As much as I enjoy your comments, I’m going to ask that you:
1. Limit them to something of significance.
2. Use proper English (or at least as close to it as possible). If my 65 year old aunt Petunia in Nebraska can’t make sense of it, don’t write it. After all, this blog is supposed to be educationally based.
3. Avoid 1-2 word comments. These have been plugging up the spam catcher.

MSNBC is reporting that a tsunami can happen at any moment in Hawaii.
Hopefully the reports are overhyped. It would greatly damage that beautiful area and obviously many Americans are in danger.

It seems that there wasn’t any major damage in Hawaii or Australia and Japan.  Certainly that is good news after all of the bad news over the past few weeks with earthquakes in Chile and Haiti.

Check out this website on the courts system

There are some interesting games that you can play. I played the one where you have to argue for or against segregation in Brown v. Board of Education.
Let me know what you think.

It is kind of sad that we can name the judges on American Idol but we can’t name judges on the Supreme Court. Or that we can name the Three Stooges but many cannot name the 3 branches of our government. Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor is involved in this website to help making learning about the government, specifically the courts, more fun.

Wrestlemania Moments
Wrestlemania XIV-An appearance by Pete Rose??? You mean, Reds legend Pete Rose?…At Wrestlemania. Two of Mr. Dowling’s favorite forms of entertainment merged! What more could you ask for! Unfortunately, Pete Rose’s appearance at Wrestlemania did not go quite the way he would have liked it to go.
We will see Pete Rose’s 3rd Wrestlemania appearance on Monday. In fact, Pete Rose made a 4th appearance at Wrestlemania during Wrestlemania XX when he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

Wrestlemania XV-For weeks leading up to Wrestlemania XV, the WWF held a Brawl for All competition, mixing boxing and wrestling. The fights were legitimate fights with several competitors being injured. In a surprise, the winner was Bart Gunn, a nobody. The WWF then signed a match with Gunn against a quasi-celebrity, Butterbean. Butterbean was well over 300 lbs and was one of the better superheavyweight boxers at the time.
Check out this short clip of Butterbean nearly punching Gunn’s head off…and that is barely an exaggeration.

Las Vegas is predicting 79 wins for the Reds this year. If I were betting on that total, I would bet the over. I’m predicting 87 wins for the Reds this year. More on that in a few days/weeks.

No bowling yesterday because of the snow. My road was well plowed but once I got out onto the main roads, they were terrible. I’m not sure why. Perhaps they know I’m a VIP and needed to clear my road first. Then again, maybe not.

Did You Know?
The first fossilized specimen of Austalopithecus afarenisis was named Lucy after the palentologists’ favorite song, Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, by the Beatles.

This Day In History
1951-The 22nd Amendment was ratified. This amendment limited the President to two terms. Before the amendment was ratified, Presidents typically ran for 2 terms only but it was an unwritten rule. Congress and the states felt it was necessary to add an amendment after Franklin Roosevelt was elected for 4 terms.
Actually, the maximum term a President can have is 10 years, not 8. In the event a President can no longer be President (example: he or she dies), the Vice President would finish out that term. The new President can still run for President two times if the part of the term that he is finishing out is less than 2 years. In other words, he can have 2 years of the old President’s term and then have 2 four year terms of his own.
If the President dies after only a year, the new President can only run for one term of his own.
2003-Mr. Rogers died. You may not know Mr. Rogers, but he was a legendary childrens television host for PBS.

2009-President Obama said he would end combat operations in Iraq within 18 months. I guess that would mean 6 months from today.

This Date In History (February 28)

1854-50 anti-slavery people meet to create the Republican party.

1953-Crick and Watson discover the double helix model of DNA.  If I’m not mistaken, this is something that you are currentlyl learning in Science.

Birthdays today include Gilbert Godfried.  Godfried is the voice of the AFLAC duck.  That duck appears at every Reds game during the 4th inning for the trivia question.  In fact, I think every team in baseball does that.

Did You Know?

In every episode of Seinfeld there is a Superman somewhere.

I understand that David Patterson, Governor of NY will not be seeking re-election.
Although I am entitled to my opinion, I’ll keep it to myself. However, you can feel free to make any statement you wish on this news.

Patterson Drops Out

Mother Nature has been wreaking havoc on my calendar.
As a result of our snow day our Government Test is now scheduled for Friday, March 12.

Pg. 9 of the Government packet was originally due Monday. It will now be due Tuesday.

One thing that has not changed: The Constitutional Collage is still due one week from today (March 5)

Good call by the district. It doesn’t seem like roads have been plowed. It would have taken me quite some time to shovel out and then drive to work. And there are many teachers that have to travel a greater distance than I do.
A three day weekend never hurt anyone…too bad we didn’t know last night.
It is too late to go back to sleep now. I guess I’ll just have to take a nap mid-day if necessary. Actually, that is a Friday afternoon ritual for me.
Anyone else take naps?

Did You Know?
Tennessee is bordered by more states than any other. The eight states are Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia.
Of those states listed, I’ve only been to one (Kentucky).

This Day In History
1993-World Trade Center Bombing Part I. This time, it was on a much smaller scale than the tragic events from 2001. 6 people died and many others were injured when a car bomb went off in the basement/garage of one of the buildings.
Today also would have been the birthday of John Harvey Kellogg, the guy who invented dry cereal.
Question of the Day:What is your favorite cereal?

I guess that makes 2 questions for today. We have the cereal question and the napping question.
My favorite cereals include Frosted Flakes, Fruity Pebbles and Apple Jacks. My least favorite cereals are anything that includes marshmallows.

Wrestlemania Moment
Wrestlemania XIII-We’re halfway to completing this countdown.
This show included a classic match between Bret Hart and Stone Cold Steve Austin. Austin was already developing into a star but this one propelled him to superstardom. Ken Shamrock was also the special referee. Shamrock was known at the time for his time in UFC, Ultimate Fighting Championship. In other words, he was legitimately tough. This show also marked The Undertaker’s 2nd WWF title victory.

Enjoy the snow day!

Weather Report
Currently Raining
Great day to be an umbrella salesman.

I Don’t Want to Alarm Anyone…But…
We have a serial killer whale on our hands!
More Info
If you can’t trust animals locked up in cages or tanks their entire lives, who can you trust?

Did you know?
Libya has the only flag which is all one color with no writing or decoration on it.

Wrestlemania Moments
Wrestlemania XII-Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels, two of the best wrestlers from the past generation face each other in a match that goes over 1 hour! What more can a wrestling fan ask for?

Enjoy the rest of the day!

I think we had an enjoyable and informative class today. Government/politics conversations are always fun. I’m glad that I’m helping some to learn more about this. This topic, more than the others, is something you should/will need to know in the future if you intend to be a participant in the voting process.
Even our conversation in Core Extension about filibustering was excellent.

So…who did you pick to be the leader in your essays for English? I think this was a pretty good essay topic and one worth reading.

Snow Day?  Doesn’t seem likely right now but the road conditions could get very dangerous over the next 12 or so hours.  I brought home plenty of work to do just in case.

Comic Book Sale Sets Record

Yesterday I briefly mentioned the electoral college conversation I had with Josh C. and Ryan S. I brought up a great website and I wanted to share it here. The website is 270towin.com. You can check out the electoral college results from every Presidential election in American history.

Wrestlemania Moments
Wrestlemania XI-The worst Wrestlemania in history. It took place during a down time in the business. Wrestling wasn’t very popular at the time. This show remains memorable for the main event performance by Lawrence Taylor. Taylor wrestled against Bam Bam Bigelow.

Did you Know?
The plastic things on the end of shoelaces are called aglets.

This Date In History
1868-The House of Representatives voted to impeach President Andrew Johnson. As we will learn in a few days, impeachment does not mean removal from office. In fact, both Presidents who were impeached were not removed from office. The other President to be impeached was Bill Clinton. Most people think Richard Nixon was impeached but that is not the case. Nixon is the only US President to resign. However, it is very likely that had Nixon not resigned, he probably would have been impeached AND removed.
Today’s Birthdays include former Vice-Presidential candidate and current Senator Joe Liberman and baseball Hall of Famer Eddie Murray. Murray once played for the New York Mets but is best known for his years with the Baltimore Orioles.

Great basketball game today.  The girls played well and won 36-15.   Just like the last game, the girls played with a focus and determination that impresses me.  This team plays great defense.  Great job Mia, Kara, Kara, Molly, Michaela and Kate.  I look forward to the next game!

Did you know?
The 57 on the Heinz ketchup bottles represents the number of varieties of pickles the company once had.

Long day today+Busy Schedule During School+Board Meeting Tonight=Blog Drought

Hopefully you will be able to hold back your tears knowing that there won’t be a Wrestlemania Moment today.

Enjoy school!

Had a great conversation today with a couple students about the electoral college.  I was very impressed.  We were debating whether or not the electoral college is a good thing.  Your thoughts…if you’re not sure, we’ll be discussing the electoral college in a week or so.

Another School Shooting In Littleton
This school shooting took place in the same area as the Columbine shooting. There aren’t many details but any time this happens it is a sad occurrence.
Events like this always remind me (and hopefully you) to be kind to those you are around in school. We don’t necessarily have to be best friends with everyone but we should not pick on, belittle, demean, etc others. We never know other people’s frame of mind.

Great Reds moment

I was at the game. It was easily the greatest game I’ve ever attended. The Reds were losing 7-0 in the 8th inning and managed to make it 8-5 in the 9th when Adam Dunn stepped up to the plate and then…well…check out the link (click the heading above). Click the portion that says “Adam Dunn walk off grand slam”. This victory put the Reds in a tie for 1st place (June 30, 2006)