As to the truths contained in Hillary's ghost-written tome, consider this: On April 29, 1997, Hillary told CNN's Larry King that she would never run for public office. Two years later...

So my lovely bride and I have this relatively new tradition (3 years old now) of going for a 4-day weekend the week of our anniversary. This year, our trip took us to San Diego. We took in Seaworld, saw Shamu. My favorite had to be the dolphin show (with a couple of pilot whales). What can I say, I'm partial to dolphins. Kel really enjoyed the sea lion show, which was an outstanding comedy. The next day was spent at the world-famous San Diego Zoo. While we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, there were many times when we wondered, what's the big deal? There are other zoos with better exhibits/enclosures, and far better layouts (Audubon Zoo in New Orleans springs to mind). SDZ does deserve its reputation, however, because of its fantastic research programs; it outspends and outperforms any other zoo in the country; pretty much the world. Our last full day was spent driving up the 101, aka SH 21, alongside the coastline. Let me say, this was a profound disappointment. While lunch in La Jolla (say La Hoya) was nice, overlooking Scripps Park and the Cove, we only saw the ocean three or four other times, and only briefly as we drove past. Much different than the drive south from San Francisco to Carmel, where you're hugging the ocean--albeit a few dozen feet up a cliff--nearly every mile. And California road signage sucks. Sucks. I'm talking enormous, Oreck/Kirby/Hoover suckage. We ended up at the south gate of Camp Pendleton, turned back through the Oceanside Marina, then popped over to I-5 back to downtown San Diego. We roomed at Prava, a three year-old hotel and spa, converted from a time-share property. (They still maintain a relationship with time-share companies, which is how we stayed there.) Located in the heart of San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter, we had plenty of great places to eat within walking distance. Prava makes the Retrophisch Recommends(tm) list of places to stay.

One of my favorite sports-talk hosts is moving from WBAP, 820 AM, to the station's ESPN radio affiliate. This stinks, since I never listen to ESPN radio, keeping the radio--when I listen to the radio--on either WBAP or KWRD 100.7 FM (Christian talk radio). This is all in the D/FW metro area, by the way. One problem I have with ESPN radio, or, at least, the affiliate here in town: when I'm watching the freaking Stanley Cup Finals on your company's main network, it sure would be nice to have the game on the radio, if I have to leave the house, as I did this weekend. I wonder if the same would be true if ESPN was carrying the NBA Finals, or the World Series?

You certainly can't blame the Israelis for decimating the Palestinian female ranks:

Each year, dozens and probably hundreds of brutal "honor killings" of Palestinian women and girls--most of whom are virtually blameless--go unreported, according to an anthropologist's recent study.

The story is scheduled for an issue of The World & I magazine.

"I'm getting more famouser by the day." --Avril Lavigne "I quit flying five years ago. Personally, I don't want to die with tourists." --Billy Bob Thornton As reported in the 5 May 2003 issue of Us Weekly.

A couple of days ago I was talking to my little sister on the phone (okay, she's 27, but she'll always be my "little" sister), and she stated that I was picking up a Texas accent. Seeing how I have long confounded people as to my origins by being pretty much accent-less, this is a trifle upsetting...

There is a story from the NY Times talking about a growing segment of the American population doing exactly that. Of note:

"People use the unemployment rate as some kind of gauge of the health of the economy," said Robert H. Topel, a professor of economics at the University of Chicago. But because of the number of people now outside of the labor force, he said, "the unemployment rate does not give you the same kind of information it did in the 1970's or 1960's."

(A little disappointed in the Times--you do not put an apostrophe-s after a year to state a decade; just put the s after the year, as in, 1970s.) The real gem, though, has to be this:

"I've been trying to find a conventional job for two years," Ms. Leftridge said. "Finally, I'm thinking about doing a home-based business. I don't see it as giving up. I see it as expanding my search. I ought to be able to make some money this way, and start building back my savings, in a situation where I'm not hostage to any company's budget, to any budget."

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking if I get laid off. Better to be the hostage-taker than the hostage. Or something like that.

So I just found out that the attorney in the office next to my wife's is worth, combined with his mother, nearly US $4 billion. The Schaefflers are in a 5-way tie for the 83rd spot on Forbes' World's Richest People 2003 list. We're both stumped as to why he would waste time pretending to work at a law firm in Dallas. Me? I'd be planted on a beach on Kaua'i.

This isn't necessarily an anti-spam measure; it's more along the lines of revenge. From the latest Dilbert newsletter comes this reader gem:

Here's a fun hobby of mine: When I get e-mail spam that includes an 800-number, I save the number for later. Then when one of the hundreds of Nigerian scam e-mails hits my e-mail box, I reply enthusiastically and give the 800-number of the spammer as my own. I feel that people in the DNRC have a responsibility to introduce A-holes to each other.

Now I know why I like "I Drove All Night" by Celine Dion so much--it's a Roy Orbison song. It was driving me batty; I knew this wasn't an original song by Celine, that I had heard it before. I remembered liking it from those past listening sessions. I knew it was a male voice kicking around in my head. Then it just suddenly clicked. I'm digging out my Orbison cassettes and CDs when I get home...

Damn you, Daimler-Chrysler. Thanks to your commercials, I cannot get Celine Dion's "I Drove All Night" out of my head. Now the MP3 is in rotation in iTunes. She has a set of pipes on her, I'll say that much. (from her latest album)

A barber shop. That's what I want. Not a salon. Not another Supercuts, Great Clips, Sports Clips, or any other generic salon-style chain that have all but killed the Great American Barber Shop. I'm tired of salons. I'm tired of Great Clips, Sports Clips, Supercuts, et al. Salons are for the ladies. Men don't see stylists; we see barbers. I want real barber chairs, hot shaving foam, straight razors. The operation overseen by a cast of crusty old SOBs who know how to talk sports, politics, hunting, fishing, power tools, cars; you know, guy stuff. Call the chamber of commerce, suggests my spouse. Ask them if they know of any in the town. Well, what do you know? :) Just opened this past October, the Back N Time Antique Barber Shop is what I've been looking for. The staff isn't old, or crusty, and I've only been there once, so I can't speak much as to if they are SOBs. But we talked March Madness and hockey. Complimentary sodas. Complimentary snacks & candy. Antique furniture, especially of the barber-shop variety. They have an old cash register that would take at least two guys to carry out the door, more likely three--if it wasn't bolted to an antique cabinet. An old shoeshine stand stands guard by the front door, which is flanked by barber poles. Oh, right--the haircut. Aces. I got a great haircut in the kind of atmosphere I grew up with. I will definitely be seeing Steve, Fred, Ace, and Jimmie Z again.

Something I've noticed from the various firearms magazines I read: their online presences suck. The various publications from Harris, for instance, only show the latest cover and table of contents, and a link to subscribe. No links to articles listed in the TOC. Nope, nothing from that issue available online. Guns Magazine fares only slightly better, giving you the feature story from each month to read. Whoever is uploading the accompanying pictures for those features needs to be fired (no pun intended); they are abhorrent. Granted, nothing would compare with the high-resolution glossies in the paper mag, but these are ridiculous. Come on, guys, get it together. I can sort of understand not putting up anything from the current month's magazine; you don't want to gut your off-the-shelf sales. At the very least you should be uploading all of your back issues, with all of the articles and columns, not just the monthly "feature." If you want to charge a nominal subscription fee, a la Consumer Reports, Playboy, et al, then go for it, but give us a chance at more content than a solitary article and a cover picture.

Jerry Jerk, er, Jones, has released the NFL's all-time leading rusher from the Dallas Cowboys. Players take note: this is how Jerry rewards your (well-paid) service to his organization. After 13 years, 3 Super Bowl wins, and the rushing title, Emmitt is now out in the cold. The only reason Jones kept Smith around for the 2002 season was so Number 22 would break the league rushing record in a Cowboys uniform; again, glorification for Jones' ego. In case you haven't guessed, I'm not a Cowboys fan, and have not been since we moved to Dallas. I remain, however, an Emmitt Smith fan, and I hope he gets what he wants: a shot at another Super Bowl as a team's number-one back. Everyone in Dallas will be in tears that Jerry let Emmitt go, but they'll spin it as simply a financial matter, that Smith is costing the team too much money. Jerry has long hinted that he doesn't think Emmitt has what it takes any more to be a number-one running back. Gee, Jerry, maybe if Emmitt had an offensive line that could block elderly grandmothers, much less Pro Bowl linebackers, that would've helped the past three seasons. And a quarterback that could throw accurately and consistently wouldn't hurt either.

Burger King has joined McDonald's on my places of never to eat again.

So, back in January, the New York Times' editorial page headline screamed "The War Against Women," the letter therein lambasting the Bush administration's moves with regard to the right to life. The Times chose to use the term "anti-choice" in the editorial, rather than "pro-life." This fails to honor the news-writing custom of adopting a group's preferred terminology in referring to its aims. Therefore, I (while not a newsperson, per se, but at any rate...) shall no longer refer to the opposition as "pro-choice," but rather as "pro-death," since that's what they really are. Coke or Pepsi is a choice, the life of a child is not.

You know that annoying Nike Shox ad with the guy running across the soccer field wearing only his Shox shoes and a scarf? Reebok, with the help of Terry Tate, has effectively nuked it, and good riddance. Kudos, Reebokkers!! (registration and QuickTime or WMP required — click on "Streak This, Baby!")

Well, after taking a couple of sick days, I'm beginning to feel normal again. The anti-nausea and anti-spasmodic drugs the ER doc prescribed for me have been helping immensely. I can feel my appetite coming back as well, eating 2 bowls of chicken and relatively bland stuff (water chestnuts, celery, white and green onions) at Genghis Grill, before dropping my sister off at the airport for her flight home. Yesterday, for kicks, I got on the scale, and discovered that I had lost somewhere between 7-10 pounds in about 48 hours. I say 7-10 because I generally float within a 5-pound range when I weigh myself. Plenty of rest has gone a long way toward recovery, and I should be back in the saddle at work tomorrow. For those that knew, thanks for your kind words and thoughts.

And it really, really, really sucks when you end up at the ER at 11:45 on a Saturday night because you're so dehydrated and you can't get fluids in by drinking water or Gatorade because you keep puking it up. Two IV bags of fluids, 3 blood samples, 2 x-rays, and 1 urine sample later, we learn I've got some kind of nasty virus because my white cell count is over 20,000. This is not a good thing. I was released about 3 in the morning. After stopping at the 24-hour Tom Thumb pharmacy nearby and getting my new drugs and a 2-liter of Sprite, we crashed into bed some time around 4. Steady improvements all day today, no more throwing up, which makes me happy because I really, really, really hate that. Bland food is all I can eat, so it's been dry toast, crackers, and rice. I'm feeling tons better, though not still 100%. While we had talked about what kind of fun, exciting things we could do with my little sister while she is in town visiting, this little adventure was the furthest thing from our minds. :)

My friends know that in general I detest Dennis Miller, but he made an excellent point regarding the ACLU on the Tonight Show this week:

"The ACLU spent this entire holiday season protesting public displays of the nativity scene. Yeah, that's the problem with America right now: Public displays of Christ's birth, that's the problem. It's unbelievable to me. The ACLU will no longer fight for your right to put up a nativity scene, but they'll fight for the right of the local freak who wants to stumble onto the scene and have sex with one of the sheep."

Hmmm. Maybe I've misunderstood Dennis throughout the '90s, but I always got the feeling he never took a stand on either side of the political aisle.

If a ban on partial-birth abortion, decidedly a conservative issue, is a "sop to the far right," why isn't a campaign finance reform bill, decidedly a leftist issue, a "sop to the far left?"

I know several folks out there, even some I call acquaintances and friends, believe that the United States, and specifically President Bush, is acting as a bully against Saddam and that world opinion is not with us. Sorry to say, but France, Russia, China, and far-left peace protestors do not constitute world opinon, no matter what their apologists in the mass media would have you think.

My friend Michael reports that on MSNBC just a while ago, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi stated, “When I see the American flag, I don’t just see a symbol of the United States, I see a symbol of freedom and democracy.”

Berlusconi gets it; our fight with Saddam isn’t purely about weapons of mass destruction, though that is the most significant reason. It’s not about controlling Iraqi oil reserves, either, despite what some conspiracy-minded leftists would have you believe. Beyond Saddam’s WMD threat, our fight with Saddam is about the freedom from oppression of the Iraqi people.

And if you think I’m wrong, then you need to check out the open letter sent to The Wall Street Journal, the Times of London and other newspapers today, by, respectively, the prime ministers of Spain, Portugal, Italy and Britain, the president of the Czech Republic and the prime ministers of Hungary, Poland and Denmark.

They get it. Each of these countries was touched in some way by oppression in the 20th century, namely Nazism and communism, and they note this. As nations, they speak from experience. As nations, they know what the Iraqi people are suffering; and they are willing to assist in the regime change necessary for Iraqi liberation. They get it. Why do so many Americans not?

Jordan’s King Hussein has apparently stated the U.S. can use his country as a staging area. At a press conference, Spain announced unconditional support for the United States with regard to handling Saddam. Other nations are rallying to America’s call to end Saddam’s tyrannical and threatening regime. I wonder how Jennings, Rather, and Brokaw will spin these developments in “world opinion.”

Can someone answer me why a French Canadian is singing “God Bless America” during the Super Bowl pre-game show? “My home sweet home?” She’s Canadian! She lives in Canada! Her home is Canada! Is is that hard to find a talented American singer to sing “God Bless America?”

At least American girls sang the national anthem. And quite nicely, I might add, not showboating or over-acting/singing in trying to show off their vocal skills. Hats off to the Dixie Chicks.

There are reasons why Patricia Heaton continues to be one of my favorite actresses. She’s absolutely fabulous on Everybody Loves Raymond, and she continues to stand up for traditional Judeo-Christian values.

Last Monday, Heaton walked out of the American Music Awards before she was due to intoduce a retrospective montage. Why? Because she was digusted by “an onslaught of lewd jokes and off-color remarks.”

"I'm no prude, but this was such a vulgar and disgusting show," Heaton said.

Heaton summarizes my own thoughts exactly:

"The entire evening became about bleeping. It was as if they were trying to become more like the MTV awards. But it's one thing if this kind of stuff is on MTV at 10 at night. It's quite another if it's on ABC at 8 o'clock. I don't know what Dick Clark was thinking."

Heaton fired back, when asked if she’s worried about any sort of “you’ll never present again” backlash: “Who cares?”

Major retrophisch kudos to Patricia Heaton for taking a stand against the Hollywonk culture.

As a transplanted Texan, one of the things that has bothered me since our move here in ‘98 has been how Cowboys-focused Dallas sports fans are. This year has been no exception; with “America’s Team” winning only 5 games, it has been wisely speculated for the past month if Dave Campo would remain the Cowboys head coach. This is how sad this town is when it comes to their NFL team: one news station interrupted a tornado warning to announce Campo’s firing earlier this week. A tornado warning! Now we know that Bill Parcels is the new head coach, blah, blah, blah.

Hello, Dallas? The Mavericks are kicking the tail out of every other team in the NBA, sitting alone atop the league. The Stars are trading the #1 spot in the NHL with Detroit and Ottawa on a nightly basis. You have championship-contending teams! They just don’t play in Texas Stadium.

Maybe now that the Cowboys’ season is over, you’ll pull your collective head out of Jerry Jones' butt and realize that. Go Stars!