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Recent articles...

Dwyane Wade - " COOL?"..............
05/19/2012 @ 06:24 AM
Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade throw tantrum during Game 3 nd it's all caught on national television....

"Clemens & Sleeping Juror's".................................
05/15/2012 @ 09:53 AM
The Judge dismissed a second juror for sleeping....

"BASEBALL in IRELAND?".................
05/13/2012 @ 08:55 AM
Did you know there's an organized baseball league in Ireland? I never did and the American games spreading across the Irish Nation.

"Let's Go To The Game!"...................
05/11/2012 @ 10:11 AM
Taking your kids to a pro game these days near impossible for the average working stiff......

"Defining Seasons"" ............................
05/10/2012 @ 07:27 AM
In my generation there was a time when you could tell the change of seasons by what sport was playing...now, forget it....

'"God Protect's Fool's and Drunk's!"................
05/09/2012 @ 07:12 AM
That expression most of us have heard before certainly can be applied to baseball's Josh Hamilton.....

"WHO CAN PITCH?"......................
05/07/2012 @ 07:48 AM
The Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles played 17 innings of baseball last night and both managers stood in their dugouts and shouted, "who the hell can pitch?"

"JUNIOR, WHY YOU NEVER TELL ME?"....................................
05/05/2012 @ 07:04 AM
The suicide of NFL's most dominant linebacker Junior Seau once again puts the spotlight on suicide's of our pro athletes.

Mariano Rivera - "tough act to follow".........
05/04/2012 @ 07:50 AM
New York Yankee closer Mariano Rivera may be out for the rest of the season. Shagging fly balls prior to last nights game in Kansas City, Rivera suffered a torn ACL to his right knee.

"STOP THE MADNESS" .........................
05/03/2012 @ 07:29 AM
Former MLB great Roger Clemens is back in court with his pal Andy Pettitte being used by Federal prosecutors to "hang" his baseball friend. Stop the "charade."

"Fly Away Home" - part 2............

Posted on 01/22/2012 @ 07:51 AM

One of Hollywood's most touching movie's of 1996 was "Fly Away Home." The film was based on the real-life experiences of a Canadian inventor Bill Lishman and his daughter. The young girl was sent from New Zealand to live with her Dad after her Mom was killed in a car crash. On her Dad's farm in Ontario she adopts a brood of baby Canada Geese. When the birds are imprinted with her as their "Mother Goose", she realizes that unless she and her Dad can teach the birds a "migration" route from Ontario to North Carolina, the birds will not be able to survive the winter. The solution came in the form of "ultralight" aircraft that is used to guide the birds to sanctuary. This was late in the 1980's, early 1990. Her father Bill Lishman openly wondered whether "Geese" or similar birds could be taught "new" migration patterns by following ultralight aircraft onto which they had been imprinted. In 1993, Lishman, an ultralight hobbyist, after several years of logistical and bureaucratic setbacks, had his answer. He and his daughter "successfully" led a flock of Canada Geese on a winter migration from Ontario, Canada to northern Virginia.

"Ultralights" came about because of "Hang Gliding," a sport that dates back to the 1880's. "Hang Gliding" gained popularity here in the U.S.A. beginning in the 1970's. Worldwide there's dozens and dozens of "Hang Gliding" and "Ultralight Clubs." Both sports are dangerous. Osama Bin Laden's brother was killed flying one on a Sunday afternoon in 1988 in the state of Texas. Many say the wrong brother was killed. Not many today would argue that point.

The latest attempt to guide migrating birds from Wisconsin to Florida was stopped several weeks ago in Alabama by the FAA. This time the birds were "endangered" Whooping Cranes. The issue: Pilots of ultralight aircraft are prohibited by the FAA from flying on a "paid" basis. Wow..anyone can fly an ultralight in this country, but if you get "paid" for flying an ultralight, rules are different? The Cranes were being led to two national wildlife refuges in Florida by a group called "OPERATION MIGRATION." The FAA kept the migrating cranes "grounded" 24 days."

"Operation Migration" is a non-profit company. It's co- founders, Ontario's Bill Lishman of "Fly Away Home" fame, and Joeseph Duff, a commercial photographer who helped with the original 1993 Geese migration. It took 24 days for Washington bureaucrats to issue Operation Migration a one-time permit to continue on their 1,280 mile journey. Since the 24 day grounding in Alabama, FAA officials now say they will "work" with "Operation Migration" to develop a more "comprehensive," long-term "solution." Isn't that "generous" of the FAA? What Washington officials need to do is issue a strong apology to Bill Lishman and Canada for the FAA's "stupidity."

The FAA's actions stopping the Crane migration for 24 days reflects what's wrong with us. Rules, regulations, out of step bureaucracies, that reflect our nation's incompetency, and lack of basic common sense, clearly shows what needs to change in America. Washington bureaucrats are not even competent, or intelligent enough to recognize a program of value. I hope "Fly Away Home - part 2 open's their eyes, but I'm not optimistic it will. We salute Canadian inventor, ultralight pilot, the "mother" of all birds needing directions, Bill Lishman. He's my hero. He, and his flock of endangered whooping cranes deserved better from us.

Larry Upton
"Upton on Sports"-source:wikipedia/