Werewolves of London.

Seriously, what is this song about? Looking for a link to a database that explains the meaning of songs. What was Warren Zevon talking about? I'd like to know.

Clemency? Not for Stanley Williams.

Don't understand the Hollywood "luminaries" that support clemency for this man. See the LA County DA's office point by point rebuttal here. I find the quote from Willard Gaylin terrible in its truth.

This is why an invasion of The U.S. will never happen.

Check this video. It's funny and alarming at the same time. However, you'd have to be a complete moron to think you could invade the continental U.S.

The future of oil prices?

Found this article particularly interesting. I hate high gas prices as much as the next guy, hopefully there's a light at the end of the tunnel. If the government can keep it's tax claws out of the "record profits."

No title necessary.

Finally a different picture of events.

Of course I didn't know. How could I?

Did you know that 47 countries have reestablished their embassies in Iraq?

Did you know that the Iraqi government currently employs 1.2 million Iraqi
people?

Did you know that 3100 schools have been renovated, 364 schools are under
rehabilitation, 263 schools are now under construction and 38 new schools
have been built in Iraq?

Did you know that Iraq's higher educational structure consists of 20
Universities, 46 Institutes or colleges and 4 research centers, all
currently operating?

Did you know that 25 Iraq students departed for the United States in January
2005 for the re-established Fulbright program?

Did you know that the Iraqi Navy is operational?! They have 5- 100-foot
patrol craft, 34 smaller vessels and a naval infantry regiment.

Did you know that Iraq's Air Force consists of three operational squadrons,
which includes 9 reconnaissance and 3 US C-130 transport aircraft (under
Iraqi operational control) which operate day and night, and will soon add 16
UH-1 Helicopters and 4 Bell Jet Rangers?

Did you know that Iraq has a counter-terrorist unit and a Commando
Battalion?

Did you know that the Iraqi Police Service has over 55,000 fully trained and
equipped police officers?

Did you know that there are 5 Police Academies in Iraq that produce over
3500 new officers each 8 weeks?

Did you know there are more than 1100 building projects going on in Iraq?
They include 364 schools, 67 public clinics, 15 hospitals, 83 railroad
stations, 22 oil facilities, 93 water facilities and 69 electrical
facilities.

Did you know that 96% of Iraqi children under the age of 5 have received the
first 2 series of polio vaccinations?

Did you know that 4.3 million Iraqi children were enrolled in primary school
by mid October?

Did you know that there are 1,192,000 cell phone subscribers in Iraq and
phone use has gone up 158%?

Did you know that Iraq has an independent media that consists of 75 radio
stations, 180 newspapers and 10 television stations?

Did you know that the Baghdad Stock Exchange opened in June of 2004?

Did you know that 2 candidates in the Iraqi presidential election had a
televised debate recently?

OF COURSE WE DIDN'T KNOW!

WHY DIDN'T WE KNOW? OUR MEDIA WOULDN'T TELL US!

Instead of reflecting our love for our country, we get photos of flag
burning incidents at Abu Ghraib and people throwing snowballs at the
presidential motorcades.

The lack of accentuating the positive in Iraq serves two purposes. It is
intended to undermine the world's perception of the United States thus
minimizing consequent support, and it is intended to discourage American
citizens.

---- Above facts are verifiable on the Department of Defense web site.

I'm cautious about this pick.

It's hard to be confident in this candidate for The Supreme Court. I can't tell if The President is trying to challenge the dems to reject this candidate, while having a different candidate in the wings. Seems unlikely. W has been straightforward thus far, can't imagine a change now. Conventional wisdom claims the Prez is saying, "trust me." I guess that's why he got elected.
I truly don't know about this candidate and will be watching the reaction from the nomination process.
See George Will blast W here. Will is like a character from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, using a sword and a razor blade to inflict damage. Quite an attack on many levels.

Pink locker rooms are offensive?

Has this political correctivity gone too far? I'm tired of this kinda stuff. See this link. I'm not going to address the threats to the "professor", those activities are absurd. The real issue is declaring that the locker room is "offensive." Can there really be a serious person out there that is "offended" by the color of the visitor's locker room? Even taking away the legitimate reason (the former head coach, Haden Fry, had the locker room painted pink to create a mood of passivity), do we really need to be evaluating color schemes of locker rooms? I'm all for painting prisons pink, we want those guys as passive as can be. What's next, the color of the teams/schools themselves? Just slap a coat of white paint on everything.......wait a minute, white? That may be offensive to minorities. How do you pick a color that doesn't offend someone? How do you continue this conversation with a straight face?

What the heck are we supposed to do? I tell ya, get back to reality, and if you're a law professor at Iowa, start concentrating of the education of law students. Develop your plan to prepare them for the bar exam, and for the rigors (hah!) of the practice of law. Help the students to change the negative impression of lawyers. But for the love of God, keep you nose outta the visitor's locker room.

Prayers to the victims of Katrina.

There are so many links I wanted to put up for this post, including the bloggers relief fund (I'm still checking it out), but I have to admit to being overwhelmed.

The griping about the response is understandable, but I think over wrought. I mean that the relief effort has been massive and to have the place under complete control by Day 8 is a logistical success.
My opinion is that the Govenor of Louisiana and the Mayor of New Orleans have a lot of 'splaining to do. This was not a surprize. They knew the storm was coming for a week. Apparently they have planned and practiced for this type of emergency before. What happened? I think there was a real vacuum of leadership.
As an aside, I am mortified to hear the political left attempt to gain leverage by this disaster. Jesse Jackson was espousing bald faced lies and then had the temerity to say that the lack of response was due to the race of the victims? Wow. In the world of the Reverend, people were watching the catastrophe and saying, "ahh, we'll get to that tomorrow" based on the race of the victims? The left is politically and morally bankrupt.

Ok, here's a link that I found interesting.

"The Gift of Happiness."

Hypocrisy knows no bounds.

Link.

Kill the space shuttle?

Seems to be a lot of sentiment out there calling for the scrapping of this program. It's kinda news to me. I thought the shuttles were the future.

Article here. and here.

Guess I gotta wake up, huh?

Positive news not available from MSM.

Haven't posted anything like this in awhile, but check this link.
Contrary to the evening news, we are making progress. I'm still amazed at the change in the world political scene. The President won't get credit for this anytime soon, probably not in his lifetime, but I believe this time period will be viewed as a watershed by our children. It's something they will discuss and analyze in history class.

Empire State senator.

Just got back from a trip to New York. Man, do I love living in the Mid-West. Manners, politeness and civility are great to come home to.
Have to remain vigilant. Check this article. Her obvious moves and positioning come as no surprise. She seems to be the only d smart enough to realize that election success comes from moving to the center.
I'll still giggle about the Air Force JAG officer scurrying around the Pentagon, biting her tongue about the Commander in Chief and the Secretary of Defense. What a good soldier!
I'll heartily guffaw at the supposed White House position if the previous presidential election had gone the wrong way.

The PS Classic.

The Second annual PS Classic wrapped this weekend. What a treat. The weather was absolutely beautiful. Sunny and warm all weekend. The company was excellent, witty and bawdy (what a great mix for the golf course). I've recieved the final tally from the offical archivist:

7.29.05 - RedHawk Run
ps - 92
rj - 89
mdg - 98

7.29.05 - The Legacy
ps - 88
rj - 91
mdg - 92

7.30.05 - Maumee Bay
ps - 99
rj - 103
mdg - 90
jp - 99

Totals:
ps 279
mdg 280
rj 283

What a charge by mdg! Holy Toledo! The guy was knocking down shots and carving up the course on Sat. As I said many times that day, "A thing of beauty is a joy that will last forever." PS also showed marked improvement in stamina from last year, but I suspect his good swings were inversely proportional to his intake of alcohol. I discovered my greatest weakness is a cute beer girl and a playing partner with cash. Already looking forward to next year's Classic. Thanks guys!

Music time.

Spin magagzine's Top Ten albums from the last twenty years:

1. Radiohead - 'Ok Computer'(1997)
2. Public Enemy - 'It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back’ (1988)
3. Nirvana - 'Nevermind' (1991)
4. Pavement - 'Slanted and Enchanted' (1992)
5. The Smiths - 'The Queen is Dead' (1986)
6. Pixies - 'Surfer Rosa' (1989)
7. De La Soul - '3 Feet High and Rising' (1989)
8. Prince - 'Sign O' The Times' (1987)
9. PJ Harvey - 'Rid of Me' (1993)
10. NWA - 'Straight Outta Compton' (1988)

I have/had four of them, even though I never thought any of them would make this kind of list.

Elsewhere:

Wednesday, July 06, 2005

Bloggers Rank Over-Rated Songs

Robert Burke of Rhapsody Radish asked some of the top music bloggers to name the most overrated songs. Robert says he was not looking for the most hated song or even the worst commercially successful song, but a song that has garnered critical acclaim. No doubt this'll stir up some debate as some classic fan favorites have been selected.

The bloggers top ten over-rated songs:

1. "American Pie" - Don McLean
2. "Light My Fire" - The Doors
3. "Free Bird" - Lynyrd Skynyrd
4. "Hey Ya!" – Outkast
5. "Pour Some Sugar On Me" - Def Leppard
6. "Wonderwall" – Oasis
7. "Memory" - Andrew Lloyd Webber
8. "Bohemian Rhapsody" – Queen
9. "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" - U2
10. "Totally Wired" - The Fall

You can view the full list with the bloggers' explanations on their choices, comment on the list and add your own here.

Color me paranoid.

Just read an article describing the rough treatment of reporters and staff travelling with Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice. Sudanese guards to president Omar el-Bashir manhandled and physically confronted reporters and staff on more than one occassion..
If I understand the situation in Sudan correctly, the new "reconcilliation" government is comprised of members from the Arabic population from the north and with the Christian and indigenous peoples of the south. While I think of Sudan in a slightly favorable light when they agreed to turn over Bin Laden, the killing of over 2 million people in the 21 year civil war is an atrocity that cannot be overlooked.
The whole point of this rant is this: I hope somebody in our intelligence community is investigating these incidents very carefully. This seems like a type of reconnaissance misson from Al Qaeda or other terrorist organization. A probing of her security detachment and their reactions. A way to see who in her detail is security and who is not. A clue as to the methods of security for her, as well as other U. S. officials. I'd be very interested to know who was around during these incidents just watching. Who says the next terrorist attack has to be against mass transit or the public? It seems that our Secretary of State, by her job description as well as her ideology, is a likely target.
Like I said, color me paranoid, but don't color me surprised.

Possible Supreme Nominee?

Sounds like a real possibility. Would like to know a little more, but this article will prompt me to do some research.

Article here.

Flustered and stuck on name calling.

I think I've mentioned this here before, but the left still resorts to name calling. Who is "mean-spirited"? Consider this part of my mini "Hillary Watch." I thought the analysis of her comments instructive.
Article here.

Free Speech or Campaign Dollars?

I found this article interesting.
I was really surprised by McCain's reaction to this guy in person. Won't shake his hand?
I thought I liked the reform, but perhaps there is something to this Constitutional stuff, huh?

No comments for June 05? Drat!

Well, I'm no Gerhrig/Ripken, but I hoped to keep the posts going. We'll see if I can get back on the horse.

Major haps in my life. Tidings of great joy.

Still, life goes on. Two big topics out there. Supreme Court vacancy and bombs in London. Oh yeah, Ohio State lands one of the most highly touted recruiting classes in college basketball since ttun. Cool!

The real lyrics to Louie Louie

Looweeloowhy ono sadday we gowgow
yeh yeh yeh yeh yeh sadday looweeloowhy oh bebay sadday we gowgow

Ayfain liyelkurwl away onee
eektatsh ahip oconstalee
ale wine shit wine all alowe
eenever acow aamay gitome

Aloowee loowhy nanananana heywegowgow
Oh no addeeloowee loowhy oh bebay heddeweegoddegow

Wenite andayo afaildefee
kaykogorld ocontoflee
a on ay shit awayteedair
agul ayrow mowinherrair

Aloowee loowhy oh no heddewegowgow
ya ya ya ya ya sadday loowee loowhy oh bebay heddeweegowgow

OWKAYLITSGITITOOWERITENEOW

teey.... teteeynow ingamymoowabow
theymuppeelow they peepeealow
theypayinarhear my artegen
aymebber ay mebbelayergen

Looweeloowhy ono sadday we gowgow
yeh yeh yeh yeh yeh sadday looweeloowhy oh bebay sadday we gowgow
Ayseddewegoddegownow
Beybeeconnoweekot
Etco!