Paul Hamm
Topic: Sports
Here is the question, would you give up the gold that was awarded to you by mistake? I know I would in a second... well I really already have done so in one case... though it is a bit different.

The New York City Biathlon was my best biathlon ever. I had excellent runs and a great bike. I finished well up in the competition, I think top 20 overall, as a senior in college. When the awards were handed out, I received first place in my age group. I was actually stunned, though I knew none of the competition, I was used to always having someone in my age group better than me in an event. My 1st place lasted about 120 seconds. It came to the attention that a person was improperly classified in the wrong age group.. that person came in first, I came in second. I had to go up and give the first place plaque back. I thought nothing of it. The person who came in first obviously did better than I. The technicality wasn't one of mere judgement, rather one of in your face logic. Who would I have been to keep that plaque that I didn't win, but merely was awarded?

If a day passed instead of just 120 seconds, I would have done the same in a split second. I deserved what my finish that day deserved, nothing more. Yet we have Paul Hamm who has seemed to of gotten away with one, though to no fault of his own. Paul Hamm has no shame in finishing second because someone bested him. The mistake by the judges wasn't one of personal judgment, but of obvious statistical error. Granted, the time had passed to make a protest, but we aren't talking a week or a month, but a day. Should an Olympian be so petty to take an arbitrary deadline over sportmanship?

I know my 1st place age group plaque is nothing compared to a gold medal. However, in my case, that is the closest I'll ever get to such an accolade, so I can only judge from my own experience. I find it shameful that Hamm hasn't already given the medal up. Hamm shouldn't have to give up the medal by rule or law, but Hamm should feel compelled to give it up because of proper sportmanship. He lost to another person that day. There is no shame in coming in second. There is shame in coming in second and pretending that it was first.

Man who saved Thurlow in Vietnam says there was gunfire
Topic: Politics
Vietnam Vet who pulled Lt. Thurlow out of the water says there was gunfire that day

Oddly enough, another person who was actually there during the actions in question has said that Kerry didn't lie. Though Robert E. Lambert isn't a supporter of John Kerry, being critical of Kerry's anti-war stance and having served only 4 months, Lambert spoke honestly and in detail about the events that happened where John Kerry won a Bronze Star.

"Lambert, now 64, was a crew member on swift boat PCF-51 that day. The boat was commanded by Navy Lt. Larry Thurlow, a now-retired officer who questions why Kerry was awarded a Bronze star for bravery and a third Purple Heart for the March 13 incident.

"He and another officer now say we weren't under fire at that time," Lambert said Wednesday afternoon. "Well, I sure was under the impression we were."

Lambert's Bronze Star medal citation for the incident praises his courage under fire in the aftermath of a mine explosion that rocked another swift boat on that day 35 years ago.

"Anytime you are blown out of the water like that, they always follow that up with small arms fire," he said."

Regarding who wrote the report:
Nor does he have much time for the debate over who wrote the medal citations. Thurlow says his citation for a Bronze Star, which states the boats were being fired upon, was based on an initial report written by Kerry.

Lambert doesn't know who wrote the documents.

"They took what everybody said after they got in, piled it altogether and shipped it off and somebody wrote that, either at the division level, squadron level or commander of naval forces, Vietnam level," Lambert said. "They decided what kind of medal was going to be put on it.

"Mine was for pulling Lt. Thurlow out of the river while we were under fire," he said.

The number of people coming out and saying Kerry is speaking the truth continues to climb. Equally, the connections between Bush's Campaign continue to increase, including the resignation of two members of his campaign and a detailed NY Times look at the Swiftboat Vets and Bush's Campaign.

Bush Amazes World, Breaks Clinton's Trend!
Topic: Politics
The US Census Bureau and Poverty

Bush needs to get his due whenever it is due. This is no exception. During the terrible Clinton years, Clinton was to take the rising poverty rate (in this case, people living below 50 percent of poverty rate) of 6.2% of all Americans in 1993 to 4.5% by 2000, a decrease of over 25%. That evil Clinton also lowered the actual number of people that were below 50% of the poverty level by over 3,000,000!

This huge monsterous momentum, of lowering the population in poverty, faced Bush square in the face. Citing the need for rich people to get money back from taxes they hadn't even paid yet, Bush moved hard to create economic policies to reverse the heavy and harsh momentum known as getting rid of poverty. And it has worked! In merely 2 years, Bush has been able to reverse the tide and increase poverty in America. Over 1.5 million people, half of what Clinton removed from that poverty, are now back into that level of poverty.

Now that is awesome results!

My first blog entry
Mood:  cool
Topic: General
Wow! The honor of being able to blog. I can't quite find the words to express such a feeling. I mean, to be one of the few to have a blog. Such honor, such honor... Of course, I think millions probably already blog now. In fact, blogging may not be cool anymore. Even worse, most blogs probably go unnoticed by the public. Maybe even like this blog!

So why am I doing this, if no one is ever to notice? The heck that I know. I just can't deny the magnetism of "the blog." It draws you in and BOOM! You are mesmerized by it, by its blogness. And so, now a slave, atleast temporarily, to the blog, I must post to it. And this, being my first post, I am done.

Million Person March of Shame
Topic: Humor
AP

4/28/04

On Tuesday, over 900,000 conservative men and women took to the streets of Washington DC to affirm their shame of themselves and their bodies. Accompanying the marchers were thousands of signs from "I don't want to talk about masterbation" to "Condoms are evil" to "It's just wrong!" John MacLenny, the march organizer, explained the purpose of the march. "What we wanted to show Americans is that its alright to be ashamed of yourself. We believe there is nothing about the body that warrants special attention or openness. We feel its better to be hush hush. If you ignore it, it doesn't exist."

Meanwhile at the march, John MacLenny began the speech by saying that openness was a bad thing. That it was good to pretend that bodies were clothed. He stated, "Even Adam and Eve were shamed of their bodies. We should be too!" That was answered by a rousing applause.

"Do we want to be able to buy condoms without being embarrassed about it?" asked Sheri Winterbourne to the crowd. The crowd resounded with a loud "No!" Sheri Winterbourne is a worker at the ministry of James Dobson and helped co-author his latest book, Raising The Future Generation's Beaten Wives. "Of course we don't," she continued. "There is nothing but shame with our bodies. If we go to a store and purchase condoms without being ashamed of ourselves and fear what other people might be thinking, we become prideful in our bodies. That's just wrong!" This was followed by a standing ovation.

Another speaker was Jon Williams of the Against Planning Parenthood organization. He has spoken in all 48 continental United States and plans soon to bring his crusade internationally by speaking in Toronto this summer. His crusade is against current sex education standards in school. "They try and teach our kids that masterbation is a natural (makes quote marks with his fingers) thing. They tell them, there isn't anything shameful with it. They tell them that sex is a natural thing. They tell them not to be ashamed! That's just wrong!" This was followed by a huge standing ovation. "Do we want them to change our own standards?" he asked the crowd which again replied with a loud "No!" "Of course we don't. We should be able to teach our children to be ashamed of whatever we want them to be ashamed of. If those liberals can try and make our kids ashamed of our American History, then we can teach them to be ashamed of their own bodies!" He then led the crowd in a chant of "Hey! Hey! Ho! Ho! All we want's our status quo!"

Critics of the march said that they just didn't understand what was wrong with those people. "They want to deny reality. You can't do that. It's just wrong," said Kyle Anderson of George Washington University. "While we all can appreciate how some people want to keep certain matters private, there is an obligation to society to end these mindless stereotypes stigmas about certain things, especially our body and sex."

John Osbourne, a pastor at a local church said, "While God has planted within us certain rules that must be abided, he never said or intended that we be ashamed of what he has given us. Genesis reads that we were created in God's image. I believe this fully and to be ashamed of our own bodies is to be ashamed of God."

John MacLenny answered the critics by saying, "They're just wrong!" which again was followed by huge applause.

New $50 bill released to thwart counterfeiters
Topic: Humor
-AP
4/26/04

The US Treasury released the new $50 bill (below) in an effort to keep people from counterfeiting them. Annually, over $1.2 billion in counterfeit money is accepted at places all over America, including a person who passed off a $1000 bill with GW Bush's face on the front. In order to try and end this the Treasury Department has made a few new additions.

- Adding addition watermarks
- Multiple colors including a red and white flag on the front
- increasing the bill's size from 2" by 6" to 2' x 6'



Above, you can see the head of the Treasury in front of the new $50 bill. He said, "We figure, it will be much tougher to replicate a bill that is 2 feet by 6 feet. The cost would be more than the actual bill's value!" When confronted by the question as to how the Treasury would pay for the larger bills, he muttered something about "not being given that question ahead of time."