Left In Aboite

Carl Ballantine has died at 92

pontio@aol.com (John Good) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 03:12:00 +0000

Carl Ballantine, best known for his supporting role of crew member Lester Gruber on "McHale's Navy", died from age-related causes on Tuesday at his Hollywood Hills home. He is survived by daughters Saratoga and Molly, and a sister, Esther Robinson. Ballantine's wife of 45 years, actress Ceil Cabot, died in 2000.

Ballantine's greatest performance was as a comically inept magician variously billed as "The Amazing Ballantine," "The Great Ballantine" and "Ballantine: The World's Greatest Magician". It was his performance of this role that launched his career on "The Ed Sullivan Show", and influenced a generation of magicians and comedians such as Steve Martin and David Copperfield.

Gruber on McHale's Navy

Carl Ballantine On Donny & Marie

Ballantine also hosted several television shows, including the Garry Moore, Andy Williams, Danny Kaye and Dean Martin shows, as well as "The Hollywood Palace" and "The Tonight Show." He appeared in numerous films such as "The Shakiest Gun in the West" (1968), "The World's Greatest Lover" (1977) and "Mr. Saturday Night" (1992).

RIP: Warren Oates

pontio@aol.com (John Good) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 04:58:00 +0000

Actually, I'm a tad bit late for this obituary - approximately 27 and 1/2 years late! I subscribe to an email list for WATN (Where Are They Now) that looks in on celebs from the past, reports on their life, and what they're doing now. One of the features in that report is called "Dead or Alive", which tells you a celeb name as well as a famous role of theirs, and asks you to guess if they are still with us - the answers are always at the end of the e-mail. Mr.Oates showed up on that list tonight and, while I never knew his name, I certainly knew him for his last major role; it was/is from one of my favorite movies: "Stripes". . .

Yes. . .it's Sargent Hulka! All of these years, and I never had any idea that he was gone. . .he died on April 3, 1982 of a heart attack. Apparently the Type A personality he portrayed in Stripes was true to character. In addition to his famous (and one of his final) role in Stripes, Oates had a long and distinguished career in film. Check it out here!

Soupy Sales has died at 83

pontio@aol.com (John Good) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 04:35:00 +0000

via AP:

Soupy Sales, the rubber-faced comedian whose anything-for-a-chuckle career was built on 20,000 pies to the face and 5,000 live TV appearances across a half-century of laughs, has died. He was 83.

Sales died at Thursday night at Calvary Hospice in the Bronx, New York, said his former manager and longtime friend, Dave Usher. Sales had many health problems and entered the hospice last week, Usher said.

SOUPY SALES: Green Pieces of Paper

Soupy Sales with Pookie and White Fang

Lou Dobbs: "Kids, do NOT eat your vegetables"

pontio@aol.com (John Good) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 04:14:00 +0000

The Dobbs took issue with "student vegetable indoctrination" on his Monday show. It seems that a Baltimore city school district,in an effort to cut costs and get children to eat healthier food, has adopted "Meatless Monday" in it's schools. Dobbs, as well as the meat industry, complain that it's an "unhealthy dose of indoctrination to students". This despite overwhelming support from district parents. Here's the video:

Glen Beck - Keeping it Real. . .

pontio@aol.com (John Good) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 04:07:00 +0000

Looking straight into the camera, and in all apparent seriousness, Beck warned that progressives have been working for years to strip Americans of their individual rights, and that in earlier times they would be called "tyrants" and "slave owners."

2010 is looking UGLY

pontio@aol.com (John Good) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 03:33:00 +0000

New Jersey Republicans complain that Gov. Jon Corzine, a Democrat, has turned nasty to gain ground in his re-election bid this year. Republicans elsewhere should brace themselves.That's because Mr. Corzine’s strategy for a comeback victory has turned into a template for Democratic candidates to survive in the 2010 midterm elections. Its shorthand description: winning ugly.

Do they know they're that stupid? ?

pontio@aol.com (John Good) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 03:48:00 +0000

Conservitives Untie! Lets Make Englisch the Offical Langauge of the USA!

What We're Up Against

pontio@aol.com (John Good) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 23:00:00 +0000

Canadians Come Out to Talk About Health Care

pontio@aol.com (John Good) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 20:35:00 +0000

Privatize the Fire Department

pontio@aol.com (John Good) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 23:32:00 +0000

Why We Need Government-Run Universal Socialized Health Insurance

pontio@aol.com (John Good) — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 01:11:00 +0000

A cartoon explanation of why we need a public health insurance option.

If you agree that a public option should be part of the health care reform bill, make sure you let your representatives know!

Tell Senator Bayh to be a Hero!

pontio@aol.com (John Good) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 00:09:00 +0000

Nancy Reagan to Son Ron Reagan: I’ll Miss Ted Kennedy (AUDIO)

pontio@aol.com (John Good) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 16:31:00 +0000

Senator Edward Kennedy had many friends on both sides of the political aisle, but what many people don’t realize is that one of his closest friends was former First Lady Nancy Reagan. The Reagans became close during the early years of Ronald Reagan’s first term--grounded, says Mrs. Reagan, “on a foundation of mutual respect.” Mrs. Reagan spoke with her son Ron about the man behind the politician, her thoughts about the importance of bipartisan friendships and the melancholy fact that she will miss her good friend immensely:

Tributes paid to Ted Kennedy

pontio@aol.com (John Good) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 16:18:00 +0000

IS THERE SOMETHING WEIRD ABOUT THIS PIC?

noreply@blogger.com (Stan Matuska) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 02:44:00 +0000

I saw this picture on CNN.com today. It is showing Afghan women at the voting booth. Does something not look quite right about this picture????

Imagine. . .

pontio@aol.com (John Good) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 16:01:00 +0000

. . .this man in congress. It's been officially confirmed that Dr.Tom Hayhurst will battle Mark Souder for Indiana's 3rd congressional seat in 2010. Best news we've heard all summer:

"Enough of the Mob"

pontio@aol.com (John Good) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 06:30:00 +0000

Yesterday morning, the White House's new media team released a 3-minute video hitting back at "falsehoods" and "misstatements" about the president's plans. Notably, the clip highlighted the popular conservative site, the Drudge Report, for posting an old and spliced video clip claiming that the president wanted to eliminate private insurance:

Health Care Reform: 450,000 Doctors Can't Be Wrong

pontio@aol.com (John Good) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 15:13:00 +0000

The U.S. has a catastrophically fragmented health care system that provides incentives for sick care instead of prevention. The system is in dire need of reform -- reform to save lives, to save families and to save money for both patients and the American health care system.

Stand with more than 450,000 doctors who support health care reform. Call Congress: (202) 224-3121.

Take more action by visiting http://www.healhealthcarenow.org

"Mouth Birthers"

pontio@aol.com (John Good) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 02:24:00 +0000

CNN's Rick Sanchez did a bit of public service announcement on Tuesday, reading President Obama's birth certificate on air for all the skeptics out there:

The segment was prompted by a "birther" hijacking a press conference held by Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.) to accuse him of ignoring the scandal:

On Hardball, Chris Matthews did his part for sanity, hosting California Congressman John Campbell, who is one of the Congressmen who have sponsored the "Birther bill" which "would require future presidential candidates to provide a copy of their original birth certificate." That bill's main sponsor is Florida Representative Bill Posey:

Chris Matthews on the attack

Hot for Judge

noreply@blogger.com (Stan Matuska) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 01:08:00 +0000

Ok, first you have to realize that this is a "Stan" post, and not a "John" post. And... I am not really hot for Judge Sonia Sotomayor, but rather for her sweet voice inflection!

I don't know what it is, but I LOVE to listen to her speak!!! Sonia Sotomayor speaks very eloquently, and with a kind of soft clarity that keeps you hanging on to her last words... as you wait for her next words to become audible.

Though she grew up in the Bronx, Judge Sotomayor now has a condo in Greenwich Village, New York City, NY. So, I guess it's her Latino New York accent that gets me.

You know exacty what I'm talking about, don't you? Right? It's not just me is it? Oh no... tell me it's not just me!!!

Hot for Teacher

pontio@aol.com (John Good) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 05:18:00 +0000

Here we go again:

Heather Zeo, a 36-year-old married mother of three who teaches at North Penn High School in Pennsylvania, was arrested for allegedly having sex with one of her underage students. The student described how the relationship escalated from Facebook flirtations to sexual intercourse during a courtroom appearance.

Prosecutors say that Zeo engaged in a "calculated seduction" and that they "will be asking for jail time."

Harry and Louise Return

pontio@aol.com (John Good) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 20:56:00 +0000

Harry and Louise are coming back to television screens across the country to talk about overhauling health care. This time, they've switched sides:

JFK Jr. - Ten Years

pontio@aol.com (John Good) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 04:43:00 +0000

A part of us died with you on that day long past, John. We miss you and what you had yet to accomplish. . .

The Economy Is Even Worse Than You Think

pontio@aol.com (John Good) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 06:16:00 +0000

Just in case you weren't already depressed enough, Mortimer Zuckerman (A name like that would depress ME) of the WSJ chimes in on the state of Great Depression Part Deux:

"The recent unemployment numbers have undermined confidence that we might be nearing the bottom of the recession. What we can see on the surface is disconcerting enough, but the inside numbers are just as bad.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics preliminary estimate for job losses for June is 467,000, which means 7.2 million people have lost their jobs since the start of the recession. The cumulative job losses over the last six months have been greater than for any other half year period since World War II, including the military demobilization after the war. The job losses are also now equal to the net job gains over the previous nine years, making this the only recession since the Great Depression to wipe out all job growth from the previous expansion."

Click HERE to read Zuckerman's complete top ten list of reasons to slash your wrists.

Oscar Mayer dies at 95

pontio@aol.com (John Good) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 01:40:00 +0000

Oscar G. Mayer, retired chairman of the Wisconsin-based meat processing company that bears his name, has died at the age of 95. He was the third Oscar Mayer in the family that founded Oscar Mayer Foods, which was once the largest private employer in Madison. His grandfather, Oscar F. Mayer, died in 1955 and his father, Oscar G. Mayer Sr., died in 1965. Mayer retired as chairman of the board in 1977 at age 62 soon after the company recorded its first $1 billion year. The company was later sold to General Foods and is now a business unit of Kraft.

Oscar Mayer Commercial -1973

Oscar Mayer "Wiener" Ad 1965 in COLOR