Weekend update

This morning's blog is nothing more than a shameless excuse to show you more pictures of our kids.

Really. There's a not a lot going on and Jeriann had a friend share this Picture of Luke. She's thinks he's a chubber. I think he's actually growing into his body.

He's still a bruiser compared to our boys.

Sounds like it was a quiet weekend all around.

-I thought the Kennedy Funeral was a really well done tribute to a guy who wasn't perfect. The thing that struck me was his sons' eulogies. I would have thought Sen Kennedy might have been the kind of Dad that wasn't around much. Didn't have time for vacations etc. You can't make stories like they told up. They had a real affection for their father and it sounds like it came out of a long a personal relationship with each child/grandchild.

-I thought the Barclay's Championship in New Jersey was a fun venue for a golf tournament with a lot of beautiful views. The course looked a little gimmicky to me.

-Thanks to everyone who came out for the Science Center of Iowa's Annual Fundraising Event Friday night. I think they raised a good deal of money and, as usual, we had a lot of fun helping. Jeriann helped emcee the live auction before she went back to work.

-Hope you all had a good weekend, Enjoy the weather!

New Casino, New Distraction, and Highbrow

Good Morning!
I started my day being called "highbrow".
So be it. I've been accused of being a lot worse.
If we seem, at times, like we're looking down our noses at some of the stories that sneak their way into our show...we are. I'm OK with that.
If reality TV stars and gossip is what you want there are several good shows that Mario Lopez or some other child star is hosting. It's cotton candy...it's the dirty novel you bring to read while vacationing on the beach. It's not news.
There is no shortage of actual news stories that are important to pretty much everyone watching us right now. They're harder to understand and I get that some people don't want to think that hard when they watch us. If it comes out sounding too complicated and gets caught up in the cobwebs our viewers are shaking out of their heads in the morning...we haven't done our job. Our job is to take that complicated story and make it relevant and easy to understand. Let me be the first to admit...we don't always hit the mark.
I am the last person who would claim to be perfect...and I'm not smart.
That said, to me, the fun is in trying to get better...not trying to grab the lowest common denominator. That's just me.

To the actual News

Casino
Here's one that effects almost everyone. As we told you a few years ago...Prairie Meadows money is poured into government and private organizations in Polk County. The idea of splitting the license that allows Prairie Meadows to operate and allowing another casino in Polk county is one I'd want to take a much closer look into.
I think I've written here before, a second Casino isn't being proposed for the good of Polk County. Someone wants to make some money. Good for them.
If it takes a dollar away from the programs that benefit from Prairie Meadows or from keeping my property taxes lower, someone will have to explain to me how that is "serving" the people of Polk County.

Kennedy
Agree or disagree with his politics, I think you can see how many people genuinely liked Sen Ted Kennedy.
I had a thought as I was looking at the old photos of the Kennedy boys in all these news stories yesterday. What if JFK had lived? What about his brother Bobby? How would Vietnam have turned out, Kennedy got us involved in the first place. How would it have changed the national mood? Would Nixon Have run again if he'd had to run against Bobby Kennedy? How would their presence have effected Ronald Regan and his rise in the Republican Party?

Rain
Anyone else ready to go over to Southridge mall and climb into that boat they're building for the movie Blackbeard? I have to admit, I like the rain and the way it's making my lawn look. It means we're going to have a great fall for golf. The fairways are going to be green and lush not brown and dry. Can't wait to play this weekend

FFB/New Distraction
If you haven't seen Murph's blog this week, read it. He's got a link to a site that will generate a fantasy football team name for you. I have started the draft for one of the two leagues I play in. The second is this Saturday. I may be renaming my team with this tool.

Golf
Zach is paired with Tiger the first two rounds of the Barclay's. It's the first week of the Fedex Cup Playoffs.

LLWS
Urbandale's team comes home tonight at seven then there's a reception at one this Saturday for the team. I hope a lot of people show up to let these kids know how proud we all are of them.

Clean up in Aisle 4
I think fi I weren't married I'd be one of those people who the fire Department finds sitting in a Barka lounger among piled of old newspapers and magazines. I keep everything and my desk looks like it. It's ugly. So anyway, I spilled a full cup of coffee on my desk this morning and ruined most of the stuff I had piled up there. So I just threw most of it out. The good news is the right side of my desk is clear.

So anyway I'm going to go find another cup of coffee....
Have a good one
PWD

Ted Kennedy, Facebook Friends and Food

Good morning everyone. It's been a while since I have taken the helm of the Morning Buzz... so it is good to be back. Patrick had to take care of some other things this morning so you are left with me.

Remembering Ted Kennedy
This morning we got the news Ted Kennedy died overnight at his home in Massachusetts. It wasn't a total shock because we knew he was very ill. I think Kennedy was one of those public figures you either loved or loathed because of his politics and perhaps because of his tumultuous past. But this morning there are a lot of kind words coming in from people on both sides of the aisle about his years as a public servant in the US Senate. I didn't know this... but he is actually the second longest serving Senator in US history.

I was reading some other articles on the life of Ted Kennedy this morning and was surprised by some of the things I never knew about him. Like many in his family... his life was nearly cut short by a plane accident. He and two others were flying a small plane in the late '60's when it crashed. He was the only one to walk away... but sustained injuries that caused him problems his entire life. He also has a son who battled cancer and had to have his leg amputated at a very young age. It's clear Ted Kennedy has dealt with a lot of heartbreak during his life.

Ted Kennedy was 77 years old.


Facebook Fatigue?
I read this article in the Wall Street Journal yesterday and it really resonated with me. It was written by one of the paper's columnist and she titles it, "How Facebook Ruins Friendships." Sound counter intuitive? Well, some of the things the author writes, should be a warning to some of us who spend a time on this social networking sight. (And, there are a lot of us who spend a lot of time on it!) I think the article was meant to be a little bit funny, but it also made me think that Facebook, although a great tool I enjoy, can also be bad for us.

Here are some of her key points:

*Facebook can replace talking on the phone. This can be bad because instead of having real conversations about things that are happening in our lives, we simplify our lives by posting just a few words about what we are doing. And these posting are often watered down and often mundane and self-centered.

*We are not saying much that is interesting

*We are mucking up friendships by CONSTANTLY posting annoying things like, "I just had a bowl of cereal for breakfast." And enough with the Mafia games and "What member of the Adams Family do you most resemble?" game!

I love Facebook and I love catching up with old friends and seeing pictures of my college roommate's children, but I think there is an important reminder about keeping your friendships alive by not letting Facebook be the only way you communicate.

What's for Dinner?
Megan Salois is filling in for Jeriann this week and It seems like whenever we work together the conversation during commercial breaks turns to food. We both LOVE to cook and she's always giving me good recipes to try out. This morning she was describing a Chicken Buffalo Sandwich she made that is leaving my mouth watering. And the best part -- it's simple. She said she put four chicken breast in the crock pot on low with a bottle of buffalo wing sauce and a packet of ranch dressing. She let it cook on low all day and then shredded it and put it on a bun with a little ranch dressing. I love buffalo wing sauce, so I think I am going to give this a try today.

Another recipe I would like to share comes from my Italian neighbor who grows the best tomatoes. He told me to chop up 3 or 4 tomatoes, half a cucumber (into small pieces and without the seeds) and some onion. Then add fresh basil and pour in enough vegetable oil to cover it. Let is sit overnight and the next day you will not be disappointed by the flavor. I made it and put it on toasted bread as bruschetta. Delicious!

Hope you have a great day!

Brooke

Flu, Multi-taskers and Laughs

Is there anything better than a baby who gets the giggles? It's the sound of pure joy. JT and Will get the giggles sometimes. It usually only lasts a few seconds...Yesterday I got home from work and was hanging out with them for a few minutes before their nap. JT just started laughing and couldn't stop. Will thought that was pretty funny too...and now he's laughing...

Sally and I can't help but laugh 'cause it's funny to hear them giggle. So now we're all laughing...for like ten minutes...laughing. That was definitely the best part of my day.



To the News:

The Flu continues to have my attention. A report from the President's Advisory Council on Science reported yesterday there could be as many as 90,000 deaths and 2,000,000 hospitalizations because of H1N1 or Swine Flu. We already heard about a case on Central College Campus in Pella. The student went home, but look south to the University of Kansas. More than 40 students have H1N1.



Jackson
Michael Jackson's death will be ruled a homicide according to sources in the LA Police Department. That headline comes the same day we learned the results of a study by The Project for Excellence in Journalism. It reported Coverage of Jackson's death has received as much coverage since June as Afghanistan has had the entire year.
Someone explain this to me. It can't be explained. The singer's death deserves coverage. We got it. The fact that his death is now a criminal investigation may merit a mention but the amount of time the Today show and other outlets spend on this is just STUPID. We've got a lot of other things to think about and we all need to be thinking about them.

Multi-taskers
I'm the worst. I try to do a few things at once. While we're reading the news, I try to also get online and make sure we're not missing anything else. The problem is, as with most multi-taskers...I'm not that good at it. Read this new study....but try to just read the study...no multi-tasking.

Mortgage
We had the CEO of Citi Group's Mortgage division on this morning talking about that company's effort to renegotiate with homeowners who are at risk of foreclosure. The statistics Citi puts out basically are a pat on the back for the company...look what a good corporate citizen we are. But the guy had some good advice too. I can only imagine what it's like to face losing you home. It must be debilitating. A lot of people probably just ignore the reality until it's too late thinking something is going to come along to save the day. The point this guy made this morning is that a small change in the interest rate usually allows someone to keep their home and can lead to mortgage payments going down by as much as 25%! That's a significant difference.

Insurance
I have a bee in my bonnet now and a bone to pick with my insurance company. Until about six months ago I was taking a prescription drug that isn't currently offered over the counter. My doctor prescribed it, and it worked. It happens that this drug makes it a lot easier to do my job...talk for two hours to be specific. Well, the insurance company decided not to cover the drug anymore. The thought was that I could get a different version of the drug over the counter. I tried. it didn't work. So I set about trying to get my insurance company to reconsider it's choice yesterday. I got on the phone with a customer service person. I explained the situation and she explained to me the drug was now "tier 3", more expensive. I tried to ask why, and why the generic of the drug wasn't covered either.
Her response?
Her: "I don't know sir, I just work for a service that answers questions for the Insurance company."
Me: "So you don't work for the company?"
Her: "No"
Me:"Can I talk to someone who does work for my insurance company?"
Her:" Sure"
hold music hold music hold music hold music
Her: Sir I have Mandy on the line now from your insurance company.
Me: "Mandy, I just explained all of this to our friend here, but here goes again....So as you can see I'd like the company to reconsider it's decision.
Mandy: "You can appeal"
Me: "Great how do I do that?"
Mandy:" Write a letter."
Me: "Can you tell me what I have to include int he letter to help make may case successfully, or is there someone who can tell me the elements of an appeal the company looks for?"
Mandy: "No"
Me: "No? Well, I don't want to waste your time or mine. I just want to see if the company will reconsider this and maybe make an exception for my particular case.
Mandy: "Write a letter"
Me:"Thanks"

I can't imagine why people are fed up with the Healthcare system. Big insurance companies are designed to break you. The prescription card we have clearly says generic drugs are supposed to be a $10 co-pay. There's a generic that will work in this case and will actually help me...you know...the point of medicine?
Anyway, I am going to write a letter. I'm going to try to appeal and I'll try to let you know. But this is the kind of stuff that makes me want to support a massive overhaul of the system. The idea that the Customer service line is staffed by someone who doesn't work for the company serving the customers, and that that person has no power to help you in any way is a perfect example of why the system is broken.

Common sense and his friend reason have left the building.

I think I will too.
PWD

Urbandale, High Chairs, and Say HI!

Good Monday morning.
What a great weekend! I knew I wanted to play some golf this weekend and I took advantage of the great forecast and play golf Saturday. The only problem? I didn't play very well. I took about seven of the worst swings I've ever made and decided I'd had enough. I walked off the course. I went straight to the driving range and practiced for about two and a half hours instead. I've worked a couple things out but I may need a little more time.

To the news:
Urbandale
It's always fun to see kids who are having fun playing a game. How much fun did the kids from Urbandale look like they were having this weekend when they won? If they win or lose tonight, they can say they won a game at the Little League World Series. What a memory!

Vacation
The President is on vacation but the debate over health care continues. A couple of things. Joe Lieberman says he thinks we shouldn't rush into anything. The guy has always been a pretty moderate Democrat (now I). I see the President's point that if you let Washington DC slow you down...nothing ever gets done. At the same time, this one, you want to get right. Maybe if we continue the conversation for a while we can talk about Tort reform.

Bus Driver
The DART driver suspended last week is back on the job and behind the wheel this morning. She is taking her old job and taking the bus they give her.

High Chair
I keep thinking the amount of "stuff" we add around the house will level off. Not so. We added two High Chairs this weekend. We actually added four, but we're returning two. It's been a process and when you think about it, it should be. The boys are going to spend a lot of time here...they're going to get messy here...and we're going to have to clean it up. I think $275 is a lot to spend on a high chair. We didn't. But we did get a higher end model. We'll see if it's worth it.

Say Hi!
The last comment from last Friday asked if we all mid it when people come up and say hello when we're out and about. The answer for me is No....but a qualified No. I always enjoy meeting you. When we went to Florida, a few people came up to say hi and meet the boys. That's no problem and we're always happy to show off our kids. The one thing I would say is use common sense. If I look like I'm out on a date with my wife, you might want to give us some space...wait till we get up from the table. The thing I don't know how to respond to is someone who just yells..."Hey TV Guy!!! after he's ten feet past. It's hard to know what to say. What's appropriate there..."Yup"..."You Bet?".
Just come up and say hi. e not celebrities, we're not movie stars. We just work on TV. Not a big deal at all.

Have a good one
PWD

CLunkers, Ridge and Pleasant

Good Morning,
Well apparently there are quite a few people who think we've got some sort of a switch we can throw when the cable goes out. We got a few people emailing us or, as you saw, writing into the blog to tell us they were taking their TV and going home...we'll they're home already but you know what I mean.
I promise I didn't trip over a cord or hit the wrong button. I think the cable just went out. Direct TV maybe too. I don't pretend to know how it worked but depending on where you were and what service you use, you lost our show yesterday.
The funny part to me is that people think I can fix it. I call the electrician when the light goes out on our front porch. I think this one is over my head.

In the news:

Clunker
The Government program to get those old cars off the road is running out of money again. I swear if they want to give this thing more money I'm going to Washington to Protest myself. The program got people to buy new cars and helped out the Unions, who will now have more workers re-hired...I'm sure there are more fuel efficient cars on the road. Now, lets let the free market work a little please.

Ridge
News this morning that Former Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge says he was pressured to raise the terror alert just before the 2004 election. If it's true it's one more black mark on the Bush Administration and one more piece of evidence that there were people inside of his administration the really went over the deep end after 9/11.

Pleasant
I came over the hill on Pleasant street in my neighborhood to find the road is open! Between 56th and 63rd, Peasant's been shut down for months while they replaced the bridge. It's finished and I couldn't be happier. We alerted Brad in the Traffic Department and he didn't think this was that big of a deal.

Six Month Photo Shoot
Yesterday, we used the second of four photo sittings we got as a gift when the boys were born. I hope the pictures turn out. We shoehorned the boys into some bear suits their Grandma bought them. They didn't fit into them this winter because the boys were too small for the suits. They aren't going to fit into them this winter because apparently I've helped conceive two weeds. They're growing too fast. Anyway, someone should take a video camera of parents trying to get their kid to smile for a picture. You do some pretty stupid stuff.
I'll share when we get em.

Jeriann is out at the Fair today and I will be out there tomorrow afternoon. I haven't decided if I'm going to take the boys with me yet. I've had a request from an old Producer of our show. We'll see how Morning naps go.

PWD

Late Payment, Late Opening and...Just Late

So it's never good when I roll over and the clock already says 3am. It was one of those mornings. If you read this blog consistently, you know I do this from time to time. This morning I know I set my alarms, but I must have rolled over and turned them off. This is when I know I need some time off for a vacation. I'm so tired I don't remember waking up.
Anyway the good news about my schedule is that even if I'm late, it's not the end of the world. I rushed through he morning routine a little and made it about a half hour later than I normally do.
The downside is that I don't get as much time to prepare. If any of you saw the show (we'll get to why many of you didn't this morning in a minute), at least someone probably saw me try to read the story about the State Fair Chocolate contest. The teleprompter sometimes plays funny tricks on us. In this case I admit to not having pre-read the story closely...so when the teleprompter split the word contestant into two lines, it came out of my mouth...contest...ants. I'm sitting there reading this thinking...are they dipping ants in chocolate? What the heck is going on at the Fair! We got a good laugh out of it.

To the news:
Clunkers
How would you like to be someone waiting for your car in the Cash for Clunkers program? I think everyone is waiting for the Government to say...oops! We can't pay you back. The dealers holding cars till the money comes in are smart.

Deficit
The Federal deficit is something like $626 million less than we thought it was going to be this year. Before you get excited...it's because the Federal Government handed out less money than it thought it would to banks. That's not really deficit reduction...it's just more bad Math.

Late Opening
The Cement at the new Aquatic Center in Ames wasn't up to snuff, so they're going to have to re-pour the whole thing. Good for the City of Ames. If it's not right...don't accept the work. I hope the contractor paid for it.

Phone Call.
So I get this phone call last night just after we finished dinner. It's a recording of Leonard Boswell inviting me to stay on the line and "participate" in his telephone Town Hall Meeting. Now I didn't RSVP to the event like we told people they HAD TO. I got an unsolicited call. My number isn't listed. So tell me why people had to RSVP if you were just going to call people Congressman?
I'm sure his motives were solid here...get more people into the conversation, but this is the kind of thing that might make some people thing the Congressman can't just stand up in front of a group of people and answer unscripted questions...or doesn't want to. I don't like the idea that some people were made to RSVP...to give their information, and I was called without asking to participate. I know at least one person who called...RSVP'd and then didn't get a call. This sounds more like a cheer leading session for the President's Healthcare reforms than a true discussion with voters.

Addiction
So I know I am really addicted to golf when I spend about three hours watching , "Live from the Solheim Cup". What? you ask. Solheim Cup. It's the equivalent to the Ryder Cup in Women's Golf. I actually just really enjoy the format. Team golf events are compelling. I also have a mild crush an Natalie Guilbus. Don't worry my wife knows.

So that's how the day is going so far,
We'll see how it finishes up.

Flu, Fair, Favre and... Healthcare

Good Wednesday Morning...
I'll start by relaying a message I got from a blogger on my phone this morning. She said she was interested in Trisha's visit to the fair and thanked me for telling everyone about her. Just for the record. Trisha didn't join a convent. She's still on TV. In fact she still has a blog I think. You can even be a fan of Trisha's if you're on Facebook.
One more thing, the woman sounded a bit annoyed at the blogger system. She said she was going to leave me a message on the phone because she couldn't get Blogger to work. My mother can't either. I'm just wondering...is it that hard? I'm signed up so I don't really know. So I'll put it to you all...should we take the sign in restrictions off the blog again?

Flu
OK...now I'm paying attention. After a rather unimpressive Winter into Spring flu season that didn't reach the H1N1 outbreak predicted, they're talking about a bad Fall. I may be paying more attention because I'm a new parent and my family now falls into the high risk category. So I will wash my hands and sing Happy Birthday, I'll get my shot and get my kids a shot. I just can't see ignoring something that's so simple to prevent. How many of you are laughing at me right now?
Another one from the mailbag here. A woman wrote to admonish WHO for calling the H1N1 flu the Swine Flu.

Your constant misuse of this flu has contributed to the panic and driven down the market price of pork as well the consumption of pork.

First, we don't, we call it H1N1. NBC News does use the term Swine Flu.
Second, I take issue with the idea that there is any panic out there.
Are consumers really turning away from pork because of the name Swine Flu? I don't notice anyone passing the pork case. We certainly haven't.
The Media did a good job of educating the public after the flu virus started spreading into a larger, global problem. It was called the Swine Flu. To suggest the more common name was H1N1 is simply wrong. I haven't heard one person asking me if it's safe to eat pork.
I did, however, read a couple of articles this morning that shed some light on the drop in hog prices. One was an article that said US Pork producers have been losing money on hogs since 2007. As I recall the "swine flu" really got started in 2009.
The second factor the articles point out is demand falling overseas, not here in the U.S.
In fact, one Ag economist called demand for pork domestically "strong" this summer. To find the cause of a drop in demand, look overseas...China is a big culprit here. The world's most populous country is producing more of it's own pork and demand for US imports is down year to year...China is expecting fewer visitors post-Olympics.
This is a long defense of local and national Media, and of consumers here in the US. We get it. Blaming the Media, or the name "swine flu" for lower prices is convenient, but it's not the whole story.
There may be people staying away from Pork overseas because someone is calling this virus Swine Flu. That has nothing to do with the local Media, and suggesting that there is some sort of "panic" is wrong.
Demand is down, and production has been way too high for a while now. Surely, the Flu season is effecting futures. The markets are prone to swings based on emotion not fact. But, before Hog farmers blame "the Media"...they should acknowledge other, more significant factors contributing to Hog prices.


Fair
How about the woman trying to eat her way through all of the food on a stick? Something like 14,000 calories and more than 600 gram of fat? Brooke says she wants to do it next year. Who can we get to sponsor her?

Favre
I know Minnesota fans are excited. You should be. This is probably a better signal caller than you already had. I just think you're going to find, long about week 10, Favre will either slow down, wear out or decide he's not interested anymore. As usual...Viking fans are going to be left wonder what could have been. They're the most talented team in the NFC North. They should win the division running away now. Who wants to bet me they won't?

Healthcare
I like John Carlson's article in the Des Moines Register today. Why is it people from big cities think people who live in the rest of the country can't make decisions for themselves or string coherent thoughts together. We can't possibly know what's best for the country...we live in Iowa. Right?
I have one thing to say to these people...Shut up! The world through the eyes of a New Yorker or Chicagoan is no better or more complete than the perspective of someone living in Paris, Missouri or Nevada, Iowa.
OK that's enough for me today. Gotta go.
PWD

Tuesday

Can't come up with a better title than that...but there are a few interesting things to talk about today.

-The debate over health care continued in our studios this morning while we were off camera. One member of our team asked..."Why should I pay for health care for people who can't afford it? If you can't pay for the care...you don't get it." That's one perspective and surely it feels right to people who work hard and make choices that allow them to pay their bills. It's simply not reality. The question is so much more complicated than simply...pay for what you get. You can't let people die, you can't let kids die, you can't allow older Americans to slip into poverty and squalor because you think they should have been more responsible. Surely there are people who could make better choices in life. They probably could and should pay their fair share for health care. That said, we can't leave people on the street outside of hospitals to die cause they don't have health care, and you can't leave it to the goodwill of charity to pay for people who can't pay for their care. It's more complicated than that..it goes beyond your perspective...whatever that perspective is.

-I wonder if the people pitching a new Casino in Polk County imagined it could have gone any worse for them in front of the Board of Supervisors. That said, why wouldn't you know your history here. Being optimistic and sounding like you believe in your own plan is one thing, but you have to understand, these are people who've been promised the Moon before. YOU WANT TO MAKE MONEY. That's the ONLY reason someone is looking to build a new casino. It's not for the benefit of the County or the State. It's for the benefit of the company proposing the Casino. You're in business to make money.

-Someone explain to me why the use of Medical Marijuana is any different than the use of Codeine or any other controlled substance to mitigate pain. I'm serious, what am I missing. Is there shaky medical evidence to prove this stuff actually works? If you have a medical condition that marijuana can help, why wouldn't we allow a licensed physician to administer that drug? Abuse isn't a reason. We're still handing Vicodin out and the abuse of that drug isn't going away.

-My kids are six months old today. Can't believe it's been half a year. When I think of where we were this time last year...seems like a million years ago.

-Jeriann's out at the Fair today. I'm going out again next weekend. Come by and say hi. I may even bring the boys with me again.
Have a good day,
PWD

Monday and Catching up...

Good Morning...It is still morning right?

I've got some stuff to catch up on cause I didn't finish a couple of blogs last week. I started...just didn't finish.

To the News

-The President is apparently willing to give up the idea of a "public" option for health care reform. I think you might get a few more people to listen now. I still haven't heard anything on tort reform. One of my friend's keeps saying..."I can afford my health care...why do we need reform?" The problem is...we're all headed toward a time when we can't afford the care we've come to expect. I suppose some people would say, let the marketplace work until consumers are really unhappy with it.

-The Hurricane season seems to want to catch up all in one week. We've got three named storms...I guess Bob is the one forecasters are worried about.

-An accident in the Drake neighborhood seemed a little out of the ordinary this morning. A single car drove into a tree...the person inside was dead. It didn't seem to add up and now we know why. The person inside had a gunshot wound.

-In the spirit of catching up, we took the boys to the Fair last Thursday. I'll spend more time out at our booth this week but at least some of my motivation to get out there Thursday was to see my old partner here at WHO, Trisha Shepherd. She and her family were out at The Fair because he husband Ian was playing with the Nadas. They all looked great and Trish says Indianapolis is wonderful. She says hello to all the bloggers. We snapped this picture...someone suggested it for this year's Christmas cards It's in the running.

So is this one. The boys had their first real food this week. Green beans. Not sure we've got any real fans but then again I think it probably just tastes weird to them.

Another big milestone, JT cut his first two teeth. He woke up screaming one night last week and we couldn't figure out why. Sally was the one that cut through the fog of sleeplessness and figured out what was going on. Tylenol is a good thing!

-We had a nice weekend with Sally's Mom in town. It makes things a lot easier with an extra pair of hands. I got to golf early Saturday morning up at The Harvester. I went off by myself before the first time and flew around the course. It's the way I really like to play golf.

Interesting, I talked to the Director of Golf up there. In a down economy, a lot of courses are struggling. Harvester is reinvesting.

They're redoing all of their fairway bunkers and they're going to build a stone wall around parts of their lake. It's no small project. Thankfully it didn't effect the golf...the work on the bunkers should be done by late September.

I am about ready to do the Nooner...

I'll try to finish what I start this week.

PWD

Another Day, another Healthcare Debate

Good Morning...
The beginning of the Today show dealt with another health care forum where people expressed their views, quite forcefully at times.
The Today Show interviewed Sen Claire McCaskill of Missouri and wanted to know about these exchanges.
For those of you who've heard stories about what started the biggest disruption at the meeting, here's a video I found after looking around for a while.
McCaskill eluded to the fact that people weren't supposed to bring signs in and apparently the woman at the center of the shot had some signs.
It appears, to me anyway, the guy comes in from the side, grabs the signs and rips them up. I don't know if they had a previous confrontation, but this is the kind of stuff that has nothing to do with the debate about health care. McCaskill got high marks from opponents and supporters for at least standing there and taking shots from her critics.


I'll ask the same question McCaskill did. How does this help?
Get fired up, get passionate, get informed and then get to these forums. When you arrive, make the decision to be respectful of the people who are there, the people Iowans elected and the people who are there to listen. Decisions are made by those who show up.

Parade
We'll be out at the Iowa State Fair Parade tonight starting at 6:15. Come on out. It's always fun for us to say a quick hello to the people who watch us in the morning.

Have a great day!

Things we didn't tell you on TV this morning

Good morning.
It would seem there just wasn't enough room to tell you all the news we found interesting this morning so here are a few items we had, and a few we didn't put into our show this morning.

-Honor Flight
more than 226 thousand Iowans served in World War Two. This generation's story is more compelling to me than almost any other. I can't seem to get enough of it. My bookshelf at home is lined, mostly with world war two histories. In fact, last night I just finished a history of the Battle of Britain called With Wings Like Eagles. Good book...but I digress.
This morning more than 300 Iowa veterans were able to go to Washington D-C to see the World War Two Memorial Dedicated to their service. More important, it seems, to all of these men and women, is the fact that it honors the men and women who never came home.


-The President is holding a Town Hall style meeting on health care in New Hampshire today. Ya think anyone who's going to yell at the President will get into the meeting? I doubt it. Not that they should. I feel like there should be people in there who have honest concerns about the Administration's Health Care Plan. Too bad we're probably going to see pre-screened softballs for the President to Hit out of the park.

-There was a substantial reduction in the sale of tobacco to minors according to the USA Today.

-Women make their own Glass Ceiling? That's what a new study says. It basically says women sell themselves short. Their supervisors rate women much higher than the women themselves believe they are valued (does that make sense?). In short women are not good self promoters

-Should a Bride take her husband's name? 70 percent of people in a recent study think so. Anyone have a strong objection? I am as proud to be a member of my wife's family as I believe she is of mine. My kids will know what it is to "be a Rosenthal" as much as they know their Dix family history. My wife took her maiden name as her middle name when we married. I know a lot of women who've done that as well.
-Eunice Kennedy Shriver died today. Her work to establish the Special Olympics can't be measured. A group that included her own sister, once relegated to institutions and wild medical experimentation are now viewed as production members of our communities. If you've ever worked with special Olympians, you know they teach you a lot more than you ever give them.

-A friend wrote to ask if I could help her convince her parents that President Obama is, in fact a citizen of the United States. With the Help of our friends from The Daily Show...

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
The Born Identity
http://www.thedailyshow.com/
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Spinal Tap Performance

Have a good day,
PWD

Weather, Town Hall, and The Weeekend

Good Morning,
Jeriann and Brooke both say they got a good night sleep last night and I don't know how. Between the weather and the kids I was up at least three times last night. The one I couldn't get over was about 9:30. I'd only been asleep for about 45 minutes. The thunder that came after a bolt of lightening on the south side...I had real thought that a plane had crashed at the airport and there were things exploding around it...I've never heard thunder like that.
Anyway, I feel bad for people in Eldora. How scary would that be...storm comes through and their windows get blown out by hail! I was thinking of that as I put my two kids right next to our picture window in the front of our house...Not the best safety plan from Dad. We'll have to work on that.

To the News:
These "Town Hall" meetings members of Congress are having, continue to draw protesters who insist on shouting down the congressman or Senator. Now, I want to be clear. I feel like it's a good initiative to go to the meetings, to ask questions, to be as informed as possible about the debate. I do not think it's necessary to go shout down a member of Congress to get your point across. How else would you get on TV though. The really interesting part about all of this to me, is that neither side seems to actually want the debate! Republicans seem to want to distract from any debate over healthcare...Democrats don't seem to want to talk about the plan they've put forward. 90% of us can't make it to these meetings but I'll bet most of us would have liked to have seen Sen Harkin answer a few of the harder questions his constituents have.
I can't help the lingering feeling that many of these Members of Congress aren't exactly up to speed on the Healthcare Legislation. Sen Harkin Should be...he just doesn't seem that comfortable talking about it.

Tiger
I had as much fun watching golf as I've had in a long time Sunday. I wish I could hit an eight iron 187 yards.

Shawn
We didn't mention, Shawn Johnson won the Teen Choice Award for Best Female Athlete.
The awards were on Fox over the weekend.

ICubs
Had a great time at Principal Park Friday night. The baseball was, as always, entertaining, the staff was helpful and the stand were packed. I told you Sally's Dad was in town this weekend. He insists on going to one game a summer, but he always comes away with a new reason to come back. This time it was that the staff at Principal Park were coming up the aisle asking if we had any trash they could throw away. Rick almost fell out of his chair.

Brunch
We had breakfast at Gateway Sunday. I had a Breakfast burrito with steak...nice!

Gotta go...we're having the carpets upstairs cleaned today. That's what happens when you take up one ugly carpet. The carpet that looked good next to the ugly carpet, now takes up the title of being ugly.

See ya!
PWD

Noon Update:
Two things I forgot.

First, Brooke can report on the behavior of my boys Friday night but I think they had a pretty good time of it. I know hanging with Evan, even for a few minutes before we left was fun. He's a good guy.
Second, I got this funny email from a friend this morning. Thought you all might enjoy the image:

Hey Pat!
I had to drop you a line because I got such a good laugh this morning. You don’t have an alter-ego (or maybe a brother) that drives a rusted-out, red ’89 cavalier, do you? Because I saw your twin during my morning commute.
I pulled up to the light at 8th and Ashworth, and the aforementioned car pulls up beside me. I glanced over, and thought for SURE it was you—this guy was a DEAD RINGER. Like, his face looked EXACTLY like you, only with a 5 o’clock shadow. Here is where the similarity ended. Because even though he had your head (even the same hair... it was uncanny), *Everything* else about him was the ANTI-PATRICK: unfiltered cigarette hanging out of his mouth, mirrored aviator shades, classic rock blaring, Dale Earnhardt tribute sticker in the back window, and oh, I FORGOT TO MENTION THE MESH SHIRT. Because NOTHING says “Patrick W. Dix” like a sleeveless, mesh shirt. Seriously, I was dying. And staring, frankly. The guy gave me a dirty look before he zoomed away when the light changed, but the image remained seared in my brain. It was then that I *knew* today, well, it was going to be a good day.
(My apologies if this actually WAS you, channeling your inner-speedway-superfan)

The answer is, no that was not me. I'm pretty sure it's not my brother, but now I'm intrigued! Gotta find this guy. Maybe we could trade places for the day!

Conspiracy2, IngerDahls and R.I.P. J Hughes

Good Morning.

Lots of random stuff to get to this morning but the thing I woke up to at 2am was the news John Hughes had died. The name may not be familiar to some of you but his movies are. Ferris Bueller, Breakfast Club Sixteen Candles and Weird Science are on a lot of people's all time great list. So we are asking this morning...which is your favorite?

I love em all. Hughes used the area I grew up in as the backdrop for a lot of his movies. I remember the night the shut down a big intersection of downtown to shoot the scene in Home Alone when he's in the church. Uncle Buck filmed at a little coffee shop downtown and Jeannie Bueller's Realty Office is across the street from the Caribou Coffee we frequent when we go back to Chicago.
There are too many to put in a poll. but I'm sure most of you have a favorite quote from one of these movies too. If you do...post it in a comment. It will be fun to see what everyone else took away from the movies and how accurate we all can be with the quotes.
-"I did not achieve this position in life just to let some snot nosed punk leave my cheese out in the wind" -E Rooney
-"I do have a test today...that wasn't #######. It was on European Socialism. I mean really, what's the point? I'm not European, I don't plan on being European. So who gives a C#$@* if they're Socialists? They could be Fascist-Anarchists and it still wouldn't change the fact that I don't own a car."
Keep it going

Now the News:
Conspiracy2:
Now it's the Dems calling conspiracy on Conservatives. In response to some rowdy protests the Senate Majority leader said the only reason they were protesting is because they don't have any better ideas. He scolded protesters saying people are trying to have a serious debate.
No, your not Mr Majority leader. If you actually wanted to look at the whole problem, you would look at options that include tort reform so Doctors wouldn't have to spend half their salaries on malpractice insurance.
If you want to talk about the cost of Health care...talk about it, but don't pretend that you are making this an open exchange of ideas.

IngerDahl's
I hadn't been in the new store on Ingersoll yet. Yesterday I went in and felt like I'd been transported into the suburbs. Then I looked around and was comforted by the fact that the usual cast of characters is still in the store. Made me feel better.

Weekend
So is it too hot to bring a six month old kid out on Saturday?
Parents...weigh in here.
I was thinking we could stuff an ice pack inside the Baby Bjorn to keep the boys cool, or maybe a cool washcloth. Maybe we'll just stay home.

We're going out to our first I-Cubs game of the season tonight. Sally's Dad is in town. He loves going down to Sec Taylor every summer. We're happy to oblige.
Brooke agreed to babysit for us so she can get her baby fix and we can keep the boys in their routine. I'll let her report back on the boy's behavior Monday. Until then...have a good weekend and stay cool.
PWD

Athiests, New Judge, and Predictions

Good Morning...
Just got off of our Newsline with a caller wondering why we aren't covering the attempt to "spy" on people who are opposed to The President's Health care plan. The reference is to comments made by Sen John Cornyn of Texas. You can read about it in this article in the Dallas Morning News.
Now, the gentleman I talked to said this was the first step toward turning The United States into a Communist country. He said they were collecting an "enemies list".
If that's the case, they're not doing a very good job of it. The Administration is asking for this publicly. If they are attempting some sort of covert action here...it's not going real well.
If they began investigating these people's tax returns. If they...you know, tried to break into the opposition party's National Headquarters seeking information about opponents of health care...oh wait...we've already done that.
Anyway, my point in telling you this is that words are important. When you say something, listen to yourself.
There is an important debate about the future of health care in this country and it's going on right now. Instead of trying to distract the debate with nonsense conspiracy theories, we should be looking at the issues surrounding the cost of health care. How about defending the position that socialized medicine is bad? Debate the issues and win people over.
By the way did you hear the President wasn't really born in the United States?

On to the news:
Atheists
DART is having a bad run lately. The idea that the transit authority is rejecting an add because people complained about it is really scary. I thought Andy's story made a good point. If we can have ads for churches, why not for Atheists?

New Judge
I get the politics of the vote to confirm Judge Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. I understand the hesitation of some Senators to confirm her.
The risk of putting anyone on the court is that they will take their lifetime appointment as license to become a radical on the bench. All you can do is look at the Judge's body of work and make an informed decision. In this case, the President has nominated a qualified candidate for Supreme Court. No one question's her knowledge of the law or her opinions when confronted with tough legal issues. They're upset with statements she made in public. I, for one, think it's not the Senate's job to pick a judge. It's the Senate's job to confirm a candidate the President chooses. People were saying the same thing when Chief Justice Roberts was being confirmed. You may not like his politics, but he was supremely qualified to be on the court.

Predictions
-I predict Lena's gonna win a lifetime Grammy babe...it's long overdue. (I'd be impressed if someone got that reference)
-Someone at Sporting News predicted Notre Dame could go undefeated this year. Look, no one wants that to happen more than I do but, please stop smoking whatever it is you're smoking.
-Paula's coming back...but where? I predict we'll waste at least an hour or two over the next few weeks talking about where and when on the Today Show.
-The Auto industry is still going to be in a slump when we get done with the Cash for Clunkers program. You can only put so much lipstick on that pig.
-Next time I pick up the Newsline, it's going to be someone with a simple question I can answer.

Here's hoping....
Have a good day.
PWD

Mid Week Thoughts

Good morning...
Just a few thoughts for Wednesday. I saved up by not blogging Tuesday.

-The stories about kids dying effect me a lot more now that I'm a parent. I heard my colleagues say this, and I believed them, but had no sense of what they were talking about until I had kids. A five month old kid isn't supposed to die. There's going to be an investigation into how this happened and there may be some finger pointing as that progresses. I wouldn't do it. The other side effect of having kids is that I find myself a lot less willing to assign blame in cases like this. I want to believe nothing like this is ever going to happen to my kids. I am going to protect them and make sure they're safe, but the honest truth is that none of us are immune to making mistakes. Some of them result in a kid falling down and splitting his lip. Others can be more serious. Even the most attentive,. loving parent can make a mistake.

-What will the world do without Paula Abdul? I'm sure she'll show up somewhere. Meanwhile American Idol will go on. It's not the judges we like seeing, it's the people who actually believe they're going to get a recording contract without a shred of musical talent.

-Some of you know I've been taking a trip with some friends from college for ten years now. we go play A LOT of golf for five days, usually in the spring. This year all of us had kids...so we postponed. Now some of the regulars are bailing so we've had to come up with as simple a plan as we can. The result will be these guys invading some of Iowa's best golf courses this fall. I'm looking forward to introducing these guys to some of the best golf courses no one has heard of.

-A friend posted this one on Facebook. It's the response to the Wedding entrance video that made headlines last week.
Funny

-It's been a week of new recipes this week on the grill. After Sally said she was bored with our summer fare, I decided to take up the challenge and do a few different things. Monday we grilled a salmon fillet on a cedar plank. We slathered it in some sesame ginger sauce and boy was it good. Smokey flavor from the cedar plank and great sweet flavor from the sauce. It's really easy.

We tried a mustard glazed lamb chop last night that was good (we like lamb), but the glaze didn't seem worth the trouble cause it fell off the chop. It's basically Dijon, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Parmesan Cheese, salt and pepper. We'll work with it to try to make it stick a little better. Grilled some carrots with he lamb and covered them in a sauce we made up. Reduced some apple sauce, added butter and brown sugar. How can you go wrong with that?

Tonight it's Pork Chops. My sister gave me a recipe. We'll see.

-Got out on my bike for the first time in about a year and a half last night. it was a great alternative to a run. I go as far as I can in 25 minutes and then head back. I got out past Holmes Honda last night. Maybe I'll see how far I can extend my ride each time I do it.

-New poll question is up....feel free to respond.

Have a good one

PWD

Just asking

Good morning. I have only one story from the weekend but want your opinion on how it played out.
For those of you who are familiar, the Costco gas station is quite a setup. When it gets busy it can be a little test of patience as cars weave in and out of the pumps to try to get some gas and get out of there.
So we stopped to get some gas Sunday after a trip to Costco, and As I waited for a pump to open up, I saw there was a pump open in front of the truck I was waiting behind. I paused...no one made a move to go use the pump. There were four or five of us waiting. I paused again...no one making a move. So I pulled forward rather easily, into the open slot.
So I get out and the guy in front of me looks at me and says, "How am I supposed to get out?"
Now when I pulled up I made sure I'd left enough room for the guy to get out. It really wasn't a problem but I sensed he was annoyed. So I said..."Looks like you'll be able to get out."
Then he says, "What about the guy behind me...he was waiting."
I really didn't know what to say. We were all just sitting there. No one was moving and it seemed stupid to me to wait just because someone else didn't want to sue the pump. It's like being at the grocery and a cashier opens in the lane next door. You don't back your cart out so the lady who's trapped by the tabloid stand can get out of your line and into the line that just opened. Technically she's ahead of you, but it makes more sense for you to go ahead.
I asked the guy complaining behind me if he was serious. He said he was. I shrugged my shoulders, but I was mad... I hold the door for people, I usually wave someone in front of me when they're trying to merge into my lane. I'll even wave a guy through at a stop sigh if we both show up at the same time. My point is I'm a polite person but who in the world would try to make a big deal out of someone pulling into a slot at a gas station?
Just wondering. Was I wrong to pull forward?
PWD