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Do you suppose it was because Cedar Rapids, Iowa is in the Midwest? Perhaps it’s because it is a more rural setting, but last week as over a hundred square blocks of that community were submerged by flooding, did you notice something very different about this water disaster as compared to the one that devastated the city of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina?

There were no news reports of looting or violence. Cedar Rapids residents didn’t ignore evacuation orders, and they obviously weren’t willing to wait on their rooftops for government to do something. They used every available option to help each other. Mayor Kay Halloran didn’t gripe about a lack of effective state or federal response like New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin. Nobody blamed President Bush, and there was no talk of a government conspiracy to blow up the levees.

There were no reports of the police going around confiscating personal firearms, and no reports of people shooting at the rescue workers, and all the area school busses were driven to higher ground. Nobody in Congress tried to blame bad behavior of flood victims on American society, because, there was no bad behavior by flood victims. The federal government has no plans to move house trailers into the area. Folks will fend for themselves, and there are no plans to pass out $2,000 gift cards to victims.

The comparison between the two water disasters suggests that there is a right and a wrong way to behave when nature strikes a blow to your way of life. There seems to be no need for excuses in Iowa.

With commentary on 920 - KXLY, I’m Mike Fitzsimmons.

Spokane Parks and Rec is offering a new workout class for moms and their babies. It’s called Stroller Strides. Director Nancy Schmidt and her 8 month old baby Tanis visited GMNW to give Leialoha and I some workout tips. Unfortunately, I found out my baby is in to working out just as much as I am.  We don’t like it much (I’m active but I don’t “work out” per se.  That’s a whole other blog though.  I promise to tell you about it sometime).  She fussed and I struggled with my situp. Yes, situp… as in one situp. I couldn’t do it. Haha. I blame the baby laying on my stomach. Check it out here.

Welcome to today’s episode of Profiles in Courage, where we’ll highlight great people doing heroic deeds.

Geraldo Rivera. Now there’s a guy who’s got some serious courage. The guy has taken on skinheads, black activists, Al Capone’s secret vault, Satanism … but he showed his true courage taking on the U.S. Army recently.

During the war in Iraq in 2003, Rivera made the crazy stupid mistake of filing a report live from the field while embedded with the “Screaming Eagles” of the 101st Airborne Division. During a broadcast he began speaking in detail about an upcoming operation and then drew a map in the sand to show the folks back home what was going to happen.

And, of course, Geraldo forgot that Saddam Hussein was a big Fox News fan at the time.

Needless to say Geraldo became “un-embedded” and heroically advanced the story on the war in Iraq from his new posting … in Kuwait.

So why is he so courageous? Geraldo is courageous because he recently went tandem skydiving … with the U.S. Army’s “Golden Knights” Parachute Team. Yes he jumped out of an airplane with an Army paratrooper - similar to the thousands whose positions he gave away during the march to Baghdad - strapped to his back.

“You just feel like you’re an eagle up there,” Rivera told News14 in Raleigh. “You feel like you could do anything, feel like you could soar anywhere. It’s almost a disappointment when the chute opens.”

I’ll leave it to the Screaming Eagles to add the punchline to that sentence.

Spokane City Hall. Now there’s courageous leadership right there. Yes, I’ve lamented their leadership in the past … Mayor Verner proclaiming “It’s just a little snow” Week last winter and then “It’s just a little water” Week this spring. Now, after John Langeler’s look at Spokane’s never-ending pothole problem the city is finally taking responsibility for the dilapidated state of the roads around the Lilac City.

“The reality is that we wouldn’t typically pay on damage from a pothole unless we had prior knowledge the pothole existed,” City spokesperson Marlene Feist said.

… seriously?

“We all have a responsibility when we drive to avoid hazards,” Feist explained. “Just like if something fell off the truck in front of you, you have a responsibility to drive around it.”

Really?

Note to Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick: Please tell your officers in the Patrol Division that when they arrive on the scene of a head-on collision involving my SUV and the car in the oncoming lane, I was following my responsibility - as recommended by city leadership - to drive around all of the potholes in my lane and was looking for some pothole-free asphalt in the oncoming lane.

OK … seriously … some of the potholes around here look like bomb craters. Baghdad’s streets weren’t this bad, and their potholes are created by bomb craters.

Telling people it’s their own fault that they don’t navigate around potholes is ludicrous. If the city isn’t going to accept responsibility for the roads, just go the full distance and completely margainalize city residents’ concerns.

When it starts snowing this winter tell the people that everyone will be safe from the potholes as they’ll all be filled up with snow. When people complain about the city’s lackluster response to plowing the streets, tell the people you’re being proactive in protecting them from the potholes by keeping them filled with snow.

Then substitute the word “snow” for “water” or “fire” or “protesters demonstrating against fur / police brutality / gas prices” as needed. That may not be the courageous response, but at least it’ll be an honest one.

The following is as of 7 a.m. Thursday.

Less than 150 general entry spots remain for 2009 Ford Ironman Coeur d’Alene set to take place on Sunday, June 21 in Coeur d’Alene and surrounding Kootenai County.

Any athletes interested in competing are urged to sign up immediately to avoid being closed out. It is anticipated that the race will fill by Friday.   The entry fee, $525.

For more information, or to register for the 2009 Ford Ironman Coeur d’Alene, logo onto www.ironmancda.com.

It’s August 10, 2007.   A wolf feeds on a road-killed elk carcass in the morning in Glacier National Park.   A grizzly bear with two cubs feeds on the carcass in the evening. A grizzly bear will chuff and pop its jaw when it feels threatened. Sometimes it will also charge at the threat, usually veering off or stopping short – a bluff charge.

Early the next morning a grizzly bear with cubs chuffs and bluff charges a wolf. The wolf appears to be alone and, at times, postures as if it is playing. Video camera was triggered by a motion sensor .  You can see the interaction about 1 minute into the video.   At minutes 2 , 3 and 4 the wolf nips at one of the bear cubs.   It appears the wolf is just playing.   Incredible video.  Make sure you have your sound on for this.  

Lynn sent me a link today to a video that shows a Seattle man’s efforts for the community to show its appreciation for our country’s men and women serving in the military. As a former Jarhead (and Guardsman) she thought I might like to share this with others in our community.

This is an excellent example of a viral campaign to raise awareness on the Internets about something someone is interested in. The message is simple, the presentation is straightforward. From the looks of things the Gratitude Campaign has gotten a lot of visibility since it began.

Anyway, if have the time, click play and watch the film. Next time you see a serviceman maybe you’ll be motivated enough to thank them for their service.

Footnote: As I mentioned to Lynn in a comment earlier, when I watched the video I was taken aback about 20 or 30 seconds into the video. A person is shown holding the bracelet for a soldier who was killed in action. The soldier’s name is Jeff Shaver. He was killed in action in May of 2004.

Shaver was a member of my battalion’s medical platoon when we were deployed to Baghdad, Iraq. I didn’t know him personally but Doc Marshall, my platoon’s medic, and other medics in my rifle company knew him well.

Thanks for the link Lynn.

More and more people are turning to chiropractors to take the kinks out of their backs and necks. But before being treated by one, there are some concerns you should know about.  Sometimes, when the neck is improperly twisted, the bones that protect the vertebral arteries that go up the back of the neck can pinch or snap, causing a kink in those arteries. They can produce blood clots, once they become loose they travel to the brain causing a stroke.  (More Resources & Links)

Ways to Save 10 Minutes DailyIn this article, a list of 10 ways to save 10 minutes.  These are not complicated procedures.  They are very simple, straightforward suggestions.  Sometimes our days are so crammed with things to do that 10 minutes represents the difference between sanity and insanity. 

OK, well maybe not as exciting as to rate a w00t! but I’ve just gotten done building a few new toys to help share KXLY content wherever you go on the Internets.

Using the Widgetbox application I’ve built two widgets that allow you to syndicate content from our site(s) to yours. First up are two widgets I’ve built, one that has a running feed of KXLY.com Blogs and another that tracks top headlines being posted to KXLY.com. Click on the links below to grab ‘em for your blog or personal homepage or whatever:

KXLY.com Top Headlines Widget
KXLY.com Blogs Widget

Just to make it easy, I’ve also set it up so you can also scroll down the page and on the left side you’ll find a little orange box that you can click on to get the Blogs widget. Easy as pie.

Next application I built is for all of you Facebook users out there. Basically I imported the widgets into Facebook as applications that you can add to your profile pages so you can keep track of the latest blog entries and headlines from your Facebook profile. Click on the links below to grab the apps to add to your profile:

KXLY.com Top Stories - Facebook App
KXLY.com Blogs - Facebook App

So there you go … Free Stuff and it’s not even 4 Free Friday.

Update: Now you can get Weather Video on Demand syndicated to your blog, personal homepage or Facebook page as well.

Here are the links to get the goods:

KXLY.com Weather On Demand

KXLY.com Weather On Demand - Facebook App

       This blog is a little late, since he crossed the finish line 3 days ago, but I’ve got to give props to our main anchor Dave Erickson.  He completed the Ironman Triatholon Sunday night in Coeur d’Alene.  The kicker: the 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, and 26 mile run didn’t even phase the guy.  At work the following day after 13 hours on the go, Dave said he felt fine… just a sore hammy.  Crazy huh?  I give him credit for putting his mind to something and getting it done. 

       A lot of heart, determination, not to mention money.  Dave says registration and gear throughout the year, just for a local athlete, can easily cost $2 thousand bucks.  When he told me that I thought… people pay to do this?  You couldn’t pay me enough.

       But then I thought about it.  I bet you could pay me enough to do it.  A million bucks to train and complete the Ironman?  Okay.  500-thousand?  Probably.  200-thousand?  Uh… I’d really have to think about it.

       So what’s your price?  How much would it take for you to compete in the Ironman?  Would you do it for free?

The Washington State Patrol is responding to a two car collision that’s blocking all lanes of Highway 292 at Milepost 5 between Loon Lake and Springdale.

There are reports of multiple injuries and emergency responders have requested Medstar launch a medevac helicopter to airlift casualties from the scene.

Update: Three people have been injured in a two car head-on collision on Highway 292 at Milepost 5 between Loon Lake and Springdale.

The accident was reported at 4:30 p.m. and blocked all lanes of Highway 292 for about an hour.

Emergency responders requested a Medstar helicopter to transport one of the persons involved in the crash to the hospital. Two other people in the crash were evacuated by ambulance from the scene.

Highway 292 was reopened at 5:30 p.m.