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After a short stint at Fat Fish Blue last evening, highway logistics forced me to to come home through the hood. So, I stopped at Steve's to grab some hot dogs. When I got there, there were a couple of urban kids getting dinner. The older was about 10 and the younger kid about 6. So, I sat at the counter next to them and waited my turn. The older kid saw my buttons.

UK: "Give...fear...a...chance."
Me: "Yep, that's our President. Not for much longer though."
UK: "What's your other button say?"
(I turned so he could read it.)
UK: "Polar bears....against...Pal-in. Does that mean you're voting for John McCain?"
Me: "No, I'm voting for Obama."
UK: "If I could vote for him, I would. Last time, when I was younger, I would have voted for George Bush. I'm not sure I liked that guy he was against. John F. Kenne..."
Me: "You mean John Kerry?"
UK: "Yeah, him. But I'm for Obama this time."

Then his dogs were ready and he hit me up for a quarter, so he could grab a pop. Of course, I obliged. He politely thanked the woman behind the counter and he and his brother went off into the night. Then I got my dogs and went home.

Meal of Links

McCain-Palin is the first ticket to have both participants guilty of ethics violations. Of course, we will hear how no laws were broken.

All about "Jolene". One of Dolly Parton's best. Many covers, including The White Stripes, are out there.

Here is a live version from The White Stripes:



It isn't Fannie or Freddie. it appears to be the private sector who is responsible for this mess.

Exercise Yard

Lots of sports viewing this evening. LSU-Florida turned out to be a dud. Missouri-Oklahoma State turned out to be pretty good. NASCAR had a funky race from Charlotte, where the frontrunners took off and there wasn't a whole lot of racing. And Boston-Tampa were doing the playoff baseball thing. And preseason NBA basketball outdoors from the Indian Wells Tennis Center, where it looked like it was getting cold. So, the remote got a workout.

But I hung mostly with boxing. Sort of blew off the Peter-Klitschko fight, but watched "Bad" Chad Dawson win a light heavyweight title, actually two, over Antonio Tarver.

Dawson's handspeed was the difference. Tarver threw a lot of punches but they had no power, Cap'n. Dawson with the unanimous decision. Steve Albert called it "An exciting, one-sided fight." and it was.

His best line was in reference to Floyd Mayweather, Jr. after an on-camera appearance: "I know he's retired and one of the all-time great boxers, but you'd think he could have better seats. He's in the nosebleeds...Bob Uecker territory."

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17 Across: Pre-WWI naval historian Alfred Thayer _____ (5 letters) Answer: Mahan