President Bush's Weekly Radio Address

20060930.a.mp3 (audio/mpeg Object)

In his weekly radio address President Bush said, "We do not create terrorism by fighting terrorism. The terrorists are at war against us because they hate everything America stands for, and because they know we stand in the way of their ambitions to take over the Middle East. We are fighting to stop them from taking over Iraq and turning that country into a safe haven that would be even more valuable than the one they lost in Afghanistan."

Blogger Beta Updates

In migrating Average Joe American to the new beta version of Blogger, the Blogspot host, several new features will be implemented over the coming weeks. One of these features, post labels, is in the process of being rolled into the site now. If you find a particular post interesting, you'll be able to click any one of the topic labels applied to the post for similar content from the site.

As I roll out some of the new features, those of you who subscribe via RSS aggregators (Bloglines, Thunderbird, et. al.) or via Squeet.com's email service may receive old content in your feeds. I don't expect this to affect many posts, but it has already affected two of which I'm aware. If you receive content that seems a little outdated, please check the post date, and bear with me while I implement these features that will make the site better for you.

Coming soon: a complete redesign of the site.

Thanks for your patience and continued support.

Joe

Nothing Wrong?!?

It seems that the Doctor thinks there's no damage. After x-rays of both his knee and hip, my son has been sent home with nothing. The Doctor says maybe he got an infection of some sort in his hip, and it's giving him some discomfort.

This is the same Doctor that sent my son away with a blank diagnosis last time we rushed in to see him. Both times, he suggested we treat him with ibuprofin. Last time, we ended up going to the Emergency Room a few days later. If that happens this time, I won't be a happy camper, and that can be ugly.

It wasn't my sons usual Doctor, but one of his associates who had a cancellation in his schedule. Next time I think if we can't see his regular Doctor we'll go straight to the ER.

Joe

Knee or Hip?

My wife called with an update. They think my son's knee is okay. They seem to think that the problem is in his hip. They're doing x-rays now.

Joe

Knee Dislocation

Knee Dislocation:

"A knee dislocation occurs when the bones that form your knee are out of place.

The bones of your calf (the tibia and fibula) get moved compared to the bone of your thigh (femur). The bones of your knee are held together by strong bands of tissue, called ligaments. For a knee dislocation to happen, these bands have to tear."

My wife just left to take our three-year-old son to see the Doctor. he woke up several times throughout the night complaining that his leg hurt. He could still walk okay and didn't seem to be injured, so we assumed he must have slept on his leg and it was just asleep. We brought him to bed with us after repeated incidents, and he slept through the rest of the night.

This morning he woke up complaining that his knee hurt and walking with a limp, favoring his right leg. We checked for swelling, and it actually looks like he may have dislocated his knees somehow (that is my highly unqualified diagnosis -- and I hope I'm wrong). I can't think of anything he may have done to cause the dislocation, unless he took a rather nasty fall out of his bed last night, but normally something like that wakes me up instantly (I'm a very light sleeper).

If you have a moment today, and you'd say a prayer for the little guy, we would all greatly appreciate it. I'm sure he'll come through it all fine, but it's his first experience with any kind of real pain, and he's a little scared by it.

Joe

"New-clee-ar," not "Nuke-cule-ar"

From OpinionJournal

Best of the Web Today - September 21, 2006
By JAMES TARANTO

Michael Medved was among a group of talk show hosts who visited President Bush for an off-the-record briefing last week, and on his TownHall.com blog he describes the meeting. He ends with this:

*** QUOTE ***

Twice during his meandering conversation, the President deployed the word "nuclear." Both times, he pronounced it flawlessly--as "new-clee-ar," not "nuke-cule-ar." Considering the huge press attention on the mis-pronounciation [sic] of this single word, nothing shocked me more about meeting the president than hearing him, in private conservation, avoid a mistake for which he's become celebrated in public.

If he can say "nu-clee-ar" in private, why does he still say, "nuke-cule-ar" when he speaks on camera? Could it be possible that there's some mischievous intent here--that the President deliberately gives his own spin to the word just to provoke pompous pundits into paroxysms of supercilious rage? It seems like a far-fetched explanation, I'll admit, but after seeing the President's infectiously feisty mood this Friday, I wouldn't put it past him.

*** END QUOTE ***

Music Review: A Thousand Different Ways by Clay Aiken

My wife got a new CD one week ago today: Clay Aiken's A Thousand Different Ways. There has been a great deal of hype over this CD, apparently, at least among the legions of Claymates out there (of which, I hope, my wife isn't one -- though I fear it may already be too late).

It's his first album in three years, and besides one or two original songs, the album is filled with remakes of love songs from the eighties (and maybe the nineties). Songs such as Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word by Elton John, Everything I Do (I Do It For You) br Bryan Adams (from the Kevin Costner Robin Hood movie), among others.

I'm not a big fan of Clay Aiken, but that's mostly because I'm not a big fan of pop music. In fact, lately I don't listen to much music of any kind at all. But I have heard the album (my wife listened to it several times online before it was even released, and there was no avoiding it). If I speak honestly, I would have to say that Aiken (or, as I often refer to him when teasing my wife: Achey-Breaky-Clay) does a respectable treatment of the songs on the album. While I probably would prefer the originals of the songs mentioned above, I think Clay Aiken does as well as the original on the majority of the rest of album, and probably better on one or two selections.

What fascinates me the most about this album is the Claymates. I can't think of any group of fans so loyal to their idol as these Claymates are since Elvis was causing the girls to swoon while he crooned. These fans eat, breathe, and live everything Clay. Don't believe me? Check out the Clay Aiken forums for yourself. It's like a cult of some kind.

Either way, if you've been wondering whether you would enjoy A Thousand Different Ways, you probably will. If you wouldn't enjoy it, you probably already know that .

Joe