Effort To Revive Cracker Barrel

 

The View from Google Earth

 

Christmas Day is bound to unleash many memories. I enjoy using  Google Earth because the nosy satellite captures every place I have been, zooming down to observe the present state of various places called home for a period of time.

My earliest memory is living in Moline, Illinois, once a John Deere city.  I walked to Garfield Elementary and to John Deere Junior High. When I went out to the parking lot of the Melo Cream Donut Shop downtown, there was the emblem of John Deere facing me, painted on the back of one Deere building. I even walked to Moline Senior High, which always elicited reasons why the long walk was good for me and a lot shorter than when my parents trekked to their country schools. I even walked to Augustana College, not too far away. "It's good for what ales ya."

The old high school was converted into the community college, mocked as S.S.U. - Sixteenth Street University. We had the old high school albums and went over them at times. The names gave away the Swedish origins - John Johnson, Sven Svenson, John Svenson and Sven Johnson, etc. 

The newer Moline High is almost the same, but Augustana College has built many more buildings and lavish sports facilities, completely distancing itself from its origins and values. But I remember the Augustana College named from the Latin name for the Augsburg Confession. They bragged about their new college president being a DEI expert. Maybe they will scratch a dust pile over their mistake, the way a dog covers up his accident.

Christina and I met on the first day of class. I have her ID badge posted on my happy corner picture gallery. Also - a photo of us is kept of early graduation day, early to have a November wedding and trip to Canada.

St. Peter Lutheran Church in Kitchener, Ontario, where I vicared, is now being carved up as low cost housing.

 The once great library at Augustana was replaced by The Tredway.

Yale Divinity School worships ecology. 

Christina had lots of relatives in Southern Ontario, and I got to practice German with them and many members of St. Peter's in Kitchener. Christina started as a librarian at the nearby University of Waterloo, then upgraded by earning an MA in German at that school. As some are beginning to think, "They could walk from one school (Waterloo Lutheran Seminary and apartments) to another - UniWat," famous for computer innovations."

Long ago, Canadians asked for help in establishing Waterloo Lutheran Seminary. It now has almost no seminarians with a much bigger name - Martin Luther University Library.

The Waterloo Lutheran Seminary chapel has doggie time for the students. Aww.

 Why didn't we think of that, instead of a pipe organ, worship, and hymns?

We graduated from Kitchener-Waterloo quickly enough, which meant college degrees and master's degrees were completed between 1966 and 1972. Christina always enjoyed getting done early. She got a research job at Yale Medical School, where I also worked - as a lowly librarian assistant. I xeroxed, she researched. I tell MDs that I worked at Yale Medical Library, and that wakes them up.

Christina's family lived in South Bend, Indiana, after starting out with two daughters in post WWII camps in Germany. They found a small house - definitely a trend - within walking distance of Notre Dame. The professor Augustana kicked out of their school (non-renewal of his contract) was accepted by Notre Dame - Stanley Hauerwas. Hauerwas has his own website, and he was once brought back to Augustana for a lecture. He is 84.

Hauerwas was instrumental in moving me into the pastoral theology program for a PhD at Notre Dame, which I completed in 1982 . I never longed for cozy academic positions but pursued publishing instead. 

Why Is Plagiarism Encouraged at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary? Perhaps Because the Faculty Has Slavishly Copied Fuller Seminary

Football Players at Notre Dame Investigated for Plagiarism

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Four Notre Dame players, including two starters, will not be allowed to participate in football activities as the university continues an internal investigation into academic misconduct, the school announced Friday.

Notre Dame said in a statement that there was "evidence that students had submitted papers and homework that had been written for them by others." That evidence was reported to the athletics compliance office on July 29, and an immediate investigation was launched. The NCAA was notified Friday.

The group of players includes KeiVarae Russell, the team's best cornerback, leading returning receiver DaVaris Daniels, and defensive end Ishaq Williams, expected to be a key contributor on the line.

More at the link above.

9 baffling questions in the Manti Te'o girlfriend hoax - U.S. News

9 baffling questions in the Manti Te'o girlfriend hoax - U.S. News:

Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images

Manti Te'o warms up before Notre Dame's game against the Crimson Tide on Jan. 7.

By Tracy Connor, Staff Writer, NBC News

College football star Manti Te'o says he was the victim of a cruel hoax, an elaborate scheme in which he fell for an imaginary girlfriend named Lennay Kekua and mourned her when she died of leukemia.

But he still has a lot of explaining to do.

The narrative crafted before and after the expose is full of conflicting information and holes bigger than those in Notre Dame's defensive line during its loss to Alabama.

If Te'o wants the public to believe that he was nothing more than a dupe, here are some of the questions and inconsistencies he'll need to clear up.

1. Notre Dame says that Te'o never met Kekua, that their relationship was strictly online and by phone. But the player's father gave the South Bend Tribune a detailed account of how the couple first met at a Stanford game in Palo Alto in 2009 and rendez-voused in Hawaii after becoming a couple in early 2012. And Te'o himself told ESPN that she was the "most beautiful girl I ever met."

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2. Te'o called Kekua "the love of my life." His parents said they believed they would get married. Yet if Notre Dame's account is to be believed, they never met even once, or even Skyped. It beggars belief.

3. Before her leukemia "diagnosis," Kekua supposedly was nearly killed in a car accident. But published profiles of Te'o have conflicting dates -- late 2011, last January, or as recently as April. Why the discrepancies?

4. When did Kekua's fictitious death happen? Various interviews with Te'o have her succumbing to leukemia hours before his grandmother died on Sept. 12, soon after, or even days after. Assuming Te'o truly believed Kekua had passed away, wouldn't he remember the date? Or did all the reporters get the details wrong?

5. After he supposedly received the shock of his life -- a call from someone using Kekua's voice and phone number while he was at the ESPN Awards on Dec. 6 -- Teo stayed quiet for three weeks. It wasn't until Dec. 26 that he told Notre Dame officials, who then hired private investigators to look into it.

6. If Te'o was in on the deception, though, why wouldn't he just let Kekua rest in peace? Was he or someone else worried the hoax was about to come to light, prompting a fourth-quarter end-run to get ahead of the revelations?

7. Hours after Deadspin's bombshell report and Notre Dame's press conference, when it seemed that everyone could agree on one thing -- there is no Lennay Kekua -- an NFL player claimed to have actually seen her in the flesh. Arizona Cardinals fullback Regan Mauia said he met her in American Samoa in 2011, before she started romancing Te'o, and is "close" to her family.

8. Carrying out the hoax would have been a full-time job involving more than one person. Te'o claims he would spend all night on the phone with Kekua while she was in the hospital. There were purported communications from family members. Who would have had the time to orchestrate it? By the same token, how would Te'o have been able to create and maintain a social-media profile for Kekua on his own?

9. Where's the motive? A central figure in the hoax is reported to be musician Ronaiah Tuiasosopo.Deadspin reported that he had contact with the woman, a former high-school classmate, whose photos were used to create Kekua's profile -- even obtaining one of the pictures from her directly. But the site also describes Tuiasosopo as a friend of Te'o, raising the question of why he would humiliate his buddy.

'via Blog this'

Lance Armstrong, Manti Te'o, Walther, and the Synodical Confidence Men Today

Lance Armstrong has admitted to doping as a bike racer.

Manti Te'o and Notre Dame have been lying about the invisible girlfriend, one that he met after a game (but never met), his future bride (according to his father), and the love of his life (whose funeral and grave he never visited). She was hurt in a car accident and died of leukemia the same day his real grandmother died.

Many are assuming the invented girl was a beard, to explain Manti's lack of interest in the female groupies surrounding athletes. The trouble with faked emails and tweets is our ability to track them to the source. 



"We spoke on the phone every night." At 2.40

"Hey, hon. Skip my funeral if you have a game.But get the game ball. Thanks."

Notre Shame is the new moniker being attached to the PR-driven university. Watch the lies unravel in the next week. A guy was generating these contacts, and there are family/Mormon connections.

Lax news reporters are listed here.

Mrs. I aked, "They couldn't get a girl to play the role?"

Speaking of which.

Walther did not want anyone to write an early history of the LCMS. Later, when Ludwig Fuerbringer had a chance to regale his audience with stories he heard from his mum and his auntie, he wrote, "I wish I would have asked more." Uh-huh.

When Walther's brother died, Ludwig's father married the widow, giving birth to Ludwig (of course) and making CFW the uncle of this  pioneering boy. There are stories we hear and stories we cannot repeat. 

The early Missouri stories are typical of abusive cult behavior. Those who keep the secrets and tell the lies are rewarded. Those who tell the truth are slimed. Forster, the author of Zion on the Mississippi, who was overly sensitive about telling the whole truth, is still run down as a failed LCMS pastor. The book remains the standard early history of the sect. It is quite a detailed history, a goldmine of quotations, facts, statistics, and anecdotes.

When Phil Stephan published a collection of historical facts about Martin Stephan and his descendants, the LCMS loyalists immediately piled on him for NOT being a professional historian. By the way, every historical source has factual inconsistencies and ambiguities. The official archives of the LCA had my dissertation subject dying in the wrong city and state. The archivist was not fired and his records were not shredded or burned.

Cults shred and burn the facts, then invent stories to make every figure they like into a saint.

Breitbart - great details about the lies.

St. Te'o of Hawaii was invented as a way to grab the Heisman for a guy who was later streamrolled by Alabama. Character is one requirement for the award, so Notre Dame leveraged the dying girlfriend story. 

"What can you say about a twenty-five-year-old girl who died? That she was beautiful and brilliant? That she loved Mozart and Bach, the Beatles, and me?" [Love Story]

Sob. Burying head in arms, wearing typical Harvard sweater.

St. Marvin of Schwan was the best, most honorable, most generous  guy who ever lived, truly a man of great character. 

St. Walther of Pietism was the man who rode in on a white charger and rid the colony of the ee-vul Martin Stephan, but he did so in a Biblical way. He either did or did not violate the seal of the confessional. No matter. Martin Stephan was ee-vul and had a lot of gold and land and books. As bad as the bishop was, not that Walther ever signed the bishop thingie, Walther gave the bishop three options. That was big of Walther, because the bishop was ee-vul. Everything the group did was wonderful, but it cannot be discussed because Walther said not to.

If you ever question a syllable from the Great Walther, you yourself are ee-vul.

If you question Holy Mother WELS, you are also ee-vul. You do not have to believe everything Walther said, because he was Missouri Synod. But you do have to follow everything WELS says, as long as it comes from the Church and Changers. 

If you are ELS, you can pretend to be better than Missouri or WELS. No matter. You are too small to matter. But if you question WELS, you are ee-vul.

Chase Bank Disciplines Their CEO
The CEO of Chase just had his salary cut in half for losing $6 billion. He has to get by on $1 million a month for the new year. 

How much does your SP make? How about the staff? You do not get to know, because you are ee-vul just for wondering.

"He was caught before and received counseling,
but we didn't know.
He had hundreds of files at headquarters,
but we didn't know.
And we assured him of his forgiveness."

WELS Party in the MLC video, copying Party in the Fire Island Pines:
"We didn't know we were plagiarizing a gay video.
We forgive that blogger for reacting against our innocent gaity."

No. 1 Notre Dame beats USC, earns title shot - Colleges - The Boston Globe

We saw Joe Montana play at Notre Dame a few decades ago,
then saw him speak about his career at a Walmart Saturday meeting.

No. 1 Notre Dame beats USC, earns title shot - Colleges - The Boston Globe:

Although they did little with flash on an electric night at the Coliseum, the Irish woke up more echoes of past Notre Dame greats with a grinding effort in this dynamic intersectional rivalry with USC (7-5), which has lost four of five.

Notre Dame’s hard-nosed defense appropriately made the decisive stand in the final minutes, keeping USC out of the end zone on four plays from the Irish 1 with 2:33 to play.

‘‘Well, that’s who we are,’’ Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said. ‘‘It’s been our defense all year. Our offense is able to manage enough points.’’

'via Blog this'

The Undefeated

Graduates are called Domers.
Those with two degrees are called Double Domers.

Notre Dame's football team beat Michigan, giving the Irish four straight victories.

A few weeks ago, LI and I (and a friend), enjoyed seeing Joe Montana at a Walmart meeting. We were a few rows away. Decades ago, LI and I watched Joe Montana play for Notre Dame at a home game.

The photo inset is lifted from my fourth grade group photo at Garfield Grade School in Moline, over 50 years ago (the last time I was cute). Most days start out with messages from Garfield friends.

Dumb and Dumber - Rees Arrested After Altercation with Cops, LB Also Charged

If these guys skate, it will be just like OSU and the wrestler who choked a police officer.
The correct attitude in this situation is wrists together, mouths shut.

Rees Arrested After Altercation with Cops, LB Also Charged:


By TOM MOOR
South Bend Tribune
1:55 p.m. EDT, May 3, 2012

Notre Dame quarterback Tommy Rees and linebacker Carlo Calabrese were arrested early this morning after police were called to a home on reports of a loud party.

The 19-year-old Rees, who will be a junior in the fall, was apprehended after he allegedly ran from police and fought with an officer during an altercation outside a home at 716 N. Notre Dame Ave. about 12:30 a.m., police said.

Get in-depth Irish recruiting news as well as insights and Twitter updates from players, coaches, prospects and our own analysts with HuddleUp.

Rees, from Lake Forest, Ill., was arrested for public intoxication, resisting law enforcement, minor consumption and battery to an officer, the latter of which is a felony charge.

The 21-year-old Calabrese, from Verona, N.J., was arrested for disorderly conduct and has since bonded out of the St. Joseph County Jail for $150.

Rees was still being held at the jail this morning on no bond.

When South Bend police arrived at the home just south of the Notre Dame campus, they reportedly found open containers of beer and other alcohol beverages in the backyard.

Officers reported that several people began jumping over a fence when they arrived and, specifically, observed a group of five men attempting to jump over a fence and ordered them to stop, said Capt. Phil Trent, South Bend police spokesman.

Rees was the only one of that group who ran from the scene, Trent said.

The officer chased Rees around the home and ordered him to stop, according to a police report. When the officer tried to grab him, an altercation ensued and the two fell to the ground, Trent said.

On the ground, the officer allegedly was kneed in the abdomen by Rees, which knocked the wind out of him and led him to pepper spray Rees. Once in handcuffs, Trent said Rees still attempted to resist.

Calabrese, meanwhile, verbally reacted to the arrest of Rees and would not stand on the sidewalk when ordered to by police, Trent said.

Calabrese's friends reportedly attempted to hold Calabrese back, but he con-tinued to yell things at officers that were interpreted as threats, leading to his arrest.

At one point, Trent said Calabrese told officers: "My people will get you."


'via Blog this'

Notre Dame Football Scandal Cover-Up:Sounds Familiar To WELS, LCMS, ELS, ELCA

http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/abbott/101122

November 22, 2010

Is another Notre Dame scandal brewing?

By Matt C. Abbott

A female student who attended St. Mary's College committed suicide after she was allegedly sexually attacked by one of Notre Dame's football players — and the university has seemingly swept it under the rug — according to a Nov. 21 story in the Chicago Tribune.

Click here to read the story.

Noted Catholic scholar Charles E. Rice, professor emeritus at Notre Dame Law School, has issued the following statement (slightly edited) in response to the Tribune story and the scandalous actions of Notre Dame's president, Father John Jenkins, in recent times:

Notre Dame is obliged to report any serious accusation of sexual assault, or other on-campus crime, to the county police and prosecutor. We await further revelation of facts as to whether this obligation was fulfilled in this newly-disclosed case of Elizabeth Seeberg. One gets the impression, however, that little confidence can be reposed in the Notre Dame administration to fulfill its obligation of simple candor in prosecutorial matters. Consider, for example, the continuing prosecution of the ND88, the pro-life protestors who, on the complaint of Notre Dame, were arrested at the graduation events of 2009 at which President Obama received Notre Dame's highest honor. The criminal prosecution of those ND88 continues because Notre Dame refuses to request that it be discontinued. Father John Jenkins, Notre Dame's president, claims that Notre Dame cannot ask the prosecutor to dismiss the charges because the university treats all demonstrators equally. William Dempsey, president of the Sycamore Trust, demonstrated in extensive correspondence with Father Jenkins and Dennis Brown, his spokesperson, in February and March 2010, that Notre Dame had declined to prosecute gay-rights and anti-ROTC demonstrators as recently as 2007 and there were no contrary examples up to the time of the Obama commencement. Despite the careful and irrefutable demonstration to Father Jenkins by Mr. Dempsey of the non-prosecution of those gay-rights and anti-ROTC demonstrators, Father Jenkins later restated forcefully on April 30, 2010, that 'the [u]niversity cannot have one set of rules for causes we oppose, and another more lenient set of rules for causes we support. We have one consistent set of rules for demonstrations on campus — no matter what the cause.' That statement is untrue. And, unless he has the excuse of delusion, Father Jenkins had to know it was untrue. If we are dealing with a knowingly and unequivocally false statement by Notre Dame's president on a subject seriously affecting Notre Dame, that is an extremely grave matter for which resignation or dismissal is the only remedy. Notre Dame, in reliance on the patently false claim that it treats all demonstrators equally, continues to subject the ND88 to legal prosecution and serious costs that it never imposed on politically correct gay-rights and anti-ROTC demonstrators. There was a day when a Notre Dame administrator's word could be taken to the bank. But that was 'back in the day.' This is, today, a university governed by academic ruling class 'wannabes' who have made political correctness, in dominant respects, the official religion of Notre Dame. So: Pray for Elizabeth Seeberg and her family, as well as her alleged assailant, as we ought to pray for Declan Sullivan, another victim of university fault, and for his family. Pray for the ND88, who deserve the respect — rather than the prosecution — of the university. Pray for Notre Dame and its administrators. And, while you're at it, pray for our country.

---

http://bleacherreport.com/tb/b79Dw

A 19-year-old Northbrook woman died of an apparent suicide nine days after telling University of Notre Dame police that she had been sexually attacked by a football player in a dorm room, the Tribune has learned.

Elizabeth "Lizzy" Seeberg, a freshman at neighboring St. Mary's College who had battled depression, apparently overdosed on prescription medication in her own room during the third week of classes in September. The player, meanwhile, has remained on the field.

More than two months later, Notre Dame refuses to publicly acknowledge the case, and what actions university officials have taken to investigate her allegation remain largely unknown.

Campus authorities did not tell the St. Joseph County Police Department investigating Seeberg's death about her report of a sexual attack, county officials said. Nor did they refer the case to the county's special victims unit, which was established to handle sex offenses, according to prosecutors.