Odds and Ends from the News

Tonight President Obama will deliver his "State of the Union" address. He will probably speak for about 45 minutes*, after which Representative Cathy McMorris Rogers will deliver the official GOP rebuttal**, after which Senator Mike Lee will deliver the Tea Party rebuttal***, after which Rand Paul will deliver yet another response on behalf of ... well ... himself****. It will be a good evening to pop a DVD into the player, or fire up the DVR and catch up on your recorded shows, because you already know what everyone is going to say, and none of it is worth listening to. Read all about the blather-thon here.

According to a report on CNN online, a crow and a seagull attacked two white peace doves released by children standing next to Pope Francis last Sunday at St. Peter's Square.

The birds of prey attacked as the doves flew away from the open window in the Apostolic Palace⁺ ...

This leads to two observations:

First, if you're really interested in peace, it's not a very good omen; and

Second, if the Pope had released those doves anywhere in the United States, someone would probably have shot them before the birds of prey got close.

In another story hitting the news yesterday Eric Lawson, the actor who portrayed the rugged "Marlboro Man" in cigarette ads in the 1970's, has died of respiratory failure due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease ... in other words, smoking killed him. If you smoke, you might want to think about that for a minute.

Have a good day. Forget about the State of the Union address, don't smoke, and keep your distance from doves of peace. The first can be hazardous to your sanity; the last two can be hazardous to your health.

More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

* He could do it in about three seconds by just saying, "It sucks."

** In which they will take about a half-hour to say, "It sucks and it's all Obama's fault."

*** In which they will say, "It sucks and it's everybody's fault but ours."

**** "zzzzzzz"

⁺ Much like showboating politicians swooping down on the State of the Union Address.