Halloween, Fifty Years Ago! “A Great All-American”

Any football fan, and current or former resident of Louisiana, knows about the famous 89 yard punt return on Halloween night, by Billy Cannon, also known as “Flyin’ Twenty,” which was the winning score in this 7-3 hard fought game in the mud.

That brief moment in time, in a tightly contested game between #1 LSU and #3 Ole Miss, is not only memorable, it is unforgettable.

I was a very young boy when this historic game was played, and as was my families custom, we were all gathered around the radio in the living room listening intently, as we did all LSU games.

A few words about Billy Cannon, he was a football hero…a legend, yet he was also a man, subject to all the frailties and misjudgments as any other. His years as a football hero ended, he began a new life as an orthodontist, served two and a half years in prison for counterfeiting, has regained his honor through much hard work and introspection, and is now living a fulfilling life.
A true hero to the family he loves, and loves him.

There is an outstanding article I highly recommend reading, The Redemption of Billy Cannon.

Before viewing the famous punt return in the following video, there is something else you should know, something I only recently found out from my LSU family members, who also sent me the ESPN link.

When viewing the following video, make note of the official running down the sideline with Billy Cannon, he was an impostor, a gate crasher wearing the striped uniform of an official. His intention wasn’t to interfere with the game, he simply couldn’t find a ticket to the sold out game.(cancel the printing option when the link opens)

Without further adieu, here is the famous Billy Cannon punt return, which I have viewed at least four hundred times.

NY 23: Dede bails

Dede Scozzafava has dropped out of the contentious special election in upstate New York.

Winners and Losers?

Mondo has the recap …

We’d say one big beneficiary would be Sarah Palin, who jumped in to support Hoffman before supporting Hoffman was cool. Her principled stand can be expected to both benefit Palin–and enrage that group of Palin bashers whose main argument seem to be, “I hate that bitch!”.

Losers?

Bill Owens no longer can count on a split Republican/Conservative vote.

The RNC looks foolish. The Republican group lost donors and credibility over the entire episode. They poured money and manpower into the Scozzafava campaign before throwing in the towel these past few days.

Newt Gingrich might be able to continue his repeated, but weak, argument that Hoffman’s candidacy hurt the Republican Party.

Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee still look like finger-in-the-wind pols

Note to Dede: You did the right thing. It must have been a difficult decision.

Weekend prayer request

I learned yesterday that my good friend’s wife may be about to face some difficult health issues. I want them both to know that they are high in my thoughts and prayers.

Certain prayers availeth much: effectual, fervent prayers of righteous men and women. Those are the ones that I covet most for my friends, Bobby and Pamela.

I humbly ask the Lord to grant them His special favor, lifting up his Countenance upon them, and bringing them Peace, as only He can.

I pray in Jesus’ name.

Amen

FDIC Friday: Nine more banks fail

from AP:

Regulators shut nine banks Friday, including Los Angeles-based California National, as the still-weak economy produces a stream of loan defaults.

The banks were units of privately held FBOP Corp., a Chicago-based bank holding company.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said U.S. Bank in Minneapolis agreed to assume the deposits and most of the assets of the banks.

The banks are mostly in the West and had combined assets of $19.4 billion at the end of September.

The closings boost the number of failed U.S. banks this year to 115. The nine banks closed Friday were the most the agency has shut in one day since the financial crisis began taking down banks last year. In 1989, at the height of the savings-and-loan crisis, the FDIC closed 534 banks, or about 10 a week.

Commercial real estate is the next shoe to drop.

Green shoots, anyone? Seems like yesterday we were hearing the recession was over.

How’s that hope and change working for ya’?

Stimulus results? $340,000 per job

The Obama administration is crowing about the success of their largest-ever stimulus package, claiming some 1 million jobs either created or saved.

Taking out my trusty calculator, I see that 1,000,000 jobs are being claimed at a cost of some $340,000,000,000….

Put another way, each of those jobs came at a cost of $340,000.

How’s that hope and change working for ya’?

Comprehensive List of Taxes In Pelosi Health Bill

Americans for Tax Reform has waded through Nancy Pelosi’s 2000-page healthcare takeover bill.

Thirteen new tax hikes.

Here we go. Wake up America!

LINK

Who didn’t see this coming?

The AP is reporting that Obama administration officials have been cooking the books in reporting job growth as a result of stimulus spending.

Cooking the books? I’m shocked! (not)

The AP review found some counts were more than 10 times as high as the actual number of jobs; some jobs credited to the stimulus program were counted two and sometimes more than four times; and other jobs were credited to stimulus spending when none was produced. link

How’s that hopenchange working for ya?

Pelosi slips into c.o.m.a.

Wordsmiths in Washington, D.C. have been doing their best to hide the true nature of their massive new healthcare  entitlement program.

The latest obfuscation involves changing the name of the unpopular “public option” to something less objectionable.

In an appearance at a Florida senior center, the Democratic leader referred to the so-called public option as “the consumer option.”

Consumer Option My Ass.

related:
Pelosi tries to change name of public option,

The Old Public Option Bait and Switch,

Harrycare buckles to government option,

Leiberman vows to filibuster Reed’s ObamaCare bill,

The “opt-out” mirage,

Frosting on a turd,

Rebranding a Lie

Gun Control

h/t Quayle

7 Lies in Under 2 Minutes

h/t Denninger

Band of Brothers

Today is St. Crispin’s Day.

Although I’m not sure what St. Crispin’s Day is all about, William Shakespeare made sure it would be never forgotten in Henry V.

This clip is from the movie Renaissance Man.

Walmart takes aim at cell phones

Beginning this weekend, the cell phone business will get a healthy dose of competition: Walmart style.

The new Straight Talk cell phone plans from Wal-Mart will drive down the prices.

The company said yesterday that its $30 dollar monthly cell phone plan includes many goodies. It will have 1,000 minutes, 1,000 texts, 30MB of mobile Web access, nationwide coverage and 411 calls at no extra charge. For these types of services we are all paying an average of $78 dollars a month. The New Walmart cell phone plans are designed to say the consumer nearly 500 dollars a year.

Another plan that Walmart will provide is for $45 dollars.

The company says that its $45 dollar cell phone plan will give the consumer the following services. It will have unlimited services such as minutes, text and mobile web. The Walmart 45 dollar plan will also have a nationwide coverage and 411 Information calls at no extra charge.

I’m currently paying for 5 cell-phone lines, contract is due to expire in another month. I’ll be able to save quite a bit by switching.

Thanks Wally!

Obama to deploy 40,000 more troops

… to fight Fox News

h/t Harnden

ACORN Video from Philadelphia

O’Keefe and Giles rock the Philly Acorn office.

h/t Breitbart TV

New database from Sunlight Foundation

Nicko Margolies at The Sunlight Foundation sends a heads-up for the new and improved database for researching government documents.

• the Congressional Record
• congressional bills and resolutions
• congressional reports
• congressional hearings
• GAO reports
• presidential documents and
• the Federal Register.

The Library of Unified Information Sources, or LOUIS for short, can be accessed at http://louisdb.org.

Check it out!

Press Release

Update: Link to video
For Release Immediately:

WASHINGTON, Oct. 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Andrew Breitbart’s Big Government will hold a press conference featuring James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles, the two daring young journalists who, posing as a “pimp” and “prostitute,” exposed massive corruption within ACORN’s offices throughout the country. The Press Conference will be held at the National Press Club of Washington, DC on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 at 9:30 a.m.

After suing Breitbart.com, Mr. O’Keefe and Ms. Giles in Maryland over the release of the Baltimore tapes, ACORN has issued public statements denying any wrongdoing in its Philadelphia office and lying about what happened there. Mr. O’Keefe and Ms. Giles are now prepared to respond.

According to Mr. Breitbart, “ACORN representatives claim James and Hannah were kicked out of Philadelphia. They also said publicly that unlike Baltimore, Washington D.C., Brooklyn, San Bernardino and San Diego, James and Hannah never even mentioned prostitution before they were told to leave. James and Hannah will be joining me to set the record straight. After Wednesday, everyone will know what really happened in Philly.”

Obama trading cards

Bro-in-law sent me a get-well note with a pack of  Obama trading cards inside the envelope!

Woo Hoo!!!

(After all, he DID win the Nobel Peace Prize).

Now that’s funny right there, I don’t care who you are.

Sunday Open

Please Donate to ACORN Related Legal Defense Funds

Hannah Giles | James O’Keefe | Breitbart Defense & Discovery Fund

Religion of peace alert

For those who will not learn from history … click here

It’s time to get rid of these parasites. Send them back to wherever they came from.

H/t NRO

Will You Stand With the Federal Government or With Your State?

From American Thinker:

The liberal/progressive movement has convinced modern man that to satisfy his material needs it is not necessary to labor exhaustingly in pursuit of said needs; but much more beneficial to modern man to simply reallocate resources from those who can afford to do so. The foundations of the welfare state having been laid, the free market struggles to provide for its legitimate members as well as those of a lesser inclination. The mixed economy may go on for years before the weight of redistributive legislation finally brings the golden goose to a prone position.

The tipping point, however, has finally been reached. Better than 50% of the class of lesser inclination now feed at the trough of Federal largesse. They are satiated and satisfied by the exuberance of the power elite. They are now but tools to that elite; to be fashioned as the ruling class desires. They can no more disenfranchise themselves from their largesse than those who desire freedom could but snap their fingers and be loosed from their chains. Those who advocate the redistribution of wealth have succeeded; democracy has trumped the Republic and the tyranny of the majority has taken shape.

There will continue to be elections and small changes in the makeup of the Legislative and Executive, but it will be mere window dressing to the failed experiment; that being the existence of a viable Republic. The United States will become the ‘Dis-United States’. Those states that can extricate themselves from the failed experiment will do so. Those that have believed a Constitution is unchanged for the ages will depart Democratic entanglement and form their own new, more perfect union. The new union may be small and certainly less powerful than its Federal predecessor, but it will have as its motto the belief that men are free to decide their own future, not subject to the tyranny of a majority. That its currency will not be debased; that limited government lives up to its charter and that citizens be the rulers instead of sheep to be fleeced.

In her great novel, Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand saw such a future for those concerned with the dignity and freedom of mankind. When it was written it was just a novel, hardly a vision for what a country could become. That vision, that future may now be here. We need only be brave enough to face the present which was the future and determine who will be our John Galt.

Then it starts anew…We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal….

The people that are not upset about the direction in which the country is going, the increasing debt burden, the goverment abrogation of what should be private individual and business decisions, and (criminal) interference in private markets hasn’t been paying attention or is a beneficiary of these moves.

Friday gratitude list

It’s long.

Trust me.

A Proud American Walks To Thank Her!

This gentleman’s name is Sinh Tho Nguyen, a resident of Ft. Worth, Texas, but his history is more interesting than his current residence.

Born in Viet Nam in 1969 to a Viet Namese mother, and a U.S. Army father he never knew, Sinh immigrated to the U.S. in 1992. Since that time he has become a U.S. citizen, graduated from the University of Texas-Arlington, served in the U.S. Army, and earned his Masters degree while serving at Fort Mead, Maryland, taking night courses.

Just over a year and a half ago he got the idea to walk from shore to shore to thank America, and it’s military active duty and vets. Working as a contract meter reader in Ft. Worth, he was able to fund his journey with twenty five thousand dollars, and some good advice, not to cross from California to Texas in the summer. Sinh’s original plan was to cross from San Diego, California to Atlantic Beach, Florida, near Jacksonville. Instead, he reversed his course, and began his trek at Atlantic Beach.

As recently as 26 Sep 09, he was in Mesa, Arizona, with a planned arrival in San Diego by Thanksgiving, averaging about twenty four miles a day.

Sinh’s planned trip required a two week stay in Ft. Worth, as his badly battered feet required medical attention, due to the blisters and bruises caused by the heat, the walking, and the wearing of Croc shoes.

Carrying a U.S. flag, with a sign on his back which states “Shore to Shore, A walk across America to honor those who serve,” Sinh has an infectious positive attitude, and a radiant smile. Taking time off from his Phd program, Sinh has nearly completed his journey, and has found out more about the true nature of America for his effort. Not only is he expressing his love of this country, he has found many that share that feeling, and have given back to him what they could in support of his effort.

I hope one day I can meet with Sinh. His expression of patriotism is inspiring, and he possesses the gratitude that too many Americans have never known, or forget unless reminded.

While Sinh’s story won’t command the headlines that the latest salacious celebrity faux pas or our current president’s apology for America’s existence will, he is truly a man to be admired and respected.

*Cross-posted*
LGF2 and Urban Grounds.

What kind of survivor are you?

What kind of survivor and thriver are you? Discover your Survivor Personality with this free, fast quiz widget from TheSurvivorsClub.org.

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El Nuko is a Thinker.

Heh. No kidding.

BTW, my surgery is scheduled for Tuesday morning. Much to do tomorrow in preparation for down time.

This will be my last post for a while.

Catch y’all later.

There’s a blog post here somewhere

But I’m just too dang distracted to come up with the words.

Muslim Congressman rebukes fellow Muslim for linking Islam to terrorism.

Linking islam to terrorism?

Why in the world would anyone do that?

Talk among yourselves.

Big Bird talks to Michelle Obama

Conan won’t last very long on NBC if he keeps this up.