Mark,

Hey, I’m back. I have been doing a lot of traveling lately. I haven’t even had a chance to catch up with Sue. By the way is Kevin still on WILK? My radio dial just won’t go there before 9am. By the way, I’m currently winning my bet with Sue that the Red Sox won’t make it to the series. Hottle’s Sue, Prime Rib, medium, Sam Adams, French dressing. If you win, it’s off to Abe’s. Let’s see, Nomar’s back, got a hit, but the Red Sox managed to score a run in an awesome display of offense, while allowing only eight in a masterful pitching performance-heck, that’s less than one run an inning. Hey, going 4-6 in your last 10, while the Yankees go 8-2 will almost never work. Too bad there isn’t a Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse around. Sue, road trip to Meriden, Ct? There’s a Ruth’s right on Rt. 15. Truth is I am as bummed as hell that the Sox are diving. The Phils aren’t doing much better, and thank goodness the Marlins are keeping pace.

How about them Pistons? The first two games have been great to watch. I like defensive basketball. And while there was none to be found by LA in the first game, they stepped it up in game two. But still, had the Pistons been able to make a lay-up or a dunk in the first half, the game would have been a rout. Detroit couldn’t put one in the ocean before halftime. And it still took a 22’ three-pointer by Kobe to tie it. Detroit looks tough.

The TB/Calgary series was about some of the best hockey I have ever seen. Calgary just has this “never say die” work ethic that was amazing to watch. Despite all the speed and offensive talent TB had, the Flames shut them down for most of the series-they have nothing to hang their heads over. It was a great series, especially when you could easily root for both teams.

It was a sorry weekend with the loss of President Reagan. I was just out of high school and into college, and remember hearing him talk on TV. My parents, mom a Republican and dad a Democrat, would both praise him, which at first confused me. I was being taught that he was the devil in “The Gipper’s” clothing, so to speak. But when I actually listened to him, he was very easy to understand and it was clear what he wanted for the United States and for the American people-all people, not just Republicans or Democrats. This is where I first started paying attention to politics-long before I ever heard of Rush or Hannity or any other Conservative news program or organization. Fox wasn’t even around then.

To hear the stuff coming out of the mouths of the left right now is really strange. Folks that genuinely disliked him are saying good stuff now, while the folks that hated him still hate him. Rather and Brokaw are questioning their own peers? Too much coverage? Over the top? I guess the death of perhaps the greatest President I’ll ever see, just can’t compare to the death of Elvis, Lenin, Cobain, Princess Diana, or even the OJ trial-it’s just not news to the mouthpieces on the left. Yet Rush had an interesting quote yesterday, “One thousand fifty-eight hits between May the 6th and June the 9th, today, and there was more coverage even prior to that, and I've got the list of all the places that the 1,058 hits came from.” What he was referring to was the number of Nexus hits for coverage of Bill Clinton’s new book, which should be titled “My Lies.” I guess Gore was right, there’s no bias in the mainstream media. I only got 279,000 Google hits on “My Life by Bill Clinton” just now.

Replacing Hamilton with Reagan is an interesting topic. The author of many of the Federalist Papers, the duel, Presidential advisor extraordinaire, Secretary of the Treasury vs. the man that ended the cold war and started a period of growth in this nation yet to be matched. I’ll agree that Hamilton was one of this nation’s founding fathers, but perhaps it is time to let history be history.

We had the comments by Bill Cosby. I thought his comments were right on, but not only for blacks. For far too long now, folks have been being taught that they are not responsible for anything. Too fat-McDonald’s fault, anorexic-Barbie Doll’s fault; poor grades-society’s fault; DUI-bar’s fault; speeding-car’s fault; murder-Colt’s fault; lung cancer-Marlboro’s fault, and of course all of these can directly be traced to: Bush’s fault.

Cosby’s point was that it is time for blacks to move on and start taking responsibility for issues not directly liked to racism like his sneaker comment. Ward Connerly, founder and president of the American Civil Rights Institute, a California-based group whose goal is to educate the public about the need to move beyond racial and gender preferences, says Cosby is just expressing what many others know to be true. "He has not said anything that the average, reasonably well-informed black person doesn't agree with and doesn't say in the privacy of the black barber shop or the black church or any other venue where black people talk among themselves.”

Dr. Walter Williams reflects on Cosby's comments, saying the most devastating problems experienced by a large segment of the black community are "self-inflicted." The respected economics professor from George Mason University cites recent statistics showing high percentages of single-parent homes, illegitimacy, and homicides among African Americans -- and then disputes arguments that those problems are caused by racism. "Don't give me any of that legacy-of-slavery nonsense unless you can explain why all of these problems were not worse during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, at a time when blacks were much closer to slavery, were much poorer, faced more discrimination, and had fewer opportunities."

Personally, I love Bill Cosby. I have probably twenty albums and tapes of his and loved just about every TV show he was involved with. I respect what he and his wife have achieved and he should be held as a model citizen and role model for all Americans regardless of skin color.

Anybody catch this from the Wall Street Journal?

***During my 1971 televised debate with John Kerry, I accused him of lying. I urged him to come forth with affidavits from the soldiers who had claimed to have committed or witnessed atrocities. To date no such affidavits have been filed. Recently, Sen. Kerry has attempted to reframe his comments as youthful or "over the top." Yet always there has been a calculated coolness to the way he has sought to destroy the record of our honorable service in the interest of promoting his political ambitions of the moment.

John Kennedy's book, "Profiles in Courage," and Dwight Eisenhower's "Crusade in Europe" inspired generations. Not so with John Kerry, who has suppressed his book, "The New Soldier," prohibiting its reprinting. There is a clear reason for this. The book repeats John Kerry's insults to the American military, beginning with its front-cover image of the American flag being carried upside down by a band of bearded renegades in uniform -- a clear slap at the brave Marines in their combat gear who raised our flag at Iwo Jima. Allow me the reprint rights to your book, Sen. Kerry, and I will make sure copies of "The New Soldier" are available in bookstores throughout America.***

This from John O’Neill who served with Kerry. Wow, big, big bang. More recently we had Kerry throwing the finger to an antagonist at the Vietnam memorial in front of a group of kids. Oh, well. Bush lied.

One thing I am trying to calculate. How much fuel-coal, gas, oil, does it take to produce 1kW of electricity? What I’m trying to get at is that I believe it actually takes more fuel to power a hybrid car. I’m basing my “theory” on the fact that every time one form of energy is converted to another there is a loss of energy through mechanical friction, heat, chemical reaction or other means. I’m doing some research on this and the CAFE laws and am finding some really interesting facts.

For example, did you know that crash data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) shows that 302 additional people die in auto accidents for every 100 pounds cut from the average car weight? Between 1975 and 1985 alone, the average car weight dropped by more than 1,000 pounds, thanks largely to passage of the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) law in 1975 and that according to a recent USA Today analysis of NHTSA and Insurance Institute for Highway Safety data, 46,000 Americans have died in car accidents since 1975 that they would have survived had they been in larger cars.

What I’m also trying to tie together is that while the size of cars, the popularity of SUVs, and fuel efficiency all continue to increase, they are not AS responsible for fuel shortages as the increased amount of drivers are. I think the opposite might be true. The average fuel economy in 1975 was 15.5mpg and the average miles traveled per year was about 6000 miles. By 1995 the average fuel efficiency was 25mpg, but we were driving an average of 12,000 miles per year and there were many, many more drivers. I think the increasing fuel efficiency is being far overshadowed by the increased number of drivers and therefore believe that the CAFE laws will not be able to do what they were intended to do. Not that they are bad-cars that get 50mpg are a good thing, bigger, safer vehicles that do the same are better, especially when loss of life is in play.

What this would prove is that hybrids and CAFE laws will not stop the problem, and that what we need is to tap into more oil resources, build more refining capability, look again at nuclear power, and advance new fuel technology at an accelerated rate. Don’t tell me ANWR is protected. I have first hand accounts from several of my best friends, two of which I would call environmentalists, that hiked miles into that reserve without seeing a bird, bug, or plant-rock as far as they could see. And nuclear and refining technology has advanced way beyond where they were 22 years ago when some of our last plants were built. Want cheap fuel-CAFE and hybrids won’t get us there. Increased supply and increased refining capability along with the 20000+ jobs created will help, as will new technology. Perhaps we are going down the wrong path.

By the way, it is so great to see the street sweepers out and about. I see them every week on my way over to the YMCA early in the morning. Keep the faith.
Phillipians1:21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Thoughts and prayers to the Reagan family.
Private Sector Dude.