Squiggler

Happy Birthday Mr. President

President George W. Bush turns sixty today and a big happy birthday to him and all the others with a 6 July birthday!

Some others born on 6 July you might recognize:

1747

John Paul Jones
American naval officer   d: 1792 

1866
Beatrix [Helen] Potter
children’s stories author   d: 1943 

1884
Harold Vanderbilt
capitalist, sportsman   d: 1970 

1909
Andrei Gromyko
Russian leader   d: 1989 

1915
LaVerne Andrews
singer   d: 1967 

1918
Sebastian Cabot
actor   d: 1977 

1921
Nancy Reagan [Anne Robbins-Davis]
actress, former First Lady: married to 40th U.S. President Ronald Reagan 

1922
William Schallert
actor 

1924
Darrell Royal
College Football Hall of Famer 

1925
Merv Griffin
TV host, singer 

1927
Susan Cabot [Harriet Shapiro]
actress   d: 1986 

1927
Bill Haley
musician, singer   d: 1981 

1927
Janet Leigh [Jeanette Morrison Reames]
actress 

1927
Pat Paulsen
comedian   d: 1997 

1931
Donal Donnelly
actor 

1931
Della Reese [Deloreese Early]
singer, actress 

1937
Ned Beatty
actor 

1937
Gene Chandler [Eugene Dixon]
singer 

1945
Rik Elswit
musician, guitarist, singer 

1945
James Naughton
actor 

1945
Billy Plager
hockey 

1945
Burt Ward [Gervais]
actor 

1946
George Walker Bush
President of U.S., former Governor of Texas 

1946
Fred Dryer
actor 

1946
Sylvester Stallone
actor 

1946
James Browning Wyeth
artist 

1951
Geoffrey Rush
actor 

1952
Grant Goodeve
actor 

1952
Shelley Hack
actress 

1953
Nanci Griffith
Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter 

1954
Allyse Beasley
actress 

1959
Jon Keeble
musician, drummer 

1968
Glenn Scarpelli
actor 

First Day of Summer ...

Today is the first day of Summer according to the calendar and astronomy. When I was growing up, we always thought of the first day of Summer as Memorial Day, but that was more likely because Memorial Day signaled the last day of school and the start of the long-awaited Summer vacation.

We didn't know about the science:

In the northern hemisphere, the longest day of the year (near June 22) when the Sun is farthest north. In the southern hemisphere, winter and summer solstices are exchanged. The summer solstice marks the first day of the season of summer. The declination of the Sun on the (northern) summer solstice is known as the tropic of cancer (23° 27'). 

The summer solstice is the longest day of the year, respectively, in the sense that the length of time elapsed between sunrise and sunset on this day is a maximum for the year.  Of course, daylight saving time means that the first Sunday in April has 23 hours and the last Sunday in October has 25 hours, but these human meddlings with the calendar and do not correspond to the actual number of daylight hours. In Chicago, there are 15:02 hours of daylight on the summer solstice of June 21, 1999.

Summer was the time of going off to camp or to our summer cottage at Conneaut Lake, of vaction travel. It was the time of playing outdoors, of bike riding, water skiing, of hanging out at the local pool or going to the drive-in (hopefully with a boyfriend who drove a convertible). It was the time of meeting friends at the Dairy Queen and neighborhood block parties. Summer meant fun. It was a time of picnics, slurping big slices of watermellon and then having seed spitting contests, it was hot dogs, corn on the cob, and wearing shorts.

Now I live in California, where it is Summer 11 months of the year. The kids barely differentiate between Summer and Winter. I love the modern age, the age of technology, but when it comes to Summer, I admit, I'm nostalgic for that gentler time in a small town in Pennsylvania.

Related:

Solstice sun clouded over at Stonehenge

SALISBURY, England, June 21 (UPI) --

About 17,000 people attended the summer solstice celebration at Stonehenge in Britain as bad weather kept additional thousands away from the annual gathering.

Wiltshire police prepared for at least 20,000 visitors for the nightlong party that leads into the sun rising on the longest day of the year. Only four people were arrested and police said it was a fairly quiet night.

The Mirror reports people flock to the ancient site for the optical illusions as the sun peeks over the Heel Stone of Stonehenge.

Although the rain stopped falling by sunrise, the clouds lingered and blocked the view.

© UPI, Headline News Powered by Bravenet.com        

       

   WARNING! Moonbat Alert!

   On First Day of Summer, ABC Asks Audience for Global Warming Anecdotes

Gloat! Gloat! Gloat!

SUBTITLE: ROVE VINDICATED - PRESIDENT IN BAGHDAD

I fell asleep last night with the television still on. This morning, eyes still closed, still more asleep than awake, and I hear a female voice say, "Rove vindicated!" My reaction was, "WHAAAAT?" But before I could pry my eyes open, I hear a follow-up announcement, "President foregoes teleconference with Iraqi Prime Minster. Makes personal visit to Baghdad!" WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?

I cannot help myself, I'm gloating. I predicted all along that Karl Rove would not be indicted. And the punctuation point of President Bush turning up in Baghdad is the icing on the cake.

President George W. Bush rides in the cockpit of Air Force One on the final approach before landing in Baghdad Tuesday, June 13, 2006. White House photo by Eric Draper

As Hugh Hewitt says: "UPDATE: And now the president is in Baghdad. Somebody get some valium over to DailyKos."

JustOneMinute is on the story and Tom Maguire is eating some crow along with many others. But plenty of fellow gloaters too.

AJ Strata says: Fitzgerald Quits While He Is Behind. "For those who do not have time to wade through hundreds of wailing posts from lefties moaning the end of Fitzmas, Mark Coffey has collected his top ten favorite whines."

And about that teleconference:

Air Force One touched down at 4:11 pm local time after a swift, spiraling descent to Baghdad International Airport meant to avoid anti-aircraft fire. Bush then traveled in an armed Black Hawk helicopter for the six-minute journey to the heavily fortified Green Zone of Baghdad.

``Good to see you,'' Maliki said when Bush walked into the Republican Palace, which serves as the temporary U.S. embassy. ``Thanks for having me,'' the president responded.

While in Baghdad, Bush also will participate in a video teleconference with his own advisers back in the U.S. and visit with U.S. troops. It was his second such visit to Iraq, and his departure from the U.S. was kept secret for security reasons.

And our favorite headline from the man of few words, Instapundit: "FROM FITZMAS TO FIZZLEMAS: Karl Rove won't be indicted."

Oh it's going to be a fun day with posts like this from Black Five:

Rove Skates!

By Uncle Jimbo

Ha Ha Ha! Ho Ho Ho! Yee haw Jester's dead. Oops wrong reference.

Boy it's fun to sit down at work and have the first headline that greets me bring such joy and schadenfreude. The poor moonbats must just be heartbroken. No Charges against Rove, No Frog marching in chains, no Fitzmas. ZIP, ZERO, NADA!

Bite me Joe Wilson and your silly, scarf-wearing wife. Suck it Firedoglake and Kos and every other deranged lefty collection of wankers who spent so much effort over nothing, well an attempt to bring down W's brain isn't nothing, but it sure didn't work out now did it? Hey can we get a definitive ruling that Joe Wilson is a lying, self-promoting, man whore?

Or this from MacsMind:

Bang of a Summer IX- Bush in Bagdad leaves MSM holding the .....Bag

By MacRanger

While Rove slept peacefully and restfully......

Bush headed to Baghdad leaving the press to wonder, "What the?"

And you have to check out Decision '08 "Top Ten (Themed!) ‘Progressive’ Reactions To The End of Fitzmas"

Via Gatway Pundit

 

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki - "Good to see you!'
President George W. Bush - "Thanks for having me!"

President Bush, left, walks in the courtyard of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, June 13, 2006 with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Right Wing News has this to say:

If you're a Republican you gotta love it because you know if this shirt existed, Karl Rove would be wearing it today:

And Red State on the trip to Iraq:

The President on message in Iraq

Mr. Bush is in Iraq today. His message is simple and profound: The al-Maliki adminstration is real government made up of serious people with whom Mr. Bush feels he can work. Beyond that, as we all know this conflict has in many ways turned into a battle of perception, and the visual proof of solidarity provided by this face-to-face meeting could never be equaled by a picture of the President talking to a video screen.

Michelle Malkin has declared it Rove Derangement Syndrome Day.

Assuming you've all heard the news.

No Rove indictment in the CIA leak case.

And for a little "culture" in poetry:

The Night Before Fitzmas
(Apologies to Clement C. Moore)

Twas the night before Fitzmas and all through the blogs,
Not a creature was stirring, not even the firedogs.

The indictments were sealed at the courthouse with care
In hopes that Karl Rove soon would be there.

Lefty bloggers were snuggled all safe in their beds
While visions of frog-marches danced in their heads

When over at Truthout there arose such a clatter,
We all surfed over to see what was the matter. ... more

 

VIDEO: Bush Speaks To Troops In Iraq

Click to Download (.wmv)

Looking emotional at times, President Bush spoke to U.S. troops during his surprise trip to Iraq today.

And over at Seixon some more gloat ...

Emperor Kos

By George on Blogs

So how would the most overrated man in the blogosphere take the news, reported even in the New York Times (obviously lying), that Rove is out of Fitzgerald's crosshairs? I kept telling Kos to blink while watching him on Meet the Press the other night, he was freaking me out. He didn't blink at all at the chance to duck and weave when this subject came up. First, the duck:

Luskin doesn't say Rove was cleared of all wrongdoing. Just that there won't be any charges filed. Interesting wording.

Quack. I'm sure Lushkin can cram out some more statements for you if you want to cover every angle, Mr. Moulitsas. Then came an even larger quack:

Aside from that, I hope this serves a lesson to all of you who link to crap internet sources like Jason Leopold merely because they write what you want to hear. ... more

Bush in Iraq videos

Happy Birthday to Me May 7th

Happy Birthday to Me ... is it pathetic to send yourself a birthday wish?

Another year gone by and happy am I that this last year is over. It started out okay, but my fall in December, with the subsequent pain of reinjuring my back has made the last few months less than fun. But now, I'm well on the way to being fully mended and ready to "hit the ground running" for this next year. So grab a glass, lift it high and sing:

Happy Birthday to
You dear Squiggler, Happy Birthday to Me! Have a piece of cake ...

And if you are the generous type, you could leave us a present in the Tip Jar. (Now how's that for tacky?)

 

State of the Union Party

Screw bin Laden, have a party!

On Tuesday, January 31st at 9 p.m. ET, you'll see President Bush deliver his State of the Union Address. Why not invite a few friends over? We'll give you everything you need to create your own State of the Union House Party, including lists of local Republicans to invite, party tips, and ideas for making a difference in 2006. You can even hold your party at a restaurant or other local venues. Click here to get started now - creating a party takes five minutes or less. Parties signed up before noon on Monday, January 23 will receive a special GOP House Party Packet. Create your party now, before this key deadline passes. The President's State of the Union Address is one of the most important political events of the year. Don't miss this chance to share it with friends and supporters. Click here to get started.