Infinite Dustys: the Picture within a Picture; or Off the Scale with Coolness:
The image begins with a photo on Yahoo of Cassandra Rogers taking a picture of herself with ZZ Top's Dusty Hill at Walter Reed Hospital...
And ends with the photo that Cassandra herself was taking.
I love Dusty and I loved the pics. Thanks again to Cassandra for so generously sending in the photo she took.
In July, WFTV reporter Josh Wilson had a bizarre videotaped confrontation with State Senator Gary Siplin (D-Orlando). When Wilson asked him about $75,500 in questionable campaign contributions, the Senator said "I love you, Joshua" some three dozen times.
Geez, that is some weird video.
(Via Tales of Weird Florida.)
FEMA's history of lavish spending in Florida came with a new kink after Hurricane Wilma: bartender, generators on the house! FEMA paid and overpaid for top-of-the-line generators for all comers. According to a Sun-Sentinel investigation:
In the first seven weeks after Hurricane Wilma, $95 million in federal disaster aid went to buy Floridians generators and cleanup items, more than the government spent to fix homes damaged by the October storm.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency paid 117,000 residents under a controversial policy that reimburses anyone, regardless of income, for generators, chain saws, wet/dry vacuums, air purifiers and dehumidifiers, a South Florida Sun-Sentinel investigation has found.
In Broward County, the reimbursements cost $41 million, and in Palm Beach County, $19 million -- exceeding the amount FEMA spent on home repairs.
In a ZIP code that includes parts of affluent Weston and Southwest Ranches, 33332, taxpayers paid for generators or chain saws for one in six households.
Not only did they buy generators for people who live in million-dollar homes, but they threw in some mad money as well:
The Wilma claims also indicate FEMA's practice of reimbursing people more than they paid may be widespread. FEMA reimbursed an average price, $836 for a generator, unless an inspector specifically noted the applicant paid less.
Last week, agency spokeswoman Frances Marine called overpayments "the exception and not the rule."
But of the more than 100,000 generator claims FEMA approved, 99 percent received the full $836, the Sun-Sentinel found. The claims do not indicate how much applicants actually paid, but spokesmen for the home improvement chains Lowe's and Home Depot said their top-selling generators in Florida cost $499 to $699.
"This tells you there's a huge number of people that FEMA overpaid," said state Sen. Ron Klein, a Boca Raton Democrat who has asked Florida's auditor general to audit the payments. "This is millions of dollars once again being thrown out by FEMA."
Many Florida lawmakers are asking why the federal government decided to become the home generator Santa in the first place:
"Why are we buying generators for people that can afford them?" asked U.S. Rep. Clay Shaw, R-Fort Lauderdale. "And why are we buying generators anyway?"
Shaw supports paying for generators only for those with medical needs, similar to a policy in North Carolina.
"To put a generator in every home is ridiculous," he said. "There are some inconveniences you have following a violent storm ... that people have to tolerate, and it's not the federal government's responsibility to turn on your lights."
FEMA's spending like a drunken sailor has actually negatively effected hurricane-preparedness in Florida. While taking advantage of Florida's pre-hurricane season sales tax moratorium on hurricane items would only net the average family a saving of $30, waiting for FEMA's generosity will get you around $1000:
"I've heard these stories where people get these generators, they return them to Home Depot and walk off with their $800," he said. "This gravy train's got to end soon before we all get addicted to FEMA."
The spending spree of Uncle Sugar's freewheeling disaster agency has one more implication for Florida: we must repay the federal government 25% of what they spend here. The bill for FEMA's generator fetish is starting to look more like a manic relative going off on a toot with our credit card.
***
Previous posting:
Generators on the House!
Lots of creative people took time out this Christmas to design a Steve Jobs movie poster for an Ipod competition. There are so many good entries, it's going to be tough to pick a winner.
(Via Country Store.)
This third-generation musician pioneered the blending of these two musical genres. He also has the distinction of hiring and firing Hank Williams within one 24-hour period after a band member gave him the ultimatum "I can handle you drunk, but I can't handle both you and that skinny bastard. It's him or me."
**
Gears grinding? 'Bout damn time. I might finally stump y'all.
Need a hint? Folks back home knew him by his Southern name "Jim Rob," an appellation he shunned as lacking sophistication.
Patsy Cline covered one of his songs.
Chuck Berry covered one his songs under a different title, and had a hit with it.
**
Congrats to Trambo for correctly guessing the pioneers of Western Swing, Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys.
Who would have thought that mixing Big Band and Country would sound so good?
You can see the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee,
It's the home of country music, on that we all agree.
But when you cross that ole Red River, hoss,
that just don't mean a thing,
'Cause once you're down in Texas,
Bob Wills is still the King.
('Bob Wills Is Still The King' by Waylon Jennings)
The pride of Turkey, Texas, Jim Rob Wills came from a long line of fiddlers. He was a maverick who built a band that had some of the finest musicians in the country, and popularized a sound that blended country and big band. And it was all meant to dance to.
The popularity of his band lasted for three decades, but the influence of Bob Wills continues to this day. Among other fans, Merle Haggard dedicated an album to him, you hear his influence in Dickey Betts-penned tunes in the Allman Brothers, and Asleep at the Wheel help keep the Western Swing flame burning with their popular recordings.
The music to his hit song "Faded Love" was written by Bob Wills father, and the lyrics penned by his brother Billy Jack Wills. It's been recorded by over 300 different artists, including Patsy Cline. Chuck Berry's first record, "Maybelline," was a Bob Will's reworking of the traditional folk song "Ida Red" that he recorded in 1939. This caused some confusion with bookings, as Berry kept showing up at booked locales that turned out to be honky tonks. He said as long as he got paid, he didn't care.
Hank Williams tenure with the band was indeed brief. As recounted by Merle Haggard:
"Bob and Hank were playing at the Opry when they got drunk together, and Bob hired him. The next morning when [Wills' guitarist Eldon] Shamblin woke up, he went to Bob and told him, 'Look -- I might be able to handle your ass when you're drunk, but I ain't even going to attempt to handle you and that skinny son of a bitch. It's either him or me.' Well, that's as long as Hank Williams lasted."
***
Previous postings:
Homefires X
Homefires IX
Homefires VIII
Homefires VII
Homefires VI
Homefires V
Homefires IV
Homefires III
Homefires II
Homefires
I've decided to give up my dream of being a housemaid in Saudi Arabia.
It was time to let that one go.
Reggie, the one and only California gator, is back in the news with the charging of the two men who released him into a lake last summer:
"The victim here is actually all of us. The neighborhood, the city, the children who want to play in this park. That's what we're trying to protect today by filing these charges," said Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo.
I'm on pins and needles waiting for spring, when Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter himself, will come from Australia to stalk the sneaky saurian, who is said to be "hibernating" right now.
Los Angelinos, take your Paxil and just hang on 'til then.
Reggie and imagined victim.
When Glen Betterley woke up and found his head bleeding, he asked his girlfriend if she'd hit him.
She said no, which was true. Technically.
A man who woke up and found his head bleeding, drove to work and left a note for his boss before going to the hospital to find he had a bullet lodged in his brain, authorities said.
Most people who get shot in head while sleeping wake up dead, so Mr. Betterley had some Grade-A luck. Meanwhile, the girlfriend was having her own version of a bad morning, brought on by having the guy she shot in the head being up and about in the land of the living. A phone call from the Port Orange police was the last straw, and she departed this vale of tears with a bang.
A Fort Lauderdale boy, Farris Hassan, had a yen for some independent "immersion journalism" in Iraq. So, using his own money, and without telling anyone, he took off and went. Farris is now staying at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and will be home shortly. According to his brother, "He knows the ass-whoopin' he's going to get."
I bet.
The excerpts provided from his travel essay are wonderful:
There is a struggle in Iraq between good and evil, between those striving for freedom and liberty and those striving for death and destruction. You are aware of the heinous acts of the terrorists: Women and children massacred, innocent aid workers decapitated, indiscriminate murder. You are also aware of the heroic aspirations of the Iraqi people: liberty, democracy, security, normality. Those terrorists are not human but pure evil. For their goals to be thwarted, decent individuals must answer justice's call for help ... So I will.
He sounds like a nice kid who needs a comprehensive ass-whoopin'.
The timeline for his travels are here. So far there's been no comment from this fellow.
(Michelle's all up in my local kool-aid, as is everybody else. Fine -- but hands off the alligator-attack news.)
Coalition of the Swilling joins me in the This-kid-needs-to-be-beaten-within-an-inch-of-his-life Club. We meet once a month down at the Legion. Bring a covered dish.
A woman trying to kill her poor old daddy got taken out by her son...with a pellet gun he'd gotten for Christmas:
White, 40, of Salina, had spent the weekend in Wichita after she was invited to spend Christmas at the house where her 73-year-old father and her 68-year-old mother were raising her children.
Police said the altercation happened after White returned to the home Tuesday. Armed with scissors, White threatened to kill her father, who had only a cane to defend himself, police said.
When the argument moved into the front yard, Landen said the teen's grandfather tripped over a planter.
As his mother moved toward her fallen dad with the scissors, police said, the teenager stepped onto the front porch and aimed, striking his mother in the heart.
The crazy mom was able to leave, only to crash her car and die. It was ruled justifiable. I'm glad he had a weapon to use to stop his grandpa's murder; but still, that's way rough on a kid.
In further bad parent news: a man who turned into a crackhead at age 60 and began robbing banks got the dime dropped on him by his policeman son.
Jared Ginglen said he had no regrets about turning in his father.
"It had to be done," he said.
There you go. Sometimes it surely does.
And Reno Tobler's been enjoying his a long time. He's the urine man. If you're on his route, expect a nice bottle of urine, completely free.
A guy in my unit also used to bottle his urine. He didn't distribute them though; just kept 'em in his locker.
While in many cultures it's customary to light fireworks on New Year's Eve. In France they set cars on fire:
Fears of a new outbreak of street violence in France have prompted many areas to ban the sale of petrol in cans.
Setting fire to cars on New Year's Eve has become a tradition among lawless youths on estates with large immigrant populations in the Parisian suburbs and Strasbourg.
But don't call them "thugs." That would be rude.
Here's Duane with the Allman Joys from the same photo session as last week.
Are they in an alley? Between two trucks? It's a mystery.
Wail on, Skydog!
Two thumbs up for the National Film Registry adding "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" this year.
Now they only have to add "Valley Girl" and "Night of the Comet" and all the cinematic highpoints of my young adulthood will have been gathered.
Most of you have seen "Fast Times." If you haven't seen "Valley Girl" or "NOTC," check them out. They're very enjoyable.
Bonus actor-overlap:
Nicolas Cage in FTRH and VG.
Kelli Maroney in FTRH and NOTC.
Michael Bowen in VG and NOTC.
It's heartening to see things are getting back to normal in New Orleans.
The Trinidadian Muslim group Jamaat al Muslimeen, which normally specializes in intimidating enemies, running a lucrative kidnapping business, and killing members who try to leave, is apparently branching out.
On Friday Trinidadian police arrested two members of Jamaat al Muslimeen after finding a bomb being constructed at their residence.
The arrests come during an investigation into the leader of the group, Yasin Abu Bakr, for terrorism.
Hopefully the authorities in Trinidad will have a better time of it than they did with their last run-in with Abu Bakr and Jamaat al Islam:
In 1990, Abu Bakr's group bombed police headquarters, stormed Parliament and took the prime minister and his Cabinet hostage in a rebellion that left 24 people dead.
The rebels surrendered after they were promised amnesty. The government withdrew the amnesty and prosecuted them, but the charges were dismissed on appeal.
Between July and October there have been four bombings in Trinidad, with 25 people wounded, and no arrests.
Me and Mr. Cracker want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas
UPDATE:
So did everyone have a nice Christmas and snag lots of lovely loot?
Mr. Cracker got me an Ipod Nano with "Wail on, Skydog!" engraved on the back.
There were a few moments of drama when I'd gone through four layers of boxes and seen only a tiny silver doodad and a couple of things that looked like large packets of soy sauce.
I started sifting through the discarded packaging and Christmas wrapping paper, mumbling that I didn't see anything. This brought Mr. Cracker to his feet with an exclamation. He was relieved when he saw the little silver dealie I had pushed aside. Ah so!
What especially nice things did y'all give or get this year? I see somebody got a very nice present indeed.
It's Christmas Eve, but the show must go on. Stop eating for a minute and check out these links:
*V the K tops himself with this "Capfest Before Christmas."
*Silent Running gets some popcorn and watches left-wing bloggers eat their own.
*From Ace's archive, one of my favorite posts and comments thread. Read this just to placate me.
*And from Wuzzadem's, a Denny's post that makes me laugh everytime.
*Also, photos from a beautiful Christmas parade from Country Store.
Merry Christmas, y'all! Keep rockin'!
The famous tale of Lana Turner being discovered while she was sipping a soda in a drugstore has an even odder musical counterpart. This Rockabilly and Honky-Tonk singer was discovered while he was out in the wilderness catching a fish.
His career was fruitful, despite having one hit banned by the BBC; and in love and death, he followed in the footsteps of an ill-fated Country legend.
(This time, I WILL WIN.)
**
Congrats to Trambo for correctly guessing Johnny Horton.
Johnny Horton was the son of an East Texas sharecropping family. A fishing fanatic, he worked in California and Alaska in the fishing industry, singing on the side, before coming home. He led tourists on fishing expeditions in Southeast Texas, and would sing and play guitar for them while in camp. One person on one of his tours in 1951 was a staff member of radio station KWKH, home of the "Louisiana Hayride" show. For the next eight years, Horton would appear regularly on "Hayride."
His early recording career horribly mismanaged, he finally hit paydirt in 1956 with the song "I'm a Honky Tonk Man." This honky-tonk classic was covered over three decades later by Dwight Yoakam, and was a hit for him as well.
At the end of the 1950's, with the Rockabilly sound waning, he turned to more folk-based material. It's from these songs that we know him best. 1959's number one hit "Springtime in Alaska" was followed by his most famous song "Battle of New Orleans." This one went to number one on both the Pop and Country charts, stayed on the charts for a solid year, and won him a Grammy. As an amusing sidenote, it was banned by the BBC because of the words "the bloody British." In 2001 it won the Grammy Hall of Fame award and was named a Song of the Century.
On November 4, 1960, while heading back to Louisiana after an appearance at the Skyline Club in Austin, Horton was killed when the car he was driving was hit head-on by a drunk driver. The Skyline Club was also the location of Hank Williams' final performance -- Williams wouldn't make it to his next one, dying in the backseat of his car on the way to a show in Canton, Ohio. For Horton's widow, it was all too much a case of deja vu. She was Billie Jean Jones, better known as the widow of Hank Williams.
His fame hard-won, Johnny Horton was still having hits several years after he was already gone.
***
Previous postings:
Homefires IX
Homefires VIII
Homefires VII
Homefires VI
Homefires V
Homefires IV
Homefires III
Homefires II
Homefires
Thanks to all who have sent me their kind Christmas greetings. I wish all of you a Merry Christmas in return:
Merry Christmas from Florida Cracker
(Pic via US War Dogs.)
Alligators, pythons, and now these damn panthers.
A Florida panther has visited a daycare center in Immokalee and killed a Chihuahua there. We got lucky this time. Now that he's found a food source, what if comes back to the same place and does something really horrible...like killing an actual dog?
In honor of my two-year blogiversary yesterday, I didn't post. It seemed appropriate.
Tim Blair is the one who inspired to me to start blogging, so I hope y'all will go over there and leave a comment or send him an e-mail telling him thanks... a whole bunch.
Mommy helps out Internet "friend" in Nigeria; puts children in the poorhouse.
It always a wonder to me that some people are so willing to run to the bank at the behest of people they meet in chatrooms. My insular and clannish upbringing only allows that I'll have an overwhelming compulsion to grab a firearm when a stranger asks me to do him a favor involving cash money.
Or knocks on my door, even.
I didn't even know there was such a thing as "Cowboy Action Shooting," much less that you could kill yourself doing it.
Jessica has an excellent solution to the current difficulty in New York City, though I doubt Mayor Bloomberg has the balls for it. Terminating ashtrays is more his speed.
However, it's day two and Governor Pataki wants more negotiations. We'll see if that million-dollar-a-day fine gets them back to the table.
Here's a baby-faced Duane with those wild hipsters the Allman Joys.
Vests were big that year, and there's not a muttonchop in sight.
Wail on, Skydog!
The Cotillion is up, this week hosted by Janette of Common Sense Runs Wild.
Go check it out!
After the last fiasco of one hambone and two dogs, my mother-in-law brought over two very meaty bones wrapped separately in tinfoil.
Yesterday I decided it was Hambone Day. Me and the dogs went out onto the back patio and I got out the bones. One was very big. That one I decided would be for Lilly the Shepherd, as she's bigger, eats faster, and will snatch her sister's food if she's left at loose ends. Shiloh the Beagle-mix would get the smaller one.
I set the bones down and went back inside, shutting the sliding glass door behind me, as the dogs prefer to do their big, greasy bone-gnawing while lying on soft, thick mauve carpeting.
After having only been gone a few minutes to check my blog, I go to see how the chewing's going. What do I see through the sliding glass but Shiloh standing forlorn, a few feet from Lilly, watching her gnaw a now meatless bone.
I go outside and search the floor. No, there's not a scrap of ham anywhere and no sign of the other bone. Did Lilly demolish her own treat so quickly and then steal Shiloh's?
She must have. What to do?
Remembering how vociferously Mr. Cracker had spoken the words regarding his favored dog Shiloh last Hambone Day that, "There's no way she's not having any marrow," I made a decision.
I grabbed the bone in Lilly's mouth and yelled at her to drop it until she finally did. Then I brought the bone and Shiloh into the house, locked Lilly on the back patio by herself, and let Shiloh chew her bone on the carpet in front of the glass door.
Shiloh ate the ends off the bone, licked all the marrow out, and left a shell.
I let Lilly back in and let her have the dry, empty bone-shell.
The whole thing made me feel rather guilty. On a hunch I had forcibly taken the bone from Lilly, then avoided her eyes looking through the glass at us from exile. It was still nagging at me when Mr. Cracker came home. I told him what had happened, and how I felt bad because I really didn't know for sure that Lilly had eaten her own bone then taken Shiloh's. It was a supposition based on past behavior, and probably an accurate one at that; but still, I hadn't witnessed anything myself.
Mr. Cracker said, "There was only one hambone. The other thing was just a hunk of ham."
I groaned.
"It's OK," he grinned. "At least Shiloh got her marrow!"
Unreal. Instead of giving him to us as we had requested, Germany has swapped plane-hijacking terrorist Mohammed Ali Hamadi, one of the killers of Navy diver Robert Stethem, for German Muslim-convert Susanne Osthoff, who was being held hostage in Iraq. This appears to have been done to reward those members of Germany's large and unassimilated Muslim population who demonstrated against her kidnapping.
German authorities say the timing of Hamadi's release with Osthoff's was a coincidental matter of custom. They decided to replace their monthly Lange Samstag, a Saturday where stores stayed open late, with Terrorist Donnerstag, a Thursday where they spring a random terrorist and give him an armed escort back to his home country.
I'm sure the men of the USS Stethem would like to put a shell in something right about now.
(Via Ace.)
If the media isn't too hip to blogs, law enforcement is:
"I did it."
Blake Ranking was a Eustis High School senior and still aching from a horrible crash three days earlier when he posted those words on blurty .com, a site for Web logs.
"It was me who caused it. I turned the wheel. I turned the wheel that sent us off the road, into the concrete drain . . .," he wrote as his best friend, Jason Coker, 17, lay in a coma at Orlando Regional Medical Center. "How can I be fine when everyone else is so messed up?"
Coker never awoke from the crash Oct. 3, 2004. He died Jan. 11.
Although Ranking later retracted his words -- deleting them from the blog and penning an explanation -- they came back to haunt him, forcing him Monday to plead guilty to DUI manslaughter.
...
[Assistant State Attorney Julie] Greenberg said she had planned to use the blog as evidence, a first for the office covering Lake, Citrus, Hernando, Marion and Sumter counties, but almost certainly not the last.
If the paper didn't include a link to the blog, this time they can be excused: Ranking appears to have pulled everything down.
Town council of Graz, Austria, crushed, driven before Arnold Scwarzenegger; women heard lamenting.
(Via Lucianne.)
Via Mudville Gazette comes news of the murder of Paul Berkley, owner of the milblog legibletrout. A Navy Reservist, he was shot in the head while home on leave from Bahrain. His wife, her teenaged boyfriend, and his daughter's boyfriend have all been arrested.
RIP, sailor. You deserved better.
UPDATE:
Tacky, trashy, disgusting.
The wife's killer boyfriend was living in the house the whole time Paul Berkley was deployed. His daughter was there, with her killer boyfriend hanging out. She's now chirpingly blogging the aftermath of her father's murder. His teenaged son was there. Sounds like the guy ruined the party by coming home.
As the daughter of a career sailor, I can't even imagine a home like that. You white-hatted dudes be careful who you marry.
Gah, I don't want to know any more about this case.
Shoplifter William Beltran had outrun mall security and two deputies. Then he heard "Stop! U.S. Marines!"
Imagining his feeling of hopelessness, I almost feel sorry for the guy.
(With video.)
**UPDATE**
Nightfly has composed a song for Private Pitts and PFC Ailant. That tune sounds familiar...
Who wouldn't want to wear a Silver Star? It's pretty and shiny.
"The affected population is more multiracial, multiethnic and multicultural than one might discern from national media reports," said Richard Campanella, a Tulane University geographer who has studied which parts of the city were hit the worst by flooding. His research showed that predominantly white districts in the city were almost as likely to flood as predominantly black ones.
Campanella said he was not surprised at the even distribution of bodies between the city's poorer and more affluent neighborhoods. He noted that 70% of the identified Katrina victims in New Orleans were older than 60, frequently lifelong residents who had ridden out other hurricanes and refused to evacuate. Elderly people are more likely to be wealthier and to live in wealthier neighborhoods.
George Bush doesn't care about elderly people.
"Dive, dive, dive!"
(Via FR, where there's a nice schadenfreude thread.)
Now this is more like it. Good job to all the bikers, VFW, and everyone else who went out of their way to give Cape Coral's Amanda Smith a proper welcome home. She was obviously delighted; and lucky us, we get to enjoy her delight:
The main course on the buffet table? A big old smoked pig.
Each of the 900 ribbons were donated by a different person.
More photos here.
***
Previous postings:
Welcome Back Again, Amanda
Welcome Home Anyway
Not blogging it. There's plenty to be read over at Protein Wisdom.
Author and former Peace Corps volunteer Paul Theroux gives bombastic roving minstrel Paul "Bono" Hewson a good drubbing:
THERE are probably more annoying things than being hectored about African development by a wealthy Irish rock star in a cowboy hat, but I can't think of one at the moment.
Theroux is saying much of what Kenyan economist James Shikwati said back in July: "For God's sake, please stop the aid!"
Instead of pouring more aid into Africa, Theroux suggests Bono (founding and sole member of the Brotherhood of the First-Class Traveling Hat), look a little closer to home for an example of how a third-world cesspool can become a prosperous nation:
Africa has no real shortage of capable people - or even of money. The patronizing attention of donors has done violence to Africa's belief in itself, but even in the absence of responsible leadership, Africans themselves have proven how resilient they can be - something they never get credit for. Again, Ireland may be the model for an answer. After centuries of wishing themselves onto other countries, the Irish found that education, rational government, people staying put, and simple diligence could turn Ireland from an economic basket case into a prosperous nation. In a word - are you listening, Mr. Hewson? - the Irish have proved that there is something to be said for staying home.
Nice try, Mr. Theroux, but I doubt Bono will ever be willing to give up the level or amount of attention that the African aid platform has given him. Being ushered into the offices of heads of state to expound on your views beats visiting your neighbor's sitting room for tea.
Set your VCRs for this promising new reality show:
Seventy-five hard-core alcoholics, accustomed to living on the streets and spending nights in emergency rooms, detox centers or jail cells, are about to get an invitation to move into a new apartment building all their own on the edge of downtown Seattle.
Sounds good, doesn't it? Can't wait for the obligatory hot tub scenes. There'll probably also be a lot of drinking games, but the particular favorite will no doubt be "Do A Shot Everytime You Do A Shot." I've always wanted to see that one.
From Jo Frost, TV's Supernanny:
''If it really means that much to you to spend time with your children, you have to make sacrifices. You can't go to every charity function and dinner party after work.''
Good luck to the people of Iraq and may God bless them on this day.
Be sure to go read Hammorabi and Iraq the Model.
UPDATE
It went very well:
"The Iraqi people are showing the world that all people — of all backgrounds — want to be able to choose their own leaders and live in freedom. And we're encouraged by what appears to be a large turnout throughout Iraq," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.
And from a polling station in Najaf:
Mr. Ali Hassoon al-Badri said “everyone must realize that electing our representatives is a basic right for everyone and it is not a gift from anyone and that it draws the line between freedom and tyranny…”
One of the most irritating things I've heard over the past year is that Iraqis are too barbaric to appreciate the beauty of democracy. It's a very ironic notion considering the lack of respect shown to the will of the people here in America during the last two elections. Perhaps it was all just projecting.
To honor Tookie Williams' final request to be cremated and to have his final resting place be in South Africa; Winnie Mandela has offered to bring him over, shove a gasoline-filled tire around his chest and arms, and set him on fire.
Saying that plans for the funeral were proceeding apace, Mrs. Mandela stated "We have our boxes of matches, we have our bottles of gasoline, we have our necklace. Now we're just waiting for Tookie."
(Via FR.)
Duane with the Hourglass in L.A.
Just some boys trying to be what they weren't, in a place they didn't belong.
Wail on, Skydog!
She jabs that purple finger at some people who need it.
(Via Michelle Malkin.)
Credibility's getting harder to come by at Wikipedia. The Last Days section in the entry for Winston Churchill is a bit off the mark:
Final note: he was a fascist bastard, different from Hitler in degree but not in essence. If he had not had the luck to be in direct confrontation with Hitler, nobody today would have a good word to say about him.
Despite his fascist bastardness, Churchill remains one of the most admired men in history, and received a statesman's funeral worthy of Tookie Williams himself.
UPDATE
The offending material was removed today. The important lesson to be learned here is to not expect the Churchill Society to write you back with any sort of alacrity.
This kid cannot catch a break.
The hearse carrying the body of fallen soldier Jimmy Shelton was hit head on at the intersection of Penzance and Six Mile Cypress around 9 a.m.
Shelton, 21, was serving in Iraq when he was killed in an early morning attack on his camp on December 3rd.
Friends and family were in route to his funeral, which was to be held at 10 a.m., when the accident occured.
Another hearse was brought in to take Shelton’s body to the funeral
Reports say that two people in the hearse and two passengers in the other vehicle were transported to Lee Memorial Hospital.
UPDATE
Here's what happened:
The funeral processional led by deputies caused traffic in the opposite direction to slow, but a driver of a white Toyota Tundra pickup — in an attempt to miss slowing traffic ahead — swerved out and hit the hearse in a head-on collision, troopers said.
UPDATE II
This is a relief:
The Florida Highway Patrol says drivers were pulling to the side out of respect for the funeral procession.
"Unfortunately, the third vehicle in line was unable to slow in time, causing a chain reaction. That vehicle eventually went head on into the hearse," said FHP Sgt. Kelly Petracca.
You can send condolence cards to:
Burgess and Billi-Jo Shelton
6811 County Road 78 W
Alva, FL
33920
His wake was held last night, and his father's words would go right over Cindy Sheehan's head:
"He wouldn't want me to get on the news and bad mouth our president or bad mouth the reason we are fighting over there. He wouldn't want that. He would want just for us to remember the Rakkasans. Remember the 101st."
Jimmy Lee will be buried Friday in Arlington.
Since it was his wish to join the Florida Highway Patrol, the FHP are trying to award him the title of honorary trooper posthumously.
Jimmy with his mom, aunt, and cousin.
The PDF of Governor Schwarzenegger's denial of clemency to Tookie Williams makes for interesting reading.
Some prisoners on Death Row seek clemency. People in hell want ice water; doesn't mean they're going to get it. I guess Tookie will next be petitioning Satan for a cool, refreshing beverage.
More tasty Tookie blogging, now with 1/3 more chips, can be found at Coalition of the Swilling, Ace of Spades, and Michelle Malkin.
Did you know that every puppy in the Transportation Safety Administration's explosives detection program is named for a victim of 9-11? The dogs are born at Lackland Air Force Base, then fostered for their first 14 months by local families.
This is Zucker, who is being fostered by the Dunkle family of Austin:
She's named for Andrew Steven Zucker, a lawyer killed in the second tower while helping clerks evacuate from the mailroom. The Dunkles call her 'Zookie.' Andrew's family is pleased about his namesake:
"That was a nickname my brother went under. It really touched home," said Stuart Zucker, Andrew's brother.
Andrew Zucker's relatives didn't know about the government's program to train explosive detection dogs or to name them after Sept. 11 victims.
After getting Zookie, Brian Dunkle posted a message about the dog on a Web-based memorial site for Andrew Zucker. Stuart Zucker, a financial analyst in New York, saw the message and e-mailed the Dunkles.
"It was a total shock. A good shock," Stuart Zucker said. "To think my brother would be memorialized by a rescue dog is just unbelievable, because he was a rescuer and a hero himself."
Members of the Zucker family use photos of Zookie as screen savers on their computers.
"I'd like to meet that dog someday," Stuart Zucker said.
The Explosives Detection Canine Team Program, of which these dogs are members, came into being by order of President Nixon on March 9, 1972 -- the day that K9 Brandy found a bomb inside a bathroom wall on a TWA flight 12 minutes before it was set to explode.
The abstract is out from a study in Norway comparing the mental distress of women in two types of pregnancy termination events- miscarriage versus abortion- over a five-year period. I don't think the results of the study will go over well with this organization.
BTW, have you bought your "Choice On Earth" holiday e-card?
I am pro-choice, but I think the continual denial that it's a baby and that the woman will probably experience negative emotional repercussions from abortion is just ludicrous.
It's just another crappy choice in life that people can feel free to make.
I'm wondering how these riots in Australia will shake down, and don't want to chip in anything uninformed. There's plenty to be read by Australian bloggers Tim Blair, J.F. Beck, and the Currency Lad.
According to district-wide survey in Hillsborough County, Florida, nearly 12% of high schools girls were physically forced to have sex. That's horrible.
Interestingly enough, so were more than 9% of the boys:
At school, the Citrus Park mother said, "They know to stay out of certain hallways because of the girls."
Boys having to run a gauntlet of sex-crazed females -- I thought that only happened to rock stars.
Showing the spirit of generosity, Def Leppard's agreed to donate a pallet of special passes to the Tampa school system.
When it comes to this...
Israel's armed forces have been ordered by Ariel Sharon, the prime minister, to be ready by the end of March for possible strikes on secret uranium enrichment sites in Iran, military sources have revealed.
I don't believe for a moment that Israel will wait until March for a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency if the threat is going forward. They have their own intelligence. They're giving a final warning, and if Iran persists with this folly, they will back up their words with action very quickly. Of course, if Ahmadinejad stops his nonsense, all will be well. His choice. Hopefully, he'll make the right one. This is some very high-stakes poker.
Good luck to Israel. And to us.
Al-Jazeera's take on the situation, and its comments section, are very interesting.
UPDATE
Israel's strategic doctrine is here, and Global Security lays out the possibilities of an airstrike here.
And here's some cheek:
``America can take part in international bidding for the construction of Iran's nuclear power plant if they observe the basic standards and quality,'' Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said at a news conference.
UPDATE II
A denial in the Jerusalem Post:
In response to the Sunday Times article, Maj.Gen. (Res.) Amos Gilad, head of the Defense Ministry's foreign policy department, said in an interview to Israel Radio that while a military operation against Iran's nuclear facilities could not be ruled out, Israel was a partner in international diplomatic efforts to address the threat from Teheran.
Gilad denied the Times allegations that Israel planned to attack Iran in March 2006.
So it's denied, but not ruled out. Some saber-rattling won't hurt when the guy on the other side of the "diplomatic efforts" doesn't seem terribly interested in them.
(Times-Online via FR.)
APPREHENDED
A murderous illegal immigrant stag that had been stalking a rural N. Ft. Myers neighborhood has been apprehended.
The killer of gentle Rowdy, the miniature horse, was arrested by authorities Thursday night during a stakeout at the house of the fugitive stag's suspected aiders-and-abettors.
According to this top story in The News-Press:
KILLER TAUNTED VICTIM'S FAMILY[Catherine] Searle said the nightmare of watching the animal that slaughtered Rowdy, her pet horse, strut past her yard for the past few weeks could have been avoided.
HOMICIDAL HOMOSEXUAL?The tangled tale began early Saturday, Nov. 19, when the deer jumped Searle's fence and ultimately killed the 4-year-old horse. The deer was in rut, [investigator for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission Leonard] Barshinger said, and the animal could have been trying to mate with the horse.
KINDNESS WASTED ON "WILD," "ANIMAL" KILLERWhile people may have good intentions for feeding wild animals, [FWC spokesman Gary] Morse said the outcome is often negative. In Rowdy's case, it was fatal.
"The unfortunate thing is that animals don't understand kindness," he said. "The only thing they understand is eat, sleep and reproduce. As a result, it ends up becoming a nuisance."
In a midnight sentencing and deportation hearing, the European red stag was sent to an undisclosed facility in Charlotte County where it will serve out the rest of its natural life.
***
Previous postings:
Home Again
Rowdy's Last Stand
You know, when you need to do a line; you need to do a line. That's all there is to it. Your students ratting you out to the principal just makes life that much more difficult.
In the past year teachers in Florida have been busted for having sex with the kids, buying crack on the way to school, and snorting coke in the classroom. It's going to be tough to top these, but I'm sure some over-achiever will find a way.
I predict that next year a teacher in a classroom in Florida will chainsaw a monkey in half in arts and crafts and/or have a porn collection show-and-tell.
Those sorts of things do have a tendency to happen here.
*Why did the prosecution of Sami Al-Arian fail? Apparently, it was all too complicated for jurors to follow. Next time the jury gets Cliff Notes.
*"There's Someone For Everybody":
In this Hallmark Classic, a grossly psychotic man pursues the object of his affection. Something heartwarming for the Holidays.
*Dorothy Parker reviews a blog:
"Blinking ads spackled together with poop."
The gal had a way with words.
Enjoy your weekend, everyone.
This North Carolina guitarist, composer, and bandleader got a call from a friend at a radio station: "I'm sitting here listening to your song, but it ain't got your name on it." This version of an almost identical instrumental he had written and recorded decades before under an almost identical name went on to reach #2 on the pop charts, sell millions of copies, and take a BMI Song of the Year award.
He filed suit for copyright infringement -- the record company offered him $20,000 to settle. He declined their offer and won the suit, earning himself an estimated $200,000 and his name on the song.
**
Trambo got it. It's Arthur Smith.
What Smith's friend at the radio station actually said was, "I'm listening to 'Feuding Banjos,' but they don't call it that, and it ain't got your name on it."
His song is better known to us as "Dueling Banjos," from the movie Deliverance.
From the $20,000 offer that they made him for infringing the copyright of his 1955 recording, I can only guess the suits at Warner Brothers thought they were dealing with a dumb hick. Unfortunately for them, Smith was a very good businessman and didn't have a dumb bone in his body. He demanded 50% of what the song had earned them so far, a high royalty rate thereafter, and the credit for what was BMI's Country Song of the Year for 1973. And he got it.
Smith's 1948 hit "Guitar Boogie" is often cited as being the first Rock and Roll recording.
Arthur Smith with his son Reggie, 1958.
***
Previous postings:
Homefires VIII
Homefires VII
Homefires VI
Homefires V
Homefires IV
Homefires III
Homefires II
Homefires
The director has stumbled with the latest film in the BarneyCam franchise, "A Very Beazley Christmas." The preceeding films had deftly combined compelling drama, well-timed humor, and a glittering set. This Christmas turkey, however, suffers from a poorly-written and exceedingly bleak script. It is additionally hindered by the miscasting of a wooden Andy Card in a key role.
The premise of the movie is the resentment felt by First Dog Barney that newcomer Miss Beazley is getting all the attention and all the Christmas presents. While in the end Miss Beazley is deservedly dressed down by President Bush for being a media hound, the question of the Christmas presents is left unanswered. Why has Miss Beazley received all the presents and Barney none? Mrs. Bush considers the matter resolved when Barney and Beazley exchange a single present each and makes no reference to Barney's legitimate gripe of having no presents from humans while Beazley has a ton.
After being a good boy and taking the high road by giving his troublesome sister a gift, I had expected Barney to find a pile of presents all his own; or, at the very least, one each from President and Mrs. Bush. In this dark offering, however, virtue is expected to be its own Christmas present -- a tough message for a little dog at Christmas.
There's a vintage MINT, MINT, MINT Fender Strat for sale.
Did I say VINTAGE?? Did I say MINT? Just want to be sure.
When I was a kid, I was friends with a fellow who hung out at my brother-in-law's house. He stopped hanging out there once he started hanging out at prison.
He was on a flight from Detroit, got belligerent with a stewardess, grabbed her arm, and then uttered the magic word "bomb." The plane made an emergency landing and the Air Marshalls were waiting for him on the tarmac.
It's tough for the wife of the man who got killed today in Miami. She chose to allow to get on an aircraft, and to accompany, an unmedicated batshit-crazy man who yelled "bomb" and ran from the Marshalls. Don't blame them for trying to protect the public from the product of his insanity and her stupidity.
UPDATE
See the words "allow to get on an aircraft? The ones right next to the verb? The verb whose noun is the topic of the post? You do? Good.
UPDATE II
Oh, look. Somebody else thinks she bears some responsibility:
``She said it was her fault... that he was bipolar,'' Mike Beshears, a Flight 924 passenger who works for a vacation club in Orlando, said. ``He was sick and she had convinced him to get on the plane."
They sure didn't ask this former USF student what she thought about the dismal outcome of the Sami Al-Arian trial. But then, I'm not very amenable to the carefully nuanced, warm-n-fuzzy, terrorist-friendly PC doctrine of pluralism and multiculturalism that the MSM is so fond of peddling...which is probably why.
But I have a question of my own: what part of "Death to Jews!", "Death to Israel!", and "Let Us Damn America!"--and what those statements have to do with our security and the entire WoT--don't these dumbasses people understand?
Soap. The product of the saponification process has molecules that cling to sebaceous oil and help lift it away, as well as emulsifiers that dissolve both oil and dirt. It is the reason I am not a filthy pig.
The hot water washes it all down the drain, so that's good too.
CrackerMama isn't the only one allowed to be grateful around here.
Know what I give thanks for every single day? I mean, besides my family, my friends, my health, my wonderful furkids, my house, my car, the privilege of being an American, our men and women fighting for the world's freedom over in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the fact that Dubya and not John "Marry 'Em For Their Money" Kerry was elected President last year?
Hot running water.
Lordy, how good that steamy shower felt on this subzero...er...cold...no...hmm...downright chilly? Well, hell, okay...the steamy shower felt good on this sorta-kinda coolish Florida morning.
Whatever.
'Tis indeed a gift from God.
This uber-Grinch homeowner in Miami Beach has earned a whole slagheap of coal for binding, blindfolding and hanging the Jolly Old Elf:
I've heard it's also pretty bad what reindeer antlers can do to a colon. The naughty homeowner should have a good HMO. Donner and Blitzen have both been known to have psychotic breaks during the stressful Christmas season -- it won't take much to push them over the edge.
Fabulous, amazing stories here, from men who were having a very rough time of it 64 years ago today:
With my feet, I found a porthole below the water. I was able to duck down in the water and turn the knobs on the port by hand. It was an eleven-inch porthole. The first two men got out quickly. The steward was hesitant and I pushed his head through and he pulled himself out. The ship's carpenter, Mr. Austin, a large man weighing over 200 pounds, knew he'd never make it through the porthole. He reached down and held the porthole open for me. I tried to take a deep breath, but the oxygen supply was about gone. As I went out, I scraped my hips squeezing through. I think that is where I lost my pajamas. Mr. Austin couldn't get out. His was the most noble and heroic act a man could perform, knowing full well that his minutes were few.
Here's Duane wearing the shirt that always gaps open.
There's something going on over to the left but I can't quite make it out.
Any ideas?
Wail on, Skydog!
Despite the rumors, CrackerMama is not one the Tampa 14. Admittedly, she did pose for some photos when she was young and needed the work, but haven't we all?
This place needed charm and class, so I'm outsourcing some in.
Thanks for doing me the favor, Miss Cracker.
Hey y'all! CrackerMama here. Just another Southern woman on the 'Net, guest posting from the Big Guava over here on the West Central Gulf Coast of Florida. I aim to take some of the load off the inimitable FloridaCracker while she's relaxing old Florida-style, or playing with Miss Shiloh and Miss Lilly...or whatever the heck she's up to on any given day. I know from personal experience that the break she's taking from her profession is very well-deserved, and I wish her a salubrious hiatus. From work if not from blogging. And thanks for lettin' me play in the Cracker sandbox a little bit, Donnah!
What's that squicking sound?
I don't have any enemies to vanquish, and will thus be denied the pleasure of post-conquest tombstone urination.
And the jury deadlocked on the remaining nine charges. Prosecutors will now decide whether they will retry him on the deadlocked counts.
After 70 state witnesses testified against him, and his own lawyer called zero witnesses in his defense, Sami Al-Arian has beat the rap.
It's like he's won the lottery. Good thing there's no actual pay-out, because he'd just piss it all away blowing up Jews.
If this was a test of our ability to prosecute terrorists and their supporters, we have failed miserably.
***
Previous posting:
Sami Al-Arian Trial
The Man Without A Country
A Sensitive Poet
More on today's acquittal over at Michelle's.
A Lee County boy, U.S. Army Corporal Jimmy Lee Shelton of Alva, was killed Saturday in Iraq when mortars hit his camp. Although there were many soldiers injured, his was the only death.
In early September, before Shelton left for Iraq, his mother traveled to Fort Campbell, Ky., to celebrate Christmas and Thanksgiving.
While there, she joked with her son about the possibility of paying money to get him out of having to go to Iraq, but said her son wanted to go and help the people living there.
"He didn't want a way out of it," said Billi Jo Shelton, 38. "No one forced him to do this. He knew he might not come back, but he was proud to die for his country."
He was with the 101st Airborne Rakkasans, and had planned to be a Florida Highway Patrol officer.
My condolences to his family and my thanks to him for his service.
I'm going to send something nice to his mama. If any other Floridians want in, let me know.
Think the News-Press photographer took a picture of a beet-red family in the pitch black? Nah, he's just adding 'atmosphere'.
UPDATE
JIMMY LEE SHELTON 2005-12-11
Army Corporal Jimmy Lee Shelton, age 21, of Alva, was killed Dec. 3, 2005 in Bayji, Iraq. He was born Apr. 15, 1984 in Belle Glade. He was a member of B-Troop, 1st Squadron, 33rd Calvary, Iron Rakkasans, 101st Airborne, from Ft. Campbell, Kentucky. Jimmy was a recipient of the Army Commendation Award and the Purple Heart for his service in Iraq.
He was a member of Gunnery Road Baptist Church in Buckingham.
Survivors include his father and mother: Burgess and Billi-Jo Shelton of Alva, Donna Manger, mother and her husband Doug of Belle Glade, brothers: Burgess A. Shelton Jr. of Savannah, GA and Douglas Shelton of Clewiston and a sister: Jennifer Reese of Belle Glade. maternal grandparents: Arce and Zora Salvador of Athens, TN and maternal grandparents, William and Bonnie Mahlbacher of Fort Myers. He is also survived by numerous aunts, uncles and cousins. He was preceded in death by his paternal grandfather, Nathan Shelton.
Funeral services will be held Tuesday, December 13, 2005, 10:00 a.m. at Riverside Church in Fort Myers with Pastor Terry Vance and Pastor Dick Riley officiating. Military Honors and interment will be Friday, Dec. 16, 2005 at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA.
Visitation will be Sunday, Dec. 11, 2005 from 5-9 p.m. at Akin-Davis Funeral Home, Fort Myers, FL.
***
Condolence cards can be sent to:
Burgess and Billi-Jo Shelton
6811 County Road 78 W
Alva, FL
33920
From the capital of his workers' paradise, Fidel Castro has reached out to Florida Governor Jeb Bush to speak the truth in love:
Castro called the governor ''the fat little brother in Florida'' and wondered if Bush had helped Luis Posada Carriles into the country, according to a transcript released Monday of the Nov. 17 address to University of Havana students, who erupted in laughter.
The Cuban leader didn't stop there.
'Forgive me for using the term `fat little brother' '' Castro said. ``It is not a criticism, rather a suggestion that he do some exercises and go on a diet, don't you think? I'm doing this for the gentleman's health.''
The unflappable governor replied to reporters' questions about the incident with a question of his own: "Slow news day?"
Why yes, Jeb, it is.
UPDATE
Jeb's official response:
"I'm flattered and honored,'' Bush said with a smile, but then turned serious.
"I will take any criticism from Fidel Castro, of all people, as an honor given the fact that, you know, 8 million people, I believe, live on the island, 8 million people are repressed and they've been that way for 40 or 50 years.
"To be criticized by a man like that who has repressed people for such an extended period of time is a high honor,'' Bush added. ``He can call me whatever he wants.''
It's one for the memoirs.
Why does Trace Adkins sing about a girl in a honky tonk who's got it 'goin' on like Donkey Kong'? That doesn't even make sense. Or it does, but in a way that makes my head hurt.
Oh, he's not saying 'Donkey Kong'? You sure? Well, shut my mouth, slap my grandma, etc.
The Cotillion appears to be well-represented over at the Weblog Awards.
For some reason it's missing a Southern blog category. This is a grievous oversight by Aylward for which I will feel resentment for years to come. That's just how it is.
I'm therefore compelled to look at the evidence right in front of my face, and use this spot to nominate myself right now for best Southern blog.
I could hold a contest for it, but that would be pointless, wouldn't it?
Wouldn't it?
UPDATE
Oh, look, I did get nominated for something. My eyes must have gone right over it...
This should be interesting. Look at that one nominee: everytime you see her score go up, it means she's downtown at a Wi-Fi giving out oral favors. Hussy.
Well, I fold. I'm up against the guy who has all the thoughts.
There's a mouse in the garage that hisses and chitters at me when I go in there. It almost sounds like a language. An angry language filled with expletives.
Perhaps I'll record it and use my linguistics training to try to make some sense of it.
It also tried to throw things at me.
At first it reminded me of Naina Yeltsin, after Boris had come dragging himself home after yet another bender. Yet I know it can't be her.
UPDATE
Could it be the sound the wife of a Mexican migrant makes when her husband fails to remember it was the family-sized pack of turkey necks she had wanted from Winn-Dixie, and not the regular-sized? It's unclear, yet the pattern's so very familiar.
UPDATE II
No, Tony, it wasn't the sound of a drunken Jim Morrison calling me a pig and pulling down his leather pants to expose himself to whomever might be looking. The sounds had too much energy for that.
It's the Turks' fault.
No, it's the Germans'.
In any case, Turkey says thanks for the lebensraum.
First boots:
Now camera hats:
Fashion meets functionality at the Northumbria Police Department.
But in dog-eat-dog world of elite super-K9 law enforcement/modeling, the handicapped and/or dull-coated need not apply.
Women's History month is fast approaching, so I'd like to put in a nomination for Officer Mary Hagopian, pioneer in the art of two-fisted tasing!
Background to Achievement:
On the morning of April 1, police noticed two men fighting in the back seat of a car on Federal Highway and pulled over the driver, officials said. [Officer Talous] Cirilo arrested Michael Brack, 23, for domestic violence for the alleged fight with his brother. Brack struggled with officers at the scene, and at some point Cirilo shoved a Taser against Brack's body three times and activated the electricity, police said.
After Brack was arrested and placed in a holding cell, Cirilo choked the handcuffed man, Good said. That incident was recorded by video camera. After being fingerprinted, Brack was led out of sight of the camera, then choked unconscious by Cirilo, Good said.
When Brack woke up, he kicked his cell, prompting Cirilo and [Officer Mary] Hagopian to shock him with a Taser more than 10 times in four minutes, 22 seconds, officials said. Two Community Service Aides saw the incidents, they said.
Defining Moment:
Hagopian, who as an acting sergeant was a supervisor at the time, used her body to shield the service aides from entering the room as Cirilo choked Brack, according to a police statement. One of the aides said he saw Hagopian with a Taser in each hand, shocking Brack multiple times.
While her dull partner appeared to mainly rely on brute strength to subdue the boisterous Brack, Hagopian rose to the occasion with the heretofore unheard of two-fisted tase.
Although the situation ultimately resolved itself with the charges being dropped against the recordless Brack, "dry-tasing" being banned in Hallandale, and both officers being fired; still it behooves us all to note and celebrate all the female firsts as they triumphantly cross the finish line into history.
Today was my last day at work.
I'm looking forward to having a peaceful Christmas, followed by the big push early next year to get the family settled in Northern Florida.
I asked my co-worker if her cellphone had a camera. Unfortunately it did not, or you would be seeing what I saw at 10 minutes of 5:00 today; which was five inches of a fat man's buttcrack four feet away from me as he played on a computer.
Your loss.
How awesome that Rolling Thunder's going to escort this Cape Coral soldier home from the airport when she comes in on leave. Thankfully, this year's homecoming won't be marred by bureaucratic foolishness like last year's was. Laws have been passed to allow for the proper reception of returning soldiers.
I wish every service person got a welcome like PFC Amanda Smith is going to get, but they never have. When Lt. Karl Timmerman came home after leading the first Allied troops across the Rhine at Remagen, Germany, all that was at train station in West Point, Nebraska when he stepped off the platform was a yellow dog that barked at him.
Timmerman left his hometown and never looked back again.
There will always be towns that aren't worthy of heroes. I'm glad Cape Coral chose not to be one of them.
Salvation Army bell ringer Alice Feltwell, 92, who has been faithfully spending her Christmases helping others since she was 12 years old, once spend $1,700 to have favorite Salvationist bonnet flown to Florida.
Alice, who gives an annual month-long charity gig in front of the Publix on College Parkway in Ft. Myers, had forgotten the bonnet in England and felt she couldn't perform without it.
"I admit I'm a prima donna, but at 92 years old, and in the poor state of health I'm in, for me to still be standing here ringing this bell... well, it's like what I said when they told me I'd have to combine years-of-service pins because there wasn't a single pin that could represent the number of years I've been out here busting my hump for the poor: I think it's really, really f*cking brilliant," said Feltwell.
Responding to japes about the silliness and hypocrisy of spending so much money to fly a bonnet on a plane while exhorting others to give their own money to the poor, Feltwell good-naturedly responded "I raise tons of money for the needy, and at that moment I was needy myself. I needed that bonnet."
"So kiss my decrepit a**," Feltwell added, eyes twinkling merrily behind wrap-around shades.
These are some rockin' links:
*Want to see something really scary?
*Big time blogging. With Cheese has thoughts -- can you make them out?
*Sexsomnia: be grateful your roommate only snores.
*Paul wants the UN to raise awareness of a neglected demographic.
Things are hopping at the North Fort Myers Democratic Club, with the president of the club calling the wife of a Democratic Executive Committee state committeeman "white trash," her giving him a Zsa Zsa across the chops, John Law being summoned and charges pressed, and a formal complaint against Zsa Zsa's husband being filed with the Florida Democratic Party:
Tempers started to rise at the meeting after [Club President Clyde] Bowles and three other board members announced their resignation at what Bowles said was supposed to be a closed session.
"It has escalated to the point where I can no longer tolerate the kind of behavior that some of the members have shown, and I have concern for my safety," Bowles said of his reasons for his resignation.
The club started in March.
If you want to know what any of the principals in this drama look like, have a look at the photographs of John Kerry's campaign visit to Lee -- they're sure to be in there, and easily spotted among the smattering of folk.
Be hard to spot someone in here, though.
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