Below are the 8 most recent journal entries recorded in lizsdad's LiveJournal:

Monday, September 12th, 2005
4:04 pm	The blame game... What follows is not original with me. I received it via a forwarded e-mail from a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend... However, I think it is very important for anyone wanting to point fingers to read this. President Bush will probably suffer over all of this, because perception becomes reality. Of course with all the lies and half-truths being spread it's more a case of deception becomes reality. Maybe this will shed a little truth. Here it is: In case you aren't familiar with how our government is SUPPOSED to work: The chain of responsibility for the protection of the citizens in New Orleans is: 1. The Mayor 2. The New Orleans director of Homeland Security (a political appointee of the Governor who reports to the Governor) 3. The Governor 4. The Head of Homeland Security 5. The President What did each do? 1. The mayor, with 5 days advance, waited until 2 days before he announced a mandatory evacuation (at the behest of the President). The he failed to provide transportation for those without transport even though he had hundreds of buses at his disposal. 2. The New Orleans director of Homeland Security failed to have any plan for a contingency that has been talked about for 50 years. Then he blames the Feds for not doing what he should have done. (So much for political appointees) 3. The Governor, despite a declaration of disaster by the President 2 DAYS BEFORE the storm hit, failed to take advantage of the offer of Federal troops and aid. Until 2 DAYS AFTER the storm hit. 4. The Director of Homeland Security positioned assets in the area to be ready when the Governor called for them 5. The President urged a mandatory evacuation, and even declared a disaster State of Emergency, freeing up millions of dollars of federal assistance, should the Governor decide to use it. Oh and by the way, the levees that broke were the responsibility of the local landowners and the local levee board to maintain, NOT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. The disaster in New Orleans is what you get after decades of corrupt government going all the way back to Huey Long. Funds for disaster protection and relief have been flowing into this city for decades, and where has it gone, but into the pockets of the politicos and their friends. Decades of socialist government in New Orleans has sapped all self reliance from the community, and made them dependent upon government for every little thing. Political correctness and a lack of will to fight crime have created the single most corrupt police force in the country, and has permitted gang violence to flourish. The sad thing is that there are many poor folks who have suffered and died needlessly because those that they voted into office failed them. For those who missed item 5 (where the President's level of accountability is discussed), it is made more clear in a New Orleans Times-Picayune article dated August 28: NEW ORLEANS (AP) — In the face of a catastrophic Hurricane Katrina, a mandatory evacuation was ordered Sunday for New Orleans by Mayor Ray Nagin. Acknowledging that large numbers of people, many of them stranded tourists, would be unable to leave, the city set up 10 places of last resort for people to go, including the Superdome. The mayor called the order unprecedented and said anyone who could leave the city should. He exempted hotels from the evacuation order because airlines had already canceled all flights. Gov. Kathleen Blanco, standing beside the mayor at a news conference, said President Bush called and personally appealed for a mandatory evacuation for the low-lying city, which is prone to flooding. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ The ball was placed in Mayor Nagin's court to carry out the evacuation order. With a 5-day heads-up, he had the authority to use any and all services to evacuate all residents from the city, as documented in a city emergency preparedness plan. By waiting until the last minute, and failing to make full use of resources available within city limits, Nagin and his administration fouled up. Mayor Nagin and his emergency sidekick Terry Ebbert have displayed lethal, mind boggling incompetence before, during and after Katrina. As for Mayor Nagin, he and his profile in pathetic leadership police chief should resign as well. That city's government is incompetent from one end to the other. The people of New Orleans deserve better than this crowd of clowns is capable of giving them. If you're keeping track, these boobs let 569 buses that could have carried 33,350 people out of New Orleans–in one trip–get ruined in the floods. Whatever plan these guys had, it was a dud. Or it probably would have been if they'd bothered to follow it. (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, September 5th, 2005
11:01 pm	That's some good tasting crow!!! Well, it did come down to a field goal, just as I predicted. Luckily, Miami missed three, and the one that FSU missed wasn't at the end of the game. So the streak is dead, long live the streak. Here are my observations on the game: I'm glad this game was played early in the season, because the Miami QB is going to be good. Actually, they may meet again in the ACC championship game. Moss and Olsen are also very good for Miami. It's too early to tell about FSU's offense, and the two quarterbacks. This was an extremely tough test right off the bat. I daresay they will look a little better next week against the Citadel. It was very frustrating watching FSU's offense go 3-and-out time after time. It was inexcusable to have first-and-goal on the one and not even get a field goal. But offense is only one part of the game, and the Seminoles won on defense and special teams. This game was eerily reminiscent of last year's game. FSU gets the early lead, the defense plays great, but Miami marches down the field at the end to win it. Only this time they botched the field goal. Maybe we can retire "Wide Right". This game can be called "Low Snap I". The Seminoles will be in every game they play because of their defense. If anybody asks if FSU's defense is for real, the answer is they're real, and they're spectacular! Chris, can you ever forgive me? Current Mood: ecstatic Current Music: Seminole War Chant (Comment on this)
Sunday, September 4th, 2005
5:32 pm	Rah-Rah-Rah Sis-Boom-Bah! Well, it’s September, and you all know what that means- school starts, but even more importantly, the college football season starts, too. It is the perfect time of year. I know I could/should be talking about the hurricane and everything that transpired down in New Orleans, and I probably will, but for now I will allow myself to be pleasantly diverted from those harsh realities, and offer some comments and observations about the opening weekend. I will start with the one game that hasn’t been played yet, FSU-Miami. FSU-Miami: Since this game can be a defensive struggle when both teams have veteran QB’s, with both teams breaking in new ones tomorrow this game might have a final score in the negative numbers. Actually, it will probably be decided by a field goal or less, so of course I have to give the nod to Miami, as much as it pains me. FSU is forcing me to pick Miami until it proves it can beat them. Florida-Wyoming: ESPN reported yesterday that UF had won its umpteenth opener in a row. Big Deal! In the last eight years they have opened with Wyoming, E.Michigan, San Jose State, UAB, Marshall, Ball State, W.Michigan, and the Citadel. During the same period FSU has opened with Miami twice, UNC (a conference game), Iowa State (Big 12), Duke (conference game), BYU, LA Tech, and Texas A&M (Big 12). Of course, scheduling major conference opponents can be dangerous, which brings me to … Auburn-GA Tech and Oklahoma-TCU: Actually, this is not about the danger of scheduling major conference opponents, but more about the stupidity of pre-season rankings. Both Auburn and Oklahoma lost a lot of talent from last year, and there is no way they should have been ranked as high as they were, especially as they were both breaking in brand new quarterbacks. Still, they are to be applauded for not ducking anybody, and giving us football worth watching. Clemson-Texas A&M: Two more teams that weren’t afraid of a tough opener. Thanks for a great game. With a kicker like Jad Dean, Clemson will be in almost every game they play. And between Clemson and GA Tech, the ACC acquitted itself very well yesterday. Big Ten vs MAC: Michigan, Ohio State, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Purdue next week, all opened against a Mid-American conference team. Wisconsin had an early scare and Illinois struggled (definitely a bottom-tier Big 10 team), but for the most part this just proved that the mid-majors can’t hang with the big boys. Both Michigan and Ohio State are pre-season top ten teams. If you are going to play at that level, certainly you can find better opponents than the MAC; although I will give Ohio State credit for scheduling Texas next week. Should be a great game! Notre Dame-Pittsburgh: This game proves just how absolutely clueless sportswriters are. I heard so many commentators say that ND would be 0-6 before they won a game, based on their schedule. Morons! Don’t they know that some teams won’t be as good as they were the year before? See Auburn and Oklahoma, above. Yeah, it might have looked bleak on paper, but as Chris Berman says, that’s why they play the game. USC-Hawaii: This game was probably more dangerous than it looked on paper. Teams have been known to go over to the islands and get beat. Looks like USC is still the team to beat, though. I’m certainly not an expert, but MAN, I LOVE COLLEGE FOOTBALL!! (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, August 30th, 2005
3:04 pm	Sounds a Bit Rude, eh? Those funny British!! I just read an article about naughty-sounding towns in England, and someone who took the trouble to publish an entire book about them. Here are a few examples: Winkle Street, Southampton Wham Bottom Lane, Lancashire North Piddle, Worcestershire Lickers Lane, Merseyside Menlove Avenue, Liverpool Wetwang, East Yorkshire Here's the entire article: click here for article Of course, there is a town called Climax,GA, and many others, I'm sure. And out here in Texas they play a song called "Don't Touch My Willie", about a guy who doesn't want his girlfriend messing with his Willie Nelson records. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Sunday, August 28th, 2005
8:55 pm	Thanks, from grateful parent Patty and I have heard from a lot of friends and family this weekend, all wanting to know one thing- "Have you heard from Becky?" Yes, through the wonders of the cell phone we have been in contact with Becky, and she is doing fine. She is in Lafayette, LA (home of the University of Louisiana- Lafayette, or U-LA-LA)with Chris and his family at Chris' uncle's house. Thanks to everyone who called in to check, and thanks also to Chris and his family for taking care of our girl. Please pray for them and all the people who will be affected by this storm. We are extremely grateful for your concern, especially since we are so far away. This is the second time that Becky has had to evacuate to Lafayette, as they went there last year, as well. I seem to remember hearing something about her winning some trivia contest at some bar... (As they say, what happens in Lafayette, stays in Lafayette.) And anyway, how impressive is it beating a bunch of drunken Cajuns in a battle of wits? It's like fighting an unarmed opponent. I guess this is where I need to apologize to the Lavies, and thank them again for taking care of Becky. P.S.- It looks like we will soon be taking donations for the "Refurnish Becky's apartment" fund. Current Mood: grateful & concerned Current Music: The Doors- "Riders on the Storm" (Comment on this)
Sunday, August 21st, 2005
10:06 am	Doo-doo-doo looking out my front door... This was the view looking right outside our front door the other night. We do get some beautiful sky-scapes out here. Meanwhile, looking out my back door was this: Gee, three steaks and only two people here to eat them. We need some company. First one here gets the extra steak. It will be waiting on you. For extra credit, Liz, name the group referenced in the subject line... (7 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, August 15th, 2005
8:38 pm	Praise the Lord, and pass me a copperhead I’ve been buying used country music cd’s on Amazon.com, and I recently “discovered” a song by John Anderson called “The Big Revival” (CD- Nobody’s Got It All – 2001). The song is about old-time country religion, speaking in tongues, and most especially, snake-handling. The key line in the song is “Praise the Lord, and pass me a copperhead”. I find this line incredibly funny. (I told you this site would be about whatever strikes my fancy. From Star Trek to snake-handling- how diverse can you get?) But on a more serious note, this song started a train of thought in me. Praise the Lord and pass me a copper head is phrase that demonstrates a great show of faith, and snake handlers can point you to scripture passages that back them up. Now, I don’t want to offend any snake handlers out there (you’re doing something I would never do), but the problem is that the bible says lots of things. And one of the things it says is that you should not put the Lord to the test. And I see snake handlers as putting God to the test in a big way. We Catholics say that the way to stay pure is to avoid sin and the near occasion of sin. I say one way to live longer is to avoid a near occasion of death, and snake handling definitely qualifies as a possible NOOD. Anyway, the crux of Christ’s message is not “are you brave enough to handle snakes”, but can you love God with your whole heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. Current Music: John Anderson, of course! (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, August 14th, 2005
10:56 am	Everything I know I learned from Star Trek? The following was written about Peter Jennings, who died this past week, by Matt Zoller Seitz of the New Jersey Star-Ledger: "He was Mr. Spock to Brokaw's folksy Bones McCoy and Rather's impetuous Captain Kirk -- an alien intelligence from the planet Canada, offering not a hug or even a reassuring pat on the shoulder, but a poker face that was accented, on rare occasions, by a faintly raised eyebrow." I don't know why I found this so funny; maybe it's just imagining Spock and Kirk reporting on the same news story. Someone with more time and actual knowledge of Star Trek could write something really funny. I can't believe I'm actually doing this, writing an on-line journal, but then again, why not? It seems like every half-wit with an opinion is writing one (family excluded), so I might as well join them. Wait...that didn't come out quite right. Anyway, this is my first stab at it, and more of a test than anything else. I'm obviously setting the bar low for myself. Patty thinks I should post bible study commentaries, and I may, but it will also be just whatever strikes my fancy from the news, like the above quote. That's all for now... (6 Comments |Comment on this)