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January 06, 2009

6 January 2009 - Can anyone explain this to me?

When I was about six years old, I wanted to be a Blue Angels pilot.  Maybe even the lead pilot.

Sort of gave up on that once I had to start wearing eyeglasses.  But later on, I did have a chance to fly small planes.  In fact, I landed a Cessna 150 on a grass airstrip and a Cessna 152 on an asphalt paved runway. (In both cases, with instructors talking me through the whole process and their hands on or near the controls.)

With that background, would it make any sense at all to name me the commander of the United States Navy's Blue Angels Flight Demonstration Team?

Of course not.  That is just outright silly.

So is naming Leon Panetta as the CIA Director designate.  Notice the link to the Wikipedia bio on him.  I read that and several other pieces that I could find on him.

If working on the CIA budget was the top responsibility, then maybe he is the guy.  If you want to have someone who can find "greener" ways to run a spy agency, then he could do that.

But I do not see how, while our nation is conducting a war on terror around the world, picking someone with virtually NO experience in Intelligence makes any sense.

Does being White House Chief of Staff really count as intel experience?  To a point....because he would have access to intel reports, but not enough.

So, why did President-elect Obama select him?  Simple.  He wanted someone who had no connection to the intelligence community of the last eight years.  

And that is not only a STUPID reason, it is an IRRESPONSIBLE REASON!!!

Obama caved to the far left wing fringe of his party in making this idiotic selection.  That is NOT to say that Panetta is a bad person, hardly.  That is not to say that Panetta couldn't do a good job.  But like Obama himself, I have SERIOUS questions about his ability to do the job from Day One!  This is not, to use the words of Joe Biden, a time for on-the-job training.

Don't want to take my word for it, Senator Dianne Feinstein has serious doubts about this pick.  If the new chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee has serious questions, especially of a nominee coming from a President that is a member of her own political party, then I feel like I have the right to ask the same questions.

This is not a silly pick by the President-elect.  This is irresponsible.  

And more importantly, this is putting PARTY ahead of Country.  Something a President should NEVER do, but does all too often.

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Have you noticed how Barack Obama talks a good game about multitasking, but maintains a silence on the Gaza situation?

Party first?  Possibly.  

Most people that I personally know who identify themselves as Democrats are pretty pro-Israel.  I fear that they are now in the minority of their party.

In fact, there were pro-Palestinian protests in places like Lawrence, Kansas, on Saturday.   I can only imagine that the freaks in Columbia were out as well.  Joining the ranks of the underinformed and ideologically blinded liberals around the nation who want to beat up on Israel as the "bad guys" once again.

Fact - over 100 rockets had been launched into Israel from Gaza during the "cease fire" that recently expired.

Personally, I think that the Israelis have shown amazing restraint.  I'd probably have paved the place over and turned into an overflow parking lot, but that is just me.  (I'm not known for being subtle.)

Meanwhile, President-elect Barack Obama is mostly silent.  Is there some method to this madness of silence? Maybe....but even Katie Couric agrees with me on this one.

I have said it before and I will say it again now, I want Barack Obama to be successful as our President.  But he needs to be held accountable for his actions and INACTIONS.  Sure, he is not President yet, but that has not stopped him from acting like he was in the past.  Now, it stops him?

This exposes somethings about his character.  What exactly?  Well, time will tell based on what happens over the next four years.

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The 111th Congress opens at noon today in Washington, DC.  You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.

OK, so I stole that from Star Wars, but it fits when discussing Congress.....seemingly every time!!

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Texas beat Ohio State.  Another one loss team gets their bowl game win when they deserved to be in a bigger game.  Congratulations to the Longhorns.

Utah might deserve the AP National Championship.  They are the ONLY one to finish without a loss.  But they did play Weber State, a Division 1-AA (or if you prefer, Football Championship Subdivision) school.  And that is enough for me to NOT give them a slice of the title.

I still maintain, and I have been consistent on this (going back to at least Auburn in 2004), any school who builds up their schedule with a Division 1-AA opponent is not deserving of a National Championship shot if there are other teams with equal records.

That is why I have said since early December that neither Oklahoma NOR the FU Gators deserve to be on that big stage Thursday night.

Again, I have been consistent on this.  Too many others have not been.

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Have a great Tuesday.   If you do the Twitter thing, I am now on there.  I don't get it, but I am there.

January 05, 2009

5 January 2009 - First update of 2009

In all honesty, I really don't have much on my mind this morning.

First off, I had a great few days up in the Kansas City area.  Went to Lawrence, Kansas, on Friday and Saturday.

Friday was great because I got to see some friends, watch the Tennessee Volunteers practice at Allen Fieldhouse and then go to dinner with some friends.  Let me admit that the dinner itself was OK, but hanging out with Elizabeth Olivier and Tim Berry was great.  

Saturday, my brother Dan and his wife Lulu picked us up to go to lunch before we went over to the game.  We met with eight others to have our meal at the 23rd Street Brewery.  It was nice to NOT be the only Vols fans there....though we were out numbered.

The experience at Allen Fieldhouse was incredible.  I only wish that Tennessee had shot better in the first half.  As Lulu pointed out, the Vols did win the second half.  But we all know that you have to put the whole thing together.

The biggest thing that I can take away from the experience was the gracious attitude of the Kansas fans.  Walking back to the car after dinner on Friday night, a KU fan wished us a good time in Lawrence and hoped we enjoyed the game the next day.  Before the game, everyone was friendly...several asking if we actually drove all the way from Knoxville.  We admitted that we had not, but recommended that they do so next year.  

After the game, several people stopped me to ask what I thought about seeing a game at Allen Fieldhouse.  I was very honest about it and how I would love to catch more games there in the future.  They praised our team and admitted that they got a little concerned in the last few minutes when the Vols kept pulling close.  The final score of 92-85 was about as close as it got after the opening minutes, but I was proud of the guys for never giving up and playing it tough in a challenging environment.

As my friend Jeff Jacoby said after seeing that game on TV, he hopes that Tennessee fans learned from what they saw....staying up for the entire 40 minutes of the game.

I agree.  And I hope to witness that at Thompson Boling Arena next season.

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I also know that praising the Kansas fans as I sit in Mid-Missouri may not be a popular thing to do.

Well, anyone who knows me knows that I call things the way that I see them.  I cannot speak to how Kansas fans treat Mizzou fans in Lawrence, but I can talk about the opposite.

Two years ago, I won a pair of tickets to the MU/KU game at Mizzou Arena.  Of course, I invited my brother Dan.  

Without going into too much detail, let me just use the word obnoxious.  Consistently obnoxious.  Not just the guy sitting behind us talking about a missed free throw from a game a year prior....all while his team is down by at least 15, but lots of other.

Every school has some bad eggs as their fans.  I have witnessed this everywhere that I have been...yes, even in Knoxville.  But we seemed to find most of them on that Saturday in February 2007.  I don't believe, based on what I have seen since then, that they were an indication of what Mizzou fans are really about.

So, with all I have said in the positive regarding my experience with the Kansas fans, I hope that I don't get a lot of negative response from those who clad themselves in Black and Gold.

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The biggest challenge facing our city, state and nation is how to create a better economy.  Jobs, jobs, jobs is the mantra of many.  How to do it?  That is where we are not hearing a whole lot of detail.

I am no expert, but I have this fundamental belief that if you make it easier for someone to expand their business and make more money for themselves, they will do just that.  And along the way, more people will make more money as well.  AND when that happens, it happens for others as well.  And then you have a job market that is set up for those who are no seeking just jobs, but those who are seeking BETTER jobs.

So, how do you create that environment?  

I don't think you do that by putting MORE government involvement in the way.  And now I feel that I am in the minority by thinking that way.

I am not a business owner and I never have been.  I doubt that I ever will be.  I don't know that it is possible for me to get into a business ownership position in a field that I have some understanding of, that would be broadcasting, because it is too expensive right now.

But with that said, I feel that it is was easier for broadcasters to make money with local programming, they would do so.  But since they have to cut costs at every turn due to the regulatory restrictions and costs, as well as the other taxes that go along with doing business, they simply can't.  Payroll taxes for just ME probably costs Cumulus more than it does for them to run Bill O'Reilly on News Talk 1240 KLIK.

This all leads me back to the Fair Tax.

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Have a great Monday, a great week and a VERY GREAT AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

December 31, 2008

31 December 2008 - Looking back at those who left us in 2008

By now, you will probably have seen a TV show, newspaper or magazine article and possibly even a website or two that offers some reflections on those who passed from our lives in 2008.

Regular readers of this blog site will remember some of the ones that pointed out as important to me.  Today, I will repost some of those entries regarding these people.

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From 23 June 2008: George Carlin

Just in this morning is word that comedian George Carlin is dead of heart failure at 71

I had the chance to see him back in 1993.  It was at Bally's in Las Vegas.   Great show, he did a lot of the stuff that you probably saw on HBO or heard on one of his albums, but even more of it. It was a nice long show from what I recall.

One of the funniest parts of the show was when he just stopped.  He stopped, looked out at the audience, looked up, scratched his head, then said something about being in his mid-50's and his memory being shot.  Then he walked over to a stool where some bottles of water were, as well as some note cards.  He sipped the water, then took his cards, flipped through them and commenting on the cards.  "Did that, yeah, did that one too...oh, yeah, you guys really liked that one.  Oh, oh...OK.  Now I know where I am at."  Then he continued the show.

In 1997, when we moved to Tennessee, my older brother lent me his copy of Carlin's "Braindroppings" to read while I was in Knoxville with Kathy and Alex staying with my parents in Signal Mountain.  I was reading in the bathroom and I LITERALLY fell off the toilet laughing while reading it.

I will admit that later in his life, George Carlin was a bit more curmudgeonly and less funny.  Just angry at times.  I noted this in the page-a-day calendar that Kathy got me for Christmas 2006 (just before I moved here to Jefferson City).  I laughed, at most, once every ten days or so.   It was a great gift that I wanted, just turned out to be a great thought from my wife, Carlin didn't deliver.

Anyhow, he did make people think.  Which is why I have occasionally paraphrased him and referred to him as the great American philosopher George Carlin. 

Most of all, he was a great storyteller.  He will be missed.

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From 12 July 2008: Tony Snow

Again, another rare weekend entry...maybe not so rare.  I woke up to the news that Tony Snow succumbed to cancer at just 53. 

Many folks remember Tony Snow as the White House Press Secretary.  And many others may remember him as the first host of the Fox Network's "Fox News Sunday" (which is replayed on Fox News Channel on Sunday afternoons).  

I know that many on the left did not like him because of the jobs that he held, and that many of those hypocrites will come out of the woodwork and say nice things now that he has passed.  Those are the people that I will be really upset with the next several days.

As for me, here is what I remember about Tony Snow.  He was my travel companion during some of the darkest days of my life.  Let me explain.

In December 1993, I quit my job after getting sick of being screwed over by my employer (the refused to pay what was $4500 in commissions because they deemed them a "windfall"...and by December 1993, that number had grown to $7200).  I left them shortly after the other full-time sales person left the company.  I decided to move back home with my parents and go back to school.

I left California on a Sunday, stopped in Las Vegas for dinner and a little blackjack (I won).  That night I stayed in Green River, Utah.  

Monday morning I got back on the road at 9am, drove for a bit listening to my CD's, then after an hour I was over that and because all of my crap was loaded in the back of my 1991 Ford Probe and I couldn't get to the CD changer.  So, I turned on AM radio.  Good old stand-by, AM radio.  Why I love it now is obvious, but back in 1993, you could find some programs on talk radio and just change to the next station to get the same program on the next station during a commercial break.

Anyhow, let me get back on track.  I was looking for Rush Limbaugh.  Back in 1993, he was very, very entertaining and not as  egocentric as he seems to be today.  But, he was not on that week.  Some newspaper columnist named Tony Snow was.  I had no idea who this guy was, but I gave him a chance.

Glad I did.  So for Monday driving through Utah and Colorado, I had Tony to keep me busy.  Then again on Tuesday through Nebraska and Iowa, I had Tony to keep my mind active.  I really came to appreciate this man as more than some writer, most of whom make a LOUSY transition to radio.

A few years later, this new channel launched to compete with CNN.  And who was on that channel?  Tony Snow.  And I became a fan of his TV shows.  

Fast forward to 2005-2006, and I am working as a fill-in host for "The Phil Show" on WNOX-FM in Knoxville, Tennessee.  I have one caller comment that I sounded like Tony Snow.  Then another and another.  I never thought so, nor do I still, but I certainly found that interesting.  And better than being told that I sounded like a number of other voices, Gilbert Gottfried comes to mind.  I still don't hear it, but then again, my voice sounds different to me than it does to everyone else.

I really appreciated the work that Tony Snow did in his various roles.  He is one of the few who gave up a career in television for the more pure medium of radio.  Chris Wallace took over "Fox News Sunday" because he wanted to move to the new radio syndication division of Fox News.  I have a lot of respect for that move.  

Later, he gave up a that well-paying job to work in the White House, where he earned $155k....and no endorsement opportunities go with that gig.

I never had a chance to meet him, but like a lot of his viewers and listeners, I always felt like I knew him.  I know that I will miss him.

God bless you Tony Snow.

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From 13 June 2008: Tim Russert

This afternoon, I heard from my wife Kathleen, that Tim Russert, best known as host of "Meet The Press" since 1991, is dead of an apparent heart attack at 58.  (An autopsy is underway and results pending.  Some now suspect a clot broke loose like what happened to late NBC News reporter David Bloom.)

Russert also served as Vice President and Washington Bureau Chief of NBC News. 

Criticize the media all you want, they deserve it, but Tim Russert was one of the good guys.  Once I learned of Tim Russert's background, having worked for Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Mario Cuomo, I watched Mr. Russert to see bias coming from him. 

Guess what?  I found it. 

Tim Russert had a major bias.  Not so much politically, but he would HAMMER hypocrites for being hypocrites.  (I think that may have been part of the story told by four men known as Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.)  It didn't matter to him if the person was liberal or conservative, Democrat or Republican, if they did something or said something wrong, he called them on it.  His bias was against hypocrisy.  That is a bias that I can endorse.

Tim Russert was the DEFINITION of tough but fair.  Period. 

Sure, many of us joked about the white board during the 2000 Presidential Election.  But, he brought some understanding of what was happening when even the experts were confused. 

As host of Meet The Press, he took a show that was sort a panel taking on a newsmaker and he changed it.  Not due to ego but more due to the level of talent he had when conducting an interview.  He didn't need someone else and having others there took away from what he doing for us who were watching. 

Tim Russert taught me to ask the questions that need to be asked and how to do so in a fair and non-badgering fashion.  Tim Russert was an expert of confronting someone without being confrontational.  If Mike Wallace knocks on your door, you look through the peep hole and wait for him to go away.  If Tim Russert came to your door, you'd let him in.  He'd warm you up, let you say your piece.  But then he'd hold you accountable if your piece wasn't holding water.  He'd make you hang yourself, but he made you realize that you had done it. 

Like Jim McKay on Saturday, the timing is also sad.  Father's Day Weekend.  "Big Russ and Me" was a best seller that has been recommended to me by many friends and acquaintances.  I have not yet read it.  I need to.

Big Russ survives his son.  I am sure his heart is aching now. 

Worth noting also about Tim Russert is his depth as a man.  A HUGE sports fan, his Buffalo Bills need to dedicate a season to him and WIN ONE!!  But also had a great sense of humor.  And, he even played himself in one of the best television series ever, "Homicide: Life on the Street" as the cousin to Megan Russert (played by Isabella Hofmann, a fellow graduate of East Troy High School). 

He will be missed.

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Last, and maybe the one I will miss the most.....

From 7 June 2008: Jim McKay

James Kenneth McManus was known to most of us as Jim McKay when we welcomed him into our homes.

Whether for "ABC's Wide World of Sports" on Saturday afternoons or for days on end during the Olympic Games every four years, Jim McKay was a welcome presence throughout my lifetime.

It is for that reason, that I will sit here at write an entry on a Saturday afternoon.  In fact, it seems very appropriate. 

First, here is an obituary from the New York Times

And from ABC News

I want to take this time to share my thoughts on Mr. McKay (McManus) as well. 

First, I credit my mom for getting me interested in sports in the first place.  Not that Dad wasn't interested, but I think his experiences with professional athletes soured him a bit.  So, when I was angry that "The Six Million Dollar Man" wasn't on because of some stupid thing called the Olympics, Mom sort of had me give it a chance.  I didn't know, nor care where this Montreal place was.  But, I watched any way.  Besides, Steve Austin just wasn't an option.  Dammit.

That was my first memory of watching a sporting event on television.  And it was Jim McKay who brought the package into my home. I vaguely remember Bruce Jenner running around the track after winning the Decathalon.  (Which he has done again by completing at least ten different plastic surgeries.  But, I am getting off topic.) 

Jim McKay was simply the best.  Unlike sportscasters who are known for their play-by-play calls only, Jim McKay could do that and did it masterfully.  But he was usually bringing us the less mainstream events on ABC's Wide World of Sports.  And the Indianapolis 500 or the Kentucky Derby.  But what made Jim McKay the best at what he did was that he was the great American storyteller.  While everyone remembers that call by Al Michaels at the end of the 1980 Olympic Hockey game against the Soviet Union (the game that allowed the USA to play for the Gold Medal), few recall that Jim McKay helped build the enthusiasm for the television audience.  McKay knew what the rest of us didn't, that those college boys beat the Red Army.  Remember, the game was a tape delay.  McKay let you know that you didn't want to miss this game without telling you why.  I remember watching that game while my parents were playing cards over at the Gotz's.  Mom and Dad were playing Bridge while Jim McKay was showing a poker face.

What a lot of people just a few years older than me remember about Jim McKay was how well he handled his duties seven and a half years earlier in Munich during those Summer Olympic Games. 

I was two years old and I have little to no direct memory of those games.  I only recall Mark Spitz and I think we had some posters of him in a closet somewhere, but that is it.  But since I am a history junkie, I have seen many documentaries that used the ABC Sports and ABC News coverage of those events.  The man in the center of things was, of course, Jim McKay.  Everything was run through the set that McKay was camped in.  When "all hell had broken loose" at the airport then night it all came to an end, the people of the United States learned everything through the calm and direct voice of Jim McKay.  Nothing of the sensationalism that you would see on CNN, Fox News or MSNBC today.  Factual, accurate, calm, attributed and most importantly from the voice and face we trusted in Jim McKay. 

So, when Jim McKay told us what his father had told him, that "our greatest hopes or our worst fears are seldom realized.  Our worst fears have been realized tonight.  They have now said that there were eleven hostages; two were killed in their rooms yesterday morning, nine were killed at the airport tonight.  They're all gone."  Calm and unsensational.  The news was sensational enough.  McKay knew this and didn't have to add to it.  And he was the right man and the right time to deliver this sad and angering news. 

(In fact, if the media culture of 1972 was like it is now, Jim McKay would have probably been offered the evening news anchor gig following the games.)

Later, McKay would continue to host the Olympic Games in Sarajavo, Los Angeles and Calgary.  In 2002, he returned to covering the Olympic Games in with a small role at NBC.  (ABC lent his services to NBC.) 

I found this role to be almost a slap in the face and I really got angry with Katie Couric, who I thought was more than a bit condescending toward him.  She didn't deserve to be in the same room with the man, though I doubt it was intentional on her part.  She was just out of her class.  But who is in the same class as Jim McKay?

His death this morning is a sad bit of timing.  Jim McKay was not only known for being the host in our homes for the Kentucky Derby, but the other Triple Crown races, the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes.  But he was also a great champion for horse racing.  It was his favorite sport.  He started the Maryland Million.  Today, he passes away as Big Brown, at the time of this writing, is poised to become the first Triple Crown winner in 30 years. 

This past week, I thought about making an attempt to reach him for a follow up if Big Brown was to win.  I didn't act on it.  I will regret that, because in setting that up, and knowing that it would not happen now, I might have had a chance to speak, even briefly, with one of the greats. 

Jim McKay, you are missed already.  And James Kenneth McManus, may God rest your soul.  And we all owe Him thanks, as we do your family, for sharing you with us all these years.

AND my follow up from 9 June 2008:

Please read Saturday's entry.  As regular readers of this blog know, I do not make weekend entries unless something really big has happened.  Saturday morning, I heard of the passing of Jim McKay.  So, on Saturday afternoon, I posted my thoughts on his impact on my life.

On Saturday, I referenced this clip from Jim McKay at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games.

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That will be the wrap on 2008.  I wish everyone the best and a very happy new year.  Much success, however you measure it, and prosperity in 2009.

December 30, 2008

30 December 2008 - You know, I really, you know, have, uh, you know, a hard time with, you know, legacy politicians, you know?

To this point, I have not offered comment on Caroline Kennedy's candidacy for the Senate seat being vacated by Hillary Clinton.

But the mention of those two names alone makes my point.  The Senate seat that Hillary Clinton holds, that she won on the coattails of her husband, is likely to go to a woman who is best known as the daughter of our nation's last assassinated President.  AND better yet, if SHE doesn't get the seat, it will go to the SON of a former New York Governor.

Charles Krauthammer made a great comment a couple of weeks back.  Didn't we fight a war a couple hundred years ago AGAINST inherited leadership was Krauthammer's question. 

Now, we have this trend toward giving the gigs to familiar names.  In the case of Kennedy, she will be appointed.  But in many other cases, our LAZY electorate puts the familiar names into office. 

I put some of the blame on the news media.  They will chew up and spit out anyone who wants to run for office.  And they will do the same to their family.  That is why few will risk stepping out on the limb and running for office. 

Someone once told me that when he was campaigning for a county commission seat that the most common question he was asked was, "Are you nuts?"  This was not about any of his positions, but about his willingness to actually seek office.

Less so if they are American "royalty" as we have seen.  Until, you know, now.  You know?

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President Elect Barack Obama has been spending his Christmas vacation in Hawaii.  Over the weekend, the big story was that he lost electrical power at "Robin's Nest"...but luckily Higgins and Magnum were able to help him out.  I think T.C. used his helicopter to bring in the generator that Rick was able to scrounge from the King Kamehameha Club.

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Qualified.

That is a word that I have heard used by a lot of political observers and commentators.  "He is not qualified."    "She is not qualified to be ....."

Well, not to sound like Bill Clinton here, but it depends on what your definition of "qualified" is.

Sarah Palin was qualified to be Vice President of the United States.  She is a natural born United States citizen, a resident of the United States for fourteen years and over 35 years old.

Caroline Kennedy is qualified to be a United States Senator.  She is over 30 years old, has been a citizen for over nine years and does reside in the state that she hopes to represent.  Some states may have more requirements on residency, but those are the Constitutionally mandated qualifications.

To me, qualified means that the person meets the absolute MINIMUM standards.

BEST QUALIFIED is another question.  That is a comparative standard and that is completely subjective.

Saying that a person does not have the qualifications that YOU find important for the position does not make them UN-qualified.  It simply means that they do not meet up to the standards that you find important.  To me, that disqualifies many of our previous Presidents...and, at least, one future one.  But again, it does NOT make them UN-qualified.

Keep this in mind.  I am QUALIFIED to be President of the United States.

Do you want ME to have that job?

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Have a great Tuesday!  If you don't get what you expect on the Sixth Day of Christmas, take a look here.  But I don't think you can get the Six Geese a Laying there....just about everything else is here.

December 29, 2008

29 December 2008 - Happy Hanukkah, Hamas!!

Israel has been attacking the Hamas stronghold in the Gaza Strip. 

And that is the way that most news stories have been reporting it.

Later in the story, if at all, it mentioned that Hamas/Palestinians broke the fragile truce.   In this story, the Washington Post mentions that Hamas launched attacks in the ELEVENTH PARAGRAPH.  And then they simply word it as Israeli claims and call the response "surprise attacks" in the story.

Even my middle school principal, the late Lorn Matelski, knew that every fight that I got into during my eighth grade year were not Jay Kersting surprise attacks.  How did Mr. Matelski know?  He knew the belligerents and could determine based on their backgrounds.

The Washington Post is not as wise as Lorn Matelski.  But the Washington Post is not alone.  Most TV news stories have portrayed the events in the Middle East in similar ways.

Here is what Lorn Matelski knew.  He knew that sometimes the bigger and more powerful are provoked.  He knew that the bigger and more powerful can only take so much before they HAVE to respond.

So what should be done with Hamas/Palestinian Authority and what should be done with Israel?  Great questions and not ones that have simple answers.

But I have to question the logic of the Palestinians attacking Israel during a holiday.  I think some of their Arab brethren tried something similar back in 1973.....and that didn't work out too well for them 35 years ago.

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Knock, knock.

Who's There?

Owen.

Owen who?

Owen Sixteen 2008 Detroit Lions.

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You will continue to see a lot of year end reviews.  Biggest stories, biggest names, notable deaths, etc.

Well, this is a list of less notable deaths from 2008 (so far).

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Finally, you have heard all of the gloom and doom that our nation's retailers faced this holiday shopping season.

Well, this retailer did better than most.  A hint, I suggested them for last minute gifts in last week's blog entries.

Still a good idea for other gifts....even though we are in the middle of the Twelve Days of Christmas.  (Today is Day 5.)

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Have a Great Monday!

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If you heard my guest this morning, Alisa Warren, Executive Director of the Missouri Commission on Human Rights, and wanted the website for more information it is www.dolir.mo.gov/hr and the conference is on 21 January 2009.

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