You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out

A Christmas Story in 30 seconds with bunnies.

The Gift of the Magi

NewMexiKen usually posts The Gift of the Magi just before Christmas and I will again this year, too. But, just follow the link if you find your spirit lagging.

Delaware

“The First State,” ratified the Constitution on this date in 1787. Named for Thomas West, Lord De La Warre, colonial governor of Virginia, the modern state has just its original three counties. The state bird is the blue hen chicken and the state insect is the ladybug.

Photo is of the Delaware capitol, Legislative Hall, dedicated in 1933.

[NewMexiKen photo, 2002. Click to enlarge.]

The One-armed Commission

The Daily Howler has this startling, but not surprising, observation from Senator Feingold:

The fact is this [Baker-Hamilton] commission was composed apparently entirely of people who did not have the judgment to oppose this Iraq war in the first place, and did not have the judgment to realize it was not a wise move in the fight against terrorism. So that’s who is doing this report.

Then I looked at the list of who testified before them. There is virtually no one who opposed the war in the first place. Virtually no one who has been really calling for a different strategy that goes for a global approach to the war on terrorism. So this is really a Washington inside job and it shows, not in the description of what’s happened—that’s fairly accurate—but it shows in the recommendations. [Emphasis Daily Howler]

One-armed, because there was no one there to say, “On the other hand.”

The Trouble with Magazines

Is that they can really pile up on you in a hurry.

Anyway, a couple of quick items from Rolling Stone Issue 1015 (the one with Snoop in the Santa hat).

Suze Rotolo, Bob Dylan’s first New York girlfriend (the woman with him on the cover of The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan) is selling some of her memorabilia. Included is a valentine card (1963): “Love, Love, Money, Booze, I’d swap ‘m all to be with youse, love love me Bob.” It’s a good thing he didn’t choose to write romantic ballads.

Oh, and there’s a good best line of the day in RS, too. “[T]hey’re pretty people who wear white coats so they can drip tears on them, and carry stethoscopes only so they can listen to their own heartbeats in sad, private moments.”

The reference is, of course, to “Grey’s Anatomy.”

Another View

You’ll have to click the image to enlarge it enough to read, but it’s an interesting statement about diversity in some parts of America. On December 7th, a day famous for its infamy, The Oakland Tribune draws attention to a book that recalls World War II Japanese internment. Plenty of infamy to go around. Thanks to Ken for the link.

December 7th is the birthday

… of Eli Wallach. Tuco is 91. “Hey Blondie, do you know what you are? You’re a stinking son of a….” [Theme starts.]

… of Ellen Burstyn. Alice is 74. Ms. Burstyn has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress five times, winning for Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore in 1975. She was also nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for The Last Picture Show.

… of Johnny Bench. The Hall of Fame catcher is 59.

… of Larry Bird. The Basketball Hall of Famer is 50.

… of T.O., Terrell Owens. He’s 33, but no more mature than he was at 9.

This Is Not a Drill

Navy cable from 65 years ago this morning.

Click image to enlarge.