Lauren Nelson is the new Miss America. As for me, I think she would make a great presidential candidate for 08. She certainly has the looks and is probably smarter than the others in the field. I wish the Republicans would try and sign her up, they sure need someone who looks good.
She also brought to mind a way that we may better determine the next president. The election is always so close and controversial we probably should abandon leaving it to the people or the Supreme Court. Why not select the president like the American Idol. That seems to be pretty popular now days. We could have a panel of three judges. To allow diversity, I would suggest Jesse Jackson, Rush Limbaugh and Drew Carey. Drew claims to be a neutral fellow who could provide a balance for the other two and he runs a show that plays out various scenarios. The candidate could be ask to respond to a scenario of how they would end the war in Iraq or how they would provide universal health care. The whole thing could be televised and it would be fun for everyone to watch. Why not make a circus out of the whole process because that is what it seems to be anyway?
As for me, Miss Oklahoma has my vote for now.

This is one of the scariest pictures in my file and also one of the funniest. It is guess who, before they transitioned into their present states? No wonder Bill turned to the likes of Paula and Monica. H.R. has become better looking with years but now she is in the process of transitioning to another monster as shown yesterday.
One thing the Kennedy presidency had going for it was their good looks. I guess that's the reason they were considered royalty and it was called the Camelot years.
Maybe we should let Donald Trump run the presidential campaign like the Miss America pageant and pick the best looking. A past history of drugs and other misbehavior doesn't matter with him, so most of the candidates would be okay.
To date, the Republicans are already out since they don't have a good looking one in the bunch.
I will keep looking for scary pictures, but todays is going to be hard to top.

I have been putting up more and more scary pictures on the blog. No, It’s not Halloween, but the above would make a great mask. Is it Bill all over again? It’s like a werewolf; the transition has begun.
It’s approaching the time were we are getting some scary candidates who are putting their hat in the ring for the Presidency. It’s two years away and we are going to have to put up with their empty promises, lies and other babbling rhetoric until the transition into the real werewolf has taken place.
Things are looking poorly for the Republicans and the individual pictured above is the frontrunner for the Democrats. Hussein Obama is the other likely candidate for the Democrats and he is in the process of transitioning into a Lawrence of Arabia look- a- like who will ride to the inauguration on a camel.
Hopefully, an All American will emerge, but the prospects are looking grim.

Lately, I have been writing about the state of coaching and what a bad job it must be. Today we found out for sure, from the Temple Daily Telegram, that a legend is back. Bob McQueen is returning as a consultant to the Temple Wildcats. Boy, is he needed. Now all we need is some players. He must really be a masochists. He has worked miracles in the past but this is going to take some divine intervention to turn things around. I have always been taught that you can't get blood out of a turnip. I am afraid he has a turnip to work with. Our competition is also fierce.
He will need to get some magic earphones to wear on the sidelines so that he may take instructions from on high.
I have been figuring something like this would happen since I got rid of my season tickets I have had for 35 years. Now we will start winning and I will long to have them back to watch the kids on the astroturf and the jumbo scoreboard reflect the high scores by the Wildcats. If McQueen turns out to be a success, I am going to suggest that he be hired as a consultant at S&W to complete the new hospital

Is this picture scary or what? Much that I hear about Obama is scary. Some are claiming he was schooled as a radical Muslim when he was a child in Indonesia. He has been opposed to the war in Iraq from the beginning, which may not be bad, but could it also mean he is protecting his Muslim buddies. A frightening scenario is that he favors a pull out in Iraq so that Iran may eventually take over the entire area and be in a great position to eradicate Israel at the last great war on the planet Earth. In that case he could even be the Antichrist.
All this is wild speculation, but not as frightening as seeing him buddy up with Ted Kennedy. Today Obama came out supporting universal health care. This will be great for the 47 million without healthcare but my fear is that it could lead us to a VA type care which is less that satisfactory for everyone. Kennedy is teaching him all his old tricks that may include advice on handling women and driving over bridges. Since Kerry is now out of the race, Kennedy will be totally behind Obama which may be the best hope of spelling his downfall. I don’t know that this will be any better than the alternative, which is H.R. Clinton.
Boy, am I getting depressed while writing this blog. I make take up coaching or painting ugly hospitals

It was interesting watching the State of the Union address last night on TV. I did more watching than listening. It was amusing to read about the event today. It seems that the news commentators were also doing more watching than listening..
For example, it was noted that Nancy Pelosi blinked her eyes approximately 30 – 40 times per minute compared to Chaney’s 3-4 blinks per minute. That is understandable about Chaney since he is running on reduced power anyway. Maybe Pelosi is on drugs as I have suspected all along. Photos show that John McCain didn’t blink his eyes at all since he was asleep and they were closed.
The other amusing thing to observe was the sea-saw activity of Chaney and Pelosi as they stood and sat during the President’s speech. It was up and down but at different times for these two. The same could be seen with the audience between the Republicans and Democrats. I was wondering if these folks represent the same country. They can’t seem to agree on anything. Of course the Supreme Court Judges just sat there not standing or applauding for anything. They are suppose to be impartial but didn’t even stand to recognize what the troops do for us or to express appreciation to the poor man who risk his live by jumping on another person to keep the New York subway from making hamburger of his body.
One thing I am very happy about is that I am not President. That would be even worse than being a coach. It must be far worse dealing with a bunch of ego maniac politicians than a team of drug crazed felons on Sunday afternoon.

Study the above picture and refer to my Jan 14 blog about coaches. Bill Parcells resigned today as coach of the Dallas Cowboys. As I said coaches must hate their jobs. If not why do they always looks so mad? To quit with another year to go on his contract and 5 Million dollars remaining, something is bad wrong. He must already have more money than he will ever need or he just can’t stand it anymore. The exception is the Temple High coach who runs the chance of standing in a bread line and his expression alternates between weeping and panic.

Mark Twain once wrote the somewhat irreverent War Prayer. It may seem irreverent but it is not too far off base from what people think. Below is an adaptation for the Islam faith. This might be heard from the Muslims as they kneel on their prayer rugs facing Mecca.

O Allah our Father and Muhammad the one true prophet of Allah, our young insurgents go forth to battle and to commit suicide, be Thou near them! With them, in spirit, we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the infidels. Dear Allah, help them to tear the infidels to bloody shreds with our roadside bombs and Russian made weapons supplied by our brethren in Iran. Help us to cover the streets of Baghdad with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of their guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with their little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it – for our sakes who adore Thee, Allah, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet! Above all we pray that you will give the Democrats more power in the American government and further abolish the influence of the Satanic George Bush. Dear Allah, help us also to drive the heathen, arrogant Jew from our Holy Land and to color the Dead Sea and River Jordon red with their blood. We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love, and Who is the ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts.

We are experiencing one of the longest sustained ice periods I can recall. Each year we may experience one day of ice followed by a thaw the next day. We are approaching a week of winter precipitation that started with 6 inches of rain in one day. Freezing temperatures ruined the citrus crops in California this week. Thousands are without power and there have been several deaths in Oklahoma because of the ice. Al Gore needs to be in Central Texas this week to experience the global warming.
A man stranded at the Waco airport, because planes were unable to fly, due to the weather was interviewed on TV. He said if he is unable to fly because of the weather, then it is Gods will that he stay home. The weatherman then came on and said the weather conditions are due to the El Nino effect.
What is El Nino anyway? Maybe El Nino and God are the same. The encyclopedia says El Nino is an oscillation of the ocean-atmosphere systems which profoundly effects the weather. Somehow the surface temperature in the Pacific alters the wind patterns and we have droughts, hurricanes, ice storms etc., etc. This is a scientific explanation for the harsh weather patterns. I am able to accept the El Nino phenomenon, but what I want to know is who or what controls El Nino. The man at the airport may sound stupid but he may be right. There is no scientific proof that there is a God but on the other hand there is no scientific that there is no God. For now, faith will have to bridge the gap and I am staying home by the fire.

Here is a pictures of Bill Cowher head coach of the Steelers in an unhappy mood.. It is a typical picture of a coach. Bill Parcell looks even worse. It’s got to be a tough job. No telling what the Temple couch looks like most of the time. Always chewing out players and referees is enough to give you an unhappy look. . They are always mad when they lose and if they win they get a bucket of water thrown on their back, which can’t make anyone happy. Even my hero Tom Landry never smiled a great deal.
It can’t be very pleasant working with a bunch of drug-crazed felons and cowing down to owners like Jerry Jones. Coaches can’t like the sport of football. They must be masochist at heart. I know they make a good living but it must gall them to have higher paid, undisciplined, idiots like T.O. working under you.
Their only saving grace is that the season is almost over and they can have a few months to recover or look for another job. As for me, I get a kick out of just watching the faces of coaches and news commentators.

Let’s get on with what is really important. First things first, I always say. Enough of hearing about the Iraq war, the need for more troops, Democrats disagreeing with everything President Bush recommends, and the flood of new bills by the Democrats such as raising the minimum wage. These are of secondary importance when it comes time for the football playoffs and the rush to the Super Bowl.
The news today contained a story about an upcoming wedding in New Orleans this weekend, which occurs at the same time as the playoff game between the Saints and Eagles. Several of the guests, who have tickets, announced that they will not be attending the wedding. Two bridesmaids and a groomsman said they will be at the wedding but a television will be installed so they will not miss any of the action in the game. I can see it now, just as the vows are being exchanged it will be 4th and one on the twenty. The Saints will go for it, to get a much-needed touchdown, and the minister will call a time out at the wedding.
It’s always interesting to me each year how all the action in the US stops during the Super Bowl. The emergency rooms, which are usually booming on the weekend come to a halt. I’m sure if you looked at the stats, the number of accidents and murders will go down during this time. Maybe it will be a break for New Orleans, which has become the murder capitol of the country in the past few months. Hopefully, no one will be killed this weekend during the playoff game. It the Saints win it may be a real godsend for the city of New Orleans and the killing will stop until after the season is over. God forbid if the Såints lose.
I have attended some pretty bizarre weddings in recent times and with the Cowboys biting the dirt I have sworn off weddings and football. I will be content to stay home and keep up on the Rosie O’Donnell and Donald Trump feud, after all that is important stuff.

I try to listen to the news a great deal even though it is very depressing. I don’t get as much out of it as I should because I seem to be too occupied with looking at the facial expressions of the commentators. They all seem to be unhappy but I guess they are that way because they have nothing happy to report. Deaths in the Middle East, Democrats disagreeing with Republicans, murders, disasters, pedophile priest, etc, etc. The list goes on and on and it’s all bad.
I was trying to listen to the commentaries on the President’s address last evening regarding the new strategy for Iraq but I missed most of it looking at Brit Hume’s turned down mouth. Fox news is about the only one which is a little bit more upbeat, but even these people get me down in the dumps. Hume never smiles and his mouth is frozen in a down turned position. I thought he was bad until Greta Van Susteren comes on and her mouth is really distorted. Even plastic surgery couldn’t help her. All surgery did for Greta was to keep her eyes permanently open. If you flip over and see Nancy Grace her eyes are rolling around while her mouth is in some sort of smirk position.
It’s all a great show. All these people must attend a school somewhere where they learn to frown and contort their faces to make the news even more depressing. I think I’m going to just sit around the radio, for the news, like I did when I was a kid.

Probably one of the most valuable and certainly the most enjoyable course I took in college all those years ago was a course on Mark Twain. He became my hero and Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn have served as role models. I learned to look at life with a little humor and to accept the stupidity and frailty of the other members of the human race. I have even learned to accept many of the ridiculous views of the human race regarding its many religions. I learned from Mark Twain and Huck Finn that there are other views than my own which are worth considering.
I wish that President Bush had taken the course on Mark Twain rather than his MBA from Harvard. He might be able to get us out of Iraq and also deal with the Democrats. Mark Twain and Tom Sawyer were masters at the art of conning. Take the white washing of the fence for example. Bush in his new approach to Iraq could say that he wants an immediate withdrawal of all troops. That would immediately provoke a response from the Democrats that they want to increase troop strength and continue the war. He could tell the leaders of Iran and North Korea that he supports and wants to assist in their development of an atomic bomb. They would immediately disarm. That’s the way Tom Sawyer would handle the problems and probably have much success achieving his real goal.
Mark Twain loved to deal with opposite effects and role reversals. I know he would find ways to manipulate Jesse Jackson, women appear to be his weakness. Harry Reid could be manipulated with perks for his employees and an even more plush hotel room which he wouldn’t have to pay for out of his campaign funds.
Bush could learn much from my friend Mark Twain. I think I may send him a few of my books.

I love talking to my barber. He is a great judge of character and has an opinion on most every subject. He is an absolute authority on sports and politics. I always seek his advice on controversial subjects and he almost always proves to be right with his recommendations. I certainly wish President Bush had him as an advisor. We wouldn’t be in the mess we are in with Iraq. The Dallas Cowboys and Temple Wildcats would also have winning teams if his advice was followed.
It is sad that the old time barber is disappearing from the American scene. They are being replaced by the young kids, at the jiffy cuts in the mall, who know nothing about life and very little about cutting hair.
Barbering has changed a great deal in the past several years. Men no longer get a shave in the barbershop. As a matter of fact, razors are no longer allowed. The barber is afraid of spreading hepatitis or AIDS with the nick of a razor. The familiar razor strap attached to the old barber chair is no longer there. Styles have also changed a great deal. Men let their hair grow longer and get cuts much less frequently. Because of the decrease in demand for services, the number of barbers has greatly diminished. Men also want their hair styled rather than simply cut which requires the expertise of a beautician. The price of a hair cut has gone from 25 cents when I was a child to 10 or 20 dollars. To go to the beautician for a styling, it is even greater and you have to leave a tip to boot.
The other day we got on the subject of eyebrows. Of course women pluck all of theirs out and simply leave a black pencil mark in place. I can’t stand bushy eyebrows line Andy Rooney, but according to the barber this is the distinctive mark of actors and politicians.
For now I’m just happy with going in for my routine cut and eyebrow trim; plus cutting hairs away from unwanted places like the ear. I mainly go for the great conversation and advice. It is a therapeutic experience.

The blog has had several days of rest for the holidays. A great deal happened that was worthy of the blog but I just made mental notes of topics to come. The holidays were interesting. We had the hanging of Saddam Hussein as top news. I saw the New Year makes it’s entrance on TV by watching the ball drop in Times Square with Dick Clark describing the event just like he has done ever since TV was invented. They prop Clark’s body up and his mouth moves through the magic of TV animation. At 12:01 he is no longer on the air and has apparently collapsed back into his bed.
One of the most interesting things to happen in the past few days is that God’s man, TV evangelist Pat Robertson, has opened his mouth again. He is making his yearly predictions. Robertson informed the press that God had spoken with him and said that the US can expect a major terrorist attack sometimes latter this year and that millions may die. I’m glad we have someone who God speaks to directly with words we can all understand. I haven’t seen any of these folks since I left the Psychiatric service when I was a medical student. A lot of the folks who were in the hospital, in a closed ward with bars, claimed that God spoke to them all the time. It wasn’t clear to Robertson if the attack would be with a nuclear weapon or some other weapon of mass destruction. I’m not sure which God Robertson had his conversation with. It may be the one Saddam claims he is now with, along with the 9/11 terrorists. Perhaps they are planning on using the weapons that Saddam hid so well when he was in power. Hopefully, Saddam and the other terrorists will be so busy in bed with the virgins they will forget about the US. In any event, there is not much I can do about it since it is predestined and God is in on the deal.