General

Every parent who takes their child to the pool, the river, the lake or the beach (that would be just about all of us) needs to read this:

[I]t does not look like most people expect.  There is very little splashing, no waving, and no yelling or calls for help of any kind.  To get an idea of just how quiet and undramatic from the surface drowning can be, consider this:  It is the number two cause of accidental death in children, age 15 and under (just behind vehicle accidents) – of the approximately 750 children who will drown next year, about 375 of them will do so within 25 yards of a parent or other adult.  In ten percent of those drownings, the adult will actually watch them do it, having no idea it is happening (source: CDC).

Tennessee has a leash law for a reason. It means keep your animals locked up.

We are currently pet-less. (Except for Charlie, and it’s unlikely that he’s going to take a stroll around the neighborhood; he’s a fish.) But when we have dogs, they’re confined. For two reasons: one, I won’t tolerate my own animals making a mess in the yard and, two, I’m sure that my neighbors don’t enjoy picking up trash or having their lawn dug up any more than I do.

It’s one thing when it’s unintended. Dogs will be dogs and sometimes they’re going to create a nuisance. But when you know that your dogs are going to someone else’s property and raiding trash cans, growling at children playing outside and digging up plants, and you make no effort to keep your dogs confined to your own property, you’re showing a complete lack of respect for your neighbors.

There are few things in life more annoying than irresponsible pet owners.

How’s this for a rarity in sports officiating? An umpire admits he was wrong after a blown call with two outs in the ninth inning cost Detroit pitcher Armando Galarraga the first perfect game in franchise history:

Umpire Jim Joyce emphatically called Cleveland’s Jason Donald safe, the Detroit Tigers argued and a chorus of groans and boos echoed in Comerica Park.

Then Joyce emphatically said he was wrong and later, in tears, hugged Galarraga and apologized.

“It was the biggest call of my career, and I kicked the [stuff] out of it,” Joyce said, looking and sounding distraught as he paced in the umpires’ locker room. “I just cost that kid a perfect game.”

Meanwhile, if not for the blown call, it would have been the third perfect game by a pitcher this month. What’s special about that? Prior to this month, there had only been 18 perfect games in MLB history.

To be born free is an accident. To live free is a privilege. To die free is a responsibility. — BG Robby Risner, USAF (ret)

Lest we forget.

Any dedicated gamer will probably be headed to his favorite game stop tomorrow to pick up a copy of Red Dead Redemption, Rockstar Games’ highly-anticipated sequel to Red Dead Revolver.

After several delays, the game will be released tomorrow. Anyone who has played the GTA series knows that Rockstar delivers two things: 1.) games that are highly controversial, but 2.) games that are the best on the market when it comes to utilizing graphics and audio technologies.

Red Dead Redemption won’t be the first western video game, but it will be the first realistic western video game…and it’s way overdue. For anyone who likes old John Wayne westerns and Louis L’Amour books and also likes to pick up an Xbox 360 or Playstation III controller every now and then, this one looks like a lot of fun.