Renegade's BS

Happy Mardi Gras!!!

2012-02-21T06:00:00.000-06:00

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Bathed in spring-like warmth and showered with trinkets, beads and music, New Orleans reveled in the excesses of Fat Tuesday.
A seemingly endless stream of costumed marching groups and ornately-decorated float parades led by make-believe royalty poured out of the Garden District, while the French Quarter filled up with thrill seekers expecting to see debauchery.
And they did.
Some in the Quarter had a sleepless night after Monday’s Lundi Gras prequel party. The drinking was in full swing again shortly after dawn, and with it came outrageous costumes and flesh-flashing that would continue until police make their annual attempt to break up the merrymaking at midnight, when Lent begins.
Tom White, 46, clad in a pink tutu, bicycled with his wife, Allison, to the French Quarter. “I’m the pink fairy this year,” he said. “Costuming is the real fun of Mardi Gras. I’m not too creative but when you weigh 200 pounds and put on a tutu people still take your picture.”
His wife was not in costume. “He’s disgraced the family enough,” she said.
Brittany Davies struggled with her friends through the morning, feeling the effects of heavy drinking from the night before.
“They’re torturing me,” the Denver woman joked. “But I’ll be OK after a bloody mary.”
Indeed, the theme of the day was party hard and often.
Wearing a bright orange wig, a purple mask and green shoes, New Orleans resident Charlotte Hamrick walked along Canal Street to meet friends.
“I’ll be in the French Quarter all day,” Hamrick said. “I don’t even go to the parades. I love to take pictures of all the costumes and just be with my friends. It’s so fun.”
Police reported no major incidents along the parade route.
Across the globe, people dressed up in elaborate costumes and partied the day away. In Rio de Janeiro, an estimated 850,000 tourists joined the city’s massive five-day blowout. Meanwhile, the Portuguese, who have suffered deeply in Europe’s debt crisis, defied a government appeal to keep working.
In New Orleans, the streets filled with hundreds of thousands of people.
The predominantly African-American Zulu krewe was the first major parade to hit the streets, shortly after 8 a.m. Most krewe members were in the traditional black-face makeup and the Afro wigs Zulu riders have sported for decades. They handed out the organization’s coveted decorated coconuts and other sought-after trinkets.vIn the oak-lined Garden District, clarinetist Pete Fountain led his Half-Fast Walking Club on its annual march to the French Quarter.
Fountain, 82, gave a thumbs-up to start off and his band launched into “When The Saints Go Marching In” as they rounded the corner onto St. Charles Avenue shortly after 7 a.m. It was the 52nd time that Fountain’s group has paraded for Mardi Gras. This year, the group wore bright yellow suits and matching pork pie hats for its theme, “Follow the Yellow Brick Road.”
Costumes were the order of the day, ranging from the predictable to the bizarre.
Wearing a purple wig, New Orleans resident Juli Shipley carried a gallon of booze down Bourbon Street and filled her friends’ cups when they got low. “We’re going to wander all day and people-watch,” Shipley said. “That’s the best part of Mardi Gras — the costumes. They’re amazing.”
Partygoers were dressed as Wizard of Oz characters Dorothy and the Wicked Witch, bags of popcorn, pirates, super heroes, clowns, jesters, princesses and lots of homemade costumes with the traditional Mardi Gras colors of purple, green and gold.
At New Orleans’ antebellum former city hall, Mayor Mitch Landrieu toasted Zulu’s monarchs and special guests. Among them was New Orleans native and former U.S. Ambassador Andrew Young who was on a float with National Urban League President Marc Morial, a former mayor of New Orleans, his wife, Michelle, and their two children.
“It’s good to be home,” Young said. And saluting the good weather of the day, he added, “God always smiles on New Orleans when it needs it.”
After Zulu, the parade of Rex, king of Carnival, made its trek down St. Charles Avenue and to the city’s business district. Along the way, parade-goers pleaded for beads and colorful aluminum coins, known as doubloons.
Small groups of families and friends had parades of their own. The Skeleton Krewe, 25 people dressed in black skeleton outfits, wandered along the parade route, heading toward St. Louis Cathedral.
Along the parade route that follows the St. Charles Avenue streetcar line, die-hards had staked out prime parade-watching spots as early as Monday. Some had a Carnival-esque tailgate party under way early.
Stephanie Chapman and her family claimed their usual spot about 4 a.m. Tuesday and would be staying for the duration.
“This is a beautiful day and we’ll be here until it’s over. It won’t rain on my parade, but if it does I won’t pay any attention,” she said.
Rain stayed away and temperatures were in the 70s. As the day wore on and drinking intensified, the combination encouraged raunchy acts in the French Quarter, where women bared flesh in pleadings for beads tossed to the street by revelers on balconies.
By midafternoon, some folks were tuckered out.
Alison Scott, 35, of New Orleans, was part of a group that had a small city of tents and canopies set up at Lee Circle. She and her family had been coming to the spot for about 40 years. “Believe me, I’m always glad to get here and then I’m always glad to go home,” she said.
Her 6-year-old daughter, Shannon, was asleep nearby under a blanket of beads.
“She just pooped out. This is the first time she’s stopped. She’s been so excited all day,” Scott said.
In the Cajun country of southwest Louisiana, masked riders went from town to town, making merry along the way in the Courir du Mardi Gras. And parades were scheduled elsewhere around Louisiana and on the Gulf coasts of Mississippi and Alabama.
The celebration arrived in Louisiana in 1682 when the explorer LaSalle and his party stopped at a place they called Bayou Mardi Gras south of New Orleans to celebrate.
Parading and street revelry would give way to Mardi Gras’ elegant side, with the lavish and private grand balls of the Rex and Comus krewes on Tuesday night signaling the traditional end of the celebration.
Mardi Gras gives way to the beginning of Lent, the period of fasting and repentance before Easter Sunday.
Check out the article at The Advocate.

Happy Mardi Gras!!! Hat's off to Le Krewe d’Etat for rubbing more salt in our wounds!

Game of the Century - Part Deux!

2012-01-09T01:00:00.001-06:00

NEW ORLEANS — The Southeastern Conference cordially invites you to watch the crowning of its sixth consecutive BCS champion.
No. 1 LSU and No. 2 Alabama will meet Monday night in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome to signal the end of the college football season, much as the Kings of Rex and Comus traditionally meet amid much pomp and circumstance just a few miles away to signal the end of Mardi Gras.
In this case, it is college football royalty meeting in a game for which ticket demand is greater than anyone around here can ever remember witnessing. A huge television audience on ESPN figures to tune in to watch the schools that have the most postseason appearances in New Orleans — No. 15 for the Tigers and No. 14 for the Crimson Tide.
It’s LSU and Alabama meeting for the 76th time, for the first time for a national championship and for the second time in 66 days.
“The LSU-Alabama game has become a good rivalry,” LSU safety Eric Reid said, “so why not play for a national championship?”
And why not play it in the Superdome, traditional home to the SEC champion as home team in the Sugar Bowl as this BCS title game features conference rivals — not to mention West Division rivals — for the first time?
This game will settle a score that wasn’t quite settled when the No. 1 Tigers edged the No. 2 Tide 9-6 in overtime Nov. 5 in Tuscaloosa, Ala., in one of the most-hyped regular-season games ever.
“Nobody has played a game like we have when it comes to being up to the hype — that’s for LSU and for Alabama,” Tide running back Trent Richardson said.
“For us to be from the SEC and the same division, that tells you a lot about our football. Alabama-LSU — that’s just the powerhouse teams right now.”
LSU and Alabama. Again. For the BCS championship, what will be either the Tigers’ third in nine seasons or the Tide’s second in three.
An LSU victory would allow it to stake a claim as one of college football’s greatest teams. A Bama win would make the Tigers one of the most ballyhooed nonchampions ever and renew debate about the validity of the BCS system.
Guard Will Blackwell said the Tigers “kind of have the chip on our shoulder” about having to face the Tide again.
“We went to Tuscaloosa, and we beat them and they get another shot,” he said. “We don’t necessarily see that as fair. We kind of feel like if it were the other way around we wouldn’t be getting this opportunity. But it is what it is; you can’t change it. We’ll accept this challenge head on like we would any other team. We’re just glad we get to play them in New Orleans this time.”
Alabama won national titles in the Sugar Bowl following the 1978, 1979 and 1992 seasons, while the Tigers won BCS titles in Sugar Bowl after the 2003 season and the National Championship Game after the 2007 campaign.
“Whenever the BCS Championship Game is in New Orleans, LSU wins it,” Tigers defensive end Sam Montgomery said. “It’s tradition.”
The November meeting featured national-championship intensity and physicality — “definitely the most physical game I’ve ever been a part of,” Bama guard Barrett Jones said, echoing the sentiments of players from both teams.
A similar bruising battle is expected, though perhaps with a tad more points this time.
“We have to get in the end zone this time,” Tigers running back Spencer Ware said. “It’s a must.”
One visit to the end zone might be all either team needs to bring home the crystal football that is emblematic of college football supremacy.
Bama has the No. 1 defense in the country, LSU has the No. 2 defense and both defenses set the tone in the first meeting. The inability of either team to get in the end zone left it to the place-kickers to handle the scoring, and LSU’s Drew Alleman was 3-for-3 while Bama’s Jeremy Shelley and Cade Foster were a combined 2-for-6 in the most glaring difference in the first meeting.
“If you want a game that’s going to be 45-to-something, put somebody else in the game,” Richardson said, “but if you want a close ballgame that’s going to be well played and be a slugfest — the one thing you’re always going to get out of us is hard-nosed football.”
These teams mirror and respect one another, but they don’t particularly like one another.
“Not at all,” Blackwell said. “They’re Alabama, and we’re LSU. We have to go through each other to win the division. We have to go through each other to win the SEC. This year, we have to go through each other to win the national championship.”
The Tigers (13-0) were the only undefeated team in the regular season and beat eight ranked teams, including the No. 2 Tide and two No. 3s — Oregon and Arkansas. The Tide was dominant in 11 victories and worked its way back to No. 2 after the loss to LSU, thanks to losses by Stanford and Oklahoma State.
“I feel like, if we win this game, we’ll be one of the best teams there ever was,” Blackwell said, “just because of the strength of schedule and the simple fact of having to play them twice in one season.”
These teams have seemed destined all along to meet in this game, in this building, guaranteeing the SEC its sixth consecutive BCS title as soon as the pairing was announced 36 days ago. A rematch was discussed before the first game was even played.
“I guess, if you had to pick two teams for that particular scenario, there would be no two better than LSU and Alabama,” Blackwell said. “There’s a lot of tradition and pride and honor that goes into winning this game.”
Check out the article at The Advocate.

NEW ORLEANS — If LSU beats Alabama on Monday in the Allstate BCS National Championship Game, the questions will immediately begin about the Tigers’ place among the all-time great teams.
LSU would become the first team ever to beat nine ranked opponents in one season and the first team since Notre Dame in 1943 with four wins against top-five opponents (No. 2 Alabama twice, No. 3 Oregon, No. 3 Arkansas).
The Tigers would also become the first program to win three BCS championships. If Alabama wins, it would join LSU (2003, 2007) and Florida (2006, 2008) with two each. The Crimson Tide also won in 2009.
LSU has already beaten the winners of the Rose Bowl (Oregon), the Orange Bowl (West Virginia), the Cotton Bowl (Arkansas), the Gator Bowl (Florida), the Chick-fil-A Bowl (Auburn) and the Music City Bowl (Mississippi State). The Tigers, also, have already beaten the other team in the national title game, Alabama.
Youth Not Served?
The Tigers are trying to make school history as well Monday. With a win, they would become the first LSU team ever to go 14-0.
At Alabama, 14-0 was done two years ago. The school claims 13 national championships. So Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron will try to do history all by himself — so to speak.
McCarron, a third-year sophomore, can become the first sophomore or freshman to ever lead a team to victory in a BCS championship game since the BCS began with the 1998 season.
Both of LSU’s titles were won with upperclassmen at quarterback: junior Matt Mauck in the 2003 season and senior Matt Flynn in 2007.
Drew the Greek?
LSU fans have to be hoping New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees is as good picking winners as he is picking apart opposing defenses.
Brees was asked after his team’s 45-28 playoff victory Saturday night over the Detroit Lions who he likes between LSU and Alabama in Monday’s Allstate BCS National Championship Game.
“I’ve got to go with LSU again,” said Brees, who threw for 466 yards and three touchdowns to scorch the Lions. “They’re the local team.”
Brees said he picked the Tigers in their Nov. 5 game at Bama as well.
“Won a little money off Roman Harper,” said Brees, referring to the Saints and former Crimson Tide defensive back. “I hope I can do that again.”
Meanwhile, Saints and former LSU wide receiver Devery Henderson will be back in the Superdome on Monday for the BCS game.
“I feel pretty confident,” said Henderson, who helped LSU win the BCS title eight years ago against Oklahoma in the 2004 Sugar Bowl.
“Hopefully, my Tigers will come to play,” Henderson said. “If that’s the case, hopefully, it will be an easy win.”
Miles, Mathieu, Moms
Alabama TV reporter Sara Jane Harris got a surprised reaction from LSU coach Les Miles at Sunday’s final pre-BCS news conference when she told him she heard Tigers cornerback Tyrann Mathieu was researching the names of the Alabama players’ mothers to try to help him get in their heads Monday.
“That would be news to me,” said Miles, whose reply drew laughter from the packed assembly of reporters and cameramen. “Gamesmanship is one thing. I think that might be a touch much.”
Saban and Dumb Luck
Alabama and former LSU coach Nick Saban rarely gets enough credit for being an engrossing storyteller when he wants to be.
One story he never tires of telling is the one he tells on himself when he was coaching the Tigers in the 2001 Southeastern Conference Championship Game against Tennessee.
With LSU trailing No. 2 Tennessee 14-7, Saban decided to go for it on fourth-and-inches at the Tigers’ 29-yard line. LSU didn’t get it, and the Volunteers kicked a field goal to go up 17-7 at halftime.
“For the next five minutes of the game, I was like in la-la land, like, ‘Why did you do that? That’s the dumbest thing you’ve ever done,’” Saban recalled. “My wife (Terry) even told me, ‘That’s the dumbest call I’ve seen you make.’”
Still, LSU rallied to win 31-20 for its first SEC title since 1988. Walking off the field afterward, Saban’s seniors told him it was the most important decision of the game.
“I said, ‘Really?’ They said, ‘Yeah, because when you did that, we really thought we could win.’
“So even sometimes the dumbest things you do, you never know how people are going to respond to them. And that was one of the dumb ones. … There’s many more in between, incidentally.”
Big 12 Refs to Call Game
An officiating crew from the Big 12 Conference will call the BCS championship game.
It was also a Big 12 crew that called the last BCS title showdown in New Orleans four years ago between LSU and Ohio State.
Entergy Light Show
Entergy is planning a BCS, LSU and New Orleans-themed light show which will be projected on one side of their 28-story headquarters adjacent to the Superdome.
The 12-story-high projections will include images, a BCS welcome message and a continuously updated scoreboard during the game.
The Last Word
“I expect it to be big-boy football. And I’d expect it to be very, very physical.” -Miles on the BCS Championship Game
Check out the article at The Advocate.

This game has such an epic feel to it... Geaux Tigers!!! BEAT BAMA!!! BEAT SABAN!!!

THANK YOU Veterans!!!

2011-11-11T06:00:00.001-06:00

For 92 years, the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month has been a remembrance of those who served America in time of war.
But the Nov. 11 Veterans Day commemoration began as a day to celebrate peace — the silencing of the guns of World War I, "The Great War," which claimed the lives of more than 15 million soldiers and civilians.
On that day in 1918, at the 11th hour, Germany signed an armistice with the Allied Powers — including the U.S., France, Britain, Japan and Italy — ending major hostilities in a war that nearly wiped out a generation of men.
A full peace was concluded the next year in France at the Palace of Versailles, and the first Armistice Day was proclaimed and celebrated by President Woodrow Wilson on the anniversary of the ceasefire: Nov. 11, 1919.
It was fully established by Congress as a legal holiday in 1938.
But Armistice Day honored veterans of only World War I, essentially ignoring millions of soldiers who served in peacetime or fought in World War II, Korea and other engagements.
So in 1954 Congress extended the holiday to honor all vets, giving it the name Veterans Day, which it has kept for 55 years.
Today, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are some 23.2 million veterans in the United States. That includes 2.6 million who served during World War II, 2.8 million who served in the Korean War, 7.8 million in the Vietnam War, 5.2 million in the Gulf War and about 1.7 million who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Nearly 120,000 are still stationed in Iraq, and about 68,000 will be deployed in Afghanistan by the end of the year, according to the Census.
Just one American veteran who served in World War I is still alive: 108-year-old Frank Buckles, who drove ambulances in England and France after enlisting at the age of 16. Buckles also fought in World War II and was taken prisoner by the Japanese.
Check out the article at Fox News.

Always honor our veterans... they have fought for our freedom and deserve our respect at all times!

For some more very interesting history and personal accounts of WWII, I highly recommend Band of Brothers, Pegasus Bridge, D-Day June 6, 1944, and Citizen Soldiers by Stephen Ambrose

Be sure to check out the Patriotic Fact Sheet at the Department of Veteran Affairs website.

Check out today's Google art:

Saban Bowl V

2011-11-04T17:00:00.001-05:00

Around the Bowl and Down the Hole... Roll Tide Roll!

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) -- The LSU and Alabama showdown promises to be a throwback of old-school football.
Both the top-ranked and barely-tested Tigers, and No. 2 and mostly-unchallenged Alabama are built on power runs and run-stuffing defenses in a time when spread offenses are en vogue and huddles are optional.
“If you want to see 1970s smashmouth,” Alabama tight end Michael Williams said, “then this is what you want to see right here.”
Yes, Saturday night’s game will have a retro look to it.
The vintage philosophies make this one reminiscent of an old Oklahoma-Nebraska or Alabama-Penn State clash. And like those teams, this year’s edition of the Crimson Tide and Tigers - both 8-0 with five Southeastern Conference wins - have racked up double-digit victories.
But neither Alabama’s Nick Saban nor LSU’s Les Miles is bringing the wishbone back in fashion.
Hitting, and hitting hard, well, that is certainly allowed - even mandatory.
“It’s a type of game that ... you don’t necessarily see too often nowadays,” LSU offensive lineman T-Bob Hebert said. “It is a little more old-school, so I think that’ll be something fun to watch for the fans.”
LSU’s Jarrett Lee - supplemented by the more mobile Jordan Jefferson - and Alabama sophomore AJ McCarron have been the league’s most efficient quarterbacks for the top two scoring offenses. However, Alabama ranks 66th nationally in passing offense, LSU 99th.
The Tigers, who have won on five of their last seven visits to Bryant-Denny, do have a significant deep threat in receiver Rueben Randle. The Tide counters with more of a catch-and-run type in speedy Marquis Maze.
Former Florida coach Urban Meyer, who was opposite Saban and Alabama in a pair of 1 vs. 2, SEC championship game matchups, figures McCarron is going to have to hit Maze or some other receiver downfield.
“LSU is going to put nine guys (near the line of scrimmage) and try to stop Trent Richardson, and they have the corners to do it,” said Meyer, now an ESPN analyst who will be in Tuscaloosa with College GameDay. “At the end of the day, for Alabama to score they are going to have to throw it over the top and challenge those LSU corners.”
What fans will see:
- A test of wills. Compact, powerful backs Trent Richardson of Alabama and LSU’s Spencer Ware will be running between the tackles into defensive fronts that typically yield little ground.
Meyer isn’t sure that strategy alone will work for the Tigers.
“LSU is more traditional now,” he said. “They have big backs and they’re going to turn and hand the ball to them and that’s going to play right into Alabama’s hands.
“So I think they’re going to have to come up with a trick play or two.”
- Playmakers on defense. An all-star defender making big tackles, forcing a timely turnover or just laying a resounding hit on some unsuspecting player. For Alabama, the likely candidates include linebackers Courtney Upshaw and Dont’a Hightower, and All-America safety Mark Barron. For LSU, it might be ball-stripping Tyrann Mathieu, fellow cornerback Morris Claiborne or pass rushers Barkevious Mingo or Sam Montgomery.
- Coaching eruptions. It might come from the ultra-intense, scowling Saban or Miles with his penchant for making seemingly odd gambles pay off.
With both teams coming off open dates, the hype around the game has been frenzied. Alabama’s Williams has heard plenty from friends and family.
“Of course, 1 vs. 2, game of the century and all that type of stuff,” he said. “You’ve got to put out the mental clutter.”
Which isn’t to say Williams isn’t embracing the hype, even while some teammates downplayed it with that “just another game” spiel.
“This is what you come to Alabama for,” the tight end said. “Great opportunity for some players. I know the atmosphere will be crazy. This is what you want to play in. It will be one for the ages.”
It puts the spotlight on a community that was devastated by a deadly tornado in April but has received a regular Saturday pick-me-up from the Tide this fall.
“Every time we have a major event here, I think it makes people feel more and more normal about the way things are going,” Saban said.
This certainly qualifies as major.
If the game lives up to its billing and ends up close, the loser’s national championship aspirations might not be totally diminished. The loser could have an outside shot at a January rematch in New Orleans that really is for the title.
Miles isn’t thinking about that though, he’s content for now to relish a brisk fall Saturday night when temperatures are expected to dip into the 40s. He’s practically poetic about it.
“How wonderful it is in college football that you have two quality teams that represent two great institutions that will take their best effort to the field to decide something that is difficult, clean and pure as a contest,” Miles said. “How wonderful it is for the region to be able to look and enjoy the time of celebration of hard work and team values.
“The school wins, the team wins and the state wins. It is a beautiful time. “
And fans will have a menu of stars to enjoy.
There’s a Heisman Trophy candidate in Richardson, who has scored 18 touchdowns on a team that has yielded a third of that total.
Mathieu drew early Heisman buzz, too. The 5-foot-9, 180-pounder with an uncanny knack for big plays has forced an LSU career record nine fumbles in just under two seasons.
Cornerback bookends Claiborne and Alabama’s Maze are also two of the SEC’s most dangerous kick returners.
With that kind of talent on the field, Saban predicts the game will likely come down to turnovers or special teams.
Neither team makes back-breaking mistakes, but LSU hardly makes any - period. The Tigers didn’t commit a turnover in October and have forced 18 this season; they have scored touchdowns on half of the resulting drives.
“Their turnover ratio is off the charts, in terms of their defense and their ball-hawking style of play,” Saban said. “They have lots of guys on defense who can make plays.”
Then again, so does Alabama. LSU’s Hebert said it’s harder for a team to impose its will on such a physical opponent.
“That’s a kind of style where if you can’t physically match up you’re going to find it very hard to be successful,” he said. “And that’s what’s so special about this next game is that both teams physically match up against each other very well.”
Check out the article at The Advocate.

Another year, another epic SEC battle pitting LSU against Alabama on national TV... this one's been dubbed "The Game of the Century!!!" Games like this are why College Football is SO MUCH better than the NFL!

Geaux Tigers!!! BEAT BAMA!!! BEAT SABAN!!!

Happy Halloween!!!

2011-10-31T07:00:00.000-05:00

Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in).
The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.
To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities.
During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.
By A.D. 43, Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In the course of the four hundred years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain.
The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of "bobbing" for apples that is practiced today on Halloween.
By the 800s, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands. In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 All Saints' Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. It is widely believed today that the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday. The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints' Day) and the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween. Even later, in A.D. 1000, the church would make November 2 All Souls' Day, a day to honor the dead. It was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels, and devils. Together, the three celebrations, the eve of All Saints', All Saints', and All Souls', were called Hallowmas.
Check out the article at History.com.

Halloween is the best holiday of the year!!!

Geaux Tigers!!!

2011 LSU Nike Pro Combat Uniform

2011-10-21T17:00:00.001-05:00

BATON ROUGE - LSU along with eight other top college football programs will lace their cleats and buckle their chin straps while donning uniquely designed, highly advanced Nike uniforms for at least one game during the 2011-12 season.
On Oct. 22, LSU will wear its 2011 Nike Pro Combat System of Dress uniforms for the first and only time when it plays host to defending BCS National Champion Auburn at Tiger Stadium.
Today, LSU revealed the design of the uniform to the public. The uniform design includes a white helmet with the traditional LSU Tigers helmet logo on each side; "old gold" and purple run from front to back and faint Tiger stripes are integrated into the helmet design.
The white jerseys will also include "old gold" piping around the shoulder pads and more subtle Tiger stripes within the purple numerals.
White pants, white and gold-toned shoes, "Eyes of the Tiger" gloves, and an LSU Tiger-themed under-layer complete the uniform design.
LSU's Nike Pro Combat merchandise went on sale to the public on Oct. 10. Fans may purchase this gear at the LSU SportShop on the school's campus or online at LSU Shop.net
Along with LSU, the schools selected to sport the special uniforms include Army, Boise State, Georgia, Michigan State, Navy, Ohio State, Oregon and Stanford.
LSU also helped Nike unveil its latest technology in 2009 when the Tigers faced Arkansas.
Check out the article at LSU Sports.

Sweet looking uniforms!

GEAUX TIGERS!!!

America Marks 10 Years Since 9/11

2011-09-11T06:00:00.000-05:00

NEW YORK – Americans gather Sunday to pray at cathedrals in their greatest cities and to lay roses before fire stations in their smallest towns, remembering the worst terrorist attacks on U.S. soil.
Around the world, many others will do something similar because so much changed for them on that day, too.
Ten years has arrived since 3,000 were killed at the hands of a global terror network when terrorists crashed hijacked planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and a fourth plane crashed into a field in rural western Pennsylvania.
On Sunday, bells will toll. Americans will see new memorials in lower Manhattan, rural Pennsylvania and elsewhere, symbols of a resolve to remember and rebuild.
But much of the weight of this year's ceremonies lies in what will largely go unspoken. There's the anniversary's role in prompting Americans to consider how the attacks affected them and the larger world and the continuing struggle to understand 9/11's place in the lore of the nation.
"A lot's going on in the background," said Ken Foote, author of "Shadowed Ground: America's Landscapes of Violence and Tragedy," examining the role that veneration of sites of death and disaster plays in modern life. "These anniversaries are particularly critical in figuring out what story to tell, in figuring out what this all means. It forces people to figure out what happened to us."
On Saturday in rural western Pennsylvania, more than 4,000 people began to tell the story again.
At the dedication of the Flight 93 National Memorial near the town of Shanksville, former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden joined the families of the 40 passengers and crew aboard the jet who fought back against their hijackers.
"The moment America's democracy was under attack our citizens defied their captors by holding a vote," Bush said. Their choice cost them their lives.
The passengers and crew gave "the entire country an incalculable gift: They saved the Capitol from attack," an untold amount of lives and denied al-Qaida the symbolic victory of "smashing the center of American government," Clinton said.
They were "ordinary people given no time at all to decide and they did the right thing," he said.
"And 2,500 years from now, I hope and pray to God that people will still remember this."
The Pennsylvania memorial park is years from completion. But the dedication and a service to mark the 10th anniversary of the attacks are critical milestones, said Sally Ware, one of the volunteer "ambassadors" who has worked as a guide at the site since the disaster.
Ware, whose home was rocked when the jet crashed two miles away, recalled how hundreds of people flocked to the site in the days afterward to leave their own mementos and memorials. She began volunteering after finding one along the roadside -- a red rose placed atop a flight attendant's uniform.
"It really bothered me. I thought someone has to take care of this," said Ware, whose daughter is a flight attendant.
Now, a decade later, she said the memorial may do little to ease the grief of the families of those who died in the crash.
But the weekend's ceremonies recall a story with far broader reach. The ceremonies honor those who "fought the first battle against terrorism -- and they won," Ware said. "It's something I don't want to miss. It's become a part of my life."
On Sunday, the focus turns to ceremonies at the Pentagon, just outside Washington, D.C., and in lower Manhattan for the dedication of the national Sept. 11 memorial. President Barack Obama planned to attend events at the sites and was to speak at a Sunday evening service at the Kennedy Center.
The New York ceremony begins at 8:30 a.m., with a moment of silence 16 minutes later -- coinciding with the exact time when the first tower of the trade center was struck by a hijacked jet.
And then, one by one, the reading of the names of the 2,977 killed on Sept. 11 -- in New York, at the Pentagon and in rural Pennsylvania.
And so arrives a Sunday dedicated to remembrance, with hundreds of ceremonies across the country and around the globe -- from a memorial Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York to a ceremony featuring nine-stories-tall replicas of the twin towers on a plaza in Paris.
Check out the article at Fox News.

It's hard to believe that it's been 10 years since this travesty.

NEVER FORGET!!!

Still Strong, Still True, Still LSU!!!

2011-09-05T08:00:00.004-05:00

ARLINGTON, Texas - Change the season.
Change the venue.
Change the team.
Same. Old. Song.
And if you’re an LSU fan, and by proxy a Southeastern Conference fan, it is yet another victory in yet another big non-conference game with BCS implications that sounds just as sweet.
“SEC! SEC! SEC!”
This is the sound that Oregon fans will have ringing in their ears all the way back to the West Coast. It’s the same taunt they heard in Glendale, Ariz., eight months ago when their Ducks lost the BCS National Championship Game to Auburn.
New opponent. New places. New names. Old potent weapons in Oregon’s high-tech Nike-designed Batman-esque garb like LaMichael James and Darron Thomas, weapons LSU’s offense in stodgy old white jerseys didn’t possess.
It was like it didn’t matter. It was like Oregon’s preseason No. 3 ranking didn’t happen. It was like the good old times for No. 4 LSU after a bad, bad offseason.
It may be rainy in Baton Rouge. It may have been gloomy for the last month or two.
But with Nike’s Phil Knight watching, it was a dark night for Oregon as the Tigers pounded out a 40-27 victory that included a completely cosmetic final touchdown for the Ducks with :13 left.
The Tigers looked at times like a power-hitting outfielder in baseball. There were swings and misses, screwing themselves comically into the ground.
But when Oregon left the ball fat and over the plate, the Tigers knocked it out of Tiger, er, Cowboys Stadium (the place was three-fourths LSU fans), smashing out a few of the massive end zone windows in the process.
How good is Oregon? Won’t know for weeks. How good is LSU? There are more tough tests to come.
But this is what good teams do: the Tigers turned four Oregon turnovers into 21 points. One was on a spectacular fumble recovery by Tyrann Mathieu (does he make any other kind of play?) when LSU’s offense was struggling. Then the Tigers took two De’Anthony Thomas fumbles and used them as fuel for a 14-0 third-quarter burst.
There was still a quarter to play, but at that point the Ducks were cooked.
Credit Jarrett Lee for doing a credible job at quarterback and for tight end Deangelo Peterson (four catches) for being such an attractive target. Credit Spencer Ware and Michael Ford (combined 195 yards rushing, 3 TDs) for wearing Oregon out.
Credit that gritty LSU defense for keeping a jittery Thomas out of his comfort zone all night.
Before the game, the questions were how would LSU be able to hang without the suspended do of Jordan Jefferson and Russell Shepard.
Then they hung 40 on Oregon. Could LSU have expected to fare any better if they had played?
Change is inevitable and sometimes good. But it hasn’t come to college football yet.
Not on this first weekend anyway.
Not on LSU’s watch.
Check out the article at The Advocate.

Great game played by two great teams... but the PAC just can't keep up! Man, I sure do love me some roast duck!!!

Now, after a cupcake or two, it's on to the real competition... regular season in the SEC!

GEAUX TIGERS!!!

#4 LSU faces #3 Oregon in the 2011 Cowboys Classic!!!

2011-09-03T01:00:00.002-05:00

Third-ranked Oregon and No. 4 LSU have been two of the most talked-about football teams for several months. Sometimes the fact they’re playing each other to open the season Saturday night in Cowboys Stadium has even entered the conversation.
Both teams have made headlines for players running afoul of the law, getting suspended or ruled ineligible, and being involved in NCAA investigations or sanctions, and more.
But now it’s all about the start of the college season, and the Ducks and Tigers are the marquee matchup of Week 1.
“There has never been another game where I have wanted to play more to get stuff out of the way than this one,” LSU center P.J. Lonergan said. “So much has been going on, so much talk about all kinds of different things. I want to go out and play this game and get everybody on a positive note and get this negativity behind us.”
The Tigers have spent much of preseason practice trying to simulate the Ducks’ fast-paced offense in which they try to snap the ball six to eight seconds after the previous play ends. Oregon averaged nearly 50 points per game last season.
Quarterback Derron Thomas and running back LaMichael James, the leading rusher in the country last season, are LSU’s top concerns.
“These guys run like track players, but they’re agile like basketball players,” defensive end Sam Montgomery said. “They can move very quickly between two yards.”
Defensive tackle Michael Brockers said the key to defending Oregon’s spread option scheme is for the interior linemen to get into the backfield as Auburn did in slowing down the Ducks to win the BCS Championship, 22-19, in January. Those Tigers limited Oregon to 75 yards on 32 rushes.
Another way for LSU to slow down the Ducks would be for its offense to keep the ball away from them as much as possible.
“We really want to control the tempo, and we also want to put up points,” guard Will Blackwell said. “The longer we have the ball, the less they have the ball.”
If LSU can run the ball effectively that will lessen the burden of quarterback Jarrett Lee and an inexperienced group of receivers. Lee ascended to the starter’s position just eight days ago after Jordan Jefferson was suspended after being charged with second-degree battery. Two days before that, Russell Shepard, one of just two receivers with significant playing experience, was declared ineligible for violating an NCAA regulation.
“Obviously your preparation has to change slightly because they’re a little bit different players,” Ducks coach Chip Kelly said of LSU’s quarterbacks. “But LSU is not going to change its entire offense. I don’t think they’ll have a drop-off because I’ve been impressed by what I’ve seen of Jarrett.”
Lee, a fifth-year senior who hasn’t started a game since 2009, is 5-4 as a starter.
“I’ve played in big games before,” Lee said. “It’s not like I’m coming into the first team and everything is new to me. I’ve been working with these guys for a long time.”
Lee is less of a running threat than Jefferson is, but he said he feels more nimble after losing 20 pounds since the end of last season.
“I expect a lot out of Jarrett Lee,” coach Les Miles said. “He’s looking forward, and so are we, to seeing him play a full game from start to finish. I expect him to operate the offense better than he ever has.”?
Lee won’t have to face Oregon cornerback Cliff Harris, who had six interceptions and 17 pass breakups last season. Harris, who was second in the country with an average of 18.83 yards per punt return last season, was suspended for this game in June after being ticketed for driving 118 mph on the interstate.
This game also marks LSU offensive line coach Greg Studrawa’s first game as the acting offensive coordinator. Studrawa took on the play-calling duties at the start of preseason camp when it was revealed that former coordinator Steve Kragthorpe would be limited to quarterbacks coach duties after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Kragthorpe will coach alongside Studrawa in the press box.
That’s another of the many unexpected developments that have confronted these teams on their way to this game.
One thing has not changed amid all the recent turmoil - rarely has a game on Labor Day weekend featured as much significance to the BCS title hunt as this one does.
“We’ve put a lot of work and effort into putting ourselves into position to play quality football games and play for championships,” Miles said, “and there are so many things that can derail and distract a team along those lines. I think we’re all really looking forward to playing on Saturday night. I think our team is ready for football.”
Check out the article at the The ADvocate.

If you 'geaux' to Oregon-LSU, here's what you should know

While the LSU Tigers and Oregon Ducks sort out their personnel groupings and matchups, in light of all the offseason suspensions, let’s talk about the LSU people who aren’t listed on the school’s depth chart.
Let’s talk about the people you’ll meet if you go to the game next weekend in Arlington, Texas — the LSU fans.
These are people who conduct tailgating practice every summer. I’m talking about tailgating practice.
They will yell "Tiger bait!" at you if you walk past them in green and yellow. They might even call you a tree-hugging, dope-smoking liberal. But if they have any jambalaya or red beans and rice to spare, they’ll invite you over.
These folks can cook. If you think seasoning means a dash of salt, think again. Start with the holy trinity of Cajun cooking — chopped onions, bell pepper and celery — and get ready to work your way on — quickly — to the strong stuff.
I’ve got two words for you: Cayenne pepper.
Now I’ve really got two words for you: Duck gumbo.
Be afraid. Be very afraid, Ducks. Not of losing the game — of getting too close and being eaten.
Do you know this expression? Keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer? Please understand that proximity is your call, your risk.
But I can offer a few suggestions on how to keep it friendly.
Tell them you think Terry Baker never should have won the Heisman Trophy over Jerry Stovall. You’ll be BFFs.
To make sure you get second helpings of jambalaya and andouille, dismiss the AP national championship USC won in 2003 and call LSU the real national champion that season.
If LSU fans are wearing what looks to you like purple and yellow, call it purple and gold. You’ll darn near crack the circle of trust by your when-in-Rome flexibility with definitions of color.
Call it sunflower gold if you must, but if you simply refer to purple and gold, you’ll be golden.
Boudreaux might be there. Thibodeaux too. Which brings me to another word: Geaux.
You’ve known it all your life as "go." That’s just silly, almost like saying "you guyses’ " when you have a perfectly good word like "y’all" available.
If you hear "Go … Tigers … Go … Tigers," I promise you it’s spelled "Geaux … Tigers … Geaux … Tigers."
"Go" would be like having someone named Thibodo. See how stupid that looks?
Louisiana is a state with a city named Natchitoches (NAK-uh-dish), a waterway named Atchafalaya (uh-chaff-uh-LYE-yuh), a parish (county) named Calcasieu (CAL-kuh-shoe) and a town called Cut Off (Cut Off). Why have a word so simple as "go" when you can complicate it with silent letters?
If you think Les Miles jokes are in order, let someone in purple and gold tell them. Les might be an idiot, but he’s their idiot.
Except, of course, when he’s their hero, their mad genius.
Or he might be both, which is often the case.
They’ll call him "The Hat" because he can’t quite seem to get a baseball cap to fit like everyone else can. An ESPN talking head turned that into "The Mad Hatter," but LSU fans prefer "The Hat," as in "Fear The Hat."
I’ve got another word for you: Lesticles. Don’t look it up, but if you’re good with rhymes, you probably can guess it speaks to Miles’ bravado, dating to LSU’s 5-for-5 conversion rate on fourth downs in a thrilling 2007 victory at home against reigning national champion Florida.
"Onions!" is how Verne Lundquist of CBS describes it.
"Lesticles" is a word that will have you in good stead with LSU fans, provided you wait to giggle until they do.
Some other things you might find interesting about the new friends you’ll make next weekend at Cowboy Stadium:
Louisiana has drive-through daiquiri shops. A big piece of freezer tape over the straw hole of the snug-fitting plastic lid ensures you don’t end up driving with an open container, so rest easy.
Louisiana allows people 18 to 20 to be present in places where alcohol is served, which is why nobody there raised an eyebrow upon hearing LSU quarterback Jordan Jefferson was at a bar called Shady’s the week before his 21st birthday.
You can’t buy alcohol if you’re under 21, but Louisiana still has some of the most liberal drinking laws in the country. Remember that when someone calls you the L-word, especially if you’re sitting in Section 420.
One reason LSU fans take scandal in stride is the most celebrated player in school history, 1959 Heisman Trophy winner Billy Cannon, served roughly three years in federal prison in the 1980s for counterfeiting.
His Heisman is now on display in a glass case at a Baton Rouge restaurant called TJ Ribs. As far as anyone knows, it’s not counterfeit.
For his part, Cannon has a sense of humor about scandal, but less so when it’s about his. A call to his office Friday morning was answered with the greeting, "Clearinghouse for all rumors about the LSU FIGHTING Tigers!"
Fighting Tigers, you should know, is the official nickname of LSU sports teams. Awkward right about now, huh?
There is an Internet meme, reworked from an original that pokes fun at Nebraska fans, and it suggests LSU fans smell like corndogs. But bourbon might be closer to the truth, in many cases.
Don’t dare suggest there is a better game-day atmosphere anywhere than LSU’s Tiger Stadium on a Saturday night. Don’t hint that any other fan base might be louder or more loyal.
If you point out that Tiger Stadium was half-empty when the Tigers finished their second-half comeback against powerhouse Troy in 2008, please remember that was the loudest, most loyal half-empty stadium in the history of sports.
Oh, and LSU fans love their marching band — just like every other fan base does, only more so. If you see the hair on the back of their necks stand up after the first three notes of pre-game "Hold That Tiger," know that’s a normal reaction.
Did you see the "Seinfield" episode in which Elaine Benes’ boyfriend became transfixed upon hearing "Desperado" by the Eagles? He wouldn’t let her declare it "our song," because it was already his song.
Well, the pregame music the Golden Band from Tigerland plays is "our song" to every LSU fan you’ll meet.
LSU fans, and Louisiana natives as a whole, want you to know they don’t give a nutria’s backside what you think of them. However, they will read everything you post online anyway, because they can’t help themselves.
If they declare you an honorary coonass, don’t be insulted. It’s a compliment, despite what one angry Louisiana historian might say in an official letter of protest. In no way is it intended as a racial or ethnic slur, so if you hear it directed to you, it wouldn’t hurt to wear it as a badge of honor.
If, while you are at the game, you verbalize your knowledge of anything LSU-related, you will soon find out what message board your new buddies frequent online.
"I see SOMEBODY reads the Rant!" Tiger Rant loyalists of TigerDroppings.com will say.
"Looks like SOMEONE has been on the Lair!" a subscriber to The Tiger’s Lair on TigerRoar.com will say.
"You must read TigerBait," a TigerBait.com veteran will say.
And they’re all correct, because nobody could possibly know anything about LSU that wasn’t first reported, conceived or invented on fill-in-the-blank.com.
LSU fans are the greatest in the country, except when they’re not. They can turn on their Tigers at the drop of a Hat.
When you’re winning, it’s the best place to be a coach, former LSU head football coaches have said. When you’re losing, the same coaches went on to say, it’s the worst.
Some wearing purple and gold acknowledge the LSU fan base has no qualms about eating its own.
That might be true, especially if there’s any Cayenne pepper or Tabasco handy.
They are a fun bunch.
Laissez les bons temps rouler means "Let the good times roll." Those were believed to be the first words ever spoken by former Gov. Edwin Edwards, who just got out of prison.
He’s the one who famously said the only way he could lose a certain election was to be caught in bed with a dead woman or a live boy.
Edwards is a Cajun. Not everyone from Louisiana is, and you should know that.
The Ragin’ Cajuns of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette will tell you LSU stole "Geaux" and other Cajun ways from them. They can make a good case — and a good jambalaya too.
"Lagniappe" means "a little something extra." You’re sure to get that with just about any LSU fan you meet, whether we’re talking food, drink, conversation or Tiger-baiting.
It’s OK to make eye contact. There’s a good chance you’ll pass a good time (another expression you might hear) if you hang out with the right LSU fans.
When y’all get back, I want to hear all about it from you guys.
Check out the article at the Oregon News Register.

Numbers to ponder...

If you were lucky enough to secure tickets to No. 4 LSU’s opener against No. 3 Oregon on Saturday night, you may very well be on the road to Arlington, Texas, and looking for an easy way to kill time.
Some numbers to crunch as the Cowboys Classic draws near:
16 - Years since LSU lost at No. 3 Texas A&M in the first game of the Gerry DiNardo era. Oregon is the highest-ranked opponent for the Tigers in a season opener since the 1995 Aggies.
9 - Seasons since LSU played the role of underdog in a season opener. Virginia Tech, favored by a touchdown, scored a 26-8 victory over the Tigers to start the 2002 season. The oddsmakers like Oregon by 3-1/2 in this one.
2 - Previous matchups of top-five foes on a neutral field to open the season. The last such meeting came when No. 4 Miami beat No. 1 Auburn at Giants Stadium in a 1984 opener.
16 - Games LSU coach Les Miles has won, in 19 tries, when given two weeks or more to prepare. The Mad Hatter is 5-1 in bowl games and 6-0 in season openers.
65 - Games in the Miles era in which LSU has rushed for more than 100 yards. The Tigers have won 58.
39 - Games in the Miles era in which LSU’s opponent has rushed for fewer than 100 yards. The Tigers have won 36.
34 - Games in the Miles era in which LSU has rushed for 100 yards AND its opponent has rushed for fewer than 100. The Tigers have won all 34.
4 - Punts returned by Oregon cornerback Cliff Harris for touchdowns last year.
0 - Snaps Harris is expected to play Saturday. Coach Chip Kelly suspended the All-American cornerback/return man in June after he was clocked driving 118 mph on an Oregon interstate.
238 - Days since Jordan Jefferson turned in a career performance at Cowboys Stadium to lead LSU past Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl.
8 - Days before Saturday’s opener Jefferson was arrested for his alleged role in an off-campus bar fight and suspended indefinitely from the LSU football team.
2,040 - Distance, in miles, Oregon fans must travel from Eugene for Saturday’s game.
15,000 - Tickets Oregon distributed to season-ticket holders for the opener.
465 - Distance, in miles, LSU fans will travel from Baton Rouge to watch the game.
37,000 - Tickets LSU distributed to season-ticket holders, the most tickets the school has ever sold for a regular-season away game.
80 - Distance, in miles, from Baton Rouge to New Orleans, where LSU hopes to finish its season with a return to the BCS championship game.
10 - Teams that have reached a BCS title game with one loss or more. The other 16 got through the regular season unscathed.
0 - Teams that have reached a BCS title game after losing their season opener.
Check out the article at The Advocate.

I’m so pumped... football is finally here! It’s like Christmas in September!!! I don’t think the Ducks are going to be #3 for long!

GEAUX TIGERS!!!

Chinese Jiaozhou Bay Bridge No Record-Breaker!

2011-07-01T08:00:00.001-05:00

Jiaozhou Bay Bridge

Lake Pontchartrain Causeway

The man in charge of operations of the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway says the claim that a new bridge in China is now the "world's longest" is not accurate.
Causeway General Manager Carlton Dufrechou says although Jiaozhou Bay Bridge in east China does have an overall length of 26 miles of roadway, it still does not surpass the Louisiana bridge in terms of distance covered.
"It's actually a curved bridge," Dufrenchou said of the Chinese structure. "If you go from point-to-point distance, the bridge only spans about 16 miles, and the Causeway's closer to 24."
Dufrenchou says Chinese officials are calculating the distance of their bridge using the cumulative roadbed length of the curved roadway, as well as including the distance covered by a spur that runs from the bridge in a perpendicular direction.
"So, in our opinion, the Causeway is still the longest bridge over open water," Dufrenchou said.
The bridge spanning Lake Pontchartrain will be 56 years old in August. Dufrenchou says the Causeway has an impressive safety record.
"On an annual basis, there are 12,000,000 transits, and last year there were less than 150 accidents," he said. "So it's like one accident in every 70,000 transits...The Causeway is one of the safest bridges not only in the United States, but on the planet Earth."
Check out the article at WWL.

Guess there will be two world record categories now? Interesting controversy.

LSU Coaches Star on YouTube!!!

2011-06-23T14:00:00.002-05:00

If you were wondering how LSU’s “busy” coaches spend their summer down time, a pair of YouTube videos supply the answer.
In the first, football coach Les Miles is locked in a losing battle with his kids in a backyard basketball showdown when he pulls out a pair of secret weapons: shoes given to him by ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt. The result is a shocking reversal of fortune.
In the second half of the double feature, the normally reserved Trent Johnson challenges LSU men’s basketball publicist and renowned Advocate bowling columnist Kent Lowe to an in-office bowling showdown involving a basketball and what appear to be 10 bottles of sports drink subbing for a ball and pins.
Both are highly tongue in cheek. Funny? It helps to know the people involved (that is a logo of Lowe at the end of the Johnson video and Macy Grace Miles sang the national anthem at an LSU baseball game this season), but you’d have to be pretty stiff not to at least have a chuckle. If nothing else, it’s fun to see millionaire coaches not take themselves so seriously.
Check out the article at LSU TigerTracks.

LOL!!!

Summer Solstice

2011-06-21T08:00:00.000-05:00

The summer solstice shouldn't come as a surprise. It arrives at pretty much the same time every year. But some of the little-known facts behind and surrounding the solstice are fascinating. First, the basics:
Summer in the Northern Hemisphere will officially arrive on Tuesday (June 21) at 1:16 p.m. EDT (17:16 Universal Time): the June solstice. At the same time, winter officially begins for the Southern Hemisphere.
At that moment, the sun will reach the point where it is farthest north of the celestial equator. To be more precise, when the summer solstice occurs, the sun will appear to be shining directly overhead at a point on the Tropic of Cancer (latitude 23.5 degrees north) in the Great Bahama Bank, roughly halfway between Andros Island and central Cuba.
Extreme daylightFrom no point in the contiguous 48 United States can the sun appear directly overhead. From New York, for instance, at 12:57 p.m. Eastern Time, the sun will attain its highest point in the sky for this entire year, standing 73 degrees above the southern horizon or about four-fifths of the way up from the horizon to the point directly overhead.
And since the sun will appear to describe such a high arc across the sky, the duration of daylight is now at its most extreme. In fact, north of the Arctic Circle, which encompasses northern Alaska, far-northern Canada, much of Greenland as well as the northernmost parts of Norway, Sweden and Finland , the sun now remains above the horizon for an entire 24-hour day, leading to the effect known as the "midnight sun."
However, contrary to popular belief, the earliest sunrise and latest sunset do not coincide with the summer solstice. For mid-northern latitudes, the earliest sunrise actually occurred on June 14, while the latest sunset is not due until June 27.
Hotter weather
If the insolation — the total energy received from the sun — alone governed the temperature, we should be experiencing the year’s hottest weather right now.
But the atmosphere in temperate regions continues to receive more heat than it gives up to space, a situation that lasts a month or more, depending on the latitude. Though it depends on the local climate, most locations see the hottest part of the year occurring in late July. A reverse process occurs after the winter solstice in December; most places see their coldest weather in late January.
The solar heating depends directly on the sun's altitude in the sky, which also controls its daily path and the number of hours the sun is above the horizon. As an example, although on April 12 the insolation is the same as on Aug. 31, thanks to the seasonal temperature lag, the northern and central United States can still experience a freeze at the former date, or endure a 90 degree heat wave at the latter.
Armistice
Just as the word "armistice" is defined as a staying of the action of arms, "solstice" is a staying of the sun's apparent motion over the latitudes of the Earth .
At the summer solstice, the sun stops its northward motion and begins heading south. At the winter solstice, it turns north.
So technically on Tuesday, even at 17:17 UT, the sun will have turned around and started on its six-month journey south. It will cross the equator at the autumnal equinox, passing into the Southern Hemisphere on Sept. 23, at 9:05 UT.
Check out the article at Fox News.

Summertime is finally here... time for a trip to the beach!

D-Day: June 6, 1944

2011-06-06T08:25:00.002-05:00

D-Day - June 6, 1944
The Battle of Normandy was fought in 1944 between Nazi Germany in Western Europe and the invading Allied forces as part of the larger conflict of World War II. Operation Overlord was the codename for the Allied invasion of northwest Europe, which began on June 6, 1944, and ended on August 19, 1944, when the Allies crossed the River Seine. Over sixty years later, the Normandy Invasion still remains the largest seaborne invasion in history, involving almost three million troops crossing the English Channel from England to Normandy. Operation Neptune was the codename given to the initial assault phase of Operation Overlord; its mission, to gain a foothold on the continent, started on June 6, 1944 (most commonly known by the name D-Day) and ended on June 30, 1944.
The primary Allied formations that saw combat in Normandy came from the United States of America, United Kingdom and Canada. Substantial Free French and Polish forces also participated in the battle after the assault phase, and there were also contingents from Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Greece, the Netherlands, and Norway.
The Normandy invasion began with overnight parachute and glider landings, massive air attacks, naval bombardments, and an early morning amphibious phase began on June 6, 1944. The “D-Day” forces deployed from bases along the south coast of England, the most important of these being Portsmouth. The battle for Normandy continued for more than two months, with campaigns to establish, expand, and eventually break out of the Allied beachheads, and concluded with the liberation of Paris and the fall of the Falaise pocket in late August 1944.
The Battle of Normandy was described thus by Adolf Hitler: “In the East, the vastness of space will... permit a loss of territory... without suffering a mortal blow to Germany’s chance for survival. Not so in the West! If the enemy here succeeds… consequences of staggering proportions will follow within a short time.”
Check out the article at Wikipedia.

Be sure to visit the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana for some exciting events going on today!

If you are interested in accurate D-Day and WWII history, I highly recommend the following books by Stephen Ambrose. He has written other WWII books, but those four are by far the most notable and my favorites:

Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest

D Day: June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II

Citizen Soldiers: The U. S. Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany

Pegasus Bridge

The HBO miniseries Band of Brothers, inspired by Stephen Ambrose's book by the same title, is a must-see for any WWII history buff. I have found the series to be one of the most historically accurate movies made on the topic... I highly recommend checking it out!

There are MANY movies made in the WWII setting, check out World War II on Film at www.worldwar-2.net and the Wikipedia List of WWII Films.

Memorial Day 2011

2011-05-30T08:00:00.000-05:00

For most of my life, I was like most people: I knew what Memorial Day stood for, but I didn't really stop to think about what it truly meant. That changed after I went to Iraq in 2004 as a civil-affairs soldier with the Army Reserves. When you serve with people who don't come home, Memorial Day means something different.
Memorial Day is not about politics. Whatever your feelings about current or former wars, remember this: All military personnel take an oath. The fallen swore and gave their lives honoring a promise:
"I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the uniform code of military justice. So help me God."
The soldiers who gave Uncle Sam a blank check with their lives offered to answer our nation's call to arms. The military does not decide to go to war; it just answers the call of our nation. And the numbers of those who have died answering that call continue to rise: 4,454 and counting in Iraq; 1,586 and counting in Afghanistan; 58,220 in Vietnam; 36,574 in Korea; 405,399 in World War II. Since 1775, in fact, more than 1.3 million military personnel (and counting) have given their lives for this nation.
It's a huge number, but, then, Memorial Day is not about the numbers. It's about the individual human being: the American, the man, the woman, the father, the brother, the spouse, the friend, the son, the uncle and the daughter who answered the call of our nation to deploy into violence, into war.
It's about people such as Upper Darby High School graduate Lt. Col. Mark Patrick Phelan, 47, from Pennsylvania, a father, uncle, husband and brother who went to Iraq with the 416th Civil Affairs Battalion (Norristown) to win the "hearts and minds" of Iraqis. His remains now lie in Arlington National Cemetery, with fellow heroes, such as Cpl. Michael Crescenz, of Philadelphia, a Vietnam veteran who received the Medal of Honor. Lt. Col. Phelan was an Army reservist killed by a "homicide bomber" who rammed his explosives-filled car into the Humvee in which Phelan was riding.
Memorial Day is about Americans like infantry paratrooper Robert Dembowski Jr., 20, a graduate of Pennsylvania's Council Rock High, who was killed in Baghdad in a small-arms attack. It's about Roger Haller, 49, a Maryland National Guard command sergeant-major, whose helicopter was shot down in Iraq and who now rests in Arlington. It's about Nicole Frye, 19, a Civil Affairs soldier from Wisconsin, who was killed in Iraq by an IED as she drove an unarmored Humvee that had a plastic tarp for a door.
Memorial Day is for Bradli Coleman, 19, of Ford City, Pa., who was killed by a mortar as he slept on his bunk in Mosul, Iraq, after working the night shift in Task Force Olympia headquarters. Memorial Day is about Marine Maj. John Spahr, 42, a former Philadelphia All-Catholic quarterback at Saint Joseph's Prep, whose F18 went down in Iraq. Memorial Day is about Marine John Basilone, killed in the Pacific during World War II. Memorial Day is to remember the sacrifice of Lee Hartel, killed in Korea. It is about Patrick Ward, 21, a helicopter machine-gunner from Fairmount who did not return from Vietnam.
Every day is Memorial Day for the fallen's families, friends and comrades-in-arms. Look into the eyes of Robert Dembowski Sr., or those of a Gold Star Mother, and you will see the immeasurable price that some pay for our freedoms.
Memorial Day is about the infinite void that each deceased hero leaves. It's about the families and friends of Phelan, Crescenz, Dembowski, Frye, Spahr, Haller, Coleman, Basilone, Hartel, Ward and countless others, about their everyday pain as they continue through life even as their loved ones become names on marble monuments.
As you enjoy your federal holiday, I urge you to include in your festivities a time to remember what Memorial Day truly means: a time to stop, put down your barbecue tongs and join the families and comrades-in-arms, and think, if even just for a short time, about the sacrifice signified by the numbers on the walls.
I urge you to take your children to a ceremony honoring those who have fallen. Take them to a Memorial Day parade. Put a flag on your lawn. Help a veterans' group. Better yet, help a "survivors' group." Attend one of the many services throughout the region honoring our war dead.
The Vietnam memorial honors the fallen. The Korean memorial also honors who fell. But, remember, these are not just numbers or names on a wall. They are your fellow citizens, who died in your name. Keep their memory alive.
Check out article at Fox News.

For more information, be sure to check out the Memorial Day Wiki

YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN!

Indy 500’s 100th Anniversary!

2011-05-29T08:00:00.001-05:00

Six years before the Indianapolis Motor Speedway hosted its first 500-mile race in 1911, Carl G. Fisher, a local businessman, envisioned a flat track ideal for testing horseless carriages made around the city. The 2.5-mile oval was also ideal for racing, of course.
The automobile industry migrated from Indianapolis, but the Indianapolis 500 became a Memorial Day weekend tradition. With the 100th anniversary race set for May 29, speedway officials have revived a competition that likely would please Mr. Fisher, who died in 1939.
The Hulman Indy Challenge, held from 1989 to 1996, will be renewed to promote the development of automotive technology through motor sports. The competition is named after Anton Hulman, who, with his purchase of the speedway in 1945, rescued the Brickyard from four years of neglect brought about by World War II.
“We recognize the landscape is changing for the development of the automobile, and we are eager to provide the ultimate showcase for those wanting to prove their products in on-track competition,” Jeff Belskus, president and chief executive of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, said in a news release.
The Hulman Indy Challenge is not a freestanding event like the Indy 500, Brickyard 400 or the MotoGP races held at the speedway. When manufacturers want to test various parameters of their vehicles under sanction, the speedway will work with them to set a date for their attempts.
Paul Kelly, a speedway spokesman, said that the track planned to also court manufacturers of alternative-energy vehicles. The tests will not be confined to 24-hour endurance runs, as they have in the past. The parameters will be decided this summer.
In the meantime, electric and solar-power cars from colleges will compete in an Emerging Tech Day at the speedway on Saturday afternoon, a day before the Indianapolis 500. Major manufacturers will present a giant ride-and-drive event with a variety of electric vehicles. Admission is free.
Early adopters of electric vehicles are also in luck, as they are eligible to take a lap around the track’s oval on Saturday. Mandatory preregistration can be completed on the speedway's website.
Check out article at the NY Times Wheels Blog.

Should be a great race!

Check out Celebrating the Indy 500’s 100th Anniversary: 100 Most Interesting Facts, Milestones, and More - Feature .

Be sure to check out the Official Indianapolis Motor Speedway Website.

Flood Chasing Wildlife Out of Swamps

2011-05-18T10:00:00.002-05:00

Gov. Bobby Jindal said Tuesday that officials are warning residents to be on the lookout for wildlife fleeing floodwaters.
The governor said four bears have been seen in areas around the rising water, and that state officials anticipate an increase in snake bites as animals move to higher ground.
Jindal said the risk of encountering snakes will be elevated while water is high and even after water levels begin to drop.
"After the water recedes, pay attention to local officials about advisories concerning snakes and other dangers that can be left behind," Jindal said.
Louisiana swamps are filled with snakes. Many are not poisonous and don't require antivenin, an antidote for bites from venomous species.
The governor said state health and poison control officials are working with hospitals in affected areas to ensure that each facility has 12 vials of the antivenin CroFab.
That treatment works to counteract the effects of venom from all of Louisiana's native snakes, except bites from the relatively rare coral snake, which requires a different antivenin.
Swampy south Louisiana is home to several kinds of poisonous snakes, including copperheads, rattlesnakes, coral snakes and water moccasins.
The Department of Wildlife and Fisheries says 18 deer and a coyote have been seem on the Morganza spillway levee. Deer have been spotted emerging exhausted from the water and running into livestock fences.
"Wildlife officials caution residents to leave wildlife alone so they can recover and they don't panic, which lessens their chances for survival," said Jindal.
The Morganza spillway northwest of Baton Rouge was opened on Saturday, pouring Mississippi River water into wildlife-heavy wetlands of the Atchafalaya River basin.
Farther south, the Bonnet Carre spillway about 30 miles upriver from New Orleans was opened last week, sending river water into Lake Pontchartrain.
The bears are most likely a black bear subspecies that was put on the endangered species list in 1992.
Others swamp dwellers likely on the move are alligators — a 10-footer was shot near a suburban New Orleans levee over the weekend — nutria, opossums and raccoons.
Check out the article at The Advocate.

Too bad it's not deer season... these pics are making me hungry!!!

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LSU Chancellor Martin Remarks on LSU Flag Protest

2011-05-17T10:00:00.001-05:00

LSU Chancellor Michael Martin released a new statement during the weekend to clarify that he does not support the obscenities and objects thrown at a graduate student who had originally planned to burn an American flag last week on campus.
LSU graduate student Benjamin Haas planned to burn an American flag by the Parade Ground to promote his First Amendment rights, but instead decided to read a statement promoting peace and the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Haas also was supporting the rights of another student arrested two weeks ago for stealing and burning the flag at the LSU War Memorial.
But Haas was met with nearly 1,000 counterprotesters, some of whom threw water balloons and bottles at him while chanting “U-S-A” and “Go to hell hippie, go to hell.”
Police had to intervene and direct Haas to safety before he could read his statement.
Later that day, LSU released a news release about the events that did not mention the foul language, water balloons and more directed at Haas.
That release included the comment from Martin, “I also thought today brought out a wonderful display of patriotism among the students conducting the counter-protest.”
The online arts blog, allography.com responded by selling “Civil Discourse Kits” of water balloons and bottles on eBay. The online posting had the added message, “If you want to let Mr. Martin know how you feel about him and thank him for redefining what is meant by patriotism and civil discourse, we urge you to call him …”
There also was a petition started at Change.org criticizing Martin and LSU’s media relations staff, arguing in part, “LSU’s Chancellor did nothing to denounce the violent mob — even praising the ‘patriotism’ of the ‘counter-protest.’”
However, Martin clarified in his updated statement, “I do not condone the behavior of that portion of the crowd who … resorted to verbal threats and physical actions against the student while and after he tried to read his statement.”
Martin also stated, “Let me make these points clear: I do not condone the burning of the flag, but I defend the right for someone to express their freedom of speech by doing so. I applaud the many who responded with great passion to speak up for what their flag represents, and that was the purpose of the inspiring patriotic counter-protest that was organized …”
The organized counter-protest that continued after Haas’ departure included the pledge of allegiance and the singing of the national anthem.
Check out the article at The Advocate.

Thank you Chancellor Martin! First off, I'm no flag burner and I think Haas is an idiot extremist. However, everyone is condemning him for exercising his rights via a peaceful protest (with a permit) - and he never even brought a flag with him to burn!!! Instead of being allowed to speak, he was bullied and pelted. Whether you agree with him or not is not the point; intolerance should NEVER be acceptable in this country. If everyone would have calmed down and listened to what he had to say, they would have heard this:

Funny Facebook said that there were only going to be 64 of you. I initially began this flag burning protest to define due process for students and suspected terrorists alike, to call on LSU and universities across the country to defend basic human rights and avoid putting students into the criminal justice system when it can be taken care of internally.
Solidarity means standing with those who are treated as guilty until proven innocent, instead of the other way around. That's what freedom is, standing with those who express their constitutional rights in ways that may be unpopular, especially the accused and the marginalized no matter the consequences.
In the name of peace, there will be no flag burning today. This country and the flag that flies over it stands for freedom, democracy, love, peace and the ability to question our government.
I initially began this flag-burning protest to defend due process for students and suspected terrorists alike; to call on LSU and universities across the country to defend basic human rights and avoid putting students into the criminal justice system when it can taken care of internally.But today, it feels like it's just about hate and violence, I have received more than 100 threats on my life and on the lives of those I care about. but I also received numerous calls of support from those who agreed with me, military veterans, and even those who said they disagreed with the method I proposed but wanted to show me their support, and for that I am thankful.
We can be better than this. We may disagree on what forms of dissent are appropriate and what the proper forums are to voice them, but the important thing is that we come together and defend the right to dissent at all, especially when this country has asserted its ability to declare anyone an enemy who has a different opinion than the majority.
I feel what is missing most from the United States is a sense of community, love, and acceptance of the differences we may have about issues in the world. If I had one wish for today, it would be to make the world a more peaceful place.
Peace.
-Benjamin Haas, communication studies graduate student
Source: The Daily Reveille

Both Louisiana Flood Control Systems Unlocked!

2011-05-14T16:00:00.001-05:00

MORGANZA, La. -- Over the next few days, water spewing through a Mississippi River floodgate will crawl through the swamps of Louisiana's Cajun country, chasing people and animals to higher ground while leaving much of the land under 10 to 20 feet of brown muck.
The floodgate was opened Saturday for the first time in nearly four decades, shooting out like a waterfall, spraying 6 feet into the air. Fish jumped or were hurled through the white froth and what was dry land soon turned into a raging channel.
The water will flow 20 miles south into the Atchafalaya Basin, and from there it will roll on to Morgan City, an oil-and-seafood hub and a community of 12,000.
In the nearby community of Stephensville, rows of sandbags were piled up outside nearly every home.
Merleen Acosta, 58, waited in line for three hours to get her sandbags filled by prisoners, then returned later in the day for more bags.
Floodwaters inundated Acosta's home when the Morganza spillway was opened in 1973, driving her out for several months. The thought of losing her home again was so stressful she was getting sick.
The opening of the spillway diverted water from Baton Rouge and New Orleans, and the numerous oil refineries and chemical plants along the lower reaches of the Mississippi. Shifting the water away from the cities eased the strain on levees and blunts the potential for flooding in New Orleans that could have been much worse than Hurricane Katrina.
C.E. Bourg stopped by a hardware store in the shadow of the Morgan City floodwalls to buy grease for his lawnmower and paint -- items on his "honey-do list." Floodwaters came close to overtopping in 1973, but since then, they have been raised to 24 feet and aren't in danger of being overtaken.
Bourg, an attorney, said he represented a worker who was injured on the 70s-era floodwall project and learned a lot about how they were built.
"I got a copy of the plans," he said. "This one's built right, unlike the ones in New Orleans."
The Morganza spillway is part of a system of locks and levees built after the great flood of 1927, which killed hundreds and left many more without homes. When the Morganza opened, it was the first time three flood-control systems have been unlocked at the same time along the Mississippi River, a sign of just how historic the current flooding has been.
Earlier this month, the corps intentionally blew holes into a levee in Missouri to employ a similar cities-first strategy, and it also opened a spillway northwest of New Orleans about a week ago.
Snowmelt and heavy rain swelled the Mississippi, and the river has peaked at levels not seen in 70 years.
In Krotz Springs, La., one of the towns in the Atchafalaya River basin bracing for floodwaters, phones at the local police department rang nonstop as residents sought information on road closings and evacuation routes.
Like so many other residents downstream of the Morganza, Monita Reed, 56, recalled the last time it was opened in 1973.
"We could sit in our yard and hear the water," she said as workers constructed a makeshift levee of sandbags and soil-filled mesh boxes in hopes of protecting the 240 homes in her subdivision.
About 25,000 people and 11,000 structures could be affected by the oncoming water, and some people living in the threatened stretch of countryside -- an area known for fish camps and a drawling French dialect -- have already fled. Reed's family packed her furniture, clothing and pictures in a rental truck and a relative's trailer.
"I'm just going to move and store my stuff. I'm going to stay here until they tell us to leave," she said. "Hopefully, we won't see much water and then I can move back in."
It took about 15 minutes for the one 28-foot gate to be raised in the middle of the spillway. The corps planned to open one or two more gates Sunday in a painstaking process that gives residents and animals a chance to stay dry.
Michael Grubb, whose home is located just outside the Morgan City floodwalls, hired a contractor this week to raise his house from 2 feet to 8 feet off the ground. It took a crew of 20 workers roughly 17 hours to jack up the house onto wooden blocks.
"I wanted to save this house desperately," said Grubb, 54. "This has tapped us out. This is our life savings here, but it's worth every penny."
Three feet of water flooded Grubb's home the last time the Morganza spillway was opened.
Water from the swollen Atchafalaya River already was creeping into his backyard, but Grubb was confident his home will stay dry. He has a generator and a boat he plans to use for grocery runs. The water from the spillway was expected to reach Morgan City around Tuesday.
The crest of the Mississippi was still more than a week away from the Morganza spillway, and when it arrives, officials expect it to linger. The bulge has broken river-level records that had held since the 1920s in some places. As the water rolled down the river, the corps took drastic steps to protect lives.
The corps blew up a levee in Missouri -- inundating an estimated 200 square miles of farmland and damaging or destroying about 100 homes -- to take the pressure off floodwalls protecting the town of Cairo, Ill., population 2,800.
The Morganza flooding is more controlled, however, and residents are warned by the corps each year in written letters, reminding them of the possibility of opening the spillway.
At the site of the spillway, water splashed over the gates on one side before a vertical crane hoisted the 10-ton, steel panel. Typically, the spillway is dry on both sides.
This is the second spillway to be opened in Louisiana. The corps used cranes to remove some of the Bonnet Carre's wooden barriers, sending water into the massive Lake Ponchatrain and eventually the Gulf of Mexico.
By Sunday, all 350 bays at the 7,000-foot Bonnet Carre structure were to be open. The Morganza, a 4,000-foot long structure built in 1954, was expecting to only open up about a quarter of its 125 gates.
The spillways could be opened for weeks, or perhaps less time, if the river flow starts to subside.
In Vicksburg, Miss., where five neighborhoods were under water, a steady stream of onlookers posed for pictures on a river bluff overlooking a bridge that connects Louisiana and Mississippi. Some people posed for pictures next to a Civil War cannon while others carried Confederate battle flags being given away by a war re-enactor.
Larry and Paulla Dalrymple spent part of the day with a video camera, filming the river roll past a casino and swirl around the giant bridge pilings.
"Wow. It's really running,"' Paulla said. "It's amazing what the water can do -- what it's doing to people's lives."
Check out the article at Fox News.

I feel for all of the people in the Morganza floodway. Hopefully modern engineering can contain the awesome power of nature… or a heckuva lot more people will be directly affected!

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John James Audubon Bridge Opens Early!

2011-05-05T10:30:00.001-05:00

State highway officials opened the new John James Audubon Bridge over the Mississippi River at 10:25 a.m. Thursday.
The bridge is open ahead of schedule because of concerns about the rising river’s effect on the New Roads-St. Francisville ferry, which ceased operating permanently Thursday morning.
Richard Savoie, chief engineer for the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, said some work remains to be done on the 1,583-foot-long structure but motorists may see some shoulder and lane closures as the work progresses.
The bridge was slated to open June 1.
The $408 million bridge connects Pointe Coupee Parish with West Feliciana Parish.
Construction began in 2006 and was initially set to open in November 2010. Later, that opening date was shifted to October 2011 and then June 2011.
This is the newest crossing of the Mississippi River in Louisiana and is being built by Audubon Bridge Constructors, made up of Flatiron Corp., Granite Construction; and Parsons Transportation Group, according to DOTD.
The bridge gets its name from John James Audubon, the famous naturalist artist.
Check out the article at The Advocate.

Truly an engineering marvel! I can't wait to drive over it the next time I'm over that way. The main span is 1,583 feet long, making it the longest cable-stayed bridge in the Western Hemisphere... impressive!

US Military Kills Osama Bin Laden!

2011-05-01T23:00:00.002-05:00

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Osama bin Laden, the face of global terrorism and architect of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, was killed in a firefight with elite American forces Monday, then quickly buried at sea in a stunning finale to a furtive decade on the run.
Long believed to be hiding in caves, bin Laden was tracked down in a costly, custom-built hideout not far from a Pakistani military academy.
"Justice has been done," President Barack Obama said in a dramatic announcement at the White House while a crowd cheered outside and hundreds more gathered at ground zero in Manhattan to celebrate the news.
The military operation took mere minutes.
U.S. helicopters ferrying elite counter-terrorism troops into the compound identified by the CIA as bin Laden's hideout - and back out again in less than 40 minutes. Bin Laden was shot in the head, officials said, after he and his bodyguards resisted the assault.
Three adult males were also killed in the raid, including one of bin Laden's sons, whom officials did not name. One of bin Laden's sons, Hamza, is a senior member of al-Qaida. U.S. officials also said one woman was killed when she was used as a shield by a male combatant, and two other women were injured.
The U.S. official who disclosed the burial at sea said it would have been difficult to find a country willing to accept the remains. Obama said the remains had been handled in accordance with Islamic custom, which requires speedy burial.
"I heard a thundering sound, followed by heavy firing. Then firing suddenly stopped. Then more thundering, then a big blast," said Mohammad Haroon Rasheed, a resident of Abbottobad, Pakistan, after the choppers had swooped in and then out again.
Bin Laden's death marks a psychological triumph in a long struggle that began with the Sept. 11 attacks, and seems certain to give Obama a political lift. But its ultimate impact on al-Qaida is less clear.
The greatest terrorist threat to the U.S. is now considered to be the al-Qaida franchise in Yemen, far from al-Qaida's core in Pakistan. The Yemen branch almost took down a U.S.-bound airliner on Christmas 2009 and nearly detonated explosives aboard two U.S. cargo planes last fall. Those operations were carried out without any direct involvement from bin Laden.
The few fiery minutes in Abbottobad followed years in which U.S. officials struggled to piece together clues that ultimately led to bin Laden, according to an account provided by senior administration officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the operation.
Based on statements given by U.S. detainees since the 9/11 attacks, they said, intelligence officials have long known that bin Laden trusted one al-Qaida courier in particular, and they believed he might be living with him in hiding.
Four years ago, the United States learned the man's identity, which officials did not disclose, and then about two years later, they identified areas of Pakistan where he operated. Last August, the man's residence was found, officials said.
"Intelligence analysis concluded that this compound was custom built in 2005 to hide someone of significance," with walls as high as 18 feet and topped by barbed wire, according to one official. Despite the compound's estimated $1 million cost and two security gates, it had no phone or Internet running into the house.
By mid-February, intelligence from multiple sources was clear enough that Obama wanted to "pursue an aggressive course of action," a senior administration official said. Over the next two and a half months, the president led five meetings of the National Security Council focused solely on whether bin Laden was in that compound and, if so, how to get him, the official said.
Obama made a decision to launch the operation on Friday, shortly before flying to Alabama to inspect tornado damage, and aides set to work on the details.
The president spent part of his Sunday on the golf course, but cut his round short to return to the White House for a meeting where he and top national security aides reviewed final preparations for the raid.
Two hours later, Obama was told that bin Laden had been tentatively identified.
CIA director Leon Panetta was directly in charge of the military team during the operation, according to one official, and when he and his aides received word at agency headquarters that bin Laden had been killed, cheers broke out around the conference room table.
Administration aides said the operation was so secretive that no foreign officials were informed in advance, and only a small circle inside the U.S. government was aware of what was unfolding half a world away.
In his announcement, Obama said he had called Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari after the raid, and said it was "important to note that our counter-terrorism cooperation with Pakistan helped lead us to bin Laden and the compound where he was hiding."
One senior administration told reporters, though, "we were very concerned ... that he was inside Pakistan, but this is something we're going to continue to work with the Pakistani government on."
The compound is about a half-mile from a Pakistani military academy, in a city that is home to three army regiments and thousands of military personnel. Abbottabad is surrounded by hills and with mountains in the distance.
Critics have long accused elements of Pakistan's security establishment of protecting bin Laden, though Islamabad has always denied it, and in a statement the foreign ministry said his death showed the country's resolve in the battle against terrorism.
Whatever the global repercussions, bin Laden's death marked the end to a manhunt that consumed most of a decade that began in the grim hours after bin Laden's hijackers flew planes into the World Trade Center twin towers in Manhattan and the Pentagon across the Potomac River from Washington. A fourth plane was commandeered by passengers who overcame the hijackers and forced the plane to crash in the Pennsylvania countryside.
In all, nearly 3,000 were killed in the worst terror attacks on American soil.
Former President George W. Bush, who was in office on the day of the attacks, issued a written statement hailing bin Laden's death as a momentous achievement. "The fight against terror goes on, but tonight America has sent an unmistakable message: No matter how long it takes, justice will be done," he said.
Check out the article at The Advocate.

Excellent news!!! Go USA!!!

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Royal Wedding 2011

2011-04-29T08:00:00.001-05:00

LONDON (AP) -- An elegant, tiara-bedecked Kate Middleton swept down the aisle to marry Prince William at Westminster Abbey as fans packed the streets of London, hoping to snatch a glimpse of a historic royal wedding expected to revitalize the British monarchy.
Some 2 billion people across the globe were believed to have tuned in as the future king and queen of England started their lives as husband and wife with the two simple words "I will." The couple looked nervous but happy and recited their vows without stumbling before Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams.
A million well-wishers - as well as some protesters - flooded into the areas surrounding Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey and other London landmarks. Crowds were up at dawn waving flags for television cameras under steely gray skies and cool temperatures. Cheers erupted as huge television screens began broadcasting at Trafalgar Square and Hyde Park.
"Will, it's not too late!" said one sign held aloft by an admirer dressed as a bride.
Middleton's ivory wedding gown with lace applique was designed by Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen, while her hair was half-up, half-down and decorated with a tiara. William wore the scarlet tunic of an Irish Guards officer, sending a strong signal of support for the armed forces and reinforcing his new image as a dedicated military man.
Against all odds, the sun came out as Middleton emerged from the Rolls-Royce in her wedding gown.
William and Kate received their first royal wedding present from the queen on Friday: the titles duke and duchess of Cambridge.
Maid of honor Pippa Middleton wore a simple column dress and naturally styled hair, while best man Prince Harry was dressed in formal military attire. The flower girls, in cream dresses with full skirts and flowers in their hair, walked down hand-in-hand with Pippa.
The iconic abbey was airy and calm, the long aisle leading to the altar lined with maple and hornbeam trees as light streamed in through the high arched windows.
Plumage of Amazonian variety filled the cavernous abbey as some 1,900 guests filed in, the vast majority of women in hats, some a full two feet (.6 meters) across or high. Some looked like dinner plates. One woman wore a bright red fascinator that resembled a flame licking her cheek. A BBC commentator noted there were some "very odd choices" in fashion walking through the abbey door.
Most men, however, looked elegant and suave in long tails, some highlighted by formal plaid pants and vests. Others wore military uniforms.
All the clamoring over every detail - the wedding dress, her hair, their titles, the romantic kiss on the balcony, the honeymoon - was finally being answered. But the biggest question won't be resolved for years: Will this royal couple live happily ever after?
Will their union endure like that of William's grandparents - Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, now in its 64th year - or crumble in a spectacular and mortifying fashion like that of his own parents, Prince Charles and Princess Diana?
Recent history augurs badly: The first marriages of three of the queen's four children ended in divorce. But William and Kate seem to glow with happiness in each other's company, and unlike Charles and Diana they've had eight years to figure out that they want to be together.
Still, the fate of their marriage depends on private matters impossible for the public to gauge, since any wedding is fundamentally about two people. Will their lives together, starting with such high hopes, be blessed by good fortune, children, good health, productive work?
Much will depend on whether 28-year-old William and 29-year-old Kate can summon the things every couple needs: patience, love, wit and wisdom. But they face the twin burdens of fame and scrutiny. Money, power, beauty - it can all go wrong if not carefully nurtured.
These are the thorny issues upon which the fate of the monarchy rests, as the remarkable queen, now 85, inevitably ages and declines.
After the church ceremony, the royal-couple will travel from the abbey to Buckingham Palace in an open-topped carriage for two parties, one hosted by the queen for 650 guests, and an evening dinner dance for 300 close friends.
Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip have promised to go away for the evening, leaving the younger royals free to party the night away- and Harry to make his best man's speech away from his octogenarian grandparents' ears.
Hundreds of street parties were underway as Britons celebrated part of the heritage that makes them unique - and overseas visitors come to witness traditions they've admired from afar.
Brenda Hunt-Stevenson, a 56-year-old retired teacher from Newfoundland, Canada, said there was only one thing on her mind. "I want to see that kiss on that balcony. That's going to clinch it for me. I don't care what Kate wears. She is beautiful anyway."
The celebration was British to the core, from the freshly polished horse-drawn carriages to the sausages and lager served at street parties. Some pubs were opening early, offering beer and English breakfasts - sausages, beans, toast, fried eggs and bacon.
A number of famous people were left off the guest list, including President Barack Obama and Britain's last two prime ministers, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, in a snub to their Labour Party, which is not as strong a backer of the monarchy as the ruling Conservatives. The invitation for Syria's ambassador was rescinded because of Britain's unhappiness with the bloody government crackdown there.
The public festivities reflected Britons' continuing fascination with the royal family, which despite its foibles remains a powerful symbol of unity and pride.
"It's very exciting," Prime Minister David Cameron said before he entered the church. "I went on to the mall last night and met some people sleeping on the streets. There's a sense of excitement that you can't really put a word to ... It's a chance to celebrate."
The royals fervently hope that a joyous union for the second-in-line to the British throne will rub out the squalid memories of his parents embarrassing each other and the nation with confessions of adultery as their marriage slid toward divorce.
And there is no small irony in the sight of Americans waking up before dawn (on the East Coast) or staying up all night (West Coast) after their fellow countrymen fought so fiercely centuries ago to throw off the yoke of the British monarchy and proclaim a country in which all men are created equal.
Brenda Mordic, 61, from Columbus, Georgia, clutched a Union Jack with her friend Annette Adams, 66.
"We came for the excitement of everything," Mordic said. "We watched William grow up. I came for Prince Charles' wedding to Diana and I came for Princess Diana's funeral. We love royalty England and London."
Check out the article at The Advocate.

It's always cool to see history being made!

Be sure to check out Fox News' Royal Wedding feature

Check out today's Google art:

Late Mardi Gras meets Spring Break for Rowdy Fete!

2011-03-08T08:00:00.000-06:00

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Gray skies couldn't dampen the spirit as Mardi Gras revelers partied on Fat Tuesday in waves of parading, costuming, drinking - and political commentary.
Some bared flesh and threw beads on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter, while others wore costumes lampooning the BP oil spill or other headline-grabbing events. Overall, this year's Carnival season has been among the most raucous since Hurricane Katrina, partly because it overlaps with many colleges' spring breaks.
Clarinetist Pete Fountain kicked off street parading shortly after dawn with his marching group. The traditionally African-American Krewe of Zulu and the parade of Rex, King of Carnival, followed. Mayor Mitch Landrieu led Zulu on horseback before dismounting at the antebellum-columned Gallier Hall for champagne toasts with Mardi Gras royalty.
The party would go on until midnight, when Carnival is replaced by the Christian season of Lent.
For many, the fun came in watching costumed partiers - and their themes.
A troupe of black-clad skeletons known as a Bone Gang paraded through the streets in a tradition dating from the 1800s that has voodoo overtones.
"The idea is it's kind of a warning for people in the neighborhoods, for the children in particular, to live right because we're all going to die," said Michael Crutcher, a Bone Gang member and college instructor.
In the Treme neighborhood, Ashley Scharfenstein, 24, dressed as a peacock with a black corset. She was jiving to the music at the street party, then strolled off to the French Quarter.
"Wherever the music takes us, we're going," she said.
Other costumed groups added political barbs to their revelry.
In Bywater, walking clubs gathered for the annual saunter to the Quarter known as the St. Anne's parade.
"This is what Mardi Gras is all about, lampooning," said Pat Kent, a retired hospital executive clad as a gun-toting priest. He and a friend were going as the "krewe of guns in church."
"Today I'm packing for Jesus," he said. Kent said his costume was in protest of a new Louisiana law allowing people to carry weapons in church.
Nearby, the occasional clown, a Moammar Ghadafi lookalike, women in flowing dresses and a Roman soldier gathered.
In the French Quarter, satire was in bloom as maskers took aim at last year's BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Allen Logue, 58, was clad as a one-man oil spill clean-up crew. The oil field consultant from Barataria, La., didn't have to do much shopping to build his costume. He already had a hard-hat helmet and BP-branded sweat shirt from work he did for the company in Alaska.
"The only thing I had to shop for was the Jim Beam and that was to ease the pain of the oil spill," Logue said.
Logue also carried super-absorbent kitchen napkins to clean any mess he might encounter, though the most likely spill on Bourbon Street would be beer and not crude oil.
For Paul and Amy Maudive of Long Beach, Calif., coming to Mardi Gras has been a tradition since 1976. Each year they dress in an Elvis-themed costume. After Hurricane Katrina they wrapped themselves in the blue tarps that covered so many blown-away rooftops, and last year they billed themselves as Elvitar, in tribute to the movie "Avatar."
This year, they were all oil spill.
Dressed in oil-stained jumpsuits with Elvis-style capes, they'd glued plastic birds and crabs to their costumes.
Sylvia Beyer, 57, of New Orleans led a group of 5 women in grass skirts and hats with the BP logo. On the back of their shirts were slogans, such as Broken Promises, Brazen Polluters and Bloody Pathetic. As they walked along, they passed out makeshift voodoo dolls with a photo of former BP CEO Tony Hayward pasted to each.
"We just wanted to stick it to BP. We put more time into these costumes than BP did in their disaster plan," Beyer said.
Hal and Sharon Moser of New Orleans mocked the new national healthcare program with their outfits. Hal Moser strolled along Bourbon Street dressed in a hospital gown with bloody bandages and a fake ax pasted to his head. "I've got a split-open headache from it," Moser said. His wife dressed as a nurse.
The Transportation Security Administration also took hits. One group outfitted as TSA inspectors carried signs referring to body cavity searches.
John Chapman of Mandeville, La., tried a different approach. He dressed as a Chilean miner, complete with an escape pod attached to his back.
Locals were in a triumphant mood, and not without reason.
New Orleans - America's poster child of disaster - has come a long way since Hurricane Katrina. Its beloved New Orleans Saints won the Super Bowl last year and it has largely overcome the disaster of the BP oil spill.
This year, the timing of Mardi Gras helped. It fell later than usual and coincides with spring break for college students. Students have been out in force - giving more punch to the annual pre-Lenten celebration.
Two friends on spring break from Wilmington College made a 12-hour drive from Ohio.
Garret Lingoe, 21, a junior, clutched a beer at midmorning Tuesday as he talked in awe of Mardi Gras. "I didn't know I was coming here until about 5 days ago and I'm sure happy I did."
Seth Howard, a 23-year-old senior, echoed his sentiments. "Everybody down here is just so nice and laid back."
Ali Miller, 23, an early childhood education major at Southeastern Louisiana University, was jubilant as she walked Tuesday morning after a long night of drinking in the French Quarter.
"There is nothing like New Orleans," she said. "I would never ever want to grow up anywhere but here! And Mardi Gras is the craziest time you could ever have in life - I don't know what else to say."
Mardi Gras was being celebrated across the Gulf Coast, in cities including Mobile, Ala., and Biloxi, Miss. In the Cajun country of southwest Louisiana, masked riders on horseback continued the tradition of riding from town to town making merry along the way.
Check out the article at WAFB.com.

Happy Mardi Gras!!!

Spanish Town Mardi Gras 2011

2011-03-04T08:00:00.000-06:00

The Spanish Town Mardi Gras Parade is always full of surprises, even for its organizers.
“I don’t know what to expect sometimes, and that’s the neat thing about it,” Bruce Childers, president of the Spanish Town Mardi Gras Association said last week. “It’s not the pomp and circumstance that you might find in a New Orleans big-time parade, the real nice floats, that’s great and everything, but we’ve always wanted to gear this parade to the working guy, the average Joe, let’s say, and leave it up to the imagination. We give them a theme to play with, and the talents take it from there.”
The ever-popular and often politically incorrect parade pokes jabs at everyone from politicians to big-name corporations, this year’s target being British Petroleum. The theme is “BP Blows and Wiki Leaks.”
“We chose this year’s theme because it was more or less a current event, but we certainly haven’t lost sight of the fact that there was a loss of life in there, so we’re not trying to minimize the effects that the BP disaster had on family members and friends,” Childers said. “Our hearts go out to them, truly, we wish we wouldn’t have had this theme, to be honest with you.”
The parade, which will roll through downtown and Spanish Town Saturday, will honor Zappe Endeavors (Zappe’s potato chips) founder Ron Zappe, who passed away in June.
“He was such a supporter of ours,” Childers said. “He played a big role in the parade, of course, was in the parade every year, and helped us in some financing from time to time.”
Childers also explained that in the midst of all the carnival mayhem, this is a charitable event raising money for local causes. The money is generated from parade float entry fees and tickets to the association’s annual ball.
“And we had a very successful ball this year, so we’re ending up with a little more money for the charities. We did well.”
Childers also had some advice for where not to catch the parade.
“I don’t think you want to get on Spanish Town Road, because that’s pretty much standing room only. We do have an area by the St. James (Episcopal) Church on Convention Street that is the alcohol-free family zone. And also, they’re doubling up with the Smoke-Free America. We’re actually the first in the state, maybe in the nation, to provide a zone such as the alcohol-free zone, and now this is the first year that the Smoke-Free America has gotten involved with that area.”
Childers said that barricaded area is very popular, and there haven’t been any problems with people conforming to the rules for that space.
With the parade only a day away, Childers is looking upward.
“I’m wishing and hoping and trying to dial up a good day weather-wise.”
Check out the article at The Advocate.

Looks like it's gonna be a wet one... but, who cares? Party on!!! =D

Challenger Shuttle Disaster: 25 Years Later

2011-01-28T06:00:00.000-06:00

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — For many, no single word evokes as much pain.
Challenger.
A quarter-century later, images of the exploding space shuttle still signify all that can go wrong with technology and the sharpest minds. The accident on Jan. 28, 1986 — a scant 73 seconds into flight, nine miles above the Atlantic for all to see — remains NASA’s most visible failure.
It was the world’s first high-tech catastrophe to unfold on live TV. Adding to the anguish was the young audience: Schoolchildren everywhere tuned in that morning to watch the launch of the first schoolteacher and ordinary citizen bound for space, Christa McAuliffe.
She never made it.
McAuliffe and six others on board perished as the cameras rolled, victims of stiff O-ring seals and feeble bureaucratic decisions.
It was, as one grief and trauma expert recalls, "the beginning of the age when the whole world knew what happened as it happened."
"That was kind of our pilot study for all the rest to come, I think. It was so ghastly," said Sally Karioth, a professor in Florida State University’s school of nursing.
The crew compartment shot out of the fireball, intact, and continued upward another three miles before plummeting. The free fall lasted more than two minutes. There was no parachute to slow the descent, no escape system whatsoever; NASA had skipped all that in shuttle development. Space travel was considered so ordinary, in fact, that the Challenger seven wore little more than blue coveralls and skimpy motorcycle-type helmets for takeoff.
In a horrific flash, the most diverse space crew ever — including one black, one Japanese-American and two women, one of them a Jew — was gone. The name of NASA’s second oldest shuttle was forever locked in a where-were-you moment.
"You say ‘Challenger’ and then we see that figure of smoke in the sky," said Karioth, who teaches death and dying classes.
There has been a growing list of calamities since then.
Waco. Oklahoma City. Columbine. 9/11. Shuttle Columbia. Katrina. Virginia Tech. And now, Tucson.
With so much carnage, another space catastrophe wouldn’t have the same impact as Challenger, Karioth noted. "We’re used to everybody dying now," she said.
Surly bonds of Earth
The death of a young, vivacious schoolteacher, combined with NASA’s stubborn refusal to share information about the accident and the realization that America’s space program was fallible, added to the nation’s collective pain.
President Ronald Reagan’s poetic tribute soothed the day’s raw emotions.
"The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives," Reagan told a grieving nation after canceling that night’s State of the Union address. "We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and ‘slipped the surly bonds of Earth’ to ‘touch the face of God.’"
NASA safely had launched shuttles 24 times before, and a sense of routine and hurry-it-up had crept in. The space agency wanted to pull off 15 missions in 1986. Repeated delays with Columbia on that year’s first flight and then with Challenger were spoiling the effort.
The first federal Martin Luther King holiday had just been observed. NASA’s Voyager 2 probe, flying farther than any previous spacecraft, had swung past Uranus, discovering 10 new moons. "That’s What Friends Are For," the AIDS charity anthem, topped the music charts. And a 37-year-old schoolteacher from Concord, N.H., was about to rocket into orbit.
"Imagine a history teacher making history," McAuliffe observed before the flight. She got an apple from a technician atop the ice-encrusted launch pad, before boarding Challenger one final time.
In the 20s at daybreak, the temperature had risen only into the mid-30s by the time Challenger blasted off at 11:38 a.m. "Go at throttle up," radioed commander Francis "Dick" Scobee.
What happened next was unthinkable, his widow says.
"It was really a shock wave that went across our country and around the world," June Scobee Rodgers said in an interview this week with The Associated Press. "People witnessed the loss of Challenger over and over on their televisions."
Dick Scobee. Michael Smith. Ellison Onizuka. Judith Resnik. Ronald McNair. Christa McAuliffe. Gregory Jarvis. The first of the shuttle astronauts to die on the job.
Columbia and beyond
Seventeen years later, almost to the day, seven more astronauts were killed, this time at the end of their mission. Instead of booster rockets and freezing launch weather, fuel-tank foam insulation was to blame. The similarities between Challenger and Columbia, though, were haunting. Another multiethnic crew lost, more poor decision-making, an intolerant work culture, drum-beating pressure to launch.
This week, as NASA observes the 25th anniversary of the Challenger disaster, the shuttle fleet is grounded once more. Fuel tank cracking is the latest culprit.
NASA hopes to get Discovery flying by the end of February. Endeavour — Challenger’s replacement — will follow in April. It will fly with or without commander Mark Kelly, who’s tending to his wounded wife, Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot Jan. 8 in Tucson. Atlantis will close out the 30-year shuttle program with a summertime flight, No. 135.
Shuttle program manager John Shannon prefers not "to compare and contrast" the Challenger era and now. But he points out that he’s felt "zero pressure" to rush the remaining flights, even though "we kind of get beat up a little bit" in some quarters for all the delays.
Roger Launius, a senior curator at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, says: "When we look back 50 years from now on the shuttle program, we are going to view it as this remarkable technological achievement. The one and only reusable human space vehicle in the world. And it had a remarkable run for 30 years. Some tragedies along the way, but enormous successes as well."
For their part, the families of the lost Challenger crew dwell on the good that came out of the accident: a network of education centers. The 48th Challenger Learning Center opens Friday in Louisville, Ky.
Widower speaks out
On Thursday, Steven J. McAuliffe, the widower of Christa McAuliffe, said in a statement that remembrances by people across the country are "both comforting and inspirational to our family."
McAuliffe, a federal judge in Concord, N.H., said, "Christa confidently and joyfully embraced life, no less than her friends and colleagues on Challenger, and no less than the crews of Columbia, Apollo 1, and all of those people who courageously follow their own paths every day. I know Christa would say that that is the most precious lesson — ordinary people can make extraordinary contributions ..."
He said she would be especially pleased by the Challenger Center for Space Science Education. Dick Scobee’s widow, June Rodgers, is an educator and founding board chairman of the center.
As she has on every Challenger anniversary, Rodgers will visit a learning center to watch the children in action. First, she will take part in NASA’s public memorial service Friday morning at Kennedy Space Center, some 10 miles from Challenger’s grave. The remains of the spacecraft — what was retrieved from the ocean — are buried in a pair of abandoned missile silos on Air Force property.
"I wonder if it’s because the image is so ingrained in our brains, that it seems like yesterday," Rodgers said.
Almost as many years have passed since the accident, as the span of her 26-year marriage to Dick Scobee.
"Isn’t it interesting about the number 25?" she asked softly. "Challenger was the 25th mission. This is 25 years."
A full generation has come and gone.
Check out the article at MSNBC.

25 YEARS??? Has it really been that long? I remember very well sitting in my fourth grade classroom watching on TV... what a sad day that was.

I found a very interesting article worth reading: 7 Myths about the Challenger Shuttle Disaster.

Optimism Building for 2011 Tiger Football!!!

2011-01-23T10:00:00.000-06:00

In the LSU football history book, the 2010 season will be remembered for a lot of things.
An 11-2 record that included single-digit road losses to two BCS bowl teams and ended with a convincing victory against Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl followed by another top-10 national ranking, the conclusion of the careers of a handful of players who etched their places in Tigers history, a head coach reaffirming his commitment to the program and an embattled offensive coordinator walking away and opening the door to a new beginning.
Now with his LSU tenure entering a new phase and a new offensive wingman at his side, Les Miles is ready to move onto a new season.
And 2011 — while there are questions and uncertainty to navigate — sets up as another potential watershed season for the Tigers and Miles.
Miles didn’t shy away from those expectations Friday when he made reference to big games in New Orleans and LSU playing in them recently. The BCS title game will be in New Orleans next January — and LSU won the 2003 and 2007 BCS national championships in the Superdome.
Is there reason for Miles to set lofty goals for his team that next fall has to replace three starters on offense, four on defense and three primary contributors on special teams?
Apparently so.
Writers from CBSsports.com and SportingNews.com have pegged the Tigers No. 1 in preseason polls.
And after affirming his ties to Baton Rouge after the chance to coach his alma mater at Michigan passed for the second time in four years and by hiring Steve Kragthorpe as the new offensive coordinator, Miles seems emboldened when he talks about the future.
It doesn’t hurt that the Tigers head into this offseason of high hopes off one of their best performances since the 2007 BCS national championship game, a 41-24 win over Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl.
“Our team plays (well) in big games, and that was a big game,” Miles said.
Now the transition begins, with several young players poised to jump into new roles and Miles ready to adjust to Kragthorpe as the two take aim at reinvigorating an offense that has been a rusty wheel most of the last two seasons.
Kragthorpe is emblematic of a fresh start, but Miles said his philosophy is the same. He said an optimal offense would generate 250 passing yards and 200 rushing.
The last two seasons, the Tigers have been off-kilter on what Miles desires. Last fall, LSU rushed for 185.7 yards per game and passed for 155.6. In 2009, those numbers were reversed and worse overall: 122.8 rushing and 181.8 passing.
“I have always had an offense that had balance, both the run and the pass,” Miles said. “In every meaningful down and distance, it’s always been, for me, the opportunity to throw and to run.
“It was never about run first, and throw second. I’m going to be the first one to tell you, when you’re down 14 and it’s late in the game, we’ll throw damn near every down. And when we’re up 14 and it’s late in the game, many times we will use the clock and eliminate the opponent by running the football. Those are the things a quality offense has the ability to do.
“In a season where you win 11, I think the opportunity to close out some games like we did running the football probably skews the view a little. I am a balanced run-and-pass guy, and it shouldn’t be looked at any other way.”
For the Tigers to approach the 250/200 goals Miles set, Kragthorpe’s role will be key.
The new coordinator and quarterbacks coach will have veterans to work with, but veterans Jordan Jefferson and Jarrett Lee have been inconsistent and newcomer Zach Mettenberger has yet to take a snap at the FBS level.
“I think it’s a great hire,” Miles said about Kragthorpe. “I talked to an offensive coordinator in the NFL (Friday) morning and he said ‘Man that’s a great hire. He’s a guy that has a great reputation for the ability to improve your quarterback.’ Now that is just what we need.”
Jefferson has started 27 of the last 28 games and has thrown for 3,996 yards and 28 touchdowns. Lee produced 1,873 yards and 14 TDs in 2008 and contributed 573 yards in spot duty this season. Mettenberger, who began his college career at Georgia, spent the 2010 season at Butler County (Kan.) Community College and passed for 2,678 yards and 32 scores in 12 games.
“To me, there’s going to be some competition at the quarterback spot; there’s no question,” Miles said.
“I think I’ve always been a guy who enjoys competition. I do recognize the experience that Jordan Jefferson has. … We’re going to go into the spring to improve our football team at quarterback and at every position.”
It’s also possible LSU could again operate with a two-quarterback system.
“The issue becomes is that quarterback that stays on the field the entire time giving you all the abilities to win the game, period?” Miles said. “And is it best for your football team to have him to take every snap, period? Those are the questions we have to ask and then answer as we move forward in the spring and then next fall.”
Quarterback isn’t the only focus for Miles and Kragthorpe.
With Stevan Ridley’s early departure to the NFL draft, the running back position is wide open.
Ridley plowed for 1,147 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2010 and when the Tigers needed tough yards — and when the defense knew a running play was coming — he was almost always the ball carrier.
Now that role is open, with rising sophomores Michael Ford, Spencer Ware and Alfred Blue in the running. Incoming freshman Kenny Hilliard will also get a shot.
“The tailbacks that are on campus will have a great opportunity to play, including those guys in the freshman class that are coming in,” Miles said. “The need for a quality back to step in there and come out of the freshman class is very sincere.
“It’s going to be interesting to see who the best tailback is.”
Revamping a defense that loses Kelvin Sheppard, Patrick Peterson, Drake Nevis and Pep Levingston will be a different challenge. But having the defensive coaching staff intact for a third year in a row is a benefit.
Miles’ eyes lit up when he rattled off the names of the next wave of defensive leaders, many of whom jumped into the thick of things this season: Ryan Baker, Sam Montgomery, Mo Claiborne, Tyrann Mathieu, Eric Reid and Tharold Simon.
One of the players who has moved on understands Miles’ excitement.
“I’m going to be watching those guys,” Peterson said earlier this month when he announced he was leaving for the NFL. “They’ve got a chance to be really good. When you lose guys like Shep and Drake and Pep and me, that’s tough. But they have a chance to be just as good or better, because those are some talented guys.”
Talented guys ready for the next challenge, just like their coach.
Check out the article at The Advocate.

Can't wait 'til next season!!! GEAUX TIGERS!!!