I remember October 9, 1987 fondly, as it was Count Down Day. While walking to catch the school bus, I kept looking at my watch to catch the time at 10-9-87, at 6:54 a.m. and 32 seconds.

I'm such a geek.

I'm sorry, but I just can't watch political speeches, whether from the Right or the Left. They droll on, the applause is too frequent and kills any rhythm, and I know that I can catch the highlights in handy little thirty second snippets during the pundits' shows later.

A new Gallup poll this week says that the president's approval ratings are still in the 80-plus-percentage range. Looks like Democrat attempts to stick Bush with Enron aren't working. That ought to chap Daschle's hide.

"Attention, shoppers: Blue light special on bankrupt retailers."

The American Civil Liberties Union has told Inglis, Fla. that it will sue over a sign on the highway as you enter the town that declares Satan can never be a part of the city.

I've always joked that the ACLU would defend the devil if given the chance. Turns out they will!

John McCaslin of The Washington Times notes that a sign posted on the back door of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America office on 16th Street NW in Washington ironically reads: "No Deliveries."

What's all the hubbub over Chelsea Clinton's new do? Frankly, I liked the curls a lot better.

OpinionJournal.com notes that scientists are making every excuse in the book to avoid admitting that they don't know why temperatures in the Antarctic are falling, while they preach global warming is melting the ice and threatening our planet.

Global Warming on the Rocks
      The global-warming industry is desperately trying to spin itself out of the revelation that temperatures in Antarctica have actually been getting lower. ABC News quotes geologist Ian Joughin as saying: "There's no question that some parts of Antarctica are warming. But it could be this part of the ice sheet is not necessarily sensitive to global warming."
      If this is true, scientists ought to be studying that ice to find out just what makes it "insensitive to global warming." This could have profound technological consequences. At the very least, heat-resistant ice would be a great boon to those of us who like to sip our scotch on the rocks slowly.

Looks like many Al-Qaeda terrorists are moving to the West Bank and Gaza Strip to help the Palestinian Authority.

This ought to put a scare in PLO leader Yasser Arafat. The U.S. has a mandate to root out Al-Qaeda worldwide, and if they're seen helping the Palestinian terrorists, then Israeli detractors will not be as quick to verbally assault Israel for defending their turf zealously, or if and when the U.S. intervenes to rid terrorists from the area.

With New Orleans getting the nod for relocation by the current Charlotte Hornets, I think Louisville got screwed. After being passed over by the Grizzlies, the city should have been No. 1 on the list to get a team, and New Orleans already proved it couldn’t support a team, losing the Jazz twenty years ago.

And yes, I admit that I have a rooting interest in both Memphis and Louisville due to family connections.

Sen. Majority Leader Tom Daschle has already been laughed at for assaulting Bush's tax cuts for causing a recession that began months before it was passed. Now, 12 of the 20 Democrats in the 70-member South Dakota House of Representatives voted for a pro-tax cut resolution that supports leaving "intact" President Bush's tax reductions that were enacted last year. Yep, they sure love their Daschle in his home state.

The good news continues. First, for the first time since the dawn of polling, more Americans consider themselves to be Republicans than Democrats. Now, a new Battleground poll shows that Americans believe Republicans are better suited to take care of the country's problems, and 67% say they approve of the way Bush is handling the economy, while more disapprove than approve of how the Dems in Congress are handling the economy.

As proof that government spending killed the surplus, not the tax cut, numbers show that if the U.S. Congress had held the percentage of spending increases this year to the percentage of inflation we would end the fiscal year with a $50 billion surplus. (Neal Boortz)

More and more, things get back to normal:

The National Organization for Women's Legal Defense and Education Fund has decided that they want some of the $11 billion in federal relief money for the 9/11 attacks. They want the money for, "affirmative action programs to help more women break into traditionally male fields like firefighting, construction and policing." They also say they will sue for discrimination if they don't get it. (Neal Boortz)

Regarding the continuing debate over distribution of charitable funds: It would be a shame if one of the legacies of 9/11 is that Americans think twice about emptying their pockets after a national tragedy.

Gov. Gray Davis tells the San Francisco Chronicle that the California legislature's only job is "to implement my vision."

I wonder if that's how Davis sees things between Pres. Bush and Congress? If so, he should call his buddy Daschle and tell them to rubber stamp every proposal and help get the country rolling again from Democrat-spurned gridlock.

Remember the silliness of congressman John Dingell being strip searched at an airport last month? There was another one just as senseless if not worse, this time in Phoenix.

Joseph Foss is 86, a former governor of South Dakota and a retired Marine general. The geniuses in Phoenix, though, were not happy that he was going to dare carry on the plane his Medal of Honor, earned in 1943 for service in the Pacific theater.

Foss earned the medal for shooting down 26 enemy planes.

From the Jan. 16 Late Show with David Letterman, prompted by Bush's pretzel incident, the "Top Ten Headlines Involving Presidents and Snack Foods."

10. Jimmy Carter Declares "Lust in My heart" for Milk Duds.
9. LBJ Eats PB&J
8. Reagan Denies Alleged "Arms for Cheez-Its" Deal
7. FDR Tells Congress: "The Only Thing We Have to Fear is Running out of Cool Ranch Doritos"
6. Lincoln Goes to Theater - Eats Popcorn; Gets Shot
5. JFK Vows To Put Pringle On Moon Within Ten Years
4. Roosevelt Says: "Speak Softly and Carry a Big Slim Jim"
3. Ford Appoints Commission to Determine How Many Licks It Takes To Get To The Center of a Tootsie Pop
2. Nixon: "I Am Not A Crook, But I Am a Pepper" 1. Donut Eats Truman!

The latest Vents from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

There's one more reason to love Dubya. I'll take a hundred pretzel jokes rather than those cigar jokes from the last guy.

In all fairness, the new Spanish language TV channels should be required to have English subtitles.

It looks like K-mart is going under. Why didn't the Democrats warn us?

Those still claiming Bush "stole the election" remind me of those Japanese soldiers who were discovered hiding in Pacific Island caves ten years after WWII ended.

With all the yapping they are doing about the terrorist prisoners' rights and the conditions they are being held in, I'm guessing Amnesty International didn't have offices in the World Trade Center.

I demand less corruption -- or at least more opportunity to participate in it.

Is it true that in the South "He needed killin' " is a valid defense?

Are there any women who like their hair, or do all women think their hair looks like crap?

If you lined up all the cars in Atlanta bumper to bumper, some idiot would try to pass them.

Seen outside Monteagle, Tenn.: "Four Seasons Restaurant - Closed Until Spring."

I wish the government would pass a law to protect me from the government.

Taliban Johnny's father let him traipse the world unescorted as a teenager, but now thinks Walker is too impressionable to be held responsible at 20. Even the animal kingdom takes better care of its offspring.

We seem to have enough youth. How about a fountain of smart?

You can achieve true happiness in life just by avoiding the purchase of anything comes labeled "some assembly required."

Batman's Words of Wisdom: (To Pauline, Riddler's partner in crime): "Stop! Surrender! Give yourself up! By all that is holy I might forget myself and do you violence!"

Homer quote: "It's not easy to juggle a pregnant wife and a troubled child, but somehow I managed to squeeze in 8 hours of TV a day."

Random site: The Pornography of Semiotics: 24 Hours in the life of MTV.

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