There’s no crying in baseball, as Tom Hanks so famously said in “A League of Their Own.”

But all that changed on June 2 when Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga tossed a perfect game, was robbed of it by a bad call at first base by umpire Jim Joyce, and the unfolding events turned into one of the most inspiring sports stories to come along in years.

In an age of whiners and self-professed victims, when so many want to blame their own shortcomings or failures on others (or on the world at large), this was more than just a teachable moment.  It was a revelation.

With two outs in the ninth inning, and having retired the first 26 batters without allowing any base runners, Galarraga fielded a throw from Miguel Cabrera which beat the runner by a full half-step.  Galarraga was about to celebrate, but then he looked back at Joyce with his arms spread wide, giving the safe sign.

What should have cheapest online cialis been only the 21st perfect game in all of Major League baseball was wiped off the books with that one horrendous call.

Galarraga’s response?  A sweet smile.  Then he walked back to the mound and got the next guy out.

No screaming, no cursing, no whining.  Not a peep.  And for a journeyman pitcher who had never even recorded a complete game, much less come anywhere near a perfect one, that’s saying a lot.

In the meantime, the videotape of the first-base play was shown in the stadium and it was clear to everyone, including Joyce, that he had blown the call.  Cabrera had to be physically restrained from Joyce.  Meanwhile, Detroit manager Jim Leyland, one of the toughest guys in baseball, unleashed a red-faced verbal assault against the ump.

Joyce’s response?  He stood and listened to every last word of Leyland’s tirade, without batting an eye.  Umpires don’t normally take two seconds of that kind of abuse, nor do they typically admit their errors or apologize for them.  But Joyce did all of the above.

“It was the biggest call of my career, drugs without prescription and I [blew] it,” he acknowledged after leaving the field.

No excuses, no finger-pointing, no passing the buck.

With tears in his eyes, he simply sought out Galarraga and apologized profusely to the young pitcher.

Galarraga’s response?  He accepted Joyce’s apology on the spot.  Then he hugged him.  Twice.

“Nobody’s perfect,” Galarraga told reporters in the clubhouse minutes later.

Ironically enough, Galarraga was perfect that night.  So the fact that he found it so easy to extend grace to someone who had scratched his name from the history books was even more astounding.

That transformed the entire situation and turned it into something that transcended sports.  It became a lesson in the power of grace.  Next thing you knew, Leyland was extending grace to Joyce, as were the Tigers players, and even the fans.

When the umpires took the field in Detroit the next day, Joyce fully expected to be showered with boos.  Instead, he was cheered.  And in yet another gesture of grace, it was Galarraga who brought the Tigers’ line-up card out to Joyce and his fellow umpires.  Galarraga then shook Joyce’s hand with that same sweet smile on his face.  Joyce was so overcome with emotion that all he could do was slap Galarraga on the back and give a salute to the Tigers dugout.

As Peggy Noonan wrote in the Wall Street Journal, the lesson to parents and children alike was:  “This is how it’s done.”  Indeed, it was a glorious demonstration of the biblical tenet to “love mercy and walk humbly” (Micah 6:8).

In the end, Galarraga pitched an even more perfect game than any other pitcher in baseball.  He is, and probably always will be, the only pitcher to throw a 28-out perfect game.  Even if the record book doesn’t show it.

That’s something no one can ever take away from him.

A clever politician can get away with a lot; standards in the profession aren’t high. But if there is one thing Americans will not put up with from their elected officials, it’s complete honesty. The only truly unforgivable sin in Washington is sincerity.

So when Rep. Joe Barton, the ranking Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, apologized to BP for President Obama’s “$20 billion shakedown” of the company I knew he was in trouble.

“It is a tragedy of the first proportion that a private corporation can be subjected to what I would characterize as a shakedown,” Barton had said. The Texas Republican was talking, of course, about the deal the president had cut with BP to set up a $20 billion escrow account to pay damages to victims of the Gulf oil disaster.

Naturally, Democrats were all over that like a piñata, beating it with sticks. His Republican colleagues pulled him off to one side and said: “What are you, crazy?”

Sadly, within six hours he recanted his position and apologized for his apology. He said he had been “misinterpreted.”

No, he hadn’t. In a moment of weakness he had given us a glimpse into the mindset of the political Right. To a man (and woman), it believes that poor BP is being victimized by its victims. Barton was merely being true to the Republican philosophy of standing up for the rich and powerful against the tyranny of the weak. He just didn’t have the courage of his lack of convictions.

Over the past 20 years Barton has collected $1.4 million in campaign funds from Big Oil, and he was merely paying a dividend to the industry on that investment.

Since 1998, Big Oil has spent nearly a billion dollars in Washington, lobbying for tax breaks, diminished regulation and drilling licenses–and it got them.

Actually, Barton’s apology was not unique. The day before he spoke the Republican Study Committee, an arm of House Republicans, called the $20 billion deal a “Chicago-style shakedown” and Rep. Michele Bachmann, the rightwing darling from Minnesota, has called the escrow account “a redistribution-of-wealth fund.”

When Senate Democrats proposed raising the liability of oil companies for how to get cialis without a prescription a spill from $10 billion to $75 billion, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) stepped in to block it from being considered.

She said it would hurt the smaller companies and produce “unintended consequences.”

Not that Democrats aren’t on the oil companies’ tab too.  Oil-state Democrats are upset about Obama’s temporary moratorium on offshore drilling because they’re oil lackeys first, then Democrats.

They have the good grace to act shamefaced about it, however. Republicans don’t. They actually are outraged at the very thought that a corporation that pays their campaign bills should be penalized for its misdeeds. Corporations, in their view, are sacred and must be protected at all costs.

It’s why our health care is so expensive. First you have to take care of insurance companies, then patients.

It’s that reality Barton revealed, if only for six hours. It’s also a reality that Republicans can’t afford to brag much, which is why they bludgeoned Barton into a public apology. (There’s also a rumor that the House leadership locked him in a room and piped in Sarah Palin speeches until he broke down, buy phentermine without prescription but I can’t get that verified.)

The really odd thing is that the conventional wisdom says that Democrats will lose support in the next election because of the oil spill. That means Republicans–including kooks and crazies like Rand Paul of Kentucky and Sharron Angle of Nevada, who want to do away with what little government protection we have against corporations–will gain support and votes.

Some are even predicting that Republicans will pick up enough seats to take over the House of Representatives.

And voters think that will make things better? Oh wow.

The 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill gave rise to the corporate social responsibility movement. The BP oil disaster may mark its collapse.

Over the past two decades, many organizations and investors have conducted an experiment in corporate behavior modification. An array of well-intentioned organizations promoted the idea that large corporations could be made to do the right thing, by urging them to sign voluntary codes of conduct and adopt other seemingly enlightened policies on environmental and social issues.

At first, management met this movement with resistance, but big business soon realized the advantages of projecting an ethical image–so much so that corporate social responsibility (known widely Cheap Alli as CSR) is now used as a selling point by many firms. Chevron’s “Will You Join Us” ad campaign, for example, apparently tries to convey the oil giant as a key player in global efforts to save the Earth.

Businesses found that a socially responsible image could serve as a buffer against aggressive regulation. While CSR proponents in the nonprofit sector didn’t pursue a deregulatory agenda, the image of virtuous companies conveyed the message that strong government intervention was unnecessary. CSR dovetails with the efforts of corporations and their allies to undermine formal oversight of business activities. This is what General Electric was up to when it ran its “Ecoimagination” ads while lobbying to weaken air pollution rules governing the locomotives it makes.

Recent events make it clear that a commitment to CSR can be too cosmetic. The corporation at the center of the Gulf oil disaster, BP, promoted itself as being socially responsible for many years. A decade ago it adopted a sunburst logo, acknowledged that global warming was a problem, and claimed to be going “beyond petroleum” by investing (modestly) in renewable energy sources. What did all that social responsibility mean if the corporation could still, as the emerging evidence suggests, cut corners on safety in one of its riskiest activities–deepwater drilling?

BP is hardly unique in violating its self-professed “high standards.” This year has also seen the moral implosion of Toyota, another darling of the CSR world. Only months after the Prius producer was chosen by the Ethisphere Institute as one of “the world’s most ethical companies,” it was found that Toyota had failed to notify regulators or the public about its defective gas pedals.

Goldman Sachs, widely despised these days for unscrupulous behavior during the financial meltdown, was a CSR pioneer in the investment banking world. In 2005 it was the first Wall Street firm to adopt a comprehensive environmental policy (after being pressured by grassroots organizations to do so), and it established a think tank on environmental markets.

When the members of a corporate rogues’ gallery all profess to be socially responsible, the concept becomes meaningless. The best that cialis sublingual can be said is that these corporations may behave well in some respects while screwing up royally in others–the way that Wal-Mart is supposedly in the forefront of environmental reform while retaining its Neanderthal labor policies. Selective ethics are no more tolerable for corporations than they are  for people.

BP must come clean, both literally and figuratively. The $20 billion escrow fund is a good start, but the corporation must also provide a full accounting of what went wrong in the Gulf and what it will do to improve safety conditions in all its operations. You can let BP know that true corporate social responsibility means more than cheery logos, catchy slogans, and token gestures by taking action today at StopCorporateAbuse.org/HallOfShame.

President Obama’s Fiscal Commission–a group of lawmakers, former officials, and other experts charged with developing a bipartisan plan to stabilize our soaring national debt–is primarily holding closed-door hearings. The commission’s co-chairman Alan Simpson, a former Republican senator from Wyoming, recently became an instant YouTube star with his rant against seniors as he exited one of the panel’s sessions. That put Social Security defenders on high alert about what’s going on in these meetings.

Simpson, who is nearly 80, has maintained that the founders of the program never expected anyone to actually live to 65 and collect. “People just died,” he has said. “Social Security was never [for] retirement.”

The program has always been an easy target for deficit hawks and budget cutters because it’s so big–the government’s largest expenditure, just ahead of the Pentagon. But setting up a target isn’t as easy as actually hitting it. George W. Bush found that out when he proposed privatizing the system so we could all invest in the likes of Enron, Lehman Brothers, General Motors, and Goldman Sachs. Thanks to a massive prescription drugs without prescription campaign by progressive interest groups, that proposal was shot down. But like Freddy Krueger in Nightmare on Elm Street, the nightmare of cutting Social Security never dies –it just returns in a new form every few years.

Tea partiers, egged on by Sarah Palin, were fond of claiming during the health-care debate last summer that government “death panels” were going to off our grannies, even though it was an outright lie. Now that we have a much more serious and credible threat to the well-being of our elderly poor population (the majority of whom are female) in possible cuts to Social Security, Palin and company are strangely silent.

Not so the progressive groups that want to preserve the program. Ashley Carson, Executive Director of the Older Women’s League (http://www.owl-national.org) and member of the Social Security Works coalition, points out that those same grannies the tea party has apparently forgotten about are the ones who will suffer the most if the program is cut.

Heidi Hartmann, president of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research in Washington, agrees. “Raising the retirement age and other ways of cutting benefits would all have a devastating effect on older women, many of whom live alone and depend mainly or entirely on Social Security,” she says.

The numbers bear this out. Women depend on Social Security more than men, and without it, close to 60 percent of elderly women would live in poverty. One reason is that women are far less likely than men to have a company-provided pension, and when they do get one it’s most often based on a lifetime of lower free cialis without prescription earnings. So much for Simpson’s “greedy geezers.” Even younger women would suffer if the program is cut, since they are the majority of caretakers when a spouse dies and leaves young children, who draw Social Security until they’re 18.

Simpson may have embarrassed some of less flamboyant members of the Fiscal Commission with his outburst, but it remains to be seen whether in their hearts they believe he’s right. And whether granny is really in the crosshairs this time.

The Longview Partnership and UnitedHealthcare has introduced the ChamberChoice Health Savings Plan, giving local small businesses a varied assortment of health plan options.  This new plan is available as of July 1 for Longview Partnership members and will offer affordable health plan options.  Furthermore, businesses that partake of this opportunity will be given a 7% discount on select medical plans with an option for saving 5% on their bundled dental and vision plans.  Businesses and employees who do enroll in ChamberChoice Health Savings Plan will also get access to UnitedHealthcare’s nationwide network of more than 5000 hospitals and 600,000 doctors and various health care providers.

The Longview Partnership’s board of directors designed the plan to provide additional health care options in this area, and service smaller employers (with two to 99 employees) who are seeking affordable group health benefits.  The Longview Partnership’s board of directors include the CEOs of both Good Shepherd Medical Center and Longview Regional brand name cialis Medical Center.  Longview Partnership President Kelly Hall explained her organization’s motives for creating this health care option.

“As the full-time commerce advocate of Longview, the Partnership wants to empower its members with a superior, cost-effective health care product,” he said.  “Our entire team has thought outside the box, utilizing a fresh, alternative approach to develop an answer for our businesses.”

The CEO of UnitedHealthcare of North Texas, Scott Flannery, expressed his group’s hopes for this new buy prescription drugs online without prescription initiative.

“We share the Longview Partnership’s commitment to insure [that] small businesses in the Longview area have access to quality, affordable health care coverage for their employees,” he said.  “We believe Longview-area small businesses will appreciate the value and flexibility of UnitedHealthcare PPO and consumer-driven health benefit plans and the added services that help their employees play a greater role in improving their health and well-being.

The newly participating firms are as follows:

1.  Brockman, Knight and Traylor Insurance Agency–(903) 234-8505

2.  D&H Insurance Group–(903) 757-3760

3.  Farmer Agency–(903) 297-6388

4.  Hibbs-Hallmark & Co.–(903) 297-6542

5.  Gans & Smith Insurance Agency–(903) 757-4601

6.  Jackson Lloyd Insurance Agency–(903) 758-6206

7.  John Black & Associates–(903) 295-0868

8.  The Ward Agency–(903) 297-5546

For additional information call Kelly Hall at (903) 237-4000 or at president@longviewtx.com.

Four Longview ISD students were among 100 talented teens who attended the recent Texas Governor’s School on the University of North Texas campus in Denton, Texas.  Exxon Mobil Corporation sponsored the all-expenses paid camp thereby encouraging Texas students to study math and science while considering pursuing careers in engineering.  The young future scientists from Longview High School who attended the Cheap Alli Online camp are: Samuel Benton, Ashley Moore, Kriste Moreno and Alejandra Panameno.

At the camp, students spent time conducting experiments in biology, chemistry and nanotechnology.  They also enjoyed experiencing college campus life, went on field trips designed to support and encourage their continued interest and study of science, technology, engineering and math.

“ExxonMobil supports programs such as the Texas Governor’s School in order to find positive, hands-on activities to reinforce the importance of careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics,” said Truman Bell, senior program officer for education at ExxonMobil. “The three weeks these students spend at camp can have a life-long impact and possibly change the world in which we live.”

This summer’s theme, “How Advances in Science and Technology Affect Our World,” focused on a wide range of topics in sciences and their impact on society. Moreover, students took certain courses thereby improving their writing skills and college preparation plans.

The Texas legislature established this program in 2003. The program is open to students who have completed their sophomore year in high school.

ExxonMobil as a company is committed to encouraging science, dose cialis technology, engineering and math education and careers among.

Shopping and buying from local businesses can give consumers more than just the prizes and gift certificates used as initiatives to entice area buyers.  It can benefit all of the Longview area.  I Shop Longview helps the city’s residents and merchants to profit.

Research indicates that spending just an additional 5% of our paychecks in Longview will circulate more than $225 million into the city’s economy.  The profits generated by this sum could create almost 2000 new jobs.

More About the I Shop Longview Campaign

Buying locally is both profitable and easy.

* Pick up an I Shop Longview card at any participating local business or at the Longview Partnership at 410 North Center St. or the Guest Services kiosk at Longview Mall.

* Always carry your card and have participating businesses punch, stamp or sign off the card whenever you spend $10 or more from August 14 though August 28 – great for back-to-school shopping.

* After ten punches write your name and contact information on the back of the card and drop it off in the I Shop Longview drawing box at any participating business.

* At this point you are eligible to win a prize or gift certificate redeemable at participating businesses.

Drawings for the prizes and gift certificates will take place at Longview Mall Center Court Saturday, August 21 at 11:00 a.m. and Wednesday, September 1 at 11:00 a.m.  Winners need not be present.

Such efforts as I Shop Longview are intended to support and promote Longview’s economy.

To learn cheap cialis brand name participating businesses, locations buying pills online of drawing boxes, and lists of prizes visit htttp://longviewusa.com/IShopLongview.  For any additional information call the Longview Economic Development Corporation at (903) 753-7878.

Many working parents must arrange for care of their younger children under 13 years of age during the school vacation period. A popular solution — with favorable tax consequences — is a day camp program.

“Unlike overnight camps, the cost of day camp could count as an expense regarding the Child and Dependent Care Credit,” said Clay Sanford, a Dallas-based spokesman for the Internal Revenue Service.  ”The cost of sending your child to a day camp may be a work-related expense, even if the camp specializes in a particular activity, such as computers or soccer.”

Otherwise, if your childcare provider is a sitter at your home or theirs, you’ll generally prescription pills online get some tax benefit if you qualify for the credit. Also, if you paid someone to 36 hour cialis care for your child so that you (or your spouse if you are married) could  look for work, you may be able to claim the credit.  The Child and Dependent Care Credit can be up to 35% of eligible expenses, depending on adjusted gross income.

For more information, see IRS Publication 503, Child and Dependent Care Expenses, available at www.irs.gov or by calling 1-800-TAX-FORM.

The Texas City Management Association (TCMA) has proclaimed Tyler City Manager Mark McDaniel as Texas Administrator of the Year.  This award honors city management professionals who have distinguished themselves by making significant improvements and contributions in the field of local government over an 18 month period.  He took over as full-fledged city manager January 1, 2009 after a 10-month stint as city manager designate and four years as deputy city manager.  Tyler Mayor Barbara Bass expressed the Rose City’s delight and pride over McDaniel’s achievement.

“We are all extremely proud of Mark,” she said.  “His leadership and 36 hour cialis professional expertise, particularly in these tough economic times, have greatly benefited the city of Tyler.  It is gratifying to see that he is being recognized in this way.”

Her praise for her colleague went yet further.

“Mark’s efforts as city manager have made a significant impact on the organization, and are demonstrated [as] best practices in the field of local government management,” she said.  “His contributions are vast, however the most notable are focused upon strategic planning and execution, employee relations and development, and fiscal management.”

McDaniel’s contributions and accomplishments include:

1. The adoption of the Tyler 21 plan late in 2007.  This 20-year comprehensive plan outlines a shared vision for Tyler’s future and the goals and actions that will be needed to insure the realization of these goals.  McDaniel was the project lead for the plan’s development, and since being appointed city manager he has spearheaded the implementation efforts.  Major accomplishments include the launching of two Tax Increment Reinvestment Zones, completion of more than four miles of major arterial roadways aimed at easing traffic congestion, the adoption of a unified development code, opening a city-owned and -operated art gallery to boost downtown revitalization, and the installation of water and sewer lines in North Tyler in order to encourage private investment.

2.  Launching the Cheap Alli Online Without Prescription development of local plans for the college districts, master plans for each of Tyler’s lakes, and an updated Parks Master Plan.

3.  Accomplishing a AAA general obligation bond rating for the City of Tyler.

4.  Implementing one of the few municipal Lean Sigma initiatives for improving efficiency in city processes.  This is a program which aims to eliminate waste and deviation in city processes in order to free up time and resources from non-value added activities.

5.  Maintaining quality operations citywide despite one of the state’s lowest municipal tax rates.

6.  Launching City University–Tyler’s employee training program.

McDaniel holds a Bachelor of Arts and Masters of Public Administration from the University of North Texas.  He finished Harvard’s Senior Executive in Local Government Program.  He is TCMA’s former president, and in 2007 he was proclaimed University of North Texas Master of Public Administration alumnus of the year.

Prior to coming to Tyler as deputy city manager in 2004 McDaniel served as Corpus Christi’s assistant city manager.  He handled administrative and financial services while simultaneously serving as the city’s economic development director.  He was also the city of Woodway’s city manager, assistant city manager for Lake Jackson, and budget director for Denton.

The Tyler Jaycees 47th annual Fourth of July fireworks extravaganza will be on Sunday, July 4th, at Lindsey Park located on spur 364 W. Entertainment will include diet pills online games, music, patriotic photo oops, kids sing-along karaoke, and special performances from the Salvation Army.
Texas Youth Music Conservatory will perform from 8:00 to 9:00 p.m. and Ted Kamel food is providing consessions.  Also bring more money to purchase patriotic memorabilias.

Fee for the event is $10 a car load. Gates will open at 4:00 pm and fireworks display will start at dusk.  Moreover, remember to help Tyler Salvation Army combat the heat by bringing a fan that will be donated super cialis to them on location. For more information on the Tyler Jaycees please log onto www.tylerjaycess.org.