Monday morning friends report.

Some friends are talking politics or social issues. Some are loaded with jokes and good humor. Others are planning or taking trips and doing fascinating things. Whatever the news, Birches likes to get it.
(usually, if you click on pictures, they bigger themselves.)
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PAT W. - and
a recent date.
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FELIX - has gone hiking in New England.

IRENE - following up on her suggestion to look at Japanese fashion in dressing a cat, we found this sage advice in a strange dialect of English:

"It is impossible that continue for time long to be sure, and you continue dressing a cat. But about [ to which you dress a cat and take a commemorative photo on special days, such as a birthday of a cat, ] is OK."
You can check it yourself here, and give yourself a smile: CLICK
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MARSHA - has had
relatives visiting
her in S. Carolina.
They went to the
Clemson - S. Carolina game
and unfortunately
saw Clemson win.
Here is a picture of a Clemson Freshman learning to count on his (her?) fingers.


Marsha got to meet Mike Huckabee close up; she says he's a very nice guy. She does NOT say that she supports him for President. She does say this:

"I just heard a saying. I think it's a quote from some movie. Goes like this, 'If God had wanted us to vote, he'd have given us candidates.' "
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JIM T - in Minneapolis has posted new pictures of his new son. You can see them here: CLICK (and scroll down)
He also has opinions posted on his site about guns which we may disagree with.

ALICE - is once again warning us about Blackwater Group. She notes that a U.S. Grand Jury has begun investigating the company over its shooting of 17 people in Iraq. You can read about it here: CLICK

DOUG - Has been taking his exams in college. Hope they're all A's.
He reports that his fantasy football team has crapped out this year.
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BILL from WNNCO - Sent along pictures and a report of Denzel Washington visiting the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, cheering up wounded veterans, and contributing money to the cause. Turns out the circular is essentially correct.

Included in this report was a blast at a lot of other actors who talk against the war in Iraq but maybe don't do any good. You can read about it here, without all the right-wing propaganda attached: CLICK (and scroll down)
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MIKE CARROLL almost from Carrollton - passed on some information saying that Sears is good to soldiers and ex-soldiers who work for them. The company has an excellent record supporting service personnel and their families. The bottom line is that we ought to support Sears more because of these pro-American programs. I checked it out and the information seems to be valid; you can read more about it here: CLICK

Mike was considering the crime statistics that say Michigan has two of the three most dangerous cities in the U.S.- Flint and Detroit. Mike says that his town of Saginaw wasn't on the list because it doesn't qualify. It no longer has 75,000 people, the cutoff poiunt for making the most violent list. He says, "We shot so many, we no longer have enough to make the list."
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SPARTY - forwarded this graph showing what percentage of several campaign staffs are composed of various racial groups. I found that the source of the information seems to be Diversityinc.com but cannot say if it's reliable, because the numbers from Giuliani are stunning, if true. Like Sparty, we believe completely in racial diversity


(click on graph to enlarge it)
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JERRY - sent this little cartoon.

(click on the cartoon to enlarge it)
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ERICK - I'm posting one of his pictures from last week showing blight in the hometown. There are hundreds of buildings like this. (Last week's picture disappeared from the blog):


TRASE AND SCOT - Went with friends to see a Michigan-Minnesota hockey game.


It was a great game and the score came out right. Michigan is highly ranked in hockey, and so WAS Minnesota:

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JERRY - There has been a persistent drought in some southern states. The Governor of Georgia held a public prayer ceremony to pray for rain. This made his state fair game for jokes.
Jerry sent this joke about it:
"It's so dry in Georgia that the Baptists are starting to baptize by sprinkling, the Methodists are using wet-wipes, the Presbyterians are giving out rain-checks, and the Catholics are praying for the wine to turn back into water."
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This picture of friends in Venice was posted last week, but disappeared.