Europa, the dog from hell, dug up Damsel’s flowerbed and was summarily sentenced to watch CNN for an hour. Poor thing may take weeks to recover.

In her never ending quest for natural beauty, Damsel snapped this picture of a beautiful Gardenia flower in her garden. Man! Does that smell good?

The doorbell rang and Damsel went to the door to peer through the little porthole to see who was there. Looking out, she saw an older man dressed casually, with a grocery bag. Damsel is very cautious and surveyed the visitor for a few seconds before turning on the green light to open the door.

It turned out that it was Mike White from our local Salvation Army Citadel. Mike presented Damsel with a box of six of the ‘Famous Doughnuts‘ as a treat for us for our support over the years. Wow! Doughnuts!

Mike’s visit inspired me to look into the ‘Famous Doughnuts’ and I found this on the Southern California Salvation Army webpage (click on the ‘Famous Dougnnut’ display ad):

On The Front Lines

The Salvation Army won its recognition during World War I for its work overseas. However, it was the doughnut that caught the doughboy’s fancy.

In August 1917, fighting raged near Montiers, France, as soldiers huddled in camp - hungry, weary and drenched by 36 consecutive days of rain. In a tent near the front lines, Salvation Army “lassies” (young, female Salvation Army members) made doughnuts by filling a refuge pail with oil. They made dough with left over flour and other ingredients on hand, and used a wine bottle as a rolling pin. With a baking powder tin for a cutter end a camphor-ice suck tube for making the holes; doughnuts were fried - seven at a time - in soldier’s steel helmets on an 18-inch stove. (Later, a seven-pound shell fitted with a one-pound shell was used to cut out the doughnut holes.)

Rain fell continuously and the water-soaked tent collapsed, but the 100 doughnuts made that first day were an immediate success. Soon, as many as 500 soldiers stood in muck outside the resurrected tent, waiting for the sweet taste of doughnuts.

Doughnuts Invade Home Front

Following the war, the returning “doughboys” brought back the taste of doughnuts with them - the doughnuts that The Salvation Army lassies had fried and served for them in France.

The doughnut’s identity with The Salvation Army stuck. Doughnuts appeared everywhere The Army did. Ever since that August day in France 81 years ago, millions of servings of “hot coffee and doughnuts” have been provided free by The Salvation Army to fireman, rescue workers, disaster victims - anyone in need. Salvation Army lassies made doughnuts the popular wartime food, and the doughnut came to symbolize the good work of The Salvation Army.

The Salvation Army Famous Doughnut is again on the front-lines of war. This time around, however, the battle is being fought against the unfair penalties of poverty: hopelessness, homelessness and hunger. You can help The Salvation Army replenish its financial ammunition by purchasing a box of The Famous Doughnut, available now in your local Ralphs Grocery Stores.

Now, I don’t want to encourage anyone to eat a lot of these, but don’t the Salvation Army Doughnuts look good?

With some help with the wording from Captain Ed, I sent this to Senator Feinstein’s Mail Robot:

Senator,

Your ‘NO’ vote on Judge Roberts provides further proof that you and other Democrats seek to impose unpopular policy through judicial manipulation rather than through legislation, and that your actions represent a true threat to the Constitutional checks and balances that keep power in the hands of the people.

Once again, as a second-generation native Californian, I am deeply embarassed by my fellow citizens’ choice of California Senators.

In the article referenced above, Captain Ed goes on to say (emphasis added):

No one believes that this will cause any risk to Feinstein’s seat in California, where the GOP still operate in such disarray that they will not likely field any candidate that could possibly unseat Feinstein even if she retired first. However, the declarations of Reid and Feinstein opposing such an impressive and obviously qualified candidate like Roberts will provide grist for campaigns in red-state contests, where at least five Democratic Senators will need to defend themselves and their party against the clear trend towards radicalism and knee-jerk partisanship. The more Democrats that fall into this trap, the easier that argument gets.

The references to the California GOP, it seems, are sadly true, thus increasing our embarassment.