Respect (Train)

For reasons I don't know I treated you so cold
I wish I had those times again
Cause something that you said keeps ringing in my head
Someday you're gonna wanna come back and you're gonna wanna treat me fine

Everybody needs a little respect
Everybody needs a little time
Everybody needs a little respect
Everybody needs a little

I watched me push you down in dreams I had of you
And all I remember about those days is I would run around thinking that you'd be alright
But you lost your light along the way
And oh you were right about the things I'd say
Cause if I had it back again I know I'd treat you kind

Everybody needs a little respect
Everybody needs a little time
Everybody needs a little respect
Everybody needs a little time
Everybody got to have somebody
Everybody got to have someone

And all I ever wanted from this play
Was someone to talk to when I get down
It seems you get the things you give along the way
Now all I need is one more chance to make you feel like hanging round

Everybody needs a little
Everybody needs a little
Everybody needs a little respect
Everybody needs a little time
Everybody needs a little respect
Everybody needs a little time
Everybody
Everybody got to have someone

An observance

After my 5 mile run this morning, I was walking down the alley to my apartment. A young student walked out of the neighboring house and asked me if I had a light on me.

Yeah kid, I'm in running shorts and a t-shirt with headphones and I carry my lighter on all my workouts.

After declining, he turned away and on his backpack was a button "Students for a Sound Drug Policy."

Is that some kind of joke I don't understand? People in this city are just WEIRD.

When Will I See Your Face Again

A Non-News story on the AG

I can NOT believe this stuff makes the paper.

AG Van Hollen is going to National Convention for the GOP.
He is a Republican.
DUH.
AG Van Hollen's staff talked about the possibility of security.
He's an elected official, the highest ranking state-wide elected Republican.
DUH.
Switch to completely unrelated: Joell Schigur got demoted. Cry cry cry baby.
Blame the AG.
Actually, she deserved it.
DUH.

Thanks for enlightening us about a debate that impacts literally no one reading this story, reporter. Did someone assign you this topic, or did you come up with the brilliance on your own?

Meanwhile, could you please monitor the idiocy that is oozing out of the comment section?

Thank you.

Gay should mean happy in this case

UW is set to have a lesbian chancellor.

MADISON — The University of Wisconsin-Madison is set to become the biggest university to have an openly gay leader, according to gay rights advocates who are hailing the appointment as a milestone.

Cornell University Provost Biddy Martin was recommended Wednesday to be the next chancellor at UW-Madison, a top national research university with 40,000 students.

What's with the "milestone" lingo? If she was gay and no one knew she was gay, would it still be a milestone?

About eight to 10 openly gay people have become college presidents and chancellors but mostly at small colleges, said Candace Gingrich of the Human Rights Campaign.

"None the size of UW-Madison," she said in a phone interview. "It is a big milestone, and it's part of the progress that we're seeing at the college and university levels. When you've got more and more openly gay faculty members and openly gay administrators, there are bound to be those who want to aspire to presidencies and chancellorships."

Is she talking about gay faculty aspiring to higher levels, or gay students aspiring to presidencies and chancellorships? And why shouldn't they aspire to those positions without openly gay people already holding them?

UW System spokesman David Giroux said Martin's sexual orientation was not a factor in her appointment, which is expected to be confirmed by the Board of Regents next week.

NOT A FACTOR. Who cares about her sexual orientation??? I sure don't. So why is there an entire article dedicated to the discussion?

I'll tell you why. In the off-chance she doesn't get confirmed, they can cry SEXUAL ORIENTATION DISCRIMINATION!

It's great UW is getting a new chancellor. It's great she's a female. If it were a male, that'd be great too. Knowing her sexual orientation, I can do without. It isn't relevant.

Until we stop putting race and gender and sexual orientation at the forefront of discussion, we'll continue to use those characteristics and traits to divide one another.

Summer

It certainly isn't summer-like here. It's cold and rainy and I'm catching a cold from my house where I can't control the temperature. But I'm a renter... I'm the scum on the mucus on the algae...

But in honor of June being around the corner and summer: Summer makes me think of S'MORES!


"Eat me."

Now I'm hungry. :-)

This is..um...awful

I'm sorry, but Scarlet Johansson should stick to acting.

A bit like a mooing cow.

Does anyone say what they think anymore?

Sharon Stone said perhaps the earthquake in China was "bad karma" for their government's treatment of Tibet. Sharon Stone was dropped by Christian Dior. Sharon Stone is now apologizing.

Here's the quote:

"I'm not happy about the way the Chinese are treating the Tibetans because I don't think anyone should be unkind to anyone else... And I've been concerned about how should we deal with the Olympics... And then this earthquake and all this stuff happened, and then I thought, 'Is that karma?

When you're not nice then the bad things happen to you?' And then I got a letter from the Tibetan Foundation that they wanted to go and be helpful. And that made me cry... It was a big lesson to me. I learned that sometimes you have to learn to put your head down and be of service, even to people who aren't nice to you."

Sounds more like a bad pageant interview response than a misspoken celebrity.

Why do celebrities and politicians speak - and she had thought about this before, this wasn't a new idea- and then take back their comments as if they were horrible gaffes in embarrassed apologies?

And here's her apology:

"Due to my inappropriate words and acts during the interview, I feel deeply sorry and sad about hurting Chinese people. I am willing to take part in the relief work of China's earthquake, and wholly devote myself to helping affected Chinese people."

She's not really sorry for what she said. She's sorry she got dumped as a spokesmodel for a famed fashion designer. It's the public pressure not to lose clout, to still be liked no matter what you say.

It's really too bad. I wouldn't begin to know (or care, for that matter) what Sharon Stone really thinks about the Chinese earthquake by her see-saw act.

But at least public embarrassment and shame will allow for some much needed celebrity money and attention for a natural disaster.

Lions are dangerous

A 49 year old game farm worker was killed and eaten by 6 lions in South Africa.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) — Police say six caged lions left only fingers and intestines after eating a worker giving them water.

The lions attacked the 49-year-old man Tuesday after he went inside their cage to deliver water, police said Wednesday.

The man had been working at the Uitspan game farm in northwest South Africa for at least two years, police said. No one witnessed the attack.

Environmental affairs was called to the game farm, which cages lions and other animals for tourists' viewing, to discus the fate of the lions.

They will probably put them down now, as a "threat to their caretakers."

Well, they're not kittens, people.

I can hear you

It's nice to see a leader emerge.

RENO -- Speaking with evident condescension, Arizona Sen. John McCain needled Barack Obama on Wednesday by offering to travel to Iraq with the Illinois senator to help him gain a better understanding of the war and the consequences of withdrawing troops.

The attack by the presumptive Republican presidential nominee was in line with his campaign's recent attempts to portray Obama as too young and inexperienced to lead the nation.

Speaking before a boisterous crowd of 500 who gathered for a town-hall-style meeting here, McCain accused his Democratic rival of ignoring the successes of the U.S. troop buildup in Iraq and suggested that Obama was ignorant of the facts.

"To say that we failed in Iraq and we're not succeeding does not comport with the facts on the ground, so we've got to show him the facts on the ground," McCain said.

Everyone should heed his words. Don't bitch and moan when you don't really know what it's like over there. Ask a soldier.

A friend of mine is convinced that President Bush has stopped communicating. Not that he was ever so very eloquent at it, but this White House is so tight-lipped, so bureaucratically run and "on message," the people are hurting. We are so thirsty to listen to anyone who's doing the talking (yes, stolen from The American President). Isn't that why so many clamor to hear Obama's words of hope and change? At least someone is talking.

Well, here comes John McCain. I think he's about to take the mic.

Kind of freaky

A $20 bill



Can you see it?

Manners, manners

I'd like to meet the parents who raise their children to become thoughtless adults when they are at restaurants and fast food places and when asked how they can be served, respond with "I NEED -----" or "GIMME A------"

I'd really like to smack those people.

Just today in the Subway line, right behind me came an "I NEED..." I almost turned around and said "You don't NEED a footlong ham, turkey and bacon with extra cheese and mayo. Trust me, lady.

You want it. So the polite way to ask is "I would like" or "may I have," etc.

If there's one thing my child will never say to a waitor or waitress, it's "I need." They will however, say Thank you.

Out of control negative campaigning

According to Juan Williams at NPR, the black community fears for Barack Obama's safety. Simply because he is a black man "rising to a certain level of power."

Hillary Clinton is running a racist campaign. She has evidently advocated for assassination (though I believe her comments were not meant in that way).

The media and others are making sexist attacks against Hillary, which she certainly is using to her advantage.

Evidently the voters of America are racists and sexists. What an uplifting campaign.

Prom season

No mother should let her child out of the house, much less the dressing room at the mall, in a frock like this.



If a child shows up at Prom in this, she should be covered with her date's coat and escorted out. That this is actually getting press shocks and disappoints me.

Put some clothes on, hussy.

That's it?!

WHAT?

BUENOS AIRES — A 73-year-old Argentine man who fathered two children with a young daughter he kept as his sexual prisoner will serve 16 years in prison himself.

Prosecuting Attorney Sergio Antin said the case of Eleuterio Soria had similarities to that of Josef Fritzl, the Austrian man arrested last month for locking his daughter in a basement for 24 years.

"If we're talking about sexual subjugation, and we take into account that the victim did not leave the house, yes, there are similarities" to the Fritzl case, government prosecutor Sergio Antin said after Soria was sentenced on Tuesday.

Soria's trial revealed that he began abusing his daughter in 1992, when she was 12 years old. The following year she became pregnant by her father, prompting her mother to leave their home in La Matanza, a working-class Buenos Aires district. The family's five other siblings eventually left as well.

The daughter, whose name was not released, had a second child by her father in 1997. Unlike Fritzl, Soria used psychological domination rather than physical restraints to keep her in the house. She did flee on various occasions, but would return home after he threatened their two children — often at gunpoint.

She finally escaped for good in 2003 and denounced her father to authorities. Argentine psychologists weren't surprised that it took her more than a decade to tell authorities.

Hardly seems just.

Afghan hijacker found working at Heathrow

I recently had a young man argue to me that 9/11 has been "whored out" as a political issue. It's started a war, we've taken it to a nation that had nothing to do with 9/11, and we are wrong.

Sorry, kid, not buying it. They are still on our home turf. They still want to kill us.

Airport security was condemned as a joke after an Afghan involved in the Stansted hijacking was found to be working at Heathrow as a cleaner.

Police arrested Nazamuddin Mohammidy at Terminal 5 where he showed his British Airways pass allowing him access to secure areas.

The Tories said it was a breathtaking breach of security and demanded immediate action from the Government.

Mohammidy, 34, was one of nine Afghans who won the right to live in Britain after hijacking a passenger flight in Afghanistan in 2000. The Boeing 727 was flown to Stansted in Essex where the captors threatened to kill the 160 passengers unless they were granted asylum.

The gang was jailed but later released and given the right to remain in Britain rent-free, receiving £150,000 a year in benefits.

It emerged police pulled over Mohammidy as he was driving round Terminal 5 because they thought he was an unlicensed cab driver. He told them he worked at the airport and they were stunned when they checked out his story and found he was a former hijacker.

This sure is comforting.

Yesterday Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said: "It is clear the Government do not have a grip on airport security.

"This individual should patently not be permitted access to secure locations at our airports, and immediate checks must be made on all other employees."

Tory aviation-spokesman Julian Brazier has written to Transport Minister Jim Fitzpatrick describing the breach as "beyond parody."

After police pulled in Mohammidy at Terminal 5, they also discovered he was in breach of bail conditions over an assault charge.

He is accused of beating up a former landlord and is due before magistrates on Monday.

Even though this took place in the UK, it in no way is far enough for me to feel safe. Who knows who could be working at our own facilities here in the US? Reminder: this is how they did it the first time. Are we going to remember that at all?

Line drive

Pujols went down with a hit to the face.

What I find refreshing is that the two players praying were shown for such a long period of time.

Sweetie

I will preface my post by saying this: I'm not exactly a raging feminist.

However, this is a clear example of how men put women down in the workplace and why women still struggle to be taken seriously.

If a Republican had been caught saying this? Hmmmm, exhibit A against conservative men who would then be stereotyped as believing all women belong in the home and therefore have to belittle their roles as anything other than wife and homemaker at any chance they can. It's not as conscious a process in the moment, but the underlying perception is there.

Sweetie, get back in the kitchen and make me some pie.

Gas is blowin' up

Remember when we thought $3.25 was high?

Gasoline prices in Madison have leveled off for the time being, but the price of diesel fuel continues to break records.

Tuesday's daily fuel gauge report from AAA Wisconsin said the average price of regular unleaded gas in Madison stayed at $3.799 a gallon, 1.8 cents below the record set on May 15. Mid-range gas in Madison is $3.945 a gallon, premium is $4.127 a gallon and diesel is a record $4.547 a gallon.

Just an observation. No political commentary necessary.

Killing Kanga

I cannot believe this.

SYDNEY, Australia — Australian authorities have started the controversial killing of about 400 kangaroos on the outskirts of Australia's capital of Canberra, animal rights activists said Monday.

Between 20 to 40 kangaroos were tranquilized and then killed with lethal injections by defense contractors, said Angie Stephenson, project manager of Animal Liberation New South Wales. She said a baby kangaroo was trampled and killed when the animals were rounded up into a pen.

The Defense Department said last week it would begin killing the eastern gray kangaroos at the abandoned military site outside Canberra after a proposal to truck them to remote forest land proved too costly.

Authorities say the overabundant kangaroos are crowding out other native species, but many animal rights activists are against the killing of Australia's beloved national symbol.

Can't they just round up the lizards and ship them to a new country? I'm sure a whole bunch of zoos have room for a few lizards.

Mattress

Whoever dumped their futon-like mattress in the alley by my staircase and left it there for the third week in a row: HAUL IT OUT!

Put your trash on the curb. Loser.

The Bachelorette

I never watch these love shows (though I won't claim whether or not I never used to). But this time, just watching the trailers, I'm not thinking the line-up looks that good. DeAnna claims she's happy with the ending.

I doubt I'll watch. These cads look like dorks.

Whatever you gotta do, I guess.

Proud

Obama is asking the Tennessee GOP to "lay off" his wife. Sorry bro, she's fair game.
No one close to a candidate is ever exempt.

Strap on some balls and prepare for a campaign. Because a first lady who's caught saying things like this, shouldn't represent our country.

Some advice to follow

At the GOP Convention this weekend, someone gave me a piece of advice.

I am struggling with the idea of "pimping" McCain, shall we say, come November. While the idea of the Ron Paulites/Paulenteers- what have you - scratching their nails on the chalk board pushes me to the edge, I am not sold on the nominee-to-be.

I have been spoiled, working and volunteering for candidates I've truly believed in. Does that mean I can't tow the party line?

At the end of the day, will I work so that John McCain beats Hillary and Barack? Absolutely. Is it because I think he would be a better leader? His experience alone blows them out of the water. But mostly, it's an anti-campaign. I am against either of the democrats rising to Commander in Chief. I do not think they have what it takes, and I fear for our nation with four years under that kind of naivety and inexperience.

Do I agree with every decision or stance McCain has taken? No. But do I agree with the President all the time? That's a tough one to admit, but No.

So getting to the advice. I asked someone how he does it, how he wakes up and sells McCain every day with any fire. And he told me to read his book, "Faith of My Fathers," and decide for myself.



I do enjoy an independent thinker.

Duh moment

My favorite headline of the day, and I've only read a few: Obama links McCain to unpopular Bush policies.

No, you don't say, AP! How novel.

Try something original, Obama. That's been done before!

A cure for headaches

I think I have found a cure for migraine headaches! Well, at least a strong remedy for now, when I don't want to waste a beautiful prescription dissolving tablets...

1. Purchase Bed Buddy Sinus Pack



2. Heat. I don't mean follow the directions for 30 seconds or whatever they tell you on the box. I mean really heat that sucker as hot as you can stand it.

3. Lay down and place over forehead and eyes. This is very important. The pressure behind your eye socket needs to feel the HEAT!

4. Teach kitten NOT to headbut you at 5:30 am for breakfast. She can wait until you eat.

Oh how I love my Bed Buddy.

FOTB

I'm a big fan of Father of the Bride, Parts 1 and 2, equally.

I can see my Commander in Chief is too, and that makes me smile.

In 1924, Calvin Coolidge became the first president to deliver a radio broadcast from the White House. In 1939, Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first president to speak on television. Yesterday, George W. Bush gave the first online presidential interview, to Yahoo! News and Politico.

On what he learned from watching Steve Martin's "Father of the Bride": "Write the check and be happy."

He sure looked the part.

Echoing the Chief

This is what I've been saying, President Bush!

President George W. Bush said Tuesday he was disappointed in "flawed intelligence" before the Iraq war and was concerned that if a Democrat wins the presidency in November and withdrew troops prematurely it could "eventually lead to another attack on the United States."

In an interview with the political newspaper Politico and the Internet portal Yahoo, Bush also said he gave up golf in 2003 out of respect for U.S. soldiers killed in the war, which has now lasted more than five years.

"I didn't want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander in chief playing golf," he said. "I feel I owe it to the families to be in solidarity as best as I can with them. And I think playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal."

He acknowledged concerns about leaving the unfinished Iraq war to a Democratic successor.

"Both Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton have said they will — my own judgment is, is that race will only enter in if it's provoked by the press."

They can't end the war like they're promising, because frankly, we're not in charge of the war. Terrorists are. But they'll wink and smile and promise and win in November if the public doesn't wake up.

I think it's smart to lay it out there. The terrorists will be less afraid to bomb the unsuspecting and ill-prepared led by President Obama or Clinton, who think we can "negotiate" with them. They'll laugh in our faces when they poison our water, or whatever their next move is. I'm glad he's bluntly stating his opinion. More people need to hear it.

Just one question, Mr. President. Can I still golf?

Birth Control debate

I really don't know how I feel about this.

One of the most fervent anti-contraception crusaders is Pro-Life Wisconsin, which believes virtually all forms of birth control can cause a "chemical abortion" by preventing an already fertilized egg from implanting in the uterine wall.

The protests, under the banner of "Protest the Pill Day '08: The Pill Kills Babies!" are timed to coincide with the 43rd anniversary of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision Griswold vs. Connecticut that established the right to birth control for married couples.

A later decision extended that right to single individuals. Both decisions helped establish a recognized constitutional right to privacy, which paved the way for the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion.

According to Nicole Safar, legal and policy analyst for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, 98 percent of women in the United States have used birth control at some point in their lives.

"So this whole idea that birth control is bad for women and bad for families is such an extreme view," she said.

Furthermore, she says protests over birth control actually help her organization's cause, which is to promote and provide family planning services.

"When you tell people that birth control is under attack, we are met with some skepticism," she said. "So the more they want to stand out there and say, 'We don't want you to have access to condoms and the pill to better plan your children,' really, the better for us."

Pro-Life Wisconsins isn't helping their cause with this, I don't believe. Frankly, many women are on the pill or patch for a different reason than preventing childbirth. I'm turned off completely to their argument.

Many women probably have avoided having abortions due to taking the pill. Could we celebrate that?

Brady is Cruisin'

Tom Brady reminds me of Tom Cruise today:

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady ripped ESPN today for its coverage of the Patriots' Spygate scandal.

Appearing on the Boston radio station WEEI, Brady suggested that the reason Patriotgate has stayed in the news is that the media in general and ESPN specifically are looking to fabricate a controversy.

"I think it's a way to really sell newspapers, and all the ESPN stations, they've got to fill the air, too," Brady said.

When it was pointed out to Brady that many of the ex-NFL players who work at ESPN were harshly critical of the Patriots and suggested that they gained a huge advantage from stealing signals, Brady said, "It's just kind of the environment right now, though. I think that's the way that guys make it. They just say the craziest things. That's what ESPN has become. ESPN, to me, is like MTV without the videos, ESPN is without the highlights."

Tommy, ESPN is a huge prommoter of your career and, well, 'talent.'

But, DUH. It's completely a way to sensationalize a story and squeeze a few extra hours of airtime out of it. That's what the news business is these days. This is like Tom Cruise criticizing psychiatry when the loony bins are mostly his fans. I understand they asked Brady for comments, but comparing ESPN to MTV? Where was that same thought during the baseball steroid all-day OJ Simpson-like marathon?

Don't bite the hand that feeds you, Tom-cat.

Alpha-Bits

This was a quality cereal. I miss my alpha-bit days.

I have a question

Is there a white person who attends Rev. Wright's church?

This is scary stuff.

What allegiance?

Punishment for not saying the pledge may be unconstitutional these days, and Lord knows, no one wants a law suit in a public school.

Fourteen-year-old Bishop Edens was suspended from school Friday because he wouldn't stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, but he was quickly invited back once his principal learned that rule might be unconstitutional.

The back-and-forth came on the second day of controversy at Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton Junior High over the school's policy of requiring students to stand — but not necessarily recite — during the pledge.

Edens saw three of his classmates get disciplined by Principal Colleen Houglum on Thursday, so he decided to break the rule on Friday in protest.

Why, what better way to express the values of this free nation than to allow peaceful protest of that nation's practices?

Should we force them to stand? I think Yes. Should we force them to say it? Even more so, I think Yes. What harm is it to them if we do? If they are forced to speak the words or refuse to, either way, they can use that experience to "build character" and hey, maybe even use it as a testament to their patriotism in a future run for public office.

Barack Obama refuses to put his hand over his heart during the National Anthem, and he's running for President after all. And people think it's patriotic.

I will not apologize for making children pledge allegiance to the nation that promises them all that America does. I will not apologize for asking them to stand and observe the practice in traditional form. I will not apologize for asking Americans to put their hands over their hearts.

Amy Wi-do we give a hoot?

Why do Amy Winehouse, her drug problems, her father, and now her bald spots seem to captivate our society and grace the cover of every celebrity magazine on the shelf?

I really could not care less, so I'm contradicting myself by this posting, but honestly, this is getting ridiculous. WHO CARES?

What would it take for People and US magazine and that entire culture to feature real humanitarians and stories of real people contributing to society and their communities, BEFORE the pictures of Amy Winehouse and Britney Spears in their cracked-out breakdowns, not in the back pages when readers have already been over-stimulated by paparazzi shots and throw them away?

Beer can coffin

Only in the midwest.

SOUTH CHICAGO HEIGHTS, Ill. — Bill Bramanti will love Pabst Blue Ribbon eternally, and he's got the custom-made beer-can casket to prove it. "I actually fit, because I got in here," said Bramanti of South Chicago Heights.

Respect yourselves

Last night while out for a friend's birthday, I had a chance to look around me at the latest UW fashions. Ladies, yes it is summer time and we all want to feel beautiful and sexy and attractive. However, let's not show it all right away. I know I could have done without a few of the visions I noticed on my way to the restroom and back.

I couldn't believe how little respect some girls must have for themselves. To wear a summer dress un-buttoned down to your cleavage and slit up so you have to keep tugging at it to sit down like a lady, or a low slutty tube-top and a barely-there mini, is not the right way to attract attention.

Why should any guy respect you by buying a ticket when they can see the whole show for free?

Ladies, you are beautiful, you are captivating, without 3/4 of your skin showing. Show them that and try to believe it for yourselves.

911 without the emergency

Before her death, Brittany Zimmerman called 911, but nothing was done as a result of her silent plea for help.

Shortly before she was murdered in Madison on April 2, a 911 call came in from her cell phone, and the dispatcher who took the call asked several times if there was an emergency, and after getting no response, hung up.

Instead of trying to call back or sending help - standard procedure - the dispatcher moved on to another call.... The call that the dispatcher moved on to as Brittany Zimmermann was apparently dying was, in fact, a hang-up call as well.

The same dispatcher did call back that time, and determined there was no real emergency; but either forgot about Brittany or figured it wasn't important.

I am saddened and disgusted.

Let's hope that we teach our children when it really IS appropriate to call 911, so that we never have to read articles like this again. The women who are guilty of the following should be ashamed for their stupidity and for giving the female gender a bad name:

In Burlington, after all, a woman once called 911 to report that she'd seen an albino deer.

Another in the same city called 911 last fall to complain that something she bought at a rummage sale didn't work.

In Dodge County last year, a woman called 911 because she needed a baby sitter.

In Brown County, a woman once received a $243 ticket after calling 911 to complain that her 12-year-old son wouldn't go to bed.

Those ladies should have spent a night in jail for their blunders.

Put them down

Sometimes I wonder...




can these kids actually walk on their own?

Poor Eight Belles

May she be remembered as the beautiful filly she was.



And may the man who announced her euthanization learn a little tact for the next time he is on national TV.

"She ran a whale of a race. She ran the race of her life," Jones said, fighting back tears. "She ran great."

The Secret

I've just finished reading The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. When I mention this, everyone goes "oh yeah, the thing Oprah did?" Not quite. Maybe she had a show on it, but I missed it.

However, I feel this book is invaluable, especially for those of just deciding what exactly it is we want our lives to be, what our joy is, and discover we are the makers of our own destiny.

All that is has come about by thoughts. The whole precipice is that you get what you think about. If you are negative and have "don't," or "can't" thoughts, you'll get those things you don't want and more. Like attracts like. So be happy - expect, believe, and receive. I'm summarizing here- seriously, go out and get this book!

But getting to the point, one thing I thought pertinent to the arena of politics- particularly Campaign '08, came from the chapter "The Secret to the World." Hale Dwoskin is quoted saying,

"So if you're anti-war, be pro-peace instead. If you're anti-hunger, be pro-people having more than enough to eag. If you are anti-a-particular politician, be pro-his opponent. Often elections are tipped in favor of the person that the people are really against, because he's getting all the energy and focus."

BINGO. My greatest fear? President Barack Obama or President Hillary Clinton. What are all negative thoughts based on? Fear. Let's change the feeling and the vibe. I am now going to put my energy TOWARDS McCain and away from Obama and Hillary. I am going to be pro-McCain and what he can do for the country. Or pro-my conservative Mayoral candidate, what have you. The more we worry about Obama or Clinton, the more our thoughts will shift toward those candidates, and the more we'll probably read, see, hear, and think about them to the point that they will win the election. I believe this is likely true.

The point is we all have the energy inside us to re-focus our thoughts and wants. I want a safe nation with a strong leader. Forget the negative. Focus on the positive and the "want." Join me?

Perhaps over pizza. I'm now thinking I want that and will have it. ;-)

The "Bad News" Bear

Sheriff Clarke's got some bad news for Milwaukee County prisoners. He is towing the line on food costs in the Milwaukee County jail like the Soup Nazi! NO DESSERT FOR YOU!

Behind bars in Clark County, Wash., jelly has vanished from peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Bread is becoming luxury of sorts for inmates in Wisconsin.

And those locked in the Milwaukee County jail could soon see dessert disappear.

"Why should they get dessert?" said Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. "I don't even get dessert every day at home. . . . They have to absorb this, too."

Clarke said he'll also look at swapping hot meals for cold and making other cuts when the department's contract with food service giant Aramark expires in the fall.

"As long as the taxpayers have to struggle with rising food costs and eat more Hamburger Helper, as long as they have to adjust their living and eating habits, why should they have to pay increased costs for people who have disregarded society's rules?"

He's a good man, that Sheriff Clarke.

A private candidate

Karl Rove opens a few eyes to John McCain's private past.

Mr. Day relayed to me one of the stories Americans should hear. It involves what happened to him after escaping from a North Vietnamese prison during the war. When he was recaptured, a Vietnamese captor broke his arm and said, "I told you I would make you a cripple."

The break was designed to shatter Mr. Day's will. He had survived in prison on the hope that one day he would return to the United States and be able to fly again. To kill that hope, the Vietnamese left part of a bone sticking out of his arm, and put him in a misshapen cast. This was done so that the arm would heal at "a goofy angle," as Mr. Day explained. Had it done so, he never would have flown again.

But it didn't heal that way because of John McCain. Risking severe punishment, Messrs. McCain and Day collected pieces of bamboo in the prison courtyard to use as a splint. Mr. McCain put Mr. Day on the floor of their cell and, using his foot, jerked the broken bone into place. Then, using strips from the bandage on his own wounded leg and the bamboo, he put Mr. Day's splint in place.

Years later, Air Force surgeons examined Mr. Day and complimented the treatment he'd gotten from his captors. Mr. Day corrected them. It was Dr. McCain who deserved the credit. Mr. Day went on to fly again.

Cat fights aside

This is sportsmanship.

PORTLAND, Ore.: With two runners on base and a strike against her, Sara Tucholsky of Western Oregon University uncorked her best swing and did something she had never done, in high school or college. Her first home run cleared the center-field fence.

But it appeared to be the shortest of dreams come true when she missed first base, started back to tag it and collapsed with a knee injury.

She crawled back to first but could do no more. The first-base coach said she would be called out if her teammates tried to help her. Or, the umpire said, a pinch runner could be called in, and the homer would count as a single.

Central Washington first baseman Mallory Holtman, the career home run leader in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, asked the umpire if she and her teammates could help Tucholsky.

The umpire said there was no rule against it.

So Holtman and shortstop Liz Wallace put their arms under Tucholsky's legs, and she put her arms over their shoulders. The three headed around the base paths, stopping to let Tucholsky touch each base with her good leg.

I can only hope I would have done the same.

Church changes for diversity

Rolling over...

ALDIE, Va. (AP) — At a clapboard church in this Northern Virginia town, a small group gathers to rrrroll their R's and add diversity to their resumes.

They're members of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia — clergy, seminary students and diocesan employees learning liturgical Spanish. Their goal is to conduct a church service for Hispanics who are considering religions outside their traditional Roman Catholic faith.

This is the goal of the church now?

For now, Mr. Jones said, many congregations simply accommodate Spanish speakers when they can.

Rebecca Gibson, a member of Christ Episcopal Church in Winchester and a former high school Spanish teacher, led the four-week liturgical course in Aldie. She stressed the intricacies of Spanish pronunciation.

"We're going to want to say it like we do in English, but we have to make sure the pronunciation is right — kahn-fairrr-may-see-own," she enunciated. Around the room, a few students tried sounding out the Spanish version of "Confirmation," a commitment rite.

This is absurd. Perhaps English services should encourage native spanish-speakers to LEARN our home language.

Or we could just give them the church! And the kicker:

"If a Spanish-speaking person comes to church and hears somebody trying, but not really knowing what they're doing, that's not going to make them very welcome," Mrs. Gibson said.