Who are they?…… They claim they want to be anonymous, but they are giving interviews left and right…… It’s the twelve jurors in the “Beat It” boy trail……. It’s the only thing I can come up with that would explain the verdict…….

I told more than one person before the trail that Mr. Weirdo Elephant Man owner would walk away scott-free, and he did…… Do I think he’s guilty: YES….. By his own admission he had slept with young boys…… Do I think more than one person was paid off, cohersed, and/or intimidated: YES…… Do I think that Mr. Plastic face who wants to be a white boy with a pointed nose is a real sleaze-ball: YES…… Do I think Mr. Sickie should lose the copyrights to “The Beatles” catalog: YES…….

Our justice system has gone down the tubes, and this just re-enforces that money, power, and/or fame WILL buy you anything…… I feel sorry for the younger generation because this country is in big trouble and is breaking down in more than one area…… I’m getting old enough that maybe, just maybe, I’ll be long gone before it gets totally out-of-hand…..

My advise to you youngsters is to get very involved in the politics of this nation very soon……

First, sorry ’bout these little short posts, but I’m stuck in Nashville right now being a care giver for a friend that is going through a bone marrow transplant……. I was hoping some of you out there would take up the slack……. Please post anything (well, maybe not anything)……

While visiting Japan in 2002, President George W. Bush said in a speech, “For a century and a half now, America and Japan have formed one of the great and enduring alliances of modern times.” Kind of missed that whole World War II incident, didn’t he?…….

Most Rock ‘n’ Roll musicians and fans probably already know this, but here it is anyway…….

Doug Ingle of the band Iron Butterfly was tring to write a song called “In the Garden of Eden.”……. But according to the band’s drummer, Ron Bushy, Doug drank too much red wine…… When he tried to sing the song for the other guys, it came out “In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida.” The rest is Rock ‘n’ Roll history………..

I read a local radio personality’s blog (somewhat infrequently). She works at KEXP, a great local noncommercial station that is also the most successfully internet radio station.

Today she had a fascinating post from one of her readers about “Why does commercial radio suck?” , which details how unreliable (and probably unrepresentative) the ratings system is.

When cars first came to Tennessee, the city of Memphis passed a statute that a woman could drive only if a man walked in front of the car and waved a red flag to warn pedestrians of approaching danger……..

Should they do this in Seattle?………. (How much flack am I going to get over this?)…….

In Tacoma, Washington, a woman with a brain tumor went into a drugstore to get a prescription refilled for painkillers….. The pharmacist thought the prescription was fake, so he called the cops and had her arrested…. The woman tried to explain that she got the same refill at the same store every month…….. She asked them to call her doctor…… But they hauled her off to jail instead…..

Sounds like something that would happen to me…….

We have a new nominee for this year’s Darwin Awards. Via The Seattle Times…

The man, who has not been identified by investigators, and another man, age 31, had been drinking and were trying to see who could hang above the interstate from the Olive Way overpass the longest, Seattle police spokeswoman Debra Brown said.

The unidentified man struggled and could not pull himself up, Brown said. The other man tried to help him, but he slipped and fell to the traffic below.

The man was hit by a semi-truck, then another vehicle, both going 60 mph, Brown said.

It is unlikely there will be any further investigation, Brown said.

In the fifteenth century an English bishop named Reginald Pecock tried to purify the English language by getting rid of words of Latin orgin…….. His idea ran out of popular steam when he recommended such changes as “inconceivable” to “nottobethoughtable.”……….

Maybe you don’t.  According to a study reported by CNN, about 1 in 10 American drivers wouldn’t be able to pass a state driving test.  Think you live with the worst drivers?  You’re right if you live in the NorthEast or a mid-Atlantic state.  The best drivers?: those in the NorthWest.  That last one surprises me a bit, given the rash of pedestrian crosswalk accidents we’ve had lately in Seattle.  The classic error is when one or more cars stop for a crossing pedestrian and another car swerves around those hitting the pedestrian.  Presumably the swerving driver thinks that the stopped cars don’t know what they’re doing — or maybe the driver isn’t thinking at all.  Either way, the results can be disastrous.  3 days ago an 11-year-old kid was seriously injured in just that scenario.  At my work, we have a crosswalk over a busy, 3-lane road.  The left-turn/middle lane complicates things.  One time a car stopped for a group of us and seemingly out of nowhere came this black pickup truck swerving around the stopped car into the middle lane, nearly hitting us.  I responded with a yell of disgust and the male driver flashed us the bird.  Very nice buddie.  Maybe this behavior shouldn’t be surprising, as the survey also showed the following:

“For instance, one out of five drivers doesn’t know that a pedestrian in a crosswalk has the right of way, and one out of three drivers speeds up to make a yellow light, even when pedestrians are present, the study said.”

All it takes is one driver and yours truly could turn out like Earl the Flat Cat ™.  Fortunately I’m a pretty cautious crosser, so no worries.

As for by-state survey results, here’s a summary of those likely of interest to this group:

• 1. Oregon – Best!
• 2. Washington
• 15. Alabama
• 25. Tennessee
• 31. Oklahoma
• 49. Rhode Island – Worst!

That’s the three types of weather we have in Oklahoma – Too Hot, Too Cold, Too Windy or any
combination of the three…… Rain doesn’t factor in because we have so little of it and when we do have rain, it usually is traveling about 35-50 MPH accompanied by a severe thunderstorm or a tornado…. Anyhow, that’s the MRambler version of Oklahoma Weather…..

I do have a question that I have wondered about for a long, long time….. About 90% of Oklahomans get really annoyed when we have like two days of partly cloudy to cloudy weather….. Even the weatherforcasters start with how dreary it is and hopefully it’ll clear out soon….. Then when it’s the opposite – a long dry spell, they bitch because they want rain – Then when it comes they go back to being annoyed at it….. I’ll never understand these people and I’ve lived here all my life….. I personally enjoy clouldy weather and some nice slow soaking rain and/or drizzle every now and then……

Oh, Yeah, the question (help me here HuskySooner or anyone) is that I would like to know how many completely cloudy (no sun nor moon peeking through) days a year (that’s a 24 hr period – midnight to midnight) that we get in Central Oklahoma?……. I don’t know if they keep records of that or not, but, I bet it’s less than 5 days a year….. Remember, I’m talking complete cloud cover for a 24 hr. period….

The Goverment has announced a new unit
The USRAF (United States Redneck Assult Force)
The members will be recruited from the southern states (TN, GA, NC, SC, MS, KY, FL AL, TX, LA, and OK)

Their mission brief will be as follows:
1. The Terrorists do not belive in God
2. They do not like Beer and Pickup trucks
3. They do not like Lynard Skynard
4. They Do not eat Grits
5. They are directly responsible for the death of Dale Earnhardt

The War will be over in 1 hour.

“Newscreep”, Ah…. I mean “Newsweek” beat me to this post… I had been saving it for awhile and just kept forgetting to post it…… The May 23 issue has an “exclusive excerpt” from a book on George Washington by David McCullough….. The excerpt makes a slight mention of my following “Military Unintelligence” from my WELL, DUH! collection…… Here’s the real details about the Georgie’s first victory…..

During the Revolutionary War, George Washington led the Continental Army to their first victory by surprising the British troops at the Battle of Trenton in New Jersey….. Washington shouldn’t have been able to surprise anyone….. A loyalist spy trying to report Washington’s plans wasn’t allowed in to see the British commander because the colonel wouldn’t be interrupted while playing cards……

When the desperate spy finally sent in a note explaining that the enemy was advancing for a sneak attack, the British colonel put the note in his pocket unread and continued to play cards….. It was his deal….. The note was later found on the dead colonel’s body after Washington’s victory……

And you say there’s no such thing as “Luck”!……

Are there any NASCAR fans out there?….Well, you probably won’t appreciate what I have to say, but at least hear me out…… Now, don’t get me wrong, I used to be a BIG NASCAR fan years ago…. But now, I get tired of watching a bunch of different colored melted “twinkes” goin’ ’round and ’round in a circle…. Except for the colors and numbers they all look alike….. Just makes you want to watch them smash into the wall and/or each other…. And the rules have always been slanted to certain manufacturers and cars (More on this later if I get any comments on this post.)……

The “Stock” in NASCAR went out in the ’70’s…. NASCAR is an abbreviation for “National Association of Stock Car Automobile Racing” or something there-abouts…. Well, as far as I’m concerned today it stands for “No Actual Stock Cars Are Racing”…. Go to your local dealership and see if you can find and/or purchase anything that remotely resembles what you see on a NASCAR track…….

Now, if you’re a REAL NASCAR fan, you should be able to answer this question: I saw Richard Petty race at the height of his career….. Where did I see him race?……

Pit Stop clock is running………..

“Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes that you can do these things. Among them are a few Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or businessman from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid.”

President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1952

An anonymous critic once sent a letter to minister Henry Ward Beecher……. The letter contained only a single word: “Fool.”……

No one ever received a better set-up line, and Beecher made the most of it….. “I have known many an instance of a man writing a letter and forgetting to sign his name,” he told his congregation that Sunday. “But this is the only instance I’ve ever known of a man signing his name and forgetting to write his letter.”……..