ABC should fire Rosie O'Donnell!

ABC has reached a new low.

In fact, if ABC would step away from their money-grubbing concerns about increasing viewership through controversy for a moment, then they would see that they should be down-right embarrassed by the negative image that their employee, Rosie O'Donnell, is giving the network.

On March 23, fifteen British Sailors assigned to the British frigate H.M.S. Cornwall, operating under United Nations mandate to patrol the waters between Iran and Iraq, were captured in Iranian waters, and are currently being held hostage, paraded around, and humiliated by the Iranian Government. These servicemen were not engaged in any acts of war or hostility, but rather were in the process of finishing up the inspection of an Indian-flagged cargo vessel thought have been illegally smuggling/ transporting automobiles. An accurate and fair run down of events can be found here.

The Iranians have a history of taking hostages; we all remember how Americans were taken hostage in November of 1979, and released upon the election of Ronald W. Reagan (who would have probably decimated Iran had the stand-off continued) in 1981, and more recently June 21, 2004, when Iranians took eight British serviceman hostage for three days.

Any normal person would recognize that taking 15 people hostage is an act of terror, if not an act of war. And any normal person would recognize the severity of the situation, and the fact that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a madman, hell-bent on developing Nuclear Weapons in order to dominate the Gulf region, and intimidate the world. Any intelligent person recognizes that if the situation continues to escalate that these 15 British service personnel might never see their families again. And among them is 26-year old mother of one, Faye (Topsy) Turney, who if you haven't noticed - is shamefully and under duress being used by Iran to write letters of apology, and letters implying British guilt. Any normal person that is... but not fat, pathetic Rosie.

O'Donnell, is co-host of the downward spiraling show The View, and is well known for her open homosexuality and liberal activism. ABC Television hired O'Donnell in order to increase ratings by allowing her to run her mouth unchecked, spewing her controversial (and vocally obnoxious) attacks on everything, including current events, and individual people . Over the past several months, she started feuds with Star Jones and Donald Trump, and she has been heard attacking American Idol, the Chinese Language, Kelly Ripa, President Bush, Carl Rove, and under false pretenses during an interview - even Pearl Harbored poor Tom Selleck (Magnum PI) - because he is a gun owner and a quiet conservative, and she's even gone so far as to use ABC as a platform to suggest an all-out U.S. conspiracy regarding the 9/11 attacks. All that's apparently fine and dandy with ABC execs who say nothing. Well all this criticism of others is expected particularly considering her low self-esteem, weight problem, career failure, and alternative lifestyle choice.

But this week, she went too far.

She blamed entire hostage crisis on the British Government, and implied that the British were instigating a war by staging the whole thing. Her quotes on her website go further, she writes "the British did it on purpose... ". Completely ridiculous charges which have been confirmed false. Just what the friends and families of the innocents being held, and viewers want to hear - another conspiracy against the Government. Another dotted line reason to hate Bush, etc, etc.

And yet ABC - and especially Barbara Walters (who has lost all respectability since she's allowed Rosie to regularly spout off unchecked) doesn't seem to have the courage to challenge her on the facts, or even provide an alternative viewpoint. And shame on you , Barbara. You used to be a reputable and fair-minded journalist - and yet, you just sit there. Wow. Afraid to say something, or do you agree with Rosie's rambling idiocy? Or does ABC, the network that prides itself on "World News Tonight" endorse Rosie's political agenda?

The following is a copy of the transcript from The View regarding the British hostage crisis:

O'DONNELL: But what's interesting with the British sailors, there were 15 British sailors and Marines who apparently went into Iranian waters and they were seized by the Iranians. And I have one thing to say: Gulf of Tonkin, Google it.

Then the following exchange occurred:

O'DONNELL: Yes, but it’s very interesting too that, you know, these guys, they went into the water by mistake right at a time when British and American, you know, they're two, they’re pretty much our biggest ally and we're considering whether or not we should go into war with Iran.
BEHAR: But the U.N. was about to sanction them, also have an embargo against Iran. And the, and the timing [unintelligible] so they distracted the whole world with this.
ELISABETH HASSELBECK: Right and they may be about to expel the inspectors right now, too, which could be considered [unintelligible]
O’DONNELL: Right or it could be just the Gulf of Tonkin, which you should all Google.

Video here.

It's funny she says at the end of the segway, "I find it's important to Google 'cause you can find out things you wouldn't find out on national TV." Sure. I recommend Googling "Rosie O'Donnell", then you can find out all kinds of things about this fat traitor who ABC television has granted an unchallenged political platform in which to spew hate and lies.

It's true that Rosie know little, but she knows a lot about liberal activism, she once said on The View: "Radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam in a country like America," that the U.S. government "robbed" terrorists including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed "of his humanity..." Yeah right. Now we are robbing terrorists of their humanity - like that makes sense. In Rosie's backwards world, the United States and the Christians are the terrorist, and the Islamic Fundamentalist and their villainous hordes who suicide bomb and murder innocent victims are simply misunderstood heroes. Enough! What kind of person says this stuff?

For months we've heard about the O'Donnell's battles with Donald Trump. Rosie attacked Trump for giving Miss USA Tara Conner a second chance after her public mistakes. Of all people, O'Donnell should be the last one to criticize anyone considering that she's one big public blunder. And her life is one big lie.

What's also interesting is that since January The View has lost about a half million viewers. If the American Broadcasting Company keeps it up, they may find themselves missing sponsors too.

ABC Television - Do the right thing, and Fire Rosie! Or face the fact that she's become ABC's (and ABC's sponsor's) mouthpiece.

And you can do your part by letting ABC and it's sponsors understand your outrage:

Send a letter to:
ABC, Inc.
500 S. Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA 91521-4551

Or leave a message by calling: (818) 460-7477*

Don't expect a reply, but they do pay attention to viewer opinion since ultimately, viewers by the products sold by the sponsors who pay for the programming aired.

Whilst I ponder... the Episcopal Church's unfortunate Saga

I've been quiet over the past week contemplating specifics around my upcoming piece on the Episcopal Church, and it's current state of bitter turmoil.

I find the ongoing saga in the Church almost intolerable, particularly as it relates to the instigators and perverse activists, who are pushing their ridiculous pro-gay agenda on the vast majority of the Anglican Communion. They clearly don't care about the incredible harm they are causing - not to just thousands, but millions of Anglican parishioners around the globe. They seem to deem success by the level of destruction they cause to the existing institution - that in itself is a revealing fact. It shows that their agenda takes precedence over the institution. After all, they've chosen this Church - an established Church - to attack to make their points. Certainly, they could have started their own Church with their own doctrine with its own set of principles and ideals, but instead they intentionally chose to infiltrate and dismantle OUR Church. In their eyes, to decimate a long standing institution, is a victory of immense proportion.

Somewhere someone with the best of intentions felt overcome with compassion and pity, and opened the door to these agenda-driven activists. And like the Trojan Horse they entered quietly at first... and now they and their friends are running your church committees, parishes, and voting at the Episcopal Church conventions to reverse centuries of accepted doctrine. They are working tirelessly to undermine the very organization that provided them comfort and kindness.

It's amazing that blatant liberalism has crept into our institutions with such astounding success. But then again, perhaps not, since traditionalists tend to be on the lazy side when it comes to defending things such as traditional values and institutions. They expect things to be as they always were, and would rather stay above the frey instead of engaging in the debate. And that is the weakness that is exploited every time by the foes of civilization.

I understand that most people simply don't want to be bothered. Most people steer clear of controversy and argument. Successful people, who are generally traditional and conservative by nature, are too busy making money, living in traditional families, and doing the things that everyone aught to being doing. Whereas, liberals, freethinkers, and the like have plenty of time on their hands to waste. They are often in turmoil and self-doubt, and there are usually questions about the soundness of their state of mind. They are truly focused on "self" - as in "jealousy" of others who have [insert whatever they are missing here: love, job, house, opportunity, money, etc], while they have not. These people are hell-bent on turning right into wrong, and wrong into right in the name of alleged "social justice" or "fairness" and whatever justifying feel- good cliche they can think of.

Of course, the underlying quest is to make others believe that what is bizarre and unnatural is somehow normal and natural. The very notion of getting them to accept that there may be something wrong within their own psyche and behavior would be to get them to admit to abnormality, or worse - even mental sickness. Herein you can see the internal driver that propels these people to push their agenda to the limits - it's their own internal rage, and their need to feel justified in what they choose to do or how they choose to act.

The battle in the Episcopal Church is a prime example of this kind of behavior. In the end, the liberal activists want to blur the lines of right and wrong, and reduce sin to mere error so they can legitimize their own perverse actions as acceptable and normal. If everything is subjective, then there can be no standards, no rules, and no moral highgrounds. They want to reduce the Bible to a book of suggestions, turn God into a man-made creation so they can declare that God's teachings are not universal laws but rather human ideas no better than their own. And in their eyes, since God is man-made, and man is prone to mistakes and imperfections, then God is imperfect, and all notions of right and wrong are replaced with relativism. The Bible is therefore reduced to nothing more than a book of interesting tales with no merit, and with nothing to teach, and with no binding covenant.

So it's full circle for these liberal terrorists: Infiltrate, dismantle, destroy, and redefine.

And this is what those advocating homosexual unions are doing to the Episcopal Church, and perhaps even the Anglican Communion. And once they have won this battle, they will continue down the path toward total separation from God, leaving behind the institution in total ruin.

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Note: Yes, the Episcopal Shield above is intentionally being printed upside down. In days of old (and as is still taught in Nautical Safety courses) when a flag is flown upside down, it's is a symbol of distress. Our Episcopal Church is clearly in a state of distress, and the emblem is therefore being printed as a symbol to reflect as such.

New Connecticut Episcopal Bishop's Election is Cause for Concern; Courant article misrepresented the facts.

If you missed it last week, the Hartford Courant published a story that completely missed the mark on it's reporting of the recent election for Bishop in the (Episcopal) Diocese of Connecticut held on Saturday, March 10, 2007. While the Courant came across as giddy and distracted by the election of the first female Episcopal Bishop, Laura Ahrens, it failed to report that the election was far from a slam-dunk. And moreover, it didn't report the details which clearly highlight that only due to some clever eleventh hour election-engineering by "politicos" at the Diocese, Ahrens may not have ever been elected.

Surprisingly, the detailed election results by ballot can be found on the Diocese website election results page. The fact is that during the first round, Rev. Canon Thomas Furrer won the majority vote of the Clergy by a count of 83 votes; he also overwhelming won the Lay vote by capturing 101 votes (with Ahrens coming in distant second with a mere 68 votes). The fact is that Furrer was clearly the first choice by the Laity in the first, second, third and fourth rounds of balloting. And despite the political climate, Furrer also took the majority vote of the Clergy during the first three ballots.

It wasn't until the Diocese leadership persuaded Dr. Barbara Cheyney and the remaining candidates to throw their votes to Ahrens that Ahrens finally pulled out the victory in the fifth and final round. She won the Clergy vote 145-98, and the Laity vote 139-118.

Rev. Mark Pendleton, Dean of Christ Church Cathedral, and the man who nominated Ahrens for the post is quoted in the article as saying, ""I think it really demonstrated that the desire for a female bishop is really what moved this process." That looks good in the press from his political standpoint, however - the reality is that without some arm twisting, and a nod here, and a wink there, there is no telling how this election might have gone.

And considering the state of upheaval and disunity in the Connecticut Diocese under Bishop Andrew Smith, and his servant Bishop James Curry, it was a foregone conclusion that the only electable candidate would had to have been someone close to them in liberal political thinking, who was blindly willing to spearhead their pro-gay rights agenda. With that in mind, Canon Furrer didn't have a snowball's chance in Hell of winning this election. Furthermore, several blogs reported (and predicted accurately) that due to her "insider status" that Laura Ahrens had won the election long before the nomination process officially started.

It's disappointing that Courant which considers itself the "newspaper of record" seemed to neither mention Furrer by name and his initial balloting victories, nor the fact that Ahrens' long-time, close working relationship with Curry and Smith made her a lock for the win. The only thing really shocking about this election, is how long it took for the Smith/Curry/Ahrens team to pool together the majority to engineer the win.

As a subnote, I'm in the process of writing an in-depth essay at the state of the Episcopal Church. Because it's a complicated, personally emotional, and difficult article to write, I anticipate that it will take some time before its ready for public viewing.

ALERT: Cat & Dog Food Recall! Look in your Cabinet! Links and stories below!

If you're like me, you've been horrified to see and read the newstories about the reported deaths of at least ten cats from acute renal failure (ARF) i.e. kidney failure as a result of tainted cat food distributed by Menu Food Income Fund which was distributed across North America and sold in stores in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. And note that the warnings are for both cat food and dog food even though most reports are focusing on the incidents involving cats.

I have two wonderful Himalayan Sealpoints so I was prompted to send around information via email after first reading the story on the major news wires. Foolishly, what I didn't do initially was to check my own cabinet to determine if I had any of these foods. From time to time, I do buy the canned/pouched soft food which I give to my cats as a special treat. So I began to go through my inventory I discovered that I owned at least one can of "America's Choice, Preferred Pets" brand which was named on the list of tainted brands which I purchased at Waldbaums in West Hartford.

My heart began to sink! I remember distinctly giving the "kitties" a pouch treat last week, but I wasn't sure which brand it was... as I looked I saw duplicate pouches of "Seared Fillets with Turkey and Giblets" and looked carefully to see that it was Friskies produced by the Purina Company. Although, Purina is not specifically named as one of the brands to be concerned with I opted to call Purina to be sure, but received a data message that said, "All circuits are busy now, please try again later." (Reference explained here). So I wasn't able to connect with Purina after several attempts, but I did recheck all the websites including Purina's and didn't see Friskies pouches or cans listed for recall.

If you are a pet owner, I hope this blog inspires YOU to check your cabinets to what you have stocked away - who know, perhaps some canned food for special days? A few pouches you bought on sale? Don't take it for granted. If you love your pet, and aren't sure - then don't take a risk - just throw it all out. I've decided to throw out all my canned food for now (not that I have much) until this can be sorted out. Pet owners understand that pets are not "like" family members, they ARE family members.

And in case you wondered, my cats eat Science Diet (dry food) produced by Hill's Pet Nutrition, Inc. To be clear... Science Diet is NOT involved in the Pet Food recall.

If you think your pet has eaten any of these foods, please contact your Vet right away! It's worth the cost of a Vet visit to protect your family friend!

Here are a few sites that I recommend reviewing:

The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company

Menu Foods

List of Cat Food Brands to be concerned with:

Americas Choice, Preferred Pets
Authority
Best Choice
Companion
Compliments
Demoulas Market Basket
Eukanuba
Fine Feline Cat
Food Lion
Foodtown
Giant Companion
Hannaford
Hill Country Fare
Hy-Vee
Iams
Laura Lynn
Li'l Red
Loving Meals
Meijer's Main Choice
Nutriplan
Nutro Max Gourmet Classics
Nutro Natural Choice
Paws
Pet Pride
Presidents Choice
Price Chopper
Priority US
Save-A-Lot
Schnucks
Science Diet Feline Savory Cuts Cans
Sophistacat
Special Kitty Canada
Special Kitty US
Springfield Prize
Sprout
Stop & Shop Companion
Tops Companion
Wegmans
Weis Total Pet
Western Family US
White Rose
Winn Dixie

List of Dog Food Brands to be concerned with:

Americas Choice, Preferred Pets
Authority
Award
Best Choice
Big Bet
Big Red
Bloom
Wegmans Bruiser
Cadillac
Companion
Demoulas Market Basket
Eukanuba
Food Lion
Giant Companion
Great Choice
Hannaford
Hill Country Fare
Hy-Vee
Iams
Laura Lynn
Loving Meals
Meijers Main Choice
Mighty Dog Pouch
Mixables
Nutriplan
Nutro Max
Nutro Natural Choice
Nutro Ultra
Nutro
Ol'Roy Canada
Ol'Roy US
Paws
Pet Essentials
Pet Pride - Good n Meaty
Presidents Choice
Price Chopper
Priority Canada
Priority US
Publix
Roche Brothers
Save-A-Lot
Schnucks
Shep Dog
Springsfield Prize
Sprout
Stater Brothers
Stop & Shop Companion
Tops Companion
Weis Total Pet
Western Family US
White Rose
Winn Dixie
Your Pet

Reaction/stories within Connecticut:

Vet Flooded With Calls Stemming From Recall
Veterinarian: Blood Test Can Determine Whether Pet Is Afflicted (WFSB TV, Hartford, CT)

Woman Claims Cat Killed By Tainted Pet Food; Kidney Failure, Deaths Prompt Massive Recall (WFSB TV, Hartford, CT (Groton))

Q&A: Pet Food Recall (Courtesy of WFSB.com, Hartford, CT)

WFSB TV video story on Cat passing away due to tainted food (Courtesy WFSB TV, Hartford, CT)

Cat Recall Video Story courtesy of WTIC TV Fox 61 News at 10 (West Hartford story; click Pet food recall video on right/ WTIC-TV, Hartford)

Reaction/stories from around the United States and Canada:

Dog & Cat Food Recall Information (Live Audio on site from WGMD 92.7 of Deleware)

Stores pull 90 brands of wet pet food (Hickory Record of North Carolina)

Pet food recall has local animal owners concerned (Times Daily of Alabama)

Pet food recall sends local animal owners scrambling for alternatives (Citizens Voice of Pennsylvania)

More Info on Pet Food Recall (Channel 13 WHAM of Rochester, NY)

Tainted pet food poisoned 1 in 6 animals in test: FDA (CBC News of Toronto/Canada)

Pet Food Recall update (CBS 21 of Harrisburg, PA)

Springdale family cat's death linked to tainted food (Valley News Dispatch of Pittsburgh, PA)

More Pets Die From Recalled Pet Food (Jet-TV 24)

Pet food woes lead to worried owners (TheNorthWestern of Oshkosh, Wisconsin)

Wheat gluten focus in pet food recall (OregonLive.com)

The Law News Network Pet Food Recall - Vet Medical Association Offers Advice To Pet Owners After Nationwide Food Recall - The American Veterinary Medical Association (Courtesy LawFuel.com)

Pet Food Recall & Symptoms of Kidney Failure (CrescentNews.com of Ohio)

Pet Food Recall has animal owners distraught (Ocala.com of Ocala, Florida)

Watching for West Hartford plows pays off! NCAA and EPL Sports Round up

I caught the little SOB! I actually caught him.. and before it was too late!

About 2 hours ago, all fired up and cruising down my West Hartford street at warp 10, blasting ice chunks and snow into the sidewalk - after everyone had spent the morning and afternoon shoveling out - came the bloody plow!

I stepped outside onto my newly shoveled sidewalk, caught the eye of the plow driver, pointed and flailed both arms in a downward movement to get him to slow down. And he actually slowed down, and the front plow stopped filling the sidewalks! Whoo hoo!

Went out to inspect the damage....

My neighbor's side walk and about 5 feet into my property line required re-shoveling. The rest of the property line was definitely a save! Moral of the story.... watching for the plows in West Hartford pays off.

Now if we could just train them to be considerate on their own!

Sports

The Big East is shaping up to be the "Big Least". With 2 mins left to go Rick Patino's Louisville Cardinals went down in flames to Texas A&M by a score of 72-69. Damn! Lousiville has such a cool maskot too!

Now if 3-seeded Pittsburgh loses to Virginia Commonwealth (like Duke did... Horray!) then it will be about as disappointing as Notre Dame's loss to Winthrop yesterday.

The one good thing that happened today was watching the Georgetown Hoyas defeat former-Big East traitor team turned ACC-suck up team Boston College by a score of 62-55. And believe me, after years of rooting for UConn over Georgetown, its tough medicine to route for the Hoyas. But, the Big East needs some representation while UConn takes a seat to think about their pathetic season.

EPL delivered as promised.... in a rare moment West Ham won, defeating the Blackburn Rovers by a score of 2-1. Manchester United defeated Bolton Wanderers 4-1, but not without a cost. Man Utd lost Captain Gary Neville, who went down with a torn ligament. This is painful for more than Man U fans - it's a nightmare for England's World Cup hopes. The injury disqualifies Neville from playing in the critical upcoming match against Israel. England is already on the ropes in Group E and cannot afford another loss. No matter what happens, we must all pull for England to defeat Israel so that returning to the World Cup in 2008 is not just a wish. With David Beckham no longer available for the match due to his injury two weeks ago playing for Real Madrid, and now Gary Neville out, things look rough for England.

In other EPL action:

• Chelsea manhandled Sheffield United, 3-0.
• Tottenham Spurs knocked off Watford, 3-1.
• Reading drew 0-0 with Portsmouth
• Wigan Athletic drew with Fulham, 0-0
• Manchester City pulled an upset by defeating Middlesborough, 2-0.

Tomorrow, Premier League third place team, Arsenal will play Everton in a key match up live on Fox Soccer Channel (Noon EST).

Winter returns! Duke Loses... Yes! West Hartford Plow Drivers, and St. Patrick's Day!

Winter Returns / West Hartford Plow drivers irresponsible

Just days ago, I was out walking around outside in a t-shirt and shorts (okay, so I was stretching the season a little which is probably why I have a slight and well-deserved cold) and WHAM - we received what seems to be the largest snow storm of the entire winter! Happy Global Warming, everyone!

So, I spent an hour last night shoveling like a madman. And I'll pick it up this morning after I get finished spilling my guts on this thing. The best way to look at it is that I don't have to drive anywhere today to get in my Cardio Workout. This means I can focus my attention where it belongs... switching back and forth between NCAA tournament action and The English Premier League.

The biggest complaint I have about Winter is not about the weather -- it with moronic West Hartford Public Works plow drivers. As residents shovel or plow their arses off to keep the sidewalks clear as force-mandated by West Hartford Town Ordinance, the town plows speed down the street returning snow, ice, and ice chunks back onto the sidewalk. It seems there should be some accountability for the ludicrous and rude behavior shown by some public works employees. The fact is that there is no reason to plow at such speeds to clear snow from the roads - driving at reasonable speeds clears the snow from the street without making it nearly impossible for older residents to shovel out the 4 foot ice mound created by the plows. If you see town employees acting irresponsibly - call Public Works at 860-561-8100, or if you don't get an answer, just call West Hartford Police at 860-523-5203. Remember, West Hartford residents already get hosed by high taxes, it's not acceptable for town employees to run around trying to make more money for the town by making sidewalk clearing unmanageable which result in you receiving a separate fine. Not all drivers behave this way, but look out for those who lack common-sense.

SPORTS: Soccer and NCAA Basketball

Fox Soccer Channel is delivering us two live games today - Reading v Portsmouth at 11 am, and Blackburn v West Ham at 1 pm. It will be interesting to see if West Ham has thrown in the towel or not - particularly when they seem bound for relagation, and the sinking moral was worsened since they've been accused of violating EPL recruitment rules; currently they have filed an appeal.

The NCAA Tournament has been pretty uneventful so far with the notable exception of Duke losing to Virgina Commonwealth on Thursday night. I mean wow! Can it get any better than that? As a UConn Husky fan (and alumni) it's a rule that you have to root against Duke. Why? It has to do with Duke knocking us out of the NCAA tournament in 1990 (79-78 in OT - Christian Laettner's buzzer shot) and in 1991 (81-67) We got revenge in 1999 by defeating Duke to win the National Championship. Actually, I think its a world-wide phenomena to want to see Coach K and his preppy team get creamed. There are webpages dedicated to hating Duke, and even news stories about it. And why not - when CBS sends Billy Packer to cheer for Duke during games, it gets rather pathetic. Here's a petition to get Billy Packer removed from the airwaves.

But other than that the Tourney hasn't proved to be a huge surprise. Although Number 11 Winthrop's victory over 6-seeded Notre Dame was a surprise, particularly with it being St. Patrick's Day and all. What's disappointing is to see another Big East team bite the dust. My view on rooting for teams in the Tourney is that, you should root for your conference. The reason for doing so is that not only is bragging rights for your conference, but when a team in your conference advances, the entire conference benefits financially from the win.

And 9-seeded Purdue's win over 8-seed Arizona isn't really an upset since the seeding is so close.

Hartford St. Patrick's Day parade has been rescheduled and NOT cancelled

Even if you have to stay inside or shovel snow - have a fun St. Patrick's Day! And note that today's parade is not cancelled all-together as some media outlets have incorrectly reported, it's being RESCHEDULED for Saturday, March 24th. Let's hope for a warm Spring day!

In Need of Spring!

I'm not feeling particularly creative this morning, but I do find myself a tad bit cranky which is probably a bad thing considering that I've opted to start blogging today. It also might be the fact that the new daylight saving scheme is kicking in and I'm realizing that I've lost an hour of sleep, or it could be that when I went to make my usual morning coffee that I found none in the house! Argggh!

Well, I had to settle for black tea. Some brand called The Republic of Tea: Republic Chai - Travelers Tea. The tea can had dust on it but the seal wasn't broken, so I gather its safe enough for consumption. Looks like it has herbs and spices which I do not really care about when all I really want is bloody caffine!

Of course there is plenty to be happy about including the fact that dreary winter is almost over and Spring is just around the corner. Spring is more than March Madness, Golf, Grapefruit League, and Champions League - it's being able to get shed layers of heavy clothing and just get outside and get active.

In my lowly West Hartford neighboorhood, its as if everyone tends to hibernate for the winter. Occassionally you see people out shoveling snow or venturing out for the occassional six pack, but for for the most part my street resembles Tombstone in Winter.

The truth is - I'm tired of winter. It's too confining for my tastes, and I can't stand the cold weather. Winter is fun around Christmas time will all the ho ho ho and festive activity, but wears on you in January, and by February - it's darn right frusterating. And March, well that's really meant to be a spring month, so my view on late winter storms is that they are a huge waste of time. But let's face it, for us New Englanders - experience shows that March plays too many games to be taken seriously as a spring month.

I have about a dozen projects to get underway around the homestead, and I need the weather to cooperate a bit to begin slaving away comfortably. And I need to get much of it done before Baby number 2 arrives in May. So the race it get things done is on! And I hear we may hit the mid-60s next week, so that's a good sign!

Sports

It was good to see the English Premier League (EPL) teams not draw against each other in Champions League competition. No doubt there will be cries of conspiracies by the French and other lackluster Leagues who hate British Soccer (football). Odds tend to favor all-EPL final which I tend to favor anyway. Clearly Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea are the better teams anyway.

It was particularly great to see Manchester United beat Lille this past week. All the whining about an unfair goal in the previous round was quited by Man U's victory at home which sent the French packing and out of the competition all-together. And it's always wonderful to see a French team eliminated from any competition.

Next focus is to see how Man U do against Roma, which will be a classic game since at no time in the past have either team met. I'm just hoping that ESPN gets the rights to this game so those of us in the States can watch this epic clash live!

The Red Sox seem to be doing well in Grapefruit League games. Looks like our new starter Dice-K is getting acclimated to Red Sox Nation. Schiling looks a little out of shape, but he's throwing in good form based on this weeks' outings. Remember that Grapefruit competition isn't real in a sense that its not a legitimate contest. It's a chance for teams to try new things and warm up before the real season begins April 1.

Ok, for a first post - you didn't find much controversy. But it's my first post, and the Republic Chai tea just didn't do it caffine-wise!

So, with Spring in the air, it's going to be a good day to get outside. We will probably head to the West Hartford Reservoir or Elizabeth Park with the family and enjoy the day! Hope yours is a good one too!