Just a reminder....

...one more day to vote in our GPS/Man Law poll.

But more importantly…. Mongo posted this over the weekend so you may not have seen it the first time around. We thought it was an outstanding idea because it involves a little time and a little effort. Scratching out checks to the USO and PVA is goodness but whether we like it or not, we as citizens of this country are fully vested in places like Iraq and Afghanistan and a “deck plates” effort like this is our opportunity to contribute to this fight instead of behaving merely as consumers in the War on Terror as has been, at times, a recommended course of action.

"America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great."
- Alexis de Tocqueville

The Return of the Bride of the Comeback

It dawned on us today the shift in the meaning of the term “election cycle” – the term, we’ve always assumed, referred to a “cycle” with respect to successive campaigning/election evolutions over the course of years. However, election “cycle” can now refer to a seemingly revolving/repeating(?) series of events within a single campaign/election evolution.

To wit, after having fun boxing Obama about the ears for his Reverend Wright association and his subsequent speech (btw, this is not going away… just fading for the time being), the focus of attention has now volleyed back to Hillary over her harrowing trip to Bosnia with Sinbad.

After admitting she misspoke, Hillary has resorted to the “…it just proves I’m human” defense. We’ll credit her for poking fun at herself but you can see the lines in her face more clearly and some of the resigned road-weariness that is becoming a trademark of hers when she’s backed into a corner.

Now, you can see where this is going, can’t you? Much more of this piling-on and untoward behavior towards this lady and we’ll be back right back in New Hampshire lapping up her tears.

For reals.

Honest. This time, they promise, its gonna happen. April 14th is the date that the long-awaited under-grounding of power, telephone and cable lines will begin in anger in our ‘hood. The Big Dig, Rolando Beach style.

By our accounting they are approximately 3 years behind schedule. Yeah…. not too shabby.

But when we recall those clean and tidy but completely sterile and non-descript neighborhoods of Poway, Rancho Bernardo and East Lake, you’ll have to forgive us a bit of nostalgia. We’re children of Suburbia and our choice of “artwork” suggests we’ll always have a soft spot in our heart for this unique form of Southern California blight… in a totally Institute of Official Cheer sort of way.

How about another Lottery instead?

We’ve been accused (in these very pages) of never meeting a tax cut we didn’t like or thinking there was nothing ill on g#d’s green earth that a good ol’-fashioned tax cut couldn’t solve. An oversimplification to be sure but considering the alternative reflexology as practiced by Democrat state legislators, we’ll wear this broad-brushing proudly.

There was a voluminous comment exchange here on our home-schooling post that drifted from the question of teacher credentials to funding. The issue of funding has now been put on the front burner state-wide as California governor, Arnold Schwarznegger has proposed school-funding cuts in the wake of a huge budget shortfall.

Story here from the San Diego U-T, wastes no time in addressing the giddiness that some lawmakers see in this predicament. From the first paragraph:

“Democratic legislators, who have long wanted to get more money for underfunded California schools, think they have a historic opportunity to push for a tax increase.”

Yep. Its in the air. Can you feel it? And “historic opportunity”? Wow. That term is usually reserved for political movements that push for the franchise to vote or defeating fascism or communism or at the least a Laker 3-peat…. but to raise taxes? Almost makes you feel guilty you aren’t pulling your fair share, doesn’t it?

In the 16th paragraph of the story, it finally addresses some of the “reforms” the Governor and Assembly Republicans would like to see implemented that we would like to see also like gutting, err…. “streamlining bureaucracy, more local control and more accountability”.

We ain’t holding our breath, though. If any of you harbor any delusions that the California Teachers Union (and lest we be wrongly accused, we are referring specifically to the Union apparatchik and not necessarily the rank and file which they represent) hold the welfare of the children in the same regard they do to maintaining and expanding their own power, please watch video here courtesy KT.

Now, where's that paintbrush? We need another coat.

Forget...? Forget...? Please....

We’re pretty certain that Hillary may have felt she kinda fell out of the public eye with all the attention being paid to Barack Obama and his FORMER! Pastor so imagine her relief when the press started picking up on some calendar inconsistencies with respect to where she claims to have been during "crisis moments" in the Clinton, Bill presidency versus where she actually was. Story here. This would supposedly refute the "experience"
meme that has been the cornerstone of her campaign.

And remember that claim a few months ago regarding that visit to Bosnia back in '98, the evasive landing, the withering crossfire from
the hills, the mad dash across the tarmac and (gasp) the lack of a reception
committee? Well, she trotted out that “experience” again last week only for her campaign to claim later on that she misspoke. Check out video here for dramatic footage of the action.

This is the sort of thing that drives B-Daddy nearly insane about the Clintons. What was there really to be gained by exaggerating the details of this trip against what was surely to be lost by merely rummaging around some local affiliate news archives? Damn internet. It appears to be yet one more example of the pathological nature shared by these two… this compulsive nature to lie just for lying’s sake. Go back to the video and look at her mannerisms and listen to her tone when she talks about that trip. Its so matter-of-fact, the delivery so natural - Its frightening.

Look. We all know politicians, ahem, exaggerate... but the manner in which it is so effortlessly executed by the Clintons makes us want to take a shower after checking for our wallet.

Happy #$%&-ing Easter

Mr. Styles divines the intent of James Carville’s uplifting seasonal message here.

If we're Bill Richardson, we're watching our back. Even the awesomeness of that beard may not be enough to save him. Though with that tan, he’s actually starting to look Hispanic.

We so won't jinx this by mentioning it.

That Coca-Cola commercial that shows video footage of a diminutive yet lightning quick UCLA point guard hitting a right-handed runner high off the glass over the outstretched arm of a much taller defender wasn’t hi-lite footage from last night’s UCLA game it was merely the last time UCLA was a #1 seed and sleep-walked through a 2nd round game against a #8 seed from the Big 12 only to have their point guard bail them out in the last second(s). Tyus Edney… meet Darren Collison.

UCLA’s effort nearly made us look prescient. One’s got to think that the lack of offensive consistency and habit of mounting furious come-backs seemingly every week is eventually going to bite them in the arse…. no such, thus far as the Bruins snatched victory from defeat against Texas A&M last night 53-49.

Previously, we had lamented the lack of a go-to perimeter guy for the Bruins, a job that was to be Josh Shipp’s but one which Shipp has politely declined as he is in the midst of a season-long shooting slump. Our fears may be unfounded, though, as Collison seems of late to be quite capable of providing this perimeter scoring and tending to his primary play-making responsibilities.
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Maybe its because of the amount of basketball we’ve watched these past four days, but aside from the upsets and the high drama of many of the games, particularly last night (the Stanford-Marquette game is an instant classic), the thing that stands out most to us is the terrible officiating. And not at just one site or with a handful of crews…. evidence this weekend on T.V. has demonstrated that this is a nationwide epidemic.

We didn’t see this coming: We liked Washington St. against Notre Dame but we didn’t expect WAZU to hold the Domers to nearly half their scoring average and only 13 field goals (24.5% for the game) in a 61-41 victory. Ouch.

All the Pac-10 haters can go back to shoveling their driveway, scraping their windshield or whatever it is people east of Yuma do on a daily basis. After a disappointing 3-3 first round showing, the Pac-10 will have 3 teams in the Sweet 16 as opposed to possibly just 1 for the hallowed ACC (as of this post Miami is down 8 to Texas with a minute left and North Carolina plays later this afternoon).

oh, btw... UCLA won the national championship back in '95 when Edney hit that runner against Missouri. doh!

P.S. Texas just beat Miami. Its now up to North Caroling to salvage ACC pride against Arkansas.

The Play-Doh Offensive: Hitting Al Qaeda Where It Hurts

Substitute here.

If you've sat there in your easy chair wondering how you could hit Al Qaeda and the Taliban in the mouth for the endless grief and destruction they have caused this world, I'm going to give you the address. Ready?

Attn: Teresa Nealley
CoC 163 LTF
Camp Phoenix
APOAE09320

But first, you have to make a bit of a detour. If you want to wipe the smirk off of Bin Laden's face, and make the Taliban cringe, you have to drive first to your neighborhood Target, Wal-Mart, or similar store and load up on a few "war supplies".

Try these:
Box of pencils
Box of erasers
Box of crayons
Play-Doh
A stack of printer paper
Pencil sharpeners

Buy these, and similar items, or even just some baby or toddler clothes, and send them to the U.S. Navy's very own "Girl In Afghanistan", Teresa Nealley, at the address provided above. From her prime spot in Camp Phoenix on the outskirts of Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, she'll know how to get them to exactly the right places. Plan on spending around $35, including postage and shipping materials, when all is said and done if you go by the list above.

This will take you no more than 1 hour, I promise.

Originally documented in a BwD post in mid-October, Teresa is now into her sixth month of a fifteen month deployment. It's been hard on her, but she's determined -- despite the hardships arrayed against her -- to help the poorest of the poor in one of the most hardscrabble countries on Earth. She has asked The Substitute and his friends to help her in the cause.

You can do no more to fight the evils of terrorism and the twisted version of the Muslim religion that The Taliban & Co. have ruthlessly wielded than to stick a pencil or crayons, piece of paper, and the gift of imagination into the hands of an Afghani child. Pencils and paper, education and compassion, are primary tools of freedom's inevitable victory over tyrrany. http://hosted.ap.org/specials/interactives/_international/afghan_circus/index.html?SITE=CADIU

This is your chance to make the most direct impact on the War on Terror that is possible. Consider it your own version of a World War II Victory Garden or Pot & Pan Drive. It is your chance to drive a wedge between Al Qaeda's operatives and an Afghani people that have known nothing but war and misery for what is now beyond 30 years.

Kill them with kindness. Show them the compassion and concern that America has historically been renowned for. By the time the post office clerk gets done putting on the postage on your box, you'll feel better than you have since before 9/11/01.

- The Substitute

P.S. Referenced post on Teresa can be found here.

We'll Take It

The next best thing to Belmont taking down Duke on Thursday would be West Virginia doing the deed themselves against the Blue Devils which they did, winning their second round match-up 73-67… and it really wasn’t that close as Duke hit a couple of late 3s to cut into a 14 point deficit. West Virginia was in control pretty much the entire 2nd half after falling behind by 5 at half-time. Box score here. Biggest stat, of course: Duke, a dreadful 5-22 from behind the arc.

Around the 8 minute mark with Duke trailing by 6 announcer Bob Wenzel felt compelled to tell us “the team in the white shirts (Duke) is really going to start showing some heart, here”. This is representative of the template for announcers and the sporting media as a whole we’ve heard for years now with respect to the Duke program that we can’t help but feel is codespeak for: "the undermanned, floor-slapping, gritty little white kids at Duke won’t ever go down without a fight. " Unfortunately for Duke, West Virginia’s whiteness rivaled that of Duke’s and from that point on WVU took Duke to the woodshed beating their brains out on the boards and coming up with seemingly every loose ball.

So…. what’s up with the Dookies? Another early round exit for another pedestrian, athletically-challenged, Coack K squad. We remarked in an email to a friend last March that Coach K was going to be the next Coach Bobby Knight (Bobby Knight coached Coach Kryzezewski at Army). What we meant by that was the success that both coaches experienced at the height of their career dictated thereafter, we believe, their philosophy towards how they ran their program and thus the type of player they recruited.

Bobby Knight won 3 national championships in a span of 12 years but his last championship was 21 years ago. Coach K won 3 in 11 years, his last coming back in 2001. But at some point, after the last championship, something changed in both programs… something changed in the mindset and philosophy of both coaches which affected their ability to win championships thereafter and it had everything to do with the personalities of both coaches, one the mentor and the other, the protégé.

This post is running long already so we’ll break it off and come back to finish our thoughts in a Pt. II later in the tournament.

…and for those of you who have been living under a rock, here is the game-winner and most significant two-points in the history of basketball in San Diego. Mongo, an Aztec alum was begging for this.

H/T: Awful Announcing

The Great Communicator 2.0?

So after having some time to digest the Obama race speech and reading all the various reactions to it, we’re still far less inclined to parse the speech to point out any inconsistencies or questionable lines of reasoning but rather left to ponder how it is this man who sounds so very post-racial could hold close to his bosom a man of the cloth that sounds so bigoted and hateful?

B-Daddy opined in the comment section, here, that its just politics. Obama, the son of a white woman and a black man not descendant of slaves needed some street cred so he hooked up with one of the most “respected” civil rights leaders in Chicago. Fair enough but now 20 years on its come home to roost and now he has to answer for it. And answer he did in a nice little equivocating speech that got him back on the “friends” panel of the Face Book set.

OK…. can we all just move on, now? Sure. That is, if you are ready for “change”…. a “change” from the way we view and treat the question of race in this country? If Obama’s past associations are any indication, it sounds like more of the same to us. And if Obama stood to gain from his association with the Reverend early in his political career then he stands to be punished, deservedly so, for it now.

Now Obama, who has referenced Ronald Reagan a number of times, fancies himself as the Reagan of the Democrat Party… that one person who through his words and magnanimous personality can unite the factions on the liberal-Left as well as draw off moderates and Republicans who have grown disgusted with the very un-Republican behavior of Republicans in Congress and the Oval Office. Unfortunately for Obama, though, he’s got the lyrics down, but the tune is off.

“Unfair”, you say? Hey, its just politics.

Acta non Verba, baby... Acta non Verba

Our Little Catholic School up on the hill wishes everyone a very Good Friday.

The Toreros of the University of San Diego, a #13 seed just upset the #4 seed Uconn Huskies 70-69 in OT in one of the guttiest team performances we’ve seen in quite some time. Box score, here. We saw this same team in person back in December at the city championship against San Diego St., a loss, and it would be safe to say that we did not see this coming. This represents the first NCAA tournament win for the city of San Diego.

With leading scorers, center Gyno Pomare (pictured) and mercurial point guard, Brandon Johnson both on the bench having fouled-out, sophomore guard De’Jon Jackson who was previously just 1 of 8 from the field hit a step-back 17-footer with 1.2 seconds left in OT to clinch the win for USD.

Thank you, De’Jon. Instead of cursing a loss opportunity because of some spotty foul-shooting down the stretch and some questionable officiating, you and the rest of the gritty Toreros just made this Good Friday a little more gooder.

Our bracket is ablaze right now after having both USC and Arizona getting knocked out, teams we had going to the Elite 8 and Sweet 16, respectively but right now, we don’t care as its always nice to see a team that has no business doing so getting by on pure heart over an athletically superior college basketball blueblood who is wondering right now what just hit them.