Some Monday Reads

 Why is it so many of the women surrounding Trump look almost identical?

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The "evangelicals" of the MAGA type have turn Christianity on its head and in fact aren't really Christians at all.

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Equine obituary:  2007 Belmont Stakes winner Rags to Riches, 21, has died due to infirmities of old age although she really wasn't that old.

I remember watching that race in a Las Vegas motel room when my family and I went to the desert southwest.  It was quite exciting for the daughter of A.P. Indy to win this race.  She was the first filly in 102 years to win this classic race.

Snip:

Throughout her career, Pletcher said she was very uncomplicated and professional in training, but in the barn, the grooms needed to be on their toes.

"In the barn, she had a totally different personality. She was very territorial and very aggressive," he said. "She was not a sweet filly to be around. Ultra competitive."

Rags to Riches developed a hairline fracture in her right pastern after a runner-up finish in the 2007 Gazelle Stakes (G1). The hope had been to keep her in training for 2008, but she re-injured her pastern in the spring and had to be retired. 

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The race:

Belmont Stakes 2000-2008

It's time to take a look at previous Belmonts.

The notorious 2008 Belmont, seen in all its glory. Da Tara was the winner here:



Rags to Riches 2007:



Jazil 2006:



Afleet Alex 2005:



Birdstone 2004:



Empire Maker 2003:



Sarava 2002:



Point Given 2001:



Commendable 2000:

2007 Belmont Stakes.

Rags to Riches became the first filly in over 100 years to win this race:

Miscellaneous.

I am sure Associated Press got hold of this local story of a baby being born on a lawn yesterday morning, which of course was Easter:

Reno natives Nick and Julia Smith had planned to take their 20-month old son, Adian, on an Easter egg hunt Sunday morning, but instead, Julia went into labor with their second child.

As they were leaving for the hospital and walking across the grass of the Silver Lake Apartments, Julia informed Nick it was too late and the baby was crowning.

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One-time SLA member Sara Jane Olson is going to challenge her return to prison for an additional year.

It appears she was released the other day because of a clerical error.
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An internet hoax cost a Jacksonville, Oregon, man much of what he had.

A few items have been returned. I hope those who took his property and didn't return it are charged with theft.
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Senators Brownback and Kennedy hope to curb eugenic abortions with a bill they have sponsored that would provide legal assurance to prospective parents of information that is complete and informed about disabilities such as Down syndrome, cystic fibrosis, and other disabilities so that they don't feel they are pressured into getting abortions.

I don't have any objection to this. It is rather disturbing when prospective parents do opt for abortion because they are afraid of having kids with disabilities.

Down syndrome and even cystic fibrosis are not the death sentences they once were. Down syndrome children can live well into middle age, as opposed to just a couple of decades ago, when average life expectancy was only 25. It is not unheard of for CF children to live well into their twenties and thirties (average is 36.8 years in the U.S.) when in times past they rarely made it past their teens (fifty years ago, the average life expectancy for CF infants was only 6 months).
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Belmont Stakes winner Rags to Riches has been retired from racing. She will be bred to Giant's Causeway.
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It is possible Mia Beth Freeland, 18, got her just desserts, or else she was fleeing from an abusive situation.

It could go either way.
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There are ways for people to stay out of the grave while working graveyard shift.

I never could handle even swing shift when I did it years ago. It was just too much to handle, and I had trouble staying alert.
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Miscellaneous News.

The situation in downtown Reno has become unbearable for at least six transients.
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Rags to Riches has been sidelined until 2008 after suffering a hairline fracture in last weekend's Gazelle.
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Only in conservative Idaho could this happen.
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Matt Wilkinson almost made the Darwin Awards for his stupid stunt:

"Me, being me, I put his head in my mouth," Wilkinson said. "At first, it felt like someone had given me a shot in the mouth."

Wilkinson's throat began to swell and close as poison rushed through his body.

Doctors stuck a breathing tube down his throat, injected several rounds of anti-venin and then put him in a medical coma for three days.

Wilkinson, who nearly died from the incident, is still recovering from the bite.

Dumb shit.
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Belmont Stakes Winner

Rags to Riches lost the first race of her career by finishing second in the Grade I Gazelle.

You can find the video of the race at the link.

This YouTube video is of her Belmont Stakes win.

Oh, Shit.

I don't want to hear about this:

Belmont Stakes (gr. I) winner Rags to Riches was pulled up Sunday morning shortly after beginning a five-furlong workout at Belmont Park. According to Daily Racing Form, the 3-year-old filly did not display any immediate signs of injury.

Exercise rider Lauren Robson thought something felt wrong after galloping Rags to Riches into the work and breaking off slowly at the five-furlong pole. According to DRF, Robson pulled Rags to Riches up after going a sixteenth of a mile.

I just hate this stuff, although if she's injured it doesn't appear to be serious.

As the World Turns II.

First "they" say HRT is bad, and now "they" are saying it is good. What is a menopausal dame to do?
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Belmont winner Rags to Riches is having a blog launched in her name.
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There Was No Triple Crown Winner

this year, but there were several jewels in the series.

As the World Turns.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's hero has died at the age of 88.
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Fred Goldman finally prevails, at least for now.
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Yes, I watched last Saturday's Belmont Stakes and Rags to Riches' historic win over the colts.

She was the first filly since 1905 to win the race.
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