Sports Best Time of the Year

Kick-Off, We're gonna Kick-Off! (One of the two times it's used correctly).

College Football gets underway this evening in Iowa.

The Drake Bulldogs host their first game, against the U.N.I. Panthers in renovated Drake Stadium. It'll be a battle for the Bulldogs, as the Panthers were second in the nation in Division I-AA.

The Iowa State Cyclones host the Toledo Rockets at Jack Trice Stadium.

Chris' Iowa Hawkeyes host the Montana Grizzlies Saturday.

I'm a Bob Stoops fan, I thought the Hawkeyes should have hired him instead of Ferentz, thus root for the Oklahoma Sooners. They host the University of Alabama at Birmingham Blazers Saturday.

The New York Yankees have an 8 game lead in the American League East and hopefully can bring back World Series title #27 in October.

The Green Bay Packers have their final pre-season game tomorrow against the Tennessee Titans. The Pack will host their longtime rivals the Chicago Bears on Sunday September 10.

College Football, Pro Football, Major League Baseball.

For me it's the best time of the year, only if it didn't lead into Winter....Brrrr!

I hope he's right

I took this from the New York Post...

THE WILL TO WIN

DOES THE WEST STILL HAVE IT?

EDITOR'S NOTE: The following is adapted from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's speech yesterday at the American Legion National Convention.

THE American Legion has achieved a great deal for our country since its founding in the months following World War I.

That year, 1919 turned out to be one of those pivotal junctures in modern history - the beginning of a period where, over time, a very different set of views would come to dominate discourse and thinking in the West. A sentiment took root that contended that, if only the growing threats that had begun to emerge in Europe and Asia could be appeased, then the carnage and destruction of World War I might be avoided.

It was, as Churchill observed, a bit like feeding a crocodile, hoping it would eat you last.

There was a strange innocence. Someone recently recalled one U.S. senator's reaction in September 1939, upon hearing that Hitler had invaded Poland to start World War II: "Lord, if only I could have talked with Hitler, all this might have been avoided." Think of that.

Once again we face the same kind of challenges in efforts to confront the rising threat of a new type of fascism.

Today, another enemy - a different kind of enemy - has also made clear its intentions - in places like New York, Bali, London and Madrid. But many have still not learned history's lessons.

We need to face the following questions:

* With the growing lethality and availability of weapons, can we truly afford to believe that somehow vicious extremists can be appeased?

* Can we really continue to think that free countries can negotiate a separate peace with terrorists?

* Can we truly afford the luxury of pretending that the threats today are simply "law enforcement" problems, rather than fundamentally different threats, requiring fundamentally different approaches?

* And can we truly afford to return to the destructive view that America - not the enemy - is the real source of the world's trouble?

We hear every day of new plans, new efforts, to murder Americans and other free people. Indeed, the plot recently discovered that would have killed hundreds - possibly thousands - of innocents on planes from Britain to the United States should have demonstrated to all that the enemy is serious, lethal and relentless.

But we find ourselves in a strange time:

* When a database search of America's leading newspapers turns up 10 times as many mentions of one soldier at Abu Ghraib who was punished for misconduct than mentions of Sgt. 1st Class Paul Ray Smith, the first recipient of the Medal of Honor in the War on Terror.

* When a Newsweek senior editor disparagingly refers to the brave volunteers in our Armed Forces as a "mercenary army."

* When the former head of CNN accuses the American military of deliberately targeting journalists and the former CNN Baghdad bureau chief admits he concealed reports of Saddam Hussein's crimes when he was in power so CNN could stay in Iraq.

* And when Amnesty International disgracefully refers to the military facility at Guantanamo Bay - which holds terrorists who have vowed to kill Americans, and is arguably the best run and most scrutinized detention facility in the history of warfare - as "the gulag of our times."

Those who know the truth need to speak out against these kinds of myths and lies and distortions being told about our troops and our country. This watchdog role is even more important today in a war that is to a great extent fought in the global media - to not allow the lies and the myths be repeated without question or challenge, so that at least the second and third draft of history will be more accurate than the quick first allegations.

In this "long war," any kind of moral and intellectual confusion about who and what is right or wrong can severely weaken the ability of free societies to persevere.

Our enemy knows this well. They frequently invoke the names of Beirut and Somalia - places they see as examples of American retreat and weakness. And as we have seen most recently in Lebanon, they design attacks and manipulate the media to try to demoralize public opinion. They doctor photographs of casualties, use civilians as human shields and then provoke an outcry when civilians are accidentally killed in their midst.

The good news is that most of the American people, though understandably influenced by what they read and see in the media, have inner gyroscopes and good centers of gravity.

And I am confident that over time they will evaluate what is happening and come to wise conclusions.

One soldier, who recently volunteered for a second tour in Iraq, likely captured the feelings of many of his peers. In an e-mail to friends, he wrote:

"I ask that you never take advantage of the liberties guaranteed by the shedding of free blood, never take for granted the freedoms granted by our Constitution. For those liberties would be merely ink on paper were it not for the sacrifice of generations of Americans who heard the call of duty and responded heart, mind and soul with 'Yes, I will.' "

I believe the question is not whether we can win. It is whether we have the will to persevere. I believe that Americans do have that steel. And that we have learned the lessons of history, the folly of turning a blind eye to danger, and of ignoring our responsibilities.

I'm having my doubts about the intestitinal fortitude of the American public.

Now THIS Is CNN

Somehow CNN Anchor Kyra Phillips mic was left on while she took a bathroom break during live coverage of President Bush's speech from New Orleans yesterday.

Here's what went out over the air....

Kyra Phillips: ""assholes.Yeah, I'm very lucky in that regard with my husband. My husband is handsome and he is genuinely a loving, you know, no ego.[unintelligible] you know what I'm saying. Just a really passionate, compassionate great, great human being. And they exist. They do exist. They're hard to find. Yup. But they are out there."

[unidentified woman]: "We'll see. He's going to come, you know, he's set for an extended visit.[unintelligible]"

Phillips: "I mean, that's, that's how you figure it all out, those extended visits. [laughter]"

[unidentified woman]: "Yeah, but my mom, I think she really likes him."

Phillips: "Mom's got a good vibe? Good."

[unidentified woman]: "Yeah, my brother's the one that.[unintelligible]"

Phillips: "Brother-of course, brothers have to be, you know, protective. Except for mine. I've got to be protective of him."

[unidentified woman [unintelligible]

Phillips: "Yeah. He's married, three kids, but his wife is just a control freak."

[unidentified woman #2]: "Kyra."

Phillips: "Yeah, baby?"

[unidentified woman #2]: "Your mic is on. Turn it off. It's been on the air."

Daryn Kagan then came on to attempt a segue, no wonder she's leaving the network....

"Alright, we've been listening in to President Bush as he speaks in, uh, New Orleans today. This is the one year anniversary of Katrina making land shore there. President Bush saying if another natural disaster hits, our country. We must, uh, react better than that. Let's listen in once again to President Bush."

I guess this is what is meant by potty mouth!

How awkward are the holidays going to be when Phillips gets together with her brother & sister-in-law?

Our First "Real" Date

She likes me for me!

It still stuns me and I know my friends can't figure it out, but my wife Chris is still with me.

Technically it all began 19 years ago today, Happy Anniversary Babe! The peach rose is for You!!

I say technically & "real" date, because I tricked her into going with me to a concert before actually asking her out.

In 1987 we were both working at KFMD/103.3 in Des Moines. I was an On-Air Personality and single, Chris did News and was single too. I had a crush on Chris, but she was too good for me.

The Production/Promotions Director, Bob Weidig, had as part of his duties the writing of commercials and assigning them to be recorded. One day he needed Chris & I to voice a "spot" together.

It was during this recording session that Bob suggested Chris & I go out. Chris' response was that wouldn't be a "real" date. OUCH!

Needless to say I didn't pursue her, but like Jimmy Carter says, lusted after her in my heart.

A few months later the Iowa State Fair was nearing and KFMD had received free tickets to give-away for the Chicago concert, 1987 line-up pictured.

I knew Chris liked Chicago and Bob would be passing out tickets for the staff. I told Bob to save two and not let Chris know he had any. I thought I would use that as leverage for a date.

Bob came into the studio one day when I was on-air, he was panicked.

Chris had found out about the Chicago tickets and was asking about them. I told Bob the new plan was that he was to tell Chris there were only two tickets left and he had promised one to me. It worked!

On the day of the concert, Chris suggested I meet her there. Radio & TV Stations get free admission & parking passes to the fair, Chris had parking passes. I said we should go together and offered to pick her up. She didn't want me to know where she lived, AGAIN OUCH!, so she said she would drive and picked me up.

It was a cool & rainy night, but the grandstand was covered. The concert was nice, but the company was better.

I was a real gentleman and guided her through the crowd and the puddles.

When she dropped me off at my house, I leaned in real close to kiss her.

Instead I told her I'd had a nice time for a not "real" date and then I got out of her car.

I believe she cursed me and left.

That all set the stage for me asking her to a movie as our first "real" date.

I took Chris to 'The Fourth Protocol' , pictured, with Michael Caine and Pierce Brosnan at the River Hills/Riviera. It was weak, but like before the company was much better!

And we're still together!

And Clinton jogged too

Eagle Grove is the first stop as The Pickle (Governor Vilsack) begins what he and the media call his final "walk across Iowa".

It's a misnomer, because The Pickle doesn't actually walk across the state.

He rides and then when he gets close, he gets out and walks into town.

He may even walk out of town, but soon afterwards it's back into the vehicle and onto the next walk.

I do believe if he really walked the state, he might be able to cut down on those double chins, belly roll and love handles.

The Pickle is pictured with Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, left, who lost over 100 punds and runs marathons.

Not to brag, but I am 6'8"

Taller People are Smarter: Study

While researchers have long shown that tall people earn more than their shorter counterparts, it's not only social discrimination that accounts for this inequality -- tall people are just smarter than their height-challenged peers, a new study finds.

"As early as age three -- before schooling has had a chance to play a role -- and throughout childhood, taller children perform significantly better on cognitive tests," wrote Anne Case and Christina Paxson of Princeton University in a paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

The findings were based primarily on two British studies that followed children born in 1958 and 1970, respectively, through adulthood and a U.S. study on height and occupational choice.

Other studies have pointed to low self-esteem, better health that accompanies greater height, and social discrimination as culprits for lower pay for shorter people.

But researchers Case and Paxson believe the height advantage in the job world is more than just a question of image.

"As adults, taller individuals are more likely to select into higher paying occupations that require more advanced verbal and numerical skills and greater intelligence, for which they earn handsome returns," they wrote.

For both men and women in the United States and the United Kingdom, a height advantage of four inches equated with a 10 percent increase in wages on average.

But the researchers said the differences in performance crop up long before the tall people enter the job force. Prenatal care and the time between birth and the age of 3 are critical periods for determining future cognitive ability and height.

"The speed of growth is more rapid during this period than at any other during the life course, and nutritional needs are greatest at this point," the researchers wrote.

The research confirms previous studies that show that early nutrition is an important predictor of intelligence and height.

"Prenatal care and prenatal nutrition are just incredibly important, even more so than we already knew," Case said in an interview.

Since the study's data only included populations in the United Kingdom and the United States, the findings could not be applied to other regions, Case said.

And how tall are the researchers?

They are both about 5 feet 8 inches tall, well above the average height of 5 feet 4 inches for American women.

The paper can be found here.....http://papers.nber.org/papers/w12466

In the immortal words of Randy Newman,

I don't want no short people
 Don't want no short people
 Don't want no short people
 'Round here

Party of Tolerance & Diversity

A Dummycrat Party committee voted unanimously to disqualify a white openly gay candidate, Patricia Todd, for the Alabama House.

Since there is no Republican opponent, Todd would have become the first openly gay officeholder in Alabama history.

The committee also disqualified the woman she defeated in the primary runoff, Gaynell Hendricks who is black, because both women violated a party rule that party officials said no other candidate has obeyed since 1988.

As a matter of fact, under this scenario, the Dummycrats also have to disqualify nominee for governor, Lt. Gov. Lucy Baxley, and for lieutenant governor, former Gov. Jim Folsom Jr.

That's NOT going to happen.

It appears race is actually more of a factor.

The longtime chairman of the black Democratic caucus had supported Hendricks and stressed the need to keep the seat in black hands.

How do I spell hypocrite? D-E-M-O-C-R-A-T

La Macchina

These two small men are the Mauro brothers, John and Mike.

John is a Polk County Supervisor and is seeking re-election. He served on the CIETC board that allowed taxpayers money to be used for extravagant salaries and bonuses.

Mike is the Polk County Auditor and in that capacity he oversees county elections. Mike Mauro is also seeking to be the next Iowa Secretary of State, in that capacity he would oversee state elections. (See Sunday 8/20 post, Consider the Source).

They and their South Side ilk have been a machine like fixture in politics for years. The South Side also gave us CIETC Board Chair Archie Brooks.

The Mauro's have a love/hate relationship with the term "Machine".

Michael says, "There is no political machine. If that were the case, we'd win every election."

John was featured in a US News & World Report article about how he delivered "La Macchina's" support to John Kerry in the 2004 Iowa Caucus. The article also mentions the absentee ballot support they've ginned up for CommieTommie Harkin and "The Pickle" (Tom Vilsack).

People think John recently denied the machine.

However, he only denied the term, La Macchina, and said he didn't write the US News article.

WHO TV/13 recently aired a report from John Mauro's 2002 campaign win over Gene Phillips and John said to his supporters, on camera, the machine isn't dead.

While not totally accurate this quote from Billy Martin suffices, "One's a born liar, the other's convicted".

Billy was talking about Reggie Jackson and George Steinbrenner, but it's CLOSE!

If you can't trust them on the little things

As I mentioned on Monday(SWEEP!) The New York Yankees increased their lead over the Boston Red Sox to 6 1/2 games.

Both teams began series Tuesday on the West Coast. New York in Seattle to play the Mariners and Boston in Los Angeles to play the Angels.

Both teams lost Tuesday and both teams won last night, therefore no change in the standings.

Except, the Ragister has the Yankee lead down to 6 games.

Why? I'm sure it's a fiberal conspiracy designed to undermine America's past time.

It has to be, because this isn't the first time it's occurred.

It can't be that, like most of the media, they're merely inept and too lazy to check reputable sources (in this case MLB.com).

While I'm attacking the Ragister.

Why, in 2006, can't they print information that comes in from the West Coast the next day?

There was nothing in Wednesday's paper about Tuesday's games, yet in today's paper they have Wednesday's games...HUH?

With modern communication and those fancy presses it can't take that long get it into print, correctly.

Can't follow the logic

A letter to the Editor in the Ragister was railing against traffic cameras and how they deprive one of their right to privacy. The same argument is made about all cameras in the open.

Right to privacy?

You're in PUBLIC!!!!!

Big Brother-esque, Yes!

I'm sure some judge somewhere will agree with this way of thinking.

Shudder at the thought

The National Association of Manufacturers has a web site that shows what a Dummycrat controlled Congress would look like.

SENATE:

Majority Leader: Harry Reid of Nevada
Majority Whip: Richard J. Durbin of Illinois
Appropriations: Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia
Armed Services: Carl Levin of Michigan
Budget: Kent Conrad of North Dakota
Finance: Max Baucus of Montana
Foreign Relations: Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware
Health, Education, Labor and Pensions: Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts
Homeland Security: Joe Lieberman of Connecticut (Probably)
Judiciary: Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont
Rules and Administration: Dianne Feinstein of California
Small Business and Entrepreneurship: John Kerry of Massachusetts

HOUSE:

Speaker: Nancy Pelosi of California
Majority Whip: Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland
Appropriations: David R. Obey of Wisconsin
Armed Services: Ike Skelton of Missouri
Budget: John M. Spratt Jr. of South Carolina
Education and the Workforce: George Miller of California
Energy and Commerce: John D. Dingell of Michigan
Financial Services: Barney Frank of Massachusetts
Government Reform: Henry A. Waxman of California
International Relations: Tom Lantos of California
Judiciary: John Conyers Jr. of Michigan
Ways and Means: Charles B. Rangel of New York

You also have to include our own CommieTommie Harkin as head of the Agriculture committe. The House list would likely change as "Cut & Run" Murtha has expressed interest in the Majority Whip position.

ShopFloor.org is the web site and also includes voting-record ratings for all of those Dummycrats, compared with their Republican counterparts.

To paraphrase Ronald Reagan...We need more Dummycrats in Congress--like Custer needed more arrows.

"Wussification" of American Education

"Up in the mornin’ and out to school
The teacher is teachin’ the golden rule
American history and practical math
You studyin’ hard and hopin’ to pass
Workin’ your fingers right down to the bone...."

The 'School Day' is not like that anymore Chuck Berry!

The educational geniuses at most Des Moines High Schools will be starting their first day, Thursday, with pep assemblies and having students spend time with their advisory groups (?).

It's all in an attempt to "welcome kids back to school" according to Liz Celenia-Fagen, Des Moines' director of high school programs and achievement.

This is the same woman who I quoted June 2 (I agree with Alice Cooper, School's Out Completely), then the issue was high school students needing more than 4 years to graduate.

Here are those pearls of wisdom......"We felt like it was a sort of walk of shame for students who didn't earn enough credits to be reclassified as freshmen again. We want all students to work towards their goals, and if that takes them a bit longer, that's O.K. But we don't want them discouraged by processes and procedures that we have".

In that piece I though Ms. Celenia-Fagen had watched too much Stuart Smalley and his Daily Affirmation's on Saturday Night Live, I wasn't wrong.

"Because I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggonit, people like me!" Smalley also says, "And that's.. o-kay" a lot.

According to Naomi Housman, director of the National High School Alliance in Washington, D.C., "There's definitely a trend sweeping the nation to revisit the traditional practice of high school. Most high schools have not changed the basic way they work for over 100 years".

I'm always leery of these sweeping trends, especially if they come out of California.

It seems to me school has gotten easier academically.

Look what was required of students in the classroom 100 years ago vs. today! Watch a program such as Ken Burns, 'The Civil War' and you'll hear the eloquence of letters written to loved ones. Talk to a student today, or read their MySpace page....SAD!

Educators today don't appear to be about making students become the best and the brightest.

It's about indulging them, entertaining them, wanting to be their friends and letting them feel good about themselves.

One of my favorite high school teachers, Tom Fitzgerald, told a student 30 years ago who was complaining of boredom...."I'm here to educate you, not entertain you"!

I wonder how many Des Moines High School students will get accepted into M.I.T.?
(see following post)

A well rounded education

The Princeton Review has released its survey of life for 115,00 students on 361 college campuses.

The top party schools is what gets mentioned in the media. The Texas Longhorns bring home top "honors" there...Hook 'em Horns!

Iowa, the Old Capitol on campus pictured, dropped from 8th to 9th this year...Come on! You gotta fight, fight, FIGHT for Iowa!

The "toughest school to get into" was the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The most "Birkenstock-wearing, tree-hugging, clove-smoking vegetarians" were found at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y.

The most nostalgic for former President Ronald Reagan was Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Mich.

The most nostalgic for former President Bill Clinton was Warren Wilson College in Asheville, N.C. -- which, incidentally, ranked tops in "Reefer Madness" -- marijuana use -- in the poll.

I wonder if they inhale?

Of course, if they miss Clinton!

SWEEP!

The New York Yankees took 5 straight games from their nemesis Boston Red Sox, completing the sweep today with a 2-1 win. They also increased their divison lead to 6 1/2 games.

It's the first time in 55 years, 1951, that the Bronx Bombers swept the BoSox 5 straight!

The last time the Yanks took 5 straight from Boston, in Fenway, was 63 years ago, 1943!

FYI--Both were before I was born.

One of the WEAKEST Excuses...EVER!

I heard a TV weather twinkie this morning trying to discuss Joan Jett, she appeared at the Fair yesterday.

The twinkie couldn't get her name or group correct and then said the unthinkable, "That was before I was born"!

Thanks to my older friend Cal, this has become an irritant to me, although I love using it push his buttons.

It may be because I'm growing older, but I believe it's because I've always been fascinated by history.

To me it's a prime indicator of a person's lack of intelligence when they resort to that retort.

Have you never read a book? a magazine? a newspaper? Have you ever watched television?
Have you ever used Mr. Gore's internet for anything besides Instant Messaging? MySpace? porn?

I got into an argument with a so called college conservative regarding this issue.

She had written an on-line article about legislation promoting a gay curriculum for California schools. The legislation was sponsored by Senator Sheila James Kuehl who played Zelda on the TV series, "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis" and is openly gay.

This conservative wrote...Dobie Giliss(sp?).

I thought that was incredibly lazy and ignorant to write that in an article, so I sent her an e-mail
about it.

Her reply was, she didn't care about the stupid TV show that was on before she was born.

I told her she was sounding like a defensive, whiny fiberal. I told her that I believed they taught history at her college, which mostly happened before she was born.

It digressed from there.

Consider the Source

Dummycrat Polk County Auditor/Commissioner of Elections Michael Mauro was really reaching when he chose the Editorial Board of the Ragister to defend his reputation from his Republican opponent for Secretary of State, Mary Ann Hanusa.

Here's what Hanusa said..."I have a record of public service. ... My record of public service is marked by honesty, integrity and credibility. Yes, Mr. Mauro has experience as Polk County auditor, but I also think his experience has been marred by a series of investigations and ethical questions, which should trouble any Iowans, especially for someone who is trying to secure the top position for shepherding Iowa's elections."

Ms. Hanusa was referring to a 1998 investigation the U.S. Attorneys Office opened regarding voter fraud in Michael's brother John's primary defeat of Gene Phillips. Phillips then ran as an Independent and defeated the incumbent, John Mauro, in the general election for County Supervisor.

Michael Mauro's rebuttal to Hanusa was..."While I was running what The Des Moines Register Editorial Board referred to as a 'pristine office,' my opponent was working for an administration mired in scandals."

HA! There's the CHUCKLE! The Ragister likes me. They really, really like me! Find me a Dummycrat they don't love.

Mauro, pictured small because he comes across as small & petty, mentioned that everyone involved in the voting fraud investigation was cleared in the probe.

Just because a Grand Jury declined to indict anyone doesn't mean you were cleared, or you're innocent O.J.!

Oh, The administration mired in scandals? Ms. Hanusa was Director of President Bush's personal correspondence and resigned to run against Mauro.

Still not sure what "scandals" he's citing, but if anyone knows scandalous behavior it's Mauro....

Mauro's brother John was on the Board of Director's of CIETC.

Ramona Cunningham, former CIETC Head Skank, contributed $300 to Michael Mauro's campaign for Secretary of State.

Cunningham's daughter, Ruth Shepard, is employed in Michael Mauro's Polk County Election Office.

Michael Mauro's son, Steve, works for CIETC and received a $10,000 bonus.

Victor Scaglione used to work in Michael Mauro's Polk County Election office, but left to work for CIETC where he received a $5,000 bonus.

Talk about Muck & Mire for hire!

That's a guy I want running elections in Iowa! Tom Vilsack and the Dummycrats do.

They have three political action committees, one of which is Vilsack's Heartland Pac, spotlighting secretary of state candidates in Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada and Ohio.

Secretaries of State control most voting regulations and influence state purchases of voting machines and the Dummycrats want the White House in 2008.

Ako should be ashamed, oh!

Ako Abdul-Samad held a Dummycrat political rally yesterday, loosely disguised as a Creative Visions press conference. The idea was to save his $70,000 a year salary and his campaign for the House in District 666.

State Senator Jack Hatch and outgoing Representative Ed Fallon were in attendance.

Just as with CIETC, the Dummycrats are trying to sweep this misuse and abuse of taxpayers money under the proverbial rug.

A City of Des Moines audit, details released this week, showed that over the past two years Creative Visions cannot provide files for "clients' they've "helped".

A former employee, turned whistleblower, has said Creative Visions has provided false files ove the past years.

This week the City of Des Moines froze federal funds, they administer, to Creative Visions...TWO YEARS TOO LATE!

Quite probably only because the information made it's way to the public.

At his political rally, Ako(left) produced files that he said were the ones in question. Ako new Monday this story would be coming out and when questioned by the media, he plugged his Friday presser.

Why the delay? Creative fiction takes time!

House District 666 is overwhelmingly Dummycrat, one hopes they would wise up and elect Republican Jack Whitver.

Whitver, pictured right, is a former Cyclone football player who earned his undergraduate degree in three years. He is also a small business owner and has a good head on his shoulders, from the interaction with the media I've witnessed.

Sexagenarian

Happy 60th Birthday BUBBA!

This is what Bill had to say about this special event...

"In just a few days, I will be 60 years old. I hate it, but it's true".

"Now that I have more days behind me than ahead of me, I try to wake up with a discipline of gratitude every day."

This week BUBBA also told an International AIDS Conference...Prostitutes "are people, too and they deserve the chance to be empowered to save their lives. To me it's a no-brainer."

I think I see where DISCIPLINE of GRATITUDE now fits in. Letting the blood flow from his brain to LIL' BUBBA is what caused a lot of problems over the years.

I'm wondering if BUBBA isn't suffering from a case of E.D.? Is that why he's down?

That would explain why the Clinton administration told states that Medicaid had to pay for Viagra and other erectile dysfunction drugs.

Reincarnated?

Confessed JonBenet Ramsey killer John Mark Karr. JFK assassin Lee Harvey Oswald. Eerie!

I wish I had been wrong

Back on June 12 (I've got a bad feeling about this) I wrote about the trial in U.S. District Court between the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the National Security Agency(NSA), regarding that agencies terrorist surveillance program.

These were my concerns regarding presiding Judge Anna Diggs Taylor...

I don't think a 74 year old has the ability to keep up with the intricacies of the modern technology involved. 8 years ago she stepped down from her duties as Chief Judge of the District Court to reduce her workload. She was appointed to that position by Bill Clinton and originally put on the Court by Jimmy Carter.

Judge Taylor ruled yesterday that the NSA's program is unconstitutional, saying it violates the rights of free speech and privacy. Taylor also ordered an immediate halt to the program.

You had to be asleep at the wheel not to see this one coming!

The Department of Justice is appealing the ruling. A stay has been granted that will allow the program to continue while awaiting the results of the appeal. I believe Taylor's decision will be overturned.

Dummycrat Demagoguery

It was an October Monday 2004 in Newton, Iowa when John Edwards first professed that Dummycrats have the power to HEAL!

"If we do the work that we can do in this country, the work that we will do when John Kerry is president, people like Christopher Reeve are going to walk, get up out of that wheelchair and walk again."

This week Dummycrats have been at it again.

Representative Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD) is running for the U.S. Senate and told a group of 15 people at a Cancer Support Center.... "We are going to lick cancer by 2015."

Not to be outdone, Leonard BOZO-well told a gathering of a similar size at the Iowa State Fair...

"Scientists and the research community - they are unanimous in this ... they think they are just on the brink to do something for that, for Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease and a whole bunch of others. Why wouldn't we do that?"

He came to his brilliantly spoken conclusion watching a little girl's battle with juvenile diabetes and a childhood friend's paralysis. BOZO-well says that helped shape his support for stem cell research in hopes of finding a medical cure for such ailments.

First: Scientists and researchers are never UNANIMOUS on ANYTHING! Here's proof BOZO-well is wrong. Ronald D.G. McKay, a stem cell researcher at the National Institute of Health (NIH), has admitted publicly that stem cells as an Alzheimer's cure are a fiction, but that "people need a fairy tale."

Second: Charles Krauthammer, well known political commentator, is also an M.D. and has been paralyzed since 1972 says...."For 30 years I have heard promises of miracle cures for paralysis.
The last fad, fetal tissue transplants, was thought to be a sure thing. Nothing came of it."

Finally: George Bush is the first president to approve federal funding for stem cell research. There are lines of stem cells now available. There is no ban, President Bush vetoed expanding federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. If embryonic stem cell research was so promising it would attract private investment, like Adult stem cell research.

Dummycrats and the media can't be bothered with facts!

Chester and his ideas are full of BULL

Chester Culver, Dummycrat with bullhorn for Governor, has proposed investing a portion of the state's pension program money(IPERS) in venture capital for homegrown companies.

Mr. Culver is proud of his teaching past, history and government, but appearantly needs schooling on recent history.

Since 2003, The Iowa Values Fund has spent hundreds of millions taxpayers money on private business and there has been no accounting of jobs that were to be created.

In 1991, Iowa Senate President Joe Welsh, Dummycrat Dubuque, helped market the Iowa Trust, an investment fund, to cities and counties in Iowa. $70 Million was stolen from that investment fund by its manager Steven Wymer.

I believe IPERS was also involved in that investment. I have sent an e-mail to IPERS and State Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald, he serves on IPERS board, seeking that information.

It should be noted that the Legislature took steps to shore up the IPERS fund, which as of last year was $2.2 billion short of being able to pay all of the benefits it had promised to pay.

**********UPDATE**********

I received this response from Georganna Madsen in Michael Fitzgerald's office...

There were no State funds invested in the Iowa Trust Fund.  There were some Counties and Cities that invested, but absolutely no "State" funds.

The quotation marks around State seems fishy, so I naturally had to ask why and here's the response.

Just to make it clear that no State funds were invested.

Seems to me you would have put the emphasis on the "NO" part.

Barack-ing up one's beliefs

Via The Drudge Report

Illinois Senator Barack Obama warns citizens at his 50th Town Hall meeting about gas guzzling, WPSD-TV reports.

It was among many points made to the standing room only audience at the Metropolis Community Center. Obama spoke on everything from DC politics to global warming.

He says part of the blame for the world's higher temperatures rests on gas guzzling vehicles. Obama says consumers can make the difference by switching to higher mileage hybrids.

Today the Senator said, "It would save more energy, do more for the environment and create better world security than all the drilling we could do in Alaska."

"After the meeting... Obama left in a GMC Envoy after admitting to favoring SUV's himself," claimed local News Channel 6.

Tommy Vietor, Senator Obama's press secretary, explains: "What Senator Obama has long advocated is the use of vehicles that are more fuel efficient, including but not exclusively hybrids.

"The vehicle senator obama travels in while in illinois is a Flexible Fuel Vehicle (FFV), which can run on e85, a blended fuel made of 85 percent ethanol.

"So he in fact was practicing what he preached at the town hall meeting in Metropolis yesterday when he said we must drive fewer gas-guzzling vehicles."

But it does not appear that GMC's Envoy is E85 ready.

Creative Visions? More like Creative Fiction

An audit by the City of Des Moines has found that the Ako for profit agency(he's paid $70,000 a year), Creative Visions is unable to produce client files for nearly half of those they say they've helped in the past two years.

It comes as no surprise to me, that's why I wrote on August 1 that "Ako is not A-OK".

The Creative Visions web site (creativisions.org) says it has served anywhere from a "staggering 1,200" to a "staggering 2,000 plus individuals" in their nearly 10 years. They also claim to have "placed 413 in legitimate jobs".

Now a former employee, I'm sure disgruntled, has said that Creative Visions provided false files over the past years.

Creative Visions budget for last year was $576,000 of that $241,600 was federal grant money administered by Des Moines.

Ako has acknowledged problems with his record keeping, but believes miscommunication between his staff and city officials is the real problem.

Ako says, "This gives individuals a chance to take potshots at me".

He needs to put the blame on the man in the mirror.

He served on the CIETC board and he heads this agency. I wonder what kind of real damage he did on the Des Moines School Board. Ako is currently running as a Dummycrat for the Iowa House of Representatives District 66.

Per Ako, on his web site citizensforako.com, "In Iowa, it not only matters what you do, but how you do it".

Pepsico just gave us the finger

Effective October 1, Pepsico Inc. CFO
Indra K. Nooyi will replace Steven Reinemund as CEO, the Pepsi-Cola company said yesterday, making her the No. 2-ranked female Chief Executive Officer in the Fortune 500.

Nooyi is a native of India, she says she stays true to her heritage by often wearing a sari to Pepsico events. Forbes.com quotes her as saying: "Being a woman, being foreign-born, you've got to be smarter than anyone else."

I guess she wasn't sooo smart last year in a commencement address to Columbia Business School! In that address she compared the five continents of Africa, Asia, Europe, South America and North America to the human hand.

First, let’s consider our little finger. Think of this finger as Africa. Africa is the little finger not because of Africa’s size, but because of its place on the world’s stage. From an economic standpoint, Africa has yet to catch up with her sister continents. And yet, when our little finger hurts, it affects the whole hand.

Our thumb is Asia: strong, powerful, and ready to assert herself as a major player on the world’s economic stage.

Our index, or pointer finger, is Europe. Europe is the cradle of democracy and pointed the way for western civilization and the laws we use in conducting global business.

The ring finger is South America, including Latin America. Is this appropriate, or what? The ring finger symbolizes love and commitment to another person. Both Latin and South America are hot, passionate, and filled with the sensuous beats of the mambo, samba, and tango: three dances that – if done right – can almost guarantee you and your partner will be buying furniture together.

This analogy of the five fingers as the five major continents leaves the long, middle finger for North America, and, in particular, The United States. As the longest of the fingers, it really stands out. The middle finger anchors every function that the hand performs and is the key to all of the fingers working together efficiently and effectively. This is a really good thing, and has given the U.S. a leg-up in global business since the end of World War I.

However, if used inappropriately – just like the U.S. itself - the middle finger can convey a negative message and get us in trouble. You know what I’m talking about. In fact, I suspect you’re hoping that I’ll demonstrate what I mean. And trust me, I’m not looking for volunteers to model.

Discretion being the better part of valor...I think I’ll pass.

What is most crucial to my analogy of the five fingers as the five major continents, is that each of us in the U.S. – the long middle finger – must be careful that when we extend our arm in either a business or political sense, we take pains to assure we are giving a hand...not the finger. Sometimes this is very difficult. Because the U.S. – the middle finger – sticks out so much, we can send the wrong message unintentionally.

Unfortunately, I think this is how the rest of the world looks at the U.S. right now. Not as part of the hand – giving strength and purpose to the rest of the fingers – but, instead, scratching our nose and sending a far different signal.

She also shared a personal anecdote about some disrespectful U.S. businesswomen in an Asian country and how typical that is of Americans overseas.

I know one things for sure, the Ragister's RekHA Basu is rejoicing.

I'm also going to have to re-think my doing of Diet Dew!

People STILL come, Take that Oscar

It's an understatement to say I was unhappy when 'Field of Dreams' lost Best Picture to 'Driving Miss Daisy' in 1990. I haven't watched their telecast since.

I felt a connection to that movie. Because it was filmed mostly in Iowa? Maybe. Because it's a baseball movie? Possibly.

I know it's touched numerous others too! Since the movies release they come to connecting corn fields, in Dyersville, that hold a baseball diamond.

Chris and I visited one fall on our way to Dubuque to see her grandfather.

It was a cold and damp day and there was a steady stream of people who made the journey, including a film crew from Japan.

Friday, Kevin Costner returned for the first time since the filming. 5,000 people came to see him, his band and a showing of the classic. It's guesstimated that more than 65,000 people visit each year and 1 million have visited in the last 17 years. It's not because they go to Iowa City and get really, really bored.

How many people have ever made the pilgrimage to Atlanta to see where Miss Daisy was filmed? That's where Hollyweird messed up.

A lady from Missouri made the 8 hour trip to the field Friday, with her family....."I can't watch it even today without feeling the way I did the first time. It was the first time I saw my dad cry - and the last time."

I bet it's at the part, nearly at the end, when Ray Kinsella says, "Dad, do you wanna have a catch?"

My mind instantly takes me back to when my dad would make time to have a catch too.

Close?

I was watching the news last night when they glossed over this piece of information...

Three missing Egyptian students were arrested in Des Moines!

Three of the eleven Egyptian students who arrived in the United States two weeks ago but who never showed up for scheduled classes in Montana were arrested at a Des Moines residence late Friday.

The students, all legal immigrants, are the latest in a group of nine Egyptians to be arrested by federal authorities since they went AWOL from a month long exchange program at Montana State University in late July.

A spokesman with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Saturday offered little information on the Des Moines arrests, other than to say that investigators had “not identified any credible or imminent threat” posed by the foreign exchange students.

None of the three students currently face any criminal charges and are accused only of violating the terms of their visitors’ visas, which required them to maintain their status as students, said ICE spokesman Tim Counts.

...Federal agents arrested the three men around 8 p.m. Friday at an undisclosed Des Moines residence, without resistance and apparently without the help of Des Moines police. Agents had tracked the trio to Des Moines from San Francisco after their earlier arrival by airliner in New York.

I instantly thought of Tom Clancy's 2003 book, 'The Teeth of the Tiger'.

As part of the plot, Clancy has Islamic terrorists attacking shopping malls in "Middle America". One of those cities in the book was Des Moines.

In the book the terrorists are brought into the country by "coyotes" through Mexico.

Mitt takes off the glove against Kerry

Senator John "Flipper" Kerry(D-MA) was crying on a conference call with reporters about Osama bin Laden still being at large and "Afghanistan and Pakistan are where the fight against Al Qaeda is, not in Iraq."

Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA) put him in his place on MSNBC, saying the senator failed to recognize that the United States is locked in a long-term war against terrorists and that Iraq is a central front.

"I think it shows a complete lack of understanding of the kind of enemy that we're facing. This is not a small group of wackos in the hills that all we have to do is go find one person and it suddenly goes away."

Our own CommieTommieHarkin was seen crying on WHO TV/13, "Our homeland security has gone overboard. I mean you can't take lipstick on a plane. You can't take a small bottle of perfume on plane. There has to be rationality to this."

We're dealing with terrorists who can fathom flying planes into buildings, shoe bombs and liquid bombs on planes. CommieTommie wants rationality!

How do you feel about PROFILING, Senator? TOO RATIONAL for you?

Best State Fair, in our State

I can remember when I actually enjoyed the Iowa State Fair.

I can remember when I enjoyed winter too, but the older I get the more those memories fade.

Chris, my wife, LOVES the fair.

She loves that nothing, for all intents and purposes, changes from year to year.

Ironically, that's the same exact reason I despise the place.

I know they've enclosed the Varied Industries Building, I really enjoyed that in November 2004 when President Bush held a rally there on a cold, rainy day.

I make it my mission to avoid the fair every year and I can't remember the last time we were there together. I do love my wife, so I did offer to take her last year and it wasn't a hollow gesture. Thank goodness she said no.

I became disillusioned when I was in radio and had to be there every day to broadcast, then race back to the station to do my regular show. It was hot, I became sweaty, I suffered from allergies, and people got quite rude over fair giveaways.

It was during this time that they changed the lemonade I loved, by adding oranges (?)

I also found out that the Butter Cow is not completely made from butter. It's spread over a steel frame, it was almost like when you found out your parents were Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny.

The song tells you.... "Don't miss it, don't even be late!"

I DON'T!

Their lips are moving

What is, How can you tell when a Fiberal Dummycrat is lying Alex?

USA Today has an Opinion Piece from Peter Schweizer that shows Al Gore is not as green as he espouses.

Stunning on two fronts! Gore's not green and USA Today printed it, albeit not a news story.

Public records reveal that as Gore lectures Americans on excessive consumption, he and his wife Tipper live in two properties: a 10,000-square-foot, 20-room, eight-bathroom home in Nashville, and a 4,000-square-foot home in Arlington, Va. (He also has a third home in Carthage, Tenn.) For someone rallying the planet to pursue a path of extreme personal sacrifice, Gore requires little from himself.

Then there is the troubling matter of his energy use. In the Washington, D.C., area, utility companies offer wind energy as an alternative to traditional energy. In Nashville, similar programs exist. Utility customers must simply pay a few extra pennies per kilowatt hour, and they can continue living their carbon-neutral lifestyles knowing that they are supporting wind energy. Plenty of businesses and institutions have signed up. Even the Bush administration is using green energy for some federal office buildings, as are thousands of area residents.

But according to public records, there is no evidence that Gore has signed up to use green energy in either of his large residences. When contacted Wednesday, Gore's office confirmed as much but said the Gores were looking into making the switch at both homes. Talk about inconvenient truths.

Gore is not alone. Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean has said, "Global warming is happening, and it threatens our very existence." The DNC website applauds the fact that Gore has "tried to move people to act." Yet, astoundingly, Gore's persuasive powers have failed to convince his own party: The DNC has not signed up to pay an additional two pennies a kilowatt hour to go green....

Gore has held these apocalyptic views about the environment for some time. So why, then, didn't Gore dump his family's large stock holdings in Occidental (Oxy) Petroleum? As executor of his family's trust, over the years Gore has controlled hundreds of thousands of dollars in Oxy stock. Oxy has been mired in controversy over oil drilling in ecologically sensitive areas.

Living carbon-neutral apparently doesn't mean living oil-stock free. Nor does it necessarily mean giving up a mining royalty either.

Humanity might be "sitting on a ticking time bomb," but Gore's home in Carthage is sitting on a zinc mine. Gore receives $20,000 a year in royalties from Pasminco Zinc, which operates a zinc concession on his property. Tennessee has cited the company for adding large quantities of barium, iron and zinc to the nearby Caney Fork River.

The issue here is not simply Gore's hypocrisy; it's a question of credibility. If he genuinely believes the apocalyptic vision he has put forth and calls for radical changes in the way other people live, why hasn't he made any radical change in his life? Giving up the zinc mine or one of his homes is not asking much, given that he wants the rest of us to radically change our lives.

Peter Schweizer is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution and author of Do As I Say (Not As I Do): Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy.

I haven't read Schweizer's book, but that's the perfect definition of a FIBERAL!

Perfect Fit

Wondering what will happen to Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney(D-GA)?

Lucianne.com shoots and scores again....

The Star Jones Reynolds seat is still widely vacant on 'The View'

OR, there's always a talk show on AIR AMERICA!

Sore Loserman Part 2?

My only interest in the Connecticut Senate race, other than to watch the Fiberals foam at the mouth, is that it help the Republicans show the nation that the Dummycrats are weak on the defense of this country.

There was this great line on Lucianne.com

Bush Derangement Syndrome turns Nut State dems
into cannibals as they eat one of their own

Thought Provoking

I love Ben Stein. What's not to love--He and his father both worked in the Nixon White House, and Ben still has a deep affection for Nixon; He's a great character actor (Bueller, Bueller); He had a funny general knowledge game show on Comedy Central, Win Ben Stein's Money (which made Jimmy Kimmel a name); and Ben Stein is intelligent, here's proof....

Here are a few little facts you might like to know:

When the Israelis capture Arabs in their wars, the captured Arabs are well fed, well housed, and eventually returned to their homes. When the Arabs (specifically the Syrians) have captured Israelis, they castrate them, cut off their male organs, decapitate the Israelis, and stuff their male organs in their mouths and leave the bodies on the field. Sometimes they also defecate on the bodies....

Hezbollah is basically an arm of the Iranian army. Iran has a population of close to 70 million. Hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, are eager to join the fight against Eretz Israel. Even if by some miracle Israel wiped out every Hezbollah killer in Lebanon tomorrow, Iran could easily replace them forever. Resupplying the missilery is child's play: just buy it from China, our dear friends, who will sell it to anyone. This means Israel is in for an extremely prolonged, agonizing period of suffering.

For anyone with even a sliver of sensitivity to see this happening to a people who have already suffered more than any other people in history, is torture. To see George W. Bush stand up for Israel while the left whines about totally meaningless multilateralism -- which means asking France to defend Israel, sort of like asking Martin Bormann to defend Israel -- is to see clear decency versus a waffling, age-old anti-Semitic sickness.

The line of the fight between civilization and barbarism runs right along the Israel-Lebanon non-border. If it's not won there, it won't be long until the front line is right here, and then it will be too late. When George Bush stands up for Israel, he stands up for the whole future of mankind. Yes, he has flaws and has made serious mistakes, but right now, he is a hero for the ages.

Oh, Archie!

Can't you just hear those words coming out of Edith's mouth?

Archie Brooks (first smiling doof) has resigned his Des Moines City Council seat. In his mind he did it because it ceased being fun, CIETC had become a "divisive distraction" and he saved his reputation.

In reality Brooks was pressured out by fellow Dummycrats John Sarcone, Polk County Attorney (second smiling doof), and Tom Miller, Iowa Attorney General (is that a smile on the doofus?).

This is an ongoing fiasco for the Dummycrat Party of Iowa and they need to try and bury some bodies before November. It's already cost these "progressive thinkers" the ability to increase the sales tax in Dallas, Polk and Warren Counties.

I caught an interview with Sarcone on WHO TV/13 and he mumbled something about it taking awhile to force Brooks out because he didn't want to undue an election.

That kind of thinking boggles my brain!?! The elections stands and nothing changes it for all times sake.

I first heard something similar when Clinton was facing impeachment. He kept saying the Republicans were trying to overturn the 1996 election.

The only time an election could ever be undone or overturned, would be for fraud in that election. Then the results would be set aside in favor of a new election.

What is in place are processes to remove individuals from office for their actions! Like Clinton's perjury and Brooks' maladministration, but that comes after an election and again doesn't change the election.

As far as this CIETC fiasco goes, one down and at least three more to go!

Little white pills to cure my ills?

BERLIN (Reuters) - A German scientist has been testing an "anti-stupidity" pill with encouraging results on mice and fruit flies, Bild newspaper reported Saturday.

It said Hans-Hilger Ropers, director at Max-Planck-Institute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin, has tested a pill thwarting hyperactivity in certain brain nerve cells, helping stabilize short-term memory and improve attentiveness.

"With mice and fruit flies we were able to eliminate the loss of short-term memory," Ropers, 62, is quoted saying in the German newspaper, which has dubbed it the "world's first anti-stupidity pill."

I got a chuckle, HA!, when I saw the REUTERS byline on the story.

If anyone is in immediate need of an "anti-stupidity pill" it's the media in general and Reuters in particular.