I’m off bright and early–actually dark and early–Sunday morning to do the Hilly Hellacious Hundred. Who in their right mind could pass on the opportunity to do something called “hellacious,” right?
If there is no activity on this blog for the next couple days, you might consider sending a search party to survey the ditches along the route and find me.
CNN’s Meaningful Stuff
Say “No” To Base Closings
We can’t let the terrorists triumph!
Knoxville Marathon Brings In Money
An economic impact report by the University of Tennessee estimates that Knoxville reaped more than $400,000 from its first marathon in 30 years.
The study, prepared by the university’s Retail, Hospitality and Tourism Management Department, estimates marathon participants living outside the area spent more than $255,000 in hotel stays, restaurants and transportation.
The math:
Total direct spending for the participants living outside a 50-mile radius of Knoxville was estimated at $255,483. The report used a 1.57 multiplier – provided by the Knoxville Tourism and Sports Corp. – to determine “the ripple effect” for every dollar spent, which resulted in the $401,108 total, Costello said.
For my part, I didn’t spend on anything, other than the registration fee and the gas to get to the event. Guess I’m a “bad” half marathoner.
According to a survey, 78% indicate they will “absolutely” participate in a second marathon. There’s a pretty good chance I will do so.
PR Stones
It extends to the grave:
Unlike earlier wars, nearly all Arlington National Cemetery gravestones for troops killed in Iraq or Afghanistan are inscribed with the slogan-like operation names the Pentagon selected to promote public support for the conflicts.
Families of fallen soldiers and Marines are being told they have the option to have the government-furnished headstones engraved with “Operation Enduring Freedom” or “Operation Iraqi Freedom” at no extra charge, whether they are buried in Arlington or elsewhere. A mock-up shown to many families includes the operation names.
The vast majority of military gravestones from other eras are inscribed with just the basic, required information: name, rank, military branch, date of death and, if applicable, the war and foreign country in which the person served.
I guess one of the benefits of never officially declaring a war is that a government gets to make up new rules along the way.
Now And Then
President Bush, on the “War on Terror”:
Yesterday:
So long as I’m the President, we will stay, we will fight, and we will win the war on terror.
When asked “Can we win?” the war on terror, Bush said, “I don’t think you can win it. But I think you can create conditions so that the — those who use terror as a tool are — less acceptable in parts of the world.”
I’m not sure how you define “winning” this so-called war, but I think Bush was closer to the mark the first time around. There’s always going to be terrorists, especially now that we’ve stirred things up in the Middle East and Arabia. About the best thing we can do is to disrupt their organization and, through security measures, minimize the chance they will pull off a successful strike.
All this talk about “finishing jobs” and bringing everyone to justice [where’s Osama?] is just a PR exercise.