Football Culture

We lived in Arizona for a little over seven years. I was just as big a Bama fan out there as I've been my whole life, andin all the other places we've lived. But football just wasn't that big a deal out there. This past weekend I wore one of my shirts and hats as we ran our errands. More people commented on my clothing choice on that one day than did the whole time we lived in the desert.

I like football fans...even the ones who cheer for the right colors but the wrong team!

The Best Takedown of Al Gore EVER

Orson Card has been one of my favorite authors for nearly 20 years, ever since I came across Ender's Game. Although he's a Democrat, he has a keen eye for truth, an understanding of the need for success in the war on terror, and a very short temper with the hypocrites of his party's leadership. Proving that point yet again, here is his latest takedown of Al Gore's worship of the environment (and that's exactly what it is):


Here is the Psalm of Al, from which the faithful constantly quote (King James Version):

1. Great storms ravage our cities, and the wise man saith: Global Warming hath done this.
2. Drought keepeth all storms at bay, and the wise man saith: This also hath Global Warming done.
3. Global Warming maketh the oceans rise; it maketh deep snow to fall;
4. Flood and fire, feast and famine, typhoon and tornado, hail and lightning, all things good and bad that come from sky or sea, Global Warming hath made them all.
5. And when our homes are beneath the waves, we shall know that Global Warming in its wrath hath seen our sins.
6. For our vehicles that glut themselves on oil, for the trees we cut and land we clear,
7. For the cooling and heating of our houses, for the plowing and harvesting of our fields, we are punished.
8. Whenever we burn carbon and release it into the air, we shall know that Global Warming seeth it, and is wroth.
9. O man! Thou hast flouted the great god of the sky, and by three degrees of temperature we shall be burned,
10. For Global Warming is a jealous god, and small and annoying is man.

Everything We Think We Know About Katrina May Be Wrong

I follow the news pretty closely, and I've long been disgusted with the utterly unfair rap President Bush took for the impact of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans. Florida gets absolutely slammed year after year, but never has the civil breakdown Louisiana did. And it's NOT because Katrina was such a powerful storm. In fact, when it hit, it was a Category One!

But even though I keep up with things like this, I was utterly unprepared for this post by Paul at Wizbang. I don't know if all of his conclusions are correct, but he has evidence that challenges everything in the conventional wisdom. You need to read this article. Here's just a taste:

What I will say next will probably completely throw you. Katrina saved probably over 50,000 lives.

That levee was doomed. If it had failed without notice, the death toll would have been measured in tens of thousands. There would be no evacuation, no preparation, no Feds at all. (such that they were anyway) no Coast Guard in choppers etc. Tens of thousands of people would have been dead in hours and tens of thousands more would have died on 120 degree rooftops waiting for rescue. It would have been unimaginable. - More unimaginable.

"Luckily" -and I groan when I say that- Katrina allowed the city to be evacuated.
I've said it for months. Katrina didn't flood New Orleans. She just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

He also has links to an actual video of the levee collapsing, which definitely tells a different story than the official version. Again, as strongly as I can I urge you to read his whole post with an open mind. It may change your entire perception of what happened last year.

Deja Vu All Over Again

In my blog nap, I have left alone much in the political world that was worthy of comment. But I'm going to go back and touch on just one...the defeat of Joe Lieberman in the Connecticut primary. Are the Republicans really this lucky, or is it my imagination? Are the Democrats going back to 1972 again? Can a major American political party really decide to ignore the single most pressing issue on the horizon? Will the ostrich replace the donkey as the symbol of the party?

I think there's a good chance Lieberman will win reelection as an independent, but the fact that he was ousted by his own party for the sin of taking terrorism seriously is not a good sign for the future of that party. I've read several commentors who said that the Republicans would lose this fall if the Dems would just shut up for five minutes...fortunately, it doesn't look like that's going to hapen.

Oklahoma Observations

The grass is greener

You don't have to water it every day

But

There's a lot more of it

And it still has to be mowed

(Not to mention the lawn-mowing help has deserted me for the halls of academia)

I Hadn't Done This in Years

Tonight at the grocery store, I only bought one gallon of milk...and I checked the expiration date!

I miss the kids!

The Trail of Tears

Yes, I am aware (as several of you have been kind enough to point out) that it has been several weeks now that this blog has been sleeping.

We have finished the move to a new state and a new house (well except for a couple of stray boxes in the garage), I've--mostly--settled into the new job, and we just returned tonight from taking the kids to college. Given that they were born about six weeks ago, I'm not sure how it's possible that it's time for them to go to college at all...let alone considering how the summer vanished in a haze of trips on Southwest Airlines from Phoenix to Tulsa and back again.

We drove off yesterday after they turned and waved goodbye and walked into the student center together. And mostly we took turns crying (it's hard to drive when you're both bawling your eyes out) as we made the long trip home. The hard thing is knowing that the kids are in a great place, receiving a great education, and having a great time...at the same time we're missing them so much.

It's a good thing we've got the dogs!