Daily Read

     While away I picked up The Press Newspaper. This A. C. paper had a lot of stuff about Philly but I did find a few things of interest on November 25:

Beetle Baily. Just two windows--one character says, "Well, it's official...Human beings are now smart enough to destroy all life on earth." Friend says, "Yeah" "And just dumb enough to do it." Mmmm. Maybe just a little truth there :-(

TV showing of  "Holly Jolly Christmas" with Burl Ives.  A friend and I were recently talking about Burl Ives as Big Daddy in Cat On A Hot Tin Roof. We agreed that Ives was the quintessential "Big Daddy."  No one else comes close his performance. But you know how I think of Burl Ives?  I remember him singing "Big Rock Candy Mountain"--I had a little record player and several  '45' records (really bright yellow). Even as I type this, I can hear his voice in my head . Of course, the only words I remember from this song is, Big Rock Candy Mountain, but that's enough to make me smile :-)

Cartoon on editorial page: Big sign MERRY XMAS behind store counter, Christmas decorations are in place. Customer says, "It seems your Christmas decorations go up earlier every year."  Store clerk (sales associate??) says "These are for 2006."  Far-fetched? A little, but I did see a huge Xmas bubble the first week in November at my local CVS.

Great Commentary: Cashless society already here, at least for the young by Marsha Mercer, Washington bureau chief of Media General News Service wrote, "... I'm a baby boomer who will fish through many coins on the bottom of my purse to find three pennies for exact change--  although not usually when people are behind me in line.  Once I read a suggestion to toss spare pennies on the sidewalk to delight children who'll find them. I tried it but I felt silly,..."  She also states, "...But Generation X and Y are shaping retail, banking and the newspaper business. Companies that print checks have suffered such a decline in demand for checks that they're shutting down manufacturing plants...."  If interested--the full text of article is here http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/opinion/commentary/story/5722403p-5739742c.html  She says she may get a debit card. Maybe I will too. I saw a couple buying lunch while at Ikea, they both used their own debit cards--and charged? debited less than $5. The cashier did not seem to be surprised.

And finally, I read an article about our troops in Iraq eating their Thanksgiving dinner between patrols. There was a picture of several soldiers and they were smiling. Just reading the article and looking at the photo made me step out on the balcony and say a quick prayer for our people to get out of Iraq quickly and safely.