Dad-Gum-It! Fire Jeff Bowden--NOW

The Crying Game . . .for Gators!

It's been that kind of a year.
Seminole have a very young team. Not to be outdone, the Gators go and hire a crybaby.
The Florida/Florida State game is always a tough one, no matter what the teams' W-L records are. I'm betting on my beloved Noles, of course. Here are a couple of cartoons I made up using the national geographic cartoon factory. Send me your captions and I will make a special page to highlight them on my website. For inspiration, however corny, click on the headline of this post.

WWJFKD?

Below are a few words President John F. Kennedy would have said in his speech prepared for November 22, 1963 in Dallas. Click on the header to see the entire speech.

"It should be clear by now that a nation can be no stronger abroad than she is at home. Only an America which practices what it preaches about equal rights and social justice will be respected by those whose choice affects our future. Only an America which has fully educated its citizens is fully capable of tackling the complex problems and perceiving the hidden dangers of the world in which we live. And only an America which is growing and prospering economically can sustain the worldwide defenses of freedom, while demonstrating to all concerned the opportunities of our system and society."

The trials of Travis Bickle Turkey

I'm working on a publication at work to help students do better on the FCAT, our state assessment test.

Worst. Assignment. Ever.

Until I decided to try a cartoon-graphic novel style! Now I am having fun making really tedious stuff somewhat entertaining. While doing some serious research on the web (hee-hee), I found some cartoon generators that students can use to make their own strips. Basically, they give you the pictures and you create the captions. Naturally, I had to try a couple. Here is one I did for Thanksgiving.

If you want to try it yourself, click on the title of this post and it will take you to National Geographic Kids. I'll share another site tomorrow.

Lege et lacrima - Read it and weep

Bob Graham is one of the few politicians I have known to be in politics for the right reason. . . to help make peoples' lives better. I interned with Graham's press secretary his first year as governor of Florida. I saw up close how hard he worked, how much he cared and how honest he was. Sometimes this worked against him and maybe that is why he is not president today. (He certainly would have done a better job of articulating Democratic values had he been the nominee rather than the man he is pictured with here). But the man speaks the truth. He voted against the war and was a lone voice before the election about the trouble this administration was getting us into over seas. He wrote a powerful and terrifying book called Intelligence Matters which I believe should be required reading for all Americans.

Gerald Posner, New York Times bestselling author of Why America Slept said about Graham's book, "Intelligence Matters is a work of great patriotism, a searing insider’s account of the government’s ineptitude, and at times deceit, both on 9/11 and in the war in Iraq. Senator Graham is unflinching in a damning and persuasive indictment of President Bush, the FBI and the CIA. This is no liberal, conspiratorial, antiwar polemic, but rather a convincing argument by a hawk in the war on terror as to why the country is less safe today because of blunders made by President Bush. Intelligence Matters also makes a meticulous–and at times startling–case for official Saudi Arabian complicity in the 9/11 plot. This is an important book and a must read for anyone concerned with the war on terror and the future of America."
–
Today Graham has written an editorial in the Washington Post on what he knew before the invasion of Iraq. Maybe then he was dismissed as a Chicken Little, but three years and over 2000 American lives lost later, I think most all Americans agree: The sky is falling. Maybe now people will listen to Bob Graham. Click on the title of this entry to read his Post editorial.

Loser Republicans Refuse to Honor Springsteen

By DONNA DE LA CRUZ, Associated Press Writer Fri Nov 18, 8:33 PM ET

Bruce Springsteen famously was "born in the USA," but he's getting scorned in the U.S. Senate.

An effort by New Jersey's two Democratic senators to honor the veteran rocker was shot down Friday by Republicans who are apparently still miffed a year after the Boss lent his voice to the campaign of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry.

The chamber's GOP leaders refused to bring up for consideration a resolution, introduced by Sens. Frank Lautenberg and Jon Corzine, that honored Springsteen's long career and the 1975 release of his iconic album, "Born to Run."

No reason was given, said Lautenberg spokesman Alex Formuzis. "Resolutions like this pass all the time in the U.S. Senate, usually by unanimous consent," he said.

Telephone calls to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's office seeking comment were not immediately returned.

Lautenberg said he couldn't understand why anyone would object to the resolution.

"Even if the Republicans don't like (Springsteen's) tunes, I would hope they appreciated his contributions to American culture," Lautenberg said.

Corzine said he, Lautenberg and other Americans appreciated Springsteen's contributions to American culture.

"We'll never surrender looking for ways to honor our local hero who made it big in this land of hopes and dreams," Corzine said.

Springsteen endorsed Kerry last year, and made campaign appearances that drew huge crowds who came to hear music described in the resolution as "a cultural milestone that has touched the lives of millions of people."


Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

A short tour of my long journey with the Boss

So you're scared and you're thinking that maybe we ain't that young anymore. Show a little faith, there's magic in the night. You ain't a beauty, but hey you're alright. Oh and that's alright with me.

Aaahhh, Springsteen's Thunder Road says it all. We are all older and maybe wiser these days...Who ever thought we would see ourselves with a touch of gray (or for some of us, a touch of bald!) a middle-aged paunch (where beer bellies go to retire), or wearing the dreaded "mom jeans?"

Back in 1984, My concert buddy Anne Turner and I were young silly teachers who decorated bulletin boards in their classrooms and wore black armbands when Bruce married that actress. We are still going to concerts together. Tonight will be our tenth. For Springsteen's concert in Tampa this evening, the St. Petersburg Times is running fans' memories of their first Bruce concert.
go to Times story


I thought I would share my memories on my web site, jillwilson.com. Go to Glory Days on the menu or click on the title of this post to link directly.