Do We Have Another $7.1 Billion?

"WASHINGTON - President Bush outlined a $7.1 billion strategy Tuesday to prepare for the danger of a pandemic influenza outbreak" . . . (more)

Stoners Mourn

"A mother and daughter have been sentenced to jail for transporting drugs and using the proceeds to buy a ranch near Springtown. The No Name Ranch sits on the Parker and Wise County line. Authorities say 60 year old Daryla Julian and her daughter Donelle Kvenild bought the property in 1998 and invested up to $1 million on improvements and equipment. They money they say came from selling over 11,000 lbs of Marijuana since 1997. Julian was sentenced Friday to nine years in federal prison for distribution and money laundering. Her 39 year old daughter was sentenced to six years on the same charges." (Source) Observation: We are locking them up? It sounds like they were a boon to the local economy because of all the ranch improvements.

Different Angle of Previous Pic

Is that Clinton's hand on her shoulder?

Now That Is One Odd Promotional Device

From the Update: "DON’T FROWN, BE BROWN — Tomorrow is 'brown' day at the Decatur Public Library. Visitors are asked to wear brown."

A Pretty Good Movie - But Freaky

And if you are a fan of Christopher Walken, you'll love it.

OK, You Wise Guys . . .

. . . will be in comment heaven on this pic (one from the Alabama game last weekend).

Click to enlarge.

Let's Not Cheapen This

I was surprised to learn that Oprah Winfrey was a speaker at Rosa Parks' memorial service today. Do you think Oprah's life and Rosa's life have anything in common?

Great Pic

"The family of Judge Samuel Alito, daughter Laura (L), son Philip (C) and wife Martha (R), stand underneath a portrait of former president Bill Clinton as they watch President Bush nominate Alito to the Supreme Court in the White House, October 31, 2005. (Mannie Garcia/Reuters) " Considering that Alito has spent most of his years as a prosecutor (a federal prosecutor at that), things aren't looking good for civil rights and the Fourth Amendment.

Funniest Halloween Story

My good friend Kevin Clark tells the story of his first year of handing out candy in his Fort Worth neighborhood on Halloween. As the night wore down, a few stragglers were still knocking on doors. Kevin had run out of candy by the time his doorbell rang once more so he looked around for something to to give in lieu of candy. By his front door was a "change dish" with a variety of loose coins that had accumulated over time. Kevin grabs a handful of coins, opens the door, drops the coins in the kid's basket and tells him Happy Halloween. To Kevin's horror the kid turned, ran to the edge of the front porch, and screamed for all potential trick or treaters to hear: "He's giving away mooooooooooney!!!!!"

The Cast of NBC's Today Show from this morning (really)

The Cell Phone . . .

. . . has replaced the swaying cigarette lighter in concert arenas. (Or so I'm told since I haven't been to a concert since 1992).

Things Like This Bother Me - Philosophically Speaking

"WACO - A pastor performing a baptism was electrocuted inside his church Sunday morning after grabbing a microphone while partially submerged, a worker at the church said. University Baptist Church Rev. Kyle Lake, 33, was standing in water in the baptistry when he was electrocuted, said Jamie Dudley, wife of UBC community pastor Ben Dudley and a business adminstrator at the church." Rest of Star Telegram story (Photo not directly related to story). Edit: CNN has a photograph of this young guy.

Why "The Spin" Is Delayed

Ok, after visiting three stadiums in two days, I was off to Nashville International to come home. I was unavoidably delayed for a bit. See the front of my white (crappy) rent car above? See the back of the darker car above (license plate smeared in photo on purpose)? Well these photos were taken after the following . . . I allegedly rear ended the dark car with my white car while leaving the football game in Nashville, Tennessee today. Ok, I admit to "bumping" her. That event (and I am not making this up), caused (1) the female driver of the darker car to call 911, (2) me waiting 30 minutes without anyone showing up and then politely giving the lady my name and DL number and explaining to her that I had to catch a plane because this didn't appear to be any big deal since there was no damage, (3) what I presume to be the very big husband of said lady arriving and telling me I didn't need to "run", (4) me deciding it might be a good idea not to leave, (5) after an hour of waiting then watching an ambulance, police officer, and a fire truck zoom past us (6) observing those same three vehicles to come back five minutes later once they realized they were called about this "collision" (7) the maybe teen-aged daughter of said lady, above, to be strapped to a backboard (once again, I am not making this up) and placed inside the ambulance (8) having the daughter scream bloody murder inside the ambulance because the neck collar was driving her crazy, (9) the daughter and parents deciding that it might not be a good idea to put the daughter in the ambulance after all, and (10) me to confirm with the cop that I wasn't receiving a citation to which he affirmed I would not because "there was no damage to the vehicles." I expect to hear from the Tennessee equivalent of "The Texas Hammer". Thank God I had a digital camera with me.

Tennessee Women

My New Friends At The Titan's Stadium (Oakland Must Have A Loyal Following)

Final Stop In Stadium Trifecta: Home of The Tennessee Titans

Follow Up From Post Below

I also took this pic for artistic purposes only.

Football Nirvana

I just spent a Saturday watching a portion of Utah State v. Alabama as well as South Carolina v. Tennessee......both games in person ..... I kinda miscalculated the amount of driving involved from my base point of Nashville, TN. I'm exhausted. (The day game pic is from Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The night game is from Knoxville, Tennessee).