Dog vs Porcupine

I mean for real...this is the most painful thing that I have ever seen...

Stupid dog...

Winter Olympics

I heard someone last week say that long before there were "reality TV" shows, there was the Olympics on TV. Even if you are not a sports fan, just watch the lead in stories that NBC runs before any sporting event. If you are like me, you watch a heartfelt story about some girl from a small town in Iowa who was raised by gophers and overcame bad eating habits and now is part of the "greatest downhill doubles curling luge team ever. "

A few minutes ago, Mandi and I finished eating chinese food and sat down to watch the Games from Turino, Italy. Next up was the "pairs short program" in figure skating (I don't know much about it, but I was glad that the word short was in it so we could get to the really technical events...like doubles luge). Mandi asked me, "aren't you a big figure skating fan." As I gave her the courtesy laugh for the Saturday night attempt at sarcasm, I saw that she wasn't kidding and was immediately in a panic that she might have said something like this to people that we know (I do watch SOME chick flicks, but even I draw the line).

Anyway, the first pair that was up was the American team. Before they began, they did this huge buildup of something that the team was going to attempt called a "throw triple axle" in which the guy tosses the girl and she spins (I'm guessing 3 times) in the air before she lands. Part of the buildup was a video of them crashing several times in practice and then telling us that they hit this thing about 20% of the time. That works ok in baseball, but crap, not exactly the A-game that you want to bring to the Olympics.

Needless to say, I had to stay in it just to see if they could pull this thing off (constantly reminding myself that it is the "short program"). So about a minute into this thing, here it comes...

They go into it...SCORE...huge landing...great form...so much grace...

I'm standing up...arms in the air...screaming "they did it"...

crap...I'm cheering out loud for figure skating...

Tomorrow night I am buying a case of beer and painting my body red/white/blue for the long program...

brad

Global Warming

I read several articles about many evangelicals signing a petition on supporting efforts to curb global warming. To be honest, I can't tell if all the talk about global warming is about a real problem, or if it is about partisan politics. But I do have to say that if there is any chance that it is a real issue that needs addressing, then I want to be on the side of caring for the environment and therefore caring for the people who are in it.

I am a little bothered about the fact that many evangelicals have come out with rebuttals to the support for research and reversal of this "problem." Even if they believe that Al Gore cooked this one up, it seems that they would be able to give an answer to why they do believe it.

Then again, it might be because I get my news from the local fish wrapper which tends to lean way left.

brad

Politics.....aaagh

This was on DRUDGE tonight:

"Today's memorial service for civil rights activist Coretta Scott King -- billed as a "celebration" of her life -- turned suddenly political as one former president took a swipe at the current president, who was also lashed by an outspoken black pastor! The outspoken Rev. Joseph Lowery, co-founder of Southern Christian Leadership Conference, ripped into President Bush during his short speech, ostensibly about the wife of Martin Luther King Jr. "She extended Martin's message against poverty, racism and war. She deplored the terror inflicted by our smart bombs on missions way afar. We know now that there were no weapons of mass destruction over there," Lowery said.
The mostly black crowd applauded, then rose to its feet and cheered in a two-minute-long standing ovation.A closed-circuit television in the mega-church outside Atlanta showed the president smiling uncomfortably."But Coretta knew, and we know," Lowery continued, "That there are weapons of misdirection right down here," he said, nodding his head toward the row of presidents past and present. "For war, billions more, but no more for the poor!"
The crowd again cheered wildly.Former President Jimmy Carter later swung at Bush as well, not once but twice. As he talked about the Kings, he said: "It was difficult for them then personally with the civil liberties of both husband and wife violated as they became the target of secret government wiretaps."
The crowd cheered as Bush, under fire for a secret wiretapping program he ordered after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, again smiled weakly. Later, Carter said Hurricane Katrina showed that all are not yet equal in America. "This commerative cermony this morning, this afternoon, is not only to acknowledge the great contributions of Coretta and Martin, but to remind us that the struggle for equal rights is not over. We only have to recall the color of the faces of those in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi," Carter said, the rest of his sentence drowned out by loud applause. "Those who were most devastated by [Hurricane] Katrina know that there are not yet equal opportunities for all Americans. It is our responsibility to continue their crusade."

I am having such a hard time with politics right now. I have no problem with constructive criticism and I have no problem with people calling our president, congress or courts into question.

I DO have a problem with constant headlines for cheap shots. Coming from a "National Baptist" and a "Southern Baptist" (who actually has been considered one of the most useless Presidents in the history of our nation) this was too cheap and the standing ovations were ridiculous and not in the spirit of the moment in which respect was supposed to be directed to a great lady.

I am really irritated about this - "In a stunning act of moral and political betrayal, committed for the most expedient of reasons, the Bush administration State Department has suddenly decided that Darfur isn't the site of genocide after all."

But I want to do something about it...not just call the president out for political gain only when I have an audience. That is hypocrisy at it's finest.

Democrats are the party of no ideas and Republicans are the party of bad ideas...and the only thing worse than this is when these two work together. - Lewis Black

A Fan's Perspective