Pigs, Tigers and Doughboys

The upper Midwest is still in the grips of heavy flooding from the Mississippi river. Twenty levees have been overrun this week according to the Army Corps of Engineers. Two levees broke in Illinois today, flooding the town of Meyer. The flood waters have receded in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Behind them is a millions of dollars of damage to 10 square miles of the city.

Quincy, Illinois and Hannibal, Missouri, are two culturally significant towns in the area. Both are threatened by rising waters. I have experience in that area during the the Great Flood of 1993. During the summer that year, I volunteered to may sand bags to reinforce the levees. I urge anyone who reads this and lives near the area, please do what you can to help if you are not in the area affected.


Tiger Woods was able to secure victory at the US Open on Monday. He played 91 holes total to achieve this feat against Rocco Mediate, a 45-year-old golfer who has never won a major and hasn't won a tournament in six years. Prior to the tournament, Tiger Woods had undergone his third surgery on his left knee. He has overstressed his left knee over the years. When he wants more power, i.e. torque, he "snaps" his left knee to make his hips turn faster. This has enabled him to make those stunning drives that he his known for, particularly off the tee.

After the Herculean effort to win the 2008 US Open, which many were comparing to Francis Ouimet's 1913 win US Open (though this comparison was more apt for Rocco Mediate), Woods was found to have torn his ACL and incurred two stress fractures. This makes all those grimaces witnessed during Monday's initial 18 holes telling: Tiger was beating himself up.

Woods is likely going to be out for the remainder of the season. With a tear to the ACL it may be career ending. Love him, hate him or just apathetic, Woods affect on Golf is similar to Ouimet's. In fact, it is likely that Woods would never have played golf if not for that win 95 years ago in Massachusetts. Woods brought many spectators into golf's arena. The interest may linger but some see this as the end of golf's recent renaissance. I'm not willing to declare this. I think interest may continue past any career-ending injury.

But if this is the end, I have to thank Tiger Woods for being a champion in mind, body and spirit. And for bringing the sport to the level of popularity it currently enjoys. Thank You!

(But I think you'll be back)

The President of the United States honored the last living US born WWI veteran today. Frank Woodruff Buckles was born February 1, 1901 in Missouri. When the US entered the war in 1917, Buckles was only 16. He was rejected by the Marines for his weight. So, he signed up for the army and lied about his age claiming he was 21. He served as an ambulance driver in France and after Armistice, he escorted German POWs home. He was discharged in 1920.

After living from 1936 till 1938 in Germany, and seeing the beginnings of Shoa (Holocaust), he relocated to the Philippines. There, during World War II, he was captured by the Japanese and was a prisoner for three years.

His portrait will hang in the US World War I museum as a reminder of our last living link to the Great War. He was awarded the légion d'honneur from then President of France Jacque Chirac in 2003. He has also been after many requests, been accorded the honor of being buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

At the end of ABC's news at 5:30, they had the brains enough to show footage of a rainbow that had just happened during the broadcast. I have to say that is awesome! In the tough times we are going through with everything, it is nice to see something so beautiful. It reminds us all that the simplest things can be some of the most beautiful (not to mention, free). I also may not bea religious, but rainbows are symbolic of hope and remind us to do just that.

Chocolate and melting ice will kill ya

Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in Environmental awareness worldwide. Yeah, he shares it with the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change but its Gore's. He has pledged to donate his portion of the $1.5M prize to the Alliance for Climate Protection. He reiterated his comments about his position about climate change by saying”The climate crisis is not a political issue, it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity.” He also cited an African proverb to relate the challenge of environmental concern: “If you want to quickly, you go alone. If you want to go far, you go together.”

There was, of course, no mention by Gore that he would seek the Democratic Nomination for President. To be honest, Bill Clinton has proved that to effect real change you need to step outside the state agencies and offices such as the President of the United States. Clinton's Initiative has jump started lots of things like removing junk food from schools. Gore has found his cause and it is not a political one. These two men, regardless of what their politics are great leaders and able to inspire others to change conditions throughout the world.

In other news, Turkey is weighing its options on invading Northern Iraq. This is no doubt a retaliatory remark considering the resolution that will likely go before the House of Representatives. There have been rallies in Istanbul protesting the move in the US. So, does Turkey really mean they will invade the unofficial Kurdistan in retaliation for our legislature's decision to condemn a heinous 92-year-old massacre? Should we call their bluff? Is this the beginning of Congress growing a spin e in essence testing how much effect they have in foreign affairs? What does the Israel Lobby think of all this? Do they even care?

I can only say that this is poorly timed. Congress may be thinking that if they start issues with Turkey which may seriously restrict our ability to wage war in Iraq, they may be able to expedite our withdrawal. However, I think this only lays us prone to a far deeper international quagmire.

Moving on, the “Butcher of Depayin“, General Soe Win of Myanmar is dead at 59 after a long illness believed to be Leukemia. The General was also the Prime Minister in the Militarily governed and beleaguered state of Myanmar, also known as Burma. He is most known for his attack on Democratic opposition and its leader most notably, its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi in 2003. This may create some interesting changes in the Junta's grasp of power in the Asian country.

Lastly, it appears that people may crave chocolate according to the types of microbes and the amount in their intestines. Scientists think they may be able to manipulate the bacteria in someone's gut to get people to lose weight. Anyways...

On this day, in 1492, Christopher Columbus made landfall, just like a hurricane, in the Bahamas. He was entirely convinced he reached East Asia. He believed to the his death.

Still this day does not exist in 1582 for Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain. Stupid Julian Calendar!!!

In 1692, the Salem Witch Trials were finally concluded. There was no one left to burn, hang or drown.

In 1792, we started celebrating Columbus day in New York. There was no ticker tape parade.

In 1810, the Bavarian royalty invited the residents of Munich to celebrate a royal wedding betwixt Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria and Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen. It is the first Oktoberfest.

In 1901, then President Theodore Roosevelt (yes the other one) renamed the executive mansion the White House. There was even an executive order about this. Why would this be so important? Because Executive Mansion sounds elitist and far above and outside the realm of the common working man whom were much more common then they are now. The White House sounds far more common and less aggrandizing.

In 1915, English Nurse Edith Cavell was executed by German firing squad for helping hundreds of Allied soldiers escape German-occupied Belgium to the Netherlands which was neutral. She was working for the Red Cross and this supposedly violated Military Law. The UK felt it was powerless to help her cause and actually believed they would hurt it. She was reburied in Life's Green in England where a memorial service is held every year on this date. Her name became popular to in France and Belgium after her death. Édith Piaf, who was born two months after the execution, is one very famous example.

In 1941, on this day as well as the next, the Germans, now the Nazis, massacred 11,000 Jews in Dnipropetrovsk (Дніпропетровськ ), Ukraine. They marched them to a ravine and then shot them there. Of the city's 80,000 Jews before the war, only 15 survived to the end of the war.

In 1960, Nikita Khrushchev, premier of the USSR, delivers his shoe banging speech at the United Nations General Assembly and declares “We will bury you”. This meant that the USSR would outlast the US. Their government would be there to bury ours.

In 1962, there was a Columbus Day storm in the Northwest that killed 48. It was known for its ferocious winds.

In 1972, there was a racial brawl of more than 100 sailors aboard the the carrier the USS Kitty Hawk as it sailed for the Gulf Tionkin.

In 1979, Typhoon Tip records the lowest atmospheric pressure not related to tornadic activity in the Pacific.

In 2000, due to two terrorist bombers in Aden, Yemen, a hole was rent in the hull of the USS Cole (I believe it was the larboard or port side) and 17 sailors died, one of whom was a friend of mine and fellow basic trainee. Thirty nine others were wounded. The evidence supports that al-Qaeda was responsible.

And finally, France passed a law on this day a year ago making denial of the Armenian Genocide a crime. Ho ho ho [the French “Ho ho ho”].

Good Night and Good Luck.