JUNE 6, 2011
BRUCE A. BRENNAN BLOG FROM THE WORLD AND MY MIND
The news as I see it and the views as I want them.
June 6 is … Teacher's Day and National Applesauce Cake Day
I don’t think I have ever had applesauce cake. Does not sound too good but one never does know. I do like to eat, just about anything that won’t eat me first and some that will. Let me hear from you if you have had applesauce cake. Send me a recipe.
1932 - The first U.S. federal tax on gasoline was enacted. The rate was a penny per gallon. Ride a bike. Save some money.
1944 - This was D-Day, the day thousands of Allied troops invaded Normandy, France. Their objective: to open a second major European front in the battle against the Nazis. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, commander of these united forces (and, who later became President of the United States) said, “This landing is but the opening phase of the campaign in Western Europe. Great battles lie ahead. I call upon all who love freedom to stand with us.”
Thank you all WW II veterans. We owe you a lot, as we do all veterans.
The United States is on a roll in killing the bad, evil Muslim radicals. That’s a good thing. It is also about time. An al-Qaida leader sought in the 2008 Mumbai siege and rumored to be a long shot choice to succeed Osama bin Laden was believed killed in a U.S. drone attack as he met with other militants in an apple orchard in Pakistan, an intelligence official said Saturday. If confirmed, it would be another blow against the terror organization a month after the slaying of its leader. The purported death of Ilyas Kashmiri – who also was accused of killing many Pakistanis – could help soothe US-Pakistan ties that nearly unraveled after the May 2 bin Laden raid. While it was unclear how Kashmiri was tracked, his name was on a list of militants that both countries recently agreed to jointly target as part of measures to restore trust, officials have said.
Described by American officials as al-Qaida's military operations chief in Pakistan, the 47-year-old Pakistani was one of five most-wanted militant leaders in the country accused of a string of bloody attacks in Pakistan and India as well as aiding plots in the West. He also has been named a defendant in an American court over a planned attack on a Danish newspaper that published cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad in 2005. Washington had offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his location.
One Pakistani intelligence officer said Kashmiri was believed killed along with eight other militants in a drone strike Friday close to Wana town in South Waziristan, not far from the Afghan border. A senior Pakistani security official said there "were strong indications" of his death.
A fax purportedly sent by the militant group he was heading – Harakat-ul-Jihad al-Islami's feared "313 Brigade" – confirmed Kashmiri was "martyred" in Friday's 11:15 p.m. strike. It was sent to journalists in Peshawar, and its authenticity could not be independently confirmed. The group, which has not previously communicated with the media, promised revenge against America in the handwritten statement on a white page bearing its name of the group. Soon after the attack, local intelligence officials said the slain men were in a large compound. The intelligence officer said Saturday that the militants were meeting in an apple orchard near the house when the missiles hit.
I wonder who picked an apple orchard for the meeting. Do these people think we will not waste apples? In the United States we are long on apples. We will blow-up as many as we need to if we can kill the evil-doers. I assume we had a lead as to these people being in the apple orchard. If not, why are we bombing an apple orchard? The house next to the apple orchard was the target but I thought the drones were pinpoint in their accuracy. Was this killing just a lucky miss?
The good ol’ days, at least the old days. I spent many an evening at the drive-in movie. The first movie I ever saw in any type of theatre was Ben-Hur at the Streator Drive-In. The first U.S. drive-in to show movies was opened in Camden, New Jersey, on Crescent Boulevard, this night in 1933. Those first drive-in moviegoers got to see Wife Beware, a flick not destined to be a classic. The screen measured a huge 40 feet by 50 feet and was easily seen by everyone in the first cars in the front to the 500th car in the back row. Everyone (including the whole town) could hear the sound, too ... with a slight delay for the folks in the back row because the sound emanated from speakers mounted next to the screen. Admission was 25 cents per person plus 25 cents for the car, maximum $1.00.
As drive-in movies became popular throughout the country, families would regularly park their cars in the front rows so the kids in their PJs could play on the swings and monkey bars before the movie started. The rest parked wherever, since a good number of those moviegoers weren’t there to see the movie anyway!
The passion pits that dotted the country, some with in-car heaters and through-your-radio sound have all but disappeared, as TV, video cassettes and DVDs have made movie viewing more convenient. Those drive-ins that do remain, however, offer more than just all-day swap shops in their huge lots. Some have four or five, even six screens, showing first run films at about $7.00 per carload. (Those stowing away in the trunk will be tossed out of the theatre immediately.)
Be sure to visit the snack bar at intermission for the pizza with the mushroomy-rooms ... and try not to spill your drinks and popcorn while searching for your car ... and remember to remove the speaker from your side window before you drive off. The breaking glass kinda puts a damper on the passion. It also made the drive home cold and wet if it was rainy or cool. Sometimes you love a rainy night.
Just a couple of thoughts I had.
BRUCE A. BRENNAN
DEKALB, IL 60115
COPYRIGHT 2011
VISIT ANY OF THE SITES LISTED FOR REVIEW, RESEARCH, ORDERING MY WRITING PRODUCTS OR TO CONTACT ME.
Email: brucebrennanlaw@aol.com
Go to web sites below to buy books by Bruce A. Brennan. It is still a good time to purchase any of my books. The books are interesting and inexpensive reads. My third book should be available later this year, in late 2011. More information will be forthcoming.
www.ebookmall.com (Do search by my name or book Title)
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/ (do a quick search, Title, my name)
www.smashwords.com Do a Title or author search.
Book Titles:
Holmes the Ripper
A Revengeful Mix of Short Fiction
Mark Twain
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