Last minute entries for the 2006 Darwin Awards?

The year isn't quite over and you never know who will make it before midnight, but these guys gave it their best shot as finalists for the 2006 Darwin Awards.

Ben Stein's Remembrance of the President

Former Ford speechwriter, Ben Stein, has an elegantly touching eulogy of the late president.

Agree or disagree with President Ford's politics or policies, the man was a straight up, rock solid all American, family-first kind of guy by those closest to him. His public persona, errantly cast by the left of center media imagineers have been rendered erroneous and irrelevant by those who knew him best.

There are some good eulogies out there for President Ford. Ben Stein's is one of the best.

Too bad eulogies have to happen after one's death.

DMN's Texan of the Year

The Dallas Morning News has named Roy Velez Texan of the Year for his inspiration and example to those suffering with grief and loss of loved ones. Velez lost two of his sons this year in Iraq and Afghanistan:

DALLAS - An ex-cop whose two sons died in Iraq and Afghanistan and who has become an inspiration to people dealing with grief and loss has been named the Texan of the Year by The Dallas Morning News.

Roy Velez, a regional branch manager for a medical equipment company in Lubbock, was selected for his "strength for others, compassion and grace - and for serving as inspiration for anyone who knows his story," according to an article published on the newspaper's Web site Saturday.

Velez, still mourning for his soldier sons, has become a symbol of sacrifice in West Texas, where strangers who learn of his story approach with their own tales of woe, the article says. He answers their letters, questions and good wishes with compassion. As an active churchgoer who has built his own family ministry, Velez said he prays for "everybody and anybody," but especially soldiers still on the battlefield.

That's where Velez lost his son Freddy, who was shot several times during a battle northwest of Fallujah, Iraq.

Freddy's death was particularly hard on Velez's son Andrew, who was fighting in Afghanistan, according to the article. Tormented by his brother's death, a troubled marriage and his own combat experiences, Andrew shot himself in the mouth with an automatic weapon in July.

"I feel the boys are inside me," Velez said. "Their heart, their spirit, their love, their courage and, most of all, their freedom."

Velez's willingness to talk about his loss has made him a go-to source for reporters wanting to know his thoughts on the war. Velez said America must stay in Iraq "until we're finished."

"It's not about President Bush; it's not about being a Democrat or Republican," he said. "It's about standing behind a country that we love so much."

"Big Journalism," extreme predictions and living life

Ron Dart has an excellent broadcast up this weekend titled Recycle The Planet. Ron, in his inimitable way, offers a solution to the extreme messages put out by Big Media on a daily basis. Scroll down to the Born To Win icon with the pulsating speakers and click on it to listen. This particular broadcast will be up for the rest of the weekend. Check it out!

Noonan on Ford

You can't say this about all our former presidents and Peggy Noonan says it so elequently:

One of the greatest things about Gerald Ford as a former president was that he didn't say much. He had no need for the spotlight. He was modest in the old-fashioned way of stepping aside and not getting in the way of the new guy.

He kept a lot to himself. This was in part because he had a self to leave it to.

Don't miss the rest of her tribute. It's a good read.

Buchanan: "a good man in evil times"

These are some of my favorite pics of President Ford and his best friend, Liberty. Can there be any doubt that he was one of the good guys?

Patrick J. Buchanan has a good piece about President Ford in which he explains why Ford was loved and why he was hated.

President Ford was pretty well liked on both sides of the isle early on in his presidency. The left was finally rid of that "evil" Nixon as well as the hated Spiro Agnew, who had the unmitigated gall to openly eschew the media. That Ford made Nelson Rockefeller his veep was icing on the media's cake; they've always been partial to elitist Rockefeller republicans.

The love-fest ended abruptly when Ford pardoned (gasp!) Nixon. The rest is history.

Today and throughout the next week, President Ford is being fondly remembered for being a man of solid character and all around good guy. His worst critics will concentrate on his "unforgivable" pardon, but virtually everyone remembers him as a decent and honorable man.

I had forgotten that Ford had a Golden Retriever named Liberty. At the time I didn't know all that much about Goldens, but years later we acquired our own Golden Retriever. What a special breed! Anyone who loves Goldens has a special place in my heart and this pretty much cements in my mind that President Ford was, in fact, one of the good guys. Yeah, yeah...I know that's a shallow evaluation, but it's my tribute and I'm sticking with it!

The above pics of President Ford and Liberty in the Oval office are courtesy of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library & Museum.

...Peace, peace, and there is no peace.

Sadly, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert just doesn't get it. Go to Cox & Forkum to get the latest on Israel's vain attempt to appease and accommodate their vociferous enemies.

John Edwards: Bereft of Shame

Former US Senator John Edwards, who Mark Levin not so affectionately, but accurately refers to as a "slip and fall" lawyer, threw his hat into the presidential race today by sucking up to unfortunate minorities in hurricane sacked New Orleans.

Apparently he's playing the class envy card as he stressed the gap between rich and poor at his announcement to run. Both classes were well represented today at his announcement; the well placed poor minorities in front of as yet unrepaired storm damaged houses in the Ninth Ward and John Edwards, himself, who just today sold his Georgetown digs for more than $5 million. How timely, fitting and convenient that Edwards could represent the evil rich class at his very own announcement to run for president.

He could have really made some points with the poor folks in the Ninth Ward if he would have shown them photographs of his palatial estate situated on 100 acres in lily white Chapel Hill in North Carolina.

Since he has no shame (how many slip and fall lawyers do?) and clearly no common sense, it's going to be a real pleasure for those of us who do, to watch this laughable campaign. It will only be surpassed if John Kerry chooses to run again.

Human Events' Innies and Outies of '06

I always look forward to the year-end wrap ups, reviews, picks and pans and the like. These lists are eminently helpful, at least for me, as I don't remember what happened last week. Here's one of many such lists out there from the good folks at Human Events. Check out their version of what was in and what was out in 2006.

They overlooked the fact that the republicans were in and out in 2006.

Listen to Lores

I first heard Lores Rizkalla a couple of years ago when she called in to the Sean Hannity show. She became a frequent caller and Sean gave her blog an occasional plug and I got acquainted with her via her former blog, Just A Woman.

It's been awhile since I've heard her call in to the Hannity show...maybe it's because she got a talk show of her own!

Not only does she have her own show each Sunday evening on KRLA 870, but she'll be filling in on Thursday, December 28th from 10am-noon(PST) on Fresno's KERN 1410. Way to go Lores and congrats on your continued success!

Be sure to go to Lores' website, read her blog and and give her show a listen! Now remember, she's on the left coast and adjust your schedule accordingly!

The Culmination of 24 Years of Love and Dedication

Yesterday we had the privilege of attending our son's commencement ceremony at the University of Texas at Arlington.

It was a very big week for us! Last Saturday I wrote about some of our homeschooling experiences which led up to Chelsea's graduation from SMU and today I'd like to recount some of the things that led up to yesterday: Justin's graduation from the College of Engineering.

I can't help but think homeschooling parents glean much more satisfaction and joy out of collegiate commencement exercises of their children than parents who are less involved in the education of their kids. How could it be otherwise? After all, the homeschool parent is involved day in and day out with every aspect of their child's development and the goal is to make sure they get the best possible education. It's very hands on. I'm not denigrating parents who don't homeschool; I'm just saying, from our point of view, we take incredible pride and joy in the success of our kids, which has been a direct result of our opportunity to educate them at home.

Early on Justin was obsessed with the way things work. He loved those great picture books by David Macaulay, which thoroughly and fascinatingly showed how things were put together and what made them work. His curiosity was insatiable. Everyone he encountered was pummelled with questions, starting, of course, with his mom who, exhaustedly, would refer Justin to me when I got home at the end of the day. It was always, "why this?" or "why that?" and "how does this work?" and "how do you do this?" Fortunately for Justin, two of our neighbors were mechanically inclined, so they were able to answer questions well beyond my realm of experience. Justin's curiosity continues to this day and people will routinely say, "that boy sure does ask a lotta questions."

At about age 8, he started mowing some lawns in the neighborhood and, within a couple of years, had several regular customers at $25.00 per yard. He edged, mowed and bagged the grass and did a very professional job. He purchased two used Snappers and used his earnings to keep his equipment going, all the while learning to mess with engines and all things mechanical.

His ultimate goal, as a nine- or ten-year-old, was to motorize his bike. Incorporating his yard mowing business with an ulterior motive, he rationally talked me into sharing the expense of a new gas-powered blower. Yes, he needed one for his business and I wanted one too, so we went to Home Depot and he picked out the one he wanted. On the box it said it created a "140 per hour gust of wind" and I could see in his eyes the visions that were going through his head. He knew exactly what he was going to do with that blower when he got it home, but, of course, as far as I was concerned, this blower was strictly for "business." Sure enough, when we got home, he assembled the blower, gassed it up, and made a bee-line for his bike. He started the blower,
jumped on his bike, aimed the blower backward under his arm, and waited for take off. He started peddling to help get going, but to no avail. Sadly for Justin, the blower wasn't quite powerful enough to jettison him around the neighborhood. He'd have to come up with another means to power his bike.

He was 11 when he started to motorize his bicycle. It was a year long project, but with the advice and consultations of our two mechanically-inclined neighbors, he was able to do it with a lawn edging motor. He made friends with the manager of Two Wheel World in Garland and got most of his parts there. He designed it and completed it--and it was amazing! It would go about 27 miles per hour and Justin rode it all around the neighborhood.

We retired it after Chelsea took a terrible spill while riding it several blocks away. Fortunately some neighbors saw the accident occur and called the ambulance and she was rushed to the hospital. It was very scary, but she recovered with only one small scar. We still have the bike in storage and it still runs; maybe someday Justin can impress his kids with it.

Justin has always known he wanted to do something mechanical. He loved to tinker on motorcycles and there was always one or two in our garage at any given time. (Come to think of it, there's still one out there!)

Justin did well in math and science classes throughout school and was active in basketball and baseball community and homeschool leagues. We coerced him to take piano lessons, but after several years of that he took to the electric guitar. There were the country & western years, the heavy metal years, then Rap, the blues, bluegrass and jazz. Today his musical tastes are rather eclectic.

Years ago we told our kids we expected them to get at least a bachelor's degree and hopefully go on to graduate work, but that we weren't going to pay their way through college. They would have to maintain excellent grades and get scholarships and grants on their own and/or work their way through.

Justin and Chelsea both scored well on their SAT's and were able to secure some very good academic and leadership scholarships.

At 12:30, yesterday, Justin received his Bachelor of Science degree, cum laude, in Mechanical Engineering. He was recently recruited, and subsequently hired, by Raytheon and will be working at one of their Dallas facilities beginning next month.

This was quite a week for Teeka and me. It was a bit surrealistic in that it's emotionally difficult to see both our kids be completely done with the phase of their lives that so intimately involved us in their education and up-bringing. It was a gradual termination because they've been away at college, but the commencement ceremonies have an air of finality to them. It's the beginning
of the rest of their lives, but it's an end to the life they had under our wing.

Now they are on their own~that bittersweet time when parents hope and pray that the kiddos remember the important things in life, like God and proper behavior.

We're so thankful for Justin and Chelsea and for all of the hard work they've done throughout their years at home and at college. We love you both more than you can ever know.

(photo of Justin after having "walked" to receive his diploma at Texas Hall on the campus of the University of Texas at Arlington)

What's mine is mine and what's yours is mine also

Western companies might think twice before investing big bucks with the less than scrupulous Soviets,er, Russians:

Shell is being forced by the Russian government to hand over its controlling stake in the world's biggest liquefied gas project, provoking fresh fears about the Kremlin's willingness to use the country's growing strength in natural resources as a political weapon.
After months of relentless pressure from Moscow, the Anglo-Dutch company has to cut its stake in the $20bn Sakhalin-2 scheme in the far east of Russia in favour of the state-owned energy group Gazprom.

The Russian authorities are also threatening BP over alleged environmental violations on a Siberian field in what is seen as a wider attempt to seize back assets handed over to foreign companies when energy prices were low.

The moves will alarm many investors in the City of London as Shell and other share prices are hit, but the news will also increase ministers' concerns about Britain's energy security.

Russia is becoming a key source of natural gas to the UK and Gazprom has already made clear it would like to buy a company such as Centrica, which owns British Gas. One third of western Europe's natural gas is supplied by Russia - a figure expected to rise over the next decade. The security of energy supply is now the main political issue between the EU and the Kremlin. Nervousness about the Russians was heightened last winter when the gas supply to Ukraine was cut off in the middle of a political dispute.

Too bad Europe doesn't have it's own supply of energy like we do. Not that it makes any difference. We've got plenty of energy which would enable us to be independent from the world's tyrants, but the leftists won't hear of it. We're not about to go drilling for oil and gas. We just need to become more like Europe!

Socialism for Dummies

If you missed Rush today you missed one of the all time great lectures from the Limbaugh Institute. It was succinct and it was brilliant. Fortunately the above linked lecture is available on the free side of Rush's website. Go there and read it!

A Big Night for the Glasgow Family

Last night we joined a couple of thousand jubilant parents and friends at McFarlin Memorial Auditorium on the campus of Southern Methodist University to celebrate the graduation of our collective kids.

In our case we drank in all the pomp and circumstance and waited patiently until we heard the name Chelsea Brianna Glasgow Hughes announced. Our sweet and precious little girl, all capped and gowned, then eagerly marched triumphantly across the stage to accept her hard earned diploma. It was one of those moments parents look forward to and, when realized, remember and cherish forever.

Maybe it's even more meaningful to Homeschool parents.

In a post-graduation celebration last night, I mentioned to Chelsea in a toast that this was the culmination of 23 years of learning, much of which was orchestrated and brought about because of the love and diligence of her mom, who gave up a lucrative career to be able to raise and educate her (and Justin, her older brother) here at home.

That education began even before the kids were born.

When Teeka was pregnant with Justin she came upon a life-changing book by Dr. Thomas Verny and John Kelly, titled, The Secret Life of the Unborn Child. It was fascinating and it made perfect sense, so we implemented much of what the book recommended. Before giving birth she continually read aloud, repeated the alphabet, played a broad range of music, spoke to them directly and reassuringly and basically narrated life to each of them. It's a book we recommend on a regular basis even after 24 years.

The education continued after they were born and at the time we had never heard the term "homeschool."

Meanwhile, they were learning to read "bits" of information on flash cards well before either of them began to talk. They had a surprisingly large vocabulary even though they were unable to verbalize. This was easily demonstrated by asking them to point to something, such as the flag of a given country or one of the presidents of the United States. That's right, before they could speak they knew state and national flags, all of the presidents etc. They weren't prodigies. They were doing what all babies and toddlers do; learning everything that they were exposed to, like empty sponges sucking up everything in sight. They were learning "machines!"

The more they learned, the more they wanted to learn. We tried to expose them to as many opportunities as we possibly could.

When it came time to enroll them in public school, both of our kids were reading on a third or fourth grade level (which could be verified by the type of library books they were reading...Teeka would check out sizable stacks of books each week from the local library), so we knew it would be problematic to put them in kindergarten where kids are learning the alphabet and single digit numbers. The school district wouldn't consider placing them in a higher grade and we couldn't afford a private school, so we were forced to seek alternative methods of education.

That was before Google so the search was not nearly as easy as it would be today.

We soon discovered a whole new world of "home schooling" and ultimately decided on a well respected curriculum which had been around for more than a hundred years. Calvert was the name of the Maryland establishment and it provided virtually everything one would need for grades 1 through 8. According to Calvert, completion of their courses through level 8 would give the student the equivalent of a high school education. That it did!

As time quickly passed by, the phenomenon of home schooling became widespread in the late '80's and '90's. Here in Dallas, there were even excellent sports programs for homeschoolers. Community and home school sports leagues were a very important part of the school day. So were music lessons, recitals and many other activities along the way.

My wife and I reflect regularly on the incredible opportunities and many avenues that were available to our kids because we were able to homeschool. For us and our kids, homeschooling provided so much more than any public or many private schools could ever offer. Not only did they receive an outstanding education which enabled them to get very good academic and leadership scholarships, but they learned superior communication skills by virtue of being around adults more than kids who may have to be stuck in day care facilities.

Chelsea's matriculation at SMU and subsequent graduation last night, speaks volumes to the hard work and dedication which were required to get her to this point in life, but it also speaks volumes to her mom whose most important life's work (so far) was to make certain our kids got a superior education.

College work in one's senior year is demanding all by itself, but Chelsea completed her senior year as a married student. She and her husband Eric Hughes will be celebrating their 1st anniversary in less than two weeks.

Last night Chelsea received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Advertising, with honors, and just recently completed her 2nd internship with the prestigious Richards Group here in Dallas. It's been a challenging and rewarding year for Chelsea (and Eric)!

As her parents, we are extremely proud and pleased with all she has accomplished at SMU and throughout her life. She continues to be a joyful light of our life. We're so thankful and blessed to have such a wonderful daughter and son-in-law.

Our special week has just begun. Next Saturday, our son Justin will be graduating from the University of Texas at Arlington. It's a big week for the Glasgow family!

(pictured above is Justin 24, Chelsea 22, Teeka and Rich, young at heart, standing in front of the fountain installed by the Mother's Club of 1936, with Dallas Hall lit up in the background)

"...there's no substitute for appeasement."

NOW would be the optimum time to take out Iran's Nukes

It appears to the entire world that we, as a country, are at our weakest point in years. It seems as though we've lost our resolve to be victorious in the war against the Islamo-fascist terrorists, at least that's the message being transmitted to all the world with the dems soon to be in charge of congress.

The dubious suggestions put together by the "Iraq Surrender Group" have to be very encouraging to the "Axis of Evil," since they are being empowered as those who can actually be of help to us in Iraq. Huh? That's right, the ISG wants us to sit down with these terrorists in Iran and Syria to have reasonable negotiations. How do you negotiate with thugs and tyrants whose stated purpose is to destroy us?

What a pitiful juxtaposition of credibility and power. How must our friends in Israel feel?

Let's hope this is merely a show of weakness leading up to a massive display of overwhelming strength.

While our enemies around the world celebrate our pending demise and loss of leadership, wouldn't it be a perfect time to take out Iran's nukes?

President Bush isn't exactly in the best position to pull this off by himself, but if Israel would initiate the offensive move, we would certainly (hopefully) back them. Jointly, if properly orchestrated, we could launch a swift and crippling assault if we went all balls out on a mission of completely destroying key nuclear sites with relentless and massive bombing raids.

It's only a matter of time before we have to confront Iran militarily. We can do it now before they have nukes or we will be forced to confront them later when they do have nukes. Talking to them is a waste of time which only empowers them and gives them additional time to become fully nuclear.

We appear weak right now because there is a dearth of leadership. Our apparent weakness could be to our great advantage if it were properly used as a guise to throw our enemies off. We have the military might to destroy Iran and Syria, but unfortunately, we don't have the resolve. We could become resolved if we had strong leadership and a united grassroots vision to recognize and destroy the enemy, but it's going to take something like 9-11 or worse to re-awaken us.

Still, I can't think of a better time than the present to neutralize Iran and Syria.

Politically Correct Defense Techniques

THIS is how leftist appeasers and accommodators defend themselves. Go figure!

Let me get this straight...it's OK for terrorist regimes to go on the offensive by launching rockets and strapping on homicide bombs to blow up innocent women and children, but it's NOT OK for the "attackees" to strike back.

This is the accepted method of self-defense by the UN if you are Israel.