The Palin Express chugs into view -- sort of

Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Sarah Palin after speaking at a celebration of President 

Ronald Reagan on Friday in Santa Barbara, Calif. Ms. Palin 

said the country was on a �road to ruin� and compared 

President Obama�s initiatives to those of President 

Lyndon B. Johnson.

On the campaign trail?

The above cited NY Times article concludes with the words below.  Strange, no? Can you imagine her State of the Union Address? She'd probably make standing ovations a mandatory part of the program. Hell, she may not even invite people who make her nervous!

And what's with that red jacket? The last political person with that strong a haberdashery habit was Chairman Mao.

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The dinner, which was at a far smaller venue than the big rallies Ms. Palin often attends, had tight security and rigid rules. She entered the room just before she spoke � forgoing the ritual of sitting through dinner and mingling with guests � and exited before the applause ended.

People were admonished to stay in their seats and not approach Ms. Palin as she walked through the room.

�We�d all like to jump up and give her a high-five, but please stay at your tables,� Kate Obenshain, vice president of the foundation, announced from the dais. �There will be no book signings or autographs.�

At the end of the evening, people were asked to put their own cameras away and retire to the second floor of the Reagan Ranch Center to have a professional photograph taken with Ms. Palin, which will be sent to them in the mail.

So that's what England is all about!

Thanks to Jim Lent for finding and providing this exquisite answer to the question you never thought to ask -- What is the difference between England and the United Kingdom?
 If you need a laugh, picture Sarah Palin trying to digest this -- and scribble it on her palm for the quiz!

Baseball -- who's in charge here?

With the entire physical and political world falling apart all around us, with record-breaking snow and general freaky weather wreaking havoc on our travel, life style and general well being, why should the advent of the 2011 baseball be any different?

As a Mets fan, I am faced with a team of almost anonymous field management and an ownership threatened with a Madoff Ponzi lawsuit. On the bright side, this will be a season of middling expectations; most Met fans will consider 2011 a success if we play .500 ball.
But speaking of playing ball, the Mets just signed Angel Pagan to a one-year, $3.5 million contract, which is roughly a $2 million raise.
Pagan batted .290 last year; he hit 11 homers, had 69 ribbies, 31 doubles and scored 80 runs. He also stole 37 bases.
By way of idiotic comparison, Alex Rodriguez batted .270, hit 30 homers, had 125 ribbies, 29 doubles and scored 74 runs. He stole 4 bases. He's getting paid $27 million or so per year. Oh, and he's six years OLDER than Pagan.

Angel and his daughter at you-know-where.

Why should baseball make more sense than Egypt, or Health Care, or Global Warming?  Go figure.

James Bond composer John Barry dead at 77

Shirley Bassey. Listen to the last few bars. An entire symphony orchestra plays second fiddle to that voice!



Few people know that the inspiration for 'Goldfinger' came for New Jersey's Charlie Engelhard, the head of Engelhard Minerals.  When Ian Fleming was vacationing in Jamaica, Mr. Engelhard was living in a villa adjacent to Fleming's. Fleming saw him poolside one day, and inquired about who the portly man was.  The rest, as they say in the pulps, is history.
BBC News - Bond composer John Barry dies aged 77