The Ex-Colts are at it Again.

Apparently the Tennessee Titans believe that to beat the Colts, they have to become the Colts. Not in some figurative zen-like way either. The past couple of years the Titans have picked up several players from the Colts, evidently in the hopes that they will enjoy some of what has made the boys in blue so successful.

It doesn't work that way, however, and a player that fits in well with one team may not perform so great with another team, particularly against his old team. Jason David is a case in point. Though he played well for the Colts, and is not doing too badly at New Orleans, he was brutally used and abused by Peyton Manning when the teams met this past season.

Tennessee has a talented quarterback, who has caused the Colts some problems. They should build around him, rather than try and clone the Colts by bits.

Update: Oops! I originally said David was playing for Tennessee when he actually plays for New Orleans. Nick Harper is the former Colts' cornerback at Tennessee. Nevertheless, I think the example is still valid.

What Next?

I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Score another one for the Nanny State.

A London street is experimenting with padded lampposts to protect those not
paying attention from banging into them, ITN reports.

These are not just for the benefit of anyone distracted by a pretty girl or an ice cream truck. These are for people too busy texting on their phones to watch where they're going. Oh yes, it gets better:

The survey found that almost two thirds of respondents lost peripheral vision
while texting, and more than a quarter wanted lines on the pavement to create
routes for texters to walk while using their phones.

What next, lead dogs? You would think that a bump on the head would be fair punishment for not being attentive, but not in a society that thinks it can protect us from ourselves.

Sheesh.

I'm Outraged!

I saw this "cartoon" from a Jordanian newspaper on the MEMRI Blog the other day, and it has stuck in my mind.

It's offensive on so many levels, I can't think straight. First, it implies that the Israelis are committing genocide a la the Third Reich by retaliating against Hamas terrorists dropping bombs on towns like Sderot. Thus the evil Israel is built on the bodies of "innocent" Palestinians. Never mind that the Israelis experience daily missile attacks. Second, as an American I'm offended that the artist has modelled his scribble on an image of true heroism. How is it that these guys get away with it, yet pictures like these spark international riots?

The Arab press and the Mainstream Media would have you believe that groups like Hamas are freedom fighters and that the Israelis are the aggressors. This post gives a different picture.

Yanai asks me, “Why does it happen? Why are the Arabs so bad? Why do they
want to kill us? We want peace.

When I try to teach him that even in the Gaza Strip you have innocent
children and innocent civilians he says, “If they are innocent, why do they go
to military summer camps? You never send me to military summer camp, with a
uniform; with weapons, and they are younger than me.”

More:

I supported the [2005] Disengagement from Gaza, from Gush Katif. The
Palestinian government promised, “Give us Gush Katif and there will be peace.”
And I am an optimistic person. I really hoped that it would be peace. Everyone
in Sderot was screaming at me, “No! Why do you say the Disengagement is good?” I
answered, “They promise it will be peace!” And even our mayor, Eli Moyal, told
me: “I am going to run after you and tell you all the time, ‘I told you so.’” We
had a lot of argument for I supported the disengagement but he didn’t. And now,
when we have parents’ meeting with the mayor, he all the time tells me: “I told
you so! You have something else to say?”

I really wanted to hope that there will be peace one day. And I am in
confusion now because on one side they tell us they want peace but on the other
side they send their children to military summer camp; they teach them hate in
school; they teach them that Israel does not exist on the map - there is only
Palestine; that the Jewish people are the devil; that we want to destroy their
life. They teaching hate in the school, in the house; in every place.

Brigitte Gabriel describes an experience remarkably similar to this in her book. That was thirty years ago.

Not much has changed, huh?

Link to first image source.

Link to second image source.

Game Over.

The original Dungeon Master Gary Gygax has died. When I first discovered Dungeons and Dragons, I was amazed by the amount of creativity and research that went into the creation of the fantasy game, and amused by the humor of it all. I began actively gaming when I was in high school, using the 2nd Edition rules, which still bore great resemblance to Gygax's original ruleset. I only gamed for a few years, but I remember them fondly, and still take an interest in it, albeit as a spectator. These days I get my fantasy fix from Neverwinter Nights.

Via Michelle Malkin, you can discover your D&D character here. My results? Lawful Good Elf Cleric. Amusing, considering that the character I most enjoyed playing was a Chaotic Neutral Wizard (my, how times change!).

Link to image source.

Musician Jeff Healey Dead at 41.

Canadian rocker Jeff Healey, perhaps best known for his hit "Angel Eyes," has lost his life-long battle with cancer.

Via Wiki:

Healey was never particularly enamored with the world of rock music,
however, and soon left it for music he preferred, vintage jazz. Jeff had been
sitting in with traditional jazz bands around Toronto since the beginning of his
music career.

In his later years, he released three CDs from his true passion,
traditional American jazz from the 1920s and 1930s. He was an avid record collector and
amassed a collection of well over 25,000 78 rpm records. For many years
Healey ran his music-based club Healey's on Bathurst Street in Toronto,
where he played with a rock band on Thursday nights, and with his jazz group,
Jeff Healey's Jazz Wizards, on Saturday afternoons. Healey had moved his club to
a bigger location at 56 Blue Jays Way and named it Jeff Healey's
Roadhouse.

I remember seeing Jeff Healey in concert when I was in high school. He was the opening act for Bon Jovi, and put on a heck of a show. It was interesting because they completely shut off the arena lights when he came on and left the stage, so that the audience wouldn't see him being led to his guitar stand. I enjoyed his act almost as much as the Bon Jovi performance.

I never knew until now that the cause of Healey's blindness was cancer. Music lost a good one today, and he'll be missed.

Link to image source.

Recommended Reading.

Brigitte Gabriel is a Lebanese Christian who experienced first-hand the horrors of jihad and the hatred of fundamentalist Islam. She lived for seven years in a bomb shelter, dodging sniper bullets and shells just to obtain basic necessities, such as food and water.

She relates her experiences, and speaks out against Islamic terror in her book, Because They Hate. Ms. Gabriel, along with Robert Spencer and others have courageously pointed out the truth about the enemies facing the United States, and criticize the liberals and politically correct who deny or hide the truth.

Her tale of life in Lebanon during the late '70's and early '80's, as well as revelations about distortion in the media reporting of past and current conflicts in the Middle East, is a powerful one. It's an eye-opener.

Find out more about Brigitte Gabriel and her work at American Congress for Truth.

Link to image source.