Remembering The Victims Of September 11th

Tomorrow marks the ninth anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. For almost a decade, the annual commemoration has been seen as a day of national unity and sober remembrance. This year, contentious issues of religious freedom and national identity threaten to color the ninth anniversary of those tragic events.

Controversies over calls to burn the Koran and an ongoing debate over a proposed mosque and Islamic cultural center near Ground Zero in New York are drawing particular attention, sparking questions about how 9-11 became so politicized.

Pastor Terry Jones, a wingnut serving a congregation of less than 50 followers, had planned to burn copies of the Koran tomorrow. At the time of this post, these plans have been changed and for now, the copies will not be burned. The media has given this idiot way too much press. Muslim leaders should be wise enough to recognize that every village has an idiot. They should downplay Jones' actions and words and advise their followers to consider the source and forget it.

The controversy over the proposed mosque near Ground Zero, on the other hand, is still alive and well. Soledad O'Brien interviewed Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf on Larry King Live. When asked about moving the mosque to spot away from Ground Zero, Rauf said, "If we move from that location, the story will be that radicals have taken over the discourse. The headlines in the Muslim world will be that Islam is under attack. If we don't do this right, anger will explode in the Muslim world."

Whether the Imam's use of the word "explode" was merely a very poor choice of words or a thinly veiled threat remains to be seen. The bottom line is that supposedly intelligent leaders from all parties and religions should get together and come to a decision to defuse and resolve this problem. It is my opinion that no site should be built by anyone near any memorial that would cause controversy.

My hopes are that everyone will take the time tomorrow to reflect and remember the victims of the World Trade Center tragedy.

The News As I See It: President Obozo was in Cleveland pitching his latest economic plan. He picked Cleveland because those are the Browns fans, and in September, they'll believe anything. There was one awkward moment when the speech ended at lunch time. 9.6 percent of the people had no job to go back to.

Obozo has introduced a $50 billion plan to rebuild the nation's infrastructure. Now, let's think back, remember the first $187 billion stimulus package, wasn't that what that was supposed to do? Remember when we were told about what were called shovel-ready jobs? Whenever Washington talks about shovel-ready jobs, get your shovel ready!

Hillary Clinton opened the Middle East peace talks and said, "People with a history of conflict can learn to live together." And believe me, she knows what she's talking about.

A teacher has been jailed for six months for assigning her students masturbation as homework. What is happening to our education system? Remember when teachers cared enough to have sex with students personally?

This Date In History: 1813; Oliver H. Perry sent his famous message, "We have met the enemy, and they are ours," after defeating the British in the Battle of Lake Erie in the War of 1812. 1846; Elias Howe of Massachusetts received a patent for his sewing machine.

1939; Canada declared war on Germany, entering WWII. 1963; Twenty black students entered public schools in Birmingham, Mobile, and Tuskegee, Alabama, after President John F. Kennedy sent National Guardsman to end the standoff with Alabama Governor George Wallace.

1988; Steffi Graf achieved tennis' first Grand Slam since Margaret Court in 1970 by winning the U.S. Open women's final. 2002; Switzerland became the 190th member of the United Nations.

Picture Of The Day: Over the years, I have always accompanied my 9-11 anniversary post with pictures of the tragedy. Other than the picture showing the view of the Statue of Liberty with the destruction and smoke in the background, today's pictures are meant to be more thoughtful and moving. God Bless America!

Printable Things I Never Told You: 1) I think someone should open a restaurant that is set up like a big buffet in the shape of a Ouija board. Then you could think about what kind of food you want and your table would move across the floor to it. 2) Have you ever wondered where workers at a fire hydrant factory park? 3) When I was a baby, I kept a diary. Recently, I was reading it and it said, "Day 1 - Still tired from the move. Day 2 - Everybody talks to me like I'm an idiot. 4) My friend bought a self-learning record to learn Spanish. He turned it on and went to sleep; the record got stuck. The next day he could only stutter in Spanish. 5) Unless you're the lead dog, the view never changes......and that's five !

Birthdays: Arnold Palmer, golfer 1929, Charles Kuralt, television news reporter 1934, Roger Maris, baseball player 1934, Stephen Jay Gould, paleontologist and science writer 1941, Amy Irving, actress 1953, Colin Firth, actor 1960, Randy Johnson, baseball player 1963.

The AREA 51 Retirement Home Bar and Grill: An old man and his wife were working in their garden one day and the man looks over at his wife and says, "Your butt is getting really big. I bet your butt is bigger than the barbecue." With that he proceeded to get a measuring tape and measure the grill and then went over to where his wife was working and measured his wife's bottom. He said, "Yes, I was right, your butt is two inches wider than the barbecue!"

The woman chose to ignore her husband. Later that night in bed, the husband is feeling a little frisky. He makes some advances towards his wife who completely brushes him off. The man asks, "What's wrong?" His wife answers, "Do you really think I'm going to fire up this big-ass grill for one little weenie?"

After eight days of backpacking with his wife, the pair were looking pretty scruffy. The final morning, she came to breakfast in a baseball cap, her shoulder length hair sticking out at odd angles and said, "Darling, does my hair make me look like a water buffalo?" The man thought for a moment, then said, "If I tell you the truth, do you promise not to charge?"

The Hits Just Keep On Coming: My thanks to my pal, Wally, for his contribution to today's stories.

A man was is sitting at the bar staring at my drink when a large biker steps up next to him, grabs his drink and gulps it down in one swig. The biker says, "Well, whatcha gonna do about it?" The man burst into tears and the biker says, "Come on, man, I didn't think you'd cry. I can`t stand to see a man crying."

The man says, "This is the worst day of my life. I'm a complete failure. I was late to a meeting and my boss fired me. When I went to the parking lot, I found my car had been stolen and I don't have any insurance. I left my wallet in the cab I took home. I found my old lady in bed with the gardener, and then my dog bit me."

The man continued, "So I came to this bar to work up the courage to put an end to it all. I buy a drink, drop a capsule in and sit here watching the poison dissolve. Then you, asshole, show up and drink the whole thing! But enough about me, how's your day going?"

A preacher was giving his usual Sunday sermon when a young woman in the balcony, taken up by the moment, slipped and fell over the rail. Fortunately, she managed to grasp the railing with one hand and dangerously dangled there. Unfortunately, the mini skirt she was wearing rode up to her waist, entirely exposing the front of her young body.

The preacher, heavily involved in the final throes of his sermon, saw the young woman with everything exposed, dangling by one hand. He was concerned and worried that the spectacle not only might effect his sermon, but also the money that the church would make when they passed the collection plates.

The preacher quickly motioned to his deacon to go up and rescue the girl and nervously hurried to finish his sermon and start the collections. He saw that some of the males in the congregation had noticed the commotion and were feasting their eyes on the spectacle.

Fearful that this would ruin everything, he exclaimed, "We have a minor emergency which shall be rectified shortly. Sister Jones has slipped from the balcony and his hanging there by one hand. Her private parts are exposed and if any member of the congregation turns around to look at poor sister Jones, The lord will make them go blind."

An old man in the front pew of the church stood up, put his hand over his left eye and exclaimed, "I'm gonna take a chance on one eye!"

A blonde was standing on the river bank looking confused when she spotted another blonde across the river. The first blonde shouts to the other, "How do I get to the other side?" The second blonde shouts back, "You are on the other side!"

That's it for today my little Klondike bars. Remember, a lot of people have heard opportunity knocking at the door, but by the time they unlocked the chain, pushed back the bolt, turned two locks, and shut off the burglar alarm, it was gone. I'm heading over to AREA 51 for Happy Hour, Have a great weekend and more on Monday.

Stay Tuned !