Category: San Luis Obispo

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free speech means never having to say your sorry

free speech means never having to say you're sorry!

I couldn’t help from borrowing that old cliche from “Love Story” from the early 1970’s. Times seem to be repeating themselves with all of the agitation popping up around the country and here in California. Free Speech on college campuses has been one of the great battles in this decade. College campuses have inaugurated speech codes and other draconian efforts to squash voices that they disagree… however thanks to organizations like FIRE, this is changing.

What is ‘free speech’, anyway? It is the right to express yourself. Now, not all free speech is sweet, a lot of it can be downright offensive, but then who is it to judge? Obviously, there are limits on free speech, like yelling ‘fire’ in a theater, but by and large it is all basically fair game!

And the best way you can combat someone’s offensive free speech is by exercising your own!

This brings us to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, home of the ‘Sheldon Award Winner’ President Warren Baker.  Currently he is under pressure from various folks who want him to expell and punish, possibly even ‘waterboard’ a few students who in exercising their free speech managed to offend just about everyone. Well, most thinking people feel mobs are bad , so hopefully ol Dr. Baker can get it together long enough to give them a lesson on what is ‘free speech’!

Cal Poly is holding a ‘discussion’ soon and a lot of ‘free speech’ folks are watching.  Here’s why Cal Poly is so worried!

Roger Freberg

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2008 has a new President and many lessons from history

Lessons of History
Some of us are waking up to the thrill of victory and others of us are struggling with a post election hangover. My candidate lost the election, but not my respect nor my admiration for him.

Looking back, I am very glad we had President George Bush in office over the last 8 years, let’s hope the new president is half as successful. Regarding President Bush, I was touched by a reflective article in the Wall Street Journal written by none other than one of John Kerry’s lawyers. Simply stated, he was horrified at the poor treatment of President Bush by the press.

Here it is to read.

History when viewed in contrast is revealing. President Reagan enjoyed a true mandate, although he never had the congress he needed to implement his plans so he appealed very successfully to average Americans in his weekly radio address. In those days and until the mid 1990’s, Congress had been in Democratic Control for 50 years or more. Republicans were shown as blue states with Reagan and it is amusing to remember how Democrats balked at a ‘socialist’ red color linked with them at the time.

Our soon to be new president Barack Hussein Obama has much to prove — not to me — but to those who voted and put their faith and hope in him. Time will tell. I am reminded of a quote that I keep on my blog:

“Nearly all men can stand
adversity, but if you
want to test a man’s
character, give him power.”
– Abraham Lincoln

Roger Freberg

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Voting is fundamental

Harley has my vote, too!

I remember voting in my first Presidential election, it was for Nixon. Laura and I were engaged and she was so very kind to help me fill out my suggested voters pamphlet. It has been like this ever since … talking, discussing and continually growing closer.

I even ran for some elected offices, won some and lost some, and although I wouldn’t necessarily call it ‘fun’, it was an educational experience most people avoid. On a small scale , I had the chance to witness some of the best and worst of our political system, the media and people.

Change is the nature of history and writing it is always an active, creative and some times revisionary process. Although I have an obvious preference for president, I also realize that things will be different regardless of who wins. We have been on this trajectory for a long time. I remember seeing the cornerstone to some of our nation’s most historical buildings being removed (the White House, for example) because — by tradition — cornerstones were laid by Mason’s … not favored or remembered anymore by the rewriters of history. History was erased. This happened — believe it or not — during Ronald Reagan’s era, who himself was a Mason.  We are constantly changing.

I am encouraged by the voting precinct we visited to vote this morning, there was actually a long line. Democracy is fragile and easily manipulated… but it is one of the only private way for average citizens to have a voice, be it a small one.

Enjoy, support and protect the process. VOTE

Roger

I know where the White House Cornerstone is…do you? write me and I will tell you … roger@frebergsports.com

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Thanksgiving is coming and so is a great pumpkin pie

Turducken is a family favorite

Now that Halloween is over , we can begin to think about the next holidays. Obviously, one of the most popular holidays celebrated by most Americans is the colonial tradition of ‘Thanksgiving.’ It is that time of year when family and friends get together to celebrate the happiness of the past year and anticipate the possibilities of good things to come.

No one can talk about Thanksgiving without those wonderful words like: turkey ( we like Turducken or Ostruducken), feast, cranberries, creamed potatoes , stuffing and various desserts.

For dessert, everyone has their favorites: apple pie, rhubarb pie, chocolate pie, pecan pie and of course my personal favorite the ‘pumpkin pie.’

If you ever chawed into a raw pumpkin, it’s kind of like taking a swig of raw vanilla extract, it is definitely not what you were expecting! So what makes a pumpkin pie so special? The secret lies in the spices and in the crust.

First, there is a prepared spice blend called ‘Pumpkin Pie Spice’ that generally contains some of the following: Nutmeg and mace, ginger, cloves, cinnamon and allspice , cloves. Cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves are the most commonly used spices… and they are cheap. If you really look around you’ll find some recipes calling for small additions of other spices like cardamon. However, with a little practice, i am sure you can come up with a version that will make everyone smile.

As for the crust, you can’t beat a Crisco/ butter blend crust with a bit of mace…

The season of cooking has begun. How will you make yours special?

Roger

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Halloween is a time for random kindness

Halloween is a time for all children

Oddly enough, one of my fondness memories of my childhood was the random kindness shown by neighbors and strangers at Halloween to me as a child. I remember when all of us children ran from home to home looking for treats and finding many treasures and a few ‘tradable items’ that we intended to pass off to someone else. Chocolate and anything even remotely related was viewed with great acclaim with smiles, screams of laughter and smiles from ear to ear!

We had more trick or treaters this year, so we’ll just have to get more chocolate next year!

BTW, Happy Halloween, Joe. I remember your kindness to me all those many years ago. I know you are in a good place.
Roger