SHHH — GOOD NEWS

According to Business Week, "Shares of major homebuilders mostly rose Monday after a trade group said sales of existing homes inched up in November as most economists expected.

"Sales of existing single-family homes, condominiums and townhouses rose 0.4 percent in November from October, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5 million units, the National Association of Realtors said."

Of course it doesn't offset earlier losses, but it still is a positive. But if it ain't bleeding, it ain't leading.

On another note, Media Week notes that, "Bill Kristol will become a weekly columnist for The New York Times in 2008. Kristol, a prominent neo-conservative who recently departed Time in what was reported as a "mutual" decision, has close ties to the White House and is a well-known proponent of the war in Iraq. Kristol also is a regular contributor to Fox News' Special Report with Brit Hume."

Kristol is editor of The Weekly Standard

Hmmm. Maybe they're finally getting it? Naaaah.

I promise that's it.

Happy New Year

CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR — WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN

If you'd like a good, realistic look at what the Middle East and environs might have been like (and a look at how our form of government works), you must see Charlie Wilson's War.

Tom Hanks is great as Charlie Wilson, the playboy Texas Congressman; Philip Seymour Hoffman is superb as Gust Avrakotos, the blue collar spook who made the entire thing possible; and Julia Roberts does a neat turn as Joanne Herring, the millionairess who inspired Wilson to get involved.

The supporting cast, including four of Wilson's office staff (who Robert's character refers to as "sluts"), Wynn Everett, Mary Bonner Baker, Rachel Nichols and Shiri Appleby, do terrific work (although all have some good lines, one of the "sluts" — and forgive me for not knowing which one — has the best. When asked by a constituent why there are nothing but attractive women staffing Representative Wilson's office, she replies: "They can teach them [men] to type, but they can't teach them to grow tits").

Amy Adams (who played Will Ferrell's girlfriend in Talladega Nights: The Ricky Bobby Story), does a nice turn with her part as Wilson's indispensable, indefatigable aide-de-camp.

The repartee between Hanks and Hoffman is rapid fire and hilarious, and the tale is a sort of clairvoyant fable.

Mike Nichols who directed the movie, stayed as close to the facts as possible and turned the Aaron Sorkin script (I refuse to believe that screaming bundle of political assininities produced this script, but he got the credit for it, so I'll have to go with it) into a winner.

I hope it wins an Oscar, so long as it doesn't win one for "best screenplay from a book" (of the same name, which was written by George Crile; worth the read before or after the movie) for Sorkin.

Wilson (who has retired back to Texas) and the CIA are often blamed by the left for the arming of what became the Taliban (and thus 9/11). In truth, it was the US Government's refusal to tend to Afghanistan after the Soviet withdrawl that insured the Taliban's rise to power and today's situation in Afghanistan.

But don't let the truth get in the way of a damn good movie. Sit back and enjoy.

CONGRATS TO THE GIANTS

I figured I'd title this entry in a fashion similar to the way the MSM does their stories.

Yes, the Pats won 16 games, going undefeated in the 2007 season, and congratulations to them for setting a mark that will probably "never" be beaten.

But, damn, if the Giants didn't play them better — and closer. Brady's still trying to get the figurative grass stains off his back — than anybody did all season.

Here's to the Giants and the playoffs.

Kick ass in Tampa Bay!!

CLINTON-BIN LADEN IN 2008

Those of you idiots intending to vote for the Arkansas carpetbagger, please note: her let’s-pull-a-headline-out-of-the-air remark noting that Pakistani troops (read: the guys on our side) may have killed the former PM, is going to get more American troops — and eventually — civilians killed.

One good thing to come out of that human wind indicator’s remarks, however, is that, when combined with mass murderer bin Laden’s latest tape calling for jihad on Israel (and “warning” the Iraqis not to select a peaceful government), we’ve finally found a running mate for her.

Her husband becomes the only American president to sanction an assassination (of her future running mate), and she takes the assassination of a candidate for a head of state position and claims the "Republicans" did it by default. Now there's a pair! And the MSM being what it is, doesn't say boo, squat, diddly about either.

What that woman won’t say or do to get elected is incredible in its range of irresponsibility.

I knew I couldn’t get out of 2007 gracefully.

Nuke Clinton.

"It’s like Rule Six of Brockian Ultra Cricket: The winning team shall be the first team that wins." — Douglas Adams

HAVE A GOOD 2008

Let’s see … they’re rioting in Kenya over their elections, in Pakistan (our only ally in that lovely little corner of the Fourth World), our economy is getting iffy (but not as bad — yet — as the MSM would have it), there’s as much Hillary in the news as there is Iraq (which is to say just about none), a tiger kicked some ass at a zoo in San Francisco (ah, but where else?), the Giants get a chance to end the Patriot’s shot at an undefeated season tonight (we’ll see. Stranger things have happened), and the candidates for president are busy working Iowa and New Hampshire, except for Rudy who appears to be concentrating on the other New York — Florida — where the locals know what he did in the Apple.

There are no riots having to do with politics in the US … but then there never are and that’s why we’re the best there is, no matter what we do. Ahh, good ol’ American Exceptionalism. I love it so.

Of note in the non-political arena:

•Mavericks is still on hold for the big wave contest and there are some decent swells heading its way, but I don’t think they’ll be contest swells unless one starts to drop south (where it’s not predicted to);
•Cave divers connected two systems in Florida in a marathon six hour dive/14 hour decompression/seven mile dive on December 15/16 in the Wakulla/Leon Sinks cave systems, the longest cave dive anywhere (For more on that go HERE);
•There’s an expedition forming, due to go in November 2008, to recover the bodies of four Navy men who were buried after a crash during Admiral Byrd’s fourth expedition to Antarctica. More info HERE;
•And you can check out the latest in underwater communications HERE .

As for me … here’s wishing you all a safe and happy 2008. As usual, unless some insanity really pisses me off between then and now, I’ll be taking a break until the new year.

Have a good one.

A NOTE ABOUT RUDY

You'll hear a lot of libs and whatnot — especially New York-based ones — talking about how Rudy Giuliani is really a nasty guy who didn't do anything for New York, or anybody else until 9-11. They also note that the WTC attack is his only claim to fame.

For those of you who are unaware of this, New York was a cesspool as a result of several years of rule by various liberal (read Democrat) mayors. Crime was rampant, race relations were abysmal, the city physically smelled, and it was a precarious place to live.

Whether or not you believe any of that, it is no longer true ...and no matter what the libs — or anyone else — say. New York City turned around at the hands of Rudy Giuliani.

Here's the bottom line: you can believe liberals who like the kind of mayor that got New Orleans "through" a hurricane, you can believe people who don't live in New York City, or you can believe your eyes and see the result of what a no-nonsense, hard-on-crime, good for business mayor can do to the most complicated city in the world.

That's not an opinion ... it's pure fact.

JUST A THANKS TO OUR MILITARY

There's a PDF file making the rounds containing quotes and accompanied by pictures (including one that should have been front page of Time magazine if it was an actual news magazine). If you get the file as a Zip, it's worth reading.

One quote, attributed to Gen. Tommy Franks, particularly caught my eye.

"When you men get home and face an anti-war protester, look him in the eyes and shake his hand. Then, wink at his girlfriend, because she knows she's dating a pussy."

God, but that's about the best line I've ever heard.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

GO SUCK ON A HIGH PRESSURE HOSE

The MSM idiots at the Times and Post (Wash.) have finally figured out that Hillary isn't the de facto winner of the next election and have moved back into their comfort zone, trumpeting the fact that the CIA didn't turn over all its interrogation tapes to the 9/11 commission when "specifically" requested.

My heart be still.

Is there some part of the word "intelligence" — when used to refer to a body charged with gathering the aforementioned — the Times' and Post's (which, along with the LA Times, are essentially the same papers) Clintonesque parsing wordsmiths can't decipher?


As Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones in Men in Black) noted so eloquently, "Eat me!"

WANNA' KEEP THOSE FINGERS?

An Oregon inventor has come up with a new kind of table saw for those of us who prefer having 10 fingers.

Woodworker Steve Gass, who also has a doctorate in physics, designed a saw that runs with a small electrical current feeding onto the blade; when the blade touches something that conducts electrical current — such as a finger — the current drops and engages a brake. It also drops the saw below table level. You may bleed, but that digit won't need more than a Band Aid to fix it.

HERE’S the Web page for the gizmo. Check out the video.

Thanks to Johnny B for the heads up.

THE REAL MISS AMERICA

Call 'em Spectre or Spooky, I don't care, 'cause I'm in love with Vanessa Dobos.

(For the record, the pic was taken in 2003 when she was an Airman First Class. Don't know if this Ohio miss is still in or not, but she still makes a helluva' pin up for this old grunt.)

M-4 CONTROVERSEY

THIS will probably only hold interest to those of you whose lives depend on, or have depended on, the good ol' US Army 5.56 subs, either the venerable M-16/CAR-15 or its descendants, the M4 and its variations.

The Army held a sand performance test this month (a little late, wouldn't you say?) only to find out that the M-4 finished in last place with nearly 3.5 times more jams than the guns it was tested against.

But they went ahead and bought a couple of million anyway.

There's a lot to this story and it all makes as much sense asa sending unarmored Hummers to the combat zones.

Somethin' sucks and the grunts are paying for it once again.

LEST WE FORGET

An image that's been around the Internet for a while, but one worth keeping in mind when you sit down with the family for dinner this Christmas. Arlington Cemetery at Christmas. The wreaths are donated by a guy named Merrill Worcester who owns the Worcester Wreath Co. of Harrington, Maine. He donates 5,000 and has been doing so since 1992. Thanks to him and the guys under the wreaths.

If you're interested in getting involved in this project (the idea is to lay wreaths on ALL the graves), you might want to check THIS out.

Thanks to my bud, Bob McK (a good ol' Texas boy via LI) for reminding me.

GOING TO THE MOUNTAINS?

I'm an ex rock and ice climber. I say (and mean) ex because I just don't have any of the requisite anatomy in functioning order anymore, and ...well, as Harry Callahan said, "A man's gotta know his limitations."

Anyway ... if you're headed up above the tree line or you're a skiier and want to bring home some good images, check THIS site out. It's a look at how the pros do it.

For those of you (skiiers or climbing wannabees) who need an excuse to get out west, you've GOT to go to the Ouray (Colorado) Ice Festival. I've climbed out there and it's some of the best (and the easiest to get to) ice climbing there is. Just on the other side of the mountains from Breckinridge.

This year's event takes place from January 9 to January 13. HERE'S the Web site.

THERE IS A SANTA CLAUS !!

You won't read/hear it anywhere, but ...

The New York Times had to change a subhead on a headline to their "big" story that the Prez had something to do with the CIA interrogation tapes being destroyed.

On Wednesday, White House press secretary Dana Perino said in a statement that the Times subheadline — “White House Role Was Wider Than It Said” — was inaccurate.

The Times — when called to put up or shut up — did a Dan Rather and decided that (once again) they were full of shit and simply letting there journalistic "objectivity" get in the way of their usual journalistic subjectivity .. or vice versa. Or verse vicea.

Anyway, they folded and changed the subhead.

Yes, there really IS a Santa Claus.

Merry Christmas ... ho, ho, ho, ho

SALTWATER FUEL

Saltwater as fuel? With prices such as we're seeing today, being able to convert saltwater into propulsion energy would be very neat — especially for boaters.

HERE'S a video about a guy who was looking for a cure for cancer and stumbled upon something he hadn't planned on.

If you'd like to read more, enter "saltwater into fuel" in your search engine and you'll find a ton about this.

Very cool.

Thanks to a bud I used to work with at Irish, John M, for the tip. I still get red thinking about the furnace, John.

I'M BAACK

Well ... after a fairly nice week in the Sunshine State, I'm back and catching up with all the news.

Apparently religion isn't ... even though the media is trying awfully hard to make it so ... going to affect the primaries. As much as the MSM tries, until they take Obama to task for being any connection to Islam, they're going to have to eat the religion issue.

Then of course there's the hoo-hah over the "torture tapes." I've said it once and I'll say it again: if torture saves one of our people from dying, it works for me. And I'll also reiterate: I've been water boarded (admittedly, in practice to get an idea what the subject would go through). It sucks and you WILL talk. Unless you're a fan of feeling like you're fixin' to drown.

(BTW: Click on the December 2005 entry (on the left) of LRRP's World, and scroll down to another conversation about torture. None of this shit is new.)

Anyway, even that doesn't seem to be getting an inordinate amount of MSM pressure since, near as I can tell, they (the MSM that is) are way too busy falling over themselves trying to portray the nicer Hillary/Clintons. They write like a bunch of teenaged girls at a Whoever Montana concert sound. Thankfully their labors at enamorous prose have caused most of them to simply lose interest in anything else.

Let's see ... Kudos to Senator Joe for coming out for McCain. The libs must reaaaally hate Joe. Hell, it's no wonder ... he actually says what he means, and backs it up, making him a rarity among the political elite, left or right. I think we need a Jewish guy like Joe in the White House. Beats most of the WASPS, Christians, Muslims, etc., of the current crop.

But since he isn't running, I'm still pulling for Rudy or Fred. I love Senator McCain, and he would have made a helluva president, but it needed to happen last time.

Okay ... that's it for now ... if you don't get back here until after the new year, here's wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

I may — or may not — be back on here this week. If not ... well, I'll be back.

Road trip!!!!!

NUKE THE ENVIROS

News item out of (where else?) San Francisco.

“Environmental and Native Alaskan groups asked a federal appeals court Tuesday to block Royal Dutch Shell PLC's plans for exploratory oil drilling near the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

“The U.S. Mineral Management Service decided this year to allow the energy giant to drill up to 12 exploratory oil wells in the Beaufort Sea off the northern coast of Alaska.

“Attorneys for the groups appealing the decision told a three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, in San Francisco, that the mineral agency didn't adequately consider the drilling's impact on endangered bowhead whales and other marine mammals, said attorneys for the Alaska Wilderness League, Sierra Club and other conservation groups.”

Bull shit.

I think whales are some of the neatest critters around, and have been fortunate to have dived with a couple of different species over the years, as well as with manatees, and several species of dolphin and seal. I also think offshore oil platforms are pretty neat, and have dived off them in the Gulf of Mexico.

The actual safeguards used in oil drilling work, and the emergency procedures work. Do they work all the time and will they stop every iota of oil from escaping? No, but nothing man-made works all the time.

When are we going to stop this insidious assault on the utilization of American natural resources by people who demand 100-percent assurance. It’s gonna’ rain sometimes and you’re gonna’ get wet sometimes. Ain’t nothing in life 100 percent.

One of the reasons we don’t have cheap energy in this country is because we refuse to use nuclear energy. We also refuse to use wind energy, don’t want gas transshipment platforms, don’t want electric cables, don’t want … Ad nauseam. All because it's not "100 percent safe."

And yet we still have the temerity to complain about $3.50 a gallon gas, and bemoan going to war to partially ensure we’re not paying $5.50 (like the rest of the world).

When the hell is this country going to grow up and smell the roses? When it's waaaay too late?

.

WE CAN'T FORGET THE PAST

December 7, 1941 — Pearl Harbor Day.

70 FEET AT MAVERICKS

Listen to Grant Washburn, one of the long-time locals at Mavs talk about Big Tuesday on NPR

Betcha never thought you'd see THOSE letters on LRRP's World!

HERE'S 20 MINUTES YOU WON'T GET BACK

Check THIS out ... I guarantee there's something of interest for everybody.

Thanks to Suzanne O for finding it.

DAMN THE GAS PUMPS — THE MUSCLE CAR RETURNS

Dodge's all-new Challenger SRT8 will be shown publicly for the first time on February 6, 2008 at the Chicago Auto Show. Dealers began accepting orders on Monday, December 3; more than 4,300 SRT8s were ordered by customers the first day, and more than 6,000 people have made deposits with dealers since orders opened.

The Challenger SRT8 is powered by a 6.1-liter HEMI V-8, and features a numbered dash plaque, and dual “carbon-fiber” hood stripes that harken back to the original Dodge Challenger. It will also come with a five-speed automatic with Autostick (look for a manual version in ’09).

According to Dodge PR specialist Kathy Graham, “The 2008 model year is a limited run model year and deliveries of those vehicles will start in the spring of 2008. If dealers are telling customers delivery will be in 12 to 15 months, they are not talking about the 2008 model year vehicles with the limited edition dash plaques."

The limited run has not been specified but will be under 10,000 cars, according to Graham.

TWO VERY COOL VIDEOS

THIS ONE is about a very neat — but insane — job.

THIS ONE is about some insane BASE jumping.

I think the job would be pretty cool, even though there doesn't appear to be much room for error. The style of BASE jumping pictured would appear to have a relatively short life span before a distance perception error kills you. But it would be a helluva way to go.

Enjoy both ... and thanks to Johnny B for turning me — and you — on to them.

THE I-MAN RETURNS

Is that a face made for radio, or what!

Haven't had a chance to listen to him yet — and I had gotten tired of panty-waisted liberalism of the later parts of his career — but he does make you think, and now that he's survived the racist in politically correct sheep's garb, he's back.

A report on the "new" I-Man tomorrow (or whenever!)

GIVING AIN'T EASY — The Polar Bear Plunge

LEFT: (l-r) Gary, Duane and Ed have left the water.








So, I’m at town hall for a meeting of the bonfire committee — which surprisingly — is in its eighth year. Unfortunately, I’m not going to actually be at the bonfire this year (I’m the one that spends most of the night feeding the fire and keeping the crowd away from doing the same) due to a previous and incredibly ill-timed commitment.

(For those of you so interested, this year’s event will be held December 8. It starts around 4-ish, Santa comes downriver on his 40-foot North Pole Cruiser around dark, magically lights the town Christmas tree and then takes pics with all the good kiddies. Bring your own libations, snacks and lawn chairs.)

Regardless … the impetus behind the bonfire is none other than councilman Eddie D. Ed hands me a sign-in sheet and says, “You going?”

Usually when Ed says that, my knee-jerk response is, okay, because Ed always does the kind of stuff I like to do. He’s the kid my mother always asked if I’d follow off the Brooklyn Bridge. The answer, mom, is yes. (By the way: the other cohort of our triumvirate, Duane, is not at the bonfire meeting, though he has been doing the bonfire since its inception, as well. Duane brings Santa down every year, and has already been victimized into saying, yes, to what I am about to say yes to).

It seems I’ve said yes to a charity polar bear plunge on the following Saturday (which, as this is written, was yesterday). Now, I’ve dived in both northern and southern extremities of the Atlantic Ocean; i.e., sub Arctic and Antarctic. However, I was always clad in the latest drysuits, and with the exception of some frozen snot, and a frozen face between moustache and chin, didn’t suffer too much. But this is a bathing suit-only swim.

Saturday dawns the coldest day of the new winter. Air temp is 34 degrees, but there’s a wind gusting to 20-plus knots, which gives a windchill of about 24. The wind is out of the north and blowing the bay out off the beach. It’s low tide anyway, so this also means we’re going to have to walk at least a football field’s length in water up to our knees before we can “safely” submerge. The water temp should be in the high 40s, but because it’s so shallow the cold has had its way, and it ain’t. I’m not sure what the water temp is (I measured it the day before at between 37 and 43), but it’s damn cold.

There are a surprising number of people here to see this first-time-ever event (it’s to raise money for the Peconic Bay Medical Center ER— and I’m told it raises around $30,000). I guess watching the 75 or so idiots who are going in provides quite a spectacle, having a sort of Christians-to-the-lions feeling about it.

Anyway, to make a long story endless, we make the plunge, make the painful slog back to the beach, where we change into something somewhat warm (an aside: Duane looks and acts like he does this on a regular basis, dressing casually as he acknowledges his fan base. That’s why we refer to him as Da Man).

The event appears to be unbelievably successful. So much so, that I guess they’ll be doing it again next year, and I guess by then, the memory of the pain will have subsided enough to mandate that I partake again. And I know Duane and Ed will be there — along with all the other lunatics — as well.

The things we do for civic consciousness.

(PS: Thanks to all of you who donated!!