BOO!

Happy Holloween

Well the first syllable in his name is Ghoul!

A-Rod Leaves Yankees

Alex Rodriquez is leaving the New York Yankees, creating fascination amongst sport fans. Somehow in spite of his statistics, It does not look like there will be a mad dash for his services. I could be wrong but on paper, it looks like a lot of money toward a player who seems to "poison the water" everywhere that he goes.
The latest news is that A-Rod's agent is apoligizing for announcing that A-Rod was opting out of his Yankee contract during the World Series. Give me a break. If there was one bit of excitement to that series, no one would have really cared. The fact of the matter is if A-Rod thinks there is pressure now to lead a team to the Series, wait until he signs an even bigger contract.

Boston Red Sox Sweep

I can remember when in grade school, we would bring transistor radios to class and beg the teacher to put the World Series on the Tv in the classroom. Even in Walla Walla, where there was no Major League baseball team in site at the time, the World Series was the banner headline in the local newspaper.

Now it seems even for the baseball fans who follow the sport, the World Series is hard to even get excited about. It is almost always lopsided and rarely goes past 4 games. This year the Boston Red Sox beat the Colorado Rockies in 4 games, of course.

Cougs Shock Pac-10 Beat Bruins

The Washington State Cougars, who have beaten Idaho this season and had not done much else, got their first conference win today in a 27-7 victory over UCLA. The Bruins had been undefeated in conference play. Sophomore Coug Dwight Tardy ran for a career high 214 yards and two touchdowns.
Cougar football fans finally have something to celebrate. Meanwhile, the woes continues for the Washington Huskies, who lost to the Arizona Wildcats 48-41

More On Aunt Dorothy

My Dad has another nice tribute to Dorothy Barer. You can also click here for the notice in the Seattle paper.

Good Bye Aunt Dorothy

Dorothy Copeland Barer, passed away today. My cousins, Linda And Karen have a nice tribute.

Seahawks Beat Rams

For the first time in a couple of weeks, both the offense and defense are clicking again as the Seattle Seahawks defeated the St Louis Rams 33-6. After a shaky 10-3 halftime lead, Nate Burleson opened the second half with a 91 yard touchdown run and the 'Hawks never looked back. The Rams offense, once dubbed "The Greatest Show On Turf" was limited to just 41 yards in the first half.
The Seahawks have a bye this coming week, that should allow some ailing player to rest and recover for when the Cleveland game in two weeks.

Issaquah Brewhouse Comes Through

Last night, a vicious windstorm temporarily wiped out power for the Maple Valley area. The outage included our house. Deb and I stopped at the Issaquah Brew house, on the way back from where we work in Bellevue. Issaquah Brew house is one of the area's best kept secrets. It is located off the main drag, (Front Street) near adjacent to the Salmon Hatchery.
It not only contains a full menu of ales, but the service was excellent, even after we had our menus, the food server wiped off our table, a small thing, but I had never noticed it in any other establishment. If addition, she put the ballgame on TV when I requested it. The food prices were extremely reasonable and the food was delicious.

The address is 35 W Sunset Way

Issaquah, Wa 98027

Nobel Winner Al Gore

This year has been a banner year for Al Gore. His informative Movie An Inconvenient Truth first won an Oscar and now Mr. Gore is being honored with the Nobel Peace Prize. Many Conservatives attacked Gore and said that he did not lead a Green lifestyle. The point of the movie was not Gore's lifestyle, but how we can make small changes to save the Earth.
I met Mr. Gore back in 2000, he was kind enough to pose for a picture with me. I will post that soon.

Seahawks Lose In Second Straight Ugly Game

For the second straight week, the Seattle Seahawks turned in a shabby performance. However this week, it was for the home fans and a National audience as the New Orleans Saints defeated the 'Hawks 28-17.
It was clear from the opening drive that this would not be a Seahawk night when the normally reliable punter, Ryan Plackemeir dropped a snap that led to the first Saint touchdown. The game also had to be stopped for 10 minutes in the first quarter when an overhead TV camera line snapped.
The Saints were 0 and 5 before tonight's game. Next week the Hawks play another winless team at home, the St Louis Rams.

From The ABarer Blog

My Dad has another one of his stories of days gone by....

The customer is always right
As we plugged in the final computer entries I had a flashback probably sixty or more years ago.The main store front at our place was sixty feet from the front door to the rear. Behind was a driveway between the store and the warehouse.In those days a popular product was steel wire rope cable used for loading hay.I was standing in the driveway with my dad and Uncle Dave when a man approached. Throwing a role of cable on the ground he asserted that the cable was no good and he wanted his money back.Uncle Dave examined the cable and responded that there was an appearance of abuse while being used.The man flew into a rage. "I knew you Jew Sons of ----". He didn't finish his statement.Uncle Dave spun the man who was at least as tall as he was. Picked him up by his belt and collar and "bums rushed" him the sixty feet to the front door propelled him out where he lost his balance and fell. As the man gathered his wits, the roll of cable came flying out after him and the door slammed behind him.The other onlookers present began debating as to whether the guy should have been beat up on the premises or whether there was a liability incurred by throwing him out on a public street.I, of course, was taken aback this was totally out of character but it was explained to me that the merchandise was purchased prior to haying season and now that the season was over and the cable had been used and abused the guy wanted his money back.The ethnic slur was not to be tolerated.

Neck Injury Forces Mack Strong To Retire

Seattle Seahawks veteran fullback Mack Strong suffered a severe neck injury that will force his retirement. Strong whose very name suggests power was in the NFL for 15 seasons, almost twice the average career of an NFL running back.
The injury took place during yesterday's game in Pittsburgh. Doctors said that it was a herniated disk that was pinching his spinal cord.
I think Strong will be the first member of the 2005-2006 Seahawk Super Bowl team to be inducted into the the Ring Of Honor.

Anger And Emotion Permeate Democratic Eastside Dinner

The Eastside Democratic Dinner has traditionally been a fun and affordable gathering for suburban King County Democrats. The classy dressy affair generally takes place in a Bellevue Hotel with local and national speakers giving their stock speeches. Nothing could be more different than tonight's dinner at the Bellevue Westin Hotel in Lincoln Center where an anti war protester interrupted Congressional Candidate Darcy Burner's speech and introduction of the night's main speaker, Retired Major General Paul Eaton.

The evening hosted by Rob Estes, started with Senator Patty Murray's keynote address, Senator Murray said Congress under the Democratic rule is providing over site to the war and addressing the concerns of veterans. After polite applause Senator Murray seemed to want to take a seat but was motioned to exit through what looked like the kitchen door. Darcy Burner got up to speak, and suddenly one of the guests began screaming at her about Senator Murray and the congress. Not losing her cool, Burner quietly told the man to sit down, to which he did.

General Eaton came up to speak but first allowed the protester to say his piece. The General who broke ranks with the White House, told the crowd that the Iraq war was executed incompetently by the administration. Eaton, who's son is about to be deployed in Afghanistan called for, not a victory but a thorough crushing of the GOP in November of 2008. He further went on to say that America's dependence on oil has set the stage for this war and that total withdrawal at this time would be a mistake.

I once again thank washblog for this video from the affair

Seahawks Miss Plane To Pittsburgh (or something)

Seahawks fans watched a football game that was about as pleasant as a Seattle rainstorm as the Pittsburgh Steelers easily won the battle 21-0. After a good first half holding star running back Willie Parker to 17 yards, a visibly tired Seahawk defense became as ineffective as the offense, as Parker eventually netted 102 yards.

Democrats Squander Eastside County Council Opportunity

The winds have changed in the Suburbs of East King County. Once a solid Republican area, Democrats have recently captured seats in every legislative district but the 5th. Still frustration is in the air as long time Republican County Councilwoman Jane Hague (above) seems to be unraveling with one embarrassing revelation after another. The twist is that Hague's Democratic foe, Richard Pope is a perennial office seeker who as run as both a Republican and Democrat without capturing the heart of either party nor any single office. He has lost 11 races for public office according to the Seattle PI.

Washington Supreme Court--Government Should Not Be Truth Police

In an unusual case where the ACLU and one Liberal sided with 3 Conservative justices and took on 4 Left leaning judges defending a Republican thinking Democratic Legislator, the
Washington Supreme Court struck down a 1999 law that prohibits candidates for public office from intentionally lying.
Conservative Tim Sheldon invoked the law when his opponent, Green Party candidate Marilou Rickert sent out a pamphlet which allegedly falsified his voting record. Rickert appealed the ruling. The ACLU argued that the law was an abridgement of the first amendment. That point is debatable. Laws requiring truth in advertising seem to withstand legal scrutiny.
I really think that this should motivate the public to do their own homework. Study the candidates and find out what they really are saying. I think voters as a whole, vote on emotion for the most part and that is too bad.

Maple Valley Case Mystifies World

Maple Valley woman Tanya Rider is a household name after being found alive on highway 169 severely injured but still alive. The case has put the King County Sheriff's Department under a microscope after allegation from Rider's husband that authorities would not begin an immediate search for her. It is my hope that Ms Rider makes a complete recovery. There is no doubt that there is much more to this story than we have heard so far.

The Seattle Times has printed a time line to this story.