Still No Class Among Alabama Earhardt Fans

The fans of Dale Earnhardt, Jr. once again have given NASCAR and the state of Alabama a black eye. Just like April 2004, the hillbilly contingent of stock car racing fans yesterday peppered the racetrack, as well as other fans and NASCAR officials, with beer cans and other debris when their favorite driver failed to win a race. Obviously NASCAR, track officials, and the fans' own favorite driver have no control over these idiots.

Obviously beer cans need to be banned at the track. Still, more needs to be done to keep other items from being thrown. As I see it, there are only two real options available to put an end to this.

First, punish their driver. When it happens, deduct championship points from the race team. Then these fools would only be hurting their favorite star. However, that's not fair to the driver. Granted, Earnhardt has never gone out of his way to condemn the practice. Last week, he encouraged his fans to throw toilet paper instead of cans. Dummy. How about saying, "If you throw anything on the track, I don't want you for a fan." Still...

The second (and best) option is to take away the track's second race. Take one of the two Talladega races and give it to as track whose fans are more respectful to the sport and all its drivers. Maybe Kansas or Las Vegas.

Newspaper Circulation

I found this interesting, and thought I'd pass it along. From the AP, it the average weekday circulation of the top 20 U.S. newspapers. The numbers are for the six-month period ending in March, and the change listed is from the same period a year ago.

1. USA Today, 2,278,022, up 0.2 percent

2. The Wall Street Journal, 2,062,312, up 0.6 percent

3. The New York Times, 1,120,420, down 1.9 percent

4. Los Angeles Times, 815,723, down 4.2 percent

5. New York Post, 724,748, up 7.6 percent

6. New York Daily News, 718,174, up 1.4 percent

7. The Washington Post, 699,130, down 3.5 percent

8. Chicago Tribune, 566,827, down 2.1 percent

9. Houston Chronicle, 503,114, down 2 percent

10. The Arizona Republic, 433,731, down 1.1 percent

11. Dallas Morning News, 411,919, down 14.3 percent

12. Newsday, Long Island, 398,231, down 6.9 percent

13. San Francisco Chronicle, 386,564, down 2.9 percent

14. The Boston Globe, 382,503, down 3.7 percent

15. The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J., 372,629, down 6.1 percent

16. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 357,399, down 2.1 percent

17. The Philadelphia Inquirer, 352,593, up 0.6 percent

18. Star Tribune of Minneapolis-St. Paul, 345,252, down 4.9 percent

19. The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, 344,704, up 0.5 percent

20. Detroit Free Press, 329,989, down 4.7 percent

Compact Fluorescent Light Bulb Nightmare

I'm all about saving money, so I actually like the compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL). I never knew about the danger and expense possible if we should break one. It seems the little energy-savers contain mercury. When one of them is dropped and breaks, that mercury is released into your room in dangerous levels. Mercury is very poisonous and, as a family from Maine discovered, the clean-up is very expensive.

I Want To Cry...

This is just disturbing. From TVSeriesFinale.com...

The A-Team: The Strangest TV Cast Reunion Yet

It's gotta be the most bizarre TV series reunion yet. The surviving cast members of NBC's blockbuster 1980s series The A-Team will reunite on a British reality show -- to try to contact their deceased leader and co-star.

That's right, Dirk Benedict, Mr. T and Dwight Schultz will appear on a special episode of Most Haunted later this year and will try to contact co-star George Peppard from beyond the grave. The A-Team went off the air in 1987 and Peppard died seven years later from pneumonia. Most Haunted presenter Yvette Fielding says, "We're all going to Los Angeles for a week to film it. It took a lot of doing to get those three together -- now we have to do the really hard part."

Perhaps the three want to contact Peppard regarding the on-again/off-again big screen adaptation of The A-Team. The film's tentatively scheduled for a 2008 release. Though no cast has been announced, Benedict, T, and Schultz will reportedly have cameo roles.

Excellent News For Delta and Atlanta

A bankruptcy court judge has not only confirmed Delta Airline's reorganization plans, but he also heaped praise on the company and its employees for Delta's turnaround. The airline plans to officially close the case and be out of bankruptcy next week. There couldn't be much better news for city of Atlanta and the folks at Hartsfield-Jackson.

Google Knows All

A fugitive wanted for murder in Arizona has been captured in Toronto after his girlfriend Google-searched his name, finding him listed on the America's Most Wanted web site.

One Tough Beauty Queen

Venus Ramey was the first redhead to win the Miss America crown, way back in 1944. Now, at age 82, she's back in the news. After confronting a man she said was stealing from her Kentucky farm, Ramey pulled a gun and shot out a tire on his truck so he couldn't leave, allowing police to arrest him and two others.

She had to balance on her walking stick as she pulled out a snub-nosed .38-caliber handgun.

"I didn't even think twice. I just went and did it. If they'd even dared come close to me, they'd be 6 feet under by now."

I think I have a new hero...

Not A Square To Spare

In what is perhaps today's most ridiculous story... in order to save the world from itself (by way of Global Warming), singer Sheryl Crow has proposed strict limits on the use of toilet paper. On her web site, the songstress writes...

I propose a limitation be put on how many sqares of toilet paper can be used in any one sitting. Now, I don't want to rob any law-abiding American of his or her God-given rights, but I think we are an industrious enough people that we can make it work with only one square per restroom visit, except, of course, on those pesky occasions where 2 to 3 could be required. When presenting this idea to my younger brother, who's judgement I trust implicitly, he proposed taking it one step further. I believe his quote was, "how bout just washing the one square out."

Eewww... The cure might be worse than the disease.

More Liberal Hypocrisy

Abortion is not a topic I like to discuss, and it's one I do not write about here. Period. What I will point out, though, is hypocrisy. And I have a really nice example here...

The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a law that banned a type of late-term abortion, so-called "partial birth abortions". The CNN.com story I just linked to states that Justice Samuel Alito voted to uphold the law. Alito, you might remember, replaced Sanda Day O'Conner on the bench.

In the article, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is unhappy with the Supreme's decision. He says, "A lot of us wish that Alito weren't there and O'Connor were there." I find it funny that Reid is upset that Alito voted to uphold a law that Senator Reid voted for.

Sweeping Tax Reform Proposed For Georgia

Georgia House Speaker Glenn Richardson has proposed unprecidented legislation to overhaul Georgia's tax code. His plan would eliminate all state, county and city property taxes and all taxes on fuel, insurance premiums and estates. In their place, a 5.75% income tax and a 5.75% state sales tax. It would also eliminate the positions of county tax receivers, collectors and commissioners. The bill has several high-ranking co-sponsors and could come to the floor next year.

I Like It

The Texas Senate looks ready to pass a bill that would permit the death penalty for offenders who repeatedly prey on children. Personally, I can't think of a much better use for the death penalty.

Freeze Damage In Georgia

I've had the opportunity the past few days to visit with fruit growers from across Georgia, to discuss the damage they've suffered from the Easter weekend freeze that hit the state. Depending on the crops, things are either pretty bad, really bad, or devastating.

It looks like the Middle Georgia peach crop could be down as much as 60 to 70% from normal. A Peach County grower I spoke with says he's only seen one year with worse freeze damage since he's run his family operation. The warm weather in the weeks leading up to Easter had the trees blooming like mad. The fruit was developing well, then the freeze hit. But he will have some peaches. Growers in North Georgia seem to have lost all their peaches, along with pretty much any other soft fruits that were developing.

The apple crop in North Georgia suffered a similar fate. Early reports from state Ag Commissioner Tommy Irvin said the crop had been wiped out. Looking at the trees in FanninGilmer Counties yesterday, there are still some trees with live blooms. There are some trees that hadn't started blooming that should still produce fruit. One of the growers I spoke with hopes to have as much as 20% of his normal production, although it may come from just a few of the 40 or so varieties he grows.

The freeze caused considerable damage to pecan trees in Middle and North Georgia. In some cases, whole orchards saw complete loss of the season's crop.

Wine grapes are a growing business in North Georgia, and a big money maker. A county agent I spoke to said the early developed vines suffered bad damage, but it will be a while before growers know how secondary growth will develop. In some vineyards, the temperature dipped as low as 19 degrees.

All in all, a lot of growers will lose a lot of money because of this late freeze. It might not be as bad as originally thought, but it will still be a very difficult year.

University of Oklahoma Lockdown

With university administrators on edge all across the country, it's no surprise that a report of a person with a suspicious object would lead to a campus lockdown. It happened today at the University of Oklahoma in Norman. As things turned out, the suspicious object turned out to be... an umbrella.

Thoughts and Prayers

What else is there to say? My thoughts and prayers go out to all who lost loved ones in the Virginia Tech shootings today.

Why Imus Was REALLY Fired

Russian news source Pravda is reporting the "truth" about Don Imus's firing. According to Pravda, Imus was about to release the "secrets" behind the attacks on September 11th.

Alrighty then...

Another Liberal Media Elitist Shows His Colors

ABC's Terry Moran, blogging at ABCNews.com, says we shouldn't feel too upset for the three Duke lacrosse players wrongly accused of rape. But his liberal, class-envy side comes out in his writing. He uses all the right Lefty buzz-words...

As students of Duke University or other elite institutions, these young men will get on with their privileged lives. There is a very large cushion under them--the one that softens the blows of life for most of those who go to Duke or similar places, and have connections through family, friends and school to all kinds of prospects for success. They are very differently situated in life from, say, the young women of the Rutgers University women's basketball team.

And, MOST IMPORTANT, there are many, many cases of prosecutorial misconduct across our country every year. The media covers few, if any, of these cases. Most of the victims in these cases are poor or minority Americans--or both. I would hate to say the color of their skin is one reason journalists do not focus on these victims of injustices perpetrated by police and prosecutors, but I am afraid if we ask ourselves the question honestly, we would likely find that it is.

I hope we all keep him and others in mind, as we cover the celebrated exoneration of well-heeled, well-connected, well-publicized young men whose conduct, while not illegal, was not entirely admirable, either.

Privileged... these boys have led privileged lives. I suppose in Terry Moran's mind that means tough times don't affect them as badly. Because they attend Duke, they will grow to become rich and powerful, and this ordeal will be soon forgotten. Their privilege will "soften the blow". He implies that we shouldn't feel much sympathy for them because they are well-off and white, not "poor or minority". And their conduct (i.e. - the party that led to all this) was not admirable. Well heck, sounds like they were just asking for it. Apparently Moran believes that either type of conduct never takes place at less-prestigious schools, or it's more acceptable at those schools.

Oh, and I particularly like the comparison between these three men, whose lives were trashed in the media by the press and prosecutors, and the Rutgers basketball players who were... gasp!... insulted. Yeah, that's fair.

61-Year-Old Man Adopts 41-Year-Old Woman

You read it correctly.

Hillary Last In MoveOn.org Poll

The question...
Which Democratic presidential nominee would be most likely to end our military presence in Iraq?

The results...
Barack Obama - 27.87%
John Edwards - 24.84%
Dennis Kucinich - 17.18%
Bill Richardson - 12.26%
the Hildabeast - 10.7%

Yet another poll with numbers that reflect a pervasive national negative opinion of Hillary.

Time for Jackson, Sharpton to Step Down

That's the call from AOL Sports columnist Jason Whitlock. Calling Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton the President and Vice-President of Black America, Whitlock says it's time for a change in leadership. It's a fantastic piece, and it happens to be right on target. Rather than lead, they inject themselves into situations and make themselves the focus. Then, using threats of boycotts and lawsuits, they blackmail to gain power and/or prominence. Here's a bit of Whitlock's column...

Compared to Martin and Malcolm and the freedoms and progress their leadership produced, Jesse and Al are an embarrassment.

Their job the last two decades was to show black people how to take advantage of the opportunities Martin and Malcolm won.

Have we at the level we should have? No.

Rather than inspire us to seize hard-earned opportunities, Jesse and Al have specialized in blackmailing white folks for profit and attention...

A man who doesn’t respect himself wastes his breath demanding that others respect him.

We don’t respect ourselves right now. If we did, we wouldn’t call each other the N-word. If we did, we wouldn’t let people with prison values define who we are in music and videos. If we did, we wouldn’t call black women bitches and hos and abandon them when they have our babies.

If we had the proper level of self-respect, we wouldn’t act like it’s only a crime when a white man disrespects us. We hold Imus to a higher standard than we hold ourselves. That’s a (freaking) shame.

We need leadership that is interested in fixing the culture we’ve adopted. We need leadership that makes all of us take tremendous pride in educating ourselves. We need leadership that can reach professional athletes and entertainers and get them to understand that they’re ambassadors and play an important role in defining who we are and what values our culture will embrace.

It’s time for Jesse and Al to step down. They’ve had 25 years to lead us. Other than their accountants, I’d be hard pressed to find someone who has benefited from their administration.

And in case you wondered, Jason Whitlock is an African-American.

Just For Fun: Canadian UFO Report For 2006

The Ufology Research Center in Winnipeg reported 736 UFO sightings in Canada last year, the third-highest number on record. Where are Mulder and Scully when the Canucks need them?

Welcome To The 21st Century

This is nice to see, though it's a shame it's taken so long. Turner County High School in Ashburn, Georgia is holding their first integrated prom this month. This was also the school's first senior class to have one homecoming queen instead of seperate black and white queens. What's encouraging is that the senior class officers were behind the move. Congrats!

Dissinting Views On Global Warming

Dr. William Gray, for more than two decades one of the nation's preeminent hurricane forecasters, has called Al Gore "a gross alarmist" for his global warming declarations.

Richard S. Lindzen, a well-respected and widely published professor of meteorology at MIT, has an editorial in this week's Newsweek. He says there's no compelling evidence that the alleged global warming we've seen in recent years will amount to a catastrophe. He has some compelling information as well.

Happy Easter

I hope you all have a great Easter today. And for those of you who don't celebrate Easter... Happy Sunday.

More Good Economic News

Unemployment is down again, checking in at 4.4% during March. Nearly 200,000 new jobs were created last month. And wages were up last month by 0.3%, a total increase of 4% from this time last year.

Somebody please remind me again why the Democrats think the economy is doing so poorly.

Corruption Under Hillary?

According to a new Judicial Watch - Zogby poll, 45% of likely voters are concerned there will be “high levels of corruption in the White House” if Hillary Clinton is elected President. Additionally, a total of 42% of likely voters describe Hillary Clinton as either “very corrupt” or “somewhat corrupt”, including 21.2% of the Democrats likely to vote.

Today's Public School Stupidity

A 13 year-old girl in New York City was handcuffed and arrested in school last week. Her crime: writing on a desk. The NYPD says the arrest was the result of a request from the school's principal.

I wonder what the statute of limitations is on school desk graffiti. Goodness knows I did my fair share of that!

Awful, Horrible Parenting

Aradio station promotion offering free admission to Six Flags in Atlanta this morning led to massive traffic jams and mayhem at the amusement park's gates.

From the AJC...

About 3:30 a.m., hundreds of youths rushed the fence barriers and the front gate when they thought the park was about to open. Fights erupted over tickets being passed out by park staff, they said.

"They ran us over," said [one teenager]. "We thought we were going to get trampled. We were beat up and punched for those tickets."

The crowd was so large that people were being turned away as early as 6am. No big deal, I guess. Here's where I have a problem, and it's not with Six Flags or the radio station...

Who are the main customers for Six Flags? Kids. According to news stories, kids were being dropped off by their irresponsible parents and left at the park. The kids then had no way home when turned away from the park. This AJC photo gallery even shows kids who, supposedly, were dropped off from cars on the interstate. We see pictures of the kids walking on and alongside the freeway.

If You Don't Know The Facts...

I had a professor back at Georgia Southern who warned his students: "If you don't know the facts, don't try to dazzle me with BS" Apparently these students never got that message.

(Thanks to Confessions of a Political Junkie for the heads-up!)

Fair Tax Bills Being Re-Introduced

Sen. Saxby Chambliss, Rep. John Linder and U.S. Rep. Tom Price (R-GA), along with Ken Hoagland of Americans for Fair Taxation, will hold a news conference and rally this morning at the Freight Depot in Atlanta to announce that they have re-introduced the FairTax in both the U.S. Senate and House.

Pretty Outrageous

From our frozen friends to the north... the Victoria Philharmonic Choir is creating a stir with its version of Handel's Samson oratorio. The choir's version of the classic story turns the Biblical tale on its head by portraying Samson as a suicide bomber in 1946 Jerusalem.

More On Hurricane Katrina Fraud

A year and a half after Hurricane Katrina struck, the government is going after thousands of people who filed fraudulent claims. The good news: they are getting convictions and serious jail time.