Tuesday, November 23, 2010

SARAH, stuff it

NOVEMBER 23, 2010

Below is the recipe I mentioned a day or two ago. Try it, you’ll like it.

SAGE STUFFING
(sausage optional)

1 stick (1 ½ cup) unsalted butter
2 ribs celery, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 loaf (1 ½ lbs.) thickly cut stale white sandwich bread, cubed
1 ½ teaspoons each: minced fresh sage, poultry seasoning
1 can (14 ½ ounces) chicken broth, warmed, may use turkey broth
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper
Optional 1 lb. pork sausage, cooked and drained

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat butter in small skillet over medium heat; add celery and onion. Cook until vegetables are tender; about 10 minutes.
  2. Put bread cubes in large mixing bowl; add sage and poultry seasoning. Add vegetable mixture. Mix carefully to keep bread cubes from breaking. Add chicken (turkey) broth, ¼ cup at a time, until stuffing is moist but not wet. Optional, add sausage to mixture, stirring lightly but evenly. Season with salt and pepper. Put stuffing in 13-by-9 inch greased baking pan; cook until golden brown, about 22 minutes, times vary by oven.

Enjoy with all the other traditional Thanksgiving favorites.


One of my brothers, who is a recognized Lincoln Scholar, contacted me about the portion of yesterday’s blog talking about Lincoln/Kennedy coincidences. He claims Lincoln never had a secretary named Kennedy. He also disputes the part about Booth being captured in a warehouse. He says Booth was captured and killed in a tobacco barn. He is correct about that except in April, the barn would be used to store older crops, therefore, it is a barn and a warehouse. He provided the following information about a source for the facts surrounding Booth’s capture;

A good read of the search for Booth is:  Swanson, James;  MANHUNT, THE 12-DAY CHASE FOR LINCOLN’S KILLER;   It is history that reads like fiction.

He also pointed out that Marilyn Monroe died over a year before Kennedy was assassinated. The final item I mentioned was in jest but not necessarily false, the dates have been changed to protect the innocent.

I see where Sarah, plain and short has another book coming out today. I wonder who her ghost is? She seems too busy to write the books she is allegedly writing.



Notable births on this date:

1804 Franklin Pierce 14th President (1853-1857)
1837 Javan der Waals Holland, physicist (Cont of Liquid & Gaseous States)
1859 Billy the Kid [William H Bonney], criminal
1887 Boris Karloff [William H Pratt], Dulwich England, actor (Frankenstein)
1888 Harpo Marx [Adolph] NYC, actor/comedian (Marx brothers)
1915 John Dehner Staten Is NY, actor (Big Hawaii, Bare Essence) He appeared in many Maverick episodes
1945 Steve Landesberg Bronx NY, comedian/actor (Barney Miller)
1951 Bernd Landvoigt German DR, coxless pairs (Olympics-gold-1976)
1951 David Rappaport London England, 3'11" actor (Wizard, Time Bandits)

Notable deaths on this date:

1914 Elbrige Gerry VP (of Gerrymander fame), dies at 70
1962 Gloria Gordon actress (My Friend Irma), dies at 81
1972 Marie Wilson actress (My Friend Irma), dies at 56
1990 Bo Diaz catcher, crushed to death by a satellite dish, at 37
1991 Freddie Mercury lead singer of Queen, dies of aids at 46

Notable events on this date:

1765 People of Frederick County MD refuse to pay England's Stamp tax
1852 Just past midnight, a sharp jolt causes Lake Merced to drop 30' (9m)
1863 Battle of Chattanooga begins
1863 Patent granted for a process of making color photographs
1868 Louis Ducos du Hauron patents trichrome color photo process
1936 1st issue of Life, picture magazine created by Henry R Luce
1963 Horatio Alger Society founded
1963 JFK's body, lay in repose in East Room of White House
1964 Beatles release "I Feel Fine" & "She's a Woman"
1975 Bob Thomas of Chicago Bears kicks 55-yard field goal
1991 Evander Hollyfield retains HW boxing title, KOs Bert Cooper in 7

Today is; NATIONAL CASHEW DAY, some days you feel like a nut, some days you don’t.

Don’t forget to buy my book. They are going fast. More on that will be coming soon.

BRUCE A. BRENNAN
DEKALB, IL 60115
COPYRIGHT 2010

Email: brucebrennanlaw@aol.com
www.brucebrennanlaws.com
www.lawyerbruceabrennan.com
Go to web sites below to buy books by Bruce A. Brennan
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/ (do a quick search, Title, my name)

Monday, November 22, 2010

Kennedy, Lincoln and Obama

NOVEMBER 22, 2010

Good morning and happy Thanksgiving week. I will be sharing a recipe for stuffing tomorrow. It is rather easy to make, can be manipulated to taste and is simply wonderful. I have been making it for over ten years. It is a family favorite in the Brennan clan.

Brett Favre, the retirement home called; they would like their football back, your presence is an option.

The war in Afghanistan, one of the wars Obama promised he would end within one year of becoming President, has now been extended until at least 2014. That will never happen. I do not see the benefit in a military strategy that tells the enemy when we are leaving, although I doubt they believe our government any more than we do. Now the Taliban says they will enter into peace talks but only after all foreign troops leave the country. The Taliban has no upside in ending this war. Once we are gone, the Taliban will be a punch line of a cocktail party joke within a year. The Taliban will be the subject of a “Where are they now” TV program in two years.

Congratulations to the Northern Illinois University Huskies’ football team. They crushed Ball State on Saturday, clinching the MAC West in the process. Now, let’s win the Title game and go bowling.

47 years ago today John F. Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas, Texas. The morning JFK arrived in Dallas, Richard M. Nixon flew out of Dallas after a business trip.

Abraham Lincoln and John Kennedy have some very coincidental oddities about them. One would even say bizarre, or dare the Grassy Knoll Institute say Conspiracy? Pretty bizarre facts especially the last one.Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846.
Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946.
Lincoln was elected President in 1860.
Kennedy was elected President in 1960.
Both Lincoln and Kennedy each contain seven letters.
Both were particularly concerned with civil rights.
Both wives lost children while living in the White House.
Both were shot on a Friday.
Both were shot in the head.
Lincoln’s secretary was named Kennedy.
Kennedy’s secretary was named Lincoln.
Both were assassinated by Southerners.
Both were succeeded by Southerners.
Both successors were named Johnson.
Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808.
Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908.
John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Lincoln, was born in 1839.
Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated Kennedy, was born in 1939.
Both were known by their three names.
Both names are comprised of 15 letters.
Booth ran from a theater and was caught in a warehouse.
Oswald ran from a warehouse and was caught in a theater.
Both were shot to death before their trials.
AND…..
A week before Lincoln was shot he was in Monroe, Maryland.
A week before Kennedy was shot he was in Marilyn Monroe.
FROM THE GRASSY KNOLL INSTITUTE
How about them Pilgrims? They helped start this whole train running down the tracks. They broke corn with the local inhabitants and the rest is history.

The first Thanksgiving can be traced to the autumn of 1621. It commemorates a harvest feast prepared and attended by the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians, indigenous to the New England area, specifically Pilgrim Plantation in Massachusetts. Some scholars believe a similar celebration occurred in Canada in 1578 and the Spanish explorers celebrated a Thanksgiving like holiday in Florida in 1565. Canada celebrates Thanksgiving in Oct. A similar holiday is also celebrated in the Netherlands and in Grenada.

Don’t forget to buy my book. They are going fast. More on that will be coming soon.
BRUCE A. BRENNAN
DEKALB, IL 60115
COPYRIGHT 2010

Email: brucebrennanlaw@aol.com
www.brucebrennanlaws.com
www.lawyerbruceabrennan.com
Go to web sites below to buy books by Bruce A. Brennan
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/ (do a quick search, Title, my name)



Sunday, November 21, 2010

The Fighting Irish and other Catholics won Saturday

NOVEMBER 21, 2010

The game at Wrigley started out as a blowout and a high-scoring game. It was not a blowout at the end but the game was high scoring. Congratulations to the Fighting Illini.

Notre Dame played Army for the fiftieth time Saturday night. They played at Yankee Stadium; a baseball park built with the knowledge football would be played there. The final score was Notre Dame 27 Army 3. The game was never really close. It never appeared the Fighting Irish were going to lose. Notre Dame is now Bowl eligible, meaning they have enough wins to be invited to a post-season Bowl game. It is unlikely it would be a bowl game of much import, probably before the New Year, but a bowl game none the less. Being Notre Dame, they have a huge National following, which makes them an attractive invite to most bowls. They will help the attendance and TV ratings. Since Notre Dame is an independent, they do not have to share their bowl earnings with a league or any other teams. Notre Dame could decline a bowl bid, they have in the past, but that was when Notre Dame had much more luster on their golden helmets. Now, with college sports being what it is, money is money. My bet is they will go to a bowl game between Christmas and New Years.

A Park Ranger in Moab, Utah was shot three times yesterday after pulling a car over doing his job. Utah State Park’s Ranger Brody Young was shot in Dead Horse State Park on Poison Spider Mesa Trail, a popular spot in the park for hikers and sightseers. Ranger Young is in critical but stable condition in a nearby hospital, nearby by Utah standards. Authorities have not been able to interview Young. They are not sure what started the gunfire that resulted in Ranger Young being shot in the arm, leg and stomach. Investigators have found several items belonging to the suspected shooter, including his car, rifle and backpack. With winter setting in, the suspect will not be able to camp in the wilderness for any length of time unless this was a planned event and the shooter had a fully stocked camp already built in a rugged area.

 Pope Benedict XVI has said the use of condoms is acceptable in certain circumstances                                                                                                                                                                                                      and can be used by Catholics, such as a prostitute attempting to avoid HIV infection. Many Religious experts view this change in Catholic doctrine as monumental that will eventually lead to acceptance of other birth control methods, i.e. ‘the pill’.

Tallahassee, Florida has a triple murder to investigate and solve. Saturday, a young single, stay-at-home mother, her twin 6 year old girls and three year old son were found murdered in a North Florida home, a few miles from Florida State University. The police had not had been called to the home prior to the call around 10:15 a.m. Saturday. The investigation continues as does the search for suspects.

Notable births on this date:

1495 John Bale England, bishop/anti-catholic playwright (Kynge Johan)
1694 Voltaire [Francois-Marie Arouet], France, thinker
1785 William Beaumont surgeon (studied digestion)
1787 Sir Samuel Cunard founder (1st regular Atlantic steamship line)
1817 Richard B Garnett Brig Gen, killed during Pickett's charge
1854 Benedict XV 258th Roman Catholic pope (1914-22)
1916 Sid Luckman NFL QB (Chicago Bears)
1920 Stan Musial outfielder (St Louis Cardinal, 7 times NL bat champ) Stan the Man
1945 Goldie Hawn Takoma Park MD, actress (Laugh-in, Private Benjamin)

Notable deaths on this date:

1817 Richard B Garnett killed during Pickett's Charge, Brig Gen. Born and died on November 21.
1899 Garret Augustus Hobart 24th VP, died
1958 Mel Ott NY Giant baseball star (1926-1947), dies at 49
1959 Max Baer US, heavyweight boxing champ (1934), dies at 49
1973 Allan Sherman singer, dies at 48 (Goodbye Muddah, Goodbye Faddah)-Camp Granada

Notable events on this date:

235 St Anterus begins his reign as Catholic Pope
496 St Gelasius I ends his reign as Catholic Pope
1654 Richard Johnson, a free black, granted 550 acres in Virginia
1783 Pilstre de Rozier & Marquis d'Arlandes make 1st free balloon flight
1787 Andrew Jackson admitted to the bar. He must have been a drinker.
1789 North Carolina ratifies constitution, becomes 12th US state.
1895 Start of Sherlock Holmes "Adventure of Bruce Partington Plans" (BG)
1959 Jack Benny (violin) & Richard Nixon (piano) play their famed duet
1968 Supremes & Temptations release "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me”
1968 Yoko Ono suffers a miscarriage
1980 Dallas' "Who Shot JR?" episode (Kristen) gets a 53.3 rating
1980 Fire at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas kills 84 1968 Yoko Ono suffers a miscarriage
1980 Gene Michaels replaces Dick Howser as Yankee's 25th manager
1980 John & Yoko pose nude for photographer Allan Tannenbaum
1981 Olivia Newton-John's "Physical," single goes #1 & stays for 10 weeks
1990 Michael Milken is sentenced to 10 years for security law violations
1990 Signing of Declaration of "End of Cold war" in Paris

Don’t forget to buy my book. They are going fast. More on that will be coming soon.
BRUCE A. BRENNAN
DEKALB, IL 60115
COPYRIGHT 2010

Email: brucebrennanlaw@aol.com
www.brucebrennanlaws.com
www.lawyerbruceabrennan.com
Go to web sites below to buy books by Bruce A. Brennan
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/ (do a quick search, Title, my name)

Saturday, November 20, 2010

And what it was, was football.

NOVEMBER 20, 2010
When you go to:


You can type in the ISBN 2940011838798 to find my book or you can search by using the Title, HOLMES THE RIPPER or my name Bruce A. Brennan. You are likely tired of hearing about the book but I need to sell it and since I pay for this forum, I might as well use it.

The Cubs ownership seem to be a new breed bent on ruining a good thing. Last week, the ownership came to the public trough thirsty for taxpayer money. They claim they didn’t want any new money just an advance on the amusement tax the City of Chicago now collects. They don’t understand the City does not collect this for the Cubs. It is not a private tax. The tax is for public improvements and crowd control expenses, allegedly, not for the Cubs to spend as they want. The Cubs want the money now to make upgrades in Wrigley Field. What they really want is an interest free. The Cubs make the improvements, keep the increased revenue and never pay the money back.

The Ricketts family bought an aging, decaying ballpark. They had their eyes open but refused to see. The glory days of the world’s largest tavern are over. People are wising up, even Cub fans. If the product is not worth following, they are not going to pay $50.00 a seat, $30.00 to park, $5.00 for a hot dog and $7.00 for a beer any more. Baseball is the product. The sun shines everywhere else for free.

Now the Cubs’ ownership is trying to increase revenue by having a College Football game at Wrigley Field. This is a novelty and will be successful once. Northwestern plays 15 miles away and cannot sell out. The Illini, a bad team, cannot sell out. In Wrigley, they will sell out. In steps the Big Ten, really Eleven. They had this plan before them for 15 months. The Big Ten approved the plan, including the field’s location. 24 hours before kickoff, the Big Ten changes the rules of football to accommodate itself. Now, every offensive play will be heading west, toward home plate area from right field. This is bound to ruin some grass. I know in a regulation game, the teams play on the same grass but they are going in different directions. The cleats are pointed in different directions, the push off from the players is spread around. This will make a difference, including the wind direction now being the same all game long.

The only game I can think of that is widely accepted in the United States where both teams go the same direction, (I don’t include baseball), is bowling.

The excuse for this fiasco is the potential for a concussion injury. That disease of the week has gotten old. Just make a disease of the week movie for The Lifetime Network and be done with it. The game is football. Injuries happen. You play through pain you do not play through injury. Let the players, who have done this their entire, although short, life, make the call. The people who made this decision probably have not played football in a decade or more.

Wrigley Field was the home of the Chicago Bears for over forty years. I don’t recall people dying or suffering catastrophic injuries all the time while playing there. Today the equipment is better, the trainers are better and the medical care is better and quickly available. This is football; let’s keep it that way. This is just another example of someone with a little power imposing their ideas on the masses. When you give someone a little power, they think they must exercise it or lose it. It is better to give someone all the power. Hen they are not as threatened about losing it and will exercise it in a more judicious manner.
Don’t forget to buy my book. They are going fast. More on that will be coming soon.
BRUCE A. BRENNAN
DEKALB, IL 60115
COPYRIGHT 2010

Email: brucebrennanlaw@aol.com
www.brucebrennanlaws.com
www.lawyerbruceabrennan.com
Go to website below to buy books by Bruce A. Brennan