In the name of the founding fathers - let the damn people vote!
Over the past two elections, we've been exposed to some questionable voting practices. We've seen hanging chads and problems with electronic voting stations. In the past few DAYS of early voting, we've already been exposed to what I would call "extremists" that are trying to influence the voting process by giving people bad information. In Austin, there have been reports of people instructing others in improper voting practices so that they effectively spoil their vote. And that is but one example that we have seen locally, let alone nationally. This type of thing has the potential to make a shambles of our voting system.
And therein lies one of the greatest threats to this great country in which we live - it's the enemy within.
It seems like over the past decade or so, Colin Powell's name has been front and center in the political arena. There were many that felt he should have run for President years ago. He has served as Secretary of State, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and as National Security Advisor. His words have always been listened to with great anticipation by many that live here as he has always had a high degree of popularity with the American people.
Listen up everyone - because Colin Powell (the Republican, don't forget) - is telling you something. On Sunday, he formally endorsed Barack Obama. This took place on "Meet The Press" (read the transcript here).
Powell cited Obama's "ability to inspire" and that he is a "transformational figure". He also made note of a troubling trend that we've seen in the past few weeks - that of what I would consider almost religious intolerance:
I admit, I am shaking my head a bit today.
In all honesty, I really didn't expect yesterday's UT/Mizzou game to be quite so ... impressive. I wasn't even sure they'd win. After a big win against OU and move up to #1 in all of the polls, I fully expected a let-down. Chase Daniel got last week's OSU performance out of his system for the season, and was going to get his points, as was Jeremy Maclin. Those things were fully expected - at least in my eyes. Hell. Missourui was one game away from the national championship last season. The question in my mind was "would the Horns survive it".
Wow. Survive? No. It was far more than that!
ESPN's College Game Day was in town for the game. A 7:00 pm start, on a national stage ... and the Horns came to play. It had all the makings of ... one of "those" games. And it was.
... is still Joe. Even in Arabic, it's still Joe.
Poor Joe. He's been unceremoniously dragged into this year's presidential debates. He was just out there in the heartland of America, driving his Chevy truck and listening to George Strait on the country music radio station, minding his own business.
(Don't worry, if it was a Canadian driving across the heartland of Canada, he'd still be driving a Canadian-built Chevy and listening to Conway Twitty, but I digress ...)
I guess the phrase "your average Joe" just doesn't cut the mustard anymore. He's now got to have some superlatives so that you REALLY know that yes, he's just one of us, and that one party knows and understands Joe better than the other party. We've got to label and categorize him, perhaps even patronize him.
Repeat after me -
"We are number one - and OU still sucks!"
(the Longhorn fan in me just had to say so)
After a phenomenal team effort yesterday against the University of Oklahoma, the Longhorns were rewarded today with the number one ranking in college football. Well, at least for the next week. The next three weeks are still going to be tough, with Missouri, Oklahoma State, and Texas Tech all waiting in the wings for an upset. But for the next 7 days, we can celebrate the #1 status, something we've not seen here in quite some time.
I remember a Nike ad with Charles Barkley from many years ago. In it, he remarked ...
"I am not a role model".
Well, I am going to do my own ad ... and in it I will remark -
"I am not a friend of John".
In last night's Presidential debate, Senator McCain used this phrase 24 times in a 90 minute period. Everything ended or started in "my friends". According to my Canadian math, that would be once every 3:45. Oh, I forgot that Tom Brokaw had to spend a lot of time getting them both to follow the time rules - so let's subtract at least 5 minutes for that ... and I am sure there must be a couple of minutes of total time to actually have the audience ask the questions. So, let's call it seven minutes to take off the 90 minute total. Given that we would assume that his air time was half of the debate at most, this amounts to one utterance every 1:44.
If you're a Sooner or a Longhorn, this is exactly what you've been anticipating. The showdown in Dallas at the Cotton Bowl. October 10th, 11:00 central time. Let the games begin.
Every year, the season can be over before it truly gets started. Throughout most of the history of the Big 12 conference, the early season meeting between the University of Oklahoma and the University of Texas has had a huge impact on the season. There is the inevitable annual Red River bragging rights. The rivalry between these two programs is one of the greatest in college football. It was something that I knew about long before moving to Texas!
Up to 60% of runners will sustain an injury within any given year. Poor running mechanics, in conjunction with poor, ineffective and outdated training methods, can pose a significant injury risk. "RunSmart" was written to address these issues in the running community.
"Running Injuries: Etiology And Recovery- Based Treatment" (co-author Bridget Clark, PT) appears in the third edition and fourth editions of "Clinical Orthopaedic Rehabilitation: A Team Approach" by Charles Giangarra, MD and Robert C. Manske, PT.
Allan Besselink, PT, DPT, Ph.D., Dip.MDT has a unique voice in the world of sports, education, and health care. Read more about Allan here.
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