No Laughing Gas = Whipped cream shortage -- for real!
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Posted:Dec 15, 2016 8:01 am
Last Updated:Apr 22, 2019 9:04 pm
11070 Views
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I was browsing Foxnews this morning when an article with today's date caught my eyes...
Three weeks after Thanksgiving, it seems we have a canned whipped cream shortage.
Bad news for all you dessert lovers (and lovers of playing with food during sex  ).
How could this happen? Back on August 28, the Airgas facility in Cantonment, Florida exploded. They are the leading processor of nitrous oxide ( actually dinitrogen monoxide or N2O ) for foods, such as ConAgra's Reddi-Wip canned whipped cream. Yes, N2O, better known as laughing gas. N2O is used to propel the cream through the nozzle onto your favorite dessert (or lover ). N2O can also be used in the cream whipping process using a whipping siphon, where the gas dissolves in the butterfat under pressure, causing bubbles and whipped cream when pressure is released. (N2O is generally used in this process instead of CO2, because CO2 leaves a sour taste... and perhaps a way to make sour cream?)
Priority for N2O is for medical uses. (What doctors use it other than dentists?)
ConAgra expects to be fully restocked by February 2017.
In the meantime, if the canned varieties are out of stock, grab a tub and spoon it old school. 
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NCAA I-A Football: Time for a REAL playoff?
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Posted:Dec 4, 2016 4:02 pm
Last Updated:Dec 9, 2017 7:19 am
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The third edition of the NCAA Division I-A College Football Playoff is finally filled.
In the December 31 semifinal games, Number 1 Alabama will face Number 4 Washington in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, and Number 2 Clemson faces Number 3 Ohio State in the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl, with the winners facing off in the CFP Championship on January 9, 2017.
Many teams are crying foul in that they claim they are better teams than OSU (a one-loss team with wins over four ranked teams, which is a better team than either of the two-loss teams that competed for the Big Ten title) or UW (another one-loss team with three wins over ranked teams but a weak non-conference schedule).
Penn State lost two games against Pittsburgh (close) and Michigan (blown out).
Michigan lost two close games to Iowa (at home) and OSU (at Columbus).
Oklahoma lost to Houston and OSU in two non-conference clashes of ranked teams.
Colorado lost to Michigan and USC before being blown out in the Pac-12 title game by UW.
The selection committee chose the four best teams. Since all other teams had two losses (except undefeated MAC Champion Western Michigan), they did not have to use the tiebreakers such as conference title and head-to-head matchup. WMU didn't get into the CFP top four because of their strength of schedule.
Perhaps it is time for the NCAA to get rid of the antiquated bowl games, coaches polls and faux football playoffs in Division I-A, and do what Divisions I-AA, II & III have already done: implement a REAL playoff system.
The bowl games and polls have outlived their usefulness, established in an era long before the "playoffs". The serious flaws of the BCS and CFP show just how much a real playoff is needed.
Here's how a real 16 team Division I-A playoff would work: just as in Division I basketball, all conference champions receive automatic berths. The remaining entries of the field are the best of the rest (e.g. the best independent team and the best five non-conference champions based on strength of schedule and record).
Expanding the CFP from four to eight teams, as suggested by some, suffers the same flaw as the current four-team playoff: all the berths are selected by the CFP committee.
The 16-team system silences the arguments of left-out conference champions, since they would be guaranteed a berth in the playoff. If strength of schedule questions arise, address them in the bracket seeding, just as the NCAA basketball tournament does.
Without such a change, there is no way a "Group of 5" or lesser independent school can ever win a I-A championship. There has even been a discussion of subdividing, yet again, Division I football! Do we really need three Division I levels? That's what some in the "Group of 5" want to do, to ensure one of their schools can be called a champion. Note that all Division I schools competed for the bowl games, until the I-A (FBS)/I-AA (FCS) split in 1978.
Just to refresh your memories, here are the 10 current Division I-A football conferences:
* denotes so-called "Power 5" conferences, the real players in the CFP
** denotes so-called "Group of 5" conferences with no real hope of ever winning a CFP championship
- American Athletic (AAC) **
- Atlantic Coast (ACC) *
- Big 12 ( originally the Big 8 ) ( XII ) *
- Big Ten (B1G) *
- Conference USA (C-USA) **
- Mid-American (MAC) **
- Mountain West (MW) **
- Pacific 12 (originally Pacific 8 then Pacific 10) (Pac-12) *
- Southeastern (SEC) *
- Sun Belt (SUN) **
That's my take.
What do you think? Is it time for a REAL Division I-A playoff? 
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JANUARY 9, 2017 UPDATE:. Clemson dethroned defending CFP champion Alabama 35-31 in a rematch of last year's shootout, on a last second 2-yard TD pass from Heisman finalist Deshaun Watson to walk-on wide receiver Hunter Renfrow.
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Happy 75th to the Civil Air Patrol! :)
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Posted:Dec 3, 2016 8:32 am
Last Updated:Dec 4, 2016 12:40 am
6030 Views
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Just a quick note to honor, as of December 1, the 75th birthday of the Civil Air Patrol. 
Founded just six days before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the CAP provided vital coastline and backcountry surveillance and maritime searches for vessels in distress during World War II (even sinking three German U-boats!) from civilian pilots supporting the U.S. Army Air Forces in their wartime efforts.
Following the war, the CAP was officially chartered as a federal nonprofit corporation, and in 1948 was designated as the official U.S. Air Force Auxillary by Congress.
The CAP's current missions are providing emergency services (i.e. search & rescue, disaster relief), cadet programs for teenagers and aerospace education for youth and the general public. They also coordinate with local, state and federal agencies on homeland security (an homage to the Office of Civilian Defense that created the CAP), search & rescue operations, disaster relief with the American Red Cross, and courier services.
The CAP is a major operator of single-engine general aviation aircraft encompassing its cadet orientation and search & rescue missions.
Salute to the CAP! 
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A republic, if we can keep it
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Posted:Nov 21, 2016 7:19 am
Last Updated:May 30, 2019 6:02 pm
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This post is a refresher for those who forgot, and an eye-opener for those who do not know, why we Americans have the Constitution we now have.
In the wake of the United States declaring independence from Great Britain on July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress had to set up a new governing structure. The new scheme of union was greatly influenced by Benjamin Franklin's observations of the Iroquois ( Haudenosaunee ) Confederacy, the oldest participatory democracy on the Earth.
On July 12, they began drafting the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union. The final articles were sent to the states for ratification in November 1777, and were not fully ratified by all 13 states until March 1781.
The Articles of Confederation had severe flaws, among them that all states had to approve amendments, the federal government (the Congress of the Confederation) had no agencies nor enforcement power (especially in matters such as taxation, commerce and foreign policy), could not force the states to honor the military pensions granted by General Washington for the Revolutionary War veterans, and could not resolve disputes between the states.
(These same flaws would be enacted by the southern Rebels when seceding from the Union in 1861 by creating their Confederacy along the same basic structure of the Articles of Confederation. And this ultimately led to its defeat four short years and about 620,000 dead American citizens later, victims of their ungodly Civil War.)
Thus, to strengthen the fledgling United States, was a Constitutional Convention convened in Philadelphia in May 1787.
From wikiPedia: "Although the states' representatives to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia were only authorized to amend the Articles, the representatives held secret, closed-door sessions and wrote a new constitution. (...) The general goal of the authors was to get close to a republic as defined by the philosophers of the Age of Enlightenment, while trying to address the many difficulties of the interstate relationships. "
Over the next four months, the delegates worked out a more balanced system of governance. If you want to learn all the details of the deliberations and arguments, grab a copy of the book The Federalist Papers or others that reprint the various columns.
Why a republic? Direct democracy in a country the size of the then-United States was impossible. Therefore, a democratic republic, or indirect democracy was chosen, whereby the people would elect Representatives to the lower house of Congress (apportionment by population, which until 1865 also counted slaves as 3/5 of a person for taxation) and each of the state legislatures would appoint two Senators to the upper house of Congress (equal representation by state).
(The method for choosing Senators was changed to election by the people by the 17th Amendment in 1913, and we still feel the repercussions of it, in that 32 state legislatures are controlled by Republicans, and that would have given them at least 64 Senate seats under the original rules. Eight others are split between parties, so add perhaps another four. That's 68. That would have given a veto override and filibuster-proof majority to the GOP and eliminated much of the gridlock we have endured the past eight years. Time perhaps for a 28th Amendment? )
Why an Electoral College? The delegates were concerned about the Romans' penchant for popularly electing famous generals with no capability to lead civilians, and wanted it to be more than a popularity contest. ("The tyranny of the popular vote" as the discussions called it.) Also, they were concerned about less-populous states being dictated to or bullied by the larger ones. Thus, each state would choose electors corresponding to their numbers of Representatives and Senators to elect the President and Vice President. (The 23rd Amendment in 1961 gave the District of Columbia's citizens the right to vote in federal elections and the minimum number of electors (three) as if it were a state.). That is how, five times under our Constitution, the candidate with the most popular votes lost the Electoral College tally; the most recent two being in 2000 and 2016.
Three Ring Circus. Three co-equal branches of government, with checks and balances on each other: A formally defined bicameral Congress (Legislative Branch) to make laws ("I'm Just A Bill"), a formally defined President to approve and execute the laws, and serve as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces (Executive Branch), and a formally defined Supreme Court to interpret the laws (Judicial Branch).
75% threshold. Only three-fourths of the states were required to ratify (approve) the Constitution, and amendments to it, whether submitted by Congress or a people's convention. This eliminated the gridlock of the Articles of Confederation which required unanimous approval by all the states.
Clarity. Greater clarification of roles and responsibilities (i.e. provide for the common defense and promote the general welfare).
"A more perfect Union". The assembled delegates knew full well about human nature, and that no perfect system of governance could ever be created by man. That is why they added a Preamble to the text of the young nation's second constitution reminding citizens that "We the People" do ordain and establish this constitution "in order to form a more perfect Union".
The Constitution was certified ratified by at least 75% of the states in June 1788, and took effect on March 4, 1789.
Of course, not all states were pleased with not enumerating certain rights and restrictions in the document itself, so their ratification of the Constitution was contingent on a package of amendments being submitted to the states to make further clarifications. Virginia Rep. James Madison submitted a package of 17 proposed amendments in the House in June 1789, which was revised and consolidated into 12, approved by both houses, and sent to the states for ratification that September. Articles 3 through 12 were ratified in December 1791 as the first 10 Amendments, and subsequently known as the "Bill of Rights".
The first two articles of the final package found themselves delayed, because of new states joining the Union, and increasing the number of states required to reach the 75% threshold. Article 2, regarding pay raises for Congress not taking effect until after the next election of Representatives was finally certified as ratified in May 1992 as the 27th Amendment. The last remaining article, Article 1, deals with changing the apportionment formula for the House. 27 states are still required to ratify this Congressional Apportion Amendment before it, too, becomes effective. And since Congress established no time limit for ratification in those days, it may yet be ratified.
When Benjamin Franklin left the final session of the convention in September 1787, a Philadelphia woman asked him:
"What kind of government have you given us, Dr. Franklin?"
"A republic Madam, if you can keep it."
Keeping the republic is a challenge for ALL citizens. Those saying "Not my President" about anyone duly elected whom they did not vote for is a mark of a very faction-minded person.
President George Washington warned about the dangers of factions in his farewell address of 1796:
"I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the State, with particular reference to the founding of them on geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally.
This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It exists under different shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed; but, in those of the popular form, it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly their worst enemy.
The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty.
Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind (which nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of sight), the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it.
It serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which finds a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passions. Thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another."
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Does this not sound like what has been going on since 2000?
We would be wise to pay heed to his advice now, IMHO.
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Election 2016 Thoughts
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Posted:Nov 10, 2016 4:52 pm
Last Updated:Apr 14, 2017 3:03 am
10656 Views
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JANUARY 20, 2017 UPDATE: he has taken the oath of office. Our long national nightmare and Constitutional crisis is over. Now the cleanup of Obama's train wrecks can commence under PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES DONALD J. TRUMP.
To my fellow Americans: Whether you like him or not, whether you voted for him or not, for at least the next four years, HE IS YOUR PRESIDENT!!! Get used to it, stop whining, obstructing and fake protesting, and get to work to make America great again. 'Nuff said!
Original post follows.
----------------------------------------------------
There has already been much written, and there will be much yet written, about the U.S. Presidential Election of 2016.
The outcome is clear: Most of the country, geographically, has had enough of "establishment" elites telling them what to say, who to vote for, and determining their outcomes. Thus, instead of electing the first female President (who has severe character issues among her many flaws) with too much political experience, they elected a less-flawed man with no political experience at all, the first non-career-politician elected President since 1952 (General Eisenhower) and the first ever with no prior political or military service. And he spent far less on his campaign than any national candidate of the past 40 years. 
Congratulations to the 45th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump. 
The Electoral College final projected totals are Trump 306, HRC 232. Actual elector voting from December 19:
Donald Trump 304
Hillary Clinton 227
Bernie Sanders 001 (faithless WA D elector)
Ron Paul 001 (faithless TX R elector)
John Kasich 001 (faithless TX R elector)
Colin Powell 003 (faithless WA D electors)
Faith Spotted Eagle 001 (faithless WA D elector)
There is no one factor in how it happened, but safe to say it proved yet again the wisdom of the Constitution's framers in using an electoral college to keep the Presidency from being solely a popularity contest, and protecting the citizens of less-populous states from being totally dictated to or bullied by the larger ones (such as New York and California).
What we do know is that Mrs. Clinton brought many of the factors upon herself, and has no one to blame but herself, and the media and aides who aided and abetted her actions.
Among the factors:
1.) Lack of respect for the law. The word "scofflaw" was coined to describe lack of respect for the law, and it applies to her -- especially when it came to conducting official State Department government business almost exclusively from an unclassified personal server not under agency control, as well as using it to e-mail classified material, another no-no. And let us not forget about the lies she told under oath regarding Benghazi, in which her disrespect for Embassy staff under her "leadership" cost four American citizens their lives. What difference did it make? Plenty, for many voters.
2.) Lack of respect for her opponents. Just the fact alone that she set out to sabotage Senator Bernie Sanders in her party's primary showed this flaw. Then she totally underestimated Trump and the broad-based support he has.
3.) The POLL-tergeist and total liberal media arrogance. Out of all the polls conducted during Campaign 2016, only three correctly predicted the Trump victory. The others so arrogantly discounted anyone supporting Trump that most people polled would not tell them who they were voting for! Likewise, the arrogance in the liberal media demonstrated itself on the Clinton News Network and most others in that they were SO obsessed with taking down Trump they gave lip service to HRC's serious character flaws and actions. One report said 91% of their coverage of Trump was negative. Not so for HRC, to their disgrace and shame. Even traditional print media like The New York Times were so blinded by their own arrogance that they failed to do their job in reporting the real news.
4.) Lack of respect for the voters. HRC's "basket of deplorables" debate comment and its corresponding attitude alienated many millions of citizens. This élitist attitude is all too typical of her party in particular, and the political establishment in general who will do anything to get your vote and then do nothing to help you or honor their promises to you.
This attitude also permeates those cities, states and college campuses who seek to flaunt the laws on immigration as well as the "Not my President" people who refuse to accept the reality of Trump's Presidency, unlike Republicans who accepted BHO's Presidency despite him not being their President, as well as all the sore loser liberals staging nasty protests January 21. The DC march was headlined by the 3M of liberal losers: Michael Moore and Madonna.
5.) Republicans showed up, Democrats didn't. In a reversal of 2012, even though many Republicans disliked Trump, they voted for him, unlike 2012 when the evangelical wing of the GOP mostly stayed home, thus assuring Obama's reelection. Larger percentages of the demographic groups HRC needed to retain from Obama's wins (e.g. Blacks, Hispanics, and millennials) voted for Trump or stayed home.
6.) The Third-party candidates. I successfully predicted a few months ago how a reverse-Perot effect would win the election for Trump. Back in 1992, HRC's husband won election because Independent candidate H. Ross Perot siphoned votes away from Republican incumbent President George H. W. Bush, and Green Party candidate Ralph Nader's votes in Florida were enough to swing the state's electoral votes and the Presidency in the 2000 election to George W. Bush, to the dismay of Al Gore. This time, three third-party candidates siphoned away about 6.1 million votes, mostly from HRC. (Gary Johnson -- Libertarian, about 4.3 million; Jill Stein -- Green, about 1.3 million; Evan McMullin -- Independent, about 470k). And there were also about 1.75 million "undervoted" ballots in 33 states and DC with no selection for President (two of them from former President Bush 43 and his wife). So while in the popular vote, about 62.5 million "voted" for HRC (including a lot of non-citizens not legally entitled to), about 69.05 million did not (including about 61.2 million who voted for Trump). Thank goodness for the Electoral College. (Vote tallies updated Dec. 14.)
7.) The "Forgotten" Man/Woman. Many white men and women, mostly non-college educated, registered and voted for the first time in their lives. HRC ignored them, trying to win solely among all the non-white ethnicities.
8.) The "Silent Majority". President Nixon never took them for granted. HRC did.
9.) Selling access/favors. Not since Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on the church door at Wittenberg detailing how the Catholic Church of the 1510s was literally selling salvation (called indulgences by the church) have we seen such a well-documented case of selling access, in this case through The Clinton Foundation taking cash from foreign governments, in what many consider to be pay-for-play while she was Secretary of State and for future political favors once HRC was elected to the Oval Office. This investigation is very much still active, and may pose further legal problems for them. IMHO, those who donated to the Clinton Foundation expecting presidential favors are due hefty refunds. LOL The appearance of selling access was too much for some to take. Thanks to Mr. Assange for exposing this.
10.) Language. Trump had to the courage to call radical Islamic terrorism exactly that. Obama would not. HRC only did to try to placate people, and it was not very sincere. The only way to solve problems is to identify them for what they are, and NOT by using euphemistic, politically correct language.
And last, but certainly not least:
11.) Lack of a compelling message. HRC was so into bashing Trump, that she communicated no compelling vision or message other than hate, and pulled out every dirty trick in the party bag to bash Trump. They cannot win arguments logically, so their financiers, like George Soros, hire and pay professional protesters (and bus them to protest sites on charter buses!) to keep the hate drumbeat against Trump going; BTW, those are Federal crimes called inciting riot and sedition (see Title 18 United States Code, Chapter 115).
As for my state, Montana has a very bad habit of electing Democrats to the Governorship (and once in a while to its House or Senate seats) even when electing Republicans to the other state-wide offices. It happened again this year, with the narrowest reelection of a Democrat (Steve Bullock), while all the state-wide offices were retained by the GOP, with Secretary of State and Superintendent of Public Instruction returning to GOP control. The legislature will have expanded GOP control in both chambers. BTW, Gov. Bullock is facing his own e-mail scandal, this stemming from unlawfully deleting official e-mails from his time as Montana's Attorney General before being elected Governor in 2012. Expect the investigation to be re-energized... As for the percentage of the undervoted ballots mentioned above, Montana led all the 33 states there, odd in a historically GOP state.
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Famous people and small craft accidents: Why?!?
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Posted:Sep 29, 2016 7:21 am
Last Updated:May 30, 2019 6:21 pm
9359 Views
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What is it with famous people that makes them think they are invincible?
This question popped into my mind again after two recent fatal small boat and aircraft accidents:
On August 28, Ice Road Truckers star (seasons 6-10) Darrell Ward and his pilot were killed when their brand new Cessna 182 aircraft crashed on the shoulder of Interstate 90 while attempting to land at a small airstrip near Clinton, Montana. He was returning from a truckers convention in Dallas to begin work on a new series about plane accident investigations. The 52-year-old Ward left behind a wife, two grown (including his Reno, featured in IRT season 8 ), and a business partner (Lisa Kelly) who has some important decisions to make before IRT season 11 filming kicks off in a few months.
Just this past Sunday, September 25, Miami Marlins rising star pitcher José Fernández, aged 24, and two friends died when their small boat crashed into a jetty off Miami Beach, no life jackets worn. Fernández left behind a pregnant girlfriend. (And as we now know, they were drinking.)
Why?!? Why is God allowing these good men to die while allowing so many evil ones to continue to prosper?
These are, of course, not the first small craft accidents to claim famous people. Just to name three that come to mind:
February 3, 1959 is perhaps the most famous one, just outside Clear Lake, Iowa: "The Day the Music Died", when Buddy Holly (22), Ritchie Valens (17) and The Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson, 27) and their pilot died while flying on to their next winter caravan tour stop in Fargo. Future country star Waylon Jennings, playing bass with Holly's band at the time, accepted a deal from Richardson so J.P. could get to Fargo with Buddy. Holly's other band member, guitarist Tommy Allsup lost the coin flip with Valens, and also waited with the others for the tour bus heater to be repaired. Holly left a widow and unborn (miscarried shortly thereafter), Richardson left a widow, , and unborn (J.P. Jr.), and Valens left behind a girlfriend forever immortalized in song ("Donna").
October 1999, another tragic small plane crash claims golfer Payne Stewart, two agents, and a course designer working for golf legend Jack Nicklaus plus the two pilots when a malfunction causes the jet to depressurize at altitude, and the jet flies on until it crashes near Aberdeen, South Dakota.
And another small boating accident involving baseball pitchers in Florida happened back in March 1993, killing Cleveland Indians pitchers Steve Olin (27) and Tim Crews (31), and injuring fellow Indians pitcher Bobby Ojeda when Crews hit a small dock during dusk hours on Little Lake Nellie in Clermont, Florida.
Of course, two other small plane crashes of note: Jim Croce in September 1973, and Aaliyah in August 2001; and that freak tragic car accident that killed Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes from TLC in Honduras in April 2002.
What about JFK Jr. in July 1999, flying in dense fog conditions he was never trained to handle while approaching an airport that gives even the most experienced pilots grief due to frequent fog, a crash also claiming his wife and sister-in-law...
And composer James Horner (Star Trek II/III, Titanic, Avatar) in June 2015, apparently too busy thinking of his next musical score to properly fly the plane... One of a number of Trek deaths in 2015, but the only one by small craft.
When are we going to see terms written into their contracts forbidding dangerous activities (or at least ensuring all safety protocols are followed)?
These were not experimental craft like the Long-EZ that John Denver died in while piloting on October 12, 1997.
The only question we can ask is Why?!?
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Is your church a Pokestop?
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Posted:Sep 5, 2016 12:16 pm
Last Updated:Sep 7, 2016 9:54 pm
7927 Views
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Today's bit of humor, as recently seen on the sign board at our local Nazarene church:
"Our church is a Pokestop
Come let God take a Pikachu"
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The Greatest: Ali, 1942-2016 :(
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Posted:Jun 3, 2016 10:13 pm
Last Updated:Dec 19, 2016 4:10 pm
10496 Views
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Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr., aka
Muhammad Ali, aka
The Louisville Lip, aka
The Greatest of All Time...
... is no more.
The 1960 Rome Olympic Gold Medalist, three-time heavyweight boxing champion and legend passed away hours ago in Phoenix at age 74.
He shall be greatly missed. 
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Prince's Purple Reign is over. :((
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Posted:Apr 21, 2016 10:51 am
Last Updated:May 30, 2019 6:27 pm
18440 Views
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So long Prince Rogers Nelson, dead at 57.
His "Royal Badness" was found dead this morning at his estate in Chanhassen, near Minneapolis. His cause of death was not yet released at posting time, but presumably from complications of a nasty case of flu that forced his plane to land at Moline, Illinois (Quad Cities) for treatment as he returned to the Twin Cities from an Atlanta concert last Thursday.
He was one of the greatest singers, songwriters, performers and producers of his generation, and he shall be greatly missed. 
PRINCE THE MUSIC LEGEND JOINS THE GREAT HEAVENLY BAND IN THE SKY for details from TMZ, thanks tmptrzz for posting it.
APRIL 21, 2017 UPDATE: One year on, and still so many questions why and what and who. But we found out it was an overdose of potent opioid pain killer Fentanyl, prescribed under a fake name to protect his privacy, that did him in.
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Adam LaRoche: INTEGRITY in action
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Posted:Mar 18, 2016 10:58 pm
Last Updated:Apr 3, 2016 5:13 pm
13839 Views
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I have written about integrity in my blog before. (See post INTEGRITY.)
I am from a family and culture that holds integrity first, and I take great offense at anyone or anything that dares call it into question without just cause.
So it was with awe and wonder, and right on!, that I read the past two days of Chicago White Sox player Adam LaRoche's decision to retire over the decision made by club VP Ken Williams to ban his , Drake from the clubhouse, which violated Adam's agreement with the club.
Adam was a second generation player (his father is former MLB pitcher Dave LaRoche), and is hoping Drake will also do so.
Pitcher Chris Sale and Manager Robin Ventura were among the many players and coaches who lauded both Adam and Drake, and Sale also pointed out that Williams had told three different stories about how it went down, and how they were standing against BS.
Can you imagine how baseball would be different today if the Reds and Yankee clubhouses of the 1970s and early 1980s had banned future BBHoFer Ken Griffey Jr. from hanging out with Sr. and learning the game better than his dad?!?
Bottom line: "promises made must be promises kept," as Bush 43 said. That's what integrity, and the principles it entails, means.
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(Not So) Finest Hours for screenwriters
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Posted:Feb 3, 2016 1:17 pm
Last Updated:Mar 20, 2017 1:56 am
15150 Views
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One has to hand it to Hollywood. They attempt to rewrite history for real life events, even parts of history that did not come into play for the event.
Case 1: Apollo 13 (1995). Those of us who were alive in April 1970 and know that the one Aquarius (lunar excursion module) engine burn was 14 seconds cringed when this burn was expanded to 39 seconds, and also that the Earth horizon targeting used in that burn was devised by Jim Lovell for Apollo 8 back in December 1968, not at the time of Apollo 13's crisis 16 months later.
Case 2: The Finest Hours (2016). Yes, this movie opened this past weekend, and I have heard the unabridged audio of the great book by Michael J. Tougias and Casey Sherman upon which the film is based.
If you saw the film without knowing the whole back story, you would believe Bernie Webber met his wife-to-be Miriam in November 1951, agreed to marry her on April 16, 1952 (about two months after the rescue I'm about to mention), that she raised hell with his Coast Guard CO when he was sent out commanding motor lifeboat CG36500 to rescue crew from the stern section of the ill-fated T2 oil tanker SS Pendleton, and that she was present to lead the car light turn on to guide the lifeboat back to shore.
Reality is not quite so "dramatic", sorry Disney.
Bernie and Miriam actually met in January 1950, and they got married on July 16 of that year (married by Bernie's priest father), so they were already married about a year and a half at the time of the Pendleton rescue.
On February 18, 1952, Miriam was sick at home with the flu, and could not have gotten out and stuck in the snow and led the light turn on, let alone have the energy to confront his CO; the same flu outbreak that prevented his CG buddy Mel Gouthro from participating in the rescue.
When they say "based on a true story", at least keep the history straight.
Also, there is a lack of originality over the past 40 years...
Other than what the Lucas, Marvel and Pixar divisions have done (all great film franchises they bought), Disney is desperate. How many live action remakes and sequels of their classic animated flicks have been made? Cinderella, Maleficent (Sleeping Beauty), 101 Dalmatians (and 102 as well), Alice Through The Looking Glass, and there's even a live action version of The Jungle Book heading to theaters soon. They are even talking a Mary Poppins sequel. Which one gets remade next, Bedknobs and Broomsticks or The Aristocats? 
(July 2016 update: Would you believe Pete's Dragon, one of Disney's worst combined live action/animated originals from the 70s? )
(March 2017 update: Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid live action remakes come out this spring, and Mary Poppins Returns is currently filming. )
Other studios have done remakes in recent years, too, and cheapened the originals as a result, like Jessica Simpson shaking her Daisy Dukes in a very bad Dukes of Hazzard film.
Then there are the franchise "reboots", like Star Trek and X-Men and Fantastic 4 and even Spider-Man!
The mentality is that those formulas are proven, and almost guaranteed to bring in mega-box office bucks.
However, a bad script has the potential to limit returns. Star Trek's original cast survived bad odd number movies with well received even movies, but Next Generation only got four mediocre-at-best films (their fifth was canned by Paramount because of "franchise fatigue") before the reboot the past few years. And messing with your universe too much (as JJ Abrams did with Trek) leaves too much confusion, and that detracts too much from your story.
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