god bless don cherry

grandma and grandpa immigrated from canada. i was raised in a northern climate, where a trip to a foreign country cost 50 cents and took 5 minutes. the wait is much longer now and i need a passport.

i grew up watching hockey night in canada, complete with peter puck between periods, and so many lanny macdonald references you thought he never left the ice. for the last several years i have purchased nhl center ice, to entertain myself and the brood. i also get the nhl network, which includes hockey night in canada with all the pre-game and intermission stuff.




that means hockey broadcasting legend don cherry. grapes spent most of his career in the minors, (ahl) and made his name on tv, with his outrageous suits and unapologetic commentary. love him or hate him, his controversial style keeps people watching to see what's next.

This is a toned down Don Cherry look.

something i personally admire him for is his support for the troops. since the war, don has consistently recognized fallen canadian soldiers killed in the war on terrorism. tonight as the wings took on the leafs, it was no different.

in addition to the hockey hall of fame game, canada as well as the u.s. is remembering veterans day. 3 former wings; hull, robitaille and captian cup, stevie y were recognized in a special pregame introduction of this year's inductees. at the first intermission, during coaches corner, cherry reminded the viewers who the true hall of famers were, as the CBC and cherry took an estimated 2 full minutes to show the names and faces of canada's recent war dead.

this is a national broadcast, and watching is as much a cultural norm as placing ones hand over their heart during the nation anthem, fireworks on the 4th, and the evening news with walter kronkite used to be here in the states. think of the last time an american "co-anchor" on a major weekly broadcast did this. take your time, i'll give you all you want. can't come up with an example can you?

neither could i. don isn't one dimensional either. he regularly recognizes cops and firefighters killed in the line of duty, and kids who succumb to disease. and there is true emotion on display when he does this.

in a country that takes special measures to remember and celebrate her war veterans, cherry stands apart in my mind.





as an american of canadian lineage, i could not be prouder of the example you set. god bless you grapes.

p.s. 1/14/10 this is getting lots of traffic from north of the border. someone please leave me a note why. i figure grapes did something recently, but can't figure it out. thanks for stopping by.

never a soldier

nidal hasan was never a soldier. not in our army. not in my army. he wore the uniform and lived in the housing, worked in the facilities, drew his pay and accepted the salutes of those he was appointed over. but he was never a soldier.

he was a doctor, never went to the field, or even deployed from the states. what is a soldier? it's the kid down the street, who can't get along with his dad, cause they are too much alike. he is a patriot who wants to give back, serve. or who can't currently find a job in the civilian sector, due to high unemployment, like the 10.2% we currently have with obama. it's the guy bored with the confines of his small to medium sized town or the ridiculous crime rates in his big city, longing for something else, an adventure. or who needs a way to save for college.

once in, he discovers he is just like the rest of the shaved heads in camo. he becomes a boot size, pants size, blouse size, weapons number. he becomes 7 out of the next 6 in the chow hall. he is fire guard from 0100 to 0300 or CQ from 2300 to 0100. after the basic stuff he begins to learn a skill. he becomes an 11B, 13C, 19K, 21E, 31B, 42A or 68W.

as he builds skill and learns and demonstrates leadership qualities, he advances. and makes friends that last a lifetime. and due to being taken out of the comfort zone that is his neighborhood or hometown, he learns responsibility and trust. and respect. that is something nidal hasan never learned, in my opinion.

i doubt nidal hasan ever saw the soldiers creed, or read it or understood its meaning and significance. some will see it as just words, but it is a pact. an agreement between me and the guy to my left and right. i am here with you, rely on me, together we can do this, you are not alone.

nidal hasan put self before others and a radical ideology above his duty to what were supposed to be his brothers in arms. a true soldier shares his food, water, shelter, socks, whatever with another troop. and have given up their lives on so many occasions, for men they don't even know, just because 'those guys are pinned down', or 'that guy in the open has been shot by a sniper and needs help.'

he never understood this, others over self, sacrifice, only blind following of his faith, and slaughtered his brothers. strip him of the uniform and any decorations, he was never a soldier.

breaking news

12 dead and 31 wounded, BY THEIR OWN, today at ft. hood, texas. i'm not going to play politics with this like some shit bag lib talking head or elected" official". the who and why will come out later. right now, pray for those troops, and their families.

limerick attempt

disclaimer: i never claimed to be the second coming of THE BARD.
GIA over at A GIA'S LIFE, wrote a haiku which i expressed appreciation for, but told her i was a limerick guy. that meant i get them, not write them. she suggested i try, so here is the first and probably last stab at it. feel free to criticize, i'm sure i deserve it. also, give it a try yourself, it was kinda fun.


there once was a president from kenya,

who said bend over as i stick socialism in ya,

but to his surprise,

conservative tea parties arise,

and his hood winking ended in virginia.

rainy days and mondays always get me down

it wasn't raining, but i'm still sad. monday the 2nd, crown vickie, my second true love, left me rather suddenly. while driving south bound, i noticed a blue pickup tearing ass out of a private lot. i immediately thought, "what did this fucker do?" my next thought was, "there's going to be an accident", based on this blue trucks proximity to a south bound white truck.

as it turned north at a high rate of speed, the blue truck fish tailed, crossed the double yellow, side swiped the white pickup, bounced off and-------headed towards me. i slowed as soon as i perceived the potential of the ass wrinkle, and steered right to try to avoid impending doom, but ended up sentencing crown vickie to her demise.

we got hit head on. not too hard, but enough to shove us sideways. as i was thinking, "hey, can't be that bad, the air bag didn't BANG, deploy, (the air bag deploys)". fuck, now i'm mad. vickie was new and fresh. 7,000 miles, and straight down the shitter.

i jump out as, mr. i can drive, is roasting off the tires trying to get the fuck out of my area of operations. politely i tell him i require his presence outside the truck, on the ground. turns out he doesn't have a drivers license, but does have an outstanding warrant and some weed. my monday is bad, but his is worse. based on his shitty understanding of the rules of the road, genius goes to the house of many doors for reckless driving ,and also for taking out the nice old guys white truck and vickie.

she was a good, faithful ride that always came to life at the caress of my hand and i'll miss her. rumor is a new girl (dodge charger) is looking for a man. i'll still remember you fondly, but it's time to move on with my life. we'll always have the summer of '09, darling.




p.s. no policemen or citizens were injured in this incident.

hero of the month: october

these guys tie as they both saved lives.


ANTHONY JOHNSON of detroit. who pulled 2 fishermen from lake st. clair on october 20, 1 of whom is partially paralyzed. JOHNSON noticed clothing floating in the water and stopped to investigate. apparently tom nierzwick fell from a moving boat and his friend, scott rozansky jumped in to assist. in doing so, their boat floated off and they had to tread water for about 45 minutes until JOHNSON came by and pulled them to safety. JOHNSON was also able to recover their boat as well, which contained one of the men's dog. both were hospitalized after their time in the water (for hypothermia).




PAUL M. LANGONE of boston. LANGONE shot and killed a man previously diagnosed with bi-polar disorder, who was attacking his psychiatrist with a knife, and had reportedly stabbed the woman a dozen times, for unknown reasons, on october 27. the doctor remains in very serious condition at this time. LANGONE is a legally armed citizen and says he just did what anyone else would have done and does not consider himself a hero.. PAUL, the doctor's husband and kids will definitely argue that point with you.



honorable mention: BEN ROETHLISBERGER, for his charitable donations to police and fire departments throughout the nation of working dogs. these dogs keep the communities where they are located safe by investigating numerous crimes and assisting in rescues.


oh, by the way, JOHNSON is a detroit cop and LANGONE is on the hiring list for boston p.d.

more fun and games with the religion of piece(s)

taken from numerous detroit free press articles.

shown above is the late, not so great, christopher thomas, otherwise know as, iman luqman ameen abdullah. he was shot to death by FBI agents in detroit on october 28, at the culmination of a 2 year investigation into his, and his followers activities at the masjid al-haqq mosque.

in a 43 page indictment chris t., an african-america convert to islam, and follower of jamil abdullah al-amin, formerly known as h. rap brown, of black panther infamy, and 11 others were acussed of: the illegal possession and sale of firearms, mail fraud to obtain the proceeds of arson, tampering with vehicle identification numbers and theft of interstate shipments.

chris t. said he wouldn't be taken alive, and he was right. when federal agents attempted to arrest him, four of his co-conspirators surrendered, but chris pulled out a gun, killing freddy the canine, an fbi working dog, and died of lead poisoning himself.



his leader, h. rap al- amin brown, is in prison in georgia for killing 2 cops. the indictment says chris wanted to attack the super bowl while it was in detroit, and regulary spoke of attacking non-muslims, cops, fbi agents and the federal government, and wanted to set up a separate islamic state in the united states, to establish sharia law.

for whatever reason, these guys were not charged with treason or terrorism, despite being, "members of a group that is alleged to have engaged in violent activity over a period of many years and known to be armed," a joint statement from the detroit fbi and u.s. attorney's office said.

that shit is coming back to bite the fbi now however, as, defense attorneys scoffed at a 43-page detailed affidavit that highlights abdullah's alleged hatred of government and police agencies and call for a jihad.

the suspects are not charged with any form of terrorism.

"I don't see any terrorism charges," said defense attorney Robert F. Kinney, who represents suspect Abdul Saboor, 37, of Detroit. "Terrorism is a very serious charge." saboor, er, dwayne davis, is another defendant in the case, and has been charged with conspiracy to commit federal crimes. sounds like a certain government agency's political correctness is being turned into a weapon against them.

muslims locally and nationally are of course weighing in on the incident. an iman abdullah el-amin, (don't know if that is the name on his birth certificate), said that the case was driven by liars that pushed our tragic hero chris t. into the theft of fur coats and laptop computers, and wondered, "Why didn’t they (the fbi) stop it earlier before it got to this point?” The informants “came to a place where people are not getting social security, unemployment. They had nothing.” if that aint a reason for jihad what the fuck is?

dawud walid, head of the michigan branch of C.A.I.R. said he knew chris t. for about 10 years and that he was a respected iman in the muslim community who fed the hungry and let the homeless sleep in the mosque. sally howell, assistant professor of history at the U of M-dearborn, remembered chris t. as a," thoughtful person, he looked you in the eye." and went on to state he was engaging in one on one conversations with a dry sense of humor. howell said she was," shocked", to hear of chris's death as, "He was trying to look out for the people in the neighborhood." david nu'man remembered chris as a," good humanitarian."

forget about chris's '81 arrest for felony assault and possession of a concealed weapon. oh ,yeah, part of that sharia law he wanted to establish in the area was reported to be to address drugs and gun violence, but check out what his own kid, omar regan, said.“My father is a great guy, but I want to be honest – he was from the '60s.” “He did carry a gun."

muslims are also bitching about the fact that the fbi used undercover informants in the case to penetrate the activities of the mosque-and uncovered this shit. look, they told us they were the religion of peace, and we should just blindly accept that as fact, otherwise we are racist bigots.
from here on out i will refer to it as the religion of piece(s), cause that's all that is left when some jihadi gets on a bus, or walks into a hotel or restaurant with a suicide bomb. ever notice how the only religious practitioners who blow themselves and others up all face east to pray?
wonder if the southern poverty law center will consider this a terrorist event?