Richard Todd, actor, war hero, dead, 90, cancer

LONDON — Actor Richard Todd, OBE, who starred in the classic World War II film "The Dam Busters", has died at the age of 90, his spokeswoman said Friday.

The Oscar-nominated actor, who played a string of typically British heroes, died peacefully in his sleep on Thursday night at his home near Grantham in eastern England, the spokeswoman said.

As an army captain he was one of the first British officers to land in Normandy on D-Day on June 6, 1944, parachuting in after Major John Howard's glider forces had captured the strategically important Pegasus Bridge.

Todd played Howard in the 1962 D-Day film "The Longest Day", in one scene playing opposite an actor playing himself.

"Being first out of the first plane wasn't my idea, I assure you," he told the News of the World newspaper earlier this year.

"I had no experience of dropping under fire. But I remember looking out and seeing the tracer bullets zipping past us.

"I didn't think about the risk to my life, I just jumped."

He was the first choice of James Bond author Ian Fleming to play the fictional spy, but had to turn the role down due to other commitments.

Sean Connery, fresh from playing alongside Todd in "The Longest Day", got the role instead.

Todd was nominated for the 1948 best actor Academy Award for his role as Corporal Lachlan MacLachlan in "The Hasty Heart", where he played alongside US president-to-be Ronald Reagan, who became a friend.

A very sad day indeed. Thank you for your service. Thank you for your craft. He was photographed with a lot of French gals back in the day. Can you blame him? Manly men, doing manly things.




From the a website about the movie The Longest Day a nice remembrance of his time during the war:

A week earlier, during a exercise, Todd and Sweeney, had also run into each other. When they introduced themselves, it went like this, Lt. Sweeney: "I met this chap on the bridge and he said,… "Hello, my name is Todd and they call me Sweeney",… So I replied,… "Hello, my name is Sweeney and they call me Tod!" (Richard Todd played once the roll of Sweeney Tod, a murderess barber). Richard Todd would never have guessed, that in 17 years time, in 1961, he would be once again standing on the bridge, now as an actor to portray Major John Howard who was given the order: 'Hold,… until relieved'.

What's going on here?

There has been a local story running of a mother who was caught burgling houses with another young man. She started to cover her tracks by concocting a story about how her child was kidnapped. The fact was the baby was covered up in the back of a car with stolen goods.

The other story is what does this woman look like? The local news channel News9 (KWTV) has been running photos of this woman that apparently weren't her latest booking photo.



This is her latest booking photo. Which shows the affects of obvious drug abuse and the living of perhaps a very hard life. Believe it or not Amy Anne Owen of Oklahoma City is 27 years old. TWENTY SEVEN?! She looks 47.



I'm not sure if they are trying to garner sympathy for the woman or just wanting to run pretty pictures of people to boost ratings.

Each of the local news channels are running different (YOUNGER) pictures of the alleged burglar/child abandoner.

Here is NewsOK's picture and story link.


KFOR is running a video with the new booking photo.

KOCO is running video from the scene and the woman's actual booking video.

KOKH the local Fox news channel is using the out of date yellow sweater picture as well.



Obviously more than one news editor thinks you should run flattering pictures of criminals, instead of the actual pictures that tell the real story of how a life of criminal activity and bad living take their toll on you.

This kind of shit has got to stop

A tiny dog is causing a big human rights kerfuffle in eastern Ontario, after its disabled owner filed a complaint against the former owners of a local bulk food store.

Alex Allarie appeared before an Ontario human rights tribunal Tuesday alleging he was barred from entering the Granary Natural Foods in Carleton Place, Ont., in August 2008 because he was with his chihuahua, Dee-o-Gee.

Allaire said the dog is a service animal that must accompany him to help him cope with his anxiety and depression — a psychiatric disability. Barring the dog from entering the store constitutes discrimination on the basis of the owner's disability, Allaire argues.

I'm sure this guy needs his dee-o-gee to make it through life. But he can't expect everyone to recognize he is a loony and that his dog is a PSYCHOLOGICAL service animal. You can get a doctor to sign just about anything to qualify as a service animal. I want a miniature horse as a service animal. I'm going to give her a cute name like, Horsey too. I know, I want an alligator for a service animal. Yeah! I'll call him Al E. Gator.
Maybe it would be a good exercise for this guy, and all the other crazies that think this is acceptable, to be away from their service animal for 20 minutes to grab some groceries. I mean seriously if you can't be away from your "service animal" how do you go to the medical doctor? How will you ever have a procedure like an MRI or minor surgery? How do you take a shower?

At what point does the cynophobia guy sue the guy who "needs a psychological service animal" while he is suing the grocery store owner who is also being sued by the mysophobia guy and the health department for an unclean environment?

And while we are on the subject, where does the Pygmachophobia guy shop for groceries?

A Modern Parable

THE ANT AND THE GRASSHOPPER
This one is a little different...
Two Different Versions...
The Traditional and the New...
Two Different Morals...

The Traditional Version

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.
Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed.
The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Be responsible for yourself!

MODERN VERSION

The ant works hard in the withering heat and the rain all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.

Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while he is cold and starving.
CBS, NBC , PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.
America is stunned by the sharp contrast.
How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?
Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper and everybody cries when they sing, 'It's Not Easy Being Green.'
ACORN stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the news stations film the group singing, "We shall overcome."
Then Rev. Jeremiah Wright has the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper's sake.
President Obama condemns the ant and blames President Bush, President Reagan, Christopher Columbus, and the Pope for the grasshopper's plight.
Nancy Pelosi & Harry Reid exclaim in an interview with Larry King that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share.
Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity & Anti-Grasshopper Act retroactive to the beginning of the summer.
The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the Government Green Czar and given to the grasshopper.
The story ends as we see the grasshopper and his free-loading friends finishing up the last bits of the ant's food while the government house he is in, which, as you recall, just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around them because the grasshopper doesn't maintain it.
The ant has disappeared in the snow, never to be seen again.
The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident, and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the ramshackle, once prosperous and once peaceful, neighborhood.
The entire Nation collapses bringing the rest of the free world with it.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Be careful how you vote in 2010.

Bailout Money

Three states got 66% of bailout money, five states got 84%. How badly did your state get screwed?

When you look at this map of the bailout money it really has a story of its own. How did Obama get this crap legislation through Congress? Look where the money went. And before anyone throws up the "but that is where all the people are argument". How do you explain Texas and Florida?

Here are the population estimates
California
Texas
New York
Florida
Illinois
Pennsylvania
Ohio
Michigan
Georgia
North Carolina

Its clear this was just one giant back scratching bill. I'm looking for Obama to be the next Jimmy Carter.

Tiger Woods issues a statement

Tiger Woods, who crashed his car into a neighbor's tree early Friday morning, released the following statement Sunday afternoon on his Web site.

"As you all know, I had a single-car accident earlier this week, and sustained some injuries. I have some cuts, bruising and right now I'm pretty sore.

This situation is my fault, and it's obviously embarrassing to my family and me. I'm human and I'm not perfect. I will certainly make sure this doesn't happen again.

The article goes on to say...

The only person responsible for the accident is me. My wife, Elin, acted courageously when she saw I was hurt and in trouble. She was the first person to help me. Any other assertion is absolutely false.

So now that you know all the other assertions are indeed false, here's mine.

I'm picturing a drunk Tiger telling Elin, "you can't tell me what to do, I'm RICH, I've got two hundred green jackets, and I'm married to a smokin' hot Soooper Model, oh, you already knew that, anyway, you can't tell me what to do, I'm Tiger Voods(TM), dammit!"

And as he gets in his Enclave provided by Buick(TM), and starts down the driveway, Elin chunks a Nike(TM) SQ Dymo2 Str8-Fit Driver through the Enclave's back window. Distracted by a Nike(TM) SQ Dymo2 Str8-Fit Driver, with it's surprising accuracy and consistent driving distances, smashing the window Tiger Woods(TM) exclaims, "Oh no she deedn't!" Which obviously causes him to drive his Enclave, which the Washington Times says, "The entire headlight assembly sparkles, giving a hint of a personality that's inviting." erratically and Tiger hit a the tree, which looks like a Woodland Nurseries(TM) Gumbo Limbo, with it's even shade and low water requirements, and what looks like an Acipco(TM) 5-1/4" American-Darling B-84-B-5 fire hydrant with its all-bronze seat and drain ring assure that the B-84-B-5 hydrant is easily repaired by just one person.

In all seriousness, I hope Tiger(TM) can work out his issues.

Remember the Bad Old Days

BAGHDAD – Turning on their TVs during the long holiday weekend, Iraqis were greeted by a familiar if unexpected face from their brutal past: Saddam Hussein.

The late Iraqi dictator is lauded on a mysterious satellite channel that began broadcasting on the Islamic calendar's anniversary of his 2006 execution.

No one seems to know who is bankrolling the so-called Saddam Channel, although the Iraqi government suspects it's Baathists whose political party Saddam once led. The Associated Press tracked down a man in Damascus, Syria named Mohammed Jarboua, who claimed to be its chairman.

As a friend of mine told me recently, it has quieted down quite a bit in Iraq. Mostly due to both sides stockpiling arms and ammo for the big Civil War to begin when we pull out next year. I'd like to know what S-2 says about this TV station.