Close that Border!!!!

Those politicians and demagogues who continue to harp on the possibility of terrorists crossing our borders have been proven right! See the link:

Canada Nabs 17 Terror Suspects

Only problem? It's not the border they keep harping about. It's the Canadian border. Are we going to build a fence? Are we going to send troops? Are we going to make sure that children of Canadians born in the U.S. can't become citizens?

Or do we only do that for our southern border?

I can hardly wait to hear what Tom Tancredo says about this.

Some more words to ponder.

Some more words to ponder.

The New Colossus,
by Emma Lazarus (1849-1887)

Written in 1883. In 1903, engraved on a bronze plaque and mounted inside the Statue of Liberty.

"Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

A Voice of Reason

Tamar Jacoby is a major voice of reason within the immigration debate. Required reading for anyone interested in a rational take on the subject. As she says in one of her articles:

"I believe that immigration is driven by market forces, and that by and large it is good for the U.S. Our challenge today is to find a way to control it - not pretend that it doesn’t exist or that we can simply wish it away."

Jacoby stands against those descendants of the 1850's American Party (known as the "Know-Nothings") who

"hold that we can seal our borders, do without immigrants, and easily drive the 11 million illegal immigrants already here to leave the country by enforcing existing laws."

As Jacoby says later on in her article, those folks who make this argument have "their heads in the sand."

Here's the link:

Debating Immigration
An analyst defends herself, and her critics rejoin

And here's a link to some more from the erudite and thought provoking Ms. Jacoby:

Tamar Jacoby

Craig "Ironhead" Heyward dies

One of my favorite football players, both for his style of play and his apt nickname died after a courageous fight against a brain tumor. Craig "Ironhead" Heyward passed away at age 39. I remember him as an Atlanta Falcon in 1995 when he rushed for over a 1,000 yards. He was a tough player who was fun to watch. Teammates also spoke of his sense of humor. Len Pasquarelli of ESPN wrote a wonderful article about his memories of the former collegiate (at Pitt) and NFL (several teams) standout.
Here is the link, it's worth a read even if you're not into football.

Ironhead was a nickname, Craig was the man

Hicham El Guerrouj retires

One of the greatest middle distance runners in history has retired. Hicham El Guerrouj of Morrocco, world record holder in the 1500 meters, the mile, and the 2000 meters has announced that he is retiring from serious track competition at the ripe old age of 31. He has said that he will continue to run for fun, and plans to even run some marathons for pleasure(!) in the future. While I'm not sure that he was the greatest ever (Paavo Nurmi, Said Aouita, Sebastian Coe, and Nouredine Morcelli, not to mention Jim Ryun and Kip Keino all vie for that title) El G was certainly one of the greatest ever. His double gold medal performance at the 2004 Olympics was a historic performance, and everthing I ever saw or read about him painted him as a gracious competitor. I remember when he won the Prefontaine Mile a few years ago and Alan Webb placed behind him in an American High School record, El G pulled the young American with him on a victory lap. Truly a class act. El G will be missed as a racer, but I think we will still see him as a mentor and spokesman.
Congratulations El G, you always gave your best.

Anything but slow...

Tuesday, the last day of January, 2006 was anything but a "slow" news day. First, and foremost to my mind, was the passing of the gracious and dignified Coretta Scott King, the "First Lady" of the Civil Rights movement. While her recent health problems made the news of her passing a little less of a shock than it might have been, it still was a moment of profound sadness and a reminder to me of the mortality of all of us. More about this great American later.

January 31st was also the last day of Alan Greenspan's tenure as FED chairman. Greenspan was in many ways as influential as any President during his 18 years on the FED. His ideas and pronouncements shaped both national and international economic events and policies. It will be interesting to see if his successor is as much of a media star as Greenspan was.

During the day, the Senate confirmed Samuel Alito to take over the Supreme Court seat held by Sandra Day O'Connor. Alito will probably be less reactionary and conservative than the radical Republicans who threw over Harriet Miers for him think. Only time will tell. The fact that one of his first actions was a death penalty delay granted shows him to be open minded. Bet that's killing the crowd that hated Miers...

Last, but not least, the day was one of the craziest or annual sports events, Super Bowl Media Day. Want to know "everything" about your favorite Super Bowl team players? Just listen to the inane questions asked by the media on this day of days. My all time favorite? When Redskins QB Doug Williams was asked "how long (he) had been a black quarterback", his reply? "All my life," said the bemused Williams, proving once again that journalism majors should actually be forced to learn something in college...

Apologies

I missed a reunion of Hapeville High School (1977-82 years) last night due to illness and some family crises. I feel bad about that. While I love my present job, the best years of my teaching career were at Hapeville from 1981 to 1988. My best wishes and prayers go to all my former students and colleagues from there. Hopefully I'll run into most of them again.

Last night's reunion sounded like it would have been particularly good, as the lady in charge obviously had worked hard on it and had secured a great list of former teachers and had sent out the word to all and sundry. I'm particularly sorry to her and to my former mentor Ms. Parramore, the one who thought I had potential but despaired of my ever growing up and being a proper role model. Dear Ann, I've worked on the growing up thing. If I'm ever half the teacher you were I'll be happy. You were the best I ever saw in all my years of teaching.

PS - my sister also wanted me to go to the reunion and find out what ever happened to her friend Greg Barber (sp?). If anyone knows, send me a line, ok?

4, four, fore...

My brilliant and pretty sister asked me to do the 4 favorites quiz. Astute readers will note that I cheated on a couple of items.

Four jobs you've had in your life: Truck driver/dispatcher for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper, history teacher/wrestling and track coach for 3 different high schools, sales clerk for Hastings entertainment centers, and currently counselor at an Alternative School.

Four movies you could watch over and over: True Lies, A Fistful of Dollars, A Christmas Story, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Fiddler on the Roof and Big Jake tie with these titles, and new movies Serenity and King Kong may eventually worm their way in).

Four great fiction books: (My own additional 4 spot here) First Blood, by David Morrell; A Little Yellow Dog, by Walter Mosley; The Riot at Bucksnort, by Robert E. Howard; and Sometimes A Great Notion, by Ken Kesey.
First Blood is still the most riveting can't be put down book I've ever read and I first read it about 1974. Plus I've briefly emailed David Morrell and found him to be a polite classy guy, for what that's worth.
Same with the next author - Walter Mosley's Easy Rawlings and his friend Mouse are two characters I can't live without - any of this series books are a joy to read.
Bob Howard was the creator of Conan the Barbarian, but his little known humorous tall tale westerns are some of the funniest and best things I have ever read, on a par with P. G. Wodehouse in his own individual way.
Ken Kesey is best know for "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", but Sometimes A Great Notion (title lifted from song "Goodnight, Irene") is better, read it and see.

Four great serious songs: (another personal addition) Copperhead Road, Steve Earle; Rooster, Alice in Chains; Gangsta Paradise, Coolio; Flood, Jars of Clay.
Copperhead Road reminds me of my moma's people from Copperhill, Tennessee. Don't know about the moonshine part, but one of my turn of the last century ancestors was nicknamed "Shotgun" Simonds cuz he always carried a shotgun after some men beat him and left him for dead. Later on in the depression and world war II my Grandpa Simonds worked in the copper mines and steelmills and also rocked the system by being a labor union activist who was briefly jailed for his beliefs and activities before settling down in Atlanta with the family after the great WWII. I think he'd have liked the song. The song is good enough that I forgive Steve Earle our political differences.
Rooster reminds me of those friends who are all a little bit older than me, old enough to have served in the military during the Vietnam years.
Gangsta Paradise is a paean to those young men I've seen for the last eighteen years while working with at risk students.
Flood is a comment on the human condition. If Frederick Douglass (1818 - 1895) could survive slavery and civil war and reconstruction and Jim Crowe; if Enguerrand VII de Coucy (1340 - 1397) could survive war and bubonic plague in the apocalyptic 14th century; then I guess with God's help we all can survive terrorism and war and in this our own apocalyptic 21st century.

Four places you've lived: College Park, GA; Athens, GA; Stockbridge, GA; Newnan, GA.

Four TV shows you love to watch: How I Met Your Mother, Desperate Housewives, Family Guy, The Simpsons. When it comes to tv and movies I go for a humorous take on the human condition. My reading tastes sometimes tend to darker stuff.

Four places you've been on vacation: New York, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Seattle. All are great, none compare to Panama City Beach or Spokane, Washington.

Four websites you visit daily: ajc.com, boortz.com, comics.com, and yahoo.com. Also wikipedia.org, cnn.com, and thrillingdetective.com (ok, so I keep cheating on the number 4 - I was never that great in math).
Just as an aside, Kevin Burton Smith of thrillingdetective.com and I have totally different political slants (well, we may agree on immigration and gay rights so maybe we're not totally different) but I still love reading his take on things cuz he's always dead on honest (no guessing where you stand with Kevin - I prefer folks like that) and thrillingdetective is the site that got me back into reading hard boiled private eye stuff years after my college days of reading Raymond Chandler.

Four of your favorite foods: This is the vegetarian list only per order of my vegan son: scrambled eggs and cheese, fried rice, green bean casserole, bannana pudding (only my mother's though).

Four places you'd rather be: Lewiston, Idaho; at the movies; at the library; at home.

Four albums you can't live without: ok, I can tell you the groups - don't ask for complete specifics: The Who (the one with Baba O'Reilly), Strawbs (the one titled Ghosts?), Aerosmith (the first greatest hits one), and Linda Ronstadt (the original one with "Poor, poor, pitiful me" - which is a good way to describe her politics).

Four magazines you read: Slate, National Review, Sports Illustrated, The Cimmerian.

Four cars you've owned: the white Escort GT, the green Buick Skylark, the green Honda (?) GT I bought from my friend and co-worker Rick in the 1980's, and the one I have now - a Honda (?) Accord (?) - I think. Anyone who knows me knows that I love my cars in my own way, but that I am clueless as to year, make, and model unless it is visually right in front of me. I once got my car impounded by a #@% wearing a police uniform because I had to think about what kind of car I was driving - my dad had just helped me out and purchased it for me. True story. I won't say where the #@% policeman worked because all the other lawmen in that county are first class, but this man was a loser.

Four people to do this meme: Carri, Reid, Liana, Maxine (this last might be kind of hard since she's off line).

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving day, even if you don't celebrate the holiday itself. I'm thankful for a ton of things, too lengthy to go through and list (though I usually like to make long lists!).