Opinari - Latin term for Opinion. Opinari.net is just what it seems: a cornucopia of rants, raves and poignant soliloquy.
Monday, August 04, 2008
Skip Caray: One of a Kind
Braves' broadcaster Skip Caray has died. I read the news about his passing on the AJC website this morning and was struck by memories of my childhood, listening to the Braves.
I became a Braves' fan in the 70s, when players like Phil Niekro and Dale Murphy dominated the Atlanta headlines. The south thirsted for a professional team back then for which to cheer. Most of my friends adopted the Big Red Machine, but I long preferred the Braves' broadcasts.
I will always remember listening to Pete Van Wieren, Ernie Johnson and Skip Caray calling the games. Lots of folks I knew didn't much like Skip's broadcasts, but I will long remember his dry wit, especially his call-in show where he often struggled to find patience with his callers. Known for his struggles with alcohol, I always found the line amusing when he commented "the bases are loaded, and I wish I was too."
When he and Van Wieren were no longer the Braves' national broadcasters a few years ago, I was a bit sad. Today, I'm a bit sadder, as another part of my childhood, the voice of Skip Caray, is silent.
This time last year, I was sitting in a hospital with my wife, who had just given birth to our third boy, Dylan. Readers of this blog will remember the journey we took from sheer excitement, to fear and anxiety to amazing relief over the course of several days. Dylan went from birth, to struggling for breath, to sedation in a NICU 120 miles away, to his final healthy journey back home.
My wife has eloquently written today about those uncertain days. The memories of those days are somewhat clouded for me, not just because of Dylan, but because my grandmother succumbed to illness the very next week. My memories of August 2007 are both joyous and sad. But today, as we prepare to go visit our respective families, as I watch my baby boy play on the hearth with his See-N-Say, as he pulls himself up and smiles, I am thankful beyond expression for this child, and how special he is to his mother and me.
Happy First Birthday, little Dylan. Daddy loves you.
It's been a busy day here at home, so I'm just now catching the Fox News Sunday tribute to Tony Snow. It continues to amaze me how much love and respect there is for Snow by people from both sides of the ideological divide.
I've been searching left and right for the most memorable Tony Snow moment for me, his closing remarks to the Fox News Sunday telecast after September 11th, 2001. I haven't been able to locate the video, but there is a partial transcript on Fox News' website that goes as follows:
Good and evil almost never express themselves as harshly and clearly as they did Tuesday morning. People we don't know slaughtered people we do, and they did it with contemptuous glee.
Yet, even as clouds of dust and smoke rose from the rubble, even as family members tortured by hope and doubt took to the streets with pictures and pleas; even as mobs celebrated in Gaza, Cairo and Bagdad something shook itself to slow life.
That something was a sense of ourselves. Kindness flourished amid the flames. A couple carried a disabled man down 68 flights of stairs. A priest crouched to give last rites as a mighty tower collapsed and the hand of God closed about him. A man and woman, their hope gone, held each other and leaped. A solitary candle, a flag, a tear. These are the tokens of our renewal.
The United States had a spirit even before it had a name -- one of faith and freedom; of ambition tempered by public piety. We once were a nation of neighbors and friends. We are again today. We once were a nation of hardship-tested dreamers. We are again today. We once were a nation under God. We are again today. Our enemies attacked one nation. They will encounter another for they underestimated us.
Today, in our grief and rage; our determination and hope, we have summoned what is best and noblest in us; the kinship that awes our enemies and friends alike. We are again -- Americans.
Snow had trouble keeping his composure that day, and I have long admired his words. They were profound then, and they remain so today.
This morning as I was preparing myself and the boys for church, my wife came out of the office and whispered to me that Tony Snow had died. I recalled that he had a speaking engagement of some sort weeks ago and had to cancel. I recall thinking at that time that Snow's time was probably short, especially knowing about his bout with colon cancer.
Like most observers, I've had hours to absorb the showering of affection and the displays of grief from pundits, journalists, and the like. I watched a bit of Fox this morning, and have read countless eulogies online. I thought I would reflect on Tony Snow by remembering the things as a viewer of news and political punditry that stood out about him.
I remember my first exposure to him when he guest hosted for Rush Limbaugh. I remember his unique voice, and how he brought a much more personal touch to the E.I.B. microphone than Rush ever did, or could. I fondly remember his years of hosting Fox News Sunday in its infancy. With all due respect to Chris Wallace, he doesn't hold a candle to Tony Snow. I remember his sparring with Helen Thomas and David Gregory in the White House press room. I also remember his infectious optimism from his interviews with the same David Gregory and with David Letterman last year.
But the one thing I will always remember most was his closing of Fox News Sunday on the air a short time after the 9/11 attacks. I don't remember much about what he said, but I remember how difficult it was for him to conclude his remarks. He was tearful, sincere, and he reflected the thoughts of all of us in America during that time.
His attitude about life, his love for wife and children, and his moral fortitude are something we should all aspire to have. If I speak as if I knew Tony Snow, which I obviously didn't, it is because he conveyed that sense of connection when he was on the radio, writing, being a press secretary, or just sitting down for an interview. This is the Tony Snow I will remember, as will millions of Americans who knew him from afar.
And today, the world has lost another great and upstanding man. It seems as if they are all falling by the wayside these days. I'll try to catch the Fox News Sunday tribute tomorrow, and then I will go about my business, hopefully with a little more sense of mortality, and a little more love for those around me.
My wife, ever the photographer, has put together a fantastic montage of our boys, set to music. I'm not even sure of the song, except that it's "Beautiful Boy", and I really like watching this video. I also thought I would give Flash video hosting a try on my own server to see how it works out. Watch and enjoy.
The Wall Street Journal asks "Where Would You Spend $600?" I thought I would answer that question on my own blog. For the typical middle-class family, finances have become much more strained lately. Fuel is high. Food is high. Debt is mounting. My own family received $2100 (family of 5, less than $150k in AGI).
We first gave 20% to our church, as we have embarked on a sanctuary remodeling and roofing project. Then I allocated $400 for clothing for the wife and boys. Assuming you don't buy Hilfiger and A&F, $400 actually goes a long way these days for clothing. Then I paid down one of our gas card accounts by about $500. I also bought new brakes for the van, and an engine diagnostic tool which I have needed for a while. And to help out the wife with cooking, I took the family to On the Border for dinner, and Johnny Carino's for lunch.
The rest is sitting in savings, but is going to likely be used to spend on comsumer items. I've had my eye on a Boston Acoustics speaker system to replace the one that is built into our LCD TV. I'd like a tow hitch for our minivan, and a cargo hauler for our upcoming trip to see our families. I've looked at some other things too, like a recliner, some bookshelves, an Adirondack swing, a new pot rack for my wife's kitchen, and maybe some new dress shoes.
In other words, the stimulus fund has actually helped us accelerate purchases we were going to make anyway, and moderately helped with some debt, while also giving us a little bit of luxury. While the economics of throwing money to the masses is questionable, I am not going to complain about receiving part of my own tax money back for my personal use.
I keep hearing how poor the economy is. I'm sure outside of my little box in Texas, things are troublesome. But here, that's just not the case.
Despite the high cost of gas, the roads are just full of commuters, and shoppers. It took me 30 minutes to get from my office to the automobile service center on Friday. It felt like I was back in Connecticut on the Bulkley Bridge at 5 pm.
The big box stores are always packed. Target, Best Buy, Kohls, etc. have an abundance of shoppers. If people are cutting back, they aren't cutting out retailers.
As far as housing goes, I read about people losing house value and equity. Not here. Housing starts are still in full bloom. Our subdivision, a new addition to the area, is still seeing growth. Houses seem to sell after 30-60 days, which doesn't seem unreasonable to me. Personally, my property assessment went up 5% this year. So while America loses equity, Texas doesn't seem to be.
And then I read this today:
Recent reports reveal that more Fortune 500 companies are now based in Texas than in any other state. Job growth in our state remains high while unemployment rates are still low in spite of negative national trends in this recessionary environment. Texas added more than 213,000 new jobs last year, and job growth has exceeded one million over the past four years.
Maybe all of this is indicative of just how bad things are in the rest of the country. Or maybe it shows how productive the economy can be when companies can locate in a low-tax area, where residents can live without a punitive state income tax, and where the cost of living is generally low. Maybe if other states got out their own Petri dishes, and experimented with ways to promote growth in their own backyards, they would see similar results. Just maybe.
I would be remiss if I didn't wish all of the mothers out there, including mine, and my wife, and my mother in law, and my grandmother in law (whew) a happy Mothers' Day. So... Happy Mothers' Day to you all!
I haven't been blogging much lately, since, well... there are far more prolific bloggers than I, plus I haven't had a lot to say, plus we have a huge SAP implementation going on, plus... well, blame Websense, who has the audacity to ban all things "Blogspot" because they have been designated "Social Networking Sites". Whatever.
Yet, today, I feel more compelled to find a way to blog, so I'm going back to using my Treo (which I did many times in the past, but it's not as convenient as using a fancy laptop). Why today?
Today is May 9th. For me, that is a meaningful date. On this day in 1925, my dear grandmother was born. She was 45 years young when I was born, and I always talked to her whether by phone or in person on her birthday. Generally, I asked her if she felt a year older (she did), if she liked her gifts (she did), and what she was going to do the rest of the day (sit and relax, most likely).
Birthdays in my family are meaningful days. Being an only child, that meant a windfall for me. But as I got older, I simply enjoyed sharing other people's birthday's with them, especially Granny's.
The gifts aren't important. I seldom remember what I got for her, or my Mom, or even my kids or wife. It's the time spent together. The conversation. The love between family members, in this case, between grandmother and grandson.
This birthday is different, of course. Granny died in the summer of last year. Not a day passes that I don't see something that reminds me of her, especially my youngest child, Dylan, whom she never met, but for whom she endured quite a lot of pain in her last days, just so she could know that he was going to recover from his own medical issues. For me, he will be forever linked to her.
So today, when I get home, I will look at a few pictures, hug my kids and my beautiful wife, but especially when I embrace my littlest one, I will think of Granny, shed a tear, smile a smile, and long for the day that we all can see her again.
William F. Buckley passed away yesterday at the age of 82. He is widely known as the father of the modern conservative movement, as well as the founder of the conservative periodical, the National Review, and the host of Firing Line.
Firing Line was the first political commentary show I ever watched, and it is the only one I truly missed once it left the airwaves. Buckley's gift for rhetoric and descriptive language was uncanny. He treated his guests, both liberal and conservative, tactfully and respectfully. Sometimes, it was difficult to parse his language, but the challenge of doing so was a welcome change of pace to the blandness of, first, high school and then, college classes.
Buckley is last of the three great conservatives of the 20th century that influenced my world view - Reagan and Friedman were the other two. They leave behind a vacuum that will not soon be filled.
This past weekend, Tennessee defeated the Memphis Tigers 66-62. Today, they're the number one ranked men's basketball team in the country. I'd intended to blog about the "big game" all weekend, but I've quite frankly been too interested in reading what other people had to say about it.
I know this much - I am jazzed about UT hoops, and have been since we pasted Texas in Austin in 2005 (Bruce Pearl's first season). There's just something about this guy and his team that is contagious. It used to be that we'd yawn through basketball season, asking when kickoff for football was going to be. Now, quite frankly, football is the last thing on my mind. I don't want this basketball season to end. It's been that much fun.
I'm trying not to drink the orange Kool-Aid, but I know that if Bruce Pearl is selling it, I'm probably going to be taking a swig. I can imagine this guy talking to his players about winning an unwinnable game, but never wavering in his confidence in them. I imagine that if he told them they could fly, they'd be leaping right off the roof of Gibbs Hall, flapping their wings all the way. Of course, the way things have gone for the Big Orange, I wouldn't be surprised if the team took to the air and looped around campus.
Seriously though, if we can somehow manage to take down the Commodores, Wildcats, Gators, and Gamecocks, even without an SEC Tournament win, we're getting a number one seed. Did anyone think seriously that we'd be a number one men's basketball seed, ever? Seriously? I didn't. I gotta believe that Bruce Pearl is the only one who believed that.
One more thing. Today's poll reflected a unanimous choice of the Vols as #1 by the coaches, but, undeterred, three nincompoops chose UNC or UCLA as the new #1 in the AP poll. To those writers, I ask - did you even watch the game? What does it take for you guys to vote for the Vols for the top slot? I can figure out the 2 Illinois writers, since the whole state still carries a grudge against Bruce for ratting on the Illini for recruiting violations. But what's with this joker in Tacoma? Didn't he see the Vols smack around the Zags in Seattle? Probably not, based on the voting. But you know, voting isn't nearly as relevant anymore anyway. I'm just asking - what's the reasoning?
You might believe that UCLA or UNC would beat UT, but so what? Look at the body of work. Did UT lose to the ninth place team in their conference? Did they lose to unranked opponents on their home floor? Did UNC or UCLA beat a previously unbeaten foe on the road? When they do, give me a ballot, and I'll vote for them too. Until then, you're crazy not to give the Vols their due.
Oh, and if we somehow make it to San Antonio, I am there. (Please, honey... can I go? :-) )
At long last, LinkedIn goes mobile. I am somewhat of a mobile "evangelist", using mobile sites much more than I do traditional ones. LinkedIn is a very handy social networking site that caters to the professional crowd. I'm pleased to see that it's come to the small screen.
Since I am on a bridge call with technicians in four states, working to configure 2 servers, and 63 RF devices on 4 802.11g routers using 4 VLAN subnets, and myriad switches, and I am increasingly annoyed at finding ridiculous firewall issues that were supposed to be handled weeks ago, somehow, I doubt that I will even find the time today to immerse myself in any election day antics.
The greatest team to not finish the deal. The "other" Manning wins one for the Big Apple. Lots of stories will be written, lots of reflection. The ever anal Yankees will adore Eli, at least for one season. And the Beantowners, well, let's just say Bucky Dent takes a back seat right now to the sack that should've happened, but didn't... the catch by a reserve receiver that had barely left a mark on the stat sheet all season long. Pats' fans, that's Manning to Tyree for 32 yards, and a first down. Let it sink in for awhile longer.
And through it all, we got to see Super Belicheck show his true colors, racing off the field, not bothering to endure the actual close of the game. Typically, his postgame rhetorts were sanguine, and downright terse. I can imagine this man tipping his pizza guy 50 cents because he got there in just under 31 minutes. How people play for this guy is beyond me.
But I digress...
Through it all, let this be a lesson to NFL teams from coast to coast. Offense is glitzy, and gets headlines, but defense wins championships. A cliche, perhaps, but ever appropriate tonight. And maybe, just maybe, some humility will settle in the next time this team decides to run up the score on an inferior opponent just to settle a vendetta. Karma, and all that.
Mississippi legislators have proposed legislation that forbids restaurants and food establishments from serving food to anyone who is overweight, and they are proposing H.B. 282 to define obesity.
Let me first say that I oppose any legislation that bars people deemed overweight from any restaurant. Furthermore, I can't imagine that restauranteurs are very happy with being told who they can and cannot server.
However, I can see how such laws may soon become commonplace, especially if this country ever decided to institute government mandated universal health care. If the universal model evolves as the Canadian and European model has, then such bans and regulations are going to be the norm. Just witness the latest move in Scotland to simply deny medical services.
The fact is that there is an inherent scarcity in these services, and if the government is going to fund them, the government will eventually also look for ways to remediate the use (or abuse) of them. One such way is how Scotland has reacted. Another way is to limit self-abusive behavior that will lead to reliance on medical services.
That is to say, if obese people (as determined by the government) are banned from overeating, and consuming unhealthy foods (also determined by the government), then surely those same people will be forced to eat healthier, and that will save the national health care system millions of dollars. Or, so the logic will go.
This is what is called an unintended consequence. The government will eventually force people to live "healthier" in order to discourage them from consuming a scarce resource (public mandatory health care). Surely, this is not the model we want to pursue in America.
ABC News has compiled an FAQ regarding the proposed 2008 tax "rebates". Some interesting topics include how stay-at-home parents, retirees, and disabled veterans are treated as well as how the "rebates" apply to the 2008 tax year.
Individuals who pay income taxes would get up to $600, working couples $1,200 and those couples with children an additional $300 per child under the deal. Workers who make at least $3,000 but don't pay taxes would get $300 rebates. The rebates would be limited to individuals whose income is $75,000 or less and working couples with incomes $150,000 or less. The plan would also boost the cap on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac conforming loan limits.
[...]
The rebates would phase out gradually for individuals whose income exceeds $75,000 and couples with incomes above $150,000, aides said. Individuals with incomes up to $87,000 and couples up to $174,000 would get partial rebates. The caps rise higher for individuals and couples with children.
I shouldn't complain about a sudden $2100 windfall, but I still don't believe this is a necessary move by our federal government. More likely, it is just a scheme to give the illusion that they're "doing something". We could use a little less scheming and a little more sensibility.
So, if you're a progressive, and you endorse the development of biofuels as an alternative to gasoline, but you're also deeply concerned about hunger in the third world, how do you reconcile your thoughts when you read this?
Speaking at a regional forum on bioenergy, Regan Suzuki of the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization acknowledged that biofuels are better for the environment than fossil fuels and boost energy security for many countries.
[...]
Foremost among the concerns is increased competition for agricultural land, which Suzuki warned has already caused a rise in corn prices in the United States and Mexico and could lead to food shortages in developing countries.
She also said China and India could face worsening water shortages because biofuels require large amounts of water, while forests in Indonesia and Malaysia could face threats from the expansion of palm oil plantations.
President George Bush will unveil the whole package in his state-of-the-union speech on January 28th. But several details have leaked. Households will receive tax rebates of between $300 and $1,200, depending largely on how many children they have. Pressure from Democrats ensured that even families too poor to pay taxes will benefit. And pressure from Republicans ensured that even couples who earn as much as $150,000 a year will get a handout.
The package also includes tax cuts for businesses, giving firms incentives to invest in new factories, showrooms, machine tools and so on. Small firms will enjoy laxer rules on writing off expenses, and ailing firms will get rebates for taxes already paid.
To buoy house prices the package includes a rescue plan for distressed mortgages more generous than anything previously mooted. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—two huge government-backed firms that finance and guarantee home loans—will be allowed to buy up mortgages significantly larger than the $417,000 maximum currently permitted. Critics worry that this will only delay a necessary correction in the housing market, but they will almost certainly be ignored.
Both parties have compromised. Democrats wanted to expand food stamps and unemployment benefits, but have backed down. Republicans wanted to target the rebates at those who pay income taxes, but have reportedly agreed to extend them to the large number of Americans who do not.
Compassionate Conservatism meets the Democratic legislature, and in an election year to boot.
Fred has dropped out of the Republican race. I've heard that he isn't interested in a cabinet or a VP post either. That's too bad, as I believe he is the only one in the race worth voting for. I believe that it is my civic duty to vote, but this year, I will definitely be holding my nose when doing so.
When the day started, I was cheerfully planning a football party next weekend. Most of us are Cowboys' fans. At least one of us (me) is a Colts' fan. Absolutely none of us are Patriots' fans.
Well, of course, the Pats won handily yesterday. Today, the Colts lost by 4. So did the Cowboys. And I didn't really get to pay attention to much of it anyway because of the boys.
We see images of it on TV, hear about it on our radios, every day. We've become somewhat desensitized to it, too. A murder on a street corner in town. A wife beaten to death in Anytown, USA. "Sad, but it happens," we say. And then we move on.
This week, three particular stories have captivated me. These aren't people I know. I had no emotional interest in them. But reading each one affected me.
First, we have a college basketball coach with a beautiful son. He marries a woman who seems to be his dream wife, but it falls apart. She refuses to let go of the marriage, and in the meantime becomes more unstable. Ultimately, she exacts her revenge on her estranged husband by killing herself, and the son they shared.
Second, another relationship soured along the way. More revenge by an evil man as he decides to throw four children into the bayou from a height of 80 feet.
Third, here in Smith County, where I live, a vivacious, stunning young lady was murdered by her boyfriend, and then partially eaten. Yes, that's what I said. Eaten.
As I said, we're desensitized. We all too often move on, and accept that bad things happen. But things like this make me stop and think twice.
Say a prayer for the innocent families that were affected by these events. And say another prayer for the moral relativists out there. Anyone who says evil doesn't exist need only read these three stories to know otherwise.
On the eve of a hearing before the U.S. Supreme Court, the Indiana Voter ID law has become a story with a twist: One of the individuals used by opponents to the law as an example of how the law hurts older Hoosiers is registered to vote in two states.
Faye Buis-Ewing, 72, who has been telling the media she is a 50-year resident of Indiana, at one point in the past few years also claimed two states as her primary residence and received a homestead exemption on her property taxes in both states.
Subtract out those who want the handouts, those who want the Washington jobs, those who want to tell us how to live, and those who want everlasting war, and there's not much left of small-government conservatism. Pity — it was a really cool idea.
I haven't felt like posting much to the blog lately, but I have been diligently responding to the Dallas Morning News' decision to name the 'illegal immigrant' as the Texan of the Year. See the editorial board's blog post here, here, and here, including some rather angry reader reaction. My own take is also included in the comments.
Basically, I disagree with the editorial staff's choice because a) an illegal immigrant is not a Texan, no matter how you parse it, and b) the DMN board changed their criteria for selecting the TOY midway through the process. It is my feeling and that of many others that no candidate existed that fit their editorial agenda, so they 'moved the goalposts'. Bottom line: the 'illegal immigrant' is definitely a candidate for story of the year in Texas, but the choice of such a nebulous group as TOY is misguided and nonsensical.
Michael Silence pointed out today a proposal in NJ to raise toll fees by 50%. Some are objecting that the increase is a hidden tax hike.
I'm as anti-tax as they come, but raising tolls isn't really a tax. It's a hike in user fees. There can be an argument made that a toll is a user fee that cannot be avoided. However, in every toll jurisdiction in which I have lived (Texas, Georgia, Mass Pike, NYC), there were alternate paths for travel. Note that I didn't say 'convenient' paths of travel.
I would prefer have tolls and eliminate taxation for funding roads, creating a system whereby roads are paid for by those who use them, but that's another discussion altogether.
