NASCAR? Too Mnay Letters

Isn't it about time they took the "SC for Stock Car" out of NASCAR? I know I'm an old fart, but I can remember when the car bodies matched what was in the showrooms.

Yesterday started their season at Daytona, and I have to admit that for quite a long time I've watched the races (I guess I was a Redneck before I moved to the South). But it's getting to the point of why bother?

You now have cookie-cutter cars whose "manufacturer" is only identifable by the grill decal on the front. Chevy, Toyta, Dodge - the only real difference I can see in any of them is who made the original engine block before the fabricators got hold of it.

And now you have mostly cookie-cutter race tracks - 1 1/2 mile tri-ovals that have popped up all over the place. Two tracks in North Carolina have been closed (North Wilkesboro and Rockingham) while they've moved multiple races to California, Texas and who knows where else.

Over the last couple of years, NASCAR's TV ratings have been slowly eroding and not all races are sell-outs.

I guess because of political correctness (or a business decision by RJR) they dropped Winston, the series sponsor who, for over 25 years helped build NASCAR into what it had become. Then they became the Nextel Cup and now the Sprint Cup - but when a car sponsor changed to AT&T they took them to court to try and prevent the sponsor from marking the car.

So now it's the Sprint Cup. Shouldn't that mean they drive on 1/4 mile dirt tracks?

Follow-Up On Yesterday's Blog

Yesterday I mentioned President Bush's trip to Africa. Well, some news came out today that fits with that perfectly.

In Harare, Zimbabwe, the inflation rate is so bad that no one can keep up with it. In November of last year, the inflation rate was 24,470 percent. December's rate? 66,212 percent! In one month!

To give you some idea of what that means, between January 2007 and January 2008, the price of a chicken has gone up 236,000 percent! That is, of course, if you can find a chicken. The stores are almost completely empty.

Of course, Executive President Robert Gabriel MUGABE (since 31 December 1987), isn't searching for chickens. As one of the top ten dictators in the world, Mugabe has enough cash stashed away that he couldn't give a rat's ass about his people - if they get unhappy with his reign, they get disappeared - quickly.

I don't know how much money we've sent there, but it has to stop. All it's doing is making that monster richer and his people poorer.

S&G - Fonda Admits She's A .......

On yesterday's "Today Show", Hanoi Jane was talking about her role in that idiotic play "The Vagina Diaries" when she dropped the "C" word (think Country). Sorry, but there's some words that even I won't use on this page. If we were to need any more evidence that one of Time's "Women of the Century" was a complete waste of oxygen, she couldn't have done a better job - unless she picked up her AK-47 and started removing the staff of that show.

Speaking of weapons, another school shooting took place, this time close to my old stomping grounds. With a shotgun and pistol some deranged piece of rancid feces got on a lecture room stage at Northern Illinois and started blasting away, killing five so far, until he blew himself away. At least he saved the prison system a bunch of cash.

It's nice to see that the Chinese are staying consistent. After putting lead paint on the toys they shipped to us, now they've shipped some medicines to Panama that contained anti-freeze and brake fluid among other ingredients. So far between 120 - 300 have died. Way to go, Communist quality control!

Syria claims that they're going to sue the United States because Israel attacked Hezbollah in 2006. Does that mean we can sue the Russians and everyone else who've supplied Syria with it's weapons?

President Bush, getting ready for a trip to Africa, is saying that the African countries should be partners in overcoming violence and poverty - especially with the amount of our tax dollars going over there. Hey, Dubya - have you checked the bank accounts of the leaders of those countries lately?

One article I saw today that made me happy - the American College of Surgeons is calling on the government to allow the medicinal use of marijuana. Despite the DEA claims, it's been known for years that it's an appetite stimulant, helps with cataracts, and is one of the best muscle relaxants for things like back pain (I know from personal experience, but haven't used it for years - it's better than Valium). I can't see the government backing down on this, but it's nice to see such an august body come out of the closet.

Finally, for the last couple of weeks I've been wondering what ever happened to wave power as an alternative energy source. Well, today I saw an article where Florida is looking into using the Gulf Stream - just 15 miles off their coast for electrical generation. The scientists think it cound generate as much power as 10 nuke plants.

Oh - and on this date the USS Maine blew up in Havanna Harbor, leading to the start of the Spanish-American War!

A Heart-Throbbing S&G

First a bit of trivia - did you know that there are somewhere between 3 and 7 St Valentines, depending on your research and which church - Eastern or Catholic - and that none of them seem to know squat as to why they were martyred and sainted. Also, the name, which came from Roman times, whould have been Valens.

So today is the one day of the year where the male is supposed to give his significant other a card with flowers, candy, jewelry - or all three. I have a clue for you Clyde - if you need one day out of the year to express your love you'd better have a really close examination of your relationships.

And on a completely different subject, don't you just love it that our Navy allowed a Russian bomber, the TU-95 "Bear", to overfly the flight deck of the USS Nimitz at 2,000 feet - not once but twice, while another Bear circled around 60 miles away. If anyone can come up with a reason why these bombers wern't intercepted by our fighters and escorted away, I'd love to year it.

Finally, I wonder if the Obama staffer in Houston has taken her flags off the wall yet. You know, the Cuban flags with a picture of Che on them? I doubt that Obama was aware of them - it's a small office and maybe the staffer was under the impression that Latinos would think the Cuban flag with the picture of Che would get them excited. I think it may have worked, but not in the way she had in mind. Of course, the photos I saw could have been photoshopped, but the original story came from a local Houston TV news.


Now, go put on Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar on Me" and have an early afternoon delight with the species of your choice - Happy Valentines Day!

Idiocy Abounds

The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams this week made a statement that confirms that he's not attached to this planet.

The Archbishop, acting head of the Anglican Church (Epispicopal here) made a statement saying that he believes Great Britain should place Sharia Law on a par with Parliamentary Law, leaving it up to the individual which set of laws they should be governed by.

I don't know what he's smoking but I want some - it must make Ganja look like aspirin!

Starting in the 17th century and continuing through the 20th century, England was one of, if not the most powerful nations on the planet. Now all they have is a loose Commonwealth that does what they damn well please. If Williams' statement was taken seriously by anyone, England would pretty much cease to exist.

As a person who has immigrated to another country in the past, it was up to me to fit in with their customs and laws, not the other way around (although we're doing pretty good with the Mexicans - making sure everything is printed is Spanish - even election ballots!).

When I first saw this, I could have sworn the Archbishop's name was Robin Williams!

BTW - the rerason I call him the "acting head" is because the ruling Monarch is the head of the church - in their eyes equal to the Pope.

BOHICA

For those who don't know, that stands for Bend Over, Here It Comes Again.

In the wee hours of Tuesday, January 29th, Dell had people all over the country removing the kiosks they had in malls. At 8:30 that morning, all the employees of these kiosks were told they were fired. No notice, no nothing.

Now, this wouldn’t have been so bad if not for the fact that these kiosks were about the most profitable part of Dell’s business. The machines they’re selling at Wal-Mart are mostly basic models that barely run the operating system, and at Best Buy they’re not paying for shelf space, so even their top XPS models are hidden amongst the cheap knock-offs on the metal shelves. Even the lap top computers they’re selling – for the most part – do not meet even the basic standards required by the schools here in North Carolina.

Dell knew by New Year’s Day that they were going to do this, so what would have been the problem with giving at least one week’s notice? Sure, some may have left, but that would have saved Dell on severance packages. Hell – just the weekend before they did this they had a guy pack up his family and move from Florida to Atlanta. Now he has nothing in either place.

The reason I write this is because Boy Wonder had been employed by Dell at the kiosks for four years, and on two occasions had been their top salesman nationally. Now he’s out of work, the single parent of a 6 year old girl, and was in the process of buying a house. Now – not to put too fine a point on it –he’s screwed.

This leaves me wondering if Dell will keep it's factory here in Winston Salem, or if it will end up in Honduras or somewhere.

Corporations around the U.S. demand loyalty from their employees. I’m old enough that I can remember when that loyalty went both ways.

S&G - Bits & Pieces

Well, on Saturday the Groundhog saw his shadow, meaning 6 more weeks of Winter. Let's see - Groundhog Day is February 2nd, and the first day of Spring is March 20th. You do the math.

Apparently the Mexican Government has it's panties in a wad - again. Seems that they're all upset because the U.S. Border Guards have fired tear gas at the Mexicans who have been shooting at them, using slingshots with steel balls, throwing rocks and even using knives. How dare those gringos use non lethal force to protect themselves!

And a bill has been presented to the Mississippi Legislature to hold restaurants responsible if they serve obese people. The bill won't pass, but can you picture this? Someone like Brian Urlacher, linebacker for the Chicago Bears who has about 4% body fat, is listed as "morbidly obese" according to the BMI index. I guess all restaurants would have to measure the heigth and weight of the customers before seating, and it would make drive-thru's interesting!

Finally, the local school district has decided that Middle School kids will have to take 3 years of a foreign language. By doing this, they cut the Arts section of the schools - something my eldest grand daughter excels at. Since a foreign language is now mandatory, I think I'd ask to study Latin, Aramaic or Arabic. What's the odds they end up with Spanish?

Almost forgot - yesterday was the Day The Music Died - Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper's plan crashed, killing all aboard.

Berkeley, CCP

So - the city of Berkeley in what was formerly known as California has made it official - they want the Marine Recruiters to pack up their tent and sneak silently into the night. The irony of this is absolutely astounding.

Firstly, it was William Jefferson Clinton who came up with the idea of "don't ask, don't tell" but he's a hero there.

Secondly, examine the sheer numbers of Marines vs Army troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. It's no contest, as the Marine Corps strength consists of a total of under 200,00. That includes all the support troops - truck drivers, cooks, clerks, etc.

Thirdly, lets have a look at the Air Force and the Navy Air Wing. Even using GPS-guided bombs and missles, the JDAMs and JSOWs have an "acceptable" accuracy of a ten meter radius. Go out in your yard, put a stick in the center, measure out 33 feet and draw a circle. Any bomb that lands in that is considered "highly accurate". Not quite the precision we'd been led to believe, is it?

Additionally, many of these bombs are cluster bombs, which release multiple warheads that explode about 20 - 30 feet above ground.

I've been searching online, but so far haven't been able to find what the blast radius is for and of the solid or thermobaric bombs. When you have a bomb of up to 2,000 pounds land at the extreme edge of the 33 feet, then add in the blast radius; double it for the diameter of the circle of destruction, the Air Force is responsible for more "collateral damage" than the Marine Corps could ever be. The Marines - for the most part - see their enemy up close and personal which reduces collateral damage to almost zero.

Why isn't Berkeley busting down on the other branches of service? Personal opinion is that the Marines have the reputation as the best fighting force in the world (although the Royal Marines and SAS might take umbrage at that!).

I saw where a bill has been placed before Congress to remove all Federal funding from Berkeley - including the University - but with a Democrat-controlled Washington and this being an election year I can't see anything happening.

Since it appears that Berkeley wants to secede from the Union, we should help them out by fencing it off from the outside world so they can continue with their inbreeding.