Nomadic dog

For several years neighbors on the next street have allowed their dog (a Sheltie) to just roam the neighborhood, peeing and pooping in the yards of everyone else, not to mention getting our dogs whipped up by an unrestrained intruder on their territory.  Not only is it completely irresponsible for a pet owner (the next street has a lot more traffic that goes a lot faster), it is just not neighborly behavior.

Last year, my wife registered a complaint with the police department, and an officer went and spoke with them.  Nothing changed.  I called again today to register another complaint, and the officer was very sympathetic.  He told me this story (not exact quotes):

"I totally understand.  My neighbor does the same thing.  Just last night I looked out and saw his dog taking his umpteenth crap in my yard.  So I went out, picked it up, and went over to the neighbors' house and rang the bell.  I said to him 'your dog seems to like crapping in my yard more than your yard, so I thought that I should return this.  Where do you want me to put it?"

I think that I find the right person to help us.

Let the horse race begin

Obviously, I am an independent. Also, since being eligible to vote, my vote has been a barometer in every election. I voted Reagan (84), Bush 41 (88), Clinton (92 and 96), Bush 43 (00 and 04), and Obama (08). A cynic might conclude that I read the political winds and vote accordingly, but I would beg to differ. Neither of Bush 43's wins were foregone conclusions by election day by any stretch of the imagination. Instead, I would argue that my votes are all the empirical evidence that you need that independents decide every election.

That is the lead-in to the first Gallup Daily tracking poll --

PRINCETON, NJ -- Mitt Romney is supported by 47% of national registered voters and Barack Obama by 45% in the inaugural Gallup Daily tracking results from April 11-15. Both Obama and Romney are supported by 90% of their respective partisans. . .

These results are the first from Gallup Daily tracking of registered voters' general election preferences, which began on April 11 and will be reported daily on Gallup.com on the basis of continuous five-day rolling averages. . .

The race breaks down into the expected patterns by party, with 90% of Democrats supporting Obama, and 90% of Republicans supporting Romney. The Republican results show that despite the rancor and divisiveness of the Republican campaign, the vast majority of Republicans are backing Romney in the head-to-head battle with Obama, as they have in ballot tests earlier this year.

The crucial voting bloc of independents breaks toward Romney by 45% to 39%, giving the GOP challenger his slight overall edge.

Right now, unlike the slight majority of independents, I'm leaning Obama. But I'm ready to listen to Romney's sales pitch over the next 4 1/2 months.

Tebow to NY

I wonder if he will sell any tickets or draw any viewers?

People who are criticizing the Jets for taking on a $5 million trade penalty in Tebow's contract don't understand the economics. I guarantee that the Jets have already recouped that $5 million in jersey sales and enthusiasm.

Douche Daddy

Today, my son called me a "douche" for the first time. I didn't know whether to be mortified, or to ask him what took him so long.

Vikings stadium

I doubted this day would ever happen. I assumed that the assholes on the City Council would prevail and would sink this.

The Legislature now has first and goal at the one yard line. 50-50 they screw it up.

A majority of the Minneapolis City Council now backs Mayor R.T. Rybak's plan to fund a new Vikings stadium in Minneapolis, setting up a last-ditch effort by Gov. Mark Dayton to persuade reluctant Republican legislators to support the project.

The surprise announcement Monday that seven council members had signed letters of support seemed unlikely just a week ago, when seven members publicly opposed the plan. But after heavy lobbying by stadium backers, including Gov. Mark Dayton, Council Member Sandra Colvin Roy abandoned her insistence on a citywide referendum and gave Rybak the majority he needs.

"I didn't change my mind," Colvin Roy said Monday. "I made up my mind."

The deal is far from done, however. Legislators were still scrambling Monday to obtain an agreement with charities over the use of charitable gambling funds to pay for the state portion of the stadium. It is also uncertain whether there are enough votes at the Legislature to pass the plan.

"Now [the] motion shifts over here to the Legislature," Rybak said at a state Capitol news conference. "If the Legislature acts, the City Council will act as well."

We probably can't create something on par with Soldier Field or Lambeau. But Target Field set a high bar. They need to build a 100 year stadium for the Vikes, not a 30 year stadium.

A link posted upon request by my better half

Link.

Redundancy

I saw a commercial for the University of Maryland University College. Haven't they heard the joke about the Department of Redundancy Department?

Romney wins Iowa

A win is a win in the political perception world. Thank goodness. Only if Romney or long-shot Huntsman is the GOP nominee will I get a chance to exercise my brain in deciding for whom to vote in November.

Newt

This is rich.

At his final event Sunday, in Waterloo, Iowa, Gingrich was asked what his greatest weakness was.

"It's probably that I'm too reasonable," Gingrich replied.

The world gets better a little at a time

Link.

In 2012, the world's tyrants and dictators are sleeping a little less
comfortably than they did a year ago. And that, in its own way, is good
news.

Battle of the Bulge

New pictures after all of these years.

December 7

Today is "National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day." 70 years ago today, the course of history changed dramatically. Here is what I posted 7 years ago today.

My uncle (who died 20 years before I was born) was president and valedictorian of his class at Dartmouth, as well as captain of the football team and basketball team (including a basketball team that lost in the NCAA Championship game in 1942). He then joined the Navy.

Here is what I know about his valedictorian speech:

Charles 'Stubbie' Pearson '42, served as his class's valedictorian, and later as a Navy dive-bomber pilot in the Pacific. In his valedictory address, he said 'this is a war for the future. Man must replace the importance of material gain. We must humanize ourselves. Man is man and that is all that is important...Do not feel sorry for us. We are not sorry for ourselves. Today we are happy. We have a duty to perform and we are proud to perform it.'

My uncle never returned from the Pacific, and his body was never found. Tom Brokaw later did a lengthy piece on my uncle and he interviewed my Dad extensively as part of his "Greatest Generation" series on NBC Nightly News. Boy, that was emotional to watch.

I inherited neither the intelllectual gifts nor the athletic ability of my uncle. But 60 years later, I want to pay my respects to him on Pearl Harbor Day.

Another one bites the dust

Romney is going to win the nomination by default. The latest GOP implosion comes from Rick Perry. Unlike Fallows, I don't feel sorry for him; like Bachmann, he is a lightweight and we are all better off having him exposed as such sooner rather than later.

More Penn State

John Feinstein, one of the preeminent sports journalists of his generation, opines.

If the sexual abuse and assault charges brought by a Pennsylvania grand jury against former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky prove to be true on any level, then this will be the single worst thing that has happened in college sports in just about forever.

Penn State

I'm sick. These words express my thoughts very well.

I waited several days to write this because my first thought was what I would do if someone did something like this to my child. My initial reaction --
and I'm fairly certain most parents would feel this way -- was homicidal.
If someone molested my child, he would need the police to protect him from
me. If I found him first, his death would be neither quick nor clean. I
might spend the rest of my life in prison, though I'm not sure a
right-thinking jury would convict me. Those were the first thoughts that
popped into my head, and I'm not ashamed to say that. So why didn't Paterno,
a parent and grandparent who claims to have dedicated his life to the kids,
feel the same way? Why didn't he do everything in his power to ensure he
helped protect a kid who couldn't protect himself?

I hope that there is a special section of Hell for people like this.

Words elude me

Link.

LACEY -- Kristoffer Domeij is an American hero.

Domeij, an Army sergeant, was deployed an astounding 14 times before he was killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan on Saturday. He enlisted two months before Sept. 11, and he'd been in combat ever since. . . .

Domeij served four deployments in Iraq, then took part in an original airborne assault into Afghanistan. Amazingly, he would be deployed to Afghanistan nine times. In all, there were 14 deployments for this warrior hero -- more than any other Army ranger killed in action.

He received two bronze stars, and a third will be awarded posthumously.

"This was a ranger you wanted at your side when the chips were down. He is irreplaceable - in our formation and in our hearts," said his battalion commander, Lt. Col. David Hodne.

In all, Domeij had a combined total of 48 months of deployment in combat. And in that time, he may have been part of more than 5,000 combat missions.

Gadhafi

I feel a tinge of guilt for feeling more than a tinge of elation in the news of a death.

OK, the guilt part has passed.

Hat tip to President Obama

Who won't miss his pretty face? Kristof, for one.

Americans are not often heroes in the Arab world, but as nonstop celebrations unfold here in the Libyan capital I keep running into ordinary people who learn where I’m from and then fervently repeat variants of the same phrase: “Thank you, America!”

As I was walking back from Green Square (now renamed “Martyrs’ Square”) to my hotel on Wednesday morning, a car draped in the victorious Libyan flag pulled up and offered me a lift. “I just want you to feel welcome here,” explained the driver, Sufian al-Gariani, a 21-year-old salesman. He beamed when he heard where I was from and declared: “Thank you, Americans. Thank you, President Obama.” . . .

President Obama took a huge political risk, averted a massacre and helped topple an odious regime. . .

Pro-Americanism now is ubiquitous. I was particularly moved by a rebel soldier near Zuwarah in the west who asked me if New York City was safe. When I looked puzzled, he explained: “Irene. The hurricane.” And he asked how he could help.

“Without America, we would not be here,” Ismael Taweel, a businessman, told me as he stood by Martyrs’ Square with a huge grin on his face. “I hope there will be more relations between Libya and America now,” he added. That’s a common refrain: Libyans are hungry to rejoin the world.

Belgassim Ali, a petroleum engineer, told me: “I would thank America for the stance to protect my people.” Without America, he added, “we would not be celebrating. We would be in the cemetery.” . . .

“I love America so much. It’s the land of freedom.” That warmth toward the United States seems to have replaced the early doubts. It’s coupled with huge appreciation for other foreign supporters such as Qatar, Tunisia, France and Britain.

Thome

599 and 600. Cool.

Career change

I am taking the plunge (again). More here.