That's the nickname my hometown has had for years. Criminals used to hide out here back in the 1930s. John Dillinger even had an apartment close to downtown.

In the last few months, my town has been in the news again for criminal activity.

The FBI has arrested politicians for graft.

It's not really new here. We once had a Mayor serving out his term of office while in prison, then he was re-elected after he got out.

Another case of what goes around comes around.

~

This past Saturday at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles:


Proving that one half of the Fab Four is still better than anything else today.

I have been unfriended today by a woman I've known for almost 40 years. We had a brief dalliance when we first met and then I met her sister. Her sister and I hit it off right away. I almost married her. There are no hard feelings and we chat occasionally on FB.

The first woman made a comment on FB today about the NYC blackout yesterday that lasted in one area for five hours. She was comparing this new one to the blackout of all NYC in 1977. I told her she was overreacting. She didn't like it, called me rude and insensitive, then unfriended me.

Gee, how will I sleep, knowing this little girl from a small town in Kentucky who once aspired to be an actress and now is a diva of the arts in Nashville, Tennessee doesn't want to be my friend any more?

I'll sleep just fine, thank you.

If only we could rid ourselves of those highly dramatic people so easily.

~

Hot dogs, chips and beer.

I'm ready to watch tonight's Red Sox game.

As a kid, we used to laugh at this song. Well, my generation has come full circle and now it's us who are flying up and down the streets... while talking on our cell phones.


:O

This is what children in the U.S. watched in the morning:


If you're lucky, I'll show you what we watched in the afternoon.

... which started the whole world crying. Ah, if they'd only seen that the joke was on me.

- Lyrics from a pre-disco BeeGees song.

And it describes a lot of what goes into the world on a global scale today.

~

Our annual celebration of our Declaration of Independence was 5 days ago.

Every evening and night since, I hear or see fireworks going off. I know we Americans like a good fireworks display, but 5 days later it gets a little old.

Why not save the leftovers and shoot them off on January 1st?

Just a suggestion.

~

American proud:


U.S.A.!

This little ditty was just made for some of you on NN: