E-mail received from Bank of America today:

“Take control of your debt with a personal loan”

Yeah, that’ll work. Like offering a drowning man a glass of water…

Cosmo the rabbit advises me of these top 10 most interesting facts about rabbits he bets you didn’t know:

1. Rabbits are not rodents, they are lagomorphs.

2. The only place a rabbit sweats is through the pads on its feet.

3. Rabbits cannot vomit, even when shown this picture of Hillary Clinton (I know, I tried!)

4. Rabbit meat is all white meat, and is lower in fat, cholesterol, and calories than chicken, pork, and beef (sorry Cosmo!).

5. A group of rabbits is called a herd but if you see a bunch of them living together it’s called a “warren”.

6. Rabbits love to chew – probably a result of the fact their teeth never stop growing.

7. Rabbits are partially color blind.

8. Rabbits recognize their human companions using not only their vision, but also their voices, scents, and movements.

9. Rabbits can purr similar to a cat (and lightly grind their teeth as well) when they are feeling content.

10. A 4-lb. rabbit will drink as much water as a 20-lb. dog. A rabbit can go all day without eating, but it will die without water of any kind.

So there ya go, everything you ever wanted to learn about rabbits – and more! Of course, if you’d like to know more about rabbits, especially the fact that they’re not just for keeping outside in a cage all alone, the House Rabbit Society has much more.

Thanks, Cosmo – an extra piece of carrot for you tonight!

The Archbishop of Canterbury condemns the U.S. for what’s happening in Iraq, calling it worse than the British land grabs of the colonial era. What a raving lunatic. As Victor David Hanson writes:

I suggest that the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams read a little history about the British experience in India before he offers politically-correct but historically laughable sermons like the one he gave to a Muslim “lifestyle” magazine:

It is one thing to take over a territory and then pour energy and resources into administering it and normalising it. Rightly or wrongly, that’s what the British Empire did – in India, for example. It is another thing to go in on the assumption that a quick burst of violent action will somehow clear the decks and that you can move on and other people will put it back together – Iraq, for example.

ONE, who is clearing the decks and moving on? And who are the “other people” putting Iraq back together? Iran? Saudi Arabia? China? The British in Basra? First, we read from the anti-war Left that the US is wasting a trillion dollars and thousands of its lives in Iraq, and yet now that we are clearing the decks and not putting it back together? Which is it?

TWO, Williams should read a little about British military campaigns in India, and then count the corpses.

THREE, he should also tally up the amount of money the U.S. has spent for civic and economic development in Iraq over four years, and then compare that to what Britain invested in any four-year period in their centuries-long occupation of India.

FOUR, I don’t recall the British, after their second year in India, fostering nation-wide elections.

FIVE, if he is worried about the soul of civilization in general, and the U.S. in particular, he might equally ask his Muslim interviewers about the status of women in the Muslim world, polygamy, female circumcision, the existence of slavery in the Sudan, the status of free expression and dissent, and religious tolerance (i.e., he should try to visit Mecca on his next goodwill, interfaith tour) .

SIX, all Williams will accomplish is to convince Episcopalians in the U.S. not to follow the Anglican Church, and most Americans in general that, if they need any reminders, many of the loud left-wing British elite, nursed on envy of the US, still petulant over lost power and influence, and scared stiff of the demographic and immigration trends in its own country, are well, unhinged.

…I might also add that if the Archbishop is TRULY serious about the West being “fundamentally adrift”, he might look at the activist loons – including, BTW, our own Presiding Bishop – who have hijacked the Episcopal Church and are hell-bent on leading it over the cliff. Talk about your “fundamentally adrift”…

Roger Kimball calls the Archbishop a public embarrassment, and I’m inclined to agree. These are dark days for the Anglican Communion.

Which makes me think: I wonder if the Archbishop was among those who said we went into Iraq for the oil. Checked out your local gas pump lately? If only what the loons are asserting were the truth…

I wonder how many athiests would ever consider doing this. Talk about ministry on the front lines. (Hat tip: The Anchoress)

OK, I’ve visited three Episcopal churches here in the Valley of the Sun and I’m done. I’ve done my time and my “due diligence” and have come away extremely unimpressed. Well-intentioned all, to be sure, but not very inspiring – not a lotta meat on those theological bones, if you know what I mean. So, it’s time to start checking out alternatives. This week, it’s St. Timothy’s Roman Catholic Church in Mesa.

Let it be known that today was the first day the heat was turned on in our house. Outside it was cloudy and 55 degrees. Almost felt like real November!

Don’t know about anyone else, but I’m limiting my holiday spending to Walmart and Kohl’s gift cards and books and vids from Amazon.com. No shopping malls for me.

From the “something for everyone” department: Seen in Scottsdale, Arizona: a store that sells “extreme” photographic equipment – you know, the kind only James Bond or a conspiracy theorist would ever conceive of owning. Except for one small corner of the store, where they sell rabbit food and toys. Go figure.

I can’t watch the political insiders on the 24/7 cable natworks. Not only do I think the majority of them are full of sh*t, but I just can’t bear to think who might be getting ready to occupy the White House a year from now. Call it, “the devil you know” syndrome…

Here’s something that will brighten up your back yard during all seasons: “geeky beaks”! We’ve decorated our backyard with a few of ‘em – they’re really cool, especially when the wind blows!

What a 14-lb. turkey in a house of two will get you. We’ve already had three meals, have enough for a fourth, and I haven’t even started the turkey soup yet!

Let the record also show we got our first Christmas card today, from my good friends Pete and Kathy. Let the season begin!

Echoing a subject near and dear to me, and one I’ve both written about and alluded to often here at this humble outpost of the blogosphere, William Kristoll of The Weekly Standard hits the nail on the head in regards to the “Baby Boomers” and their contribution to American society and culture following The Greatest Generation. Here’s an except:

There really was greatness in the “greatest generation.” It fought and won World War II, then came home to achieve widespread prosperity and overcome segregation while seeing the Cold War through to a successful conclusion. But the greatest generation had one flaw, its greatest flaw, you might say: It begat the baby boomers.

The most prominent of the boomers spent their youth scorning those of their compatriots who fought communism, while moralizing and posturing at no cost to themselves. They went on to enjoy the benefits of their parents’ labors, sacrificed little, and produced nothing particularly notable. But the boomers were unparalleled when it came to self-glorification, a talent they began developing as teenagers and have continued to improve up to this day. They were also good at bamboozling their parents, and members of the “silent generation” like Tom Brokaw, to be overly deferential to them–even to the point of giving them credit for things they didn’t do.

I invite you to read the whole thing; it’s quite well done.

Here’s a welcome (and well-done) alternative to the usual sound-bite driven, infantile political coverage you’ll get from the mainstream dino-media and the 24/7 cable news networks.

This here is Republican candidate for president Fred Thompson in a sit-down interview with Pajamas Media. Pajamas Media is just one of a number of a number of “town hall” sites where bloggers from a particular stripe – others include Townhall.com and The Huffington Post – gather to blog under a single banner. As technology advances and enables blogging to become more mainstream, expect more and more offerings of this nature.

If you want to see the future of how people will get their information in the years ahead, check it out. No matter side of the political aisle you occupy, I think you’ll agree it’s a welcome change from most of what you see on TV today.

Thanksgiving went off pretty much without a hitch – the turkey was excellent (thanks to a couple of new prep techniques I tried out), I got to talk to my mom and dad, my brothers, and my nieces and nephews (which is always nice), and spent the day enjoying the day off from work. We watched a couple of Alfred Hitchcock movies – Rear Window and The Birds, which were both pretty good, and just basically stayed out of trouble.

Seems the Christmas shopping season has already started – a lot of stores opened at midnight today – but it’ll be a lean Christmas in the Richard household this year as we continue to focus on eliminating our not-unsubstantial credit card debt, which is something we have finally committed ourselves to once and for all. So, my apologies to all the stores and Internet shopping websites – looks like this year we’ll be sitting this one out. I wonder if a lot of others are feeling the same way?

The Green Bay Packers looked pretty good against the Detroit Lions, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a Packers – New England Patriots Super Bowl in February. Sure the Dallas Cowboys are also 10-1, but they blew out a pathetic New York Jets team (any guess as to how many points the Patriots will score against the hapless Jets, especially given the animosity between Jets coach Eric Mangini and Pat’s coach Bill Belichick?). If it comes down to a Cowboys-Packers title game, my money is on Brett Favre and the Pack.

Another Thanksgiving Day is here, and it’ll be a relatively quiet one here in the Richard household. But that doesn’t mean we don’t remember and hold near and dear in our hearts this day:

* Our nation and all the freedoms we take so much for granted;
* Our families and dear friends spread across the U.S.;
* All of the Goodboys (Killer, TFG, Doggy Duval, Vegas, Possum, Goose, and Cubby) and their families;
* All those in our nation’s military who are spending their days in far-off lands serving the cause of freedom in service to our nation;
* The cancer patients at the Dana Farber, and those known to my wife and her co-workers at Senora Quest/Palo Verde Laboratory;
* Those who are spending this day either alone or without cherished loved ones for the very first time;
* The memory of President John F. Kennedy, cut down by an assassin’s bullets 43 years ago today;
* Those for whom the holidays bring a sense of loss, loneliness, or grief;
* All those who make this little outpost in the blogosphere a regular stop, and their families as well. Thanks for your visits and comments!

And finally, here’s hoping that for all of us this Thanksgiving is a day of quietly taking count of all the things we take so much for granted and surrounding ourselves – either physically or virtually – with those we love and care for.

A happy and blessed Thanksgiving to everyone from all the Goodboys and the staff here at Goodboys Nation weblog!

Admit it, the title of this post caught your eye, didn’t it? Well, it shoud, ’cause this is nuts (no pun intended)! Turns out, Irish red squirrels and British grey squirrels hate each other. No, really:

Ireland’s red squirrels, which are threat from their more aggressive grey British cousins, are to be thrown a lifeline under a plan published Sunday by the environment ministry.

The red squirrel is one of the most threatened mammals in Ireland but the collaborative rescue plan involving the authorities in both the Republic and British-ruled Northern Ireland is an effort to reverse the decline.

Measures to conserve the reds will include rope bridges in their areas and forestry better suited to reds than greys.

Perhaps they ought to settle this on the soccer field?

Hat tip: Greg Pallowitz at NRO’s Media Blog.

Congratulations to the World Champion Boston Red Sox for re-signing their two big free agents – pitcher Curt Schilling and, today, third-baseman Mike Lowell. Both are crowd favorites and, more importantly, are smart signings. In Schilling’s case, he only wanted to pitch one more year but wanted to have the opportunity to make as much money as he might have out on the open market, even if it meant reaching a prescribed number of incentive clauses in order for him to do so. The Sox knew that, not only would he be a valuable #2 or #3 starter, he would also pass along some exceptional work habits to the stable of young pitchers the Red Sox have.

In Lowell’s case, it would appear he left some money and years on the table compared to what one or even two teams might have been offering, but the Sox sweetened the pot a little bit in a show of good faith. You have to respect the Sox here – they were only willing to sign Lowell to a 3-year contract and they stuck to their guns. Lowell’s signing means that the Sox will continue to put a solid defense behind their pitchers next year and should be considered favorites to repeat as American League champions.

What’s left for the Sox this winter? Find a good trade for expendable centerfielder Coco Crisp (who ought to bring a good player or two in return) and – hopefully – find a new backup catcher to Jason Varitek so we don’t have to look at that surly pantload Doug Mirabelli hopelessly flailing away at the plate for another season.

Hey, I learned my lesson this year – in Theo [Epstein, Red Sox GM] I trust, and these re-signings show that dude has kept his eye on the ball. Congrats to Schill, Lowell, Theo, and the Sox for getting these signings done.

Now toss another log in that hot stove, will ya?