Wow, it is finally Friday. The last day of recess and the first "morning after" of college football.

And what a night to talk about.

With much love and respect for my grandfather, I must say, classic performance by the Ducks last night. I say "classic", because it surely wasn't "classy."




But, what LeGarrette Blount didn't do to make Oregon look bad, they offense did. Just five minutes with the ball in the first half and only 14 yards to show for it. This team was thoroughly dominated by Boise. Really there is nothing more to say on the subject, but I did and you can read it at JBJ Sports.

Some actually pretty interesting news has been coming out of the healthcare fight and it could impact the ever-controversial "public option."

We are now talking about something called a "trigger." Led by Maine Senator Olympia Snowe, it is basically a threat. Do what we want with healthcare now, including a public option, or watch the feds launch a public option all on their own. Bipartisanship is long gone. Adam, you can comment now.

Seriously though, not to be beat the same Bush (or dead horse, but no pun then so deal), but this whole government power thing, especially in the executive branch, certainly didn't start with Barack Obama. That said, why not use it. Well I'll tell you why, because it is the "same old thing in Washington" if you do. But so is this partisan bickering over a healthcare bill that is no going on its 16th year. The polling on this is damning: Americans want healthcare reform. So maybe a trigger is part of it.

Or, maybe President Obama's comments next week will do the trick. He is set to remind Congress that it was not the fight to get healthcare passed and the bold thinking early in President Clinton's term that cost the Democrats. It was the fact that nothing got done that made voters unhappy. No one likes to see the process, how the sausage is made if you will, but that is what everyone is arguing about at town halls across America right now. A final resolution and a passed bill will change some minds.

Unemployment has risen, obviously just adding fuel to the fire out here in Washington.

In today's ultra-sensitive world the President can't even make a speech directed at school children without running into opposition. Reminded me of a status update I had on my Facebook page not long ago:

"Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards or FAQ's. We just figured it out. Today's kids are soft."

I bet every generation feels this way, but that does not mean we don't get our turn, so back off. Back in the day kids used to flock to the television to see the President speak. Now in this day of excess information, you can't get away from it fast enough. This is why I've started going to pro baseball games again. Even the Nationals are fun to watch if you actually get to sit back, relax and enjoy something genuine again. That is until the ExxonMobile 7th Inning stretch starts...

Alright, I have to do work or something, but a quick sign of the apocolypse:

"A former jail inmate suffered severe cuts from barbed wire while trying to climb back into Florida's Brevard County Detention Center Monday. The man was released last week after accepting a plea deal on a manslaughter charge, but showed up at the jail Monday asking to be taken back because he feared the family members of his victim. When he was denied, he tried to climb over the fence."
- The Express

Real Talk.

And today in history:
1886: Geronimooooooooooooooooo surrenders
1888: Kodak was created by George Eastman
1967: The last episode of Gilligan's Island airs
1969: The FDA declares the birth control pill "safe"
And in Civil Rights history, in 1957, nine black kids were denied entry to a school in Little Rock, Ark., touching off a string of events that made the Civil Rights movement a huge national issue.

Morning y'all from the town that got the outstretches of a hurricane on Saturday. First time I've done an extended day of basketball, which in my growing age is about 2.5 hours. But we did it outside over in NE which is pretty ghetto. It was horribly humid and just difficult to move. Between the four of us we drank at least three gallons of water while we were playing and probably lost more than that to sweat. And it was right as we were finishing that the rains came.

And they didn't stop until Sunday morning. The the storm actually started Friday afternoon and we had about a 36 hour lightning storm with a small break from the rain on Saturday morning. It was nice to have rain back and get the air cleared out. Yesterday was just amazing. Clear and mid-80's.

Alright, enough about the weather. I possibly have real things to talk about.

(This is an interjection. It occurred to me that I didn't actually write anything about the Yankees. Well, they beat Boston. Again. sixth time in seven games. And they hit five homers off Josh Beckett. And their awesome. See grandpa, we don't disagree on everything. However, the Raiders? Well, let's just say - actually let's not.).

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Okay wow. I had to add a gap there. Now, I knew today was going to be busy. I started the blog post before I left this morning because I knew this and I'm liking the trend of two-a-day (as long as content keeps up, which I know hasn't quite been the case - sorry). I already had plans for the second blog that I hashed out on the bus this morning. On the DC public school system. Some interesting stuff that hopefully I will visit tomorrow. But instead of being able to finish it off, here I am at 9:36 pm finishing, trying frantically to get done because I have work to do as well.

Oh, Monday. The day always feels short because we have a staff meeting and often times other meetings throughout. Even though the big meeting only takes about 30 minutes, it is at 11 am so it feels like it just cuts the day in half. I also don't like to leave projects undone so that really bugs me. That would be a normal Monday, though. On this Monday I had all the normal stuff to do, as well as a couple of blog posts to write, updating the Heat Is On (HIO) site (which hasn't been done yet) and a couple more meetings to sit. Oh yeah, and one more thing: the Sarah Palin project.

I cannot really reveal the details yet because the entire project is not completed, but as soon as it is, look for a link. One of the requirements was to just find something ridiculous that Palin has said. Obviously this isn't hard. However, it needed to be an audio or video clip (not just text) and it needed to be in the context of energy. Even if it was about energy, as long as she was talking about energy and then just said something like "my foreign policy experience is great because Russia is my neighbor," that would've been find. Now that is harder than you think. Hard to the tune of, wait for it, SIX HOURS of listening to Sarah Palin speeches, interviews, town halls, ropeline discussions, fishing tips, you name it. If I have to hear the words maverick, drill, baby, gosh, well, or her voice again I might jump off the Washington Monument. Six hours of her high-pitched squeaky voice in which she can never string a series of words together into that thing some of us call a sentence. I watched her last speech at the Governor's picnic (her last day in office) three times. That is when she tells the press to stop making things up, in honor of the military. WHAT?! I remember when I first heard the on the day she gave it, telling someone it was a "train wreck" and that person responding to me, "those are the exact words someone else used to describe it." At least I'm not alone. At one point I actually got up, walked down the hall to my boss'as office and said rather matter-of-factly, "I bet you could walk down Crenshaw and hear better English." That is not racist, it's the truth. Period. Still, at some point in the near future, this final video should be hilarious.

That right there was six of my 9.5 hours physically in my office today. Not including before I left or now. Which could very well stretch into the night. Hard to tell you more about today than that, honestly.

So here are some links for you to check out:

First a quote that is moving around the internet today, attributed to Kirk Herstreit, even though he didn't really say it:

“Ducks are the college football version of Paris Hilton… they’re famous for no reason, they look pretty and they got a rich daddy.” - Again, sorry grandfather. Truer words have rarely been spoken.

Continuing with sports first:

Pete Rose should have been inducted into the Hall of Fame 17 years ago this month.




This has only happened twice in history. And only the fourth time since 1950 that a team has done it and hit an inside-the-park homerun in the same game.

Edge is a Hawk.

Social media is taking over the world, as evidenced by UW Athletics having a YouTube page (to go along with Twitter, Facebook, you name it). LCV actually has multiple YouTube pages, as well. Unfortunately it is too new to have any video content that I was involved it, but here's something I will really miss.



That Jon Brockman was special huh?

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If this is even remotely true then it only heaps more sadness on an already sad tale. Regardless of your feelings for the man, Michael Jackson was one of the most talented musicians in history.

Only in SoCal.

Boycotting Whisky? That might be taking it a little too far. However, Scotland screw this one up, big time.

I've already shared this on my Facebook, but Glenn Beck is from Mount Vernon, Wash.

I honestly really do like the pre-Presidential politics John McCain. Nice words about Ted Kennedy.

As always you should check out Act Green. But on this day story about Southwest was written by me. It is actually pretty cool.

I'd like to make a habit of highlighting something that a friend, new or old, of mine is doing on a regular basis. Today I have nothing. However, I will point out that I have just started ready The Ragin Cajun himself, James Carville's new book, 40 More Years. I'll let you know how it goes.

As always, thank you for reading. Stay Classy.