"Good.. Day"..... Old Friend!

I was reading a book and had decided to go downstairs to watch a DVD movie. I thought to myself let me check the Drudge Report one more time and there it was "Paul Harvey RIP". Paul Harvey died today he was 90. His death took me back to another time we conservative Republicans were in the "wilderness." It was 1965 and we conservatives had just the year before been crushed in the LBJ landslide victory over Barry Goldwater. It was the heyday of the "Great Society" and in those days there was no FOX NEWS, no Internet, no talk radio and we felt alone. However, every lunch hour my friend Dick and I would sit in his car at school and eat our lunch and listen to news AND commentary on the radio with Paul Harvey from Chicago. A conservative voice in the wilderness. A few weeks ago I was driving on business and Paul Harvey's program came on the car radio. He sounded tired and weak but he was still keeping on... keeping on... till the very end. My children could not stand his old fashioned radio delivery but they weren't there in 1965. "And now you know the rest of the story." Goodbye old friend ! (Click on the title for more information on Paul Harvey)

Dow Jones: How Low Will it Go!

The Dow Jones fell another 119 + points today to 7,062. In 2007 it was up to 13,930 so we have lost about half of the value of stocks since then. Is this how it felt in 1929? I am not a financial advisor but based upon the actions of the federal government I see little reason to buy if I was an investor. Even if I made money they would tax it at a high rate. Why take the risk? If no one is willing to invest who will provide jobs? I don't want to appear as an alarmist but I don't see any change other than the market will go lower and lower resulting in a deep long recession or worse a depression. I see no light at the end of the tunnel. Better for everyone to dig in for the long hall.It's going to get worse before it gets better. We will weather the storm but their is no avoiding the pain to come. In World War II people planted "Victory Gardens" in their back yard to supplement their food supply. Maybe before it is all over we will be planting "Obama Gardens." I hope I am wrong..... but it is better to be prepared for the worst than live in a fools paradise.I just received word that the courts here in Jackson County will be closed every Friday for the foreseeable future due to the decrease in state tax revenues. The Halls of Justice closed! The state of Oregon just borrowed money to put in a new elevator in a building at Southern Oregon University but doesn't have money enough to keep the court system open.

UPDATE:

Larry Kudlow of the Kudlow Report on CNBC:

Let me be very clear on the economics of President Obama’s State of the Union speech and his budget.

He is declaring war on investors, entrepreneurs, small businesses, large corporations, and private-equity and venture-capital funds.

That is the meaning of his anti-growth tax-hike proposals, which make absolutely no sense at all — either for this recession or from the standpoint of expanding our economy’s long-run potential to grow.

(To read the rest click on the title for a link)

UPDATE 2

The news just keeps getting worse. This just in from the Wall Street Journal:

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 119.15 points, or 1.7%, to end at 7062.93. The blue-chip benchmark ended down 937.93 points, or 11.72% on the month -- the worst percentage drop since 1933, when it fell 15.62%. The Dow industrials have fallen six months in a row and are now more than 50% off their record highs hit in October of 2007

Tough times make tough people!

Bill Buckley died a year ago today

Charles Kesler, a professor at Claremont McKenna College, was a dear friend, student, collaborator, co-editor, and so much more to the late William F. Buckley Jr. On the first anniversary of Bill’s death, he spoke to National Review Online editor Kathryn Jean Lopez about WFB, conservatism, and more. Click on the title for a link.

South Medford Panthers win SWC in Boys Basketball

Tonight at South Medford the Panthers beat the Sheldon Irish of Eugene 58 to 49 in Boys 6A Basketball to win the # 1 seed for the Southwestern Conference in the OSAA state of Oregon basketball playoffs. Sheldon entered the game 18 and 5 in conference play and South Medford entered the game 17 and 6. Thus, they both ended 18 and 6 for a Co Championship. However, South Medford won the tie breaker having beat the Irish 2 out of 3. South Medford's first payoff game will be at home next Tuesday night. If they win that game and a 2nd home playoff game on Friday they will make it back to Mac Court at the University of Oregon for the state tournament. There was a large crowd for tonight's game. University of Oregon bound E.J. Singler had 20 points for South Medford. Next year he will be on the Ducks Basketball team having signed a letter of intent. To show support many Oregon Duck fans from Southern Oregon showed up at tonight's game in their Oregon green and yellow. Most of them sat court side in one section at the game. There were some Sheldon Irish at at the game including former Oregon and NFL QB Chris Miller. Miller has just recently been hired as the QB coach for the Arizona Cardinals of the NFL. As an Oregon Duck and a South Medford fan It was a happy nexus for my two favorite teams. Go Panthers! Go Ducks!

Dow Jones: How Low Will it Go?

The Dow Jones fell another 89 points today.

President Obama, in his pursuit of liberal big-government spending, has totally neglected the role of the president of the United States in reversing global panic. To the contrary, his every remark and the constant preoccupation of his Cabinet is to heighten the sense of crisis and to escalate the predictions of doom if we do not do as they tell us and raise spending now and taxes later.

Instead of being a firewall, reassuring Main Street even as Wall Street crashed, he has become a conduit of panic, spreading the mood of desperation from the stock exchange floor to kitchen tables across the world.

Dick Morris

To read the rest click on the title for a link

More on Bob Dylan

Click on the title for a link to another excellent web site about Bob Dylan's music.The author, George Starostin, gives detailed reviews of most of Dylan's albums in a "no holds barred" style. I don't agree with everything he says but he is fun to read.

Unfortunately, people seem to be divided in two major groups here: those that "get" his singing and those that don't - or, to put it more politely, his singing "gets" to group A and doesn't "get" to group B. The first group (which includes your humble servant) thinks he's a great singer, highly emotional and in a class of his own, using his vocal cords as a peculiar musical instrument all the time. The second group either thinks he's talentless or, at the very best, that his songs always sounded better when sung by other performers. And practically nothing can change the opinions of either, and I do mean nothing - I've held numerous battles defending poor Mr Zimmerman from those who say they'd better go listen to their toilet flushing than put on a Dylan record. Whatever. I guess this has something to do with your genes after all. Nevertheless, it is always better to 'get' something than 'not to get' it (this is my primary belief about art: always try to like it), so I say that if you don't 'get' Dylan there must be something wrong with your genes. Now feel free to flame me.

***********

some people complain about the utter nonsense and incomprehensibility of his lyrics, but somehow people often forget that lyrics are not prose: you do not go around 'understanding' lyrics like you 'understand' prose. Much more often than not, Dylan's lyrics just convey a mood, a general feeling, maybe a vague idea, and an endless stream of entertaining, intriguing, and sometimes downright hilarious wordgames.

************

Yes, could have been an as***le (my edit)in real life, cheating on his friends, verbally destroying people that venerated him, etc., etc., but the day we start caring for great art based on the personal life of its creator is the day art will come to an end. What often escapes the listener and the reviewer is that the "musical Dylan" is really a small humble guy. He was never a big commercial star, with just about a handful of chart-topping LPs (most of which came in the Seventies, way past his peak hour). He never really cared for commercial success: maybe he didn't really shun it, but he always made clear that his primary aim in this world was not making money or scr***** chicks,(my edit) and success never really got to his head. He only went for a slight commercialization of his sound in the Eighties, making the fatal mistake of incorporating disco elements in his music; but he's come back with a bang since then, and if only his poor health won't fail him, we may yet hear a significant word or two from Robert. He wrote songs that hardly ever made you stand up and shake your hips or sing along to some sentimental romantic melody; instead, these songs went straight into the very depths of your soul and spoke to you on a personal, intimate level - a thing that neither the Beatles nor the Rolling Stones, as much as I love them, could never pull off.

The proof is that whenever I listen carefully to a Dylan song or try to sing along to it, I always end up putting myself in Bob's place and trying to feel the things he felt. It's amazing how such simplistic songs as 'Mr Tambourine Man' or 'Gates Of Eden' or 'Stuck Inside The Mobile' can get under your skin and change your life forever. This, of course, is only possible if you manage to get rid of the shackles of conventional singing and conventional songwriting - I sure did, and I'm both glad and proud about that. You really gotta live up to the good sides of Bob Dylan. You have to take the presumably 'bad' sides as a given fact even before you start listening to the first Dylan song in your life. You just have to concentrate on other things, ya know? Now on to the reviews before I start talking metaphysical.

Again click on the title for colorful reviews of most of Bob Dylan's albums.

Quotes of the day!

A friend emailed my these quotes this morning. Based upon the traffic I have had on my email accounts a lot of people are upset by what is going on in Washington with the tax and spend crowd that has taken over.


No man's life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session. Mark Twain

The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings. The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery.Winston Churchill

The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools. Herbert Spencer, English Philosopher (1820-1903)

A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have. Thomas Jefferson

A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. George Bernard Shaw

"Honk if you're paying my mortgage"!

Bumper sticker of the day.

I picked this up on Michelle Malkin's blog:

The Tennessee Republican Party has released a new bumper sticker designed to let people express their frustration with the relentless march by the Obama administration and the out-of-control Democrat Congress to enact endless “bailouts” and “economic stimulus” packages that are pushing America trillions of dollars deeper into debt.

The sticker, which reads HONK if you’re paying my mortgage, is available on the Tennessee Republican Party’s website, www.tngop.org, for a small donation to the party.

“If President Obama gets his way, the 92 percent of American homeowners who pay their mortgages on time will be forced to do with less in the future so that the Obama administration can use their money to reward banks that offered bad loans to customers who had no business accepting them,” said Bill Hobbs, communications director for the Tennessee Republican Party. “Government has no business forcing one American to pay another American’s mortgage. It’s time for the Obama administration to stop the bailout madness, unshackle the economy and the creativity of the American people by reducing personal and business taxes and cutting government red-tape and interference in the economy, and let the free markets work.”

Dow Jones: How Low Will It Go

Yesterday the stock market rallied but it didn't hold after President Obama's speech to Congress. The Dow lost over 80 points today.

Bob Dylan

Click on the title for a link to the best website on the web about Bob Dylan's music. It is actually the official website and it has a great discography of Bob Dylan's music. It has each album listed and if you click on the album it will show what songs are on it and you can listen to them. You can register on the site at no charge and can then listen to all the songs. You can't download them but it has a link to Amazon.com where you can purchase a song for $.99 each or buy the entire album. It has an alphabetical listing of all of his songs which has the lyrics and will tell you on what albums the song can be found. Many of his songs are on more than one album often in different versions. If you are someone like me who likes some of his music but not everything it is helpful in determine what albums to buy and which ones to avoid. The ability to buy and download one or two songs from an album is a great advance from the days when you had to buy an entire record album even if you only liked only one or two songs. Quite frankly I am not a big fan of his music from the 1970 through the mid 1990's. I was able to use this site to listen to every song on every album in this period and found about 15 songs I like not on "The Essential Bob Dylan" album and purchased them individually from Amazon.com and "burned" my own CD I called "More Essential Bob Dylan"

To date I have collected all of his studio albums from 1962 to 1969 (9 albums) and have his Greatest Hits I,& II and "The Essential Bob Dylan 2 disk compilation. I have also purchased and downloaded online much of 1997's "Time Out of Mind" and 2008's "Tell Tale Signs". I have the 2006 "Modern Times" and the CD of his 1964 live concert at Philharmonic Hall in New York City on Halloween night. In addition, I just recently acquired "The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3," a three Cd set of outtakes and other music that did not make it into his studio albums. Much of it is often better than the album versions. I particularly like "disc one" that has his very early music from 1961 to 1963 while in the Greenwich Village "scene" in New York City. The real folk era.

I know it is hard to believe that a conservative Republic like me would enjoy Bob Dylan but in the music area I am able to separate the artist's personality and politics from his music. I didn't particularly like Frank Sinatra or Barbra Streisand but I like their music. My wife hates Bob Dylan's voice since it is not "pretty" but I believe it has "character." like Louis Armstrong and Jimmy Durante. I like his "acoustic" introspective folk music much better than his "electric hard Rock" or "Blues" sound. I have acquired a taste for his country/Nashville sound.

During the holidays our son asked me if I was this "into" Bob Dylan during the 1960's and I said "No." I was always interested but had a lot of other things I was interested in and involved in . I did purchase his 'Greatest Hits" I & II on record back then. Now that we are "empty nestor's" I have more time to explore those things I didn't have time for in the past such as Bob Dylan. Oh, it's cheaper than golf which I hate!

Obama will own the "Obama depression" sooner than he thinks!

Opinion column in today's Wall Street Journal by Holman Jenkins Jr:

Put away childish things, President Obama said during his inauguration. He couldn't have found a theme more suited to the moment. The preoccupations that he and most politicians are used to running on, and that still characterize too many of his administration's utterances, are being exposed in the global economic disaster as the soppy indulgences they always were.......

Put away Ponzi welfarism. The day is gone when politicians could have hoped to have begun and ended their careers before the public ever faced the implosion of redistribution programs that depend on the workforce growing faster than the retired population......

Put away class warfare tax politics: Only a flatter, less distorting tax code is compatible with the kind of growth needed to get us out of the debt mess without inflation.

We already levy punitive tax rates on bank deposits, at a time when households need to build up savings and banks need deposits. Now Mr. Obama wants to raise taxes on small business, on investment, and on the incomes of the most productive job creators. Is he crazy?......

His will be a fascinating presidency to watch, not least because of his inexperience, his intellectual agility, and the crisis in which he finds himself. But his presidency will get really interesting in a year or two, or six months -- whenever he finally realizes that everything he thought he wanted to do is irrelevant. He'll then have to adapt an agenda for the world as it is, in which many childish things no longer have a place.

And, by the way, he kids himself if he believes he will be allowed, like FDR, to preside over a depression without being politically blamed for it. The public is different now -- the world is different -- and he will own the "Obama depression" sooner than he thinks.

Click on the title for a link to read the entire column.

Dow Jones: How Low WILL it Go ?

Not looking good today! Will update after the market closes."People left and right are throwing in the towel," said Keith Springer, president of Capital Financial Advisory Services in an AP Report."The biggest thing I see here is the incredible pessimism,” Springer said. “The government is doing a lousy job of alleviating fears.”

UPDATE: The Dow Jones closed down 251 points for the lowest close since 1997 making it a more than ten year low.

UPDATE 2: The Poll that counts!

Rush from FRIDAY

The investors, the people who are the real poll on the state of the economy are not investing. They are betting on the market continuing to go south. . . . Folks, Obama doesn't have it . . . Biden doesn't have it. Reid doesn't have it, Pelosi doesn't have it, Barney Frank doesn't have it. There is nothing that is going to come along tomorrow and restore the value of your house, replenish your 401(k) and your kids' college fund, take the Dow back to 13 on the way to 15; it isn't there. It could be again, but not with the leadership we have now.

Shame on Hollywood !

One of my favorite parts of the Academy Awards is the salute to those in the film industry that have passed on in the last year. Tonight's show was a real disappointment! The film montage was very difficult to follow because the show's director cut in and out of the big screen TV's showing the montage of those that had died this past year. However the biggest shame was the silence of the audience when the screen showed Charlton Heston who died in April of 2008.You could hear a pin drop. Paul Newman got a big cheer as did most of the actors..... but not Charlton Heston who won a "Best Actor" Academy Award for "Ben Hur." I have heard there is a "black list" for conservatives in Hollywood but does it even apply to those that have died?

After he died I posted this on this blog:

When I was a young child growing up in Boise Idaho I went to see Cecil B DeMille's "The Greatest Show on Earth" about a traveling circus in which Heston was the circus boss. For days after the movie I couldn't get the movie out of my mind. I would dream at night that I was in the movie and be disappointed in the morning when I woke up that I was only dreaming. This was my first Charlton Heston movie and I can still see him issuing orders so that the "show would go on" in spite of the circus train wreck and other disasters. I can still see him as Ben Hur (1959) and El Cid (1961) in which he played the title characters. I will never forget him as the U.S. Marine Corps officer in "55 Days of Peking" (1963) where he protected the United State embassy and the "foreign compound" during the Boxer Rebellion or his portrayal of General "Chinese" Gordon in Khartoum (1966). "Midway" (1976) and "The Mountain Men" (1980) stand out among his later films. In the end I will always see him holding a rifle over his head at a NRA convention. As long as we go to movies he will live on in our imagination of what a heroic man should be.

I found this on Wikipedia tonight:

Richard Corliss wrote in Time magazine, "From start to finish, Heston was a grand, ornery anachronism, the sinewy symbol of a time when Hollywood took itself seriously, when heroes came from history books, not comic books. Epics like Ben-Hur or El Cid simply couldn't be made today, in part because popular culture has changed as much as political fashion. But mainly because there's no one remotely like Charlton Heston to infuse the form with his stature, fire and guts."

Shame on you Hollywood! The Silence was deafening.

Wolverines!

The Academy Awards, Movie "Red Dawn" and Islamic Fascist. I found this on a blog called "Slow Stagger."

Wasn’t that the battle-cry of those teen-aged guerrillas in Red Dawn? You know, John Milius’ classic Russians-paratroops-land-in-Colorado flick that was so shamefully overlooked for Oscar consideration… oh, maybe twenty-five years ago.

And it is of Oscars and Wolverines of which I need to speak

.

To read the rest click on the title for a link. It is a very good read and very funny!

Dow Jones: "How Low Can You Go"

The Dow Jones dropped another 100 points today from yesterdays 6 year low!

Stock Market Gives Obama’s First Month An 'F'
By Liz Peek

Today marks the one-month anniversary of President Obama’s inauguration. In his brief time in office, the president has overseen three massive new spending initiatives — the $787 billion stimulus bill, the trillion-dollar financial stability initiative and, most recently, the $275 billion mortgage assistance program

To read the rest of Liz Peek's column click on the title for a link

Best Picture: Grand Torino

Yes, I know it is not nominated for the "Best Picture" award at Sunday's Academy Award Ceremony, and that is the problem.

Sunday night is the Academy Awards Show on TV. With one exception, I have watched EVERY Academy Awards show since 1957 when The Bridge on the River Kwai won for Best Picture. The one exception, as my luck would have it, was in 1970 when I was in Officer Candidate School (OCS) in the Army at Fort Belvoir in Virginia. Somehow the Army didn't think the show was that important for the training of a US Army Officer. My bad luck is that was the year John Wayne won Best Actor for True Grit. The Award presenter of all people was Barbara Strisend. I didn't read about it until the next day in the Washington Post since I was the "Command Information Officer" for my unit and as a result posted newspapers story's on the days news on the unit's bulletin board to keep the unit updated on world events. For many years in our house the Academy Awards Show was as big as the Super Bowl. We would get Pizza and popcorn and decorate up the house for the big event. We would have our list of nominees and check them off as they were announced. Not this year, or for several years. Usually in the winter I am trying to watch every picture that has been nominated for Best Picture. This year, I have not seen one. I don't intend on seeing any at the theater and may only watch one or two when they come out on DVD. I love movies as my DVD collection demonstrates but not this year. Hollywood has lost touch with middle America. Too Bad!

My best picture winner is Grand Torino with Clint Eastwood and Clint Eastwood gets "Best Actor"! Click on the title for a link to my review of the movie.

Benjamin Netanyahu is Back!

Following the Israeli elections my favorite Israeli politician has been asked to form a government with himself as Prime Minister. A tough guy for a tough part of the world. If I was an Iranian leader I would be worried!

Today Netanyahu said:

"Iran is seeking to obtain a nuclear weapon and constitutes the gravest threat to our existence since the war of independence,"

Dow Jones: "How Low Can You Go"!

The Dow lost 89 points today for the lowest level in 6 years! Apparently Wall Street does not have much faith in Obama's "Stimulus Package."

David Brooks and Ayn Rand

David Brooks the token moderate conservative columnist for the New York Times is being driven to Ayn Rand because of the expansion of the collectivist state under Obama! Today on his blog he wrote:

The odd thing is very few conservatives consider me conservative any more because I am so pro-government. But the events of the past few weeks have made me sound like a raving libertarian. The administration has taken its faith in government to such an extreme I’m turning into Ayn Rand. Help!

And I thought I was the only one.

"The Wilderness Years"

For the next four or eight years I will from time to time refer to "The Wilderness Years" as I post political commentary on this blog. As a Conservative Republican my political party is out of power having lost both houses of Congress and the Presidency. For those of you who are not Winston Churchill buffs this term became popular when referring to the ten year period of time Winston Churchill was out of power between 1929 and 1939. Prior to that time Winston Churchill had been a powerful politician in England and had held several posts in the British Cabinet including First Lord of the Admiralty (head of British Navy) and Chancellor of the Exchequer ( Treasury). In 1929, while still a member of Parliament, he was viewed as "washed up" and retreated to his home at Chartwell in Kent. Few listened to him and he had very little influence on the British government. He warned England about the rise of Hitler and his aggressive intentions but few in power listened. He was called back to power again as First Lord of the Admiralty when Hitler invaded Poland and then later became Prime Minister when France was falling to Hitler almost when it was too late. Now, my Republican Party has entered our 'Wilderness Years" and the question remains when will we be called back and who will lead us out of the wilderness? Today's events are tomorrows history.

UPDATE: To learn more about this part of Churchill's life read William Manchester's excellent book "The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, Alone 1932-1940"; or the also excellent HBO movie the "Gathering Storm" available on DVD. I had an opportunity to visit his home at Chartwell, summer before last.They filmed part of the HBO movie there

William F. Buckley: Gone but not forgotten!

Bill Buckley has been gone now for almost a year but an essay he wrote in 1952 still has meaning to the Republican Party as we enter our "Wilderness Years"

....The question that hotly follows is why. Why does the Opposition Party refuse to offer a genuine opposition? At this juncture the Statists leap to their most favorite answer to the query. They tell us that the anarchistic, uncivilized, uncharitable rugged individualism associated with the pre-Roosevelt era is forever discredited by the American people. The social revolution of the New Deal is a fait accompli and no political party could rally any enthusiasm in 1952 for a genuinely anti-Statist program.

My own diagnosis does not totally contradict this one. To begin with, I see the issue primarily as one of freedom or non-freedom. To the extent that a fraction of the individual's time, which we will for convenience equate with his earnings, is a priori mortgaged to the government and against this will, then he is to that same extent not free. Since there is no money except the individual's money, and since his money represents his labor or his savings or the produce of his tools, the assessment of that money by the State represents a direct levy on that individual's freedom. Now, if it is true, as the Liberals would have it, that the Repubitican Party could not evoke any support for a program that calls for extracting from the individual only that money necessary to carry on the minimum functions of government (loosely, defense, courts, and conservation), then it must follow that the American people no longer value maximum individual freedom.

Now this may well be the case. Most human beings respond to education, and freedom has been depreciated in the nation 's schools for some years now. The responsibility of the State to regulate and nourish individual lives is not only acknowledged, but eloquently and insistently affirmed by an increasing number of the most efficacious of influence-molders: the teachers.

And yet, there has been no dramatic showdown. There is no tangible proof that the Republican Party would indeed fail to win over the people to a platform of freedom. And even if it should fail, it would have succeeded in alerting the people to the fact that there still exists, in theory at least, an alternative to State Paternalism. And this would seem to be a noble enough and a traditional service for a political party whose birth and early success grew out of its refusal to condone human slavery.

One thing we know: in the past we have temporized with collectivism, and we have lost. And after 'the campaigns were over, we were left not with the exhilaration and pride of having done our best to restore freedom, but with the sickening humiliation of having failed to seduce the American people because we were pitted against a more glib, a more extravagant, a more experienced gigolo.

Dow Jones: "How low can you go"?

President Barak Obama signed the "Generational Theft Act of 2009" today and the Dow Jones dropped 297 points for an almost ten year low.

Markets from Hong Kong to Stockholm to London staggered lower. On Wall Street, the Dow came within sight of its lowest levels in more than a decade. Rattled investors clamored to buy rainy-day investments like gold and Treasury debt.

It was a global wave of selling spurred by rising worries about how banks, automakers - entire countries - would fare in a deepening recession.

UPDATE: The Dow has lost 728 points since Obama became President.

Barack Obama sends Bust of Winston Churchill on its way back to Britain

From the Telegraph a London newspaper:

The bust of the former prime minister once voted the greatest Briton in history, which was loaned to George W Bush from the Government's art collection after the September 11 attacks, has now been formally handed back.

The bronze by Sir Jacob Epstein, worth hundreds of thousands of pounds if it were ever sold on the open market, enjoyed pride of place in the Oval Office during President Bush's tenure.

But when British officials offered to let Mr Obama to hang onto the bust for a further four years, the White House said: "Thanks, but no thanks."

To read the rest of the news story click on the title for a link.

This really "tears it" for me! Maybe the British have a bust of Neville Chamberlain they can loan us!



"Peace in our time" Ya, right! We American conservatives are now in our own "Wilderness Years." The call will come..... let's hope it not be too late.

Music from John Wayne Movies

As a fan of John Wayne, I collect DVD's of John Wayne's movies and have most if not all of his movies since 1938 that have been released on DVD. I also like music from John Wayne movies and have collected most of the CD's that have theme music from his movies as follows

1939 Stagecoach..........True Grit 1 CD
1948 Red River……………Soundtrack CD
1949 She Wore A Yellow Ribbon……….. True Grit 1 CD & Lonesome Dove CD
1950 Rio Grande………. Soundtrack CD & True Grit 1 CD
1950 The Quiet Man……… Soundtrack CD & True Grit 1 CD
1954 The High and the Mighty……… True Grit 1 CD
1956 The Searchers……….Soundtrack CD & True Grit 1 CD
1960 The Alamo……….Soundtrack CD & True Grit 1 CD
1961 The Comancheros………True Grit 1 CD
1962 The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance…….Great Westerns CD
1962 The Longest Day……….True Grit 1 CD
1962 How the West Was Won ………Soundtrack CD & True Grit 1 CD
1965 In Harm’s Way………..True Grit 1 CD
1965 The Sons of Katie Elder………Lonesome Dove CD
1969 True Grit………True Grit 1 & 2 CDs
1971 Big Jake………. True Grit 2 CD
1972 The Cowboys……..True Grit 1 CD
1973 Cahill- U.S. Marshal……….True Grit 2 CD
1976 The Shootist…….. True Grit 2 CD

The Honeymoon is Over.... The Obama Economy !

I expressed hope on the eve of his Inauguration that Obama would be a wise and middle/left pragmatic President that would attempt to unite the United States. That hope proved to be false. He has squandered an historic opportunity. He talked a good game during the "transition" and in the days following the inauguration. Unfortunately, as he did during the campaign he said one thing and did another. Oh, he invited some Republicans over to the White House for "photo ops" but he allowed Nancy Palosi and the Democrats to write the stimulus package with little or no input from Republicans. Of 219 Republicans in the House and Senate 216 did not support it. Only three Republicans in the Senate voted for it, the bear minimum to avoid a filibuster.

The stimulus was loaded up with "pork" for the left/liberal constituencies of the Democrat party. It was as if an alcoholic was set loose in a liquor store after being "on the waggon" for 12 years. If he had wanted to he could have worked up a stimulus package that would have had bipartisan support. He could have picked up at least 10 Republicans in the Senate had he worked with John McCain and Lindsy Graham.He needed to do as Bill Clinton did and "triangulate" between the White House, the Democrat leaders in the House and Senate and the moderate Republicans in the Senate.That would have been the smart thing to do and would have been good for him politically and good policy for the County. He needed to bring all the parties together and "roll up their sleeves" and hammer out a compromise stimulus package that would have worked for America. This country in these tough economic times needs a smart stimulus package that would get us out of this recession. Instead, he went into campaign mode and abandoned the legislative process and went to Indiana and Florida for campaign style "town hall meetings." Obama spent so little time actually in the Senate when he was a Senator that he didn't know how to get things done and was "rolled" by Speaker Nancy Palosi and Democrat Majority Leader Harry Reid. While Obama was out "campaigning" and attacking Republicans the Democrat leaders met in secret meetings in the middle of the night, without any Republican leaders being present, to hammer out the details of the stimulus package.

We now have the Obama economy . It was purchased with $787 billion dollars of your money..... NO, actually it is a $787 billion dollar IOU signed by you to the Chinese government and others to be paid by our children and grandchildren with interest in generations to come. If it works in the long term Obama and the Democrats will reap the political rewards. If it fails,as I am afraid it will, then the storm of anger will sweep them from office.

The stimulus package will further bloat our already bloated government which is a weight around the neck of our economy. Government will be competing with employers, who actually provide real jobs, for a dwindling supply of money. The small amount of tax cuts will be too little too late. A recession that could have been short will now go on and on and could turn into a long 1930's style DEPRESSION!.If you think government is good at what it does remember your last trip to the DMV. Yes, the Honeymoon is over and welcome to the Obama economy! I feel bad for all of us!

State of Oregon's 150th Birthday!

February 14, 1859 - February 14 2009

Happy Birthday Oregon! 150 years ago today Oregon joined the Union to become part of the United States of America. How stands the Union! Oregon joined just in time to give its electoral votes to Abraham Lincoln in the 1860 Presidential election that elected Lincoln and was part of the Union during the Civil War.

Oregon, My Oregon
Words by J.A. Buchanan
Music by Henry B. Murtagh

Land of the Empire Builders, Land of the Golden West;
Conquered and held by free men, Fairest and the best.
On-ward and upward ever, Forward and on, and on;
Hail to thee, Land of the Heroes, My Oregon.

Land of the rose and sunshine, Land of the summer's breeze;
Laden with health and vigor, Fresh from the western seas.
Blest by the blood of martyrs, Land of the setting sun;
Hail to thee, Land of Promise, My Oregon.

Happy Valentine's Day

February 14..... Five(5) weddings today!

Strike Four: Gregg drops Obama

Republican Senator Judd Gregg from New Hampshire lived up to his states independent nature as exemplified by the state motto, "Life free or die" by withdrawing his nomination to be Barak Obama's Commerce Secretary in the President's cabinet. He issued the following statement:

"However, it has become apparent during this process that this will not work for me as I have found that on issues such as the stimulus package and the Census there are irresolvable conflicts for me. Prior to accepting this post, we had discussed these and other potential differences, but unfortunately we did not adequately focus on these concerns. We are functioning from a different set of views on many critical items of policy.

Unlike the other three Obama nominees that have had to withdraw because of not paying taxes( Nancy Killere and Tom Daschle) or or criminal investigations( Gov Bill Richardson) Senator Gregg withdrew due to policy differences with Obama over the alleged stimulus package and the politicization of the census bureau. Sounds like a "Profile in Courage".

UPDATE

Larry Kudlow of CNBC:

Judd Gregg has more backbone than anyone in politics today. He did his best to cross over and help Pres. Obama. But as Gregg and I discussed in a recent CNBC interview, the senator has a long and outstanding record as a tax-cutter, budget-cutter, deficit-cutter, and debt-cutter. All of these principles have been badly violated in the so-called stimulus package. And of course the White House move to steal the Census Bureau during a crucial political-reapportionment period was a low blow.
But how many major public figures would have simply drawn a line in the sand and said, No, I simply cannot cross that line? That’s what Gregg just did.

With so many weak-kneed leaders in business and politics today, Gregg has just provided an incredibly strong leadership example. If you can’t wake up in the morning and look at yourself in the mirror in good conscience, then you’re doing something wrong. There’s a right way and a wrong way in life. Gregg chose the right way.

You know what? He ought to think very seriously about a presidential run. I mean it. This is an act of courage. That’s what we need.

UPDATE 2

National Review predicts Obama's response: "This is not the Judd Gregg I knew."

Dimitri Tiomkin

As a John Wayne movie buff I have become a real fan of the music composer Dimitri Tiomkin and have many of his movie themes on CD. According to Wikipedia:

Dmitri Tiomkin) (May 10, 1894 – November 11, 1979) was a film score composer and conductor. Along with Max Steiner, Miklós Rózsa and Franz Waxman, Tiomkin was one of the most productive and decorated film music writers of Hollywood.


Many classic scores followed, many of which were Western movies, like High Noon (1952), Giant (1956), Friendly Persuasion (1956), Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957), Rio Bravo (1959), The Alamo (1960), The Guns of Navarone (1961), Town Without Pity (1961), 55 Days at Peking (1963), The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964), and The War Wagon (1967).

He was the first composer to receive two Oscars (score and song) for the same dramatic film, High Noon. The film uses a song to introduce the film and the lyrics tell the whole story in under 2 minutes and 30 seconds.[3]

He was nominated a number of times for Acadamy Awards and won four Oscars as follows:

Academy Awards, USA
1972 - nominated for "Best Music, Scoring Adaptation and Original Song" Score for Chaikovsky (1969)

1965 - nominated for "Best Music, Score - Substantially Original" for: The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964)

1964 - nominated for "Best Music, Original Song" and "Best Music, Score - Substantially Original" for 55 Days at Peking (1963)

1962 - nominated for "Best Music, Original Song" for Town Without Pity (1961) AND for "Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture" for The Guns of Navarone (1961)

1961 - nominated for "Best Music, Original Song" and for "Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture" for The Alamo (1960)

1961 - nominated for "Best Music, Original Song" for The Young Land (1959)
1959 - won an Oscar for "Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture" for The Old Man and the Sea (1958)

1958 - nominated for "Best Music, Original Song" for Wild Is the Wind (1957)

1957 - nominated for "Best Music, Original Song" for Friendly Persuasion, "Best Scoring of a Dramatic Picture" for "Giant" (1956)

1955 - nominated for "Best Music, Original Song" for The High and the Mighty (1954) and won an Oscar for "Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture" for the same movie

1953 - won (with Ned Washington) an Oscar for "Best Music, Original Song" for High Noon (1952) for "Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin'", sung by Tex Ritter 1953 - won an Oscar for "Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture" for High Noon (1952)

1950 - nominated for "Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture" for Champion (1949)

1945 - nominated for "Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture" for The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1944)

1944 - nominated for "Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture" for The Moon and Sixpence (1943)

1943 - nominated for "Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture" for The Corsican Brothers (1941)

1940 - nominated for "Best Music, Scoring" for Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

My favorite John Wayne Movie scores by Tiomkin are:

1. Red River
2. The High and the Mighty
3. The Alamo
4. Rio Bravo
5. The War Waggon

He also did the theme for the Clint Eastwood TV series "Rawhide" and did Frank Capra's "Mr Smith Goes to Washington" and "It's a Wonderful Life"
Click on the title for a link to more information about Demitri Tiomkin at dimitritiomkin.com. Check it out, it is a great site and has audio clips of his musical scores.

200th Birthday, Abraham Lincoln (1809-2009)

“Now he belongs to the ages.”

Whenever I visit Washington DC there is one place I have to always revisit and that is the Lincoln Memorial.

On February 12, 2009, the annual wreath laying ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial will commemorate Lincoln's 200th birthday. 1809 to 2009

"Property is the fruit of labor...property is desirable...is a positive good in the world. That some should be rich shows that others may become rich, and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprise. Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another; but let him labor diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built".

The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume VII, "Reply to New York Workingmen's Democratic Republican Association" (March 21, 1864), pp. 259-260.

"#13: The Best Conservative Movies of the Last 25 Years "

National Review online is listing the top 25 conservative movies in the last 25 years and one of my favorites movies of all time is in at # 13. The post on National Review online "The Corner" Blog is as follows:

Braveheart (1995): Forget the travesty this soaring action film makes of the historical record. Braveheart raised its hero, medieval Scottish warrior William Wallace, to the level of myth and won five Oscars, including best director for Mel Gibson, who played Wallace as he led a spirited revolt against English tyranny. Braveheart taught that freedom is not just worth dying for, but also worth killing for, in defense of hearth and homeland. Six years later, amid the ruins of the Twin Towers, Gibson’s message resonated with a generation of American youth who signed up to fight terrorists, instead of inviting them to join a “constructive dialogue.” Liberals have never forgiven Gibson since.

WILLIAM WALLACE: Aye, I *am* William Wallace! And I see a whole army of my countrymen, here in defiance of tyranny. You've come to fight as free men... and free men you are. What will you do with that freedom? Will you fight? .......
Fight and you may die. Run, and you'll live... at least a while. And dying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willin' to trade ALL the days, from this day to that, for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take... OUR FREEDOM!

allmusic.com

One of the great things about the Internet is no matter how long you explore it you are always discovering something new. Allmusic.com is the music equivalent of the Internet Movie Database (IMDB)Last week I discovered the Internet radio page for Pandora (see post below). While on Pandora I kept reading reviews of record (CD) albums and biography's of music artist and they kept refereeing to allmusic as the source. As a result I plugged "allmusic" into Google and found the site. This is what Wikipedia writes about the site:

Allmusic ... claims to have the world's largest digital archive of music, including approximately six million songs fully digitized, as well as the world's largest cover art library, with over half a million cover image scans.....Allmusic is also used to provide data including catalog data, artist biographies, album reviews, related artist information, playlist

Allmusic has biography's and discography's for just about every artist and reviews for most of their albums. It's a great source of information and reviews to use before you purchase a CD or a reference source while you are listening to the Cd's you own. Click on the title for a link

GO TO: http://www.nostimulus.com/

Go to the above site and sign the petition against the special interests trying to take your hard earned money.

Only 3.6% of the scheme’s $825 billion price tag would actually go to real, practical infrastructure projects--roads and bridges.

Most of the other 96.4% would go to special interest pet projects, and to cramming years’ worth of radical policy changes into the single largest spending and debt scheme in history.

Even the Congressional Budget Office, the official scorekeeper of the economic impact of legislation, has said that it would, on balance, hurt the economy.

The Generational Theft Act of 2009!

The stimulus package the U.S. Congress is completing would raise the government’s commitment to solving the financial crisis to $9.7 trillion, enough to pay off more than 90 percent of the nation’s home mortgages. .....

The pledges, amounting to almost two-thirds of the value of everything produced in the U.S. last year, .....

The $9.7 trillion in pledges would be enough to send a $1,430 check to every man, woman and child alive in the world.

(Click on the title for the full news story from Bloomberg.com)

Happy Birthday!

I remember the day oh so many years ago this week. Happy Birthday!

Oregon's Mathew Knight Arena Groundbreaking Draws Stars

They have been digging for weeks (I have been watching on the web cam) but today the University of Oregon had the official groundbreaking ceremony at the site of the new Basketball Arena which will replace Mac Court. The big news at the event was the announcement Athletic Director, Pat Kilkenny, will be donating 5 million dollars toward the cost of the arena and they will name the playing surface for him. A number of celebrities were at the event; former Oregon QB Dennis Dixon with his Super Bowl ring (he is with the Pittsburgh Steelers), Ahmad Rashad, Rear Adm. John Dick who was on the the 1939 UO national championship team in basketball,university president Dave Frohnmayer, men's basketball coach Ernie Kent, and Phil Knight with the widow and children of Mathew Knight, his deceased son, for whom the Arena will be named.

To read the Oregonian's story on the ceremony click on the title for a link.

Oregon fans owe a lot to President Dave Frohnmayer, AD Pat Kilkenny, Assistant AD Jim Bartko, and to Phil Knight. Without their tremendous efforts this would not have happened. As has been recorded on this blog there have been many roadblocks on the path to construction of the arena. It's fitting that the Oregonian's Rachel Bachman, a major critic of the project, was there today to report on the ceremony.

UPDATE: Press release from the Oregon Athletic Department:

Beneath a winter sky and before a crowd of community and civic supporters, donors, faculty and staff, University of Oregon President Dave Frohnmayer, UO Athletics Director Pat Kilkenny, and Nike Founder Phil Knight planted commemorative shovels in the ground to officially mark the start of construction of the new Matthew Knight Arena.

Work to move approximately 351,000 cubic yards of dirt began a week ago; however, crews stopped today to celebrate the road from Mac Court to Matt Court, the latter nickname bestowed on the new 12,500-seat arena named after Phil and Penny Knight’s late son, Matthew.

“Putting our shovels to the ground today is a gesture of thanks to everyone who understands what the Matthew Knight Arena means to us,” said Frohnmayer. “This ceremony is, in particular, a thanks to Phil and Penny Knight and others who understood that hopes must be connected to reality, in this case a beautiful new arena that can serve as a site for those hopes.” The Knights donated a lead gift of $100 million to the Legacy Fund, a fund designed to help move the athletic department from a self-supporting division of the university to a self-sustaining division.

It was also a day to recognize another generous donation to the University of Oregon from Pat Kilkenny and his family. In recognition of the $5 million gift to the arena project, Frohnmayer announced that the arena’s court will be named “Kilkenny Court.”

Kilkenny’s family was in attendance for the event, including his wife, Stephanie, his father, Bob, and stepmoth-er, Eva. “This donation moves this project forward,” said Frohnmayer. “It is an example of the community-wide giving that has brought us to this ground today and sets a wonderful tone for the future success of this arena,”

Frohnmayer emphasized the economic benefits to the community and region in his remarks, citing a conservative estimate that the $200 million spent on construction will reap 1.5 to 2 times that amount in local economic activity. Additional personnel needed to run the new arena will create $829,000 annually in new local salaries.

Retired Navy Rear Adm. John Dick, the last living starter from the very first NCAA National Basketball Cham-pionship team – the 1939 UO men’s basketball team -- was a special guest at today’s event. Dick played in McArthur Court, along with other members of the “Tall Firs,” when the building was barely more than a decade old.

Activities related to the groundbreaking are planned for the men’s basketball game, scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m. in McArthur Court. The UO Ducks are hosting the Arizona Wildcats; Frohnmayer, Kilkenny and Knight will participate in a pre-game ceremonial tip-off.

More details about the arena, including the seating plan, ticket pricing and the timeline for selecting and pur-chasing tickets are available online at www.godunks.net, the Web site devoted exclusively to the arena.

South Medford beats Sheldon 67 to 66

Tonight the South Medford Panthers beat the Sheldon Irish in Eugene to claim sole possession of 2nd place in the Southwestern Conference in boys high school basketball. If South Medford wins out including their final game at home against Sheldon on February 26th they will win the conferences first slot in the state playoffs. Go Panthers.

UPDATE: University of Oregon bound Kyle Singler scored 33 points in the game for the South Medford Panthers.

Top 10 reasons to oppose the Generational Theft Act of 2009

Click on title for a link.

Mitt Romney: Obama's spending bill would stimulate the government rather than the economy.

These are extraordinary times, and like a lot of Republicans I believe that a well-crafted stimulus plan is needed to put people back to work. But the Obama spending bill would stimulate the government, not the economy.


We're on an economic tightrope. The package that passed the House is a huge increase in the amount of government borrowing. And we've borrowed so much already that if we add too much more debt, or spend foolishly, we could invite an even bigger crisis.

We could precipitate a worldwide crisis of confidence in America, leading to a run on the dollar or hyperinflation that wipes out family savings and devastates the middle class.

It's still early in the administration of President Obama. Like everyone who loves this country, I want him to adopt the correct course and then to succeed. He still has a chance to step in and insist on spending discipline among the members of his own party.

It's his job to set priorities. I hope for America's sake that he knows that a chief executive can't vote "present." He has to say yes to some things and no to a lot of others.

As someone who spent a career in the private sector, I'd like to see a stimulus package that respects the productivity and genius of the American people. And experience shows us what it should look like.

First, there are two ways you can put money into the economy, by spending more or by taxing less. But if it's stimulus you want, taxing less works best. That's why permanent tax cuts should be the centerpiece of the economic stimulus.


Second, any new spending must be strictly limited to projects that are essential. How do we define essential? Well, a good rule is that the projects we fund in a stimulus should be legitimate government priorities that would have been carried out in the future anyway, and are simply being moved up to create those jobs now.

As we take out nonessential projects, we should focus on funding the real needs of government that will have immediate impact. And what better place to begin than repairing and replacing military equipment that was damaged or destroyed in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan?

Third, sending out rebate checks to citizens and businesses is not a tax cut. The media bought this line so far, but they've got it wrong. Checks in the mail are refunds, not tax cuts. We tried rebate checks in 2008 and they did virtually nothing to jump-start the economy. Disposable income went up, but consumption hardly moved.

Businesses aren't stupid. They're not going to invest in equipment and new hires for a one-time, short-term blip. What's needed are permanent rate cuts on individuals and businesses.

Fourth, if we're going to tax less and spend more to get the economy moving, then we have to make another commitment as well. As soon as this economy recovers, we have to regain control over the federal budget, and above all, over entitlement spending for programs such as Social Security and Medicare. This is more important than most people are willing to admit.

There is a real danger that with trillions of additional borrowing -- from the budget deficit and from the stimulus -- world investors will begin to fear that our dollars won't be worth much in the future. It is essential that we demonstrate our commitment to maintaining the value of the dollar. That means showing the world that we will put a stop to runaway spending and borrowing.

Fifth, we must begin to recover from the enormous losses in the capital investment pool. And the surest, most obvious way to get that done is to send a clear signal that there will be no tax increases on investment and capital gains. The 2001 and 2003 tax cuts should be extended permanently, or at least temporarily.

And finally, let's exercise restraint in the size of the stimulus package. Last year, with the economy already faltering, I proposed a stimulus of $233 billion. The Washington Post said: "Romney's plan is way too big." So what critique will the media have for the size of the Obama package?


In the final analysis, we know that only the private sector -- entrepreneurs and businesses large and small -- can create the millions of jobs our country needs. The invisible hand of the market always moves faster and better than the heavy hand of government

Pandora.... Not your Grandfather's Radio

Yesterday, based upon a tip from a friend of my wife's I discovered a new website called Pandora. Click on the title above for a link. Pandora lets you program your computer to become a radio that plays stations that only play songs from artist you like. No this is not like other sites where you have a choice of "classical" or "Oldies, etc. You put in the name of your favorites artist and that station only plays music from that artist or similar artists. For example, I put in "Simon & Garfunkel" and the station will only play Simon and Garfunkel type music. You will get Peter Paul and Mary, John Denver, etc. I put in "Bob Dylan" and was given a choice of Bob Dylan with The Band, Early Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan Blues etc. What's fun, is it will play artists and or songs you never heard of that are like for example Simon & Garfunkel. I heard the Kingston Trio sing "Shenandoah" which I had never heard before and I am fairly knowledgeable about the Kingston Trio. It was a wonderful version of the song. While playing a song you can get additional information about the artist or the album. The album cover is also displayed.This is what Wikipedia says about the site:

Pandora is an automated music recommendation and Internet radio service created by the Music Genome Project. Users enter a song or artist that they enjoy, and the service responds by playing selections that are musically similar. Users provide feedback on approval or disapproval — which Pandora takes into account for future selections.

While listening, users are offered the ability to buy the songs or albums at Amazon MP3, Amazon.com (for CDs), or the iTunes Store. Over 400 different musical attributes (see List of Music Genome Project attributes) are considered when selecting the next song. These 400 attributes are combined into larger groups called focus traits. There are 2,000 focus traits. Examples of these are rhythm syncopation, key tonality, vocal harmonies and displayed instrumental proficiency.....

Choosing one artist results in all that artist's catalogued styles being used as a starting point, which may include those which may not be considered representative. Selecting representative tracks by the artist may give results closer to what was intended.

Each track played can be responded to in four ways:

Thumbs up - Play more like this.
No response - No change in preference.
Thumbs down - Do not play this track again, play fewer that are similar. Also skips if any skips are left.
A second negative response to the same artist will ban that artist from the selected playlist unless that artist or at least one of their songs has been manually added to the playlist or has received at least one positive vote.
In addition, a menu is provided with the choices: Don't play this song for a month, Why was this song selected?, Move song to another station, Bookmark, and Buy.....

LimitationsThe content licensing imposes a number of restrictions:

Only six skips per hour are allowed, including those resulting from a thumbs down response. Previously, if at least two music stations had been created, switching from the current playing station to a different one and back allowed skipping past the built-in limitation. However, this has been changed so that when the user switches back, the station will still be playing the same song. However, one can still change the song through refreshing the player (provided it is not in mini mode, though some web browsers such as Firefox will provide a URL bar which can be used for refreshing the player). Additionally, the songs continue playing regardless of whether the station is being listened to. If one waits long enough before returning to that station, the song will have played entirely and will move to the next song.
Play of a single artist is limited. Pandora provides similar music, not a play-on-demand service.

The radio pictured above is a console radio like my parents had when I was a little kid. I can remember being barly able to reach the knobs. I remember listing to part of the 1952 Republican Convention on such a radio along with radio programs like "The Shadow" in the days before we had TV.

“Who knows what evil lurks in the heart of men? The Shadow knows.”

NEW OREGON DUCKS

The following is the press release issued by the University of Oregon on the new 2009 football recruits who signed letters of intent yesterday to play football for the University of Oregon Ducks:


EUGENE, Ore. -- Mike Bellotti admitted it will likely be at least two years before he can truly evaluate Wednesday's Signing Day class, but on the surface it appears very strong. The 14-year head coach announced that 20 high school players and four junior college student-athletes have submitted National Letters of Intent (NLIs) to attend the University of Oregon in 2009-10.
The Ducks tapped the State of California for 15 recruits and one each from nine other states, ranging geographically from Pennsylvania to Hawaii. UO projects 14 of the 24 players will play on defense, with the defensive line (8) seeing the biggest boost from a depth standpoint.


High School Recruits (Alphabetical)

• Anderson, Anthony DL
6-4, 222 - La Mesa, Calif. (Helix HS)
Played outside linebacker and defensive end under head coach Troy Starr, who was on Urban Meyer’s Florida staff in 2007, at Helix High School of the Grossmont-South League ... Was a Union-Tribune All-San Diego Second-Team Defense selection ... A three-star recruit according to both Rivals.com and Scout.com ... Ranked the No. 38 defensive end in the nation by Scout.com and the No. 60 defensive end by Rivals.com ... Team posted a 10-2-1 record in his senior season and won eight straight games before falling to Oceanside HS in the San Diego Section championship game played at Qualcomm Stadium, 18 days before Oregon defeated Oklahoma State on same field in the Holiday Bowl ... Was hosted by Kenjon Barner on his official visit to Eugene ... Also plays basketball for the Highlanders.

• Arden, Keaton DL
6-5, 225 - Piedmont, Calif. (Piedmont HS)
Named one of the top-20 players in the Bay Area (No. 9) in The Contra Costa Times ‘Cream of the Crop’ ... Played wide receiver and linebacker under head coach Kurt Bryan at Piedmont High School of the Bay Shore League ... Had 31 tackles in his junior season ... A two-star recruit according to Scout.com ... The Highlanders posted an 8-3 record his senior season, winning five straight games to finish the regular season before losing to Fortuna in the first round of the state playoffs ... Piedmont coaches Bryan and Steve Humphries invented the A-11 offense, an exotic offense at the high school level that features two quarterbacks and all 11 players on the field are eligible to catch a pass (only three linemen).

• Armstrong, Karrington OL
6-2, 296 - Reno, Nev. (McQueen HS)
A 2007 all-state selection at offensive guard ... Played offensive and defensive line for head coach Ken Dalton at McQueen High School of the Northern - High Desert League ... A three-star recruit according to both Rivals.com and Scout.com ... Ranked as the No. 48 offensive guard in the nation by Rivals.com and the No. 66 defensive tackle by Scout.com ... Team posted a flawless 14-0 record and won the state championship by defeating Palo Verde (Las Vegas) 13-12 at the University of Nevada’s Mackay Stadium ... Armstrong had four tackles in the contest ... The Lancers outscored their opponents 579-100 on the season, including five shutouts (one in the playoffs) ... Also a state champion heavyweight wrestler in his junior season.

• Benyard III, Everett OL
6-7, 315 - San Diego, Calif. (Cathedral Catholic HS)
A 2008 Union-Tribune All-San Diego First-Team Offense selection .... Played on the offensive line for head coach Sean Doyle at Cathedral High School of the Eastern League ... Two-time Eastern League First-Team ... Named a three-star recruit by both Scout.com and Rivals.com ... Ranked the No. 32 and No. 69 offensive tackle by Scout.com and Rivals.com, respectively ... Team went 14-0 his senior season and defeated St. Mary’s (Stockton, Calif.) 37-34 in the Division II state football championship game held at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. ... Benyard opened holes for teammate and four-star RB/FB prospect, Tyler Gaffney, who scampered for 329 yards and five touchdowns in the state title game ... Cathedral ran for 4,278 yards and passed for 2,616 yards on the season (second in state in total offense (492.4 yds/g), fourth in scoring (47.2 pts/g) and ninth in rushing).

• Bowlin, Mike PK
6-3, 192 - Aliso Viejo, Calif. (Aliso Niguel HS)
A Tacoma News Tribune Northwest 100 selection ... South Coast League Special Teams Player of the Year ... Also named Second-Team All South Coast League Defense (Defensive Line) ... Played football, baseball and competed in wrestling and track and field at Aliso Niguel HS ... A four-year student of the West Coast Kicking Academy ... Three-time (2006-08) participant of Chris Sailer National Kicking and Snapping Event ... Winner of ‘Coffin Corner’ Punt competition and finalist in ‘Last Man Standing Kick-Off’ competition at Chris Sailer Camp ...

• Brown, Justin DL
6-2, 268 - Compton, Calif. (Compton HS)
Played on the interior of the defensive line for head coach Calvin Bryant at Compton High School of the Moore League ... Ranked the No. 73 defensive tackle prospect in the nation by Scout.com and the No. 65 DT by Rivals.com ... A two-star recruit by Scout and three-star by Rivals ... A first-team all-Moore League selection on both the defensive and offensive lines ... Finished senior season with 69 tackles, four sacks and one interception ... Had 81 tackles and five sacks as a junior from the defensive tackle position ... Named to the Rivals.com California Preseason Top 100 for the class of 2009 as the Golden State’s No. 45 overall prospect.


• Burrell, Jamaal OL
6-4, 276 - Compton, Calif. (Dominguez HS)
A 2008 All-L.A. Wave Newspapers First-Team Offense selection ... Played offensive and defensive tackle for head coach Willie Donerson at Dominquez HS of the San Gabriel Valley League ... Named a two star recruit by Scout.com and a three star player by Rivals.com ... Played in a running offense as the Dons posted 2,039 yards on the ground in 2008 as opposed to just 393 yards passing ... Started high school career at Summit HS (Fontana, Calif.) ... Played HS football for two years.

• Clay, Michael LB
5-11, 220 - San Jose, Calif. (Bellarmine College Prep)
A two-time All-Mercury News first-team selection ... A Tacoma News Tribune Northwest 100 selection ... Played fullback and linebacker for head coach Mike Janda at Bellarmine Prep of the West Catholic League ... Named the No. 4 linebacker in California by Superprep Magazine ... Was named the West Catholic League Linebacker of the Year in 2008 with 81 tackles, seven sacks and four picks and again in 2007 after tallying 110 tackles in his junior season ... 2008 GoldenStatePreps All-Northern California First-Team Defense ... Named a four-star recruit and the nation’s No. 14 weakside linebacker by Scout.com and a three-star recruit and the country’s No. 3 outside linebacker by Rivals.com ... High School team went 12-1 in his senior season, with a 21-0 shutout victory against Valley Christian in the Central Coast Section Championship game ... Bellarmine limited opponents to just 111 points on the season.

• Cole, Nick WR/S
6-3, 185 - Concord, Calif. (Clayton Valley HS)
ESPN Rise California All-State Selection (Defense - DB) ... Played wide receiver and safety for head coach Herc Pardi at Clayton Valley High School of the Diablo Valley League ... Caught 46 passes for 990 yards (21.5 avg) and 12 touchdowns as a senior ... Two best games came in playoffs as he tallied 170 yards (season-high) and one touchdown on six catches in the first round against Casa Grande and seven catches for 128 yards and three touchdowns (season-high) in the second round against Las Lomas HS ... Had one interception and one fumble recovery on defense in CVHS’ 17-7 loss to Cardinal Newman in the NCS Division II Championship on Dec. 13 ... 2008 GoldenStatePreps All-Northern California Second-Team Defense (DB).

• Fox, Trevor OL
6-5, 287 - Temecula, Calif. (Chaparral HS)
Played offensive guard and tackle for head coach Tom Leach at Chaparral of the Southwestern League ... All-SWL First-Team Offense ... All-CIF ... All-Riverside County ... Second-Team All-California ... Named the No. 79 player in the Far West Region (Calif., Nev., Hawaii) by Superprep Magazine ... Ranked as the No. 73 guard in the nation by Rivals.com and the No. 35 OG by Scout.com ... Named a three star recruit by both major recruiting services ... Team advanced to the Inland title game in his senior season but fell to Centennial (Corona, Calif.) ... Will join former teammate, Talmadge Jackson III on the Ducks’ roster ... Chaparral rushed for 3,081 yards (220.1 yds/g) and passed for 1,917 yards in 2008, averaging 34.9 points per game.

• Harris, Cliff CB/S
5-11, 168 - Fresno, Calif. (Edison HS) *U.S. Army All-American
2009 U.S. Army All-American ... Named the No. 7 recruit in the state of California by The Contra Costa Times ... A 2009 ‘Best in the West’ selection (No. 10 overall, No. 2 DB) by the Long Beach Press-Telegram ... A Tacoma News Tribune Northwest 100 selection ... An all-state third-team selection ... ESPN Rise California All-State Selection (Defense - DB) ... Played cornerback and wide receiver for head coach and former 49er, Tim McDonald at Edison HS of the County/Metro League ... Ranked the No. 7 and No. 6 cornerback in the nation by Rivals.com and Scout.com, respectively ... Both services rated Harris a four-star recruit ... Named the No. 10 defensive back prospect in the nation by Superprep Magazine ... Had six interceptions his senior season to go with one kickoff and one punt return for touchdown ... Had nine interceptions to go with a kick and a punt return for touchdown as a junior ... Scout.com analyst Brandon Huffman said Harris is “the best cover corner in the country” ... Edison HS finished second in the County/Metro League and advanced to the second round of the state playoffs.

• Hart, Taylor DL
6-6, 256 - Tualatin, Ore. (Tualatin HS)
A first-team all-state selection on both offense (tackle) and defense (end) ... Hart played for head coach Craig Hastin at Tualatin, of the 6A Pacific League ... A Tacoma News Tribune Northwest 100 selection ... A Tacoma News Tribune ‘Northwest Nuggets’ Honorable Mention ... Ranked as the No. 26 defensive end in that nation according Rivals.com and ranked the No. 45 DE and No. 27 overall player in the Northwest Hot 100 by Scout.com ... Named a three star recruit by both recruiting services ... The No. 1 player in the state of Oregon according to Superprep Magazine ... Lost to Beaverton in the second round of the state playoffs this season after defeating Beaverton in the regular season ... Father is a UO graduate ... Attended first Oregon game (against USC) when he was eight years old.


• Hawkins, Daryle ATH
6-4, 190 - Omaha, Neb. (Omaha Central HS)
Played for head coach Jay Ball at Omaha Central High School of the A District 3 League ... Lined up at wide receiver for the Eagles in his junior season as the team took home the Nebraska Class A state championship ... Named the starting quarterback to begin his senior season but injured his collarbone in the second game ... Returned to the line-up for final two games ... Had 540 yards of total offense in the 3+ games he played in 2008 ... Team went 2-1 with him in the line-up, 0-6 without ... A prolific track competitor in high school ... Took home a state title in the triple jump, second in the state in long jump ... Had the fastest prelim time in the 110m hurdles but rolled ankle before the finals and still took third ... Metro-Conference 110m and 110m hurdles champion ... One star recruit by Scout.com, two stars from Rivals.com ... Played football, track and basketball in each of his four years in high school ... Basketball team has won the Nebraska state title in three of his four years ... Went to same HS as Ahman Green and Gayle Sayers.

• Jackson, Brian CB/S
5-10, 193 - Hoover, Ala. (Hoover HS)
Played for head coach Josh Niblett at Hoover High School of the 6A Region Six League ... Jackson had 161 tackles and three interceptions in his senior season and was named Alabama Sports Writers Association First-Team All-State as a defensive back and All-Metro First-Team as a safety ... Ranked the No. 85 safety in nation by Rivals.com and the No. 71 cornerback by Scout.com ... Named a three-star recruit by both services ... Team advanced to the state championship game but lost to Prattville 16-13 to finish with a 13-2 record on the season.

• Jackson, Diante WR
6-2, 200 - Walnut Creek, Calif. (Las Lomas HS)
Named one of the top-20 players in the Bay Area (No. 1) in The Contra Costa Times ‘Cream of the Crop’ ... A Tacoma News Tribune Northwest 100 selection ... Played both wide receiver and safety for head coach Doug Longero at Las Lomas High School of the Diablo Foothill League ... Grabbed 61 passes for 1,021 yards and 16 touchdowns as a senior ... Had 65 catches for 1,283 yards and 19 TDs as a junior ... The No. 32 player in the Far West Region (Calif., Nev., Hawaii) according to Superprep Magazine ... 2008 GoldenStatePreps All-Northern California First-Team Offense ... Ranked the No. 47 wide receiver in the nation according to Rivals.com, the No. 37 wideout by Scout.com ... A four-star recruit by both recruiting services ... Team advanced to the third round of the North Coast Section state playoffs.

• Keliikipi, Wade DL
6-3, 285 - Wai’anae, Hawaii (Wai’anae HS)
Named Hawaii’s top DT prospect in 2009 by Superprep Magazine and the No. 59 recruit overall in the West Region ... Played for head coach Danny Matsumoto at Wai’anae High School of the Oahu Red-West League ... Two star recruit by scout.com ... Ranked the No. 70 defensive tackle and the No. 20 player overall in the Northwest Hot 100 by Scout.com ... Two star recruit by Rivals.com ... Team posted a 5-6 overall record in 2008 and 9-4 in 2007 ... Team nicknamed the Seariders.

• Lane, Braxton WR
5-11, 192 - Tyrone, Ga. (Sandy Creek HS)
Member of both the Atlanta-Journal Constitution’s Super Southern 100 and The Georgia 150 ... Grabbed 55 receptions for 1,072 yards and 11 touchdowns in junior season ... Did not play football as a senior ... Named the Fayette County Offensive Player of the Year and was an All-State honorable mention ... Father, Carl Lane, played football at Oregon State while uncle, MacArthur Lane, played running back for the Green Bay Packers ... A highly-rated baseball prospect, hit .416 batting average with one home run and 29 stolen bases in 2007 ... A switch-hitting outfielder, named to the 2008 Aflac All-American High School Baseball roster ... A 2009 Under Armour Baseball All-American ... Would like to play both football and baseball in college.

• Lokombo, Boseko LB
6-3, 226 - Abbotsford, British Columbia (W.J. Mouat Secondary)
Received votes in the 2009 ‘Best in the West’ by the Long Beach Press-Telegram ... A Tacoma News Tribune ‘Northwest Nuggets’ Honorable Mention ... A Tacoma News Tribune Northwest 100 selection ... Made 47 tackles with four interceptions as a senior at W.J. Mouat Secondary ... Named a four-star recruit and the No. 10 middle linebacker prospect in the nation and the No. 5 player overall in the Northwest Hot 100 by Scout.com and a three-star recruit and No. 27 outside linebacker by Rivals.com ... The top Canadian recruit according to Superprep Magazine ... Also played wide receiver and running back in high school ... Ran for 1556 yards on 107 carries (14.54 avg/c) and 22 touchdowns and caught 37 passes for 728 yards in senior season ... Named Provincial AAA Eastern Conference All-Star Offensive MVP ... Also returned punts and kickoffs ... Has some local connections, as he played his junior season at South Eugene HS, where he tallied more than 50 tackles ... Born in the Congo but moved to Montreal in 1996.


• Patterson, Avery CB/S
5-10, 171 - Pittsburg, Calif. (Pittsburg Senior HS)
Named one of the top-20 players in the Bay Area (No. 2) in The Contra Costa Times ‘Cream of the Crop’ ... ESPN Rise California All-State Selection (Defense - DB) ... Played running back and cornerback for head coach Victor Galli at Pittsburg High School of the Bay Valley League ... Had 50 tackles, three interceptions, 10 PBU, 20 passes defensed and recovered a blocked punt for a touchdown on defense and rushed for two touchdowns on 20 carries with 205 yards and had three receptions for 30 yards on offense ... Named First Team All-BVAL, First Team All-East Bay and First Team All-NorCal following his senior season ... 2008 GoldenStatePreps All-Northern California First-Team Defense ... The No. 80 recruit in the Far West Region (Calif., Nev., Hawaii) by Superprep Magazine ... Graduate of same high school as former Duck Ra'Shon Harris.

• Rice, Jackson P
6-3, 225 - Moraga, Calif. (Campolindo HS) *U.S. Army All-American
2009 U.S. Army All-American ... A Tacoma News Tribune Northwest 100 selection (both as an athlete and punter) ... 2008-09 HS Maxwell Award Winner for best punter in 2009 class ... Rated the No. 1 punter in the nation by Scout.com, No. 2 punter by Rivals.com and ESPN.com ... Played for head coach Kevin Macy at Campolindo HS of the Diablo Foothill League ... Averaged 47.6 yards per punt in his senior season ... A first-team All-Contra Costa County selection ... Named one of the top-20 players in the Bay Area (No. 7) in The Contra Costa Times ‘Cream of the Crop’, first selection from Campolindo since 1999 ... Rated as the No. 17 kicker overall by Rivals.com ... A three-star recruit by Scout.com and a two-star according to Rivals.com ... A Chris Sailer Top-12 Selection ... Team lost in the second round of the California North Coast Section playoffs ... Father, Mike Rice, was an NFL punter with the New York Jets.

Junior College Recruits (Alphabetical)

• Clark, Zac DL
6-2, 256 - Wichita, Kan. (Wichita North HS/Butler County C.C. (Kan.))
Ranked the No. 72 JC player in the nation by Rivals.com ... The No. 82 overall JC player nationally by Scout.com ... A three-star recruit by both Rivals and Scout ... Played in 11 games in 2008, with 78 tackles, 19 TFL, 11 sacks, 14 QB hits, one interception and a pair of forced fumbles ... Team won the NJCAA National Championship in 2008 ... 90 tackles and 15 sacks as a high school senior ... Also played tight end as a prep and was an all-state basketball player ... Enrolled at Oregon in January.

• Iupati, Andrew DL
6-1, 299 - Anaheim, Calif. (Western HS/Golden West C.C. (Calif.))
Scout.com gave him three-star standing ... Played in six games his sophomore season, tallying 19 tackles, 3 for loss, with 2.5 sacks, 1 qb hurry, 2 forced fumbles and 1 fumble recovery ... Coming out of high school he was ranked No. 6 in California in the 285-lbs. wrestling weight class according to Tech-Fall.com.

• Littlejohn, Bryson LB
6-1, 227 - Elk Grove, Calif. (Laguna Creek HS/Sierra C.C. (Calif.))
California Community Colleges Coaches Association 2008 All-America First Team Defense ... California Community Colleges Coaches Association 2008 All-California Region II First Team Defense ... Named a four-star recruit and the No. 12 overall JC player in the nation by Scout.com ... Had an outstanding season for Sierra in 2008, posting 72 tackles, nine sacks, three forced fumbles, three interceptions and 14.5 tackles for loss while earning First-Team JC Grid-wire All-American honors ... Played running back and linebacker while at Laguna Creek HS ... In high school, had 149 tackles his senior season with 2 sacks, 3 fumble recoveries, and a blocked field goal.

• Montgomery, Terrance DL
6-2, 291 - Pittsburgh, Pa. (East Allegheny HS/Reedley C.C. (Calif.))
Served in the Army after high school, will be 24 before the start of the 2009 season ... Two-year starter at Reedley ... Named a three-star recruit by both Scout.com and Rivals.com ... Had 20 tackles and two sacks while seeing limited playing time as a freshman ... Lettered two years in football and three years in track at East Allegheny High ... Married with a young daughter and family is with him in Eugene ... Enrolled at Oregon in January.