New Bush Stadium Photo Tour Slide Show

If you like me, have not had a chance yet to get to a game at the new "Bush Stadium", here is an excellent slide show of the ball park with tunes. It will give you a great idea of what the new Cardinal digs look like. The clip is from Daniel Watkins, and is a real nice photo show of the park......

Looks like a great stadium that is appropriate for the "greatest baseball fans in America" to watch games...............................................

The way Albert is swinging the bat and the rest of the team is playing, might be the site of the World Series year #1.................................

More KTRS Replacements Fired

KTRS 550 has fired another team of their new radio personalities, after cleaning house in December 05' per Deb Peterson of the Post:

the station says it will "return to a classic morning news and information format," and has hired George Woods, formerly of Kansas City's KCMO (AM-710), to host a new show. Woods is a more traditional news and information broadcaster than Scott and Casey.......................

KTRS fired everyone back in December except Frank O. Pinion & John Hadley, and things have not worked so well with the replacements. There was the Condi Rice issue with David Lenihan back in March that became a huge debacle and national story, mostly for the way the station handled it. Now there are only two replacements left, Kramer & Monty.......................

I suppose when you gain the Cardinals on your line-up, you have a bit of room to work with, but KTRS programming changes have gone beyond a joke. When you have had the problems that KTRS has experienced since the changes, seems to me the problem probably is not the replacements or even those that they replaced..........................

I'm a KTRS listener and gave Scott & Casey a chance until just a few days ago actually. I started listening to other channels and music after a show recently where they were discussing a topic that reasonably would produce lots of different reactions and opinions. They were shutting people down left and right that did not agree with them, and a guy called in and said "although you guys are never wrong, here is what I think"....................They dogged him bad. That was enough of the Scott & Casey show for me personally..........................

I'll give George Woods a fair shot, but if he does not work out, how about bringing Wendy & Bill back KTRS?............................................

Update:

In a related KTRS story the Bellevilledemocrat reports "internet rumors" that the Cards are considering leaving KTRS and returning to KMOX (here):

Despite the fact that the St. Louis Cardinals purchased 50 percent of radio station KTRS as part of a deal to transfer its broadcasts there, rumors are flying that the team plans to go back to KMOX in 2008. The scuttlebutt has appeared on Mike Anderson's Web site. The reason for the purported change isn't the complaints of fans -- including many in the metro-east -- who get poor reception of KTRS radio's weaker signal, especially at night. According to the site, KTRS has produced soft advertising revenue and the Cardinals operators' are not satisfied with the stations nonbaseball programming...............

Based on the track record of the "non-baseball" programming the past few months at KTRS, I can certainly see how that could be a concern........................

Cards President Mark Lamping is denying the move:

"Like most Internet-based rumors, this has no basis in fact," Lamping told the News-Democrat. "There's no thread of truth to it whatsoever."

Mike Anderson's STLMedia is the source of the rumor. He got the Cards move from KMOX to KTRS right a year ago and was the first to call it. STLMedia is sort of a STL Drudge when it comes to media matters in STL and worth a favorite save if your into media in the local STL market. I really like one of his banner statement: What they say: "Everybody reads it, everybody submits to it, but nobody admits it."

Denial of Service Attack Takes Down Right Leaning Blogs?

If you’re reading this blog then you probably already know that lots of the top right leaning blogs are currently down. Hugh Hewitt, Instapundit, Powerline, etc……….None of the lefty sites I’ve tried are down………………..

Little Green Footballs has a post up with some details here.

Per LGF it’s a DOS (Denial-of-Service) attack and it reportedly originated in Saudi Arabia………………………

Update:

Looks like "all" blogs on Hosting Matters are having the same problem...........doesn't look like a targeted DOS attack directed at right of center bloggers specifically.........................

Plame Game Rules for Heads on Poles

The Wall Street Journal seems to get it spot on for me today with their ability to call it like it is when it comes to the left leanings MSM's role in the McCarthy matter (here):

The deepest damage from these leak frenzies may yet be to the press itself, both in credibility and its ability to do its job. It was the press that unleashed anti-leak search missions aimed at the White House that have seen Judith Miller jailed and may find Ms. Priest and Mr. Risen facing subpoenas. And it was the press that promoted the probe under the rarely used Espionage Act of "neocon" Defense Department employee Lawrence Franklin, only to find that the same law may now be used against its own "whistleblower" sources. Just recently has the press begun to notice that the use of the same Espionage Act to prosecute two pro-Israel lobbyists for repeating classified information isn't much different from prosecuting someone for what the press does every day--except for a far larger audience.

We've been clear all along that we don't like leak prosecutions, especially when they involve harassing reporters who are just trying to do their job. But then that's part of the reason we didn't join Joe Wilson and the New York Times in demanding Karl Rove's head over the Plame disclosure. As for some of our media colleagues, when they stop being honest chroniclers of events and start getting into bed with bureaucrats looking to take down elected political leaders, they shouldn't be surprised if those leaders treat them like the partisans they have become.....................

Watch what happens as McCarthy and other political operatives from the left are frog marched forward and held accountable for breaking the law and/or their contract with the CIA over the wave of leaks that have been pouring out of the CIA for years ..............The wind you will feel blowing past you is the left running from their Plame Game mandate to "enforce the law" as their own are held accountable to the standard................The cricket chirping silence will be their explanation and logic of why the leaks are different from the Plamegate leaks...............

There are going to be lots of heads on poles, including media heads because of the "Plame Game Rule Book" that was enacted by the left to get Rove's head at all costs...................Rules are rules and standards are standards, regardless of who's head ends up on the pole................

A Bit of a Break from Blogging..........

For those who are looking for new posts, sorry, but I'm taking a bit of a break. The good news is that I have a relatively small group of daily visitors. For those who come here daily, please come back in a couple weeks. I'm way too busy in my personal life (a very good busy) to post much and actually I'm more into gaining info as a consumer of the news right now. It seems like a "VERY" healthy cycle for me personally...........

Congress Goes on Vacation without Immigration Reform

The AP is reporting that the Immigration reform bill is dead, via Drudge:

The Senate sidetracked sweeping immigration legislation Friday, leaving in doubt prospects for passing a bill offering the hope of citizenship to millions of men, women and children living in the United States illegally.
A carefully crafted compromise that supporters had claimed could win an overwhelming majority received only 38 of the 60 votes necessary to protect it from weakening amendments by opponents……………..

Congress is closing down for two weeks after today. So after their incompetent attempts to address the immigration issue over the past several weeks, they are going on vacation without accomplishing squat…………………

Senate Majority Leader Frist is quoted as follows:

"that we in all likelihood are not going to be able to address a problem that directly affects the American people."

I think it’s pretty clear that Congress and Washington have been unable to address this problem regardless of political affiliation. Whether it’s using it as a political chip or putting window dressing on a problem that calls for replacing a broken window, Washington punted on the Immigration Reform.

Surely both Democrats and Republicans in Washington are aware of the dismal polling numbers that they are collectively pulling (via Fox):

Bush: 36% Approve vs. 53% Disapprove
Democrats Congress: 29% Approve vs. 51% Disapprove
Republicans Congress: 29% Approve vs. 53% Disapprove

Those are not the kind of job performance rankings that would prompt most in the private sector to head-off on a two week vacation, while leaving a hugely important issue unaddressed and spinning out of control.

The Fox poll just as every other poll on the issue shows that Illegal Immigration is viewed as a serious matter that must be addressed. Leaving town for two weeks with this issue still in full blaze is playing with fire………………………………

Illegal immigrants are more likely than American citizens to hold jobs but less likely to have high school diplomas.

Kurt Greenbaum is having a discussion on his Talk of the Day blog about Immigration. Per Kurt:

Where are you on this issue in the immigration debate? Are we only the land of opportunity for native born residents? Should we worry about foreign students taking “American” jobs? Should we be bothered to worry about a “brain drain” in other countries? Or if we have the opportunities and needs, should we be happy to let foreigners fill them?

Here is my post on the matter:

America is a country of immigrants to it's soul, including Native Americans who came here 35,000 years ago from Asia via the land bridge and the Alaska gateway. We are a stew of nationalities and cultures and what a wonderful stew it is. It is what in the most fundamental sense makes us America. I don't see how any American could be anti-immigration and I think that only a very few Americans are actually anti-immigration. What I do think is that a large majority of Americans believe that "all" immigrants should come to America legally. It's a great mystery to me how somewhere along the way in this discussion being "Pro-Legal Immigration" somehow became "Anti-Immigration". I reject that misrepresentation and diversion on this debate.


Immigrants and legal aliens perform jobs that might not be as highly prized by many American but are never the less very important to the economy and good jobs for first generation immigrants and legal aliens just as they were for all other first generation immigrants before them. It is a win-win for everyone and a positive solution to a labor need as well as inclusion and the continued stew brewing of a country. Just as the European, African, Middle Eastern, Asian and South-North Americans before them, many of today's immigrants work their way up the "American Ladder" starting on the rungs that those before them once occupied before moving up. That is the "American Model" and the opportunity that draws each and everyone immigrant here. Everyone is welcome in my book but you have to come here via the legal process. Want to become an American citizen then go through the legal channels and "Welcome". Want to work here as a legal alien and go back and forth, no problem "Welcome - Take Care - Welcome Back"................

There are 12 Million Illegal people in this country. They should all have the opportunity to become legal citizens or legal and documented aliens. That said they must apply and follow the law as it relates to immigration, or they should be deported. Just because you live in a country on our southern border and your government is not addressing the stifling poverty in your country, that does not mean you receive a different immigration standard and non-enforcement for breaking the immigration laws............

End Talk of the day post-----------------------------

The CNN linked story above had this comment that I thought was slightly strange:

Illegal immigrants are more likely than American citizens to hold jobs but less likely to have high school diplomas.....................

More likely to hold jobs than Americans? What is that stat all about? Are there educated Americans where education alone allows them to not work and live off their education?????? People without high school diplomas have to work no doubt and some Americans with an education turn it into a cash flow without working? Are we talking "trust fund" here CNN or what?

Former Senate Aid Cutler's Sex Blog Suit Allowed by Judge

I'm not quite sure that a blog is the appropriate place to discuss ones sexual partners, especially when you are a Senate aid and your partners are Senate employees, per the AP:

A judge on Wednesday allowed a lawsuit to proceed against Jessica Cutler, the former Senate aide who posted details of her sex life on the Internet. The case brought by Sen. Mike DeWine's former counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Robert Steinbuch, alleges that Cutler engaged in an invasion of his privacy in 2004 by publishing sexually explicit facts about a relationship with Steinbuch.

Cutler's comments on her blog about Robert Steinbuch follow:

The 21-page complaint provides verbatim entries from Cutler's Internet site, starting innocuously: "Item! A new contender for my fair hand. He works in one of the committee offices. We will call him RS." The next day, the language about "RS" turns sexually explicit.

There are probably more traditional means and more appropriate ways to have these types of discussions I'm guessing and the law suit is confirming that hunch..................................

Eliminate All Insurance Premiums & Keep Your Blog

Here is a way to cut your insurance cost significantly, however it probably will require a religious conversion, per the AP:

Hours after the winds died down, a crowd of volunteers - men in plain shirts and suspenders, women in bonnets and ankle-length dresses - arrived in this farming community to help fellow Mennonites whose homes and barns were ravaged by twisters. Most of the Mennonites here do not have insurance; they say it goes against their religious beliefs. Instead, families rely on each other to rebuild after disasters.

Mennonites do not buy insurance based on religious beliefs, rather they rely on each other when faced with a disaster and the need to rebuild property and their community. Based on their acceptance of some of the modern conveniences, I can't completely rule it out:

The Mennonites are similar to the Amish in their attire, and both groups embrace self-sustaining, rural living. But the Mennonites accept more technology, including cars, telephones, electricity and computers for business purposes.

I wonder whether there are Mennonite Blogger?

Yep, This Mennonite Has a Blog, looks like Mennonites do indeed blog..............................................No insurance premiums and you can still blog!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No Dem Shift in Missouri's First 2006 Bell Weather Race

The first 2006 election in Missouri that was in a district being watch for a possible swing towards the Dem party and rejection of the Republican party occurred this evening in the Lincoln - St. Charles county election for state senator. The race was between Scott Rupp the Republican and Wayne Henke the Dem (both state reps). Per the Post ( who endorsed the Dem as always ), the shift did not occur:

Republican Rep. Scott Rupp was leading Democratic Rep. Wayne Henke in a special election today to fill a vacant Senate seat on the outskirts of St. Louis. With nearly 90 percent of the precincts reporting, Rupp had more than 55 percent of the votes counted —16,640 votes to Henke’s 13,248 , according to the secretary of state’s office.

So much for the "shift" that the left in the MSM and the Dem party have been preaching and cheering for. If the Bell Weather state of Missouri is any indication, a border area of the blue dot that is STL metro did not shift. That would seem to be bad news for the DNC in the 2006 mid-terms, Clair McCaskill in particular who is running against Republican incumbent Jim Talent. The district that this race was held in is an important district for any Democrat hoping to win on a state-wide level in Missouri. It's a historically Republican district but one that they would need a good showing in to win.......................

In the 2004 election the second district went as follows on the Governor’s race:

Blunt 56% vs. McCaskill 43%
Statewide: Blunt 54% vs. McCaskill 46%

Blunt’s margin of victory was 13% in November 04’ and the Republican candidate won yesterday’s race by 8%. A five point decrease in the margin with the margin remaining a healthy 8% is not what the Dem state party was looking for, especially considering that Henke ran as a moderate Dem….....They were looking for a win in this race and if not then closing the margin to a 1-2% gap….Didn’t happen…………………………..It’s the first race in 2006 and can’t forecast what will happen in November, but there was no collapse of Republican support in a metro boarding district that McCaskill needs a good showing in and votes from…………….


_______Update 4/5/06__________

The offical results per the Post Dispatch:

Scott Repp (Rep): 18,289 votes (53.7%)
Wayne Henke (Dem): 15,769 votes (46.3%)

Red River Cresting - Midwest Flood Danger

This will be unwelcome news for anyone living in a river based town in the Midwest. The AP is reporting the that Red River in North Dakota has begun to crest and is almost at water levels equal to what it reached during the floods of 1997. Per the AP:

The Red River began cresting here Tuesday afternoon, just over two feet shy of the 1997 flood, the city's worst in a century. The river, which runs north along the North Dakota-Minnesota line, was peaking in Fargo at 37 feet, or 19 feet above flood stage, about 5 p.m...........

The flood of 1997 was nothing compared to the Great Flood of 1993. NOAA lists it as "one of the most significant and damaging natural disasters to ever hit the US". That was before Hurricane Katrina obviously, but it was a "huge disaster" for the people living along the rivers in the Midwest:

From May through September of 1993, major and/or record flooding occurred across North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, and Illinois. Fifty flood deaths occurred, and damages approached $15 billion. Hundreds of levees failed along the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers.
The magnitude and severity of this flood event was simply over-whelming, and it ranks as one of the greatest natural disasters ever to hit the United States. Approximately 600 river forecast points in the Midwestern United States were above flood stage at the same time. Nearly 150 major rivers and tributaries were affected. It was certainly the largest and most significant flood event ever to occur in the United States......

Lots of cities like Fargo have built new and stronger levees to protect their towns from flooding after 1993, but areas that don't have the improved levees will be in even a worse situation than 1993 since they will get all the diverted water. If the flooding occurred today and broke the new levees, the damage would be astronomic per MOENVIRON.org:

In the Chesterfield Valley alone, over $1 billion in commercial investment has been placed in areas that were under 10 feet of water in July of 1993. The city of Maryland Heights plans to heavily develop 4200 acres of Missouri River floodplain land once the Howard Bend Levee is raised to a purported 500-year level.....

Chesterfield Valley alone would be $1 billion compared to $15 total in 1993. We do about 50% of our shopping and dinning in the Chesterfield Valley development and it is huge. Miles of retail shops and restaurants that would be underwater by the 1993 flood levels. I drive to work on a road that goes through the Howard Bend Levee area, so ten feet of water would not be good for the commute.

Lets hope that it's a mild flood if any at all and nothing near the 1993 levels, and there is no evidence that it will be at this point. The image of the 1993 flood that sticks in my mind is the farm house being swept away and floating away while the TV crew filmed it from a helicopter. A 100 year old farm home turned into a house boat and floated away.........................