On the passing of Captain Phil Harris

Phil Harris, captain of the FV Cornelia Marie, has succumbed to the stroke that he suffered last week it has been reported: ‘Deadliest Catch’ Captain Harris dies

Phil Harris was one of those rare completely genuine people. When you are in charge of a crab boat in the middle of the Bering Sea in the winter, and cameras are rolling - there is no room for posturing. You can't hide. The conditions require everything you can give. Phil brought that to his work, and in that we could all see his qualities as a skipper, manager and father shine through.

Prayers to Cornelia Marie and family - Phil was one of those rare great men born to be exactly who he was - and in that we watched in amazement and appreciation of all that he gave.

Large was his bounty, and his soul sincere;
Heav'n did a recompense as largely send:
He gave to mis'ry all he had, a tear,
He gain'd from hea... v'n ('twas all he wish'd) a friend.
                        - Thomas Gray (1750)

Phil, you are one for the ages!

Palin: crib notes bad - Obama: teleprompter good

You gotta love the media - the way they love to hate Sarah Palin - it is making her a multi millionaire and (if they keep it up) the next president of the United States. Most recently, it is outrage over "crib notes" on her hand during the big speech at the Tea Party convention this weekend. Here it is: msnbc.com: Did Palin have crib notes written on hand?

They just can't get over their "Palin (insert conservative name here) is stupid" label shtick.

What they can't seem to wrap their own effete (but hey, their brilliant, just ask them) minds around is that a story like Sarah's crib notes will bring instant recollection of Barack's affection for the teleprompter - up to, and including, presidential speeches in an elementary school classroom.

Here's a heads up to the power elite: "the folks" out there will find Sarah's crib notes endearing - and they already find Barack's teleprompter revolting.

Keep it up MSNBC, you just can't help yourselves.