Happy Birthday America!

Still young at 231. Let's try living up to our promise. We have a long way to go to get our self-respect back, but we can do it.

Romulus and Remus?

No! And that ain't a she-wolf nursing those two either. It is twins though. Twins from Poland. One is President the other one Prime Minister. And the woman? That's Angela Merkel the German Chancellor. Poland and Germany, never the best of friends, had a little tiff recently, and the Poles got their way. At least for a little while.

Now, that's some political satire!

Dragonfly in My Backyard

I took this photo yesterday afternoon in my backyard.

CCCP

Russians explored Alaska before other white men did, and therefore, tourist shops up there carry a lot of Russophile merchandise. The Goddess bought me a T-shirt with the old Soviet symbol on it with the letters CCCP like we used to see on all their hockey players jerseys. Of course, those letters come from the Cyrillic alphabet and not the Roman. If you transliterate them, you'd have SSSR. The Enlish translation comes out to USSR. But, the nostalgia makes the point, not the letters.

Looking for Church Services Near You?

Well, I found them near me. In traffic that is. Yeah, Church Services. But take a close look at that little yellow part on the left. Church Pest Control, yeah, I'll bet that one is popular with the pastors. They'd love to get rid of those troublesome pests at church. And I ain't talkin' 'bout mice!

Long Held Grudge

In June of 1996 the Texas Employment Commission transformed into the Texas Workforce Commission. That happened upder the governorship of George W. Bush. Eleven years have passed since then, but resentments and grudges still hold fast. TWC recently remodeled all the doors and hallways in the building. I took the photo you see today. If you slide the nameplate to the left a little, you'll see a little sticker behind it. Let's have a little closer look. Click on the photo below. Well, how about that? Now, this grudge has to have remained alive, because we just got new doors and nameplates for them. Oh yeah.

Mendenhall Glacier

On the same trip that we saw the whales and eagles, we went to the Mendenhall Glacier. It's really something to see. The weather was pretty miserable, cold and rainy in the 40s. We got to the glacier about 7:00 pm. Of course, up at 58 degrees north it stays light until about 10:00 pm. Anyway, it's in a park which has a rain forest too. Rain forest in Alaska? Yeah, it's true. Anyway, Mendenhall was great, even if the weather was lousy.

Alaska Fauna

We went whale watching in Juneau. Went out on a boat that guarantees you will see a whale or they give you $100 of your fee back. They claim to never have had to pay the $100 in 11 years of business. Well, we weren't the first ones to get the bucks either. I'd say we saw five or six whales. Some law somewhere says that boats can't follow one of these animals for more than 30 minutes. So, what happens is that one boat tracks it for 30 minutes than another boat picks up just after that. Oh well. The law is supposed to keep from stressing the animals, but it probably just makes it last longer.

Not only did we see whales on the outing, but we saw sea lions and eagles. In fact, I bet we saw 6 or 7 eagles in the bus on the way to the whale watching place. They're just all over the place.

Alaska

We all had a wonderful time on the Alaska cruise. I truly enjoyed it, and I recommend it too. We went on Princess Cruise Lines, and I had a favorable impression. The best part for me came when we cruised in the Tracy Arm fjord on Wednesday.

Invisible Underwear

It comes a little late for Britney and Lindsay, but not too late for you! They call it "invisible underwear," because you can't see it. Why can't you see it? Well, it doesn't exist. They call it a C-string, meaning it sort of cups from the pubic bone to the top of the butt crack. Just a thin elastic piece formed like the letter "C." Will it become the hottest thing this summer? Mmmm...I hope not. I can just imagine someone wearing it who shouldn't, but doesn't know any better.

North to Alaska

Vacation! Going to Alaska on a cruise ship. We leave Saturday for Seattle. From there we leave on a cruise ship for Alaska on Sunday. One week at sea traveling the Inside Passage. We will stop at Ketchikan, the wettest place in North America, Juneau which has more territory than Rhode Island, Connecticut, or Delaware, and Skagway the gateway to the Klondike. Totem poles, whales, glaciers, fjords, and who knows what else. It promises to have lots of relax time. Well, at least, I hope so.

Great Sincere Real Faithful People Vigorously March to Bring Glorious Highest Songun Politics to Universe

Yep, it's the Democratic People's Republic of Korea songun blog. Well, it's either the real thing or some mighty good satire. Notice how it's on the free version of Blogger just like mine, not Blogger Pro which you have to pay for. Must be the real thing, 'cause they couldn't afford to pay for a website. Just browse thru a little of it - you'll love it if you read it as satire.

Don't believe it's satire? Hey, this is the Postmodern world, it's the reader that gives the narrative its meaning, not the author!

I Have to Say I Agree

Fidel Castro criticized the British government in an essay published today. He said the money Great Britain spent on three nuclear submarines could have paid for 75, 000 doctors and 3000 advanced clinics. The British Navy reports that is spent 5.3 billion euros on the three submarines. Castro said that doctors have more importance than nuclear submarines.

What's Good for the Goose...

I don't think the world has waited on pins and needles for this, but it has happened anyway. We already have the Wonderbra, now we have the Wonderjock. Yep, a push-up bathing suit for men. No, I haven't made it up, it has actually happened. Of the millions of things that humanity truly needs, we get this! Ain't it always that way?

Imagine That!

A "politician" in Belgium has promised to give oral sex to anyone who votes for her. Finally, a political platform that has some public support! Her name is Tania Dervaux and she's a candidate for the Senate from the Nee party in Antwerp. Of course, like any politician the compaign promise comes with some qualifications. If you are a married voter or you are just timid, you have to get your "pay-off" in Second Life. Well, that's a lot less than promised!

Mugger Geese Take Man's Cell Phone

Yes, a poor young student of jurisprudence fell prey to a gang of geese. Just walking along minding his own business, and sudddenly the geese attacked! They kept pecking at his cell phone until he had to let it go. Then, one of the perpetrators grabbed the phone and fled with it. He has called his phone several times since the incident, but he gets no answer. The geese probably have the caller ID turned on, and know not to answer.

A Breakthrough? Electronic Cigarettes

I suppose someone had to do it. But, why? A Chinese company, Ruyan, has invented an electronic cigarette. It's a little cartridge with nicotine in it that you suck on like a cigarette. You don't inhale smoke, just air and nicotine. When you exhale, it's comes out as smoke that the company claims is harmless (yeah, right!). You can buy these if you live in China, Israel, Turkey, Australia and some European countries. The company says they will target the United States next.

Workers' Compensation

People injured on the job have the recourse of applying for workers' compensation. Here in the US we have lots of negative ideas about just what deserves compensation. Many people believe that anyone receiving workers' compensation just doesn't want to work and prefers to malinger.

I don't know how the folks in Belgium feel, but I know that a professional beer taster has won his court case against his employer, Inbev. The poor fellow became an alcoholic while doing his work. The company tried to get out of paying, but a court in Belgium ruled that the company must pay the former employee €35,000. That come out to probably $50,000 or so.

So, we have the case of a man who really, really enjoyed his work so much that... he did it too well. Now, surely Americans could sympathize with that.

Say It Ain't So, Sascha

Oh no, it turns out that Sascha Baron Cohen will not play Freddie Mercury in a movie about Queen. All the various managers and producers of various things say, "drivel." A few days ago I reported that Borat would play Freddie Mercury, because I saw a story saying that in Aftonbladet. Well, whoever thought it up had a good idea, I think. Who knows maybe they'll do it after all. Please, Borat, please!

I'll Say!

Cypriot troops have banned the use of the sex toy made in Britian named the Love Bug 2. They say that it puts out "waves" that interfere with their radio communications. What the hell do they use for radio? Not very secure if you ask me. Or, could the sexual energy produce radio waves?