11 gas saving technologies from ZDNet

So much media attention seems to go to electric and hybrid vehicles, but auto manufacturers continue to squeeze more miles out of each gallon of gas in automobiles with internal combustion engines. I was already aware of some of these improvements but some I had not heard of before now.

See how many of the 11 you already know of.

11 gas saving technologies from ZDNet

Oral Roberts confirms talks with Southland Conference

Credit goes to @GoldengrizzGP for bringing this to my attention earlier today.

ORU confirms talks with Southland Conference from Tulsa World

This is not news in the sense that Oral Roberts has long been considered a possibility for the Southland Conference and the Summit League has made it clear that its focus is on the Midwest. Geography is the obvious reason. The geographic footprint of the Summit League has made no sense. With Centenary and Southern Utah moving on, there is no mistaking that the Summit League is now anchored in the Midwest, the Upper Midwest to be specific.

Oral Roberts has been a key member of the Summit League since 1997 so losing ORU would be a blow to the prestige of the Summit League. But given the facts of geography and the expenses associated with Summit League travel, the Summit League best be prepared to move on without ORU.

Although is it only discussions that have been confirmed, the mutual interest by both ORU and the Southland Conference sufficient enough to hold talks leads me to believe that this would not already be public knowledge unless both parties expect to reach an agreement for Oral Roberts University to join the Southland Conference.

"A highly placed Tulsa World source said, 'There is interest both ways, and most people (involved) think it will happen.' ”

The Tulsa World story also adds more credence to my belief that after several years in Sioux Falls, South Dakota the Summit League basketball championships will likely move to Omaha, Nebraska where the newest member of the Summit League, the University of Nebraska-Omaha, is home.

I will have mixed feelings if Oral Roberts leaves the Summit League. If it does, it makes the Summit League geography better. But the Summit League better have plans to add more schools in the Midwest if it hopes to retain any relevance in this age of continuing conference realignments. And with the concentration of schools now on the western flank of the Summit League, the eastern flank with Oakland, IUPUI, and IPFW can definitely use some strenthening.

Keep Chancellor Wartell at IPFW

I am in full agreement with this Journal-Gazette editorial (that might be a first) from Sunday urging that Purdue grant Chancellor Wartell's request for a two-year extension before he is forced to retire.

Reconsider Wartell decision via Journal Gazette

In many normal circumstances such a policy is good because eventually change is necessary for progress. But I think Chancellor Wartell is an exception because he is and has been exceptional for IPFW, Fort Wayne, and our entire tri-state region during his 19-year tenure. The News-Sentinel has noted how significant his contributions have been.

Purdue wants Wartell to retire via News-Sentinel

It is fitting that he be allowed to remain to celebrate IPFW's 50th anniversary as Chancellor. Late Monday afternoon, WANE covered the story that the IPFW Senate voted in favor of allowing Chancellor Wartell to continue for another two years. I hope Purdue makes the same decision.

IPFW Senate votes to keep Wartell via wane.com

1 man, 1 bugle, 24 notes via The Journal Gazette

A story in Sunday's Journal-Gazette featured a local man named Tom Laverghetta who performs Taps at the funerals of many of our veterans.

1 man, 1 bugle, 24 notes via The Journal Gazette

That story mentions and reminded me of Tom Day, the Power Player of the Week that I have seen twice now on Fox News Sunday.  With all the money our government wastes, it makes me wonder why Tom Day pays $10,000 a year out of his own pocket to make this happen.

Bugles Across America from Fox News Sunday

Final straw poll results from Florida - Washington Times

I guess I don't understand the concept or significance of these straw polls. Why in a key state like Florida with millions of voters should I care what 2,657 people think?

Final straw poll results from Florida - Washington Times

Obama Hails America's "Intercontinental Railroad' via LAtimes.com

I had never heard of our Intercontinental Railroad until now.

New gaffe: Obama hails America's historic building of 'the Intercontinental Railroad' - latimes.com

Cracked Ribs Are Fractured Ribs

Last Sunday Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo was injured. The original diagnosis was cracked ribs. It has now been clarified as fractured ribs and a punctured lung. The latest news reports as of Saturday list Romo's status for Monday night's game against the Washington Redskins as "questionable" but he has not been ruled out for Monday night and there are reports that his lung is healed.

I will look forward to Monday Night Football this week as every week but even more so if Romo plays. That is because I find it so remarkable that Romo might play with such injuries. I have seen other quarterbacks play with cracked ribs and it is painful for me to watch.

Cracked ribs are fractured ribs. If you have ever had fractured ribs as I have, then you like I will understand Monday night how remarkable it is for Romo to play if indeed he does. I sustained fractured ribs in an auto accident in October 1982 when a drunken driver from Cleveland, Ohio collided with me head-on.

For the next several weeks I recovered but the most memorable pain is still the pain from the fractured ribs. I was basically fine as long as I did not sit, stand, lie down, walk, or otherwise move around, laugh, sneeze, or breathe. Other than that, I was fine. Even with the pain medications I could never achieve any level of comfort and the absolute worst excruciating pain was from a sneeze.

So I am in awe whenever I see any athlete compete with fractured ribs. That goes double for an NFL quarterback. Yes I know that if he plays he will be shot up with pain killers in addition to the flak jacket he wears. But still consider that he has to take a snap, move around, put torque on his entire body to throw the ball, and worst of all get hit by tacklers who will drive him into the ground.

I have seen such efforts by quarterbacks before and they are painful for me to watch. But I will be watching Monday night if Romo plays to see how he does and to literally feel some of his pain.

Peggy Noonan on Amateur Hour at the White House via WSJ.com

I have admired the writing of Peggy Noonan for at least two decades now. She is open-minded and not a strident voice. I have read several of her columns in which she praises or criticizes Republicans and others in which she praises or criticizes Democrats.

In fact, in this column she criticizes both Obama and Rick Perry. She makes some interesting observations about the Obama administration that reflect a concern that I have had since Obama's presidential campaign. Other writers have coined the term "Obamateurism" but it's not funny when so many in the US and especially outside the US have no respect for our President.

Among her more interesting points in this column are these:

"I note this to make clear the particular importance, for me, of Ron Suskind's book on the creation of President Obama's economic policy, "Confidence Men." If Mr. Suskind is right, I have been wrong in my critiques of the president's economic policy. None of it was as bad as I said. It was much worse."

"Let me say here clearly what I've been more or less saying in this column for a while. It is that Mr. Obama cannot win in 2012, but the Republicans can lose."

I think it is important for Republicans to keep in mind that they need to focus more than anything else on selecting the candidate with broad appeal who will easily defeat Obama in 2012.

Amateur Hour at the White House - WSJ.com

So What's True And What's Not In Mayoral Race?

Those of you who visit my blog regularly know that I am a fiscal conservative and that I also enjoy and respect greatly Kevin Leininger's contributions to the Fort Wayne political landscape. So it was with particular interest that I read this recent contribution by Kevin to the mayoral contest with his finding on an issue with claims and counter-claims by each candidate's campaign.

"And the loser is ... the Allen County Republican Party's claim that Democratic Mayor Tom Henry is “the father of the County Option Income Tax (COIT) ... (that) since 2001 has cost taxpayers over $128 million.”"

Kevin's account of events regarding the COIT issue are accurate to the best of my memory also.

And his conclusion "But as I have just shown, telling only part of the truth can be almost the same as telling a lie" is one reason that I find many aspects of this mayoral race very troubling.

I understand that every political campaign is going to use anything available to gain the support of voters. But I find it very difficult to support any campaign that so clearly misrepresents the past.

http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110915/NEWS/110919823

So What Does Kravitz Really Think About the Boilers?

I wish Kravitz would just stop beating around the bush and tell us what he really thinks about the Boilermakers and Coach Hope.

Kravitz: Sorry, but . . . Boilermakers utterly clueless | The Indianapolis Star

A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words

I think this editorial cartoon by Jeff Stahler says it all.

http://www.gocomics.com/jeffstahler/2011/09/09

Budweiser Clydesdales Unmatched Yet Again

Each year during the Super Bowl the Budweiser Clydesdales appear in a Super Bowl commercial that is annually one of the best Super Bowl commercials however you want to measure them in my opinion.

One of the most touching Budweiser Clydesdales commercials appeared only one time and that was during the Super Bowl in January 2002 following the season marred by 9-11.

This is that commercial that aired during the January 2002 Super Bowl showing the Clydesdales traveling to New York to pay tribute to the victims of 9-11. Note the snow on the ground.

Budweiser Clydesdales Super Bowl January 2002 Tribute to Victims of 9-11

Snopes.com has a page stating that this commercial indeed aired only one time. Maybe you think you saw it again today but you really didn't. Here is today's commercial, a remake of the original. Note the green grass.

Budweiser Clydesdales Commercial 9-11-11

Is it any wonder the Budweiser Clydesdales commercials are always some of the most anticipated and appreciated commercials during the Super Bowl year after year?

Tunnel to Towers 5K - What a Magnificent Way To Remember

This appeared in today's special edition of Parade Magazine in remembrance of 9-11 on a page titled Legacies of Hope.
---------
Tunnel to Towers
Sept. 11 was a day off for firefighter Stephen Siller, who was on his way to New Jersey to play golf when he heard about a fire at the World Trade Center. He turned his car around and headed there, only to be stopped at the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel. So Siller left his vehicle and ran through the tunnel; he made it to the buildings, where he died in the line of duty. In memory of that run, his siblings organized the annual Tunnel to Towers 5K race in 2002. The event has since raised $10.5 million for burn centers, injured soldiers, and children who have lost one or both parents.
tunneltotowersrun.org

The Real Meaning of 9/11 by Jeffrey Goldberg from The Atlantic

"What we saw on the morning of September 11, 2001 was evil made manifest. The terrorists who attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon (and tried to destroy the Capitol) claim to have been motivated by a theology of restoration -- a dream of restoring Islam to a position of global supremacy -- and by the politics of grievance. But something deeper undergirds these impulses: A compulsive need to murder one's way to glory. The stated goals of al Qaeda are flimsy excuses, meant to cover-up this ineluctable fact. The souls of men like Muhammad Atta and Khalid Sheikh Muhammad and Osama bin Laden are devoid of anything but hate, and murder is what erupted from these voids."

Read the rest of his essay here:

The Real Meaning of 9/11 by Jeffrey Goldberg from Atlantic

Russian planes are often not ideal: Lloy Ball in The News-Sentinel

In the wake of the KHL plane crash disaster in Russia, Blake Sebring brings us up-to-date on Lloy Ball. I didn't know until now that Lloy has unretired and will spend another volleyball season playing in Russia.

It is never easy to give up competing in a sport that has been your entire life, especially when you have competed for almost two decades at world-class level like Lloy has.

Lloy Ball: Russian planes are often not ideal from The News-Sentinel

Charles Krauthammer On The 9/11 ‘overreaction’

Charles Krauthammer gives credit where credit is due for the progress that we have made against those who launched the 9-11 attacks on America.


"What turned the strong horse (al Qaeda)  into the weak horse? Precisely the massive and unrelenting American war on terror, a systematic worldwide campaign carried out with increasing sophistication, efficiency and lethality — now so cheaply denigrated as an overreaction."

And...

"In the end: 10 years, no second attack (which everyone assumed would come within months). That testifies to the other great achievement of the decade: the defensive anti-terror apparatus hastily constructed from scratch after 9/11 by President Bush, and then continued by President Obama. Continued why? Because it worked. It kept us safe — the warrantless wiretaps, the Patriot Act, extraordinary rendition, preventive detention and, yes, Guantanamo."

The 9/11 ‘overreaction’? Nonsense from The Washington Post

F-16s Scrambled On 9-11 Were On Suicide Mission

As the story of United Flight 93 became known on September 11, 2001 including the reports that F-16s had been scrambled, I had assumed that Flight 93 would not have been allowed to approach Washington, D.C. What a terrible responsibility that placed on many decision makers. That responsibility was lifted off their shoulders by the heroes of United Flight 93.

However, until I read this story this week, I did not know that the F-16 pilots would have been on a suicide mission and that one of the pilots is female.

F-16 pilot was ready to give her life on Sept. 11 - The Washington Post

The Haircut

I believe that this story is priceless and really needs no more commentary from me.

The Haircut from the Curmudgeon's Journal

More Insanity on Tap

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

President Zero by Fred Barnes from The Weekly Standard

Why Can't Your Dreams Have Deadlines?

 “Why can’t your dreams have deadlines? What if you took your goals as seriously as, let’s say, a project at work or a deliverable to a client? Aren’t your aspirations just as important, if not more so? Then start by giving your goal a deadline. Commit to it. Commit to yourself. You deserve it."

- Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, pages 75-76

It is only a dream until you write it down; then it becomes a goal.

- Emmitt Smith from his NFL Hall of Fame Induction Speech, August 7, 2010

Romantic Love Is Like a Drug

I think this is worth a read by anyone in love or who hopes to be in love. That should cover all of us I think. I especially enjoyed the discussion "Love is the grease in the gears of life" and the first suggestion of "How to Make Love Last," namely "Pick the right woman."

However it seems that it is often the woman who picks the man rather than the man who picks the woman. I guess the moral for any man is that if you get picked by a woman, take the time to make sure she is the one with whom you want to spend the rest of your life.

Romantic Love Can Last from The Art of Manliness

Making a Difference One Pheresis Donation at a Time

Bloom Where You Are Planted via Mark Schlereth's Official Website got me thinking about doing what you can for whom you can right in your own backyard. As Mark says "You don't have to pack your bags to be a missionary." Pheresis is one way that I give back to society one individual at a time.

What is Pheresis? You can read this to find out.

On Wednesday, August 17, I had the privilege of attending again the annual Red Cross Pheresis Banquet. It is an event I look forward to each year. We enjoy a nice meal, see friends and acquaintances, and meet new people. Many donors are recognized for their dedication and commitment as pheresis donors for the past year and in some cases for many years. This year alone two donors were recognized for achieving the level of 300 pheresis donations. That is truly amazing when you consider each donation can take 2 hours, 3 hours, or longer in addition to travel time. And the maximum number of pheresis donations that you can make each year is 24.

For over ten years I have been a registered bone marrow donor but I was never contacted to be a donor and now I am too old to donate. I had often thought how I would feel if I had been contacted and realized that by confirming my willingness to donate marrow that I might save someone else’s life.

I had donated over 15 gallons of whole blood until I developed a medical condition that does not allow me to donate whole blood any longer. Shortly before that condition arose I finally agreed following repeated requests by Red Cross personnel to try pheresis donation. Pheresis is the process that in my case draws blood from my left arm, filters out my platelets, and returns the rest of my blood with some added saline solution to my right arm. These platelets are needed by those with critical medical conditions, most especially cancer patients and other conditions such as bone marrow illnesses.

For me though the highlight of the event is hearing from those individuals who rely upon our pheresis donations for their survival. For those children too small to tell their story, we hear from their parents. This is heady stuff for someone like me. I’m not going to find the cure for cancer. I’m probably not going to run into a burning building to safe another’s life. But I can help another person survive one pheresis donation at a time.

Each year as each pheresis recipient addresses the gathering I wonder if that person speaking has received platelets from me. A couple years ago that question was answered by a lady who had received platelets hundreds of times. She stated that she believed that anyone in that room who had given platelets for any number of years certainly must have donated platelets that at some time circulated within her veins. It is very meaningful and moving for me to hear a recipient say that.

But the most moving talk by a recipient that I ever heard was given approximately five years ago by a lady who was about 30 years old at the time. She was married with three small children. This young lady had been seriously ill for much of her adult life with a disease that I had never heard of and could not pronounce. Her life had been saved countless times by platelet donations. She stated frankly that without the advances in medical technology of the prior ten years that she would not be alive that day.

I continued to enjoy my meal as she spoke about her medical struggles. She then concluded her talk by telling us about her childhood and how as a little girl she had always dreamed of growing up, of meeting the man of her dreams, and of having a family of her very own with him. She then thanked every pheresis donor in that room for making her childhood dream come true because she could not have lived that childhood dream of hers without us. I had to stop eating temporarily due to the tears streaming down my face. Her speech had a profound influence on me then and continues with my determination to continue as a pheresis donor despite the difficulties that I occasionally have in donating due to my veins and the scar tissue from donating over 15 gallons of whole blood.

I repeated those tears at the Pheresis Banquet again a few years later when it was announced that the young lady had finally succumbed to her disease and was no longer with us. I will never forget her and her moving speech to all of us that day. I remember that young lady and her husband and children in my prayers as I think about them during each pheresis donation.

This year each attendee at the Pheresis Banquet received a memento with this parable. It is one I have seen before used at other occasions including some for Boy Scouts. I think it fits very nicely with the theme of saving one person at a time. If you would like to join me in making a difference through Pheresis, please contact me.

The Starfish Story

Original Story by: Loren Eisley

One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed
a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean. 

Approaching the boy, he asked, What are you doing?

The youth replied, Throwing starfish back into the ocean. The surf is up and the tide is going out.  If I don't throw them back, they'll die.

Son, the man said, don't you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You cant make a difference!

After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish,
and threw it back into the surf.  Then, smiling at the man, he said
I made a difference for that one.

Has HP done a "New Coke" with WebOS and tablets? via ZDNet

Well this theory of the HP shuffle makes as much sense as some of the others I have read. But I do admit that it does make me feel a little older since I can remember the "New Coke" episode all too well. I mean I didn't have to take the Wiki link provided to give the complete story of what happened "for those of you who didn't live through it." Oh, well.

Has HP done a "New Coke" with WebOS and tablets? via ZDNet

Young women 'power users' of Facebook, Twitter: But why? via ZDNet

This article raises the question "What the research does not question is why women are spending more time on social media sites than men." Could it be that women are just more social than men?

Young women 'power users' of Facebook, Twitter: But why? via ZDNet