Halloween

Halloween is one of those holidays when you wish your kids were still 2 or 3 or 4 years of age. This evening as I drove to Jacksonville to perform a wedding ceremony I thought back to when I took my young kids out "trick or treating" or covering the living room floor with newspapers to help them carve out pumpkins. I will never forget the time my son, age 2 or so, figured out what "trick or treating" was all about. It was like a light went on in his head, "hey you walk up to someone's door and they give you candy" I remember when my daughter went out as a princes and the Swiss dress outfit my daughter wore oh so many years ago.

Iranian Government is the Enemy in War on Terrorism

Michael Ledeen in National Review on line. Last week the leader of Iran said their goal is the destruction of Israel. "This is what we're up against. It is a frenetic network of fanatical terrorists, supported by a group of mad mullahs hell-bent on our destruction. Forget about the microanalysis of the Iraqi 'insurgency.' This is not primarily a war conducted by angry Baathist remnants of Saddam's bloody regime; it's much bigger than that, and the epicenter of the whole thing is in Tehran, and its ideology is brutally enunciated by Ahmadi Nezhad. .... we are certainly not taking any of the obvious, rational, and thoroughly justifiable steps to provide political and economic support to the most potent enemies of the world's most dangerous terrorist regime: the Iranian people.
Sooner or later, one of these many schemes will succeed, and we will have a new version of September 11th. Perhaps only then will our dithering leaders resume fighting the war against terror, a war currently limited, to their shame, to a defensive struggle within the boundaries of Iraq, while they move against us on a global scale.
Faster, please." ( Click on title above for link to column.)

Che Guevara Should Be Scorned ---- Not Worn

From a USA Today Opinion Column by Ryan Clancy "Che Guevara is everywhere these days. Not literally. He is, after all, dead. But 38 years after meeting his demise in the Bolivian jungle, the communist revolutionary has re-emerged as a pop culture icon. In dorm rooms, on the runways of Paris and on merchandising kitsch, the legendary Alberto Korda image of a beret-clad Guevara is the epitome of cool. Don't be surprised if during tonight's trick-or-treating, Che shows up among the goblins. He's that ubiquitous..... Most historians agree upon one fact, however, that can shape our understanding of Che. He was a loser. Big time. I'm talking McGovern in '72, Saddam in '91 and the Chicago Cubs every year since '08."

"Che fomented unrest in Argentina, Bolivia, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Haiti, Panama and the African Congo, and every expedition was an abject failure. His single enduring political achievement, Cuba, is not even threatening enough to make the Axis of Evil."

"So, instead of Che being held up as a beacon of peace and justice, let us hereafter revel in his futility. He'll be an exemplar of the idea that hard work does not always pay off. In fact, I already have a new shirt in mind. Take the same iconic picture of Che and just add the heading, "I tried to conquer the evil Yankee imperialists and all I got was this stupid T-shirt."


For the entire article click on the title above for a link to the USA Today opinion column.

Attorney Mark Levin on Judge Alito

"Sam Alito has spent his entire professional career defending the Constitution. The president and Alito deserve our strong support. It is clear the media this morning are urging Democrats to fight this nomination, not that they need that much encouragement. We are already hearing the usual superficial analyses about how Judge Alito will vote on specific issues, and so forth. We must be prepared to explain and defend our judicial philosophy, and contrast it with the left's lawlessness. I have known Judge Alito for two decades. We served together in the Meese Justice Department, where he worked in the Solicitor General's Office and was considered the sharpest of Charles Fried's assistants. He is every bit as smart and personable as Chief Justice John Roberts. He is an expert on constitutional law. And he obviously has a longer judicial record, so his judicial philosophy is well-known. Judge Alito is soft-spoken. He is his own man (efforts in the media this morning to paint him as "Scalia-lite" or "Scalito" are intended to fire-up the leftwing base). If he is not qualified to serve on the Supreme Court, then no conservative is qualified. "

Google Listing, "YES!!"

This past weekend this Blog was indexed by Google on their main search engine. In the past it has been indexed only on their Blog Search engine. Thanks Google.

Samuel Alito Jr for the Supreme Court

Today President George W Bush nominated Samuel Alito Jr for the US Supreme Court. Click on the title above for a link to a U S News and World Report profile on the judge. To my liberal friends who are thinking about a Senate filibuster, can you say "nuclear option." A judge the conservative movement can get behind. Bring it on liberals!!!

"Bush's Successful Week"

Good column by Michael Barone, one of my favorite political columnist. "George W. Bush's administration has come through what many have been saying would be its worst week, and it has turned out to be -- well, if not one of the best, then one that is far more encouraging than most of the mainstream media expected.
Four events, or non-events, have put the administration in a position to make progress and advance the standing of the president and his party in public policy and in the public opinion polls......" To read the rest of the column click on the title above for a link.

Nice Quiet Weekend

The Oregon Ducks had a bye this weekend so no Duck football. Went to the South Medford/ Eagle Point high school football game Friday night and saw South win in double overtime. Everyone in our section became very animated and talkative and it was a good time. On Saturday my wife went shopping and I met her at Kaleidoscope Pizza for Lunch. I then made the mistake of going to Wal-Mart shopping for DVDs. The place was full of people with screaming kids. Came home and “winterized the outside of my house. Covered sprinkler faucets, put away outdoor furniture etc. and raked leaves. Saturday night I watch several movies in my movie room. Watched a WWII movie, Bataan and a western,The Plainsman with Gary Cooper. Sunday I bought the new 4 disk DVD set of Ben Hur and watched Hoosiers with my wife. Both of our kids called and we had nice conversations on the telephone. Oh, I forgot to mention , in college football the Washington Huskies and the Oregon State Beavers lost. On TV watched part of the Stanford/UCLA game Saturday night. A very good game, but a heart breaker for Stanford. I wonder whom Bush will nominate for the Supreme Court on Monday. The Ducks play Cal next weekend with our second string QB. More on that later.

Jim's collection of John Wayne DVDs

Click on the title above for a link to my John Wayne DVD collection.

John Wayne

Click on the title above for a link to a very good John Wayne web site. Good place to find which John Wayne movies are available on DVD.

The" DUKE"

"Sure I wave the American flag. Do you know a better flag to wave? Sure I love my country with all her faults. I'm not ashamed of that, never have been, never will be. I was proud when President Nixon ordered the mining of Haiphong Harbor, which we should have done long ago, because I think we're helping a brave little country defend herself against Communist invasion. That's what I tried to show in The Green Berets and I took plenty of abuse from the critics." - John Wayne

Click on the title above for a link to the best John Wayne Webe site

George W Bush's Not So Terrible Week

Bill Kristol in the Weekly Standard:

"It may sound odd to call this good news for the president. But go back and read the fevered anticipations and lethal expectations of Bush's critics over the last month. This was going to be the moment when the case for war was discredited. This was going to be the moment when the supposed venality and corruption of the Bush administration was going to be exposed. This was going to be the moment when the whole criminal conspiracy would unravel. This was going to be the moment of paralysis and disgrace for Bush and Cheney and the assorted warmongers in their employ. " BUT NO.......To read the entire column click on the title above for a link.

Hammer Support for Tom DeLay

From Roll Call via Free Republic: There were more hammers on the House floor Thursday than you could shake a stick at.
In a show of solidarity with the one and only Hammer, many GOP Members donned little gold hammer lapel pins and began hammering away at each other on the House floor. Fine, the last part didn't actually happen, but they did wear their pins to the floor for votes to show some love for Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas).
Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.) is responsible for hammermania. He bought more than 100 of the lapel pins and handed them out. "Tom DeLay is an outstanding man and a great Republican leader," he told HOH. "By wearing this pin we wish to demonstrate our unified support of Mr. DeLay and the high esteem in which we hold him."
The Hammer apparently loved the gesture. "I'm sure they will result in a reservoir of good luck for Mr. DeLay, but we won't need luck since the facts and the laws are on Mr. DeLay's side," DeLay's spokesman, Kevin Madden, said. "Also, I did hear that some airhead Democrats are wondering what miniature hardware store they were purchased from."
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"The anti-war Left couldn't wait for the death of the 2,000th soldier in Iraq"

Michelle Malkin's column today: "The anti-war Left couldn't wait for the death of the 2,000th soldier in Iraq. Peace activists have been gearing up for protests, vigils, and other events this week to mark the completely bogus milestone. Why 2,000? Was the 2nd or 555th or 1,678th death not as worth mourning as any other death with nice round numbers? Cindy Sheehan barely contained her macabre lust for the spotlight in preparation for the artificially constructed, media-hyped occasion. "I'm going to go to Washington, D.C., and I'm going to give a speech at the White House, and after I do, I'm going to tie myself to the fence and refuse to leave until they agree to bring our troops home," Sheehan told a reporter last week as the death count neared her lottery number pick....." click on title above for complete column.

MEN, STAND FIRM, STAND FIRM....

There's always a temptation, in the middle of a long struggle, to seek the quiet life, to escape the duties and problems of the world, to hope the enemy grows weary of fanaticism and tired of murder. That would be a pleasant world -- but it isn't the world in which we live. The enemy is never tired, never sated, never content with yesterday's brutality. This enemy considers every retreat of the civilized world as an invitation to greater violence. In Iraq, there is no peace without victory -- and we will keep our nerve and we will win victory. President George W. Bush - Bolling Air Force Base October 25, 2005

Movie:Elizabethtown: Part II

The move Elizabeth town (see post below first) has a number of interesting themes.

Red state/Blue state. The movie deals with the cultural differences between small town middle American and the west coast. The family from Oregon want their father and husband cremated and the ashes scattered and the family in Kentucky want him to be buried in a nice casket in the family plot in Kentucky. However this cultural difference and others are dealt with in a respectful way that does not degrade the folks from "Middle America" which is unusual for Hollywood today. As I said below Crowe shows Middle America as being full of loving an caring people who love America. There are American flags everywhere. My parents came from the Midwest (South Dakota) and I noticed the cultural differences on my trips back to my parents home town. Everyone knows their neighbor and there is much more of a feeling of community.

Road Trip. The movie ends with Orlando Bloom taking his father home to Oregon in a car road trip that he never took while his father was alive. During the trip he comes to terms with his life and his relationship with his father. His father always wanted to take the trip but Bloom was always too busy. Something we should all think about..... Follow that dream while you can still do it.

Bloom/ Dunst Relationship. I really liked Kirsten Dunst as the quirky flight attendant. I felt too much time was spent on being quirky and this part of the movie could have been tightened up.

DVD. According to Roger Ebert this was originally a longer movie. There was more about his job at the shoe company in Oregon and the road trip was much longer. I can't wait for the DVD and only hope they include the missing parts and in particular the longer road trip. I love DVD.

Moon River. Any movie that has Moon River on the sound track has to be worth watching. Hint... Stay for all of the final credits and you will hear a second version of Moon River..

Lyrics to Moon River:

"Moon River, wider than a mile, I'm crossing you in style some day. Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker, wherever you're going I'm going your way. Two drifters off to see the world. There's such a lot of world to see. We're after the same rainbow's end-- waiting 'round the bend, my huckleberry friend, Moon River and me"

Movie: Elizabethtown: Part I

This last Sunday I took some time off from football and went with my wife to the new movie Elizabethtown by Cameron Crowe who also did Almost Famous. Most of the movie critics are wrong this is a good movie andI really enjoyed it. It is the story of a young shoe company executive (Orlando Bloom) who lives and works for an athletic shoe company in Oregon (Nike.... but they use another name) and his boss and owner of the company is "Phil" a rip off of Phil Knight of Nike. Bloom designs a shoe that loses billions of dollars and is fired by Phil. There is a nice shot of Portland as Bloom is flown by helicopter to the shoe company headquarters. After he is fired, Bloom is about to commit suicide when he receives a call from his sister that his father has died while visiting relative in Elizabethtown Kentucky and Bloom has to take a "red eye" flight from Portland to Kentucky to bring his fathers body back to Oregon. His mother and sister also live in Oregon. On the airplane flight he meets a quirky flight attendant Kirsten Dunst and they develop a relationship over time. In Elizabethtown Bloom meets all of his father's relatives and friends. This is a small town and everyone knows everything. There is a running gag that everyone in Kentucky say that he is from is from "California" and he keeps correcting them that he is from Oregon.( ie everyone in middle America think that the west coast is only California) The movie deals with a number of issues but I loved the warm and loving way Crowe portrays "Middle America" full of good and caring people. The movie ends with Bloom taking his father back to Oregon in a cross country road trip that is worth the price of admission. ( click on the title above for a link to the Internet Movie Database info on Elizabethtown) More in part II.

Patrick Fitzgerald is really investigating a policy dspute.

Today's editorial from the Wall Street Journal. click on title for link to editorial.

Ducks # 11 in BCS College Football Rankings!

Click on title above for link to complete ratings. Go Ducks!!!

Ducks # 14

The Oregon Ducks moved up in the AP college football poll and the USA Today Coaches Poll and are #14 in BOTH polls. Go Ducks beat the Bears.

Criminalizing Conservatives

Click on the above title for a good column on how the left in America is attempting to defeat conservatism through the use of criminal proceeding. The column from the Weekly Standard is by Jeffrey Bell and Bill Kristol. The Conservatives need to start fighting back and hard! It's time we learned to play "hard ball". Legal, but hard ball !

Fitzgerald's Moment

"He doesn't have to indict anyone" by William Kristol in the Weekly Standard. Click on the title above for a link to the Kristol column. I agree completely and if anyone is indicted, President Bush should sooner rather than later grant full and compete pardons. Enough of this BS.

Game 8: Oregon vs Arizona : WIN 28 to 21

This week the University of Oregon Football team is visiting the desert in Tucson Arizona. The game is set for 4 pm PDT and is not on live TV. I will listen to Jerry Allen and Mike Jorgensen on the Oregon radio broadcast. I will be washing windows at home on the inside and out so the game will keep me going and will occupy my mind as I perform that menial but necessary job. There will be a delayed TV broadcast of the game at 11:30 PM if I can stay awake after washing windows all day. Oregon should win but these kind of games always worry me. Oregon needs to take Arizona seriously and concentrate and play hard. Go Ducks!!

GAME UPDATE : Ducks win in costly game. Senior QB Kellen Clemens is injured with what appears to be a broken ankle and will have surgery tomorrow (Sunday) and will be lost for season. May be back for bowl game?????? Sophomores Dennis Dixon took over as QB and got a concussion. Third string QB Brady Leaf went in and did OK. Good thing we have a bye week before Cal Bears come to Eugene. The game was a real weird game and was a roller coaster, but the defense held it together after the QB’s went down. Ducks are now 7-1. Go Duck !

How Eugene Oregon was awarded the 2008 US Olympic Trials

I am not normal a big fan of Steve Duin, a columnist for the Portland Oregonian newspaper; but, today he has a good column on how Eugene Oregon was award the 2008 US Olympic track trials to be held on the University of Oregon campus at venerable Hayward Field. The column titled "A victory for story telling in Eugene" states in part; "That was the moment the story came together. That's the fork in the road Eugene will remember, ages and ages hence, when someone asks when the great revival took hold." Eugene Oregon , Track Town USA. Go Ducks (For the full column click on the title above for a link)

Update: The Eugene Resister Guard also has a story on how Eugene obtained the Olympic Trials and states they presented a video to the committee. The video begins with this narration over images of Hayward Field: ``There are places whose stature exceeds their actual size. ... Can a building have a memory? Can a structure have a soul? Why do some places bring us back and back, drawn by the echoes that have gone before?''
At the end, the narrator intones, ``The Trials are for the athletes - let's bring them home: Eugene 2008.''

Indicted? For What?

Byron York's column in National Review on "Plamegate." :

"As speculation mounts that prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald will soon seek indictments against Karl Rove, Lewis Libby, or other Bush administration officials in the Plamegate investigation, there is still no clear idea on what anyone might be indicted for......."

Click on title above for link to entire column.

ILLiberal Prosecution

Jacob Weisberg Editor of Slate has a column on why Democrats should take no comfort in the Plame case. Click on title above for link to column.

White House Legal Katrina

Victoria Toensing an attorney and white collar crime expert writes in Human Events: "There now appears to be consensus that no one violated the 1982 Agent Identities Protection Act in publishing the name of CIA employee Valerie Plame.
It's a hard law to violate. Its high threshold requires that the person whose identity is revealed must actually be covert (which requires at the least a foreign assignment within five years of the revelation), that the government must be taking "Affirmative measures" to conceal the person's identity, and that the revealer must know that the government is taking those measures.
So why didn't Patrick Fitzgerald, the special counsel investigating the "leak" and close up shop long ago? Click on the title above for a link to the rest of the Human Events article by Victoria Toensing.

Saturday Shrines

My wife brought me a present tonight from Costco. A coffee table book called Saturday Shrines by the Sporting News. There is a forward by Keith Jackson. It has great pictures of college football stadiums from around the country. They feature the 40 best and have four pages devoted to the University of Oregon's Autzen Stadium. In part is states: "This place might lack the weighty history of Michigan Stadium or the sheer mass of Tennessee's Neyland stadium, but Autzen Stadium compensates with a megadose of volume..... A better and prettier plan is to park near campus and walk to the game. There's a nice path that winds through dense woods before crossing a 1/4 mile footbridge toward the stadium" It list 10 Magic Moment in the history of Autzen Stadium with # 2 being Kenny Wheaton's The Pick. The defeat of Michigan is #1. Lots of great color pictures. If you love college football it's great book to own. It even has a picture of a Duck on the cover. (may be a west coast edition as it only has Pac 10 schools on the cover.) For some reason Potato Salad stadium ( Oregon State's named for a Donor who owns a patato salad company) is not listed in the top 40

Perfect Weekend

This was one of those perfect weekends Or daughter who lives in Washington DC flew out Friday for the Weekend. Her Mother and I picked her up at the Medford /Jackson County Airport Friday afternoon. Friday night she took us out to dinner at the Bella Union in Jacksonville. We sat outside on their back patio. They had their overhead heaters on and it was a nice evening. The waiter saw my Oregon hat and we talked about the Ducks and their upcoming football game with Washington. He was a Duck fan and he wanted to go to the Cal game. After dinner we window shopped in downtown Jacksonville an old time Western town. Saturday morning my daughter and I drove to Eugene for the Oregon Game with Washington. (see posts below) It rained most of the way to Eugene but it stopped for much of the game and with our rain gear we stayed fairly dry. The Ducks won and we had a good time. We ran into some Medford friends just outside the Mo Center. After the game we went by Hayward Field( Oregon's venerable track field) and saw the new entrance with it's hall of fame . Just that day it was announced that the 2008 US Olympic Track Trials will be held at Hayward Field. They beat out Sacramento where the last two Olympic trials have been held. From there we headed home. We stopped at Applebee’s in Roseburg for dinner and were home by 9 pm. Sunday the three of us went to Ashland for lunch at Standing Stone Brewing Co. After lunch we walked through Lithia Park. It was a beautiful sunny day. The leaves are turning and it was a perfect fall day. We walked to the upper duck pond and even saw a turtle. From there we walked around the downtown shops ( Ashland is sort of Oregon's Carmel without Clint Eastwood) and had some ice-cream. We went home and called her brother on the telephone who is a student at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon and the four of us had a nice conversation. We left for the airport at 6 pm for our daughter's "red eye" flight through San Francisco to Washington DC. My wife and I then came home to an empty house. It seemed so quiet with her gone. We sure enjoyed her visit. We will get together again at Christmas.

OREGON DUCKS # 13 In BCS College Football Rankings

Click on the title above for a link to the latest BCS standings as of Oct 17, 2005. Go Ducks!

AP : DUCKS are # 15

According to the AP the University of Oregon Ducks are rated #15 in the college football poll. In the Coaches USA Today Poll the Ducks are rated # 16. Go Ducks Beat Arizona!

Game 7: Oregon vs Washington: WIN 45 to 21

College Football, Saturday October 15, 2005, at 12: 30 PM, at Autzen Stadium in Eugene Oregon. Another game day! Rain showers are forecast but it "never rains in Autzen Stadium." Go Ducks, beat the Husky's.
GAME UPDATE: Just got back from Eugene. Washington is a BAD team. Only scored on Oregon mistakes. Rained most of the way home. Ducks are now 6 - 1 and are Bowl eligible. Few Husky fans at game. Go Ducks beat Arizona.

Harriet Miers should withdraw!

Since she was nominated I have been willing to give George Bush the benefit of the doubt on the Harriet Miers nomination to the US Supreme Court. I now believe she should "fall on her sword" and ask to have Bush withdraw her nomination. I love fighting liberals but I hate fighting fellow conservatives. She has split the Republican base and can only do damage to it. Even if she turns out to be everything the conservatives want on the court, that will take years to find out, and in the meantime she will cost the Republican Party votes. She must go for the good of the party. Click on the title above for Peggy Noonan's column on the subject.

Message to Patrick Fitzgerald: "Go Home"

Good column by Richard Cohen of the Washington Post on why special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald should not seek criminal indictments and should close down his investigation. Will he do it? All political junkies want to know! If Fitzgerald won't go home Bush should issue a blanket Presidential pardon sooner rather than later. We have to play hard ball.

Remembering John Wayne's Alamo

Click on the title above for a link to a news story from a Fort Worth, Texas newspaper about a special showing of John Wayne's The Alamo at Alamo Village the location in Texas where the movie was originally filmed.

Washington Week Part III: The Game Day Experience

If you are an Oregon Duck fan living in Medford, Oregon, attending a University of Oregon home football game is at least a 14- hour experience. That is 6 hours of driving , 3 hr from Medford to Eugene and 3 hours back, 2 hours of pre game fun and eating,4 hours of actual game and an hour to get back to the car after the game and an hour to eat on the way home. I attend all home games which is usually 6 each fall. Southern Oregon fans are a hearty lot. Our usual plan for a 12:30 pm kick off is to get up at 6 am and leave Medford at 7:30 AM. Stop for gas in Canyonville at the Seven Feathers gas station . They have clean restrooms. It fun to see other Duck fans going to the game in I-5 with their cars and vans decorated in yellow and green. By the time we get to Cottage Grove I can pick up Jerry Allen and the Duck pre game radio show. WE pull into Eugene by 10:30 AM and park on the campus side of the Willamette River. I like to park behind the New Oregon Motel at an office-building parking lot where they charge $8.00. From there we walk to the footbridge over the Willamette River. I like to walk from campus as it makes me feel like a student again. On the bridge is a guy who plays a saxophone for donations. The Oregon fight song is a big money maker. After we cross the bridge there is a winding paved trail through some woods. It is shaded and cool on a hot day. There are people on the trail selling Oregon Tee shirts. Free enterprise is wonderful. There are also the ticket scalpers. As you come out of the woods , standing in all it's glory, is Autzen Stadium. If you have ever seen the movie Camelot it's like the scene where King Arthur and Guineverever after they meet in the forest come out of it and there stands Camelot in all it's glory. After entering the front gate I always buy a program. $5.00...yekes and head for the Mochofsky Center or as we call it the Mo Center. The Mochofsky Center is the indoor practice facility but on game day it is a huge tail gate party with live music, TV monitors with college football games from all over the country, beer, the radio and TV pre game shows, Duck shop with all the Duck paraphernalia you would ever want, and a food court. We grab a table and get our lunch from the food court and spend an hour or so eating and just watching people. To say the least Duck fans are a zany bunch . Duck fans all dress individually in as many different outfits as there are people. However they do it in a green and yellow way. After lunch we head for the stadium. We go up the main staircase on the new South side. Thanks Phil Knight. From there we work our way around the concourse to the North side to section 13. We have had season tickets there for years and the same people always sit around us. We then settle in for the pre game warm ups. Then the big screen on the scoreboard plays highlights of past games to get the crowd ready for the game. The high lights always end with "the pick" as described below. The team is then led on to the field by a Duck on a motorcycle . The South side of the stadium then chants GO and the North side says DUCKS. There is nothing like 55,000 people chanting GO DUCKS over and over to get the crowd into a excited frenzy. The game starts. I like to bring my radio and listen to Jerry Allen and Mike Jorgensen broadcast it. . As I have said before it is like listening to the game with two friends. After the approximately 4 hour game we wait till most of the crowd has left the stands and we head for the field. At Autzen fans can go onto the field after the two teams have left. We then work our way back across the Willamette River footbridge to our car an the 3 hr trip home. On the way home we listened to the post game radio show and usually lose it at Canyonville before we go over the mountains. Sometime we stop in Roseberg for dinner. Did I mention I there are 4 passes in the Cascade Mountains between Eugene and Medford. Back home I go online to see what my Duck friends are saying about the game and try and find a late Pac 10 game on TV. At 11:30PM they show a replay of the game. If the Ducks have won I try and watch it untill I fall asleep. A full day experience and I LOVE IT. Go Ducks beat the Huskies.

Thursday Night Lights ?

This week the Southern Oregon Conference (SOC) has moved their high school football games from Friday night to Thursday night because of "teacher in-service." Where are their priorities!

Washington Week Part II: "The Pick"

On October 22, 1994, Oregon football changed. The 1994 season didn't start out that way. Oregon lost to Hawaii, Utah and Washington State. There were only 25,000 fans at Autzen for Utah. At that game I looked around the parking lot and wondered "where is everybody?." The Ducks had beaten U$C in LA but we though it was a fluke. Then came the Washington game in Eugene on October 22. I didn't want to drive three hours from Medford to Eugene to watch another Washington "blow out" of the Ducks. ( see post below) I had been there too many times before. In those days with two teenage children at home my kids took turns going to the games with me as we had two season tickets. It was my daughter's turn and so we drove to Eugene. I always like to park on the campus side of the Willamette River and take the footbridge over to Autzen. On a nice day it's a wonderful walk over the river and through the woods to Autzen. I parked on Franklin Blvd. and walked by the New Oregon Motel. It was full of Husky fans. We had also stopped by the book-store on campus and it was full of Husky fans. We got to the game and took our seats and the game started. Washington was ranked the # 9 team in the nation. Oregon kept it close. Oregon was leading by four points when Washington scored to go ahead 20 - 17 with 7:44 minutes to play. The game seemed to unfold as it had so often. "nice try"..." a moral victory" ... "close but no cigar". NOT THIS TIME. Danny O'Neil Oregon's QB led the Ducks on a 98 yard drive to regain the lead. It will forever be known as "the Drive." The Ducks now led 24-17 with 2:40 to go in the game. Washington then started their own drive and advanced to the Duck 8 yard line with 1:09 to play. With each yard the Huskies made every Duck fan knew that Washington would score and win the game as they had so many times before. " So close, but no cigar." Then there was a play that will live forever in every Duck heart. Washington had plenty of time to give the ball to heralded tail back Napolean Kaufman. Instead, QB Damon Huard threw the ball in the flat toward Dave Janoski. Kenny Wheaton the Oregon CB timed the throw perfectly and stepped in front of the Washington receiver and intercepted the ball and ran it all the way back for another Duck touchdown to win the game 31-20. I was standing watching the play with my daughter. We both began to jump up and down!!! We then hugged as we both jumped up and down!!!. It was redemption! My daughter and I will always have that moment in time. On my dying day I will remember it. The play became known as "THE PICK". It is shown on the big screen at every Oregon game just as the team comes on the field. Jerry Allen the radio broadcaster's call of the play has become a favorite of Duck fans "KENNY WHEATON'S GOING TO SCORE....KENNY WHEATON'S GOING TO SCORE" I have a framed print of the play hanging in my office. After the game the many Husky fans looked crushed. The three hour trip back to Medford was like floating on air. Oregon went on to win the Pac 10 Championship that year and the entire family went to the Rose Bowl. It was the Ducks first time since 1958. This, Saturday, October 15, 2005, we play Washington in Autzen again. The 1994 Rose Bowl team with coach Rich Brooks and Kenny Wheaton will be there to be inducted into the Duck Hall of Fame. More importantly to me, that teenage daughter, has now graduated from college and is now working in Washington DC. She will fly home to Medford, to go to the game with the "old man." Win or lose we will always remember "The pick" Go Ducks! (some information in this post is from " Oregon Ducks Football 100 years of Glory 1894 to 1995")

Washington Week Part I : How I Learned to Hate The Huskies

"Washington Week" To every Oregon Duck Fan it's the week we play the University of Washington Huskies in football. This year it will be at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon. There has been bad blood between these two schools for years.. It started in 1948 when there was a tie between Cal and Oregon to go to the Rose Bowl. In those days ties were settled by a vote of the Pac 8 schools. (the Arizona schools were then not part of the conference.) Oregon expected the Northwest schools to stick together but Washington voted for Cal and as a consolation the Ducks led by QB Norm Van Brocklin went to the Cotton Bowl. Before Autzen stadium was built Oregon would play its home games against Washington at Multnomah Stadium in Portland. In the 50's it was not unheard of for fistfights to erupt in the stands between Duck and Washington fans. In 1968 I drove to Seattle to watch Oregon beat Washington 3 to 0 on a Ken Woody field goal during a rain swept game. During the 1970, 1980 and into the 1990 Washington dominated the Ducks and were the premier team in the Northwest. Husky fans would descend on Eugene and Autzen Stadium in their god awful purple and would almost outnumber the Duck yellow and green. They would fill up Eugene hotels like locusts and bring their large band. Husky fans became known for their arrogance. Once on a trip to Seattle I ask a Husky fan the outcome of a game and was treated like a fool to expect anything but a Husky win. My Dad, not a football fan, was treated the same way when he struck up a conversation with a Husky fan at a hotel before an Oregon/Washington game. I know it's only a game but I learned to hate the Huskies and their fans. At Husky home games they would blow their siren after each score as they beat the sh** out of hapless Duck teams. That all ended on October 22,1994!!! To be continued...

Update: after I wrote this post I read a column in the Husky student newspaper that illustrates my point about Husky arrogance. Click on the title above for a link.

John Wayne and Male Baby-Boomers

Click on the above title for a link to a new review on the movie Hondo and why it and John Wayne mean so much to early male baby-boomers. He was our mythical father figure. "Boys need fathers, good men and true who'll teach them the way..... The story of a quest for the ideal father as well as an essay on what the ideal father would be."

Ron Bellamy on DUCK WIN !

Click on the title above for Ron Bellamy's column in the Eugene Register-Guard on the Duck's win over Arizona State University on Saturday night.

John Wayne's Hondo on DVD

Two John Wayne Movies are being released this Tuesday (Oct 11, 05) on DVD for the first time. Hondo and McLintock. Both films are owned by BATJACK , John Wayne’s own production Company. Michael Wayne held on to them after his dad died and felt they would get more valuable as time went on. However most of us John Wayne fans are not getting any younger and so it was time to release them while the fan base was still alive. If you check my post below there is a link to a picture of Michael Wayne’s Widow giving John Wayne’s hat from Hondo to the Smithsonian Institute. There was an unauthorized (not by Wayne family) DVD of McLintock released a few years ago but the quality of the copy was almost unmatchable. In fact I started to watch it but quit because it looked like someone recoded it off TV with a VCR. NOW, when are they going to release Fort Apache? It’s one of the John Ford directed Cavalry Trilogy along with She Wore a Yellow Ribbon and Rio Grande both of which are on DVD. Hondo and McLintock will be available here in Oregon at Fred Meyer on Tuesday for $7.50 each. Click on the title above for a link to a review of the Hondo DVD ... it has great color pictures from the movie as taken from the DVD.

Game 6: Oregon vs Arizona State: WIN 34-14

This week the OregonDucks travel to Tempe Arizona to take on the Arizona State University Sun Devils. (Sooner or later my Liberal friends and the NCAA are going to find that mascot to be degrading to those who are into satanic worship.) The game will be on cable TV on Fox Sports Northwest at 7 PM (PDT). This is the first time in the last 5 weekends I have not been personally present at the Duck game. I will be watching on TV and listening to Jerry Allen on the radio with the TV sound turned down. I love Jerry Allen and Mike Jorgensen the Oregon Radio Broadcasters. It's like listening to the game with two of your old friends. Go Ducks !
GAME UPDATE: Ducks win 34- 14 and are 5-1. One more win to be Bowl Eligible... bring on the Huskies.... Go Ducks!!!!!

Some Stats: Ducks - Whitehead - 122 Yards rushing 1 TD , 101 yards receiving, 1 TD Williams - 3/109, TD 513 yards 233 yards rushing ASU - Keller - 31-56!!! Only 276 yards Derek Hagan - 46 yards and a TD 51 total yards rushing Great rushing effort - Fantastic defense.

The Duke Rides Again Pilgrim

Click on the title above for a link to a story about the Wayne estate donating John Wayne's Hat from Hondo to the Smithsonian Museum. The link has a great picture of the hat and presentation. I loved that Hat. I have a large cardboard cutout of Wayne with that Hat in my family room. It's my favorite picture of the Duke. You can see the corner of that picture in the presentation picture.

"Ronnie Earl Should Not Be a Prosecutor"

Click on the title above for a link to a column in the National Review by Andrew C McCarthy a former federal prosecutor about Ronnie Earl the District Attorney who is going after Tom DeLay."The abuses of power in the Tom DeLay case should offend Democrats and Republicans alike."

Bush: "There is no peace without victory"

Excerpts from President Bush's speech today on the war against terrorism. To read the entire speech click on the title above for a link.

"In this new century, freedom is once again assaulted by enemies determined to roll back generations of democratic progress. Once again, we're responding to a global campaign of fear with a global campaign of freedom...
The images and experience of September the 11th are unique for Americans. Yet the evil of that morning has reappeared on other days, in other places -- in Mombasa, and Casablanca, and Riyadh, and Jakarta, and Istanbul, and Madrid, and Beslan, and Taba, and Netanya, and Baghdad, and elsewhere. In the past few months, we've seen a new terror offensive with attacks on London, and Sharm el-Sheikh, and a deadly bombing in Bali once again. All these separate images of destruction and suffering that we see on the news can seem like random and isolated acts of madness; innocent men and women and children have died simply because they boarded the wrong train, or worked in the wrong building, or checked into the wrong hotel. Yet while the killers choose their victims indiscriminately, their attacks serve a clear and focused ideology, a set of beliefs and goals that are evil, but not insane.

Some call this evil Islamic radicalism; others, militant Jihadism; still others, Islamo-fascism. Whatever it's called, this ideology is very different from the religion of Islam. This form of radicalism exploits Islam to serve a violent, political vision: the establishment, by terrorism and subversion and insurgency, of a totalitarian empire that denies all political and religious freedom. These extremists distort the idea of jihad into a call for terrorist murder against Christians and Jews and Hindus -- and also against Muslims from other traditions, who they regard as heretics.

Many militants are part of global, borderless terrorist organizations like al Qaeda, which spreads propaganda, and provides financing and technical assistance to local extremists, and conducts dramatic and brutal operations like September the 11th. Other militants are found in regional groups, often associated with al Qaeda -- paramilitary insurgencies and separatist movements in places like Somalia, and the Philippines, and Pakistan, and Chechnya, and Kashmir, and Algeria. Still others spring up in local cells, inspired by Islamic radicalism, but not centrally directed. Islamic radicalism is more like a loose network with many branches than an army under a single command. Yet these operatives, fighting on scattered battlefields, share a similar ideology and vision for our world.

We know the vision of the radicals because they've openly stated it -- in videos, and audiotapes, and letters, and declarations, and websites. First, these extremists want to end American and Western influence in the broader Middle East, because we stand for democracy and peace, and stand in the way of their ambitions. Al Qaeda's leader, Osama bin Laden, has called on Muslims to dedicate, quote, their "resources, sons and money to driving the infidels out of their lands." Their tactic to meet this goal has been consistent for a quarter-century: They hit us, and expect us to run. They want us to repeat the sad history of Beirut in 1983, and Mogadishu in 1993 -- only this time on a larger scale, with greater consequences.

Second, the militant network wants to use the vacuum created by an American retreat to gain control of a country, a base from which to launch attacks and conduct their war against non-radical Muslim governments. Over the past few decades, radicals have specifically targeted Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan, and Jordan for potential takeover. They achieved their goal, for a time, in Afghanistan. Now they've set their sights on Iraq. Bin Laden has stated: "The whole world is watching this war and the two adversaries. It's either victory and glory, or misery and humiliation." The terrorists regard Iraq as the central front in their war against humanity. And we must recognize Iraq as the central front in our war on terror.

Third, the militants believe that controlling one country will rally the Muslim masses, enabling them to overthrow all moderate governments in the region, and establish a radical Islamic empire that spans from Spain to Indonesia. With greater economic and military and political power, the terrorists would be able to advance their stated agenda: to develop weapons of mass destruction, to destroy Israel, to intimidate Europe, to assault the American people, and to blackmail our government into isolation.

Some might be tempted to dismiss these goals as fanatical or extreme. Well, they are fanatical and extreme -- and they should not be dismissed. Our enemy is utterly committed. As Zarqawi has vowed, "We will either achieve victory over the human race or we will pass to the eternal life." And the civilized world knows very well that other fanatics in history, from Hitler to Stalin to Pol Pot, consumed whole nations in war and genocide before leaving the stage of history. Evil men, obsessed with ambition and unburdened by conscience, must be taken very seriously -- and we must stop them before their crimes can multiply.

Defeating the militant network is difficult, because it thrives, like a parasite, on the suffering and frustration of others. The radicals exploit local conflicts to build a culture of victimization, in which someone else is always to blame and violence is always the solution. They exploit resentful and disillusioned young men and women, recruiting them through radical mosques as the pawns of terror. And they exploit modern technology to multiply their destructive power. Instead of attending faraway training camps, recruits can now access online training libraries to learn how to build a roadside bomb, or fire a rocket-propelled grenade -- and this further spreads the threat of violence, even within peaceful democratic societies.

The influence of Islamic radicalism is also magnified by helpers and enablers. They have been sheltered by authoritarian regimes, allies of convenience like Syria and Iran, that share the goal of hurting America and moderate Muslim governments, and use terrorist propaganda to blame their own failures on the West and America, and on the Jews. These radicals depend on front operations, such as corrupted charities, which direct money to terrorist activity. They're strengthened by those who aggressively fund the spread of radical, intolerant versions of Islam in unstable parts of the world. The militants are aided, as well, by elements of the Arab news media that incite hatred and anti-Semitism, that feed conspiracy theories and speak of a so-called American "war on Islam" -- with seldom a word about American action to protect Muslims in Afghanistan, and Bosnia, Somalia, Kosovo, Kuwait, and Iraq.

Some have also argued that extremism has been strengthened by the actions of our coalition in Iraq, claiming that our presence in that country has somehow caused or triggered the rage of radicals. I would remind them that we were not in Iraq on September the 11th, 2001 -- and al Qaeda attacked us anyway. The hatred of the radicals existed before Iraq was an issue, and it will exist after Iraq is no longer an excuse. The government of Russia did not support Operation Iraqi Freedom, and yet the militants killed more than 180 Russian schoolchildren in Beslan.

Over the years these extremists have used a litany of excuses for violence -- the Israeli presence on the West Bank, or the U.S. military presence in Saudi Arabia, or the defeat of the Taliban, or the Crusades of a thousand years ago. In fact, we're not facing a set of grievances that can be soothed and addressed. We're facing a radical ideology with inalterable objectives: to enslave whole nations and intimidate the world. No act of ours invited the rage of the killers -- and no concession, bribe, or act of appeasement would change or limit their plans for murder.

On the contrary: They target nations whose behavior they believe they can change through violence. Against such an enemy, there is only one effective response: We will never back down, never give in, and never accept anything less than complete victory. (Applause.)

The murderous ideology of the Islamic radicals is the great challenge of our new century. Yet, in many ways, this fight resembles the struggle against communism in the last century. Like the ideology of communism, Islamic radicalism is elitist, led by a self-appointed vanguard that presumes to speak for the Muslim masses. Bin Laden says his own role is to tell Muslims, quote, "what is good for them and what is not." And what this man who grew up in wealth and privilege considers good for poor Muslims is that they become killers and suicide bombers. He assures them that his -- that this is the road to paradise -- though he never offers to go along for the ride.

Like the ideology of communism, our new enemy teaches that innocent individuals can be sacrificed to serve a political vision. And this explains their cold-blooded contempt for human life. We've seen it in the murders of Daniel Pearl, Nicholas Berg, and Margaret Hassan, and many others. In a courtroom in the Netherlands, the killer of Theo Van Gogh turned to the victim's grieving mother and said, "I do not feel your pain -- because I believe you are an infidel." And in spite of this veneer of religious rhetoric, most of the victims claimed by the militants are fellow Muslims.

When 25 Iraqi children are killed in a bombing, or Iraqi teachers are executed at their school, or hospital workers are killed caring for the wounded, this is murder, pure and simple -- the total rejection of justice and honor and morality and religion. These militants are not just the enemies of America, or the enemies of Iraq, they are the enemies of Islam and the enemies of humanity. (Applause.) We have seen this kind of shameless cruelty before, in the heartless zealotry that led to the gulags, and the Cultural Revolution, and the killing fields.

Like the ideology of communism, our new enemy pursues totalitarian aims. Its leaders pretend to be an aggrieved party, representing the powerless against imperial enemies. In truth they have endless ambitions of imperial domination, and they wish to make everyone powerless except themselves. Under their rule, they have banned books, and desecrated historical monuments, and brutalized women. They seek to end dissent in every form, and to control every aspect of life, and to rule the soul, itself. While promising a future of justice and holiness, the terrorists are preparing for a future of oppression and misery.

Like the ideology of communism, our new enemy is dismissive of free peoples, claiming that men and women who live in liberty are weak and decadent. Zarqawi has said that Americans are, quote, "the most cowardly of God's creatures." But let's be clear: It is cowardice that seeks to kill children and the elderly with car bombs, and cuts the throat of a bound captive, and targets worshipers leaving a mosque. It is courage that liberated more than 50 million people. It is courage that keeps an untiring vigil against the enemies of a rising democracy. And it is courage in the cause of freedom that once again will destroy the enemies of freedom. (Applause.)

And Islamic radicalism, like the ideology of communism, contains inherent contradictions that doom it to failure. By fearing freedom -- by distrusting human creativity, and punishing change, and limiting the contributions of half the population -- this ideology undermines the very qualities that make human progress possible, and human societies successful. The only thing modern about the militants' vision is the weapons they want to use against us. The rest of their grim vision is defined by a warped image of the past -- a declaration of war on the idea of progress, itself. And whatever lies ahead in the war against this ideology, the outcome is not in doubt: Those who despise freedom and progress have condemned themselves to isolation, decline, and collapse. Because free peoples believe in the future, free peoples will own the future. (Applause.)

We didn't ask for this global struggle, but we're answering history's call with confidence, and a comprehensive strategy. Defeating a broad and adaptive network requires patience, constant pressure, and strong partners in Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, Asia and beyond. Working with these partners, we're disrupting militant conspiracies, destroying their ability to make war, and working to give millions in a troubled region of the world a hopeful alternative to resentment and violence.

First, we're determined to prevent the attacks of terrorist networks before they occur. We're reorganizing our government to give this nation a broad and coordinated homeland defense. We're reforming our intelligence agencies for the incredibly difficult task of tracking enemy activity, based on information that often comes in small fragments from widely scattered sources, here and abroad. We're acting, along with the governments from many countries, to destroy the terrorist networks and incapacitate their leaders. Together, we've killed or captured nearly all of those directly responsible for the September the 11th attacks; as well as some of bin Laden's most senior deputies; al Qaeda managers and operatives in more than 24 countries; the mastermind of the USS Cole bombing, who was chief of al Qaeda operations in the Persian Gulf; the mastermind of the Jakarta and the first Bali bombings; a senior Zarqawi terrorist planner, who was planning attacks in Turkey; and many of al Qaeda's senior leaders in Saudi Arabia.

Overall, the United States and our partners have disrupted at least ten serious al Qaeda terrorist plots since September the 11th, including three al Qaeda plots to attack inside the United States. We've stopped at least five more al Qaeda efforts to case targets in the United States, or infiltrate operatives into our country. Because of this steady progress, the enemy is wounded -- but the enemy is still capable of global operations. Our commitment is clear: We will not relent until the organized international terror networks are exposed and broken, and their leaders held to account for their acts of murder.

Second, we're determined to deny weapons of mass destruction to outlaw regimes, and to their terrorist allies who would use them without hesitation. The United States, working with Great Britain, Pakistan, and other nations, has exposed and disrupted a major black-market operation in nuclear technology led by A.Q. Khan. Libya has abandoned its chemical and nuclear weapons programs, as well as long-range ballistic missiles. And in the last year, America and our partners in the Proliferation Security Initiative have stopped more than a dozen shipments of suspected weapons technology, including equipment for Iran's ballistic missile program.

This progress has reduced the danger to free nations, but has not removed it. Evil men who want to use horrendous weapons against us are working in deadly earnest to gain them. And we're working urgently to keep weapons of mass destruction out of their hands.

Third, we're determined to deny radical groups the support and sanctuary of outlaw regimes. State sponsors like Syria and Iran have a long history of collaboration with terrorists, and they deserve no patience from the victims of terror. The United States makes no distinction between those who commit acts of terror and those who support and harbor them, because they're equally as guilty of murder. (Applause.) Any government that chooses to be an ally of terror has also chosen to be an enemy of civilization. And the civilized world must hold those regimes to account.

Fourth, we're determined to deny the militants control of any nation, which they would use as a home base and a launching pad for terror. For this reason, we're fighting beside our Afghan partners against remnants of the Taliban and their al Qaeda allies. For this reason, we're working with President Musharraf to oppose and isolate the militants in Pakistan. And for this reason, we're fighting the regime remnants and terrorists in Iraq. The terrorist goal is to overthrow a rising democracy, claim a strategic country as a haven for terror, destabilize the Middle East, and strike America and other free nations with ever-increasing violence. Our goal is to defeat the terrorists and their allies at the heart of their power -- and so we will defeat the enemy in Iraq.

Our coalition, along with our Iraqi allies, is moving forward with a comprehensive, specific military plan. Area by area, city by city, we're conducting offensive operations to clear out enemy forces, and leaving behind Iraqi units to prevent the enemy from returning. Within these areas, we're working for tangible improvements in the lives of Iraqi citizens. And we're aiding the rise of an elected government that unites the Iraqi people against extremism and violence. This work involves great risk for Iraqis, and for Americans and coalition forces. Wars are not won without sacrifice -- and this war will require more sacrifice, more time, and more resolve.

The terrorists are as brutal an enemy as we've ever faced. They're unconstrained by any notion of our common humanity, or by the rules of warfare. No one should underestimate the difficulties ahead, nor should they overlook the advantages we bring to this fight.

Some observers look at the job ahead and adopt a self-defeating pessimism. It is not justified. With every random bombing and with every funeral of a child, it becomes more clear that the extremists are not patriots, or resistance fighters -- they are murderers at war with the Iraqi people, themselves.

In contrast, the elected leaders of Iraq are proving to be strong and steadfast. By any standard or precedent of history, Iraq has made incredible political progress -- from tyranny, to liberation, to national elections, to the writing of a constitution, in the space of two-and-a-half years. With our help, the Iraqi military is gaining new capabilities and new confidence with every passing month. At the time of our Fallujah operations 11 months ago, there were only a few Iraqi army battalions in combat. Today there are more than 80 Iraqi army battalions fighting the insurgency alongside our forces. Progress isn't easy, but it is steady. And no fair-minded person should ignore, deny, or dismiss the achievements of the Iraqi people.

Some observers question the durability of democracy in Iraq. They underestimate the power and appeal of freedom. We've heard it suggested that Iraq's democracy must be on shaky ground because Iraqis are arguing with each other. But that's the essence of democracy: making your case, debating with those who you disagree -- who disagree, building consensus by persuasion, and answering to the will of the people. We've heard it said that the Shia, Sunnis and Kurds of Iraq are too divided to form a lasting democracy. In fact, democratic federalism is the best hope for unifying a diverse population, because a federal constitutional system respects the rights and religious traditions of all citizens, while giving all minorities, including the Sunnis, a stake and a voice in the future of their country. It is true that the seeds of freedom have only recently been planted in Iraq -- but democracy, when it grows, is not a fragile flower; it is a healthy, sturdy tree. (Applause.)

As Americans, we believe that people everywhere -- everywhere -- prefer freedom to slavery, and that liberty, once chosen, improves the lives of all. And so we're confident, as our coalition and the Iraqi people each do their part, Iraqi democracy will succeed.

Some observers also claim that America would be better off by cutting our losses and leaving Iraq now. This is a dangerous illusion, refuted with a simple question: Would the United States and other free nations be more safe, or less safe, with Zarqawi and bin Laden in control of Iraq, its people, and its resources? Having removed a dictator who hated free peoples, we will not stand by as a new set of killers, dedicated to the destruction of our own country, seizes control of Iraq by violence.

There's always a temptation, in the middle of a long struggle, to seek the quiet life, to escape the duties and problems of the world, and to hope the enemy grows weary of fanaticism and tired of murder. This would be a pleasant world, but it's not the world we live in. The enemy is never tired, never sated, never content with yesterday's brutality. This enemy considers every retreat of the civilized world as an invitation to greater violence. In Iraq, there is no peace without victory. We will keep our nerve and we will win that victory. (Applause.)

The fifth element of our strategy in the war on terror is to deny the militants future recruits by replacing hatred and resentment with democracy and hope across the broader Middle East. This is a difficult and long-term project, yet there's no alternative to it. Our future and the future of that region are linked. If the broader Middle East is left to grow in bitterness, if countries remain in misery, while radicals stir the resentments of millions, then that part of the world will be a source of endless conflict and mounting danger, and for our generation and the next. If the peoples of that region are permitted to choose their own destiny, and advance by their own energy and by their participation as free men and women, then the extremists will be marginalized, and the flow of violent radicalism to the rest of the world will slow, and eventually end. By standing for the hope and freedom of others, we make our own freedom more secure.

America is making this stand in practical ways. We're encouraging our friends in the Middle East, including Egypt and Saudi Arabia, to take the path of reform, to strengthen their own societies in the fight against terror by respecting the rights and choices of their own people. We're standing with dissidents and exiles against oppressive regimes, because we know that the dissidents of today will be the democratic leaders of tomorrow. We're making our case through public diplomacy, stating clearly and confidently our belief in self-determination, and the rule of law, and religious freedom, and equal rights for women, beliefs that are right and true in every land, and in every culture. (Applause.)

As we do our part to confront radicalism, we know that the most vital work will be done within the Islamic world, itself. And this work has begun. Many Muslim scholars have already publicly condemned terrorism, often citing Chapter 5, Verse 32 of the Koran, which states that killing an innocent human being is like killing all humanity, and saving the life of one person is like saving all of humanity. After the attacks in London on July the 7th, an imam in the United Arab Emirates declared, "Whoever does such a thing is not a Muslim, nor a religious person." The time has come for all responsible Islamic leaders to join in denouncing an ideology that exploits Islam for political ends, and defiles a noble faith.

Many people of the Muslim faith are proving their commitment at great personal risk. Everywhere we have engaged the fight against extremism, Muslim allies have stood up and joined the fight, becoming partners in a vital cause. Afghan troops are in combat against Taliban remnants. Iraqi soldiers are sacrificing to defeat al Qaeda in their own country. These brave citizens know the stakes -- the survival of their own liberty, the future of their own region, the justice and humanity of their own tradition -- and that United States of America is proud to stand beside them. (Applause.)

With the rise of a deadly enemy and the unfolding of a global ideological struggle, our time in history will be remembered for new challenges and unprecedented dangers. And yet the fight we have joined is also the current expression of an ancient struggle, between those who put their faith in dictators, and those who put their faith in the people. Throughout history, tyrants and would-be tyrants have always claimed that murder is justified to serve their grand vision -- and they end up alienating decent people across the globe. Tyrants and would-be tyrants have always claimed that regimented societies are strong and pure -- until those societies collapse in corruption and decay. Tyrants and would-be tyrants have always claimed that free men and women are weak and decadent -- until the day that free men and women defeat them.

We don't know the course of our own struggle -- the course our own struggle will take -- or the sacrifices that might lie ahead. We do know, however, that the defense of freedom is worth our sacrifice. We do know the love of freedom is the mightiest force of history. And we do know the cause of freedom will once again prevail.

May God bless you."


We are lucky to have this man as President at this time in our history.

Prosecutor Reveals 3rd Grand Jury Had Refused DeLay Indictment

Click on title for a link to a news story in the Austin Texas American-Statesman that points out that a 3rd grand jury had refused to indict congressman Tom DeLay. Grand jury shopping? I guess sometime you can't get a grand jury to indict a "ham sandwich"!

"Duck Lunch"

The Oregon Club of Southern Oregon is a booster club for University of Oregon Athletics here in Southern Oregon. During football season we have a lunch meeting every Wednesday at JJ North's Grand Buffet here in Medford. Bob, Dave and myself have been running the lunches this last year and have working at it for many years. We have an assistant football coach from Eugene, on speakerphone, talk about the Duck's last game and about the game coming up. We have a members drawing (membership is $45.00 per year) and door prize drawings for Duck items such as hats, shirts, chairs etc. We also play a highlights DVD of the last game and a former football player from the Ducks Rose Bowl year (1994) gives us his analysis of the last game. It's a good way for Oregon fans to get together to talk about the season. We normally have 35 to 70 fans show up depending on how the Ducks are doing. About 20% are female. The BIG lunch is always the "Civil War" lunch at the Red Lion the Wednesday before the Oregon vs Oregon State game in November. People in Oregon refer to it as the "Civil War Game" as it pits neighbor against neighbor all across the state, even some family's have divided loyalty's. We also have a luncheon in February after "letter of intent day". ( the day high school seniors commit to play football for the college of their choice) Our other big event is the Duffin for the Ducks golf tournament/dinner/auction. We hold that event in early June. Many of the Oregon Coaches come to Medford for the golf tournament and the event is the one big fundraiser we put on to raise money for the Oregon student athletes.

Stanford Trip

This past weekend I was able to travel on the University of Oregon Football teams plane trip to Stanford for the game. This is the second time I have done this but the first time the Ducks won the game. With out going into details the flight down felt like a business trip . It was a charter flight. A trip like this is a big production and it is amazing the planning that goes into it. We stayed at the team hotel but the team was in meetings or in their rooms so we got to see very little of them except on the way in and out of the hotel. It was fun to see and talk to Jerry Allen and Mike Jorgensen who do the radio broadcast of the games . Trying to figure out who everyone was on the plane was fun and trying to figure out the reason for the seat assignments, for me, is as interesting at the team depth chart. For example , why some people got to sit in First class etc. Since I am not a big donor I was thankful for being invited. I felt like a teenage groupie at a rock concert with a back stage pass. Once we got to the Stanford campus most of my traveling companions who were just fans headed to the Oregon Alumni Tailgater. However my friend Bob and I headed for a walking self tour of the Stanford campus. Bob had a map and we headed for the campus book store in the middle of the campus. It was quite a walk but well worth it. Stanford has a large and beautiful campus much larger than you would expect for a student body of 16,000. It truly is a research University. We walked by the Hoover Institute (Conservative think tank established by President Hoover before he was President in 1919) The campus bookstore was the best campus bookstore I have ever been seen. Lots of books.... I could have spent hours there. After our tour we headed back to the stadium for the game. The Stanford football stadium is a rickety stadium held up by a wooden frame surrounded by a cement facade to make it look more impressive than it really is. They will tear it down at the end of the season to build a smaller but newer stadium. Only 27,000 people showed up for the game and about 1/3 of them were Duck fans. In any case regardless of their football stadium or team Stanford would be a great place to go to school. I liked it a lot.

Game 5: Oregon vs Standford: Win 44- 20

Back from Standford. Ducks are now 4-1. Standford has a beautiful campus and a terrible stadium. They are building a new stadium as soon as the season is over. Going down on the team plane and staying at the team hotel was fun. On to Arizona State University there. Go Ducks!