Happy Thanksgiving !

I would like to wish all of my family, friends and readers a very Happy Thanksgiving Day.

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NASCAR Needs To Make Some Rule Changes To Insure Driver Safety !

The Nascar Talladega race last Sunday was marred by the dangerous crash of Ryan Newman in the waning moments of the race. Nascar has the Sprint Cup drivers so handcuffed with rules aimed at keeping speeds lower that it forces the drivers to run three abreast, bumper to bumper at speeds of over 190 miles per hour in the closing laps of every race.

Whether or not Nascar intends for wrecks like this one to happen is immaterial. Not surprising, however, is the fact that if the cars are not bunched up with twenty laps to go, inevitably Nascar discovers "debris" on the track and throws the caution flag.

Nascar needs to take the carburetor restrictions off the engines, put in smaller motors and make these cars a little harder to drive. This will separate the real racers from the rest of the pack and, more importantly, better insure driver safety.

That's if for now my little speed bumps. More soon!

Stay Tuned!

Happy Halloween

I haven't made an entry here in a while so I thought I'd post some of the Halloween pictures that are on the internet. I particularly like these because of the darkness of the theme.

A man with a nagging secret couldn't keep it any longer. In the confessional he admitted that for years he had been stealing building supplies from the lumberyard where he worked. The priest asked, "What did you take?" The man answered, "Enough to build my own house and enough for my son's house. And houses for our two daughters and our cottage at the lake.

The priest said, "This is very serious!" I shall have to think of a far-reaching penance. Have you ever done a retreat?" The man replied, "No, Father, I haven't, but if you can get the plans, I can get the lumber."

A young preacher was contacted by the local funeral director to hold a grave-side committal service at a small local cemetery for someone with no family or friends. The preacher started early but quickly got himself lost, making several wrong turns. He arrived a half-hour late, the hearse was nowhere in sight, and the workmen were eating lunch.

The pastor went to the open grave and found the vault lid already in place. Taking out his book, he read the service. As he was returning to his car, he overheard one of the workmen say, "You think we should tell him it's a septic tank?"

Have a great weekend and enjoy Halloween. More soon.

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Ain't It The Truth !

In the year 2009, the Lord came unto Noah, who was now living in the United States, and said, "Once again the earth has become wicked and overpopulated, and I see the end of all flesh before me. Build another Ark and save 2 of every living thing along with a few good humans, thy sons and their wives." He gave Noah the blueprints, saying, "You have 6 months to build the Ark before I will start the unending rain for 40 days and 40 nights."

Six months later, the Lord looked down and saw Noah weeping in his yard -- but no Ark. "Noah!" He roared, "I'm about to start the rain! Where is the Ark?"

"Forgive me, Lord," begged Noah, "but things have changed. I needed a building permit. I've been arguing with the inspector about the need for a sprinkler system. My neighbors claim that I've violated the neighborhood zoning laws by building the Ark in my yard and exceeding the height limitations. We had to go to the Development Appeal Board for a decision."

"Then, the Department of Transportation demanded a bond be posted for the future costs of moving power lines and other overhead obstructions, to clear the passage for the Ark's move to the sea. I told them that the sea would be coming to us, but they would hear nothing of it."

"Getting the wood was another problem. There's a ban on cutting local trees in order to save the spotted owl. I tried to convince the environmentaliststhat I needed the wood to save the owls -- but no go!"

"When I started gathering the animals, I got sued by an animal rights group. They insisted that I was confining wild animals against their will. They argued the accommodation was too restrictive, and it was cruel and inhumane to put so many animals in a confined space. I am required to apply for 834 different licenses to keep wild beasts on private property."

"Then the EPA ruled that I couldn't build the Ark until they'd conducted an environmental impact study on Your proposed flood. Further, the pitch to water-poof the ark has been banned by the EPA as inimical to the environment."

"I'm still trying to resolve a complaint with the Human Rights Commission on how many minorities I'm supposed to hire for my building crew."

"Immigration and Naturalization is checking the green-card status of most of the people who want to work. The scaffolding to build the superstructure is not OSHA-approved and is forbidden to use except for private structures less than 5 cubits."

"The trades unions say I can't use my sons. They insist I have to hire only Union workers with Ark-building experience."

"To make matters worse, the IRS seized all my assets, claiming I'm trying to leave the country illegally with endangered species."

"So, forgive me, Lord, but it would take at least 100 years for me to finish this Ark."

Suddenly the skies cleared, the sun began to shine, and a rainbow stretched across the sky. Noah looked up in wonder and asked, "You mean You're not going to destroy the world?"

"No," said the Lord. "The government beat me to it."

A man and wife attended church one evening, and the wife decided that it was time to stop her husband from sleeping in Church. So, she took her hat pin and decided she would poke him every time he fell asleep. Right about the first time he falls asleep, the preacher asks, "And who created the Universe?" The wife poked her husband and he awakes and yells, "My God!"

The second time he falls asleep, the preacher asks, "And who died on the cross for you?" She pokes her husband and he screams, "Jesus Christ!"

The third time, the Preacher asks, " And what did Eve say to Adam after she bore him his 99th son?" The wife pokes her husband and he jumps up and yells, "By God, if you poke me with that thing one more time, I am going to break it off!"

That's it for now my little carpenters. More soon.

Stay Tuned !

Remembering The Beatles

The 60's produced some of the most imaginative and newest sounds of the day when The Beatles arrived in America. Their enormous appeal had the same effects on the public as the early days of Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley.

The recent appearance of Paul McCartney on the David Letterman Show and the subsequent outdoor performance by McCartney brought back old memories and especially The Beatles live performances on the Ed Sullivan Show.

Authors Note: The videos originally posted in this entry have been removed from YouTube because of copyright infringement. They have been replaced by other Beatles performances of that era. Remember to turn off the playlist audio on my sidebar.

This is another video taken from The Beatles appearance in Shea Stadium. It was an unbelievable new musical direction of the times with a totally new sound. As a musician and singer, the distinct sound of British rock was very intriguing and The Beatles and other groups including the Rolling Stones certainly changed musical America.

An Amish boy and his father were visiting a mall. They were amazed by almost everything they saw, but especially by two shiny, silver walls that could move apart and then slide back together again. The boy asked, "What is this, Father?" The father (never having seen an elevator) responded, "Son, I have never seen anything like this in my life, I don't know what it is."

While the boy and his father were watching with amazement, a rather heavy, not too attractive, older lady walked up to the moving walls and pressed a button. The walls opened and the lady walked between them into a small room. The walls closed and the boy and his father watched the small circular numbers above the walls light up sequentially.

They continued to watch until it reached the last number and then the numbers began to light in the reverse order. Finally the walls opened up again and a beautiful, young woman stepped out. The father, said quietly to his son, "Go get your Mother".

That's it for now my little orange blossoms. More soon!

Stay Tuned !

Tony Stewart Wins The Daytona 400 With An Unbelievable Last Lap Multi-Car Crash !

The Daytona 400 was run Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway and although the middle part of the race was a little tedious, the final laps proved to be interesting indeed.

Tony Stewart led the majority of the laps and had the dominant car, leading a race-high 86 laps and using a flawless pit-road performance to set himself up for his second win as owner of his race team. In what's becoming a Nascar norm, the caution flag came out with less than 10 laps to go creating an almost guaranteed scenario for a last lap multi-car crash.

The video's shown in today's post are an after the fact analysis by the commentators, including former race driver Kyle Petty. The first video gives the best generalization of the final laps and the second video has a more close up view with several fantastic shots of the final crash. Remember to turn off the sound from my music playlist before viewing the videos.

On the restart, Tony Stewart took the lead with Kyle Busch on his outside. Stewart was followed by Denny Hamlin while Bush was followed by Jimmy Johnson.

Busch, in an excellent outside move, took the lead just before the last lap. Stewart chased him down and closed in on Busch’s bumper, and slight contact sent Busch drifting up the track.

Busch drove back down to maintain his lead, then tried to slide in front of Stewart to block Stewart’s next move. The cars were too close together and Stewart hooked Busch’s right corner to send Busch sailing into the wall.

The end result was a multi-car crash with Stewart winning the race. Jimmy Johnson finished second with Denny Hamlin finishing third.

Kyle Busch is probably one of the most talented drivers I've ever seen. His main problems are his lack of patience and his temper. Busch's first block on Stewart was considered "an allowable block" by most race car drivers, but his second block, under existing Nascar rules, left Stewart no choice but to hold his position and sent Busch into the outside retaining wall.

Under current Nascar rules, a driver cannot pass another driver by going below the double yellow stripe on the inside lane of the track. This rule was tested at a 2008 race at Talladega International Speedway when rookie Regan Smith passed leader Tony Stewart on the last lap. Stewart had moved down to block Smith and Smith, rather that turn Stewart and crash him, went below the yellow line to effect the pass.

Nascar, contrary to it's own rules which allow the driver to go below the yellow line if forced there, ruled the pass illegal and Regan was placed in 18th position. This ruling sent a message to the drivers that, in any future race, should the leading car attempt to block, a driver should hold his ground and let the chips fall where they may.

Combine this with the new rule that all restarts, including restarts with less than ten laps to go, will be started double file and you can predict what will happen next. The aforementioned is the perfect recipe for the type of last lap multi-car crash that was seen on Saturday night.

Although exciting, my thinking is that there will be new rules effected soon to alleviate the possibility of the dangerously famous last lap crashes.

That's it for now my little bumper cars. More soon.

Stay Tuned !

What's Your Take On This ?

I've known about this for a while. I was just wondering if you were aware of this information. The world of politics has some strange bedfellows.

I wonder if there will ever be a time when polticians ever really represent the average American no matter what the political cost.

Stay Tuned !