Sam Gordon is the smallest player in her tackle football league . . . and she's a girl. But that doesn't stop Sam from fearlessly running down the football field, dodging boys left and right all the way to the end zone for a touch down!Impressive. Pretty cute, too.
Sam scored 15 touch downs and had 13 Yards per carry as a running back. Sam also did well on defense, registering 59 tackles, 3 interceptions, and a fumble recovery during her 2014 football season!
Last month, Anderson Cooper dedicated a segment of his show "Anderson Cooper 360" to mocking the Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan for posing with cats on the cover of PAWS Chicago Magazine (the magazine for the no-kill animal shelter PAWS Chicago). Corgan initially came back with a pair of angry tweets, but since this is a musician beef in 2014, it's not official until someone responds by making a T-shirt about it.That's from an article at Pitchfork, where you can see the Cooper segment on CNN that prompted the shirt. It's actually a nice looking shirt, if you're into cats.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, Gentle Reader. I’m going to be lazy today and re-run what I said last year (in part...there was more), mainly coz (a) it’s all true and (b) I’m fresh out of original i-deers. So…from Turkey-Day-2006:
Of all the things I’m thankful for on this day…family, friends, reasonable health… I thank God most of all for making me an American. Most all of the good things in my life begin and end with that one single fact.
You could do much worse today than read the editorial the WSJ has published every Thanksgiving since 1961. An excerpt:
We can remind ourselves that for all our social discord we yet remain the longest enduring society of free men governing themselves without benefit of kings or dictators. Being so, we are the marvel and the mystery of the world, for that enduring liberty is no less a blessing than the abundance of the earth.
And we might remind ourselves also, that if those men setting out from Delftshaven had been daunted by the troubles they saw around them, then we could not this autumn be thankful for a fair land.
The images come from Thanksgiving Corner, which has a great collection of Thanksgiving wallpaper (ed: the site is apparently dead now). Normally I'd only post a single topical image, but I was so taken with the second image that I had to post it. Shades of Ben Franklin, and all that.As true today as it was back in 1961.
I think I discovered Roy by listening to WDET in Dee-troit. I'd bet money on it, actually. Speakin' of WDET...We were quite pleased to find DET is on iTunes Radio; this means we can listen to the lovely Ann on the weekends now. Ann had a daily show back in the day and we'd speak on the phone sometimes during the course of her show. I also had occasion to meet and speak with her in person, albeit briefly, during a couple of the annual cocktail parties DET threw for donors who contributed at a certain level. We had a nice e-mail exchange after her show yesterday afternoon... which I'd publish if Blogger wasn't such a pain the ass about formatting cut 'n' pasted e-mails. I can't get the formatting to work to save my ass, so you'll just have to take my word for it. It's always sumthin'.
We're down to our emergency tee shirt supply, given the state of our laundry bag and available clean clothes. This example happens to be well over 20 years old, what with me having acquired it back around 1987 or so. I wear it rarely these days as it is thin beyond belief. It's also something of a personal treasure as well, being a memento from Former Happy Days. This tee was part of the swag one gets for supporting public radio, and I was a BIG supporter back in the day. Read as: when public radio was worth supporting. I was saddened to find DET has sunk in the metro Dee-troit radio ratings, but not all that surprised. DET was a powerhouse back in the '80s and a veritable fount of new music... and Ann Delisi (a deejay and then programs director) was to die for. But that's another story altogether.
And what that means is that 1 in 3 adults drinks excessively.Well, now. It appears that I drink excessively, what with two beers every afternoon and a couple o' single malts or bourbons... on rare occasions more than two... after dinner. This adds up to a grand total of about 28 drinks a week on average, nearly twice what the quoted study defines as excessive. I'm not gonna worry my semi-pretty lil head about this, however. According to my doctor I'm as healthy as the proverbial horse... aside from the fact I can't breathe, which has nothing to do with alcohol. I trust my doctor one whole helluva lot more than I trust these so-called studies.
What counts as excessive? Less than you might think.
Women who consume eight or more drinks per week are considered excessive drinkers. And for men, excess is defined as 15 or more drinks a week. (The researchers defined a drink as just 5 ounces of wine, 12 ounces of beer or 1.5 ounces of spirits.)
Since I've often been all about Thanksgiving, some of you were probably wondering when I was going to write a post about it this year. If you were wondering, I thank you for thinking about it and here it is.
I made a conscious effort to NOT post about Thanksgiving. I wanted to see what was happening without being clouded by thoughts of what was happening as a result of anything here.
I still kept plugging away on Facebook (on my own personal page and at THANKSGIVING COMES FIRST, a page I manage there - https://www.facebook.com/ThanksgivingComesFirst ) and I get the feeling that there may be a tipping point being reached, one way or the other. There are boatloads of people who are fed up with the commercialization of Christmas and the incursion of store openings on Thanksgiving itself. I mean, some folks are seriously angry now. That's a good thing. And there are lots of stores specifically advertising that they will be closed on Thanksgiving, another good sign. On the other hand, stores are opening earlier than last year (when they opened earlier than the year before that) so...We support Jim's efforts, we totally agree with him on this subject, and we hope that you do too, Gentle Reader. Jim posted this graphic as a part of this year's post:
This summer, a friend called in a state of unhappy perplexity. At age 47, after years of struggling to find security in academia, he had received tenure. Instead of feeling satisfied, however, he felt trapped. He fantasized about escape. His reaction had taken him by surprise. It made no sense. Was there something wrong with him? I gave him the best answer I know. I told him about the U-curve.
Not everyone goes through the U-curve. But many people do, and I did. In my 40s, I experienced a lot of success, objectively speaking. I was in a stable and happy relationship; I was healthy; I was financially secure, with a good career and marvelous colleagues; I published a book, wrote for top outlets, won a big journalism prize. If you had described my own career to me as someone else’s, or for that matter if you had offered it to me when I was just out of college, I would have said, “Wow, I want that!” Yet morning after morning (mornings were the worst), I would wake up feeling disappointed, my head buzzing with obsessive thoughts about my failures. I had accomplished too little professionally, had let life pass me by, needed some nameless kind of change or escape.
My dissatisfaction was whiny and irrational, as I well knew, so I kept it to myself. When I thought about it—which I did, a lot—I rejected the term midlife crisis, because I was holding a steady course and never in fact experienced a crisis: more like a constant drizzle of disappointment. What annoyed me most of all, much more than the disappointment itself, was that I felt ungrateful, the last thing in the world I was entitled to be.
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| Illustration from the article. |
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| The Second Mrs. Pennington on my box-stock RD400, 1979. The bike didn't stay stock for long. |
Americans are exceptional at creating spectacle out of commerce. And yes, the eager-to-normalize marijuana biz is ready to behave (and benefit) like all of the others. At least one pot shop in Colorado will be marking Black Friday with legitimate “door-busting deals” that will bring many a toker to the lines that will inevitably stretch outside its doors on the weekend after Thanksgiving.
But when Denver recreational pot shop The Grass Station opens its doors for Black Friday sales at 8 a.m. Nov. 28-30, what will be their equivalent to Walmart’s dirt-cheap flat-screen TVs?
“It’ll definitely be the $50 ounces,” said Grass Station owner Ryan Fox. “Right now our cheapest ounce is $250, and some of those ounces in the $250-$325 range will be selling for $50 an ounce on that weekend.”
Celebrating Black Friday with loss-leader deals in the hopes of luring more regular customers is Fox’s way of saying that legal marijuana businesses are normal businesses.
I can picture you there on that stool, drinking like a drunken fool.Heh. There were people in my past lives who might coulda sang this song to me. Once upon a time. Mebbe.
Yeah, you're sitting there on your ass, muttering into your glass.
Paying for your lowlife thrills with wet quarters and soggy one dollar bills.
I know where you are, baby.
You're down drinking at the bar.
Presidential Proclamation -- Veterans Day, 2014
VETERANS DAY, 2014
- - - - - - -
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
Since the birth of our Nation, American patriots have stepped forward to serve our country and defend our way of life. With honor and distinction, generations of servicemen and women have taken up arms to win our independence, preserve our Union, and secure our freedom. From the Minutemen to our Post-9/11 Generation, these heroes have put their lives on the line so that we might live in a world that is safer, freer, and more just, and we owe them a profound debt of gratitude. On Veterans Day, we salute the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen who have rendered the highest service any American can offer, and we rededicate ourselves to fulfilling our commitment to all those who serve in our name.
Today, we are reminded of our solemn obligation: to serve our veterans as well as they have served us. As we continue our responsible drawdown from the war in Afghanistan and more members of our military return to civilian life, we must support their transition and make sure they have access to the resources and benefits they have earned. My Administration is working to end the tragedy of homelessness among our veterans, and we are committed to providing them with quality health care, access to education, and the tools they need to find a rewarding career. As a Nation, we must ensure that every veteran has the chance to share in the opportunity he or she has helped to defend. Those who have served in our Armed Forces have the experience, skills, and dedication necessary to achieve success as members of our civilian workforce, and it is critical that we harness their talent.
Across our country, veterans who fought to protect our democracy around the globe are strengthening it here at home. Once leaders in the Armed Forces, they are now pioneers of industry and pillars of their communities. Their character reflects our enduring American spirit, and in their example, we find inspiration and strength.
This day, and every day, we pay tribute to America's sons and daughters who have answered our country's call. We recognize the sacrifice of those who have been part of the finest fighting force the world has ever known and the loved ones who stand beside them. We will never forget the heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice and all those who have not yet returned home. As a grateful Nation, let us show our appreciation by honoring all our veterans and working to ensure the promise of America is within the reach of all who have protected it.
With respect for and in recognition of the contributions our service members have made to the cause of peace and freedom around the world, the Congress has provided (5 U.S.C. 6103(a)) that November 11 of each year shall be set aside as a legal public holiday to honor our Nation's veterans.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim November 11, 2014, as Veterans Day. I encourage all Americans to recognize the valor and sacrifice of our veterans through appropriate public ceremonies and private prayers. I call upon Federal, State, and local officials to display the flag of the United States and to participate in patriotic activities in their communities. I call on all Americans, including civic and fraternal organizations, places of worship, schools, and communities to support this day with commemorative expressions and programs.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this seventh day of November, in the year of our Lord two thousand fourteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-ninth.
BARACK OBAMA
BERLIN
Germany on Sunday celebrates the 25th anniversary of the night the Berlin Wall fell, a pivotal moment in the collapse of communism and the start of the country's emergence as the major power at the heart of Europe.And here's a flavor of what that lighted balloon memorial looks like:
A 15-kilometer (nine-mile) chain of lighted balloons along the former border will be released into the air early Sunday evening — around the time on Nov. 9, 1989 when a garbled announcement by a senior communist official set off the chain of events that brought down the Cold War's most potent symbol.
