Weekend Damage Control

The liberal media is hyperventilating over their own analysis relating to the homicide bomber who killed himself and others outside the fence of the Bagram, Afghanistan base where VP Dick Cheney was meeting with members of the central Afghani government today. (Someone tell me if this is a grammatically correct sentence?)

Liberals Waste No Time starting Spin Machine

CNN reported today that the attack showed the increased ability of the Taliban to strike Western interests.

My Analysis: The second highest American government official goes into the heart of Radical Islam country, and all they can do is meth-up one unemployed heroin addict and walk him to the chain link for a meeting with allah? Didn't they have a few crazed middle-school kids with RPG's? Isn't that what they go to school for, CNN?

Is that all they've got?! Kind of flacid, if you ask me.

I'm kind of disappointed in Radical Islam today. They're just not holding up their end of this conflict.
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My lovely daughter had a pep rally last week. She did great.


Afterward, I was pretty fired up. Her love interest was there because he's in her class. I told him to get next to her to take a picture. He had no problem with that. But, evidently she got embarrased because her other classmates were there. ........ I just don't get kids.

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The first picture attached is our good friend, Clint "Farmer" Scoggins. Second picture is the imperturbable Aaron Morgan. In the last picture, Morgan throws to Junior at 1B to hold a runner.

Playing in Houston's Baseball USA means teams will only see the best competition. Every player works individually with professional trainers. And, every team is stacked. After this weekend, the Gladiators will have to content themselves with being the worst of the best after losing three in a row.

One of the teams Beaumont played was the Texas Drillers. This is a team that pounds the baseball from 1-9 in their lineup. They are so well-financed that they all flew to Puerto Rico for a tournament last Fall, at one of the parents' expense. They took 2nd there.

John sees a lot of boys that he has played baseball with through the years. In the coming years, they'll all be reading eachothers' names in the Houston Chronicle Sports Page. These are the future stars of the Houston area.

And while we await this weekend's tournament.....

This is a picture that I took this week of my lovely daughter. She is a vision of loveliness. She always minds her daddy. More about her to follow.

Click the link here to see one of the greatest video clips you’re just ever going to see:
Green Bean Standoff
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While I was waiting for my son at the orthodontist’s office today, a nice looking lady approached and said “Hello….”. I’m sure I looked a little shell-shocked. She didn’t know that I’d just left the battle zone and had no idea as to her identity. She asked how my new dog was doing. Then, I realized that she was the kind lady who rescued the little Black Lab pup and needed to find it a home. A mutual friend volunteered me. That was 6 weeks ago.

Everybody should have a Lab puppy at least once in order to fully appreciate it. Like a convertible, owning one of these little blessings is totally impractical and high maintenance. Also, both the convertible and puppy come with lots of hidden costs.

My son’s pitching coach told us about his dog passing blue and red plastic for two days after it ate all the wire off his trailer. These dogs are just a laugh a minute.

Fellow Black Lab owners are like Marines because they all ultimately realize their puppy is the enemy. The owner defeats the will of the enemy or vice versa. And, owners all respect each other because they’ve all run the gauntlet (or killed their dog).

Like a terrorist, this puppy digs trenches, destroys walls and windows. But, I have an ally. His name is Larry. During my absences, Larry the German Shepherd raises the puppy. He’s teaching the puppy to respect authority. Thank goodness for a trustworthy ally in my personal war against terror.


Next time hopefully, I’ll recognize the nice lady once I’ve recovered from this trauma.

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As part of the NBA's All-Star Weekend, new fans got to see the round moribund, Charles Barkley race 67 year old Dick Bavetta in a carnival sideshow atmosphere. Too bad he's reduced to this.

Folks forget or are too young to know how great Charles Barkley was when he was young. Click this link for a quick reminder: Round Mound of Rebound
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My lovely daughter was recognized at school for demonstrating the virtue of the month: Respect. I am very proud of her. Also, her basketball coach called her the most tenacious defender on the team at the last practice this season. She was scrappy and tough. On the basketball court, she doesn’t respect anybody. Ironic.

Beware the Age of Enlightenment

Isn't it unusual that we're looking at a picture of the Indianapolis Colts giving thanks to God after the Super Bowl? Kind of foreign? It just seems so because fans are being conditioned by the left to bifurcate American cultural events and its religious ones.

Take for example last week's perfect media storm involving a marginal former NBA player, John Amaechi who has claimed to be a homosexual. Sports writers and radio personalities beat the bushes for a week, trying to find an NBA player who would say exactly the things that Tim Hardaway said. He hates homosexuals. He wouldn't want to play with homosexuals. Then the media had its controversy with the resulting fodder for hours of secular platitudes about "bigotry" and "tolerance".

Based upon the media's definition of tolerance, any professional athlete who believes the Apostle Paul's words in the Book of Romans might be branded as intolerant. Certainly, Tim Hardaway's words are too angry and too strong. It isn't Christian to waste your energy with hate. Still, homosexuality is a sin, like any other. Could the time come when Christian Athletes will have to publicly deny the teachings of their faith in order to comply with society's criteria in it's new "age of enlightenment"?

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Chicagoland Educator, Todd Keeler summed last week's rant about parents demanding change for the better: "The 'stay putism,' you described is cleverly-disguised passivity, a staple in the the blob of mediocrity's diet which is also consuming much of our youth. Life is about change and constant and never-ending improvement by taking healthy risks--not about staying comfortable which is the natural gravitational pull of the world. Good for you for your great reminder to me."

Valentine's Wrap-Up

If you show me a player who respects his coaches and parents, I’ll show you a player with big upside. One such player is on our current team, the Beaumont Gladiators. His name is Clint Scoggins, from Silsbee, Texas. Our new team passed on several more experienced players because of this young man’s effort and good attitude. (Clint on the left, John rt.)
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Junior hit the baseball last weekend at Baseball USA in Houston. He had a hit off the fence, a hit to left, to right-center, a bloop hit, a hit so hard that it ricocheted off the shortstop, a clutch hit and a go-ahead hit. It was a nice weekend,…. if you like hitting.
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Relating to last week's entry about our border-agent patriots, , my dad wrote:

Your point is painfully, Right ON. The handling of the Border Patrol incident is a scandal. No doubt due to the (expletive removed) ACLU. But, why can't our legal-justice system see through the pseudo-legal (adjective removed) smoke? Obviously a result of our perverse political system.

Frankly Patrick, I am impressed that you are aware of this unacceptable affair. Love, Dad
My dad is generally surprised when I am aware of anything not relating to sports.

My paternity claim on Anna Nicole Smith’s daughter has received surprisingly little media attention.
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The Congressional Subcommittee Meeting on Global Warming was cancelled on Valentine’s Day because of freezing rain and snow accumulation. Add your own punchline.
(I bet my Dad didn't know this.)

http://www.drudgereport.com/flash8.htm
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In Select baseball, from time to time it becomes necessary to switch teams. Usually, the parents bicker over where Little Johnny plays. Why does Little Billy bat in front of Little Joey? Sometimes the financial commitment to one team is prohibitive. Or, the coach is better suited to be working in the penal system than guiding young men towards their adulthood.

It’s O.K. It happens. Sometimes you just move on to another team. My son has played for five different select teams, since he was nine years old.

The thing that makes me scratch my head is when parents who have a better opportunity with a different team, explain their decision to stay put thusly: “Well, we asked Billy what he wants to do. He said he wants to stay with his friends.”

It really makes me nervous when folks admit that they abdicated the decision-making to their 10-year-old. Don’t get in that habit. Make sure your kid knows that you will call the shots.

Someone will say “How will I teach my precious angel how to make his own decisions?” My answer: Teach by example.

Some folks have a hard time being where the buck stops. It’s just too much responsibility for them. Get ready, people. If you can’t dictate outcomes when your kids are little, how will you tell them they can’t go to the tattoo parlor/meth. lab/Marilyn Manson concerto when they’re sixteen?

Pujols Abandons Legal Protections

You're going to think I'm crazy. But, I think Albert Pujols made an error yesterday. He was awarded American Citizenship after passing a test, for which he prepared as if it was the World Series. The result of the day may mean a reduction of protections for Pujols in any future mishaps, within the American Judicial System.

Chester Moyer, the officer in charge of the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Service office in St. Louis, said Thursday that Deidre Pujols served as her husband's tutor. Moyer said Pujols, 27, spent about a year preparing for the citizenship exam. He went on to pass the exam with a score of 100.

Doesn't Pujols know that citizenship is the kiss of death, should he ever be found bumping an illegal while waving the American Flag, or suggesting that President Bush is a greater leader than say.... Hugo Chavez? Just ask Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, who are serving sentences of 10 years each in Federal Penitentiaries for scuffling and subsequently shooting a Mexican National, who was attempting to smuggle more than 700 pounds of illicit drugs into America from Mexico on Feb. 17, 2005. In this case, the foreign intruder was found to have had his civil rights infringed. He was given immunity from prosecution in return for testifying in America against our citizens. The Border Agents were said to have violated his rights by pursuing the illegal drug-smuggling alien.

Didn't anybody tell Albert Pujols that this is no longer the United States of America. (I'll have to tell him myself in my library voice.) Albert, this is La-La Land where every day is opposite day. And yes, that's why I wear my underpants on the outside.
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I'm proud that I live in Congressman Ted Poe's District. He is taking the lead with Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) in Congress on demanding that the complete story be heard and that Pres. Bush pardon these men.

Also, I am proud that our country is still the greatest in the world. I'm glad that a fine man like Pujols would regard being an American highly enough to spend a year to prepare.

Tancredo Demands Pardon

In response to this, Chicago Business Owner, Sean O'Connor writes: Given the state of my (part owner of a small business) health care plan, he (Pujols) is a fool. Recently, my wife had a procedure at the hospital that was painful and urgent and I knew all along it was going to be out of pocket. Not only was I tired and upset for the sake of my wife and wallet but leaving the emergency room and seeing no less than 14 (what appeared to be) illegals waiting for care put me over the edge. if I was alone, I would have a few things in English that i would have made sure they understood.
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Thanks to those folks who encouraged me to keep writing. I was taking a sabbatical while my son was in preparation mode for another baseball season. He plays tomorrow in Houston.