A Perfect Ending To The Olympics

The summer Olympics are over, and it is time to reflect upon a few notable things.

The first thing is, I wonder how many of you know how the Beijing Olympics 2008 design logo came to be?

Let's have a look, shall we?






Simple artwork at that.


Now hear this:

The NBC broadcasters must have watched the Olympics on ABC in the day when Howard Cossell would tell it like it is.


Now that the Olympics are over, I wonder how many of you caught some of the brilliant statements made by NBC.

Actual commentary Olympics

Paul Hamm, Gymnast: 'I owe a lot to my parents, especially my mother
and father.'

Boxing Analyst: 'Sure there have been injuries, and even some deaths
in boxing, but none of them really that serious.'

Weightlifting commentator: 'This is Gregoriava from Bulgaria. I saw
her snatch this morning during her warm up and it was amazing.'

Dressage commentator: 'This is really a lovely horse and I speak from
personal experience since I once mounted her mother.'

Softball announcer: 'If history repeats itself, I should think we can
expect the same thing again.'

Basketball analyst: 'He dribbles a lot and the opposition doesn't
like it. In fact you can see it all over their faces.'

At the rowing medal ceremony: 'Ah, isn't that nice, the wife of the
IOC president is hugging the Cox of the British crew.'

Soccer commentator: 'Julian Dicks is everywhere. It's like they've
got eleven Dicks on the field.'

Tennis commentator: 'One of the reasons Andy is playing so well is
that, before the final round, his wife takes out his balls and kisses
them... Oh my God, what have I just said?'

As Walter Cronkite would say,

"What sort of day was it?

A day like all days, filled with those events that alter and illuminate our times...

and you were there."

Birthday With A Little Green Added In

As some of you may have noticed by my editor's note on Tuesday's post, Tuesday was my birthday.

Tuesday night when we took the dogs to the park for their nightly visit I was astounded by the number of people and dogs that were there.

There were 16 dogs and even more people and there were birthday cards as well.

I can't begin to tell you how excited I was at the turn out for my birthday considering I didn't think anyone actually knew the exact date of my birthday.

Pat and Wally arrived a few minutes after we did and they brought homemade ice cream and cake.

The topic changed from my birthday to cake and ice cream as people were telling Pat thanks for letting them know there would be homemade cake and ice cream since it was my birthday.

Well I'm not the brightest bulb in the lamp but it soon became clear about why there was such a large turnout.


I thought the turnout was due to my sweet personality but soon realized it was due to some sweet ice cream and cake.

Thanks Pat for bribing everyone to show up and thanks to all of you for coming. It was a great time.



You know going "Green" may not be as bad as I originally thought:

Naked packaging, naked employees -- is Lush the ultimate green product?


Yesterday was naked day at 24 Lush cosmetics stores across the U.S. (except for, maybe, the Somerset Collection Lush store in Troy, Michigan, whose mall managers said no to the protest). Employees are being encouraged to show up to work in nothing but their aprons as a protest against unneccessary packaging. Does this make it the ultimate green product? Or is there something a little cheeky in its promotion?


To highlight its environmental cause, Lush stages "naked" days, where employees are asked to come to work wearing just a white apron that says "Ask me why I am naked." The first U.S. version of this was set for Wednesday, August 27.

The company has also staged naked days in Amsterdam, Canada and Berlin.

Lush, a luxury cosmetic company based in Britain, is known for its efforts to reduce packaging -- about half of its products are sold without plastic wrap and other containers. Shampoos and soaps come in bars instead. Lush says that packaging uses up 8% of the world's oil resources. But still, that leaves a giant selection of its products with some packaging attached.


The company tried a similar naked day in Canada in 2007 and in Berlin most recently and for one, the blog treehugger.com asked how environmental it was to hand out leaflets explaining the protest.

Leave it to the tree huggers to try to ruin a good thing. I mean how much oil could a little leaflet use up anyway?

As Noah would say, "Come to the shower two by two." Share the same shower, share the same soap, and reduce the packaging.

Oh yeah, the power of the green shower.

Watching The Silliness

Ex-Boxing Champion Stabbed to Death

VIENNA, Austria - Edip Secovic, a former WAA boxing champion, died early Tuesday in a knife fight at his own pub. He was 50.

The body of the Serbia-born Austrian boxer was found on the sidewalk in front of the pub in a southern Vienna district.

Nicknamed the "Serbian Bull," Secovic was Serbia's junior champion before moving to Austria to start a professional career in 1980.

The fight started inside this pub Tuesday and continued outside, police said. Secovic was stabbed four times in the chest and neck.

The reason I put this on here is to remind all my readers of this - when going to a knife fight take a gun, not your fists!!!


To the loser goes the spoils:

Lets make a deal

Drama Leads Up to Clinton Speech

Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama's rival during the Democratic party's intense primary battle, will address the Democratic National Convention Tuesday night.

The Clinton and Obama camps were making a deal for Clinton to urge her delegates to vote for Obama.


They certainly look close to me!

Obama's aides, already working to ease the ill feelings among Clinton's delegates, suddenly grappled with a second challenge when two well-known aides to former President Clinton said the convention speeches were too timid.

Oh Oh Bill has his feelings hurt. No White House or VP house for him to entertain Hillary's interns.



Corpse Kept Upright for 3-Day Wake

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico- A Puerto Rican man has been granted his wish to remain standing — even in death. A funeral home used a special embalming treatment to keep the corpse of 24-year-old Angel Pantoja Medina standing upright for his three-day wake.


Dressed in a Yankees baseball cap and sunglasses, Pantoja was mourned by relatives while propped upright in his mother's living room.

His brother Carlos told the El Nuevo Dia newspaper the victim had long said he wanted to be upright for his own wake: "He wanted to be happy, standing."

The owner of the Marin Funeral Home, Damaris Marin, told The Associated Press the mother asked him to fulfill her dead son's last wish.

How fun would it have been to hide a speaker next to him and have him greeting people as they came in??



NOW THIS IS HOT!!!

Italian priest organizes beauty contest for nuns

An Italian priest and theologian said Sunday he is organizing an online beauty pageant for nuns to give them more visibility within the Catholic Church and to fight the stereotype that they are all old and dour.

The "Miss Sister 2008" contest will start in September on a blog run by the Rev. Antonio Rungi and will give nuns from around the world a chance to showcase their work and their image.



"Nuns are a bit excluded, they are a bit marginalized in ecclesiastical life," Rungi told The Associated Press after Italian media carried reports of the idea. "This will be an occasion to make their contribution more visible."

Rungi, a theologian and schoolteacher from the Naples area, said that visitors to his site will have a month to "vote for the nun they consider a model."

Nuns will fill out a profile including information about their life and vocation as well as a photograph. It will be up to them to choose whether to pose with the traditional veil or with their heads uncovered.

"We are not going to parade nuns in bathing suits," Rungi said by telephone from his town of Mondragone. "But being ugly is not a requirement for becoming a nun. External beauty is gift from God, and we mustn't hide it."

Rungi said the idea was first suggested to him by nuns with whom he regularly prays and works. He hopes there will be dozens of submissions once the Web site is started.

Sittin' here, eatin' my heart out waitin'
waitin' for some lover to call
dialed about a thousand numbers lately
almost rang the phone off the wall

Lookin' for some hot stuff baby this evenin'
I need some hot stuff baby tonight
I want some hot stuff baby this evenin'
gotta have some hot stuff
gotta have some lovin' tonight
I need hot stuff
I want some hot stuff
I need hot stuff

Lookin' for a lover who needs another
don't want another night on my own
wanna share my love with a warm blooded lover
wanna bring a wild man back home

Back Into The Real World

Editor's note:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVE!



Well, Obama has chosen Biden as his running mate which is good news for Hillary. She can sleep the whole night now knowing the phone won't be ringing at her house at 3 A.M.

She can also take off all her makeup and dress and pearl necklace and get comfy.

You know from past posts that I'm a fan of bears. I have to tell you though, as of late, the bears are getting a little soft.

Plucky Cow Confronts Trespassing Bear

HYGIENE, Colo. - A curious cow and a young wild bear touched noses and hung out together in a pasture before the bear dashed off with the cow in pursuit, neighbors said. But whether the cow was chasing off the bear or just wanted to play is a matter of debate.


Residents of this rural town about 30 miles northwest of Denver say the encounter took place Sunday after the bear climbed into an apple tree in the cow's pasture and then climbed down.

The cow is named Apple because she loves eating the fruit of that very tree, said her owner, Nancy Dayton, who describes Apple as more pet than livestock.

Apple ambled over for a look, said Penny Cox of Hygiene, who witnessed the get-together.

"The cow, she thinks she's a dog, so she's interested in everything," Cox said. Eventually the bear took off with Apple running after it.



Puppy Scares 3 Bears From Backyard

A 15-pound cocker spaniel-poodle mix named Pawlee scared off a mother bear and her two cubs Sunday morning after they strayed into his owners' backyard.


He may not look fierce, but Pawlee, an 8-month-old cocker spaniel-poodle mix, scared off a mother bear and her two cubs who wandered into his owners' backyard Sunday in Wyckoff, N.J. The bears decided to vamoose when they heard Pawlee's furious barking.

Bears are getting way too soft.



Grandpas are not supposed to take things away from their grandchildren:

Barbie Fishing Rod Nets Record Catch

David Hayes' granddaughter just asked him to hold her Barbie rod and reel while she went to the bathroom. He did. And seconds later he landed the state record channel catfish at 21 pounds, 1 ounce.


Alyssa's father had bought the pink Barbie fishing rod for Christmas and she had caught a few bluegill before her grandfather hauled in the catfish.

Hayes said his granddaughter worried he would break her rod. He landed the 21-pound fish on a 6-pound test line. It was 32 inches long, 2 inches longer than the rod.

Yeah, according to grandpa she was supposd to have been headed to the bathroom yet she was worried he would break her rod.

His story doesn't add up. I bet he saw the size of the fish and wanted the record for himself.

Wow Sunday turned out to be a busy day so I will be taking today off the blog.

Starting Off Bad, Ending Good

Ford spends big bucks advertising how their trucks are built tough and how great they are, but not everyone agrees.

A homeowners' association in Texas doesn't like the tough Ford truck, but they do like other trucks and SUVs including Hummers thank you very much.


Dallas HOA prohibits parking F-150 in driveway; Lincoln Mark LT allowed

A Texas homeowner in Frisco (just north of Dallas) has been told by the Stonebriar HOA that his new Ford F-150 isn't allowed to be parked in his driveway.

The Association, established to protect Jim Greenwood's interests (that's the theory at least), will allow his neighbor's Cadillac Escalades, Honda Ridgelines, and even a HUMMER or two, but his new pickup violates a rule that prohibits pickups in the driveway.

When Mr. Greenwood inquired as to why a Lincoln Mark LT could park in the neighborhood, but his practically identical F-150 couldn't, the response from the HOA was, "'It's our belief that Lincoln markets to a different class of people."

Another classic example of a Homeowners' Association run amok.


You know the United States is struggling with inflation when the 99-Cent Only Store raises prices.


The 99-Cent Only Store, a Los Angeles-based chain whose logo for years has been "Nothing over 99-cents. Ever" is doing just that. The chain is raising prices on some items. There will be some things that will now indeed cost more than 99 cents.

I'm thinking of contacting the ACLU and filing a class action law suit.

They have advertised for years "Nothing over 99-cents. Ever."

Ever to me means they cannot raise their prices ever!!!

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

ev·er –adverb
1. at all times; always
2. continuously
3. at any time
4. in any possible case

Of course on the other hand that may not be a bright idea. Even if the 99 cent store becomes the $1.10 store and the dollar stores become the $1.11 store, they still have good deals.

With the economy being on the verge of a depression, I find the dollar stores a lot more crowded when I am there shopping.


Speaking of shopping:

If you are like me, a lot of you have a garage or an attic full of stuff you have saved for years.

If anyone out there happens to have one of these and wants to part with it real cheap let me know as the wife would like one.

Mickey Mouse & Donald Duck Lunchbox (1954)

Made by the Adco Liberty Company in 1954, this rare lunchbox features Mickey Mouse on the front and Donald Duck on the back.

Donald Duck's nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie, are shown on both the front and back as well.



Well, for all my loyal readers out there I am taking the rest of the week off.

I know, I know, you will feel a great sense of loss by not getting your dose of wisdom the rest of the week, but I have a good excuse.


My son, Stacey, is flying in from Reno for a short visit so rather than burning the midnight oil to produce a quality blog, I am going to spend the time visiting with him.

I value you my readers, so until next week take care.

More 55 Jive

Here we go. The majority of idiots and the minority of people are at it again.

For more than 20 years, federal law capped the speed limit nationwide at 55 mph. The speed limit was abolished in 1995, but rising fuel prices have prompted some people to call for a revival of the law.

The law was hugely unpopular. Today, 32 states have maximum speed limits of 70 mph or higher. But some people have argued that it's time to revisit the idea of a lower standard speed limit.

"The faster you go, the more you waste," says Tim Castleman, a California man who favors a 55-mph cap.


Leave it to some idiot from California to want something this stupid.

The nationwide limit was part of a fuel conservation effort spurred by gas shortages in the early 1970s. The 55-mph limit became law in January 1974 and was originally supposed to expire in mid-1975. But Congress made it permanent, and states that didn't comply were threatened with the loss of federal highway funds.

Proposed by President Nixon and enacted in January 1974, the nationwide speed limit was described as a temporary emergency response to oil shortages and was to expire in mid-1975. But Congress soon made it permanent, and the 55-mph limit immediately became part of the national culture.

In the 70's we had gas lines because of shortages, not because of high prices.


Today, we have high prices and the gas companies have as much gas as you can stand to buy.

"The faster you go, the more you waste," says Tim Castleman, a Sacramento man who is promoting a Drive 55 campaign.

Yeah and I peel the crust off my bread and waste it. Are you proposing I can't do that either?

Bread used to be ten cents a loaf. Now, because of the crust peelers, it is $3.00.

This Tim Castleman, a California man, is obviously a guy who drives 55 or less in the left lane of the freeways.

Until gasoline approached $4 a gallon, Castleman didn't find a lot of support for reinstating the 55-mph limit that Congress abolished in 1995 after more than 20 years.

"It was a terribly unpopular law," acknowledges Castleman, who maintains a website, www.drive55.org.

Indeed, reinstating the national 55-miles-per-hour limit, or 60 mph as some suggest, would seem a tough sell after the first experiment proved about as successful as Prohibition.

And passing a law limiting the speed you can drive will lower gas prices how?

Opponents such as Jim Baxter, head of the National Motorists Association, a Wisconsin group, argue any fuel savings would be tiny and that higher limits haven't made highways less safe.

"All we would do by establishing another national speed limit is we would generate a lot of tickets, a lot of insurance surcharges, and give a little boost to the radar-detector industry," Baxter says. "There would be no change in fuel pricing."

"People have to be willing to comply with it," he says. "And they weren't."

At least the people in Wisconsin have some common sense as opposed to the tree hugging, alfalfa sprout, tofu, avocado-eating California idiots.

Sen. John Warner, R-Va., introduced a bill last month that orders a study to determine the effects of a national 60-mph speed limit.

Warner says the 55 limit reduced fuel use by 167,000 barrels a day, or 2% of highway consumption, citing a Congressional Research Service report. With far more vehicles, fuel savings is likely to be far greater now, he says.

Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., has proposed a 60-mph limit in urban areas and 65-mph elsewhere.
"There is no need for OPEC or the oil companies to help us out," Speier says. "Every driver can affect change simply by easing up on their right foot."

Both point to findings by the Environmental Protection Agency that fuel efficiency decreases above 60 mph.

Speier says 11 other House Democrats, most of them from California, are co-sponsoring her bill. And she claims support from environmental groups and the American Trucking Associations.

Few other politicians have been eager to climb aboard, Baxter says. He notes that Warner is leaving office at the end of this year and that Speier represents a San Francisco and San Mateo district where voters may be less tied to their autos than elsewhere in the country. The public isn't real excited about going back to a 55-mph national speed limit.

Have you ever noticed when the California people get involved a lot of people go stupid listening to their dumb ideas?

Here's an idea - let's pass a law that says you can only drive a car on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and you cannot leave the city limits where the car is licensed.

Also let's include in that law that you cannot go over 25 miles per hour, thus doubling your savings.

Ground all airlines from flying, shut down all trucks from leaving the city and require all cargo be shipped by rail.

Pass laws that require all of a person's relatives to live in the same city since travel outside of that city will be illegal.

By all the relatives living in one city, the urge to break the law and visit relatives that live outside the city will be eliminated.

Ban the use of all electric appliances including air conditioning except on Sundays, thus allowing people to attend church and then have a Sunday dinner as a family.

Now there is a start, don't you think?

I can suggest a lot more ideas but the best way would be to go stay at a Holiday Inn Express in California and you will come up with a lot more ideas.

As Sammy Hagar said in a 1984 hit record, "I Can't Drive 55."

A Strange World

I have to share a sign I saw when I was driving down the street. I really want to do business with this company.

The sign read: Open 7 days a week including Saturdays and Sundays.

Strange, but then again I learned from a presidential candidate we have 56 or 57 states.

What credentials do you need to be a newspaper editor?

Newspaper Misspells Its Name on Front Page:

The man that would be King.

Activists Try to Install a King in Hawaii

A group of Native Hawaiians claiming to be the state's legitimate rulers occupied the grounds of a historic palace for two hours before being arrested by state officers in the second recent takeover of its kind.


A group of men, wearing red shirts with "security" stenciled in yellow on the back, took over the grounds by chaining the gates of the palace next to the State Capitol and posted signs saying: "Property of the Kingdom of Hawaiian Trust."

"They've got a king, and the king wants to sit on the throne," de Alba Chu said.


The English are a stuffy bunch:

Man Banned From Love Nest for Loud Sex

A British man has been banned from visiting his girlfriend's home after neighbors complained about noisy sex.

Residents of Norris's publicly owned home had been complaining since 2006 about thumping music, banging headboards and screamed obscenities, Taggart said.
Hit me with your best shot!
Why don't you hit me with your best shot!
Hit me with your best shot!
Fire away!

Well you're the real tough cookie with the long history
Of breaking little hearts, like the one in me
Before I put another notch in my lipstick case
You better make sure you put me in my place

Hit me with your best shot!
Come on, hit me with your best shot!
Hit me with your best shot!
Fire away!

And another week begins!!

Olympic Friday

Lots of disturbing news coming out of Beijing China these days.

Chinese Dancer Liu Yan Paralyzed After Fall During Opening Ceremony Rehearsal

After at first covering it up, China has now acknowledged that one of its greatest dancers, Liu Yan, was paralyzed when she fell off a platform during a rehearsal for the Olympic opening ceremony.

It's heartbreaking to think that a woman with such grace will never dance again.

The New York Times reports that Liu was rushed to a hospital and underwent six hours of surgery, but had already sustained nerve and spinal damage.

She has no feeling below her chest and cannot move her lower body, and doctors have told her family that it is unlikely that she will ever walk.

"I never imagined I could suffer such a tragedy," she told the Times. "I hope one day I can just stand up like a normal person."

Sad deal there and for some reason China hid the fact it happened.

Too Young to Compete?

BEIJING - Just nine months before the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese government's news agency, Xinhua, reported that gymnast He Kexin was 13, which would have made her ineligible to be on the team that won a gold medal this week.

The Associated Press found the Xinhua report on the site Thursday morning and saved a copy of the page. Later that afternoon, the Web site was still working but the page was no longer accessible. Sports editors at the state-run news agency would not comment for publication.

Fake fireworks, a 7 year old girl sings but the Chinese decided she was not deemed pretty enough for the cameras so they had a 9-year-old lip sync to the 7-year-old's voice.

Yeah, China only has beautiful people.

So far other than the swimming events I have found NBC's coverage boring.

Exciting events I haven't been able to find on TV so far:

Sailing, Rowing, Handball, Table Tennis, Water Polo, Archery, Badminton, Canoe / Kayak Slalom and Artistic Gymnastics.

Coming up are other events that are just as exciting:

Synchronized Swimming, Trampoline, Cycling BMX, Cycling Mountain Bike and Rhythmic Gymnastics.

What I have seen is Cycling Road, Fencing and Beach Volleyball. The fencing was so exciting, the bicycle riding was so boring and the beach volleyball is not even near an ocean beach.

The rules for women's beach volleyball state that bikinis are the mandatory dress for the contest.

It appears that the bikinis won't be outsourced to India.

Indian beach volleyball players refuse to wear bikinis.

The Indian women's team participating in the World Beach Volleyball tournament have declined to wear bikinis, declaring them objectionable and against their traditions.

"We want to give a good fight in the game and not the dress code," said Kanaka Mahalakshmi, a member of the Indian team, adding that she would rather not play if required to wear a bikini that is the recognised dress code for all international beach volleyball tournaments.

As a result, the rules, which state that bikinis are the mandatory dress for the contest, have been relaxed and the Indian contingent will now play in t-shirts and long shorts.

That seems wrong and unfair to me. It might give them an advantage of not having issues with sand if you know what I mean.

Why do the women players wear skimpy bikinis anyway? I don't think any of them are doing any swimming?

Actually the swimmers wear more than the women beach volleyball players wear.

What's up with that?

Have a great weekend!!

Outrageous Stuff

I wonder how many of you saw the following story?

Loyal dog guards owner for weeks after death

A dog stood guard over her owner's body for up to six weeks after the man committed suicide on the remote northeastern Colorado plains, authorities said.

The body of 25-year-old Jake Baysinger of La Salle, Colorado, was found Sunday. Baysinger was reported missing June 28.


An extensive search failed to locate him, but Kip Konig, a rancher, saw the dog last weekend, went to investigate and discovered Baysinger's body and his pickup.

He said Cash kept running back to the pickup and jumping into the front seat.

"I got the sense she was trying to tell me where her master was," Konig said.

Cash was reunited Monday with Sara Baysinger and her 2-year-old son, Lane. She said her little boy is "very close to that dog" and happy to see her again.

Investigators said the dog probably kept coyotes away from the body. The body was found on Pawnee National Grasslands about 75 miles northeast of Denver. Cash, his German shepherd, was found beside him, thin and dehydrated, but alive. The dog had apparently survived by eating mice and rabbits, authorities said.

What kind of a person would do that to their dog? Man's best friend and this guy treated him like that.

I hope the guy waited until the dog wasn't looking before he whacked himself.

He got what he deserved for treating his dog that way.



How many of you recognize the man in the orange prison suit?


Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski is once again looking for another 15 minutes of attention.


Kaczynski's bombing spree from 1978 to 1995 killed three people and injured 23 others. The Harvard-trained mathematician railed against the effects of advanced technology and led authorities on the nation's longest and costliest manhunt before his brother tipped off law enforcement in 1996.

Kaczynski was captured at the Lincoln, Mont., cabin in April 1996. The government found what prosecutors said was the typewriter used to produce the Unabomber manifesto and several drafts of the treatise.

His cabin / hideout has been put on display at the Newseum in Washington.

The 10-foot by 12-foot cabin is the largest of approximately 200 artifacts in the "G-Men and Journalists: Top News Stories of the FBI's First Century" exhibit, which opened in June. Other items include John Dillinger's death mask, Patricia Hearst's coat and the electric chair in which convicted Lindbergh baby kidnapper Bruno Hauptmann was executed.

Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski, wrote a letter of protest to a federal appeals court about a museum exhibit that includes the tiny cabin where he plotted his attacks. The exhibit, he said, runs counter to victims' wishes against further publicity in the case.

Kaczynski has been battling in federal court in northern California over the auction of his journals and other correspondence.

They should take this piece of garbage to the museum and test the electric chair housed there.



Here's a frightening thought.

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse:

















Nancy Pelosi has a challenger for her seat in Congress.

Cindy Sheehan, the anti-war activist who became famous for spearheading a vigil outside President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, qualified to take on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her San Francisco seat. Sheehan, 51, will run as an independent in November.





I can't believe I would actually say anyone could be worse than Pelosi until now.

I Did, Did You?

Well, I think I've discovered one of the reasons why we grow old and die.

They, who ever they are, say change is good, but to me that is not true of everything.

I look around at the way people have forgotten what Americans fought and died for and have forgotten to teach their children those same things.

But I am old, progress and time is passing me by and soon my ideals will just be remembered in a eulogy somewhere.

My parents and the school I attended stressed the importance for every American to take the time to vote and why.

Yesterday was my day to get out and vote and I did that.

While at the poll I asked the poll workers sitting around with nothing to do if there was a big turn out of people casting their vote.

After they stared at me as if I was from outer space or Area 51 they all broke out in laughter and said, "You have to be kidding right?"

When the polls opened on Election Day, every citizen over the age of 18 was able to cast a vote.

It is a right we take for granted, one that defines our nation as a democracy.

At the founding of our nation, only rich, white, land-owning men over the age of twenty-one could vote. Later, it was any white man over twenty-one.

Following the Civil War, the Fifteenth Amendment gave the right to vote to African American men.

Next, in 1920, women's suffrage finally paid off with the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment.

Finally, in 1970 the voting age was lowered to 18 due to the counter-cultural movements of the 1960's.

Sadly when I turned 18 I was not allowed to vote, I had to be 21.

One of the most critical ways that individuals can influence governmental decision-making is through voting.

Voting is a formal expression of preference for a candidate for office or for a proposed resolution of an issue.

Voting generally takes place in the context of a large-scale national or regional election, however, local and small-scale community elections can be just as critical to individual participation in government.

Yesterday the voting was local and small-scale community elections which had less than 15% of the eligible voters casting ballots.

Hard to understand but our upcoming national election will only draw about 25 to 30% of the eligible voters to the polls.

It's easy to say, "Well why vote? My vote doesn't count anyway," which may or may not be true, but the fact remains it is your right and you should exercise that right.

In this country it seems to me excuses for not doing something have become the norm rather than the exception.

But then again, what do I know? I'm one of those old people that have lost touch.


DID YOU?

A Dog's Life

Ah, the feel of summer is in the air here in Las Vegas as the mercury hits 108 in the shade.

Today, as a treat for all of my readers, I thought it would be a good day to share pictures of Zoe' and Chloe and how they like to to beat the heat.



Now that's how it is done!!!

Beijing 2008

As always, the Olympics bring out all kinds of stories and this year is no different.

Have you noticed how our news media has become so politically correct when it comes to China?

Headlines:

Don't Judge Beijing on Random Attack

The stabbing death of a former U.S. Olympian's father sent shockwaves through the Summer Olympics. AOL's Sean Jensen, on the scene in Beijing, says the incident is way out of character for a major city that is safer than most.

The death of Todd Bachman after injuries sustained from an attack at a popular tourist attraction has drained China of the momentum it worked so hard to build. Questions abound Sunday about security, although the United States Olympic Committee and even the White House have downplayed that concern and complimented local authorities for their handling of the situation.

It is natural to assume that - because Bachman was killed and his wife critically injured by a knife-wielding man - Beijing is dangerous. Yet that would be a stretch of the truth by any measure.

Right, and I have some ocean front land in Kansas I'll sell you!!

Gee, one has to wonder if the guy was upset because the Chinese tore down his house to make way for the Olympic complex.

You know in China they take your shanty and you get nothing in exchange.


Russia vs. Georgia

Their countries may be in a conflict, but a Russian and a Georgian shared a podium and an embrace after winning Olympic medals Sunday.

A day after Georgian athletes were considering leaving due to violence back home, Nino Salukvadze won the country's first medal of the Beijing Games in the women's 10-meter air pistol. Russia's Natalia Paderina took the silver, and after the medal ceremony, Salukvadze put her arm around Paderina and the two posed together for photographs. Paderina than gave Salukvadze a kiss on the cheek.

Salukvadze put her arm around Paderina and whispered in her ear to meet her tomorrow at the Beijing OK corral for a real shoot out.

Trivia news from China:

The Chinese, in their infinite wisdom in trying to clean up their filthy air, have banned the citizens from driving. Now the only thing left for them to do is to enjoy wokking.

If you watched the Michael Phelps gold medal ceremony you heard our National anthem cut short. China has once again shown the world that two Wongs don't make a right.

Visitors to the Olympics have found that there are very few phones. You know why there are very few telephones in China? With so many Wongs you can easily wing the wong Wong.


How about those American female swimmers?

Amanda Beard

Amanda was one of the youngest U.S. swimmers in history to win an Olympic gold medal, taking one in the 400-meter medley relay at only 14. Today, at 23, she's still bagging gold medals.

She definitely looks right at home in the water.


Then there is some old gold.

Torres Sets Record, Wins Silver in Relay

The self-described "old lady" of the U.S. team anchored the American women to a silver medal in the 400-meter freestyle relay Sunday at age 41, earning her 10th career Olympic medal and first since 2000.

Dara Grace Torres (born April 15, 1967) is an American swimmer. She is the first swimmer from the United States to compete in five Olympics: 1984, 1988, 1992, 2000, and 2008. She competed in the Beijing Olympic Games in the 50 meter freestyle, 4 x 100 medley relay, and 4 x 100 freestyle relay and has received the silver in the 4 x 100 freestyle.


She has won ten Olympic medals, including four golds, and won five medals alone in Sydney in 2000, the Games in which she was the eldest member on the team with her 33 years. On August 1, 2007, at the age of 40 (just 15 months after giving birth to her first child), she won gold in the 100 meter freestyle at the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, her 14th win at these events. She then followed that up on August 4 by twice breaking her own American record in the 50 m freestyle, 26 years after she first set the American record at just 15 years old.

One of the best summer Olympic spectator sports to watch, next to Olympic fencing, is Olympic archery.

I wonder how many know we have a 53-year-old competitor in the event?



This is Richard "Butch" Johnson of the United States Olympic Archery team. He will be 53 next month.

Beijing will be his fourth Olympics. He won gold in Atlanta in 1996 and silver in Sydney in 2000.

I know when you hear archery most of you think of William Tell shooting an apple off his son’s head. Sorry, that was a crossbow.

He didn't win an Olympic medal but the guy could sure write an overture.