FIREFLY - TRASH (episode 11)

I have moved all my Firefly episodes to my other blog.

Just click here.

These episodes are now independent of the Hulu feed and will not continuously disappear.


"Let's all be careful out there!"

AUGUST 2ND

Today is Saturday, August 2, the 215th day of 2008. There are 151 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

• On August 2, 1776, members of the Continental Congress began attaching their signatures to the Declaration of Independence.

On this date:

• In 1790, the enumeration for the first United States census began; the final total was 3,929,214.
• In 1873, inventor Andrew S. Hallidie successfully tested a cable car he had designed for the city of San Francisco.
• In 1876, frontiersman "Wild Bill" Hickok was shot and killed while playing poker at a saloon in Deadwood, Dakota Territory.
• In 1923, the 29th president of the United States, Warren G. Harding, died in San Francisco.
• In 1927, four years after becoming president, Calvin Coolidge issued a written statement to reporters: "I do not choose to run for President in 1928."
• In 1934, German President Paul von Hindenburg died, paving the way for Adolf Hitler's complete takeover.
• In 1939, Albert Einstein signed a letter to President Roosevelt urging creation of an atomic weapons research program.
• In 1943, during World War II, Navy boat PT-109, commanded by Lt. John F. Kennedy, sank after being rammed by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri off the Solomon Islands.
• In 1964, the destroyer USS Maddox suffered light damage from North Vietnamese patrol torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonkin.
• In 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait, seizing control of the oil-rich emirate. (The Iraqis were later driven out in Operation Desert Storm.)

Ten years ago:

• Cyclist Marco Pantani of Italy won the Tour de France, which had been marred by a doping scandal.
• Ventriloquist Shari Lewis died in Los Angeles at age 65.

Five years ago:

• Saddam Hussein's two elder sons and a grandson were buried as martyrs near the deposed Iraqi leader's hometown of Tikrit, where insurgents afterward attacked U.S. troops with three remote-controlled bombs.
• Liberian President Charles Taylor agreed to cede power.

One year ago:

• Mattel apologized to customers as it recalled nearly a million Chinese-made toys from its Fisher-Price division that were found to have excessive amounts of lead.
• A Marine Corps squad leader was convicted at Camp Pendleton, Calif., of murdering an Iraqi man during a frustrated search for an insurgent. (Sgt. Lawrence G. Hutchins III was sentenced to 15 years in prison.)
• Two small Russian submarines completed a voyage below the North Pole where they planted the country's flag on the Arctic Ocean floor.

Today's Birthdays:

• Former Sen. Paul Laxalt, R-Nev., is 86.
• Actor Peter O'Toole is 76.
• Country singer Hank Cochran is 73.
• Rock musician Garth Hudson (The Band) is 71.
• Movie director Wes Craven is 69.
• Singer Kathy Lennon (The Lennon Sisters) is 65.
• Actor Max Wright is 65.
• Actress Joanna Cassidy is 63.
• Actress Kathryn Harrold is 58.
• Singer Andrew Gold is 57.
• Actor Butch Patrick ("The Munsters") is 55.
• Singer Mojo Nixon is 51.
• Actress Victoria Jackson is 49.
• Actress Apollonia is 49.
• Actress Cynthia Stevenson is 46.
• Actress Mary-Louise Parker is 44.
• Rock musician John Stanier is 40.
• Writer-actor-director Kevin Smith is 38.
• Actor Edward Furlong is 31.
• Rock musician Devon Glenn is 28.
• Actress Hallie Eisenberg is 16.

Thought for Today:

"A man who does not lose his reason over certain things has none to lose."
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, German dramatist (1729-1781).

"Let's all be careful out there!"

DAILY CHUCKLE 8-215

"Let's all be careful out there!"

A SATURDAY STROLL...

THROUGH THE NEWS



Segway, meet the Toyota Winglet.

New Homeland Security rules now allows border agents to confiscate laptops, ipods, miscellaneous papers and pocket trash from all persons (including US citizens) for no reason other than they didn't blink the right number of times when passing through Customs. All these items, and more, may be transported to off-site locations for further scrutiny and decryption. Exactly how many of the towers on 9/11 were brought down by an mp3 player? George Orwell had everything right, except the time-line.

Besides, DHS has a shopping list of problems.

While I can't fault the concept, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) now can regulate tobacco products. The same FDA that allowed poisoned medications in from China. That won't allow the import of cheaper phamaceuticals from Canada, even though they are made in the USA. That gave us Phen fen, Thamaldahyde, and countless more disasters. The same FDA that destroyed this year's tomato crop, when the problem was peppers. I often wonder if the "witches" of yore weren't as effective.

If you are a snorer the odds are you probably have sleep apnea. Which raises your chances of dying. Considerably!

As I've mentioned before, Alzheimer's Disease runs in my family (mother, maternal grandfather). It now appears that overthinking, worrying and ruminating may slow the disease's progress. I may have to sit and ponder that for awhile.



One destroyer. One mk-48 torpedo. Result: Kiss the boat goodbye.


This new type of torpedo doesn't actually strike the target vessel. Instead, it detonates just beneath the keel. Effectively breaking the ship's back.

I wonder if hiring a hitman to kill an IRS agent doing an audit of your business is a deductable business expense? Probably not.

Forget about casinos on indian reservations. The new concept is to erect power plants.

I checked and "slick Willy" is not associated with this law firm. But I bet he wishes he were.

66% of Americans are overweight. 32% are obese. How can skinny Obama be a "common person"?





Have a great weekend!

"Let's all be careful out there!"