South Bend, Indiana; July 31, 2008

Uncle Ron’s Ramblings

Politics Not Ideal: I mentioned yesterday that in an ideal world John McCain’s choice of running mate would be a no-brainer: Condoleeza Rice.
Actually in an ideal world the second spot of the respective tickets would go to the second-leading vote-getters: Hillary Clinton for the Democrats and Mitt Romney for the Republicans.
That’s the way the Founding Fathers originally intended. In fact, in the first presidential elections the top two spots went to the leading vote-getters regardless of party.
Naysayers might also point out that McCain would alienate many potential GOP voters by putting an African-American on the ticket. If so, who would they vote for: Barack Obama?
McCain needs to do something to shake things up. According to the latest polls the election is Obama’s to lose; he leads McCain by 11%.
In one sense, third world countries like Zimbabwe or third world cities like Chicago (just kidding) have the right idea.
In Chicago the Republican Party became so irrelevant that city leaders decided to put all municipal candidates on one ballot. If one candidate doesn’t get a majority of the votes the top two candidates meet in a run-off.
That’s the way it was supposed to work under Zimbabwe’s constitution but supporters of incumbent President Robert Mugabe used threats, intimidation, and censorship to force Morgan Tsvangirai to drop out of the scheduled run-off; the 28-year-old wife of an opposition party mayor was kidnapped and murdered. This was after Tsvangirai received 49% of the vote in the general election.


Announcements

New CFH Exercise Room Hours: Monday and Wednesday, 1-3 p.m.; Monday-Friday, 6-8 p.m. (women 6-7 p.m., men 7-8 p.m.).
All guests using the facility will be asked to sign in and out.
St. Joseph County 4-H Fair Open: The St. Joseph County 4-H Fair is open until Saturday from noon to 11 p.m. The midway opens at 1 p.m.
The fairgrounds are at Ironwood and Jackson Roads. The entrance is south of Jackson Road on York Road.
Admission is $6 today through Thursday and $7 Friday and Saturday. Children 8 and under are admitted free; $5 for seniors (65 and over).
Win a Bike: Anyone who completes extra projects and chores for Tammy, Troy, or Roger will have their name entered into the contest. The more projects completed, the more chances to win a bike (lock included). There are two bikes.
The drawing will be Friday, August 8, 2008. See Tammy for more details.
Water Park Open: The children’s courtyard is open again but the water park east of CFH is still a cool alternative during these dog days of Summer.
Go east on Sample Street to Fellows Street by the Boys and Girls Club. Turn south. The park is on the south side of the YWCA. The water park is on the east side of the park.
Silver Hawks Tickets: All ticket requests must go through the development department. In addition, the Silver Hawks are unable to ac-commodate requests on short notice. If a guest is interested in attending a game please contact Jacqueline Kronk.
Artistic Newsletter: Are you an artist, poet or writer? Place submissions for the Artistic Newsletter in Emily Pickerill’s box. Express your talents and ideas by participating. Start submitting as soon as possible.

ABE
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▪Positive Life Skills Class: Wednesdays, 9-11:30 a.m. PLS is a walk-in self-empowerment program for Starting Over graduates and new guests. It is open to anyone (even staff). Receive a new key chain when you have attended all eight sessions.
▪ABE Incentives: Students will be given a card to be initialed during each walk-in class attended. Once a student has attended 10 walk-in programs, cards can be redeemed for prizes.
▪Math Study Sessions: Mondays, 3-4 p.m., and Thursdays, 6:30-7:30 p.m., SOSH room.
▪GED Essay Writing Class: Are you working on your GED? Do you need to write an essay or refine your writing skills? Then join us for the Essay Class, Wednesdays, 3-4 p.m.
▪Submit Your Poem: If you like to write poetry in your free time, this is your chance to be a published author! Submit a poem to any staff member in the ABE room and it may be published in the next ABE Newsletter. Also, we will hopefully start another Poetry Jam in the Fall; let us know if you are interested
▪Learn Better Handwriting: Tuesdays, 2-3 p.m., beginning August 5. Sign up in ABE.
▪Writing: Wednesdays, 3-4 p.m., ABE. Improve your basic writing skills under the guidance of a trained instructor.
▪Creative Writing: Starts June 12. Thursdays, 6-7 p.m.; open to everyone.
▪Save Your Files: If you have any files on the hard drives in the ABE computers, you need to save them to a disk or flash drive. The hard drives are going to be cleaned out by August 1.

Herald Sports

Silver Hawks 11, Lumberkings 1: Centerfielder Winston Linton and rightfielder Joseph Batten each had four hits and scored three runs as the Hawk bats came alive after two straight shutouts. One of Batten’s hits was a solo homer.
Matthew Oxendine had three hits; Taylor Harbin had two hits and four RBIs; Collin Cowgill and Ramon Ramirez had two hits apiece.
Starting pitcher Jarrod (10-5) picked up the win with six innings of work, two hits allowed, one run (earned), four walks, and six strikeouts. Bryan Shaw and Jordan Norberto didn’t allow a run or hit in two and one inning of work, respectively.
The Hawks (25-14) maintained the best record in the Midwest League’s second half-season. They lead the Dayton Dragons by one game.
The Hawks and Lumberkings meet again tonight at Clinton; game time is 8 p.m.
MLB NL: Cubs 7, Brewers 2; Rockies 7,
8, Nationals 5; Marlins 7, Mets 5; Cardinals 7, Braves 2; Reds 9, Astros 5; Diamondbacks 7, Padres 3; Dodgers 4, Giants 0.
MLB AL: White Sox 8, Twins 3; Angels 9, Red Sox 2; Rays 3, Blue Jays 2; Yankees 13, Orioles 3; Royals 4, Athletics 3 (10; Tigers 14, Indians 12 (13); Rangers 4, Mariners 3.
MLS Superliga Semifinal: New England 1, Atlante FC 0 (New England to meet Houston in final); Friendly: Fire 2, Everton 0.
WNBA Scores: No games scheduled.
Yanks Get Pudge From Tigers: The Yankees have obtained catcher Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez from the Tigers in exchange for relief pitcher Kyle Farnsworth.
The Yanks needed help behind the plate after starter Jorge Posada was forced to undergo shoulder surgery.
Rodriguez has the most hits of any catcher in major league history.

Weather

Today High 83 Low 61 Partly Cloudy
Fri High 83 Low 67 Chance Storms
Sat High 88 Low 68 Clear
Sun High 88 Low 67 Partly Cloudy
Mon High 88 Low 70 Partly Cloudy

TV Schedule: 16—8-10 p.m., Last Comic Standing (two-hour program); 22—8 p.m., Big Brother; 9 p.m., CSI: Crime Scene Investigation; 25—8 p.m., Smallville; 9 p.m., Supernatural; 28—8 p.m., Don’t Forget the Lyrics; 9 p.m., So You Think You Can Dance; 46—8 p.m., Lester Sumrall Teaching; 8:30 p.m., Live From Studio B; 9 p.m., Harvest; 57—8 p.m., Ugly Betty; 9 p.m., Grey’s Anatomy; 69---8-10 p.m., Stakeout.

Nation/World

Israeli Prime Minister To Resign: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has announced that he will resign in September, dealing a setback to peace talks.
Olmert has been under investigation for alleged scandals in his administration.
Two Officers Relieved: The commanding officer and executive officer of the nuclear carrier USS George Washington were relieved Wednesday after a fire that caused $70-million in damage. It was blamed on careless smoking.