Panhandlers R Us: We’ve received reports of...

Panhandlers R Us: We’ve received reports of a gent holding a “Why Lie--I Want a Beer” sign in such burgs as Malibu, Fontana and Anaheim. And the fascinating part is that more than one moocher is using this approach, judging from the accompanying photos.

There was even this note in a recent “Washington Wire” item in the Wall Street Journal: “A candid panhandler near the Capitol carries a sign reading: ‘Hell, why lie? I need a beer.’ ”

Is there a mail order business in these signs? Whatever, this philosophical movement is obviously spreading throughout America. The question is: How? By word of bottle mouth? Maybe. But this is the ‘90s. We suspect the panhandlers are communicating on the Internet. Using laptops, of course.

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Anagram of the Day: There’s a three-way tie, all entries from Ron Matejcek of Claremont.

GLENDALE: LEND A LEG

POMONA: ON A MOP

HAWTHORNE: THROW A HEN

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Give Mom a break, Disney!We don’t want to mar Father’s Day festivities. But we notice that “Pocahontas” is in keeping with previous animated Disney films in which the mother of the main character is dead, about to be dead, humiliated or insignificant.

The grim record:

* “Aladdin”: No mom for street rat (or for princess).

* “Bambi”: Mom snuffed out by hunter. Absentee Dad depicted as hero.

* “Beauty and the Beast”: No mom for either character.

* “Dumbo”: Mom jailed for assaulting verbal abusers of her big-eared son.

* “Cinderella”: Evil stepmother.

* “Jungle Book”: Boy raised by animals--male animals.

* “Little Mermaid”: No mom.

* “Lion King”: Mom has minor role (and no songs).

* “Pinocchio”: Raised by stepdad. A nice stepdad.

* “Pocahontas”: No mom.

* “Snow White”: Evil stepmother.

Disney moms--you need a new agent.

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Why lie? He needs an aspirin: A friend of ours, who quit drinking years ago, recently stopped smoking at the suggestion of his dentist. When our friend went to have his teeth cleaned the other day, his dentist had him open wide, then commented: “Tell me something. You still drinking that coffee?”

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You knew it would happen: Watching TV’s “Family Feud,” T.J. Noone of Pasadena noticed that one question asked what Southern California is famous for. The answer: “Good weather.” Good, wet weather.

It’s enough to make you want to throw a hen.

miscelLAny El Segundo, the home of the state’s second refinery, described itself in newspaper ads of the 1920s as “The Standard Oil Pay Roll City.”