The Coalition of the Swilling

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May 31, 2005

"...open war on black males"

Protesting the new "Castle Doctrine" Law. A day late and a dollar short.

Instead of slavery, the chains now come in the form of laws that are a threat to the black community, said a number of speakers at the two-hour rally Monday.

But critics say that the bill just gives people a license to kill that can easily be abused or misinterpreted.

"What about all those people who perpetuate hate and who will use this as an act of aggression?" said the Rev. Hugh King, president of the Pensacola chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the organization that conducted the event.

If they really felt that way, why weren't they protesting in the streets as the bill made it's way through the Florida Senate and House? The local fishwrap is always up for a photo-op, as is our ABC affiliate. Nothing like huge rally coverage for circulation. Where was the Southern Leadership Conference then? Or the ACLU, for that matter.

Chicago Alderman Dorothy Tillman, formerly of Pensacola, said the law will "lead to open war on black males."

"It's almost a way to eliminate people. Black men will be under the ground more than ever."

Tillman, a former staffer for King, was not on the list of speakers but was invited to the stage.

Good grief. Maybe she shoulda hopped a train on down here when she first heard about it being considered, instead of showing up when it's already a done deal. People. Citizens black, white, orange, green, yellow, blue or Venusian, especially in leadership positions, have an obligation to ACT when something they perceive as morally wrong is first raised, not after it has become law. No one was marching in the streets here before passage, I can tell you that. Where was their letter writing campaign, their emails of outrage, the editorial floods at the local fishwrap, a gathering or two downtown on the Courthouse steps? Maybe if they had taken on the fight prior and let their Democratic representatives know where they stood in a manner and volume most firm, the weenies they've elected wouldn't have 'sold' them out. Like this guy, who at first glance seemed pretty likely to agree with them.

"Under the wording of this bill, somebody could go onto any of the streets and if they think somebody is walking toward them in a threatening fashion, they can pull out a gun and begin blasting away," said Sen. Steven Geller, D-Hallandale Beach, who sought unsuccessfully to amend the bill on Tuesday.

"We're heading towards a "Wild West' mentality," Geller said. "I am concerned that you could literally have two guys standing on the street, both of them ready, the guns at their side, and then say, "Well, the other guy threatened me so I pulled a gun and shot him in self defense.' "

But I guess no one let him know they felt the same...

Geller voted for the bill anyway. Otherwise, "We'd be seen as Democrats soft on crime," he said.

Yeah. Soft about covers it. So go home already.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 05:09 PM | Comments (12)

Remember Our Rants...

...on parental responsibility, civilized behaviour, accountability at school, blah blah blah? Well, Mr. Beck has noted a doozy.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 02:59 PM | Comments (2)

Ashcroft Turned Me Into A Newt!

...I got better.

I'm supposed to care that the bounties, in effect, worked?

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 02:36 PM | Comments (2)

With All These Rules...

I'd want to know what WHUDU was, before I made it. Schmaybe I'd choose not to.

1) I plan on performing nikah soon and I wish to take my wife on honeymoon. Can you please advise me on the correct intention to make before leaving on honeymoon?

Salaams, 1) I plan on performing nikah soon and I wish to take my wife on honeymoon. Can you please advise me on the correct intention to make before leaving on honeymoon? 2) Is it true that our beloved Nabi (Sallallahu alaihi wa Sallam) use to eat something sweet after his meal? 3) If a married couple has intercourse is it necessary to place a towel on the bed to prevent any orgasmic fluids? 4) If by chance semen does falls onto the bed, does it mean the bed is napaak? 5) Is it permissible to go for a massage if given by the same sex? 6) Is it permissible to make whudu with contact lenses? May Allah reward you

I know you're dying for the answers. Pencil and paper ready, please. There'll be a quiz.

1. The very concept of going on a honeymoon is alien to Islam. Yes, you may go out with your wife to a quiet place that affords you additional privacy to get to know each other better, etc. Your intention may be around these lines. Also, there is no sense in going for this trip to a place that is very busy or crowded with other tourists, etc. This would obviously defeat the purpose of your travel to this place.

2. There is nothing specifically mentioned. Yes, the eating of fruit or dates before and after both have been mentioned.

3. It is better to place something like a towel, etc. beneath her. Cleanliness demands something be placed there to prevent the bed being soiled.

4. No, the bed is not Napaak. Only the bedsheet or the place it falls onto is Napaak.

5. Yes, it is permissible provided the person massaging does so without touching the Satr and without any fear of falling into temptation.

6. Yes, it is permissible. Contact lenses are worn in the eyes. This area of the eyes are not washed in Wudhu. Hence, the wearing of contact lenses does not affect the validity of Wudhu.

and Allah Ta'ala Knows Best

Mufti Muhammad Kadwa
FATWA DEPT

CHECKED & APPROVED: Mufti Ebrahim Desai

Stolen from Ask-Imam.com, question 14602. I'd link, but then they'd check back through their webstats, which probably have a fatwa generator attached for hurling jihads at infidels at a moment's notice and I can do without an exploding Toyota. It does that pretty well on its own already.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 02:36 PM | Comments (1)

Sink Her, Already ! Part Trois

When last we left our heroine, she was moored at the Port Of Pensacola, waiting a move back to Texass. She's not gone yet, you ask? Sigh. Nothing but nothing is as simple as it seems.

But, in the latest twist, it turns out that it's going to take extra time to prepare the vessel for the trek to Texas.

The wooden flight deck, various hatches and doors were removed to ensure diver safety once the boat is sunk. But that work must be temporarily undone so the Mighty O does not become bogged down with rain on the way to Beaumont and during its stay there

And your tax dollars? Still hard at work.

Meanwhile, the Navy is paying $90,000 per month in docking fees to the Port of Pensacola. It's also paying $221,000 per month to Resolve Marine Group to ready the Oriskany for its trek to Beaumont.

Walker said the port will miss the docking fees paid since the Oriskany's arrival from Corpus Christi, Texas, last December.

Dolan said the cost of the tow has not been settled.

As of early May, the Navy had spent $12.3 million on the Oriskany reef project, the first of its kind and expected to be a model for disposing of decommissioned Navy ships in the future. By contrast, Dolan said, one estimate to dismantle and scrap the ship was $24 million.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:35 PM | Comments (3)

May 30, 2005

Friday at the Museum...

A gimpy veteran in a motorcyle vest with his wife on his arm strolled by, circled around one of the airplanes on display and came back towards Major Dad, Grinch and myself. They returned our smiles and nods as they passed, but I was too stunned by the blue ribbon around his neck to do more than that. None of us had ever seen a real Medal of Honor, less mind a recipient wearing one. What an incredible moment and I'll never forget it, ever. The power of something so small and at once so indescribably beautiful and so terribly sad.
I saw that face again in the local fish wrap this morning, playing Shenandoah on his harmonica at The Wall South. I had a name now, so I looked for his story.
What a story it is. Sammy Davis, Private First Class.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:54 AM | Comments (8)

We Can Never Say "Thanks" Enough

"Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth."

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:36 AM | Comments (2)

May 29, 2005

If you are a Star Wars fan...

watch this. I won't egg you on any mooe than that, but it is in good taste.

Posted by Crusader at 07:16 AM | Comments (3)

May 27, 2005

If you have TCM on your cable/sat...

make sure and watch either 8:00 EST Saturday and/or 6:00 EST Sunday for one of my favorite WW II and John Wayne movies. The last scene, waiting for the last C-47, always chokes me up. What those servicemen who were left behind went through is to horrible for words. The title is fitting. Just wish they had some footage of Fort Drum.

Posted by Crusader at 04:29 PM

Momma Told Me (Not to Come)

That ain't the way to have fun, son. (Apologies to Randy Newman and Three Dog Night.)

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:50 AM | Comments (14)

In the ranks of death you'll find him...

The Minstrel fell! But the foeman's steel
Could not bring that proud soul under;
The harp he lov'd ne'er spoke again,
For he tore its chords asunder;
And said "No chains shall sully thee,
Thou soul of love and brav'ry!
Thy songs were made for the pure and free
They shall never sound in slavery!

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:25 AM | Comments (1)

May 26, 2005

How Cool Is This?

Chris finds a GREAT story from the wilds of western NY:

League of her own
Brownell, 11, baffles boys with 18-strikeout perfecto

How dominant was she? She struck out all 18 batters she faced in the six-inning victory. She never got to a three-ball count on any of them.

That is just awesome.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 11:30 PM | Comments (3)

Oh the shark babe, has such teeth, dear

And he shows them, pearly white
Just a jack knife, has all Mac Heath, babe
And he keeps it, out of sight

Though I don't think jack knives are on the list, I guess 'Iron Chef U.K.' is out of the question.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:21 PM | Comments (10)

That Damn BushChimpHitler...

...and the tax cuts that are destroying this country...NOT.

States See Benefits, Challenges in Revenue Surpluses
Multibillion-Dollar Tax Windfall Allowing States to Slash Taxes, Improve Services

- A sweeping economic turnaround could mean tax cuts and better service for millions of Americans. For the first time since the year 2000, many states are finding that budget time isn't all about belt-tightening and cost-cutting.

States collected a record $600 billion in taxes last year -- an increase of 17.2 percent over 2003. Revenues are rising even faster this year, at a double-digit rate in some states.

Instead of fighting about how to cut their budgets, state lawmakers must decide how best to use the additional revenue.

Driven by higher consumer sales and personal incomes, tax revenues are up in states nationwide. Governments are using the money to improve roads, cut class sizes and give tax breaks to businesses.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 06:43 PM | Comments (3)

'Every Step With Caution Feeling'

We need a pet rock out front when Ebola comes skulking home at zero-dark-thirty.

The US military is developing miniature electronic sensors disguised as rocks that can be dropped from an aircraft and used to help detect the sound of approaching enemy combatants.

The devices, which would be no larger than a golf ball, could be ready for use in about 18 months. They use tiny silicon chips and radio frequency identification (RFID) technology that is so sensitive that it can detect the sound of a human footfall at 20ft to 30ft.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 05:00 PM | Comments (8)

No Speaka De Anglish?

Pravda** tweaka de anguish in a recent piece. Boldly titled 'Language Barrier Called Health Hazard in E.R.', it starts out with a tragic story of communications gone wrong.

When a Spanish-speaking hospital receptionist refused to interpret during her lunch hour, doctors at St. Vincent's Staten Island Hospital turned to a 7-year-old child to tell their patient, an injured construction worker, that he needed an emergency amputation.

With no one to bridge the language gap for another patient, a newly pregnant immigrant from Mexico with life-threatening complications, doctors pressed her to sign a consent form in English for emergency surgery. Understanding that the surgery was needed "to save the baby," the young married woman awoke to learn that the operation had instead left her childless and sterile*.

Those cases were among dozens detailed in a civil rights complaint contending that the lack of basic translation services at St. Vincent's and three other New York City hospitals endangers their immigrant patients and violates state and federal law.

*Emphasis mine and please to remember the sentence.

Oh my God, sounds bad, eh? There's a litany of complaints ranging from "Typical were cases like that of a woman who had to rely on her English-speaking Korean cabdriver to translate a doctor's directions for treating her 11-year-old son", "the woman who minimized her symptoms of depression because the person translating was her 13-year-old son" to " overheard doctors at St. Vincent's telling a construction worker, through his 7-year-old cousin, that the worker needed an amputation." They use the word pervasive* which sounds awful and implies every second immigrant gets dissed by the system because (drum roll, here) they speak NO English. They do note that hospitals are scrambling to accomodate. While there are more "than 150 tongues are now spoken in New York, nearly all the problems highlighted in the complaint concern Spanish and Korean." Last I heard, Spanish is pretty easy, but speaking Korean is a bitch. And I wonder about all the advocacy groups. They seem to be out to bang on the system...

Adam Gurvitch, director of health advocacy for the New York Immigration Coalition, which coordinated the efforts to document language barriers, called the civil rights complaint a last resort. "We feel like we've hit a wall," he said.

...instead of using their resources. Get some of their staff off their asses and down in the E.R.'s to...well, schmaybe...help out and translate. Or impress upon immigrants to need to learn basic English. When I travel to another country, I wear it as a badge of honor that I'm mangling the native tongue within a day or two. If I moved somewhere I'd sure as hell want to be able to articulate basic medical information. You know. 'Foot', 'Toe', 'Finger' and the all important 'OW, that f^%king HURTS!' Whose responsibility is that? The taxpayer is already picking up the tab for your repair at said E.R. (there's a passage on a mugging victim who "returned for follow-up care a few days later, she was handed a piece of paper stating in English that to be seen by a doctor she had to pay $95 and bring a photo ID. The robbery had left her with neither." To the latter statement, well duh. That's why it's called robbery. To the former, like that wouldn't happen to uninsured, born-in-the-USA Granny Gertrude Frothingslosh. Get a grip.) And I'm not expecting everyone to wax poetic in adopted languages, far from it. But I do expect them to try and start trying as soon as their damp liddle puddies come in contact with the north side of the Rio Grande or they come down the ramp off a Korean Air 747, or from whereEVER. (Just like my sainted M-I-L, Panamian by birth, American with a vengance, who has no patience with any of her newly arrived Hispanic brethren.) Make an effort, help yourselves, people. You'll be surprised how big the arms of this country can be when you do.

Now. Remember the histrionic, no more babies introductory paragraph? BURIED at the very end of the article is 'the rest of the story'.

The woman who was left sterile, who identified herself only as Nayeli, said two emergency operations were performed without adequate translation.

In her first visit to St. Vincent's, only her brother was available to translate, which made her "ashamed," she said, to discuss her treatment with doctors. They apparently removed one Fallopian tube after finding that an embryo was growing inside it, a dangerous condition known as an ectopic pregnancy.

Nayeli, who cleans houses, said she was assured after that operation that she and her husband would have no trouble conceiving in the future. But seven months later a new pregnancy, also apparently ectopic, put her back in the operating room, where her second Fallopian tube was removed, leaving her sterile. "Never at any time did I know they were going to remove my tubes," she said.

Left sterile after two ectopic pregnancies?? We should be outraged about this? She would be dead if they hadn't operated EITHER time, her now missing tubes having exploded because of the child attempting to grow in that teeny little place not meant for babies. (In N.C. we had a little girl of 18 die in the Camp LeJeune hospital after a mis-diagnosed ectopic pregnancy. The condition mimics everything from intestinal distress to ulcers. Everything but what it is and they don't find out until they get in there.) Although the lead-in was meant to incite indignation and empathy, the underhandedness of the article's machinations just pegged my sympathy meter.

*to become diffused throughout every part of

**Read the whole thing here, 'cause I waited too long and am too cheap to pay them.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 02:11 PM | Comments (13)

Lt. Pantano Cleared of All Charges

Marine cleared in deaths of two Iraqis
'Best interests' served, Corps says of Wall Street trader turned soldier
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - A former Wall Street trader who rejoined the Marines after the Sept. 11 attacks will not be tried on murder charges for killing two suspected Iraqi insurgents, a Marine general decided Thursday.

“The best interests of 2nd Lt. Pantano and the government have been served by this process,” the Marine Corps said in a statement.

Read the rest.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:53 PM | Comments (7)

Further proof that rock music does not kill brain cells...

Musician turned defense analyst, Jeff Baxter. Cool! Even though I hate Steely Dan.......

Posted by Crusader at 11:44 AM | Comments (20)

May 25, 2005

ACLU Asserts US Troops "Looked At Koran Wearing Groucho Mask"

Oh puh-lease...yawn.

Thousands killed in riots in Yomamabad.

"Not our fault" says ACLU.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:04 PM | Comments (7)

Well, Rats

Sad to hear this. Filmmaker Ismail Merchant dies
With one notable, Gawdawful exception*, the quality was unsurpassed.
*Shall remain nameless to spare Bingley pain.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 02:02 PM | Comments (1)

You're Emo Kid

Take Bill's Quiz.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 01:56 PM | Comments (8)

Do They Ever Think...

...before crafting the headline.

For Venus, it' s a question of desire

No. It's 'I'm your Venus, I'm your fire, at your desire'. Duh.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:07 PM | Comments (7)

Laugh Of The Day

Amnesty slams U.S. on human rights

Four years after the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, human rights are in retreat worldwide and the United States bears most responsibility, rights watchdog Amnesty International said on Wednesday.

Yes, human rights are in retreat around the world, chased back into their little holes by Roveing Jackbooted Minions!

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 12:06 PM

Europe Bends Over To Extremists Yet Again

This is a very scary precedent, and I fully expect the US press to rise to her defense...not.

Have the Italian judges indicted everyone who has said unpleasant things about catholicism?

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 11:48 AM | Comments (9)

Bingley...

...offers moral support as DaveJ speaks earnestly of his love for merlots in this interview, taped yesterday at Dave's dacha.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:21 AM | Comments (8)

I Am Also in Love...

...with the idea of a leatherneck who goes by 'Lt. Col. Lionel Urquhart', commander of the 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment'.
Jeez, with a name like that how Braveheart can you get? The MSNBC story about the Marines is quite good ~ lots of Jarheads interviewed. Pravda's story, on the other hand, is headlined 'Marines Mount 2nd Drive on Insurgents in West Iraq' and, of course, it's all Army brass and some Shiite Iraqi Army quotes. Not one young Marine spoken of or to. And they don't capitalize 'Marines'. That pisses me off like a big dog, the loser liberal SFB's.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:23 AM

I'm Freakin' Starving...

On Hot Dogs from Pravda. Since I can't get myself a dirty water dog and limp sauerkraut in the schwamps here, I hie thee hither to the Winn Dixie, grab a package of Nathan's and force Major Dad to light the coals. Sauerkraut, De Maille mustard and Heinz organic ketchup. Sweet Mary, Mother of mercy. Kosher heaven on a bun. And you?

So what constitutes a great hot dog? To me, it's a grilled, kosher-style frank served on a lightly toasted bun with slightly spicy mustard and a homemade onion or pickle relish that is neither too sweet nor too hot. The Old Town Bar on East 18th Street not only toasts the bun that encases its grilled natural-casing all-beef Sabrett dog, it butters it as well. Sublime! Sauerkraut is also fine atop my dogs, though every once in a while I crave one prepared Southern style, with cole slaw. My ideal dog should fit neatly into its bun, sticking out by at most an inch on each end.

Fly (and anyone else who waxes poetic over snausages), if you want the whole article, email me and I'll send it to ya.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:16 AM | Comments (9)

Attention Aspiring Headline Writers

Have fun with this.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:22 AM | Comments (13)

May 24, 2005

Received A Package Today...

Inside was a letter:

Mr. Bingley!

Here is your genuine, official, personalized, U.S. Army desert camouflage boonie hat, presented in recognition of your valuable but unspecified services to your nation. Of course, I would like to detail how your support of the Global War on Terrorism greatly assissted the Armed Forces in their fight against the terrorists, and how it seriously impacted the operations of scumbag terrorists around the world, but then I would have to kill anyone who read this letter...so we'll just have to settle for this vague but sincere unofficial letter that no one at the Pentagon will ever acknowledge as genuine.

Agent XYZ, Kuwait

And beneath the letter was...

YES!!!!!

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:44 PM | Comments (16)

RIP Thurl Ravenscroft

You'rrrrrrrrre Grrrreat!!!

Though I must admit I prefer you singing the Grinch song.

Lileks will be very sad today.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:35 AM | Comments (15)

May 23, 2005

Ken, You Could Always Just Move...

I guess Ken's Tin Foil Hats just don't provide the protection they used to.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 12:42 PM | Comments (5)

Launch the Alert Five Fighter...

...turn up your speakers and DUCK !!

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:44 AM | Comments (2)

Cawring Hans Brix

Spent the whole weekend watching Team America. Oh My God what a hoot!

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:57 AM

May 22, 2005

Sorry, JeffS Old Man...

About the chocolate chip pecan cookies, I mean. Know they went to a good cause.

It's the squid terrorist's natal day, so we tried bribery.

We even left him a card.

We'll see what happens.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 07:43 PM | Comments (1)

May 21, 2005

Chris Rock's Making Friends Again...

...but not how you'd think. (In this month's Elle.)

ELLE: Did you have a favorite candidate in last year's presidential primary?

CR: I liked—who's the “yahoo” guy?

ELLE: Dean?

CR: Dean. He had a passion to him, at least. Kerry didn't want to win. I'm a Democrat, but hats off to Bush—he wanted to win. He said, “You know what? We're gonna have our convention in motherf--kin' New York.” That's what generals do. They go, “They don't like us over there, that's where we're going.” [Claps his hands, tips his baseball cap] Yet Kerry knows—all the Democrats knew going in—the race is gonna come down to Florida or Ohio. So where we gonna have our convention? Oh, let's have it in Boston! Bitch. [Unfurls his middle finger] Of course you lost...

...ELLE: What do you think about Condi and Colin Powell?

CR: I'm glad Bush hired a lot of black people. Frankly, he hires more than the average liberal. He really does. And you know, policy aside, little black girls and little black boys are gonna see Condi Rice, Colin Powell. White kids, too—when it's time for them to pick who they're gonna work with, there's not gonna be a mental block in their heads. So Bush…hey. [Again tips his hat] The only thing I'm mad at Bush about is the war, because I have a cousin in Iraq. A girl cousin, all right? Nia Rock. Nia Rock is there right now, driving a truck.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 06:49 PM | Comments (9)

May 20, 2005

Pronouncement

In the wee small hours of last night, whilst waiting for Northwest Airlines to continue their voodoo juju on Major Dad, I got to watch (uninterrupted) the DVD wide screen version of The Hunt For Red October. It only reinforced my initial feeling that Alec Baldwin was meant to be Jack Ryan and he is a horse's ass for letting his bloated ego blow it so completely. ('Bloated' being the operative word. What a sickening surprise when he popped on screen during Notting Hill. And STFU already.) Pffft. Loser.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:56 AM | Comments (9)

Au Contraire, Mon Petite Poulet

Senior politicians and Eurocrats yesterday abandoned their previous chorus of upbeat, inspiring calls to build a new Europe on a foundation of French values*.

Seems the chirpy promises of living This Perfect Day haven't persuaded enough French voters to mark in the 'yea' column, so they're switching to doom and gloom pronouncements. Pestilence, penury and political pugilism are on tap if the French d*ck this one up and everyone's gonna point the finger at them.

Appealing to French pride and sense of rivalry with the United States, he raised the spectre of international scorn for the EU. "People would say, 'There you go, the Europeans are not able to agree on a constitutional treaty,' " he said.

Oh yeah. 'There you go', 'take that' and the always terrifying 'everyone's talking'. I wonder if folks in the other member nations were aware the EU was meant to make them all...French? Maybe they wouldn't have been so quick to vote okey-doke, n'est pas?
*Emphasis on parTICulairly scary phrase (French values ???) all mine. Swill Salute: Samizdata.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:33 AM | Comments (7)

May 19, 2005

Oh, Good Lord

I don't think he looks anything like her. (Bingley will correct me if I'm wrong.)

"Michael Isikoff has become the Lynddie England of the Washington press corps. For inadequately sourcing a story reporting that the Quran of a detainee at the Guantánamo Bay prison had been flushed in a toilet, the Bush administration has turned the Newsweek reporter into a scapegoat for the disastrous consequences of its torture policy.

More drivel here.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 05:44 PM

Highway Robbery

The Saints are threatening to March out of New Orleans. They do have it exceedingly tough there.

Under the current agreement, the state will pay the Saints $15 million this year and in 2006, $20 million in 2007 and 2008 and $23.5 million in 2009 and 2010. The Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District refinanced bonds on the Superdome to cover this year's payment.

And they want the new ritzy stadium, blah, blah, blah but the frickin' State of Lousiana expects them to HELP PAY for it! BASTARDS !!

The state pushed for a deal to make the team responsible for increased revenues through their on-field and box office performance. The state has proposed a $175 million renovation of the Superdome with the Saints covering $40 million, arguing the team could earn between $10 million and $12 million annually from increased capacity and new suites. Additionally the state proposed lowering annual inducements to $14 million in 2008 and $9.5 million in 2009 and 2010. The team said it would only cover $23 million toward renovating the Superdome, believing it will generate an additional $4 million annually from the upgrades. The state is asking to renegotiate but they're pulling $50 million off the table that's guaranteed in the current contract, Wilkerson said.

There's a whole lot more to this than I have the patience for. Like how the Cresent City ~ Third World and Proud of it ~ has experienced the 'greatest flight to the suburbs in their history, crippling their infrastructure repairs, not to mention the schools and city services. (I'm sure they're not teaching $12,500 race relations classes there.)

It's disgusting how officials sell the farm to get these teams. I remember what the Garden State gave away to get the Meadowlands. (Actually, that was the gift that keeps on giving.) I'm telling you, New Yawk City should be happily paving streets, sweeping sidewalks and fixing the subway station for the Yankees' new digs. They sure as hell are the only major team in any market who's volunteered to foot the bill for the new stadium themselves.

I've got a bad case of 'don't let the turnstyle hit you in the ass...'

Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:11 PM | Comments (7)

Florida's Packin'

There's a nice post over at Volokh by David Kopel on the new Florida Right-to-Defense law. Go read all of it, as the Man says:

WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that it is proper for law-abiding people to protect themselves, their families, and others from intruders and attackers without fear of prosecution or civil action for acting in defense of themselves and others, and WHEREAS, the castle doctrine is a common-law doctrine of ancient origins which declares that a person's home is his or her castle, and WHEREAS, Section 8 of Article I of the State Constitution guarantees the right of the people to bear arms in defense of themselves, and WHEREAS, the persons residing in or visiting this state have a right to expect to remain unmolested within their homes or vehicles, and WHEREAS, no person or victim of crime should be required to surrender his or her personal safety to a criminal, nor should a person or victim be required to needlessly retreat in the face of intrusion or attack, NOW, THEREFORE, Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 01:15 PM | Comments (1)

May 18, 2005

Boba Fett

Gets Funky.
Okay, not this funky. Has everyone lost their collective minds???
(Oh wait. 'Collective'. Different movie. No "backpack/with jets...")
UPDATE: Hot Off the Presses ~ a paparazzi shot of Bingley looking Sithy at the premiere last night.
(He would be the Darth Elvis in the photo 3.)

Posted by tree hugging sister at 06:32 PM | Comments (4)

GMC

I think it stand for 'geriatric mental capacity'. CNBC offers this concerning a J.D. Powers quality survey:

General Motors Corp., which has lost critical U.S. market share this year, had five vehicles winning top marks in quality, and its Hummer lineup of SUVs scored the biggest improvement among brands, J.D. Power and Associates said.

Okay, so your $65,000 Hummer doesn't suck quite as badly as it used to. However, I don't own one, nor does anyone of my aquaintance except Roy Jones (And he doesn't count as I'm not about to do what he does for a living). So how 'bout we go fishing for what sort of quality GM feels is enough for the little guy.

However, GM's Chevrolet, Pontiac, Saab and brands all scored below average in the study.

Who loves ya baby? But the Hummer crowd shouldn't be doing backflips that their disposable cash is well spent.

GM's Hummer brand jumped from being the lowest scoring brand to tying for 10th with South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co. Ltd. and finishing with 110 problems per 100 vehicles, down from 173 problems per 100 last year. Two years ago, when Hummer scored 225 problems per 100 vehicles, J.D. Power officials said it was due in part to complaints about the high fuel consumption of the H2 SUV, which gets about 11 to 13 miles per gallon.

``This year's results clearly show that the people at Hummer knew this wasn't the case,'' Parker said. ``They identified many customer-reported problems and solved them.''

Your $65K is good enough to tie with Hyundai ??!!! At least they can rest easy knowing that their 'many customer reported problems' are identified and solved, unlike someone lucky enough to own an entry level Pontiac. Maybe that's why Joe Consumer is buying the Hyundai. (Of course, if we note the fact that every day GM cars are the ugliest f#&kin' dinosaurs on the road, there's another whole can of ill-treatment at the expence of those who ride the American Road opened. It's like they snatched the rights to the K-Car from Chrysler and have never let go.)

Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:54 PM | Comments (12)

How Odd

First Thickly Settled makes its appearence, then I stumble over this...

Chockbilderna av Tonya

Harding: Nu har jag fått figur som en boxare

I think we should all take a stab at translating.

I'll go first:

Harding: "CREAMpuffs ???!!! I'm ain't givin' you da F*&kin' CREAMpuffs!!"

Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:03 PM | Comments (15)

All The More Reason To Make It Tighter

So Mexico doesn't like the US tightening border controls from "laughable" to "merely ludicrous" eh?

Mexico is complaining about tough new U.S. rules on foreigners that make it more difficult for millions of illegal immigrants from Mexico to get driver's licenses.

I don't want it to be tough, I want it to be impossible. I want our borders secure. End of story. If it means that strawberries cost a little more or someone in Rumson has to mow their own lawn, so be it.

Our border has been the escape valve for all of Mexico's social ills. It's time for the mexican elite to face the music of their corruption.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 12:16 PM | Comments (5)

The MOST Compelling Reason...

...for not allowing military recruiters anywhere near a high school??

"They're spending $4 billion a month in Iraq, but we have to cut our race relations class, which costs $12,500," Ms. Hagopian pointed out. "That's an important class for our kids."

Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:07 PM | Comments (7)

Stolen Shamelessly From Armavirumque

This is why.

Liz and her Ivy-educated, Hamptons-trotting colleagues disapprove of Rudyard Kipling, natch, but reading through the disgraceful comments of the press from today’s White House Press briefing, I couldn’t help thinking of Kipling's poem “Tommy”:

Yes, makin’ mock o’ uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an’ they’re starvation cheap;
An’ hustlin’ drunken soldiers when they’re goin’ large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin’ in full kit.
Then it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, ’ow’s yer soul?”
But it’s “Thin red line of ’eroes” when the drums begin to roll,
The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
O it’s “Thin red line of ’eroes” when the drums begin to roll.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:36 AM | Comments (6)

Thickly Settled

I was up in Andover, Mass. the past few days at a golf outing off-site meeting. One thing that always cracks me up about New England are some of the different terms they use. Here in Joisy we have signs that say "Slow Children At Play" (which I guess says something about our youths' IQ) or "School Zone." When I turned onto the quiet residential street in Andover where the meeting was being held there was this nice official sign saying "Thickly Settled."

Heh, I love stuff like that.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:04 AM | Comments (12)

May 16, 2005

Word of the Day

Brought to you not by email from M-W, but Tom Maguire of the Maguire Report.

émi·nence grise
Pronunciation: A-mE-näns-grEz Function: noun
: a confidential agent; especially : one exercising unsuspected or unofficial power*

Used to describe Carl ROVE, get outta town!!

Although one can scarcely tell by checking Memeorandum, there is other news than Newsweek in the "Immedia" - Bill Frist may press the nuclear button this week on behalf of Judge Priscilla Owens of Texas. The Times tells us that Karl Rove is the eminence grise behind her rise, which is the sort of connection that Avedon Carol loves to read about.

Oh Lordy! Well-read fellas who write all purdy make me tingly...

*Inflected Form(s): plural éminences grises /same/
Etymology: French, literally, gray eminence, nickname of Père Joseph (François du Tremblay) died 1638 French monk and diplomat, confidant of Cardinal Richelieu who was known as Éminence Rouge red eminence; from the colors of their respective habits

Posted by tree hugging sister at 05:20 PM | Comments (9)

You Can Send Me That Bottle of Opus Now

The Supreme Court struck down the Direct Sales Ban.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - States cannot ban direct out-of-state wine shipments if they allow their wineries to sell directly to consumers, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Monday in a decision that could lead to lower prices and more easily available choices.

By a 5-4 vote, the high court ruled that the bans involving out-of-state wineries unconstitutionally discriminated against interstate commerce. Such laws have been adopted in 23 states while the other 27 states allow direct wine sales, industry officials said.

Justice Anthony Kennedy said for the court majority that the laws at issue from Michigan and New York were designed to grant in-state wineries a competitive advantage over wineries located in other states.

``We hold that the laws in both states discriminate against interstate commerce in violation of the Commerce Clause (of the U.S. Constitution) and that the discrimination is neither authorized nor permitted by the 21st Amendment,'' Kennedy concluded.

Kennedy rejected the arguments by the states seeking to justify the bans as necessary to protect minors from alcohol and to be able to collect taxes on the sales.

In states with the ban, out-of-state wineries may sell only to wholesalers, who distribute to retailers, who in turn sell to consumers. A U.S. Federal Trade Commission report has found the bans reduce consumer choice and increase wine prices.

Music to my thirsty ears.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:39 PM | Comments (5)

May 15, 2005

Swilling Keeps Kidneys Sharp

No, really!!! It does!

In a finding that runs counter to conventional wisdom, researchers have found that consuming moderate amounts of alcohol -- about one drink a day -- may prevent kidney function decline in men....

"...This is the first study to show a consistent reduction in the risk of chronic kidney disease with light to moderate drinking. Given the new findings that traditional cardiovascular risk factors are associated with kidney disease, the data is not surprising. This study may be broadening our knowledge of alcohol and disease prevention," Kurth said.

Research science at its finest.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:06 PM | Comments (6)

May 13, 2005

The End is Nigh...

...when Jane FONDA gets cut off by an interviewer for...{drumroll}...talking nicely about President Bush.

Liz: Yes, publicans and sinners. Or was that Republicans and sinners?

Jane: (Laughter) I was at the White House correspondents' dinner the other night, and Laura Bush was really funny. Her approval rating is way up, as it should be.

Liz: Did you see the president's press conference before that; I thought he was floundering.

Jane: No, I thought he was very impressive. I don't know him, but I have always thought if I were alone in a room with him, I would really like him.

Liz: Well, many people do like him, and he has an informal appealing quality, they say*. Jane, let's get back on you. What do you think of today's theory that the Vietnam war turned today's Vietnam into a flourishing Asian market economy Western style...

Poor old Liz is workin' it and workin' it, and Jane won't bite. How blatant an attempt to be incendiary and how dee-lish-us a result. (And in typical narcissistic MSM fashion, not at all adverse to printing the evidence. I'm sure there'll be howls of outrage should a bigger blog point it out. *All emphasis on the obvious mine.)

Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:16 PM | Comments (4)

May 12, 2005

Pat Buchanan: Toasted Nazi Apologist

Instapunk nails him perfectly.

Warning: Do not look at that link with food or beverage in your mouth.

Thanks to the Blogfaddah for the heads up.

*Update: VodkaPundit grills his Nazi Apologist Ass too (his "NAA").

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 12:49 PM | Comments (4)

Oo-RAH !!

Nothing like a good, old fashioned, MOtivational video!!

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:08 AM | Comments (2)

Flamingo 2 1

That was a movie. THIS is a milagro!

The note says:

I escaped!!!
the torture is unbearable
Please pay the ransom
My friends are still suffering

Oh brave, brave Mr. Pink! Thanks to his intrepid heart and bold action, we now have the missing pieces to the puzzle. The call has gone out across the globe and anti-terrorist teams are boarding planes to answer it. Winging their way here to put a stop to this perversion, for once and all.

In the meantime, having received the finest medical care available, Mr. Pink is recuperating comfortably at home. Knocking back a little hootch, catching up on world events and watching Bill O'Reilly*.

*it's too early in his recovery for me to rip the remote from his little webbed puddies.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:23 AM | Comments (9)

May 11, 2005

The Joy Of Putting A Face To A Name

I had the distinct pleasure last night of getting to meet Nightfly and some friends of his at a local watering hole, where they had kindly invited me to meet them after their bible study group had finished. A sweeter, more open group of folks one would be very hard pressed to find. Fellowship, my friends, is really the key to living as good a life as we can, for without fellowship to walk the path with us we delude ourselves about any virtues we may have. By ourselves we are nothing.

Even with creme puffs.

Damn, they were good.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:05 PM | Comments (7)

Large, Luscious, Naked Breasts

Hmmmmm. What to do, what to do...

Orange-Ancho or Raspberry Chipotle? What to do, what to do...

Sometimes I think we sail under a lucky star. Hold that. I KNOW we do. A young Lt. befriended by Major Dad turned out to be a Johnson and Wales trained chef. He is now leaving for primary flight training and was cleaning out his freezer. Upon review of his aquaintances, he knew no one else in his circle (read:beer swilling buddies) would appreciate the fresh duck breasts, rabbit and filo, etc. that needed a place to land. So guess who came home with a cooler full, bless that Lt.'s little pointy head?!

After a furious arm wrestling interlude, the Orange-Ancho wins. (Major Dad's a brute who cheats, but that's another post.)
We came up with Grilled Duck Breasts and an Orange-Ancho Chili reduction, tastefully presented over Wild Mushroom Risotto. Oh. God.
(and weird how Ebola walks through the door at precisely the right moment...)

As soon as I remember what we did, recipes to follow.
(and it's a frickin' CAB, poophead and pete...and a steal for the price...okay? huh? huh?)

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:53 PM | Comments (4)

Great World Trade Center Model

and interview video on MSNBC.com. The 'Phoenix' they call it.
That's how it should look.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 04:57 PM | Comments (2)

A Little Good News on the Economy...

...is appreciated.

April budget surplus swells to $57.71 bln

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States posted a greater-than-expected $57.71 billion budget surplus in April, the largest monthly surplus in three years, as tax receipts swelled, the Treasury Department said on Wednesday.

The April reading surpassed Wall Street expectations for a $55 billion budget surplus and raised the possibility of a much lower fiscal 2005 fiscal deficit* than first forecast.

*emphasis mine
Not bad work for a chimp, eh what?

Posted by tree hugging sister at 04:29 PM

This Monster...

...needs to die.

ZION, Ill. - The father of an 8-year-old girl who was slain along with her best friend admitted to authorities that he was the killer, saying he was angry at the girl for breaking curfew, prosecutors said Wednesday.

It gets worse as the day goes on and proves my point. Those poor babies. And bless Krystal's brave little heart.

Hobbs told investigators he was angry that the girl had gone out and went looking for her, authorities said. He told Laura to go home but she refused, so he punched her for disobeying, Pavletic said. Krystal then pulled out a potato knife to try to defend her friend, and he attacked her as well, getting the knife away and stabbing both girls, according to the interviews.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:49 PM | Comments (13)

Wine Lover Update

According to my just arrived Free the Grapes newsletter, Texass has become the 27th state to support limited, regulated direct to consumer wine shipments.

Authored by State Senator Frank Madla (D-San Antonio), and signed into law May 9 by Governor Perry, the bill declared the entire state "wet" for wine shipments. On June 26, 2003, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals confirmed that Texas’ ban on interstate direct wine shipments was unconstitutional. Later that year, the Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission declared that the state was "open" for direct shipments but ruled that all wineries must comply with existing wet and dry rules. This requirement limited direct shipments because the definitions of wet and dry areas were not defined by zip codes. Senator Madla’s bill resolved this issue by making the entire state wet and gained the support of the Texas ABC and local wineries. The bill also requires licensed wineries to pay excise and sales taxes, creating a new source of revenue for the state.

They also noted:

Separately, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling in May or June on the December 7 argument that considered whether or not the 21st Amendment permits states to allow intra-state shipments from its wineries to consumers, but deny that same privilege to out-of-state wineries.

Jeez louise, I hope they come through on this, as I'm stuck in one of the backwoods bastions that'll be affected. Bingley has to have lovely presents of wine bottles shipped to a friend of ours in AL. (I get to do a daring border run to pick them up. Five minutes away, okay, but it is another state. Well, actually damn near a third world country, but I digress.) The FL wholesalers have the legislature so tightly wrapped that wine can't come into the state UNLESS it goes through them first. What a racket. (Of course, the MADD and Christian anti-alcohol bunch have their puddies in the mix, too.) Then there's the emotional appeal about protecting the children ~ if one allows internet wine sales and has children online, one has drunken children. Everyone knows they are incapable of not ordering that $50 bottle plus $15 shipping. Or for 12 year olds with a real problem, 2 or 3 or 4 bottles, and just knockin' 'em back around the Nintendo.

Hmmm. Maybe I've been wrong all along. I mean, look what happened with Bingley and his Atari and Crusader and...

Forget everything I said.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:11 PM | Comments (32)

A License To Steal

Amazing. A judge has allowed United Airlines to shift its pension fund obligation to the government. For those of you playing at home, this means you and I will pick up the $3.2 billion tab. That various administrations have been allowing companies to underfund and abandon their pension obligations for years is a complete disgrace. Whatever your thoughts on private pensions, the fact remains that they are legally binding contractual obligations that companies should be required to keep. Now that judges continually let these companies off of the hook you can expect more and more to go hat in hand to Congress and be let off of the hook.

And we get to pay for it. Great.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:00 AM | Comments (8)

May 10, 2005

You Get What You Pay For

Here's a fun little factoid: In April, insurgents launched 135 car bombings in Iraq, with half of them being suicide attacks, the U.S. military said.

How many of these were funded by Sgrena's ransom?

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 03:42 PM | Comments (3)

The Airspace Over the Front Yard...

...will shortly be smokin'.

FrontYard Picture UPDATE:

Don't anybody bother me. I'll be out front.

Residents will be treated to a rare aerial spectacle today and Wednesday.

The Blue Angels will have some special high-flying company during their practice shows at Pensacola Naval Air Station: the Air Force's Thunderbirds precision flight team, the Army's Golden Knights parachute team, the Navy's Leap Frogs parachute team and Canadian Armed Forces Snowbirds precision flight team.

UPDATE: Okay, I know it's a grainy pixelated mess, but they're just warming up and so am I. Thunderbirds and the neighbor's Blue Roof. Welcome to Pensacola.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:48 AM | Comments (9)

May 09, 2005

Well, Hey! I Heard N.J. Needs a Governor

Spokane mayor takes leave amid sex probe
Report: West offered jobs to men met in chat rooms; computers seized

Upside? At least they're all U.S. citizens.

Job offers to chat-room denizens? An hour after West’s announcement, the paper posted a new story on its Web site alleging West offered city jobs to two young men he met through a gay Internet chat room — and that one of them briefly accepted a city appointment.

Ryan Oelrich, an openly gay 24-year-old, told the paper he accepted West’s appointment to the city’s Human Rights Commission in April 2004 after meeting West online at Gay.com.

Oelrich said he resigned from the commission in January after West “hounded me for months, telling me I was cute and asking me out on dates.” Oelrich

GAY DOT COM?? Puts a whole new spin on the Monster internet job search. And how chi-chi! You get to be a human rights commisar - all for being cute! Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle. Next career stop; the U.N.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:54 PM | Comments (5)

A Slurp in Time...

...saves your mind. Research that I can completely live agree with, so swill away.

Now, what do we see when we look at all those moderate drinkers? For one thing, they are more highly educated. According to one study, the percentage of college graduates who drank in the month previous to a survey was nearly 70%, while the same survey showed the rate of drinkers among those with less than a high school education to be under 40%. Those moderate drinkers also earn more; in one study, even when controlling for education, age, occupation, region, and health, abstainers had incomes on average 10% less than drinkers.

And all of those highly-educated, high income earning people are also more intelligent. They have better health, fewer accidents, and greater longevity. And they drink. Therefore, I would suggest that the higher IQs of all those drinkers is the "fundamental cause" of their better health; at a minimum, it is a confounding factor that needs to be controlled for in further studies on the beneficial effects on health of alcohol. Such studies could ascertain whether moderate drinking is indeed good for you, or whether all of those drinkers would have better health anyway, because of their higher general intelligence.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:37 PM | Comments (5)

Donald Trump...

...is a pretentious, pompous, pompadored palamino's patootie.
So imagine how astounded I was to find myself agreeing with him.

"The design for the Freedom Tower is an egghead design... which has no practical application and which, frankly, didn't look very good."

Yup.
UPDATE: Oh, man, is this getting ugly...

Fellow billionaire Michael Bloomberg, mayor of New York, sarcastically rebuked the property magnate. “I’m sure Mr. Silverstein would love to have somebody else pick up some of his tab,” Bloomberg snapped.

Even as Silverstein eyes City Hall and Albany for funds, NY1-TV reported that “government officials are aggressively studying whether they can kick the leaseholder out, but take the $4.5 billion of insurance cash he now controls.” Silverstein pays the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey $10 million monthly to lease annihilated buildings. Now, atop some $460 million in accumulated rent payments, authorities may use eminent domain to de-privatize his lease and snatch the insurance payout he won through two hard-fought lawsuits against his insurers. How Third World.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:04 PM | Comments (6)

Gropers in the Rear, Please

Ah, the Japanese.

TOKYO - A stepped-up campaign by Tokyo train operators to protect women from gropers by increasing the number of women-only carriages is angering some male commuters.

Several of the Japanese capital’s railway companies introduced the single-sex carriages on Monday as part of a city effort to tackle the problem of men who take advantage of overcrowding to grope female passengers.

In a Tokyo survey last year, almost two thirds of women aged between 20 and 40 said they had been groped on a train.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 08:49 AM | Comments (32)

Good to Know...

...someone's watching out for us. As proof I offer this little gem from the AP, coyly hidden among the War, Hillary, Bolton, apes in Kansas and fries in Detroit stories that dominate our headlines. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. I know this guy...

The skunk ape, alias swamp ape, apparently smells like bad eggs and goat dung, an odor attributed to its poor bathing habits and penchant for sulfurous alligator caves.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:17 AM | Comments (3)

May 08, 2005

The Caipirinha

In honor of Mother's Day, I figured it was time to share with my fellow fellows the secret of the caipirinha. Friends, there is no finer drink on God's Green Earth, and no surer way of rendering your beloved most amiable. In fact, caipirinha means "dang, you look fine! Yes! Yes!" in Portuguese. Really. Trust me on this.

Anyhow, let's begin:

First off, one needs to gather the ingredients. For each drink you need a suitable Lowball glass (due to slow production times I was only able to have one suitable glass), 1 lime, ice, a finely-ground sugar (I use this organic sugar from Florida. Ok, call me a commie, but it really has a wonderful flavor (yes, sugar with flavor); I blame THS for introducing me to this), and, most importantly, some cachaça, which is a Brazilian rum that, by itself, tastes like a cross between paint thinner and used nail polish remover, but in a caipirinha it is simply divine. I've got out a bunch of different cachaça brands for illustrative purposes:

You need 1 lime per drink. Cut the lime into eights

and place in the glass thusly

Now take your wooden spoon and mash those puppies up! Release those juices! Die, Lime Scum!

Now fill the glass with ice.

Fill the glass to within a finger of the top with cachaça.

Add commie sugar to taste. I mean that. Some people like them not too sweet, while others (like me) like them all Jim Jones Kool-Aid-y. Stir well!

Come to Papa!

For parties I've made pitchers of them, and they've been big hits.

Enjoy!

And remember, there's no reason to drink responsibly when you're home!

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:14 PM | Comments (23)

Happy Mother's Day

To my adorable NJSue, darling Mrs. Crusader, Mrs. Mountain Man, Grandma Karen, Grandma Fazekas, Kathy, Mrs. Summers, along with any and all of our blogging buds who are Mommas, we loves ya!
Big hugs, kisses, raise yourself a glass and have a wunderbar day.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:50 AM | Comments (4)

May 07, 2005

To Keep Our Esteemed Readership Up To Date

May I present this informative site on how a Light Saber works. Not only does it provide a schematic for do-it-your-selfers who want to construct one, but it also has some helpful suggestions for ways to use your Light Saber around the house:

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:48 PM | Comments (7)

What I'm Drinking Tonight

Very yum. Has a full, velvety feel, loaded with fruit and cassis. The 20% petite sirah adds some nice tannins to this very potent beauty: we're talking 15.9% alcohol! It will be very nice with the filets that daughter has requested.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:28 PM | Comments (7)

Yums!

...with those sizzling lambs last night. Makes the guilt easier to bear.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:53 PM | Comments (7)

Yet Another Successful Graduate...

of U.N. University, where our students learn to make a difference in their bank accounts. Special Work/Study program available in Darfur and Oil-for-Food!

UN University: "Money For Nuthin', And Your Chicks For Free!"

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 12:02 PM | Comments (1)

On Colonel Hackworth

He also seemed to relish stepping on toes. Sometimes, admirals and generals got hurt. But that never stopped Hackworth from telling leaders what he really thought about their operation.

General Eisenhower learned that first hand when he was traveling across Italy to check up on the U.S. troops. While chatting with the grunts, Hack decided to speak up.

"The chow stinks!"

There went a fellow who spoke his heart and acted on it, with the props to back it up. What a life he lived.

He became more and more independent, even rebellious, once threatening to take his troops to Canada if commanders persisted in talking about the use of nuclear weapons in Vietnam. He ran a bordello and a massage parlor to keep his men happy and relatively protected from a virulent strain of syphilis.

May 6, 2005
Col. David Hackworth, Hero of Vietnam War, Dies at 74
By DOUGLAS MARTIN
David H. Hackworth, a much-decorated and highly unconventional former career Army officer who became a combat legend in Vietnam, and later enraged his superiors by lambasting the war on national television, died on Wednesday at a hospital in Tijuana, Mexico. He was 74.

The cause was bladder cancer, his wife, Eilhys England, said.

Colonel Hackworth lied to enlist in the Army at 15 and won a battlefield commission at 20 to become the Korean War's youngest captain. He was America's youngest full colonel in Vietnam, and won a total of 91 medals, including two Distinguished Service Crosses, 10 Silver Stars, 8 Bronze Stars and 8 Purple Hearts.

Later, he was an author, a military affairs correspondent for Newsweek, a syndicated newspaper columnist and a campaigner for military reform.

In Vietnam, he became an almost mythical figure, arriving in 1965 with the first group of American paratroopers and going on to command the helicopter unit that was later immortalized in the movie "Apocalypse Now." He drove his men so hard, he later wrote, that they put a $3,500 bounty on his head. Early in the war he wrote a primer on how best to fight the Vietcong.

His combat successes included wiping out 2,500 North Vietnamese soldiers while his troops suffered just 25 casualties.

In a 1971 interview with Nick Proffit of Newsweek, Gen. Creighton Abrams, a top commander in Vietnam, called Colonel Hackworth "the best battalion commander I ever saw in the United States Army."

General Abrams spoke shortly after Colonel Hackworth appeared on the ABC television program "Issues and Answers" and harshly criticized the conduct of the Vietnam War, saying it could not be won. He called the training inadequate and accused fellow officers of not understanding guerrilla warfare.

A report by the inspector general of the Army responded that Colonel Hackworth was derelict in his duties and had "acted without honor." General Abrams and other top officers moved to court-martial him, but eventually allowed him to resign with an honorable discharge.

Colonel Hackworth went to Australia, where he eventually bought some gas stations and later owned and ran an upscale restaurant. He also became a peace movement advocate. He later moved to Greenwich, Conn.

David Haskell Hackworth was born in 1931 in Venice, Calif., and grew up in nearby Santa Monica. His parents died when he was 5 months old, and he was raised by a grandmother who related tales of fighting ancestors.

At 14, he joined the merchant marine and served in the South Pacific. At 15, he paid someone to pose as his father and certify that he was old enough to join the Army.

He credited his later combat success to lessons learned from the hard-bitten, hard-drinking sergeants with whom he served in his first assignment, the post-World War II border dispute between Italy and Yugoslavia over the port of Trieste.

After the war he volunteered for Korea, where he commanded an all-volunteer regiment known as the Wolfhound Raiders. In one battle he was shot in the head but refused to stop fighting. He received three Purple Hearts in Korea.

Long before the United States was visibly involved in Vietnam, he served there with the Special Forces. By April 1965 he was a confirmed career soldier and went back with the paratroopers, ready to fight a new kind of war. He commanded a Blackhawk "Air Cavalry" brigade in which pilots wore Civil War campaign hats and flew in helicopters with crossed swords painted on them.

"We were a wild bunch," he said in an interview with The Los Angeles Times in 1989.

He became more and more independent, even rebellious, once threatening to take his troops to Canada if commanders persisted in talking about the use of nuclear weapons in Vietnam. He ran a bordello and a massage parlor to keep his men happy and relatively protected from a virulent strain of syphilis.

After his television appearance on June 27, 1971, in which he said that as many as 20 percent of American combat deaths resulted from accidental American bullets, Colonel Hackworth's well-known indiscretions were used against him.

He admitted them in a book he wrote with Tom Matthews, "Hazardous Duty: America's Most Decorated Living Soldier Reports from the Front and Tells It the Way It Is" (Morrow, 1996). But he said the regulations were wrong.

Ward Just, in his introduction to Colonel Hackworth's "About Face: The Odyssey of an American Warrior" (Simon & Schuster, 1989), said, "This was the simple truth, but in the pusillanimous atmosphere of 1971, Hackworth was seen as insubordinate and treacherous. But not easily dismissed."

The colonel also wrote a novel, "The Price of Honor" (Doubleday, 1999).

From 1990 to 1996, he was a contributing editor of Newsweek. His column, "Defending America," was syndicated by King.

Colonel Hackworth's first two marriages, to Patricia Leonard and Peter Margaret Cox, ended in divorce. He is survived, in addition to his wife, by two daughters and a son from his first marriage, Leslie, of Danbury, Conn.; Laura, of Los Angeles; and David, of Tampa, Fla.; a son, Ben, from his second marriage; a stepdaughter, Elizabeth England Scott; and four grandchildren.

Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:48 AM

May 06, 2005

Dang It! Rabbits Are Just Stupid.

We have a fenced-in area on the side of the house ("Netherfield") where the dogs have been trained to...attend to more solid matters, shall we say. So after I grilled the boigers tonight I yell for Claude, anmd the dope doesn't come, and I walk around to the side of the house and look into Netherfield and there he is, looking guilty by a small hole in the ground. Now Claude is a Lab who's never dug a hole in his life, so I thought this was odd. So i walk over and look at El Guilto and his hole and there's all this, well, it looked like dryer lint until I realized it was fur. Some dopey rabbit made her warren in the middle of Netherfield, right next to the house, and of course he found it and the bunnies, who couldn't have been more than a few days old. I mean, the place absolutely stinks of dog, there are tons of dry places in the yard where he hardly ever goes, and places where a dog has never been because of the invisible fence (when it works), but no, she has to make her burrow where he's gonna find it. Dang. So one of the babies is dead; I closed the gates and hope she will move the others, other wise they'll be killed too. I think if I move them, then she won't be able to find them and they'll die anyway.

Stupid ass rabbit.

dang.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:32 PM | Comments (8)

Why I Shouldn't Do Things Around The House

So NJSue is out of town this weekend giving a paper on cross dressing men in tights (which I guess means they're back in pants) and I decide to do a PROJECT. The back yard of our house is fairly sloped ("That 'rising ground' is a hill, Miss Eliza") and a sandy soil that seems to only grow moss or erode. So I reckoned that I'd plant some ground covering junipers to sort of hold the soil there (and to use to make gin if things get tough), since we never can get any grass to grow in that area.

So I went to Lowes today and bought a bunch of them, and whilst daughter was at school Claude and I started digging holes for the bushes. Dig dig dig. Hmmm, what's that? Looks like a...a wire. Oh shit; I just sliced the wire for the invisible fence. This is not good.

To assuage my dear bride, who may be reading this if she's got internet access, I looked online to see if this was spliceable, found that it was (and let's all let out a big wheeewww!), went to the hardware store and got some insulated wire (one foot for 31 cents) and a lot of electrical tape. I spliced the wire bag together and encased the two splices in enough electrical tape to wrap King Tut several times over, than wrapped all that in a couple of Ziplocs™ and taped it up again. It should be waterproof.

I am a moron.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 03:58 PM | Comments (3)

Jonathon Livingston Seagull...

...doesn't seem so cute now, does he?

Chlamydia outbreak kills a dozen penguins
Seagull most likely transmitted bacteria to the birds

SAN FRANCISCO - An outbreak of chlamydia at the San Francisco Zoo has left a dozen penguins dead, according to a spokesman.

The bacteria, which was most likely transmitted to the birds by an infected seagull, is spread through airborne saliva or other bodily fluids, said Bob Jenkins, the zoo's director of animal care and conservation. A similar disease is sexually transmitted in humans.

"One quick exposure and you're off and running," Jenkins said, adding that at its height, nearly 80 percent of the zoo's penguin colony was infected. "It required very aggressive treatment on our part."

It's noooo mistake Hitchcock made them the bad guys.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:37 PM | Comments (17)

On a Lighter Note...

...justice has prevailed as far as the senior troglodyte* at Abu Ghraib. Yes, you guessed it.

Army Demotes General in Abu Ghraib Scandal

The Army has offered its last word on holding its generals accountable in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal, but Congress is going to have the final say.

The Army announced that it demoted Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, whose Army Reserve unit was in charge of the prison compound during the period of abuse. Dropping her in rank to colonel required approval from President Bush, and officials said that he granted it on Thursday.

You go, George!

*troglodyte \TRAHG-luh-dyte\ noun

1 : a member of any of various peoples (as in antiquity) who lived or were reputed to live chiefly in caves
2 : a person characterized by reclusive habits or outmoded or reactionary attitudes

Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:22 PM | Comments (6)

Nothing From You, Thank You

FDA to Implement Gay Sperm Donor Rules

NEW YORK (AP) -- To the dismay of gay-rights activists, the Food and Drug Administration is about to implement new rules recommending that any man who has engaged in homosexual sex in the previous five years be barred from serving as an anonymous sperm donor.

The FDA has rejected calls to scrap the provision, insisting that gay men collectively pose a higher-than-average risk of carrying the AIDS virus. Critics accuse the FDA of stigmatizing all gay men rather than adopting a screening process that focuses on high-risk sexual behavior by any would-be donor, gay or straight.

Regardless of one's take on the whole gay issue, I would think this is going to be extremely hard to enforce. And I wholeheartedly agree that it's discriminatory, especially since they'd still allow sperm from the pond scum that would do this: Come on...if you're going to protect the public, then PROTECT the public.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:14 PM | Comments (7)

Well Now, THAT'S a Smack Down If I Ever Saw One

From the Appeals Court decision on the 'Broadcast Flag' FCC ruling (page 4 of 34):

As a result, the FCC’s purported exercise of ancillary authority founders on the first condition. There is no statutory foundation for the broadcast flag rules, and consequently the rules are ancillary to nothing. Therefore, we hold that the Commission acted outside the scope of its delegated authority when it adopted the disputed broadcast flag regulations.

The rules are 'ancillary to nothing', as in 'we just made this shit up'. Ah jeez, that's great! As a non-'DaveJBarristerExtraordinaire' type, I found the first few pages of the decision easy to digest. The explanations in Circuit Judge Edwards' opinion were surprisingly accessible (Harumph! Who knew?) and that made for a pretty neat read. Some days ya just gotta love the law.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:23 PM | Comments (2)

I Want My Bleat!

I need my Bleat!

"This site is temporarily unavailable."

Did he finally get dragged off to AsKKKroft's Gualgs in North Dakota?

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:47 AM | Comments (6)

May 05, 2005

For the aviation geeks among us...

neat movies you can watch online here.

Posted by Crusader at 12:47 PM

May 04, 2005

Exonerated!

A Marine corporal who was videotaped shooting an apparently injured and unarmed Iraqi in a Fallujah mosque last year will not face a court-martial, the Marine Corps announced Wednesday.

A review of the evidence showed the Marine's actions were "consistent with the established rules of engagement and the law of armed conflict," Maj. Gen. Richard F. Natonski, commanding general of the 1st Marine Division, said in a statement.

Good. I'm glad the evidence proved this, and he was cleared.

Thanks to Gunslinger for the heads up.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:50 PM | Comments (5)

That Irrefutable Sign of Spring...

...which, in our neck of the woods, equates to the very first chartreuse leaves peeking from the pecan branches. They're the very last to bloom and, when they finally do, there will be no more frosts. Guaranteed. (An ironclad promise compared to that rodent up North.)

To honor the groves fleshing out (and use up the pecans in the freezer), I humbly submit a
Bourbon Pecan Pie with Bourbon Cream.

1 prepared 10" pie shell

Pecan Pie
1/4 C dark, unsulphured molasses
1 C dark brown corn syrup
1 C dark brown sugar
4 T butter
4 LG eggs, beaten
3 C pecan halves (checked for shells)
1 t vanilla
3 T bourbon

Bourbon Cream*
1 cup chilled whipping cream
2 tablespoons sugar
1 T bourbon

Preheat Oven ~ Temp 350°

Put prepared crust in deep dish pie plate. Combine syrups and sugar in a deep non-reactive saucepan over med-low heat. Stir constantly until the sugar has melted. Add butter and continue to stir until melted. Turn off heat. Dribble a small amount of hot syrup mix in a steady stream into the eggs while quickly whisking the two together. (This raises the temperature of the egg gradually and cools the milk slightly.) Continue to dribble in the hot syrup and whisk until you feel, with your hand, that the bowl's side or bottom has become warm or as close as possible to the liquid's temperature. Return egg mix to syrup in saucepan and stir until completely incorporated. Stir in vanilla and bourbon. Dump in pecans and mix thoroughly. Pour filling into prepared crust. Bake pie until edges puff and center is just set, about 45-50 minutes. (If edges seem to be browning too quickly, cover with strips of foil to prevent burning.) Cool pie on rack at least 1 hour. (Can be made 6 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.) Serve with dollop of bourbon whipped cream.
NOTE: Sometimes, just to up the calorie count, and dazzle as a presentation, I'll drizzle the slices with melted, tempered bittersweet chocolate. Looks fab, tastes GREAT and the dark stuff's really good for you! Really!

*Bourbon Cream

Beat 1 cup chilled whipping cream, 2 tablespoons sugar, and remaining 1 tablespoon bourbon in large bowl until soft peaks form. Serve pie warm or at room temperature with bourbon cream.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 02:03 PM | Comments (5)

My Cultural Void, And I'm Proud Of It

Shockingly I am getting grief for movies I haven't seen. Unlike the cowed DaveJ I will not succumb to the dual pressures of wine and women; I will not yield!

But to aid in their efforts, here is a list of the "must see" movies that I haven't seen (first list of 50 stolen from Sheila):

1. Another Woman
2. Running on Empty
3. Fearless
4. Opening Night
5. Witness
7. Schindler's List
8. What's Up Doc?
10. On the Waterfront
12. Some Like it Hot
13. Fargo -
14. Bringing Up Baby
16. To Have and Have Not
17. Arizona Dream
19. Moulin Rouge
20. The Double Life of Veronique
21. The Big Sleep
22. Postcards from the Edge
25. East of Eden
28. Contact
30. Magnolia
31. Taxi Driver
32. The Full Monty
33. Breaking Away
37. The Misfits
39. Three Kings
42. Children of Heaven
44. In a Lonely Place
45. Nixon
48. Dead Man Walking
(I will add Sheila that I wish I hadn't seen Reds; oh sure, the interview with the old commies were a hoot, but Keaton and Beatty always invoke a gag reflex)

Others I haven't seen:
St. Elmo's Fire
The Big Chill
Fast Times At Ridgemont High
Ferris Buehler's Day Off
3 Weddings and a Funeral
JFK
Elephant Man
Wall Street
The Last Temptation of Christ
A River Runs Through It
Bridges of Madison County
Born on the Fourth of July
Malcolm X
Natural Born Killers
Hoosiers
Raging Bull
Dead Poets Society
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
Life is Beautiful
Scent of a Woman
Eyes Wide Shut
Shawshank Redemption
Forrest Gump

Ah shit, I'll stop there; I could keep going for hours...

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 01:38 PM | Comments (27)

Oh Puh-Lease

So we find out that the reason that despicable toad Lynndie England did what she did is becaues she was "oxygen deprived at birth"? Give me a god damned break already. The Toadette herself said the truth the other day:

"I had a choice, but I chose to do what my friends wanted me to," she said.

And that is probably the one and only honest statement that will be heard from her defense team.

*Update: So now the Judge is telling her she doesn't know what she's talking about?

"There is evidence being presented that you are not guilty," Pohl told England.

WTF?

*Updated Update: Oh, the feckless bastard:

A military judge Wednesday threw out Pfc. Lynndie England’s guilty plea to prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib, saying that he was not convinced that she knew that her actions were wrong at the time.

She admitted guilt, said she knew it was wrong what she did. End of story. Somebody else trying to protect her is irrelevent.

Especially if that 'somebody' is another scumbag who shagged this beast. That thought makes me ill.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:32 AM | Comments (11)

May 03, 2005

'Trust Us' Redux

The USS Oriskany will be towed back to Beaumont, Texass for the foreseeable future. The money quotes (and man, am I looking like the Amazing Kreskin or what...)?

Safely mooring the 888-foot "Mighty O" at the Port of Pensacola would be costly, and preparations could not be completed by June 1, the beginning of the hurricane season, said Pat Dolan, deputy director of the Navy Sea System Command's office of congressional and public affairs.....

Port of Pensacola Interim Director Leon Walker said the port will miss the monthly $90,000 docking fees the Navy has paid since the Oriskany's arrival in December.....

Outfitting the port with a mooring that would be rated for a Category 3 hurricane, as recommended by the U.S. Coast Guard, would cost about $6 million and could not be completed this month, Dolan said.

Dolan estimates the round-trip trek to Beaumont, which is equipped with a hurricane mooring, will cost about $1.8 million.

The Navy has spent $12.3 million on the Oriskany reefing project so far, including environmental assessments, PCB remediation, towing and berthing, Dolan said. To dismantle and scrap the ship would cost an estimated $24 million.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 08:01 PM | Comments (3)

May 02, 2005

I Have Seen Middle Age...

...and it is me. Oh. God. My tarty blonde locks no longer beach babe bleach out unaided, as grey is it's own stubborn shade, resistant to change. Unamenable to subtle shifts of seasons, from the darkened winter shades of Valhalla to the shimmer of platinum at Newport Beach. It just stays grey. Touch-Up = 'Just do the roots for 40 minutes'. A horrific, nauseating realization came upon me as I busted open the box of chemicals, dragged the noxious pudding through my hair and looked in the mirror, focusing by mistake on my head vice those careful rows scraped across my scalp.

I am become Don and he is become me.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:24 PM | Comments (9)

I Thought Laura Was Great

Unlike these assholes. But ideologues, be they on the left or the right, have never been known for their senses of humor.

*Update: hahahahaha, it turns out that this is an Onion-esque site, and this is satire. Read the comments; some of them are funny as shit!
And I guess I should read a bit more before I post; oh well, I had a looong weekend!

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 11:19 AM | Comments (5)

Random Thoughts From Friday Night's Fun

-When you watch the waitress empty a can of Raid into the booth you are shortly going occupy, you do need to drink more (and Bill and I did).

-It's also not polite to mention the above to the rest of the party until 3 days after the event.

-If you're a college-aged girl, and your beau's reaction to your heartfelt "I love you" spoken to him at midnight on 10th St. is to turn and sprint away, that should tell you something.

-Young ladies roaming around the Village late at night need to wear more clothes.

-I am getting very old.

-The Smoking Ban in NYC bars and restaurants is the greatest legislative achievement of the last 20 years.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:40 AM | Comments (9)

May 01, 2005

Not Just 'Don't Drink the Water' Anymore

Today's Travel Section in Pravda offers an article on the coming of age of Mexico's viniculture. And a truly horrific explanation for why Mexican wines were so abysmal.
Forgive me. I had to share:

In the land of tequila and cerveza, wine has traditionally been a hard sell. Annual wine consumption in Mexico is less than that of the city of San Diego, just across the border. One reason for this was that Mexican wine was notoriously bad: it was often aged in used whiskey barrels, which had an understandably adverse affect on the wine's flavor, and, thanks to onerous trade restrictions, it was often made in a creative vacuum without any comparison to European or American vintages.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 04:46 PM | Comments (9)