This Applies To Me, But Not The Wife

A University of Pennsylvania researcher found that many Americans who log long hours on the job find the time for leisure and other activities by cutting back on sleep. I can operate pretty well on about six hours a night during the week, when necessary. That was pretty much how I operated all the time prior to marriage. Now, though, not so much. I suppose that's one of my Wife's positive influences on me. For the best. Probably.

Voice Of The Dawgs

Nice article from the AJC about Larry Munson and other classic football radio voices, a disappearing breed.

Baptists Look To Open Their Own Schools

Citing a lack of respect for and even hostility toward organized religion, many Southern Baptists are taking a cue from other denominations and looking to open their own schools. A seminary in North Carolina is offering courses for church leaders interested in forming schools.

For an increasing number of religiously conservative parents who are fearful of what they say is the culture's permissive drift, private schools look attractive... For many parents, traditional values, rather than Christian values, drive their choices. Wanda Martin sent her two daughters to North Raleigh Christian Academy because she wanted them to respect their teachers, dress modestly and avoid the glorification of pop culture idols such as Britney Spears.

Can't say that I disagree with that. I'm all in favor of private schools (religious or otherwise) competing with public schools for students.

However, I do have one concern, personally, about church-affiliated schools. Will the students get an appropriate science education? Will the school's science curriculum put the students on par with their counterparts in public schools? Biblical theology (i.e.: Genesis) doesn't easily co-exist peacefully with the scientific theories of Universal existence. Believe me, I know. I'm a Southern Baptist, and it's tough to find other Southern Baptists who can reconcile what science says with what the Bible tells us. Students at religious schools need to be exposed to fair, accurate science lessons. Even those that church doctrine may tend to disagree with.

That aside, I like the idea of more Baptist run private schools.

The Devil Made Me Do It

An Atlanta minister is accused of choking, beating and kicking his estranged wife, who also is a minister. His excuse: the Devil made him do it.

Congrats To W.R. Little League

Little League World Series Champs!

Texas Little League Coaches Shows Lack Of Class

The Warner Robins Little League team surprised most folks by upsetting the team from Lubbock, Texas. The story after the game, though, was the lack of class and character showed by the coaches of the Texas team. Manager Ed Thorne and coach Gerald Arredondo, speaking after the game, made excuses and cast insults.

Speaking after the game, Thorne said he felt the better team lost. Asked how he thought the Warner Robins / Japan game will turn out...

"Japan will win that ball game."

He blamed the heat for his team's failure to win.

"Where they lined us up inside underneath the stadium, I don't know what the ground temperature was, but it had to exceed 100 degrees... And they had us sitting there. They need to address that."

Rather than attempt to give the Georgia team credit, he took shots at them...

"[We saw] a lot better pitching in the Southwest regional than at this tournament... After what I've seen, in my honest opinion, Japan will win that ballgame."

Arredondo made excuses for the team's poor performance...

"We got down to the field a little early, I think the heat got to us, too. We got down there early, then had to come up to the dorms and get cool. They took us on the bus (back to the field), and we just never could get in sync."

I hate that these kids have coaches setting that kind of example. A little humility after getting beat, and offering congratulations to the team that beat you, is a sign of good sportsmanship. It's a lesson these kids should have been shown. Instead, coaches Thorne and Arredondo showed their kids the ugly side of athletics. And that's a real shame.

Good Luck To Warner Robins Little Leaguers

Want to wish good luck to the little league team from Warner Robins playing in this weekend's Little League World Series.

Play, Surf and Win Online

Here are a few simple, totally free online places you can win cash and prizes. We've joined them, we use them. You probably won't get rich. You probably won't win fabulous prizes. But you could pick up a bit here and there.

Netwinner
Netwinner is a lotto style game that's absolutely free to play. You choose four numbers between 00 and 99, and one number from 0 to 9. There are compared to pre-selected numbers and, if any match, you're a winner. Obviously the more you match, the more you win. You can win cash or points.

The points accumulate and are redeemed for gift cards to stores like Target, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Barnes & Noble, Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works. It's advertiser supported, which is how they keep the cost at zero. There's also a pretty good referral system: you get points when people you refer sign up, and you receive a percentage of whatever cash and points they win. It doesn't come out of their winnings; it's in addition to them. Remember, this program has names like Target and Wal-Mart behind it. Those gift cards make great gifts for birthdays or Christmas.

Important note: After you sign up, you should immediately verify your email address. Don't worry, there's no spam. I've only received two emails from them. Just go to the "My Account" page and click on "Verify Email". This ensures that you and your referrer get the payouts you earn.




Blingo
You're probably already using Google for your web searches. Now, you can get the same search results, and maybe win a little something. Blingo is a Google-based search engine. Each search is a chance to win prizes or cash instantly. These range from movie tickets and Amazon.com gift certificates to LCD TVs and cash. Invite friends to join, and if they win a prize, you win the same prize.




Winzy
Winzy is a search engine that gives away free prizes when you use it to search the web. You can win iPods, gift certificates, X-Boxes and cash prizes up to $100,000. Each time you search on Winzy, you earn points. Each point is an entry into monthly prize drawings. There are also instant prizes, like Amazon.com gift certificates. They have a referrer program, also. If someone you refer wins a prize, you also win that prize. Winzy uses the search services of Ask.com.



Give these a shot and see what you think!

Zero Tolerance Insanity #3

An eighth-grader in Chandler, Arizona was suspended for drawing a gun on an assignment paper. Somehow, the boy's teacher took the drawing as a threat. The original suspension was for five days, but the student's father was able to talk the principal into shortening it to three. Still, three days suspension for doodling?

More Hot Times

The heat wave rolls on. According to weather.com, the current temperature in Macon is 101. The forecast for tomorrow... 100. It's unreal what this is doing to our power bill. The last two months (not surprisingly) have been the highest bills we've ever had. The grass is getting mighty crispy. Once we get in from work, Marley (our pooch) spends most of his time inside, lounging around in the living room. He doesn't seem to be too affected by the heat. Lazy mutt spends most of the day sleeping under the shrubs or in his house, regardless of temperature.

By the way, this is the 12th day this month we've hit triple digits.

Common Sense Prevails

I told you about the two 13-year-olds in Oregon facing sexual abuse charges for slapping classmates on the rear. They were in court yesterday, and the judge threw the charges out. Under an agreement between the defense and prosecutors, both boys had to apologize, pay each of the four "victims" $250 and to complete a "boundaries education" program. The four girls who were slapped had asked the judge to drop the charges.

No word in the story on whether the judge had any words for the prosecution for bringing this thing to trial in the first place.

LATER:
A lawyer for the boys has filed notices of intent to sue Yamhill County, the McMinnville police and the McMinnville School District for unlawful prosecution.

"The Front Fell Off"

This is just too darn funny. It's a spoof, obviously, but hilarious. The premise: an Australian Senator is interviewed regarding an oil spill that resulted in 20,000 tons of oil being dumped into the ocean.


Australian Senator Discusses Oil Spill - Watch more free videos

More On Macon's Mayor

Macon Telegraph columnist Ed Grisamore, whose blog we link to over on the right side of this page, has written a very heartfelt column concerning Macon and Mayor Jack Ellis in today's paper.

Ed has always taken the high road in regards to the mayor. An "if you can't say something nice..." type of stance, I believe. Finally speaking out, though, he talks about the pain and embarrassment this mayor has brought to those who truly love this town.

Meantime, Steve Wilson, who brings us WMCC News (also linked on the right), announces the upcoming arrival of a batch of anti-Ellis bumper stickers...

National Debt Reason #1

Thanks to my buddy James for pointing this one out... A small South Carolina parts supplier collected about $20.5 million over six years from the Pentagon for fraudulent shipping costs, including $998,798 for sending two 19-cent washers to an Army base in Texas. Apparently, bills sent to the Pentagon, marked "Priority", weren't questioned. Geez...

16 More Days...

Until UGA kicks things off with Oklahoma State. In celebration, for my lovely wife...

Zero Tolerance Insanity #2

I missed this when it first happened, but it's seen updates and is worth passing along. Two 13-year-old Oregon boys were charged with multiple counts of felony sexual abuse and other charges after being accused of swatting the behinds of fellow classmates.

Butt-swatting had apparently become a form of greeting at the school – like "a handshake we do," as one female student put it. On "Slap Butt Fridays," boys and girls would greet each other with a hearty hiney hit. The two boys were seen taking part in the weekly escapade, and were "questioned for several hours" by an assistant principal and a city police officer. They were then handcuffed, Mirandized and led away for five days in juvi-jail. It gets worse... After a court appearance in shackles and prison garb, the defendants were charged with multiple counts of felony sexual abuse, banned from school and forbidden any contact with their friends.

The two seventh-graders will stand trial next Monday in McMinnville, Oregon. Originally, the two boys faced sex abuse charges, which would have meant lifetime registration as sex offenders. Fortunately, a judge has taken that off the table. It also looks like the prosecution could be in trouble for failing to disclose a police report that casts doubts on the charges against the boys.

Sounds to me like another case of PC and zero-intellect run a muck. I pray the kids come out of this all right. They're the victims here.

Blogging Against Abuse

The folks at Blog Catalog have set aside September 27 as a Day to Blog Against Abuse. I want to invite all of you who blog to take the time that day to join the thousands of others who have signed on. We've all witnessed some kind of abuse, or known victims of abuse. The goal is to bring attention to, and help end, all types of abuse. I hope you'll click on the above link and join the event.

Ellis Solidarity Letter Earns FOX News Visit

FOX News is in Macon today for live reports about the letter of solidarity Mayor Ellis sent to Venezuela's Hugo Chavez. Great, one more spotlight shining on our city's great shame.

Speaking of Global Warming

Newsweek featured a cover story in its August 13th issue called The Truth About Deniers. The article purports to examine the "well-coordinated, well-funded campaign by contrarian scientists, free-market think tanks and industry has created a paralyzing fog of doubt around climate change." Actually, it was a one-sided, fact-challenged hit piece.

In the very next issue, Robert J. Samuelson, a contributing editor of Newsweek, slapped down his own Magazine for what he termed a "highly contrived story" about the global warming "denial machine."

Unfortunately, self-righteous indignation can undermine good journalism. Last week's Newsweek cover story on global warming is a sobering reminder. It's an object lesson of how viewing the world as "good guys vs. bad guys" can lead to a vast oversimplification of a messy story...

Newsweek's "denial machine" is a peripheral and highly contrived story. Newsweek implied, for example, that ExxonMobil used a think tank to pay academics to criticize global-warming science. Actually, this accusation was long ago discredited, and Newsweek shouldn't have lent it respectability...

We simply don't have a solution for this problem. As we debate it, journalists should resist the temptation to portray global warming as a morality tale—as Newsweek did—in which anyone who questions its gravity or proposed solutions may be ridiculed as a fool, a crank or an industry stooge. Dissent is, or should be, the lifeblood of a free society.

Impressive that Newsweek would print this in the very next issue. A nice editorial stand to make after a journalistic fiasco.

NASA Error Bad News For Global Warming Believers

Last week NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies announced a correction to a temperature records data set, fixing an error that made temperatures from the previous decade seem warmer than they actually were. Those records are a key component in the argument that man-made global warming is heating up our little blue sphere. Seems that about 10 years ago, the government changed the way it records temperatures. No one, though, thought to correlate the new method with temps collected the old way. Oops...

Now, with a more accurate look at temperatures over the last ten years, we see new facts. Instead of having nine of the hottest ten years ever recorded occurring in the past decade (as Al Gore claimed in his fact-challenged mockumentary), we know that only three took place recently. Instead of 1998 being the hottest year ever, it was actually 1934. 1998 is second, but third is 1921. Four of the ten hottest years actually took place during the 1930s.

Funny how there's been little mention of this in the mainstream media.

Stupid People News

From the Macon Telegraph... Woman arrested after she complained to police about 'fake' drugs

Washington Post Attack's Fred Thompson's Name

What does it say about a news organization when their idea of journalism is a hit piece about a candidate's first name? Sounds like the news organization, in this case the Washington Post, has something over which to be ashamed. The Post today published an article ridiculing potential Republican Presidential candidate Fred Thompson's first name.

Journalism at its best...

Macon Mayor Ellis... Still An Idiot

Macon Mayor Jack Ellis has been relatively quiet recently. With his history, that couldn't last. To prove that he's still really, really stupid, he has sent a declaration of "solidarity" to Hugo Chavez, the socialist leader of Venezuela. Mayor Ellis said:

"We commend President Chavez for the things he's done in this country," said Ellis, citing Chavez's efforts to subsidize the cost of heating fuel for low-income residents of the United States. "We want to work for peace and harmony ... through the mayors of Venezuela."

Ellis likes to travel. A lot. Maybe Venezuela will be next on his itinerary.

Oh, the reaction to these comments? Just read here or here.

NCAA Moratorium Of Divisional Moves

The NCAA Division I Board of Directors has issued a four-year moratorium on schools joining the division, or moving up in its subdivisions. The moratorium would give the board time to re-evaluate criteria for achieving membership. The division’s current membership could consider during that period whether to revise standards for evaluating and granting membership to future provisional and/or reclassifying institutions – a step that could change Division I’s rate of growth.

I don't read in this anything that would prevent a future advance for GSU, but I can foresee the path to advancement becoming more difficult.

No Tax Increase To Fix Bridges

President Bush made a great call yesterday, and it seems a lot of Americans agree with what he said. When asked if he'd support an increase in the federal gas tax to fund bridge inspections and repairs, he said the Congress should instead change the way it spends highway money and get funding priorities in order. The American people apparently would agree. A new CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll released Thursday shows that 65% of those surveyed said no to a gas tax increase to fund those inspections and repairs.

Hot Times In Middle Georgia

"It's not the heat, it's the humidity." Yeah right...

Great Headline

From the Bloomington, Illinois Pantagraph: Normal man died of natural causes in Florida

AJC: Georgia Southern Takes First Steps Under Hatcher

Nice article from the AJC about Chris Hatcher, how he's upholding the traditions of Erk Russell and GSU football.

A few weeks ago, I met a young man who played on Coach Hatcher's Div. II National Championship team at valdosta State. He couldn't speak highly enough of the coach or his staff. Folks, this guy is the real deal.

Only 32 days to kickoff !!!

Getting Immigration Issues Handled

This just goes to show that neither the Democrats nor President Bush grasp just what the American people want when it comes to securing the borders and handling illegal immigration. From the Gulf Coast to the Pacific Northwest, state legislatures are passing immigration bills. The states are doing one of the few jobs the federal government was originally intended to perform - protecting the borders and preventing the invasion of this country by foreigners. In the first six months of the year, 171 immigration bills became law in 41 states. Excellent!

In A Hotel Room In D.C.

I just flew into Washington a couple of hours ago to attend a television technology workshop. We're going to spend Monday and Tuesday discussing high-definition television and the role of the Internet in getting out a journalist's message. As some of you know, and the rest can now guess, I work in television. To be more precise, I'm part journalist/part TV tech geek. I shoot, edit, produce, write, even do a little web work.

The broadcast industry is changing, my friends, and it's changing very fast. Technology is a strange beast, making what I do both easier and harder. It's easier in the sense that we can produce higher-quality broadcast materials quicker and less costly than ever before. It's harder because the means by which we do that work is more technically advanced. More and more, it requires skill sets that we are having to develop quickly. Innovation in television used to mean smaller tapes, lighter cameras, better quality monitors.

Today, innovation in television production means recording to optical disk or flash memory; varying standards of "high definition"; computer-based editing; integrating our video and/or audio product into a web environment; new distribution channels; competition from YouTube and other online outlets; and so much more. It is an exciting time to be in this business, and an often overwhelming one. I've been fortunate in my work situation, having been provided with some of the best tools around for the work we do.

We'll see how things go...

Sean Penn and The Dictator

Actor and Leftist Wacko Sean Penn visited Venezuela's totalitarian leader Hugo Chavez this week, expressing support for Chavez and his regime. Urgh...

Why Do We Hold Congress In Such Low Regard?

Here's a prime example from last night. Voting on a motion to bar undocumented immigrants from receiving any federal funds apportioned in the agricultural spending bill for employment or rental assistance, Republicans seemed to have won a very close vote. Before reading the official vote results, the Democrat acting as House leader gaveled the vote to a close. Parliamentary issues were argued, acrimony turned to angry accusations, and the Democrats wiped away the vote from the records. Convenient, taking a loss and making it disappear. Classy. For their part, GOP lawmakers looked equally bad, walking out of the House in protest.

And they wonder why their approval numbers are so very low.

(Added later)

Here's video pf Republican Whip Roy Blunt this morning calling out the Democrats for their apparently improper handling of the last night's vote...

Federal Government Suing Wrist Watch

Yep, you read that correctly. The federal government is suing former State Senator John Ford’s Rolex. The watch is actually named as defendant.

Franco Update

I was glad to see the Braves pick up Julio Franco after the Mets cut him. Now I'm sad to see that he's been designated for assignment (kind of like being fired, but not). With the trade for Mark Teixeira, it was pretty obvious his days were numbered. Some potential good news, though. If he clears waivers, the Braves would like to have him stay on in some capacity. I'd like to see him as a coach somewhere in the system. Don't know if Julio would go for it.

Do Dogs Smile?

The Tahlequah Daily Press asks, and the consensus seems to be that they do. Our dog Marley certainly seems to. As for cats, I'll go along with what the story says...

Strangely enough, the question of animal smiles doesn’t seem to be applicable to cats. No one we talked to has ever detected even the slightest hint of emotion on the face of a cat.

“Cat’s don’t smile,” said the owner of a 21-year-old cat. “Cat’s eat, sleep, and cough up hairballs, and that’s about it.”