What I'm Thankful For

This morning, while reading "The Adventures of Dr. McNinja" and partaking of my morning caffeine, I yawned a truly mighty yawn.  So mighty, in fact, that I inhaled part of my mustache, upon which I began to choke.

I'm thankful that I had a can of Diet Coke right handy to wash the offending hairs down before they lodged in my airway.

The Watchmen

The Watchmen is finally being released as a feature film starring (mostly) folks I've never heard of.  I wonder if this is because the studios don't want to pay for big actors, or because big actors don't want to be pigeonholed in certain roles, or....

Anyway, here are my suggestions for the main roles.

Dr. Manhattan---patrick stewart

Rorshach---steve buschemi

Comedian---ed norton (think American History X)

Nite Owl 1---robert deniro

Nite Owl 2---bruce willis

Silk Spectre 1---linda carter

Silk Spectre 2---hillary swank

Ozymandias---george clooney

And yes, I am a geek.

Discussion Question

Peanut Butter:  Crunchy or Creamy, and Why?

That Felt Good

Just paid $1.65 for gas.  Filled up my tank for under $20.

Now THAT'S Interesting

Winston Churchill 'bribed Franco's generals to stay out of the war'

Winston Churchill authorised millions of dollars in bribes to stop General Franco from entering the Second World War on the side of Germany, a new book claims.

The British wartime leader persuaded Juan March, a Spanish banker, to act as a secret agent, organising payments of millions of dollars to the generals. In return the generals persuaded Franco not to side with Hitler.

The plot was revealed by the historian Pere Ferrer in Juan March: The Most Mysterious Man in the World, after researching papers in British and US archives.

In the summer of 1940 Churchill was convinced that Spain would enter the war on the side of Hitler after receiving reports that Franco and the Germans were planning to invade Gibraltar. Ferrer has claimed that a British officer, Alan Hillgarth, came up with a plan to bribe the generals, believing that Franco's high command was corrupt and, because they were not paid much, would be open to bribery.

A letter from Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Solborg, a US agent in Portugal, to J. Donovan, the head of strategic services, read: “The Spaniard selected to be the main internal instrument to acquire the political favours of these generals was the rich financier Juan March.”

March, who earned a fortune during the First World War dealing in contraband tobacco, seemed an unlikely ally because during the Spanish Civil War he sided with Franco.

Ferrer said that questions remained as to whether March was a double agent. He claimed that documents suggested March may have stayed in the pay of the Germans while working for the British.When he was approached by the British in 1940, however, March accepted the role. He approached 30 generals who had fought in the Spanish Civil War. Though their sympathies had been with the Nazis they switched sides.

The $10 million bribe money was deposited in a bank account in New York in 1940 but the plot nearly fell apart a year later when the US Treasury thought that March was using the money to support Hitler.

The British Ambassador in Washington convinced President Roosevelt that British military interests depended on the account being unfrozen. The Americans relented and in 1942 alone the generals received between $3 million and $5 million.

The book said that some generals were not simply bought off by bribes - many loathed Franco. In a reference to Franco, General Alfredo Kindelan wrote in his memoirs: “You could sense vertigo in him above all else because, like climbers who go higher than they are able, he felt dizzy from having reached such heights with limited abilities.”

After the Second World War March returned to the sedate life of finance, dying in 1962 aged 82.

Franco and Hitler

— General Franco’s rise to power, leading the Nationalist armies to victory against the Loyalists in the Spanish Civil War, was supported by Hitler’s Germany and Mussolini’s Italy during the 1930s

— Franco’s only meeting with Hitler took place in October 1940. Hitler refused to offer Franco French colonial possessions in return for Spain’s support in the war. After their meeting, Hitler remarked that he would “as soon have three or four teeth pulled out” as barter with Franco again

— Franco did allow Hitler to use Spanish naval bases during the Second World War. German U-boats were resupplied at its ports and Italian bombers refuelled at its airfields, while Spain helped to build observation posts around Gibraltar for German spies

— Spain declared complete neutrality in 1943, allowing Franco, right, to retain power until 1975, when he died in his bed

h/t to the good folks at The Times Online

California Gay Marriage Update

When I read "constitutional amendment", I assumed a two-thirds majority.  Turns out that's not the case.  The Prop 8 vote passed 52% to 48%.  That's much more understandable in the Land of Fruits and Nuts.

Discussion Question

How early is 'too early' to hang holiday decorations?

Not Feeling Well Tonight

Went to a little shindig tonight, tasty snacks and free booze, intelligent conversation...and now I just feel like ass.  I'm all jittery and I have a little bit of a headache, which is irritating.  

I wonder what kind of mushrooms those were....

UPDATE:

A good night's sleep and aggressive rehydration later, I'm feeling much better.  Even got up early this morning to put in some treadmill time.  I'm guessing there was some MSG somewhere in last night's dinner.  I get to feeling the same way after cheap Chinese food.

Didn't See THAT Coming...

California Voters Ban Gay Marriage

By RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD and ABBY GOODNOUGH

Published: November 5, 2008

LOS ANGELES — California voters have adopted a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, The Associated Press reported Wednesday, joining voters in two other states who went to the polls Tuesday to overturn such unions....

A New Era

Last night was interesting.  It's nice that we as a country finally elected a black president.  It's very important to me that we elected him not because he was black, but because he was the better candidate.

I had a very interesting conversation with one of my co-workers, a black man from Mississippi.  He told me he had been sure that a black man would never be president within his lifetime.  He's younger than I am.  This was shocking to me.  I had always believed that successful minority candidates for POTUS were just a matter of time, and assumed that everyone else felt the same.  Apparently not.  That changed last night.

Obama has a lot on his plate though.  If nothing else, he's going to have to pay off the Federal credit card debt that GWB has been running up for the last 8 years.  That's going to make him very unpopular, as he's forced to raise taxes during what may be a pretty nasty recession.  This is not a recipe for a popular or well-regarded administration.  He is poised to follow in Herbert Hoover's footsteps, and I think he'd rather avoid that.

Another scary thing is the Democratic ownership of 2 branches of government.  With the executive and legislative branches "blue" the Dems will be able to push through a lot of pet projects, many of which may not be in the country's best interests.  At least the GOP has retained enough seats to filibuster, which should keep things from getting too ridiculous.  

But most importantly, that village in Texas gets its idiot back.

Discussion Question: Election Edition

Should the Electoral College be maintained or abandoned, and why?

Happy Democracy Day

The bastards moved my voting location.

For the last lo-these-many years, I've been voting at a local high school.  I drove out there this year to find, well, no voting.  But thanks to the InterWebz and my trusty cellphone I was quickly able to find the address and even a map to my new voting location.  Which was (I'm not kidding) in a senior center under a bridge.  Where I happened to arrive mere seconds after a bus full of blue-hairs.  I my time in line (about 10 minutes) refreshing my memory on the assorted issues, cast my vote for Ron Paul, and walked out into the sunshine.  I was secure in the knowledge that, thanks to the magic of the Electoral College, my vote doesn't mean a damned thing.

And then I found five dollars.