Polar Plunge: More evidence I am crazy . . .

Sometimes I say things off-hand, and they just snowball.

OK, here's the deal.

If 10 people donate a minimum of $10 to me,   Leonete or Gwenlianna before I leave for Coronation Saturday morning, I will sing "I am a Little Teapot" in the main lobby as people come in at about 10 a.m. Note: Neither Leonete nor Gwenlianna will do any singing.

Bonus round: If three people join our team between now and Friday, Oct. 9, I will reprise the song at an appropriate time at Known World Academy of the Rapier/Known World Costuming Symposium.

Just for record-keeping, right now these are the individual standings:

1. Bill Toscano (Agni Dentati) $435
2. Jim Costello (Costello's Freeze Divers) $375
3. Aaron Noble (Saratoga Rugby) $180

Here are the team standings:

1. Agni Dentati $560
2. Costello's Freeze Divers $515
3.  Saratoga Rugby $300

Nate: Saratoga won the team title last year. (Ya'all helped me be the top individual).

Jim Costello's team is new. He's plunging for his daughter, who is a Special Olympian.

Edit: The Magic Number is now seven. That means three people have donated since this post went up.

Albany paper's editorial on the flag incident

Since I have been keeping you all updated, here's the Times-Union's editorial.

It has been the main paper out front on the news stories on this and has been respectful toward the VFW folks.

The editorial board looks at it differently.

It had the look and feel of an image Americans associate with terror: a grainy photo, a young man, blindfolded and bound, a sheet of paper taped to his chest detailing his offense.

But the picture didn't come from some far-off barbaric place, where the law and civilized behavior seem so easily sacrificed on the altar of extremism. This was Valley Falls, in Rensselaer County, where the rule of law was abandoned, we're told, by mutual consent.

That the young man burned an American flag and then agreed to this punishment, rather than face possible arrest or a beating, is no excuse.

That the people who did this to him were veterans is to their shame.

And that the perpetrators of this are now receiving applause far and wide should give them and their fans pause. Where do we draw the line on -- you choose the term -- retribution, revenge, vendetta, mob justice?

By no means are we defending what this fellow did. From what we've been able to learn, he walked into the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1938 in an already inebriated condition and wanted to drink. He was turned away for not having a proper ID. Apparently angered, he cut down the post's American flag and set it on fire.

While burning a flag, for any reason, is his right, burning one that belongs to someone else isn't.

The sensible and law-abiding thing for the post to have done would have been to call the police. Surely his act qualified for charges of larceny and vandalism. If he was convicted, a judge might have handed him an appropriate sentence -- restitution and perhaps a highly visible act of community service that would have provided the post's members, and the whole community, with a chance to see this man do some penance and for him to reflect on what he had done.

Instead, some post members offered him a choice of possible arrest or some medieval alternatives -- a beating or being bound and put on public display. He chose the latter, we're told, a sentence carried out the same day as the village's youth soccer picnic was being held across the street. Dozens of children witnessed this mockery of justice.

We understand that this was an emotional moment for the post, having someone burn a flag that reportedly had been flown in Iraq. As acts of vandalism go, this was especially hurtful. And, at least according to the post's commander, Nick Normile, the man seems to have known that. When he was tracked down, he was ashamed and knew he had punishment coming, Mr. Normile tells us. So the post commander "did what I thought was right."

Right? In what era? In what country?

The post should have let America's system of justice work. One would assume that's what these veterans fought for.

To comment: tuletters@timesunion.com

 http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=847179&category=OPINION#ixzz0SXwU8QNP

Tuesday evening: Thoughts swim in my head . . .

1. The ceremony in which I will take purpura as a protege will be held at 10:15 a.m. Saturday at Coronation. (After anysinging). We will meet in the hallway outside the room court is happening in and work from there.

2. Let me just say that I am stunned and appalled at all the Roman Polanski apologists out there. I don't care about his art, how much time has passed, his wife death, what the judge did or anything else. He raped a 13-year-old. Raped! Go to prison now, and I hope they bring charges for fleeing the country, too.

3. I had a rather scary epiphany after reading some of the apologists. Apparently, the girl was dressed up and left there by her mother. (No excuse as far as I am concerned, but apparently it happened.) This leads me to believe that Francis Ford Coppola based his Jack Wohl character (the horse head scene) on Poalnski, because in one of the scenes, you can see a young girl, all dressed up to look like an adult, being dropped off at the house. We all know Johnny Fontaine is Frank Sinatra. I am sorry, I almost forgot to cite the movie as "The Godfather."

4. Work has been kind of rocky lately. I am learning new skillsets and learning to use a rather non-intuitive state computer program. Still, I am helping people and getting positive reactions from those folks.

5. Youk: We still love you.

6. It was an especially chilly, raw day up in the North Country today.

7. Oh, I have my truck back. Yay for having the truck.

Praise the Lord on this one . . .

Los Angeles Times

By Gary Kline

Stafon Johnson's physique and fitness saved his life.

The USC (University of South California) running back was able to survive a weightlifting accident because the muscles around his neck helped him keep open a breathing passage, Dr. Gudata Hinika, trauma director at California Hospital Medical Center, said at a news conference today.

"Had that been any one of us, meaning me, I would not have survived," Hinika said. "His neck was so solid and so muscular, that actually helped maintain his airway."

Johnson was injured Monday during a weightlifting session. He was performing a "bench press" lift with what doctors were told was 275 pounds when the bar apparently slipped from his hand and landed on his throat. Initially spitting blood from his nose and mouth, he was rushed by ambulance to the hospital, where he underwent more than seven hours of surgery.

Hinika said Johnson first had an emergency tracheotomy to help him breath. Reconstructive procedures then began, with four surgeons working on him.