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March 31, 2005

It's Very Sad To See

The abuse and bile being spewed about the net with regard to Terri Sciavo is amazing, and disgusting. The crap that Insta has had to put up with is simply vile. Sure, some guys clearly think it adds a few sorely needed inches to their wienies to attack him, and I guess they're feeling impotent because Chimpbushhitler has no more elections to lose, but can people grow the heck up please? Yeah, I think it is unconscionable that she was taken off the feeding tube and effectively murdered. But I also think that it was wrong to have a special session of Congress to pass a 'law' that pertains to one person. And I think Jeb made the right decision in not sending in marshalls to 'rescue' her. There's enough in here to piss off everyone from multiple angles.

The whole situation sucked from top to bottom, and screaming epithets and wishing ill on others shines a brighter light on your own shortcomings than it does on your pearls of wisdom.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 11:26 PM | Comments (37)

100 best April Fools Day hoaxes.....

here.

Posted by Crusader at 04:18 PM | Comments (2)

Let's Play: 'Name That Bandit' !

He's just dying for some snappy kinda tag line.

Woman walking dog has poop bag snatched
San Diego police searching for gunman; 'Misty' unharmed

SAN DIEGO - The hunt is on for a different kind of burglar.

Police in San Diego are searching for a gunman who swiped a bag of poop from a woman out walking her dog.

The woman told police that she was out walking her dog, Misty, on Monday night when a man in his 20s ran up behind her and grabbed the bag she was holding.

When the gunman discovered what was in it, he threw it down in disgust, pointed his gun at the 32-year-old woman and demanded money, San Diego police detective Gary Hassen said.

He then aimed his .22-caliber semiautomatic at Misty and pulled the trigger twice but the gun didn't fire, Hassen said.

The robber ran to a waiting small, silver car and fled the scene, police said.

He's obviously a sore sport as well.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 02:07 PM | Comments (16)

Some Cheerful Economic News

And Lord knows, we can use cheerful. Iraq? Damn-they voted and attacks are down. The economy? Well, with reports like this, if Bushchimphitler can get the oil thing under control, whatever are the Democrats going to do?

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. economy seems to be on firm footing, according to reports on Thursday, with strong consumer spending, moderate inflation and a robust outlook for Midwest factories.

However, a jump in first-time jobless claims last week helped dim some of the optimism. U.S. government bond prices initially rose on the jobs news, but then pared gains on news the Chicago purchasing management index rose to 69.2 in March, the highest level since 1988. In addition, the PMI's factory employment index jumped to the highest level since 1983.(all emphasis mine)

*Update:Whoops!! The news just continues to deteriorate...for the Dems. The March unemployment rate, which is calculated from a separate survey, declined to 5.2 percent from 5.4 percent.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:37 PM | Comments (1)

Well, She's Died.

May Terri Schiavo finally have some peace.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:01 AM | Comments (4)

March 30, 2005

Tsunami Images from Phuket and Banda Acey.

A fellow on an Aviation board I am on put this link up to pics he took. Pretty incredible stuff.

Posted by Crusader at 11:15 AM | Comments (2)

A report from the earthquake zone....

I just got this last night from a close friend of Mrs Crusader who we attend church with. One of her co-workers has a son who works with Samaritan's Purse (yup, we would prolly qualify as Fundies in most of your books, so get over it....) and his team is one of the last in the areas affected by the tsunami. He sent along this email describing what the latest quake was like:

Hello everyone, Well, if you have turned on a TV then you probably know that we got some excitement last night. At about 11:10pm local time (11:10am EST) we got shaken by an 8.7 (so I've heard) earthquake. This marks the 5th earthquake that I've felt in the two months that I've been here (not counting the tiny little shakes we've had, which have been numerous). I was awaken by my bed violently shaking. I instantly knew what was happening but it took an extra
second to realize how bad it was shaking. Once got a got a grip on how bigthis was, my first reaction was, "get out of the house!" I ran to the door in the pitch black (the power went out instantly) and fumbled with the lock as I was fighting just to stay on my feet. The house was a rockin'. I ran out into the front yard, which is right on the main street heading downtown, and stood there in my boxers as the whole neighborhood was rocking back and forth. I literally had to fight to stay on my feet, it was incredible.

Once I was outside I felt pretty safe until I looked up and noticed the 10 electric cables over my head swinging like jumpropes in a double-dutch competition. I got out of the way of those and then things settled down.

I ran back in the house, got my pants on (which has now become a huge joke with everyone that I was outside in my underwear), got my rain coat, shoes, and cell phone and headed back out. By this time, which is no time at all, the town was in mass hysteria. The people here are terrified of the ocean and especially after a large earthquake.

The street became one way traffic away from the coast with people screaming and babies crying. I joined in (not the screaming and crying part though) and started walking up the road to our other office where there were some more people. That was the most
dangerous part as I almost got flattened by the hundreds of motorcycles and cars racing up the street. I got to the house to find everyone safe and mostly sound, but a little panicked. Things eventually settled down but the whole town is still on edge.

This morning someone cried wolf, or tsunami, and everyone started running away from the coast again. That's the second time that's happened in the past 2 weeks. The tide will come up, a few waves will come over the sea wall, and the next thing you know there is a mass exodus from the coast. We've basically chalked today up as a post-earthquake holiday as most everything is closed and the rain keeps coming down.

Please say a prayer for the people of Nias, an island about 250km off of our coast. They were the closest to the epicenter and have experience 11 earthquakes in the past 12 hours. Reports are scattered but there have been as many as 1000 deaths already. We are sending some assessment teams there today to see what we can do.

In closing, I'm ok, my teams ok, but the people here are quite stressed. There is still a lot of healing that needs to happen here and the tsunami is still fresh in their minds and has changed them forever.

Thanks for your emails and God Bless.

I pasted it exactly as he typed it, so forgive the grammatical and syntax errors. {What syntax trouble? I don't see no steenkin' syntax trouble! - ed.}

Please keep all the people in the region in your prayers. They still have a long road ahead.

Posted by Crusader at 08:21 AM | Comments (4)

March 29, 2005

Love Is In The Air

Bloggers falling in love with other bloggers is so yesterday.

Truly hip and happening bloggers are arranging their kid's marriages.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 05:36 PM

I had a Lileks Day Today

And while I'm sure Gnat is a wonderful child, I of course much prefer my little girl. In fact, I had such fun while I was in the Big City today with daughter that I'm not going to look and see what sort of damage THS and Crusader wrought in my absence. Thanks to Emily I knew what time it was when we left the house this morning:

We rode the ferry in to Pier 11 (at the foot of Wall Street), popped into my office for a minute, then took the Lex Line up to 59th and from there we walked up to the Frick on 70th. We spent quite a while there just ooing and ahhing at the fantastic displays. I can never look at the painting of Thomas More too much. No photo of it can possibly do it justice. And one simply can not look at the painting of Lady Hamilton as Nature without smiling. It seems every other painting of that era showed the women with these flat, forced smiles, yet here is a woman who is truly joyous and turning a blind eye to misfortune (Oops! Sorry; that was her boyfriend).

We then walked up to 80th and spent a few hours at the Met, hanging out in egyptian tombs and checking out the furniture exhibits. Great stuff, and, shockingly, we never did get to the best stuff; oh well, maybe the next time DaveJ is in town...

Daughter then decided it was time to go "shopping" on 5th Avenue, which I agreed to so long as she remembered that "shopping" is not synonymous with "buying". So we strolled from 80th down to the mid-50s and wandered in and out of various stores. The highlight for her was spending time in Saks getting her makeup done at the Lancôme counter.She had a wonderful time. The only possible hitch to all of this is that NJSue has given daughter very clear instructions that she is not allowed to leave the house with makeup on. I think the loophole we found is that, as per her mother's instructions, she did not, in fact, leave the house with makeup on; we had it put on in Manhattan.

I may not live to see the dawn.

The highlight of the long walk back to 34th and the East River was seeing a bus that fell into a hole:

Well, aside from the two margaritas at lunch, mind you...

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 05:20 PM | Comments (21)

Tin Pots, Hot Spots, Tempests and Despots

You're right. Africa.

I've been doing an admirable job, blonde-wise, of keeping up with the goings, comings and hand wringings about Sudan, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Chad...the misery list seems interminable doesn't it? Major Dad's photos from Somalia sit framed on our sofa table (they were one of the first Marine Corps heavy helo outfits in) and he talks sometimes about what a jolt Mogadishu had been. Even to jarheads who'd prowled the depths of Olongapo and thought they knew what third world was. This time though, I find myself nodding 'ah so' or giving Major Dad a smidge more background to the story they just had on the screen because of a book I picked up last year. I'd like to recommend it, if you haven't read it and have an interest in such things. It's called Dark Star Safari: overland from Cairo to Capetown, by Paul Theroux (2003). It's a travelogue. Forty years before he'd been both a teacher in Uganda and Peace Corps worker in Malawi. On the eve of his 60th birthday he determined to go 'walk-about' in the Africa of his 20's. See if it was still there, if any of his friends were, if any of those dusty days spent teaching had sown seeds.

He touches on almost every subject we see on the newscasts; observes, records, talks to locals. Spares no one's ignorance, including those at home. One of my favorite passages in the book happens as he's meeting an old friend, who has become the Ugandan Prime Minister.

I called him back and he said I should come to his office the next day. He said it was a waste of time to give me directions.
"The prime minister's office! Everyone knows where the prime minister's office is. Ask any taxi driver!"
The same bluster-he hadn't changed. From the beginning, when he joined my department as a lecturer in 1966, I had found him interesting. He had just come from Chicago, where he earned a Ph.D. in political science. On first meeting him, I asked him how he liked Chicago. He said,"Immensely." Some months later he said he had had several run-ins with the Chicago police, what is now known as racial profiling.
"Each time it was the same. I would be walking home late at night after studying at the library. A police car would pull up to the curb and a white policeman would say, 'Get over here, nigger. Where are you going?'"
"What did you do?" I asked.
"I said, 'Officer, I am not a nigger. Do not call me a nigger. I am Ugandan, an African. I am a student here and I am doing nothing wrong.'" And then his voice became shrill:"'I am not a nigger!'"
Saying he was an African usually worked. One policeman even apologized, saying,""Sorry, we didn't know you were an African. We thought you were a nigger."

He paints such pictures that you can almost smell the market, loathe the aid workers in their white Range Rovers, feel the natural pride in so many of the people trying to hold back the tide. Or pick up the pieces after it's already washed through. A chapter called 'Invading Drummond's Farm' deals with Zimbabwe and Mugabe's destruction of it:

Even the kindly winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, the Reverend Desmond Tutu, had said, "The man is bonkers."

and:

Later on, near the lake, I chatted with an African who owned a fishing cooperative. He was Joseph, a Malawian, who said the farm invasions were a "disaster." I asked him what he thought of his homeland, Malawi. "Hopeless," he said. He added that he seldom went home, because it so happened that he was successful in his fishing business.
"If I go back to Malawi my relatives will borrow money and eat my food and make me poor."
Joseph explained that protecting what you had achieved was a serious problem in this part of Africa. He was not speaking of the white farmers whose land had been invaded, but he could have been. If someone had money or land or food, onlookers were attracted, feeling they were entitled, and everyone tried to take something.

I'm not suggesting it will change your mind, make a case for intervention...or not, blahblahblah, so no squawking 'agendista'. I just think most of you'd like it.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:30 PM | Comments (3)

Annan Cleared in Oil-for-Food...

...MSNBCdotCom is reporting, from a AP flash. Can't wait to read the whole thing. I'll link when available.
*Update: Here it is. He's the teflon secretary, so far. Damn! It's good to be king...

NEW YORK (AP) -- Investigators probing the U.N. oil-for-food program in Iraq will criticize U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, his son, and the Swiss company that employed him but will not accuse the U.N. chief of corruption*, officials said.

The report to be released Tuesday will fault Annan for failing to take aggressive action to deal with possible conflict of interest in the awarding of a U.N. oil-for-food contract to Cotecna Inspection S.A., which employed his son, Kojo, in Africa, the officials said.

It will also be highly critical of Kojo Annan for concealing information about his dealings with Cotecna and for deceiving his father, and it will blame the Swiss firm for failing to make information public about the secretary-general's son, the officials said on condition of anonymity.

*emphasis mine
**Update: Today's Wall Street Journal Opinion Page says Annan is a schmoo. Ya think?!

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:46 AM | Comments (5)

Grey Lady, Your Knickers Are Showing...

In our house, say when Ebola conveniently 'forgets' or 'neglects to mention' some sort of pertinent fact, we call it 'selective memory'. When the New Yawk Times does it, it's still called 'journalism'. What a great system. The first batch of pertinent, neglected information is pointed out in paragraph one. Continue reading the whole schlmeal for the whole reveal...

March 29, 2005 -- THE brush-back pitch thrown by The New York Times at the New York Yankees in an editorial on Sunday had Bronx Bomber executives accusing the broadsheet of hypocrisy and bias yesterday. The Times editorial — which accused the Yankees of "acting like a superstar free agent and asking for the moon" in its plans for a new stadium — never mentioned that the Times Co. is a part-owner of the Boston Red Sox and has a substantial self-interest in stopping the Yankees from building a new, more profitable stadium.

A Yankee insider snickered, "The Gray Lady's Red Sox are showing."


Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:10 AM

BUUUwaaahahahahahaha !!!!

The inept and innocent Mr. Bingley is taking the Bunny on a culturalizing tour of the Big Apple, leaving Crusader and myself


unrestrained and unsupervised. Oh GIRD YOUR LOINS, Townspeople....

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:06 AM | Comments (11)

March 28, 2005

A Video Giant Slayer ?

Or Slayer of Video Giant?

Sony Ordered to Halt PlayStation Sales March 28, 2005 09:47:00 AM ET NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sony Corp. said on Monday it was ordered by a U.S. court to halt sales of its blockbuster PlayStation consoles in the United States and pay $90 million in damages to a California tech company, Immersion Corp. (IMMR), whose shares jumped more then 5 percent.

Seems the big guys had pinched ('infringed', heh) Immersion's technology that makes a game controller vibrate in sync with actions in games. Buy yours now, before the order goes into effect. Or better yet...don't. Corporate fascists.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:47 PM | Comments (9)

8.3 Quake In the Tsunami Area

Oh Man.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 11:57 AM | Comments (3)

Word of the Day

Saturday's was too good not to post:
gorgonize \GOR-guh-nyze\ verb:
to have a paralyzing or mesmerizing effect on : stupefy, petrify
The bus driver could gorgonize any unruly child with a single glance.

That isn't the only word that starts with 'gor' and winds up being stupefying...


Posted by tree hugging sister at 08:59 AM | Comments (18)

Had to chuckle on the ride in to work today...

hearing (the singer formally known as) Cat Stevens singing this on the radio. I am sure that that is always a hit around his Islamic buddies ....

Posted by Crusader at 08:29 AM | Comments (4)

March 27, 2005

The Ted Kennedy VW Ad

It's getting hard to find it these days, so as a service to our loyal readers here it is.

I scanned it out of the National Lampoon Encyclopedia Of Humor (copyright 1973) that I, um, borrowed from THS a few years ago...like 20.

It still makes me laugh.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:52 PM

Culture Alert

Daughter has the week off from school, so I'm taking her to the Frick on Tuesday.

And maybe tea at the Plaza, for the last time.

And then we'll go look at the good stuff at the Met!

(my sweet bride has to work, and she's very jealous about this)

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:19 PM | Comments (2)

Happy Easter

Looking foward to the traditional Easter meal of burgers with guacamole and a lot of australian chardonnay...

Yum!

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:15 PM | Comments (3)

March 26, 2005

Some More Good News From Iraq (sorry Arthur)

MPs and Medics make us all proud during and ambush on a convoy. It's all about training and discipline in a firefight. Well done guys!


(Thanks to Real JeffS for the link)

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:32 AM | Comments (1)

March 25, 2005

Sod Off Swampy T-Shirt Photo Submissions

We have been promised (and are giddy with anticipation) a military beefcake photo shoot, courtesy of our Middle Eastern correspondant The Real JeffS. (Who has also been plied with cookies and Sumo videos to ensure his co-operation.) Oh...baby! Should any of you proud posers be so inclined, we would be delighted to see the fruits of our vivid imaginations displayed in all their cantankerous glory. If the bashful type, please wear them in good comfort and better company, whilst remembering the words of a fine British patron of ours:

"Right, I'm off to annoy some environmentalists..."

Posted by tree hugging sister at 02:27 PM | Comments (6)

Lunch In Buzios

Yum. A grilled 2 lb. lobster and a caipirinha.

Everything goes great with caipirinhas.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:27 AM | Comments (7)

The THS Rail Road Tie Wall

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:13 AM | Comments (8)

March 24, 2005

Because I Need A Laugh

I will link to this outrageous assault on my good name.

I'm shocked, shocked.

Now where are my winnings?

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 11:09 PM | Comments (13)

Maundy Thursday

This is always a night that induces melancholy. The stripping of the vestments from the altar. The singing of "Christ We Do All Adore Thee" as the lights are turned out in the sanctuary.

Judges in Florida enjoying a nice steak diner while Terri Schiavo starves to death.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 11:03 PM

And you thought that USS Enterprise on Ebat was impressive...

This is a work of art. Oh, if I only had the room...

This is also a cool bit of work, and I may have to attempt one to go with my OV-10 and the F-8U that is a work in progress...

Posted by Crusader at 09:36 PM | Comments (2)

Gorezilla ~We Have the Technology, We Can Rebuild Him

Jurassic Park for real...

Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:50 PM | Comments (4)

The Long Cold Fingers of PC Strike Again...

TOKYO - A tussle has broken out in Japan’s tradition-bound sumo world over the right to wear pants in the ring.

Please Joe! Say it ain't so.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:41 PM | Comments (16)

There's No Place Like Home...

...and now the Homeowners' Association can't sell it out from under him.

Court: Marine can't be forced to sell home
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- A retired Marine who has waged a five-year fight with his homeowners' association over a flag pole won a battle Wednesday when an appeals court ruled his home can't be sold for lawyers' fees.

In a 3-0 decision, the appeals court agreed with George Andres, and his wife, Anna, that the Florida Constitution protects homes from forced sales except in very limited circumstances - and attorneys' fees are not on the list.


Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:04 PM | Comments (5)

The Best Laid Schemes Gang Aft Agley

Or maybe I should call this "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished."

A coworker whose son is autistic related the story of a local minor league ballpark that had a special event for autistic kids. Very low admission, autographs on the field, cheap hot dogs, that sort of wholesome family stuff. A great day was had and appreciated by all...until, that is, they got to the end of the game and the team decided to end the day with a fireworks display. Baaaaaad idea.

And that reminded me of a story of my own. In the mid-70s some friends of ours hosted an eight or ten year old girl for the summer on one of these International Student/Child Exchange programs that were so in vogue then. And we all did our part to make her feel at home and to experience a 'normal' american life in the mid 70s. So, it being summer, we took her to our town's 4th of July fireworks display. As soon as the boomers started she screamed and dove underneath our Dodge MaxiWagon.

And then we remembered she was from Belfast...

Any other good tales, folks?

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 03:03 PM | Comments (6)

USS San Francisco

Hitting a rock at 35 mph can certainly ruin your day.

And your career.

Strategy Page has some interesting thoughts on this; I particularly like the custom of naming these undersea objects after the ships that "discover" them...

Heh.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 12:41 PM | Comments (4)

Waiter...

...there's a finger in my chili...

*Update: You knew there had to be more, right? The search is on

"All employees’ digits were accounted for, officials said, adding that the well-cooked finger may have come from a food processing plant that supplies the company..."

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:47 AM | Comments (20)

Speaking of My Little Brother Crusader...

...crawling around the living room floor being Hornblower, he wants this. But I have to wait and see if Bill wants it first. If not, please send Crusader large amounts of cash in small denominations and make him weep with joy. (Actually, cry like a little girlieman, y'know?)

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:43 AM | Comments (5)

Jutland: One Of The Greatest Games Ever

Bill has been on quite a tear of late with his "Name That Ship" series of posts, and has provided a lot of fun for us history buffs (though I do prefer the term "buff historians"). It reminded me of one of my favorite games of all time: Jutland, which was published by Avalon Hill in the late 60s.

For you young whipper-snappers out there, in its day AH was simply the best. There were no such things as video games, let alone home computers. AH basically invented military board games using hexagonal grids for movement. And this was in the days before D&D was invented (I got one of the early D&D sets in 1978).

We would spend hours playing D-Day, Afrika Korps and Panzerblitz, carefully setting the hundreds of little cardboard pieces on the hex or square grid of the gameboard which was set up on a card table somewhere in the house, usually stuffed in my bedroom. Actually, my bedroom was so small that the card table took up most of the space (And Dang it mom! Don't try to clean my room; you'll bump the table and shift all of my units!!).

But for me the best of these games was Jutland, because of the brilliance of the design: there was no board. You had scale-sized counters that represented all the ships on the British and German sides, each player had movement and range-finder gauges, there were hit probability charts (as always! Ha!) and damage charts. But the beauty, the genius of the game's design was you could play it on a table top, on the kitchen counter, or on the floor.

Crusader and I would spend hours chasing each other around the house with our fleets, trying to get into position for a decisive engagement. The space between the couches in the living room became a fjord, providing tactical oppurtunities for creative maneuvers, as did pairs of shoes scattered about the house. Heh.

This game is simply a great classic, and if you like wargaming you should pick up a copy.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:09 AM | Comments (16)

March 23, 2005

Warning! Religious Musings Ahead!

It's sad when you feel that any mention of religion has to be caveated. Or maybe it's indicative of a weakness (one of many) on my part. But anyway, so tomorrow's Maundy Thursday. My church's choir is performing Fauré's Requiem during the service tomorrow night (8 pm, if you're in the neighborhood).

While we've been rehearsing these past few weeks I've been thinking about the place of religion in my life. What with the Schiavo disaster bursting out on the airwaves this week, and with this thoughtful post from Sharon still bouncing about inside my besotted head, these thoughts have taken up a lot of processing time, and I can't say that I've come to any ground-breaking answers yet, either.

I suppose Pravda would describe me as "an intensely religious conservative" since I go to church every week. Silly me, I thought that is what one is supposed to do when one belongs to a church, you know, actually go. Well, in fact I'm at church several times each week: for choir practice, for meetings of committees that I'm on; for my daughter's various bell and choir practices, and for her youth group ("Oh My God! They're indoctrinating the poor thing!" Damn straight). Hell, when we used to have 2 services on Sunday I went to both as well, as the choir sang at both services. But does that make me a Fundy who loves the smell of brimstone in the morning? While Pravda may be sure, I sure as heck ain't.

Do I believe that Jesus is the Son of God who was sent to earth to redeem mankind from its sin? Yes, I do. Do I believe fervently with my body and soul that the Bible is the literal Word of God that contains the actual answers to all questions and is to be taken literally on all subjects? No, I do not. Do I believe that it was divinely inspired? Yes, I do.

The problem with the Bible, and with all churches for that matter (and all utopian political systems, like, say, communism), is that they are human institutions; and all human institutions, like all humans, are fallen. None of us are anywhere near perfect; we are broken and sinful at our core, and this brokenness permeates all of our activities.The Pope is a wonderful human being who is clearly at times infused with the Holy Spirit, but he is a sinner like you or me. St. Paul wrote beautiful divinely inspired explanations of God's love, but at other times he sounds like he still has issues with mom. The Catholic Church has done wonders in spreading the faith of Christ and tending to the spiritual and physical needs of His flock, yet at the same time its corpulent bureaucracy has become mired in corruption and secular politics. The Presbyterian church has much the same history, of spiritual highs and earthly lows.

We are all such a mass of contradictions...but I'm ok with that, because that's part of being human. About the only time I can say that I admired Jimmy Carter was in reading his Playboy interview; the man is being brutally honest folks (and if someone can find a copy of that interview - just the interview, please - I'd appreciate it, because I just spent an hour googling and I can not find a transcript online) in describing his own fallen nature, and I defy anyone to say that they have not lusted like that. Now, mind you, inspite of what Matthew says on the subject I think there's a whole lot of difference between window shopping and whipping out the credit card to make a purchase, if you know what I mean, but the point is all of us do things that we know are wrong. Does this make us "hypocrits" and "bad" people who have lost all ability to speak out on moral issues? Or does it just mean that we're human?

My vote is with "human," and it is this awareness of my own failings that Christianity provides that comforts/chides me and helps me to try and improve who I am. Oh I trip and stumble about often enough, even while sober, but I have the knowledge that there is a path there, that there is a reason beyond me that I may not understand.

Having said that, if anyone ever harms my family I will, flush with the spirit of christian duty, mince them into little bits and put them in a blender.

Lovingly.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:00 PM | Comments (17)

BANANA in Your Pocket Mel? Or Just Glad to See Me...

As the token resident treehuggingGreenpeacer/embracerofallthingsMiddleEarth/pinkocommieliberal, I feel compelled by the forces of fairness and logic (in my world, two mutually exclusive terms) to break with my earth mother principles. I noticed the other day, after the cats 'n dogs, back and forth ANWR brouhaha, that

"Minutes after the 51-49 vote, Martinez* announced that the Bush administration had agreed to respect the current moratorium on drilling in the Gulf of Mexico off Florida's coast until 2012.

I felt a little twinge of guilt and read the story. It makes wonderful PR for the new guy, because Florida is the latest adherent to the BANANA or Build Absolutely Nothing Absolutely Near Anything Principle (California having pioneered and perfected the stragedy**), of course everybody loves a manly '"I wanted to make sure that my vote for ANWR would in no way weaken Florida's protection from offshore drilling, but indeed would strengthen it," Martinez said' kinda sound bite and those oil rigs off the coast of Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi do look like shit and our beaches are white, for God's sake...

But I put gas in my car, too. As a matter of fact, Florida uses one helluva alot of gas.


*Update: Exactly the sort of refinery accident I spoke about, but oh my gosh, how awful!
**Sheesh, I can predict the future...from CNBC
"But with gasoline futures still hovering near record levels, following an explosion at one of BP's largest refineries that heightened fears about available supplies heading into the peak summer driving season, stocks have failed to move aggressively higher"

For shits and giggles, in 2001 FL used 181,063 thousand barrels*** of gasoline alone, while among our rigged out neighbors, AL used a paltry 57,718, MS 36,481 and LA 53,482 (although granted, they are a third world country~well, New Orleans anyway). Those three states combined totaled a full 33K+ thousand barrels less than us Sunshine Staters alone.

So when do we start to pay our share? The numbers of SUV driving caribou are growing less with every passing year. We need to stop beating up on the few wild places left in this country and states that have viable reserves ~but have had a pass due to vocal citizenry and large voting blocks~ need to step up to the plate. Either with drilling somewhere near where somebody lives (although the plan hammered out sounds very generous indeed ~ a drilling moratorium extends 100 miles from shore ~ which puts us out ahead of AL/LA/MS 'cause you can see their rigs from the beach) or building a refinery. (GASP! Yes, on a family friendly site, the 'R' word.) Seeing as how there hasn't been a new one built since 197freakin'6 in this country, all the whale blubber/polarbear/manatee oil in the world won't save you if you can't convert it to petrol. It only takes one wild-eyed homegrown to disrupt the whole thing, let alone someone with a 'plan'. Hell, the refineries are falling down around themselves as it is. (Even I don't have a car that old!)

Now, am I abdicating my pristine sugarsands and my son's future here? No, because I will be at every public meeting, read every news report and be arrested out front of the DOE/Florida Department of Environmental protection in a whale costume if there's the teeniest taint of compromise in the standards of execution. Knowledge and activism is my responsibility as a taxpayer. I can't point a finger if I haven't participated.

And holy crap! With perpetual scholar Ebola living off the fat of the hand, I can't afford not to.

*In the interest of full disclosure, I voted for Mel Martinez, but only because Betty Castor was a shrieky...well, never mind. (If it had been Bill McCollum running, I would have voted for Elvis before I voted for him.)

**HatTip:Bugs Bunny

***Check out those .gov sites ~ they're pretty cool and, like, we pay for them, eh?

Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:32 PM | Comments (8)

So Quit Already

"Everybody's picking on me" whined Barry Bonds yesterday.

So do us all a favor and quit, you cheating bastard. And take every other cheating bastard with you.

UPDATE: I see Bill has a post up on this already. And I friggin' love how he only referes to him as "Barry Bonds*". Hahahahahaha!

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:33 AM | Comments (2)

March 22, 2005

Scandal Rags, Indeed...


"Owww look, Chuckles! It's Bingley's new cover! I very much fancy me a piece of cod after that."

"It's brilliant, CamCam! Stunning cheek...bones, eh what? Yes, you're right...dashed fancy cod piece and all that."

Via gentle genius Longmire and his brilliant readers, thanks to the Insta god.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:43 PM | Comments (18)

Correlation Is Not Causation

Diet soda causes obesity. Since you only ever see fat people drinking it, the proof is clear.

Our audience is encouraged to provide other examples of this logic.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:53 PM | Comments (13)

On This Anniversiary of GWII

I'd like to revisit that famous Jarhead PhotoShop job. You know...the one I sent to everybody? With the Iraqi kids holding a sign up that read: 'LCpl Schmuck killed my father and knocked up my sister'? I got an updated one today. A little more timely, a little better done and a whole lot easier to believe.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 04:21 PM

The Real Problem Facing The West

Mark Steyn has, as always, a brilliant column up today talking about how the lowering birth rates in western countries are at the core of many of the problems staring at us. Go read it, think about it...and crack open an extra bottle of wine with your beloved this weekend.

(hat tip to Chrenkoff)

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 11:12 AM | Comments (2)

March 21, 2005

A Swill Exclusive!

Upon hearing that there were tapes of Guantanamo Bay torture our intrepid reporter began digging, and we can now confirm their existence!

You heard it here first, folks.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 03:43 PM | Comments (6)

What Liberal Media?

The Editor of Playgirl was fired after admitting she voted Republican.

Well, I'm sad. Thanks to Ken's efforts she gave me my big break...

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 11:35 AM | Comments (2)

Dear, We're Out Of Candy...

How about a stick of gum?

"Double your pleasure with DoubleMint gum..."

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 11:22 AM | Comments (2)

Cowards

But what struck us about this as we were talking about it last night ( well, struck my bride, really, because she's the smart one) is the cowardice of it. Your wife is inconvenient? She's a burden? Stop feeding her, and let nature take it's course. No responsibility to you, my friend.

You want her dead, Mr. Sciavo? You think it's ok, Judge?

Then you guys should have to use a gun and put her out of her misery quickly and compassionately, instead of taking the coward's way out and starving her. Get the blood on your hands, where it belongs.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:01 AM

Well, If There's Any Good Out Of This

It's that it has gotten a lot of couples across the country talking about living wills and what they want done if they are in a similar situation. Talk about it. Write it down.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:58 AM

March 19, 2005

Andrea On Terri Schiavo

You ought to read it.

As in go now.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 02:36 PM

March 18, 2005

Well, If Pyongyang Thinks He's Scum...

Then Bolton's got my vote.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 02:26 PM | Comments (4)

Argh

I'm sorry for the dearth of posts this week (but you may not be...); work has raised it's ugly head.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:06 AM | Comments (6)

March 16, 2005

Eat Your HEART Out, Ken Summers !

We have achieved a level of search success you can only dream of!

Search Engine: search.sympatico.msn.ca
Search Words: sex in a pan recipe

We are NUMBER ONE!!!

Bwahhahahahaha !! Bwahahahahaha !!!

Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:35 PM | Comments (11)

Sounds Like a Pete Seger Song...

On a more sobering military note, an amazing piece appears in this month's Marine Corps Gazette's 'Commentary on the Corps' section (unavailable on the web, more's the pity). I say amazing but mean bold, ballsy, forthright, completely unvarnished and 'holy crap, can't wait to see the letters to the editor next month' amazing. It's a scathing assessment titled "Where Have All the Colonels Gone? ~ Are colonels transformed when assigned to HQMC*?" and written by the incredibly courageous LtCol Peter T. Gaynor, USMC.

Arriving at HQMC one month before September 11th, he chronicles his disillusionment with the politics of self preservation that has it's cold fingers wrapped around the senior officers of today's PC military.

"For those unfamiliar with the structure and organization of HQMC, lieutenant generals are the Deputy Commandants for departments (Plans, Policies, and Operations; Programs and Resources; etc.), brigadier generals lead divisions (operations, logistics plans, etc.) and colonels lead branches (requirements(operations), logistics operations and sustainment centers, etc.). Majors and lieutenants colonels are the action officers who keep the big machine running. The "beltway colonels" are tasked to generate the fire and man the tiller of the colossal beast called HQMC."

He speaks of the regard and respect colonels are held in, considered "the senators of our Corps" and how he fully expected to be both inspired and in awe of actually being exposed to the movers and shakers at the top ~ having the rare opportunity to run with the big dogs.

"...yet something strange has happened here at headquarters I did not expect. Somewhere between command and assignment to HQMC, the majority of Marine colonels seemed to have lost their way. For some seemingly unknown reason these colonels appear to wallow in indecisiveness, foot dragging and, in some cases, incompetence."

..."They have become an obstacle where once they were standard bearers."

*Headquarters Marine Corps, Washington, D.C.

LtCol Gaynor goes on to acknowledge those who are picking up the slack and notes he had the 'distinct pleasure to work for one.' Someone unafraid to lead his Marines, to make a decision without general officer advice, who stood up for what he believed right and (as has been my own fortunate experience) took care of his Marines. He wonders why a senior officer would be reluctant to flex his muscle, as most are 'post-command'. In laymen's terms, there's really no room for upward mobility ~ they've hit the ceiling promotion/career wise, so 'what's to lose?' in effect. He wonders if many are looking for positions with defense contractors, 'have a plan for transitioning to a lucrative general service position or a lucrative executive service position', or even some sort of think tank spot. A laundry list, point by point, is provided of how one spots these beltway bovines. ("Seek guidance from superior officers on almost every issue. (This gives you cover if the decision goes bad-plausible deniability.) ~ Offer no substantive input to your subordinates' documents or briefs, while at the same time refusing to forward materials to higher authority. (This method allows you to appear like action is being taken while not forwarding any potential controversial materila that may upset your boss.) ~ Take full credit for all your subordinates' successes, while publicly blaming them for any perceived failures."and so on.)

You can almost hear the wistfulness in his voice when he asks 'how does a Corps-with 229 years of proud traditions and historically significant combat successes-breed this brand of Marine officer?' You can hear the sorrow when he muses:

"I can't answer these questions, but I am inclined to think that in the end, for the majority of these colonels, it has simply become easier to say yes than no. Answering yes means it just gets done, and no one is upset (most especially your boss.). Answering no means you have to explain and defend your answer and position, and even worse, you may well upset your boss. Unfortunately, by saying yes they have abdicated from their leadership role in many circumstances."

I saw this very thing creeping into the airwing side of the Marine Corps during my last years on active duty. I'm sure it was military wide, but think it took a little longer to gnaw it's way through our leather necks. I first checked into my A-6 Intruder Squadron VMA(AW)242 in El Toro, the summer of '81. At that time I was the second WM (Woman Marine-no cute ass nicknames for us) ever at 242. As you can imagine, there was the usual resentment from the jarheads. (But I knew full well before joining that the Marine Corps was the last bastion of Neanderthalism and, having grown up with Bingley, Crusader and the Mountain Man, knew what it took to be one of the guys.) The thing about those early years ~when the squadron was a motley collection of every type of humanoid known: sincere, dynamic, dopers, dumb asses, twits, best buddies, etc.~ that I learned and tried to follow to my last day as a SNCO was 'take care of your troops'. The senior SNCO's and officers in 242 were willing to give you enough rope to hang yourself, take that chance you wouldn't and back you up as you went, consquences be damned to themselves if they believed in you and what you were doing. I always strove to be the person you wanted at your back. That's pretty much gone now, with a few notable exceptions like Major Dad, who does his damnedest to pass on the concept. Everyone's concerned about that next fitness report, pissing someone off, on and on. God forbid they exercise any creative initiative. Cover Your Ass has become an epidemic.

There's now also a revolting degree of command arrogance. During my first few tours, everybody down to the lowliest Lt. knew the name of the lowliest hydraulic knuckledragger and would say 'How are you today, LCpl Schmuck' or 'Yo, LCpl Schmuck! Thanks for getting the bird ready yesterday'. It was an honor and privilege to serve with those guys. Today's aircrew, with few exceptions, check the book, climb in the plane, break it, land it and go home. They haven't the faintest clue who's staying 'til dawn so they can break it again. And feel absolutely no compulsion to acknowledge the effort.

LtCol Gaynor thoughtfully provides a checklist for Marine colonels heading to HQMC. One standout: "Take care of your Marines and they will take care of you. Sometimes a simple thank you can work wonders." But the most important:

"Remember you are a colonel of Marines."

He closes with advice: "The opportunity to demonstrate leadership occurs in many different places and under many different circumstances-from the battle field to the beltway. Never sacrifice an opportunity to make the difference-your Marines are waiting and watching." He notes:"Headquarters is the same as any command in that Marines will make incredible sacrifices for leaders they respect. And like any good Marine, they will make those same sacrifices for a leader they do not respect-simply because they are Marines"

Oh, how I wish there was a link for you all to be able to read the whole thing. And to appreciate the courage it takes to speak out in a climate like this.

"Remember you are a colonel of Marines."

Amen to that. He is.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:12 PM | Comments (1)

The Boys in Blue Are Back in Town

Woo hoo! That annual Spring rite of passage ~ the return of the Navy Blue Angels ~ to NAS Pensacola, FL has been completed and their spiffy 'lawn darts' (F/A-18 Hornets, for fighter types) are parked safely on the tarmac at Sherman Field. That means, come next Tuesday (and every Tues/Weds morning thereafter 'til fall, rock ON!), they will be roaring over the house and shaking the plates off the wall. Man oh MAN, it's shit HOT (Sierra Hotel in polite company) to live here.

My favorite Blues Photo for those who haven't seen it yet. Makes me cry everytime. (And the UAW can kiss my ever lovin', lily white...well, you get it.)

**There's also a special on the Discovery Channel tonight at 10 p.m. EST (check your local listings {8^P) called A Year in the Life:The Blue Angels ~ Becoming Blue I have no idea if it's a treacley mess or bitchin' documentary, but might well be worth takin' a peek at.

***UPDATE: I lied ~ They're over the house RIGHT NOW!!! Woooo Hooooooo!!!!!

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:11 AM | Comments (1)

March 15, 2005

Well, the GENIUS in Charge of the UAW...

...has sounded retreat and offered the branch of olives to the Marines, rescinding his 'no parking' order. The Marines have acknowledged the gesture and, with their characteristic acumen in the face of adversity, considering all available courses of action and with grace under fire...

"Wounded by what they consider an unpatriotic ambush, the Marines rejected the union's olive branch and secured an alternative parking lot."

...said 'up yours'.

*Update: I see Blackfive is fired up and on top of all things military, as usual. Ditto Michelle Malkin.

***ANOTHER UPDATE: Maybe the UAW shouldn't be such smug BAStards ! when the product sucks. A little good will goes a long way.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 05:03 PM | Comments (2)

Yet Another Satisfied Customer!

Andrea got hers; don't you feel left out? Tell a Swampy to Sod Off! today, and help a town that was harmed by the environment.

I love how ironic irony can be sometimes.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 12:35 PM | Comments (3)

March 14, 2005

Bill Has Great News

Bill has great news which he coyly hides down the list.

[ques up Queen]
thump-thump-THUMP
Another one bites the dust-ah

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 01:14 PM | Comments (2)

The Union Label? Or Libel?

Sheesh, I was gonna vacuum the dump, but then Major Dad had to spoil all those good intentions with an email. With a headline like this:

Marines driven out of UAW lot

The union says Marines in foreign cars, displaying Bush stickers unwelcome.

And I can't leave well enough alone and have to click through. As I often call Bingster and Major Dad, but seldom mean it (really!):

BASTARDS!!

Okay, back to our irregularly scheduled elbow grease.
*Note: Nothing like pissed off Jarheads for getting the word out ~ Marine Corps scuttlebutt enabled us to scoop even Drudge by a healthy time frame.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:48 AM | Comments (3)

What if the Lights Are On But Nobody's Home?

As would seem to have been the case in the horrific Atlanta courthouse shootings.

Video captures attack
A video camera, which is supposed to be monitored by two guards in a command post, shows Nichols and the deputy arriving in the holding area between two courtrooms, according to a law enforcement official who saw the tape. The video shows Hall guiding Nichols, whose hands are still handcuffed behind his back, into one of two open cells.

Hall releases one cuff and turns Nichols around to unhook the remaining cuff. But the muscular, 33-year-old Nichols then lunges at Hall, knocking the petite, 51-year-old grandmother backward into another cell. Both disappear from camera view. Two to three minutes later, Nichols emerges from the cell, holding Hall’s gun belt and police radio. He picks up her keys from the floor and locks her in the cell.

A few minutes later, he emerges in civilian clothes. He locks the door behind him and calmly walks out of the holding area, carrying the gun belt, according to the official who saw the tape.

Please note: that was 'the official who saw the tape. Not the law enforcement types whose job is monitoring the tape.
Not the law enforcement types who let him damn near kill one of their own under their very noses. Oh, wait. Duh. Their noses would have had to have been at their appointed place of duty for it to happen 'under' them. The explanation should be interesting.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:25 AM | Comments (6)

A New Blog For The List

Courtesy of Chrenkoff I've found out there's a new blog on the beat: Jihadpundit. Go read it, and wish him the best.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:09 AM | Comments (3)

March 13, 2005

Something To Eat With A Nice Zinfandel

Here's a one-pan recipe (well, technically two, but the rice doesn't count...much) for chicken cooked with a curried tomato sauce.

A Bingley Original™

Ingredients:
1 lb chicken breasts (here after referred to as "Pamelas"*)
1 med-lrg onion
a couple cloves of garlic, crushed (one can never have enough garlic)
1 - 28oz can of crushed tomatos
1 lime
1 Tbsp curry powder (more or less to taste; I don't measure, I just dump some in)
pepper
garlic salt
2 Tbsp olive oil

Take the lime and from one half slice off the Arctic Circle, the Tropic of Cancer, and the Equator. Put these on the side. Use the balance of the lime in gin and tonics for you and your bride. Warm the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Cut the Pamelas into roughly 1-inch chunks, sprinkle with a little garlic salt and pepper, and start them cooking in the oil. Chop the onion and add it to the pan, stirring it and the Pamelas frequently to make sure they get cooked. Add the garlic. Add a little more. When the onions are clear and the Pamelas are no longer pink add the crushed tomatos and the curry powder and stir it in. Add the lime slices and gently stir them below the surface. Reduce heat and cook, covered, for 25 minutes. Remove lime slices before serving.

We always have this on top of rice, which is convenient because the rice takes 25 minutes as well, so you put the rice on when you add the crushed tomatos, etc. I add a little cardamom to the rice as it's cooking as the flavor goes very well with the curry.


*You don't really need an explanation for this, do you?

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 03:17 PM | Comments (6)

March 11, 2005

Holy Sheet !!

For those of you who think there isn't enough government intrusion in our lives, I offer this little gem Major Dad found in our daily Fish Wrap. Now appearing, to our utter constipa consternation, on the web, for the whole freakin' world to see.

Florida

That extra squeeze is gonna cost you big time. Bingley's Road Rage Marauder has nothin' on this.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:13 PM | Comments (16)

Bingley's a Handsome Devil

I'll give you that. Strong jaw - dwarfy, compact frame. Incredible eye for color, too.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 08:05 AM | Comments (8)

March 10, 2005

Giuliana Sgrena Saga Syndrome

...appears to be spreading, or is, at the very least, contagious.

"A French judge placed Continental Airlines under judicial investigation on Thursday for ``involuntary homicide and injuries'' in the Concorde crash which killed 113 people near Paris in 2000. A Continental lawyer denied the U.S. airline bore any responsibility. But an official report last December blamed the accident on a metal strip that fell off a Continental Airlines jet, causing a tire on the supersonic airliner to burst."

It seems it's not the government funded, perpetually subsidised, inherently problematic and dangerous design that's responsible:

"civil aviation authorities banned the world's only civilian supersonic airliner from the skies because of mounting evidence of profound structural errors in the original design. "

To blame is what we used to call 'TFOA' (um, Things Falling Off Aircraft ~ in it's most hilarious assignment, the blue ice expelled from the onboard lavatories), an especially handy excuse when it fell from an airliner with an American flag. In spite of the fact that their inferior product was brought down by a flaw already noted and not corrected (which pretty much constitutes negligence in my book). Bits and pieces (FOD in the aviation vernacular or 'foreign object damage') on the runway is an all-too-common result of the jarring any airliner has to be able to withstand: both it falling off and it being run over. There will be some way they can twist this into 'our fault', trust me. Just throw your hands up now, Mr. Ambassador. They're probably dialing your number as I write this. Let's toss Princess Diana and Dodi in while we're at it. That will at least shut his old man up.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 04:40 PM | Comments (3)

"Ick" With A Capital "I"

I'm sorry, but this (warning! Ickyickyicky link ahead!) little bastard should be charged with a hell of a lot more than "disturbing the peace".

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 12:48 PM | Comments (11)

Cross Off Another One

Another one bites the dust......

Posted by Crusader at 11:30 AM | Comments (3)

IKEA: Sexist Pig-Dogs

I dunno, but this is one of those "what the..." stories. Firstly, a swedish company only has men or "cartoon figures whose sex is unclear" (for which I for one am thankful) shown putting together its furniture...and the Prime Minister of Norway feels that he has to comment? So much for those Scandanavian bastions of social equality. And the Ikea spokesman (and why not "spokes person"??) defends it by saying "We have to take account of cultural factors. In Muslim countries it's problematic to use women in instruction manuals."

"Problematic"? Many of them treat their dogs better than they treat women, and Ikea is concerned about "offending" the poor devils by showing a woman with a screwdriver? Screw them.

Ikea's stuff sucks anyway.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:10 AM | Comments (9)

More Lefty Road Rage

Another Florida lefty comes unhinged behind the wheel. Hmm, maybe Jeb ought to look into this...

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:46 AM | Comments (6)

March 09, 2005

Viking Fantasies

Yup. That's exactly how it happened. How did he know?

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:06 AM | Comments (5)

March 08, 2005

Hey Buddy! Can You Spare a Dime?

The Cincinnati Reds are for sale. I don't have enough on hand to cover the purchase. So please send along your spare couch change or, as Junior in Long Gone puts it: "(Major) Daddy and me cain't be baseball moguls no more."

Posted by tree hugging sister at 04:14 PM

2 Items in the Local Fish Wrap This Morning...

...caught my eye. At first glance they seem markedly dissimilar but, paired with a piece of paper found on our doorstep, therein lies one single recurring theme. The first is about a young lady whose sweet, radiant, 16 year old face beams alongside the soulless print noting the circumstances of her tragic death.

The second was an opinion piece by David Broder mentioning the "discussion about the shortcomings in American high schools that had occupied the nation's governors" in Washington the previous weekend. That gathering addressed the alarming drop-out rate and functional illiteracy that is becoming the product of a high school education. The third piece of the pie was a cheerful blue piece of paper schmushed into the space 'twixt our door and it's jamb. From the principal and curriculum coordinator of our local elementary school (all emphasis her's ~ names changed, etc.):

Dear Parents,

We really need your help! Our tardy list is getting bigger each day. Your child's day begins at 8:00. Students should begin arriivng at school by 7:45 in order to prepare for the day. Our teachers are ready to begin teaching at 8:05. We cannot teach your children if they are not here. When your child comes in late, all activities have to stop until your child is oriented to the day's activities.
It is important for your child to be in class on time each day. You can help your child by getting them to school on time. We are an A+ school because our parents do their part and send their children to school on time ready to learn.
Be part of our A+ team. Children and learning come first at Hogwarts Elementary.

Sincerely,
Mrs. Hogwarts


Not one thing to do with the other, at first glance, right? But I'm clairvoyant, an all knowing horse whisperer and animal pyschic, who sees a pervasive social evil casting it's ugly tentacles. It's called 'adults who can't be bothered or just don't give a shit' syndrome. (Insert collective gasp! from riveted audience members. Then an anguished 'say it ain't so!!) Oh yeah, it is.

The first; that sweet, now dead, young thing. 16 years old. Sounds like your typical H.S. tragedy until you play connect the dots. I asked Major Dad 'she died on I-10 in Lake City! Isn't that, like, a gazillion miles away from here?' The long and short of it? She, at 16, could have only had that precious little piece of paper goods from the DMV for a few short months and yet was allowed by her caregivers, the people in charge of her life, to drive BY HERSELF to Melbourne FL to pick up her now deceased boyfriend. As the crow flies, from Pensacola, a round trip of over 1050 miles, on some of the most dangerous interstate in the country. Jesus. What a waste.

Now you see how it all comes together? Parents have to have a note sent home reminding them it's important to get their child to school and, God forbid, on time? When I first read it, in all it's infantile simplicity of tone, I thought 'damn! That's pretty freakin' insulting!' Actually though, it's pretty freakin' insulting to the taxpayers who fund school systems. And the educators who, bless their little pointy heads, sit there every day. Slogging through mess that a little discipline at home would cure and constantly under fire because they can't be pyschologists, EMTs, authority figures, Miss Manners and Dr. Rosemond and still teach to the test that decides if they're worthy at all.

I am sick to death of all the moaning and groaning about he's out of control, she don't listen to me, how do you handle a 7 year old...It starts young and it starts with limits and it starts with realizing that your responsibility as a parent, whether you like it or not, is to produce the best educated, well mannered citizen you can. Giving your 16 yr old the keys for a thousand mile solo trip isn't love. Letting your six year old dictate his bedtime and eating habits isn't love. Allowing your 10th grader to read 'Little Miss Spider' for his English book report isn't love. Giving the rest of the world excuses for your laziness isn't love. And when that over indulged, under-educated child attempts to make change when the Hardee's computerized cash register sh*ts out, or he/she's so out of control behaviour-wise that people flee at his/her coming, we all pay. 'Just say no' isn't just for drugs anymore.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 02:29 PM | Comments (10)

Being Teresa Heinz

In response to Nightfly's brilliant post below:

I hope someone fisks this crap. "Ultraconservative" bishops refusing Kerry communion? Since when is it ultraconservative to actually take a stand in favor of something the whole Church teaches? Or to insist on Catholic doctrine on Sunday? I hear stuff like this and I sound like the end of "The Right Profile" - gkkkknnn... grbblbllb... thppht wwrrrraaaaaah!

It's Teresa Heinz Kerry, honey!

(which gets my vote as "Best Comment" so far in the month+ history of the Coalition) I present the following humble attempt.

In The Northwest: Teresa Heinz Kerry hasn't lost her outspoken way

By JOEL CONNELLY
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER COLUMNIST

Well, in space, no one can hear you scream, which is what I was doing after reading this. And I guess in Seattle they're so Blue State and advanced that they're post-intelligence.

What made Teresa Heinz Kerry so refreshing to some voters, and threatening to others on the 2004 campaign trail, is summed up when THK talks about her speech to last year's Democratic convention:

"Nobody told me what to do," she told a Saturday fund-raiser here.

The implicit afterword: Nobody better try.

...or their sorry-ass would've been fired, which, as I recall is what happened to the Kerry Staff on November 3rd.

In her speech at the 2004 Democratic convention, Teresa Heinz Kerry said "no one will defend this nation more vigorously" than her husband, John Kerry.
The sails of the philanthropist wife of Sen. John Kerry were not trimmed by November's narrow electoral defeat.

No, but his boat was swiftly sunk, eh?

The softly accented voice gives pointed advice to the Democratic Party, which she lately joined, formerly having spent 15 years as wife of a Senate Republican.

The Democratic Party, her gardeners, her hubby; somehow I think THK is pointed with everybody because she's rich and no one has the cajones to tell her to Sod Off!; certainly JFK ain't opening up his mouth.

Heinz Kerry flew into town on her own Gulfstream jet (the Flying Squirrel, named for a Sun Valley ski run) direct from a conference on global philanthropy at Stanford.

She talked energy-efficient building design with Seattle Art Museum boss (and old friend) Mimi Gates. She dined at Wild Ginger and flew back east with takeout food from the Third Avenue restaurant.

My, now there's an "energy efficient" use of a Gulfstream: picking up take-out! Kind of takes the phrase "limousine liberal" to a new level, eh?

At a lunch for Rep. Adam Smith, guests were treated to more spicy observations than will likely be heard at all fund-raisers under the Westin's roof from now to the 2008 presidential race. A sampling:

Not knowing what "Westin" is, I can only assume it's some sort of mental instituion.


THE CATHOLIC CHURCH: A practicing Catholic, as is her husband, Heinz Kerry remains outraged at attacks by bishops on her husband's pro-choice views.

Yes, yes, how dare those men issue statements in support of their doctrine.

"You cannot have bishops in the pulpit -- long before or the Sunday before the election -- as they did in Catholic churches, saying it was a mortal sin to vote for John Kerry," she said.

Heinz Kerry gave no examples. Last year, a few ultraconservative prelates said they would not allow the Democratic nominee to receive communion in their dioceses. The bishop of Colorado Springs declared that Catholics voting for pro-choice candidates were not welcome at the communion rail.

"The church has a right and obligation to teach values," Heinz Kerry declared. "They don't have a right to restrict freedom of expression, which they did."

Ho boy. This is a beaut. "Ultraconservative" is Theresaese for "guys who have read catholic doctrine and have the nerve to, um, believe it" evidently. The church, whether you believe what it teaches or not, has a perfectly legitimate right to enforce its doctrine and rules. If you don't like the rules and doctrine of the catholic (or any) church there's a simple solution that involves no government or lawyers: you leave the church and join another one. "Free association" baby. It's a beautiful thing.

Sorry Teresa, but the only one who's interested in restricting freedom of expression is you. You're the one who seems interested in restricting the speech of pastors in their own pulpits. Been reading McCain/Feingold, have we?


COUNTING THE VOTES: Heinz Kerry is openly skeptical about results from November's election, particularly in sections of the country where optical scanners were used to record votes.

"I'm never wrong, because I'm rich (and everyone tells me I'm beautiful); therefore I wuz robbed!"

"Two brothers own 80 percent of the machines used in the United States," Heinz Kerry said. She identified both as "hard-right" Republicans. She argued that it is "very easy to hack into the mother machines."

One wacked-out hag owns 80% of the ketchup used in the US. Makes me think that it would be very easy for her to slip something into our condiments...

"We in the United States are not a banana republic," added Heinz Kerry. She argued that Democrats should insist on "accountability and transparency" in how votes are tabulated.

Yes, and I would also like the Democrats to insist on "accountability and transparency" in how people are registered to vote.

"I fear for '06," she said. "I don't trust it the way it is right now."

Well, since it's '05 right now there isn't a whole lot of '06 to worry about, is there?


A SECOND KERRY RUN: Heinz Kerry won't stand in the way of a second presidential bid by her husband. She tersely summed up emotions at the end of November's long election night: "No tears, some sadness."

"I think we should focus on '06: If '06 doesn't work out, '08 will be impossible," she argued. "If it were right for John to do it -- and he felt right -- he would do it again (in 2008). If he didn't feel it right, he wouldn't."

Teresa dear, I'm not sure how to break this to you, but you've never stood in the way of his running; but you are a hell of a speed bump on the road to him winning.

Theresa Heinz Kerry campaigned tirelessly -- "When I put out, I put out" -- but seemed to scorn the political wife's expected role of fixing her husband in adoring upward gaze.

At Saturday's fund-raiser, she talked openly about conflicting emotions when confronted with her spouses' ambitions. Born in Mozambique of Portuguese parents, she was married to Republican Sen. John Heinz of Pennsylvania. Heinz was killed in a 1991 air crash.

She inherited her husband's fortune, took charge of Heinz family endowments and married Kerry in 1995.

When she puts out, she puts out (Hey, she said it, not me!).

"I kept my first husband from running for office for four years," she explained. "Terrified" at the prospect of public life, as a non-native born American, Heinz Kerry adjusted to what she described as a life of "losses, diseases, hurt, disappointments and many joys."

The billion dollars helped with the adjustment phase.

She confessed to similar self-doubts when John Kerry launched his bid for the White House: "I'm too old. I can't handle it. I have too much to do."

A hike by herself in the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho gave THK time to reach another conclusion: "I thought, 'There's no way I have a right to keep him from doing it'. "

Que up the Tammy Wynnette.

She was always a hit in Seattle -- even while Deaniacs had John Kerry's campaign in the doldrums -- but ran into bumps on the campaign trail.

She responded to nasty questions by a columnist with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, a paper owned by right-wing mogul Richard Mellon Scaife, using words familiar to many Americans: "Shove it!"

Ah, the class and elegance that those schtuuuupid Red Staters denied in November. What a welcome change she would have been from that shameless hussy Laura Bush!

The Drudge Report, a popular conservative Web site, missed no opportunity to run unflattering pictures of THK or float untruthful personal rumors about her husband.

That Drudge! Never posts anything unflattering about conservatives. Uh-huh.

A gossipy, superficial book on the 2004 campaign by the Washington, D.C., bureau of Newsweek depicted Heinz Kerry as a loose cannon requiring constant maintenance.

And this differs from reality how?

Heinz Kerry is still steamed at what the Republican attack machine did to her husband.

"Think about last year," she said. "Once John had his nomination, the Republicans spent $90 million to destroy his reputation."

"Destroy" being Theresaese for "uncover unfortunate truths."

"Dammit John! You said the Magic Hat would protect you from everything!"

She cited dirty tricks used in the campaign to mobilize what the religious right called "Values Voters."

"In West Virginia, John was going to burn Bibles," she said. "It's not 'values.' It's outright lies."

No no no, he was going to grill small children and serve them to the elderly while wearing a white hood as part of the "Robert Byrd Appreciation Month" festivities. Geesh, get your facts right, honey.

Often a vigorous overseer of grants, Heinz Kerry has taken a lesson from the concentrated incoming fire she received from the right flank.

"We have to develop a discipline for this party, so the people of this country know more clearly what it is to be a Democrat," she said.

Your right, we do need to know what it means to be a Democrat; we have all to clear a knowledge of what it requires to be a Democratic Leader, and we really hope there's a difference.

She came away from 2004 with a high opinion of Americans' ideals and gratitude to a campaign that exceeded Bill Clinton's winning vote total of 1996 by 9 million votes.

...and still got schmackerooed by sevreal million votes. That's gotta leave a mark.

"Basically, we are at a crux, a crossroads right now," Heinz Kerry said. "It's no place for self-indulgence. It's no place for looking back. We must be totally committed to this journey ... to believe again, to hope again."

If it's no place for self-indulgence, then what are you doing here?

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 02:06 PM | Comments (3)

She's Baaaaaack!

Oh sweet baby jeebus please no more from Tuh-ray-zuh.

Repeat after me: You. Lost.

Why is this so difficult to accept?

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:39 AM | Comments (8)

March 07, 2005

The Rachel Corrie Award

I wasn't aware that such a thing existed, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Eugene Volokh reports that one

Matthew Abraham, assistant professor of English at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, is the recipient of the 2005 Rachel Corrie Award for Courage in the Teaching of Writing.

"Courage in the Teaching of Writing". Roll that around on your tongue for a bit. I wasn't aware that it was such a hazardous profession. "Take care Jones! Those mis-placed modifiers are loaded for bear!"

It seems his nomination was bulldozed through by none other than Noam Chomsky, who said

"Abraham not only organized the symposium, but was also its guiding participant. The leading themes were topics that particularly concerned Edward Said--and Rachel Corrie. That takes a good deal of courage in the public domain in the US, including an academic setting. It includes extremes of abuse and vilification, and for younger people, threats to possible appointment; and in fact more direct threats, including death threats, many taken seriously by police on campuses and in communities....Abraham handled all of this with skill, care, sympathetic understanding, and admirable courage. The same has been true of other initiatives of his in defense of freedom of speech and academic freedom, and of suffering people. It is an admirable record, one of which, I am confident, Rachel Corrie would have very much approved, as I do, very much....In brief, I cannot think of a more worthy candidate."

Who knew Chomsky was a deconstructionist?

Heh.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:56 PM | Comments (9)

Wonder Woman

After reading the latest version of the Giuliana Sgrena saga, all I can say is Lynda Carter had nothin' on this chick. Why, we learn that even though she faced, according to her fellow il Manifesto columnist Rossana Rossanda (who I believe must be related to noted American journalist Roseanne Roseannadanna)

"arrogant Yankee roughnecks, beardless and/or whisky-soused, complying with the “American maxim, ‘shoot first, ask questions later?,’ and obeying without objection the order ‘when those Italians arrive, eliminate them’”
and Sgrena’s kind hearted Merry Men of Mosul told her,
“the Americans don’t want you to go back,” adding her own comment that they - the Americans again - “don’t want our work to show what Iraq has become with the war, despite the so-called elections.”
even though her
car was hit by “400 bullets, a storm of projectiles”
she managed to dodge most of them even as they were flying and falling all about her, for
she personally picked “handfuls of bullets” off the seat.

Yes, due to her brave actions and timely use of her magic bracelets only one poor soul died in this tragic accident, and Giuliana is doing all she can to have his memory replaced with her agenda.

(hat tip to LGF)

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:31 PM | Comments (11)

Acknowledgement is the first phase of recovery, right?

My name is Sister. I am an addict and THIS is the face of evil...

Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:46 PM | Comments (15)

I Guess the VRWC Went After Him, Too

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Boeing Co. Monday said it fired Chief Executive Harry Stonecipher, after a probe into a personal relationship he had with a female executive that it said ``reflected poorly'' on the No. 1 U.S. aircraft maker.

Weird the difference corporate office or Oval office makes when it comes to keeping your day job.

The Marine Corps would be showing Major Dad or any other Marine the door, with punitive action attached, for even the inference of 'conduct unbecoming'. The indiscriminate witchhunt among senior officers by the US Senate during all phases of the Clinton disgrace was a source of much wrath and indignation to members of the Armed Services. Tremendous injustices were done to good people, by the same righteous Boxer types braying about the difference between a person's private life and public position.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:24 AM | Comments (15)

March 06, 2005

A Horrible Mistake...

And an attention whore.

Via Ken we get a great post from Baldilocks about the terrible accident that occured this weekend in Iraq. I feel deep sympathy for the family of Nicola Calipari who was killed, but for this "journalist" Giuliana Sgrena I feel nothing but disgust.

An un-embedded journalist who went to Iraq to sniff around and stir up shit for her communist paper back home, she was snatched up by terrorists a month ago. Aside form the many millions spent by the Italian Government as it fretted over her safety there are indications that the government also paid as much as $10 million ransom. How many roadside bombs will that buy? How many thousands of Iraqi citizens may die now because of you Giuliana? Your self-serving description of Nicola's death ("Nicola threw himself on to protect me and then suddenly I heard his last breath as he died on top of me") makes me want to vomit; his blood is literally on your hands but all you can think of is yourself and your agenda:

Speaking from her hospital bed where she is being treated, Sgrena told Sky Italia TV it was possible the soldiers had targeted her because Washington opposes Italy's dealings with kidnappers that may include ransom payments.

"The United States doesn't approve of this (ransom) policy and so they try to stop it in any way possible."

No we don't approve of it you stupid little idiot because it will lead to hundreds, if not thousands, of deaths. And you and your stupid, outdated ideas and agenda are not worth our time to 'target.'

Let me assure you, signora, that if our soldiers had decided to target you there wouldn't be enough left to make one helping of bolognese.

*update - THS let me know (between bites of birthday cake) that Captain Ed's on this too.

*update - Michelle Malkin has a good round up as well.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:18 PM | Comments (9)

Tender Harvard Souls, Part II

Further to what THS posted below, what really struck me about this whole "issue" was the way it was first reported by the Harvard Crimson:


After some students were offended by Jada Pinkett Smith’s comments at Saturday’s Cultural Rhythms show, the Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, and Supporters Alliance (BGLTSA) and the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations have begun working together to increase sensitivity toward issues of sexuality at Harvard.

Students said that some of Pinkett Smith’s remarks concerning appropriate gender roles were specific to heterosexual relationships.

In a press release circulated yesterday by the BGLTSA—and developed in coordination with the Foundation—the BGLTSA called for an apology from the Foundation and encouraged future discussion of the issue.

Now, ignoring for a moment the blatant descrimination that the BGLTSA is showing towards Lesbian Gorillas and Plushies, if you possibly can, and believe me I know it is difficult and frankly hard to accept, this 'issue' and the grievences that these students air are capture perfectly so much of what is wrong with universities today. These poor coddled little dears spend four years (at least) as supposed 'adults' having every little pea in their collective mattresses legislated away by an administration and a mindset that has been so successful at "increas(ing) sensitivity" that the slightest utterances from people lead to "crises" which need to be negotiated and discussed and apologies must be issued and genuflections, er, genuflected or however one does that.

Get a fucking grip people. The lady gives a perfectly cookie-cutter ok touchy-feely 'inspirational' speech for women (or should I say "womyn"?). Now, if you want to be curmudgenly about the speech you could say it's perfectly legitimate to say that yes girls (and I use that term in a gender neutral, non-patriarchalistic sense) you can "have it all" if you and your husband luck out and both work in fields where you get paid millions of dollars for a few months of reciting lines that someone else has written; it's a tad more difficult when you work at Jiffy Lube and your bride works at Target. This whole "You Can Have It All" mantra of feminism has caused more damage to women (aside, of course, from Leif Garrett) than anything else that came out of the 60s. No you can't have it all. But that's a topic for another rant.

Anyhow, like I said there are reasons to question some elements of her speech, but

“Some of the content was extremely heteronormative, and made BGLTSA members feel uncomfortable,” he said.

ain't one of them. Part of being a big boys and girls (AIEEE! Gender stereotypes!) is dealing with people who are different from you, shrugging your shoulders and moving along. Sometimes things happen that you don't like, or maybe you disagree with. Hell, sometimes you get a boo-boo on your knee. It's called life. Grow up. Get used to it.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:05 AM | Comments (6)

Happy Birthday Tree Hugging Sister!

You arriving and the Alamo falling...hell of a day.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:01 AM | Comments (6)

March 05, 2005

Bill Maher and Ward

Jeff Jarvis watched the "interview" that Bill Maher had with Ward Churchill. All I can say is Oh My God. What a completely offensive and simply incredibly vile show. After reading Jeff's comments, and those of Democracy Guy (who very correctly states "I'm not sure my skin has ever crawled as much as it did when I watched Bill Maher "interview" University of Colorado "Professor" Ward Churchill."), I made the mistake of following the link and watching the video myself. Next time I will follow his advice.

I couldn't sit through all of it. But what amazes me is why does Maher even bother having Churchill on? Ward comes off like a mumbly-bumbly maroon who sits there so Maher can recite his case for why americans should be slaughtered. According to Maher America has killed some 30-odd million people at least (I frankly got lost with all the numbers he was force-feeding Ward, who by the way was just so awful I almost felt bad for the guy) so we deserve to be the charter member of some "9-11 of the Month Club" I guess.

If you really want to see it, the video is here. And make sure to read the comments there as well, as most are defending Maher. But you have been warned.

(all the many other Ward and Co. posts can be found here.)

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 02:34 PM | Comments (7)

March 04, 2005

Excuse me sir, is this the ladies room?

I'm still reeling from the current...insensitive climate at Harvard. At least they're trying to right the ship.

Ms. Pinkett Smith's stumble is a reminder of how hard it can be to be sensitive. Who at Harvard would have thought, until BGLTSA brought it to their attention, that bathrooms labeled "men" and "women" can create an atmosphere of hostility and fear for some people? The next speaker at the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Racial Relations may have a better chance of getting it right. On Tuesday, the BGLTSA issued a document saying that the foundation "will make a statement of apology about the incident." Acknowledging that the foundation "had not reviewed Pinkett Smith's speech in advance and was not responsible for her words," the BGLTSA said that the foundation "pledges to take responsibility to inform future speakers that they will be speaking to an audience diverse in race, ethnicity, religion, sexuality, gender and class."


An 'atmosphere of fear and hostility' ~ who would have thought, indeed?

I've always liked to kid myself that my choices for institutions of higher learning would have been Rutgers or Juilliard, simply so I could turn Harvard down. But I didn't go, period. I haven't any of the sophmoric memories the Bingster has of his halcyon days at UVa. You know "Committee to Pave the Lawn", bake sales for steam pavers, stuff like that. (By God, he was light hearted when he was young.) Most times I'm cranky and defensive concerning my status sans goatskin. But every once in a while comes that great...shining...moment...where I'm tickled to

just
be
me.

Now, put that toilet seat down and get out of my stall, you over educated fascist. You're crowdin' me.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:05 PM | Comments (11)

The Wrong Approach To Ward

Insta links to a column in the Rocky Mountain News by Mike Rosen which to my reading strikes several wrong notes on the scandal. While I fully agree that campus speech codes and the like need to be abolished, what we don't need is to set up hiring quotas for conservative professors or set up anti-liberal universities. That's just as bad as what is done now. What needs to happen is for universities and faculty to admit their bias and base hiring and decisions upon teaching ability and scholarship and to develop minimum standards of accountability for tenured faculty and enforce them. Teach a class occasionally? Check. Advise some undergraduates occasionally? Check. That sort of stuff. A segregated university system is in no one's interest.

(yes, yes another Ward post)

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 01:02 PM | Comments (1)

A Needed Reminder To The Supreme Court

I haven't posted anything on the recent SCOTUS decision in Roper v Simmons because, well, Volokh just does it better than I possibly could (go figure). But the issue of the US Supreme Court relying on foreign courts in their decisions bothers me a hell of a lot.

That's why I was very happy to run across this post over at Literal Barrage on this very issue that I agree with 100%. It is completely inexcusable for foreign courts to exercise influence in our court system, and this branch of the government needs to be clearly reminded of this constitutional fact.

*Of course, Iowahawk provides the clearest commentary of all.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 12:14 PM | Comments (11)

Male Teenage Fantasies Come Crashing Down

Well, with all these cases popping up of teenage boys being abused by their teachers:



some guys were starting to think that maybe they'd like to go back to 8th grade.

Gentlemen, it is my solemn duty to confront you with reality:





Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:11 AM | Comments (16)

So Hoos Gonna Be Virginia's Next Coach?

Man, we stink. I mean, we've always sucked wind at football, but I could always count on the basketball team to get us through the winter.

But now?

Blech.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:29 AM | Comments (6)

Pleasant Surprise to the Upside

262,000 jobs created in February, handily beating forecasters' predictions. And Marfa is free at last. Oil's dropped seven cents. What a rosy, rosy start to the weekend. It's a good thing.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:00 AM | Comments (2)

Gee, If Only We'd Waited...

Proving once again that we read Playboy solely for the interviews ladies, Vodkapundit takes a look at Peter Arnett's latest bowel movement which makes the claim that kind, gentle Uday was just about to kick out dear old dad and reestablish the flower of Babylonian civilization when Hallibushy pulled the rug out from under him. Damn blundering Yanqui Cowboy!

To help us fully appreciate the magnitude of this loss, Vodkapundit kindly gives us some of the highlights of Uday's resume. I'm sure the Iraqi people would have prefered his rule to their present purple-fingered degredation.

As the man says, go read it.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:37 AM | Comments (3)

March 03, 2005

Not Sure I'd List That...

Blue Eyed Infidel has a post up on this lady:


Now, I'm not terribly familiar with her body of work, but there is one thing on her resume that caught my eye...

(fixed the html. dopey me)

"Recurring C**t"

Is that a good thing or a bad thing in an employee?

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:58 PM | Comments (7)

Somewhere For You to Wear Your Sod Off Swampy T !!

This festive gathering was mentioned by a British mate of Bingster's, concerned wearing his while attending might cause unintentional emotional harm. (Hint:Scroll allll the way down to the sponsors on the bottom of the page. Yup. That's them.)As I assured him, your

Sod Off Swampy T might get stained or torn, but you're safe. They throw paint, not punches. Hell, I think we should all go.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:20 PM | Comments (2)

Fossett's Almost There!

This is just too cool. But can someone clue CNN in that Magellan didn't circumnavigate the globe?

As anyone who listens to the Animaniacs knows:

Yakko: They sailed due west
To the Philippine Islands
Magellan was pleased
As the natives drew near
But then someone shouted
YW+D : I think they're attacking!
Yakko: Magellan said...
Mglln: ...What?
Yakko: And got hit by a spear

YW+D : Whoopie ti-yi-yo
Farewell, Magellan
You almost made it
It's really not fair
Whoopie ti-yi-yo
Oh, ghost of Magellan
The East Indies islands
Were right over there.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:40 AM | Comments (3)

Some People Have Too Much Time On Their Hands

And I'm not sure if that refers to the folks who made these for us LOTR fans:

LOTR1

LOTR2

LOTR3

LOTR4


or Crusader who found them...

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:02 AM | Comments (4)

March 02, 2005

The Empire Strikes Back

Insta links to a Rockey Mountain News column about a piece by Ward Churchill's replacement as Chair of the Ethnic Studies Dept. at CU, Emma Perez, that appears in Counter Punch. I have several comments. Firstly, if the quality and tone of the RMN column are indicative of the quality of their service as a whole, I would subscribe in a heartbeat (if I didn't live in NJ and not really lose much sleep over being out of the loop on Rocky Mountain issues); it's quite excellent.

Secondly, let's look at her article, "A Neocon Test Case for Academic Purges: The Attacks on Ward Churchill."

(Previous posts on this topic here, here, here (sort of), here, here, here, here, and finally here. geesh...I had no idea)

We've done some preliminary research and analysis and it's become clear exactly what's at stake and what we're up against. CU-Boulder has been made the national frontline of the neocon battle for dominance in academe.

Who is "we", anyway?

Hmmm, has she been channeling Hillary?

CU-Boulder has likely been made their "test case," their break-the-mould moment in a national strategy. Their local resources and troops (thinktanks, legislative, rank-and-file followers) are already fully mobilized and their national resources are mobilizing in our direction (if not already mobilized), and the infrastructure they already have here is formidable. On Ward's specific case, they are already *at least* 3 weeks ahead of us in organizing, and they are using tactics they have been testing since the 90s.

Hmm, I guess she has. She fails to mention those of us in our pajamas, though. "Tactics they have been testing since the 90s." Ah yes, the fiendish and soon-to-be-banned-by-the-Geneva-Convention one/two punch of quoting someone's own words and researching the veracity of their claims.

Some details from preliminary research:

* The CO governor, Governor Bill Owens, is no ordinary Republican governor. He is an activist leader in their battle for higher education through his role in ACTA (American Council of Trustees and Alumni).

This is exciting, if you think about it, because she clearly states that "ordinary republicans" are not "activist leader(s) in their battle for higher education." Awfully kind of her, really.

ACTA is Lynn Cheney's organization, which hit the headlines a few years ago for creating the rightwing National Assoc of Scholars (NAS) and for proposing post-911 to monitor faculty nationwide for ideological (liberal/left) bias. Gov. Owens is especially active in ACTA's "Governors Project". He has already hosted an ACTA-led conference in CO for state trustees, probably for training them (wouldn't be surprised if some of our regents aren't in this same loop). He is already implementing the Governors Project strategy at less visible institutions. For example, last month the trustee structure at Mesa State College was revised and he appointed 3 new trustees, one of whom is "the intermountain coordinator for the American Council of Trustees and Alumni for teacher preparation reform."


Look at all the proof of the right wing conspiracy cabal! Can't you fools see? And the Regents are involved! AHHHHHHHHH!

Of course, they do sort of have responsibility for the quality of education that CU students (remember them, anyone?) receive.

Also leading in this "Governors Project" is Pataki in NY-no doubt connected with the Hamilton College incident that started all of this.

Hamilton. Wasn't he on Karl Rove's payroll?

* The general strategy in forcing and then manipulating this "investigation" of Ward's scholarship shares key tactics with the neocon sinking of Emory historian Bellesiles in 2001 www.oah.org/pubs. There are also likely to be parallels with the campaign against Linda Brodkey at UT in 1991 as well as other campaigns through which they have been testing and developing their methods and tactics.

I can not hope to improve upon the Rocky Mountain News on this:

Then there is this remarkable assertion: "The general strategy in forcing and then manipulating this 'investigation' of Ward's scholarship shares key tactics with the neo-con sinking of Emory historian Bellesiles in 2001 . . ." In fact, Michael Bellesiles resigned after a panel of scholars from places such as Harvard and Princeton concluded his failure to cite sources for material in his book, Arming America, "does move into the realm of 'falsification.'" Hardly a poster boy for the so-called new McCarthyism.

Back to Ms. Perez:

* Besides suggesting "treason" on the part of Ward and calling for his firing, Governor Owens has already requested Ethnic Studies' budget, one of the most important neocon institutional targets. In a parallel de-funding move, see their successful campaign to pass H.R. 3077

I would humbly suggest that the budget of the Ethnic Studies Department is probably a lot more important to the members of that department than it is to damn near anyone else.

Further, by going after Ward's tenure, they are essentially targeting the scholarly legitimacy of the entire field that, through external and internal review, granted Ward tenure. If Ward's tenure (and his promotion to Full, and his successful post-tenure review) was a "mistake," the next question is "who gave it to him?" Ultimately, by undermining the integrity of tenure in one national field, the neocon Right will pave the way to an attack on the very legitimacy of tenure as an institution. CU Regent Lucero did not mince words in his public statement at the emergency meeting where the 30-day investigation of Ward was announced:

"My displeasure with Mr. Churchill's essay should be abundantly clear, however, the issues regarding faculty responsibilities are still my focus. While the language in the Laws and Policies is in place, setting the standards for faculty expectations and the grounds for discipline, I would argue that they are subjective and dependent on the faculty for interpretation as to whether a professor has crossed a line. I would suggest that the time has come for a revision to the Policies that allows for other forms of adjudication that are not reliant on the faculty for determining subjectively the fate of one of their own. (Feb 3, 2005)"

No, "they" are examining the "scholarly legitimacy" of Ward Churchill, and that sinister next question is exactly the question that must be asked if the concept of tenure is to retain any integrity. It is politicized tenured faculty themselves that are undermining tenure by the slipshod and politically motivated way in which they at times award it.

While I am not in complete agreement with Regent Lucero in terms of investigating faculty soley due to things they've said, I am in complete agreement with his concerns that an alternate and/or supplemental method of evaluating faculty needs to be considered because it is abundantly clear that faculty can not and will not police themselves.

* Neocon students at CU-B (College Republicans) are likely connected with CampusWatch and/or AVOT (Americans for Victory against Terrorism); they are already connected with a very hostile right-wing talk radio talk show host in Denver (that is then feeding to the national level) and they have been using tried-and-true CampusWatch/AVOT-type tactics to create the steady stream of racist, violent hatemail that not only Ward, but ES faculty and students are receiving.

Um, ok. Publish some of it and pursue punishment via the proper channels. And they do have the right of "free association", last I checked.

* While we are confused and disoriented by the barrage of attacks, the state legislature is already moving to get tenure changes written into the books. The tactic is for Owens to make radical demands and push the envelope to the right, opening up space for a conservative Democrat to propose a more "moderate"-looking bill (Senate Bill 85, which includes tenure law changes) that should, if they're smart, pass quickly and easily, possibly even before the next Regents meeting. Reported in the Colorado Daily on Friday Feb 11, the tenure changes appear minor but will be used as footholds for the next deeper round(s) of legislative actions.

There's that darn "we" again. Again, by not acting in a professional manner they have brought this upon themselves. Instead of saying "we'll investigate" they circle the wagons and scream "First Amendment!"

* The CU-Boulder administration seems well-intentioned but to have misjudged the stakes and their opposition. They may have believed they could keep control of the investigation by doing it in-house but the Right is already outflanking them by using this investigation to launch an ideological show-trial; it's a war of public opinion in which the administration has already been outmaneuvered. By the end of 30 days, they could easily be backed into a corner, unable to resist the Right's larger agenda. The Admin's investigation can find whatever it wants (it could even decide to make no move against Ward), but by that point, it won't matter because all the legislative momentum/power will be out of their hands. Ultimately, the neocon agenda doesn't even have to succeed in getting Ward's tenure revoked; the attack on Ward is only one key piece of a larger campaign with several objectives beyond the firing of Ward.

Well, CU's efforts at damage control (let alone self-policing) are certainly well-deserving of their "deer-in-the-headlights" reputation. But the administration, in conjunction with the faculty, is the proper venue for such an investigation.

Unless I'm missing something, it would seem to me that the focus of an investigation is to find the facts, not to "find whatever it wants", but I had a simple upbringing.

* Ward is a prime target. He is vulnerable and, at the same time, has extremely high strategic value. In terms of his vulnerability: he can be isolated from support forces who would traditionally make it hard to attack a tenured faculty. There are faculty who have problems with his being American Indian or who have something against Ethnic Studies, etc etc-these faculty will be reluctant or refuse to defend him (until it's too late). As a revolutionary, he can be counted on to have a significant number of colleagues who strongly dislike him and will be reluctant or refuse to defend him (until it's too late). On top of all this, in the post-911 climate, moderates who would normally disagree with his views but then go on to defend his free speech rights and academic freedom, will hesitate because they are afraid of being cast in with his "anti-americanism" (much like the McCarthy period). In terms of his high value as a target (David Horowitz has already written on this): he's not only tenured, but he's a full prof; he's not only inside ethnic studies but he was chair; he's not in just any university in CO, he's at the institutional flagship of "liberalism" in the middle of a red state.

Boy he sure is a prime target. He's an apparently under-qualified scholar, a plagiarizing "artist", and a guy who seems to have mis-represented (which is a big word that means "lied about") both his ethnicity and his military career. Aside from that he's aces. Oh, and she claims there are racists on the faculty, too. That'll spice up the next faculty meeting. But isn't that the glorious struggle that true revolutionaries embrace?

Hell, I defend his right to free speech. But I also demand that he be held to the same standards in his job qualification as everyone else. And if he lied and committed fraud during the process, he should be booted.

We have to be as clear as possible about the big picture. This is much, much bigger than an individual attack on Ward. What we're looking at is a carefully developed, pre-existing national strategy that has been searching for exactly the right breakthrough "test case." It has found extremely favorable conditions in Ward's situation and in the post-911 climate. As they've been doing already in other areas they want to dismantle the structural footholds (academic freedom/tenure, ethnic studies) that social movements gained for people of color and liberal and progressive intellectuals inside academe during the 60s & 70s. If they are successful in Colorado, it could set a precedent like Bakke. Raising the stakes even higher, Governor Owens has ambitions that reach as far as the White House. The next phases of his career hang on this crucial campaign that will give definitive proof of his leadership ability. If he pulls it off, it's a glorious triple coup-de-grace: undermine the legal foundation of tenure/free speech, hurt/ruin Ethnic Studies...and at no less than the strongest "liberal" campus in the state. His personal investment in this campaign is very high and he is likely to throw his whole weight behind it.

We. Who is "we"? Oh, and Hillary's back. Hurrah! It's a "pre-existing" condition, this conspiracy (which I guess exempts it from coverage by the Right Wing Death Beast HMO) that has been waiting and watching, Sauron-like, for the proper moment to lash out. Muwhahahaha! Yes, it all comes together now...the mass arrests of scholars, minorities rounded up and shipped off to the wilds of northern Minnesota, the vicious attacks on people of different races and faiths (oops, sorry. That was France). And yes, those poor progressive liberals who've only got a foothold in academe (for the benefit of those of us outside the Ivory Tower, "foothold" is defined as "a 10-to-1 majority"); no wonder they feel so beseiged.

While Gov. Owen may indeed have aspirations for higher office, he may also simply be dreadfully embarrassed by the mess at CU. And I'm still trying to figure out that triple.

This is a fight to make history.

Emma Perez is the new chair of the Ethnic Studies Department at the University of Colorado

Perhaps. But it's more a fight about history, specifically Ward's and the mess of a process that allowed him to get where he is.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 02:00 PM | Comments (10)

Quick Prayers for Australian Friends

Seems there's been a big shaker just off the coast. 7.2 can rock your world.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:56 PM

Oh Domino...

Y'ah know, who'd a thunk ol' Chimpy would get the domino-effect to work for us?

heh.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:39 AM | Comments (2)

More Ward Stuff

David Kopel has an excellent post up at Volokh that provides a great summation of the fraud that is Ward Churchill. As I've noted before, the real scandal here is not what he's said but that he was given tenure.

Here is Churchill's faculty page. Please notice the title: "Professor"

Now what does the CU Faculty Handbook have to say about this?

Hmmmmm...

Here are some relevant quotes form the faculty handbook concerning tenured faculty:

(6)1 Professor - Professors should have the terminal degree appropriate to their field or its equivalent, and (A) a record that, taken as a whole, is judged to be excellent; (B) a record of significant contribution to both graduate and undergraduate education, unless individual or departmental circumstances can be shown to require a stronger emphasis, or singular focus, on one or the other; and (C) a record, since receiving tenure and promotion to associate professor, that indicates substantial, significant, and continued growth, development, and accomplishment in teaching, research, scholarship or creative work, and service.

and

2. Evaluation Committee

a. For the purpose of assisting the primary unit in making its recommendations on appointment, reappointment, tenure, and/or promotion, each primary unit shall elect or appoint (having previously voted on the method to be followed) from among its members an evaluation committee for each candidate being considered during an academic year. The committees may consist of both tenured and nontenured members. Such committees shall take into account and carefully evaluate the following:

(1) Information concerning the teaching ability of the candidate including the opinions of the candidate's students and colleagues and other qualified individuals who may have observed the candidate's classroom presentations;

(2) The candidate's scholarly, creative, and/or research efforts, including the opinions of colleagues relative thereto and written publications which the committee should thoroughly examine;

(3) Opinions of others in the candidate's field or in cognate fields who have particular knowledge of the candidate's scholarly, creative, and/or research efforts;

(4) The candidate's University and public service including the opinion of colleagues and others relative thereto;

(5) Any other information submitted by the candidate that the candidate believes will assure an adequate consideration and evaluation of his/her appointment, reappointment, promotion, and/or tenure;

(6) The opinions of members of other units within the University community who are competent to judge the candidate and have a legitimate interest in the appointment, reappointment, promotion, and/or tenure recommendation; and

(7) The opinions in writing of scholars from outside the University and from various locations who are qualified to judge the candidate. Such outside opinions are mandatory in cases of recommendations for tenure and promotion. (The candidate will be asked to provide names of scholars that should be considered in selecting external reviewers.)

Examples of appropriate criteria to be considered in evaluating teaching, research or creative work, and service are included in Attachment 1.

b. After diligently pursuing the procedures outlined above, the evaluation committee shall report its findings concerning appointment, reappointment, promotion, and/or tenure to the primary unit which acts on behalf of the unit.


Am MA from Sangamon State (not Sangaman Ward; check the piece of paper on your wall) somehow does not seem to be a 'terminal' degree.

The many issues that Kopel lists seem to indicate that CU's procedures were not "diligently pursu(ed)."

No wonder 199 members of the CU faculty finds the investigation into Churchill "frightening".

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:27 AM

March 01, 2005

Syria Seeing The Light?

Vodkapundit has some hot news from Syria:

"SYRIAN ARMY TO WITHDRAW FROM LEBANON
WITHIN ‘NEXT FEW MONTHS,’ SYRIAN PRESIDENT BASHAR ASSAD TELLS TIME"

A beer to the first person who can say with a straight face "This has nothing to do with the WoT".

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 02:24 PM | Comments (3)

Let Me Get This Straight...

Troubled youths suffering from Post-Modern Parking Ennui have decided that their therapy should consist of jumping between buildings 80' high, and when their therapy fails to...take hold they are suing the city. Now, ignoring for a moment the awful typos and editing in the article (hey, I make tons of typos and editing errors, but I don't get paid to publish stuff. Geesh, where the heck are their editors?) and work with me on the last line:

The family says that's not good enough and that both garages need to take responsibility before a garage jumper loses his life.

Um, what about the garage jumper taking some responsibility and realizing that maybe, just maybe jumping between 2 buildings 80' high might not be the best thing to do on a slow day?

I wonder if Andrea's going to sneek over there and pull down a fence or two to get her homies their Darwin Awards...

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 11:33 AM | Comments (8)

Because of Winn-Dixie

If you recognize anyone, adjust their attitudes immediately.

Cashiering Tips 101

Hello,

I’m your friendly checker. Maybe you call me “the cashier” or “check out girl/lady/register bimbo/whore/missy. I’m a relatively normal person who, for some reason or other, whether it be severe low career expectations, a second job to make up for my insurmountable credit card bills, or to just fuel my alcohol habit, has the relentless task of checking you and your groceries out. I thought maybe some guidelines were in order, to clarify my miserable existence while working my shift.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:50 AM | Comments (13)