tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71295473072750490192024-03-08T07:56:06.368-05:00Musings of a MadManjust my thoughts.JDeSabhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15323698347440536524noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125truetag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129547307275049019.post-8363613729219366302018-03-31T12:35:00.003-04:002018-03-31T12:35:46.598-04:00Get Your Own Copy
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13.33px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Hello Family, </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13.33px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I’m so glad that so many are
enjoying the films that have been converted to digital video from my Pap’s 8mm
movies.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>I am loving them as much as you
all are. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13.33px;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; margin: 0px;">While the films are all
converted, it’s been my plan all along to down sample the frame rate so the
film doesn’t move so quickly.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>You see
8mm has a frame rate of about 18fps (frames per second) and these videos are
encoded at 30 fps. I’ve been studying trying to find an application that will
allow me to slow down the films, I’m still working on it and finding a good
tutorial and the right program is taking some time.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13.33px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">There are 59 films that I’ve
converted.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The clips that have been
shared so far are just a small fraction of all the films.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>I have given Aunt Linda (DeSabato-Thompson) a
copy of all of the films and I’d love to share with anyone interested here as
well.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13.33px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">If your TV is a smart TV, and
in general it can play MP4 files, then all you need is a flash drive with all
the files loaded on them.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The files I
have take up around 20 gigabytes of room on a flash drive.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>I recommend this drive bought on amazon for
well under $20 <a href="https://amzn.to/2GZ2GsM"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri;">https://amzn.to/2GZ2GsM</span></a><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>... I recommend this drive because it’s the
one that I loaded and shared at Aunt Linda’s house and I know it works.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13.33px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">If you have a TV that is not
a smart TV or might be an older model and may not be able to play the file
format there’s a player that you can buy and connect to your TV via HDMI cable,
this is what I gave Aunt Linda and it works very well, <a href="https://amzn.to/2GqbCdF"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri;">https://amzn.to/2GqbCdF</span></a><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13.33px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">If you send me a flash drive
I’ll send it back to you loaded up with all the video files.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>You can just order it on amazon and use my
name as a delivery address, select send as a gift, and use the gift message
that amazon offers to inform me of your name and address where you want the
loaded flash drive sent to.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Please contact me on Facebook and I'll be glad to give you my address.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13.33px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">It’s my hope that everyone
wants a copy.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>And by the way, if you’re
close to someone that has a copy, you can just create a copy yourself
from any pc, from the source flash drive to another flash drive with enough
space.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13.33px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Lastly, I really enjoy seeing
these old movies.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>I’d be honored and so
excited if any of you were to ask me to convert old movies that you have, I
also can do great scans of old photos with some enhancement and I also am able
to convert old slides to digital files.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>These old films are laying in basements filled with wonderful memories
and I doubt any of us take out a projector and put up a screen near as often as
we’d like to.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>If you have any interest
in having any old media converted, please contact me.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>This is not a business I’m not offering to do
this for any financial gain, just to bring our families memories back to
life.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13.33px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">PS. My next projects will be
converting VHS to digital. <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>So if any of
us have VHS of our weddings, I’d be glad to help out there too!</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13.33px;">
<br /></div>
JDeSabhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15323698347440536524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129547307275049019.post-55787871869536168912015-06-27T12:07:00.001-04:002015-06-27T12:08:43.209-04:00A couple Thoughts on Confederate Battle Flag Hysteria<p><sub><em>-The following text was begun as a comment on a thread to a liberal group I follow on Facebook.  As it got longer I realized it wasn’t appropriate for that venue and decided to post it here and invite a friend to read it and give me his feedback.  This post is not as complete as I would have written it if I had been writing expressly for this blog.  -thanks </em></sub></p> <p align="justify">Am I the only one that sees this flag uproar as a diversion? It's the same as saying "there's no racism, I’ve never seen a KKK burning cross"... or, we could say "you never see news reports of black folk getting lynched anymore, we can't be racists". Anyone who comments on the Confederate Battle Flag, IN MY OPINION, is aiding in diverting attention from the true issues/problems. White folk and black folk don't know each other. By avoiding each other we keep the walls of fear and ignorance high. The national sentiment that has swept the country to where most people support gay marriage, or at least enough folks to impact policy, is amazing, but it's troubling in that in the time this has swept our nation, we still don't understand each other across the races.</p> <p align="justify">I have a few questions that can help. Someone says "I have a black friend", ask that person "when's the last time you had him over for dinner? Went to dinner? A picnic? Were there more than 1 of your black friends families at that picnic". Don’t leave it as a test but maybe ask "why not do it sometime". We need to socialize; we need to be able to ask questions of each other that matter. We need to learn, at a personal level, what we have in common and also what is different in our experiences and lives. </p> <p align="justify">When I was a boy, my dad ran the company picnic. We had a group of his coworkers over for a planning meeting. One guy and his wife were there with their newborn baby (they were an African American family, Darryl and I can't remember the wives name) during the night my mom asked "why isn't the baby's hair curly, like yours" ... 5 white faces lost all expression. As if it were ridiculous to ask a person why they are different. Perhaps they feared Darryl would lose it. Darryl and his wife smiled and explained it takes some time to become curly, that babies’ hair is straight. And we moved on. It was no big deal to them. But I always remembered to looks on the faces of the white grownups in the room. It was like some secret rules existed that you don't ask about differences. We only learn, like and accept people by learning about them. </p> <p align="justify">Not all of my friends are "like" me. One of my dearest friends holds the diametrically opposite political beliefs to what I have. We tease each other, we question each other. Our different viewpoints lead to learning from each other. Not every city/town in America is diverse enough for what I'm asking. WE really aren't very much developed when compared to where we were as a society in the 60s when change swept through the society. Martin Luther's dream, was a dream, he died, we all think the change has happened, that just shows how devoted we, AS A SOCIETY, <em>NOT YOU READING THIS</em>, are, and have been, to keeping the races separated. I could be wrong of course. the force that keeps our black and white Americans from understanding each other might just be that silly flag. </p> <p align="justify">White America has found a way to avoid the real issue, hate, fear, and ignorance, and we've found a 150 year old piece of cloth to hide behind. If I were a black man, I'd be constantly slapping my forehead and shaking my head in disgust.  </p> JDeSabhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15323698347440536524noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129547307275049019.post-60508577694074711602013-03-06T20:53:00.001-05:002013-03-06T21:06:31.175-05:00Zoupa di Pollo da Giovanucci DI’ve been eating a lot of chicken soup lately. <br />
I’ve decided to skip the canned Campbell’s soup and try something else. <br />
So I bought a Jar of bullion and and followed the directions. Not too bad. But not great either. <br />
So I started adding things. After that evening, I started thinking about other things I could do. Here’s my first attempt at chicken soup.<br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="width: 400px;"><tbody>
<tr> <td valign="top" width="200">1 Frozen Chicken Breast Fillet</td> <td valign="top" width="200">5 cups water</td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top" width="200">1 can Campbells Chicken Soup</td> <td valign="top" width="200">3 bullion cubes</td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top" width="200">1 C Penne Pasta / crumbled</td> <td valign="top" width="200">4 Tbsp Butter</td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top" width="200">Zesty Italian Dressing</td> <td valign="top" width="200">Chives</td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top" width="200">Salt</td> <td valign="top" width="200">Pepper</td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
Start 1 cup of water to boil<br />
Put all the butter into a skillet and slice the chicken into quarters, cook on medium heat turning frequently.<br />
Once you’ve browned the chicken breasts heat over low heat until the water boils. Once the water boils add the water to the skillet of chicken. Set to simmer.<br />
now boil the four cups of water. Once it boils add the three bullion cubes. reduce heat. <br />
About the time the chicken has simmered about 15 minutes turn the heat off. <br />
Add the can of chicken soup to the water/bullion. Add about 1/4 cup of chives. Allow it to boil once again. Add Penne Pasta.<br />
While the soup is heating to a boil remove the chicken from the pan, pour the butter/water into the soup pot.<br />
Cube the chicken and put it into a food processor and process on high for 15 seconds. <br />
Add the processed chicken to the pot. Along with a squirt or two of Italian dressing.<br />
cook on low heat for at least 20 minutes. <br />
add salt and pepper to taste. <br />
FANTASTIC!JDeSabhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15323698347440536524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129547307275049019.post-87169383511567111532012-05-25T00:50:00.001-04:002012-05-25T00:50:41.790-04:00I’ve held this in long enough<p>Is anyone else tired of hearing about the First Amendment?  Is anyone else tired of the way that it’s twisted to mean more than (it seems) was originally intended?  Here is the text of the First Amendment.  I have not edited it at all.  </p> <blockquote> <p><em><font color="#0000ff">Amendment 1</font></em></p> <p><a href="http://www.heritage.org/constitution#%21/amendments/1/essays/138/establishment-of-religion"><em><font color="#0000ff">Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,</font></em></a><em><font color="#0000ff"> </font></em><a href="http://www.heritage.org/constitution#%21/amendments/1/essays/139/free-exercise-of-religion"><em><font color="#0000ff">or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;</font></em></a><em><font color="#0000ff"> </font></em><a href="http://www.heritage.org/constitution#%21/amendments/1/essays/140/freedom-of-speech-and-of-the-press"><em><font color="#0000ff">or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press;</font></em></a><em><font color="#0000ff"> </font></em><a href="http://www.heritage.org/constitution#%21/amendments/1/essays/141/freedom-of-assembly-and-petition"><em><font color="#0000ff">or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances</font></em></a><font color="#0000ff">.</font></p> </blockquote> <p>Allow me to explain why this is bothering me so much.  All day on the news today there is talk of how leaders of the Catholic religion are suing the United States government because Obamacare (The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act) requires that employer provided healthcare plans include coverage for birth control, the morning-after pill and surgical sterilization.  Bishop Roger Morin of Biloxi, MS said, “Never before in the history of our country has the federal government attempted to force citizens to directly purchase what violates their consciences and their freely chosen tenets of faith”.  To Bishop Morin I say,…. “It’s about time”. </p> <p>Here’s my point.  Once you decide to open a business, and hire other Americans to do your work, you are not in a position, Bishop, to control that other person.  An example is where a religious group opens a hospital or a school.  The Catholics, up to and including now, have offered their employees healthcare that does not include these services.  Now, the churches don’t require you to be of their religion to work in their hospital.  Yet they do require you to accept benefits that abide their tenets, even if they don’t coincide with your personal beliefs.  It would seem that the Catholics only believe in their freedom as a church and not their employees freedoms as Americans.  </p> <p>I do not find this to be a violation of the churches First Amendment rights.  Forcing the business that is the Catholic Religion to extend benefits to their employees does not force them to abandon their religious beliefs.  It does however prevent them from imposing their set of values upon employees.  Seems to me as this is a major victory for the employees.  Yet over 43 different Catholic organizations are filing suit against the United States Government.  Making employers extend insurance coverage to their employees does not “prohibit the free exercise of Religion”, that is what the first amendment says.  It does not say that “Catholics can do whatever they want and anyone that works for them must live their life as a Catholic.”</p> <p>Hopefully, this will be the beginning of the First Amendment being interpreted correctly.  The Bishop said “We cannot sit by in silence.  We must be clear that we cannot comply and will not comply.”  Ooooh, sounds like the beginnings of a movement.  Just make sure Bishop that if your followers should decide to take to the streets and demonstrate or use your other first amendment right, the right to free speech, make sure you stand where you are told you are allowed to stand.  Make sure you don’t annoy anyone.  Because, the right to free speech is not granted the same far flung liberties as your religious rights have been granted.  </p> <p>While the First amendment grants both the right to free speech and assembly and the right to “free exercise of religion”, we’ve seen, at least from the right, that the rights of those that want to assemble and protest are circumstantial.  We’ve seen this year, the Occupiers are only allowed to assemble and speak where they are told they can and only for as long as the mayors and city councils deem is convenient.  </p> <p>How can the rights granted in the first amendment be interpreted so differently?  Bill O’Reilly on Fox News seems to believe, whole heartedly, that the rights granted to the Catholic Church allow them to withhold elementary medical coverage from their employees.  Yet he is totally fine with the rights of other Americans to assemble and voice their grievances to be narrowly interpreted.  I’m not saying that I disagree with the argument that the occupier should be denied the opportunity to  set up tent cities in our nations parks indefinitely, what I am saying is that if you believe that the first amendment grants the church the right to deny it’s employees birth control then you must also believe that the first amendment grants our citizens the unbridled right to assemble wherever and for as long as they like.  </p> <p>In the end, I don’t believe that the Catholics should be allowed to withhold birth control benefits from their employees simply because it goes against their religion.  I also believe that the occupiers should be able to assemble and protest.  Yet I don’t believe that our parks should be used as campgrounds.  Come to the city in the morning, protest from 9 to 5 while the bankers are in their office.  Leave and come back.  It would seem that the Catholics want to paint themselves as martyrs.  The Fox News, Ditto head republicans want to scream that this is a blatant infringement on their first amendment rights.  I say that you are free to exercise your religion in your home and at your church, don’t impose the tenets of your religion upon your employees.  </p> <p><img src="http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee309/johnnyd1967/johnnyd/Jd3d_xforvercopy.jpg" width="86" height="146" /> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:72e33646-c3d6-4507-85fa-9c454963759a" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent">LiveJournal Tags: <a href="http://www.livejournal.com/interests.bml?int=Religion" rel="tag">Religion</a>,<a href="http://www.livejournal.com/interests.bml?int=Occupy" rel="tag">Occupy</a>,<a href="http://www.livejournal.com/interests.bml?int=Wall+Street" rel="tag">Wall Street</a>,<a href="http://www.livejournal.com/interests.bml?int=Catholics" rel="tag">Catholics</a>,<a href="http://www.livejournal.com/interests.bml?int=Free+Speech" rel="tag">Free Speech</a>,<a href="http://www.livejournal.com/interests.bml?int=First+Amendment" rel="tag">First Amendment</a>,<a href="http://www.livejournal.com/interests.bml?int=1st" rel="tag">1st</a>,<a href="http://www.livejournal.com/interests.bml?int=Constitution" rel="tag">Constitution</a></div></p> JDeSabhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15323698347440536524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129547307275049019.post-40532942946069831812011-05-01T23:38:00.001-04:002011-05-01T23:38:03.855-04:00Political Ramblings: Bin Laden is Dead, Rich Folks Pay 35% Less In Taxes Than They Did Twenty Years ago<p>How strange is it that the United States government is helping the common folk of Middle Eastern countries stand up against their governments?  In this country, in the last 5 years, our government has robbed from its poor to prop up the rich.  Our working people have had their 401k funds destroyed, their mortgages foreclosed on while the mortgage holders are spending billions in bonuses.  Did our government send military to Wisconsin to make sure that the people were heard as they lobbied their state government to do what was in their interest? <br />Tonight Osama Bin Laden is apparently dead.  We will hear in the coming days how this is a victory.  A victory that has been paid for with the lives of thousands of Americans, at the expense of tens of thousands of civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan and at the expense of our American tax dollars in the hundreds of billions if not trillions of dollars.  Yes, GW Bush will be heard from and will be lauded.  Yes, we should all be glad that this despicable man is no longer counted among the living.  We will all fear also the backlash of the faceless Al Qaeda and we will surely see radical Muslim's mourning the death of this Bin Laden.  <br />Myself, I feel numb.   It's almost ten years since the twin towers fell.  In those ten years our country has fallen in stature.  While 10 percent of our neighbors are unemployed the Dow Jones Industrial average continues to grow.  While the bankers tore our economy apart they've all been bailed out.  While the middle class has shrunken and the lower middle class of our country is sliding toward the poverty level, the richest parts of our country are still doing well.  <br />I read recently that the top 400 earners in America pay only 17% in income tax.  (<a href="http://bit.ly/richest400)">http://bit.ly/richest400)</a>.  A friend of mine who earned less than 100k last year but more than 90k paid over 18% of his adjusted gross in taxes last year.  Further, that 17% in 2010 is down 9 percentage points since 1992.  That's a 35% decrease in taxes paid by our country’s richest individuals.  These people average $345,000,000 in yearly income.  In fairness, the average Americans taxes have also reduced from 9.9% to 9.3% over that same span.  Joe average has had his taxes reduced 6.06% over the same span where Joe Moneybags had his taxes cut 35%.  I guess that's fair.  NOT!! <br />As we all feel so patriotic this week, as we cheer on the republicans as they try to save our country money by closing down such federal programs as Planned Parenthood and as they cut funding for Public Broadcasting; as the funding for public transportation and education has trickled, we can all feel good knowing that the government has done a good job of two things.  1) We killed Bin Laden, and 2) we've saved the country’s richest individuals 35% of their tax burden.  Keep your eyes open America, it will continue.</p> JDeSabhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15323698347440536524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129547307275049019.post-57184700417696504392011-04-06T17:36:00.001-04:002011-04-06T17:36:00.340-04:00PC Mag reports best free software of 2011<p>Each year PC Mag puts together a list of the best free software available.  It’s an article that I bookmark every year because you never know when you might be looking for a specialized piece of software. Also I like to see how PC Mag rates software that I use.</p> <pre><a title="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2381528,00.asp" href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2381528,00.asp">http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2381528,00.asp</a></pre><br /><br /><pre><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_RKFF7AH4mbE/TZzcv1mYOtI/AAAAAAAAAFk/6ki9c5MlRbM/s1600-h/ChromeJD%5B4%5D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="ChromeJD" border="0" alt="ChromeJD" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_RKFF7AH4mbE/TZzcv9TcC0I/AAAAAAAAAFo/wBUg5VNioDs/ChromeJD_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="56" height="74" /></a></pre> JDeSabhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15323698347440536524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129547307275049019.post-17028406286543220352011-03-17T16:59:00.001-04:002011-03-17T16:59:58.199-04:00NCAA Tournament 2011<p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_RKFF7AH4mbE/TYJ2TJUBLWI/AAAAAAAAAFc/fSE-hcxKbjk/s1600-h/NCAA-Mens-Basketball-Tournament-2011%5B5%5D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: left; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="NCAA-Mens-Basketball-Tournament-2011" border="0" alt="NCAA-Mens-Basketball-Tournament-2011" align="left" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_RKFF7AH4mbE/TYJ2TQNebjI/AAAAAAAAAFg/2Eng6M9bU4E/NCAA-Mens-Basketball-Tournament-2011_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="140" height="146" /></a></p> <p>March Madness is in full swing.  I thought I’d post my Bracket and share it with the Millions, and Millions of loyal followers of this blog.  My hometown Pitt panthers were awarded a #1 seed but I’m only picking them to make the Sweet 16.  They’re on tv right now and winning by 8 against UNC Asheville.  I am hoping they surprise me and make a long run, but I don’t think they have the personnel to make it to the final four.  Good luck to everyone, hope you all win your office pool.  Click on the image and you’ll open a larger image. </p> <p><a href="http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee309/johnnyd1967/web/2011_NcaaTourney.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee309/johnnyd1967/web/2011_NcaaTourney.jpg" width="396" height="298" /></a></p> JDeSabhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15323698347440536524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129547307275049019.post-2554745114907711492011-02-28T22:02:00.001-05:002011-03-01T11:40:46.088-05:00Our Planets, and Sun, Compared<a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_RKFF7AH4mbE/TWydXJ_M-fI/AAAAAAAAAEM/wJujE-fQmIc/s1600-h/8109363%5B6%5D.jpg"><img align="left" alt="8109363" border="0" height="211" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_RKFF7AH4mbE/TWydXu57R7I/AAAAAAAAAEQ/CfMCj1Uhwqk/8109363_thumb%5B6%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline; float: left; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="8109363" width="241" /></a>Tonight on the Science Channel I’m watching a TV show called “Wonders of the Solar System”. The host is a physics professor named Brian Cox. I’m fascinated by the topic and I’m drawn to Mr. Cox’s enthusiasm. Early in the show he showed us a simple science experiment involving a tin can, water, a thermometer and an umbrella. This experiment shows you that the sun emits roughly a kilowatt of energy upon each square meter of the earth. He then explains that this information can lead to a rational guess at how much energy the sun provides. He says 400 Million Million Million watts of power. <br />
As the show progresses he explains that with all the moons that exist in our solar system; Earth is the only one that can experience a solar eclipse. That’s because the sun is 400 times larger than our moon, and also, the sun is 400 times further away from Earth than our moon. <br />
The previous episode of this show Brian spent a great deal of time discussing the moons and rings of Saturn. Naming the moons, like Titan as he tells the story of their involvement with Saturn’s rings. Perhaps the thought has hit you before, what is the name of our moon. So, I go to Google and try to find an answer. After looking at a few different sites I decided to go to NASA.com. From there I found this excerpt by Dr. Eric Christian that can be found <a href="http://www.wesh.com/video/27027954/detail.html" target="_blank">here</a>:<br />
<blockquote><strong>“The Moon was called Selene or Artemis by the Greeks and Luna by the Romans. I'm sure other cultures also had names for the Moon. But in English, Moon (from Mona and Moone in Old and Middle English) was used before anyone had any idea that the other planets had moons. So it was more a case that the specific name for the Moon was extended to mean small bodies revolving around planets elsewhere. The Moon's name is the Moon.”</strong></blockquote><strong>By now, my mind has begun to wander and I recall something I was told years ago about the relative size of the sun, and solar system. If you’re from Pittsburgh you’ll understand this more readily….</strong><br />
<strong>If the sun were a 2 story tall yellow ball standing at the base of the Cathedral of Learning (University of Pittsburgh) the earth would be the size of a basketball at center ice of the Mellon Arena (1.93 miles away or 3.11 Km). The Moon would be the size of a softball resting on the blue line. The nearest star (</strong><b>Proxima Centauri) </b><strong>would be sitting on top of the moon. With that story in mind I started googling and I came upon this <a href="http://www.kiroastro.com/writings/perspective" target="_blank">site</a>. I really think you ought to <a href="http://www.kiroastro.com/writings/perspective"><img align="left" alt="SolarSystem" border="0" height="241" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_RKFF7AH4mbE/TWydX7G13jI/AAAAAAAAAEU/lksdqQDIgbQ/SolarSystem%5B2%5D.png?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline; float: left; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="SolarSystem" width="302" /></a>check this site out. It’s filled with great photos like this one that shows the relative sizes of planets, then suns that are out there in the universe. I had no idea how much larger the largest suns were when compared with our own.</strong><br />
<strong>I really recommend you take a look. (<a href="http://www.kiroastro.com/writings/perspective" target="_blank">here</a>). There’s another picture that shows our sun compared to Sirius, Pollux and Arcturus, three larger suns. </strong><br />
<strong>One last interesting tidbit I learned today. On Venus, a year is actually less than a day. If I remember correctly, it takes 260 earth days for Venus to circle the Sun while it takes 280 days for Venus to rotate. </strong>JDeSabhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15323698347440536524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129547307275049019.post-45166136983963538272011-02-27T22:07:00.001-05:002011-02-27T22:13:52.146-05:00My Problem with Inception<p> </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_RKFF7AH4mbE/TWsS7pMp-KI/AAAAAAAAAEE/iQlI50qULWk/s1600-h/inception_movie_poster_01%5B3%5D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: left; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="inception_movie_poster_01" border="0" alt="inception_movie_poster_01" align="left" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_RKFF7AH4mbE/TWsS7zJ4BVI/AAAAAAAAAEI/tS-Jli7-9t0/inception_movie_poster_01_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="173" height="283" /></a>I liked the movie Inception very much. I am glad that it's winning Oscars tonight.  It was a great trip to the movie theater, I was drawn into the story and my attention was held throughout.  The movie was fantastic except for the last 15 seconds. </p> <p>You see, I went to this movie knowing that the idea behind the movie was very complex. I was told to pay close attention to details and that no matter how closely you watch you're going to miss some things that will give you reason to go see it again.  </p> <p>No doubt, it was a rather confusing storyline.  The man that wrote the screenplay must be amazing with a Rubik's Cube.  I have watched the movie again and I have noticed many things I missed.  That being said, I didn't have to watch this movie twice to be totally abused by the writers.  </p> <p>After wading through two hours of story; and after getting immersed in Dicaprio's character and wanting him to be reunited with his children.  This movie did what so many others have done before.  They simply leave you to wonder if the ending is a part of "real life" or just another dream that Leo is trapped in. </p> <p>A part of me appreciates this tactic from the writer.  Yet still, after 2 hours being involved in this story, ending it with a cliffhanger has me feeling very "Unsatisfied".  This movie was great without the cliffhanger at the end.  </p> JDeSabhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15323698347440536524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129547307275049019.post-43624197357554936322011-02-24T18:55:00.002-05:002011-02-24T19:24:25.785-05:00New song by Megan Joy<a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_RKFF7AH4mbE/TWbv4sieW5I/AAAAAAAAAD4/6X-qYs8E8vo/s1600-h/This%20Just%20In%5B4%5D.jpg"><img align="left" alt="This Just In" border="0" height="144" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_RKFF7AH4mbE/TWbv44n8xTI/AAAAAAAAAD8/KfQQGvynYDU/This%20Just%20In_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px;" title="This Just In" width="124" /></a> <br />
My friends know that I’m a fan of American Idol. Megan Joy, who was on the show in season 8 (Kris Allen won that year). Megan is a sweet, pretty girl that finished somewhere around 8th. She has an interesting voice, difficult to pigeonhole. I’d like to share Megan’s new song with the millions, … and millions of readers of my blog. Please, pass this link along to your friends. <br />
<div class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:7ab34462-3f9f-4af4-b92f-b795e95fcbe4" style="display: inline; float: none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div id="51e61a1a-cddb-4d65-a24b-cb253b978eb7" style="display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div><embed height="355" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/HyTwpvYcbNg&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425"></embed></div></div></div>JDeSabhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15323698347440536524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129547307275049019.post-90269604737491183732011-02-06T23:57:00.000-05:002011-02-07T05:00:13.313-05:00Dear Pittsburgh Steelers, THANK YOULate tonight I checked Twitter and saw that James Harrison had left a single word tweet "sorry". This made me feel so bad for him and his teammates. It's evident that they feel great responsibility to fulfill the hopes of their fans. Immediately I replied to James letting him know how proud I am of him and his team and how thankful I am for the great season they've given us, their fans. After that, I thought that there's other messages I'd like to pass on to members of the Steelers team. I don't have all of their Twitter names, and even further, my messages are something I'd like my friends, and the general public to hear. These men did their best, they took pride in their performance and are committed to giving their fans their best week in and week out. While they were not successful in achieving their goal of winning this Super Bowl, they were as far from a failure as they could possibly be. I love following this team and it's players and I'm proud to be a Pittsburgh Native and a Steeler fan. <br />
What follows are messages I'd like to send along to several steeler players. <br />
Mike Tomlin. <br />
You remind me of Chuck Noll. You do a great job motivating your players and bring dignity and respect to all Steeler fans. You give us 100% with humility, pride and distinction. We're lucky to have you and you've created a spot in the heart of that thing known as "Steelers Nation". My heart aches for you that Lady Luck wasn't with you on the field Super Sunday. Great play and great coaching, over time, beat out lucky bounces and fateful throws. <br />
I'm proud to support a team that is led by you. <br />
Ben <br />
While I am unable to overlook the actions of last off season, your play was spectacular this season and it's strange that in a year where your Interception percentage was it's lowest of your career that lady luck left you with two INTs. Please keep in mind the promises you've made and if you can stay true to the man you've promised to be, successes in your future will surely be plentiful. <br />
Rashard. <br />
I hope you're not too hard on yourself about the fumble. You're contributions to this team clearly outweigh one mishap. Congratulations, you're a veteran NFL Running Back. You know what a great accomplishment that is. We're proud of you. <br />
Troy. <br />
Watching you and the way you give so much of yourself to our city every week makes all of us proud to be what we are. Steeler fans. Thank you <br />
James H. #92 <br />
Your fire and determination is a great example for the young men who follow you. Please let go of your anger over the NFL fines. You are so good that you can excel under any rules that they create. This team would not be what it is without you. <br />
James F. #51 <br />
As our leader, you are such a huge part of our teams success. I hope you are with us again on the field next year. If not, if you should choose to retire, you'll be with us forever in our hearts. <br />
Suishon. <br />
That was not an easy kick. I can't imagine a 52 yd field goal try straight down the pike. I hope you're back with us next year and we find many successful tries. <br />
Jeff... and the whole offensive line. <br />
When Maurkice went down you showed such a great effort and stood in expertly. You should be proud. O-Line. You did a great job protecting Ben. Things are going to be even better from here. <br />
Hines. <br />
Tonight, again, you carried yourself like a champion. Your contributions to this team can never be adequately acknowledged. Thank you for fighting so hard to bring acclaim to our team and city. I hope you're back next year to lead our team to more success. <br />
Mr. Lebeau <br />
First and foremost. Thank you. For everything. Please return and lead our defense, and team, to even more success. This team would not be the same without you. There's young Steelers and new Steelers coming that need your coaching. The Steelers way, something we're all so proud of, includes, and depends on, a healthy dose of Lebeau coaching. <br />
Willie, Ryan, Bryant, and the DBacks <br />
Hold your head up high. You are one of ours. <br />
Casey, Brett, Ziggy <br />
More successes are right around the corner. Shake this off, nothing but pride from us fans for what you give us week in and week out.<br />
--------------------- <br />
You know, media paints the picture that they want everyone to see. NFL network, and to a lesser degree, ESPN is putting Green Bay up on a pedestal. This game, with the Steelers turning the ball over three times, was so very close, in all honesty, with the turnovers, the Pack should have ran away with it. With two minutes to go the Steelers could still win. That is a testament to how great our Steelers are. There's a reason that this game is said to be a game of inches. The Packers are a fantastic team, so are the Steelers. The level of excellence of my team is inspirational. <br />
I’ll take a moment to remind the Steelers Bashers that there is no NFL team with more playoff wins than the Steelers, no team has won more Super Bowls, and no team, since the merger in 1970, has won more divisional titles, nor has any team played in more Conference Championship. While this year, the Steelers championship total failed to grow, their Legacy, certainly has. <br />
In closing, I’m reminded of the words of Steelers great, Hall Of Famer, Jack Lambert. Here’s what he had to say as he closed his <a href="http://www.mcmillenandwife.com/lambert_speech.html" target="_blank">HOF acceptance speech</a> , right before a personal message for his family. <br />
“I was so fortunate to have played on some of the greatest teams of all time and arguably the greatest defense ever assembled. And finally, how fortunate I was to play for the Pittsburgh fans... a proud and hard-working people who love their football and their players. If I could start my life all over again, I would be a professional football player, and you damn well better believe I would be a Pittsburgh Steeler!”<br />
<img height="106" src="http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee309/johnnyd1967/PROJECTS/photoshop/Graphics/SB45_Steelers_emblem.jpg" style="display: inline; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px;" width="100" /><br />
<div class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:c43af0e8-af53-46f5-b087-2cfd5c372841" style="display: inline; float: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">LiveJournal Tags: <a href="http://www.livejournal.com/interests.bml?int=Pittsburgh+Steelers" rel="tag">Pittsburgh Steelers</a>,<a href="http://www.livejournal.com/interests.bml?int=Super+Bowl+XLV" rel="tag">Super Bowl XLV</a>,<a href="http://www.livejournal.com/interests.bml?int=SB45" rel="tag">SB45</a>,<a href="http://www.livejournal.com/interests.bml?int=Mike+Tomlin" rel="tag">Mike Tomlin</a>,<a href="http://www.livejournal.com/interests.bml?int=Ben+roethlisberger" rel="tag">Ben roethlisberger</a>,<a href="http://www.livejournal.com/interests.bml?int=Hines+Ward" rel="tag">Hines Ward</a>,<a href="http://www.livejournal.com/interests.bml?int=James+Harrison" rel="tag">James Harrison</a>,<a href="http://www.livejournal.com/interests.bml?int=James+Farrior" rel="tag">James Farrior</a>,<a href="http://www.livejournal.com/interests.bml?int=Troy+Polamalu" rel="tag">Troy Polamalu</a>,<a href="http://www.livejournal.com/interests.bml?int=Mike+Wallace" rel="tag">Mike Wallace</a>,<a href="http://www.livejournal.com/interests.bml?int=Rashard+Mendenhall" rel="tag">Rashard Mendenhall</a>,<a href="http://www.livejournal.com/interests.bml?int=Dick+Lebeau" rel="tag">Dick Lebeau</a>,<a href="http://www.livejournal.com/interests.bml?int=Johnny+D" rel="tag">Johnny D</a></div>JDeSabhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15323698347440536524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129547307275049019.post-27639364830118970752011-02-05T13:56:00.001-05:002011-02-05T16:18:14.869-05:00Johnny D’s Super Bowl XLV Post <a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_RKFF7AH4mbE/TU22iLTzRjI/AAAAAAAAADw/vPUbK6JGMUI/s1600-h/superbowlxlv%5B8%5D.jpg"><img alt="superbowlxlv" border="0" height="225" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_RKFF7AH4mbE/TU22ig14gaI/AAAAAAAAAD0/qP0eqmGOr1w/superbowlxlv_thumb%5B4%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline;" title="superbowlxlv" width="390" /></a> It seems standard practice for people attempting to break down this game to address each offense vs. each defense and to compare the two QBs almost as if they’re opposing each other in a game of chess. Here’s my take on this Super Bowl Matchup. <br />
<a href="http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/pit/2010.htm" target="_blank">Steelers Offense</a> VS. <a href="http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/gnb/2010.htm" target="_blank">Packers Defense</a><br />
<img height="148" src="http://cbschicago.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/packers-defense.jpg?w=420" width="186" /> <img height="148" src="http://brokencigars.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/mike-wallace-josh-bell-2009-12-20-21-10-19.jpg" width="195" /> <br />
The Steelers entered this season with eyes on the O-line as being a weakness. The O-line was hurt in the AFC Conference Championship when Pro Bowl Center <a href="http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/steelers/s_719555.html" target="_blank">Maurkice Pouncey suffered an ankle injury</a> that would later knock him out of the Super Bowl. <a href="http://www.nfl.com/players/claymatthews/profile?id=MAT538690" target="_blank">Clay Matthews</a> and the rest of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dom_Capers" target="_blank">Dom Capers</a> zone blitzing defense will be very active and attacking Ben in well disguised schemes. Something not mentioned often is Rashard Mendenhall’s ability to grind away at a defense and the frequency with which he’s been breaking off long gains. The Packer’s pro bowl defensive backfield has been mentioned often as being a problem for the Steelers receiving corps. I'm not sure if people realize that the Steelers corps, while young, is battle tested. They just took on, and beat, the Ravens and Jets defenses. Both teams have acclaimed defenses. Has anyone heard of Ed Reed, or Darrell Revis? Ward, Brown, Sanders, Randle El, and Miller are certainly up to the challenge in taking on GB. <br />
Edge: could go either way. <br />
<a href="http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/R/RodgAa00.htm" target="_blank">Aaron Rodgers</a> vs. <a href="http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/R/RoetBe00.htm" target="_blank">Ben Roethlisberger</a> <br />
<img height="197" src="http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2011/0123/nfl_g_roethlisberger_rogers_b1_576.jpg" width="347" /> <br />
This, again is too close to call. If we were to play 7 games there might be some way to determine which is better. They will be playing one game, for a championship. In the end the determining factor, for both, will be which QB/Offense makes fewer mistakes. Mistakes is a code word for turnovers. I heard a statistic this week, in the history of the Super Bowl, the team that wins the turnover battle is 32-3, that’s amazing. As good as both QBs and their offenses are, the defenses are similarly accomplished. Watching the Steelers week to week I tend to dwell on #7s mistakes. I'd say that Ben has had the shakier record in turnovers. Similarly, the Steelers defense coaxes Interceptions and Fumbles from the league's best QBs. <br />
EDGE: Lady luck will play a large role in determining this one. <br />
<a href="http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/gnb/2010.htm" target="_blank">GB offense</a> vs. <a href="http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/pit/2010.htm" target="_blank">PIT defense</a>. <br />
<img height="146" src="http://www.mkrob.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/jamesharrison.jpg" width="230" /> <img height="147" src="http://cdn.bleacherreport.net/images_root/gallery_images/photos/000/563/790/GYI0062184208_crop_450x500.jpg?1288089787" width="141" /> <br />
Aaron Rodgers is one of the leagues best QBs and his WR corps is recognized by many experts to be the single best group of Receivers in the league. Dick Lebeau must find a way to overcome the Packs ability to spread his defense. Watching what the Patriots' Brady did when spreading out the Steelers defense and throwing underneath leaves a fan a bit concerned. There's two ways to see this. One: it's something that Lebeau will correct or two: Steelers personnel can not overcome the spread. <br />
Edge: Looks from the outside like the Pack has the advantage. <br />
Intangibles: Everything I've written thus far was to get to this point. Both teams have great personnel and both teams defenses pressure their opponent's offense to make mistakes and turnover the ball. <br />
The format that I've employed here is similar to everything that I've seen on the NFL television network as well as on ESPN this week. In the end resolve, determination, preparation, and focus are among the strongest determinants of success in games like this. In watching press conferences this week I'm most impressed by Mike Tomlin. He seems very in touch with his team, and knows how to coax their best performances from them. <br />
Football is not Eleven one-on-one matchups. Football is a team sport. Cohesion, when two teams are evenly matched, becomes a real entity. The Steelers experience is not simply experience in going through the Super Bowl experience. The core of this team has been through some momentous battles. They’ve found ways to beat better opponents and they’ve found ways to overcome great obstacles. It is this element, Team cohesion, that I believe gives Pittsburgh the edge. Don’t forget what they went through against Baltimore. Two turnovers in the first half and a 21-7 deficit. They fought back and won. <br />
<img align="left" height="159" src="http://gapcache.lingospot.com/2011/01/25/AFC_Championship_Football_PGS166.large.jpg" style="display: inline; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px;" width="226" /> <br />
Edge: Tomlin and Steelers. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
There is not a circumstance under which I would not pick the Steelers, they are my favorite team and I will certainly pick the<img align="right" height="64" src="http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee309/johnnyd1967/PROJECTS/photoshop/Graphics/SB45_Steelers_emblem-1.jpg" style="display: inline; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px;" width="64" />m here. What hits me is the fact that I am less anxious about this game than I was about the Steelers two previous Super Bowl appearances. <br />
Prediction: Steelers 31 Packers 17 <br />
<br />
<div class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent" id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:8a2e7e01-6c07-4419-87d6-559e6b8be9fe" style="display: inline; float: none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">LiveJournal Tags: <a href="http://www.livejournal.com/interests.bml?int=Steelers" rel="tag">Steelers</a>,<a href="http://www.livejournal.com/interests.bml?int=Packers" rel="tag">Packers</a>,<a href="http://www.livejournal.com/interests.bml?int=Super+Bowl" rel="tag">Super Bowl</a>,<a href="http://www.livejournal.com/interests.bml?int=SB45" rel="tag">SB45</a>,<a href="http://www.livejournal.com/interests.bml?int=Mike+Tomlin" rel="tag">Mike Tomlin</a>,<a href="http://www.livejournal.com/interests.bml?int=Ben+Roethlisberger" rel="tag">Ben Roethlisberger</a>,<a href="http://www.livejournal.com/interests.bml?int=Aaron+Rodgers" rel="tag">Aaron Rodgers</a></div>JDeSabhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15323698347440536524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129547307275049019.post-37959379329526287622011-01-31T20:42:00.002-05:002011-02-04T11:20:02.598-05:00NFL Will Elect Hall Members February 5.<a href="http://www.profootballhof.com/enshrinement/2010/11/28/class-of-2011-hof-semifinalists-career-capsules/" target="_blank"><img align="left" height="199" src="http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee309/johnnyd1967/web/hall-of-fame-game-2010.jpg" style="display: inline; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px;" width="196" /></a> The NFL will meet and elect the next class of Hall of Famers on February 5. I’ve been trying to influence those voters that are on Twitter (especially Peter King) for the last few weeks but they seem to be impervious to my attempts to persuade. <br />
I will now list the 15 finalists. I’d like to say that there were only two picks that I had that did not make it, Kevin Greene and Lester Hayes. Neither of these two made my final eight or even my list of ten. The two men that the voters have on the list that i don’t are Charles Haley, and Ed Sabol (NFL Films). <br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="width: 400px;"><tbody>
<tr><td valign="top" width="131"><a href="http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/BettJe00.htm" target="_blank">Jerome Bettis</a></td><td valign="top" width="134"><a href="http://www.pro-football-reference.com/player_search.cgi?search=tim+brown" target="_blank">Tim Brown</a></td><td valign="top" width="133"><a href="http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/C/CartCr00.htm" target="_blank">Cris Carter</a></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top" width="131"><a href="http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/D/DawsDe00.htm" target="_blank">Dermontti Dawson</a></td><td valign="top" width="134"><a href="http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/D/DoleCh00.htm" target="_blank">Richard Dent</a></td><td valign="top" width="133"><a href="http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/D/DoleCh00.htm" target="_blank">Chris Doleman</a></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top" width="131"><a href="http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/F/FaulMa00.htm" target="_blank">Marshall Faulk</a></td><td valign="top" width="134"><a href="http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/H/HaleCh00.htm" target="_blank">Charles Haley</a></td><td valign="top" width="133"><a href="http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/K/KennCo00.htm" target="_blank">Cortez Kennedy</a></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top" width="131"><a href="http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/M/MartCu00.htm" target="_blank">Curtis Martin</a></td><td valign="top" width="134"><a href="http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/R/ReedAn00.htm" target="_blank">Andre Reed</a></td><td valign="top" width="133"><a href="http://www.pro-football-reference.com/player_search.cgi?search=tim+brown" target="_blank">Willie Roaf</a></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top" width="131"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Sabol" target="_blank">Ed Sabol</a></td><td valign="top" width="134"><a href="http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/S/SandDe00.htm" target="_blank">Deion Sanders</a></td><td valign="top" width="133"><a href="http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/S/SharSh00.htm" target="_blank">Shannon Sharpe</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>In my previous Post I wrote a lot about the individual accomplishments of each of the nominees. Please take a look at that blog. For the purposes of analyzing these fiteen We must remove eight to get down to a list of seven. <br />
Easiest first: <br />
<strong><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Sabol" target="_blank">Ed Sabol</a>: </strong>While I love what NFL Films has given to the sport of football over the last 40 plus years, I must remove Ed from this list. If there were a seperate ballot for contributors and administrators/owners (as I believe there should be) he’d certainly be a first ballot Hall of Famer. But with the amount of talent we have here, Ed must be my first scratch.<br />
<strong><a href="http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/K/KennCo00.htm" target="_blank">Cortez Kennedy</a>:</strong> A fantastic career, sadly in my eyes, not quite HOF caliber.<br />
<strong><a href="http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/F/FaulMa00.htm" target="_blank">Marshall Faulk</a>: </strong>While I’m certainly a fan and appreciate the career that Marshall put together (he’s 10th on the all time rushing list with over 12,000 yds) he too is a victim of a stacked ballot. We have Martin and Bettis on the same ballot. <br />
<strong><a href="http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/S/SharSh00.htm" target="_blank">Shannon Sharpe</a>: </strong>The Muhammad Ali of trash talking in the NFL. From high in 3 Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh one could hear Shannon try to get under the skin of opposing defenses. For me Sharpe is the definition of a bubble boy in the NFL. At his position he distinguished himself. As an all around football player, I think he’s outside of the top ten of this ballot.<br />
<strong><a href="http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/H/HaleCh00.htm" target="_blank">Charles Haley</a>: He didn’t make my top ten and since I put that list together he didn’t do anything in the playoffs to change my mind.</strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />
<strong><a href="http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/R/ReedAn00.htm" target="_blank">Andre Reed</a>: </strong>I nice resume, a clutch receiver, not a hall of famer. <br />
<strong><a href="http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/D/DoleCh00.htm" target="_blank">Chris Doleman</a>: </strong>These last two cuts have me really wishing that the NFL would make the max number of entrants a bit larger, at least for a few years. As it is, I have to cut two more and Doleman is a victim of the numbers.<br />
<strong><a href="http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/D/DoleCh00.htm" target="_blank">Richard Dent</a>: </strong>It’s hard to leave a Super Bowl Champion out and put in some players that were not SB Champs. But that’s what I’m going to do. In the end, I simply believe that guys like Roaf and Dawson were better at their position that Dent was at his. <br />
Here’s my seven. <br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="width: 360px;"><tbody>
<tr><td valign="top" width="180"><a href="http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/BettJe00.htm" target="_blank">Jerome Bettis</a></td><td valign="top" width="180"><a href="http://www.pro-football-reference.com/player_search.cgi?search=tim+brown" target="_blank">Tim Brown</a></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top" width="180"><a href="http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/C/CartCr00.htm" target="_blank">Cris Carter</a></td><td valign="top" width="180"><a href="http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/D/DawsDe00.htm" target="_blank">Dermontti Dawson</a></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top" width="180"><a href="http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/M/MartCu00.htm" target="_blank">Curtis Martin</a></td><td valign="top" width="180"><a href="http://www.pro-football-reference.com/player_search.cgi?search=tim+brown" target="_blank">Willie Roaf</a></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top" width="180"><a href="http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/S/SandDe00.htm" target="_blank">Deion Sanders</a></td><td valign="top" width="180"></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top" width="180"></td><td valign="top" width="180"></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Best of luck to all of the nominees. Regardless, the Hall Of Fame has a great class of 2011 coming.<br />
<img align="left" height="82" src="http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee309/johnnyd1967/JD_Plaque.png" style="display: inline; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px;" width="64" />JDeSabhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15323698347440536524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129547307275049019.post-58691853807992365862010-12-31T01:56:00.001-05:002010-12-31T01:56:46.924-05:00Johnny D selects the NFL 2011 Hall of Fame Class<p><strong>As the regular season closes, thoughts turn to the playoffs, and ultimately to the Super Bowl. Each year during Super Weekend the new members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame are announced. What follows is the 26 names that have survived so far. This list will be cut down to 15 in early January. From those 15, the panel will get together on super weekend and give us the 6 to 8 names that will be our new members of the HOF.</strong></p> <p><strong>Getting from 26 to 15 should be relatively easy. </strong></p> <p><b>Jerome Bettis RB (1993-2005) </b>- is a shoe in. He’s currently top 5 in lifetime yards. More importantly he’s a media darling.</p> <p><b>Tim Brown</b> WR (1988-2003) – No worse than sixth place in any career WR statistical category.</p> <p><b>Chris Carter</b> WR (1987-2002) – Like Tim Brown he’s tops in WR statistical categories</p> <p><b><s>Don Coryell</s></b>: My first exemption. While Air Coryell was amazing, I simply don’t feel that Don made a significant impact on the league.</p> <p><b><s>Roger Craig</s></b>: RB (1983-93) - Less than 8200 yards over 11 seasons. A good RB, not a hall of famer!</p> <p><b><s>Terell Davis</s></b> RB (1995-2001): 7,607 yards over 7 seasons. If this guy had played longer he’d have been really something, or he’d have faded away.</p> <p><b>Dermontti Dawson (1988-2000)</b>: Replaced Mike Webster in Pittsburgh, and didn’t miss a beat. Named to the 90’s all decade team, 7 time pro bowler. It’s amazing that he wasn’t a first ballot inductee.</p> <p><b><s>Edward Debartolo Jr</s></b><s>.</s> Owner: presided over a great dynasty. This one is a tough one. I’m not familiar with the inner workings of the NFL. He’d be an on the bubble candidate for me. </p> <p><b>Richard Dent </b>DE (1983-1997)<b>: </b>137.5 sacks putting him #6 on the all time list.</p> <p><b>Chris Doleman </b>DE (1985-1998)<b>:</b> 150.5 sacks. #4 all time</p> <p><b>Marshall Faulk </b>RB (1994-2005)<b> </b>Tenth all time RB with 12,279 yards rushing. </p> <p><b>Kevin Greene </b>LB (1985-1999): 160 sacks over 15 years. Only two men are credited with more sacks.</p> <p><b><s>Ray Guy</s> </b>P (1973-1986):<b> </b>I love Ray Guy too. He’s 71<sup>st</sup> among all punters for career average punt. 42.4 yds. Not HOF numbers</p> <p><b><s>Charles Haley </s></b>DE (1986-1996):<b> </b>23<sup>rd</sup> all time in sacks. While I believe that sacks is not a statistic that tells us how good a D-lineman truly is. I believe Haley is on the bubble. His time is not due.</p> <p><b>Lester Hayes </b>CB (1977-86):<b></b></p> <p>· 5× <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pro_Bowl">Pro Bowl</a> selection (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1981_Pro_Bowl">1980</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_Pro_Bowl">1981</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Pro_Bowl">1982</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_Pro_Bowl">1983</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985_Pro_Bowl">1984</a>)</p> <p>· 1× First-team <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All-Pro">All-Pro</a> selection (1980)</p> <ul> <li>5× Second-team All-Pro selection (1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984)</li> <li>NFL 1980s All-Decade Team</li> <li>2-time Super Bowl Champion(Super Bowl XV, Super Bowl XVIII)</li> <li>1980 NFL Defensive Player of the Year</li> <li>Raiders single season leader in interceptions with 13</li> </ul> <p><b>Cortez Kennedy </b>DT (1990-2000):</p> <ul> <li>8× <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pro_Bowl">Pro Bowl</a> selection (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Pro_Bowl">1991</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_Pro_Bowl">1992</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Pro_Bowl">1993</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995_Pro_Bowl">1994</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_Pro_Bowl">1995</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_Pro_Bowl">1996</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Pro_Bowl">1998</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_Pro_Bowl">1999</a>)</li> <li>3× <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Associated_Press">Associated Press</a> First-team <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All-Pro">All-Pro</a> selection (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_All-Pro_Team">1992</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_All-Pro_Team">1993</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_All-Pro_Team">1994</a>)</li> <li>1× Associated Press Second-team All-Pro selection (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_All-Pro_Team">1996</a>)</li> <li>1× <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newspaper_Enterprise_Association">Newspaper Enterprise Association</a> First-team All-Pro selection (1992)</li> <li>1× Newspaper Enterprise Association Second-team All-Pro selection (1991)</li> <li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NFL_1990s_All-Decade_Team">NFL 1990s All-Decade Team</a></li> <li>1992 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NFL_Defensive_Player_of_the_Year">NFL Defensive Player of the Year</a></li> <li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_Seahawks">Seahawks Ring of Honor</a></li> <li>Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame</li> </ul> <p><b>Curtis Martin: </b>RB (1995-2005)<b></b></p> <p>Only three men have rushed for more yards. Only six men have more rushing Touchdowns.</p> <p><b><s>Art Modell:</s></b><b> </b>Modell has been an owner in this league since 1961. Owners, in my opinion, deserve to be inducted, and an owner, even one that moved the beloved Cleveland Browns franchise to Baltimore deserves recognition after being an owner for nearly 50 years. That being said, among this group of candidates I must pass over Mr. Modell. </p> <p><b>Andre Reed </b>WR (1985-2005):<b></b></p> <ul> <li>7× <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pro_Bowl">Pro Bowl</a> selection (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Pro_Bowl">1988</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990_Pro_Bowl">1989</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_Pro_Bowl">1990</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Pro_Bowl">1991</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_Pro_Bowl">1992</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Pro_Bowl">1993</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995_Pro_Bowl">1994</a>)</li> <li>2× <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Associated_Press">Associated Press</a> Second-team <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All-Pro">All-Pro</a> selection (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_All-Pro_Team">1989</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990_All-Pro_Team">1990</a>)</li> <li>3× <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newspaper_Enterprise_Association">Newspaper Enterprise Association</a> Second-team All-Pro selection (1989, 1990, 1991)</li> <li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_Bills#Buffalo_Bills_Wall_of_Fame">Buffalo Bills Wall of Fame</a></li> <li>Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame</li> </ul> <p>Eleventh all time in reception yards, Tied 11<sup>th</sup> all time in touchdowns. For me Reed is on the bubble. Wide Receiver is a tough HOF position.</p> <p><b>Willie Roaf </b>T (1993-2005):</p> <ul> <li>11× <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pro_Bowl">Pro Bowl</a> selection (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995_Pro_Bowl">1994</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_Pro_Bowl">1995</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_Pro_Bowl">1996</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_Pro_Bowl">1997</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Pro_Bowl">1998</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_Pro_Bowl">1999</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_Pro_Bowl">2000</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Pro_Bowl">2002</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Pro_Bowl">2003</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Pro_Bowl">2004</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Pro_Bowl">2005</a>)</li> <li>6× First-team <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All-Pro">All-Pro</a> selection (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_All-Pro_Team">1994</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995_All-Pro_Team">1995</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_All-Pro_Team">1996</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_All-Pro_Team">2003</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_All-Pro_Team">2004</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_All-Pro_Team">2005</a>)</li> <li>3× Second-team All-Pro (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_All-Pro_Team">1997</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_All-Pro_Team">2000</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_All-Pro_Team">2002</a>)</li> <li>8× All-Conference (1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2005)</li> <li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NFL_1990s_All-Decade_Team">NFL 1990s All-Decade Team</a></li> <li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Football_League_2000s_All-Decade_Team">NFL 2000s All-Decade Team</a></li> </ul> <p>Simply on the strength of being named to both the 1990s and 2000s all decade team, it would seem willie is more than deserving of induction. </p> <p><b><s>Ed Sabol: Contributor: </s></b>I voted on the website for Ed many times. I think his contributions thorugh NFL Films should be recognized. If there were a separate category for owners and other office type contributors then I’d consider him a shoe in. The fact that he’s up against football players pushes him off my ballot.</p> <p><b>Deion Sanders: </b>Deion needs no numbers nor explanations. First to third down he shut down opposing Wide Receivers, on fourth down we had the chance to see him run back a punt for a touchdown. First ballot inductee, anything else would be a travesty!</p> <p><b>Shannon Sharpe </b>TE (1990-2001):<b> </b></p> <ul> <li>8× <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pro_Bowl">Pro Bowl</a> selection (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_Pro_Bowl">1992</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Pro_Bowl">1993</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995_Pro_Bowl">1994</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_Pro_Bowl">1995</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_Pro_Bowl">1996</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_Pro_Bowl">1997</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Pro_Bowl">1998</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Pro_Bowl">2001</a>)</li> <li>4× <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Associated_Press">Associated Press</a> First-team <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All-Pro">All-Pro</a> selection (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_All-Pro_Team">1993</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_All-Pro_Team">1996</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_All-Pro_Team">1997</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_All-Pro_Team">1998</a>)</li> <li>1× Associated Press Second-team All-Pro selection (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995_All-Pro_Team">1995</a>)</li> <li>3× <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Bowl">Super Bowl</a> champion (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Bowl_XXXII">XXXII</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Bowl_XXXIII">XXXIII</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Bowl_XXXV">XXXV</a>)</li> <li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NFL_1990s_All-Decade_Team">NFL 1990s All-Decade Team</a></li> </ul> <p><b><s>Paul Tagliabue: </s></b>Great commissioner. Players deserve spots more than the commissioner though.</p> <p><b><s>Aeneas Williams </s></b>CB/S (1991-2004):</p> <ul> <li>8× <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pro_Bowl">Pro Bowl</a> selection (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995_Pro_Bowl">1994</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_Pro_Bowl">1995</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_Pro_Bowl">1996</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_Pro_Bowl">1997</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Pro_Bowl">1998</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_Pro_Bowl">1999</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Pro_Bowl">2001</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Pro_Bowl">2003</a>)</li> <li>4× First-team <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All-Pro">All-Pro</a> selection (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995_All-Pro_Team">1995</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_All-Pro_Team">1996</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_All-Pro_Team">1997</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_All-Pro_Team">2001</a>)</li> <li>1× Second-team All-Pro selection (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_All-Pro_Team">1994</a>)</li> <li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NFL_1990s_All-Decade_Team">NFL 1990s All-Decade Team</a></li> </ul> <p><b><s>George Young</s></b><b> – </b>Contributor: A fantastic career, yet not enough spots available to spare for George.</p> <p>After reviewing the 26 I had to eliminate 11 to get down to 15. Actually I eliminated 12. Once I was down to 14, I looked at the 12 eliminated and decided to advance Andre Reed. <table border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody> <tr> <td valign="top" width="213"> <p>Jerome Bettis</p> </td> <td valign="top" width="213"> <p>Chris Doleman</p> </td> <td valign="top" width="213"> <p>Curtis Martin</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="213"> <p>Tim Brown</p> </td> <td valign="top" width="213"> <p>Marshall Faulk</p> </td> <td valign="top" width="213"> <p>Willie Roaf</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="213"> <p>Chris Carter</p> </td> <td valign="top" width="213"> <p>Kevin Greene</p> </td> <td valign="top" width="213"> <p>Deion Sanders</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="213"> <p>Dermontti Dawson</p> </td> <td valign="top" width="213"> <p>Lester Hayes</p> </td> <td valign="top" width="213"> <p>Shannon Sharpe</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="213"> <p>Richard Dent</p> </td> <td valign="top" width="213"> <p>Cortez Kennedy</p> </td> <td valign="top" width="213"> <p>Andre Reed</p> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </p> <p>I believe that the NFL Hall of Fame needs to induct more members per year. Look at these 15, I can’t imagine eliminating 9 of them to make a class of 6. I am going to create a Hall of Fame class of 10 for 2011. I will eliminate 5.</p> <p>Lester Hayes. I hate to remove this guy from the list, I thoroughly enjoyed the way he played the game. Looking at his accomplishments he just looks to be a step below some of the other names we have here.</p> <p>Marshall Faulk immediately comes to mind. His stats are great, his contribution is great. I just believe he’s not quite as great as some of the others here.</p> <p>Kevin Greene. While his stats are definitely top notch, I watched him play here in Pittsburgh. While he was able to gain stats he wasn’t nearly as dynamic a linebacker as Greg Lloyd was on the other side of the defense. I can’t, in good conscience, make him a hall of famer when he wasn’t even better than his teammate for a good part of his career. </p> <p>Andre Reed, While he’s got several impressive entries in the record book he’s just not a member of that elite group called a Hall of Famer.</p> <p>Shannon Sharpe. It’s my list I get to decide. He certainly is worthy, but looking at the other names on the list, I find him to be less deserving than the others.</p> <h3 align="center">Here’s my Final Ten</h3> <p> <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody> <tr> <td valign="top" width="241"> <p>Jerome Bettis</p> </td> <td valign="top" width="240"> <p>Chris Doleman</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="241"> <p>Tim Brown</p> </td> <td valign="top" width="240"> <p>Curtis Martin</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="241"> <p>Chris Carter</p> </td> <td valign="top" width="240"> <p>Willie Roaf</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="241"> <p>Dermontti Dawson</p> </td> <td valign="top" width="240"> <p>Deion Sanders</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="241"> <p>Richard Dent</p> </td> <td valign="top" width="240"> <p>Cortez Kennedy</p> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </p> <p>Now that I’m down to Ten. If I were forced to trim this list to eight I think I know who I’d eliminate.</p> <p>No matter who you’d eliminate here, it would be brutally unfair.</p> <p>I’d leave Chris Doleman and Cortez Kennedy out. Both are very deserving, yet if I have to eliminate two, they’d have to be the choices.</p> <p>There you have it, the Johnny D class of 2011 Hall of Famers will be </p> <p>Jerome Bettis, Tim Brown, Chris Carter, Dermontti Dawson, Richard Dent, Curtis Martin, Willie Roaf, Deion Sanders.</p> <p>I’ll be glad to hear your opinions. I’m glad that I went through the list the way I did. Until you do, you have no idea what a difficult job the selection committee has. All 26 men are deserving (well maybe not Tagliabue or Sabol). I recommend that you contact as many of the men on the selection committee as possible and try to influence them.</p> <p>Here are the men that select our Hall of Famers. <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody> <tr> <td> <p>Arizona</p> </td> <td> <p>Kent Somers, Arizona Republic</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>Atlanta</p> </td> <td> <p>Len Pasquarelli, ESPN.com</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>Baltimore</p> </td> <td> <p>Scott Garceau, WMAR-TV</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>Buffalo</p> </td> <td> <p>Mark Gaughan, Buffalo News</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>Carolina</p> </td> <td> <p>Darin Gantt, Rock Hill Herald</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>Chicago</p> </td> <td> <p>Dan Pompei, Chicago Tribune*</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>Cincinnati</p> </td> <td> <p>Joe Reedy, Cincinnati Enquirer</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>Cleveland</p> </td> <td> <p>Tony Grossi, Cleveland Plain Dealer</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>Dallas</p> </td> <td> <p>Rick Gosselin, Dallas Morning News*</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>Denver</p> </td> <td> <p>Jeff Legwold, Denver Post</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>Detroit</p> </td> <td> <p>Tom Kowalski, Booth Newspapers</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>Green Bay</p> </td> <td> <p>Cliff Christl, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>Houston</p> </td> <td> <p>John McClain, Houston Chronicle*</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>Indianapolis</p> </td> <td> <p>Mike Chappell, Indianapolis Star</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>Jacksonville</p> </td> <td> <p>Sam Kouvaris, WJXT-TV</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>Kansas City</p> </td> <td> <p>Bob Gretz, KCFootballReport.com</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>Miami</p> </td> <td> <p>Edwin Pope, Miami Herald*</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>Minnesota</p> </td> <td> <p>Sid Hartman, The Minneapolis Star-Tribune</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>New England</p> </td> <td> <p>Ron Borges, Boston Herald*</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>New Orleans</p> </td> <td> <p>Pete Finney, Times-Picayune</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>New York (Giants)</p> </td> <td> <p>Vinny DiTrani, Bergen Record</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>New York (Jets)</p> </td> <td> <p>Gary Myers, New York Daily News</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>Oakland</p> </td> <td> <p>Frank Cooney, The Sports Xchange</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>Philadelphia</p> </td> <td> <p>Paul Domowitch, Philadelphia Daily News</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>Pittsburgh</p> </td> <td> <p>Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>St. Louis</p> </td> <td> <p>Bernie Miklasz, St. Louis Post-Dispatch</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>San Diego</p> </td> <td> <p>Nick Canepa, San Diego Union Tribune</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>San Francisco</p> </td> <td> <p>Nancy Gay, FoxSports.com</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>Seattle</p> </td> <td> <p>Mike Sando, ESPN.com</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>Tampa Bay</p> </td> <td> <p>Ira Kaufman, Tampa Tribune</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>Tennessee</p> </td> <td> <p>David Climer, The Tennessean</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>Washington</p> </td> <td> <p>David Elfin, Washington Times</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>PFWA</p> </td> <td> <p>Darryl Ledbetter, Atlanta Journal-Constitution</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>At Large</p> </td> <td> <p>Howard Balzer, The Sports Xchange</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>At Large</p> </td> <td> <p>Jarrett Bell, USA Today</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>At Large</p> </td> <td> <p>John Clayton, ESPN/ESPN Magazine</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>At Large</p> </td> <td> <p>John Czarnecki, FOXSports.com*</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>At Large</p> </td> <td> <p>Dave Goldberg, AOL Sports/Fanhouse*</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>At Large</p> </td> <td> <p>Peter King, Sports Illustrated</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>At Large</p> </td> <td> <p>Ira Miller, The Sports Xchange*</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>At Large</p> </td> <td> <p>Len Shapiro, Miami Herald*</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>At Large</p> </td> <td> <p>Vito Stellino, Florida Times Union</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>At Large</p> </td> <td> <p>Jim Trotter, Sports Illustrated</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>At Large</p> </td> <td> <p>Charean Williams, Ft. Worth Star Telegram</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p>* Also serves on the Senior Selection Committee.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </tbody></table> </p> <p><b><img src="http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee309/johnnyd1967/johnnyd/johnnyd_GlassLetters.jpg" width="184" height="124" /></b></p> JDeSabhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15323698347440536524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129547307275049019.post-55582878994653219132010-12-10T22:54:00.001-05:002010-12-10T22:54:41.206-05:00Crystal Bowersox – Farmers Daughter .. Johnny D’s Advance Review<p align="justify"><img src="http://idrag4mj.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/crystal-bowersox-album-farmers-daughter-500.jpg?w=500&h=300" width="385" height="233" /> Crystal Bowersox, American Idol’s season 9 runner up, has her debut CD completed and it will be released on Tuesday December 14.  I’ve managed to obtain copy of the CD and I have spent the last two days listening to the 12 tracks.  </p> <p align="justify">Those of you that follow Idol Chatter at USAToday.com <a href="http://content.usatoday.com/communities/idolchatter" target="_blank">(here)</a> know that Crystal has been my favorite topic of 2010.  I’ve been very vocal in my Criticism of Ms. Bowersox.  I’ve expressed on several occasions that her CD would be a great disappointment to her fans. I’ve said that the comparisons to Melissa Etheridge and other established female singers is completely unwarranted and that Crystal has a very weak voice and is not strong enough to be compared to such great voices.  </p> <p align="justify">Well, early yesterday I come to possess a copy of her cd.  Immediately I listened to track #4, Farmers Daughter.  I’ve seen a performance of this song on YouTube and was not impressed.  I spouted off that her stubbornness to have Farmers Daughter switched to the first single released would be her demise.  Well, this version is a little more polished than what I’ve heard on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZNNU_-_vwA" target="_blank">youtube</a>,  Yet I still don’t like it.  It would seem that Crystals mom didn’t like being a mother and was an alcoholic.  Even worse, her mom on one occasion beat Crystal til she broke bones.  The story is a disturbing one. I’m sure we all are stirred when hearing a story of child abuse.  My heart goes out to Crystal for what she had to endure in her formative years. I feel for her that, even now, a well grounded relationship with a loving mother is something she’ll never know.  I’m even more thankful for the love my mother gave me and I’m reminded how much I miss her.  There’s just disconnected emotions here.  Perhaps I’m over critical, I have been accused of that once or twice before.  In my opinion, Crystal should have listened a few times to a song like Alive by Pearl Jam.  If she could have captured a bit of Eddie’s expressiveness this song could be a huge hit.  As it is, it is a very amateurish presentation.  As I listen to this first song I have to give her credit that her vocals are well delivered even if I’m not approving of her happy humming.  In fairness, I’m giving this song a tie.  Every bad song on this CD will be a win for me. Every good song will be a win for Crystal and her supporters on <a href="http://content.usatoday.com/communities/idolchatter" target="_blank">Idol Chatter</a>.</p> <p align="justify">So, after I’ve checked out Farmers Daughter I start the cd at track 1.  Riding With The Radio is a sunshiny song that from the beginning reminds you of a countryish / rock song blasting from a classic 60s convertible riding down a country road.  Some of the lyrics are a bit clumsy but it’s mostly a fun tune.  Light in mood and sweet in tempo. </p> <blockquote> <p align="justify"><em>“If you wanna sing a song then just sing it.</em></p> <p><em> If you wanna bring a friend just bring him”</em></p> </blockquote> <p align="justify"> Very nice. </p> <p align="justify">Track 2 is a cover.  Buffalo Springfield’s “For What it’s Worth”.  This song suits me just fine because I get to criticize Crystal.  I think it was a bad choice of a cover for her.  It’s a song from the sixties that, to my thinking, had some significance in the sixties.  Crystal, for me, accentuates the “going down” in a way that really means nothing.  It’s as if she has something she’s trying to say but refuses to let us in on it.  </p> <p align="justify">At this point, Crystal is 1-1-1 … a win with Track one, For What it’s Worth is definitely a loss, and Farmers Daughter is a no contest. (she doesn’t win and i don’t win)  My internal scoreboard is prepared to deliver a TKO to Crystals CD and I’m looking forward to it.  </p> <p align="justify">Next up, Holy Toledo.  A song we heard a snippet of during the week of three on Idol.  Remember, she went home to Toledo and performed at “Bowerstock”.  It starts out…</p> <blockquote> <p><em>“Living life from day to day, </em></p> <p><em>reading books from page to page,</em></p> <p><em> I know life is just my stage.”</em>  </p> </blockquote> <p align="justify">I’m drawn to the tenderness of her voice from the start. The simple guitar and the tender backing vocals draw me right in.  Of course we’re brought to the chorus with Crystal questioning “How do I get to heaven from here”.  A very cliché type of lyric but it really serves this song well.  As the song moves toward the end she goes higher in her register demanding to know “how the hell am I going to get to heaven”.  Singing High notes was a a spot where I had believed Crystal was lacking during her run on American Idol.  Here on this song she sounds just fine.  Holy Toledo and Farmers Daughter were two songs that going in I had resolved to find fault with.  After listening to both, Holy Toledo has switched lists. It’s now one of my favorite songs on this CD.</p> <p align="justify">Crystal is winning right now 2-1 with Farmers daughter still a no contest.</p> <p align="justify">Track 5, Lonely Won’t Come Around.  This starts out almost like the cutesy music you’d hear on a song by The Script or Train. This is a song that I totally can’t describe.  A quick tempo and a lightness of heart that I was not expecting to hear from Ms. Bowersox.  i wish I could remember what I thought of this song the first time I listened. I’m on about the 8th play of the disc now and I’m liking this one a lot.  If there’s any song to compare it to I would say it’s All I wanna Do from Sheryl Crowe.</p> <p align="justify">Track 6, Hold On.  Within the first 30 seconds you know that this is the song Kara and chad Kroeger wrote for her.  I went to the net and checked her <a href="http://twitter.com/crystalbowersox" target="_blank">twitter</a> page and found out that I was right.  This song will be a hit for her.  You have to figure that her label will make sure that this single gets a shot at radio.  With Kara and Chad writing it you’d think that it almost has to.  It’s true what many have said about this cd.  Six tracks in and even my uncultured ears hear the Country influence to these tracks. There’s a lot of music backing her and her voice is just right all the way through.  Great production here as well.  the end of the song is fantastic.  </p> <p align="justify">Crystal’s ahead 4-1 but there’s still a tie where the song “Farmers Daughter” is concerned.</p> <p align="justify">Track seven “On The Run”.  Even more of a country sound coming at us.  A playful bluesy feel to her voice as well, some harmonica in there then a deep gravelly “i’m on the run”.  Quick step through the hopscotch quick licks, back to the lyrics with that playful edge to her voice “I’m just looking for some fun”.  Never during her run on American Idol was she ever even as close to sexy as she would be if she were standing across the street from it.  Now she’s sauntering right down the middle of that heralded avenue. </p> <p align="justify">Kiss Ya.  Here’s a rock tune.  Perhaps this is what some AI viewers were thinking of when they would say that Crystal can sing Janis Joplin.  While i believe this is far from Joplinesque (i just invented a word) it is certainly a rock tune.  This song is top three on the album for me. I really think this could be a mass media hit if it weren’t for her insistence on the word “Shit” making a starring role in the chorus.  There’s some nice keyboards and some good ad lib by Crystal two and a half minutes in. You notice about now that she has chosen backup singers wisely as well, they really do add something special to this song.  </p> <p align="justify">I forget the score now. I do know that I have one win.  </p> <p align="justify">#9 Speak Now.  I feel for <a href="http://twitter.com/brian_mansfield" target="_blank">Brian Mansfield</a> right about now. Finding something unique to say about every song on a CD is hard work.  In short, this is an enjoyable song, a bluesy feel, a story teller kind of song. I really like the crescendo that Crystal takes us to at the end of the song. I know that Lee Dewyze is the one that performed with Chicago on the finale of American Idol, but I could very easily see Crystal doing that song with a full band like Chicago.  Just imagine a great horns section being added to this song!  </p> <p align="justify">I remember now, the score is 7-1 crystals way with one tie on the song Farmers Daughter.</p> <p align="justify">Crystal’s due for a bad song, I mean, come on, seven out of nine songs are good so far.  This tenth song has to be crappy.  Wrong again!  Mine All Mine.  I am no expert but this sure feels like it leans more toward a country song.  A wonderful piece of piano in there and that certain guitar sound that I think they play horizontally with the steel tube running along the neck of the guitar.  Crystal shows us her girly side. </p> <blockquote> <p align="justify"> <em>“no one else will do,</em></p> <p><em>Baby are you mine all mine”.</em></p> </blockquote> <p align="justify">  I can see her in a southern belle ruffled dress swinging on a rope swing from an old oak tree by a lake, day dreaming about a mister right in her future.  </p> <p align="justify">Dammit, 8-1-1.  Now we’re up to Mason.  A song that Crystal wrote with her husband Brian Walker and they sing this song together.  It’s a country song, rich guitars and very warm music. Lyrically this is the best song on the disc. Hell, THIS IS THE BEST SONG ON THE CD, and, there’s a sharp pain where my negative opinion of Crystals ability used to reside at the base of my skull. This song had better be released as a single.  the song starts with both voices then the music joins them </p> <p>“I wanna be your mason baby,</p> <blockquote> <p><em>I wanna build a life with you.”  </em></p> <p><em>Brian:  “I wanna take all this love i feel </em></p> <p><em>and make a love that is stronger than steel with you”.  </em></p> </blockquote> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:fea8c4e7-75f5-477b-960d-df5a0142adad" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><div id="dce9d513-8c1f-4bdd-92f4-d5f07d7708dd" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline;"><div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kLUS3UOOXs" target="_new"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_RKFF7AH4mbE/TQL2ACH70KI/AAAAAAAAADY/0m-bNcOgJdM/video5c58ec1dc6ed%5B3%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-style: none" galleryimg="no" onload="var downlevelDiv = document.getElementById('dce9d513-8c1f-4bdd-92f4-d5f07d7708dd'); downlevelDiv.innerHTML = "<div><object width=\"425\" height=\"355\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/5kLUS3UOOXs&hl=en\"><\/param><embed src=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/5kLUS3UOOXs&hl=en\" type=\"application/x-shockwave-flash\" width=\"425\" height=\"355\"><\/embed><\/object><\/div>";" alt=""></a></div></div></div> <p align="justify">This is an excellent duet.  The chorus is just beautiful.  It’s the sort of song that makes me want to find a woman to love just to sing to her.</p> <p align="justify">So we’ve made it through 11 songs, I’ve taken a huge beating and am down 9 good Crystal songs, one bad crystal song (and that’s the Buffalo Springfield cover) and one “no-decision” the abused childhood song Farmer’s Daughter.</p> <p align="justify">Now Arlene.  My imagination goes here, is this some feminist anthem?  I could really get myself worked up in a lather and go over the top with criticism of something like that.  To be honest, even after the very first listen, I figured I’d probably like the last song.  </p> <p align="justify">Well, it’s hard not to like this song.  Arlene opens to a single rich guitar.  The opening music goes almost thirty seconds before Crystal’s voice comes in.  I’m not very good at finding an interpretation for songs.  To my small mind I’d believe that Arlene is the name that Crystal has given to the girl that lives inside the mirror of her bathroom medicine cabinet. </p> <blockquote> <p align="justify"><em>“her diesel’s humming, </em></p> <p><em>she’s gaining ground,</em></p> <p><em>she don’t need another man just hanging around, </em></p> <p><em>she knows that money don’t equal wealth, </em></p> <p><em>if you want it done right, </em></p> <p><em>you’ve got to do it yourself”</em></p> </blockquote> <p align="justify">To my friends from Idol Chatter, I humbly forfeit.  We’ve spoken about record sales predictions and how I believe that she’ll sell as few as 25,000 units her first week and that this album will leave her merely a memory from the season nine Idol competition.  I am now of a mind that if this album does not receive critical acclaim, on the same level if not greater than Adam Lambert from season 8, there’s something wrong with the average music listener.  </p> <p align="justify">As we ended Idols season nine I had pounded my chest and declared that Crystal had no shot with the Folk Rock sound that she was most likely to bring with her first record.  Well it would seem that me, and most Idol fans were totally wrong. Crystal has brought us an album that is practically equal parts rock and country with a healthy dose of blues and just a touch of that feminist or folksy feel.  I wish I could remember the names of my friends on Idol Chatter that insisted that Crystal was a totally unique artist and preached to the rest of the group that we were silly to attempt to pigeon hole her.  You, my friends, were totally right and I was totally wrong. I’m very glad.  </p> <p align="justify">I would remind you that back in January of 2010, when I first saw Crystal perform during Chicago auditions, I predicted she’d be huge. As you can see, as we will all see, Crystal has a big future ahead of her.  </p> <p align="justify">I’d be glad to hear your thoughts, </p> <p align="justify">Kindly, </p> <p align="justify">John</p> <p align="justify"><img src="http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee309/johnnyd1967/tealpurplejdforblogs.jpg" width="92" height="119" /></p> JDeSabhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15323698347440536524noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129547307275049019.post-87101014289926059092010-12-09T02:41:00.001-05:002010-12-09T02:41:19.790-05:00Christians have something new to be upset about… Fox News is there to back up the 700 Club.<p align="justify"><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_RKFF7AH4mbE/TQCIG9xqvVI/AAAAAAAAADQ/uGtPOe_DI_E/s1600-h/atheistbillboard%5B5%5D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px" title="Layout 1" border="0" alt="Layout 1" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_RKFF7AH4mbE/TQCIHY5ydyI/AAAAAAAAADU/H21m6CrM9Q0/atheistbillboard_thumb%5B3%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="408" height="137" /></a>So I’m watching O’Reilly factor tonight.  He has two gorgeous blondes on the show with him and they’re going to have an intellectual conversation about the Atheist Billboard that we’ve all seen decrying The Myth of Christmas.  </p> <p align="justify">Blonde number one did some research about this billboard, she claims that the organization’s website puts forth the following argument.</p> <p align="justify">"atheists feel alone at Christmas. They feel closeted, they can't  come out to the people that they love at Christmas time who are Christians." </p> <p align="justify">then the Blonde in the red top  "Christians feel alone at Xmas, because they have to be tolerant of every religion except Christianity".  Is that similar to how a smart person has to be tolerant of a stupid bimbo when she says something stupid at a dinner party.  We smart folk just ignore the foolishness that the airhead goes on and on about.  It’s more polite, wouldn’t you agree.  </p> <p align="justify">A few minutes later Blonde in red top says this "In a recent poll 91% of Americans say they believe in God or a universal spirit". Then, towards the Atheists "Get over it"  O'reilly: "Get over what?" .. Blonde in red "Get over the fact that an overwhelming majority of Americans don't believe in your billboard".   Why do the Atheists bother her so much?  Can she be so intolerant of another point of view?  </p> <p align="justify">Well Blonde in red, congratulations on fighting on behalf of the majority.  Look, right now I'm leaning towards Atheism and away from Christianity.  The idea that there is no supreme being just seems to be more believable to me than believing in God almighty.  You do know, that even though the Christians believe in "an invisible guy in the clouds that listen to your prayers, judges your sins, but forgives even murderers who ask for forgiveness", an atheist is viewed as foolish for believing that there is no guy in the clouds that can save lives of dying cancer patients if he chooses but doesn't save every single one, but, the ones that god doesn't save, his ambassadors on earth (priests and pastors) sell you on the fact that "god called her home". Does that mean that the cancer patient that achieved a remission wasn't "called home" by the invisible guy in the clouds. </p> <p align="justify">Look, I envy Christians their beliefs. I envy them that they have the faith to believe the stories that I find difficult to believe.  I do not put you down for having faith in, to me, completely ridiculous stories.  The fact that Christian holidays and stories completely mirror those of pagan religions that are older than Christianity is totally lost on most Christians.  The fact that Christians have such contempt for any other religion (in most cases) speaks to the value of ignorance in breeding faith among Christians.  </p> <p align="justify">While I currently have more faith in the idea of Atheism than I do in Christianity, I also believe that the billboard encouraging Christians to see the ridiculousness of the Jesus birth as myth is in poor taste.  While I'd not do it myself, I don't think  that the Christians should get very upset.  After all 91% of all Americans believe the Atheists are wrong.  Perhaps the 9% <img style="display: inline; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px" align="left" src="http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee309/johnnyd1967/johnnyd/johnnyd_GlassLetters.jpg" width="107" height="73" />are onto the more believable story.  My question for the 91% that believe in God, why worry about what less than 9% of people believe? Be a little tolerant of the minority opinion.  Your mom, and your priest, will tell you it’s the Christian thing to do. Tolerance is a virtue after all. </p> JDeSabhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15323698347440536524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129547307275049019.post-23884392148603397972010-12-03T02:00:00.001-05:002010-12-06T15:43:36.804-05:00Will ending Bush tax cuts hurt small business? - USATODAY.com<div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/money/smallbusiness/columnist/abrams/2010-12-03-bush-tax-cuts-small-business_N.htm">Will ending Bush tax cuts hurt small business? - USATODAY.com</a></div><br />
It's hard to find the facts about all of these taxes. I started searching tonight for information as to how much taxes would be generated if the Bush tax cuts for single people earning 200k or couples earning 250k per year. Well I couldn't find a number, but I did find an interesting article that debunks the assumption that the 250k earners are made up of "50% of all small business owners". Once again, common sense rules the day. It would seem that 98% of all small businesses have an adjusted gross annual income less than 250k. This does not mean yearly sales, we are talking adjusted gross income. <br />
<br />
I love watching Bill O'reilly and keeping up with what the Right wants us to believe. His is not a news show, even though it is broadcast on a cable news channel. He pretends to be a journalist but he's actually nothing more than an entertainment talk show host. He takes creative liberty with the news on many occasions. How does he get away with this. Simple, he presents a story that is much more appealling than the obvious.JDeSabhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15323698347440536524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129547307275049019.post-79229530211987949442010-12-02T00:22:00.001-05:002010-12-02T00:22:14.060-05:00Tax Cuts … Duh<p align="justify"><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_RKFF7AH4mbE/TPctAwhVFfI/AAAAAAAAAC0/Ptdu23sI2Lk/s1600-h/Monopoly-Guy-248x300%5B7%5D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="Monopoly-Guy-248x300" border="0" alt="Monopoly-Guy-248x300" align="left" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_RKFF7AH4mbE/TPctBG81CaI/AAAAAAAAAC4/QB1IIf3tHBo/Monopoly-Guy-248x300_thumb%5B5%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="136" height="158" /></a>Okay, so I’m watching the O’reilly Factor tonight and Billy Boy has a cute FOX correspondent with him. They show a clip of a Democratic  Congressman named Sherrod from Ohio.  In this clip, Sherrod is obviously addressing two hot topics that our congress is debating this month.  The Tax cut for americans making 250k or more per  annum, and extending unemployment compensation benefits for the  over nine percent of americans that are acknowledged to be unemployed. </p> <p align="justify">The congressman says that he believes that the money spent on extending unemployment compensation will directly benefit our country’s economy while he believes that the 10 thousand that the tax cut would save high earners would simply sit in their savings account doing nothing to spur our economy.  </p> <p align="justify">Billy’s guest says that she’s heard from Macroeconomists that have argued both sides when it comes to benefits of the tax cuts to the lower upper class.  Immediately Billy Boy decided to interrupt Blondie and interject “isn’t it widely accepted as fact that the Reagan tax cuts spurred the huge growth of the 80s”, “isn’t it true that immediately following Bush’s tax cuts that followed 9/11 there was growth”.  It was an admirable attempt by Billy Boy to keep the message flowing that he wants to flow.   The actual economic truth is that aid to lower income people spurs much more spending in our stores and restaurants than a tax cut for the wealthy.  Think about it, don’t wait for some talking head from the television or radio to tell you what to think.  That guy that is awarded an unemployment extension is using that money this week to buy xmas presents, and put food on his table. He’s going to take his kids to the movies this weekend to see Yogi Bear.  </p> <p align="justify">Most of economics is small people with small needs carrying out their lives.  Economics isn’t difficult.  Ask a trickle down economist if the growth that Reagans regime presided over would have been possible solely with tax cuts and absent the massive deregulations of trade laws as well as the weakening of monopoly laws.  An honest economist will point out that the weakening of justice played an equal role in the economic boom, along with keeping the FED under strict control.  </p> <p align="justify">95% of us are controlled by the top 1% of us (earners).  We don’t have to give them everything they want.  There is such a thing as a revolution.  Revolution starts by you deciding that the entities in control are treating you unfairly. It’s time for the average American to realize that we’re getting a raw deal and to look for things in our power to tip the scales back in favor of justice and fairness.</p> <p><img src="http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee309/johnnyd1967/johnnyd/johnnyd_GlassLetters.jpg" width="149" height="100" /></p> JDeSabhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15323698347440536524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129547307275049019.post-89838434423149099202010-11-01T13:41:00.000-04:002010-11-01T13:41:04.600-04:00A Boot to the Head ...from Michael Moore | MichaelMoore.com<a href="http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mike-friends-blog/boot-head-michael-moore">A Boot to the Head ...from Michael Moore MichaelMoore.com</a><br /><br />A great blog from Michael Moore. Whether you're Dem or GOP please read. As a working man/woman, you may feel overwhelmed and believe that your vote doesn't really matter. Think of this, if you're a rich man or a corporation you can pick up your phone and call your Senator, and several others and talk to them about what you think they should do. If you're not rich, and you're not a large corporation, the only time you get to speak directly to your elected officials is when you go into that voting booth. Please don't give that away. If not for yourself, do it for all the rest of us that are just like you! We need each other.JDeSabhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15323698347440536524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129547307275049019.post-44479593861702725232010-10-28T11:42:00.001-04:002015-12-10T08:06:44.800-05:00Will the acceptance of homosexuals be the downfall of this society?So I'm watching this video clip where a Texas television station aired a segment speaking to the fact that President Obama has appointed more openly gay individuals to positions than both of the last two presidents combined. After the news anchors introduce the story they bring in a radio talk show host to run with it. <br />He criticizes that Obama supports gay marriage and runs down the fact that christian conservatives are against Mr. Obama's stance on accepting Gay people. Yes, there still are parts of a christian world that thinks that simply because you are gay you should not be able to work in important, president appointed jobs. <br />Then they go to the recorded calls from the radio talk show's listeners while the video keeps showing images of men putting wedding rings on other men. <br />
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"Homophobia is the new racism." <br />"It will be the fall of the United States." <br />"Goes back to the bible, it's (gay) why god destroyed the earth. If Obama was a christian he wouldn't even be doing this." <br />
After several callers, some were pro gay that I haven't quoted here the talk show host returns and here's where he delivers the line that inspired me to write about this clip. Will the acceptance of homosexuality, in this society be the downfall of America. <br />
The usual claim that "hollywood caters to the gays" comes from the TV news anchor. The radio anchor then speaks to the fact that Obama has placed twice the gays than his previous administration has. <br />
I think it speaks well of our society that, it would seem, a greater percentage of gay people have come out in recent years. I believe that this means that, while there are many bigots still, a greater percentage of us are able to see a gay person as a person, just like ourselves, who happens to be gay. I actually enjoyed this clip, I really like seeing these closed minded people uncomfortable that gay people are getting ahead. More interesting is that this radio host after all that he says claims to "accept the gay lifestyle". <br />
The truest statement here is "Homophobia is the new racism". We white folk are now getting a peak into what being a black person felt like 40 years ago. I cringe as I watch these television personalities (radio too) speak of gays. It strikes me that it must have felt the same way to be a black person 45 years ago to hear the word "Negro" and even worse said on television describing your race. Also the condescension in the tone of these people, as if their amazed that a gay person is really a person at all. <br />
While many are urging more traditional people to be accepting of this foreign lifestyle what is heartening to me is that a greater number of people view this piece of video from Texas and believe that this is what is abhorrent in our society, not homosexuality. I'm glad that many of us are realizing that fear of homosexuals is merely a tool that the religious right uses to polarize all of us. If we keep an "us versus them" mentality we can remain important. Because the religious right needs to keep their followers fearful of something different. Without that they would lose their following. <br />
I am glad that I live in a time where bigots and homophobes have to whisper their opinions. While I sometimes am uncomfortable with the ways of the homosexual culture, I'd rather feel that queasiness than know that people have to hide who they really are for their whole life. How horrible would it be if I had to hide my love of women from the rest of the world? That I couldn't bring my girlfriend home to meet my mother for fear that my father might turn his back on me forever. What a horrible thing that would be? <br />
This is why it’s important for media to show homosexuals. It’s important for straight people, especially parents to see gay people. I know, myself, that recently I watched an episode of Glee where the gay boys father confronted a friend of his son. He defended his son even though he struggles with his son’s sexuality. In viewing that scene I “felt” all three sides of the scene. The father, the son, and the friend. The friend was uncomfortable and just wanted the gay friend to be more normal. What our society has done to this point is we’ve expected the gays to make our lives comfortable at the expense of their freedom, their happiness. Now, we straight people are experiencing some discomfort as we learn to incorporate our neighbors lifestyles into our shared society. As we become more of an open, accepting society, we’ll be better for it.<br />
JDeSabhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15323698347440536524noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129547307275049019.post-40510774116094966822010-10-26T11:29:00.005-04:002010-10-26T11:41:29.868-04:00Lebron James, Damaged Legacy, and he doesn’t even know it.Lebron James first game with the Miami Heat comes to us tonight. Have you seen his new Nike commercial? Taken lightly it’s a painfully funny attempt at boosting Lebron into stardom in the general sense, not just the basketball world. I believe that this commercial is one of the most over-produced sports ad I’ve ever seen. Lot’s of different sets, and different costume changes for Lebron. There’s even a guest spot for Don Johnson and even some great special effects. (there’s a shot where he’s having his Chosen 1 tattoo removed from his back). With all of this rambling by Lebron, there is no sign of humility. Humility from a superstar is something that we all want. Michael Jordan completed an entire career without ever being filmed “bathing” in his greatness. There’s a scene in this video<br />
<div class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:4e50d2e1-64c6-47db-8d89-3a14751b3b7c" style="display: inline; float: none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div id="801a8145-838a-445e-a357-101c059a52a6" style="display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div><embed height="355" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/cdtejCR413c&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425"></embed></div></div></div>Where Lebron rides his SUV by a huge banner in Cleveland “We Are All Witness”. We have Don Johnson in his Miami Vice role advising Lebron “Be patient, after a while the temperature drops and everything is free and easy”. Even this simple advice is shown contempt by this wayward superstar. In the commercial lebron replies “Should I be writing this down”. Can you write Lebron? You certainly can’t reason! This commercial, just like everything that has come out of Lebron’s mouth and all that we see from his behavior shows nothing but contempt from this golden spoon biting athelete.<br />
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From the time Lebron entered the NBA up until this free agency move I have been “on the fence” where Lebron is concerned. I’ve given him credit as being one of the most talented players to come into the NBA. I’ve watched his accomplishments with a degree of awe and have been excited about what he offers the game. If you remember, it was he that was excited to play for “his” Cavs. He led us all to believe that Cleveland is where he wanted to be as a professional. Cleveland has done a great deal to put a championship supporting cast around him. Obviously, all of their efforts fell short of King Lebron’s expectations. He’s decided to team up with some superstars in Miami, turning it into the Justice League building the superfriends used, and wage a full frontal assault on the doors of Basketball Superteam status. Well this is where my support ends. I find myself secretly hoping for a season ending and career shortening injury for the King. <br />
As I viewed this commercial I had the Dan Patrick Show on television in the background. He had sports commentators calling in giving their opinion. Jason Whitlock of Fox Sports says "He (Lebron) has Harvard problems and he has community college friends (advising him)". This is true, but, even more telling is the fact that Lebron James is a young man with a history of taking the easy road. He went straight from High School to the NBA. Avoiding the difficulties of NCAA and satisfying the requirements of living that life. In Cleveland, he had a team looking to build a winner around James. Now, he's found a new shortcut. If he and two other league superstars join up an a single team we can win several rings. Oh boy, another shortcut, Lebron jumps at that. I don't have a problem with Lebron making the choices he has, what I do have a problem with is that Lebron thinks that he is entitled to be handled with kids gloves. <br />
This commercial, meant to repair Lebron's image, serves exactly the opposite purpose. He asks questions that all have answers that are negative to Lebron's image. At one point he says "I am not a role model", then shows lebron eating a donut. then he winks and says "Hi Chuck". Who is this kid to try to show up Charles Barkeley? Simply because you're not happy that the likes of Barkeley and Jordan have spoken out against this coordinated free agency move to Miami doesn't mean they are wrong. Again, it leads back to humility. Something seriously lacking with Lebron James. <br />
In the end, here’s what I can say, before decision 2010, when James took up 60 minutes of ESPN air time to announce he’s going to Miami, I had a mostly positive image of Lebron James, since then I’ve had a decisively negative impression of the Basketball Superstar. After this commercial, my view of Lebron is even more negative. <br />
There’s nothing more disappointing than wasted talent.<br />
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</div>JDeSabhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15323698347440536524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129547307275049019.post-52067181473064290652010-09-22T14:19:00.001-04:002010-09-22T14:38:51.155-04:00There’s a Sucker Born Every Minute<a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_RKFF7AH4mbE/TJpInPQWClI/AAAAAAAAAA4/DU9GGye0KPc/s1600-h/barnum_pt%5B8%5D.jpg"><img alt="P.T. Barnum" border="0" height="398" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_RKFF7AH4mbE/TJpIngqSgwI/AAAAAAAAABA/AyrvgVzNChc/barnum_pt_thumb%5B6%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline;" title="P.T. Barnum" width="325" /></a> <br />
Historybuff.com has taught me some very interesting lessons recently. <br />
One very interesting one is that P.T. Barnum has been wrongly credited with claiming "There's a sucker born every minute". In reality this phrase was made famous when a competitor of his stated it after Barnum outfoxed this scoundrel. <br />
A man named George Hull, in 1869 had devised a hoax that would convince people that there were giant humans roaming the Earth millions of years ago. Once he had crafted this “giant prehistoric human” fossil he sought funding. A group of investors headed by a banker named David Hannum provided two-thirds of the necessary capital. While Hull was getting all of this lined up, Barnum created a fake prehistoric giant of his own and put out the word that he had bought the original from Hannum and that Hannum's giant was a fake. When Hannum filed a lawsuit against P.T. Barnum Hull stepped forward and admitted that it all was a hoax. "The judge ruled that Barnum could not be sued for calling Hannum's giant a fake since it was a fake after all. Thereafter, Hannum's name was lost to history while Barnum was left with the misplaced stigma of being the one to say "There's a sucker born every minute." <img align="right" alt="David Hannum" border="0" height="244" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_RKFF7AH4mbE/TJpIoEmOd3I/AAAAAAAAABE/RfEdT0JZVY0/David%20Hannum%5B6%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px;" title="David Hannum" width="159" /> <br />
And the rest is history. I thought this was very interesting and if you do too, I'd encourage you to read for yourself the account (<a href="http://www.historybuff.com/library/refbarnum.html" target="_blank">here</a>) as written by R.J. Brown who serves as the Editor-in-Chief at www.historybuff.com. It is a fascinating site with tons of interesting information. I'm losing myself in the presidents section right now. I'm reading <a href="http://www.historybuff.com/presidents/lincoln1.html" target="_blank">Abraham Lincoln's First inaugural Address</a>. This site has the inaugural address of every single president. That's just awesome. <br />
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Edit: I've just found a blog where the writer shows photos of the cardiff giant and also tells a bit more about Harrum. It appears there was a movie made about Harrum starring Will Rogers. Here's the URL: <a href="http://afewlinesaboutline.blogspot.com/2008/03/david-harum-and-cardiff-giant.html">http://afewlinesaboutline.blogspot.com/2008/03/david-harum-and-cardiff-giant.html</a>JDeSabhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15323698347440536524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129547307275049019.post-17418543929609157392010-09-21T20:09:00.001-04:002010-09-21T20:35:08.830-04:00Muff VS. LoveSo, today one of my facebook friends posted on their profile a simple request. Reply with the name of a song that includes the word love in it, but remove the word love and replace it with Muff.<br />
Well, there were tons of replies some very funny. Myself, being the way I am, I decided to google songs with “Love” in the title and i got a very long list. Too many songs to list on her page so I thought I could do it in a blog entry. So here you go. Hope you find this as funny as I do. They’re listed in chronologic order. <br />
•Benny Goodman - Taking A Chance On MUFF (1943) <br />
•Mills Brothers - You Always Hurt The One You MUFF (1944) <br />
•Perry Como - Prisoner Of MUFF (1946) <br />
•Mario Lanza - Be My MUFF (1951) <br />
•Four Aces - MUFF Is A Many Splendered Thing (1955) <br />
•Elvis Presley - MUFF Me Tender (1956) <br />
•Tab Hunter - Young MUFF (1957) <br />
•Elvis Presley - A Big Hunk O' MUFF (1959) <br />
•Tymes - So Much In MUFF (1963) <br />
•Beatles - MUFF Me Do (1964) <br />
•Peter and Gordon - A World Without MUFF (1964) <br />
•Supremes - Where Did my MUFF Go (1964) <br />
•Dixie Cups - Chapel of MUFF (1964) <br />
•Beatles - Can't Buy Me MUFF (1964) <br />
•Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders - Game of MUFF (1965) <br />
•Supremes - Stop! In The Name of MUFF (1965) <br />
•Supremes - You Can't Hurry MUFF (1966) <br />
•Beatles - All You Need Is MUFF (1967) <br />
•Lulu - To Sir with MUFF (1967) <br />
•Supremes - MUFF Child (1968) <br />
•Paul Mauriat - MUFF Is Blue (1968) <br />
•Henry Mancini - MUFF Theme From 'Romeo And Juliet' (1969) <br />
•Jackson Five - The MUFF You Save (1970) <br />
•George Harrison - Give Me MUFF (Give Me Peace On Earth) (1973) <br />
•O'Jays - MUFF Train (1973) <br />
•Paul McCartney - My MUFF (1973) <br />
•Eagles - Best Of My MUFF (1975) <br />
•Captain and Tennille - MUFF Will Keep Us Together (1975) <br />
•Bellamy Brothers - Let Your MUFF Flow (1976) <br />
•Ohio Players - MUFF Rollercoaster (1976) <br />
•Diana Ross - MUFF Hangover (1976) <br />
•Paul McCartney - Silly MUFF Songs (1976) <br />
•Bee Gees - How Deep Is Your MUFF (1977-1978) <br />
•Bee Gees - MUFF You Inside Out (1979) <br />
•Queen - Crazy Little Thing Called MUFF (1980) <br />
•Diana Ross and Lionel Richie - Endless MUFF (1981) <br />
•Billy Ocean - Caribbean Queen (No More MUFF on the Run) (1984) <br />
•Stevie Wonder - I Just Called to Say I MUFF You (1984) <br />
•Tina Turner - What's MUFF Got to Do With It (1984) <br />
•Whitney Houston - Saving All My MUFF for You (1985) <br />
•Foreigner - I Want to Know What MUFF Is (1985) <br />
•Huey Lewis and The News - The Power of MUFF (1985) <br />
•Bon Jovi - You Give MUFF a Bad Name (1986) <br />
•Robert Palmer - Addicted to MUFF (1986) <br />
•Steve Winwood - Higher MUFF (1986) <br />
•Peter Cetera - Glory of MUFF (1986) <br />
•Whitney Houston - Greatest MUFF of All (1986) <br />
•Def Leppard - MUFF Bites (1988) <br />
•Phil Collins - Groovy Kind of MUFF (1988) <br />
•Nelson - (Can't Live Without Your) MUFF and Affection (1990) <br />
•Taylor Dayne - MUFF Will Lead You Back (1990) <br />
•Roxette - It Must Have Been MUFF (1990) <br />
•Madonna - Justify My MUFF (1990-1991) <br />
•Mariah Carey - MUFF Takes Time (1990) <br />
•Michael Bolton - How Am I Supposed To MUFF Without You (1990) <br />
•Mariah Carey - Vision of MUFF (1990) <br />
•Color Me Badd - All 4 MUFF (1992) <br />
•Meat Loaf - I'd Do Anything for MUFF (But I Won't Do That) (1993) <br />
•Janet Jackson - That's the Way MUFF Goes (1993) <br />
•Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart, Sting - All for MUFF (1994) <br />
•Celine Dion - The Power of MUFF (1994) <br />
•Jennifer Lopez - If You Had My MUFF (1999) <br />
•Beyonce Featuring Jay-Z - Crazy In MUFF (2003) <br />
•Usher feat. Young Jeezy - MUFF in This Club (2008) <br />
•Eminem feat. Rihanna - MUFF the Way You Lie (2010)<br />
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<img height="147" src="http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee309/johnnyd1967/johnnyd/johnnyd_GlassLetters.jpg" width="219" />JDeSabhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15323698347440536524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129547307275049019.post-64994035950205721242010-07-19T13:09:00.001-04:002010-07-19T13:09:08.434-04:00Learning Twitter<p>So I’ve recently started using Twitter after having set it up well over a year ago.  I never really understood it, at least how it would work for me.  Since then Twitter has gotten HUGE. There have been some Twitter scandals involving professional athletes and lots of other happenings with celebrities and the like. </p> <p>Back in early June I became aware that this years World Series of Poker was underway and as I scanned the poker news websites that I’m familiar with I found that most poker players that I am a fan of update twitter often.  So I dusted off my twitter and added Gavin Smith, Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Doyle Brunson, and a few others.  I set up Gavin to update my cell phone as well as <a href="http://www.pokernews.com">www.pokernews.com</a>.  This became very useful.</p> <p>I still have no clue how to use #hashtags and I don’t know how to figure out a way to see if anyone out there has sent me a message using @jdesab if they aren’t someone I’m currently following.  I also need to figure out what lists are.  For now, the people I’m following numbers right around 40.  </p> <p>I’ve also come to believe that next time I’m in a project management position I’m going to use twitter to keep in touch with my techs. I’ve skimmed some articles in the past written on tech republic about the usefulness of Twitter, yet until getting my hands dirty with it I really Wasn’t seeing it.  You can keep track of several people from one page.  Of course telephone conversation is still necessary for complex issues or help, but managing a team can be easier if they are simply tweeting their status from time to time.  Also, if you know that your team has your tweets delivered to their phone, you can disseminate information to large (or small) groups very easily.  I also think it’s even more useful as a tool in upper management.  What better way to play the role of a fly on the wall and see what sort of info is being passed among your front line supervisors and their team.  </p> <p>There’s even more interesting possibilities for twitter.  As we move into more and more internet capable gadgets and appliance we can set up twitter updates from the most interesting things.  My friend Hans has hooked up his toaster to tweet when it begins and finishes toasting.  You can follow it here  <a title="http://twitter.com/mytoaster" href="http://twitter.com/mytoaster">http://twitter.com/mytoaster</a>.  Hans has written an exceptionally interesting blog describing how he set his toaster up on twitter but also how this technology is a sign of things to come in the future.  I highly recommend taking a couple minutes and reading his blog. <a href="http://iamshadowlord.com/2010/06/toaster-twitter-internet-of-things.html" target="_blank">(click here)</a> </p> <p>I’m still learning and exploring but I really think this is a cool application.  </p> <p>my twitter = <a href="http://www.twitter.com/jdesab">www.twitter.com/jdesab</a></p> <p>   <img src="http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee309/johnnyd1967/johnnyd/johnnyd_GlassLetters.jpg" width="217" height="117" /></p> JDeSabhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15323698347440536524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7129547307275049019.post-5564394731859535852010-07-16T01:47:00.001-04:002010-07-16T01:47:34.060-04:00Another Political Email Debunked Muslim Postage Stamp from US Postal Service<p> </p> <p>Today I received an email letting me know that there’s trouble afoot. President Obama is selling us Americans, and our culture, out to those damned Muslims.  It seems that radical leftist bozo in the White House directed the Postal Service to create a stamp that commemorates a Muslim holiday.  </p> <p><img src="http://c2.api.ning.com/files/an*JNeMCdsdS3xcCoMiDoRTjhO30b*rJj2FqVq4MuPJToEmu*LQdSCPRC9HeEeHBnHpnk*vBlsEmcrSCZe*n1tjZg7DVR3DV/Islamicstamp2.bmp" width="240" height="240" /> </p> <p>The email goes on to ask me to “adamantly and vocally boycott this stamp.” All that I have to say at the post office is “NO thank you, i do not want that Muslim stamp on my letters”.  </p> <p>Further it goes on to name all of the horrible things that have been done by radical Muslims.  </p> <p>For the record I’ll say that I don’t really like Muslims and to my way of thinking this is silly for our country to have this stamp available.  But, we’re a large country with diverse Cultures, I’m sure there’s many a Muslim walking around that will think it’s really cool that their country is acknowledging their culture.  The interesting thing here is that this emails real message is to watch out for that Obama bastard, he’s selling us out to the Muslims.  I decided to investigate the origins of this stamp and discover what role Barrack Obama played in bringing this stamp to the public.  </p> <p>First, I must inform you, when you visit the post office, if you want one of these commemorative stamps you have to ask for it specifically.  Therefore, the need to ever correct the teller and refuse the stamp is alleviated. You would only ever get this stamp if you expressly asked for it.</p> <p>Second, this 44 cent stamp went into circulation September of 2009.  However, the basic stamp design has been around over 9 years longer.  </p> <p><img src="http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2001/10/18/stamp_120x157.jpg" /> </p> <p>This 34 cent stamp was originally issued August 1, 2001.  42 days before the bombing of the World Trade center.</p> <p>Even more interesting, it was re-issued in October of 2002 as a 37 cent stamp.  </p> <p><img src="http://www.icva1.com/images/EidLg.gif" width="223" height="223" /> </p> <p>What’s very interesting about the October 2002 version, accompanying the issuance the White House posted the following item explaining the stamp. </p> <p><a title="http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/infocus/ramadan/eidstamp.html" href="http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/infocus/ramadan/eidstamp.html">http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/infocus/ramadan/eidstamp.html</a></p> <p>Obviously, George Bush thought it was ok to issue an Islamic themed stamp not once but twice, why is it a slight on Obama that it’s being issued again 8 and 9 years later?  </p> <p>Look, the right puts a lot of effort into their emails.  I’m sure many of us get mad at those damn liberals all the time.  Wouldn’t it feel better to get mad over something that Obama truly has earned?  </p> <p>As I said from the outset, I’m not excited about this stamp, but then again, I’ve never been excited about a stamp except for one time when a relative sent out Christmas cards that had their baby’s face where the postage stamp would go.  <a title="http://photo.stamps.com" href="http://photo.stamps.com">http://photo.stamps.com</a>  You can breathe easy, this is not the dreaded final word that Barrack Obama is really a Muslim activist planted here to destroy our country.  </p> <p>My advice to you when you see an email like this.  If it interests or angers you, go to <a href="http://www.snopes.com">www.snopes.com</a> and paste the subject line into their search field.  If it’s bogus, more than likely snopes knows.  Before you forward, validate.  </p> <p><img src="http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee309/johnnyd1967/johnnyd/johnnyd_GlassLetters.jpg" width="204" height="137" /> </p> <p> </p> <p>Sources.  </p> <p><a href="http://www.factcheck.org">www.factcheck.org</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.snopes.com">www.snopes.com</a></p> JDeSabhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15323698347440536524noreply@blogger.com0