Monday, June 30, 2008

And the papers reported "A Fun Time Was Had By All"

Well I survived 3 straight days of playing golf in Myrtle Beach this week-end. We had an unbelievable time, the hospitality and the golf courses were un-real. We played at Grande Dunes resort and members courses over 3 days. The event in its 7th year is held by the resort and the Mariott as a fund raiser for the Make-A-Wish foundation of South Carolina. I invited my brother-in-law and his wife as well as a client and his fiancee from the College of Charleston. It's going to take a while for Charlie to repay this week-end. Here is a picture of myself and Josh Bryson from the College of Charleston and Perry Tuttle of Clemson/SI Cover Fame. We actually played Sunday with Adrien Morrell, an ex-NYJet running back. The food was great also. The other big news was that I actually won the closest to the pin on Sunday. Not a bad week-end at all.

Syd

"Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road,
Time grabs you by the wrist, directs where to go,
So make the best of the test and don't ask why.
It's not a question but a lesson learned in time,
It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life"......Green Day "Time of your life"

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Early Bird Special

Yes I know, it's Thursday and not Friday. But, I'm heading to Myrtle Beach in the morning so here it is. Going down to play in a Celebrity/Pro-Am Golf Tourney at the Grande Dunes Golf Course. You heard right, I am playing in a Celebrity/Pro-Am Golf Tourney. The tournament is for the Make-A-Wish foundation of SC. Big to-do, with yours truly crashing the party. My only concern is whether or not this old out of shape body can handle 18 holes of golf 3 days in a row. As most of you know, I can hold my own with anyone drinking 3 days in a row but actually playing golf in the Myrtle Beach heat for 3 days in row could get interesting. But, I am willing to take the challenge for a worthy cause. All indications are we will have a very good times. Invited my brother-in-law and wife to go also as well as a customer at the College of Charleston. Boy is my brother-in-law going to owe me for this one, I don't see me paying for a round of golf at Greer in the foreseeable future. Well enough of me rubbing this in the face of Nitro Rev, and any other golfers out there. See ya Monday.

Syd
"Where 'd all the good people go Ive been changin channels I dont see them on the tv shows, Where 'd all the good people go We got heaps and heaps of what we sow."
Jack Johnson "Good People Go"

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Peaches, Palms, and cucumber vines.

Stopped by Fishers Orchard on my way back from Gardner Webb today. After last years losses it was great to see the shed open and the business brisk. The trees are still full and people were out picking their own peaches. (Man, I would hate to have my entire life wrapped around not having a late season frost). 95 today and no a/c in the honda, but I still love summer.
My palms trees are hitting stride right now. The washingtonian that dies out in the winter has come back bigger than ever this year and the younger windmills are starting to grow upwards instead of only outwards. Did I mention I love summer.
I wonder what the record is for the most cucumbers off of one vine? We have one vine that is threatening to take over not only the palm tree but my hibiscus and the tomatoes. (You would have to see how I plant things to understand). But, as long as it continues to produce fruit, hell, it can run up the driveway, I'll park in the street. No a/c and a wandering cucumber plant, these are problems I will take over scrapping ice off of my windshield any day. I love summer.

"We made it through winter We made it through fall
We made it through the spring timeTough times and all
It's good to seeI love the summerI'm riding with the top down
Let the wind blowChillin' with my lovePartying fo' sho
'It feels good to seeI love the summer Everybody if you with me sing......"
Snoop Dogg "Another Summer"

Monday, June 23, 2008

Who's left to make us think?

I'm going to miss George Carlin. Everyone of my age who remembers the early George Carlin will know what I am saying. The Hippy-Dippy weatherman, the sportscaster, "William 7 Mary 0", 7 words you can never say on the radio, etc. But what I will miss the most is his take on politics and religion. Now don't take this the wrong way, I disagree with his lack of belief in god, but his takes on the hypocrisy of organized religion were dead on. Also, his views on politics were absolutely hillarous. He not only had the ability to make us laugh, but more importantly he made us think.
Tim Russert didn't make us laugh, but he did make us think. By giving us an unbias interview, doing the homework for us, and not being afraid to ask the tough question, he gave us the information to help us form our own opinion.
One of the problems we have today is that people don't want to hear opinions that differ from their own. Is it a fear that they could be wrong? Not being strong in their beliefs? Or just living in a very intolerable society? I have always loved to talk to people who are different. Different cultures, different beliefs, different points of view, etc...
"When everyone thinks alike, no one is thinking".

Syd
"You can't judge an apple by looking at the tree, You can't judge honey by looking at the bee".
"You can't judge a daughter by looking at the mother, and you can't judge a book by looking at the cover".. (Late Great) Bo Didley, "You Can't Judge a book by the cover"

Friday, June 20, 2008

Freedom for who

Been a busy morning, already been to Clemson and back. I hate to cheat at this but I'm going to do some copying and pasting this morning. George Wills Op-Ed piece this week in the Washington Post is worth the read. For those that missed it and don't want to go through the effort to subscribe to the Post, I am posting it in my blog. For those of you who don't know, George Will is a conservative writer and news celebrity. He hits the nail on the head with this though. Enjoy the read.

"And I've just got to wonder what my Daddy would've done
If he'd seen the way they turned his dream around
I've got to go by what he told me, try to tell the truth And stand your ground
DON'T LET THE BASTARDS GET YOU DOWN"
Kris Kristofferson..."Don't Let the Bastards Get You Down"

Syd (Have a Great Week-end)


Contempt Of Courts
McCain's Posturing On Guantanamo

By George F. WillTuesday, June 17, 2008; Page

The day after the Supreme Court ruled that detainees imprisoned at Guantanamo are entitled to seek habeas corpus hearings, John McCain called it "one of the worst decisions in the history of this country." Well.
Does it rank with Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857), which concocted a constitutional right, unmentioned in the document, to own slaves and held that black people have no rights that white people are bound to respect? With Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), which affirmed the constitutionality of legally enforced racial segregation? With Korematsu v. United States (1944), which affirmed the wartime right to sweep American citizens of Japanese ancestry into concentration camps?

Did McCain's extravagant condemnation of the court's habeas ruling result from his reading the 126 pages of opinions and dissents? More likely, some clever ignoramus convinced him that this decision could make the Supreme Court -- meaning, which candidate would select the best judicial nominees -- a campaign issue.

The decision, however, was 5 to 4. The nine justices are of varying quality, but there are not five fools or knaves. The question of the detainees' -- and the government's -- rights is a matter about which intelligent people of good will can differ.

The purpose of a writ of habeas corpus is to cause a government to release a prisoner or show through due process why the prisoner should be held. Of Guantanamo's approximately 270 detainees, many certainly are dangerous "enemy combatants." Some probably are not. None will be released by the court's decision, which does not even guarantee a right to a hearing. Rather, it guarantees only a right to request a hearing. Courts retain considerable discretion regarding such requests.
As such, the Supreme Court's ruling only begins marking a boundary against government's otherwise boundless power to detain people indefinitely, treating Guantanamo as (in Barack Obama's characterization) "a legal black hole." And public habeas hearings might benefit the Bush administration by reminding Americans how bad its worst enemies are.

Critics, including Chief Justice John Roberts in dissent, are correct that the court's decision clouds more things than it clarifies. Is the "complete and total" U.S. control of Guantanamo a solid-enough criterion to prevent the habeas right from being extended to other U.S. facilities around the world where enemy combatants are or might be held? Are habeas rights the only constitutional protections that prevail at Guantanamo? If there are others, how many? All of them? If so, can there be trials by military commissions, which permit hearsay evidence and evidence produced by coercion?

Roberts's impatience is understandable: "The majority merely replaces a review system designed by the people's representatives with a set of shapeless procedures to be defined by federal courts at some future date." Ideally, however, the defining will be by Congress, which will be graded by courts.

McCain, co-author of the McCain-Feingold law that abridges the right of free political speech, has referred disparagingly to, as he puts it, "quote 'First Amendment rights.' " Now he dismissively speaks of "so-called, quote 'habeas corpus suits.' " He who wants to reassure constitutionalist conservatives that he understands the importance of limited government should be reminded why the habeas right has long been known as "the great writ of liberty."

No state power is more fearsome than the power to imprison. Hence the habeas right has been at the heart of the centuries-long struggle to constrain governments, a struggle in which the greatest event was the writing of America's Constitution, which limits Congress's power to revoke habeas corpus to periods of rebellion or invasion. Is it, as McCain suggests, indefensible to conclude that Congress exceeded its authority when, with the Military Commissions Act (2006), it withdrew any federal court jurisdiction over the detainees' habeas claims?
As the conservative and libertarian Cato Institute argued in its amicus brief in support of the petitioning detainees, habeas, in the context of U.S. constitutional law, "is a separation of powers principle" involving the judicial and executive branches. The latter cannot be the only judge of its own judgment.
In Marbury v. Madison (1803), which launched and validated judicial supervision of America's democratic government, Chief Justice John Marshall asked: "To what purpose are powers limited, and to what purpose is that limitation committed to writing, if these limits may, at any time, be passed by those intended to be restrained?" Those are pertinent questions for McCain, who aspires to take the presidential oath to defend the Constitution.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Oil flavored Kool-Aid

"Please ignore the man behind the curtain". Finally, the line in the sand is being drawn. Actually the line is being drawn at the bottom of the ocean, off of our coasts. So President Bush and John McCain have decided its time to open up the drilling rights off of our coasts. Great Idea!! Lets see, our refineries are operating at the max and we haven't built any new ones in years. With this new drilling and all this new oil, it would be 5-10 years before it would go online.

As I have stated in the past, the price of gas was too low. Recently the Saudis have said they want to increase production and bring down the price of a barrell of oil. Of course they do. It's like the drug dealer who knows that a cheap crack cocaine is better than the higher price version. With cheap drugs, the user has no reason to fight the addiction. The Saudis know that with high gas prices, we will begin to fight our addiction with alternative fuels and more effecient vehicles. We are already seeing this happen. The ones who profit the most from oil are the ones who will be pushing for openning up ANWER, and drilling off of our coasts. "Follow the Money"!! As a country I know we can do better. We have the technology to break this addiction, we just havn't found it yet.

"belief is a beautiful armor but makes for the heaviest sword
like punching underwater you never can hit who you're trying for"...John Mayer, Belief

Syd

Monday, June 16, 2008

From the road, the pew and the office

Nitro-Rev, I really don't see how you do it. It's not that I don't have anything to say every other day. It's finding the time to sit down and write it.
I hit the road to Dallas last week. Attended the National Assoc. of College Athletic Directors meeting. 3 days of working a booth. Actually on the floor for only 4 hours a day, but all indictations are that it was worth the time and expenses. I had been to Dallas on a couple of occasions but had never had the time to go downtown and walk over the spot where JFK was assasinated. It was very surreal. The most amazing part was how close everything is. The grassy knoll, the book depository and the street are all within a couple hundred feet. Call me a nut, but I have always thought there was NO WAY Oswald could have done it alone. Too many people benefitted from his death. Standing there on the spot I could not help but wonder what would this country be like had he lived.

Watching Luke Russert on the Today Show this morning reminded me the role that our children play in our lives. Like or not they are a direct reflections of us. Their strengths and shortfalls at times are tied to our own. Luke's ability to come in front of the Nation, and conduct an interview less than 72 hours after his dads death was a fitting tribute to Tim. Darren's sermon for fathers day was "Who's your Daddy?" I do believe that we all answer that question everyday. Like it or not we are all reflections of our fathers. Good or Bad the reflection you give is your choice. In our christian walk no one should every have to ask that question.

Well, I'm back in my office, ready for the July 1 (new budget year for schools) wave and ready to ride.
"Now a life of leisure and a pirate's treasure Don't make much for tragedy But it's a sad man my friend who's livin' in his own skin And can't stand the company" Bruce Springsteen, "Better Days".

Syd

Monday, June 2, 2008

30 years and going

It was my 30 year class reunion this past Friday night. I can proudly say we had over a third of our class in attendance. That's not very hard when we only had 32 graduates. It was alot of fun looking back at those times. The era we were in, the cloths, the fewer aches and pains, the smaller bodies, the "Glory Days" as Springsteen would say. What saddened me the most was the beauty queen who longed for those days. To think that your days in high school are the highlight of your life is sad. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed my days in high school but by no means was this the highlight of my life.

It's like getting older. Alot of people hate thinking about it, go out of there way to avoid it, won't admit it, and won't accept it. I on the other hand wear it like a badge of honor. Getting older always beats the alternative in every case. With my dad living to 91, I'm hoping I'm just getting started.

"Don't mind the grey in your hair. Just think of the fun you had puttin' it there and as for that old book of time Boy, you never skipped a page So, don't be ashamed of your age Brother, don't be ashamed of your age"... Willie Nelson "Don't be ashamed of your age"

Syd