I just spewed coffee all over my keyboard!

The woman currently residing in the East Wing of the White House says her husband doesn't have a big ego!

"You see this in, you know, how he leads the country," the first lady said, staying on message in

an interview taped weeks ago to air before debate coverage. "I mean, he is very open to other

people's opinions. And he's always willing to compromise and he's always, always listening.

So that would kind of be the last thing that I would think of when I talk about my husband is big ego.

Because he just doesn't have that. So it's not much to check."

Never, ever, at any point in time during the Prez's time in office have I...

• Considered his ego to be anything except SuperSized
• Seen any sign of his being open to opinions other than his own
• A willingness on his part to compromise

Maybe she meant in comparison to her own? Did you notice the story title on that Vogue cover? I doubt it ran without her approval.

F.W.I.?

"Some of the reporters covering tonight’s presidential debate at Hofstra University in Long Island

may be F.W.I.–filing while intoxicated. Anheuser-Busch is apparently a sponsor of tonight’s rhetorical

battle and the beer company has set up a “hospitality tent” outside the media filing center where reporters are being treated to free food, brews and souvenir glasses."

Filing While Intoxicated! Can they be ticketed for that? Doubtful. Their Press Passes are probably some sort of "Don't Ticket Me, Bro," and "Stay out of Jail Card." Gives new meaning to "Power of the Press."

But this little bit of insight just might explain a couple of things about... 1) The content/nonsense of some reports you read about the debates. 2) Why reporters have reportedly been clamoring for these assignments. Yeah, who doesn't want to get in on free souvenir glasses?

Oooooops!

A few days ago I wrote about the American Flag. A reader pointed out something I didn't include. What to do with the flag you're replacing. I'll correct my "haste makes waste" (and incomplete posts) error right now.

You've probably heard that tattered and torn American Flags should be disposed of by burning. I don't like the sound of the perfectly good word, "disposed" in this context, but it is what it is. And some folks don't like using another fine word, "burn," when discussing Our Flag. How about "Retire, Retiring, and Retirement?" I like those. And that's how the subject is described in the American Legion Manual of Ceremonies.

Most Legion Posts will Retire your flag for you. And, a number of Boy Scout Troops will help you. Give them a call.

I like the picture I ran, so much that I'm putting it up again.

Image Detail: Melinda Bula of El Dorado Hills, Calif., made this art quit for her son

serving in the U.S. Marines. It's titled "Our Flag Was Still There."

Not so great news about our military capability

"A major international naval exercise last month in and around the Persian Gulf and

Arabian Sea, led by the U.S. Navy with more than 30 other nations participating,

located fewer than half of the practice mines laid at sea.

This outcome of the highly publicized military drills — not publicly known until now — 

underscores how difficult it may be for the United States and its partners to detect and

incapacitate waterborne explosive devices that Iran has threatened to plant if its nuclear

facilities come under attack."

U.S.S. Enterprise (The "Big E")

I don't see this as a weakness of our Navy. I see it as an example of why they conduct "exercises." They practice and they learn. They fix problems and get stronger. I'm thankful they discovered something that needs fixing under circumstances that won't get somebody killed.

I do have one concern. Why do we continue to tell the world about a weakness? Shut up and fix the problem. I have no idea who thought this was a good idea or what they hoped to accomplish.

I like scientific minds capable of reducing things down to my level of comprehension

For example...

Have you ever wondered about planets spinning around the sun and never bumping into each other? (a good thing) One of NASA's space telescopes pulled in some information and...

"UCLA astronomers looked at data from NASA's planet-hunting Kepler space

telescope and found that more than 85 percent of alien planets have inclinations 

of less than 3 degrees. This means they orbit around a star near the same axis as

other planets in their system." 

Not readily understood by the masses. (us regular folks) Talk in pancakes. Folks know pancakes. I know I can relate to pancakes. (with real butter and genuine maple syrup, please) 

Enter the pancakes...

"The best mental image for the geometry of planetary systems is somewhere between a crepe

and a pancake," UCLA professor Jean-Luc Margot explained in a statement today (Oct. 15).

"I made pancakes this weekend to verify our analogy. I measured a mean thickness of 7.3 mm

(a little under one-fourth of an inch) and a mean radius of 65 mm (about 2.5 inches).

This corresponds to inclinations of six degrees," Margot said. "So most planetary systems are

flatter than pancakes, by about a factor of two."

Ok, the words are still a little scientificy, but I've got a better idea now of what they're talking about. So, I went hunting for a picture. Voila!

Our Solar System

 And that's today's science lesson. I hope you've been enlightened.

 

They promised they'd call. Why don't they call?

And now, a brief moment of humor. Or not.

Our politicians are pondering. That's usually not a good thing.

The Prez is dealing with another dilemma. "He Who Personally Takes Down Terrorists," is looking around for somebody(ies) to off as payback for all the trouble he's had to deal with over BenghaziGate. (It's cramping his plans for playing palsy with celebs and raking in campaign $$$.)

As usual, in the case of a dilemma, tough decisions must be made. Time must be taken away from golf. (poor baby) And, as usual, the tough decisions don't involve helping Moochelle (as I've seen her referenced) decide which pants to wear. (Do these make my posterior look big?)

He needs a specific target...

"And if the administration does find a target, officials say it still has to weigh whether

the short-term payoff of exacting retribution on al-Qaida is worth the risk that such

strikes could elevate the group's profile in the region, alienate governments

the U.S. needs to fight the group in the future and do little to slow the

growing terror threat in North Africa."

Please take careful note of the verbiage. They're worrying about alienating somebody? And that any action might do little to slow down things? Give. Me. A. Break. You want payback? Get it. Cowboy up. You wanted the Big Job, you got it. T.C.B.

My newest "I want one of those babies!"

Flies bug the hell out of me. I swat. I spray. They keep on coming. And multiplying. They are unbelievably relentless. Where are they coming from? How can I get near Fly Headquarters and fire bomb the place?

I'm not a violent person. I usually don't wish harm to befall anyone. (maybe a little discomfort, but never harm) Except when it comes to flies. The only thing that would make me happier when I nail one of the little suckers with a swatter, is to hear just a little scream. Not overly loud or protracted. I'd just like to know he/she suffered just a little in their last moments.

As trusty as the Fly Swatter is, I've just found a new Weapon of Fly Destruction! It just could become my Weapon of Choice. I'm afraid, though, I've found this marvel a little late. The guy who invented it can't keep up with the orders he has (21,400) and he's suspended sales. Damn!

Ready, Aim, Shplatt!

 Besides looking like a lot of fun, the ammo is cheap. Table salt. Yes, table salt! (no ATF paper work involved) The inventor says it's "lethal against mosquitoes, spiders and all sorts of irksome insects." Want this. Must have this.

This new "Idol of All Men" had a website loaded with videos and a page notifying you about the backorder status. Oh, they're available in bulk at discounted prices. Really cool for putting together your very own Army of  Fly Assassins.

Is this what being the Prez is about?

The Prez did another of his "appearances." This time it was a phone interview with an airhead in Miami. He weighed in on something referred to as "the Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj feud." (I don't watch it or care about it, but I noticed something about the two ladies being on some TV show.)

“I think they are going to be able to sort it out,” President Obama, 51, joked to Yo.

“I am confident. I am all about bringing people together, working for the same cause.

I think both outstanding artists are going to be able to make sure that they’re

moving forward and not going backwards.”

The president went on to say that he knows Carey, whom he described as “a wonderful lady,”
as well as her husband Nick Cannon because the singer had “done some events for us.”
And while he doesn’t know Minaj, 29, personally, he noted that he listens to her on his iPod.
So how would he do on “American Idol”? Not well, Obama laughed, adding,
“I’m going to keep my day job.”

The Dueling Ditzes

I feel so good, knowing our Prez is confident this Major Problem will be resolved. By the parties involved. Even though he's "all about bringing people together," and won't have one single thing to do with bringing these two parties (or party-ers) together. If they ever do get together. (no jokes, please)

And, I love how he managed to get the "moving forward and not going backwards" worked into the "interview."

“I’m going to keep my day job.” Maybe. Maybe not. 20 days and counting.