So what's so great about England? -Just about everything [is great about England].  England has amazing culture, food, genuinely friendly and concerned people, health care---and even, for good measure, has its police under control.  (If your are wondering what--exactly--I meant by that last line, I can tell that you have never been to Upstate New York. . . .) Also, the vast majority of England is just breath-takingly beautiful.  Don't know what I mean--exactly--by the last line? -Well, now there's someone who has never seen the view of the Greenway from the the hill behind Rutherford Lab--or [the city of] Oxford, or just about anywhere in the country outside of Manchester, London, or that place where William Penn is buried (I honestly can't remember---which is a little embarassing, as I was forced to grow up in Pennsylvania), for that matter. . . .

   And what does England lack? Well, how about the virulent, life-stealing, economic cancer of affirmative action.  -Don't know--exactly--what I mean by the last line? Well, now there's someone who is not a white, male, Christian, heterosexual, American professional.  (*John chuckling*---in spite of himself :) )

   England just plain RULES.  Getting to live in a civilized (or should I spell that civilised? :) ) country for a year, was--as I said above--one of the very best (if not the very best) experiences of my life.  You English peeps, one and all, pat yerselves (sic) on the backs, 'n stuff.  You are perhaps, the best people in the entire world, 'n stuff.

And now for the pics:

   For several (possibly as many as eighteen (!!) ) years, now, I have been trying to get something--at least moderately--obscene past the DMV (the de(f)artment of motor vehicles)---in the form of a personalized license plate.  This is a lot more challenging than one might think: They have computer programs searching every submission for "hidden obscenities." (For instance, they will refuse "BYO"---bring your own [alcohol].  :P -Some people just have too much time (and power) on their hands. . . .) But, I perservered.  Also, I was (truly) inspired by the gentlemen in California, with the plate: "BOLLUX." So . . . in you can't overpower them---how 'bout outwitting them? (In the case of what the United States has the audacity to call a government, the former is well-nigh impossible, while the second shouldn't present all THAT much of a challenge. . . .  :) ) So, this brings us to . . .

    . . . and . . .

   The reason I have two pics, is because I have, simply, the sweetest, cutest, bestest doggie in the whole, wide world---and she wasn't cooperating in having her picture taken.  RO-SIE! :)

   (Bristol Cities, rhymes with. . . .  Heh-heh.  Heh.  Heh.  :) -And if you wondering about the ice and snow--and if you can't read it on due to poor web image resolution--this plate is from the state of Alaska.)

   I heard about this one nine (!!) years ago---and I'm still laughin'! :) :) -Please notice this tallest monument in the largest cemetery in Springfield, Ohio . . .

    . . . It is none other than . . .

    . . . THE JOHN THOMAS MEMORIAL!!!! TEE-HEE-HEE-HEE!!!! :) :) :) :) *John chuckling, even now* :) -I know, I'm childish---but, still, you have to admit, once you realize just what it is you're looking at. . . .  

   Well, I hope you've enjoyed John's most heartfelt and sincere tribute, to what he genuinely believes is that best nation on Earth.  Well, I guess I'd better get back to the 10 BILLION emails that I have---email, both blessing and bain, of our modern world. . . .