If you're not a Seattle Mariners baseball fan, you'll put this article in the "who cares" category. If you're not a baseball fan in general, you'll be even more inclined to disregard it. But every year, about this time, I start itching for that little white ball with stitches. So, I'm putting up this information for the few, the proud, the Mariners faithful! (from yahoo! news) Major League Baseball and the Seattle Mariners released the official report dates for Spring Training 2006. ...
OK, so I'm way late to the game. But as a strong Douglas Adams afficianado (have read Dirk Gently and watched Dr. Who as well, so my credentials are strong here!), I feel that, now that I've seen the movie, I not only can, but MUST respond to it! First off, the cast: Arthur Dent was decidedly Arthur Dent-ish. Good call on that one. Ford Prefect...well, I didn't have any hard image of Ford Prefect, so he wasn't badly done. Trillian was well cast, and seemed at home in the role. And Zaphod was ...
I received a piece of mail yesterday. As a "card carrying libertarian", I receive literally dozens of fund raising letters per month, and thought this would be one of those good causes destined for the round file due to the fact that much of my dispensary income is currently relegated to the campaign and my own underfunded causes. But I opened it, because even fund raising letters often contain good, relevant information. It was from "Americans for Prosperity-Texas", a group tr...
I may have to modify my availability online. I don't want to, but circumstances may soon require it. You see, I was informed by library personnel that social workers have been asking for the times we visit the library, and have been coming in to observe my children and record their observations. All of this has happened after our case was closed unfounded, and without any notification of a new case being opened. I find it compellingly interesting that, while the left RAILS on Preside...
I attended a meeting of a new economic development corporation in the nearby community. As a fiscal conservative, the idea of such things make me nervous, and this was passed by a VERY slim margin (100 votes out of 4,000 cast). Bacause of my perspective, and the fact that the paper generally supports the EDC, I think I might have an angle on a column for the paper from the more critical perspective. When I attended the meeting of the (newly formed) corporation today, there were 5 people in a...
February is almost upon us. The Superbowl's a-nearing. Those two events mean one thing. Baseball's a-comin'. Pitchers and catchers report sometime later in the month, and by March, everything is in full swing. And as a Mariners fan, I have reason for hope, with the acquisition of former Angels ace Jarrod Washburn and a team with the better parts left mostly intact. Sure they've sucked the last couple years (last year, I believe, the departure of Edgar Martinez was a major factor; Ichiro Suzuk...
The MSM, from my personal experience, may lean left to right from region to region or from writer to writer, and one or the other philosophies may dominate; but one thing is almost universally true: the media is almost wholly sensationalist. This isn't the fault of the writer, mind you, or even the editors, but of the demands we place on them to create headlines that will attract our attention. One area where the sensationalism of the media comes out is in sentencing guidelines. Many...
Well, Richard Hatch, it appears, is going to prison (don't expect 13 years...without going too far off topic, I'll just explain that all things aren't as they seem when the media presents sentencing possibilities). But I found something very compelling in the media coverage of his trial. When Hatch was on "Survivor", we knew he was gay. He revealed the fact early on. But it never seemed that he was trying to "act" gay. It was part of who he was, we accepted it, he never made a big point of it...
Cryin’ won’t help you, prayin’ won’t do you no good, Now, cryin’ won’t help you, prayin’ won’t do you no good, When the levee breaks, mama, you got to move. (Led Zeppelin When the Levee B...
I must thank our retired military friend for this and some of my other articles on similar topics. While his agenda has been solely to oust Bush (as it was initially to keep him from getting reelected in the first place), he has provided some interesting questions. Those questions have led me to research, and that research has led me to conclude that the United States of America has come further than any nation in the history of the world in working to reduce/eliminate poverty. While we complain...
Our "on again/off again" TV access if off again, our antenna having fallen (I tied the wires too losely, I think). And it has been so for over a month. It's one of those interesting quandaries of life: when I have TV, I watch it too much, when I don't have it, I miss it far less than I would think. But I DO miss certain programs. I have not gotten to watch a single episode of "24". EVER. And from everything I have heard, it sounds like a show I would like. No Simpsons, no football (MNF's jump...
OK, in light of some of our discussions, I have an interesting quote I'd like to throw before you. Anyone want to venture a guess who made this comment, and when (no fair googling)? “ There is [a] class of colored people who make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs, and the hardships of the Negro race before the public. Having learned that they are able to make a living out of their troubles, they have grown into the settled habit of advertising their wrongs — partly because ...
Most conservative Christians know the beginning of the story well (as does almost any American who was old enough to remember the original event, which happened just over 50 years ago). Five missionaries speared to death in the Amazon jungle by the very people they went to reach. It was the subject of a book "Through the Gates of Splendor", by Elisabeth Elliot, one of the widows of the five men who went back to the culture known only to them at the time as the "Aucas". This book is Steve Sain...
Well, my acknowledgement from the Texas Department of Ethics came in Friday. Although I was technically "legal" to raise money for my campaign the day it was mailed, having recived the letter from them is good in the CYA department. I could spend up to $500 without a campaign treasurer being appointed, but couldn't raise money or spend over that amount without filing. Now, I won't be spending a lot of money on the campaign, but figured it was good to file anyway so that I don't have to worry abo...
Having been spoonfed DNC "talking points" since I was old enough to comprehend them has had a good end result: I've become a competent researcher, when I have the time and inclination to undertake such research. What's funny is that, the more I research, the more I find smoke and mirrors among virtually every "statistic" thrown out by strategists on both the left and right side of the aisle. I've had to learn the meaning of words such as "average" and "median" to make a distinction between th...