Good AM, folks!
A new week begins, with a yawner in Tampa, and a blaster in the Gulf of Mexico. But, the NFL season is almost here, very welcome in the election season.
Word watch: "holy crap." What cheesy sitcom spawned the prevalence of this one? I hear it constantly.
"One of the best"
ReplyDeleteWith due respect to the writer of the Aug. 9 letter "Joke of the day," he misses the mark by a wide margin in his condemnation of Superior Court Judge Edwin Wilson.
Like most others, I know only what I read in the paper about criminal court in Forsyth County. I wasn't there when the defendant was sentenced. But I do know Judge Ed Wilson and, as a lawyer, have appeared before him numerous times in civil cases. He is one of the best judges in the state and has an excellent, well-justified reputation of being bright, thoughtful and regularly reaching the right result in his rulings.
Judge Wilson has four children and is an active citizen soldier who is a major in the U.S. Army Reserve, where he recently served his country for a year on active duty. He is certainly not, as characterized by the writer of the letter, a "super-liberal" judge who has a "warped opinion of the value of a victim's life." Judge Wilson is a jurist who has a keen ability to understand the many complex issues that come before him. He treats all litigants and lawyers with respect, he knows the law, and he applies it fairly and objectively, whatever the issue before him. That is the definition of a good judge.
RICHARD V. BENNETT
Winston-Salem
"Recent innuendo"
Why, pray tell, does the writer of the Aug. 22 letter "Recent incident" think that the Journal has harmed its reputation by publishing Scott Sexton's Aug. 16 column, "Profiling or not? You decide"? Is he implying something about Scott Sexton, or the Journal, that we all need to know about?
I agree with the writer that racial profiling occurs, but I also know that this wouldn't be the first time that whining politicians played the race card, or any other card up their sleeves, when they have "incidents" that draw public attention.
I had a speeding ticket last year that I felt was uncalled for, but when I looked up my sleeve, I couldn't find any cards. I had to pay up.
JAMES A. BEDSWORTH
Winston-Salem
"Better informed"
Much has been made of the proposed R.J. Reynolds High School sports stadium. A great deal of the information to date has been misleading or simply untrue. To see for themselves what the stadium will look like, where it will actually be located and much more useful information about parking, lights, costs, etc, people should take a minute and go to www.rjreynoldshomefield.com. They will be better informed and, I believe, truly impressed with the thoughtful plans that have gone into this project.
We have the opportunity to work together to design and build one of the finest facilities of its kind in our state that will benefit all of Winston-Salem. In its illustrious history, Reynolds has graduated thousands of successful and generous people who owe it to themselves, their alma mater and future generations to learn more about this project. Indeed, every interested citizen, regardless of academic affiliation, should see for themselves.
JON BOLING
Winston-Salem
"Change the rules"
DeleteWe are seeing so many political ads and printed statements about the condition of Social Security, and I think the article "Obama defends Medicare policies" (Aug. 20) explains it (at least to me). In part it says:
"Lawmakers of both political parties have taken advantage of peculiar federal accounting rules that — on paper — allow Medicare savings spent for another purpose to also be credited to the program's trust fund for inpatient care. Obama's health care law used Medicare cuts to pay for covering the uninsured; the Ryan budgets passed by the House kept those cuts and applied them to reducing the federal deficit."
It seems to me that problem could be solved by Congress changing the "peculiar federal accounting rules." If it has time to pass the same repeal bill on Obamacare 33 times, it could change the rules and keep the money designated for Social Security in escrow as was intended from the beginning. I believe there would be plenty of funds in the bank had Congress not spent it for other things (including vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan's salary most of his adult years).
It is time our elected representatives represented the taxpayers of this country and not just their political party or special-interest groups. Once elected, they become representatives of all the people, or it should be that way.
I can dream, can't I?
J.H. KEY
Winston-Salem
"Agreement"
I agree with some other letter writers about moving "Doonesbury" to the editorial page, like it used to be in the 1980s. It might spice things up a little more. Give it a try, you never know.
WILLIAM SAMS
King
I suppose this facility will be built eventually. The web site makes a compelling presentation. Wiley School has-or had- a school song when I went there..."On a hill above a meadow, stands our Wiley School". The rest I can only remember bits and pieces. But now I suppose a new verse should have been added to include the trailers. If they are removed and the new proposal is built, what will the song be?
DeleteNote that the Wileyites appropriated the tune of "Hark the sound of Tarheel voices..." for their song, as did Ardmore School, the words of which are long forgotten here.
DeleteArdmore also had a "fight song" which went something like this: "O gee O Ardmore School is gonna win; if they don't win it will be a sin; and they will look around and they will say; that Ardmore School will be the champion of the day..."
And Reynolds, in my day, swiped "Go U Northwestern" for its fight song.
Doesn't the British Monarchy also have a song with the same melody?
DeleteDon't know. The song "Annie Lisle" was originally written in Boston in the 1850s. But in 1870, Cornell took the tune for their alma mater, and since then dozens of other colleges and high schools have adapted the tune, including Millsaps College, the best school in Mississippi.
DeleteAs to this stadium business. We were lucky to play in a real stadium, Bowman Gray. I think that Reynolds should return there.
The city charges WSSU $4000/game. If the RJR boosters can raise $5 million, that would pay for 1,250 games at Bowman Gray, or, including one playoff game/year, 208.333 seasons, by which time there might not be any RJ Reynolds High School, or any people, for that matter, left...
Look how many have appropriated The Cassion Song. N.C State uses it and my 9th-10th grade school, Hill High used it as well.
DeleteI'll refrain from commenting on the Journal's online site until later today, but I'm curiously awaiting to read the responses to LTE #2. The only comments posted on the day he references were by three very prolific and vocal commenters, and of those three two of those posters brazenly plugged their favorite propaganda on their least favorite president. I should be happy they didn't post their signature cyber-babble.
ReplyDeleteAnd in other news outside the world of ID:
Hurricane Isaac's projected route is Louisiana
Earthquakes shake up California
Two of three of the punk group Pussy Riot flee Russia
RIP Neil Armstrong
And in news closer to home:
Had a fun time hosting the grandkids at the Winston Salem Air Show. See some pics here.
Hurricane Issac projected for Louisiana? Can't be. Ray Nagin is no longer mayor.
DeleteEarhtquakes shake up Ca....well something had better.
Two of three of the punk group Pussy Riot flee Russia. Mr Putin clearly has a bad case of gynophobia.
Neil Armstrong- HERO
Indeed! Achilles is jealous.
DeleteI heard Neil Armstrong make his famous statement while sitting on a pile of ammo crates on our helicopter pad near Binh Thuy, Viet Nam. It was late morning and blazing hot, but I remember thinking that Neil's little space suit was the only thing between him and a temperature about 2 1/2 times what we were experiencing.
RIP, Neil Armstrong.
A fine looking family, LaSombra, and some fine aircraft, also.
DeleteIndeed, :) Great Pics
DeleteYes, it appears all the LaSombras were having fun. My friends all went but I was nursing yet another sports injury...rugby this time. I know, I know...old farts like me should have better sense. I'd stick to chinese checkers but even that can get pretty rowdy when you've got all six colors playing.
DeleteThey tell me that the Marines "Shock & Awe" show got the crowd revved up...I could see and hear it from my windows, and have seen it in person at Miramar some time back.
I saw a bombing demo at Edwards AFB that was pretty impressive, some years back. I would have liked to have gone the air show here but was helping Susan get ready for the school year. I saw what appeared to be AT-6 trainers flying overhead, a P51 or two, and an AV-8B Harrier, so I didn't miss all of it.
DeleteI wish the school buses in Forsyth County were equipped with the same engine as the one in the picture so my commute to work would go faster. Heck, I wish my car had that engine!
DeleteThanks, guys. Grandparents are always looking for photo ops.
Delete"holy crap". Probably not a sitcom. When we were kids, we played football on any vacant lot we could find or any big enough side yard of someone's home. On many of these sites, the family dog also maintained his residence which also made up his outdoor "facilities". No fun being tackled on a play only to realize that you also suffered the indignity of rolling over in a recent "rover offering". We sometimes played in the bottom back yard of St. Pauls Episcopal church in those days. Often the same problems were found there. Being we were on church ground, a degree of reverence was called for in describing what we just fell into...thus the origin of the title of this piece.
ReplyDeleteOK, some good reason for the phrase. Thank you, WW! I landed in a few rover offerings playing football in a churchyard myself.
DeleteChange the rules. "It is amazing that people who think we cannot afford to pay for doctors, hospitals, and medication somehow think that we can afford to pay for doctors, hospitals, medication and a government bureaucracy to administer it". These monster entitlement programs are about political power and the control it represents over many millions of people's lives. Washington will reign supreme one way or the other unless we stop them one way or the other.
ReplyDeleteScanned over the Journal site...doesn't Wes have a job?
ReplyDeleteYes, he manufactures "holy crap."
Delete...and I blamed the dogs all these years.
DeleteHoly crap is one of the few remaining growth indutries in the US.
DeleteTo be a production line worker, you don't even need a high school diploma. In fact, the dumber you are, the better management likes it.
But is you want to get up to Wes's high level, you're going to have to have a college degree. Some highly recommended college's are Bob Jones U., Regent, Liberty, Piedmont Baptist, etc.
Wes indeed has always had the need to feed his ego; because he's been either unwilling or unable to control the delivery of his comments, he's changed tactics by C&P'ing instead of commenting freestyle.
DeleteSimilar to you-know-who.
Ha, ha!
DeletePlease note that you-know-who has taken C&P to a new level in his post below.
Now he is finding stuff on his daily journey through the internet sewers, then reimagining them and posting them as his own personal experiences...he saw a billboard on the internet but imagines that he saw it in real life, when the only thing that he really saw in real life was a picture on the web.
Scary.
Good afternoon folks!
ReplyDeleteLTE 1: I'll take the word of an attorney over a layman when it comes to accessing a judge's performance and competence. Of course, whenever someone uses the "liberal/conservative" label, especially in conjunction with words like "ultra" or "super' or "extreme" in their assessment of another's performance, that tends to automatically dismiss that particular opinion in my view.
LTE 2: I saw no harm to the Journal in printing the piece either. I'll let the courts decide the merits of the case.
LTE 3: Parkland has also graduated thousands of students who have gone on to contribute successfully, yet we don't hear them calling for a new stadium despite having shared one with RJR for decades. Will there really be that much use for a new stadium besides hosting a half dozen football games a year?
LTE 4: Elected officials representing their constituents rather than the 2 - 5% true believers of each party who vote on primary day and special interest groups - a nice dream indeed. Another nice dream would be factual info presented to support claims made by or on behalf of the candidates as opposed to the distorted spin and outright lies that we see. The truth about the status of SS and Medicare is out there, but you do have to search for it. The CBO is an excellent place to start.
LTE 5: Or, you can simply not read it and allow others to read it where it is.
I've never met Judge Wilson, but his parents are really fine people.
DeleteYes, Judge Wilson’s father, Edwin Graves Wilson, Sr., is as close to being a saint as any person I have ever known.
ReplyDeleteHe graduated from Wake in 1943, and except for a couple of years in the Navy at the end of WW II and time spent at Harvard getting his PhD, he has spent his entire adult life at Wake. He was already a living legend as an English professor when Wake moved here in the 1950s and was one of the first Wake people that I met. He allowed me as a high schooler to sit in on his class on W.B. Yeats, which led me to choose English as a part of my multiple majors in college.
In addition to teaching English, Ed has served as Dean of the College, Provost and a senior vice president. He has been called the "heart, soul, spirit, and character of Wake Forest University." And on top of that he is one of the kindest and most decent people I have ever known.
I know things have changed.
ReplyDeleteI know things have changed. But I was on an out-of-state highway and trip, and I saw this billboard. And guess what I saw? I couldn't believe my eyes. I had to rub my eyes twice as drove by. I still didn't believe it, until I rode back by on the way home. There it was AGAIN!
Well, here it is folks. I cruising, just like City Councilman James Taylor, in my Lexus, with my .45 locked and cocked (not really), and wham! Here was a billboard that says, 'Want a vasectomy?' And beside the headlines, was a photograph of what appeared to me to be a gay male 'grinning'.
Now, I know I don't need a vasectomy, but what male in his right mind would go to a gay male 'doctor' to get a vasectomy? Huh? Huh? Tell me! Not me!
It just never stops.
I guess the Greek classics are known everywhere. Too bad that more of Aristophanes' plays did not survive.
ReplyDelete------------------
LOME, Togo (AP) — The female wing of a civil rights group is urging women in Togo to stage a week-long sex strike to demand the resignation of the country's president.
Women are being asked to start withholding sex from their husbands or partners as of Monday, said Isabelle Ameganvi, leader of the women's wing of the group Let's Save Togo. She said the strike will put pressure on Togo's men to take action against President Faure Gnassingbe.
Ameganvi, a lawyer, told The Associated Press that her group is following the example of Liberia's women, who used a sex strike in 2003 to campaign for peace.
"We have many means to oblige men to understand what women want in Togo," Ameganvi said.
-------------------
This would work for the Democrats, as long as all the mistresses agreed to participate. But it would have no effect in the Republican world.
Right, the hubbies would just all go hiking on the Appalachian Trail. Speaking of which, I heard on NPR this AM that Mark Sanford is engaged to the Argie lady with whom he went hiking.
DeleteEngaged? What a quaint term.
DeleteBarf.
DeleteAgreed, Arthur.
DeleteOnce upon a time, "engaged" meant that we've got the hots for each other and may be going parking every night and making out like crazy but we are trying very hard not to actually do it until our wedding night and even if it does actually slip in now and then, at least we tried.
But that is as old-fashioned as "writing a sonnet about your Easter bonnet..." at the Easter Parade.
When Mark Sanford says that he is "engaged" he means that, well, yeah, I was boffing her every chance I got for a long time while I was married to another woman, but now we are respectable people and so I am not now boffing her until our wedding day, and besides, I will soon be running for office again, so...
People have been lying about sex ever since the first guy climbed into the wrong tree one night and the lady in that tree told the right guy the next day that she thought it was him.
In "Lysistrata", the sex strike worked to perfection. By the end the men were literally out of their minds with lust and thus agreed to whatever terms were necessary. Of course, that was fiction…great fiction…but still fiction.
DeleteBut does it work in real life? Well, sort of. The sex strike referred to in Liberia did work, but only because it was combined with other vigorous and continuing actions including sit-ins and mass demonstrations.
Leymah Gbowee, the leader of the movement, later said that the sex strike itself had little influence on the outcome, but that it was priceless in getting her movement the attention of the media.
And that is the true problem for any social or political movement. Last year, a group of women in a sewing collective in a tiny Filipino town, fed up with violence and rape in their region, called a sex strike. The strike itself did not have a big impact, but the attention that they garnered forced the local government to clean up their little corner of the world.
Same thing happened in a small region of Colombia, where about 300 women forced the local authorities to begin enforcing the law in what had been a lawless land.
This is one of the problems of the so-called Tea Party movement. They peaked in 2010. Since then they have provided nothing that would provoke the media, except in an extremely negative way, so they have just been preaching to their own choir, even as their level of support amongst the general public has shrunken month to month.
Last year, they had a 27% positive rating and a 39% unsure rating. Last week they had a 25% positive rating and a 65% negative rating. In the interim, I guess the public has seen the truth and found them wanting, as opposed to the aforementioned women's groups.
2016 is suppose to be coming out soon. Finally, we'll get hear about a lot of the Obama screw-ups that have been covered up by the liberal media.
DeleteBoy, Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Center got hammered on Bill O'Reilly. It seems he didn't want admit that there is a higher 'percentage' of male homosexual pedophiles than male heterosexual pedophiles.
ReplyDeleteAnd he was calling the Family Research Center a hate group because they lie.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm?