Alexi Salamone to be on ESPN!

Update - This post was written before the ESPN SportsCenter Show. The video is now available at ESPN Motion (for how long I don't know) but it does need a high speed connection. It will not work with dialup. Click on the Top Videos button
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If You Like Sports Pass This News On!

Those of you that have followed my blog for a while might have seen my posts on the Special Olympics and Alexi Salamone - For those of you who missed it here is a quick synopsis of who Alexi is and the link to the previous post.

Alexi Salamone was born in the Ukraine 14 months after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster of 1986. - Born with deformed legs, Salamone was placed in an overflowing orphanage. Both legs were amputated when he was 4. - Susan and Joseph Salamone of Buffalo, N.Y., adopted Alexi and Tatiana and at age 6&7.

Now, he helped win the Bronze medal on the U.S. sled-hockey Paralympian team.

For my two previous posts regarding Alexi click here - and - click here -
Now there is this update on Alexi:

Alexi Salamone Feature to Appear on
ESPN's "SportsCenter" May 7

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - ESPN will run a feature story on Alexi Salamone (Grand Island, N.Y.), a member of the bronze medal-winning 2006 U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team, on both the Sunday morning (10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. EST) and Sunday evening (11:00 p.m.-12:30 a.m. EST) editions of "SportsCenter" May 7.

Salamone, an 18-year-old forward who was born in Russia and had his legs amputated as a result of the Chernobyl disaster, competed in his first Paralympic Winter Games in Torino. In addition to coming home with a bronze medal, he came back with the distinction of being the team's leading scorer (six points) and set-up man (four assists) in the Paralympic tournament.

The Sunday evening edition of SportsCenter will re-air on Monday morning from 5:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. EST.

For more about Salamone and the entire 2006 U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team, visit usparalympics.org.

Please pass this time sensitive news on to anyone that needs to be inspired and uplifted!!!

Update: I don't think the link will any longer enable you to see the 2006 U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team. You might try to write to the organization and see if they sell cd's... You can check the ParalympicsportTV link and see what they are showing.

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Another Kennedy Crashes Car

So what else is new?

CBS News Quote - U.S. Congressman Patrick Kennedy is entering an addiction treatment program following a car accident he says he can't recall.

So Patrick was driving erratically. Weaving down the road. Almost hit a cop car. Crashed! Then he was driven away to his house by Capitol Hill Police Department without a sobriety check.

Of course Chappaquiddick comes to mind. But wait! There is a bit more the MSM didn't tell us.

An aide to the Kennedy family, Ima Schill, said concerning the accident, "Of course he was weaving! He's a rotten driver!

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High Octane Stuff! A Real Rum Deal

From Reuters, Oddly Enough News pages comes this tidbit.

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungarian builders who drank their way to the bottom of a huge barrel of rum while renovating a house got a nasty surprise when a pickled corpse tumbled out of the empty barrel, a police magazine website reported.

According to online magazine www.zsaru.hu (some translation might be required), workers in Szeged in the south of Hungary tried to move the barrel after they had drained it, only to find it was surprisingly heavy and were shocked when the body of a naked man fell out.

The website said that the body of the man had been shipped back from Jamaica 20 years ago by his wife in the barrel of rum in order to avoid the cost and paperwork of an official return.

According to the website, workers said the rum in the 300-liter barrel had a "special taste" so they even decanted a few bottles of the liquor to take home.

The wife has since died and the man was buried in a proper grave.

Ewwwww! Sounds Gross Huh! But your intrepid prying1 had a little bell go off in his head. Don't worry. It didn't hurt. I'm used to it. I'm always hearing bells and whistles and voices and such.

Anyway, Snopes.com has a whole page devoted to the Urban Legend about imbibers drinking the liquor from a barrel used to preserve a dead body. Once again Barbara and David Mikkelson have a webpage that shows up the mainstream media and proves itself to be a source they should run to before printing stories like this.

From Snopes.com: (dated 1978)

Some years ago, the father of a friend of mine brought a fairly enormous house in the middle of Bodmin Moor, a sort of Georgian/Regency house built on the site of an older farmhouse.

In the capacious cellars they found half a dozen very large barrels. 'Oh, good!' said mother. 'We can cut them in half and plant orange trees in them.'

So they set to work to cut the barrels in half, but they found that one of them was not empty, so they set it up and borrowed the necessary equipment from the local pub. The cellar filled with a rich, heady Jamaican odour.

'Rum, by God!' said the father. It was indeed, so they decided to take advantage of some fifty gallons of the stuff before cutting the barrel in half.

About a year later, after gallons of rum punch, flip and butter had been consumed, it was getting hard to get any more rum out of the barrel, even by tipping it up with wedges. So they cut it in half, and found in it the well-preserved body of a man.

The source for these tales goes back quite a few years. The thirteenth century

Snopes sez: "In the days before refrigeration and embalming, folks who died far away were sometimes transported home preserved as best they could be in a barrel of alcohol. (Embalming as we know it came into being at the time of the American Civil War, when the efforts of mortician Thomas Holmes, the first American to develop and use embalming fluid, resulted in the preserved bodies of fallen soldiers being returned to their families for burial. Prior to Holmes, all one could do was pack a body in ice and hold the funeral as soon as possible.)"

prying1 sez: I can't blame Reuters for getting stung on this one. By surfing about Urban Legends I still find stories I heard as a kid and assumed to be true. I asked Barbara and she can't tell me how my name got onto one of her pages. Check out the story about Grace Slick naming her kid God.

Leave a comment and tell the world what your favorite Urban Legend is...

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750,000 Sports Cards For Sale!

Whoo Hoo! What a deal for the right person!

approximately. 750,000 sports cards for sale!.

Please send the above link to anyone you think might be interested.

Join Yardsale Pirates if you have items to sell.
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Free Music ! A Sister's Tribute

Maybe it is my Scottish blood that makes me think everyone will respond to the word free. Although my cynical temperament makes me think everyone will react with a "What's the catch" attitude. I'm sooo confused!!!

Don't worry. I'll get over it. However! This time there is no catch. May 29th 2006 is Memorial Day - Jordan Leigh is trying to have her song played on Memorial Day. You can help by first listening to it and then sending the link to your favorite radio host/station.

Jordan Leigh has written a beautiful and moving song for our fallen soldiers and dedicated it to her brother Kenneth Schall who died while serving in Iraq. Listen to her song:

Soldier, I Thank You

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In addition to her song she has shared her feeling and written the following words:

As American citizens, we have to admire the spirit and patriotism that was felt by our service men and women when they made the decision to defend this nation. They are America's finest, and we, as American citizens, are the benefactors of their decisions to protect us. We must continue to support and pray for them as we did when the war began. These men and women took an oath to be the guardians of some of the greatest words ever written on paper, The Constitution of the United States of America. In this civilized society, which is governed under a democracy, if we want to bring about change, we simply go to the voting booth. We live in a nation where we can enjoy the freedom and the right to have our voices be heard. This comes at a high price, which so many of our fellow Americans have paid.

My hero, and brother, Sergeant Kenneth John Schall, and over 2,300 men and women in uniform, have died in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom, honoring the oath that they made to this great nation. As the war continues, there will be many more of our armed forces who will make the ultimate sacrifice, and thousands more who will return to their families injured or disabled. We must stand behind them while they are on the front lines and continue to support our heroes when they return home. My mother and I, "Terri Schall" have personally visited Brooke Army Medical Center to say, "Soldier, I Thank You for your commitment and service to this country."” We owe our troops our deepest gratitude and full support.

This is a time of great concern for all Americans. The thoughts and opinions of the American people differ about this war. The fact remains that we are at war, and our armed forces are the men and women who have answered the call. Remember, we are able to pursue our endeavors in the land of the free and the home of the brave because our military is watching over the land, sea and sky. Our troops don't have the luxury of choosing the wars they will fight in,. We must never take for granted or misuse the American spirit that lives in them, because it is the same American spirit that lives in all of us
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Thanks to Grey Eagle for the above quote, posting and hosting this.

Hat Tip to Cary Cartter whose blog, I'm Thinking of the "O" Word..., is a wonderful place to visit. Go ahead and take your shoes off. Put your feet on the coffee table.

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Soup Nazi's at Work! - No Soda Pop Sales In Schools

Just imagine you are a child. Enthusiastically going up to the school snack bar. The line is short! You get to the counter with money in hand and are told you cannot buy a PayDay. Nope. No Baby Ruth Bars either. Instead you are offered a nice juicy stick of celery. Without Peanut butter (you might be allergic to peanuts) or cream cheese (lactose you know) on it...

"Here you go!" says the nice, smiling lady behind the counter as she scoops up your 50 cents. "You want a nice Bottle of water to wash that down with?"

You request a couple alternatives to water, her expression changes to revulsion and you hear her sharp words, "No! We don't serve Root Beer or Dr. Pepper!"

You shake your head yes to the bottled water she offers and she collects another buck and a half for something you could get for free from the fountain down the hall. Except the water just dribbles from the fountain and you have to suck it out of the clogged bowl. (The school cannot afford regular maintenance of water fountains. They have more important things to spend money on.)

"What a ripoff!" you think as you shuffle off to the playground.

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"It's for the children", I often hear as the 'powers that be' think of new ways to gyp the little ones from their parents money. The latest is Soda Pop sales in schools to end. Or nearly end. The little ones can thank disgraced, impeached, ex-president Bill Clinton. (rich, white guy, that sweeps in about $125,000 per speech in the U.S. and as much as $250,000 for those given abroad.)

New York Sun Headline: Clinton Group Announces Deal To Stop Most Soda Sales To Schools -

NEW YORK (AP) - The nation's largest beverage distributors have agreed to halt nearly all sales of sodas to public schools - a step that will remove the sugary, caloric drinks from vending machines and cafeterias around the country.

Under the agreement announced Wednesday by the William J. Clinton Foundation, the companies also have agreed to sell only water, unsweetened juice and low-fat milks to elementary and middle schools, said Jay Carson, a spokesman for former President Clinton. Diet sodas would be sold only to high schools.

The agreement also likely will apply to many private and parochial schools, Carson said.

"I don't think anyone should underestimate the influence this agreement will have," said Susan Neely, president and CEO of the American Beverage Association, which has signed onto the deal. "I think other people are going to want to follow this agreement because it just makes sense."

Yeah! It makes sense for soda companies to package processed water and save money on the flavorings, sugars, caffeine and colorings that make soda what it is. I the meantime we once again have socialists taking away choices for people because "THEY KNOW BETTER THAN WE DO WHAT IS GOOD FOR US!"

"IT'S FOR THE CHILDREN!"

If Soda Pop is so evil and bad then why doesn't William J. Clinton Foundation call for it to be outlawed straight out?

Forget teaching the children balance, self discipline, self control, moderation, restraint or anything else that helped make this country great. Let 'em run wild with no discipline and let the Soup Nazi's control the environment around them.


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Whose Laws Are They?

Are they the laws of the United States or not? Apparently not. They are just words on paper. Meaningless and without purpose. Unless perhaps the purpose is to mollify a disgruntled populace.

These laws I'm writing about are those that make it illegal for companies to hire illegal aliens. Recently the German-based firm, IFCO Systems, a pallet company was raided. A 26-state immigration raid that resulted in 1,187 arrests. About one in three of those captured are back on the streets.

- Quotes from Kansas City Star article linked above -
Federal prosecutor Tina Sciocchetti, in Albany, N.Y., where the ICE investigation originated, said that despite the large numbers of arrests, her office is more interested in prosecuting seven IFCO managers arrested in the sweep than those who happened to be working that day.
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...400 of those workers remain in jail, the seven managers who were arrested have been released from jail. Three who were arrested in Albany were allowed to post a $20,000 unsecured bond - requiring no upfront money. Those arrested outside Albany were released on their own recognizance with orders to report to a federal magistrate in Albany on May 4.

So now we have had a big show. Was that a dog and a pony? Where were the clowns? Will there be an encore?

How about this now that we have had a two week intermission?

Jim Kouri asked, and rightly so, about Tyson Foods closing it's plants because they expected their illegal alien workers to partake in protests, boycotts and demonstrations. "Why aren't the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents swarming all over their facilities?"

Kouri answers his own question with this: "Perhaps the reason Tyson Foods openly hires illegal aliens is that it's head honchos are tight with the Clintons and President George W. Bush." (Tyson has contributed lots of money to both.)

prying1 sez: These two companies, Tyson and IFCO are just the tip of the iceberg. Why was IFCO selected for a raid and not Tyson? Certainly MONEY has been flowing to politicians pockets for years but that would not be a reason for selectively enforcing our laws would it? Could that be one of the reasons that there has been no enforcement of our nations laws? Did one company 'contribute' and the other didn't? Could payoff money, collected by paying a pittance to the illegal aliens that are not supposed to be working at these factories to begin with, be the cause of the selective enforcement of our laws???

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This Protest Goes Deeper Than I Thought

I got this picture and note from a good friend of mine. He owns his own business and it is a one man shop. He manufactures High Quality Large Format Film Holders. A unique and sometimes profitable business. As a result of watching today's events unfold he had this to say...

I am protesting my own business for the immigrants and for more money!

I wish him luck getting a raise from himself...

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A Little Touch of the Effects of the ILLEGAL Immigrant Boycott

MAYDAY - A communist holiday - What a nice day to celebrate the slavery communism had over the workers of the USSR. And what better way to celebrate both slavery and communism than to hold rallies all across the nation supporting the influx of Illegal Immigrants into the U.S.A.. - This will continually hold the wages of the last batch of Illegals to a standard that keeps them well below the poverty level. Something that socialists love!

Don't get me wrong. If I was in a stinking third world nation I would want to get to the U.S.A. by any means possible and if all it took was stepping across a line you bet I would do it. - That is opposed to having to work at cleaning up the local, state, and federal governments of said foreign counties. I might think twice if I had to climb a wall but I would still try to get across.

Let's look at reality:

The socialists in this nation need people that are at the bottom rungs of society. That is so they can show they care about the poor by coming in and helping the lower castes with taxpayer dollars taken from the upper levels. (Meantime THEY get to skim off the top.)

Vicente Fox needs the young and healthy males to leave the country at least temporarily so they will not be stewing at the injustice and fomenting revolution.

American politicians want the votes that they will get from people voting illegally. Some politicians are even working to get federal prisoners the right to vote but that is another subject.

The people rallying today are wandering without direction from some accounts I've heard on the radio. They are not sure why they are out there. They certainly are not out there because they are opposed to anything President Bush has advanced as solutions. He seems to be all for open borders.

One effect of today's boycott is a small store at the corner of my street. Closed. Not because they support the boycott but because they fear retribution if they stay open. - I don't blame them. Last thing they need is a Molotov cocktail rolling through their door. - So the three female Latino employees now have a day without pay. I don't know if they are thankful. But then again, chances are they are not socialists. They are here legally.
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