Gamecock Baseball

Information About New Stadium

We still haven't finished the second college football season (recruiting). However, baseball is on my mind.

This season the Gamecock baseball team will, if plans come to fruition, play in a brand new stadium. The stadium is being contructed south of Blossom Stree and adjacent to Congaree River. Here is a satellite image of the location of the baseball stadium site.

The field dimensions are the same as Sarge Frye field: 325 feet down the lines and 390 feet to center. The outfield walls vary from 10 feet in height down the lines, to 8 feet high in the power alleys toward center-field. An emerald green “batter’s eye” is in center field. (Its an element that will help batters see pitches.) The green monster in center-field will measure 80 feet wide and stretch 40 feet above the field.

Here is an artist's rendering of the new yard.

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Emergency Economic Stabilization Bill Politics

Demonizing Rush Limbaugh to Pressure Republicans, Clip

Americans enjoy the right of freedom of speech, and open public debate about changes in American policies are important parts of what helps keep our country free and unique.

Still, it is disturbing to watch people using a statement taken out of context to unfairly demonize an individual (even one with whom we may not always agree) in an attempt to manipulate peoples' emotions and thereby encourage leaders to vote for a piece of fatally flawed legislation. That is exactly what is happening with the 1.1 Trillion Dollar American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 now being debated in the Senate.

This post looks at the ongoing smear campaign against Rush Limbaugh, and a clip alleging it is being used politically, perhaps in conjunction with President Obama's bully pulpit, to pressure Senate Republicans to vote for the massive 1.1 Trillion Dollar pork spending Bill cited just above.

Our President Barack Obama stated he believes in the Lord, and that he knows Him. Here is his testimony:

So one Sunday, I put on one of the few clean jackets I had, and went over to Trinity United Church of Christ on 95th Street on the South Side of Chicago. And I heard Reverend Jeremiah A. Wright deliver a sermon called “The Audacity of Hope.” And during the course of that sermon, he introduced me to someone named Jesus Christ. I learned that my sins could be redeemed. I learned that those things I was too weak to accomplish myself, He would accomplish with me if I placed my trust in Him. And in time, I came to see faith as more than just a comfort to the weary or a hedge against death, but rather as an active, palpable agent in the world and in my own life.

It was because of these newfound understandings that I was finally able to walk down the aisle of Trinity one day and affirm my Christian faith. It came about as a choice, and not an epiphany. I didn’t fall out in church, as folks sometimes do. The questions I had didn’t magically disappear. The skeptical bent of my mind didn’t suddenly vanish. But kneeling beneath that cross on the South Side, I felt I heard God’s spirit beckoning me. I submitted myself to His will, and dedicated myself to discovering His truth and carrying out His works.

GetReligion.org (June 25, 2007). Along with millions of others in America, people are praying that President Obama will hear from the Lord, and he will be wise in the decisions he makes as America's leader. We pray that his decisions will be in accord with God's will and plan.

However, that does not mean that we should not actively dissent and contact our elected leaders in the House and Senate when we, in exercise of our own conscience, believe particularly bad and harmful legislation is being pushed through Congress and potentially into law.

Soon after President Obama was elected President, winning 52% of the vote in America, Rush Limbaugh made the following statement as quoted on his website:

I got a request here from a major American print publication. "Dear Rush: For the Obama [Immaculate] Inauguration we are asking a handful of very prominent politicians, statesmen, scholars, businessmen, commentators, and economists to write 400 words on their hope for the Obama presidency. We would love to include you. If you could send us 400 words on your hope for the Obama presidency, we need it by Monday night, that would be ideal." Now, we're caught in this trap again. The premise is, what is your "hope." My hope, and please understand me when I say this. I disagree fervently with the people on our side of the aisle who have caved and who say, "Well, I hope he succeeds. We've got to give him a chance." Why? They didn't give Bush a chance in 2000. Before he was inaugurated the search-and-destroy mission had begun. I'm not talking about search-and-destroy, but I've been listening to Barack Obama for a year-and-a-half. I know what his politics are. I know what his plans are, as he has stated them. I don't want them to succeed.

If I wanted Obama to succeed, I'd be happy the Republicans have laid down. And I would be encouraging Republicans to lay down and support him. Look, what he's talking about is the absorption of as much of the private sector by the US government as possible, from the banking business, to the mortgage industry, the automobile business, to health care. I do not want the government in charge of all of these things. I don't want this to work. So I'm thinking of replying to the guy, "Okay, I'll send you a response, but I don't need 400 words, I need four: I hope he fails." (interruption) What are you laughing at? See, here's the point. Everybody thinks it's outrageous to say. Look, even my staff, "Oh, you can't do that." Why not? Why is it any different, what's new, what is unfair about my saying I hope liberalism fails? Liberalism is our problem. Liberalism is what's gotten us dangerously close to the precipice here. Why do I want more of it? I don't care what the Drive-By story is. I would be honored if the Drive-By Media headlined me all day long: "Limbaugh: I Hope Obama Fails." Somebody's gotta say it.

. . . He is the president of the United States, he's my president, he's a human being, and his ideas and policies are what count for me, not his skin color, not his past, not whatever ties he doesn't have to being down with the struggle, all of that's irrelevant to me. We're talking about my country, the United States of America, my nieces, my nephews, your kids, your grandkids. Why in the world do we want to saddle them with more liberalism and socialism? Why would I want to do that? So I can answer it, four words, "I hope he fails." And that would be the most outrageous thing anybody in this climate could say. Shows you just how far gone we are. Well, I know, I know. I am the last man standing.

RushLimbaugh.com (January 16, 2009).

The comments by Limbaugh clearly show that though Limbaugh said "I hope he fails," the comment meant he was opposed to President Obama's policies and that he hopes President Obama's policies, which Limbaugh views as liberal and socialist, fail. That is a perfectly reasonable viewpoint for a conservative.

Soon afterwards, the mainstream media isolated the "I hope he fails" statement from the remainder of the messsage. While it was being reported in that way, President Obama met with Republican leaders in the House about "bi-partisan" passage of 1.1 Trillion Dollar pork spending Bill. According to press reports, he told Republican leaders, "You can't just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done." NY Post, FoxNews.com (January 23, 2009). The House later passed the Bill, but it did so with zero Republican support.

Certainly President Obama has the right to use the bully pulpit to persuade recalcitrant Republicans to support a Bill he believes will help the United States. However, if his pulpit is being used as part of an orchestrated campaign to unfairly demonize Limbaugh, then he is not using his power in the right way.

As the vote on the Senate version of the House Bill looms, Moveon.org is allegedly planning a radio advertising campaign to link Republicans to an out of context comment, "I hope he fails." The moveon.org campaign seeks create public inertia that could dissuade Republicans in the Senate from joining their House collegues and opposing the massive pork spending bill.

Here is an interesting clip of an interview of Limbaugh about moveon.org's radio "smear" campaign from the Mark Levin radio show.

Technorati Tags: economic, stimulus, bill, smear, limbaugh, senate

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Very Interesting Pro Life Advertisement

An organization called CatholicVote.org issued a powerful new thirty second advertisement to make people think about when life begins. The video uses President Obama to really bring the message home. Here is there clip.

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Economic Recovery Act Bill

Price Tag is $1.1 Trillion

The House is pushing a 1.1 Trillion Dollar Bill called H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The Bill is full of earmarks. It is 1,588 pages long. It can also be accessed at this website.

The CATO Institute said, “To improve the economy, policy makers should focus on reforms that remove impediments to work, saving, investment and production. Lower tax rates and a reduction in the burden of government are the best ways of using fiscal policy to boost growth.” The Bill the Pelosi House is moving is a Keynsian economics at its worst. This link explains the problems with Keynsian economic thinking.

The political push is based on the alleged emergency situation with the economy. However, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), most of the planned infrastructure spending will not even start until 2010. Here is one of several charts illustrating the plan that was published by the CBO.


A better move to immediately spur the economy would be to institute a massive tax cut. Call your Senators and Congresspersons. A spending bill with $1.1 Billion allocated is a political grub-fest of spending that will impact America for generations and hang a huge millstone around the necks of our children.

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Diplomacy: Italy

Opening Move: Spring 1901

On January 9, 2009, I posted about my enrolling in an online board game of Diplomacy with some old Internet friends from the early 1990s. Diplomacy is a war game played by seven people. However, it involves more negotiation and agreement with the other six, than skilled tactical moves. The tactics in the game are pretty simple.

This post looks at the moves made to open up the game. Generally, in the first year, there is not typically a lot of direct conflict. However, the moves people make, and the units they build, can show a player's probable objectives, and reveal his or her most likely alliances with other players. One must find alliances in Diplomacy, or the "Great Power" being played is quickly destroyed. Here my Great Power is Italy. Below is a map of all the moves, and my analysis of what they could mean.

All of Italy's moves planned for the spring were executed without misorder, stalemate, or disruption.

There are some unusual and interesting elements to the moves made by the other players.

Austria-Russia: In most games, the border province of Galacia (north of Austria, south of Warsaw) is so key neither Russia or Austria would risk allowing another unit into it. Thus, most players arrange to at least bounce units and keep the area neutral (each Great Power orders one unit to Galacia resulting in a "stand-off"). However, in this case, Russia moved to A War-Ukr and Austria moved to A Vie-Budapest. Neither Great Power sought to grab this key area, and neither saw the need to insist on protection. Those moves are very friendly and suggest a lot of trust between Russian and Austria. This could be indicative of an alliance.

Turkey-Russia: The Black Sea is also a critical space. It is like Galacia in that normally you see Turkey and Russia bouncing each other out because of the risk associated with allowing the other into it unscathed. Here, Turkey successfully moved to the Black Sea. That is indicative of (1) a very, very close trusting relationship between Russia and Turkey, or (2), Turkey violated an agreement with Russia to keep the territory neutral.

Russia-England: Russia's move of A Mos-Stp is probably regarded as somewhat hostile to English interests. Most openings involve Mos-Ukr. In 1901, England expects to take Norway. Russia would hope to get Sweden.

Here, Russia's move to Stp, which adjoins Norway, threatens to cause England a significant amount of difficulty. England will now have to use both of his fleets to take Norway, which likely eliminates any moves England may have otherwise planned, such as taking Belgium.

England, like Italy, will be nervous about the prospect of France and/or Germany gaining three builds at the end of 1901. It is very possible that all three, Germany, France and Russia, have made an agreement to attack England. England is going to be paranoid about that situation when he looks at these moves.

England - France: You normally expect to see France move to the English channel if there is to be an immediate hostile action by E/F against England. In this case, all of the moves are pretty neutral. Neither England nor France moved to the channel. Therefore, it appears that England and France remain on good terms . . . at least superficially.

Germany-France: Germany did not move aggressively toward France. One opening that is possible, is an attack on Burgundy. In this case, that was not ordered. Likewise, France did not move into that space, which is adjacent to Munich. It appears that the Great Powers in the west (England, France, and Germany) are tip-toeing around trying not to be too aggressive with one another at this point.

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Aretha Franklin's Inauguration Performance

My Country Tis of Thee

Perhaps the greatest moment of the inauguration of our 44th President, Barack Obama, was a rendetion of "My Country Tis of Thee" by Aretha. Here is a YouTube video of those moments.

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Ike Johnson at Inauguration

My Friend, Ike Johnson, was filmed by Bob Inglis giving his impressions of the inauguration. Here is Ike's video that is posted on Congressman Inglis' YouTube site.

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"The Day of the Lord"

Study of Thesselonians 5:2

This Sunday, our Abundant Life Class at Bridgepointe Church in Taylors is studying about what the Bible calls “The Day of the Lord.” 1 Thessalonians 5:2.

First and foremost, "The Day of the Lord" is the day of Jesus Christ's second coming to Earth. That meaning is plainly evident from the context of the verse since it follows just after a vivid description of that future event. In Thessalonians 4, we learned that the Bible teaches that when The Day of the Lord comes those who have believed in the resurrection of Christ, and trusted their lives to The Lord Jesus, will be saved.

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the archangel's voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are still alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will always be with the Lord.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17. Therefore, we all have the means to avoid the unexpected, terrible, and sure Day of the Lord--a day of justice and righteousness. (See The Hope of the Believer.) Even though will be on the other side, looking at what that Day of Judgment will mean for people who are still in darkness should provide motivation to believers, the sons of the light. It should motivate us to be better examples as the light of God to our friends and family, or to anyone who is caught up unknowingly, or by deception, in the spiritual forces of evil that exist in the world.

Our Abundant Life Group is using Lifeway's Explore the Bible Adult Learner Guide to study Thessalonians. This week, the writer of the Guide, Jerry Gunnells, referenced a number of the Old Testament scriptures that describe The Day of the Lord. Gunnells wrote that the Bible teaches that The Day of the Lord has dual meanings. First, The Day of the Lord is a day of deliverance for “the righteous.” Second, it is a day of judgment and punishment for “the wicked.”

All of the scriptures Gunnells cited in the Guide talk about the inevitable judgment and punishment of the wicked on that Day. Below, this post quotes the scriptures listed by Gunnells. There is no analysis. However, just reading the cited scriptures is powerful.

Listen, a tumult on the mountains, like that of a mighty people!

Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms, like nations being gathered together!

The LORD of Hosts is mobilizing an army for war.

They are coming from a far land, from the distant horizon—the LORD and the weapons of His wrath—to destroy the whole country.

Wail! For the day of the LORD is near. It will come like destruction from the Almighty.

Therefore everyone's hands will become weak, and every man's heart will melt. They will be horrified; pain and agony will seize [them]; they will be in anguish like a woman in labor. They will look at each other, their faces flushed with fear.

Look, the day of the LORD is coming—cruel, with rage and burning anger—to make the earth a desolation and to destroy the sinners on it.

Indeed, the stars of the sky and its constellations will not give their light. The sun will be dark when it rises, and the moon will not shine.

I will bring disaster on the world, and their [own] iniquity, on the wicked. I will put an end to the pride of the arrogant and humiliate the insolence of tyrants.

Isaiah 13:4-11.

Blow the horn in Zion; sound the alarm on My holy mountain!

Let all the residents of the land tremble, for the Day of the LORD is coming; in fact, it is near—a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and dense overcast, like the dawn spreading over the mountains; a great and strong people [appears], such as never existed in ages past and never will again in all the generations to come.

A fire destroys in front of them, and behind them a flame devours. The land in front of them is like the Garden of Eden, but behind them, it is like a desert wasteland; there is no escape from them.

Their appearance is like that of horses, and they gallop like war horses.
They bound on the tops of the mountains. Their sound is like the sound of chariots, like the sound of fiery flames consuming stubble, like a mighty army deployed for war.

Nations writhe in horror before them; all faces turn pale. They attack as warriors [attack]; they scale walls as men of war [do]. Each goes on his own path, and they do not change their course. They do not push each other; each man proceeds on his own path. They dodge the missiles, never stopping.

They storm the city; they run on the wall; they climb into the houses; they enter through the windows like thieves. The earth quakes before them; the sky shakes. The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars cease their shining.

The LORD raises His voice in the presence of His army. His camp is very large; Those who carry out His command are powerful. Indeed, the Day of the LORD is terrible and dreadful—who can endure it?

Joel 2:1-11.

Woe to you who long for the Day of the LORD! What will the Day of the LORD be for you?

It will be darkness and not light. It will be like a man who flees from a lion only to have a bear confront him. He goes home and rests his hand against the wall only to have a snake bite him.

Won't the Day of the LORD be darkness rather than light, even gloom without any brightness in it?

I hate, I despise your feasts! I can't stand the stench of your solemn assemblies. Even if you offer Me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept [them]; I will have no regard for your fellowship offerings of fattened cattle. Take away from Me the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.

But let justice flow like water, and righteousness, like an unfailing stream.

Amos 5:18-24.

For the Day of the LORD is near, against all the nations.

As you have done, so it will be done to you; what you deserve will return on your own head.

For as you have drunk on My holy mountain, so all the nations will drink continually. They will drink and gulp down and be as though they had never been.

But there will be a deliverance on Mount Zion, and it will be holy; the house of Jacob will dispossess those who dispossessed them.

Then the house of Jacob will be a [blazing] fire, and the house of Joseph a [burning] flame, but the house of Esau will be stubble; they will set them on fire and consume them. Therefore no survivor will remain of the house of Esau, for the LORD has spoken.

Obadiah 1:15-18.

A day of the LORD is coming when your plunder will be divided in your presence. I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem for battle. The city will be captured, the houses looted, and the women raped. Half the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be removed from the city.

Then the LORD will go out to fight against those nations as He fights on a day of battle. On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. The Mount of Olives will be split in half from east to west, forming a huge valley, so that half the mountain will move to the north and half to the south. You will flee by My mountain valley, for the valley of the mountains will extend to Azal. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah.

Then the LORD my God will come and all the holy ones with Him.

On that day there will be no light; the sunlight and moonlight will diminish. It will be a day known [only] to Yahweh, without day or night, but there will be light at evening.

On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea, in summer and winter alike.

On that day Yahweh will become king over all the earth —Yahweh alone, and His name alone. All the land from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem will be changed into a plain. But [Jerusalem] will be raised up and will remain on its site from the Benjamin Gate to the place of the First Gate, to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the royal winepresses. People will live there, and never again will there be a curse of destruction. So Jerusalem will dwell in security.

Zechariah 14:1-8.

"For indeed, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and everyone who commits wickedness will become stubble. The coming day will consume them," says the LORD of Hosts, "not leaving them root or branches. But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, and you will go out and playfully jump like calves from the stall. You will trample the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day I am preparing," says the LORD of Hosts.

"Remember the instruction of Moses My servant, the statutes and ordinances I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. Look, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome Day of the LORD comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to [their] children and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse."

Malachi 4:1-6.

These are the words Jesus spoke about The Day of the Lord. The scriptures above are all Old Testament scriptures. This is from Matthew, a Book in the New Testament of the Bible.

"Now concerning that day and hour no one knows—neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son—except the Father only.

As the days of Noah were, so the coming of the Son of Man will be. For in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah boarded the ark. They didn't know until the flood came and swept them all away.

So this is the way the coming of the Son of Man will be: Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and one left.

Therefore be alert, since you don't know what day your Lord is coming. But know this: If the homeowner had known what time the thief was coming, he would have stayed alert and not let his house be broken into. This is why you also must be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

“Who then is a faithful and sensible slave, whom his master has put in charge of his household, to give them food at the proper time? That slave whose master finds him working when he comes will be rewarded. I assure you: He will put him in charge of all his possessions.

But if that wicked slave says in his heart, 'My master is delayed,' and starts to beat his fellow slaves, and eats and drinks with drunkards, that slave's master will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not know. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites.

In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Matthew 24:36-51.

Technorati Tags: Thessalonians, 5, The, Day, of, the, Lord, judgment, jesus, christ, Explore, the, Bible, Lifeway, Learner, Guide, Jerry, Gunnells, Are You Ready,

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Vote on Treasury Boss Nominee Looms

President Barack Obama Nominates Timothy Geithner: Questions

President Obama has nominated Tim Geithner to become the Treasury Secretary. That is the position now held by Bush appointee, Hank Paulson. The Finance Committee approved Geithner’s nomination to be Treasury secretary Thursday over the objections of five Republicans. It will go before the full Senate on Monday.

Geithner will take over where Paulson left off. There is another $350 Billion to spend. The first $350 was frittered away to the giant banks, and to institutions that are at best quasi-banks. The money flew away with no oversight and no "transparency."

Geithner will oversee the rest of the largess. This post raises some additional questions that ought to be answered by Geithner before our representatives vote to confirm this very troublesome selection to an extremely powerful position.

There has been a lot of negative press about Geithner. Almost all of it has been about his failure to pay taxes, and a decision to hire an illegal alien as a nanny. Certainly, the hypocracy of an IRS Chief who fails to pay taxes is a serious problem, as is the appointment to a high-ranking, high-paying government job, a man who would knowingly violate a well-known immigration law.

The New York Times, in an op-ed piece, published three sound questions that were posed by ANNA JACOBSON SCHWARTZ, an economist at the National Bureau of Economic Research and the author, with Milton Friedman, of “A Monetary History of the United States, 1867 to 1960.” Somehow these great questions ought to be addressed before the final vote to confirm this man takes place:

1. Ordinary taxpayers would like an answer to this question: Why have they been billed more than $45 billion to rescue Citigroup from failure when, as president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, you were its primary supervisor? Three major problems led to Citigroup’s downfall: bad investment policy; overexpansion, which overwhelmed Citigroup’s management; and an inadequate capital base. Why was Citigroup’s supervision inadequate to deal with these problems?

2. The Treasury and Federal Reserve have been selecting which companies in American industry and finance will get taxpayer money. What criteria do you use to decide?

3. During the banking crisis of the late 1980s, assets of failed savings and loans were acquired by the government’s Resolution Trust Corporation. The trust corporation then sold off the assets in an orderly fashion. Would you consider requesting Congress to revive the Resolution Trust Corporation, so you would not have to decide which companies to save and which not to save? Would you consider re-establishing the trust corporation now for commercial banks that are likely to fail?

Those are all excellent questions, and none were answered in the confirmation hearings.

Nor were questions about Blackstone Financial Management.

Blackstone issues bubbled to the public's attention following a $29 Billion Federal Reserve Loan issued in connection with the Bear Stearns acquisition by Morgan Stanley Chase. The assets acquired by the government-backed loan were placed in a corporation called, MaidenLane LLC. While serving as the head of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, Geithner approved a no-bid contract to BlackRock Financial Management.

Geithner had a history of direct connections with the company. Indeed, Geithner was recruited for his role as head of the NY Fed by then-New York Federal Reserve chairman Pete Peterson. Peterson is the co-founder of the Blackstone Group. G. Weiss, (June 2008).

The acquisition was squirrely enough to cause the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to issue a Letter of Inquiry About BlackRock Financial Management Contract. The House Oversite Committee letter states that the assets in the portfolio acquired by the Federal Reserve, "appear to belong to the federal taxpayer."

It is difficult to find press reports that indicate Geithner ever answered the Committee's letter. Since then, BlackRock has been intimately involved in the ongoing bailout of U.S. financial institutions, arguably more so than any other company. Its been hired by the Treasury to help dole out billions of tax payer dollars from the original $350 Billion TARP (i.e., bailout) money.

About BlackRock, Financial Week wrote earlier this week:

Last month, it was selected to manage a fund holding American International Group’s mortgage assets. The firm also manages a $46 billion fund for the New York Fed. That fund buys assets underlying credit-default swaps written by AIG.

What’s more, BlackRock was recently chosen as one of four managers, along with Goldman Sachs, Pimco and Wellington Management, of the New York Fed’s $500 billion program to buy agency-backed mortgage-backed securities.

Additionally, BlackRock continues to keep the details of how it is disbursing our hard-earned tax dollars to huge, wealthy financial institutions secret. Again, from the Financial Week article:

Those dealings are largely hush-hush. When questioned about how BlackRock would account for its participation in the purchase program, which started earlier this month, Mr. Fink said, “we need not include that in our [asset] flows, that program, and I don’t believe we will because I don't believe it’s proper for us to describe what’s going on.”

The amount of assets under this secret organization's control is astounding. “BlackRock this morning reported $1.31 trillion in assets under management for the fourth quarter, up 3.9% from the previous quarter but down 3.6% from the end of 2007.”
J. Byrd, Pensions and Investments (January 24, 2009)

In the confirmation hearings held earlier this week, Ranking Member Chuck Grassley asked why “why BlackRock was deemed “the only firm qualified” to manage the entity, receiving the exclusive no-bid contract.” Geithner said, “We [the NY Federal Reserve Bank] had to move very, very quickly in that timeframe.” Feeling they had no alternative, officials decided the interests of taxpayers would be best served by hiring BlackRock.”

The Senate Finance Committee did not do a good enough job to find out about the details about those issues before voting to confirm Mr. Giethner. The full Senate needs to obtain more information and have some answers before he should be confirmed.

If you agree, cut and paste this peice and send it to South Carolina's Senators Graham and DeMint. Their email addresses are found at the hyperlinks to their names.

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Video of Florida Basketball Game

Gamecocks Beat 24th Ranked Gators 70-69 On Buzzer-Beater

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Inaugural Prayer

Rick Warren Delivers Humble Petition

Let us pray.

Almighty God, our father, everything we see and everything we can't see exists because of you alone. It all comes from you, it all belongs to you. It all exists for your glory. History is your story.

The Scripture tells us Hear, oh Israel, the Lord is our God; the Lord is one. And you are the compassionate and merciful one. And you are loving to everyone you have made.

Now today we rejoice not only in America's peaceful transfer of power for the 44th time. We celebrate a hinge-point of history with the inauguration of our first African-American president of the United States.

We are so grateful to live in this land, a land of unequaled possibility, where the son of an African immigrant can rise to the highest level of our leadership.

And we know today that Dr. King and a great cloud of witnesses are shouting in Heaven.

Give to our new president, Barack Obama, the wisdom to lead us with humility, the courage to lead us with integrity, the compassion to lead us with generosity. Bless and protect him, his family, Vice President Biden, the Cabinet, and every one of our freely elected leaders.

Help us, oh God, to remember that we are Americans, united not by race or religion or blood, but to our commitment to freedom and justice for all.

When we focus on ourselves, when we fight each other, when we forget you, forgive us. When we presume that our greatness and our prosperity is ours alone, forgive us. When we fail to treat our fellow human beings and all the Earth with the respect that they deserve, forgive us.

And as we face these difficult days ahead, may we have a new birth of clarity in our aims, responsibility in our actions, humility in our approaches, and civility in our attitudes, even when we differ.

Help us to share, to serve and to seek the common good of all.

May all people of good will today join together to work for a more just, a more healthy and a more prosperous nation and a peaceful planet. And may we never forget that one day all nations and all people will stand accountable before you.

We now commit our new president and his wife, Michelle, and his daughters, Malia and Sasha, into your loving care.

I humbly ask this in the name of the one who changed my life, Yeshua, Isa, Jesus, Jesus (hay-SOOS), who taught us to pray, Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.

Amen.

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Obama Takes Presidential Oath on Bible

Lincoln Bible Used For Inaugural Ceremony

During the presidential campaign somebody started a chain e-mail that claimed that Obama was a Muslim and that he refused to say the Pledge of Allegiance or to swear on the Bible. The email alleged Obama took his senatorial oath on the Koran. FactCheck.Org has exposed that chain email as a attempt to slime Obama with falsities about his faith. Click the link for the detailed analysis.

Now, Obama has taken the oath of President. He indeed used a Bible for that Oath. It is pictured to the right.

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Barack Obama Inauguration 2009 Crowd

Before America's 44th President Takes Oath of Office

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Deuteronomy 24:19 Ministry

Efficiently Helping the Foreigner, Fatherless, and Widow

This Sunday we studied scriptures about helping vulnerable people. One of the verses we looked at was Deuteronomy 24:19.

After the Hebrews escaped bondage in Egypt, God ordained certain laws that would govern their society. One of those laws related to protecting and helping vulnerable people who lived among them.

When you reap the harvest in your field, and you forget a sheaf in the field, do not go back to get it. It is to be left for the foreign resident, the fatherless, and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.

Deuteronomy 24:19. That verse got the folks in our class talking about how to apply it in the context of 21st Century America. We brainstormed the idea a little about how a local ministry might be started based on the prinicples of 24:19. We talked about how some of the already existing activities in society might relate to the scripture in Deuteronomy 24.

It would be really cool to create or to contribute to a kind of Deuteronomy 24:19 ministry in the Upstate. The ministry would be based on the principle of 24:19.

Maybe the 24:19 organization could network other people and businesses to help gather and disburse second-hand clothing to people in need.

Perhaps it could locate recyclable material or an ecological activity to aid the disadvantaged.

Maybe a 24:19 Ministry could find excess food that would otherwise be considered waste and cause its delivery to existing food ministries.

Is there a way for this principle to be applied with legal, medical or hospice needs? These are questions. Is this an idea that will bite?

Notice that the 24:19 has a great sales element to it. The Lord promised that if its principles are followed, "the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands."

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Sanctity of Life Week

God's Concern For Society's Vulnerable Groups

When I opened the lesson guide from the Lifeway Explore the Bible series about Thesselonians to get ready for our Bridgepointe Abundant Life Group class on Sunday, I was surprised. This week, the guide diverted away from our study of Thesselonians. Then I read why. The Southern Baptists celebrate Sanctity of Human Life Sunday this weekend.

Now that I have prepared to lead the lesson, I'm very glad for the change. While studying, I discovered an interesting perspective Exodus 22:21.

You must not exploit a foreign resident or oppress him, since you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

The lesson guide suggested the verse has applicability to show that God loves all human beings. The writer, Jerry Gunnels, stated the verse shows how God is particularly concerned about the “least of these.” Matthew 25:40. He argued that we ought to follow that command more diligently in our busy lives.

I totally agree with his perspective. Sadly, it is a perspective that many evangelical Christians in American, myself included, overlook all to often.

However, I also see applicability to the unborn.

The Lesson Guide did not address the sanctity of life issue in the context of abortion. That was very surprising because ever since I have been teaching out of Lifeway books in the two Southern Baptist churches we have attended, abortion was always the only issue addressed in the Sanctity of Life week. It is an interesting change of direction for Lifeway, especially considering the political climate of an election year.

I agree that the writer has correctly applied Exodus 22:21. But I believe the verse can be applied to how we treat the unborn.

At the time Exodus was written, the verse was meant for the Hebrew people. The context was a time just after they, with Moses, escaped bondage by a cruel Egyptian Pharaoh and miraculously crossed the Red Sea. God's command to His people in Exodus 22:21 was that they hearken back to the days of oppression and remember their former plight. In this context, the Hebrew nation, the Twelve Tribes of Israel, would treat the foreigners among them with kindness and justice. They, God's people, would not behave as normal cultures past and future. Instead, they would demonstrate God's heart of love to all human beings--even the poorest in society--in this amazingly unusual way. They would show kindness and justice to the vulnerable individuals around them.

God's law not to exploit the poor and foreign among us makes a lot of sense when applied in that context. Thinking about slavery makes it easy to remember we are lucky to be free and prosperous. Thinking about how God's people were once oppressed means that we should more easily empathize with the disadvantaged and be further motivated to show kindness and fairness, and to help them. Obviously, the Lord issued a wise command to His people in Exodus 22:21.

However, Exodus 22:21 also can be applied directly to each of us in the context of time. We don't even need to imagine ourselves as Hebrew slaves in Egypt, experiences that most modern day Americans have thankfully avoided. All of us actually were in the womb. We indeed were, “knit . . . together in my mother's womb” Psalms 139:13. Therefore, in the context of unborn, perhaps it is similarly eye-opening to remember that we were also once the most vulnerable in society. We too once were the “least of these.” If we acknowledge where we come from and how we each were formed in the beginning of our existances, perhaps we will be less likely to support public policies that oppress and exploit others similarly situated.

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Bailout Bill Shenanagans

President Bush Signs Last Minute Bailout Law

This Blog has published posts opposing the 2008 Congress' 700 Billion Dollar Bailout and its delivery of billions to Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson. When the Treasury Department was called on by Congress to account for the spending, as was required by the law, Paulson's boys ducked and weaved.

Now, everyone is numb to the bailouts. The new Democrat controlled Congressis putting together an even bigger bailout program. Meanwhile, President Bush has signed into law authorization for delivery of the second half of the original bailout, another $350 Billion, into the hands of the incoming Obama Administration.

Few voices in politics are left in opposition to the insanity. One of those is Senator James M. Inhofe. Inhof is a soldier leading a minority of Senators who oppose the continuing bailout haze.

Inhofe Blog

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National Signing Day On Horizon

Gamecocks and Tiger Coaches Sell Their Programs

The South Carolina Gamecocks and the Clemson Tigers football programs are going toe to toe for some of the best high school football players in the state. Offensive lineman Quinton Washington (6-4 322) and defensive end Sam Montgomery (6-5 240) are two players both schools are courting.

The Gamecocks, who play in the Southeastern Conference, have a huge advantage.

That is not to say that Clemson doesn't have a lot to offer a high school football player. Truthfully, Clemson would be a cool place to play football. The Clemson fans often pack their stadium to capacity, 80,301. When they do, the place can really rock. For a big game, the atmosphere in their home stadium can be as exciting as just about anywhere in the country.

The problem with the Clemson sales pitch is that their ACC road games utterly fail to compete with the consistently awesome atmosphere Gamecock players see in each of the Southeastern Conference stadiums.

Consider this fact . . . . In 2008, Clemson led the ACC in attendance per game, averaging 78,001 fans per game.

That attendance would rank them 8th in the SEC, just behind the South Carolina Gamecocks (80,529). The graph below illustrates the dramatic disparity in attendance between the two conferences.



On the other hand, imagine if you were a college football player playing for the South Carolina Gamecocks next season. You will play packed houses at Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and Arkansas. Every one of those stadiums will have more fans in the stands than Clemson will have at home for their very biggest game of the season.

Now, remember, that Clemson's ACC road games are played in tiny stadiums with capacities of around 50,000. More often than not, Clemson's ACC opponents cannot even sell out their stadiums. You can see how the Clemson coaches are disadvantaged in their sales pitches to the best high school football players.

The SEC venues are completely different. Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama and Arkansas are not places where folks just sit on their hands. Each of those places are screaming madhouses. Every SEC road game stadium is crazy. Even Arkansas, with a capacity of only 72,000 and ranked 8th in the SEC, have that wild “suuuuuuuuuuuuu - eeeeeeeee pig,” yell and those razorback hats.

The graph above and the table below illustrate factually just how far behind the SEC football venues Clemson's ACC brethren lag. The rest of the ACC stadiums have no chance to match the level of excitement and wildness that is present at most all of the Southeastern football conference games.

So in the end, Clemson coaches can show players that once or twice a season, Clemson players might sense the electricity of a big game. However, Clemson coaches will have a tough sale to any player who craves more than an occasional thrill of playing big time football in electric atmospheres, home and away. Only the SEC can offer that opportunity on a consistent basis. For the best high school players choosing between Carolina and Clemson, guys like Washington and Montgomery, that means the Gamecocks are clearly the best choice.

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Conference Bowl Performance

SEC and Pac-10 Outperform Other FBS Conferences

Toward the tail end of the regular college football season, many folks were asserting that the Southeastern Conference was in a down year. However, when it came to the bowl games, the SEC's performance was clearly superior to all but one other conference, the Pac-10.


The Pac-10 was excellent in bowl games going undefeated in five games. Perhaps next year the Bowls will put together some match-ups between these two clearly superior conferences. Right now, The SEC and Pac-10 are both beating up on the lesser conferences.

The data also suggests that both the Big East and Conference USA, which each only had six teams in bowl games, performed well enough to argue that they ought to have more bowl representation next year.

The ACC, on the other hand, had ten teams placed in bowls. Still, it won just four games--the same number of victories as the Big East and C-USA won with just six bowl games. The Big Ten was even more woeful. It placed teams in seven bowls and managed just one victory. Perhaps two bowl slots ought to be taken from the ACC and Big Ten to be redistributed to the Conference USA and Big East teams.

Click on through to see some graphs that illustrate the conferences 2008/2009 bowl performance.

The first graph shows the number of wins by conference. The SEC wins this graph.



This one shows the number of losses by conference. A tie between the Big Ten and the ACC.



Finally, the last graph shows the net wins by conference arranged alphabetically. The WAC, MAC, Big Ten and ACC are in negative numbers.



Technorati Tags: Bowls, Football, Conference, Records, FBS, SEC, Pac-10, ACC, Big-10, wins, losses

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The Hope of the Believer

Christ's Victory Over Death

Have you been to a funeral and heard the sobs of a person with no hope? It breaks your heart to hear the anguish as they kneel besides a departed loved one? Has there ever been a sadder sound than the cries of grief from one who believes that death represents the grim and inevitable end of a pointless human existence?

Fortunately, the truth is that believers in the Lord Jesus, even in death, have hope. In 1 Thessalonians 4:13, the Bible has a letter the Apostle Paul wrote to First Century believers confronted with the mystery of death. Paul wrote to confirm that the people of the way have a hope that transcends death.

We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, concerning those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who have no hope.

Paul's words explain the truth about Christians who grieve the loss of loved ones. We miss them. But we know that we will see them again because we have hope in our new lives through Christ because of His example.

Since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, in the same way God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 4:14. These verses explain that our hope is based on the resurrection of Christ following death on the cross, and burial for three days. 1 Corinthians 15:3b-4.

Indeed, Jesus Christ's bodily resurrection from death forms the basis of the Christian faith.

Fortunately, modern Christians have an abundance of historical evidence upon which to base their belief in the resurrection. It is not based, as some shallow thinkers believe, on a so-called “leap of faith.” Rather, the evidence of the resurrection is substantial, material, and persuasive. (See Christopher Louis Lang, Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Christ, (2008 Xenos Christian Fellowship), and Josh McDowell, Evidence for the Resurrection, (1992 Josh McDowell Ministry)).

So what makes the Christ's resurrection so important? The answer is simple.

Christ's resurrection from the dead proves that Jesus Christ defeated death.

More importantly for us, Christ's victory over death proves He also defeated sin.

You have to go all the way back to the Garden of Eden to make that connection between death and sin, and to understand the significance of Christ's resurrection in defeating both.

And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die."

Genesis 2:16-17. Adam failed to God's one simple request, and because he rebelled, Adam introduced sin into the world. As a result, Adam and all his descendants were cursed with death.

You will eat bread by the sweat of your brow until you return to the ground, since you were taken from it. For you are dust, and you will return to dust.

Genesis 3:19. Thus, it is written in the New Testament of the Bible, “For the wages of sin is death . . . .” Romans 6:23.

However, the resurrection of Christ proves that death can be defeated. That is why the rest of Romans 6:23 that I just partially quoted above says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (emphasis added)

Christ's resurrection from death proves that Jesus defeated death and overcame the penalty of Adam's sin. Not only did Jesus defeat death and sin, but through Him, all men can achieve the same victory over death and sin. Paul put it like this:

But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man. For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruits; afterward, at His coming, the people of Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:20-23. Therefore, believers grieve when we lose one of our loved ones.

But we also know that because of Jesus Christ and his resurrection from death, there is hope we will see our loved one again. Our hope means that, as Paul put it, we “will not grieve like the rest, who have no hope." 1 Thessalonians 4:13.

Technorati Tags: thesselonians, hope, believer, death, funeral, grief, afterlife, jesus, christ, resurrection, defeat, sin

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Gamecocks Hire G.A. Mangus as QB Coach

"Magic Man" Mangus

On January 9, 2009, the Gamecocks hired George Alford “G.A.” Mangus as the Quarterbacks Coach for the football team. Mangus served as the Middle Tennessee State University Offensive Coordinator for the past three seasons.

In 2008, MTSU went 5-7 overall and 3-4 in the Sun Belt Conference. The highlight of the 2008 season was MTSU's 24-14 victory over Maryland of the ACC.

In 2008, MTSU's offense was ranked 70th in total offense among the NCAA Football Bowl Championship (FBC) teams. The MTSU passing attack was somewhat better, achieving a rank of 39th. Neither seems really impressive; however, those 2008 statistics reflect a steady improvement during each of the years Mangus served as the MTSU Offensive Coordinator. In 2007, out of 119 FBS teams, MTSU's offense was ranked 96th in total offense, and in 2006, it was ranked 104th. The chart below illustrates this data.

While detractors will point to Mangus' recent performance at MTSU as unimpressive, the job he did as the former Head Coach at Delaware Valley College has been described as “amazing.”

An article about Mangus' 2004 award as the Maxwell Football Club Tri State Coach of the Year, positively glows in describing Mangus' work at Delaware Valley. The following bit from that article is particularly noteworthy for Gamecock fans.

In the 2004 season, Mangus led the Rams to a 10-0 regular season record and earned the school's first-ever berth in the NCAA Division III playoffs. In the post-season, Delaware Valley won two more games before falling to Rowan in the quarterfinals. The 12 victories in a single season was a school record and it would have seemed impossible just a few years ago.

When Mangus accepted the job at Delaware Valley, he said the program was "like intramural football. (Players) were out here so they could tell the girls, 'Hey, I'm on the football team.'" He spent the first year, in his words, "weeding out" those players and identifying the ones who were willing to pay the price to win. He inherited 86 players and by the end of the 2002 season, only 44 remained.

Mangus and his coaching staff brought in more than 100 freshmen for the 2003 season and he began shaping his team. Mangus played quarterback for Steve Spurrier at the University of Florida and began his coaching career as a graduate assistant there. He set high standards and expected his players to meet them. In 2003, the Rams won nine games and lost only two, finishing just one game out of first place in the MAC. In 2004, Mangus' team took the next step, winning the title, earning him the nickname "The Magic Man."

The Gamecocks struggled at the end of the season. Additionally, beginning after the Clemson game, rumors of friction or disaffection on the team kept cropping up in the media. Perhaps Mangus is the man needed to redirect the players' focus this off-season toward an SEC championship and an undefeated football season.

Both the MTSUand USC football sites have additional, nearly identical, details about Mangus online.

Technorati Tags: GA, Mangus, Gamecocks, spurrier, quarterbacks, coach

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Diplomacy: The Boardgame

Playing Italy

Years ago, in circa 1991, I was a member of an online community called Compuserve. Compuserve was a service that was similar to another, America Online (AOL). Probably, most people have heard of AOL. Compuserve, I believe, pre-dated AOL and provided the same service. Back in the early 1990s, you could not access the Internet without using one of these portal services.

Nowadays, there are plenty of Internet Service Providers around and we don't need the portals services of yesteryear (AOL, Compuserve, Genie). Eventually, as direct Internet services increased,m Compuserve and Genie and others went out of business as an unnecessary anachronisms. AOL, which has a huge membership, will likely follow that path eventually.

Back in the early 1990s, I joined a forum on Compuserve in which members played the board game Diplomacy. A while back, I posted about The Diplomacy Hobby, and how I first became involved in this phenomenon.

One of the people I met in cyberspace in the early 1990s contacted me through Linked In, a networking community. He saw my profile and invited me to join his group of online Diplomacy players. I did, and since, have now been invited to participate in a Compuserve Reunion game of Diplomacy which began a few days ago.

Dip is an interesting game, so I may blog about here from time to time. For now, I will just publish a map and give a brief overview of the game.

The boardgame of Diplomacy is played on the maps shown below. There are seven great powers on the map, and generally, one person is assigned to each power.

The following map also includes dots, or "power centers." Each dot will enable the owner to build another unit. The units, which are either armies or fleets, are needed to expand one's territory. The object of the game is to gain control of 18 dots, exactly half of the dots on the map.

The problem with that notion is that everybody else has the same object. Therefore, it is critical that the powers negotiate alliances with their fellow players to advance toward the object of the game.



As mentioned in the header, I was assigned to the great power of Italy. This is regarded by most experienced players as the weakest of all of the powers and most often is a country that is eliminated. We shall see how I can do with this Italy.



Technorati Tags: diplomacy, boardgame, italy

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Military Aircraft I Saw While Flying the Prowler

Back in my younger days, I flew tactical jets off the U.S.S. Dwight D. Eisenhower. My plane was the EA-6B Prowler and my squadron was VAQ-132. I may post more about the Prowler later. For now, I thought it might be fun to post some pictures of the aircraft we intercepted, or were intercepted by, along with some stories. These happened back in the early to mid 1980s when my buds and I were flying around North American and the Mediterranean Sea.

F-4

First up is the F-4 Phantom. I saw lots of F-4s when I was in the navy. I guess it dates me some because they were actually still operational back then. Some of my friends were assigned to F-4 squadrons. But also, the United States sold plenty of F-4s to a lot of our allies around the world. Lots of foreign governments use F-4s in their military.

I recall flying in Nevada against F-4s in a radar training hop for some German pilots. They were practicing using their air intercept radars against jamming. The Prowler is an electronic countermeasures plan with jammers.

One of the things I recall about F-4s is that they smoke a lot. You can see them from 6 or 7 miles away. That means you get an advantage against them in air combat maneuvering (ACM). Once we were engaged with an F-4 in ACM. I remember a passing second, as our EA-6B screamed toward the earth at 450 knots, the Nevada desert rapidly approaching, thinking that I might have to punch out. Luckily, the pilot pulled the nose-heavy Prowler up in time and we knocked off the fight.

F-16

We sometimes got to fly exercises in which the USAF participated. The F-14 pilots on our boat, like most fighter guys, thought they the best fighter pilots. The movie Top Gun pegs the arrogance of the fighter community pretty well. Anyway, the F-14 guys were helpless against the F-16. The F-16 can turn and burn like no other plane I have seen. They destroyed the F-14 guys in ACM. It was quite humbling for the Tomcat guys on our boat, but very entertaining for the rest of us attack weenies to watch the fighter pukes dragging their behinds around the boat.

VooDoo


I also got to play in an exercise with Canadian Voo Doos in British Columbia. We left from our base at NAS Whidbey Island, Washington. Our mission was to fly way up north, all the way to Alaska. We were far enough north that the mountains were completely encased in ice and snow. You could see no vegetation of nature. At that point, we were to fly a low level back to a fictional target. The Voodoos job was to try and intercept us.

The Canadian Voo Doo pilots were supposed to wait for us below a latitude that would have made it challenging for them to intercept us. We might be able to choose a valley they could not scan and we could slip by them and make it to the target. We dropped into these beautiful valleys through the Canadian Rockies, screaming by glaciers.

The Canadian guys, however, cheated and were much further north than they were supposed to be so they intercepted us. I remember tilting my head backward and looking back as we zoomed around peaks and glaciers to see these VooDoos on our six and chasing us down the valley. That was one of the best of all flights. We ended up crusing back home over in the sun drenched San Juan Islands. Great.

F-104


The F-104 was another aircraft that I saw often. Again, this airplane is owned by many of our allies. I saw them all the time flying around Italy.

F-18



The F-18 was a plane that was just entering the fleet when I was flying. We actually went on test flights against them in Nevada as the Navy considered whether to buy them. They were very impressive aircraft. They can turn on a dime. The only drawback back then was they had smaller fuel tanks than the existing tactical bomber at that time, the A-6. Most of the people in the attack community felt the A-6 was a better platform because of its legs and its ability to carry a heavier payload.

Harrier


We saw several Harriers when we flew on exercises with the British. The British carriers do not have catapults like U.S. and French carriers. Thus, all their aircraft are V/Stol. The Harrier is their primary TACAIR jet.

MIG-21


The MIG-21 is the only Soviet made aircraft that I recall seeing. I saw only one while flying during an Operation Brightstar exercise in Egypt. Looking down from about 15,000 feet, the MIG-21 looked like a little dart as it dashed across the Egyptian desert.

Incidentally, flying over Egypt was some of the coolest flying I ever did. We actually flew nearby the pyramids at 3000 feet. We also saw a lot of Egyptian F-4s during that exercise, and it was the same exercise that the F-16s and F-15s demolished the Tomcat boys from our boat.

Mirage



I encountered the Mirage aircraft in France and in Greece. A couple of Mirage jets intercepted one of our Prowlers after an exercise with Turkey. The pilot accidentally flew directly from Turkish airspace into Greek airspace.

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Spurrier Hires New O-Line Coach Eric Wolford

Spurrier's 2008 Offense Suffered Due to Poor Rushing Attack

The Gamecocks have hired Eric Wolford as the team's new offensive line coach. His official title on the team is Running Game Coordinator.

In 2008, the Gamecocks were ranked last in the Southeastern Conference in rushing. They were 112th of 116 Football Bowl Championship (FBC) teams. On November 30, 2008, the Head Coach, Steve Spurrier, released the previous coach, John Hunt, from his contract.

Wolford comes to the Gamecocks from Illinois where he has coached for two seasons. Illinios was the last team to beat the Iowa Hawkeyes, the Big Ten team that overpowered the Gamecocks in the Outback Bowl.

In 2008, Illinois was second in the Big Ten in total offense (behind Penn State). It was first in passing offense, and fifth in rushing yardage gained. In 2007, Wolford's Illinois offensive line achieved the best rushing season in school history. It also was able to pass block, allowing the fewest sacks on the season by any Illinois team.

Before coaching at Illinios, Wolford coached the offensive line at Arizona for three seasons. During that time, the Wildcats out performed the other the PAC-10 teams in sacks allowed for two seasons. Arizona also achieved back-to-back top-25 recruiting classes.

A shockwave video of Wolford can be temporarily accessed at the Illinios web site. I suspect this video will soon be deleted. It appears the Gamecocks have made a significantly strong hire.

Technorati Tags: gamecocks, eric, wolford, offensive, line, running, game, coordinator, blocking

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Nursing Degree

The Path to Becoming a Registered Nurse

The College of Nursing offers a four-year undergraduate program that leads to the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree. General education courses include english, statistics, chemistry, biology, psychology, sociology, and electives.

In the freshman and sophomore years, introductory nursing courses focus on health and wellness, communication in nursing, history of the nursing profession, nutrition, and pharmacology. All Lower Division nursing and science requirements must be completed before progressing to the Upper Division. Students must apply and be accepted into the Upper Division. Progression is competitive and is based on a student's progression GPA.

During the final two years. Upper Division nursing students acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to provide care for complex health problems of individuals, families, and/or communities.

At the completion of the undergraduate degree program, graduates are eligible to take the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN).

Transfer students must have a cumulative 2.75 Grade Point Average (GPA) in all college work attempted and must meet freshman requirements if less than 30 semester hours have been completed.

The Nursing School Brochure indicates that Lower Division courses leading to a nursing degree include two electives.

Naturally, the nursing program is heavy on Biology and includes the following three four-hour Biology Courses, with laboratory:

Biol 243/243L Human anatomy & physiology I
Biol 244/244L Human anatomy & physiology II
Biol 250/250l Microbiology

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My Future: What Does It Hold

Film-Making, Photography, and Writing

The School of Journalism and Mass Communications is a professional school grounded strongly in the liberal arts. It emphasizes the value of a broad educational foundation as well as a proficiency in mass communication skills.

Successful completion of the program leads to a Bachelor of Arts Degree in journalism and mass communications. Students of the school can choose between five majors: advertising, public relations, electronic journalism, print journalism, visual communications.

The school publishes worksheets for students to help them take the proper courses in working toward a degree. Click the links to see the two checklists for the Visual Communication and Electronic Journalism degree requirements.

Concerned about whether this degree program can be fun as well as could eventually lead to a job. Read on . . . .

It appears that the school of Journalism and Mass Communication offers excellent work studies abroad. Check out this advertisement for work abroad this summer:

Studying abroad in Fall 2008?

National Geographic Glimpse is looking for storytellers who can write or produce video about the experiences of young Americans abroad. They will provide professional editorial support to help students learn the craft of storytelling, with the larger goal of using stories to inspire others to care about the world.

And, they pay!

The J-School site contains link for a video that one of the Carolina students made studying abroad. The student is an aspiring movie producer.

So much for the fun . . . . Are there jobs with this degree?

It appears the answer is, "YES!"

The school maintains a database of part-time and full-time jobs advertised for students and alumni of the School. Businesses and organizations post openings as they become available. Just one of the listed openings was a job for The Greenville News "Copy Editor, Designer, Photographer, Reporter, Web."

Moreover, all organizations of any significant size, including health care providers, need creative people for departments in public relations and advertising. Thus, a degree from the USC School of Journalism and Mass Communications offers a wide range of potential jobs.

In order to be admitted to a program of study in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications, freshmen must meet all University admission requirements. In order to continue in the program, each student must attain a minimum USC GPA of 2.50 upon completion of 30 degree-applicable hours.

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