GA Russell

...but also seen as a way for government to control movement of the citizens, ala the U.S.S.R. Forcing average citizens to carry "papers" in order to travel in their own country and all. Thanks MG and Moose for your responses. Moose, that's what Ron Paul is talking about. He is saying that the neocons now running the government are not conservatives, and that what we have now is not Republicanism. (I suppose that this comment should be in the Politics forum, so forgive me.)

Don't foreigners own the Federal Reserve banks? That bothers me a lot more than their owning Citibank.

I got my most recent passport in 2000 when I travelled to Honduras to visit cigar factories. Great vacation! So without looking at it, I think that it won't expire for another three years. Not to hijack the thread, but there has been a lot of discussion in the US recently about having a national ID. Seventeen states have rejected the idea. I don't understand what the objection is. Anybody know?

Kenny Weir can verify this, but that looks to me like a Hawthorn Hawks jersey!

Thanks for posting this, Chalupa. Very interesting. 1) Who is Mika? Anybody I should have heard of? 2) Interesting that profit margins are way up while sales are flat, not declining, for the company. Makes me wonder to what extent the majors' problems are due not to the changes in the industry but rather to the incompetence of specific employees.

Many thanks to Aggie and WD45 for the heads up! I ordered: Charlie Parker - Savoy and Dial Master Takes (3 CD box) Maynard Ferguson - A Message from Birdland Gil Evans - Out of the Cool Gerald Wilson - Monterey Moods and for a friend: Miles Davis - Lift to the Scaffold edit to add: That's $2.56 per CD!

When I was a boy I was a Boston Patriots fan, and Mike Holovak was their coach for most of that time. He later went on to spend many years in the front office of the Houston Oilers. Here's his AP obituary: http://www.projo.com/patriots/content/sp_f...15.279dddc.html Mike Holovak, coached Patriots to first title game, dies at 88 07:37 AM EST on Monday, January 28, 2008 By HOWARD ULMAN AP Sports Writer FOXBORO, Mass. - Mike Holovak, a longtime NFL executive who coached the Patriots to their first championship game, died Sunday, a few hours before the team left for the Super Bowl. He was 88. Holovak died in Ruskin, Fla., of complications from pneumonia, Boston College spokesman Reid Oslin said after speaking with Holovak's wife, Pauline Scudder Holovak. Holovak was a former football star and coach at Boston College. The Patriots' second winningest coach, Holovak led the Boston Patriots to the American Football League title game after the 1963 season. They lost to San Diego, 51-10. He later was vice president of player personnel and general manager of the Houston Oilers and stayed on when they moved to Tennessee and became the Titans. He began his NFL career playing for the Chicago Bears and Los Angeles Rams before he became freshman football coach at Boston College in 1949 and varsity coach in 1951. "Mike Holovak was a great coach and a wonderful person," Patriots owner Robert Kraft said in a statement issued by the team. "I remember watching Mike's Boston College teams in the 1950s and his Patriots teams in the 1960s. "I was fortunate to have the opportunity to spend time with him on several occasions. Our team has lost one of its founding fathers and the entire Patriots family is saddened by Mike's passing." Holovak had a 53-47-9 record as Patriots coach, including playoffs. Only Bill Belichick has more wins, 105. When the Boston Patriots became part of the new AFL in 1960, Holovak was their first director of player personnel and served as offensive backfield coach. They were 5-9 that season under Lou Saban and missed the playoffs. After they started the 1961 season at 2-3, Holovak replaced Saban and led them to a 7-1-1 record the rest of the season, finishing with a 41-0 win at San Diego and a four-game winning streak. The New England Patriots reached this year's Super Bowl by beating the Chargers 21-12 in the AFC championship game. On Sunday, about 15,000 fans attended a departure rally at Gillette Stadium at which Kraft and several players spoke. The Patriots went 9-4-1 in 1962 and missed the playoffs but made it for the first time the following year after posting a 7-6-1 record. They beat Buffalo 26-8 in their first playoff game, then traveled to San Diego for the AFL championship game. The Patriots didn't return to the playoffs before Holovak was replaced after the 1968 season by Clive Rush. "Mike was a mentor, a coach, a friend, and above all, a consummate gentleman," said Gino Cappelletti, the second leading receiver on the 1963 Patriots and sixth in club history. "His contributions as coach and general manager in the critical early years of the Patriots' franchise were monumental." Holovak also coached and held administrative positions with the San Francisco 49ers, Oakland Raiders and New York Jets. "Mike was the quintessential 'football guy,'" Titans owner Bud Adams Jr. said in a statement issued by Boston College. "It is rare when you see a person excel in all three areas of the sport: a great player in college, a successful coach and great talent evaluator, but Mike was one of the special people." A memorial mass was planned for the Boston College campus on Feb. 9.

Homocides ? LOL! I guess spelling isn't one of my strong suits.

Dig the photo of the suspect. http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-5murde...0,6530536.story

It was announced last year that Tony Proudfoot has ALS/Lou Gehrig's Disease. I had the pleasure of meeting him at the 1985 Grey Cup. Nice guy. Today there is an article that says that his roommate Larry Uteck died from ALS in 2002. Furthermore, The CFL Players Association says that 8 of its 15,000 members have ALS. The article says that in the general population only 2 of 100,000 have it. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/New...4796663-cp.html

MG, do you get the Doonesbury comic strip in England? There is a character called Uncle Duke who is based on Thompson. Thompson's alter ego in his books was Raoul Duke.

Raleigh has a chance to get a team in the proposed United Football League, and that is what we have been reading about in this area. Here is an article about another proposed league that I had not heard about. http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/R...tsFootball/home New football league holds first draft GEORGE HENRY Associated Press January 26, 2008 at 8:23 PM EST ATLANTA — Bryan Randall and Eric Crouch still long to play professional football. Though the two quarterbacks might not earn another NFL paycheque, Randall and Crouch are grateful that the All American Football League will debut in April. Former college standouts Randall and Crouch were the second and third picks in the league's inaugural draft on Saturday, with Randall going to Tennessee and Crouch going to Texas. Randall, a former Virginia Tech standout who spent time on the Atlanta Falcons' squad, went to training camp last year with the Pittsburgh Steelers but didn't make the team. "It's a great opportunity for me, and I can't wait to get back on the field and compete," Randall said. "I guess I've learned that you never get football out of your blood, or at least I haven't been able to, over the last few months." The league will fill the void created when the NFL shut down NFL Europe earlier this year after 16 seasons. The league was losing a reported US$30 million a season. With teams in Detroit; Little Rock, Ark; Gainesville, Fla.; Birmingham, Ala.; Knoxville, Tenn.; and a yet-to-be-determined city in Texas, the league hopes to build on fans' identification with former collegiate stars. Former Troy offensive lineman Zarah Yisrael was drafted No. 1 overall by Arkansas. Florida picked Marshall quarterback Eric Kresser fourth overall, and another quarterback, David Koral of UCLA, went to Michigan in the No. 5 spot. Alabama drafted centre Josh Sewell, formerly of Nebraska, with the sixth and final pick of the first round. Crouch, who won the 2001 Heisman Trophy at Nebraska, is eager to show American fans that he can still play quarterback. Drafted No. 3 overall by the Texas team, Crouch was an NFL receiver for St. Louis and Green Bay. Kansas City later designated him to NFL Europe, where he remained a wideout in 2006 for Hamburg. But not long after leaving Germany, Crouch was allowed to play quarterback again when he signed with the CFL's Toronto Argonauts. "I love the game of football, but quarterback really is my passion," Crouch said. "I can't deny that I'd like to get another chance to play in the NFL, but the fact remains that I'm really excited to play this spring for Texas. I think the atmosphere will be great." League CEO Marcus Katz, who made a fortune after co-founding a company that provided student loans, first announced plans last year for a professional league that would lean heavily on the year-round craze of big-time college programs. So when the All American debuted its colours, logos, helmets and mascots during the draft, it was no surprise that everything was nearly identical to those used by each state's most popular college program. Florida, for example, will wear orange and blue and play three of its five home games at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville. Former Gators quarterback Shane Matthews is the head coach, and Kresser will face competition from Chris Leak, who helped the state's biggest university beat Ohio State for 2006 national title. Hoping to avoid alienating fans from rival in-state schools, the league has encouraged teams to sign players with regional ties. Auburn running back Tre Smith will wear crimson and white and play at Birmingham's Legion Field after signing with Alabama. Receiver Peter Warrick, who starred at Florida State before the Cincinnati Bengals drafted him No. 4 overall in 2000, will play for Florida. The league has yet to complete a television contract, but it used many of the techniques on Saturday that have helped the NFL make its annual draft a media phenomenon. A studio at TBS hosted a central draft show, and the league set up a "war room" at its headquarters in suburban Sandy Springs. Each team hosted a draft-day event that was televised from hotel ballrooms in the clubs' hometowns. Former NFL stars and other celebrities made brief appearances in an attempt to lend credibility. Lem Barney, a Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee with the Detroit Lions, boxing legend Thomas Hearns and former current Cleveland Browns receiver Braylon Edwards announced picks in Michigan. Actor David Keith, a renowned Tennessee fan, did the same in Knoxville. Former SMU running back Craig James and former Houston quarterback David Klingler appeared for Texas.

Welcome clave and Bev! I've got you all beat. I'm a lesbian trapped in a man's body. The woman on the far left is Polly Bergen. When I was little my sister had an early LP of hers called Bergen Sings Morgan, in which she covered the songs of Helen Morgan. Twenty years later I had a part time job in a department store, and she made an appearance into my little corner and briefly chatted with me. I think she was in the store promoting a new perfume of hers. She was still quite attractive, and very nice too.

Jeff Garcia was chosen today for the Pro Bowl game in a couple of weeks. This will be his fourth Pro Bowl. IMO, this is a "Please forgive us for not picking you last year" sort of thing. He had an amazing run with the Eagles last year, but the selections were made too early, and Tony Romo was picked ahead of him, which last year was a mistake. This year Garcia played very little the second half of the season, with a back injury. Of course, without him Tampa Bay would not have made the playoffs. http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/R...tsFootball/home

I have both Henry Mancini Peter Gunn albums. I think the first one is a masterpiece, the second not as good. I have the second Shelly Manne, which contains the same songs as the second Mancini. The Mancini and the Manne create entirely different moods. The albums are not similar at all, despite the presence of the same songs. I enjoy all of my Shelly Manne albums very much except Yesterdays, which was released a few years ago. I opened up At the Blackhawk Vol. 2 just last week, and have been playing the heck out of it. I've been meaning to pick up the first Manne Gunn album, but haven't yet. Maybe the next Concord blowout. Anyway, another thumb up for Son of Gunn.

MG, North Carolina, for example, has a sales tax of 7%. The govt of NC would like to collect that on everything that a resident of NC purchases. But... The US Constitution prohibits states from interfering with interstate commerce. Just as France numbers its republics by the number of constitutions it has had (Isn't France now the Fifth Republic?), the US is now on its second republic. The first constitution was called the Articles of Confederation, which existed approximately from 1776 to 1789. The Articles of Confederation allowed the States much more independence than our present constitution, which was passed in 1789. Under the Articles of Confederation, business was a mess. Each state was printing its own money, I think. States were taxing goods shipped in from other states. So the 1789 constitution prohibited such interference. So since 1789, states have been prohibited by the Constitution from placing a sales tax or tariff on goods purchased from another state. However, if a company has a location in the state, a purchase from that company is considered intrastate commerce (and therefore taxable) no matter where the good is actually shipped from.

Nik Bartsch's Ronin will have a new album called Holon released Feb. 5 (aka Super Tuesday and Mardi Gras), and they will be touring the US promoting it: February 23 - Portland, OR - Portland Jazz Festival February 25 & 26 - Los Angeles, CA - Jazz Bakery February 27 - Ann Arbor, MI - Firefly February 28 - Boston, MA - Regattabar February 29 - Knoxville, TN - Bijou Theater March 3 - Washington DC - Blues Alley March 4 - Columbus, OH - Wexner Center March 5 - New York City - Joe’s Pub March 7 - San Francisco, CA - SF Jazz - YBCA Forum We had a thread on his last album called Stoa which I really enjoyed. I'm looking forward to this new one.

The trio will be touring: February 2 - Newark, NJ - New Jersey Performing Arts Center March 5 - Los Angeles, CA - Royce Hall March 8 - San Francisco, CA - SF Jazz / Masonic Auditorium September 1 - Philadelphia, PA - Kimmel Center October 18 - New York, NY - Carnegie Hall

Lots of non-jazz entertainers, of course. Very few New York jazz people. Lots of local musicians. I'd like to see Roy Head! If you have never gone, I highly recommend it. No need to hear any non-jazz acts that don't appeal to you. And the food is great! http://www.nojazzfest.com/index.php?http%3...f_pr_012408.php

Lois Nettleton died Friday. This obituary shows that she had a much more interesting career than I realized. I had no idea that she had so many roles on Broadway. I guess time marches on, but I had no idea that she was that old, ten years older than Suzanne Pleshette for example. I remember her starring in a TV series about 1962. As I recall she was a divorcee who ran a farm. I think but I'm not sure that Jerry Van Dyke was in it. To my knowledge that was the first TV show in which the lead role was of a divorcee. I also remember seeing her on a game show a few years later in which she got into a little bit of an argument with the emcee about the rules. She didn't lose her temper, but she kept saying, "I don't want to cavil, but..."! Here's her LA Times obituary: http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-...news-obituaries Lois Nettleton, 80; stage, movie and TV actress Los Angeles Times The actress, shown in 1985, once said she enjoyed playing a variety of roles. She appeared on many television series, including "In the Heat of the Night," "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "The Twilight Zone." By Mary Rourke, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer January 23, 2008 Lois Nettleton, an actress who went from Broadway plays to roles in movies and on popular television series, has died. She was 80. Nettleton died Friday of complications from lung cancer at the Motion Picture and Television Fund Hospital in Woodland Hills, publicist Dale Olson said. She made her Broadway debut in a 1949 production of "The Biggest Thief in Town," a comedy by Dalton Trumbo. She appeared in more than a dozen other plays, on and off Broadway, over the next decade. As Blanche DuBois in a 1973 production of "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams, Nettleton avoided the typical portrayal of a faded beauty turned boozy manipulator. "This is a Blanche . . . who has been to hell and back and yet retains her innocence," wrote critic Clive Barnes in a review for the New York Times. "Miss Nettleton plays Blanche as a woman of nearly unshatterable courage." Nettleton said in interviews that theater was her first love, but she moved to Los Angeles to be closer to her ailing mother. In Hollywood, starting in the 1950s, she was a guest actress on dozens of leading television series. She had roles on "Kraft Television Theatre" and "Studio One" in the 1950s and appeared on "The Twilight Zone" in a 1961 episode titled "The Midnight Sun." She played a woman coping with the radically shifting climate after the Earth falls out of orbit. Nettleton also had roles on "Bonanza" and "The Fugitive" in the 1960s and "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" in the '70s, among other series. For two years in the late 1980s, she was a regular on the police drama "In the Heat of the Night." She also appeared on "The Golden Girls," "Murder, She Wrote" and "Cagney & Lacey." For three years in the 1990s, she had a role as Virginia Benson on the soap opera "General Hospital." She won Emmy Awards for daytime television for her role as suffragette Susan B. Anthony in "The American Woman: Portraits in Courage" in 1976 and her performance in an episode of the religious program "Insight" in 1983. She made her movie debut in 1962 in "Period of Adjustment," based on a play by Williams. She also had roles in "Mail Order Bride" in 1964, "The Man in the Glass Booth" in 1975 and "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" in 1982. "It takes courage to be . . . a gypsy actor like I am," Nettleton told The Times in 1985, adding that she liked playing a variety of roles. "I'm a character actress. I always wanted to be as different in everything as possible," she said. Nettleton was born Aug. 16, 1927, in Oak Park, Ill. At 21, she was named Miss Chicago. She studied acting at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago and moved to New York City, where she joined the Actors Studio. She married Jean Shepherd, the writer, actor and radio personality, in 1960. Their marriage ended in divorce seven years later. She had no children and has no immediate survivors. Instead of flowers, contributions in Nettleton's name can be made to The Actors Fund, for Everyone in Entertainment, 729 Seventh Ave., 10th floor, New York, NY 10019.

Yesterday I listened to the first three discs of the Buddy DeFranco box. One of these days I will get around to opening up Disc 4. I've only had the set for 18 years!

The Argos released Troy Davis today, so I guess he's done. http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/R...tsFootball/home

I bought quite a few from him a few years ago. Google OTR in MP3 by G. L. Mercer. He just uses the best quality recordings that he has. Some, like the Harry Limes, have excellent sound. Some don't. Radio Spirits is more expensive, but they remaster only the best sounding shows available, so they sound like they were originally broadcast today.

Here's an article about Lawrence Tynes from the Canadian perspective: http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/R...tsFootball/home

Happy Birthday aparxa!