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Good morning!
Today’s movie quote: “Come on. Do I look like the mother of the future?”
HT: TJ
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The Terminator?
You’re getting better and better at this, kBells.
Random, I have recently noticed another advantage to hanging out on World Mag, self-improvement. Occasionally I have been able to look back on my posts and see that I have been overly hostile, obsessive or sensitive about a certain issue. This can often be a signal that there is someone or something I need to deal with in the real world.
Sorry I should have put this on the John Bolton Turkey Exchange thread yesterday insead of the Famous one.
I got a few questions for them but they won’t be as good as the questions the moderators asked in my Chantix induced dream last Saturday.
Ahmadinejad said ‘Before I can ask the woman running for President of the USA a question, she must be properly attired and hidden” Then Ossama bin Laden ran out on stage with a powder blue (a great color for her), haute couture Burka and dragging a wooden screen behind him. Ossama completely covered Hillary in the fashionable, at least for her, Burka and then put the wooden screen in front of her and Obama’s lecterns so that they were both completely hidden for Ahmadinejad’s and the audiences view.
Upon Ossama leaving the stage, Ahmadinejad asked Hilliary his question. “Woman, why is it that you have said that you, if elected President, would talk and negotiate with Turkey and not attack them militarily for any reason, when Turkey has been bombing Iraq’s Shia Kurds every day for 12 straight months, yet you have moved to the right for the election and have also said that you would not negotiate with me and would leave military action against Shia Iran on the table when are developing our Nuclear capabilities for green electrical power only and have attacked no one like the Turks? I feel like I and my peaceful, oil rich Iran are being singled out for punishment arbitrarily by you while Turkey, America’s ally who has no oil, is killing Iraq’s Kurds daily and at will - Fellow Shia you are sworn to protect.”
From behind the wooden screen came Hillary’s answer. My dear President, you need a lesson in American history and the Turks, being Arab which you are not, thing about personal affronts and saving face. As you know we in America will soon be celebrating Thanksgiving and that idiot President Bush, before last Thanksgiving, told Americans to enjoy their ‘Turkey Day’ and may God bless you.’ Well the Turks went nuts, as they should have, since they know what Americans do to turkeys on Thanksgiving and what the slang for turkeys means to Americans.
The Turks thought that Bush was being totally insensitive to them, as he was of course, by telling Americans to enjoy cutting off the heads of turkeys, plucking them, roasting them, carving them up and eating them - with joy. As President, I would immediately straighten out this obvious Bush affront and slap in the Turk face by talking to them kindly and offering to changing the evil name of ‘Turkey Day’ for Americans to one that befits our Turkish friends status and pride while epitomizes what I and other left leaning Americans feel America is really all about and what we want the whole world to know.
I would get Congress to pass legislation making the words ‘Turkey Day’ for Thanksgiving illegal anywhere in America and make the new name “Really Big Chicken Day” the law of the land instead. I have already sent my Vice Presidential choice to secretly talk to the Turks and they were very receptive and pleased with my idea and would consider stopping the bombing and killing of Iraqi Kurds should I be elected.
This should be good news for you and your Shia friends Mr President. Hopefully you and I can also come to a suitable agreement that will make you want to give up your nuclear programs in exchange for my promising that…. say….I won’t blow you and your country to kingdom come with mega tons to spare. We got a deal Dinni Baby?
Before Ahmadinejad could answer, Steven Colbert cut him off on the 90 second limit rule. A shame really. They took the screen awy to reveal Hillary still ‘Burka’ed Up’ powder blue (you could almost see a smile on her face though) but Obama was wearing this really big and fat chicken costume. The French crowd went absolutely wild and they all started crowing like cocks a sunrise and at the top off their lungs. It just made your heart go pitty patter.
I think I’m changing my mind about the screen writers strike.
It’s been a long tradition for the recording and acting moguls to take most of the money generated by the workers in that industry, be it singers, actors, or writers. Seems to me, that a lot of the genius has been short-changed, and the moguls should reconsider…
In addition, I’m not sure the schlock we’ve had to endure the last couple of seasons is the writers fault. They may have wanted to write better stuff but were prevented by the decision makers. (Similar to engineers who get cut off by the bean-counters until they design nothing but garbage because that’s all the accountants will afford them.)
Ok… this is really stupid. Why if you click on my name or my avatar, will you see the new avatar that I changed to several days ago, but it hasn’t actually changed yet?
MIM: From what I can tell, this blog stores the avatars locally on the worldontheweb.com domain, whereas you change it on gravatar.com. Rather than pulling the image off of gravatar.com, worldontheweb.com uses it’s local copy, regardless of the gravatar.com copy. Apparently the local worldontheweb.com avatars are updated on an infrequent basis.
Local copy:
/wp-content/gravatars/global/6fd8258c5d004077ec11bec208c1e4cc
(it’s a .jpg, it’s just not easily accessible that way)
gravatar.com copy:
http://site.gravatar.com/images/files/thumbs/237052.jpg?17846
Can we do images?
Guess not
#3 KBELLS
Good point. In a similar fashion, I’ve come to realize I spend too much time on wmb. I will go cold turkey on Jan 1. Though my wife, who has cold feet, likes to put them on the warm turkey she calls her husband now that winter is here.
Wow, KBells is getting good. I thought that one would be obscure enough, but she got it right off the bat!
Prayer Request from EYG
EYG (Evelyn) and I have mutual friends; her sister lives near me and attends a church in my denomination. So yesterday I found out through my church’s prayer chain that her sister’s husband had been killed. I communicated with EYG off blog, and she asked me to ask you for prayer for her family.
A few of the details: EYG’s sister has two daughters (not sure their ages). Her husband was driving and was hit head-on by a car that was going way too fast (it almost sideswiped a patrol car on the expressway, traveling very fast, and the patrol car took off after it) and lost control around a curve; the other driver also died in the crash.
EYG has come back from Colombia for the funeral and her husband is driving them today, with a long trip ahead of her. Her (EYG’s) daughter has come back from her YWAM mission trip, and everyone who can be there is coming.
Pray for the family of the other driver as well. There was alcohol in the car, and the man’s nine-year-old boy was riding in the car and is now in critical condition.
Quick bit of bragging: those of us who follow college basketball no doubt heard about Kentucky getting upset at home by tiny Gardner-Webb University, by 16 points no less. Well, one of the leading scorers for G-W is a kid named Thomas Sanders; I’ve known the Sanders family for more than a decade, and Thomas for most of that time. He’s a fantastic young man and a small forward with a killer instinct on the court. Cool for him.
This is Evelyn’s brother-in-law? Here’s her web address if you want to send condolences, though I didn’t see an e-mail that can be used for her: http://cafeglover.blogspot.com/
TJ, I’ve never really seen the movie, but I knew the plot and it seemed to fit. Wild guess.
Kentucky losing at home is like the Colonel running out of chicken!
In any event, it’s Friday, which means it’s time for the College Football Saturday contest here on WorldMag.
ESPN’s College Football Gameday will be live from Williamstown, MA where Williams College (5-2) will take on Amherst College (4-3).
Pick the winners (not the score) of the following five games:
Illinois (7-3) @ (#1) Ohio State (10-0)
(#4) Kansas (9-0) @ Oklahoma State (5-4)
Louisville (5-4) @ (#7) W. Virginia (7-1)
(#9) Arizona State (8-1) @ UCLA (5-4)
(#18) Auburn (7-3) @ (#10) Georgia (7-2)
As always, the tiebreaker is the Tennessee game vs whomever they are playing. Pick the winner and the score:
Arkansas (6-3) @ (#24) Tennessee (6-3)
The winner gets a nice, gooey, hot-off-the-campfire *digital* S’more
Get your picks in by 10 a.m. Saturday. Good luck!
So sorry to hear of Evelyn’s loss. The family and the little boy will be in our prayers
Thanks for the info, Cheryl. I will certainly pray for all of them. What a sad situation!
My picks:
1) Illinois
2) Kansas
3) Has already been played, so I’m going with WV!
4) Arizona State
5) Georgia
Tie-breaker: Arkansas over Tennessee, 28-24
Not only does worldmogblog have rich irony mines, there are rich conclusion lodes as well.
I’m not any conclusions in regard to the following story from today’s Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper. Others may. I’ll caution everyone that just as matter and anti-matter are said to cause violent explosions, incompatible conclusions are explosive as well.
PORT ORCHARD — Church leaders in South Kitsap County are a genial group. Despite theological differences, they meet monthly for lunch, hobnobbing about charity events or ways to improve their ministry. Over the years, they occasionally extended invitations to Pastor Robbin Leeroy Harper, asking him to join their circle. But the mild-looking church leader rebuffed every overture.
Pastor Robb, as he is known to adherents, led a congregation of 60, who met several times a week on the quiet, rural road where Harper had founded The Church. There, in a gated compound, he preached a non-denominational — though strict — interpretation of the Bible and kept largely to himself.
Eight days ago, Harper was charged with multiple counts of child rape stretching back at least to 1994, after five young women — all of them one-time members of the congregation — accused the married father of four of years of sexual abuse within the church compound.
“When you’re up to no good, you tend to hide,” said Jamie Greening, pastor at First Baptist Church in Port Orchard. “Even the most theologically separatist types remain involved in their communities. But this group was pretty much completely behind doors. The word that I would use is fringe, very fringe.”
The bunker mentality likely contributed to the alleged crimes remaining hidden for so long, Greening said. Certainly, it shielded him from prying questions and left his followers vulnerable.
After the first group of five accusers came forward, another two made reports, then three more. So far, a dozen women and girls — one just 10 years old — have described molestations to police, each progressing through a similar pattern.
Typically, the pastor began by giving girls aged 7 or 8 “inappropriate hugs,” moving his hands across their bodies and under their shirts, according to the victims’ statements.
Within a year or so, he would penetrate them digitally, display pornography and expose his penis, court documents say.
When the girls were 15 or 16, Harper allegedly initiated intercourse, countering their protests by explaining that he was preparing them for adult relationships.
“Harper would convince her that what he was doing was OK and that her sex life was a huge contributor to a successful marriage,” court papers say.
The 60-year-old pastor has pleaded not guilty and is being held on $500,000 bond in Kitsap County Jail.
Court documents say that shortly before his arrest, Harper approached the father of one victim at church and “confessed that he had been inappropriate with his daughter.”
The revelations have decimated Harper’s congregation — they haven’t met since — and several members said they were particularly shattered to realize how long the alleged assaults had continued, undetected.
“I was involved in what you might call an inner circle for some years,” said Rick Thurston, a member since the mid-1990s. “That’s one of the things that’s bothered me the most — how could I not see this? Maybe I just trusted the man.”
Many in Harper’s group, including Thurston, had come from other churches they found disappointingly watered down, even hypocritical. Harper, touting an unyielding standard of Christianity — no associating with non-believers, for instance — seemed pure.
“You want to believe that good things come from church and only good people go to church,” said Danel Swan, a former member whose 20-year-old niece was the first to make a report to police. Harper had been molesting her since age 12, the young woman said.
Initially, Swan and the girl’s father had been attracted to Harper’s no-frills style of ministry. He lived in a mobile home. He was always on-site.
Swan even had him perform her marriage ceremony. But within a few years, she fled.
“It was condemnation, condemnation, condemnation — until you can’t take any more,” Swan said. “You start to think you’re going crazy. It was absolute control. He had a way of making you feel that if there was something going on in your life, you had the devil in you. And he was powerful. You believed him.”
She described a close, tight-lipped society where members routinely gave more than 10 percent of their earnings to The Church.
Though records indicate that Harper and his wife, Christine, lived on Social Security and veterans benefits, they drove a Jaguar, and later a red Hummer.
Many members were struggling with personal difficulties, and in Harper they found an answer, someone who would listen to them and pick up the pieces.
“He got you when you were down,” Swan said.
At least one of the young women accusing Harper described his methods as “brainwashing.” Several former adherents spoke of his domineering manner.
“We keep hearing this over and over again, that he had this control over people in the congregation with regard to their personal lives — the kinds of cars they drove, where they lived, even where they’d work,” said Scott Wilson, a spokesman for the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office. “Everything went through the pastor for his approval.”
Married to the pastor for the last 35 years, Christine Harper, 56, says she is pained by the revelations, and she does not dispute them.
“It’s very obvious that my husband really messed up and I feel sorry for that,” she said. “He knows he will likely be spending the rest of his life in prison.”
She dismissed outright, however, accusations of mind control or cultism from the wider Kitsap community.
“Nobody was made to do anything here,” Christine Harper said. “People have to take responsibility for their own lives. Nobody can tell somebody who they’re supposed to see or not see. It’s just silly to even talk like that.”
It was nearly three decades ago when her husband, suffering from injuries he’d sustained during service in Vietnam, first became involved with ministry, she said.
Harper was not a believer, but a local church group prayed for him, he healed completely, and their lives changed almost overnight.
“There were all these miracles happening,” Christine Harper said. “It got a lot of attention. My husband was being invited all over to speak. There were prayer meetings where people just flocked to us. He was obviously very gifted, but everything just happened too fast. All these people were coming to him for help, and he didn’t have anyone to help him.”
Now she wonders if she could have done more.
The Harpers’ marriage was not as strong as it could have been, she conceded, and for years she had harbored suspicions about her husband’s attentions toward other women — adult women, she hastened to add.
“There were things I felt uncomfortable about,” she said. “But I can’t even fathom some of these charges.”
The couple’s four children, who range in age from 19 to 27, are suffering, too, she said.
Last week, someone in their home called police to request a patrol car after hearing gunshots. Later, a deputy found the family dog dead in a nearby ditch, though the manner of death remains unclear.
“People are hurting, I understand that,” the pastor’s wife said. “But there are lots of victims here. I seriously believe that my children and myself are also victims in this who need healing.”
She has not shown up at any of her husband’s court appearances, instead remaining shuttered within the compound, walking among the buildings and peering out from behind the fence that surrounds it all.
Lynn,
Are we going to have “Rants! & Raves!” today?
Illinois (7-3) @ (#1) Ohio State (10-0)
(#4) Kansas (9-0) @ Oklahoma State (5-4)
Louisville (5-4) @ (#7) W. Virginia (7-1)
(#9) Arizona State (8-1) @ UCLA (5-4)
(#18) Auburn (7-3) @ (#10) Georgia (7-2)
I’m thinking this is upset week.
I’m going Illinois, which should be the first of two losses for The Ohio State
Oklahoma State will beat Kansas, because OSU is furious over the Texas game last week.
Big boy…you’re going down this week.
Louisville /WV.
Yeah this one’s finished already.
WV
Arizona State may lose again this week. They have to go to UCLA, a team that has to be frustrated that they aren’t real “contenders’ this season.
I’m going….ASU, I guess
Auburn and Georgia…This should be a bloodbath.
Two outside factors in this one.
Does Georgia bring the chip on their shoulder from the crazy TD celebration a couple of weeks ago, to this week’s game.
Or does Auburn bring a “we’re going to show these punks some things” attitude to the game?
This really is a pick-em. I’m going to pull for Georgia..because it would help my teams bowl bid.
And now, The game
I saw an attitude against South Carolina that has been missing all year.
We rushed 500 yards..D-Mac rushed for 330 alone.
The QB went 8 for ten and threw for a TD and over 100 yards.
It all comes down to the Hog’s secondary.
If they do their job, my guess will be
Ark 31- Tenn 10
If they don’t do their job, I’d say
Tenn 35- Ark. 31
My prayers and sympathy goes out to EYG’s sister and their family.
There’s not anything worse than losing family in such a unexpected, violent way.
EYG,
Will be praying for you and your family. So sorry for your sister’s loss…
“Apparently the local worldontheweb.com avatars are updated on an infrequent basis.”
Grrr… that’s NOT what we were told. If I go back and search, the ? (server) is supposed to check periodically (every hour or so as I remember). Why not just enable us to store the avatar locally?
Random Name: A good rule of thumb for believers is to flee whenever anyone tells you you cannot associate with someone else. Jesus was accused of sitting with sinners by the Pharisees etc. People naturally flock to legalism and child molestors naturally go where there are children and opportunities. I once was involved in a church that I felt was getting too much like this one. Fortunately, the members kept dividing and dividing trying to keep only the “righteous” until there were only a couple left and they had to fold. Your story is why we must know the scriptures ourselves and think for ourselves. It is also why we must realize that the only righteousness we have is Christ’s. If it is His righteousness why would we take pride in it? It is a gift.
All of the congregation needs prayer as well as the pastor’s family. These people are incredibly clever at disguising themselves. He needs to be put away.
Dear EYG (Evelyn)
Praying for both families involved.
Word on the streets is that James Dobson will endorse Mike Huckabee at a news conference scheduled for Tuesday.
James Dobson has a real following. Unlike Robertson, Dobson is not known for making “prophetic” statements that are dubious. His Focus on the Family program has millions of loyal followers.
Dobson has it right. He’s endorsing a better candidate for the Republican nomination during the primaries. He and many other conservatives will worry about the general election when they get to that bridge.
Don’t look over your shoulder Rudy, but someone is gaining on you.
I like Huckabee. I just hope he doesn’t run as a third-party candidate if he doesn’t get the GOP nomination. That would seal the presidency for Hillary.
I’ve been wondering about something.
Which of the GOP candidates do the conservatives who frequent this site support over-all for president?
And what conservative qualities do you choices possess?
Yes Make It Man, locally hosted avatars are much simpler, but I’m not sure that wordpress has the ability to do that.
College football contest
Illinois (7-3) @ (#1) Ohio State (10-0)
OSU even though I teach in Illinois. If the game were played in Champaign, the result might be opposite.
(#4) Kansas (9-0) @ Oklahoma State (5-4)
I hate to say KU, since Mizzou and KU are mortal enemies and I live in Missouri. Oh well, KU has a chance at the national title and Mizzou doesn’t, so my choice here is KU.
Louisville (5-4) @ (#7) W. Virginia (7-1)
Thanks for the freebie! WV already won this one!
(#9) Arizona State (8-1) @ UCLA (5-4)
With grimaces and cringes, I have to once again hope the hated Sun Devils win, so ASU, though it will be a close one. UCLA lost to my beloved Arizona last week and will be out to salvage something this season, but I don’t think they will win this week.
(#18) Auburn (7-3) @ (#10) Georgia (7-2)
Tossup. I go with the home team on this one: Georgia (which shares its mascot with my alma mater, Northeast Missouri State [now Truman State])
Arkansas (6-3) @ (#24) Tennessee (6-3)
Tennessee wins 28-17
So sorry to hear of EYG’s loss. Tragic. Another victim of a legal narcotic.
Mr. Meaner,
Regarding Georgia vs Auburn, Auburn has a knack for beating Georgia at their place. Obviously, to benefit Tennessee, I want Auburn to win.
Regarding Tennessee vs Arkansas, I’m very nervous about this one as a Vol fan. I don’t see how the Vols will win all 3 of their remaining games (Arkansas, Vandy, and Kentucky). I’m predicting they will lose one of those 3. The only advantage is that the game is at Tennessee. Go Vols!
Did I get the movie quote right? Am I going to get a prize? This happens about half the time I make a guess. I’m getting paranoid that Lynn doesn’t like me.
Anlir,
three weeks ago, I had the Ark/Tenn game picked as an automatic loss for our guys.
Since the shellacking of Ol’ Miss on the road, Wev’e been playing like I thought we should have all year. Now, I’m starting to believe, again.
Houston Nutt does this to me every year.
That is also one of the reasons I’m going with the Hogs. Nutt is the teflon coach. Somehow, he manages to just pull it together enough to keep his job. A win at Tennessee will probably do it.
Honestly, it wouldn’t bother me if we lost every game from here on, except, it isn’t fair to MacFadden and Jones, The two best RBs in the country.
Auburn and Georgia may be the best game of the week. It could be one of those that ends with a score of 6-3.
#25 KI
Thank you for reading and commenting on my post.
Make it Man,
Houston is on the “hot seat” a little bit more than Fulmer is, but they’re both on it. I think you’re right - if Houston wins the TN game, he will save his job for another year. If Fulmer doesn’t get the Vols to a half-way decent bowl game, he’s in real trouble. A 6-6 record for TN isn’t going to cut it. If he loses to Vandy, he’s in real trouble (he should be).
I’m still predicting the Vols will finish at 8-4 and go to either the Peach (Chick-fil-a) Bowl or the Outback Bowl, where they will lose yet again. Fulmer will keep is job for one more year.
*****
Well, I’m disappointed that there apparently not be a “Rants! & Raves!” blog today.
*****
Latest news on Pakistan:
Mrs. Bhutto was put under “house arrest” to prevent her from attending an anti-government rally today. She has apparently been released now. I think it may be the nail in the coffin of the power sharing agreement between her and Musharraf.
Raves! to the attorneys in Pakistan who are standing up for the rule of law.
Rants! to Gen. Musharraf for going after the democratic elements in Pakistan instead of going after the terrorists.
I’m predicting there will either be a coup, where the military will overthrow Musharraf, or he will be assassinated by a Muslim fanatic.
Interesting news day. Maybe even a no noose day.
I am absolutely sure (well as sure as an agnostic can be, who looks in the mirror with skepticism and asks, “How do I know that’s really I, er, me?”) that Night Train was not responsible for the water cooler signs.
Neither was Nick Peters, for that matter. In fact the number of people here not responsible are too many to name or number, so I won’t.
(11/08/07 - KTRK/MISSOURI CITY, TX) - It’s a high school shocker — water fountains found labeled for “whites” and “colored.” Was it an innocent prank? It’s a sign of previous times that is stirring up emotion in Fort Bend County.
The handmade signs were only posted on the wall at Hightower High School for a matter of minutes, but many here feel that being posted for only a matter of seconds is far too long.
Fort Bend ISD police took a photo of the water fountains Wednesday afternoon inside Hightower High School. It’s something you might expect to see in the 1960s, not 2007.
Two water fountains each had a handwritten sign above. One read “whites” and the other read “colored.”
“Anybody would find that offensive,” said Alice Gibson, aunt of a Hightower student. “Wouldn’t you?”
“It would be interesting to see what was the kid’s motivation,” said Robert Ina, father of a Hightower student.
Campus police say they caught a 16-year-old student in the act of hanging the signs. School officials sent a letter home to parents on Thursday describing what had happened. The letter also explained that the teen was cited for allegedly committing a class C misdemeanor for disorderly conduct by an offensive gesture.
Nearly 57% of the students at Hightower High School are African American, and so is the student who stands accused of putting the signs on the wall. Some say that doesn’t make this act any less offensive.
“A slur is a slur,” said Gibson.
Hightower student Nefertari Edwards said, “Some people might have seen it as a joke, but it really wasn’t that funny.”
These signs come at a time of heightened racial sensitivity, especially because of nooses recently found at Pearland High School and in Jena, Louisiana. Still, some say what happened here does not equate to hate.
Ina said, “I don’t think that it was anything to be racially motivated. I think it was just that there’s so much of this going on across the country that some kid thought he could get a laugh out of it, probably.”
Most everyone here agrees, though, that these signs and what they represent is no laughing matter.
“We all know,” Gibson explained. “We all know that we really must be politically correct. No matter what you think, keep it to yourself.”
Fort Bend ISD officials say the student wouldn’t tell them what his motivation was. He has been suspended from school for three days. If convicted in court, he could be forced to pay a fine of up to $500.
Please don’t laugh about this. Also, for all of next week, blogs will have comment boxes labeled as “bright white,” “dull white,” “color fast,” “slow colored,” “athehiss,” “godlymissmolly,” and “agnostihick.”
Please post in the appropriate box for your classification. Ignorance is no excuse for posting ignorantly.
Ohio State
Oklahoma State
WV
Arizona State
Auburn
Arkansas 24
Tennessee 17
VS,
Sports is a big part of our lives. Get with the program
It’s only because I do the football contest on here each Friday.
I’m happy to talk about anything. What ya got in mind?
VS - “That Whirled Views seems to be turning into a sports thread.”
I’ve proposed that the thread be renamed “The Whirled Series”.
Ok, folks - “Rants! & Raves! is now open.
Thanks Lynn!
Football picks:
Ohio State (all of you who picked Illinois just eliminated yourselves)
Kansas
West Virginia (by 7, I’d say)
Arizona State
Georgia
Tiebreaker: Arkansas 31-21 (sorry, Anlir, but McFadden may be too much)
I don’t see it as a good week for upsets.
Anlir.
Notice I didn’t mention the SC-Florida game? That’s because I’m a jinx. Last week I said that the Gamecocks would win if the offense showed up, because the defense was great.
Well, the offense showed up, big time. It was the defense that didn’t show.
They were victims of some bad officiating, but that was no excuse for letting McFadden run over them.
RANT: Another game starting at eight.
Rave: That means it’s on TV, though I don’t know that yet.
Anlir - I’ll soon be 55 and have been married almost 35 years to a sports fan - haven’t gotten with the program yet.
Oh well - I’m not terribly upset over it - I just find it boring.
Scott:
You’re right - there won’t be many upsets this week. The Top 10 teams are playing some very weak opponents, many with losing records.
As much as I hate to admit it, I think your right on the score of the TN/AR game. Still…Go Vols!
*****
Chas,
Florida vs SC is on at 7:45 p.m. on ESPN.
Of course, I’m pulling for SC. As much as I despise
Spurrier, I gotta pull for SC to knock Florida out of the SEC title game.
VS,
Oh that’s ok - I’m just teasing you
Maybe we could convince Lynn to run a sports blog on Fridays around here. I’d like to see one every day myself.
VS, I didn’t get to answer your question about my avatar yesterday. It is part of a quilt square in the quilt I just finished for my grandaughter. I had a picture of the pieced front, because I sent it to her mother. It is made up of angel and heart squares.
I’m planning to go see “American Gangster” this weekend. If so, I’ll post a review on Monday. The daughter of the main bad guy (Frank Lucas, a real person still in prison, played by Denzel Washington) lives in the Atlanta area. They had a write up about her this week in the AJC. She started a support group for children who’s parents are in prison. Her mother is also in prison. She was too young to understand what her father did, and she only knew him through his letters.
I am absolutely sure (well as sure as an agnostic can be, who looks in the mirror with skepticism and asks, “How do I know that’s really I, er, me?”) that Night Train was not responsible for the water cooler signs.
Random, can you show me anything I’ve ever written that’s racist?
KI - Your quilt sounds gorgeous! I’d love to see a picture of it if you’d be willing to share?
How old is your granddaughter?
Night Train
No, I can’t show you anything that you have written that is racist, and more than I can show anything that Nick Peters wrote that is racist.
For that matter, can you show me anything that I’ve written that accuses you of being racist? (We could keep up this I’ll show you mine if you show me yours game until I take my sabbatical.)
In both your case and Nick’s case, you (plural) have written comments that made me wonder. I tried to ask straightforward questions to find out your (plural) opinions on race. I found your answers coy and evasive.
I don’t care a whole lot. I have known white people who were prejudiced against blacks. I have known black people who were prejudiced against whites. The majority of people I have known are not prejudiced against people of other races, though I never know how many secretly are but feel obligated to pretend they are not.
(It’s sort of a if a tree falls in the forest… conundrum: If a person is a racist in his or her secret thoughts, but never displays racism in action or speech, is that person really a racist?)
I doubt that I (or anybody else) is going to change minds by what I post. As my granddaughter is three years old, I may be able to shape her mind and opinions a bit. However, I’ve been trying to get her to be less prejudice against slugs and spiders but even at three she despises them, so I am not especially optimistic that I can “brainwash” (or perhaps “braindespoil”) her.
I would just be interested in a clear statement of what you believe about race. Whatever it is is, if you would like me never to speak of it again, I would be amenable.
Whatever it is is, if you would like me never to speak of it again, I would be amenable.
Yes, I would. Thanks. I’m going to hold you to that.
So where do you stand on race, Night Train?
Sure, VS, just email me if you have my address and I will see if I can send you a copy. My grandaughter is 2. She was born a little early and has not been walking too long. Her mother says she has quite the attitude. Her brother’s quilt has a Dr. Suess theme. I have made one for each of them. This daughter is smart and had me make them both for hanging. My middle daughter lost the first one I ever made for her son and her second son has almost completely worn through a hand-quilted, machine pieced sailboat quilt. My oldest grandson (whose quilt was lost) has also completely worn through a quillo I made for him. It is in shreds and I made another to replace it, but he refuses to give the old one up completely. He and his mom once wrote a song about it and he brought it to show and tell in kindergarten. I can’t complain too much, as they obviously love them. They are a labor of love. I now have another to make for my newest grandson who is 9 months old.
Chas.
I notice that we (Hog and Gamecock fans) have something in common.
When we lose, it’s always the ref’s fault.
I feel your pain.
The referees beat my beloved Hogs earlier this season in a game against Alabama.
Houston Nutt (and the referees) beat us against Kentucky.
Auburn just beat us…in a great game.
I think Georgia/Auburn is the only match-up this week between top 20 opponents.
Auburn does scare me a little (or a LOT!) against Georgia. Both teams have a knack for winning on the other’s home field. Georgia went into Auburn last year when nobody gave them a chance of winning and won big. Maybe they can keep the trend going.
Even if UGA loses the next three games (Auburn, Kentucky, Georgia Tech), the year is still a good one because they beat Florida!!!
TJ,
Yes, it does seem everyone wants to beat Florida. Both Florida and Georgia have kind of replaced Bama on Tennessee’s hot rivalry list. The ghost of Spurrier at Florida still drives TN fans nuts about Florida.
I was happy that Georgia beat Florida. It made TN run to the SEC East championship easier.
The Georgia/Auburn game is the one to watch this weekend.
Mathematically, The odds of my getting struck by lightning twice before I finish this post, are better than my Hogs winning the West.
But…As long as there is a glimmer of hope…
That’s why I have to pull for Georgia this week end. Along with whoever is playing LSU and Bama.
And Chas,
I’m picking SC to beat Florida this weekend.
I know, I know
Call me crazy, but I’ve got a feeling.
I know it’s late to bring this up, But:
We had an interesting presentation at our Lion’s club today. A lady is training a leader dog for visually impaired. She gave a lot of interesting insights.
When you see a leader dog in harness, do not pet him,(generic here, it could be her). (Most of us already knew that.) He’s on business. But they are trained for that. Out of harness, he’s just another dog and might frolic with the rest. The harness makes the difference.
Our club paid $1700 to breed a special dog for a memorial. However, that’s only part of the cost. When you see someone with a leader dog, know that it’s more expensive than a Cadallac. A fully trained dog cost somebody about $40,000. This was probably provided by special gifts, or people like you who attend spaghetti dinners, auctions, buy brooms, etc.
A dog usually knows about 40 commands. Most of which begin with “find”. “Find the stairs, the door, etc.” When she said he was always successful with “Find the car”, most of us wanted one.
Though special breeds are used, about 30% of the dogs don’t make it and are retrained. (search dogs, bomb sniffers, etc.) But it was interesting that one of the criterion a dog had to pass was “intelligent disobedience”. I asked what that is. She said, “Example, a dog doesn’t know a red or green light. He responds to his master’s sense of light change. (Seems they hear it. I’ve never heard a traffic light change.) But if he sees that it’s unsafe, he will disobey.” She told of a life saved because a dog went so far as to move in front of a lady to prevent her from proceeding.
An interesting presentation.
Chas,
I have heard some lights change, though I forget where I lived at the time. Maybe the town I grew up, since that’s where I would have spent the most time as a pedestrian. Naturally you can’t hear it over the noise of heavy traffic, but when there weren’t cars and I was just waiting for the “Walk” signal, I could hear a sound right before I saw the light change.
I find it fascinating to read about what dogs can be trained to do. I’d heard about dogs for the visually impaired since I was little (especially as my parents had numerous blind friends, some of whom used dogs to get around). But they also train dogs to help with other impairments such as deafness. The dog can be trained to alert the person when the doorbell or telephone rings, for instance. What I found most interesting was to read about how some dogs can actually open doors (if the latch is simple enough) and bring certain items to a person (I forget details).
$40,000 sounds like a lot, but when you consider the cost per year of the dog’s working life, and the fact that it can enable a person to be independent and even hold down a normal job, that’s a lot less money than what it would cost to pay for someone to provide the same assistance or to have the person live on disability benefits. (Besides, I know it takes our dog a lot longer to go through a $40 bag of dog food than for our car to go through a $40 tank of gas!)
VS, if it’s any consolation to you, Friday is pretty much the only day we discuss sports, and there are only about four more weeks of games this season (not counting the bowls). So, you won’t have to put up with us too much longer.
Mr. M, what has to happen for Arkansas to win the West?
If they beat TN (certainly possible) and then LSU (a taller order, but it is a rivalry game), what else has to happen? I guess you need GA to beat Auburn. Who would need to win b/t ‘Bama and Auburn?
Somehow, Bama and Auburn have to end up with four losses. Then we have to beat LSU for their fourth loss.
It ain’t gonna happen.
But I think a cotton bowl appearance..maybe against Texas, is possible.
If we can win out.
Uh..
actually,
LSU can end up with three losses, and we could still take the title as long as all of the other things happen
They’re now training miniature horses as guides. They perform amazingly and live far longer than a dog–thirty years is not a rarity.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=PLdO2cBAusw
Big-city lights make a clicking sound, although I’ve never heard it–I’m fairly hearing-impaired to the point I generally read lips in public to help fill in the gaps with what I don’t hear.
RN/#53,
The South fixed that plural-you problem. We came up with “y’all”. Works just fine in the situation above, though it doesn’t answer your question to Night Train. The South can’t fix everything.
#63
TJ,
But..what about college basketball season?
I’m starting to think that whoever it was that suggested the weekly sports thread has a great idea.
We can discuss B-ball, boxing, golf, ping-pong, injuries suffered by rodeo clowns…whatever
Cameron, I’m NOT hearing impaired (unless “selective hearing” is an impairment
) and I don’t think I’ve ever heard the clicking.
Sweetie,
That’s probably because you’re not listening for it! Sort of like when I ask you to do a chore around the house.
71/72 - C’mon. Get a room, you guys.
They trained dogs for the visually impaired where I lived in Marin Co., CA. People in Marin Co. raise the dogs until they’re one year old, then the school takes them and trains them. I remember seeing them training in downtown San Rafael. It’s a very worthy cause.
*****
In regards to sports, yes indeed football is ending in a few weeks (except for the bowl games). But Make it Man is correct - basketball is upon us. I happen to love college basketball, so I’m sure we will continue with sports on here. Sorry VS!
Tennessee men’s and women’s basketball should have a great season!
Anlir,
Sorry, but I’m not a sports fan. I don’t follow sports, don’t watch sports, and don’t talk about sports (usually). Watching people chasing various sized and shaped balls around just doesn’t turn my crank or hold my interest. I think you’ve got me mixed up with someone else (Mr. Meaner perhaps?).
But all that aside…
GO DAWGS!
(I just might listen to the game tomorrow.)
71/71 sounds like a discussion we have off-line here in Hendersonville.
The lady said the most difficult part of raising and training the dog was giving it up. I can understand that.
71/72, but you knew what I meant.
Actually, 71/71 may be more accurate. I find that I’m talking to myself a lot when I thought I was having a conversation.
Chas, I heard that clicking sound when I was in TN recently. I had never heard it before and asked my daughter what it was. She told me it was for those who were blind to now when it was all right to proceed. I found your info on the dogs very interesting. Thanks.
#73 — We have a room…
Of all the candidates (viewing both parties) which candidates have the strongest proLife voting record? Which of the Governors running for Prez has signed into law (or vetoed) the most proLife bills sent to him by the legislature?
I’m contemplating “throwing my vote away” to the Constitution party or other proLife candidate.
Who here (other than Frank in Phoenix) helped Ron Paul rake in all that dinero recently? The netroots are not purely Deaniacs, evidently.