I Need A Break From Politics & The Olympics

And The Winner Of The Obama, McCain, Warren Forum Is....

John McCain. If I was scoring the forum as an olympic event, I would give McCain a 7.5 on a scale of 10 and BO a 4. (Plus having 98 million in the bank ain't too shabby either - see crawl on the TV screen.)

He Understands What It Means To Be American More Than Most

BEIJING — Lopez Lomong has a life story that is a movie waiting to happen. Seven years ago he was a Lost Boy of Sudan, kidnapped at age 6 by Janjaweed rebels while at Sunday mass with his family. He witnessed friends die. He has seen his own grave. He carried the U.S. flag at the opening of the Beijing Olympics. "I have no words to describe it," he says of his emotions. STORY

52 Seconds of Why BO Won't Win

Special thanks to Ted for bringing this to my attention. (Ted should start a blog)
Hey BO - can you say "quadrennial?"
52

Set Your DVR - Tomorrow Night 8pm - MSNBC

It has taken a man of God, perhaps, to do what nobody else has been able to do since the general election season began: Get Barack Obama and John McCain together on the same stage before their party convention.
The Rev. Rick Warren has persuaded the candidates to attend a forum at his Saddleback Church, in Lake Forest, Calif., on Aug. 16. In an interview, Mr. Warren said over the weekend that the presidential candidates would appear together for a moment but that he would interview them in succession at his megachurch. ARTICLE

Interesting New Song From Bebo Norman

Someone else put the video together with his song "Britney" as the music bed.

Warning - Bill Maher - Coming To A Theatre Near You

Toughest Sports

Fishing was determined to be the easiest sport. Not so sure I agree. I went deep sea fishing once and worked my butt off bringing in king fish. COMPLETE LIST

Chillin'

Justin resting after a grueling 5 weeks of aircraft commander training in Altus, OK. (BTW - he aced his final check ride and it was in a thunderstorm) Gracie is resting after a grueling day of frolicking in the yard. She was very happy to spend quality time with Justin. Mary and I were too. Thanks Kacey.

Skum Bag Has An Affair On Cancer-Stricken Wife

Let him speak at the Democratic Convention. Aren't they the ones who believe it doesn't matter what happens in your private life?

What?

(CNN)—Academy award winning actor George Clooney is set to host a fundraiser for Barack Obama in Switzerland next month.
The event, taking place on the evening of September 2 in Geneva, Switzerland will be split into two parts: a reception and a dinner. According to Obama’s National Finance Committee, tickets for the reception where Clooney will speak are going for $1,000, followed by a dinner at the home of NFC member Charles Adams for $10,000 a plate. Space for the dinner is limited to 75 guests.

Milk Investigation Update

My State Representative, Bill Farmer, responded very quickly to my email concerning false advertising within the dairy industry. We spoke in length about the "expiration conspiracy" going on within the dairy industry. He has "his people" on it. Should be interesting....
(Scroll down 4 to original post)

I watched a couple of Ali fights over the weekend on ESPN Classic. Boxing has never been the same without him.
Muhammad Ali was raised Cassius Clay in a small home in Louisville, Kentucky. From those humble beginnings neither he nor any observer at that time could have fathomed the path he would carve through life. A Golden Gloves champion at age 17, an Olympic gold medal at age 18, and an undefeated heavyweight champion at age 22. Spurred by the theft of his prized new bicycle, he was out to get the person responsible. Ali was venting his anger at the local gym, when the perceptive policeman Joe Martin admonished, “You better learn to box first.” And box he did. Within a week he had his first match and first win. This feisty 89-pound young man was ready to take on the world. And before his career in the ring ended, the world would know his name as the man crowned heavyweight champion three times—the greatest. Yet, his greatest fight has not been in the ring. Ironically, after beating the world’s toughest opponents, it was Parkinson’s disease that would prove to be his greatest foe. But in true Ali style, he met this challenge head on. Instead of shrinking from this difficulty he has stepped onto the world stage once more as a champion. His tireless work raising money to fight this debilitating disease has inspired thousands and endeared him to a new generation of admirers around the world. (Ali bio info from www.forbetterlife.com )

Fun Day Trip

We went to Cincinnati to see the world famous BODIES EXHIBIT with our good friends Paul & Holly. If you ever get a chance to see the exhibit, go. There is no way to walk through that exhibit and not have God cross your mind over and over. It was incredible! The building that housed the exhibit was very cool too. This is a picture of the Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal. Union Terminal was a happening place in 1933 when it opened as a train station. It's a beautiful building and the city has done a good job of utilizing it since the decline of the railroad. (That's my buddy Paul standing in the middle of the fountain with his arms extended. Click on the picture to enlarge and check it out closer)
We then enjoyed an early dinner at Mitchell's Fish Market in Newport, KY next to the Newport Aquarium and then strolled along the river front watching paddle wheel and tug boats float up and down the river. And if that wasn't enough we wandered right into the middle of the Goetta Festival. The Goetta is a peasant food of German origin that is popular in the greater Cincinnati area. It is primarily composed of ground meat and oats. I threw some cornhole and tried to win Mary something by throwing fake link sausages into small baskets on a board; close but no cigar. It was fun to get out on a short day trip with some ole' friends of ours and we hope to do something again soon.

I Want A Refund!

It's happening way too often! I have my toast timed perfectly in the toaster. I have my bowl of Crispix ready to roll, my cup of coffee is ready, the toaster pops up my toast, I butter it with my Promise - Cardiologist Endorsed - 60% Vegetable Oil Spread, and I get ready for the last step in breakfast preparation. I take the milk out of the fridge and after a quick glance I can tell there's enough milk not only for this breakfast but also for tomorrow's. I check the expiration date on the milk - August 5th. Cool; I have 3 more days before the milk expires, right? Wrong! Past experience has taught me to take the cap off and take a whiff just to be safe. Whew! Nasty! The milk is already sour - 3 days early! For one thing, obviously the expiration date stamped on the jug is false advertising. Plus, the cost of milk has increased over 26 percent in the last year. It's almost the price of gas. I'm seriously thinking about taking some serious action. If the milk industry can't get the expiration date right, they should pay! Send me a refund for the amount of nasty milk I paid for but can't consume. Where should I start my crusade? The state attorney general's office.? If I go directly to the milk industry officials they will just deny everything. In the meantime, I'll have to just have toast for breakfast this morning; without my Crispix!

Football Is In The Air

I turn on ESPN and see reports of NFL football camps. The Bengals camp is at Georgetown College, 20 miles north of Lexington.
(pic on left) I used to work at Georgetown College at their public radio station before the move to FL, and would visit the Bengals camp regularly. The ESPN training camp reports, air in between Brett "Baby" Favre updates. 20 million to go away! I'll take 1/10 of a mil. Anyway, football is back in the air and on the air. I pick up the Herald "Mis-Leader" (The Lex newspaper) and head straight for the sports section for updates on UK football, although the local paper is usually 2 days behind the chatroom "The House of Blue" on CatsPause Dot Com. I actually cut back our subscription to weekends only because of the inaccurate and imbalanced writing from one of the mis-leader's sports columnists. He gets his kicks out of writing "non-stories" and attacking his hometown basketball team. The mis-leader has forfeited thousands of subscriptions because of this one writer. Not a smart move when newspapers are declining rapidly anyway. I go to CatsPause Dot Com and the football stories are gathering momentum. KY's opener with "Loserville" is now only 29 days away! I can feel the pendulum of the deep dark hole of sports coverage beginning to swing back toward some meaningful coverage as football season is "back in the air."

He's Pulling The Race Card Again

The media is trying to say Obama saying "he’s black and that he doesn’t resemble past presidents" is a statement of fact, not a portrayal of his opponent’s beliefs.
That's NOT what happened. B.O. said that the McCain campaign will be saying "he’s black and that he doesn’t resemble past presidents." It's as if he's been "warning" people of the awful things the McCain campaign (White people) will say. He is trying to pull the race card in this campaign just like he did in the primary.
The good news in this election, is that in this day & age your race makes no difference. It's about your policies, morals and experience. There really is no need to try and pull the race card. I think it's a really dumb move from B.O. and the McCain campaign is absolutely correct to call him on it. I believe B.O's morals have been shaped a great deal over the last 20 years by his family's pastor - the Reverend Wright.

Here's Something You Don't See Everyday

Quarterback Will Fidler (One of the 2 UK quarterbacks having legal issues recently) wrote the following letter to the editor in his hometown newspaper. Apparently he had stepped in to help a friend who had found himself in the middle of a bar fight and Will was one of the guys who found himself in trouble.
I think this letter demonstrates the kid's true character.
Editor:
I'd like to address all Henderson County and University of Kentucky sports fans.
I have been fortunate to grow up in Henderson, Ky., attend Henderson County High School and the University of Kentucky and enjoy some exciting moments on the football field.
This town has given me its full support, and I'm privileged to represent Henderson as a student athlete at the University of Kentucky. It has been and still is my dream to play quarterback at UK and represent Henderson with a sense of pride.
Unfortunately, I have jeopardized all that I have worked for through a foolish mistake. Without making excuses for myself, I will just say that I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and have learned a valuable lesson.
I would like to apologize to my friends, supporters and all those who look to UK athletes as role models. I'm proud to have grown up in Kentucky and have the opportunity to play football for my state school, and that will not be taken for granted.
Will Fidler
Henderson

Just A Reminder...

I know I have posted this before but I think it is worthy of multiple posts.