Six years ago on ATIT: Poem - The World Seems Especially Calming And Verisimilitudinous Today

By Jack Brummet

Swim run fly crawl creep
The animals don't kill time
And time loves them back

Threading high fidelity cirrus
The sun unloads the last of its rays
And blesses the mountain palisade

So much depends upon
Keeping this up
(And a red wheel barrow).
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Charlie Chaplin's memorable speech from "The Great Dictator"

Seventy years ago,  Chalie Chaplin made this memorable speech in one of his best films—The Great Dictator.  What a fantastic performance, and what a touching speech!  It seems shockingly prescient, shining a light right here,  right now, on us and our Situation. Thanks to Tony Ravo for sharing this.  I haven't seen this movie for a few years, and it's good to remember.

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Ronald Reagan talks about the Democrats (Pre-politics of destruction in U.S.)

By Jack Brummet, Two-party system editor

This video clip of a good natured speech by President Ronald Reagan reminds me of the days before the politics of destruction took over.  It reminds me of Adlai Stevenson's famous quote about Republicans:  "I have been thinking that I would make a proposition to my Republican friends... that if they will stop telling lies about the Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them.”

[Thanks to Guy Brummet for sending this along].

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The last U.S. crate shipped out of Iraq

Just in time for Christmas, the USA has now pulled out all of its troops from Iraq, ending the long war.  A photographer caught the last crate to be shipped out, back to the USA.

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Three-time Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell

Digital Art by Jack Brummet

I was inspired to revisit Candidate O'Donnell after her hilarious "endorsement" of Mitt Romney (see Christine O'Donnell endorses Mittens, pouring salt on his festering flip-flop wound).

click to enlarge

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Ten most memorable TV cameos on Zencollegelife.com

By Mona Goldwater, Television Editor

We like these guys.  Zencollegelife.com  recently published an article on the ten most memorable TV cameos.  Our only complaint is that they didn't include Richard Nixon's famous appearance on Laugh-in, where he famously uttered their catch phrase "Sock it to me."

Bob Dylan on Dharma and Greg:

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Faces No. 53

Drawing by Jack Brummet

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Alien Lore No. 217: The night UFOs buzzed the White House

By Jack Brummet,Extraterrestrial Affairs Editor

Not long after the events of Roswell, the Mount Rainier UFO sightings, and Socorro, UFOs made a showy presence for the leaders of the free world. In 1952, UFOs buzzed the White House, the Capitol building, and the Pentagon. Yes, these UFOs, presumably piloted by aliens, or Greys, seemed to be thumbing their noses (if they had noses) at the institutions we thought kept us safe.

Washington National Airport and Andrews Air Force Base picked up a number of UFOs on their radar screens on July 19, 1952. These sightings seemed to trigger a wave of sightings that no one has ever been able to explain.

At Washington National Airport, air traffic controller Ed Nugent [Ted's dad?] saw seven blips on his radar screen. No planes were supposed to be there. He brought in his boss and said jokingly, "Here's a fleet of flying saucers for you." In the tower's glass-enclosed top floor, another controller saw a strange blip streaking across his radar screen. It wasn't a bird. It wasn't a plane. What was it? He looked out the window and spotted a bright light hovering in the sky.

From the Washington Post, July 19, 1952: "Air Force spokesmen said yesterday only that an investigation was being made into the sighting of the objects on the radar screen in the CAA Air Route Traffic Control Center at Washington National Airport, and on two other radar screens.

"Methods of the investigations were classified as secret, a spokesman said. 'We have no evidence they are flying saucers; conversely we have no evidence they are not flying saucers. We don't know what they are,' the spokesman added. "

From the Washington Post, July 28, 1952:

"Military secrecy veils an investigation of the mysterious, glowing aerial objects that showed up on radar screens in the Washington area Saturday night for the second consecutive week.

"A jet pilot sent up by the Air Defense Command to investigate the objects reported he was unable to overtake the glowing lights moving near Andrews Air Force Base.

"The CAA reported reported the objects traveled at 'predominantly lower levels'--about 1700 feet. "

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Finger of the day

By Mona Goldwater, Hand Gestures Editor

shot in Kent, Washington, 12/17/2011

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Double Portrait

Digital Art by Jack Brummet

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Christine O'Donnell endorses Mittens, pouring salt on his festering flip-flop wound

By Pablo Fanque, National Affairs Editor
Illustrations by Jack Brummet

Christine O'Donnell endorsed Ex-Governor Mitt Romney, last week. It's not what Romney's campaign had in mind, even though they probably recruited her for the job.   In fact, it blew up into a minor tempest in the political press.

"That’s one of the things that I like about him — because he’s been consistent since he changed his mind,” O’Donnell said.

She went on to say that Romney is “humble enough” to admit he doesn’t always have the right answers and is open to making the “necessary changes” to his own view points sometimes, but maintained that he never betrays his core convictions.

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Ben Lapps--15 year old guitar whiz rocks the acoustic guitar

This is pretty amazing--Ben Lapps uses a combination of drumming on the box with a hammered-on style like Stanley Jordan.  /jack

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