Skattershooting as summer begins  . . .

• "What a liberal means by separation of church and state is that Christians should not hold elective office." - Rush Limbaugh on May 18, 2001 at 2:22 p.m.  That is an embarrassingly simple minded statement.
• There was nothing more horrifying than the video last month of the Israeli wedding when the floor collapses and the dancing wedding party crashes to the ground.
• Did anyone else catch the irony that the first tropical storm of the year appeared on Memorial Day and was named "Adolph".
• I stumbled across a web site (www.findagrave.com)  which allows you to find the whereabouts of any famous grave in the country. Did you know Machine Gun Kelley was buried in Cottondale?
• Paul McCartney told Larry King on Larry King Live that he doesn't know how to read or write music.
• In one week's time, Bill Clinton attended the French Open (tennis), the NBA final in Philadelphia, and the Belmont Stakes.
• Retired basketball star Charles Barkley (who is rumored to becoming out of retirement) told ESPN that he enjoys playing golf five days a week and has a "goal to help poor children". Seems like the goal would be easier to accomplish if he would keep his butt of the golf course.
• Dallas has gone crazy over the hope of getting the bid to the 2012 Olympic Games. It will never happen. Just imagine a marathon being run in the Texas heat.
• Those basketball bouncing Nike ads are great.
• I saw Moulin Rouge the other day. Weird flick. I think I liked it but I'm not sure.
• In that movie, Elton John's "Your Song" was a focal point. I've always loved it but have never understood that goofy verse about kicking the moss off of the roof.
• Compare and contrast these child stars: Home Alone's Macaulay Culkin vs. The Sixth Sense's Haley Joel Osment. Considering Culkin was a one trick pony while Osment is a bona fide star (he's in the upcoming A.I.), it isn't even close.
• I don't understand the sympathy received by the Houston mother who killed her five children. As WBAP's Mark Davis said, would someone explain to me what makes her so different than the Battaglia guy that allegedly shot both of his daughters in Deep Ellum while he was talking on the phone to their mother. Compare that to Anna Quindlen's article in Newsweek where she wrote, "And then there is the entirely imaginable idea of going quietly bonkers in the house with five kids under the age of 7."
• I don't know a single person from my generation that even considers Social Security as a legitimate retirement tool.
• The NBA draft was last night. Three of the first five picks were high school seniors.
• I have a boat that I had not started in over 18 months due to the low water level at Lake Bridgeport. With the lake now full, last month I bought a new battery and turned the key for the first time. Any guess on what happened? It stunningly started without a hitch.
• I was reading a coffee table book the other day called "We Interrupt This Program" about important news events in the last century. Did you know that on the day that Elvis died, CBS news decided to make it the fourth story on its evening news?
• The book also detailed Jimmy Carter's speech to the nation after the failed rescue of the Americans held in the Iranian Hostage crisis (a helicopter and plane collided in the desert). When the American people were crying out for military action and the hatred of Iran was at a fever pitch, President Carter told the country: “The mission on which they embarked was a humanitarian mission.  It was not directed against Iran.  It was not directed against the people of Iran.  It caused no Iranian casualties." Is there any doubt why Ronald Reagan was elected the next president?
• I'm a fan of the tomato.
• Fox4News observation: How much do you think spare reporter Lori Barager hates up and coming anchor person Heather Hays?
• No one hates plaintiff/trial lawyers more than the President.
• Columnist Mollie Ivins now refers to Gov. Rick Perry as "Good Hair".  I have my liberal leanings, but I don't understand why a presumably intelligent woman resorts to such juvenile behavior. One more thing: She is a terrible writer.
• What's up with the Red Bull energy drink?
• When Timothy McVeigh was executed, ABC News flashed up a graphic that read "168 to one". ABC had been tipped that the quote would be said by McVeigh moments before his death (the 168 referencing the number of people killed in Oklahoma City). Unfortunately, he didn't say it. ABC immediately took down the graphic.
• Texas Football magazine is sorely overrated. Its schtick is simple: Print as many names of high school football players as you can and then sit back and wait for all the families of those kids to buy the magazine. This year it goes for a whopping $8.95 a copy.
• Speaking of Texas Football, this year's cover includes the four starting quarterbacks of TCU, Texas, Texas Tech and Texas A&M. Noticeably absent is benched QB Major Applewhite of Texas. The four players on the cover have thrown for a combined 69 touchdowns. Applewhite, who holds every major Texas passing record, has 57 all by himself in the equivalent of 2 1/2 seasons. Mack Brown must have made a deal with the devil.
• Carol O'Conner of Archie Bunker fame died last week. The media remembered his character as a bigot that everybody loved. Baloney on the "bigot" perception. There is a huge percentage of Americans that believe everything that Archie said and do not for a minute consider him anything but normal. I'm old enough to remember the "Archie Bunker for President" bumper stickers.