Anagrams

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Here's something to do during the football game commercials.

Anagrams.

I've solved the first one, to get you started.

Of course, some are easier than others...

They are all names of people. Some real people, some fictitious people.

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RAFFLE CLOWN ENJOINS LIMIT

. William Jefferson Clinton

CREDENZA COOLIE
. Condoleeza Rice

NERDY RICH BEACH
. Richard B. Cheney

OPEN EPIC DEBT
. Pope Benedict

AERATED SILLY WINES
. Walter Elias Disney

ARCHAIC NERDS EJECT QUIPS
. President Jacques Chirac

EDGEWISE WITH HORN
. Dwight Eisenhower

ARRANGED LOAN
. Ronald Reagan

RED HOG KIN
. King Herod

CASUAL TANS
. Santa Claus

OBOE CENSER GEEZER
. Ebeneezer Scrooge

CANCELED SHIRKS
. Charles Dickens

WADDED TRENDY KNEE
. Edward Ted Kennedy

WARHEAD DON
. Howard Dean

NOSY PELICAN
. Nancy Pelosi

WINCHING EGRET
. Newt Gingerich

RISKY GREEN SHIN
. Henry Kissinger

UNCORKS BALLAD
. Sandra Bullock

PRAYER TROTH
. Harry Potter

SEAWATER MINX
. Maxine Waters

HIJACK CALM NOSE

. Michael Jackson
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C'mon, I know that you can get SOME of them!

Swearing In

Keith Ellison


Congressional Flap: Swearing In A Muslim Congressman

You’ve no doubt read about Rep. Virgil Goode, R-Va, telling his constituents that unless his immigration reforms are adopted, many more Muslims will immigrate to this country, get elected to Congress and demand to be sworn in on the Koran, not on the Bible.

Like Keith Ellison, just elected to Congress from Minnesota and the first (known) Muslim Congressman.

Goode said the U.S. needs to stop illegal immigration "totally" and reduce legal immigration.

Goode added: "I fear that in the next century we will have many more Muslims in the United States if we do not adopt the strict immigration policies that I believe are necessary to preserve the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America and to prevent our resources from being swamped."

Coupla points:

1. Ellison didn’t immigrate. He was born here.
2. Using the Bible, the Koran or the phone book is not allowed during the “actual” swearing in, on the floor of the House. It is permitted in private, photo-op swearing in’s, which don’t count.
3. People are demanding an apology for Virgil's opinion. I don’t think anyone in America should have to apologise for his opinion.
4. Whether Ellison uses the Bible or the Koran doesn’t matter. When they made him a lawyer, Bill Clinton swore on a Bible, and thanks to lying as President he was disbarred. Mark Foley was sworn in on a Bible obtained for him by a male Congressional Page whom Foley was likely oogling. Tom DeLay, Newt Gingrich, Rostenkowski, Murtha, Agnew, Nixon – the list of miscreants who first swore solemn oaths is like a Washington seating chart.

It doesn’t matter, people. They are gonna do what they want to do, despite any oath. The only oath that counts is the one they swear at their felony trial, later.

I swear.

Artistic Respite

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Just a short respite from your Christmas shopping, traveling, twinkling eyes and bowls full of jelly.














This is called, "Peace on Earth". (Awww... *sigh*)
Alternatively, "Useless Cat."





















And this one is, "There's Nuttin' Like Bein' A Super Model. I'm Super Serial."


That is all. Resume seasonal merriment now.

Idiots

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Bill Maher was fired from 'Politically Incorrect' after 9/11 for saying that the hijackers weren't cowards, but those who lob missiles at them are.

On the heels of the Iraq war, Michael Moore went on a tirade at the 2003 Oscars, calling President Bush a "ficticious president," and shouting "Shame on you!"

Johnny Depp, who lives in France, drew heat when he said: "America is dumb, it's like a dumb puppy that has big teeth that can bite and hurt you. Aggressive."

Maggie Gyllenhaal, who eventually starred in Oliver Stone's 'World Trade Center,' got in hot water for saying America "is responsible in some way" for 9/11.

The Dixie Chicks found themselves in deep water after telling a London crowd that they were "ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas."

A European newspaper quoted Gwyneth Paltrow as saying: "The British are much more intelligent and civilized than the Americans."

Six Weird Things About Greg

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Here're the rules according to Stew:

Each player of this game starts with the "6 Weird Things about You." People who get tagged need to write a blog entry of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says 'you are tagged' in their comments and tell them to read your blog!

1. I got two appointments to Annapolis to get my Dad to respect me. It didn’t work. But I speak and read Russian fluently now, so it wasn’t a complete waste!

2. Coulda been a priest, but I would miss my four kids. If I had to choose between having a yellow lab doggie or having a family, that would be tough.

3. I want to get my pilot's license. I like guns (don’t have any), archery (ditto), riding my bike, traveling in my RV.

4. I’ve built sets, produced and directed over 50 plays and musicals. Acted once. Wrote one play and produced it. For high schools, colleges, community and professional theaters.

5. I’ve been in over 30 countries. Navy, business, working, pleasure.

6. I no longer have much patience for Democrats, most Republicans, rigid Roman Catholics and talk show hosts. Pro-life, pro-life sentence, anti-parole. Haven’t had a drink for many one-days-at-a-time, nor a cigarette for 12 years. I am now more small “L” libertarian, and a non-joiner.

Tagged people:
George Bush. (No, on second thought, I know his six weird things. They start with "Rumsfeld".)

Crime and Imprisonment

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Sometimes we take government for granted.

Sometimes we just have to say, “Thank you!”

Seven million American adults are behind bars, on probation or on parole, the Justice Department says. Of those, 2.2 million are in prison or jail.

Prison releases are increasing, but thankfully admissions are increasing more.

Men still far outnumber women in prisons and jails, but the female population is growing faster.

Bleeding hearters are upset. “What about the kids left behind?”, asks Marc Mauer, executive director of the Sentencing Project, a group supporting criminal justice reform. "Misguided policies that create harsher sentences for nonviolent drug offenses are disproportionately responsible for the increasing rates of women in prisons and jails."

Yep. Misguided policies that keep criminals off the streets. Marc should look up “foster care” or “Oliver”. Either one.

According to the FBI:

• The violent crime rate increased 1.3% from 2004 to 2005. From 1996 to 2005 the rate fell 26.3%.
• The property crime rate decreased 2.4% from 2004 to 2005. From 1996 to 2005, the rate fell 22.9%.
  

8.1 percent of black men under 29 years old are in jail, compared with 2.6 percent of Hispanic men and 1.1 percent of white men. And it's not much different among women. By the end of 2005, black women were more than twice as likely as Hispanics and over three times as likely as white women to be in prison.

Please note that violent crime, property crime, crime with firearms and all crime rates are down.

Maybe, just maybe, the right people are in jail.

Naval War College

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England Expects That Every Man Will something something something

Hackers hit Naval War College computer network

Battle of Trafalgar Was Being Fought Again; Now A Toss Up


In Newport, RI, hackers attacked the computer network at the Naval War College. It was down for more than two weeks.

The Naval War College bills itself as the Navy's leading center of strategic thought and national security policy. It took almost two weeks to discover the intrusion.

Wyoming

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Sometimes I get up in the night, and flip on the TV in the trailer.

Last week, two movies were on at the same time about Wyoming.

Brokeback Mountain and Heaven’s Gate.

I had not seen either, so I looked up the descriptions. I kinda knew that the Gate one was about cowboys and cattle barons, and the Broke one was about a cowboy and another cowboy.

“Brokeback Mountain: A raw, powerful story of two young men, a Wyoming ranch hand and a rodeo cowboy, who meet in the summer of 1963 sheepherding in the high grasslands of contemporary Wyoming and form an unorthodox yet life-long bond, by turns ecstatic, bitter and conflicted.” In other words, gay loving.

“Heaven’s Gate: Michael Cimino's bleak anti-western based on events in 1890s Wyoming. Sheriff attempts to protect immigrant farmers from wealthy cattle barons, and also clashes with a hired gun over the woman they both love. Both men question their roles in the furious immigrant / locals conflict on the American frontier, which winds up in a brutal pitched battle.” In other words, hetero violent.

They probably showed these two movies to honor that famous Wyoming native, Dick Cheney, who will (we hope) be returning to Wyoming in put’ near two years now. The third movie will be a modified version of Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, with a cursing Al Pacino replacing James Stewart. It will commemorate Cheney’s famous salutation to Senator Patrick Leahy on the floor of the United States Senate, “Go f**k yourself.” In other words, … well, actually, I cain’t much improve on those words, I reckon.

Seattle Airport Christmas Trees

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I hesitate to write about the flap in the Seattle-Tacoma airport over Christmas trees. It is still unfolding, especially if Mel Gibson goes there to confront the Rabbi.

It all started when the airport put up some Christmas trees with red bows after Thanksgiving. Then a Rabbi called to say he wanted to put up a Menorah, too, for Chanukah. The airport didn't get right back to him, so he went to the press and threatened to sue.

The airport figured if they let in the Menorah (and a ceremony to light it, a definite no-no to the Transportation Security Gestapo), well then they'd have to accomodate the Hari-Krishnas Hair Pulling Reindeer Fest, the North Korean Buddhist Missile-toe Shinto, the Iranian Nuclear Jihad Wreath Mongers, and ... well, you get the idea. So, they decided to take down the trees.






















Now the Rabbi is really mad! He can't sue now, so the airport is depriving him of getting some Christmas money! And, there is a strong rumor that Mel Gibson heard about this Jew in Seattle, and, after just a couple of eggnogs, he thinks they plan to make a cross out of the wood from the Christmas trees. A very thin cross, I would think. So he's gonna fly there and "reason" with the Rabbi, who in Mel's somewhat anti-freeze state is surely behind every war in the world. So the Rabbi says, "Put the trees back up. I'm not the Grinch already. I was just meshugana about suing!"

Meanwhile, airline ticket counter people, upset that there are not many creative ways remaining to hassle the few people who still fly, decide to set up their own personally funded Christmas trees. On the counters. Right where frustrated travellers have to stand in line.

Stay tuned... Machine guns, napalm and Mel with his face painted blue and white again cannot be far behind.

Christmas Tree

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I went to a great high school run by Benedictine monks. It is about 50 miles south of my temporary trailer park now, in Illinois.

Last Sunday, I drove to the abbey, which has a Christmas tree farm. I picked out a nice tree, cut it with my DeWalt sawsall (which was definitely overkill!), and threw it in the back of the truck. Tie downs? We don’ need no stinkin’ tie downs!

Then I spent about 45 minutes visiting with Father Andrew, my Latin teacher from about 43 years ago, the present head tree farmer and one of the kindest men I have ever met. He taught me to drive a farm tractor back then, to mow the acres of lawn. He let me help build a baseball field backstop, plant trees, and learn some things about farming and growing things.

Unlike me, he is getting older (!), so I’m glad we could talk a while. He told me that two other prominent teachers from my time, Father Martin and Father Luke, are not doing well and will probably die next year. So, I will make another trip soon to see them off.

Meanwhile, I got a nice tree and I paid them more than they asked (as usual). Since everything in the trailer has a place, and trees are not assigned a place, I set it up outside.

Lacy thinks it’s nice, but she worried that opening presents on Christmas morning might be a tad chilly. No problem, I told her; we’re going to my Aunt’s for Christmas Eve!

Bye, Kofi

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So, Kofi Annan went all the way to Harry Truman’s Presidential Library in Independence, Missouri, to insult the U.S. and the President about the role of the U.S. in the world.

Hey, dude, that's MY country! Thoughtful criticism of the government is MY job! You're still a foreigner. Speak your derision on U.N. land.

He spoke about world peace - the world which grew steadily more combative, more genocidal, more anti-children under his ten year “leadership”.

He went there, he said, because Harry Truman believed in the U.N. Truman waged HIS war in Korea under the U.N. flag. Hey, Kofi, that war is STILL open; never was a treaty. Oh, heavens, when are you going to end it? The humanity...

I spent some time in two visits to the Truman Library when I was working in KC a few years ago. And, I’ve read his biography. I admire his Midwestern plainspokenness, and his no-nonsense manner.

He and his wife Bess would have known how to describe Kofi Annan’s visit: uppity.

SNL -- Apocalypto Recut

It all becomes clear now.

Apocalypto

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Mel Gibson filmed the whole movie in the language called Yukatek Mayan.

Apparently he wanted to make a statement about the war in Iraq. He just didn’t want anyone to understand it.

Sure, we know that he’s gun shy. A teensy weensy drinking problem, and all the Jews get mad.

He likes subtitles? Here’s a subtitle:

. Идет рисунок

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Two can play the subtitle game!

I fought Aramaic, Hebrew and Latin to watch The Passion of The Christ.

I have paid my dues.

I will pay to watch Apocalypto when it is shown in one of the languages I understand.

Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941

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RADM Isaac J. Kidd USN

Posthumous Congressional Medal of Honor

"For conspicuous devotion to duty, extraordinary courage, and complete disregard of his own life, during the attack on the Fleet in Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, by Japanese Forces on December 7, 1941. He immediately went to the bridge and as Commander Battleship Division ONE, courageously discharged his duties as Senior Officer Present Afloat until the USS ARIZONA, his Flagship, blew up from magazine explosions and a direct bomb hit on the bridge, which resulted in the loss of his life."

Uhhhh…. Wait a sec….

He did his job. He went to the control area of the ship, gave a bunch of orders, and got killed by a bomb.

He didn’t do anything special. Not to attack RADM Kidd - he didn't nominate himself for the Medal. But the Navy went too far. In fact, I think that RADM Kidd should never have had all of the battleships in port at once. The Fleet Commander had too many in Hawaii at once; and Kidd as Senior Officer Present Afloat (SOPA) should have dispersed those that had to be in Hawaii to other Hawaiian ports.

A lot of people died during the attack as a result of this mistake, and a lot more died in the Pacific in the two years it took for the U.S. to rebuild the fleet as a result.

Lots of other sailors, soldiers and Marines died in Pearl Harbor 65 years ago today, doing their jobs, without getting a medal. IMHO. I acknowledge the sacrifice of RADM Kidd, I honor his memory, and I hope that the Navy uses better judgment in conveying the nation's highest military honor now.

Danny DeVito on The View

DeVito As He Looked In Better Days

An apparently inebriated (that is, lookin’ drunk as a skunk) Danny DeVito went on the daytime TV show The View last week, and slammed the White House, George Bush, and others. He said he was out partying all night with George Clooney.

Maybe Clooney will show up on Rush Limbaugh’s or Jesse Jackson’s shows.

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR CELEBRITIES:

Let’s slow down a little, guys. Rehab is really, really crowded now. Hell, Foley still hasn’t come out.

Of rehab, I mean.

The Onion has a timely article:

WAX-MUSEUM FIRE CREATES HUNDREDS OF NEW DANNY DEVITO STATUES

Man - Bear - Pig

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Man-Bear-Pig


Yep, here’s more global warming stuff, sure enuff.

I am serial.

Because Al Gore says the climate is warming up due to human and Republican malfeasance, it snowed in Orlando, Florida, on November 21, 2006.

It was Florida's first November snowfall since 1912, when Tallahassee got flurries in November.

Yep, they must have had a lot of greenhouse gas problems back then, too.

Temperatures in the Orlando area dipped to the low 40’s the night of 11/21/2006, and were headed for the 30’s in most parts of town.

Wind chills dropped into the 20’s in parts of north Florida.

How much global warming can those poor people take?

The monster who is half man, half bear and half pig - as Al Gore also warned - cannot be far behind.

Yesterday morning at my trailer in northern Illinois, it was 3 degrees F. Today - heat wave - it was 29. We're getting another arctic blast tonight, for the next five days. Wind chills below zero.

I am super serial.

Time to Lose?

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Kissinger


Just a short while ago, Henry Kissinger said winning is the only good exit strategy from Iraq.

Now he says we can’t win in Iraq.

This retread import also told Nixon we couldn’t win in Vietnam.

We gotta stop listening to this guy. He is turning us into losers. Besides, his thick un-American accent is annoying.

If we listen to him, should we also bring back Carter to negotiate the end?


Carter


He did such a number on us in Iran.

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

OK, the snow was fun for a while.

Now, it’s COLD. It was 3°F on Saturday morning, 6°F on Sunday and 7°F today.

My observations are:

- This is why people do not prefer to live in trailers year round.

- My water hose is frozen. That means we are using the water stored on board. The pump comes on as I run the water, and Big Easy’s (the trailer’s) furnace keeps it from freezing. It will run out by next Monday, I think. So I will take the spare hose, and fill up the on board tank again. That is a wet, cold operation because the RV camp’s valve to my trailer is broken, so I will have to hook up the new hose as the icy cold water is flowing. Alternatively, Lacy and I drink bottled water, so if I run out and I can’t refill the trailer, I will take showers at work, and I will cook on paper plates.

- Cans of diet Coke, stored in Big Ride, will freeze and explode when exposed to 3°F temperatures for 3 or more hours. About six of them did so last night. The inside of the truck is decorated with Coke Slush. Lacy has a big job ahead of her.





- Big Easy will burn a 40 pound tank of propane in about two weeks when the temperatures are above freezing. With these cold temperatures, we just went through one in four days. I listened to the furnace last night: on for three minutes, off for thirty seconds, on for three minutes… I am also running a big electric heater in the bedroom at night, but I unplug it when I go to work. Lacy seems fine in the cooler temperatures, and I will not risk a fire with her inside alone.

- Big Easy is covered in snow and icicles. It is very pretty.

Sea World

SeaWorld's Punishment For Shamu

Let THAT be a lesson for the rest of us!