I still don't understand how the NCAA considers this (University of North Dakota logo)
To be more offensive to the people it represents than this (Notre Dame University logo)
Perhaps North Dakota should change their name to the "Fighting Whities" like this 2002 Northern Colorado intramural team.
Thought this Colbert piece was appropriate and, perhaps, goes along with my August 5th post regarding my fun with "Cingular is the new AT&T." We won't even bring up that thing about the AT&T logo looking like the Death Star from Star Wars. Oops...
Maybe it's just because the game was in Atlanta. Maybe not. But I like to think of sports as an escape from the front page of the newspaper. I've always said that the beauty of the sports section of the newspaper is that it is the only section that focuses on people's accomplishments rather than on their shortcomings...
So much for that theory.
But is it me or does it just seem like this new ESPN Monday Night Football crew spends an inordinate amount of time talking about non-football stuff? Tonight I'm surprised they've taken a few moments to show portions of the game as an aside from their incessant re-hashing of guessing about Mike Vick's future. The game commentary tonight was probably better suited for Court TV than ESPN.
I miss Joe Theisman and Paul Maguire...
Did you catch that Frosted Flakes commercial during the LLWS with two kids hitting a baseball back and forth on a tennis court - using bats! Great use of computer graphics! Great commercial. Don't know what it has to do with Frosted Flakes but it's grrrreat!
Found it on YouTube - www.YouTube.com/watch?v=rLGbOZ5Mls4
Yeah, but which one?... Anyway, it seems that Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue and Texas Governor Rick Perry had a little wager over which state's team would win the U.S. Little League championship on Saturday. Since the kids from Warner Robins (GA) won the game, Governor Perry will fly the Georgia flag at the Texas Capitol for a day. See the full story at http://www.macon.com/.
After winning the U.S. championship, Georgia went on to defeat Japan 3-2 in 8 innings (2 extra for those of you not up on your Little League rules) to claim the World Championship for the second year in a row and third time overall. The team from Columbus, Georgia won last year's Little League World Series.
Congratulations to Warner Robins. You kids gave us a thrill that we may never know in major college football - a national (and world) champion that was determined on the field, by the players. Maybe some day...
Beautiful, inspirational presentation. It brought three questions to mind:
A message on global warming from the Georgia Legislature: Don't sweat it.
See link below.
So Mike Vick has finally agreed to plead guilty to federal dog-fighting charges. This is probably the first smart action he's taken in this whole mess. Mr. Vick appears to be one of those people who tries to say the right thing because it's the right thing to say. Perhaps he's finally learning that it works better if you DO the right thing because it's the right thing to DO. Hopefully this is his first step towards redemption. A couple of other observations on this situation:
Not sure why but the template went bonkers somewhere between yesterday and this morning. I would have said it went sideways but that's actually how I want it. Instead it went vertical on me with the right-side information relegated to the basement of the page. Please bear with us as we work out these minor technical difficulties. I assure you the writing will continue to be of its usual, exceptional quality.
In the mean time, enjoy this: http://www.weirdfortunecookies.com/
UPDATE: 8/22/07 @ 12:00
All clear on the Western front (if you're facing South, which you should be). Turns out one of our posts picked up some superfluous formatting along the way. It's all better now.
German physicists claim to have broken the speed of light. See link below.
tinyurl.com/3b47tw
Okay all you goofballs out there -here's your opportunity to immortalize yourself in the Guinness Book of Records. You can be the proud parents of the youngest people to ever get married. Arkansas didn't pay attention to their "not" logic and opened the door for your fame and fortune. Their new marriage law, originally intended to only let under-18's marry if they were pregnant. Instead they did the exact opposite. Goof in Law Allows Marriage at Any Age.
Just get a couple of whacky couples together, run down to the courthouse and get them babies hitched. Believe me, you'll definitely make the news and get your 15 minutes of fame. Plus, your record will probably stand forever as Arkansas looks poised to quickly correct their mistake.
You could also become the record-holders for the youngest annulment and/or divorce once the publicity starts to die down. Of course, that puts a whole other spin on "messy" divorce.
Mark my words - somebody's going to do it (if they haven't already).
In another stunning attempt at appeasement in the Netherlands, a Roman Catholic bishop has suggested that everyone call God "Allah." What is he thinking? Was he thinking?
First of all, two of the three major religions refer to God as "God." So, by a majority vote, we win.
Second, we were here first.
Third, Americans are notoriously lazy. "God" has only one syllable while "Allah" has two - double the work - don't see that happening.
Fourth, We'd have to change all our money - thought the ACLU might like that since they've been trying to get "God" off our money for quite a while.
Fifth, I'm sure Osama is over there clapping his hands and pointing at the computer screen saying, "Oh yeah! That's what I'm talking about. Man, they just give us that one and we'll call off this whole terrorism thing."
I guess the only good thing I can see out of this whole idea is that maybe PG-13 movies would stop using G-D as a substitue for the F-bomb. We know they wouldn't substitute an "A-D," now would they?
Roman Catholic Bishop Wants Everyone to Call God 'Allah'
Tennessee Congressman Davy Crockett in the 1800’s said: "We have the right, as individuals to give away as much of our own money as we please… but as members of Congress we have no right to … appropriate a dollar of the public money… as… charity". Crockett said these words after a constituent told him when it came to using taxpayer money for humanitarian purposes: "It's not yours to give!""
So what happened, why are we now allowing our Federal Government to give away our money? See what the Republicans, yes Republicans, are about to do....
http://tinyurl.com/yun556
Enough is enough.
And I am not too happy about it.
You see, for years, perhaps even decades, around our house we've used the acronym YOYO as a gentle and loving reminder that each person is responsible for his or herself: You're On Your Own - YOYO. It has become an everyday part of our vocabulary. We use it enough that our friends and family know what we mean when we toss out a YOYO.
In fact, it was Tony B who advised me of Hillary's rueful use of my beloved YOYO. In her Tuesday call for the castration (my word) of mortgage brokers who engage in predatory lending and a $1 billion (with a "B") bailout of homeowners facing foreclosure, Senator Clinton used my YOYO without my permission:
"They believe in letting everyone fend for him or herself. They believe in
what the president calls an ownership society, which is really you're
on-your-own. It's the yo-yo economy; some go up and some go down and the strings
are pulled by other people," Clinton said, repeating a familiar theme from her
campaign speech. "I don't think that's how America works best."
Tax his land, Tax his bed, Tax the table at which he's fed.
Tax his tractor, Tax his mule, Teach him taxes are the rule.
Tax his cow, Tax his goat, Tax his pants, Tax his coat.
Tax his ties, Tax his shirt, Tax his work, Tax his dirt.
Tax his tobacco, Tax his drink, Tax him if he tries to think.
Tax his cigars, Tax his beers, If he cries, then Tax his tears.
Tax his car, Tax his gas, Find other ways to tax his ass
Tax all he has, then let him know That you won't be done, 'till he has no dough.
When he screams and hollers, then tax him some more, Tax him till he's good and sore.
Then tax his coffin , Tax his grave, Tax the sod in which he's laid.
Put these words upon his tomb: " Taxes drove me to my doom..."
When he's gone, don't even relax, It's time to apply the Inheritance Tax.
Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL license Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Excise Taxes
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax (42 cents per gallon)
Gross Receipts Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges IRS Penalties ( tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Taxes
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Personal Property Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service Charge Tax
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax
Sales Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Taxes
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax
Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, and our nation was the most prosperous in the world. We had absolutely NO national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids. What happened?
And I still have to press "1" for English...
Thanks, Mr. Bishop
Why would a phone company (AT&T) have a "Family Talk" plan where different people with different phone numbers can share the same account but then limit said people to having only one name assigned to all those numbers? This makes absolutely no sense to me. Isn't it obvious that if I subscribe to the "Family Share" plan I'm going to have more than one person using the "shared" plan? Both the words "F
amily" and "Share" lend themselves to the concept of more than one person and were probably carefully chosen by Cingular marketing personnel. (Aside - Ever notice that people who work for a major corporation are never "people" but always "personnel" - perhaps that's part of the problem.)
I know they know who I am. Every month when I get the bill it is meticulously broken out between Mrs. Polarshark and the Polarshark himself.
History: Mrs. and I signed up for the (then) Cingular Family Share plan about two years ago. Because I moved over from Sprint, her name became the primary name on our "Family Share" plan account. Everything was fine for the first six months but then someone informed me that suddenly my name on the Caller ID had switched to "Mrs. Polarshark." (*A) Confused, I called the always(rarely) helpful Cingular customer support line and was summarily informed that only the account holder's name could show up on the Caller ID. I patiently (more or less) explained that my Caller ID had been fine until recently and could I kindly speak to a supervisor. After a half-hour or so on the phone I was transferred somewhere else and magically, the gods of cell service were somehow appeased and my nomenclature was miraculously restored... for a time.
Sometime earlier this year when Cingular became "Cingular is the new AT&T," I lost it again - my name that is. Suddenly I was hearing (more than usual) snickers as people answered my phone calls. (Go to *A above and substitute "Cingular is the new AT&T" for Cingular.)
This time, after getting the run-around, I was informed that they can fix my name but that any changes to our account will, without notice, transform me back into my wife, for Caller ID purposes. Fine... whatever... just fix my name. So now, having made exactly no changes to my account, I have once again become my wife on my phone and it just seems ridiculous. Who, in their limited wisdom, figured that they would give multiple numbers to multiple people but that all of these people would wish to share a single name? And the sadder thing is that there is no way to get this information to "Cingular is the new AT&T" because their company is obviously too big to care that I don't want to be known as Mrs. Polarshark.
I am just about to the point where I'm going to make one more name change on my cell phone service. But this time, I'll probably change the name on the faceplate of the phone along with the name on the Caller ID.
Sounds a little crass perhaps... And I didn't feel that way as we experienced the thousands singing what I guess is the Cubs' victory song after an exciting 9th inning victory last night. Wrigley Field was a treat, we had good seats, and the weather was beautiful. It was my first visit to Wrigley so that added to the luster of the evening. The Chicago experience included Wrigley, Gino's East, and a trip on the 'L.'
But then, on the ride home, the news of the bridge collapse in Minneapolis brought concern for friends and family up north.
In the movie "Shooter" (a movie that seemed to me to be confused about its politics), Marine Corps sniper Bob Lee Swagger (Mark Wahlberg) makes the mistake of starting to apologize for the death of his buddy. Sarah Fenn (Kate Mara) slaps him and then admonishes him for trying to steal his buddy's honor. She says something to the effect of, "He knew what he was doing and he died doing what he believed in - don't take that from him." My apologies to the script writer. She made what was probably the most significant point in the movie.
The Weekly Standard has an excellent article about how a generation of young (and not-so-young) people are stepping up to protect freedom... and how liberals and the media seem to want to strip the honor from that by making them out to be young, ignorant kids with no other options.
