Probably Correct

And the world wonders why...

...Queen Elizabeth refuses to abdicate the throne and turn it over to this inbred maroon.

Link: Prince Charles to plead Islam's cause to Bush.

Update: http://eddriscoll.com/archives/007949.php

The Prince of Wales will try to persuade George W Bush and Americans of the merits of Islam this week because he thinks the United States has been too intolerant of the religion since September 11.

The Prince, who leaves on Tuesday for an eight-day tour of the US, has voiced private concerns over America's "confrontational" approach to Muslim countries and its failure to appreciate Islam's strengths.

Seeing the Elephant

     It occurs that combat offers a new maturity.  War is never a good thing but sometmes it is a necessary thing, especially when He Has Seen the Elephant.

Old soldiers in the Civil War coined a phrase for green troops who survived their first taste of battle: "He has seen the elephant."

This Army lieutenant sums up the combat experience better than many a grizzled veteran: "Well, I'm here in Iraq, and I've seen it, and done it. I've seen everything you've ever seen in a war movie. I've seen cowardice; I've seen heroism; I've seen fear; and I've seen relief. I've seen blood and brains all over the back of a vehicle, and I've seen men bleed to death surrounded by their comrades. I've seen people throw up when it's all over, and I've seen the same shell-shocked look in 35-year-old experienced sergeants as in 19-year-old privates.

Dinner at Patrick's Westport

     Mike and Judy and Carroll and I went out to dinner tonight at the reincarnation of Patrick's at Westport. The owner, Joe Hannon, has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars redesigning and rebuilding the place, redoing the menu and making it a showpiece.

     Their dinners were spectacular; mine was not. I ordered Prime Rib, a cut I've ordered only twice in the past fifteen years. It and the accompanying Yorkshire Pudding were served almost cold. The cut of meat was about six inches by three inches and only a half-inch thick; for $20 at a suburban STL restaurant, that's unacceptable. Yes, they replaced it, and the replacement was only marginally satisfactory. The vegetables were served just barely cooked, hardly edible.

     I'll eat there again...once more...but I'll never again order the prime rib.

     UPDATE:  The rest of the table has checked in and seems to think their meals were no better.  Restaurant ambiance and decor was excellent, service was great...but the food sucked. And isn't that why you go out to eat?

Apparently, it pays to be dead...

Link: Presley Tops Forbes' Dead Celebrities List.

Elvis Presley tops the annual Forbes list of celebrities who are the top moneymakers from beyond the grave. The singer, who died in 1977, made an estimated $45 million in the past year.

That'll teach ya...

...to try and choose your most important days carefully.

Link: Suicide Mistaken for Halloween Decoration.

The apparent suicide of a woman found hanging from a tree went unreported for hours because passers-by thought the body was a Halloween decoration, authorities said.

On outing a news anchor or two

Kevin Naff, Managing Editor of The Washington Blade (which is a pretty funny name for a gay newspaper) outed CNN anchor Anderson Cooper and FNC anchor Shepard Smith in a recent column.

Cooper isn’t the only well-known TV personality hiding his sexual orientation. Shepard Smith, who hosts a popular program on Fox News and received widespread praise for his work covering Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath, also dodges questions about his sexual orientation. Smith once chatted me up in a New York City gay piano bar, bought me drinks, and invited me back to his place. When I declined, he asked me to dinner the next night, another invitation I politely refused.

I'm not sure I understand this. I'm not part of that particular slice of our culture, so I have no real insight. But it seems to me that this serves no purpose at all. Why would a publication that celebrates that lifestyle seem determined to destroy the image of those who live it?

Because that's certainly what "outing" does.  Some who are homosexual want to protect their sexual orientation.  For example, for the past five years, I've published STLMedia.net,  offering insight into what's happening in STL radio, tv and print.  As a result I've become privy to much personal information about members of the media. I guard this carefully.  I would not publish personal info unless it's pertinent to a news story, and even then, whatever I'd publish would be carefully edited to ensure that it was not personally damaging.

I've always thought that both Cooper and Smith were idiots (Smith was the guy who referred once on the air to citizens of Syria and Lebanon as "Syrians and Lesbians") but now I have another frame of reference in which to file them.

That shouldn't matter.  But it's there and stuck in my mind and will always color my opinion of their words. Being thought of as an idiot should be exclusive of thought of as being gay.  Now I can't help but think of Anderson Cooper and Shepard Smith as...

Gay idiots.

But Jodie Foster?  How do you think John Hinckley, Jr., feels now?  Now, he's an idiot!

And, of course, there are always our previous icons to consider.  Talk about a Gay Idiot!

Link: Actor Hunter Reflects on Past in Memoir

"He said, `How do you feel about kissing a 300-pound transvestite?' And I thought about it for a minute. I thought, `I'm sure I've kissed a heck of a lot worse,'" Hunter recalled with a laugh. "Divine was one of my favorite leading ladies."

Thank you, Jesus

The World Series is over in four and House will be back on Fox next Monday.

One unidentified listener...

...caused this guy to get canned.  Actually, what he said was kinda dumb. He should have at least been reprimanded.  But one complaint and the station owner fires him.  This is not the world into which I was born.

Link: KUTV: Radio Host Fired After Making Questionable Quip.

CEDAR CITY The host of a popular Cedar City radio program has been fired after making an on-air joke that offended at least one Mexican listener.

Paul Fice, a former California Highway Patrol trooper known to his listeners as "Sarge,'' hosted the show "Trade-io'' on station KSUB. Listeners who want to sell or trade something call in, describe the item and leave a telephone number.

Last Thursday, a man called to sell a "Mexican roping saddle,'' and Fice, who often makes comments about the items, joked that the saddle probably could be used to "rope Mexicans'' coming across the border.

Later in the program an unidentified woman called in and said Fice's comment offended her. The company, Cherry Creek Radio, moved fast, firing Fice on Friday. Fice says he's disappointed that he was let go and that he meant nothing derogatory by his comment.

I'm finally a two monitor kinda guy

A few years ago, back in the Windows 95/98 days, I was searching online to find out whatever happened to Drew Kaplan and his DAK outfit and found this page.

The idea intrigued me but at the time I had only CRT monitors in the office and I didn't want to work at a desk with two of those huge video boxes...not to mention the stress it placed on the table!  So I filed the page for later reference. Besides, every laptop I've ever owned has had this capability built in...

Then, a year or so later, I made a great deal on three NEC 15" flat-screen LCD monitors (the guy told me they fell off a truck...hey, it could have happened).

One went immediately online at my desk, one to Carroll's, and the third stayed in a box, held in reserve.  It occasionally went into Carroll's office when a monitor there went on the blink, but it was mostly unused.

This evening that third monitor finally went into service on my desk, thanks to Roger the Wizard (this guy is one of the greats...get in touch with me for contact info).  He also upgraded my USB ports as a little bonus.  USB2.0 absolutely smokes the previous version...all of my work is saved to a USB external hard drive and the save-time is now unbelievably quick.

I've spent the last few hours wondering why I waited to do this.  Being able to open two aps full-screen and move elements back and forth is just a little bit like magic. I can open CNN on the Left Screen and FNC on the Right and actually feel the political tension, and it's even arranged appropriately!

I can even s-t-r-e-t-c-h an application across both screens to see a wider view...great for editing audio (but you probably knew that).

Yeah, I know...I'm still a few years behind the curve.  But with monitor and video card prices as cheap as they are this is a treat you owe yourself.  I traded the labor and the new video card for some phone system components, and the new USB driver cost $20. Life is good.

Two screens...no waiting.  Now when can we get all the peripherals set up on wireless?

P.S.  This also included the thorough cleaning of my work area, vacuuming, wiping with paper towels and appropriate cleaning fluids, "blowing out" of the computer box and filing of CD's, DVD's and paperwork. This made Mrs. Anderson happy. And if Mama ain't happy, NOBODY gonna be happy.

Traitorous asshole publishes a book

Link: U.S. Deserter Discusses Life in N. Korea.

As a 24-year-old sergeant, he abandoned his Army unit and fled to North Korea in 1965. He stayed there for 39 years, appearing in propaganda films and teaching English. He later testified that he fled the Army to avoid service in Vietnam.