HI, EVERYBODY!!

I have been home from the hospital for a week now. In some respects it seems longer and with the Vicodin, a good portion of the past 168 hours is lost in a purple haze.

To summarize what occurred:
I started feeling bad about the middle of February, pain in the lower abdomin, etc. Thought I had somehow incurred a hernia. Being the stuberon bloke that I am, I thought I would just endure the discomfort. Bad move. The pain kept increasing until I could barely walk in my house, let alone anywhere else. Finally, on Friday, March 6th, the pain becazme unbearable and I called 9-1-1 to get to the hospital. At this point, the details begin to fade. What I thought was a hernia was actually an appendicitus attack. The appendix had perforated the abdominal wall and developed a cyst around it. When they opened my up, it was discovered that I had colon cancer also, I wasn't aware of this until a week later, and a large potion of my large and part of the small intestine were removed.

After surgery, I was taken to surgical ICU at the hospital. Of this I remember very, very little. Just some very vague incidents. After the weekend, I was transferred upstairs to a regular hospital room. Naturally I was attached to pumps to suck poisons from my surgical wound plus multiple IV connections. I had almost as much external plumbing as I do internal (LOL!!).

Recovery has been slow but is in progress with normally associated complication of a post surgical nature. The abdomin was opened by a cut from just below the diaphram on my right side and that extended down to my groin. I would guss about 7-8 inches long (14-16cm).

I am working on getting an appointment for chemo-therapy but the surgeon thinks she exorcised all the malignant crap and could not find any evidence that it had spread any firther or to any other organs.

This unexpected detour really screwed up the money making plans that I was developing. I have only half of this months rent.. Ain't life a bitch? The doctor told me today that the wound is not healing as nicely as she had hoped for and there will be one huge ugly scar left behind. I'll take her word, since I can barely see the damn thing. But it is definitely deep. At the bottom end, it is almost two knuckles deep.

I'll write more in a couple of days. The Vicodin really screws up my mental ability.

I'm putting the donate button back up and if anyone can assist, I'll be truly grateful and thanks to everyone who assisted earlier.. I am literally existing on a hand to mouth basis. Still waiting for disability to be approved, and waiting and waiting, etc.

Anyway, I have missed all of you.

And a big special thanks to my love, Alissa, for keeping everyone aware of what was going on this past month. I love you, my Angel.

"Let's all be careful out there!"

I am finally home.

I am under a lot of medication but will be giving y'all more info shortly.

Thanks to every one for the wonderful comments and offers of assistaance

I am in a large amount of pain at the moments but will try to give you all the dirt this weekend.



"Let's all be careful out there!"

Wil's link

Thanks to gnightgirl and chefann, I am able to get Wil's donation link back up (It is at the end of this post). For those of you who want to make a donation, please click on this link and scroll down to the bottom of the posting. Keep the kind words of encouragement coming in! I will let him know what each and everyone of you is saying. It will brighten his day.

Thanks,

Alissa


P.S. If it is not showing up as a link, just copy and paste it. I have never been a blogger before so I am a little confused as into what I am doing.


"Let's all be careful out there!"

Update

Some people have been wondering about the donation link. For some reason is has disappeared, but I will be getting in touch with Wil soon to see if he can help me set it up again. Wil is still in the hospital and is expected to be there another week. The cancer was in his colon, and out of 20 some lymph nodes, half of them were cancerous. The doctor believes she got all the cancerous ones removed, so please pray that this is so. There are some things that happened inside of his body that caused holes in certain areas that are having to be filled in with a foam type substance daily. That is why the stay in the hospital is taking so long. Once he gets access to a computer he will inform you of exactly what went on inside his body. Overall, he is doing well. He is able to get up and walk around and is taking food down. When I talked to him last night, he sounded a lot better than he had in previous conversations. He has been very drugged up so he could not remember a lot of things, but now that he is not on so much medication he is starting to remember more of what is going on on a day to day basis.

He feels so blessed to have all of his friends on here thinking about him and praying for him. Please continue to do so. Please check in soon to see if the donation link is up and for more updates. I will do my best to get it up in the next few days. I hope all is well with everyone. Have a great week!

-Alissa


"Let's all be careful out there!"
Hi Everyone,

An update on our friend Wil

Hello All,

This is Wil's friend Alissa, also sometimes referred to as "Whiskers" on Wil's blog. I spoke with Wil for an hour last night and got the scoop on his condition. He asked that I share what is going on with everyone since he has not had access to the internet. He values each and every one of you who come on his blog to check in on him and wanted to make sure all of you knew what was going on so you don't have to worry.

Throughtout the last few weeks Wil had been experiencing a great deal of pain in his stomach. At first he though it was maybe a hernia due to stress but the pain continued to get worse and worse. It eventually got so bad that he could not even move out of his bed and could not eat. Finally, last Friday, he could not take the pain any longer. He was going to call a cab to bring him to the hospital but realized he was not even capable of doing that. He called 911, was picked up, and thats when all the craziness began. He had to have emergency surgery that was very risky. He is still in some pain but it is better. Sadly, Wil has been diagnosed with cancer. The type of cancer is still unknown but the doctor said things look more in his favor for now. The future is unknown until the type of cancer is diagnosed. We will keep you posted. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers and if you can help him out in any way, it would be greatly appreciated.

He also mentioned yesterday how grateful he is to each and everyone of you who helped him out last month. He feels your love and support. A BIG thank you from Wil goes to you.

More info to come as I get it.

Thanks,

Alissa aka Wiskers

Wil has been moved

Well good news my father has been moved to a regular room. That is a good sign. The doctor and nurses said he is doing very well. I think he will go home next week and finish recovering there.
Doctors Hospital
209-578-1211
Room 408
Thanks again
Rob

Wils status

I believe in the next couple days my father will be moved out of icu into a regular room. When that happens I will post the info so he can be reached by phone. Thanks again to all of you out there for helping my father.

Rob

Williams condition

To let you all know out there that my father had to have surgery on friday 3/6/09. As of today 3/8/09 he is doing better. When he gets into a regular room I'm sure he will fill you in on all the details. And thank you to everyone that has helped him out. Keep him in your prayers, and lets hope he has a speedy recovery.

THANK YOU:
WILS SON
ROB

We all need a good laugh right about now...

Subject: Farm Kid in Marines
To:


Perspective, perspective, perspective!
(read thru to the punchline ending!)


FARM KID in Marines
(NOW AT San Diego MARINE CORPS RECRUIT TRAINING)



Dear Ma and Pa,

I am well. Hope you are. Tell Brother Walt and Brother Elmer the Marine Corps beats working for old man Minch by a mile. Tell them to join up quick before all of the places are filled.

I was restless at first because you get to stay in bed
till nearly 6 a.m. But I am getting so I like to sleep late.
Tell Walt and Elmer all you do before breakfast is smooth
your cot, and shine some things. No hogs to slop, feed to
pitch, mash to mix, wood to split, fire to lay. Practically
nothing.

>> Men got to shave but it is not so bad, there's warm
water. Breakfast is strong on trimmings like fruit juice,
cereal, eggs, bacon, etc., but kind of weak on chops,
potatoes, ham, steak, fried eggplant, pie and other regular
food, but tell Walt and Elmer you can always sit by the two
city boys that live on coffee. Their food, plus yours,
holds you until noon when you get fed again. It's no
wonder these city boys can't walk much.

>> We go on 'route marches,' which the platoon
sergeant says are long walks to harden us. If he thinks so,
it's not my place to tell him different. A 'route
march' is about as far as to our mailbox at home. Then
the city guys get sore feet and we all ride back in trucks.

>> The sergeant is like a school teacher. He nags a lot.
The Captain is like the school board. Majors and colonels
just ride around and frown. They don't bother you none.

>> This next will kill Walt and Elmer with laughing. I keep
getting medals for shooting. I don't know why. The
bulls-eye is near as big as a chipmunk head and don't
move, and it ain't shooting at you like the Higgett boys
at home. All you got to do is lie there all comfortable and
hit it. You don't even load your own cartridges They
come in boxes.

>> Then we have what they call hand-to-hand combat training.
You get to wrestle with them city boys. I have to be real
careful though, they break real easy. It ain't like
fighting with that ole bull at home. I'm about the best
they got in this except for that Tug Jordan from over in
Silver Lake . I only beat him once.. He joined up the same
time as me, but I'm only 5'6' and 130 pounds and
he's 6'8' and near 300 pounds dry.

>> Be sure to tell Walt and Elmer to hurry and join before
other fellers get onto this setup and come stampeding in.

Your loving daughter,
Alice



To each and every one of you who has sent me a donation. THANK YOU

I am about 3/4s of the way to covering March's rent. Without your kindness, I wouldn't even be thinking of the possibility of actually being able to do that.




"Let's all be careful out there!"

BEGGING ON BENDED KNEE....

WITH HAT IN HAND.

Can any of you help me out.? Following up on Lori and Roy's suggestion, I am adding a donate button to this blog. I still await a response from the Federal Court system about my appeal of my denial of disability. Everyone has told me that I will be denied at least twice befor I finally win. My attorney says that I could get a response in the next day, or six months from now..

So what I am shamefully doing is asking each of you if you can help me by making a donation. My hope is that 30 of you can find the means to send me $20.

Some might be able to donate more and others less, but each donation will be greatly appreciated. If you can help, just click the button below and follow the instructions.

And thanks to each and every one of you.




"Let's all be careful out there!"

ALOHA

In the Hawaiian language "Aloha" means "Hello", "Goodbye" and "I love you."

This post covers all three definitions.

2008 was a pretty lousy year for me. My failing eyesight has made the creation of this blog an exercise in futility..

My sources of income are dried up and I will become homeless on March 1st, to survive on the streets until I can start receiving Social Security at the beginning of 2010. Life is a crapshoot and I have rolled "snake-eyes."

This blog has been fun and I appreciate all the web friends I have made over the years. With a bit of luck I hope to be back in about a year. Maybe along the way I can find a free wifi "hotspot" and write about life on the streets.

I will miss each and every one of you. If things go really bad, just remember that you are all in my thoughts.

Aloha,
Wil


"Let's all be careful out there!"

JANUARY 31ST

Today is Saturday, Jan. 31, the 31st day of 2009.
There are 334 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

• On Jan. 31, 1958, the United States entered the Space Age with its first successful launch of a satellite into orbit, Explorer I.

On this date:

• In 1606, Guy Fawkes, convicted of treason for his part in the "Gunpowder Plot" against the English Parliament and King James I, was executed.
• In 1865, Gen. Robert E. Lee was named general-in-chief of all the Confederate armies.
• In 1917, during World War I, Germany served notice it was beginning a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare.
• In 1919, baseball Hall-of-Famer Jackie Robinson was born in Cairo, Ga.
• In 1929, revolutionary Leon Trotsky and his family were expelled from the Soviet Union.
• In 1944, during World War II, U.S. forces began a successful invasion of Kwajalein Atoll and other parts of the Japanese-held Marshall Islands.
• In 1945, Pvt. Eddie Slovik, 24, became the first U.S. soldier since the Civil War to be executed for desertion as he was shot by an American firing squad in France.
• In 1949, the first TV daytime soap opera, "These Are My Children," began broadcasting from the NBC station in Chicago. (It lasted all of four weeks.)
• In 1971, astronauts Alan Shepard Jr., Edgar Mitchell and Stuart Roosa blasted off aboard Apollo 14 on a mission to the moon.
• In 2000, an Alaska Airlines jet plummeted into the Pacific Ocean, killing all 88 people aboard.

Ten years ago:

• The Denver Broncos repeated as NFL champions, defeating the Atlanta Falcons 34-19 in Super Bowl 33.
• Researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham presented what they called convincing proof that the AIDS virus originated in chimpanzees and spread to people in Africa.

Five years ago:

• Six U.S.-bound flights from England, Scotland and France were canceled because of security concerns.
• Justine Henin-Hardenne won her third Grand Slam title, defeating Kim Clijsters 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in the Australian Open.
• John Elway and Barry Sanders were elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on their first attempt; they were joined by Bob Brown and Carl Eller.

One year ago:

• President George W. Bush, speaking at the Nevada Policy Research Institute, said he would not jeopardize security gains in Iraq by withdrawing U.S. forces too quickly.
• A drifter pleaded guilty to murdering a young woman who'd gone missing while hiking in the north Georgia mountains; Gary Michael Hilton was swiftly sentenced to life in prison in the death of Meredith Emerson.

Today's Birthdays:

• Actress Carol Channing is 88.
• Actress Jean Simmons is 80.
• Baseball Hall-of-Famer Ernie Banks is 78.
• Composer Philip Glass is 72.
• Actor Stuart Margolin is 69.
• Actress Jessica Walter is 68.
• Former U.S. Rep. Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., is 68.
• Blues singer-musician Charlie Musselwhite is 65.
• Actor Glynn Turman is 63.
• Baseball Hall-of-Famer Nolan Ryan is 62.
• Singer-musician KC (KC and the Sunshine Band) is 58.
• Rock singer Johnny Rotten is 53.
• Actress Kelly Lynch is 50.
• Actor Anthony LaPaglia is 50.
• Singer-musician Lloyd Cole is 48.
• Actor John Dye is 46.
• Rock musician Jeff Hanneman (Slayer) is 45.
• Rock musician Al Jaworski (Jesus Jones) is 43.
• Actress Minnie Driver is 39.
• Actress Portia de Rossi is 36.
• Actor-comedian Bobby Moynihan is 32.
• Actress Kerry Washington is 32.
• Singer Justin Timberlake is 28.

Thought for Today:

"Happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have."
Rabbi Hyman Judah Schachtel, American theologian, author and educator (1907-1990).

"Let's all be careful out there!"

JANUARY 31ST

"Let's all be careful out there!"

JANUARY 30TH

Today is Friday, Jan. 30, the 30th day of 2009.
There are 335 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

• On Jan. 30, 1968, the Tet Offensive began during the Vietnam War as Communist forces launched surprise attacks against South Vietnamese provincial capitals; although the Communists were beaten back, the offensive was seen as a major setback for the U.S. and its allies.

On this date:

• In 1649, England's King Charles I was beheaded.
• In 1882, the 32nd president of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, was born in Hyde Park, N.Y.
• In 1909, community organizer and social activist Saul Alinsky was born in Chicago.
• In 1933, Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany. The first episode of the "Lone Ranger" radio program was broadcast on station WXYZ in Detroit.
• In 1939, the Supreme Court, in Tennessee Electric Power Co. v. Tennessee Valley Authority, upheld the right of the federally owned TVA to compete with private utilities.
• In 1948, Indian political and spiritual leader Mohandas K. Gandhi was shot and killed by a Hindu extremist.
• In 1962, two members of "The Flying Wallendas" high-wire act were killed when their seven-person pyramid collapsed during a performance in Detroit.
• In 1972, 13 Roman Catholic civil rights marchers were shot to death by British soldiers in Northern Ireland on what became known as "Bloody Sunday."
• In 1979, the civilian government of Iran announced it had decided to allow Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who'd been living in exile in France, to return.
• In 2003, Richard Reid, the British citizen and al-Qaida follower who'd tried to blow up a trans-Atlantic jetliner with explosives hidden in his shoes, was sentenced to life in prison by a federal judge in Boston.

Ten years ago:

• NATO authorized its secretary-general to launch military action in Yugoslavia if the warring parties failed to negotiate an agreement for autonomy in Kosovo.

Five years ago:

• Former French Prime Minister Alain Juppe was found guilty in connection with a party financing scandal and declared ineligible for public office for 10 years.
• NASA's Mars rover Opportunity spied hints of a mineral that typically forms in water — a finding that could mean the dry and dusty Red Planet was once wetter and more hospitable to life.

One year ago:

• John Edwards bowed out of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.
• Rudy Giuliani dropped out of the Republican presidential contest and endorsed front-runner and longtime friend John McCain.
• The Federal Reserve cut a key interest rate for the second time in just over a week, reducing the federal funds rate by a half point to 3 percent.

Today's Birthdays:

• Actress Dorothy Malone is 84.
• Producer-director Harold Prince is 81.
• Actor Gene Hackman is 79.
• Actress Tammy Grimes is 75.
• Actress Vanessa Redgrave is 72.
• Country singer Jeanne Pruett is 72.
• Country singer Norma Jean is 71.
• Vice President Dick Cheney is 68.
• Rock singer Marty Balin is 67.
• Rhythm-and-blues musician William King (The Commodores) is 60.
• Singer Phil Collins is 58.
• Actor Charles S. Dutton is 58.
• Actress-comedian Brett Butler is 51.
• Singer Jody Watley is 50.
• Actor Norbert Leo Butz is 42.
• Country singer Tammy Cochran is 37.
• Actor Christian Bale is 35.
• Pop-rock singer-songwriter Josh Kelley is 29.
• Actor Wilmer Valderrama is 29.
• Actor Jake Thomas is 19.

Thought for Today:

"The excellent becomes the permanent."
Jane Addams, social worker and Nobel Peace laureate (1860-1935).

"Let's all be careful out there!"

DAILY CHUCKLE 9-030

"Let's all be careful out there!"

JANUARY 29TH

Today is Thursday, Jan. 29, the 29th day of 2009.
There are 336 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

• On Jan. 29, 1820, Britain's King George III died at Windsor Castle, ending a reign that had seen both the American and French revolutions.

On this date:

• In 1843, the 25th president of the United States, William McKinley, was born in Niles, Ohio.
• In 1845, Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven" was first published, in the New York Evening Mirror.
• In 1861, Kansas became the 34th state of the Union.
• In 1919, the ratification of the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, which launched Prohibition, was certified by Acting Secretary of State Frank L. Polk.
• In 1929, The Seeing Eye, a New Jersey-based school which trains guide dogs to assist the blind, was incorporated by Dorothy Harrison Eustis and Morris Frank.
• In 1936, the first members of baseball's Hall of Fame, including Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth, were named in Cooperstown, N.Y.
• In 1939, Irish poet-dramatist William Butler Yeats died in Menton, France.
• In 1963, the first members of pro football's Hall of Fame were named in Canton, Ohio.
• In 1979, President Jimmy Carter formally welcomed Chinese Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping to the White House, following the establishment of diplomatic relations.
• In 1998, a bomb rocked an abortion clinic in Birmingham, Ala., killing security guard Robert Sanderson and critically injuring Emily Lyons, a nurse. (The bomber, Eric Rudolph, was captured in May 2003 and is serving a life sentence.)

Ten years ago:

• The Senate delivered subpoenas for Monica Lewinsky and two of President Bill Clinton's advisers, summoning them for private, videotaped testimony in the impeachment trial.
• Attorney General Janet Reno rejected a special prosecutor investigation of former White House deputy chief of staff Harold Ickes.

Five years ago:

• A suicide bomber struck a bus in Jerusalem, killing 10 Israelis.
• British author M.M. Kaye died in Lavenham, England, at age 95.

One year ago:

• John McCain won a breakthrough triumph in the Florida primary, easing past Mitt Romney for his first-ever triumph in a primary open only to Republicans.
• Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton claimed victory in a campaign-free Florida presidential primary in which all the candidates had signed pledges not to compete. (The national Democratic Party had stripped the state of its delegates as punishment for moving its primary ahead of Feb. 5.)
• Margaret Truman, the only child of President Harry S. Truman, died in Chicago at age 83.
• Raymond Jacobs, believed to be the last surviving member of the group of Marines photographed during the first U.S. flag-raising on Iwo Jima, died in Redding, Calif., at age 82.

Today's Birthdays:

• Actor John Forsythe is 91.
• Actor Noel Harrison is 75.
• Author Germaine Greer is 70.
• Actress Katharine Ross is 69.
• Actor Tom Selleck is 64.
• Rhythm-and-blues singer Bettye LaVette is 63.
• Actor Marc Singer is 61.
• Actress Ann Jillian is 59.
• Rock musician Tommy Ramone (Ramones) is 57.
• Rock musician Louie Perez (Los Lobos) is 56.
• Talk show host Oprah Winfrey is 55.
• Country singer Irlene Mandrell is 53.
• Actress Diane Delano is 52.
• Actress Judy Norton Taylor ("The Waltons") is 51.
• Rock musician Johnny Spampinato (NRBQ) is 50.
• Olympic gold-medal diver Greg Louganis is 49.
• Rock musician David Baynton-Power (James) is 48.
• Rock musician Eddie Jackson (Queensryche) is 48.
• Actor Nicholas Turturro is 47.
• Rock singer-musician Roddy Frame (Aztec Camera) is 45.
• Actor-director Edward Burns is 41.
• Actress Heather Graham is 39.
• Actor Sharif Atkins is 34.
• Actress Sara Gilbert is 34.
• Actor Andrew Keegan is 30.
• Actor Jason James Richter is 29.
• Blues musician Jonny Lang is 28.

Thought for Today:

"And were an epitaph to be my story I'd have a short one ready for my own. I would have written of me on my stone: 'I had a lover's quarrel with the world.'"
Robert Frost, American poet (born 1874, died on this day in 1963).

"Let's all be careful out there!"

DAILY CHUCKLE 9-029

"Let's all be careful out there!"

JANUARY 28TH

Today is Wednesday, Jan. 28, the 28th day of 2009.
There are 337 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

• On Jan. 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff from Cape Canaveral, Fla., killing all seven of its crew members: flight commander Francis R. "Dick" Scobee; pilot Michael Smith; Ronald McNair; Ellison Onizuka; Judith Resnik; Gregory Jarvis; and schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe.

On this date:

• In 1547, England's King Henry VIII died; he was succeeded by his 9-year-old son, Edward VI.
• In 1853, Cuban revolutionary Jose Marti was born in Havana.
• In 1878, the first daily college newspaper, Yale News (now Yale Daily News), began publication in New Haven, Conn.
• In 1909, the United States withdrew its forces from Cuba as Jose Miguel Gomez became president.
• In 1915, the United States Coast Guard was created as President Woodrow Wilson signed a bill merging the Life-Saving Service and Revenue Cutter Service.
• In 1916, Louis D. Brandeis was nominated by President Woodrow Wilson to the Supreme Court; Brandeis became the court's first Jewish member.
• In 1945, during World War II, Allied supplies began reaching China over the newly reopened Burma Road.
• In 1969, a major oil spill off Santa Barbara, Calif., occurred as a Union Oil well blew out, sending oil and natural gas into the Santa Barbara Channel.
• In 1973, a cease-fire officially went into effect in the Vietnam War.
• In 1978, fire swept through the historic downtown Coates House hotel in Kansas City, Mo., killing 20 people.

Ten years ago:

• Ford Motor Company announced it was buying the Volvo car division in a $6.45 billion deal.
• Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan honored a personal request for mercy from Pope John Paul II, sparing triple murderer Darrell Mease from being executed.

Five years ago:

• British Prime Minister Tony Blair won vindication when a judge said the BBC was wrong to report the government had "sexed up" intelligence to justify war in Iraq.
• Former U.S. Navy commander Lloyd "Pete" Bucher, who'd helped his USS Pueblo crew survive brutal captivity in North Korea, then faced criticism back home, died in Poway, Calif., at age 76.

One year ago:

• President George W. Bush, in his last State of the Union address, urged passage of an economic stimulus package and asked Americans to remain patient with the long, grinding war in Iraq.
• In a daring ambush, Iraqi insurgents blasted a U.S. patrol with a roadside bomb and showered survivors with gunfire from a mosque in Mosul; five American soldiers were killed in the explosion.
• A U.S. missile attack in Pakistan killed veteran al-Qaida leader Abu Laith al-Libi.
• Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy endorsed Barack Obama for the White House.

Today's Birthdays:

• Musician-composer Acker Bilk is 80.
• Actor Nicholas Pryor is 74.
• Actor Alan Alda is 73.
• Actress Susan Howard is 67.
• Actress Marthe Keller is 64.
• Actress-singer Barbi Benton is 59.
• French President Nicolas Sarkozy is 54.
• Actress Harley Jane Kozak is 52.
• Movie director Frank Darabont is 50.
• Rock musician Dave Sharp is 50.
• Rock singer Sam Phillips is 47.
• Rock musician Dan Spitz (Anthrax) is 46.
• Country musician Greg Cook (Ricochet) is 44.
• Gospel singer Marvin Sapp is 42.
• Singer Sarah McLachlan is 41.
• Rapper Rakim is 41.
• DJ Muggs (Cypress Hill) is 41.
• Actress Kathryn Morris ("Cold Case") is 40.
• Rhythm-and-blues singer Anthony Hamilton is 38.
• Rock musician Brandon Bush (Train) is 36.
• Singer Joey Fatone, Jr. ('N Sync) is 32.
• Rapper Rick Ross is 32.
• Actress Rosamund Pike is 30.
• Singer Nick Carter (Backstreet Boys) is 29.
• Actor Elijah Wood is 28.

Thought for Today:

"Since when do we have to agree with people to defend them from injustice?"
Lillian Hellman, American author and playwright (1905-1984).

"Let's all be careful out there!"

DAILY CHUCKLE 9-028

"Let's all be careful out there!"

JANUARY 27TH

Today is Tuesday, Jan. 27, the 27th day of 2009.
There are 338 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

• On Jan. 27, 1967, astronauts Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, Edward H. White and Roger B. Chaffee died in a flash fire during a test aboard their Apollo spacecraft at Cape Kennedy, Fla.

On this date:

• In 1756, composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg, Austria.
• In 1880, Thomas Edison received a patent for his electric incandescent lamp.
• In 1901, opera composer Giuseppe Verdi died in Milan, Italy, at age 87.
• In 1943, some 50 bombers struck Wilhelmshaven in the first all-American air raid against Germany during World War II.
• In 1944, the Soviet Union announced the complete end of the deadly German siege of Leningrad, which had lasted for more than two years.
• In 1945, Soviet troops liberated the Nazi concentration camps Auschwitz and Birkenau in Poland.
• In 1951, an era of atomic testing in the Nevada desert began as an Air Force plane dropped a one-kiloton bomb on Frenchman Flat.
• In 1967, more than 60 nations signed a treaty banning the orbiting of nuclear weapons.
• In 1973, the Vietnam peace accords were signed in Paris.
• In 1981, President Ronald Reagan greeted the 52 former American hostages just released by Iran at the White House.

Ten years ago:

• The Republican-controlled Senate blocked dismissal of the impeachment case against President Bill Clinton and then voted for new testimony from Monica Lewinsky and two other witnesses — but by margins well short of the two-thirds needed to oust the president.

Five years ago:

• John Kerry won the New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary.
• A jury in New York heard opening arguments in the trial of Martha Stewart, who was accused of lying about a stock sale. (She was convicted in March 2004 and sentenced to five months in prison.)
• Former "Tonight Show" host Jack Paar died in Greenwich, Conn., at age 85.

One year ago:

• Former Indonesian president Suharto, whose regime killed hundreds of thousands of left-wing political opponents, died in Jakarta at age 86.
• Gordon B. Hinckley, the 15th president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, died in Salt Lake City at age 97.
• Novak Djokovic fended off unseeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (2) in the Australian Open final, earning his first Grand Slam title.
• Evan Lysacek won his second straight title at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, in St. Paul, Minn.

Today's Birthdays:

• Singer Bobby "Blue" Bland is 79.
• Actor James Cromwell is 69.
• Actor John Witherspoon is 67.
• Rock musician Nick Mason (Pink Floyd) is 64.
• Rhythm-and-blues singer Nedra Talley (The Ronettes) is 63.
• Ballet star Mikhail Baryshnikov is 61.
• Chief U.S. Justice John Roberts is 54.
• Country singer Cheryl White is 54.
• Country singer-musician Richard Young (The Kentucky Headhunters) is 54.
• Actress Mimi Rogers is 53.
• Rock musician Janick Gers (Iron Maiden) is 52.
• Sportscaster and political commentator Keith Olbermann is 50.
• Rock singer Margo Timmins (Cowboy Junkies) is 48.
• Rock musician Gillian Gilbert is 48.
• Actress Bridget Fonda is 45.
• Actor Alan Cumming is 44.
• Country singer Tracy Lawrence is 41.
• Rock singer Mike Patton is 41.
• Rapper Tricky is 41.
• Rock musician Michael Kulas (James) is 40.
• Actor Josh Randall is 37.
• Country singer Kevin Denney is 33.

Thought for Today:

"There's a difference between beauty and charm. A beautiful woman is one I notice. A charming woman is one who notices me."
John Erskine, American author and educator (1879-1951).

"Let's all be careful out there!"