Doc

Doc Holliday (1851-1887).

Gambler. Gunfighter. Dentist. Friend of Wyatt Earp and participant in the Gunfight at the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona. Extremely well educated in the classics, mathematics, Latin, French, Greek. Doctor of Dental Surgery from Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery. Participant in the Earp Vendetta. An extremely dedicated gambler. Died in Colorado of Tuberculosis.

Oh, those darned politicians!

Bush haters were pretty uncompromising about calling the former president a liar. Every little misjudgment or miscalculation or any act based on the advice of others was quickly called a Bush lie.

Because they cut Bush no slack or ever gave him the benefit of the doubt, I'm sure they won't mind if Obama is treated with the same respect they showed Bush.

Obama is a liar.

It would be hard to count the times when he stated in campaign speeches: "On my first day in office, I will call in the Joint Chiefs of Staff and order a close to the Iraq war."

Many people voted for Obama on that premise. Maybe enough to get him elected.

Today was his first day in office. He didn't call in the Joint Chiefs of Staff and order an end to the Iraq War.

Therefore, using the the same standard as the Bush haters use, Obama is a liar.

The first thing on the list will insure failure all by itself. So if you feel you cannot stick to a full and balanced program, at least practice number one.

1. Learn the habit of putting things off until tomorrow.

2. Learn the blame game. It’s not fair. It’s not your fault. You’re not responsible.

3. Be selfish. Take what you can get. The plight of others is not your concern.

4. Seek constant pleasure and instant gratification. Do not defer pleasure or rewards. Do not endure temporary hardship and unpleasantness. Look for shortcuts.

5. Be entitlement-minded: they owe it to you. You’ve got it coming.

6. Give up easily. Accept your lot in life. It wasn’t meant to be.

7. Don’t take risks. Never put yourself on the line. Protect what you’ve got. Build a protective bunker. They’re out to get you.

8. Never risk emotional pain, heartache, or the possibility of disappointment. Never expose your true feelings.

9. Do not set goals. You will only be disappointed when you don’t reach them. Be flexible and ready to change course at the first difficulty.

10. Understand that formal education is a waste of time. Learn to live by your wits and natural inclinations.

Is there a solution to Gaza?

According to an Associated Press article on January 11, 2009:

Israel launched its campaign in Gaza on Dec. 27 to stop rocket fire from the militant Palestinian group Hamas. Gaza health officials say nearly 870 Palestinians have been killed, roughly half of them civilians. Thirteen Israelis have also died.

The following are some points of view that have since been expressed in the media:

1. Israel should not have responded to the rocket attacks with force

2. Israel has a right to defend itself, but should have only used equal force

3. Israel should have tried to talk longer while continuing to endure the rocket attacks

4. Israel is an illegitimate state and should not be allowed to exist

5. Palestine is for Palestinians. The conflict will continue until Israel is driven out

6. Israel has the right to defend itself and to take whatever measures are necessary to remove the cause of the assault on its territory

Do any of these views match your own?

Also comment, if you wish, on how you feel this decades old struggle might be resolved.

If at all possible, please do your best to stick to the historical facts whenever you can, if you know them, but give your personal views and beliefs, even if you are not sure about the history of the conflict.

PIcture #1: Jumbo big
Picture #2: Jumbo dead

Did you know that Jumbo was the biggest elephant that ever lived?

That’s what circus owner and all-around flim-flam man P.T. Barnum said, anyway. I don’t know how he would be able to prove something like that. Jumbo sure was a big elephant, though. Jumbo’s height was said to be close to 13 feet when he died.

Here’s a bit of trivia. Before Jumbo, the word Jumbo wasn’t in our vocabulary. It didn’t mean anything. And now jumbo means anything that is humongously large. Jumbo was born in Africa, and the name might have been related to the Swahili word jumbe, which means “chief.” (I just read that on Wikipedia.)

Jumbo died in 1885, when he was struck by a locomotive. The circus traveled by train in those days. True to form, Barnum had Jumbo stuffed and still exhibited him with the circus for quite a while after that.

The truth and P.T. Barnum were strangers. Barnum would tell the children at the circus that Jumbo died while saving a baby elephant. It was P.T. Barnum who coined the phrase, “There’s a sucker born every minute.”

P.T. spent just about his whole life earning a good living off those suckers. Kind of like Bill Gates. Just kidding.