Ready for the cold
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“Hostile and abusive” company fined $2 million for making substandard Kevlar for our troops
What caught my eye, of course, was the “hostile and abusive” name of the company. I looked on the company’s website and found some very interesting facts:
– the company is “100% Tribally owned by the Spirit Lake Nation.” Aren’t these the guys whining about the UND Fighting Sioux logo? So why is it that…
– “By 1989, the Spirit Lake Nation had purchased the last remaining shares of the company owned by the Brunswick Corporation, thereby gaining full ownership of the company. Renamed Sioux Manufacturing Corporation (SMC)…”
So, once again, it’s apparently just fine for anyone but UND to use the name Sioux. If this name brings up such pain and anguish and is such a derogatory term, why are the tribes using it? I think the whole thing is simply a matter of belligerence on the part of the anti-UND crowd.
I can’t forget the quote by Archie Fool Bear: “We went to a hockey game, and they talked about the courage and integrity of the Sioux people. We looked at each other like, ‘Wow, we don’t even honor our Sioux warriors or veterans like this on the reservation.’ ” According to the details in the NY Times article, I’m inclined to believe that UND is more interested in portraying the integrity of the Sioux people than a Tribally owned company.
This sign made me say, “Oh”
Caucus at the Elks
– Turnout was GREAT. I haven’t waited in a line like this since Sammy Hagar tickets went on sale at the Civic Center.
– I’m not funny. I was walking to the building with a woman who was going to pick up her son, and she told me she’s a Democrat. We were talking about why the Democrat caucus hours were 2 to 8 and the Republican hours were 6:30 to 8. My response: “Our guys are employed.” Judging by her reaction, I’m not funny…although I think the look on my face illustrated that I was just funnin’ around. We continued to joke a little until we got to the line a few seconds later.
– There are a lot of Ron Paul supporters here. That doesn’t surprise me, since we have a lot of libertarian types in our state. I agree with Ron Paul on a LOT of issues, but there are some key issues in which I don’t. Besides, he stands no chance in the long run. I predict he’s going to make a pretty remarkable showing in North Dakota, at least in certain precincts.
– Our country is polarized. It’s not George Bush’s fault, either. Look at the forces aligning on either side of the ideological divide. Consider how the states were moving their caucuses ahead on the calendar. Note the reports of unusually high turnouts.
I voted for Romney. I originally said I’d never vote for a Mormon, because I object to their cult (I’m not into identity-based voting, but Christianity trumps any other principles.) I wanted to vote for Fred Thompson, but sadly that’s no longer possible. The most important issue at this point has become tanking John McCain.
McCain isn’t just a liberal. He’s got his name on bills designed to limit free political speech (McCain-Feingold); to grant amnesty to illegal immigrants (McCain-Kennedy); and legitimize the hoax of man-made global warming (McCain-Lieberman). These bills are sponsored by this joker, folks…they aren’t just simple votes on issues. This man is responsible for, among other things, a law to stifle political discourse, in direct violation of the First Amendment. He is not a conservative, and I’m ashamed he’s a Republican.
Added 2/6/08:
The big thing with McCain is that he’s a liberal, and pretty much a Democrat. Don’t forget, he was in negotiations to switch parties and run as John Kerry’s VP in 2004! Remember the infamous “Gang of 14” that stalled the President’s conservative judicial nominations? That was McCain, too.
Even if you can ignore the other policy nightmares, consider this: we conservatives cling to the hope of the governmental Holy Grail of getting conservative justices on the benches of our government’s courts, to stop liberal activism on the part of current justices. Well, we had that chance…and who sabotaged it? John McCain.
My goal with my vote is to assist in stopping a McCain nomination. If we’re unsuccessful in that, I’ll write in Fred Thompson on election day. But if given the choice in November to vote for two liberals for President, I’m going to vote Neither.
Frosty Sunday
I also got some other neat frost pictures near the river, but those can wait until another time. As far as I know, the frost is still out there, since the temperatures are cold enough. How long it will last is anybody’s guess…I’m just glad I was able to get out there with my camera to capture it!
Anniversary of North Dakota’s last lynching
Want more information? Visit an interesting source of information: the North Dakota Supreme Court’s news page.
This will probably impact Mor-Gran-Sioux in December
While he says he will hang some Christmas lights next year, just not fifty thousand of them, he’s probably going to miss the notoriety…albeit not as much as we will miss his annual holiday displays. I couldn’t help but wonder if there was something in particular that took the wind out of his sails. Perhaps this addition to his Christmas display for 2007 holds a clue:
This isn’t how I originally intended to show you this photo. I had planned on writing a simple message of condolence to Paul Schaff that I doubt he’d ever read, but one I felt compelled to put into words. While I haven’t met Mr. Schaff, I’m one of many people who derived a great deal of joy from his labor each Christmas season. Now, however, the photo accompanies the sad news that we won’t have his Christmas displays any more. But the real loss is that of a wife, mom, and grandma.
I hope it isn’t intrusive to mention this openly. Since he put his words into the area’s most popular Christmas display, I’m guessing Paul Schaff doesn’t mind that we all know of his loss. This is simply a way to share kind feelings back toward him for the joy he’s provided .
So…we’re sorry for your loss, Mr. Schaff. We’re also sorry for the loss of the special touch you put on Mandan’s Christmas each year. Like your display said this year, you’ve got loving memories of Ann…and we’ve got loving memories of your Christmas cheer. Thank you for the thousands of smiles you’ve brought each year, and for all the faces you lit up along with your home.
At the cross, where I first saw the light
You can find this site on 145th Street, which is really just a stretch of gravel road, southeast of Bismarck. GPS coordinates are 46°43.029′ North, 100°33.822′ West.
Towers of Power
Remember when Y-93 did the “Cash Call” contest?
Anyway, back to the cash call. I was poking around in the storage room as I often do, and I forget what I was even looking for. Among the things I found, however, was this old tape from my high school days. Appropriately labeled, this tape contains a recording of when I won the Cash Call on Y-93 one morning during my sophomore year.
The way it worked was: they’d pick a dollar amount, always with 93 cents, and announce it periodically throughout the day. Then at 5:30 or so they’d pick a random number from the residential section of the phone book. If you were the lucky recipient of a call and could tell them the correct amount, you’d win it! They’d do the same thing through the evening with a winning call made early in the morning. That’s when Bob called me. He woke me up, but I was a faithful winner and blurted out the correct amount.
One other thing they would do is record the call and use it to promote the next Cash Call in a promo later in the day. I had a boom box ( in those days we called ’em “ghetto blasters” ) handy and was able to record the promo of the call that Bruce Elscott played in the afternoon. Wanna listen?
I actually did pretty well on Y-93 contests. I won tickets, a promo copy of the Miami Vice Soundtrack on vinyl, the aforementioned Cash Call, etc. The winning stopped when I joined the Meyer Broadcasting team in 1990, though. I’m not sure if they were even doing the Cash Call at that point, but I was ineligible for any of the contests on any of the stations.
I still see Bob Beck, Loren Gray, and my other radio friends Brian ( “B-Man” ) and Crystal Reeves every now and then. Bob’s an avid motorcyclist, by the way, and the only guy I know who’s had a run-in with a buffalo with his Harley and lived. It’s fun to refer back to the good old days of the Meyer empire…but I think we’re all doing pretty well for ourselves these days too. And the $109.93? I did what any 15 year old kid would do: I spent most of it on my girlfriend and wasted the rest.
EDIT: I forgot to mention my “other” radio friends – Jason Hulm, Phil Parker, Mark Armstrong, Sid Hardt, Al Gustin… since I was in the mindset of “DJs” I overlooked these guys. Not that there’s anything wrong with being “just” a DJ. Oh heck, now I’ve dug myself ANOTHER hole… I love all you guys, okay? I’m just kinda scatterbrained, I guess.
🙂