Fourth Of July Weekend At Daytona Int'l Speedway

It's Fourth of July Weekend and that means Nascar racing from Daytona Int'l Speedway. If you've never experienced Nascar racing on a 2.5 mile banked super speedway, you're in for a treat. The Infinity Series will run tonight and the Monster Energy Series will run Saturday night.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., the sentimental  favorite, shot to the top of the leaderboard Thursday in final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Daytona International Speedway. An aerodynamic pull in a six-car pack carried Earnhardt to a lap of 193.328 mph in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet. Earnhardt, in his final full season of competition, is a four-time winner at the 2.5-mile track.

With so many talented drivers entered into both the Xfinity and Monster Energy race, lady luck and the ability to avoid "the big one" (Multiple car crash), may be the determining factor as to who wins the race, Good pit work and strategy will also be a factor.

Nevertheless, both tonight's race and tomorrow night's race will both be barn burners and the excitement of the close (200 mph) three abreast racing will keep you on the edge of your seats.

The XFINITY Series Coca-Cola Firecracker 250 at Daytona will start at 7:30 pm and be televised on NBCSN. The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Coke Zero 400 at Daytona will start at 7:30 and be televised on NBC.

At what point in time did speaking grammatically correct go out of style? Forget the average person, I'm talking about supposedly educated people on TV. When asked a question, more that half begin their answer with "So,....." The word "so" indicates a continuance of a previous thought. Ergo, no previous statement, misuse of the word.

When I hear the respondent start his reply with "So," I automatically assume he's not an English major and repetitive use of same tells me he's a C-average Bachelor of Arts graduate. And just like typical liberal television, no one calls them on or says a word.

And don't get me started on the mispronunciation of "nucular" (nuclear) or "axe" (ask).. Even worse, I love to hear the phrase, "a hard 'road' to hoe." You don't hoe a road, you hoe a (garden) row. 

The News As I See It: A man in Minnesota a man in Minnesota was arrested and he handed the officer a Monopoly "Get out of jail free" card. Then, when he got to prison, his cellmate handed him a card that said, "You won a beauty contest." 

Former Georgia congressional candidate, John Ossoff, who spent over 23.6 million on his campaign (compared to republican winner Karen Handel's mere 4.5 million), said his loss for the Democrats last week shows that President Trump and chief strategist Steve Bannon "should be sweating in 2018." Sweating? Republicans are 5-0 in recent elections.

A giant cyber attack hit computer systems in Russia. In a related story, Hillary Clinton just had a great week at computer camp.

This Date In History: 1859; French acrobat Charles Blondin, AKA Jean Francois Gravelet, walked across Niagara Falls on a tightrope. 1908, A powerful natural explosion from an unknown cause rocked the Tunguska Basin, in eastern Siberia, flattening hundreds of square miles of forest and resulting in tremors that could be felt hundreds of miles away.

1921; President Warren G. Harding appointed former president William H. Taft chief justice of the United States. 1934; 1934 Adolf Hitler secured his position in the Nazi party by a "blood purge," ridding the party of other leaders such as Ernst Roehm and Kurt von Schleicher.

1936; Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind was published. 1971; The 26th Amendment, which lowered the voting age to 18, was ratified by the states. 1998; The remains of a Vietnam War serviceman buried in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers were identified as those of Air Force pilot Michael J. Blassie.

Picture Of The Day: Dale Earnhardt Jr,, wins at Daytona

Printable Things I Never Told You: 1) I think I'm going to start a new business making T-shirts out of eyeglass cleaning cloth.  2) The only time I have worn boxer underwear was when I was in the Army. 3) (911): "What's your emergency?" (Me): "Do you think this shirt matches my pants?" (991): "Not funny, sir, I can track your call." (Me): "It's a phone booth inside a bar." (911): "Is that you Jimmy?"  4) My neighbor called my cat fat the other day. It took me two hours to convince her that she just had thick fur. 5) McDonalds should have a 3rd window where you can trade in the wrong stuff that they gave you at the 2nd window.....and that's five !

Today's Horoscope: Cancer - June 30th: Keep an open mind because you may be getting a compliment from a member of the opposite sex that you may not understand. As long as it does not involve a whip, handcuffs and a gerbil, go with it. It'll probably be fun, Chance of romance is 44.57 percent. It can be higher if you don't mind the handcuffs.

Birthdays: Walter Ulbricht, Communist leader 1893, Czeslaw Milosz, poet, essayist and novelist  1911, Lena Horne, Jazz and pop singer, dancer and actress 1917, Paul Berg, biologist 1926, Mike Tyson, boxer 1966.

The AREA 51 Retirement Home Bar And Grill: There is an Internet warning issued by the Departmet of Homeland Security. If you get an email titled; "Nude photo of Nancy Pelosi," Don't open it! It contains a nude photo of Nancy Pelosi.

Every time I walk into  AREA 51 for happy hour, I can still hear my Mother's wise words: "Jimmy, don't pick that up! You don't know where it's been!"

The Hits Just Keep On Coming: My thanks to my pal Linda for her contribution to today's stories.

One day a little girl was sitting and watching her mother do the dishes at the kitchen sink. She suddenly noticed that her mother had several strands of white hair sticking out in contrast on her brunette head.

She looked at her mother and inquisitively asked, "Why are some of your hairs white, Mom?" Her mother replied, "Well, every time that you do something wrong and make me cry or unhappy, one of my hairs turns white."

The little girl thought about this revelation for a while and then said, "Mama, how come all of grandma's hairs are white?"

An elderly woman lived on a small farm in Canada, just yards away from the North Dakota border. Their land had been the subject of a minor dispute between the United States and Canada for years. The now widowed woman lived on the farm with her son and three grandchildren.

One day her son came into her room holding a letter, saying "I just got some news, Mom. The government has come to an agreement with the people in North Dakota. They've decided that our land is really part of the United States. We have the right to approve or disapprove of the agreement. What do you think?"

His mother replied, "What do I think?" Sign it! Call them right now and tell them we accept! I don't think I could stand another one of those Canadian winters!"

That's it for today, my little tadpoles. Remember, this politically correct thing is really getting out of hand. Now you have to refer to blondes with limited intelligence as a light-haired detour off the information superhighway. I'm heading over to AREA 51 for happy hour.

I hope that all my friends and readers have a safe and happy Fourth of July! (I'm available for barbecues.....)

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More next week.

Stay Tuned !