes a focus on conditioning and apparently the workouts are intense.  Jason spent the weekend prior to last week in party mode and was running on junk food and energy drinks.  The high blood pressure was a warning.  He spent this last weekend resting, eating better and hydrating his body.  Now his BP is back to normal.  Hopefully this was merely a lifestyle issue and a lesson was learned.

Here's another right-wing email I've received.  It's from a friend who’s retired and working at WalMart.  I have no idea how accurate the facts are, but I believe the sentiment certainly hits home.

"1.  Americans spend $36,000,000 at Wal-Mart every hour of every day.
2.  This works out to $20,928 profit every minute!
3. Wal-Mart will sell more from January 1 to St. Patrick's Day (March   17th) than Target sells all year.
4.  Wal-Mart is bigger than Home Depot + Kroger + Target + Sears + Costco + K-Mart combined.
5.  Wal-Mart employs 1.6 million people and is the largest private Employer, and most speak English.
6.  Wal-Mart is the largest company in the history of the World.
7. Wal-Mart now sells more food than Kroger & Safeway combined, and keep in mind they did this in only 15 years.
8.  During this same period, 31 Supermarket Chains sought bankruptcy.
9.  Wal-Mart now sells more food than any other store in the world.
10.  Wal-Mart has approx 3,900 stores in the USA of which 1,906 are Super Centers; this is 1,000 more than it had 5 Years ago.
11.  This year 7.2 billion different purchasing experiences will occur At a Wal-Mart store.  (Earth's population is approximately 6.5 Billion.)
12.  90% of all Americans live within 15 miles of a Wal-Mart.

You may think that I am complaining, but I am really laying the ground work for suggesting that.....

MAYBE we should hire the guys who run Wal-Mart to fix the economy because the idiots in Washington sure can't do it!"

Oh yeah!


1/5/10
Happy New Year
We started the New Year off at home on a bit of a cold note.  After flying into Pittsburgh from New Orleans, we battled a snowstorm on the drive home.  When we got there, the house was a chilly 41˚.  It seems that there is a small leak in the boiler drain valve; it barely filled a bucket.  But that was enough to lower the boiler level and subsequently keep the heat to a minimum.  The cat didn't appear to be very happy.

Speaking of the New Year and New Orleans: that was the worst football game I've ever witnessed and that's all I have to say about the game.  Actually, I have a lot to say about it, but #!@*$&%, I just don't want to talk about it.  The only good news is that I won't have to hear from, or about, Tim Tebow or Mardy Gilyard again.  The 2010 season started on Monday: GO BEARCATS.

With all the global warming hysteria/denial going on, I came across an interesting note on Popular Science; their review of a small power plant that runs on garbage, has no carbon footprint and leaves an ash byproduct that can be used in asphalt or cement production.  It produces enough power to run itself and power a 200,000 sq. ft. facility.  The Pop Sci review is here and a Clean Tech review is here.  I mention this only because it illustrates how the private sector is able to solve problems with innovation as opposed to suggesting the government do it.  I just love these types of stories.

Another story I like is the following (I don't know if it is true, but it is a good story):

"A little old lady from Wisconsin had worked in and around her family dairy farms since she was old enough to walk, with hours of hard work and little compensation.  When canned Carnation Milk became available in grocery stores in approximately the 1940s, she read an advertisement offering $5,000 for the best slogan.  The producers wanted a rhyme beginning with 'Carnation Milk is best of all.'  She thought to herself, I know all about milk and dairy farms.  I can do this!

She sent in her entry, and several weeks later, a black limo pulled up in front of her house.  A man got out & said, 'Carnation LOVED your entry so much, we're here to award you $2,000 even though we won't be able to use it!"

Although it is only a number on a calendar, the New Year is symbolic as a new start.  It doesn't matter how difficult the last year has been, this coming year can be better, even without help (or in spite of it) from anyone in Washington. 

Christmas came and went quickly.   This year didn't have as many gifts as in the past and there wasn't any high-end stuff.  However having the boys home and with us all day was a special gift in it's own rite and they didn't seem to mind the relatively slim pickings.  They left on Saturday and Jason's car broke down in Medina, but no worry; Mom and Dad to the rescue.  Mom had it towed to a garage and I spent my day driving to Cincinnati and back.  We made it there in time; the team didn't have to wait for the Kelce brothers.

I've always loved the week between the holidays and usually run into old friends.  This year I spent some time running the clock in a few high school hockey games and that was a blast.

In a few days it's off to Nawlins for the Sugar Bowl.  This could be a rough game; Florida is the best team UC has ever faced.  I'm going to try the Twitter thing again and note things on the sidelines that might not be  apparent from the TV coverage.

Gotta go.

12/21/09
Oh Boy!!! It's almost Christmas.  The boys should be home tomorrow.  Jason will drive up, but Travis has other plans.  He will be staying for the UC vs Winthrop basketball game.  A friend from his HS AAU Basketball team is playing for Winthrop.  After the game the friend's foster Dad will give Trav a ride home on his private jet.  Yes, that's right, a private jet.  When I grow up I want to be like Travis.

The boys will only be home for a short while.  They will leave late in the afternoon of Christmas Day, in order to check in at 9:00AM on the 26th and head off to New Orleans.  I suppose that's a small price to pay for the honor of playing in such a prestigious bowl game.

UC has a new Head Football Coach.  They hired Butch Jones away from Central Michigan.  Everyone seems happy; except for the Central Michigan fans.  This is the second time we've poached their Coach.  Jones won't coach the boys in the Sugar Bowl.  That job will continue to be handled by Jeff Quinn, who is expected to be named Head Coach of the University of Buffalo.  Congratulations and best wishes to Coach Quinn.

It looks like health care reform will become a reality.  According to President Obama, the plan that is expected to pass the Senate contains provisions that will reduce the deficit by $500 billion.  Does anyone really believe that?  When has the government reduced the deficit or cut spending via legislation?  The answer is never.   The only way the deficit has ever been reduced was by increased economic growth and the subsequent increase in tax revenues.  The only way out of this deficit mess is to grow our way out and you don't do that by increasing the size of government or increasing taxes.

The President has made a big deal of cutting executive pay and demonizing the "fat cats".  I don't know if this is true; I did read it on FoxNews.com:
According to an excellent report by USA Today, “federal employees making salaries of $100,000 or more jumped from 14 percent to 19 percent of civil servants during the recession's first 18 months – and that's before overtime pay and bonuses are counted.”
For you statistics wonks out there, that’s an increase of more than a third. USA Today's report went on to show how out of whack federal pay is when compared to what everyone else earns.
“The growth in six-figure salaries has pushed the average federal worker's pay to $71,206, compared with $40,331 in the private sector,” it reported Dec. 10. That means the “average” federal worker earns more than $30,000 above a private sector counterpart – enough to buy a government-approved Toyota Prius and have plenty left over.
ironically, . . . .  As USA Today explained, “when the recession started, the Transportation Department had only one person earning a salary of $170,000 or more. Eighteen months later, 1,690 employees had salaries above $170,000.”
I realize that Fox is considered biased, but I don't believe they could get away with posting this if it weren't true.  They're quoting USA Today, a staunch supporter of all things Obama.  I suppose it's good to see anyone getting ahead in this economy, but government workers?  Gimme a break.

I got another email from one of my right wing kook friends, but this one has some merit.  I still refuse to participate in chain emails, but what a concept:

"WAKE UP, I THINK IT IS TIME FOR EVERY AMERICAN TO STAND UP AND TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK AND RE-ESTABLISH WHAT OUR FOUNDING FATHERS GAVE US.
LETS TAKE THE FIRST STEP AND FIX CONGRESS. THIS IS A START FOR BOTH  FEDERAL AND STATE LEVELS. NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE AND WE TOGETHER CAN DO IT.
 I am getting started by sending this to virtually all my close friends and that includes conservatives, liberals, and everybody in between. Even though we disagree on a number of issues, I count all of you as friends. The proposal is to promote a "Congressional Reform Act of 2009." It would contain eight provisions, all of which would probably be strongly endorsed by those who drafted the Constitution and the Bill of Rights of the United States.

1. Term Limits: 12 years only, one of the possible options below.
A. Two Six-year Senate terms
B. Six Two-year House terms
C. One Six-year Senate term and three Two-Year House terms

2. No Tenure / No Pension:
A congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.

3. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security:
All funds in the Congressional retirement fund moves to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, Congress participates with the American people.

4. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan just as all Americans.

5. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.  Raises should be voted on at National election and based on their individual performance.

6. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

7. Congress must equally abide in all laws they impose on the American people.

8. All contracts with past and present congressmen are void effective 1/1/10.
Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.
The American people did not make this contract with congressmen, congressmen made all these contracts for themselves.

12/12/09
We attended a wonderful banquet for the football team last Thursday.  It was held at the Westin Hotel in downtown Cincinnati. The media was out in full force to get any insight as to when Kelly would announce his plans relative to the Notre Dame job.  To his credit, Kelly made the banquet all about the team and it's seniors.  After the banquet, Kelly met with the team and announced his decision to accept the head coaching job at ND.  No one was surprised, but the boys were disappointed.  Too bad . . . get over it guys; you've got a big game on January 1st and it's time to get back to work.
The focus has shifted now to whom Kelly's successor will be.  The onus is on Athletic Director Mike Thomas, University President Gregory Williams and the University Trustees to find a coach that will assist them in continuing to develop the University of Cincinnati Bearcat football program into a perennial top ten contender.
With the state of the economy and the current political climate, all I can say is "Thank God for UC Football".

Oops!! Good buddy Al stuck his foot in his mouth again.  Gore recently claimed that the Arctic ice sheet would completely melt in five years.  The problem is that the scientist he quoted denies saying so.  Read the details here: Inconvenient truth for Al Gore as his North Pole sums don't add up

Kudos to the Prez; I've got to give credit where credit is due.I have never (and never will) been in favor of any government entity dictating what level of compensation a private company may or may not pay.  And I was none to keen on our President telling companies that took TARP money how much they could pay their executives.  But, in this case, I stand corrected.  I've just read that Citi and Wells Fargo have concrete plans to pay back the TARP money within the next year and that is great news for the American taxpayer.  I don't believe that would have happened without the threat of continued government interference in their business. 

Mmm, over 10% unemployment, stagnant economic growth, new energy taxes and more expensive health insurance: this is change I could have done without.


12/09/09
We had one helluva game in Pittsburgh on Saturday.  It's a shame someone had to come away from that with a loss.  Pitt is such a great school and Coach Wannstedt is such a class guy, you had to feel for those Pitt boys at the end.  But, such is life.  Now it’s on to the Sugar Bowl against UC Alumnus Urban Meyer and his Florida Gators.

GO BEARCATS!!!

Rumors about Kelly are all over the net.  He told the boys on Monday that he would meet with, and listen to, Notre Dame.  CFN.Scout.com says it's a done deal; Kelly will be the new Irish Coach.  I suppose we'll see at the banquet on Thursday.  I'll say it again, if the University is committed to a winning football program that competes with the BCS elite, losing Kelly would just be a hiccup.

It was good to see the President had a 'job summit'.  It's too bad he didn't include the people that create jobs.  The American people voted for change and the change we're getting is a move away from private enterprise and towards government control.  If we continue along this path, eventually your lot in life will depend more upon popularity and party affiliation as opposed to merit.  But, I'm an optimist.  The last time we had this kind of lunacy with a Liberal Democratic Congress and a Liberal Democratic President was in the Carter years (whom I might add campaigned as a moderate and also as one who would unite the country after the Nixon era) and that was a disaster.  However, the American people's reaction to the Carter years was to usher in a new regime with Reagan in the Whitehouse and more moderate Democrats in Congress.  10 years after that we gave control of both houses to center-right Republicans and the result of the Reagan-Republican revolution was 25 years of incredible growth.  So, I'm very optimistic about the future our kids face.

The man-made global warming fanatics are going ahead full speed, in spite of the revelation that so-called "leading scientists" have conspired to "cook the books" with regard to climate data.  I imagine that global warming hysteria will go the way of the ozone problem and the depletion of the Rain Forests.  Those concerns just faded away as the science behind them was exposed as false.  I predict the next big, "the sky is falling" concern will be oxygen depletion.  Yes, the oxygen content of our air has dropped as the world's population, both human and animal, has increased.  Are we going to tax people for breathing?

12/02/09
Another Thanksgiving has come and gone.  The wife and I drove down to Cincinnati where we met with Uncle Don and Aunt Linda, who had flown into Cincy from Florida to enjoy the holiday with the boys.  The game scheduled for Friday precluded the boys from coming home for the weekend.  We enjoyed a wonderful buffet meal at a restaurant that rotated at the top of a hotel in Covington, KY.  As usual, I ate too much and felt the effects for the remainder of the day.  I've heard that Conservatives give thanks to God for his blessings and Liberals give thanks to the Government for giving them other peoples' money.  I'm just thankful that we live in a country that allows such debates.

On her blog, PARVUM OPUS, Miss Rhonda has posted the Thanksgiving Proclamation of Abraham Lincoln from 1863.  Take a moment and read it; you won't regret doing so.  No one writes or speaks like that anymore . . . and that's a shame.

The boys won on Friday, against a tough Illinois team that is better than its record indicates.  This has set the stage for the showdown this Friday in Pittsburgh for the Big East Title.  While Pitt's loss to WV won't affect the title race, it just has to be a bit depressing.  Right now the pressure is on UC, but if the Cats jump on Pitt early that will change.  Pitt will be playing catch-up and worrying about "choking" again this year.  However, if Pitt is behind, don't expect them to fold.  I don't believe that will never happen with a Dave Wannstedt team.

Now that Charlie's been officially canned, everyone is speculating as to when Kelly will announce his move to Notre Dame.  It seems a foregone conclusion to virtually every sports announcer.  Maybe he'll go and maybe he won't: maybe ND won't even offer.  The fact is that if the University is committed to a winning football program that competes with the BCS elite, losing Kelly will just be a hiccup.  The onus will be on the Trustees and President to continue what Kelly and his predecessor, Mark Dantonio, started.

While I've never totally bought the man made global warming argument, I've also never been an ardent denier.  Like many folks, I looked at some of the data presented and listened to the media reports and concluded that indeed it did look like the planet was warming; and that this warming might possibly be caused by our reliance on fossil fuels.  Now we find that the scientists at the center of the global warming issue have falsified some data, deleted some data and conspired to silence any scientists that dared to take an opposing viewpoint.   All of this does not mean that the global warming issue is a scam or that it hasn't been caused by the actions of the human race.  But it does mean that the debate is not over.  I've said it before, but if we look at the rate of sea ice expansion in the Antarctic, as well as the rate of ice melting in the Arctic, by the time the Greenland ice sheet melts, penguins will be walking to Australia.  The inconvenient truth is that Al Gore is a political opportunist and everyone who drank his Kool-Aid should feel a little foolish.  We desperately need open debate; without the politicians weighing in.
Meanwhile, I haven't seen any action taken to combat the continuing depletion of the world's fishing stocks.  The consequences of that depletion on the Earth's ecosystem and on the populations that depend on fish for their sustenance will be dire and will be felt long before Miami is flooded from global warming.  No one seems concerned with the coming energy crunch and I don't mean oil.  Our appetite for electricity is growing faster than our facilities to produce it and the amount of power lost in transmission hasn't subsided.  When we start shutting down air conditioners in Atlanta and dimming lights in NYC people will riot.  These are real, imminent environmental concerns but no one seems to be concerned.  I wonder why.

11/14/09
Last Thursday I had a piece of music playing in observance of Veterans Day.  It was "My Country Tis Of Thee" and I don't know who the artist was.  I saw it on a tribute Fox News had on their news show and found it on the Fox News web site.  It is part of a slideshow honoring those that have served our country and you can see it here.

The boys had another close one last night.  The West Virginia Mountaniers certainly did their homework and gave us quite a game.  There was an extremely controversial call on a touchdown.  The on field official had signaled a fumble recovery by WV when our runner tried to dive over the goal line from the three yard line.  After a video review, the officials changed the call to a touchdown, claiming the ball passed the goal line plane prior to the fumble.  Apparently this has caused quite a stir on ESPN; with the announcers claiming it was a bad call.  I haven't been home to review the game tape, but I have talked to three individuals who saw it.  Two of them say the officials were right in reversing the original call and awarding UC the TD.  My third source is adamant that it was not a TD.  This is going to add fuel to the fire and embolden the media talking heads, and some college football fans, who refuse to accept the idea that any school that is not one of the traditionally elite football programs has a legitimate claim to a major BCS bowl, much less the National Championship.  This is reminiscent of the Democrats crying foul because Bush won the election over Gore according to the rules and procedures in place at the time.
Oops!! I just mixed politics and football.  Spank my butt and call me Suzy.  My apologies to all and I vow to never do it again.

Again, Travis didn't play until the final onside kick, but signs indicate his attitude is improving.  I just found a YouTube video of him in a class.  He had an opportunity to get a little extra credit if he wore a costume to one of his classes.  A teammate offered him a Bill Clinton mask and Trav took advantage of it, dressing up in a suit and wandering around campus on his way to class as Slick Willie.  Apparently his Psychology professor is retiring soon and there were TV cameras in the class.  So the Travman was shocked when he walked into class and was told he would be on the evening news.  He winged his "my fellow Americans" speech and was shown dancing in the beginning of the video.  You can catch the YouTube version here.

I know FoxNews is controversial, but some of the headlines on their website are hilarious:

11/11/09
Well, the Bearcats dodged a bullet with UConn visiting.  They won 47-45.  I thought that if a team racked up over 700 total yards on offense and scored 47 points, the game was not supposed to be close.  I haven't seen the recorded game, but I've been told by friends that the announcers had several  kind words about Jason.  Trav didn't play until the last kickoff.  After UConn's last score, it was apparent that they would try an onside kick, so Trav was put in up front.  He finally gets in when it counts and it's on a play where the only notable thing he could do is screw up.  But all went well.  From observing his demeanor on the sidelines, I think his attitude is changing and that's a good thing.

I think last week's elections sent a strong message to both parties.  The VA and NJ govenors' races were a distinct reaction to the leftist policies of the Congress and POTUS.  The NY House race should make it clear that most Americans have little use for the strong conservative position either.  Rush, Al, Glenn and Barak, along with their allies, are out of touch with the American people.  Throw the bums out; all of them.

11/06/09
UC got past Syracuse and Bubba played after all.  It seems that one of the OL starters was out with fluid in his lungs and the coaches didn't want to have 2 back-ups in there.  I think that was a mistake.  All of the subs on the O line are very good and merely lack experience.  Jason played, but according to his own evaluation, it was the worst he's ever played.  He described it as being weak on his right side and basically blocking with just half of his body.  Apparently the muscles aren't weaker, it's just that the inflamed nerve doesn't transmit the correct signals from the brain.  As I've said before, from my perspective this is scary stuff.  I do think that the team would have been better served with Jason resting the last 2 weeks and ready to go this week.  Tomorrow the boys face UConn and then finish the schedule off with West Virginia and Illinios at home and then Pitt at Heinz Field.  We shall see.

Travis is still spinning his wheels and going nowhere and that's all that I'm gonna say about that.

This Ft. Hood thing is troubling on several fronts.  Do we need to look harder at the followers of Islam that are in the military?  If so, what about those working in our water plants or nuclear facilities?  We must not allow these fanatics to force us to abandon our freedoms and chief among those freedoms is freedom of religion.  If we accept religious profiling as a legitimate method of identifying terrorists, then the terrorists have won.



10/30/09
I'm hanging in Syracuse, waiting for the game tomorrow.  UC is favored by 2 TDs and that's a scary thought.  They're not in that position very often and as we all know, upsets happen every week.  My oldest doesn't see trouble coming; he believes everyone’s head is in the right place.  I hope he's right.  He won't play much, if at all.  After suffering stingers in the last 2 games, the coaches are inclined to keep him on the bench.  He shouldn't be needed.  For those of you that have never heard of a "stinger", it is a condition that results from a hit to the head or shoulder, where the head or shoulder is in a unique position.  The hit pinches a nerve in the neck and the pain paralyzes the neck, arm and shoulder on the side that was hit.  From what I'm told it is a common injury and a lot of power players have to deal with it.  However, as a Dad, it scares the hell out of me.  A hit that paralyzes the side of your upper body; and coaches, trainers and players merely refer to it as "shit happens."  When it happened at South Florida it was at the end of the game and they just sat him.  He had some trouble that weekend, but seemed to recover.  Last week when it happened I was able to get down by the sideline where the Doc and trainers worked on him.  I felt like an idiot.  One trainer saw me and motioned to the Doc, who turned toward me and said it would be OK; they would do a MRI to be certain it was nothing but a stinger, but he should be fine.  Here I am, a simple old fart worrying about his 21-year-old, 300-pound man-child/warrior-beast, and there is absolutely nothing I can say or do. Jason looked at me and I asked, "Are you all right?" His face got contorted; he tilted his head to the side and sarcastically groaned, "Nooooooo", like I was a moron for asking such a stupid question.  And my brilliant reply was, "Oops."  In the future I think I'll wait until I'm invited before insert myself into those situations.

My youngest is bummin.  He hasn't played much since the first game and when he has gotten in, he hasn't done well.  Now he's depressed and as a result, is screwing up in practice.  You know the old saying, "you can't go much faster when you're goin down" (I think that was in an old Rock N Roll tune from the 60's or 70's).  Well, that sums up the current situation for Trav.  However, if he can get past this and get his confidence and focus back, he'll do fine; as well as grow stronger because of it.  I'm reminded of another truism that's appropriate in this situation: "a little adversity is good for the soul".

I found this on an auxiliary drive.  It's old and I can't remember when or where I saw it, but it is funny.  If you want a laugh while pondering the differences between the sexes, give Venus and Mars a look.  My apologies to the author, but I have no idea who wrote this.


10/24/09
The boys are rated 5 in the first BCS poll of the season and the talk of a shot at the NC game has intensified, both in print and over the airwaves.  Naturally I am one of the biggest fans of the Bearcats, however, they aren't ready to compete with clubs like Florida, Texas, Alabama, ect..  I do believe they can play with Ohio State, Boise State and the like.  I know they would play a better game against Virginia Tech. than they did last January.  The football program at UC has come a long way, but I don't think they're ready for to challenge the top teams in a given year.  The good news is they're not that far away from that level.  It's not inconceivable that they could be a legitimate contender for the National Championship next year.  In the meantime lets all enjoy this season.

10/13/09
I'm getting ready for the trip south to watch the UC Bearcats in their biggest challenge to date: Thursday night's game against South Florida.  I believe UC is a slight favorite, but South Florida is not a team to be taken lightly.  The Bearcats are in a rough spot; they're favored to win the rest of their games and that means all they can do is screw up.  They don't face anyone that they could upset, they just have to continue getting prepared and fight off the wolves.  But then again. that's what the good teams do, isn't it? 

This is funny . . .tasteless, but funny.  The Kings Island Amusement park is putting on a Halloween theme for its park this fall.  Someone decided it would be a good idea to put up displays of skeletons mimicking dead celebrities and the response has been disastrous.  You can read the full story here, but allow me to quote a little of it:
"The celebrity skeleton scene included a Sonny Bono skeleton tied face first to a tree and geared in ski equipment . . .A skeleton of Boston Red Sox Hall of Famer Ted Williams was stuffed in a glass-door freezer . . . The McNair skeleton wore a jersey numbered 9 and sat on a couch with a dress-wearing skeleton sprawled in its lap. A gun was on the ground, and the jersey-clad skeleton held a Tennessee Titans snack bowl."
There is a lot more to the story and you will enjoy reading it.  I just wanted to note this because I can't understand how anyone would think this type of display would be appropriate for a family park.  I could see a roadhouse or R&R Club decorating like this for the Holiday, but an amusement park that solicits families?  But I admit I wish I could have seen the Sonny Bono skeleton tied to a tree.  That would be funny.