NOT THIS TIME

The annual re-creation of George Washington's Crossing of the Delaware was cancelled this year due to weather. The Hessians won and New Jersey remains a British colony to this day.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

Spending Christmas with my family, or my wife's family, in Salt Lake City, Utah. It's beautiful up here, in the high valley, surrounded by snow capped mountains and driving on snow capped roads.

We're with Rosie's kids, spouses, and grandkids. Everybody's wonderful, and I'm sinking into a relaxed glad-to-be-on-vacation feeling.

And then, the gifts. A gyroscopic exercise ball from Justin and Beth, tool kit from Chad and Adrienne, ABBA CD from Zack and Lydia (surely at the suggestion of my wife) and a wonderful little camera from my wife.

It's wonderful because, first of all, it's from my wife. Also, it's a Canon. A Canon A590. It uses regular AA batteries so I never run out of power. And it's got an eye level optical viewfinder so you hold your face right up to the camera as surely the Good Lord, in her wisdom, intended. I've been running it in the aperture priority mode, trying to coax a little less depth of field from this little thing.

For my wife: A bathrobe, space heater for her bathroom, bowl mixer, flaming night lights, wooden spoons, salad scissors/choppers and a traveling pepper grinder,

For step grandson: army camo shoulder bag, whistle, para cord, tool man, NATO mess utensils kit, compass,

For my step granddaughter: storage clipboard with art supplies and big pad, and a big stack of coloring books.

For Stepson: a bag of really strong un-ground coffee.

For Stepdaughterinlaw: a nautical sweatshirt hoodie thing.

For Stepdaughter: a deluxe garlic press, and garlic.

For stepsoninlaw: a household battery storage rack, with batteries.

And someone got me beef jerky, but I forget who.

Granddaughter and daughter-in-law played with Barbies in the afternoon. Zack came by with his Harrison Ford action figure and joined the game. He and Indiana Jones beat up all the Barbies and then left. The Barbies resumed the game where they'd left off.

The big blizzards in the forecast didn't come but it's snowing a little and looks pretty. And there are three more nights of Hanukkah.

And to all, a good night.

OH THE IRONY

Here in Tulsa, Jermaine Nickerson, 29, was shot dead, once in the head, in the parking lot of the Windsong Apartments, following an argument.

Nickerson used to run with a rough crowd; in 2001 he pled out some burglaries for a four year sentence. And since then he'd returned to his upbringing and become a devout Christian. He ministered some.

His family says that his final argument was about religion.

TO INFINITY AND BEYOND

"The Day the Earth Stood Still" is coming to a solar system near you.

Deep Space Communications Network will beam the Keanu Reeves remake of the movie to Alpha Centauri, a triple star system with no known planets.

The signal will take about four years to reach Alpha Centauri. By that time, the movie should also be on HBO.

It is not known if extraterrestrial beings actually exist. And if they they do, it is not known if they look like Keanu Reeves.

CORECTION

From the New York Times --

"An article last Sunday about

the film adaptation of the novel

'The Reader' misspelled the

German expression that means

coming to terms with the past. It is

Vergangenheitsbewältigung, not

Vergangenheitsbewaltigung."

STILL VOTING

Today is election day.

Electors in every state will cast their votes today for president of the United States.

There are 538 electors. Barack Obama will need at least 270 votes to become president.

Congress will count the votes on January 8th. I'll keep you informed.

LAW AND ORDER: TULSA

Be careful what you ask for.

A Tulsa jury found double murderer Victor Cornell Miller guilty and sentenced him to death plus life without parole. He asked for a new trial, and he got it.

So the new jury sentenced him to two death sentences.

Still, Miller may have some out ahead. That second death sentence should be a lot easier to serve than the first one.

***

A Tulsa judge has ruled that accused multiple child molester, rapist, robber and kidnapper Brandon Wayne Brixey is not competent to stand trial at this time.

Brixey's in the nuthouse for now, but his lawyer says that if the client becomes sane enough to stand trial he'll plead "not guilty by reason of insanity."

HAVE A MERRY OBAMA CHRISTMAS

Give the Obamamaniacs on your list a totally Obama Christmas.

• Obama Christmas cards, an eight pack from CafePress.com:$10.99
• Obama Christmas tree ornaments, from CafePress.com: $8.99
• Obama coffee, a blend of Kenyan, Hawaiian and Indonesian, from Longfellow Coffee: a pound for $14.65
• Obama wineglasses, from ObamaZen.com
• Women's pajamas with a picture of Obama on the front over the text "The other man I love," from ObamaZen.com: $39.00
• An Obama mantel clock that says, "It's Obama time," from ObamaZen.com: $45
• The Obama doggie set with a bowl, collar and doggie t-shirt that says, "Me and Obama are bad to the bone," from ObamaZen.com: $34.95
• A life size Obama cardboard standup, from IncredibleGifts.com: $30.88
• Obama's old U.S. Senate seat, from Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich: priceless

NO SMILING, WE'RE INDIANANS

Here are the new rules for driver license photos in Indiana:

• No glasses.
• No hats.
• No smiling.

Remember, driving is a serious business.

CONFESS YOUR VOTE!

You must confess your vote or face eternal damnation.

Roman Catholic Priest Joseph Illo of Saint Joseph's Church in Modesto, California says that if you voted for Barack Obama you must confess your sin before taking communion. He says voting for a pro-choice candidate is a mortal sin. But the priest says he can for remove your sin for a few Our Fathers or Hail Marys, or whatever a Democratic vote goes for these days.

This only applies to Catholics. If you're Jewish, for example, you may continue to vote for Democrats without informing your rabbi.

ENLIGHTENMENT ADVANCES TO THE REAR

The Oklahoma State House is introducing Bill 1001, the Religious Viewpoints Anti-Discrimination Act. Among other things, it would exempt students from assignments that violate their religious beliefs.

Got biology? No way! All species were created at one time, 6000 years ago, by a supreme being.

Got geography? Forget it! The Earth is flat and the sky is held up by four pillars.

Got math? Uh-uh! Two and two is five. God told me so.