Goodbye:

I am having a lot of trouble making this blog actually publish what I write. Don't know why-no porno or anything like that. But a blog that will not publish my work is not a good feature. Cannot get anyone to answer on any help files. Anyway, if you are looking for me, try http://winteridge.wordpress.com.
thanks,

"When I grow up, I want to be a 7 foot bully!" The words every daddy wants to hear from his young son. Now comes a group, with more money than good sense, that wants to bring a professional basketball team to the Syracuse area and name them "The Bullies". Like most folks I talk with around Syracuse, I am totally opposed to a professional sports team named the Bullies of Syracuse. What were they thinking? However, I do not think it will be a major concern if those who oppose the name just do as I plan to do, and stay away from the Bully games in large numbers. Even if the owners are totally dense, as it appears, they will get the idea after a few games, and either change their name to something more intelligent, or the team will go the way of most bad ideas. Maybe there could be a contest for potential fans to choose a sensible name, with a prize of game tickets? Win-Win. I vote for "Syracuse Skychiefs". No one is using that name.

wandering the tug

wandering the tug

A-ROD DOES IT AGAIN!
Although I never played baseball, I would consider myself a long-time Yankees/baseball fan. As such, I am very confused by all the discussion over Alex Rodriguez' making a comment to an opposing fielder as he ran by. "Broke the unwritten code". Yet if he had slid into that fielder spikes-first to avoid being tagged out, thus causing a career-ending injury, that would be perfectly acceptable to all. Give me a break! I have seen runners go 10 feet out of the base path to slide into a fielder. Or run into a catcher at home plate to jar the ball loose. No problem with that? And it is perfectly acceptable for a pitcher to aim a 100 mph ball at a player's head. Does it break the unwritten code if he doesn't say "Sorry"? And what about all the comments and shouts from players in the dugout? Is this acceptable? What about a shout from a fan on the thirdbase side? Unacceptable? I have no love for Alex, I think he is overpaid and overpublicized, but if anyone other than A-Rod had done this, it would have been shrugged off. Just A-Rod being A-Rod (for the Boston fans). I think a fielder needs to pay attention to where he is and who is near him, and not blame an opponent for his errors.

TUG HILL REAL ESTATE FOR SALE:

For those of you who may be looking for a place of your own away from the traffic and turmoil, our Tug Hill property is now for sale. A beautiful large camp and about 300 acres of land, mostly forested. If you are into hunting, fishing, snowmobiles, ATVs, or just a getaway, this is it. Check it out on our website at: http://home.earthlink.net~deerjohn39/tughillforsale or http://home.earthlink.net~deerjohn39/clubpage. If you are interested, give us a call. Start building your own memories now. The years go by so fast...

War in Iraq
The latest word from our mission to free the people of Iraq is that our fearless leaders plan to separate the warring factions and build a wall, yes, a wall, to keep them apart. Well, actually, we will need a number of walls, to separate the Sunni from the Shiite from the Kurd from the Taliban from Alkaida from...well, I'm sure Halliburton can handle that. Maybe some nice chain link fence. And why not a Wall around the entire country? Just leave a gate to remove the oil.
It's good to see that our leaders have been reading the ol' history books. Walls have worked so well in Berlin; in Scotland; in China; and oh yes, the Texas-Mexican border. Maybe if some of them had studied the Vietnam War Fiasco, or better yet, taken part in it, maybe we would not be wallowing in the deep stuff now. It is frightening these days that John Stewart's take on the daily news is the only one that makes sense.

"There oughta be a law!"
The recent tragic and senseless shooting at Virginia Tech has generated a great deal of outcry, as usual, for laws to prevent this sort of thing. Well, folks, we have the laws now. Laws that should, could, would have made this shooting impossible. We do not need more new laws. We have laws that control handguns; laws that control assault weapons; laws against assault with a deadly weapon; my goodness, we even have laws against people killing other people! How about "Thou Shalt Not Kill" for starters?

What we do need, I believe, is a way to enforce the laws we now have, and to induce people to obey the laws we now have. Would a law that forbids a Korean college student from shooting his fellow students have prevented this tragedy? Not unless he paid attention to the rules.

And can we expect the average person to obey all the laws when they see their business, religious, and political leaders all openly flaunting these laws every day? Our leaders steal from the organizations they are paid to control; they assault and rape the children who come to them for guidance; they murder women and children and shrug it off because they are of a different religion. And these are our leaders. How can anyone expect the rest of us to do what is right? Does anyone really expect it? Is there a law we can pass that will change all this? I would be all for it.

"Thou Shalt Not Kill."

"Thou Shalt Not Steal."

And all the rest. What more do we need for laws?

I have not been back here for a while, I see. Busy doing taxes for other people and enjoying the (cold) spring weather. I guess I have to start working on some ideas. I have ideas all the time, but some are not publishable, and others come and go before I have time to write them down. Just as well, I guess.

I was just out walking my dog on our regular 6 AM routine, and there was a big turkey gobbler calling to me from the woods behind the house. I was tempted to dig out my camo and shotgun, the season is open in May, and go rambling, but the old hunter/gatherer urge is waning. The past couple of winters, the turkeys have been visiting my bird feeder on the deck on a regular basis, and the urge to hunt them has lessened. They are good eating, though. And I always loved being in the woods at sunrise and hearing that gobble ring thru the forest. Thrilling! Maybe I should just go out with the camera...

Wandering the news: I have not been up to the Tug for a few-I try to stay away during the winter storms anymore. Too old for shoveling snow and digging cars out of drifts.
Just a few comments on the latest news. I think it is amusing that our President refuses to let any of his staff testify under oath. They might then be required to tell the truth, which would surely set a precedent. Can anyone recall any member of the Bush gang telling the truth about anything in the past 6 or 7 years? But we still love them. How could anyone not love ol' Dick Cheney?

Then there was the big headline article in the Syracuse Newspaper last week about law firms and politicians allegedly stealing taxpayer funds thru the Empire Zone program. I am sure the papers spent a lot of time digging up these facts; even had to go to court, I understand, but isn't this a classic "Dog Bites Man" story? What do politicians and lawyers do but steal our money? And most of our politicians are/were lawyers, so it is a natural tie-in. And to Will Barclay and John Defrancisco and others, it is a perfectly normal process: The state legislature sets up a program to give out taxpayer funds with no one to supervise it, hey, it's fair game. Take all you can get. I can't wait to see what Gov. Spitzer does with this one.