Well, they no doubt take lessons from Governor Brewer.

A pine tree planted in an LA park dedicated to George Harrison, and marked with a plaque identifying it as "The George Harrison Tree", has died. The cause of its demise was infestation of beetles.

I think George would have appreciated that coincidence.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Awwww I haven't heard of that pine tree. It was a nice thought though. I guess if anything had to take it down, it might as well be Beetles no?


TIS

Better a beetle than a Yoko Ono.

How do you tell how old the tree is?
You cut it down and count the ringos.

Which one of you New Yorkers changed the flags on the Brooklyn Bridge last night?

They should have selected a Scandinavian pine tree as the beetles would surely have respected Norwegian Wood.

Yea, I'm just now hearing that story. As I understand they were bleached/white flags??? Is there reason for concern ya think? Why would anyone pull a prank like that?



TIS

I would suspect that the people, who did this, had to have some construction experience with scaling scaffolding, or perhaps they actually have worked on similar bridges.

New York and New Jersey, pay attention:

http://news.msn.com/us/10-unhappiest-and-happiest-cities-in-america

Clever

Damn, and here I was wracking my trying to think of a great comeback.

Very good!!


TIS

There are three young children in our neighborhood, who come to our house regularly to swim and play in the pool. They are really delightful kids. You might remember that I posted about them last year.

The little guy is having a birthday and his parents are having a party for him. His mom told him that in addition to his brother and sister he can have ten friends attend the party. She said he thought long and hard about it as he considered friends from the neighborhood and his school.

She showed me the paper. I made the list...along with his dog and the neighbor's cat. I'm too old to accept, but I thought including the pets was brilliant.

The greatest thing about kids is that they are honest. You should feel honored to have made the list!

I am. He once told me that his mom wants him to eat snacks that are more healthy. Thus he suggested I should get him strawberry ice cream instead of chocolate.

The kid has a point -- that strawberry ice cream might have chunks of strawberries in it. That has to be good for at least one serving of fruit.

In a recent interview, Hillary Clinton made the following comment about Vladimir Putin:

"He's a very arrogant person to deal with, which I think is a combination of this vision of Russia and some fundamental insecurity..."

Any insecurity may have to do with his self-perception. That's because some have estimated his height at just 5'5" although his PR states that he is 5'7". Other's point out that he almost never is photographed standing next to anyone who is taller; most photographs of him are seated and he generally avoids any situation where his height can be contrasted with someone else. He is also purported to wear lifts.

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans abruptly abandoned a bill to address the immigration crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border Thursday after last-minute maneuvering failed to lock down sufficient conservative support.

The surprise move, coming on Congress' final day of action ahead of a five-week summer recess, was an embarrassing setback for Speaker John Boehner and his leadership team as a small group of tea party lawmakers once again upset their plans.

Ba-zing! I would have said, "If Putin were an American at the founding of the country, he'd likely see eye-to-eye with James Madison."

Or a less nuanced approach would be to advise our leaders to prepare for dealing with Putin by watching some films, like "Get Shorty."

Boehner by now is impervious to embarrassment. I'm sure he'll have a profitable vacation.

This is one reason why as Republicans devour their own:

Rep. Peter King said Wednesday that Sen. Ted Cruz showed why he has few friends in Congress with comments about him, which he said demonstrated his “smug arrogance.”

“This is what happens when guys like Ted Cruz make themselves the center of their own universe,” the New York Republican told POLITICO in a phone interview. “They have no idea what’s going on around them.”

Hillary talks about arrogance, but check out her own arrogance as well as Obama's or Polosi's

I can't believe it's the first day of school here for my grandkids. Seems so early. Then again, they get out the end of May. Still, we're in the middle of summer.

When I was a kid, the first day of school was ALWAYS the day after Labor Day.


TIS

Exactly TIS. Why so early?

I don't really know for sure Oli. Way back in 1980 when we moved to CA it was pretty much traditional. Then changed to year round, in which students would be on tracks of on 3 months on, one off. This was supposedly to address concerns that 3 months off is too much and the kids forget what they learn (?).If I remember correctly, the year round brought budget concerns of upkeep/maintenance, high air conditioning costs in summer, etc.

Then we went to "modified Traditional" in which you had longer Christmas/Spring break and got one month off in the summer (students had a little longer than on month.)

I don't know what they call this. I'm thinking since there are no "tracks" that it's a form of modified traditional.



TIS

Might forget? You know TIS, that's why all kids should be taught by nuns. Then they'd never forget.

I don't know exact year,(I think 1971) but can anyone guess who these famous people are?

Abbie Hoffman and Jane Fonda.

Ha ha ha Good guess Oli but no. I wouldn't even thought of that til you mentioned it.



TIS