Thomas Jefferson said in 1802: "I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies."

"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."-- Thomas Jefferson

"When in danger or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout." .... jbd

"When once a job you have begun, do no stop till it is done. Whether the task be great or small, do it well, or not at all." .... Anon

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. - Albert Einstein

Television is one daylong commercial interrupted periodically by inept attempts to fill the airspace in between them.

If you can't start a fire, perhaps your wood is wet ....

When you elect clowns, expect a circus ..............




Showing posts with label iowa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label iowa. Show all posts

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Romney's Iowa Win Now "Split Decision"

Funny what money can do 

Thought Mitt Romney won the Iowa Caucuses?

Not so fast. The state's Republican Party will certify the vote as a "split decision" between Romney and Rick Santorum, citing missing data from eight precincts.

The party had previously named Romney the winner, by a narrow eight-vote margin. But a subsequent count put Santorum up by 34 votes, and the missing data is believed to have been beneficial to Romney.

In the end, officials said, there are just too many holes in the certified total to name a winner.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Newt is on the UPSWING ... Cream rises to the top

A poll of likely Iowa caucus-goers this week has Newt surging ahead of Mitt Romney by three points! This is especially important news because the media forces that are terrified of this campaign have been saying that while Speaker Gingrich has steadily risen in the national polls, it didn’t matter because he remained behind in the early primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.


The good news, however, does not end in Iowa. In South Carolina, we saw this headline out of CNN: “Gingrich Amasses Largest South Carolina Campaign Footprint.” Our staff in South Carolina now includes nine incredibly talented professionals, and we will also be opening offices across the Palmetto State, starting Saturday with the grand opening of our headquarters in Greenville.

Friday, December 17, 2010

"Rapid" Robert Feller - Another Legend Passes On

Another "sports" legend passes on. I remember him from my younger days on the sandlots of Dayton, Ohio, that high leg kick, trying to emulate Rapid Robert Feller. He was a sports icon, like Ruth and the others, Feller takes his place up there with them.

By LUKE MEREDITH, AP Sports Writer Luke Meredith, Ap Sports Writer – Thu Dec 16, 9:14 pm ET


VAN METER, Iowa – In his tiny hometown, Bob Feller was the farm boy who never forgot his roots.
The flags that defined him — those representing the United States, the Navy and the Cleveland Indians — flew at half-staff on a snowy Thursday morning at the Bob Feller Museum, a day after he died of acute leukemia at the age of 92.

"It's such a great loss. Bob was a guy who was a little bit bigger than life," said museum member Ed Brown, who stopped in to drop off flowers. "He had a lot of pride about being an Iowan and about the game of baseball."

Feller's path toward the Hall of Fame began to take shape at age 16 when he caught the attention of an Indians scout. In 1936, he made his first major league start two months before his 18th birthday, showing off a rocket right arm he claimed was strengthened by doing chores at home.

Soon, every sports fan had heard about "Rapid Robert." They also knew of his "Heater from Van Meter" — hard to say whether they all realized the nickname came from this dot of a town west of Des Moines.

Feller won 266 games in 18 seasons with the Indians despite missing three full years and most of a fourth for service during World War II. He was the first pitcher to win 20 games before he was 21 and was chosen for eight All-Star games.

Elected to Cooperstown in his first year of eligibility, he enjoyed more than half his life as a Hall of Famer.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Amanda Zust, what a kid she must be

There are GOOD things that happen in this life, today, and we never hear of them. I saw a replay of their game with Michigan. It was Senior Day, her brother walked her out on the field and sat and watched the game. Can you imagine the pride those parents had ............ WOW

Iowa City (AP) — Less than 48 hours after going through a lengthy medical procedure to save the life of her brother, Iowa senior pitcher Amanda Zust was back in the circle, trying to help the Hawkeye softball team.


“I asked her, ‘Do you want to play today?’ ” Iowa coach Gayle Blevins said. “Zusty did what everyone expected her to ... she played.”

Zust — who moved to 15-10 on the season with a win over Minnesota recently — never expected her senior season to be like this: ... Getting texts from her mother before games letting her know how her brother Robbie, a sophomore at Iowa, was doing in the hospital.

“As hard as things can get on the softball field, you have to realize what is going on outside of that,” Amanda said. “If you find yourself in a tough spot, it’s nothing compared to what other people are going through.

“We all want to win those games, and I compete as hard as I can, and that’s all I can do. That’s all (Robbie) can do, too.”

Robbie was diagnosed in January with ALL, or acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a cancer of the white blood cells.

It is a cancer that can be fatal in as little as a few weeks if untreated. Robbie immediately started chemotherapy.

“It was shock,” Amanda said of hearing the news. “It’s one of those things that you don’t really know what you are going to feel like until you experience it. It was shock, and it was fear not knowing exactly what was going to happen.”

Robbie underwent nine weeks of chemotherapy in Des Moines and later had radiation treatment at the University of Iowa to kill the cancer. But to survive, Robbie needed a bone marrow transplant. His older sister, Sarah, 25, wasn’t a match, but Amanda was.

“We kind of joked about it in the beginning,” Amanda said. “I don’t like needles and my sister, she’s a nurse. So Robbie would tease that he knew I was going to be the donor from the very beginning.”

On April 22, Amanda went to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, and over about six hours, she had blood taken out of one arm, sent into a machine that took out stem cells, and then put back into her body in her other arm.

“I sat there doing that, I couldn’t imagine him going through everything he went through,” Amanda said. “All the procedures he went through, he acted like it was nothing. I looked at him for strength. I think he was what kept our family so strong.”

The next day Amanda left with the Hawkeyes for a Big Ten trip to Penn State, and the day after, she was back on the mound.

“Our hope was that we would be able to rest her that first day and give her another day to recover,” Blevins said. “That was our game plan. As it was, it didn’t turn out that way. The best laid plans don’t go the way you want them to go.”

While Amanda was traveling to State College, Pa., her stem cells were administered to Robbie. Since then they have checked his white blood cell count every day. For a week it remained at 0.1, but by the middle of this past week, it was at 6.8.

“It’s been increasing a lot in the last few days,” Amanda said. “He’s up more and talking like himself again.”

Amanda watched her brother battle cancer daily.

“He’s always been a skinny kid, but seeing him go through the process of being really sick and fragile,” Amanda said. “That type of thing is hard.”

“It’s the first thing we talk about every day,” Blevins said of her brother. “Today was a good day, or today he was sick. You know that’s in the back of her mind.

“She sits in the dugout between innings, it’s hard not to go where other concerns are. It’s difficult.”

Cathy Zust, Amanda’s mom, knows the sacrifices Amanda made during her final season at Iowa.

“I think she did a great job,” Cathy said. “It is a distraction, and I know she thinks about it all the time. She’s had her ups and downs but has hung in there tough and did it for him. He wouldn’t want her to quit.

“She goes out there and gets wins for him, too.”

Robbie came to the University of Iowa in part because his sister was there. The two are close in age and share a special bond as siblings.

Cathy sent pre-game texts for Amanda.

“I would tell her to do it for him,” Cathy said. “His thing was battle, attack, defeat. Fight for him and yourself and your team. Win the battle.”

At the moment, Robbie has won the battle. There is hope that he will be able to leave the hospital soon.

“We’ve got to get him eating and drinking, but he’s doing very well,” Cathy said. “We have several months to go yet, ... but I think he’s planning on going to her senior day.”

Amanda — who has worn a ROOTING FOR ROB bracelet all season — had her senior night in May when Iowa hosted Michigan at Pearl Field.

She may even have her brother in the stands on his road to recovery — a recovery she made possible.

“It was something that I’d do in a heartbeat,” Amanda said. “And over and over again if I had to.”