Happy Easter!

HAPPY EASTER!

Jesus died for you sins so say "Thank you!"

Nothing wrong with the Easter Bunny either....

Tornados!

A massive storm front rolled through the southeast quadrant of the country today and muscled its way up the East Coast, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake across Central and Eastern NC. Unfortunately, some people lost their lives but it could have been worse. We lost power for an hour but there were other parts of the city that suffered a direct hit from tornados and entire neighborhoods were destroyed. It was a pretty bad day but it also gives you an opportunity to be thankful.

The city of Sanford, NC, site of my first radio job, due north was hit pretty bad and our immediate south was hammered too but it seems everyone there is more or less OK.

Marching forward

Copyright, NHL

Coming down the final stretch in coursework. Two papers left to write and then the final exams...In three weeks, I will only have to do the thesis. It is not going to be easy but it certainly is not impossible...plus it only lasts so long!

Romans and Redcoats plus an exam in reading Spanish before a well deserved break!

A good place to draw inspiration--the Pittsburgh Penguins.

They have been without Sidney Crosby since January and they have accelerated to the the near top of the standings. A couple of breaks and they could have passed Philly for the division title (why is Pittsburgh in the Atlantic Division?) but in the NHL, it does not matter. Once you are in the playoffs, you are in!

A lot of people wrote them off after Crosby's concussion and the Penguins even lost their #2 guy Evengi Malkin to an ACL injury. They shrugged it off, called up a lot of guys from the minors no one had heard of and went on a rampage.

If you're feeling overwhelmed, remember, "Pittsburgh Penguins 2011" Maybe they win the Cup, maybe not but they got further than anyone thought they could and they are not done yet.

Going south for the day...

Today Michelle took her nursing test and passed with flying colors...like there was any doubt. She had to take the test down I-95 in Lumberton, NC. I have always called everything to our immediate south "The Pictish Wilderness". The people are nice but I always see something bizarre when I follow a compass heading of 180...today I hung out at a Hardee's reading Tacitus' Agricola for an hour while Michelle blasted through the written part of her test. I saw about a hundred high school kids on their way to a horse race dressed in loud colorful pants and bowties.

I did not wake up that morning expecting to see that....

I made my way into downtown Lumberton looking at the Cold War style architecture wondering if it was actually Depression-era architecture. This car (late 90s vintage) cruises by with some old man waving at anyone he sees. Then I witnessed a police car start travelling the wrong way down a one way street. He realized his mistake, hit the lights and backed up...very strange sight.

What is it about downtown streets in every city? Lots of one way streets that confuse everyone.

I went back to the place Michelle was taking her test and hung around on the bottom floor with my pal Tacitus.

Like I said, Michelle passed with no problem.

I knew she would.

It was after all, April 2, the anniversary of me giving her ring at Heinz Field.

Plus she studied......

Happy Greek Independence Day

Happy Greek Independence Day! March 25, 1821!

Perfect excuse to eat some gyros!

Take a side, son...

When I heard that the US armed forces had attacked Libya, a line from Battlestar Galactica immediately came to mind:

"Take a side, son."

That is preciesely what the US has not done.

Plunging into a THIRD Middle Eastern war, this adminsitration, like the last one, seems to blunder along without any real idea what it is doing.

What is the objective in Libya?

Obama mumbled something about protecting civilians.

By taking out Khaddafy's air force and not getting any boots on the ground, we have assured a stalemate.

In a civil war, which is what is happening in Libya, there are no neutral corners. Either you enter on one side or stay out of it completely. If the US was on the side of the rebels, planes would have been hitting Khaddafy when he was forced back into Tripoli. Hillary Clinton said US policy was to remove Khaddafy, so that means we are not on his side. If Khadaffy wins, he is not going to like us very much and we don't seem to be aiding the rebels.

So what are we doing there?

Answer: push up oil prices....

A stalemate ensures more conflict. Conflict means higher oil prices.

The Pentagon's comment yesterday "expect more strikes in the coming hours and days" is a startling departure from traditional policy of not commenting on operational details. It is also not a smart move to telegraph your next move.

Oil prices, of course, went up when this news spread.

Other things to look at.....

Who is leading this operation? The US was supposed to "hand off" to NATO but so far America has handled 85% of the sorties. US Africa Command, based in Stuttgart, Germany(?), is supposed to be leading this but now it is supposed to be a NATO operation and the North Atlantic Council has yet to meet.

Another question: Who is paying for this? According to Yahoo news, it will cost the US $800 million to set up a "no-fly" zone and $100 million a week to keep it in place.

A country with trillion dollar deficits has no business getting mixed up in protracted wars.
See "Spain, 1588, Netherlands" for further information.

Yes, history repeats itself.

Anyone want to open a debate on the War Powers Act?

Maybe Rahm Emanuel did the smart thing in getting out while he still could....

Back into battle...

Picture from Reuters....

I had a nice Spring Break. I did not go anywhere but I got some work done (welcome to Graduate School...) and caught up on The Office and watched my Penguins advance up the NHL standings with a roster of players I had never seen! There is a lesson for all of us.

Never give up!

Best of all, I got to spend a lot of time with Michelle :-)

And the cats......I love them too.

I am going to be very busy on the final (coursework) stretch. Down the Appian Way towards the thesis, which looks like it is going to be done during the Summer but it is going to be finished. After that, who knows? Teaching? PhD? I should get to Book Number Three. There are so many imponderables.

Then you look at the news and shake your head. Japan, gas prices, NFL on strike (how hard is it to split $9 billion?)

It is easy to dwell on bad news but let's try not to.

I will say one thing though: find your closest Red Cross and see what you can donate for the people of Japan. Especially if you have Type O blood.

I am going to hit the sack early and charge back into the fray tomorrow.

Wherever you are, remember, you are one day closer to your goal.

If you don't have one, find one! And look at the line above again.

GO FORTH AND CONQUER!!!