It's Great To See the Rams Back In LA, But I'm Not Expecting a Miracle

Good Day World!

I'm an original Ram fan (1946 to 1994) who was incensed when the team moved to St. Louis 21 years ago.

Now I'm ready to let bygones be bygones this season because they've returned to LA.

The prodigal team returns with baggage - 9 straight losing seasons with just four winning campaigns during their 21 years in St. Louis.

During their stay they posted a cumulative 64-127-1 record. Not exactly juggernaut numbers in the tough NFL West.

But that doesn't matter. They're back home now. I expect some exciting plays watching arguably the best running back in the league - Todd Gurly (pictured above).

Despite the fact that I live in Oregon now, I have no problem embracing the team of my childhood. Remember Roman Gabrial?

I sure do, along with a whole list of other Ram greats. Names like Deacon Jones, Dick Lane, Isaac Bruce, Merlin Olsen, Jack Youngblood, Henry Ellard, Norm Van Brocklin, and Elroy (Crazy Legs) Hirsch.

There's a lot of other oldtimers like me that are willing to sit back and watch during the honeymoon period and see what happens.

The iconic Coliseum has been good to the returning Rams thus far.

When they beat the Dallas Cowboys in an exhibition last month, the reported attendance was 89,140 - a preseason record for a game played in the United States.

The regular season starts off with the LA Rams traditional enemy, the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football (September 12th).

Time for me to walk on down the road...

Winning Awards - One Way or Another

Good Day World!

Winning an award these days is no big deal.

Kids in school nowadays get awards even when they don't win contests. 

The school of thought behind that is "no one should feel left out." Here's an interesting take on giving awards:

The Problem with Award Ceremonies

In the adult world awards are serious things. They can mean an increased earning potential - win an Oscar, and you'll have producers at your feet. 

Prestigeous awards, such as the Nobel Peace Prize, give you worldwide creds. But there's also bums and scoundrals who have won that coveted prize.

Take Henry Kissinger for example.

He has to be the most controversial Nobel Prize Winner in history. Kissinger was a joint winner with Le Duc Tho, the North Vietnamese leader.

Tho rejected the award because it was given for the pair's peace work in Vietnam, and he knew no peace had been achieved in the area.

The perfect hypocrite, Kissinger accepted the award "with humility" despite the fact that many felt he shouldn't have gotten it in the first place.

Two years later North Vietnam invaded South Vietnam, voiding his supposed good work.

Finally, I'd like to leave you with a funny story about awards that is very timely:

At least, 19 Donald Trump properties have big plaques that read; Six Diamond Award and/or Five Diamond Award.

They're awards Trump gave himself!

True story. The Academy of American Hospitality Sciences (or something like that) passed out those awards. The majority on the board of this fine academy consists of Trump and his family.

Hard to lose under those circumstances. The inspiration for this fine sounding academy came from a mob guy, a convicted thief named "Joey No Socks," who lives on Central Park South.

To see more about The Donald's award-winning ways, I highly recommend reading The Making of Donald Trump, by Putlitzer Prize-winning journalist David Cay Johnson.

Pssstttt...Johnson deserved his award.

Time for me to walk on down the road...

Frack You! Oklahoma's Rocking Because of Greed

Good Day World!

For years, I've been writing about the problems associated with fracking. 

Industry weasels have long contended there are no problems with fracking. An outright lie. 

They've known there were problems as far back as 1969.

It was always really about covering up facts in the pursuit of cheap oil.

Drill, baby drill.

Now, after one of the strongest earthquakes ever to hit Oklahoma last Saturday, state regulators have ordered oil and gas companies to shut down all their wastewater disposal wells in a 725-square-mile area around the site of the quake's epicenter near Pawnee. 

I'm anxious to see what state officials do now. Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, read the dirty truth about one town that was transformed by fracking: Colossal Fracking Mess

Here's the 9 Biggest Reasons To Ban Fracking.

Texas is having it's problems with fracking where experts say the leading cause of earthquakes comes from the wastewater disposal from fracking.

Learn more about the Fracking Boom with this state-by-state map that shows where it's happening, and may happen at soon.

This is a classic case of greed versus the environment. As always, it could go either way. Let's hope enough people in the right places wake up and stop destroying the land in which we live.

Time for me to walk on down the road...

In Praise of Pit Bulls And All Dogs

                                          Good Day World!

There is no bad dog breed. 

I don't care what some people say, ALL dogs are the best animal companions we humans could ever hope for.

I really think it's sad that pit bulls have gotten such a bad reputation over recent years. How did that happen? Once upon a time the American PitBull Terrier was considered a family dog.

Remember Petey? He's that good looking dog on the top of the page and was a star in The Little Rascals, a series of American comedy short films about a group of poor neighborhood children and their adventures.

There's a number of reasons why pit bulls were given a bad reputation. Because of their ancestry, pit bull's (once used in war by the ancient Britons, and later Romans) were used as sporting (in other words fighting) dogs in the 19th century.

That cruel practice has continued into the 21st century. It's illegal, but cases are still coming up across the country.

Just think, during World War I the country itself was personified as a pit bull on Army recruitment posters. There were even several pit bulls who became famous in the American military.

For example:

Believe it or not, Sgt. Stubby, the most Decorated US Military Dog, would be banned from bases today!

Why? Because Stubby was what would today be a considered a pit bull mix. 

Pit bulls (including American Staffordshire Terriers and Staffordshire Bull Terriers), along with Rottweilers, Doberman Pinchers and Chow Chows, are not allowed to live in housing on military bases because they're considered "dangerous dogs."

Despite being illegal in all fifty states, dog fighting made a comeback in the 80s, and the pitt bull was the dog of choice. Drug dealers and gangs preferred them for guard dogs.

The final straw in getting the bad rep pit bulls face today can be traced to a highly publicized attack in 1987 in which a pit bull, guarding a marijuana crop in California, mauled and killed a two-and-a-half year-old boy.

That was it. Pit bulls became the victims of a lot of bad press in the following decades. 

What the hell happened to common sense? If you raise your dog, any dog, with love they will be your best friend. 

Granted, some breeds need extra TLC and training, but any dog properly taken care of becomes a family member if you let them.

One of the big problems with people who buy pit bulls, and other supposedly dangerous dogs, is they don't take the time to properly raise and train them.

Not all dogs do well in all environments. Kinda like humans. So let's stop demonizing a dog that propaganda has persecuted for far too long. 

Time for me to walk on down the road...

I Never Trusted Using Computers To Vote - Now Look What's Happening

Good Day World!

Our nation's voting systems were hacked by foreigners recently according to the FBI.

I'm really concerned that the two reported hacks that took place in Arizona and Illinois are only the tip of the iceberg.

A "flash" alert from the FBI's Cyber Division reveals heightened concerns among U.S. intelligence officials about the possibility of cyberintrusions, potentially by Russian state-sponsored hackers aimed at disrupting the November elections.  

I never trusted computers in our polling places. The potential for hacking began in 1996 when The Reform Party used I-Voting (Internet Voting) for the first governmental election in the U.S.

By 2002, the Help America Vote Act mandated that one handicapped accessible voting system be provided per polling place, which most jurisdictions have chosen to satisfy with the use of the DRE voting machines.

By 2004 over a quarter of American voters were using computer voting machines. The rest is history.

Today the majority of voting machines don't have hard copy data backup, or any other safeguard against hacking. There are some voting machines that have a Voter-verified paper audit trail, but they only count for a small part of the total.

What's really scary is that there's not enough time to implement additional safeguards to our voting system for this election.

The Department of Homeland Security needs to designate state election systems as part of the nation's "critical infrastructure" to forestall future meddling in our elections.

Meanwhile all we can do is hope that we have enough computer experts to fight of more intrusions in November. Like I said...it's scary.

Related:

Russian Hackersare Targeting U.S. Election Databases, Experts Warn

Time for me to walk on down the road...

Political Hacks and Innuendos Both Suck

Good Day World!

You can get away with saying anything these days. 

Nasty innuendos have become so commonplace it's hard to sort out the bull pucky from the the truth.

It doesn't have to be true to travel on the Internet or social media/mainstream media.

Political hacks are having a field day during this election cycle. Innuendos and accusations are flying around like a flock of buzzards. 

Look no further than our two major party candidates for president.

"Hillary Clinton has epilepsy, is autistic, and falls down repeatedly," Donald Trump and his Trumpettes claim without a shred of evidence to prove it.

It doesn't matter. Just hearing outrageous, sometimes oblique remarks about race, is enough to fan the fires of hate.

Because we have free speech in this country there's always people that want to see how far they can take that concept. There are those who want to tell lies without reprecussions.

By alluding to something such as - "I heard President Obama wasn't born in America" - you keep a lie alive. Trump has used that lie as a platform to attract hardcore Republicans since 2012.

Suggestive and disparaging innuendos should not be tolerated in any form. It's the tool of bullies and partisan hacks this year, much to the disgust of most Americans.

We must demand...
That all innuendos have to be backed up with verifiable facts.

FYI: Sexual Innuendos are a different subject altogether. Just not today's topic.

Time for me to walk on down the road...

Scientists Say Little Pre-Human Superstar 'Lucy' Fell To Her Death

Good Day World!

I'm feeling a little kookie thinking about a pre-human superstar named "Lucy."

Imagine, if you will, it's the summer of 1974 in Ethiopia and a team of archaeologists have discovered a complete fossilized skeleton that's hailed as a major find. 

That skeleton of a pre-human called Australopithecines, has led to a more complete picture of those tiny human forerunners scientists have been studying for so long. 

Yes, pre-humans.

Let me tell you a little bit about Lucy. She was 3.5 feet tall and her feet were made for walking.
(Flashback: Nancy Sinatra sings "These Boots Are Made For Walkin')

Back to Lucy. 

She had really strong arms that could have swung her up easily into trees. Scientists sitting around at night by camp fires have long debated whether Lucy and her kind lived and foraged in trees, or spent their days on the ground.

Scientists have been studing Lucy's little skeleton since she was discovered and recently decided she was killed from falling from a great height.

Which leads me to why they called their discovery "Lucy." Are you ready for this? 

Because they were listening to the Beatles song "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" while they worked.

Time for me to walk on down the road...

Election 2016: 'I wish I was in the land of cotton, old times there are not forgotten...'

"I wish I was in the land of cotton,
Old times there are not forgotten;
Look away! Look away! Look away, Dixie's Land!"
- Dixie Land

Good Day World!

Racists have infiltrating mainstream politics this electoral season.

The word went out when Donald Trump got nominated for president by the Republican party that it's okay to show your true colors.

Encouraged by Trump's success at race-baiting, a former Klu Klux Klan Grand Wizard, David Duke, is running for the senate with the message he will protect European Americans (code for white guys).

Republican politicians have been paving the way to racism for years now. Take Maine governor Paul LaPage for example:

"You shoot at the enemy. You try to identify the enemy. And the enemy right now, the overwhelming majority of people color or people of Hispanic origin." - 8/26/16 News conference

Then there's the emergence of the Alt-Right.

The alt-right is against political correctness and feminism. It's nationalistic, tribalist and anti-establishment. It's followers are fond of internet pranks using provocative, often grossly offensive messages to goad their enemies on both the right and the left.

And many of them are Trump supporters.

Emboldened by their success supporting Trump, the alt-right believers have been crawling out from beneath their hiding places in droves.

Although the alt-right has no official ideology most sources connect it to white nationalism, anti-semitism, right-wing populism, and nativism.

Take a look at the Old Confederacy states. They're now the Neo Confederacy (Red States). 

In the news: US Election: Racist trolling for reporting on Trump

Another recommended read: Trump, Clinton and Racisim in American Politics

Time for me to walk on down the road...

What a Life! We've been Married for 42 Years Today!

Good Day World!

My wife, Shirley, and I, are celebrating our 42nd anniversary today!

It's one of the biggest accomplishments of my life. I made a lot of mistakes in my life, but I did manage to do something right:

Living with Shirley, my soul mate, has been a wonderful roller coaster of experiences. Her limitless capacity for love has always charmed me and guided me. She's taught me so much about love - something I once didn't think I was capable of.

I don't have a bucket list. As long as Shirley is at my side, I want for nothing. 

And you, dear reader, I hope you have someone in your life that fulfills your soul, and showers you with love too.

No post tomorrow (still celebrating) - Thursday September 1st - I'll be back on Friday September 2nd

Time for me to walk on down the road...

That 'Wag' Anthony Weiner Is Back In Town Chasing A Trumpette

Good Day World!

The "wag" is back in town.

You may remember him as Congressman Anthony Weiner.

He was the guy who resigned from Congress in 2011 after he got caught "wagging" his weiner in a sexting scandal.

Let it never be said that this guy doesn't have balls.

After he got caught the first time he claimed that he underwent therapy and ran for mayor of New York in 2013. The funny thing is New Yorkers seemed to be ready to give him a second chance.

That campaign collapsed when it was revealed that the wag was at it again and was sexting under the pseudonym "Carlos Danger."

The fallout from both scandals was juicy enough to make a documentary film called "Weiner."

Throughout the scandals his wife, Huma Abedin (Hillary Clinton's closest aide) stood by him, up until now. But she's fed up after reports came out that he was up to his old weiner wagging ways.

The woman who Weiner was sexting is a Trump follower. I mention this because Trump was quick to come out and condemn the wag that he once donated money to when Weiner was running for Congress.

A perfectly absurd scandal all the way around. I don't think the wag will be getting back into public service ever again. Which begs the question; what will he do to make a living?

I've got a suggestion that I suspect Weiner would like. 

The Oscar Mayer Company has a fleet of eight active Weinermobiles that tour the country. And, from what I hear, they're always looking for drivers!

Reality TV anyone?

Related:

Trump Has Donated to Weiner's Political Campaigns

Time for me to walk on down the road...