Theodore's World

Victoria’s Secret Angel Heidi Klum receives a star from honorary mayor of Hollywood Johnny Grant on Nov. 13, 2007

Johnny Grant, Honorary Mayor Of Hollywood, Dies
Johnny Grant, Hollywood’s honorary mayor, died Wednesday, according to Los Angeles police.
Information about Johnny Grant’s life taken from HERE….there is much more then I am posting and also lots of photos.
Grant, 84, has been one of Hollywood’s most enthusiastic supporters for more than 50 years.
He was the creator and producer of the “Welcome Home Desert Storm” parade, the largest single-day event in L.A.’s history. Television audiences around the world regularly see him dedicating stars on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame and helping immortalize the world’s greatest motion picture personalities in cement in the forecourt of the fabled Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. Johnny Grant is Hollywood’s most recognized spokesman.
The Hollywood Christmas Parade is another recurring example of Grant’s dedication to the revitalization of Hollywood. When the town’s annual Santa Claus Lane Parade lost its luster, the parade’s organizer, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, called Johnny Grant. When he signed on as parade producer in 1978, it was a reasonably popular, but strictly local, event. Grant rounded up 100 of Hollywood’s most popular stars, the committee changed the name to The Hollywood Christmas Parade, and with the drive of Johnny’s talent and personality, his 20-year tenure transformed the Parade into a nationally-televised festivity that has become one of the world’s largest celebrity events.
He was one of the television medium’s earliest pioneers and stars. Beginning in 1946, he was host of the game show “Stop the Clock.”
During World War II, while serving in the Army Air Corps, he broadcast from Seymour Johnson Field, N.C. and was aired on his “alma mater” station WGBR. He also was heard over New York’s WINS Radio, where he hosted a special daily show for the millions of servicemen and women stationed, living, and simply passing through New York City on military duty. The show was called “Strictly GI,” and featured not only news of interest to the troops, but interviews with some of the greatest and most popular entertainment stars of the day.
He was on the scene in 1945, shortly after a B-25 bomber crashed into the Empire State Building and was the only radio reporter on the air March 18, 1946, when Andrei Gromyko angrily walked out of the United Nations Security Council Chamber.
Grant also recalls his chats with the legendary Babe Ruth, Jack Dempsey, Ty Cobb, Eleanor Roosevelt, Great Britain’s Sir Anthony Eden, Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, Admiral William F. Halsey and more.
Grant also served as producer and host of the United States Marine Corps Reserve’s “Toys For Tots” Telethon for ten years.
Johnny has also produced hundreds of these events, raising millions of dollars for the USO, Boy Scouts of America, the Arthritis Foundation, police and fire services, veterans organizations, etc.
Johnny Grant is one of America’s most enthusiastic, energetic and vocal supporters of the men and women of the United States Armed Forces. His service to his country includes 15 trips to Korea and 14 gut-wrenching tours to combat bases throughout Vietnam… in all, a monumental 55 USO and personally-organized visits to bring laughter, encouragement and the spirit of America to GIs overseas.
During the Korean War, Grant’s “GI Phone Fund” provided wounded servicemen with free telephone calls home when they arrived at California’s Travis Air Force Base hospital.
Johnny’s 12th trip to Vietnam brought high praise from General Creighton Abrams, Commanding General of U.S. Forces there, as he pinned Grant with the Army’s Outstanding Civilian Service Medal. Since then, his amazing dedication to our armed forces personnel has been recognized with The Army’s Legion of Merit, two awards of the Meritorious Service Medal, an Army Commendation Medal and Distinguished Civilian Service Medals from the Department of Defense, Department of Army and Department of Navy on behalf of the Marine Corps.
Johnny spent Christmas of 1982 and ’83 entertaining U.S. Marines in Beirut, Lebanon, and was the only Hollywood personality to make two trips to visit our troops in Saudi Arabia during Desert Shield/Storm.
To date, he has made five visits to the Balkan countries of Kosovo, Bosnia and Macedonia. During these trips, he took the opportunity to re-establish a longtime association with the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS) by appearing on Christmas Day Specials on the AFN in Frankfurt, Germany, whose radio signal covers almost half the world. During both the Korean and Vietnam wars, Johnny hosted daily hour-long disc jockey shows for AFRTS.

Wild Thing’s comment……..
It is always sad to say goodbye to a friend. Hollywood even though extremely liberal does have some awesome people that have real substance and truly love our troops and know why we live in a free land. Johnny was one of them.
I met Johnny Grant through Bob Hope and trips to Vietnam. He was a jolly, fun and lovable man and very kind. Over the years of knowing Johnny Grant I was honoered to work with him and with the Marines Toys for Tots TV show with Angie Dickinson and Henry Winkler and others.
One Christmas Johnny called and asked if I wanted to ride in the Hollywood Christmas Parade and I was thrilled. I love Christmas and the Hollywood Christmas Parade was always fun. So I asked him if Nick could come too and he was wonderful and said absolutely. Johnny Grant did a lot to support the troops over the years and he will be missed.

His last trip to see our troops
November 29, 2007
Hollywood’s honorary mayor, Johnny Grant, plans to leave Friday for Guantanamo Bay to entertain and honor American troops.
Grant said the trip will be his final USO tour.
“Their applause is thunderous, and their laugh has a certain spark that you don’t hear anywhere else,” Grant said.
Grant, who’s performed with Bob Hope, Betty Grable and a long list of celebrities, has entertained troops for the last 65 years.
Grant said he bringing Victoria’s Secret models on this tour.
“I’ve got a lot of beautiful ladies for the men,” Grant said. “I’m afraid we’re going to disappoint the women soldiers, because I’m their sex symbol.”
On Thursday, Grant emceed The Recording Academy’s “Award of Excellence” star on Hollywood’s Walk Of Fame. During the ceremony, he shared a joke he plans on telling the troops.
“I say, ‘You know, I have a lot of problems in Hollywood. You’d be amazed at how many people mistake me for Brad Pitt,'” Grant said.
This isn’t the first time Grant has said his USO touring days are over. During a KNBC interview in 2001, he said that his 2001 tour would be his last.
While he stands by his remarks that this trip is the last, he hasn’t closed any doors.
“I say this is definitely the final tour, but if they called me the day I got back and asked me to go to Baghdad, I’d go,” Grant said.

Car dealer helps deployed military
kvoa.com
A Tucson car dealer is reaching out to help military men and women deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
This morning Hailey Peck picked up her car at Jim Click Nissan.
She’s glad to be back on the road again. Last month her car quit running outside her church.

Peck says she had to leave it parked there for months. She says, “We didn’t really have the money to repair the car yet. We just needed a few extra paychecks.”

This mother of two says money’s been tight since her husband got deployed to Afghanistan 22 months ago.
Enter Click Nissan. Click car dealerships have a program to help deployed military with routine car repairs.

Owner Jim Click says, “If you’re defending our country, we want to take care of your car. We’ll do the lube, oil, filter, any of the regularly scheduled maintenance for free.”

In Peck’s case, the dealership fixed everything. It did roughly $2,500 worth of work for free.

Scott Jones, the dealership’s service manager, says, “We replaced the radiator. Because of the overheating, it had damaged the catalytic converter. So we went ahead and replaced the catalytic converter.”

Arizona National Guard Sergeant Aaron Peck is expected to return from Afghanistan next month. Now his wife says he’ll have a dependable car to drive to work.

Peck tells Click, “It was such a blessing. I mean, thank you guys so much.”

Click tells her, “We sure appreciate what he’s doing. God bless him. And God bless your family.”

Click dealerships have offered free routine maintenance to deployed military since 2003.

Wild Thing’s comment……..
God love you, Jim Click and God bless our troops.

Wild Thing’s comment……….
This is a speech, Inch by Inch”, that Al Pacino’s made in the movie ” Any Given Sunday”. Someone took this speech, the audio of it and put it with images of our troops. This video is excellent!
For the words of the speech see here……………..

(more…)

Wild Thing’s comment……..
Our troops deserve more than all of this. I just keep thinking how we are not only voting on a President, but also the next Commander In Chief. I can’t not vote when the time comes, when I know how our troops are putting their lives on the line for our country and for all of us every day. But I sure hope and pray as the time passes in these next weeks and months we will have a conservative winning.
Kind of interesting thing Nick and I noticed. All of them thanked their spouces except for Barack Hussein Obama. Not that it has as much to do with love as it does with power hungry ego I think.
On Edwards and this is something I would love a reporter to ask him or a voter to ask him. Since you keep bringing up the Veterans that sleep under bridges what have YOU done John Edwards to help Veterans? Did you start any bills in our government to keep promises to Vets? Did you head up any programs or bills to look into the VA hospitals and the care or lack of care they offer? Have you done anything for Veterans at all? POW’s ? You spend $400 on a hair cut, and I could care less if you can afford it, but if you have such burning concern for our Veterans you could have paid for hair cuts, for a whole floor at a VA Hospital, or you and your wife could have sent awesome care packages to our troops. So you John Edwards are full of crap.
Another thing about last night, I wonder why McCain needed to have a written speech. Weird I think. He is the only one that had a speech he read. If I had to make a speech about something I was passionate about let’s say our troops or Veterans, good lord I could do it in a split second with no notes. And if I was running for President ( yuk no way) but if I was, I sure as heck would not need a written speech just to say thank you for voting for me and thank you to those that worked their glutes off in that primary.
Just some of my thoughts about this latest primary.

Pfc. Alexander Cesario of Somerville, N.J., a forward observer with A Co, Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, displays his father Adam’s American flag on a rooftop in Baghdad’s Suleikh neighborhood.
As a Soldier in Vietnam, the elder Cesario flew the flag every day – including a three day period when he was missing in action – and his son now carries it with him on patrols in Iraq. Photo by Sgt. Michael Pryor, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division Public Affairs.

Flag of My Father: Paratrooper Keeps Flag Carried by Dad in Vietnam
Story by Staff Sgt. Mike Pryor, 82nd Airborne Division Public Affairs
BAGHDAD
Like any Soldier, Pfc. Alexander Cesario always makes sure he has all his essential equipment before he goes outside the wire. For Cesario, that means his weapon, radio, and night vision goggles, as well as one special, personal item – an American flag his father brought home from Vietnam.
Cesario, a Somerville, N.J., native serving as a forward observer with Company A., Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, has carried his father’s flag with him on every mission since being deployed to Iraq a year ago.
The flag was first acquired by Cesario’s father, Adam, 61, when he was a young paratrooper serving in Vietnam. The elder Cesario never let a day go by without unfurling the flag, no matter where he was or what he was doing.
“(My dad) flew that flag every day, even if he had to put it up on a radio antenna,” Cesario said.
At one point, a mission went wrong and Cesario’s father was cut off from the rest of his platoon. For three days, he had to hack it out of the jungle alone, with the Vietcong in hot pursuit. But even on the run, he still managed to raise the flag each day.
“He didn’t stop moving at all for those three days, except to fly that flag,” Cesario said.
When Cesario’s father returned from the war, he put the flag into safekeeping. He was so protective of it that even family members were rarely allowed to handle it.
“It was like his prized possession,” Cesario said.
Nothing could make the elder Cesario part with the flag until Alexander, 19, was deployed to Iraq this year. After he began patrolling the streets of Baghdad, Cesario decided he wanted to carry on his father’s tradition. After some arm-twisting, he convinced his dad to mail him the flag.
The flag arrived with step-by-step instructions on how to take care of it, Cesario said. He recalled the final step with a laugh: “If you lose it, don’t bother coming home.”
Despite the threat of exile, Cesario takes the flag with him everywhere. It is his way of paying tribute to his father, he said.
“I wanted to honor him,” Cesario said, “It meant a lot to him, and because of that, it means a lot to me.”
Cesario keeps the flag tucked into the front flap of his body armor, close to his heart. He said he’s looking forward to redeploying and returning the flag – now a veteran of two wars – to its rightful owner. Eventually Cesario, who is single, said he would like to pass the flag on to his own son, when he has one. There’s only one problem.
“I’ll have to pry it away from my dad first,” he joked.

Wild Thing’s comment………
I love this story, it made me cry, our country has such totally awesome troops and Veterans. We are so blessed!!!!

ST. CHARLES, Mo.
What the …? A St. Louis-area town is considering a bill that would ban swearing in bars, along with table-dancing, drinking contests and profane music.
City officials contend the bill is needed to keep rowdy crowds under control because the historic downtown area gets a little too lively on some nights.
City Councilman Richard Veit said he was prompted to propose the bill after complaints about bad bar behavior. He says it will give police some rules to enforce when things get too rowdy.
But some bar owners worry the bill is too vague and restrictive, saying it may be a violation of their civil rights.
Marc Rousseau, who owns bar R.T. Weilers, said he thinks the bill needs revision.

“We’re dealing with adults here once again and I don’t think it’s the city’s job or the government’s job to determine what we can and cannot play in our restaurant,” Rousseau said.

The proposal would ban indecent, profane or obscene language, songs, entertainment and literature at bars.
A meeting to discuss the proposal is set for Jan. 14.

Wild Thing’s comment……..
Why do so many people hate freedom? And also personal reponsibility come to think of it.
These people don’t understand freedom. Most young people in America think freedom means freedom from offense, freedom from physical harm, freedom to litigate. If you present to these geniuses something that is “good for people”, they’ll sign up. Lower the BAC for being drunk? Well, that’s good for you, sure. Ban transfats? Again, good for you, sure.
Part of freedom is the freedom to make choices others would deem as “bad”. But you’re also free to live with the result.
So, the good people of this town see swearing as bad for you, and will attempt to ban it. We are on the slippery slope and sliding fast.
Maybe this would help, heh heh

The USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier and the USNS Arctic sailing side-by-side in the Gulf. President George W. Bush leaves Tuesday for a Middle East trip already laced with history and now tinged by new tensions with Iran following a naval dust-up in the Gulf’s strategic waters.
(AFP/US NAVY/Kenneth R. Hendrix)

AP
President Bush said Tuesday that Iran’s confrontation with the U.S. Navy ships in the Persian Gulf was a “provocative act.”
“It is a dangerous situation,” he said in a White House news conference. “They should not have done it, pure and simple. . . . I don’t know what their thinking was, but I’m telling you what my thinking was. I think it was a provocative act.”
The top U.S. Navy commander in the area said an Iranian fleet of high-speed boats charged at and threatened to blow up a three-ship U.S. Navy convoy passing near but outside Iranian waters on Monday, as they headed into the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz. The Iranian fleet “maneuvered aggressively” and then vanished as the American ship commanders were preparing to open fire, said Vice Adm. Kevin Cosgriff. No shots were fired.
In Tehran, Iran’s Foreign Ministry suggested the Iranian boats had not recognized the U.S. vessels. Spokesman Mohammed Ali Hosseini played down the incident. “That is something normal that takes place every now and then for each party,” he told the state news agency IRNA.
But White House press secretary Dana Perino said the incident was hardly routine. “It was not normal behavior,” she said. “It was out of the ordinary. It was reckless.”
“It’s just another point of reference for people in the region who are concerned about the behavior of Iran,” Perino said of the skirmish early Sunday local time. But, she said that while Iran will be “part of the discussion” during Bush’s travels, “it’s certainly not the main reason for the trip.”
Said Bush: “My message today to the Iranians is they shouldn’t have done what they did.”
Bush also said that a recent intelligence assessment on Iran, which determined that Tehran had halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003, sent a “mixed signal” to the international community on U.S. policy.
“Iran was a threat. Iran is a threat. And Iran will continue to be a threat if they are allowed to learn how to enrich uranium,” he said.
The incident came as Bush got ready to leave Tuesday evening on an eight-day Mideast trip designed in part to counter Iran’s influence in the region. Bush is expected to discuss the U.S. posture toward Tehran with Arab allies also worried about Tehran’s desire for greater regional power.

Wild Thing’s comment……..
Maybe the U.N. will tell them to apologize. Or maybe this from Hans Blix: Or else we will be very angry with you … and we will write you a letter, telling you how angry we are. Ole Blix just loved giving Saddam as much time as he needed to move his WMD.

Back to the Future: Carville & Begala to join Clinton campaign
Fox News
by Major Garrett
MANCHESTER, N.H.
It’s back to the future at Hillary Clinton’s campaign as some of the top advisers to former President Clinton are set to join to Hillary’s faltering campaign as early as tomorrow.
Senior Clinton sources tell Fox that Hillary intends to bring in as top day-to-day advisers James Carville and Paul Begala. The campaign could also add other strategists from Clinton’s presidential years, but Carville and Begala are the biggest names and are set to join the campaign after a post-New Hampshire strategy meeting tomorrow.
Carville and Begala will serve as top strategists on politics and communication and likely overshadow the current role of Mark Penn, Hillary’s senior strategist, and Patty Solis Doyle, Hillary’s current campaign manager.
Top sources tell Fox Hillary won’t fire anyone but will merely seek to “enlarge” her pool of advisers.One Democratic described it as “addition by subtraction.” The subtraction won’t come in the form of lost jobs, but lost influence, meaning Carville and Begala’s strategic advise will now carry greater weight than that of the original team that devised a strategy that has led to a defeat in the Iowa caucuses and a likely defeat in tonight’s New Hampshire primary.

UPDATE:
MSNBC
From NBC’s Andrea Mitchell
Tuesday, January 08, 2008 3:29 PM by Mark Murray
There are clearly changes coming but…
Contrary to a Fox News report, James Carville tells me he has no role in the Clinton campaign. He will continue talking to his friends in the campaign, but: “Reports that I will have a role are ludicrous.”
“My role in the campaign is the same as its been all along — I’m a Clinton supporter, sympathizer. I talk to people in the campaign all along”
His advice all along has been to “put her out there” — and let Hillary be Hillary.

Wild Thing’s comment……..
Carville and Begala, bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
The Clinton smear machine isn’t going to work this time. See, with Obama he gets to play the race card every time the Clinton attack machine kicks into gear. Hussein Obama is attracting major momentum and money and locking up an increasing amount of the balck vote and the anyone but Hillary vote so the same old dirty tricks won’t fly.

UPDATE ON MY ABOVE COMMENT……
LOL well typical of the left…..MAKE UP YOUR MINDS YOU GUYS! I hate making a post and then they change their minds of the informtion. sheesh democrats! lol

….Thank you Mark for the graphic.

Saudi Official Calls On French President To Visit Kingdom Without Girlfriend

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia:
A senior Saudi official called on French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Monday to respect Saudi Arabia’s conservative Islamic culture by visiting the country later this month without his former supermodel girlfriend.
Sarkozy, who divorced his wife Cecilia in October, has flaunted his relationship with Carla Bruni on recent holidays in Egypt and Jordan, drawing criticism that he is being too loose with the presidential image.
The Saudi diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said Sarkozy should leave Carla Bruni behind for “religious reasons” when he visits the kingdom on Jan. 13.
Under the strict interpretation of Islamic law enforced in Saudi Arabia, unmarried or unrelated couples are not permitted to be alone together. Westerners are expected to abide by the rules in public, and many hotels will not check unmarried Western couples into a single room.
Sarkozy’s office said the composition of the delegation has not yet been finalized. However, several officials in France, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media, said Bruni was not planning to go to Saudi Arabia.
The French president was criticized by several Egyptian officials in December for sharing a room with Carla Bruni while in Egypt on vacation, local media reported. Saudi Arabia is more conservative than Egypt, where unmarried Western couples are allowed to share hotel rooms.
The French newspaper Le Journal Du Dimanche, citing unidentified sources, said Sunday that Sarkozy proposed to Bruni in December, and the two would wed in early February.
The presidential palace declined to comment on the report.

Wild Thing’s comment……….
“The Saudi diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said Sarkozy should leave Carla Bruni behind for ‘religious reasons’ when he visits the kingdom on Jan. 13.”
RELIGIOUS REASONS?!?!
Sarkozy is NOT a muslim so there should be no religious reason for him to leave his fiance behind. As a foreign leader he has diplomatic immunity and he should invoke this.
I don’t know why any leader from the West would want to visit a backwards ignorant and xenophobic country like Saudi Arabia.
I hope that Sarkozy tells the Saudi jerks that if his fiance can’t come along, then he will cancel the trip altogether.

Likud Opposition Leader Binyamin Netanyahu

IsraelNN.com

U.S. President George W. Bush has declined to meet with former Prime Minister and current Likud Opposition Leader MK Binyamin Netanyahu during his upcoming visit to Israel, slated to begin on Wednesday, according to the Jerusalem Post.
Sources in Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s Kadima party quoted in the report offered this explanation: “At the White House, they think [Mr. Netanyahu] is a liar because of his behavior when he was prime minister.”
Outraged Likud officials accused Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of sabotaging what would normally be a routine meeting between a visiting U.S. President and an Israeli Opposition Leader, a long-established diplomatic custom.
“Given the extent to which the prime minister is willing to endanger the country to survive politically, it is not surprising that the Prime Minister’s Office is going out of its way to prevent Bibi (Netanyahu) from meeting with Bush,” said senior Likud sources.
A spokesman for Olmert stated that he was unaware of any efforts to block a meeting between Bush and Netanyahu.
Bush has no plans to meet with any politician or other officials opposed to the Annapolis process.

Wild Thing’s comment……..
This is a bad call by Bush. It reminds me when the Clinton’s snubbed Netanyahu and catered to Arafat instead.