Support Our Troops

Found in a yard in suburban, and oh so Republican Anderson Township, Ohio.

Support Our Troops

Bring Them Home!

Anderson Township has been my home for over twenty years now, and is a great place to live. Yes, the township is decidedly Republican and the main drag much too crowded with SUVs and MiniVans.

Seeing yard signs like this one a reminder that there are more like-minded people out there.

More Hell

One of the articles that gets the most view on this blog is called Hell is Real, which doesn’t reflect my religious values as much as it does show some rather interesting roadway viewing near my hometown of Cincinnati.

I suspect that what folks are searching for are pictures of Touchdown Jesus, pictured below:

You can find that statue, also known as Butter Jesus, just north of Cincinnati, near Exit 29 on the east side of the freeway.

But Touchdown Jesus can also be found in a more appropriate location than near the side of the freeway. How about the a mural on the library outside the football stadium at Notre Dame?

I would be remiss if I didn’t include a YouTube video by comedian Heywood Banks about that same Big Butter Jesus.

To provide better customer service, this blog will be monitored for quality assurance.

Oopss! Wrong medium.
What I meant to say was: “to provide better customer service on this topic, here are a couple other links.”

• Mega-Messiahs
  
• Article in WikiPedia

3555

The number of US deaths in Iraq as of today, June 23, 2007: 3555

These casualties are up from 3287 in my last post on this topic, April 9, 1987.

The source is a database called Iraq Coalition Casualties, which categorizes and numerates all the deaths and casualties of Bush’s Iraq War.

According to the web page Iraq Body Count, between 66,025 and 72,312 Iraqi civilians have been killed by military intervention in their country.

To break it down further, for those who might be interested:

• The state of Ohio gave 152 (up 10) of its sons and daughters.
• West Virginia lost 19 of its fine young men and women.

Congress has chosen not to do anything to stop the fighting, so Bush’s war grinds on and on and on.

To our sons and daughters, I say “I’m sorry that our country has let you down.”

Four Dead in Ohio

How many more?

Tin soldiers and Nixon’s coming, we’re finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming, four dead in Ohio.
Gotta get down to it, soldiers are cutting us down.
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her and found her dead on the ground?
How can you run when you know?

Gotta get down to it, soldiers are cutting us down.
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her and found her dead on the ground?
How can you run when you know?

Tin soldiers and Nixon’s coming, we’re finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming, four dead in Ohio,
Four dead in Ohio, four dead in Ohio, four dead in Ohio,
How many more?
Four dead in Ohio, four dead in Ohio, four dead in Ohio,
How many more?

– Ohio, written by Neil Young and
Performed by Crosby Stills Nash and Young

Commemorating the murders at Kent State University on May 4, 1970.

Answers to Burning Questions

In case you didn’t know, on the screens behind this blog that only people like me can see, is a function called The Dashboard. One of the things that the Dashboard displays is what search terms people are using to hit my blog.

So as a public service, I thought I’d answer several of the more ponderous questions that people seek answers for when they hit my blog. Here are some of the search terms used:

• Butter Jesus. Also known as “Touchdown Jesus”, this statue of an image alleged to be Jesus, arms uplifted and all is found a few miles north of Cincinnati. The outrageous statue is located just of the east of Interstate 75 at Exit 29 near Monroe, Ohio. You can’t miss it. You can click this link for more details.
• Neal Watzman. Yes, that’s right, I’m a search term. Almost daily someone out there is looking for me. Well you found me. I’m certainly not going to post my email address so that everyone all over the world can spam me, but I’ll gladly post a link to Watzman Associates, my FileMaker consulting company. Post a comment if you want something.
• Jesus sex. Jesus sex? What’s up with that? Taken separately, both are good things. Taken together, well, it’s really not any of my business. Most people don’t go searching the web to find out if I’ve had sex, at least as far as I can tell. Maybe there’s a few, and they just forgot to add it to the end of a search for my name.
• On a more serious note, another question is “how many World War II veterans die each day?” The answer: about 1,200 each day. We’re losing more and more of these amazing people, like my father, every day. And not only are the families losing parents and grandparents, but we are losing their story about one of the most significant events of modern times. If you are reading this and know a WWII Veteran, see if you can get them to tell you about their war experiences. I am blessed that my father wrote his memoirs at my request a few years before he died. I’ve posted them on my blog. Part I and Part II. You can view the Library of Congress Veterans History Project through another link.
• Who do you like in The Derby? Honestly, that one has not appeared in my list of search terms, but is certainly a valid question. Tough call, but I’m thinking about Great Hunter, Curlin, or Nobiz Like Showbiz. Feel free to disagree and comment below.

3287

The number of US deaths in Iraq: 3287

Almost as many US citizens were killed in Iraq during this war as live in Wellsburg, West Virginia, (population 3385) the town in the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia where I grew up.

These casualties are up from 3150 in my last post on February 22, 1987.

The source is a database called Iraq Coalition Casualties, which details all the deaths and casualties of Bush’s Iraq War.

To break it down further, for those who might be interested:

• The state of Ohio gave 142 (up 4) of its sons and daughters.
• West Virginia lost 18 of its fine young men and women.

And the killing continues with no plans to stop.

Kettle Corn

For the six of you that have read every article in my blog, I thank you.  You will note, however, that few of my posts, if any, are about food.  We could get into all sort of cosmic discussions here about food and its position in the overall cosmic scheme of things, but we won’t.

Instead, let’s talk about kettle corn.  In the whole scheme of things, kettle corn is heavenly.  Popcorn.  “Slightly Sweet. Slightly Salty”, to quote the good folks at Sweet Maize Company of Morrow, Ohio.  Which just happens to be a few miles north of Cincinnati.

I’ve Googled them, and they don’t seem to have a web site. What’s up with that?  So every time I go to Dayton, I make sure that I stop at Dorothy Lane Market and grab a few bags of this wonderful stuff.

Once again, for the six of you that read my blog daily, I thank you.  And you also know that I certainly not in the business of pushing stuff of any sort.  Regardless, if you can find this popcorn, buy it.  It’s worth the trip of whatever distance to buy some of this popcorn.

So now it’s time for you to post your comments and suggestions.  If you’ve run across the good stuff, then post it here.  There’s a comments button here somewhere.

Ole ‘55

I had moved back to Ohio after a couple years of graduate school at West Virginia University, taking my first professional job in Coshocton, Ohio. As my girlfriend of the time was still working on her degree, I used to head to Morgantown immediately after work on Friday, and return from West Virginia just in time to make it to work on Monday morning.

That meant a pre-dawn departure from the comfort of my girlfriend’s warm bed through the hills of West Virginia to Interstate Route 70 going west into eastern Ohio. There was no time to tarry nor change clothing when I reached home, if I were going to make it to work on time.

After an early start one morning, driving down the freeway, reminiscing about my pleasant weekend, with the sky brightening behind me in the east, my story of the moment was being sung by The Eagles on the radio of my red Plymouth Arrow.

Six in the morning, gave me no warnin’
I had to be on my way
Now the cars are all passin’ me,
Trucks are all flashin’ me
I’m headed home from your place

And now the sun’s comin’ up
I’m ridin’ with Lady Luck
Freeway cars and trucks

Stars beginning to fade, and I lead the parade
Just a wishin’ I’d stayed a little longer
Lord, don’t you know, the feelin’s gettin’ stronger

– Ole ‘55 by The Eagles (written by Tom Waits)

3150

While reading another blog, I came across the web site detailing casualties from the war on Iraq. The numbers:

• US fatalities: 3150
• US wounded: 23,417

Ohio gave their “fair share” of young people losing 138, while West Virginia gave 18 of their finest sons and daughters. You can find your state here.

And the slaughter of Iraqi people also continues. Daily.

When does the killing stop? Let’s bring our troops home and now!

Meanwhile television keeps gushing forth on Anna Whatever.

No New Taxes

“Read my lips! No new taxes!”
- President George H.W. Bush (aka Bush I)

Last fall the Hamilton County Commissioners put a tax levy on the ballot increase the county sales tax from 6.5% to 7.0. It failed.

Today, as reported in The Cincinnati Enquirer,

There will be no jail tax levy on the May primary ballot, two of the three Hamilton County commissioners said this afternoon.

The commissioners were scheduled to act Thursday morning on County Administrator Patrick Thompson’s plan to raise the county’s sales tax from 6.5 percent to 7 percent for the next five years – followed by a permanent reduction to 6.75 percent – to build a new 1,800 jail in Camp Washington.

It’s probably a good thing that the County Commissioners decided not to place the increase on the ballot, it should and would fail again.

Maybe if the county voters hadn’t been so burned on a sales tax levy for both a football stadium and baseball field, it might stand more of a chance. In that case, however, Hamilton County residents were deceived and robbed in an attempt to provide corporate welfare to the Cincinnati Bengals and Cincinnati Reds.

Secondly, is it possible there might be a sufficient amount of “beds” in the county prison system if people weren’t imprisoned for simple drug possession? I don’t have the statistics at hand, but I suspect that maybe too many folks who really don’t need to be in jail are sitting there wasting our county resources instead of “paying their debt to society” out in the community where they belong.

President Bush, the First, wasn’t able to keep his word, and I have much less control over taxation in Hamilton County than he does, but I’ll do my part to campaign against a new tax.