Bob Costas Is Sane!

Costas Refuses to Host Show on Holloway

NEW YORK — While some cable TV hosts are making their living off the Natalee Holloway case this summer, Bob Costas is having none of it.

Costas, hired by CNN as an occasional fill-in on "Larry King Live," refused to anchor Thursday's show because it was primarily about the Alabama teenager who went missing in Aruba. Chris Pixley filled in at the last minute.

"I didn't think the subject matter of Thursday's show was the kind of broadcast I should be doing," Costas said in a statement. "I suggested some alternatives but the producers preferred the topics they had chosen. I was fine with that, and respectfully declined to participate."

Costas' manager declined to elaborate on what Costas didn't like about the topic.

Finally, someone in the media has the gall to stand up to this stupid "pretty young white girl" phenomenon. Maybe others in the media will follow suit... or maybe pigs will fly.

Blitzkreig of Another Sort

19 Fort Benning soldiers struck by lightning

A lightning strike sent 19 Fort Benning soldiers to the hospital Tuesday as a storm brought between 2 and 3 inches of rain to the area.

Most of the soldiers were treated and released from Martin Army Community Hospital, although four remained hospitalized overnight for observation.

The soldiers, who are in basic training, were on their last day of a field exercise and preparing to head back to their barracks because of the weather when they were spread out as part of a precaution against lightning, Fort Benning spokeswoman Monica Manganaro said.

"They had them ground their equipment so they weren't holding weapons," she said. "They did all the right things."

Eric Avila, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Peachtree City office, said Columbus set a new daily rainfall record for Aug. 16 of 2.25 inches — most of it between 4 and 5 p.m.

Unfortunate.

Animal Planet

Apparently some ecologists want to see lions and elephants roaming the Great Plains of the Midwest. Of course, I shouldn't have to be the one to tell you that it's not necessarily safe to take these animals out of their natural habitats.

Georgia's Finest

Today, vigils and moments of silence were held across the state of Georgia in memory of her fallen soldiers.

Barely anyone in Georgia's state Capitol had a dry eye by the end of the two minutes of silence observed Thursday afternoon to honor the state's 56 soldiers killed in the Iraq war.

Gov. Sonny Perdue led an hourlong prayer vigil under the Gold Dome to remember the men and women in the state -- and across the nation -- who have died in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The formal ceremony opened with the color guard and the national anthem, followed by the two-minute silent tribute. Then, religious leaders from various faiths led the audience through prayers of strength, comfort and condolence.

I am always in awe when a soldier loses his or her life fighting for God and country. I have said little of controversy since I've started writing this blog, but recently I've thought about the future of America, as well as the future of Iraq. Although I opposed the invasion of Iraq, and I am unapologetic about that fact, I do not and can not support withdrawal from that nation. I have always felt that a failed state is more dangerous to American security than a rogue state; just look at the global terrorism that was able to breed in Somalia, Sudan, and Afghanistan.

There are very few solutions at this point, and I don't believe immediate democracy in Iraq is one of them. Democracy can only survive in a stable nation, and a stable nation Iraq isn't. While ethnic and religious groups bicker over their role in the new government, subsequently missing the self-imposed August 15 deadline, more Iraqis and Americans are dying. The Constitution will certainly officially lay the foundation for a bureaucracy in Iraq, how much can that bureaucracy be trusted to maintain the interests of the Iraqi people? Corruption already plagues our recruiting efforts over there. The future of Iraq is yet to be seen, and like it or not, America's future is tied with Iraq's.

Franco Turns 47

Braves first baseman, Julio Franco, is turning 47 on Tuesday. Apparently he must have liked being in Texas.

Happy Madden Day!

Everybody knows that Madden release day is bigger than Christmas. Yes, I got my copy. And yes, I will kick your ass. Bring it!

Peter Jennings Dead at 67

Sad times. Of the big network newscasters, he was my favorite.

"There Must Be Some Kind of Way Out of Here..."

Jimi Hendrix apparently took those words literally as he joined the Army to avoid jail time for car theft, and subsequently feigned homosexuality to avoid the Army. Cross's new book sounds interesting enough though. As friends of mine would probably note, Hendrix is a huge influence of mine (along with Buddy Guy).

As an aside, did you know that Hendrix was an accomplished blues musician as well? "Red House" is one of my favorites, but his more popular "Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)" is a straight-up blues song that few people recognize as actually blues. Check out some of the playing styles of Eric Clapton (especially his early days with Cream, Derek & the Dominoes, and John Mayall's Bluesbreakers) and Jimmy Page to see how blues helped shape 60s and 70s British classic rock (how blues became so popular in Britain, I have no clue).

And yes, I'm a music nut.

Pork I Can Agree With

From the AJC:

State leaders on Monday hailed Georgia's share of a massive federal transportation funding bill that adds $286 million a year in road and other improvements to the state's transportation budget.

"These are real numbers," said Gov. Sonny Perdue after exultant speeches by U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) and state Transportation Board chairman David Doss at a news conference. "When everyone has their act together, this is the kind of benefit that we can enjoy and put together for meaningful projects."

The bill, approved Friday by Congress, designates $7.55 billion for Georgia over six years, adding an additional $286 million a year in transportation funds that the state didn't have before, according to state figures. President Bush is expected to sign the bill into law soon. It is unclear when the projects would begin.

Included in that $7.55 billion are up to $350 million in "earmarked" projects that legislators got specifically written into the bill to bring home to their constituents. Transportation officials could not say which projects would have been funded with or without the bill. The money earmarked for work on Ga. 400 and I-285 at Ashford Dunwoody Road relieved Yvonne Williams, president of the Northside Community Improvement Districts. She said that she can't count the number of times she has been to Washington lobbying for the bill in the past five years.

If you didn't know, transportation is a huge issue in the state of Georgia. Case in point, Atlanta has the second highest miles of asphalt per-capita in the country, yet it has the fourth worst traffic congestion. And not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but I wonder how much of this money is going to MARTA and the expansion of public tranportation throughout the state. In the long run, that would help alleviate the need for these billions of dollars to help fix Georgia's tranportation situation, which only gets worse as more people move down here. But oh well, I'll take it.

Safe, Legal, and Rare

From the Sacramento Bee:

WASHINGTON - Abortion may flare up as the most emotional issue for senators and activists when confirmation hearings begin in September for President Bush's Supreme Court nominee, John Roberts. But statistically, it is becoming less and less of a factor for American women.

The national abortion rate has been declining for more than two decades. It is now at its lowest since 1974, the year after the court's Roe v. Wade decision overturned states' abortion bans by ruling that a woman's decision to terminate pregnancy through surgery is a matter of privacy protected by the Constitution...

Meanwhile, data released last month by the Alan Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion rights, reported that fewer than 21 of every 1,000 women between 15 and 44 had an abortion in 2002, the most recent year for which data was available. That compares with a rate of more than 29 per 1,000 at abortion's peak in the United States, in 1980 and 1981. If the trend continues, abortion could soon recede to its 1974 rate, about 19 per 1,000 per women of childbearing age.

Interesting stuff. The article points out that a Roberts judgeship wouldn't turn the tide of Roe v. Wade.