Thursday, April 06, 2006
Creationism vs. Truth
NBC works overtime to create news. Dateline, in a stroke of controversy genius, decided to plant ethnically dressed Muslims in the stands at a recent NASCAR automobile race and then tape and report on the reactions of the crowd.
With this kind of "set-up" we could only imagine how the editing is going to go.
Excerpts from AP -
Apr 5, 6:45 PM EDT
NASCAR: Dateline NBC's Plan 'Outrageous'
By JENNA FRYER AP Motorsports Writer
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- NASCAR said it was "outrageous" that "Dateline NBC" targeted one of its race tracks last weekend for a possible segment on anti-Muslim sentiment in the United States.
NASCAR said NBC confirmed it was sending Muslim-looking men to a race, along with a camera crew to film fans' reactions. The NBC crew was "apparently on site in Martinsville, Va., walked around and no one bothered them," NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said Wednesday.
"It is outrageous that a news organization of NBC's stature would stoop to the level of going out to create news instead of reporting news," Poston said.
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"'Dateline' is looking into this story," NBC said in a statement. "We were intrigued by the results of a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll and other articles regarding increasing anti-Muslim sentiments in the United States.
"It's very early on in our newsgathering process, but be assured we will be visiting a number of locations across the country and are confident that our reporting team is pursuing this story in a fair manner," it said.
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And one wonders WHY people do not tune in to Main Stream Media anymore. Let us just say we have a problem with their credibility when they, themselves, create the news. Remember Dan Rather and Mary Mapes in the run-up to the last presidential election? Oh, yea! That turned out well.
I love it that NBC lays the blame on pursuing this story because it was "intrigued by the results of a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll". The MSM inciting the MSM - This is rich.
- Day By Day cartoon over at Partisan Pundit -
Of Faith & Floating Ice
Excerpts from the Washington Post -
Floating Ice May Explain How Jesus Walked on Water, Researchers Say
By Alan Cooperman - Washington Post Staff Writer - Thursday, April 6, 2006; Page A03
Combining evidence of a cold snap 2,000 years ago with sophisticated mapping of the Sea of Galilee, Israeli and U.S. scientists have come up with a scientific explanation of how Jesus could have walked on water.
Their answer: It was actually floating ice.
The scientists acknowledge that the Sea of Galilee, in what is now northern Israel, has never frozen in modern times. But they say geological core samples suggest that average temperatures were lower in Jesus's day, and that there were at least two protracted cold spells in the region 1,500 to 2,500 years ago.
In addition to chilly weather, their explanation depends on a rare physical property of the Sea of Galilee, known to modern-day Israelis as Lake Kinneret. It is fed by salty springs along its western shore that produce plumes of dense water, thermally isolating areas that could freeze even if the entire lake did not, they assert.
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This is not the first time that Nof, 61, has attempted to debunk a biblical miracle. In 1992, he and Nathan Paldor, an atmospheric scientist at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, wrote a scientific article proposing that strong winds across the narrow, shallow Gulf of Suez could have lowered the Red Sea by 10 feet, allowing the Israelites to cross to safety and then swallowing up an Egyptian army within a few minutes when the wind stopped, just as the book of Exodus says.
Nof, who described himself as a nonreligious Jew, said he hopes that critics will realize that he is an "equal opportunity miracle buster" who has taken on both Moses and Jesus.
"This isn't going to convince a believer not to believe, and nobody's trying to do that. At least, I'm not trying to do that," he said. "I personally believe that all these biblical stories are based on some truth."
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Wendy Cotter, professor of scripture at Loyola University Chicago, a Roman Catholic school, wrote her doctoral dissertation 15 years ago on biblical accounts of Jesus's stilling the wind and walking on the sea. When she heard about Nof's theory, she said, her first thought was: "Anything's possible -- but that's not what the writer means."
To the Romans, she said, the sea was "the ultimate force of nature, which was why the Caesars always claimed control over it." Jews in the time of Jesus also feared the sea and, moreover, were familiar with the Book of Job, in which God is described as the one who can "walk on the sea," she said.
In attributing to Jesus the power to walk across the waves, "Christians were using the imagery that had previously been used by both the Romans and the Jews to show that a person has been given authority by God," Cotter said. "Water, or ice, is not the point."
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I think MAXINE would rather "Aim At Heaven ...". It is time to read today's "My Utmost For His Highest" by Oswald Chambers - Prayer Edition.
Today's reading is titled - The Collision Of GOD And Sin ... and the prayer is ... O, Lord, I would praise Thee for Thy mighty Redemption at the heart of all our problems. By Thy great power raise us up to newness of life.
Good Day!
To FiOS, Or Not To FiOS - That Is The Question
This extensive review from CNET -
Some assembly required
By Matt Lake - CNET Reviews - April 3, 2006
Some roads to broadband Internet access are smooth. Because of this, they are the roads most traveled in the quest for ever more streaming video and a Web and e-mail experience without an overture of modem beeps.
Take DSL, if it's available in your area. Sign up for it, get a self-install kit, and after you've plugged in a few filters and installed the hardware and software you need, you're online. It's not as easy as installing AOL software, perhaps, but about the same price and a lot faster.
Or take cable. If you happen to have a cable outlet in the room where you'll be computing (or the one you're using for a wireless access point), you do another self-install. If you don't have a convenient outlet, you pay Comcast 50 bucks to come out, drag wire into your computer room, and sign on the line that commits you to paying about $45 per month. Assuming you can tolerate the other kind of "broad band" (the extrawide time slot needed to allocate to a visit from the cable guy), it's that simple.
But just because these two types of Internet access are the most common and the smoothest to install, don't assume they're your only choice. In a few regions, there are two other ways to get online. If they were available in my area, I'd be all over them.These two alternative broadband technologies are consumer-grade fiber-optic access (spearheaded by Verizon's FiOS) and municipal wireless, such as the newly available service in Upper Dublin, Pennsylvania.
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Roads less traveled
So there are two other ways to zoom onto the Internet. For now, sadly, they're available only in a few communities. FiOS will most likely spread faster than municipal wireless, but who knows which service will land in your community first.
So here's a question for you: If you had the choice between FiOS, BreezeAccess, or the DSL/cable route, which would you take?
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Ahhhh ... choices, choices, choices!
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Two Chickens, Hold The Arsenic!
Yes, arsenic ... a poison to the human body. Added to chickens to help reduce parasitic disease and promote growth when raising large flocks for food production. This is not the only use of arsenic in our dietary environment. It is common practice that this poison is purposely added to our drinking water, farm raised fish and even rice production. And all we really thought we had to worry about was the flu!
OKAY? - Beef, it's what's for dinner!
Excerpts from the New York Times via FMI Daily Lead -
Eating Well
Chicken With Arsenic? Is That O.K.?
By MARIAN BURROS Published: April 5, 2006
ARSENIC may be called the king of poisons, but it is everywhere: in the environment, in the water we drink and sometimes in the food we eat.
The amount is not enough to kill anyone in one fell swoop, but arsenic is a recognized cancer-causing agent and many experts say that no level should be considered safe. Arsenic may also contribute to other life-threatening illnesses, including heart disease and diabetes, and to a decline in mental functioning.
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Human exposure to it has been compounded because the consumption of chicken has exploded. In 1960, each American ate 28 pounds of chicken a year. For 2005, the figure is estimated at about 87 pounds per person. In spite of this threefold rise, the F.D.A. tolerance level for arsenic in chicken of 500 parts per billion, set decades ago, has not been revised.
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"When this source of arsenic is added to others, the exposure is cumulative, and people could be in trouble," said Dr. Ted Schettler, a physician and the science director at the Science & Environmental Health Network, founded by a consortium of environmental groups.
Those at greatest risk from arsenic are small children and people who consume chicken at a higher rate than what is considered average: two ounces per day for a 154-pound person. The good news for consumers is that arsenic-free chicken is more readily available than it has been in the past, as more processors eliminate its use.
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McDonald's, the country's largest fast-food chain, said it does not use chicken with arsenic but the test revealed the presence of more than incidental amounts. Perhaps the chickens were purchased before the company started demanding arsenic-free chickens a couple of years ago.
Because there are still many more arsenic-fed than arsenic-free chickens for sale, consumers can reduce their exposure by buying from companies that have stopped using arsenic, or by choosing chickens labeled organic or antibiotic-free. They can also remove the skin from the chicken treated with arsenic, which reduces levels significantly.
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PETA should be a little more vocal about the human toll chickens bring to our lives instead of worrying about the condition of the lives of chickens themselves.
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
The Democrat Security Plan Released - Yea ... Really!
This from Slate via a friend -
Real Vague
The Democrats' national-security plan is bland and banal—but the Republicans' is worse.
By Fred Kaplan
Posted Monday, April 3, 2006, at 6:16 PM ET
The Democrats' biggest challenge these days is persuading the American public that they, too, have the cojones to storm shores and drop bombs should the need arise, and so last week the party's congressional honchos released a brief, stars-and-stripes-lined document titled Real Security: The Democratic Plan To Protect America and Restore Leadership in the World.
It's more a rough outline than a "plan"; it raises at least as many questions as it answers; it reeks of banality.
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One item on the checklist: "Rebuild a state-of-the-art military by making the necessary investment in equipment and manpower so that we can project power to protect America wherever and whenever necessary." What is the "necessary investment"?
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Another: "Eliminate terrorist breeding grounds by combating the economic, social, and political conditions that allow extremism to thrive." OK, but with what money and what kinds of projects? "Redouble efforts to stop nuclear weapons development in Iran and North Korea"? Any ideas how?
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I especially like this item: "Eliminate Osama bin Laden, destroy terrorist networks like al Qaeda, finish the job in Afghanistan, and end the threat posed by the Taliban."
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The real contest will begin when both parties nominate their candidates, at which point this document may or may not be a dead letter. For now, though, the Dems have hoisted a banner: real security vs. rhetorical security; tough and smart vs. tough and, well, not so smart. Let that debate begin.
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The way MAXINE see it is that this writer has it wrong.
The Democrat leadership (as represented by Pelosi, Reid, Murtha, Kerry, Kennedy, and etc.) does not have a bland national security plan (let me throw in Cynthia McKinney's reaction and attitude on security as well). It is non-existent combined with a dangerous cut-and-run / moral equivalency component.
The Republicans, for their part, have forgotten how to lead. It is not worse than the Democrats ... it is just bad.
We need to put up a fence at the border. We will either put one up now, or we will put one up after someone launches a terrorist attack after it is proven that they used the open border to launch the attack.
The wish is that this issue of national security would be as simple as being about power politics and Hispanic racism. It just isn't - we are at war - and our leaders and citizens who get their primary information from the mainstream media, really do not know how much our way of life based on Christian respect and self-determinate freedoms are under attack.
"Real Vague" does even begin to describe the stance the Democrats (or the Republicans for that matter) currently have in regards to our national security.
Ugliest Sports Face Of All - A Winning Smile
Or would that be a losing frown ... !
This from AP via Yahoo Sports -
(3) Florida 73, (2) UCLA 57
By EDDIE PELLS, AP National Writer
April 4, 2006
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- There go the Florida Gators again, runnin' it up on their way to a national championship.
In basketball, believe it or not. Against UCLA, of all teams. And with a tennis player's son as the star.
Joakim Noah dominated the Bruins on Monday night with 16 points, nine rebounds and a record six blocks to key a 73-57 blowout for Florida's first title in that other sport.
"It's like I'm in a cloud," Noah said. "Not only does this feel good, but it smells good and it tastes good. I can't even describe it."
The Gators and all their fans would certainly agree, especially after watching this runaway -- a pick-your-score kind of game that was decided early.
Read More>>
USF Definition>>
Monday, April 03, 2006
Not MSM Worthy - More News From Iraq
(ht - Carol Platt Liebau)
American death toll in Iraq hits 2-yr. low
BY RICHARD SISKDAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON - U.S. casualties fell to their lowest totals in two years this month as Iraqis increasingly aimed attacks at each other rather than coalition forces, the U.S. military said yesterday.
Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch noted "a decrease in the number of casualties of the coalition forces and a significant increase in Iraqi casualties, both security forces and innocent men, women and children."
Figures from the Pentagon and watchdog groups showed that, through yesterday, 30 U.S. troops had been killed in March, the lowest total since the 20 who died in February 2004.
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While fewer Americans were being killed or wounded, "the number of attacks against the Iraqi security force members has increased 35% in the last four weeks, compared to the previous six months," Lynch said. "What we're seeing them now do is shift [their] target from the coalition forces to Iraqi civilians and Iraqi security forces."
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Highlighted: Isn't this what John Kerry advocated last fall? You know ... That Iraqi's should be killing Iraqi's? Just asking!
Report From The Iraqi North
This development is generally ignored by the Main Stream Media. Free Kurds in northern Iraq, want to spread the wealth!
Imagine that. This can only mean trouble for our own "cut-and-run" crowd here in the U.S.. Where's Cindy Sheehan, Howard Dean, John Kerry, Al Franken, John Murtha, and etc. to speak against the "unprovoked" Kurdish incursion into Iran to promote freedom?
This posting from Captian's Quarters -
April 03, 2006
Iranian Kurds Take On Teheran
The Kurds of Iraq have enjoyed their taste of freedom so much that they wish to extend it to their cousins across the border. The Washington Times reports on the efforts of a secular, Western-sympathetic band of insurgents that have targeted the Iranian military in a region of the Islamic Republic that has four million Kurds living under the mullahcracy's thumb:
A little-known organization based in the mountains of Iraq's Kurdish north is emerging as a serious threat to the Iranian government, staging cross-border attacks and claiming tens of thousands of supporters among Iran's 4 million Kurds.
The Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan, better known by the local acronym PEJAK or PJAK, claims to have killed 24 Iranian soldiers in three raids against army bases last month, all staged in retaliation for the killing of 10 Iranian Kurds during a peaceful demonstration in the city of Maku.
Three more soldiers from Iran's elite Republican Guard were killed last week in a gunbattle near the Iraqi border, Iran's official news agency reported.
But the greater threat to the Tehran regime may come from the group's underground effort to promote a sense of identity among Iranian Kurds, who make up 7 percent of that country's population. PEJAK leaders say the effort is spreading quickly among students, intellectuals and businessmen.
"The Iranian government's plan to create a global Islamic state is destroying our people's culture and values," said Akif Zagros, 28, a graduate in Persian literature who was interviewed in a simple stone hut at the group's headquarters. "So we fight back. But our aim is not just to bring freedom to Kurds, but to liberate all the peoples of Iran."
It's amazing that the Kurds remain so pro-Western, considering the raw deal that the West has given them since Winston Churchill started dividing up Southwest Asia.
UPDATE: The National Organization for Women should be involved in these efforts.
More excerpts directly from The Washington Times article -
Tehran faces growing Kurdish opposition
By James Brandon
Unlike most other rebel groups in the Middle East, PEJAK (The Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan, better known by the local acronym PEJAK or PJAK) is secular and Western-oriented. When the group's members talk, their Kurdish is peppered with such Western words as "freedom," "human rights" and "ecology."
PEJAK's ideology combines the Kurds' traditionally low-key Islam and pagan-influenced culture with the movement's political opposition to the dogmatic Islamic government in Tehran.
Nearly half the group's members are women, attracted by its promotion of sexual equality. Female volunteers receive the same training as the men, wear the same clothes, and greet visitors with a steady eye and firm handshake.
"Here in our camp, the women learn to be strong so that when they go back to Iran, they can teach women and, in fact, all people about our struggle for democracy and human rights," said Gulistan Dugan, 36, a psychology graduate from the University of Tehran and a member of the leadership council.
"The daughters of our movement take part in all our operations, including military ones."
It is to bad that the looney left NOW could not adopt some of the principles that PEJAK has adopted for their struggle to be free.
Sunday, April 02, 2006
IRL Scores The First Street Scene Of Season - UPDATED
This race comes just one week before the gran'daddy of all temporary street races - The Long Beach Grand Prix.
Today, the legends of American open wheel racing will be on and around the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida. This race may be the only venue that the IRL will have that will remind racing fans of how good it was when American open wheel racing was unified and represented by one major series ... CART!
Back when CART was king, it was not uncommon for the first fifteen places on the grid starting the race on a closed temporary street circuit to have qualified within one second of each other. Today, when the IRL lines up, only the first six places on the grid will be that close.
Realistically, These first six places will be the racers to watch:
Grid Position - Car# - Driver Name - Speed - Sponsor, Team
1 - 27 - Franchitti, Dario - 104.054 - Klien Tools, Andretti/Green
2 - 09 - Dixon, Scott - 103.522 - Target, Chip Ganassi
3 - 11 - Kanaan, Tony - 103.493 - 7/11, Andretti/ Green
4 - 06 - Hornish Jr, Sam - 103.389 - Marlboro, Penske
5 - 03 - Castroneves, Helio - 103.270 - Marlboro, Penske
6 - 07 - Herta, Bryan - 103.058 - XM Radio, Andretti/Green
More about the St. Petersburg venue, this from indyracing.com -
Sunday, April 2, 2006
City invests in the long-term future of Honda GP of St. Pete
By Dave Lewandowskiindycar.com
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – When you live in the Sunshine State, where do you travel for spring break?
St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker and family packed their bags, put gas in the car and drove 15 minutes across town to a hotel for three days of fun on St. Petersburg Beach.
“Just getting out in the morning and walking on the beach, you feel like you’re in a different country,” said 10-year-old Julann Baker. “We do a lot of things on the beach and just have fun.”
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Coupled with spring break visitors on Gulf of Mexico beaches (about nine miles from downtown), Baker said the economic impact of the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is akin to a Final Four.
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"I love the St. Pete course,” Cheever Racing’s Chris Festa said. “It's easier to drive than most street courses. It's not so bumpy. There's one big bump on the back section, but that's about it. And you can actually pass on this street course, which is unusual for street courses. I love coming here. It's like being on a regular road course."
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We pray for a safe race.
This will be the first race of the year for the Rahal/Letterman team since they did not race last week due to the death of one of their drivers (Paul Dana). Their drivers, Buddy Rice and Danica Patrick will be starting Pos. #7 (1.31 sec. behind the leader) and Pos. #14 (2.23 sec. behind the leader) respectively.
UPDATE: This from indycar.com - "I Drove Like I Stole It!" (Castroneves)
Castroneves climbs to new heights with street-course victory
By Dave Lewandowskiindycar.com
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The fencing lining the 1.8-mile Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg temporary street circuit isn’t as high as many oval facilities, but Helio Castroneves nonetheless enjoyed the view.
Thousands of sun-splashed fans in the front stretch grandstand were treated to Castroneves’ eighth career fence climb after the Marlboro Team Penske driver won under caution on the streets of St. Petersburg.
Scott Dixon, who started on the front row and led 36 laps, was runner-up with Tony Kanaan third. The 2003 and 2004 IndyCar Series champions, respectively, won road-course races last year. Now Castroneves can boast, too.
“I was really pushing out there,” Castroneves said after climbing down from the fence but not necessarily returning to earth. “I was trying to go as fast as I could. Even when I was in the lead, I was getting too close to the wall, trying to make up time.”
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Scott Dixon, who started on the front row and led 36 laps, was runner-up with Tony Kanaan third. The 2003 and 2004 IndyCar Series champions, respectively, won road-course races last year. Now Castroneves can boast, too.
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A tough race for all. A great venue worthy to be in any racing series. This will be a race to travel to or watch every year.
Castroneves leads all drivers by 23 points in the point standings after two of fourteen races.
It's Monday, Monday for the "USF" Bruins
Now THAT is an "Ugly Sports Face" ... a well earned one at that!
This from AP via Yahoo Sports -
(2) UCLA 59, (4) LSU 45
By EDDIE PELLS, AP National Writer
April 1, 2006 AP - Apr 1, 11:10 pm EST
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Oh, Baby, can UCLA play defense.
Throw some offense in there on the same night and not even LSU and its gigantic star, Glen "Big Baby" Davis, had a chance. The Bruins shut him down Saturday en route to a 59-45 victory over the Tigers that put them one win away from their 12th national title.
The last step in the quest to hang another banner at Pauley Pavilion comes Monday in the final against Florida, a 73-58 winner over George Mason in the first semifinal.
Luc Richard Mbah A Moute was UCLA's top performer in this one, finishing with 17 points on 5-for-9 shooting, to go with nine rebounds. But he got plenty of help.
Read On>>
And this from the Rocky Mountian News -
Bruins' defense shuts down Tigers
By Randy Holtz, Rocky Mountain News April 1, 2006
INDIANAPOLIS – Hey, isn’t this the Final Four?
Isn’t this supposed to be the most riveting, compelling, dramatic basketball on the planet? No one seemed to get that memo on Saturday, fans streaming out of the RCA Dome halfway through the second of two nondescript games on an unusually forgettable day of hoops on the college game’s grandest stage.
After Florida led nearly from start to finish in Game 1 to dispatch George Mason, UCLA followed suit with a surprising 59-45 thrashing of Louisiana State, the Bruins using their defense to harass the abysmally shooting Tigers into easy submission.
The Bruins, a No. 2 seed, and the Gators, a No. 3, will hook up on Monday night in what fans hope will be a far more entertaining game than the ones they saw Saturday. UCLA will try to extend its record number of NCAA titles to 12, while Florida will be going for its first. Tipoff is 7:17 p.m. MDT on CBS 4.
Read On>>
Saturday, April 01, 2006
UCLA "Faces" The Music In The Final Four
We wish UCLA well against LSU today in the Final Four.
While watching the game I will be watching for the faces that exude the best of what it means to have an Ugly Sports Face. We have seen them throughout our viewing of sporting contests, however, they are never better than when everything is on the line.
This from the Washington Post -
Essay
Rarrgh
The Ugly Sports Face: We're So Not Ready For Primal Time
By Hank Stuever
Washington Post Staff WriterSaturday, April 1, 2006; Page C01
Feel like a winner? Then, please, make a face like the Devil's: Bare your teeth and open your mouth in a triumphant, testosteronic "Yeahrarrrgh!" Squint your eyes and furrow your brow with the cruel, overbearing certainty of your complete dominance. Be Mel Gibson in "Braveheart" and Howard Dean in Iowa and Ozzy Osbourne in 1981 all at once. Clench your fists and punch the air. Let the world see your best Ugly Sports Face.
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Ugly Sports Face (USF) should not be included among the freeze-frame oofs and grimaces captured when the ball is in play, when an athlete has no control over what his face might be doing. We all understand the exertion there, in midair or mid-catch or mid-tackle or mid-serve; getting or giving the punch, coming into the final lap, colliding with the catcher at home. Those are moments of pure intensity, and in many obvious ways, they are beautiful contortions. The twisted masks that are athlete's faces only begin to hint at what kind of intensity it takes to play the game.
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Rather, USF comes after the score. It is a phenomenon of end zones and victory laps, when an athlete is more in control of the face he shows the world -- the swish of a three-pointer, or the overtime squeaker, the winning difference of milliseconds.
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But what is more commonly seen in all competitions, in young men and women, even at chess tournaments, is Ugly Sports Face. Every last person is now a gladiator. The Beast has been loosed -- forget the Gatorade; get the holy water. That young man at the dinner table who manages to catch the olive tossed by his father at his mouth -- even he entitles himself to some USF.
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I pray for many USF opportunities in this coming political year. USF for our efforts in Iraq - USF for a fence on our borders - USF for the defeat of Rob Reiner's Proposition 82 and etc!!
Maxine wishes one and all USF opportunities, especially for UCLA as it plays LSU today.
"In Springfield: They're Eating The Dogs - They're Eating The Cats"
Inventiveness is always in the eye of the beholder. Here is a remade Dr. Seuss book cover graphic featuring stylized Trumpian hair posted at...
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Inventiveness is always in the eye of the beholder. Here is a remade Dr. Seuss book cover graphic featuring stylized Trumpian hair posted at...
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AJ Allmendinger taking a circuit around Portland Raceway - Photo credit: Phillip Abbott, USA LAT Photographic - Copyright © 2006 Champ Car W...