Bill Ayers and the University of Nebraska

Go Big Red?

I had been too upset to blog about this revolting development. Just thinking about the unrepentant communist terror bomber William Ayers speaking at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln was making me ill. Thank goodness so many folks made their feelings about this stupid move known. Now it is confirmed, this awful decision has been reversed.

I sent an e-mail to Chancellor Perman's office this afternoon. Here is their reply:

Thank you for your comments. Dr. Ayers was invited for this student research conference last spring, based on his outstanding research and scholarship in the field of education. He is a distinguished professor of education at the University of Illinois at Chicago.He is highly regarded in his field and by his peers, scholars and students. He is the vice president of the American Educational Research Association. He is the author of “To Teach: The Journey of a Teacher ” which in 1993 was named Book of the Year by Kappa Delta Pi, an honor society in education. He also was named the Chicago citizen of the year in 1997 for his work with the Chicago Public Schools.

He will not talk about anything other than his research on teaching and urban school reform. We do not condone violence or any of the behaviors that Dr. Ayers engaged in 40 years ago. I can understand your strong feelings about this speaker and will pass your comments along to the dean and chancellor's office.

What kind of idiots do these elitist fellow travelers think their alumni are? They act as though I never heard of Bill Ayers. Hell, I remember June 10th, 1970, when 'protesters' that were inspired by the likes of Bill Ayers burned the Armory at UNL. The idiots that run the school now wanted to invite this same brand of trash back to give a speech at the observance of my school's 100th anniversary. I was so angry I could hardly type. I was ready to drive to Lincoln on Monday.

Our schools need a good cleaning, from top to bottom. They are infested with Marxist vermin.
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Id like to thank all the bloggers that helped to keep Bill Ayers away from Lincoln. I know the Right Wing Professor, Gerard Harbison had the University administration's feet to the fire. The Domestic Divapalooza was on their case as well. Many of the blog heavyweights joined our local fight: Michelle Malkin had several posts on the issue, BlackFive's Pinch had a very helpful post encouraging folks to sound off to Harvey Perlman, UNL's dimwitted Chancellor.

There were literally hundreds of bloggers across America that were as angry as I was to see this happen. I'd make a list with links to them all, but I need to get my blood pressure back off the ceiling.

Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman actually asked the University to back off. I'm proud of the Governor for taking a firm stand against the commies, fellow travelers and useful idiots (like University President Milliken) that run our state institutions of higher learning. Republican Congressman Lee Terry, the bailout wuss, and our one relatively good Senator, Ben Nelson went on record for uninviting Ayers as well.

Give them an inch, and they will take a mile.
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Off Topic: I can't understand how Senator Nelson, a known semi-conservative, can get behind fellow Democrat Obama's campaign. I know he can't be enthused about it and I believe he came out early for Barack just to spite Hillary Clinton. Before he knew very much about the kind of man Barack really is. I'd give money to be a fly on the voting booth wall and see for whom Ben actually pulls the lever in November.

Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel - In Good Company

Chuck Hagel - Ted Stevens - Larry E. Craig

Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, always ready to shame and embarrass the home folks that sent him to Washington, isn't going to attend the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis. He will be in good company. I got the picture above from the LA Times, and here is their caption:

NOT IN MINNESOTA: From left, Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, who is about to retire, will be in Europe. Alaska's Sen. Ted Stevens is awaiting trial; his aides say he's too busy campaigning to attend. Idaho's Sen. Larry E. Craig, another no-show, pleaded guilty in a sex scandal and will soon be an ex-senator.

Of course, the LA Times would like you to think that the fact that some 'prominent' Republicans will be staying away from the convention is a symptom of party disunity. Nice try, Californiacs, nobody wants these chumps to show their faces. It would be as unseemly as having impeached perjurer Bill Clinton show up at a Democrat convention.
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The LAT is being charitable in saying that Hagel is "about to retire". I'd call it something else; the RINO can read the handwriting on the wall in Nebraska. He couldn't get elected dogcatcher here. Even his Democrat friends don't want him around any more. Retire? More like shown the door.

Racial Equality in Nebraska - Yes or No?

Sign the petition to put the abolition of institutionalized racist and sexist discrimination on the ballot here in Nebraska. Do it today; the deadline for signatures is Independence Day.**

Martin Luther King: I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

BAMN: We have a scheme to judge Dr. King's kids by the color of their skin and by the contents of their underwear, and we will make our scheme stick By Any Means Necessary.

That BAMN scheme is affirmative action, just another name for discrimination based on skin color and gender. We know it isn't right. We shouldn't tolerate it. Race and gender discrimination are inherently wrong. Help the Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative abolish the racist and sexist laws that shame Nebraska. All they are asking is for the issue to be put to a fair vote of the people.

Do your part to help end wrongful discrimination. Sign the Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative petition now. If you need help finding a petition to sign, check with Gerard Harbison.
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Any questions? See Gerard Harbison's Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative: the blog! Nebraska blog readers also know Gerard as the author of one of Nebraska's premier blogs: The Right Wing Professor.
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** Duh! Gerard Harbison just e-mailed to point out the obvious to me: the State offices will be closed on Friday, so you need to sign that petition today!

Wind Damage at the Feedlot

Wind starts to blow - click for video

A nasty storm with winds I estimate at about 90 mph came up very suddenly yesterday afternoon. It only lasted a few minutes, but severely damaged crops, trees, power lines, and some buildings in a swath extending from Fremont, Nebraska, through Omaha and on into Iowa. The storm killed two young folks in Council Bluffs just across the Missouri River from Omaha. A tree crushed the car they were using to get out of the wind driven rain.

The old feeder was tending his garden yesterday when the sirens in nearby towns went off. There was a dark cloud off to the west, but it looked like just an ordinary summer thunderstorm. Seeing no danger, I kept pulling weeds, figuring that whoever has their finger on the storm siren button was jumpy after a tornado tore through Omaha earlier this month with no sirens sounding beforehand.

I should have paid attention. The wind, rain and small hail sneaked up behind me. By the time I got to the house I was as wet as if I'd fallen into a lake. I saw some shingles, plywood and big lengths of irrigation pipe flying through the air. My camera was by the front door because I had planned to take a picture of the corn here to prove to my friends in Northwest Iowa that it was almost 6 feet tall already. I went out and snapped the picture above, and captured this short video clip of the wind beating up on the corn. As soon as I got back inside, the wind got worse and the electricity went off.

Today, I took these photos:

The corn this morning - quite a bit of it is down

I haven't been out to look at other fields, but I heard a report on the radio of corn being down in between Valley and Omaha. This sort of damage is depressing. Corn is pretty tough, and will often stand up again after the wind lays it down. It can still produce if the stalks break above ears that have already set. But it won't make anything but silage when the stalks are snapped off near the ground like these:

Updated: Click here for more You-Tube videos of this storm.

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Update: From Fox 42 News:

Roughly 100,000 acres of farmland in Douglas, Saunders and Dodge counties was either shredded or flattened.

It was going to be a great year for farmers north of Elkhorn. Instead, the storm leveled cornfields, corn that was 6 feet tall.

The longer term economic effects of this crop damage will be worse than the downed trees and power outages in town. Nebraskans tend to forget that most of the wealth of our state grows out of the ground.

Some of this land can be replanted to soybeans, and some of the damage is covered by insurance. It costs money to replant, and insurance payouts aren't manna from heaven. The storm's cost to agriculture can't be made to go away.

Burn some gas: Norfolk Comedy Festival

Johnny Carson with an owl

The Norfolk, Nebraska Great American Comedy Festival is happening right now just a few country miles from Omaha. If you like comedy acts, plan a trip to the festival before it winds up on the 22nd.

You may know that Norfolk (pronounced nor-fork) claims to be the late great Johnny Carson's home town. The Tonight Show star has been kind to his hometown and to the University of Nebraska.

If you are sick of sitting at home wondering if the price of gasoline will ever return to "affordable", consider copping a few laughs in nearby Norfolk. Do it before the Solons of the Nebraska Unicameral impose their 3¢ per gallon tax increase on July 1st.

More bad weather - Four Boy Scouts killed at camp

Update: Progressive fruits are blaming the Iowa Boy Scout tornado deaths on global warming. This was bound to happen. Same with the wussies who are now asking, "Why in heaven's name didn't they have a storm shelter?" If rustic camps had all the amenities of home, they wouldn't offer much of a "roughing it" experience for the boys. Next they will ask why there wasn't cable TV so the boys could watch the weather mongers issue warnings.Maybe the boys should have stayed home and played 'camping games' on their X-boxes.

Being Prepared - Scout Training Pays Off

We have had our share of nasty weather this past week. Last night the tornadoes and flooding hit close to the feedlot with tragic results. Four Boy Scouts were killed and over 40 of their fellow campers were injured at an Iowa camp a few counties north and across the Missouri River from here. Gateway Pundit has a map and more links. Pictures from the scene can be found at the Sioux City Journal.

The Boy Scouts comported themselves like troopers, giving aid to the injured campers and clearing the road for emergency vehicles. The old feeder was a Boy Scout back in the day when the uniform included leggings. Hearing about how these young men handled this unavoidable catastrophe makes me proud.

Threatening Clouds

It also makes me feel silly for complaining about the wind, rain, annoying sirens and hyped-up TV coverage of the storm. The picture shows the killer storm as it passed the feedlot.

Radar Fear

Tornado Conditions

A few handy links for those of us sweating out nasty weather today:

• University of Michigan Weather Underground: Lots of cool maps and complicated features. For $5 a year you can see it without any advertising.
• NOAA National Weather Service: Its from the government, so it must be right...
• Global Warming Channel: Don't log on unless you want to feel responsible for the bad weather.

Here's the worry:

• Wind Advisory in effect until 10 PM CDT this evening...
• Flash Flood Watch in effect through late tonight...
• Tornado Watch 461 in effect until 7 PM CDT this evening...

For pictures, video and descriptions of recent tornado activity in Nebraska, check out Stephanie's blog, Come What May: here and here.

Lazy Blogger Post

Sometimes I wonder about Omaha

Too lazy to write anything. A few notable headlines:

Nebraska builds Eighth Wonder of the World
Nebraska Foreclosure Rate
Illegal Immigrants Arrested In Nebraska
See: Eye on Omaha. You will like it.

Need syrup for those Sunday waffles? Right here.
How about a different view of black leadership?
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Want some good news? We've got that, too.

Just what Nebraska needs: Cesar Chavez Day

Cesar Chavez and the UFW: Its all SO Nebraska

What happened? All of a sudden, out of the blue, there it is in the news. From now on, March 31st will be Cesar Chavez Day in Nebraska.

The only thing that even vaguely ties Nebraska to the founder of the United Farm Worker's Union is the big red signs these commie gangsters wave. How on earth did Nebraskans sit back and allow our one-horse one-house Unicameral to spray paint this fake leftist holiday on our statutes? Now we become one of less than a half dozen other wacko states that have fallen for this idiotic holiday movement. Even Iowans will laugh at us.

The United Farm Workers has become nothing more than another leftist racket. Idolizing them with postage stamps, fiestas and phony-baloney holidays springs from the same misguided liberal stylishness that brought us the Che Guevara t-shirt. You can even buy art prints of UFW stike posters, perfect gifts for the sandalistas on your Christmas Winter Holiday list.

What's next, Ho Chi Minh Day?
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Back in the 1970's, the old feeder was shopping for groceries at a store in an Iowa college town. I was tasting grapes in the produce department when a whispery woman's voice came from behind me saying, "There's blood on those grapes." How was I to know that it was a damned union slogan? I thought she knew something about the grapes that I didn't. I started spitting and left the store with no appetite and no grapes.

Letter to Nebraska Governor Heineman Re: Smoking Ban

For our local readers: here is a copy of a letter the old feeder sent off to Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman urging him to veto the state-wide smoking ban passed by the Unicameral:

Don't let the 'public health' argument outweigh the 'property rights' argument in deciding to veto the smoking ban or not.

Can't the legislature use the 'public health' argument to justify banning anything harmful? Like potato chips or butter? Where does that rationale lead us?

The regulation of everyday life law!

We aren't a communist state. Nobody is forced to work under smoky conditions. Medical doctors change their minds all the time. (Remember when eggs were bad for you?) Property rights are enshrined in the US Constitution and our State Constitution. The public health argument stems from court decisions and acts of legislatures.

Please let the Constitution prevail in this case; veto the smoking ban.

If you live in Nebraska and think property rights ought to be preserved, send your message to Governor Heineman TODAY!
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Reminder: From reader Paul Bachmann "In addition to the governor, we need to write our state senator. The bill passed with 34 votes, it only takes 30 to over ride a veto."
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Updated: Governor Hieneman gives in to the ban-everything unpleasant gang, signs this ill-conceived, anti-freedom bill. This does much to knock the shine off my view of the Governor. Whats next, Dave? Second-hand cooking odors?

Nebraska Football Coach Bill Callahan fired

Former Nebraska Football Coaches Solich and Callahan

Whats to say? Things are tough all over.
Click the pic to biggerize.

World a Better Place after Nebraska's loss to Oklahoma State

Updated: Nebraska Athletic Director Pederson Fired!
Tom Osborne to Save Nebraska Football
and make us feel bad about the Governor thing.

Nebraska Hustle

Lots of Nebraska Cornhusker fans will be unhappy or even angry after Saturday's humiliating homecoming defeat at the hands of Oklahoma State. But not everyone in Big Red Country is unhappy.

The old feeder conducted an I-80 rest stop poll after the game. The results indicate that at least one in five Nebraskans identifying themselves as Democrats think yesterday's milestone loss is a good thing. According to one fan whose SUV bore John Edwards stickers:

Nebraska sports, college football and perhaps even our world will be a better place now that the Husker hubris has been knocked down a peg. Constantly striving to best your fellow man is as wrong in sports as it is in war. Nebraska's arrogance, believing that we are better than the rest, must change with the times. Today's game is a step in the right direction.

Pride goes before a fall. Or does it goeth?
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Reactions:
Domestic Divapalooza - Temporary Custody
Guerillaspot - Picture Says It All
Huskerzone.com - 8th Worse Loss At Home EVER
Big Red Network - Husker Program Now at DEFCON 3
Husker Mike - Odor Restored
Corn Nation - Time For A Change
Huskerh8er - Well crap and Instant Analysis
Lincolnite DMB Sports Report - Welcome to Pediocrity
mostly right, usually - huckin' fuskers
Texas Babble Belt - What the hell happened?
Yard Barker - The Homecoming that Wasn't
Even the Drudge Report - Huskers Suffer Worst Home Loss Since '58...
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Seriously, who needs fair weather fans? Winning isn't everything in college sports. Go Big Red!

LA Times does Nebraska

No beefsteaks for TJ Simers

Los Angeles Times sports columnist T.J. Simers reports from Middle of Nowhere, Nebraska. Hard work seems to be a way of life in Nebraska he opines. Nebraskans are so out of touch with the real world (represented by Los Angeles) that "They think life is just swell here".

He visited with some of the folks he routinely insults as "corn cobs", "corn-fed porkers" and "big-butted women" who have "nothing to look forward to in (their lives) other than a Saturday afternoon football game." It seems Max and Debbie Emerton, who live near Taylor, NE invited him for a view of the empty, wretched existence we call our lives. From the Grand Island Independent:

"He told us that it doesn't matter how nice we are, how smart we are, he's going to portray us the way he wants to," Debbie said, adding with a laugh, "It's not going to be good."

The Emertons' strategy on Tuesday? Show Simers a good time, play along with his barbs and don't stress too much about coming off well.

"If you don't let him get under your skin, he's probably just like anybody else," Max said.

Thats where the Emerton's went wrong. I've been to Los Angeles. They aren't just like us.
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Life is swell here. Swollen ankles, mostly. On the big-butted women.
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Update: From the NE FakePaper StatePaper:

The Los Angeles Times sports columnist who provoked so much anger and state pride in Nebraskans was having a pretty easy time of it Friday night at Misty's in Lincoln's Havelock neighborhood.

Who wouldn't have a good time at Misty's when the place is packed with lovable Husker fans?

Nebraska Elections: the Republican Primary Race

Dave Heineman milking a cow
Click for Details

The polls are open today here in Nebraska. Having no real interest in the outcome, I don't wish to influence the vote today. Heaven forbid that a non-believer should engage in democracy. Nevertheless, the voter choice of greatest statewide interest is the Republican primary. Folks have been dishonestly changing their party affiliation to be able to vote Republican. The old feeder has already said his piece on the candidates in this post. I haven't changed my mind.

I still think Dave Heineman is doing a good job. He had the cojones to take a clear stand on the Omaha Public School takeover attempt that was fostered by the wicked Fahey-Mackiel land grab gang. None of the other candidates had anything to say about this pressing issue but double-talk and platitudes. None of the other candidates have any specific plans for anything. Governor Heineman is involved.

Tom Osborne is too progressive for my taste. I remember when he sold out American gasoline consumers by voting with the RINOs to prevent drilling for oil in the ANWR. At the time, his name appeared on the rolls of the George Soros backed "Main Street Republicans". In my estimation (and Michelle Malkin's), these cats are up to no good , so I called Congressman Osborne's office in Washington. Osborne's aide had no idea what I was talking about until I told him the URL for the MSR congressional members page and he saw Coach Osborne's name there for himself. In fairness, I should mention that Osborne seems to have gotten his name off the MSR web site in time for the election. I wonder how it got there.

The 'other Republican' in today's race, Dave Nabity has gone nowhere, and stands zero chance of winning. The Democrat party has only one gubernatorial candidate, Dave Hahn. Dave is cool and shows he has guts to buck the odds. But Dave Hahn suffers from liberalism, a political impediment in Nebraska.
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Folks want to honor good old Coach Osborne. I have nothing against him; I think he has served his constituents admirably in Congress. In spite of the MSR thing and his wrongheaded vote on ANWR. He is a genuine Nebraska living treasure to NU football fans, and that includes most all Nebraskans. Let me suggest an homage more fitting to the man than the taxing, thankless job of Governor:
Coach Laureate.

We already have a Nebraska State Poet Laureate, William Kloefkorn. We could give Tom a nice office , from which he could promote his wholesome values and display his clean-cut role model. I like it. Maybe a good Coach is just what Nebraska needs in these trying times.
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Incidentally, another Nebraskan, Ted Kooser, just happens to be the current US Poet Laureate.
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More election blogging:

• ARTFS's Angela is going to vote for the Coach. She liked his platitudes solid thinking on the OPS issue. Angela has kids and strong, respectable opinions about their schooling.
• Frankly Speaking has some insight into the 'too slick for Nebraska' pollsters Osborne hired. Their shady telemarketing tactics didn't go overwell, and annoyed some folks.
• The Lincolnite reminds voters of other issues to be decided today. Like a pay raise for our worthless legislators.
• New Nebraska Network offers a tediously thorough waltz around the internal 'reality checksum error' in the Nebraska Democrat party. They are under the impression that Nebraskans give a hoot what Barack Obama thinks or says. Our favorite Democrat, Hosh is embarassed, as previously noted.
• Recent posts like this one by Tom York at the Omaha Oracle deal with local Omaha ballot items, like Mike Fahey's 100 million dollar bond issue.
• You can follow the polls at our most unbiased, public-minded blog, Nebraska Citizen.
• And, mirabile dictu, Ryne McClaren, the Panhandle Pundit, makes a comeback to share his well-regarded opinions on the primaries. Ryne even makes some bold predictions about Pete Ricketts.

More: Max Power at The North Central States Observer thinks Ryne might be delusional.
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Results: Omaha Channel 7, KETV. Get your sour grapes at the Omaha World Herald. (If they will deign to let you read their precious web site.) The best analysis of the Osborne-Heineman contest is by Don Walton at the Lincoln Journal Star.

You live and you learn

I thought HuskerBlawgs was about Big Red football. I don't follow football much at all. As I was trying to settle on a scheme for my growing blogroll, I browsed on over. HuskerBlawgs' Stan Sipple calls it "Observations of the legal scene from the Cornhusker State, home of Roscoe Pound and Justice Clarence Thomas' in-laws, and beyond."

It is like advance sheets that are fun to read, the good parts of the Daily Record, and a slick law blog rolled into on, and beyond. A Great Plains Blog I'll be reading. It isn't about football. Not that there is anything wrong with Big Red football.