Athletics Struggling At Savannah State

The athletics department at Savannah State University is in the midst of a momentous, historic run. Unfortunately, not in a good way. The men's basketball team is 0-24 this season, trying to avoid becoming the second Division I team in the last 50 years to go winless. And that's just the beginning of the problems. The school made the jump up from Division II in 2002, and it hasn't been easy. Among their other problems...

• Last year the Savannah State women's basketball team set an NCAA record for fewest points in a half, scoring three in the first half of a 107-28 loss to Florida State.
• The softball team was winless, and was outscored 166-0 in its last 20 games.
• Baseball coach Jamie Rigdon, whose 279 victories are the most in school history, has sued three school administrators, including the president, for racial discrimination. (Rigdon is Caucasian; the defendants in the suit are African-American.)
  

You always want to root for the underdog. These guys appear to be the biggest underdogs on the block.

It's Been A Year Already?

I missed it with the ice storm last weekend, but Saturday was A Word From The Right's (gratuitous link!) first anniversary. It doesn't seem like a year since all this began, but 250 posts and approximately 70,000 words later, here we are. I want to thank all of you who I know read this mess pretty regularly, as well as those who lurk secretly. Please feel free to comment on what I've written, suggest links, call me on something, or whatever. And click on the ads to the right and visit the sponsors. It helps pay the bills! (I know I'm a sellout.)

Also, if you have a blog you'd like me to link to, that'll work. I'd appreciate a link on yours as well.

Thanks for a great first year. I'll try to do better in year two.

Please Let Dean Run The DNC

Howard Dean wants to run the Democratic National Committee, and boy I hope he gets it! We need to reinforce the line that seperates conservatiles and liberals, and what better way to do it than to get this buffoon in charge on the blue party. These were Dean's comments to a crowd of Democrats last Saturday:

"I hate the Republicans and everything they stand for... We cannot be 'Republican Lite' if we want to win elections ever again."

I agree. Let Dean lead, and follow his example. Give the nation a clear choice conservatives and liberals. The Democrats have been in a bit of a rut. Maybe a swing even farther to the left will help. I say go for it!

Oh Good Grief

With his trial getting ready to begin, here's a photographic history of Michael Jackson's face, with blithering, yet witty commentary.

Good News For Iraq, Bad News For Dems

With more than eight million voters casting ballots, and their first election day coming off safer and smoother than expected, Iraq took a huge step in its path to freedom this weekend. The people of Iraq refused to be intimidated by threats of violence from terrorist insurgents. Many brought their children, wanting them to see democracy in action. Taking their lives into their own hands, they went to the polls to vote in the first truly free election in their lives. More than sixty percent of eligible voters turned out.

I know the world has learned about democracy from the U.S., but maybe the U.S. could learn something about appreciation for the right we have by looking to the Iraqis. How many people do we know who haven't voted in one election or another because it was raining, or there was a line, or they forgot, or whatever? We take for granted that act which many Iraqis risked their lives to make happen. It was a remarkable victory for Iraq, the Iraqi people, our military and allied countries, and President Bush and his administration. It also proves, again, the hunger of the Iraqi people for self-governing. It was truly their day.

Other news on the Iraqi elections...

President Bush called Sunday's elections in Iraq a success and promised the United States will continue trying to prepare Iraqis to secure their own country.

The new mayor of Baghdad, excited about the country's move to freedom, wants to honor the man he believes brought it about. ""We will build a statue for Bush... He is the symbol of freedom."

Interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayd Allawi said, "I call upon those who cast their ballot and those who did not to unite. The terrorists have been defeated."

In Iran, Iraq's powerful neighbor and former enemy, the election was seen in the words of parliamentary deputy Alaeddin Boroujerdi as "a great step for Iraqis towards an independent and popular regime."

In Jordan a government spokeswoman said: "We hope that holding elections in these very difficult conditions will help achieve stability in Iraq, reflect the will of all the Iraqi people and help Iraq recover its sovereignty."

And former presidential candidate John Kerry, who by the way served in Vietnam, said, "But no one in the United States or in the world -- and I'm confident of what the world response will be -- no one in the United States should try to overhype this election."

One of these things is not like the other one; one of these things just doesn't belong. Can you spot it? Hmm?

How Was YOUR Weekend?

Shannon and I had a cozy weekend iced in at her place in Jackson. The winter storm that blasted through here put the kibosh on our Saturday plans. We were going to see my folks, but the storm knocked out their power early Saturday morning, and as of 8am this morning it was still out. We were lucky to be at Shannon's instead of my place here in Maconga. Apparently, lots of people were without power for the better part of the weekend.

Public School News

You know when I write about public schools, it's rarely going to be good news. Here's today's dose of the bad...

A Brooklyn teacher has been arrested for convincing a friend to slash her principal's face with a boxcutter, causing cuts that required more than 150 stitches.

Previously in the Big Apple, the principal of a troubled city school in Harlem was arraigned after cops caught her driving drunk - and urinating in a Bronx street - when she was supposed to be at work. She had prior arrests for marijuana posession and shoplifting.

A Schenectady, NY middle school girl's uncle is serving in Iraq. To show support for him, she made a red, white and blue beaded necklace and wore it to school. The school's administrators made her remove the necklace, saying that beads are gang-related.

A senior at Haverford High School in Haverford, Pennsylvania has been suspended for taking Aleve. The girl, an honor roll student, had taken a generic version of Aleve for cramps. When the discomfort continued, she visited the school nurse. She said she had taken Aleve earlier, and that's when the zero-tolerance stupidity began. "Self-medicating" is a violation of the school's zero-tolerance drug policy.

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How Do Our Public School Students Compare To Those Around The World?

According to the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) released last month...

Among the top 40 industrialized nations, at the fourth-grade level, American students were nine points above the average in science and 11 points below it in math, putting them almost dead average overall. At the eighth-grade level, American students were four points below average in science and 24 points below average in math, putting them clearly, but not abysmally, below the rich-country average.

Many nations that typically outscore the United States in math and science at the eighth-grade level did not participate in TIMSS 2003. Those countries include France, Germany, Canada, Ireland, Finland, Switzerland, Iceland and Poland.

But while they skipped TIMSS 2003, they all participated in another test of mathematics and science: the 2003 Program on International Student Achievement (PISA). Every one of those countries significantly outscored the United States on the PISA test. In math, Canada bested us by 49 points, while Finland outscored us by 61. In science, France and Switzerland beat us by 20 and 22 points, respectively. If all of these nations had participated in TIMSS 2003, it seems likely that U.S. performance at the eighth-grade level would have been considerably further below the average of industrialized nations than it already was.

More Georgia Evolution Nonsense

First, state school superintendent Kathy Cox wanted schools to quit using the term "evolution", instead saying "biological changes over time." Then, Cobb County schools had to place stickers on textbooks, the stickers reading "Evolution Is A Theory - NOT A Fact." Now, it's a Georgia state legislator.

State Representative Ben Bridges has introduced a bill that would allow state schools to teach theories, such as evolution, only when they are "scientific". How that would be defined is inclear.

As a religous person, I can understand the hesitancy of some deeply religious types to embrace evolution. But let me ask this... Why do scientists and doctors think antibiotics are becoming less and less effective? Microbiologists know that "occasionally a mutation occurs that renders a bacterium resistant to a given antibiotic." And as a result of this "evolutionary process", many current antibiotics are losing their effectiveness.

We are seeing evolution taking place at the microscopic level. Technically, evolution is not strictly theory. When are mainstream religious types going to accept the fact that God and evolution can peacefully coexist? If you believe in an all-powerful and all-knowing God, then you must accept the idea that He could have used evolution as His means of creating mankind. Could have... meaning it was within His power if He had chosen to do so. And who are we, lowly little humans, to question God's methods?

Iraqi Poll

Blogger Arthur Chrenkoff reports today...

Reader Haider Ajina translates an article from the January 26th edition of the Arabic newspaper "Alsharq Alausat":

"First poll conducted by the Iraqi ministry of planning shows 72.4% Iraqis will vote.

In a Poll of 33,313 Iraqis (in all of Iraq) of ages 18 and older conducted by the Iraqi ministry of planning regarding Iraqis participation in the Iraqi elections taking place the end of this month. The results were as follows.

72.4 % of all of those polled said they would participate in the elections.

97% of Iraqis in Kurdistan said they would participate in the elections.
96% of Iraqis in the southern provinces (mainly Sheeit [Shia] areas) said they would participate in the elections.
33% of Iraqis in the central provinces (Sunni Area) said they would participate in the elections.
10% of Iraqis in central provinces (Sunni Area) said they have not yet made their mind if they were going to vote or not.

62.1% of those polled said that the elections will be neutral and free.
17.8% said elections will not be neutral and free.
11.6% did not answer this question.

66% said that the elections must take place under current circumstances.

53.3% said the security is good in their area.
21.7% said that security was average in their area.
25% said that security was bad in their area."

The die is cast. Those of us in the West nonchalant about democracy and complacent about our freedoms should spare a thought for the millions of Iraqis who on Sunday will be risking death to have a chance to elect their government.

Crooked Feds, Still On Job

In 1990, former Chicago cop Steven Manning was convicted for the murder of a trucking company owner, as well as a kidnapping. He spent 14 years in prison before having his convictions dropped. Now, he's won a $6.6 million civil lawsuit against two FBI special agents who, the jury determined, had framed Manning for the crimes. Now, the judge in that case is looking into whether the United States shares responsibility for the framing. Interestingly, the two FBI agents are still on the job...

Unbelieveable Poll At Democratic Underground

The loonies who post at DU have conducted a little poll, gathering their personal opinions about who was directly responsible for the attacks on September 11th. Here's the skinny...

I'm having a difference of opinion on what constitutes "conventional wisdom" for DUers on whether the Taliban was protecting bin Laden prior to 9/11; and whether the Taliban and bin Laden had anything to do with the 9/11 attacks. Their position appears to be that they weren't behind 9/11 and that the trail leads to the White House and LIHOP.

So, I'd like to take a poll from DUers to see what the conventional wisdom is for this newsgroup. If Skinner would like to post a statement, I would appreciate it.

Of 190 Votes Cast...

The 9/11 investigation was inconclusive that bin Laden was involved. I believe the trail for those responsible for planning 9/11 leads to the White House. 124 votes (65%)

I don't know if it was bin Laden or another terrorist group, but I believe the White House LIHOP (let it happen on purpose). 42 votes (22%)

I believe that an emissary from the Bush Admin. stirred up a hornet's nest by demanding that the Taliban provide land for a pipeline and also to hand over bin Laden. So, bin Laden approved the attacks. 12 votes (6%)

Other (please elaborate) 13 votes (7%)

Of the 190 dimwits and chucklebears responding to this poll, 166 out of 190 (87%) think President Bush and his administration either orchestrated the attacks or knew in advance about the attacks and allowed them to happen. Blinded by hate, the Libs are losing their minds. They probably believe Bush is behind the Titanic sinking, the AIDS virus and the tsunami in Asia. Idiots!

Turner Says FOX News = Hitler

This is from Drudge...

Ted Turner called FOX an arm of the Bush administration and compared FOXNEWS's popularity to Hitler's popular election to run Germany before WWII.

Turner made the controversial comments in Las Vegas before a standing-room-only crowd at the National Association for Television Programming Executives's opening session.

His no-nonsense, humorous approach during the one-hour Q&A generated frequent loud applause and laughter, BROADCASTING & CABLE reports.

While FOX may be the largest news network [and has overtaken Turner's CNN], it's not the best, Turner said.

He followed up by pointing out that Adolf Hitler got the most votes when he was elected to run Germany prior to WWII. He said the network is the propaganda tool for the Bush Administration.

"There's nothing wrong with that. It's certainly legal. But it does pose problems for our democracy. Particularly when the news is dumbed down," leaving voters without critical information on politics and world events and overloaded with fluff," he said.

A FOXNEWS spokesperson responded: "Ted is understandably bitter having lost his ratings, his network and now his mind -- we wish him well."

That last line is great!

Plug For A Cable Network

My cable company recently added a handful of new channels to their digital line-up. One that I find myself watching a lot is called GoodLife TV. They've got some of the shows I grew up watching, plus some I've heard of and never had the chance to see before now. They run the secret agent shows I Spy and The Man From U.N.C.L.E., plus the WWII series Combat and from the '80s, the Vietnam-set China Beach. As a kid I watched Mayberry RFD, Chico and The Man and the original Superman (with George Reaves). They're all on this channel now. Some of the others: 77 Sunset Strip, The FBI, Homefront, and Maverick (with James Garner). It's a pretty good channel...

State Senate To Honor Coverdell

Republicans have taken control of the Georgia General Assembly, and now they want to honor one of their own. They have taken steps to rename a state legislative office building for the late Senator Pual Coverdell. A fine move that would be, as he was one of the architects of the Republican rise to power in Georgia. Coverdell served in the Georgia Senate for almost two decades, and was a U.S. Senator at the time of his death in 2000. Here's hoping the bill is passed into law.

Eek!

The infamous Monday Night Football opening skit with Nicollette Sheridan and Terrell Owens was originally supposed to have Sheridan dropping her towel in front of... John Madden.

Booksellers Spreading Hope In Baghdad

Blogs Of War points out this story to us... Booksellers in a small shop in Baghdad are spreading hope and goodwill. They provide a place to shop, read and talk. They talk about how business has gotten better and better, the insurgents are a tiny faction, and personal issues.

ABC Inauguration / Funeral Combo

The fair and balanced folks at ABC News used the funeral for a soldier killed in Iraq to make a political statement against the inauguration of President Bush. Stay classy, ABC.

Added later...
I should have included a thank you to the blog Angry In The Great White North for pointing me to this story. I'm also adding them to my links over on the right.

A Short Rant...

I hate buying a car. Absolutely detest it. I don't trust car salesmen or car ads. This past weekend, Shannon and I shopped for her a new car. It's a true sign of love, I know. We saw both ends of the car buying spectrum in one day. When I bought my truck in 2003, I had fantastic service with a dealer my parents really liked. This dealer didn't have anything Shannon liked, so she shopped around and found a few that did. We hit one in Union City, where we were talked down to and treated like imbeciles. Shannon decided to stay quiet and let me get us out of that one. Later, we found the nice guys at Stone Mountain Nissan. Great service, no pressure, and best of all, great prices. Now my Sweetie has a 2005 Nissan Altima that she loves. The end product seems to have been worth the grief. But geez, I still hate shopping for cars.

The Expansion Of Freedom In All The World

I imagine the Libs were been spinning on their eyebrows during President Bush's inaugural speech this afternoon. The President urged urged "rulers of outlaw regimes" to let democracy flourish, and vowed to advance democracy abroad. In a speech that used the word freedom 27 times, and the word liberty 15 times, he pledged support for movements toward democracy around the world.

"America will not impose our own style of government on the unwilling. Our goal instead is to help others find their own voice, attain their own freedom, and make their own way... When you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you."

In my favorite lines, President Bush also pledged to stand up to leaders who oppress their people.

"In the long run, there is no justice without freedom, and there can be no human rights without human liberty... All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know: The United States will not ignore your oppression, or excuse your oppressors."

"We will persistently clarify the choice before every ruler and every nation: The moral choice between oppression, which is always wrong, and freedom, which is eternally right. America will not pretend that jailed dissidents prefer their chains, or that women welcome humiliation and servitude, or that any human being aspires to live at the mercy of bullies."

This is the kind of talk that really torques the Liberal Left. Buzzwords like "freedom" and "liberty" rarely end up in their speeches. President Bush pushed a few buttons on domestic issues, also.

"To give every American a stake in the promise and future of our country, we will bring the highest standards to our schools, and build an ownership society. We will widen the ownership of homes and businesses, retirement savings and health insurance preparing our people for the challenges of life in a free society. By making every citizen an agent of his or her own destiny, we will give our fellow Americans greater freedom from want and fear, and make our society more prosperous and just and equal."

These kind of ideas scare the bejeezus out of the Democrats. When people own property, businesses and their own retirement plans, Democrats lose. Why? Because that individual doesn't need handouts from the government. They are able to provide for themselves. When individuals can provide for themselves, they don't need (and won't be bribed by) handout programs from Democrats. Those individuals invariably become more financially conservative.

We all know the President is a religious man, and I'm sure he ruffled a few feathers with this line:

"From the day of our founding, we have proclaimed that every man and woman on this earth has rights, and dignity, and matchless value, because they bear the image of the maker of heaven and earth."

The entire speech can be read here.

Who's Playing God?

Jerry Weintraub Productions, the folks who brought us such classics as "Ocean's Eleven" and "Vegas Vacation", are planning a remake of the George Burns movie "Oh, God!". This new version, though, has Ellen DeGeneres cast in the role of God. Oops... a lesbian playing God? The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property (TFP) has a big problem with this, and they've launched a campaign to get Ellen dropped from the role.