| Death Valley: Scotty's Castle built with lots of snake oil
Everybody loves an eccentric, especially when the eccentric was rich enough to live a life of comfortable derring-do. Walter Scott and Albert Johnson were just such men. Scott, a former stunt rider in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, was, by all accounts, a charismatic alpha dog of a character, a teller of tall tales and a gold digger, if not in the literal sense. Folklore has it that, in the first decade of the 20th century, the man swaggered around the country using his entertainment skills to fleece investors in a nonexistent Death Valley gold mine. Who could resist a guy who carried huge wads of cash, produced thumb-size gold nuggets from his pocket and lit his cigars with $100 bills? .
UI Goes Smokeless In 2009
IOWA CITY – Do not plan to light up on the University of Iowa campus anywhere. It is going completely smoke-free. Smokers are obviously upset.The idea has been debated for years. But on Monday came the burning reality, University of Iowa President Sally Mason announced the decision. And now begins the time of transition. The haze hovering around the University of Iowa campus Monday is not from smokers trying to get their last puffs in before the ban goes into effect. It does not happen until July 1, 2009. The university believes that will be enough time to educate the thousands of people who work and go to school here. University spokesman Steve Parrott said, “Really what we're looking to do is create a healthy environment, healthy culture for everyone on campus." The university will spend the next 17 months letting people know of smoking cessation programs.
Travels With Uncle Chet: Dems should pick anyone but Hillary
COLUMBUS _ ``I call this meeting to order,'' said Uncle Chet, as he passed the platter of chicken down the table. ``How are we going to nominate anyone but Hillary?'' ``It might be too late,'' I said. ``I think she's been anointed,'' said Alice, handing me the cranberry sauce. ``I have a question,'' asked Buddy, who won the social studies award in kindergarten last year. ``What's that?'' said Hon. ``Is Hillary like President Bush?'' ``More than you'd think, little boy,'' said Uncle Chet. ``They both love NAFTA,'' I noted. ``Who's NAFTA?'' asked Buddy. ``A bad idea,'' I said. ``NAFTA is an agreement to ship jobs out of the United States,'' said Uncle Chet.
the has-been
In the unlikely event that Barack Obama put on some pounds, his team could just say he's trying to quit smoking. John Edwards has already laid the groundwork by pointing out that he has given up Diet Coke. As a cyborg who can morph into any form, Romney doesn't have to worry. But if Huckabee starts to balloon, he's no longer a fresh face; he's another flip-flopping phony diet doctor. It would be like campaigning as Abraham Lincoln and governing like William Howard Taft.
Being under enormous pressure to stay trim only makes the task harder. Sooner or later, almost every celebrity who became famous for losing weight comes to regret it. Kirstie Alley, Elvis Presley, and Anna Nicole Smith are all proof that the worst diet plan in the world is to have everyone watching.
Two murders and two life sentences won't alter one convict's ...
SAN ANTONIO—He was done signing autographs. Finished glad-handing fans. Complete with his first day of training camp as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. But, refreshingly, Wade Phillips was just getting started. As Phillips jogged into The Alamodome locker room tunnel last Wednesday afternoon, a man desperate for his attention fired a football that skidded, tumbled and bounced into the back of the coach's legs. An encore—or perhaps a fight—was inevitable. Phillips picked up the ball, tucked it under his arm and, after briefly pretending to jog toward the bowels of the stadium, returned to the field, signed some more and, just like that, created priceless goodwill. See, Bill Parcells, it ain't that damn hard. In four minutes the new coach produced more fan interaction than the former coach did in four years.
When Mitt Met Ralph
Far from taking the race down to the wire, he'll end up third. While he's a good communicator, many voters looking for the face of conservatism couldn't see past what one analyst in the Deseret News described as the "CEO robot from Jupiter.'" If anything, Romney was born to be the face of the Ford wing of the Republican Party – an economic conservative with only a passing interest in the other two legs of Reagan's conservative stool. Like Ford, Mitt won the Michigan primary. He won all the places he calls home, and it's not his fault his father wasn't governor of more states. Romney does have one advantage. With a conservative president nearing historic lows in the polls and a presumptive nominee more intent on leading the country, heading the conservative movement might be like running the 2002 Olympics – a job nobody else wants.
|
