Drain the swamp
From Wikipedia
Drain the swamp is a phrase which has frequently been used by politicians since the 1980s and in the U.S. often refers to reducing the influence of special interests and lobbyists. The phrase can allude to the physical draining of swamps which is conducted to keep mosquito populations low in order to combat malaria, prevalent during the time in Washington, D.C., on supposed swampy grounds.
Examples
Ronald Reagan, who called to "drain the swamp" of bureaucracy in the federal government in 1983 when commissioning the Grace Commission.
Donald Trump to describe his plan to fix problems in the federal government. In the three weeks before the 2016 election, he tweeted "Drain the swamp" 79 times, usually as a hashtag, and he tweeted the word "swamp" another 75 times in the four years following that election.
IMDb
Raising Arizona (1987)
Quotes
H.I.: I tried to stand up and fly straight, but it wasn't easy with that sumbitch Reagan in the White House. I dunno. They say he's a decent man, so maybe his advisors are confused.
From 9/8/1960 ( ) To 12/11/2020 ( by me, Kerry Burgess, illustrations here ) is 22009 days
From 11/2/1965 ( my known birth date in Antlers, Oklahoma, USA, as Kerry Wayne Burgess ) To 2/4/2026 ( ) is 22009 days
From 11/30/1941 ( ) To 3/4/2002 ( premiere USA film "The Time Machine" ) is 22009 days
From 11/2/1965 ( my known birth date in Antlers, Oklahoma, USA, as Kerry Wayne Burgess ) To 2/4/2026 ( ) is 22009 days
From 10/24/1994 ( premiere USA film "Stargate" ) To 2/4/2026 ( ) is 11426 days
From 11/2/1965 ( my known birth date in Antlers, Oklahoma, USA, as Kerry Wayne Burgess ) To 2/13/1997 ( as Kerry Wayne Burgess the United States Marine Corps commissioned-officer and United States STS-82 pilot astronaut and my 4th official United States of America National Aeronautics Space Administration orbital flight of 4 overall I begin repairing the US Hubble Telescope while in space and orbit of the planet Earth ) is 11426 days
http://www.af.mil/AboutUs/Biographies/Display/tabid/225/Article/106446/brigadier-general-frank-p-lahm.aspx
U.S. AIR FORCE [previously referenced by me, the key detail verified at source by me, Kerry Burgess, 06/14/2026]
BRIGADIER GENERAL FRANK P. LAHM
1908 - U.S. Army decided to buy a plane - among specifications to be met - must carry two persons. Three Army lieutenants assigned as a nucleus air force - Lahm, Foulois and Selfridge - one was to be passenger on test flight. Selfridge chosen. Orville Wright flew the plane - the "Flyer," built to meet Army specifications, at Fort Myer, Va. Lahm was passenger on first pre-test flight. Official flight made Sept. 17, 1908. Plane crashed, Orville Wright injured, Selfridge died from injuries.
1909 - Orville Wright and Lahm made first two-man endurance record of one hour, 12 minutes, 40 seconds, fulfilling the conditions of one hour's flight with a passenger, in the first official test flight of airplane built for Army acceptance.
Lahm and Lieutenant Frederic E. Humphreys trained to fly by Wilbur Wright at College Park, Md., (October). Both soloed 26 Oct 1909.
Lahm believed to be first rated pilot in the U.S. Military Service.
Returned to Gulf Coast Air Corps Training Center at Randolph Field, Texas, where he retired Nov. 30, 1941.
Stargate (1994)
(from internet transcript)
[Catherine backs away. Daniel and the lone remaining man look around the now empty room.]
DANIEL
Is there a lunch or something that everybody...?
EXT HOTEL ENTRANCE, DAY
[Rain pours down as Daniel, carrying two large suitcases, exits the hotel. He pulls his jacket's hood over his head to provide some protection and tries to cover his one suitcase with his coat. An uniformed man with an umbrella approaches from a car parked just outside the hotel.]
KAWALSKI
Doctor Jackson?
DANIEL
What? Yes?
KAWALSKI
Someone wants to speak with you.
INT CAR
[Catherine flips through a file, which includes a diploma from UCLA, as the officer continues to talk to Daniel.]
DANIEL
The Air Force?
by me, Kerry Burgess, 06/14/2026 1:13 PM
I have worked on this note for hours today before finally posting it here today. The section above is a reference that is one of the last parts that I made the random choice to reference.
All the content above this point established, at this point I was finishing up this blog-post here on my blog and this song began playing on antenna local FM radio:
Everything But The Girl - Missing (Official)
Future Shock
by me, Kerry Burgess, 06/14/2026 1:13 PM
Now back to the remaining content that was already established before that song and that now follows here:
by me, Kerry Burgess, posted by me: December 16, 2017 6:42 pm
The whole point was to not check the numbers until I got back.
I still remember how suddenly the snowfall arrived yesterday. Perhaps my vantage point on the metro bus diminished that somewhat. I couldn't in the direction ahead of the bus. But it was a sudden outburst of snow.
I got off the bus in downtown Spokane and after a few steps, my right foot slipped on the sidewalk, looking down, seeming in slow motion to it all, to see a narrow skid-mark exposing under the snow a shiny gray metal plate.
I didn't fall but, in what seemed to be slow motion, my right-foot was sliding forward and my left-foot planted firmly behind me and I felt my left knee gently reach the pavement and then I reached out to a railing with my right hand and brought myself back up. A few hours later I discovered that astronaut statue.
by me, Kerry Burgess, December 22, 2017 at 3:18 pm
Kerry Burgess updated his status.
A few minutes later, I looked at the clock.
A few minutes after 12:30 AM
I had gotten out of bed and walked to the bathroom here in my tiny apartment and flipped on the light.
Standing there my mind is churning over something. Normal, it seems, every thing seems normal.
The recessed ceiling fan is what I noticed first. Very loud noise.
My subconscious mind seems about to ask me: Why are my eyes closed? Why is there such bright light beyond my closed eyes.
My brain is telling me I am still standing upright.
The ceiling fan is very loud. Something very important is circulating in my thoughts. My eyes are closed. There is bright light beyond my eyes.
I am not standing upright.
I am actually crumpled up on the floor between the toilet on the wall on the right-side.
The fall never registered in my mind. As I dropped to the floor one of my appendages must have slammed down the toilet lid seat and that never registered in my mind when it happened.
First order of business, stand up. Vague sense of pain begins in my right leg.
Limp into other room and glance at clock: 12:34 AM.
Lie in bed for a long time with teeth clenched shut afraid to take any ibuprofen and in a futile effort to fall back to sleep.
by me, Kerry Burgess, September 20, 2017 11:27 am
Kerry Burgess updated his status.
Today meets the point I am officially half-way towards my goal of returning to my body weight of the same I was on 27 June 2004 which was the last time I successfully completed an Ironman triathlon.
I don't recall my precise body weight on 27 June 2004 but I know that the Ironman Coeur d'Alene organizers still had me in their so-called "Clydesdale" category. That category is for male contestants who weigh in at over 200 pounds body weight. I can remember in the hours before the race began and my race against the 17 hour clock I was wondering if I would still be in that category.
As my '878' finisher photo attests, I had - without prodding by any person and on my own personal initiative and in protest (as proved by my '878' photo) - quit working at Microsoft Corporation near Seattle a few months earlier and, along with my $80,000 per year salary and brokerage accounts and many other perks of employment, I lost all that free Coca-Cola that Microsoft provides at work. So I was wondering if I was still going to weigh in over 200 pounds on race day. I did weigh on race day over 200 pounds but just barely. Can't recall the precise number but I would have to guess now it was between 200 and 205.
I can't believe how much weight I've lost so far in the past few weeks. I'm not even trying that hard.
The stationary bike seems to produce the best results. After the acrid wildfire smoke cleared from the skies recently I went out walking more but that didn't seem, so far, to produce much result, at least not the sort of daily result I get from the stationary bike. I drink literally a gallon of distilled water each day so I know the loss is not from dehydration.
I haven't been trying that hard but the stationary bike can be really excruciating. The only thing that makes it bearable 6 days per week is having the television in front of me to watch and to distract me for a few minutes at a time.
With winter fast approaching here in Snow-can I know that is going to be my only outlet for the next 6 months although I anticipate meeting my goal well before that much time has passed. Most of the - or all of the sidewalks I have enjoyed the past month will soon be ankle deep or more of snow and plowed snow and road grit and deicer. The city says the sidewalks are supposed to be cleared but I don't see that very often even in the places with the obvious traffic of other footprints in the accumulated snow.
Obviously something (else) very amazing happened to me after the year 2004.
Perhaps that part of my mind locked away and hiding will be able to relate more to my present self if I meet my goal.
What will I think. Who will I be.
by me, Kerry Burgess, December 22, 2017 5:25 pm
Kerry Burgess updated his status.
These are the best nights outside here in Spokane during winter.
The low clouds reflect the city lights. The fresh snow falling from the sky. The cold fresh air.
Walking, limping outside to carry out the trash I wanted to walk around and practice more of night-time photography but that is now too painful and I should probably stay off my feet. There should be more chances later if the weather reports are accurate.
http://hvom.blogspot.com/2017/12/excursion-stargate.html
Posted by me, Kerry Burgess
MONDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2017
Excursion: Stargate
Photo objectives:
Canada Island marker
Howard Street marker
Totem
Pollution marker
Canada Island mini-ampitheater
Upper Falls dam. Sundial?
Excursion planning begins: 12:50 PM Thursday 21 December 2017 Pacific Time USA.
Calendar date for next excursion undecided as of now, maybe Sunday the 24th or perhaps Saturday the 23rd. Code pattern will not be examined until after my return home from excursion.
from the private journal of Kerry Burgess: 04/04/08 8:02 PM
I had a very lucid dream just before I woke up that I was trying to catch an airline flight to some place. I might have been trying to go home but I cannot remember any details from the dream, other than what I describe that suggest I was going home. Even the one detail that does suggest that I was going home does not really have the kind of emotional attachment to it that I would describe as suggestive of going home. The dream started off with something about a group of Native Americans that I cannot remember enough detail about to articulate, other than I seemed to walk through of group of Native Americans that were walking some place. There are some other details that I also cannot fully articulate but that I can visualize somewhat and it seems I was out fishing in a lake with some relatives and I caught a fish and it seemed to the only one we had caught. Then I heard someone that I could see say to who ever was listening that we should not eat the fish out of that lake. It did not look very appetizing anyway and seemed to have bruises on it after it had been cleaned. The I was walking some where and that is when I seemed to be trying to catch the airline flight. There are some other details between there that I cannot remember now. I remember that I was carrying some luggage and also several items from the dry cleaners that I had just picked up. One of the items was slipping out the bundle because I did not have the hanger in my hand along with the others. Then I remember from the dream that I walked by Ron Howard as he was walking by me and he seemed to say to someone that I had not seen him or that I had not recognized him. Then I was still walking along through the city, which is vaguely familiar but I am not certain, and I was thinking to myself that I was going to miss the flight because I was running out of time. Then the thought occurred to me that it would not matter if I missed the flight because, due to the arrangements that had already been made, they would put me onto the next flight. This is now the second time the thought has occurred to me as I write this that I am beginning to forget important details from that dream I had just before I woke up in the past hour or so. Then I was in the airport and I was checking in but I am confused about the person who was checking my ticket. I cannot remember enough detail to say for certain but I might have walked behind the counter of a Starbucks and a woman there was checking me in for the flight. She looked at my ID and there is now something I have forgotten but she was saying something about my ID matches my military pension that was published in the paper and she was using a newspaper that I had brought along as the source and I was thinking that I was glad I had brought along a copy of that newspaper. I am not certain why details about me were printed on that newspaper. There was also some detail available to my mind at this point in the dream, and I do not know the source, where I can almost visualize the association with the Jupiter moon Callisto. But I cannot visualize the source of that phrase. I have to guess that the boarding desk had a sigh with something about the Jupiter moon Callisto as though that was the destination of the flight or it was the location I was departing. I think it was the location I was departing because I also have some vague sense of the date 11/28/1976 and I think that detail represents that I was departing the Jupiter moon Callisto for my flight back to Earth. I do not remember any other detail after that in the dream.
posted by me, Kerry Burgess, December 27, 2017 1:22 am
Kerry Burgess updated his status.
5 days after the 22nd and my foot still hurts like a sonofabitch from being crumpled up on the floor. And still bruised. I thought I had broken it. Yesterday I noticed for the first time where my right elbow must have scraped the wall.
http://hvom.blogspot.com/2017/12/excursion-stargate.html
Posted by me, Kerry Burgess
MONDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2017
Excursion: Stargate
Kerry Burgess added 5 new photos.
Monday, December 25, 2017 at 4:25 PM
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097576/quotes
IMDb
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
Quotes
[Lecturing in class]
Indiana Jones: Archeology is the search for fact, not truth. If it's truth you're interested in, Dr. Tyree's Philosophy class is right down the hall. So forget any ideas you've got about lost cities, exotic travel, and digging up the world. We do not follow maps to buried treasure, and "X" never, ever marks the spot.
From 5/24/1989 ( premiere US film "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" ) To 12/25/2017 ( ) is 10442 days
From 11/2/1965 ( my known birth date in Antlers, Oklahoma, USA, as Kerry Wayne Burgess ) To 6/5/1994 ( the Sioux City Flight 232 memorial dedication ) is 10442 days
by me, Kerry Burgess, posted by me December 16, 2017 at 6:42 pm
I haven't been to downtown Spokane's Riverfront Park very often. The first time I can specifically recall being there was the first day of Autumn in 2015 and I traveled there specifically to see the Rotary Fountain
https://www.krem.com/video/features/meet-krem-2s-newest-reporter-cody-proctor
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CDOC-105hdoc310/html/CDOC-105hdoc310.htm
REFERRAL FROM INDEPENDENT COUNSEL KENNETH W. STARR
The President also made the following statement during their January 18, 1998 meeting, according to Ms. Currie: "[Monica Lewinsky] wanted to have sex with me, but I told her I couldn't do that."
January 18, 1998, Meeting with Ms. Currie
Because the President referred so often to Ms. Currie, it was foreseeable that she might become a witness in the Jones matter, particularly if specific allegations of the President's relationship with Ms. Lewinsky came to light.
Indeed, according to Ms. Currie, President Clinton at some point may have told her that she might be asked about Monica Lewinsky.
continuing, original-work by me, Kerry Burgess, expanding
From 1/18/1998 ( ) To 10/4/2021 ( ) is 8660 days
From 11/2/1965 ( my known birth date in Antlers, Oklahoma, USA, as Kerry Wayne Burgess ) To 7/19/1989 ( the United Airlines Flight 232 crash in Sioux City Iowa and from the thoughts in my conscious mind, coinciding with United States of America Veterans Affairs hospital psychiatric doctor medical drugs: the end of Kerry Burgess - *me* - the natural human being cloned from another human being {Thomas Reagan} ) is 8660 days
From 5/4/1974 ( Richard Nixon, 37th president of USA federal government 1969-1974: Remarks Opening Expo '74, Spokane, Washington, USA ) To 10/4/2021 ( ) is 17320 days
17320 = 8660 + 8660
From 11/2/1965 ( my known birth date in Antlers, Oklahoma, USA, as Kerry Wayne Burgess ) To 7/19/1989 ( ) is 8660 days
From 4/16/1993 ( ) To 8/12/2024 ( ) is 11441 days
From 11/2/1965 ( my known birth date in Antlers, Oklahoma, USA, as Kerry Wayne Burgess ) To 2/28/1997 ( ) is 11441 days
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106387/releaseinfo/
IMDb
Benny & Joon
Release info
United States April 16, 1993
Filming locations: Spokane, Washington, USA
A mentally ill young woman finds her love in an eccentric man who models himself after Buster Keaton.
- by me, Kerry Wayne Burgess, posted by me: 1:49 PM Pacific-timezone USA Sunday 06/14/2026
