The Coalition of the Swilling: November 2005 Archives

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November 30, 2005

Moveon.org

(You're dyin' to know, aren't ya?
First one to guess gets a Janeane Garafolo doll.)

An eagle eyed Army Captain points out the busy little Photo Shoppers to Michelle Malkin.

A uniform is a uniform is a uniform, right? Mark in Mexico says ~~left~~ nyet.

Michael Jackson, PETA and NOW MoveOn.org. It's not like a gift, it IS one. God, I LOVE the smell of Italian White Phosphorus in the morning!

Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:54 PM

Blackberry Whine?

Won't Washington come to a screeching halt?

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. was dealt another legal setback in a key patent infringement case on Wednesday, raising pressure to settle or face a possible shutdown of its U.S. mobile e-mail service.

...Spencer said he would request briefs and set a hearing date to deal with NTP's request for damages against RIM and an injunction that would halt U.S. sales of the BlackBerry and shut its service.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:32 PM | Comments (4)

We Need to Chill Out

Well, those of us who use natural gas. Sigh. That's what God made sweats for.

The Atlanta district reported that production in the Gulf of Mexico had improved since September. However nearly 40 percent of natural gas and half of oil production still remained off-line.

"Most of the petroleum refining capacity in Louisiana and Mississippi was back on-line, but natural gas processing remains a concern as repair of processing facilities is taking longer than expected," the Fed said.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 02:39 PM | Comments (4)

Oh, Those Wacky Nut Jobs at PETA

...have gone and done it again, the impish devils. When last you saw your intrepid reporter, she was covering a protest at a local school against FISH STICKS. Now PETA's going after

MURDEROUS DADDIES EVERYWHERE

Michael Jackson and PETA all in the same day. It's like a gift.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 02:22 PM | Comments (19)

So Ken Read A New Book...

Ken had just finished reading the book "MAN OF THE HOUSE".

He stormed into the kitchen and walked directly up to his wife. Pointing a finger in her face he said "From now on I want you to know I am the man of this house, and my word is law ! I want you to prepare me a gourmet meal tonight, and when I'm finished eating my meal, I expect a sumptuous dessert afterward. Then, after dinner, you are going to draw me my bath so I can relax. And when I'm finished with my bath, guess who's going to dress me and comb my hair?"

His wife replied...

"The funeral director would be my guess."

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 12:33 PM | Comments (5)

"Ewwww, ICK!" of the Day

Report: Jackson’s ex says he didn’t father kids
The mother of two of Michael Jackson’s children has reportedly said that the babies were conceived from a test tube.

I've never been able to reconcile Michael Jackson and procreational sex. The revulsion factor kicks in too quickly to even finish the thought. Test tube, outer space, black hole...anywhere, any place but from him. Now, if they can wrest those poor children free, they may stand a chance at some point far, far away.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:12 AM | Comments (6)

November 29, 2005

Er, I'm Supposed To Want This Guy To Live?

#999 isn't quite the poster boy for the anti-death penalty folks that they wanted:

Hicks offered a tearful apology for the 1985 murders in an interview earlier this month with Ohio Parole Board members, and said he loved both victims -- 56-year-old Maxine Armstrong and 5-year-old Brandy Green. He detailed the killings and said his cocaine high made him desperate and paranoid.
Hicks had traded his VCR for about $50 worth of cocaine, court records show. After taking the drugs, he realized that he needed to get the VCR back before his wife wondered where it was, so he decided to steal money from Armstrong.

Hicks found his stepdaughter asleep on the couch at Armstrong's apartment. He woke her and brought her to bed and then strangled Armstrong, first with his hands and then with a clothesline.

He left her apartment with about $300 and some credit cards. He used some of the money to buy back his VCR and purchase more cocaine.

Realizing Green could identify him as the last person at the apartment, he returned and attempted to suffocate the 5-year-old with a pillow then strangle her with his hands. She struggled, and Hicks covered her mouth and nose with duct tape.

I think a bunch of folks are happy he's no longer around.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 02:47 PM | Comments (4)

Hmm, Maybe Insta's Blender Broke Over Thanksgiving?

This isn't his usual method...

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 02:39 PM | Comments (1)

"Only America Has Riots"

Meanwhile out in Planet Europe, in the Goofball Nebula, French Prime Minister, Dominique de Villepin (who is a man) spoke to CNN:

Amanpour: You know, many people, after hurricane Katrina struck the United States said, that it exposed the poverty and racism that exist in the United States. Many people in France said that ... around the world said it. Many people also said that the riots in the ghettos if you like... in the suburbs ...
De Villepin: I am not sure you can call them riots. It's very different from the situation you have known in 1992 in L.A. for example. You had at that time 54 people that died, and you had 2,000 people wounded. In France during the 2 weeks period of unrest, nobody died in France. So, I think you can't compare this social unrest with any kind of riots.

Amanpour: What do you call it then?

De Villepin: Social unrest, you have to understand also, there were no guns in the streets. No adults; mostly young people between 12 and 20 ... so it is very special movement.

I have "very special movements" after too many bean burritos; 9000 car-b-ques seems to deserve a tad stronger language, n'est c'est pas?

Read the rest if you have a strong stomach, both for Amanpoop's innane leading questions and Dominique's (who is a man) EuroTurd answers.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 01:12 PM | Comments (1)

Gird Your Blog

...and your loins. George Will points out infringements and inequities.

But liberals' abhorrence of political money is selective. Roll Call, the Capitol Hill newspaper, recently reported that when Democratic senators met in a Capitol room near the Senate floor to plan strategy, their leader, Harry Reid, permitted Stephen Bing to attend. In 2004, Bing, 40, gave more than $14 million of his inherited wealth to Democratic candidates and liberal groups supporting them.

Was there any appearance of impropriety—say, cash purchasing access? Gosh, no, said Democrats to Roll Call: "Reid's aides and other Senate Democrats said there is nothing wrong with such a big donor attending meetings otherwise open to only senators and a few top aides, because Bing is not a lobbyist and is not seeking any favors from Democrats." Sen. Barbara Boxer explained that Bing is "just really interested in making this country better." Oh, well, in that case...

Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:32 PM

Breaking News

Those little camcorder, slap happy bastards have released a video of the kidnapped peace activists/aid workers.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:22 PM

G.I. Joe

Lieberman, that is, bless his heart! For those of you I didn't send it to already, here's the link. The only downside? His words are in the Opinion Journal, where he's preaching to the choir. They need to be in the NYT, the LA Times, the Washington Post, the...you get the picture, 'cause you're sure not gonna hear him quoted on the networks.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:57 AM | Comments (3)

The Grey Lady, Collusion and Tap Dancing

This November 21st article (complete text below) about an Italian "documentary" film, headlined:

THE REACH OF WAR: WEAPONS; Defense of Phosphorus Use Turns Into Damage Control

...Daryl G. Kimball, director of the Arms Control Association, a nonprofit organization that researches nuclear issues, was more cautious. In light of the issues raised since the film was shown, he said, the Defense Department, and perhaps an independent body, should review whether American use of white phosphorus had been consistent with international weapons conventions.

''There are legitimate questions that need to be asked,'' Mr. Kimball said. Given the history of Saddam Hussein's use of chemical weapons in Iraq, he said, ''we have to be extremely careful'' to comply with treaties and the rules of war.

...The Italian documentary, titled ''Falluja: The Hidden Massacre,'' included gruesome images of victims of the fierce fighting in the city in November 2004. American and Iraqi troops recaptured the city from insurgents, in battles that destroyed an estimated 60 percent of the buildings.

Opening with prolonged shots of Vietnamese children and villages burned by American use of napalm in 1972, the film suggested an equivalence between Mr. Hussein's use of chemical weapons in the 1980's and the use of white phosphorus by the American-led forces.

...has now been quietly corrected.

Correction: November 29, 2005, Tuesday An article on Nov. 21 about an Italian documentary film accusing the United States of misusing white phosphorus munitions in Iraq referred imprecisely to footage of napalm use in Vietnam. The film shows United States Air Force jets dropping napalm on Vietnamese villages and includes famous footage from 1972 of Kim Phuc Phan Thi, a 9-year-old girl, fleeing after napalm burned her clothing off. But the aircraft that dropped the napalm on her village in 1972 was South Vietnamese, not American.

A thinly disguised smack at the administration's bungled response. All the while leaving the impression that there is something to the film's claims, thanks to the few sentences refuting them scattered among the paragraphs of film scenes/quotes from folks like Mr. Kimball. How upsetting to have to correct such a carefully crafted storyboard. For the record, Major Dad adds:

Those lying Italian Communist's. WP does nothing remotely similar to napalm.

For our non-subscribers:

FOREIGN DESK

THE REACH OF WAR: WEAPONS; Defense of Phosphorus Use Turns Into Damage Control
By SCOTT SHANE; IAN FISHER CONTRIBUTED REPORTING FROM ROME FOR THIS ARTICLE. (NYT) 1051 words
Published: November 21, 2005

CORRECTION APPENDED

On Nov. 8, Italian public television showed a documentary renewing persistent charges that the United States had used white phosphorus rounds, incendiary munitions that the film incorrectly called chemical weapons, against Iraqis in Falluja last year. Many civilians died of burns, the report said.
The half-hour film was riddled with errors and exaggerations, according to United States officials and independent military experts. But the State Department and Pentagon have so bungled their response -- making and then withdrawing incorrect statements about what American troops really did when they fought a pitched battle against insurgents in the rebellious city -- that the charges have produced dozens of stories in the foreign news media and on Web sites suggesting that the Americans used banned weapons and tried to cover it up.

The Iraqi government has announced an investigation, and a United Nations spokeswoman has expressed concern.

''It's discredited the American military without any basis in fact,'' said John E. Pike, an expert on weapons who runs GlobalSecurity.org, an independent clearinghouse for military information. He said the ''stupidity and incompetence'' of official comments had fueled suspicions of a cover-up.

''The story most people around the world have is that the Americans are up to their old tricks -- committing atrocities and lying about it,'' Mr. Pike said. ''And that's completely incorrect.''

Daryl G. Kimball, director of the Arms Control Association, a nonprofit organization that researches nuclear issues, was more cautious. In light of the issues raised since the film was shown, he said, the Defense Department, and perhaps an independent body, should review whether American use of white phosphorus had been consistent with international weapons conventions.

''There are legitimate questions that need to be asked,'' Mr. Kimball said. Given the history of Saddam Hussein's use of chemical weapons in Iraq, he said, ''we have to be extremely careful'' to comply with treaties and the rules of war.

At a time when opposition to the war is growing, the white phosphorus issue has reinforced the worst suspicions about American actions.

The documentary was quickly posted as a video file on Web sites worldwide. Bloggers trumpeted its allegations. Foreign newspapers and television reported the charges and rebuttals, with headlines like ''The Big White Lie'' in The Independent of London.

Officials now acknowledge that the government's initial response was sluggish and misinformed.

''There's so much inaccurate information out there now that I'm not sure we can unscrew it,'' Lt. Col. Barry Venable, a Defense Department spokesman who has handled many inquiries about white phosphorus, said Friday.

The State Department declined to comment for the record, but an official there said privately that the episode was a public relations failure.

The Italian documentary, titled ''Falluja: The Hidden Massacre,'' included gruesome images of victims of the fierce fighting in the city in November 2004. American and Iraqi troops recaptured the city from insurgents, in battles that destroyed an estimated 60 percent of the buildings.

Opening with prolonged shots of Vietnamese children and villages burned by American use of napalm in 1972, the film suggested an equivalence between Mr. Hussein's use of chemical weapons in the 1980's and the use of white phosphorus by the American-led forces.

It incorrectly referred to white phosphorus shells -- a munition of nearly every military commonly used to create smoke screens or fires -- as banned chemical weapons.

The film showed disfigured bodies and suggested that hot-burning white phosphorus had melted the flesh while leaving clothing intact. Sigfrido Ranucci, the television correspondent who made the documentary, said in an interview this month that he had received the photographs from an Iraqi doctor. ''We are not talking about corpses like the normal deaths in war,'' he said.

Military veterans familiar with white phosphorus, known to soldiers as ''W. P.'' or ''Willie Pete,'' said it could deliver terrible burns, since an exploding round scatters bits of the compound that burst into flames on exposure to air and can burn into flesh, penetrating to the bone.

But they said white phosphorus would have burned victims' clothing. The bodies in the film appeared to be decomposed, they said.

In their first comments after the Nov. 8 broadcast, American officials made some of those points. But they relied on an inaccurate State Department fact sheet first posted on the Web last December, when similar accusations first surfaced.

The fact sheet said American forces had used white phosphorus shells ''very sparingly in Falluja, for illumination purposes, and were fired ''to illuminate enemy positions at night, not at enemy fighters.''

The Americans stuck to that position last spring after Iraq's Health Ministry claimed it had proof of civilian casualties from the weapons.

After the Italian documentary was broadcast, the American ambassadors to Italy, Ronald P. Spogli, and to Britain, Robert H. Tuttle, echoed the stock defense, denying that white phosphorus munitions had been used against enemy fighters, let alone civilians. At home, on the public radio program ''Democracy Now,'' Lt. Col. Steve Boylan, an American military spokesman, said, ''I know of no cases where people were deliberately targeted by the use of white phosphorus.''

But those statements were incorrect. Firsthand accounts by American officers in two military journals note that white phosphorus munitions had been aimed directly at insurgents in Falluja to flush them out. War critics and journalists soon discovered those articles.

In the face of such evidence, the Bush administration made an embarrassing public reversal last week. Pentagon spokesmen admitted that white phosphorus had been used directly against Iraqi insurgents. ''It's perfectly legitimate to use this stuff against enemy combatants,'' Colonel Venable said Friday.

While he said he could not rule out that white phosphorus hit some civilians, ''U.S. and coalition forces took extraordinary measures to prevent civilian casualties in Falluja.''

Correction: November 29, 2005, Tuesday An article on Nov. 21 about an Italian documentary film accusing the United States of misusing white phosphorus munitions in Iraq referred imprecisely to footage of napalm use in Vietnam. The film shows United States Air Force jets dropping napalm on Vietnamese villages and includes famous footage from 1972 of Kim Phuc Phan Thi, a 9-year-old girl, fleeing after napalm burned her clothing off. But the aircraft that dropped the napalm on her village in 1972 was South Vietnamese, not American.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:15 AM | Comments (4)

Scratch Another Word Out of Your Vocabulary

Cameron Diaz has been accused of being insensitive to the disabled.
The “In Her Shoes” star, while discussing her awkward adolescence, confessed that she was so thin and unattractive other kids nicknamed her “Skeletor.”

“I was wild, like an animal and I was kind of spastic, with my arms and legs going in all directions,” she said.

That brought a sharp rebuke from Scope, a U.K. organization that represents people with cerebral palsy. “We are keen to remind Cameron Diaz that, as a role model, she should watch her language,” said a spokesman for Scope, according to IrelandOnLine. “Likening her ‘wild days’ to acting like a ‘spastic’ is extremely offensive to people with cerebral palsy and perpetuates negative assumptions about disabled people.”

I hate to break it to the Brits, but 'spastic' doesn't mean the same thing here that it does there. Ignorant, youthful me, I was educated while touring Scotland. There was a great, imposing facade of a building...plastered with "Scottish Society for Spastics". After getting the hilarity under control, I was all set to sign Bingley up.

Separated by a common language, that's us.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:41 AM | Comments (1)

Do We Have a Shirt for Him!!

GREENPEACE Hijacks Blair Speech
Protestors have dramatically disrupted Tony Blair's speech on nuclear power.

Greenpeace activists clambered onto a roof and demanded they be given 10 minutes to speak to the conference - or they would disrupt Mr Blair's speech.

But the boss of the Confederation of British Industry, Digby Jones, refused to bow to their demands and moved everyone into another room.

He said: "The democratically-elected leader has a right to speak and we have a right to ask him questions but no-one has a special right."

Basically, Mr. Digby Jones said "Sod Off Swampy!"

This one's for you!

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:25 AM | Comments (4)

Damn Bushie McChimpyHitler!

Thank God MSM keeps this stuff under wraps, couching it in shades of doom and gloom, or people might feel better about the guy. (And we can't have that.)

The U.S. economy has been surprisingly resilient this year and is expected to grow by 3.6 percent in 2005 despite the difficulties posed by both oil prices and hurricanes -- the latter cutting 0.5 percentage points from growth on an annual basis in the second half of the year.

Overall activity is expected to return to trend in early 2006 and then be somewhat higher, taking growth for the full year to 3.5 percent, 20 basis points higher than the 3.3 percent forecast by the OECD in its last report in May.

...Business spending is also growing quickly, unemployment has dropped toward its equilibrium level and export growth is being supported by the respending of higher oil revenues by oil producers.

UPDATE: More bad news, delivered in a surprisingly chirpy manner!!

Consumer Confidence Comes Roaring Back

Falling gas prices boost sentiment; factory orders, new-home sales surge

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:15 AM

Banning Piglet Can't Save You

Iraq Bus Attack Kills Two British Muslims
Gunmen ambushed a bus Monday carrying British Muslims to Shiite shrines, killing two Britons and wounding three.

These vermin need eradication. I say we lift off and nuke the site from orbit.

It's the only way to be sure.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 08:40 AM | Comments (2)

November 28, 2005

While Ramsay Clark Was Explaining Why He Was There

...an Iraqi court official asked the important question.

"Where was Ramsay Clark when Saddam Hussein was killing the Iraqi people?"

I'd be curious to hear Mr. Clark's answer.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 06:21 PM

What a Disgrace

Rep. Cunningham pleads guilty to tax violations
California Republican admits to taking $2.4 million in bribes

Greed, pure and simple. Good riddance.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:16 PM | Comments (6)

You Gotta Love Europe

...if only for the entertainment value. A round-up of tidbits and pointers.
1) Don't be an immigrant, homeless or poor and old in France.
You'll wind up like an Eskimo grandmother who's lost her teeth and can't chew sealskin anymore. But they will ask people to be vigilant and report your body blocking traffic.

2) On second thought, even rich old French bastards are having a rough time of it.

Ageing Francophiles are being purged as the EU tries to get back to basics, writes Ambrose Evans-Pritchard

Once the bastion of Franco-German corporatism, the European Commission is now slipping ever further under the control of "Thatcherites".

"Thatcherites", "English as the lingua franca of the EU system" and worse; a Maoist turned free-market crusader (Does no one stick to their principles anymore?) who just happens to be le grande frommage in Brussels. Oh OUCH, this all has to hurt. Filthy peasents.

3) Sneaky, sneaky record companies never learn. They just change venues.

However the media industry, in the form of the newly-launched '"Creative and Media Business Alliance", want to use this data to hunt down people who they think may be involved in the far less serious offence of sharing copyright material over the internet.

They have the gall to believe that their business is as important as the protection of our lives from acts of indiscriminate terror, and want the stored data to be available to the police when investigating any criminal offence, not just the serious ones it currently covers.

The CMBA has written to every member of the European Parliament saying that limiting the proposal to "serious" offences would hamper enforcement activities for other forms of criminal offence.

Personally, I think anyone who ever bought and shared a Britany Spears mpeg should be hunted down like the dogs they are with all means necessary, but I know there have to be limits. We can watch it all shake out in Europe.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 02:13 PM

Maybe BP's Latest Ad Campaign

In the past, some environmentalists have criticized BP's renewables activities as a sop aimed at greening the firm's oily image.

...isn't just schmaltz, huh? Putting your money where your commercials are lends a certain credence, I think.

The London-based oil giant will form a new unit called BP Alternative Energy to manage a fleet of projects that BP said had the potential to deliver sales around $6 billion a year within a decade.
An initial $1.8 billion would be invested over the next three years, spread in broadly equal proportions between solar, wind, hydrogen and combined cycle gas turbines. Cox said the larger part of this would be invested in the United States.

...BP's move is at odds with the views of some in the oil industry, including the world's largest private oil and gas firm, Exxon Mobil , which argues renewables are a poor use of investors' funds.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:18 PM | Comments (2)

Baby, You Can Drive My Car

...and, baby, all four of us love you.

Four Saudi women teaching in a remote village school have married their driver so they can live closer to work, Al-Watan newspaper said on Monday.

I suppose there's hope in that these girls were "teachers", instead of the usual forced Islamic recluses. I'm still waiting for the shrill sisters of the left to speak out for their Muslim counterparts.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:32 AM

What If You Had a Meeting

...and nobody came?

BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) - The European Union hopes to finalize an anti-terrorism code of conduct with its mostly Muslim southern neighbours, at the end of a summit clouded by the absence of most Arab leaders.

However there was deep discord over the definition of terrorism, and the tensions simmering under the surface at the two-day gathering were reflected when an Algerian minister lashed out at European demands for reform in exchange for more money at the meeting in Barcelona.

"We find it humiliating that the Europeans demand reforms from us in exchange for a few euros," said Abdelaziz Belkhadem shortly after the Euromed summit opened.

If your unsuccessful form of extortion is too embarassing, how 'bout you do it because it's the right thing to do? Be a hero. Pffft. They have no intention of changing a bloody thing and the EU perpetuates this whole mess by offering the bribe before the demands. As far as the discord over an EU "definition of terrorism", more on that here.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:19 AM

November 27, 2005

Kinda Lonely Out There in Crawford, Huh?

I went through about fifty odd snippets in this slide show before I couldn't take any more. While suffering for this report, I did notice a dearth of fresh faces, like, you know...fellow peace-niks, Mother Sheehan alcolyte-types. 18 folks holdin' up the "Hey ya Cindy" sign. No crowds. Pretty much 80+ angles of the same six folks. Maybe it's just me, since I will admit to my eyes glazing over about 1/4 of the way through this manufactured story, but dang.

Do it in six relevant pictures, already, not eighty-eight. Gimme some 88 Marine pictures, how 'bout it?

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:27 PM | Comments (4)

Stories to Be Thankful For

We'd never hear about these guys otherwise.

As he approached the town, Ieva was looking into the backyards of the first row of duplexes. The two platoons on the left were coming in from the side. Those men had to sprint across 75 yards of open ground under fire to get to a protected building. "Aggressiveness and speed got them into the city," Ieva says.

From there, the marines began house-to-house fighting. They would blast holes in the walls and charge in - as Ieva joked, like Starsky and Hutch - or they would climb roof to roof, throwing explosive devices into houses before they entered. One building had insurgent snipers on the roof, but a bomb, timed to go off just above, killed them.

Ieva's men came across a fortified terrorist stronghold, where one of his men, Lawrence R. Philippon, was killed. At another stronghold in that town, according to a gripping piece by Ellen Knickmeyer of The Washington Post, insurgents had built a crawl space under the front door; they lay on their backs and shot upwards through the floor with armor-piercing bullets at marines who came through. The marines needed five assaults and 500-pound bombs from an F/A-18 attack plane to finally take and destroy that house.

I don't have space to describe how Ieva and the other marines fought on that hot spring day, but by the end, about 75 insurgents had been killed and 17 captured.

Two points are worth making. After the Marines took Ubaydi, they didn't have the troops to hold it, and it again became a terrorist safe haven. Over the past two weeks, the Marines have been back in Ubaydi for more bloody fighting. This time they have enough trained Iraqi forces to hold the area, but why weren't there enough troops last spring? Every time you delve into the situation in Iraq, you come away with the phrase "not enough troops" ringing in your head, and I hope someday we will find out how this travesty came about.

Second, why aren't there more stories about war heroes like Christopher Ieva? The casual courage he and his men displayed is awe-inspiring, but most Americans couldn't name a single hero from this war.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 07:38 PM | Comments (5)

November 24, 2005

Okay, I Know It's Thanksgiving, BUT

...Nick and Jessica have broken up, the Squid Terrorist has a scorched hand from boiling turkey oil...and then there's this...

"After being notified of the situation and after researching the matter ... I came to the conclusion that I was not drafted by the A's," he said.

This is the 'fill-in-the-blank' post from hell. You didn't know you were drafted (or not) ...GTF OUT!! Good Lord. If Joe the City Councilman tried that weak excuse, he'd be ridden out of town on a rail. And we're talking a governor. Of a state in these United States. Good Lord. Okay, my entry.

"After being notified of the situation and after researching the matter...I came to the conclusion that I had no idea he was 12 years old."

John Kerry could say "blahblahblah...not a Magic Hat." Or "blahblahblah...horse's ass, wished I lived in Enumclaw."
Teddy Kennedy "blahblahblah...backstroke." Or "blahblahblah...back away from the table."
Mr. Summers ~ "blahblahblah...goat."
There's all sorts of inspirational material to be gleaned from the good governor's sorry tap-dance. We have much to be thankful for.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:11 PM | Comments (3)

Wine for Thanksgiving, Part Deux

Panhandle style.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 07:21 PM | Comments (3)

Wine For Thanksgiving

Since it will really only be me and my bride imbibing, I think this should do...but I've got enough bottles in reserve in case I miscalculated.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 12:39 PM | Comments (1)

From Dubya's Table To Yours

May you and yours have a safe and happy Thanksgiving! We all have so much to be thankful for, and please keep our troops in mind on this and every day.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:29 AM | Comments (3)

November 23, 2005

Common Sense

The Real Story of the First Thanksgiving By Benjamin Franklin (1785)
“There is a tradition that in the planting of New England, the first settlers met with many difficulties and hardships, as is generally the case when a civiliz’d people attempt to establish themselves in a wilderness country. Being so piously dispos’d, they sought relief from heaven by laying their wants and distresses before the Lord in frequent set days of fasting and prayer. Constant meditation and discourse on these subjects kept their minds gloomy and discontented, and like the children of Israel there were many dispos’d to return to the Egypt which persecution had induc’d them to abandon.

“At length, when it was proposed in the Assembly to proclaim another fast, a farmer of plain sense rose and remark’d that the inconveniences they suffer’d, and concerning which they had so often weary’d heaven with their complaints, were not so great as they might have expected, and were diminishing every day as the colony strengthen’d; that the earth began to reward their labour and furnish liberally for their subsistence; that their seas and rivers were full of fish, the air sweet, the climate healthy, and above all, they were in the full enjoyment of liberty, civil and religious.

“He therefore thought that reflecting and conversing on these subjects would be more comfortable and lead more to make them contented with their situation; and that it would be more becoming the gratitude they ow’d to the divine being, if instead of a fast they should proclaim a thanksgiving. His advice was taken, and from that day to this, they have in every year observ’d circumstances of public felicity sufficient to furnish employment for a Thanksgiving Day, which is therefore constantly ordered and religiously observed.”

Another plain spoken fellow saves the day.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:54 PM | Comments (3)

Major Dad Mum and Little Brother Inbound

So I wanted to say...

Happy Thanksgiving, Dear Friends !!

...before chaos ensues! I am very, very thankful to have met all of you, and have enjoyed your friendship and wit here at the Swilling immensely. It's been quite a thrill for me; that someone would bother to listen to my rants besides my long suffering siblings, Bingley and Crusader. (Oh yeah, poor Major Dad and Ebola, too. Misery abounds.)

I am grateful for your fine company, and hope your day and those to come are filled with love and loads of laughter. If you'll be on the road, be safe. If you're up in the cold, be warm. But where ever you are please, be happy. Big hugs to all.

ths {:^)
P.S.: Lt. Sarah says they're rockin' and rollin' over there. Please keep everyone in uniform and in harm's way in your thoughts while celebrating with your families. They're the reason we can be at those happy tables.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:45 PM | Comments (13)

Operation Twel FourTEEN Marines of Christmas Update

From Susanna, a sage HAPPY suggestion for the care-bear boxes!

If you get the pre-fab US PRIORITY Mail box (it's a nice large box), you can
cram as much stuff inside as it will hold and the shipping is a flat rate of
$7.70. Yippee! A flat rate!

So I have sent lots of auto magazines and paperbacks and so forth. At that
price, cans aren't too pricey to send either. I also picked up a stack of them
so I can keep them in the house and the car and fill them when I get things to
send.

raddave9: I haven't gotten an email back and want to make sure you got my initial one ~ I tend to have fat happy mistake prone puddies when typing addresses! Thanks! {:^)

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:30 AM | Comments (4)

File This Under "Duh"

In an industry where 'product is king,' General Motors Corp. is in dire need of attractive new vehicles to rule the road, analysts say, mostly dismissing a move by the ailing auto giant to cut jobs and close plants to save billions of dollars a year.

We posted on that same thing here at the cutting edge Swilling months ago. Now repeat after me: GM, your stuff looks like sh*t and has for years. Get off your comfortable corporate a$$es and design something someone would actually give their right eyeball to have, 'cause livin' off your truck/SUV lines don't cut it no more.

Like our reaction everytime we see an Aztec;
"Good God! What is that...thing?"

Posted by tree hugging sister at 08:41 AM | Comments (13)

November 22, 2005

Here is a rundown of how some of our weapons are viewed by the guys/gals using them...

from a Marine on the ground. Glad to see they are passing out the M-14s again. About time they woke up and ditched the 5.56mm, sad they are pulling out battle rifles older than the guys carrying them.

• The M-16 rifle: Thumbs down. Chronic jamming problems with the sand over there, which is like talcum powder. The sand is everywhere. You feel filthy two minutes after a shower. The M-4 carbine version is more popular because it's lighter and shorter, but it also has jamming problems. Marines like the ability to mount the various optical gunsights and weapons lights on the picatinny rails, but the weapon itself is not great in a desert environment. They all hate the 5.56mm (.223) round. Poor penetration on the cinderblock structure common over there and even torso hits cannot be reliably counted on to put the enemy down. Fun fact: Random autopsies on dead insurgents shows a high level of opiate use.

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• The M-14: Thumbs up. It is being re-issued in bulk, mostly in a modified version to special-ops guys. Modifications include lightweight Kevlar stocks and low-power red dot or ACOG sights. Very reliable in the sandy environment, and people love the 7.62 round.

Wonder how the SpecOps guys like the 6.8mm they have been testing in the 2 current theatres? I still think we should just go back to the 7.62mm.

[ Note: I've put the entire article below the fold. It makes fascinating reading, and I don't want to lose it when the Times archives...]

Editor's note: There's nothing like word from the field to know what works, what doesn't and how the enemy's tactics are affecting our soldiers in battle. Below is one U.S. Marine's take on those questions, verified and relayed to us through his father, a retired Marine. We've withheld the Marine's name and his father's to spare them the inevitable political or institutional flap. Among the most interesting tidbits: Our Marine reports that servicemen are shocked at negative press coverage of the war, and they believe the United States is winning decisively -- but that the number of troops in the field should be bolstered. On equipment, our Marine thinks the older, battle-tested parts of the U.S. arsenal are the most useful equipment in the fight against insurgents. M-16s aren't much good, but "Ma Deuce" is, and the .45 pistol is highly coveted. Body armor has plusses and minuses. Hello to all my fellow gunners, military buffs, veterans and interested guys. A couple of weekends ago I got to spend time with my son... [He] spent seven months at "Camp Blue Diamond" in Ramadi, a.k.a. "Fort Apache." He saw and did a lot. The following is what he told me about weapons, equipment, tactics and other miscellaneous information which may be of interest to you. Nothing is by any means classified. No politics here, just a Marine with a bird's eye view's opinions. • The M-16 rifle: Thumbs down. Chronic jamming problems with the sand over there, which is like talcum powder. The sand is everywhere. You feel filthy two minutes after a shower. The M-4 carbine version is more popular because it's lighter and shorter, but it also has jamming problems. Marines like the ability to mount the various optical gunsights and weapons lights on the picatinny rails, but the weapon itself is not great in a desert environment. They all hate the 5.56mm (.223) round. Poor penetration on the cinderblock structure common over there and even torso hits cannot be reliably counted on to put the enemy down. Fun fact: Random autopsies on dead insurgents shows a high level of opiate use. • The M243 SAW (squad assault weapon) .223 cal: Big thumbs down. Drum-fed light machine gun. Universally considered a piece of s***. Chronic jamming problems, most of which require partial disassembly. That's fun in the middle of a firefight. • The M9 Beretta 9mm: mixed bag. Good gun, performs well in a desert environment, but everyone hates the 9mm cartridge. The use of handguns for self-defense is actually fairly common. Same old story on the 9mm: Bad guys get hit multiple times but are still in the fight. • Mossberg 12ga. Military shotgun: Works well and is used frequently for clearing houses, to good effect. • The M240 Machine Gun: 7.62 Nato (.308) cal belt-fed machine gun: Thumbs up. Developed to replace the old M-60 -- what a beautiful weapon that was -- it is accurate, reliable and the 7.62 round puts 'em down. Originally developed as a vehicle-mounted weapon, more and more are being dismounted and taken into the field by infantry. The 7.62 round chews up the structure over there. • The M2 .50 cal heavy machine gun: Thumbs way, way up. "Ma deuce" is still worth her considerable weight in gold. The ultimate fight-stopper, puts their d**** in the dirt every time. The most coveted weapon in-theater. • The .45 pistol: Thumbs up. Still the best pistol round out there. Everybody authorized to carry a sidearm is trying to get their hands on one. With few exceptions, it can reliably be expected to put 'em down with a torso hit. The special-ops guys -- who are doing most of the pistol work -- use the HK military model and supposedly love it. The old government model .45s are being re-issued en masse. • The M-14: Thumbs up. It is being re-issued in bulk, mostly in a modified version to special-ops guys. Modifications include lightweight Kevlar stocks and low-power red dot or ACOG sights. Very reliable in the sandy environment, and people love the 7.62 round. • The Barrett .50 cal sniper rifle: Thumbs way up. Spectacular range and accuracy and hits like a freight train. Used frequently to take out vehicle suicide bombers -- we actually stop a lot of them -- and barricaded enemies. Definitely here to stay.
• The M24 sniper rifle: Thumbs up. Mostly in 308 but some in 300 win mag. Heavily modified Remington 700s. Great performance. Snipers have been using them heavily to great effect. Rumor has it that a Marine sniper on his third tour in Anbar province has actually exceeded Carlos Hathcock's record for confirmed kills with over 100.
• The new body armor: Thumbs up. Relatively light at approximately six pounds and can reliably be expected to soak up small shrapnel and even stop an AK-47 round. The bad news: Hot as s*** to wear, almost unbearable in the summer heat, which averages over 120 degrees. Also, the enemy now goes for head shots whenever possible. All the bull**** about the "old" body armor making our guys vulnerable to improvised-explosive devices was a non-starter. The IED explosions are enormous and body armor doesn't make any difference at all in most cases.
• Night Vision and Infrared Equipment: Thumbs way up. Spectacular performance. Our guys see in the dark and own the night, period. Very little enemy action after evening prayers. More and more of the enemy are being whacked at night during movement by our hunter-killer teams. We've all seen the videos.
• Lights: Thumbs up. Most of the weapon-mounted and personal lights are Surefires, and the troops love 'em. Invaluable for night urban operations. [Name redacted] carried a $34 Surefire G2 on a neck lanyard and loved it.

I can't help but notice that most of the good fighting weapons and ordnance are 50 or more years old. With all our technology, it's the World War II- and Vietnam-era weapons that everybody wants. The infantry fighting is frequent, up close and brutal. No quarter is given or shown.
Bad guy weapons:
• Mostly AK47s. The entire country is an arsenal. Works better in the desert than the M16 and the .308 Russian round kills reliably. PKM belt-fed light machine guns are also common and effective. Luckily, the enemy mostly shoots like s***. Undisciplined "spray and pray"-type fire. However, precision weapons are more and more common, especially sniper rifles. Fun fact: Captured enemy have apparently marveled at the marksmanship of our guys and how hard they fight. They are apparently told in jihad school that the Americans rely solely on technology, and can be easily beaten in close quarters combat for their lack of toughness. Let's just say they know better now.
• The RPG: Probably the infantry weapon most feared by our guys. Simple, reliable and as common as dog****. The enemy responded to our up-armored Humvees by aiming at the windshields, often at point blank range. Still killing a lot of our guys.
• The improvised-explosive device: The biggest killer of all. Can be anything from old Soviet anti-armor mines to jerry-rigged artillery shells. A lot found in [name redacted]'s area were in abandoned cars. The enemy would take two or three 155mm artillery shells and wire them together. Most were detonated by cell phone, and the explosions are enormous. You're not safe in any vehicle, even an M1 tank.
Driving is by far the most dangerous thing our guys do over there. Lately, they are much more sophisticated "shape charges" (Iranian) specifically designed to penetrate armor. Fact: Most of the ready-made IEDs are supplied by Iran, the country which is also providing terrorists, Hezbollah types, to train the insurgents in their use and tactics. That's why the attacks have been so deadly lately. Their concealment methods are ingenious, the latest being shape charges in Styrofoam containers spray-painted to look like the cinderblocks that litter all Iraqi roads. We find about 40 percent before they detonate. The bomb-disposal guys are unsung heroes of this war.
• Mortars and rockets: Very prevalent. The Soviet-era 122mm rockets, with a range of 18 kilometers, are becoming more prevalent. One of [name redacted]'s NCOs lost a leg to one. These weapons cause a lot of damage "inside the wire." [Name redacted]'s base was hit almost daily his entire time there by mortar and rocket fire, often at night to disrupt sleep patterns and cause fatigue (it worked). More of a psychological weapon than anything else. The enemy mortar teams would jump out of vehicles, fire a few rounds and then haul *** in a matter of seconds.
Bad guy technology is simple yet effective. Most communication is by cell and satellite phones and also by email on laptops. They use handheld Global Positioning System units for navigation and "Google Earth" for overhead views of our positions. Their weapons are good, if not fancy, and prevalent. Their explosives and bomb technology is top of the line. Night vision is rare.
They are very careless with their equipment, however, and the captured GPS units and laptops are intelligence treasure troves when captured.
Who are the bad guys? Most of the carnage is caused by the Zarqawi al Qaeda group. They operate mostly in Anbar province -- Fallujah and Ramadi. These are mostly "foreigners," that is, non-Iraqi Sunni Arab jihadists from all over the Muslim world and Europe. Most enter Iraq through Syria -- with, of course, the knowledge and complicity of the Syrian government -- and then travel down the "rat line" which is the trail of towns along the Euphrates River that we've been hitting hard for the last few months. Some are virtually untrained young jihadists who end up as suicide bombers or are used in "sacrifice squads."
Most, however, are hard-core terrorists from all the usual suspects -- al Qaeda, Hezbollah and Hamas. These are the guys running around murdering civilians en masse and cutting heads off. The Chechens, many of whom are Caucasian, are supposedly the most ruthless and the best fighters. In the Baghdad area and south, most of the insurgents are Iranian inspired and led Iraqi Shi'ites. The Iranian Shia have been very adept at infiltrating the Iraqi local government, police and army. Since the early 1980s during the Iran-Iraq war, they have had a massive spy and agitator network there. Most of the Saddam loyalists were killed, captured or gave up long ago.
Bad guy tactics: When the enemy is engaged on an infantry level they get their a**** kicked every time. Brave, but stupid. Suicidal banzai-type charges were very common earlier in the war and still occur. They will literally sacrifice eight-to-10 man teams in suicide squads by sending them screaming and firing AKs and RPGs directly at our bases just to probe the defenses. They get mowed down like grass every time -- see the M2 and M240 above. [Name redacted]'s base was hit like this often. When engaged, the enemy has a tendency to flee to the same building, probably for what they think will be a glorious last stand. Instead, we call in air and that's the end of that, more often than not.
These hole-ups are referred to as "Alpha Whiskey Romeos" ("Allah's Waiting Room"). We have the laser-guided ground-air thing down to a science. The fast movers, mostly Marine F-18s, are taking an ever-increasing toll on the enemy. When caught out in the open, the helicopter gunships and AC-130 Spectre gunships cut them to ribbons with cannon and rocket fire, especially at night. Interestingly, artillery is hardly used at all. Fun fact: The enemy death toll is supposedly between 45,000 and 50,000. That is why we're seeing fewer and fewer infantry attacks and more improvised-explosive devices, suicide bomber s***. The new strategy is simple: attrition.
The insurgent tactic most frustrating is their use of civilian non-combatants as cover. They know we do all we can to avoid civilian casualties, so therefore schools, hospitals and especially mosques are locations where they meet, stage for attacks, cache weapons and ammo and flee to when engaged. They have absolutely no regard whatsoever for civilian casualties. They will terrorize locals and murder without hesitation anyone believed to be sympathetic to the Americans or the new Iraqi government. Kidnapping of family members, especially children, is common to influence people they are trying to influence but cannot otherwise reach, such as local government officials, clerics or tribal leaders, etc.
The first thing our guys are told is, "don't get captured." They know that if captured they will be tortured and beheaded on the Internet. Zarqawi openly offers bounties for anyone who brings him a live American serviceman.
This motivates the criminal element who otherwise don't give a s*** about the war. A lot of the beheading victims were actually kidnapped by common criminals and sold to Zarqawi. As such, for our guys, every fight is to the death. Surrender is not an option.
The Iraqis are a mixed bag. Some fight well, others aren't worth a s***.
Most do okay with American support. Finding leaders is hard, but they are getting better. It is widely viewed that Zarqawi's use of suicide bombers, en masse, against the civilian population was a serious tactical mistake.
Many Iraqis were galvanized and the caliber of recruits in the Army and the police forces went up, along with their motivation. It also led to an exponential increase in good intelligence because the Iraqis are sick of the insurgent attacks against civilians. The Kurds are solidly pro-American and fearless fighters.
According to [name redacted], morale among our guys is very high. They not only believe they are winning, but that they are winning decisively. They are stunned and dismayed by what they see in the American press, whom they almost universally view as against them. The embedded reporters are despised and distrusted. They are inflicting casualties at a rate of 20-1 and then see s*** like "Are we losing in Iraq?" on television and the print media.
For the most part, they are satisfied with their equipment, food and leadership. Bottom line, though, and they all say this: There are not enough guys there to drive the final stake through the heart of the insurgency, primarily because there aren't enough troops in-theater to shut down the borders with Iran and Syria. The Iranians and the Syrians just cannot stand the thought of Iraq being an American ally -- with, of course, permanent U.S. bases there.
That's it, hope you found it interesting, I sure did.

Posted by Crusader at 05:21 PM | Comments (12)

Greenhouse Gasbags Fall

Excuse me. I meant emissions.

Emissions of greenhouse gases from the US fell for the first time in more than a decade between 2000 and 2003 following a shift in heavy manufacturing away from US shores to cheaper locations such as China.

James Connaughton, chairman of the White House's Council on Environmental Quality, said on Tuesday the decrease of 0.8 per cent in gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide had been unexpected: "This was not something we would have projected."

The slight fall had come even as the US population grew by 8.6m, and increased its gross domestic product by the worth of the economy of China, Mr Connaughton said.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:55 PM

Does This Have Anything to Do

...with that "personal accountability" and "challenging school curriculums/do the WORK" thingees we're always talking about?

America's ability to compete in the global economy is being undermined by a "serious shortage", of skilled workers in manufacturing industries, according to a survey released on Tuesday.

..."The pain is most acute on the front line, where 90 per cent report a moderate to severe shortage of qualified skilled production employees including machinists, operators, craft workers, distributors and technicians, said Richard Kleinert of Deloitte Consulting. Engineers and scientists were also in short supply, with 65 per cent of respondents reporting current deficiencies.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 02:15 PM | Comments (3)

He Sure Wasn't a "Poster" Dog

But his mummy loved him.

Rest in peace, Sam.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 02:09 PM

She Sounds Like a Girl

...who's got a good head on her shoulders, bless her heart. I hope she finds the right guy.

"I‘m down-to-earth, I‘m not hard to please, and I like to talk agriculture."

(Farmers in Enumclaw, WA need not apply.)

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:06 AM | Comments (3)

"X" Marks The Veep

You really can't make this stuff up.

It's as if CNN is trying to become SNL.

Strangers in a Strange Land

Returning residents, some who might well have never lived outside New Orleans in their entire lives, are coming home feeling like freshly awakened Rip Van Winkles. Once over their initial astonishment at the world beyond the levees, they are bringing some hard questions back with them. The status quo just might not cut it anymore.

But after tasting life elsewhere, they are returning with tales of public schools that actually supply textbooks published after the Reagan era, of public housing developments that look like suburban enclaves, of government workers who are not routinely dragged off to prison after pocketing bribes.

Local leaders have realized for weeks that they must reckon with widespread anger over how they handled the relief effort. But it is dawning on them that they are also going to have to contend with demands from residents who grew accustomed, however briefly, to the virtues of other communities.

Many evacuees seem to be arriving with less tolerance for the failings of a city that under its glitzy makeup has long had an unsightly side. They do not want New Orleans to lose its distinctive character - after all, that is one reason they are back and vowing to rebuild. But they say their expectations have changed.

"What's wrong with our school system, and what's wrong with the people running our school board?" asked Tess Blanks, who had lived here all her life before fleeing with her husband, Horace, to the Houston area, where they discovered that the public schools for their two children were significantly better. "Our children fell right into the swing of things in Texas. So guess what? It isn't the children. It's the people running our school system."

Posted by tree hugging sister at 08:56 AM | Comments (2)

November 21, 2005

Mr. Summers' "Wings" Snippet

...reminded me of something U2's Bono said on "60 Minutes" last night.

"I'm not fit to kiss their hem, but you wonder how great the Beatles would have been if they hadn't crawled up their own arses."

I blame drugs, the Yogi and Yoko.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 02:33 PM | Comments (5)

"I Told Bingley" Redux

"There was inappropriate conduct between him and the mannequin."

Ya don't say?

Posted by tree hugging sister at 02:25 PM | Comments (15)

Hold the Monkey Brains

One new thing a day is enough.

Later, Mr Bush watched Mongol warriors on horseback, drank – tentatively – fermented mare's milk, and listened to traditional throat singing.

Yech. But I'm glad Genghis George had a good time.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:57 PM

Paying for the Party

Everyone wants one, but splittin' the bill is like alligator wrasslin'.

The city's budget problems have also revived arguments that corporate sponsors should be accepted for Mardi Gras as a way of underwriting expenses.

Mardi Gras traditionalists are adamantly opposed to the idea, fearing it would commercialize an event that has always been intensely local. Krewes pay for their own floats and parades. "Everyone says no," says Bill Grace, a lawyer and chairman of the mayor's Mardi Gras committee.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:51 PM

I'd Have Let Her Open It...

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) -- A French woman who is terrified of flying admitted in an Australian court Monday that she drunkenly tried to open an airplane door mid-flight to smoke a cigarette...
...She walked toward one of the aircraft's emergency exits with an unlit cigarette and a lighter in her hand and began tampering with the door, prosecutors said. But a flight attendant intervened and took Sellies back to her seat.

Heck, had they let her go we would have had a good Darwin Award candidate.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 12:57 PM

All Quiet on the Christmas Front

...in a different time and a different place.

Alfred Anderson, the last known survivor of the 1914 "Christmas Truce" that saw British and German soldiers exchanging gifts and handshakes in no-man's land, died early Monday, his parish priest said. He was 109. His death leaves fewer than 10 veterans of World War I alive in Britain.

...Born June 25, 1896, Anderson was an 18-year-old soldier in the Black Watch regiment when British and German troops cautiously emerged from their trenches on Dec. 25, 1914. The enemies swapped cigarettes and tunic buttons, sang carols and even played soccer amid the mud and shell-holes of no man's land.

The horror of that Great War is fading. And yes. The romance of a certain chivalry within that horrific time is dying away too.

In a place where bloodshed was nearly commonplace and mud and the enemy were fought with equal vigor, something surprising occurred on the front for Christmas in 1914. The men who lay shivering in the trenches embraced the Christmas spirit. In one of the truest acts of goodwill toward men, soldiers from both sides in the southern portion of the Ypres Salient set aside their weapons and hatred, if only temporarily, and met in No Man's Land.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:34 PM | Comments (15)

Not So Peachy

...in Peach Tree City, via the Delta ripples.

Until recently, life in Peachtree City, near Atlanta, could hardly have been more idyllic. Quiet, leafy and plush, the town is famous for having 9,000 registered golf carts that many residents use instead of cars. A CNN/Money magazine survey recently named it among America's 10 best places to live.

But Peachtree City's fabled standard of living is under threat.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:16 AM | Comments (1)

The "Big Lie"

I'm so sick of the bunch of them. Michael Barone lays it out.

To the charges that Bush "cherry-picked" intelligence, the commission co-chaired by former Democratic Sen. Charles Robb found that the intelligence available to Bush but not to Congress was even more alarming than the intelligence Congress had.

Which is a scary, scary thought, as NOTHING's more alarming than the lack of intelligence in Congress. When I watch Teddy, or Babs, or Maxine Waters, or Nita Lowery (insert Dem. clone of choice here) grandstanding, I turn into that old Larsen cartoon about "What Dogs Hear". You know the one ~ the man is saying "Bad dog, Bad dog!", but all the dog is hearing is "blah blah blah". Color me canine.
UPDATE: Salman Rusdie is on our side? Wow. And this very nice Canadian, apparently. (Who has also noted our national penchant for navel gazing.)

For some unaccountable reason, Americans sometimes respond to being abused and slandered all over the world by turning in on themselves. And this, in the present unsettled state of the world in question, would be nearly the worst thing that could happen. It would leave all of America's allies -- corresponding very roughly to the side of the angels -- up a certain creek without a propulsive device.

The world has left the United States to do too much heavy lifting. It is an urgent matter for countries like Canada to stop mouthing off and heave ho.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:28 AM | Comments (4)

The Pension Razzle Dazzle

Bill Fleckenstein on why oil's not the outrage.

First off, a rant on the lunacy surrounding the fact that oil companies are making money.

The weather vanes in the Senate have held hearings about oil-company price manipulation. There has also been plenty of incoherent chatter about price gouging, much of it coming from TV talking heads who ought to know better.

...If the Senate and TV commentators want to be outraged, why not look into the real abuses occurring in the somewhat obscure pension-accounting arena? It essentially impacts only a few dozen large corporations, but it affects hundreds of thousands of lives.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:09 AM

November 20, 2005

Damn Your Bawdy Boldness, Darcy!

IT was perhaps a little embarrassing to learn that the British producers of the latest "Pride and Prejudice" released a different ending for American audiences: a swoony moonlit scene of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy in dishabille, kissing and cooing in a post-coital clinch.
It was as if NASA had prepared an international mission to Mars and felt a need to lace the Russians' Tang with vodka.

Gasp and Grope ~ Austen, American-style. (I didn't read where Mr. Bingley got any extra action, though. He must have been busy trolling online.) And I guess we've infected the homeland with more than just fast-food:

And Austen fans in England who got wind of the American version were incensed that they had been denied a final kiss.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 04:44 PM | Comments (10)

2b? Nt2b? ???

Somehow, it just does have the ring of when Shakespeare wrote it, which I guess is not surprising, as it comes from the goobers at a company called Dot Mobile:

Dot mobile, a British mobile phone service aimed at students, says it plans to condense classic works of literature into SMS text messages.

I suppose that they think this will 'help' idjit students who haven't done their assignations ~~cheat~~ recall plot facts during tests. Somehow I can't imagine instructors who notice 25 kids hunched over their cell phones during an exam not getting a wee bit suspicious.

I reckon the bride's job is still secure for a little while.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:01 AM | Comments (3)

November 19, 2005

Gettin' It Done the Old Fashioned Way

Though the American media is slow to report it, U.S. forces are relentlessly destroying Zarqawi’s senior leadership.

A fascinating, encouraging read.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:20 AM | Comments (5)

November 18, 2005

I TOLD Bingley

...she wasn't real...it wasn't real. Just a cyberspace blow-up doll.

Match.com, a unit of IAC/Interactive Corp. (IACI.O: Quote, Profile, Research), is accused in a federal lawsuit of goading members into renewing their subscriptions through bogus romantic e-mails sent out by company employees. In some instances, the suit contends, people on the Match payroll even went on sham dates with subscribers as a marketing ploy.

He's young. He'll get over it.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 02:00 PM | Comments (6)

Sounds Like Victor Hugo Wrote This

In France, as elsewhere, these places were built as oases of green, Le Corbusier's famous streets in the sky, the diametric opposite of the tight lanes and lightless slums from whence the working class emerged blinking into the light of social policy.

Sheer poetry. Excellent piece on France and Britain's 'isolated blocks'. As well as a whiff of what stinks in France. One name repeated through decades might explain why it took him twelve days to notice the country going up in flames.

Officially Paris, too, boasts social housing in its centre, much of it in wonderful Beaux Arts buildings. But it is almost exclusively occupied by the friends and mistresses of ministers and mayors, as was so shockingly revealed in the Elf corruption scandals recently and other "affaires" during the time President Jacques Chirac was mayor of Paris.

Le grande frommage is rotten to the curds and whey.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:01 PM

Today's Excuse for S L O W Blogging

Bingley's on the road, Crusader has a real job and I've got a Gallery Night downtown tonight. That means I'm running around like a chicken with my head cut-off ~ trying to remember where I put that painting, this print and those martini glasses ~ so I can fill my gypsy peddler's sacks and make a buck. (Schmaybe two.) But there's always free flowing wine and chocolate to take the edge off meeting the public (and vice versa) for four hours, so hey. I have the best of all worlds.

Later gators!

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:48 AM | Comments (7)

I Wanna Stay Home and Drink Beer Like the Rest of 'Em

...but I know I can't. And that, as a nation, 'We the People' CAN"T. How come these reseachers/poll takers never seem to talk to any of us?

"As the Iraq war has shaken the global outlook of American influentials, it has led to a revival of isolationist sentiment among the general public," the report said.

This paragraph was a particular surprise...NOT.

Opinion leaders in science, engineering, foreign affairs, academia and the news media are particularly pessimistic that US efforts to establish a stable democracy in Iraq will succeed, with roughly two-thirds believing it will fail. Only military leaders remain strongly optimistic, while 56 per cent of Americans overall agree that success is still possible.

It seems there's only one ray of sunshine in all those questions...

US faith in the United Nations has also fallen sharply, with only 48 per cent of Americans expressing positive views about the world body, down from 77 per cent four years ago.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:00 AM | Comments (5)

November 17, 2005

WARNING: Not For the Fair or Faint of Heart

Not the pictures (I couldn't watch; let's just say 'contains stills from Al-Qaida videos'. Bastards.). Certainly not the message (General Patton channels R. Lee Ermy).

Posted by tree hugging sister at 04:36 PM | Comments (5)

Casino Royale, Three Card Monty Style

On MSNBC.com right now, a story about lobbyist Jack Abramoff's efforts on behalf of some LA and MS tribes who also run casinos. They wanted a closed party and greased some serious palms trying to keep it that way.

Jeez, I wish I'd known about it! I've got tons of paper and pencils, with nothin' but time.

Dear Sec. Norton ~
I love your hair. Coincidentally, I also love westerns. In my extensive research, I have noticed that most of the ~~Indi~~Native Americans' antipathy comes from drinking and gambling (witness the "Hekawi Indians", who were well documented in the epic PBS series "F-Troop"). Therefore, it's my conclusion that they don't need to do any more of it. So I agree with Senator Reid. Make sure everyone knows I wrote you.

Sign me: 'Sister, Tree Hugging'
(with two e's, so's they get the 'pay to the order of' right)

House Speaker Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican, held a fundraiser at Abramoff’s Signatures restaurant in Washington on June 3, 2003, that collected at least $21,500 for his Keep Our Majority political action committee from the lobbyist’s firm and tribal clients.
...Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid sent a letter to Norton on March 5, 2002, also signed by Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev. The next day, the Coushattas issued a $5,000 check to Reid's tax exempt group...Reid ultimately received more than $66,000 in Abramoff-related donations between 2001 and 2004.

...Hastert ultimately collected more than $100,000 in donations from Abramoff’s firm and tribal clients between 2001 and 2004. His office said he never discussed the matter with Abramoff, but long opposed expanding Indian gambling off reservations and was asked to send the letter by Rep. Jim McCrery, R-La.

McCrery sent his own letter as well, and collected more than $36,000 in Abramoff-connected donations.

...Louisiana Sen. David Vitter received $6,000 from Abramoff tribes from 1999 to 2001 and refunded it the day before he sent one of his letters to Norton in February 2002

...DeLay received at least $57,000 in Abramoff and tribal donations between 2001 and 2004.

...Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, received four donations totaling $5,500

...The Abramoff donations dwarf those made by Keating. At least 33 lawmakers wrote letters to Norton and got more than $830,000 in Abramoff-related donations as the lobbying unfolded between 2001 and 2004, AP found.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 02:31 PM

Voters' Remorse

But with the exception of the specific timeline language on the end, it was still very much the same resolution. And if you went back and read it, and a lot of us did, it still did...there were intimations in there about '06, and I think it just did do exactly what we shouldn't be doing right now, and that is telegraphing to the terrorists that if you mess with us long enough, that we're going to go away.

-Senator John Thune of South Dakota on Hugh Hewitt yesterday, about the smackdown Republicans senators are receiving about the Warner-Frist vote. More and more, I see Bill Frist as an ineffectual gooberhead presidential wanna-be, with the spine of a banana slug. "WHOOPS ~ DO OVER!" doesn't cut it when troops are in the field, dying in that snake-pit every day for a war the United States Senate authorized.

Swill Salute to The Radio Blogger.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:29 PM | Comments (3)

Science at a Higher Level

Pressures Produced When Penguins Pooh -- Calculations on Avian Defaecation
-Victor Benno Meyer-Rochow of International University Bremen, Germany and the University of Oulu, Finland; and Jozsef Gal of Loránd Eötvös University, Hungary

Ig Nobel receipients for FLUID DYNAMICS. I believe we (or someone we know) covered the award for...

MEDICINE: Gregg A. Miller of Oak Grove, Missouri, for inventing Neuticles -- artificial replacement testicles for dogs

...but I hadn't seen the entire list of laureates until now. If you have been similarly deprived: voilá.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:04 PM | Comments (5)

Motivation

"Someone has to guard the wall to keep the demons out; that's what the Marines do. Marines own the wall."
Major General Ronald G. Richard
United States Marine Corps (Ret.)
Distinguished Marines Stamp Unveiling Ceremony
Oklahoma City National Memorial
November 10, 2005

A Swill Salute to

Sgt. Grit.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:44 AM

Headline of the Day

France back to normal after rioting

Oh, great.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:46 AM | Comments (4)

::GASP::

A Miami jury has ordered Ford Motor Company to pay more than $61 million (yes, you read that right) to the family of a 17 year old boy killed in a roll-over accident.

Ford was liable in the accident because it sold a vehicle with poor handling and stability, the jury said Tuesday

The title I used for this post? The horrified reaction was NOT engendered by the award amount, but by the determination of liability. "Poor handling and stability" is a common result REGARDLESS of the vehicle...

...when his friend feel asleep while driving an Explorer.

The vehicle manufacturer is responsible because the SUV won't drive itself if you're asleep? I know, I know: "cruise control".

This STUFF is outta control.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:31 AM | Comments (1)

What He Said

"We as a state have created unrealistic expectations among the populace," Salade said. "I'm getting fed up with the people who are fed up."
-Wayne Salade, Charlotte County's emergency management director

On individual responsibility for hurricane preparedness.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:11 AM | Comments (2)

November 16, 2005

Note to Self

Never leave the Scottie and the keys unattended in the same vehicle again.

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

Say a Little Prayer

...for a warm.bed They're opening what shelters they have in AL and MS. We're going to be in the low 30's tonight and tomorrow night and they're forecasting 28º for Friday's low. There are thousands of Katrina and Rita's victims ~ those who lost their homes and volunteers still onsite helping, bless their hearts ~ who are sleeping in pop-up and garrison tents. Even on the Rotarian site, it says the priority is "Pakistan". This may be the "South", but it gets damn cold here. Damn cold.

When you crank up that thermostat tonight, remember how lucky you are.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:41 PM | Comments (2)

WaitWaitWait WAIT!!!

I thought there was cannibalism and MURDER most foul run amok DURING Katrina?

New Orleans Has First Post-Katrina Slaying

A woman was stabbed to death in what police say is the first slaying in the city since Hurricane Katrina.

...The killing is the 205th for the city this year, compared with 225 by the same time last year, police said. The previous killing in New Orleans was on Aug. 27, two days before the hurricane struck.

Huh. I'm confused.
UPDATE: MSNBC is running that exact same AP story but with this headline:

New Orleans sees first murder since Katrina

"SINCE" Katrina? But the article says it's since "BEFORE" Katrina. Weird how they left that out, huh?

Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:18 PM

For Sh*ts and Giggles

...if you've the time, inclination and 'puter speakers.

They really nail them.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:01 AM | Comments (3)

Mon Dieu!! France Dans la Réalité

Prepare to le spit your café avec la keyboard et monitor.

A WARM Swill Salute to Moonbattery and Monsieur Van Helsing.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:55 AM | Comments (2)

Our Favorite Ultimate Moral Authority

...made front page Drudge again. I am weak and had to click through. (C'mon, I mean it's been weeks without her!) To my utter satisfaction, I found refreshing proof of media bias in the AP story and can therefore claim I was 'researching'. My report:

She and more than 300 others were arrested as they gathered near an entrance to the White House grounds. Each carried a board bearing the name of a U.S. soldier killed in Iraq.

The arrests outside the White House concluded a weekend of protests that drew over 100,000 anti-war activists, and a smaller group of counterprotesters. It was the largest anti-war demonstration* since the Vietnam War.

Bushies just can't rally the base. Probably because we have jobs, like the cops and Park Service that baby sat your loser butts that whole weekend. (*To be as fair as the AP author has been, there hasn't been a "war" of any duration TO protest since Vietnam. Duh.) A smidge further down...

But dozens of residents in the rural area complained of noise and traffic congestion as the protesters pitched tents in shallow ditches about 2 1/2 miles away from the ranch. Some traffic was from counter protests of hundreds of Bush supporters who said Sheehan's group was hurting troop morale.

A month later, McLennan County commissioners approved the new ordinances, which prohibit parking on parts of 14 roads near the ranch _ roughly a 5-mile radius _ and prohibit camping in any county ditch. The laws also ban portable toilets in ditches.

So it wasn't the thousands of Mother Sheehan synchophants, Jesse Jackson followers, Joan Baez and media both national and international that drove the neighbors bonkers; it was the Bushies that broke the camel's back. I hadn't realized there were enough normal types there to even be counted from what I saw on the news at the time.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:46 AM | Comments (1)

You Can Try to Pry My FishStick From My Cold, Dead Fingers

...but you jack with my middle-schooler and I might just resort to violence, you f*ckin' loons.

Animal rights group to protest fish-eaters at Brown-Barge Middle

...Immediately after school, at least two representatives of PETA's national office in Virginia will stand outside the school -- one wearing a fish costume -- hoping to pass out literature and "Fish Flakes" trading cards aimed at scaring children off fish.

The "Fish Flakes" cards show cartoon renditions of children who experience a whole range of traumas after eating fish.

Or a WHOPPER of a lawsuit for traumatizing my kid. Maybe we could ward them off with some Molotov-Salmon-Sodas? At the very least, some serious Fish Slapping is in order.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:49 AM | Comments (3)

Depends What Your Definition of Torture Is

From Newsweek, an eye-opener:

What was approved*
In December 2002, Rumsfeld tentatively approved 16 interrogation techniques for use with "uncooperative" detainees. In April 2003, he rejected much of the December list but noted that if officials wanted to use unapproved methods, they could ask his permission.

Approved Dec. 2002; ‘unapproved’ April 2003

Prolonged standing
Removal of detainees’ clothing
Sensory deprivation
Hooding during questioning
Prolonged interrogations
Using detainee phobias (e.g., dogs) to induce stress
Shaving of beards

Approved Dec. 2002 or April 2003

Good cop/bad cop
Rapid-fire questioning
Grabbing, poking or pushing
Sleep adjustment
Exposing detainee to an unpleasant smell

Never approved

Exposure to cold weather or water
Face slap or stomach slap
"Waterboarding": use of towel and dripping water to induce misperception of suffocation†
Threat of death to detainees or relatives
Sleep deprivation

*by Rumsfeld

So you can't shave their ratty-a$$ beards, but you CAN make them sniff Salmon Soda? I'd crack, too. And I love how no one in the MSM feels like they have to be polite and use Pres. or Sec. before an official's name ~ it's just Rumsfeld, et al.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:38 AM | Comments (7)

Shhhh!! We'ya Hunting Wabbits

"My explanation overall is that when you go somewhere and hire a licensed person to take you on a hunt, you assume that they know the laws and that the State of Wisconsin is regulating them," Sheriff Ron "Elmer Fudd" McNesby said at a hastily called news conference Tuesday. "... I had no intent to violate the rules of Wisconsin. I will challenge the fact that I intentionally did something wrong."

'Splain this then, as Escambia County's top law enforcement official.

Whitehead and McNesby were charged with hunting deer during closed season and hunting deer over bait. McNesby also was charged with hunting without a license, a charge Whitehead avoided because he obtained a license during a trip the year before.

Your average Joe probably would have asked the guy who's been there before what else you needed OR, considering the 2 minutes it took me and Major Dad to Google WI hunting regulations, you coulda/shoulda done it your ownself. The Dept. of Nat'l Resources page tells you how much and when you got to stop blasting them. (Which was a before you got there, how 'bout them apples?)

"Elmer" McNesby said Tuesday he has expensive hunting licenses from several states and would have gladly purchased one in Wisconsin if Lawinger had not told him it was unnecessary.
Then WHOOPS!!
"McNesby apologized ... for not getting a license to hunt,'' according to an affidavit by conservation warden Michael Nice of the Department of Natural Resources. "He said he should have known better.''
And we're not done yet...
Concerning the bait charge, McNesby said Tuesday that he did not see bait on the snow.
Counterpoint...
But, according to Nice's affidavit, McNesby produced pictures from the trip, one of which showed corn in the snow.

"McNesby stated he thought the corn was for bait,'' the affidavit states.

D'oh!

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:08 AM | Comments (2)

November 15, 2005

Top 25 Military Friendly Employers

Good stuff!

1. Omaha, NE. Union Pacific is one of America’s leading transportation companies. Its principle operating unit, Union Pacific Railroad, is the largest railroad in North America, covering 32,832 miles across 23 states.

2. Milwaukee, WI. Johnson Controls is a global market leader in automotive systems and facilities management and control. Revenue for fiscal 2004 totaled $25.4 billion - the 58th consecutive year of sales increases for the company.

3. Fairfield, CT. GE is a diversified technology and services company with operations that include aircraft engine manufacturing, power generation, financial services, medical imaging and television programming. GE operates in more than 100 countries with more than 300,000 employees. GE ranks first in Fortune’s 2005 list of “Global Most Admired Companies.”

4. Atlanta, GA. The Home Depot is the world’s largest home improvement retailer and second largest retailer in the U.S. Its subsidiaries specialize in such home improvement niches as flooring, lighting, interior decor and landscape supply.

5. San Antonio, TX. USAA is a diversified financial services company known for financial strength, outstanding service and competitive products. Founded in 1922 to serve members of the military and their families, USAA provides its 5 million members with financial planning, insurance, investments and banking. USAA maintains offices throughout the United States and Europe.

6. Reston, VA. Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wire line communications services to consumer, business and government customers. The company is well-known for its development and deployment of two robust wireless networks offering data services, instant national and international walkie-talkie capabilities and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone.

7. Bethesda, MD. Lockheed Martin employs about 130,000 people worldwide and is engaged principally in the research, design, development, manufacture and integration of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2004 sales of $35.5 billion.

8. Atlanta, GA. BellSouth serves 6.8 million long-distance customers and more than 2.4 million DSL subscribers. The company employs approximately 62,500 people and generated roughly $28 billion in 2004 revenue. BellSouth has joint control and 40 percent ownership of Cingular Wireless, the nation’s largest wireless voice and data provider with 51.6 million customers.

9. Columbus, OH. AEP is the largest electricity generator in the U.S., owning and operating more than 36,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the U.S. It’s also among the largest electric utilities domestically, with nearly 5 million customers linked to its 11-state transmission and distribution grid. Its service territory covers 197,500 square miles.

10. Atlanta, GA. Coca-Cola Enterprises is the world’s largest marketer, producer and distributor of the products of the Coca-Cola Company, accounting for 2 billion cases annually. That represents about 21 percent of Coca-Cola’s worldwide volume. The company employs approximately 74,000 people who operate 431 facilities, 54,000 vehicles and 2.4 million vending machines, beverage dispensers and coolers.

11. Richmond, VA. This unit of Brink’s Inc., itself part of The Brink’s Company group, is prominent for providing armored truck services. But it’s also active in cash logistics, including cash counting and vaulting; in-store cash management, and ATM deposit collections, maintenance and replenishment. Internationally, the parent company specializes in transport of such precious cargo as diamonds, jewelry and securities.

12. Atlanta, GA. Georgia Pacific founded in 1927 in an Augusta lumber yard, today is one of the world’s leading manufacturers and distributors of tissue, pulp, paper, packaging and building products and chemicals. Its well-known brands range from Quilted Northern to NITAMIN© fertilizer.

13. Plano, TX. EDS provides a broad variety of business and technology solutions to a global roster of clients. Its core portfolio includes information-technology, applications and business process services as well as IT transformation services. Its A.T. Kearney subsidiary is a prominent management consultant.

14. Milwaukee, WI. Manpower is a world leader in employment services. Manpower specializes in permanent, temporary and contract recruitment; employee assessment; training; career transition; organizational consulting and professional financial services. Its worldwide network of 4,300 offices in 72 countries and territories serves 400,000 customers annually.

15. Irving, TX. ExxonMobil is an industry leader in almost every aspect of the energy and petrochemical business. ExxonMobil operates in almost 200 countries and territories. It was formed by the combination of two high-powered companies, Exxon and Mobil.

16. San Antonio,TX. The companies of SBC provide voice and data telecommunications products and services for consumers and businesses. SBC’s broad range of offerings includes local, long distance, wireless and DSL services; data networks and satellite television. SBC operates primarily in 13 states.

17. Morristown, NJ. Honeywell is a $26 billion diversified technology and services leader, serving customers worldwide with aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings, home and industry; automotive products; turbochargers and specialty materials. Honeywell is included in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

18. Bloomington, IL. Farmer George Mecherle founded State Farm in Bloomington because he believed that farmers, who drove less than city folks, should pay less for automobile insurance. Some 83 years later, State Farm has grown to include more than 79,000 employees, more than 16,700 agents and 71.6 million policies in the U.S. and Canada.

19. New York, NY. Morgan Stanley is a global financial services firm and a market leader in securities, investment management and credit services. With more than 600 offices in 28 countries, Morgan Stanley connects people, ideas and capitalto help clients achieve their financial aspirations.

20. Cincinnati, OH. Cintas is known as the uniform people - and much more. Cintas also provides first aid and safety products, fire protection services, document management services, restroom supplies, entrance mats and promotional products for its roughly 700,000 customers. Cintas operates 351 facilities in the U.S. and Canada with more than 30,000 employees.

21. McLean, VA. Capital One has risen to the top rungs of the financial services sector in only a decade as an independent company. It manages loans totaling approximately $83 billion for a global customer base of 48.9 million. Capital One has made the Fortune lists of “America’s Most Admired Companies” and the “Best Big Companies in America.”

22. White Plains, NY. ITT Industries is a world leader in engineering and manufacturing, providing equipment for water and waste water treatment and industrial processes, defense electronics and services, electronic components such as connectors and switches and a wide range of other industrial products. The company employs approximately 44,000 people around the world.

23. Forth Worth, TX. BNSF Railway was formed by the merger of the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe railways, 150 years ago. Today, BNSF covers 30,000 miles and can deploy 5,000 locomotives and 190,000 freight cars. The company boasts the shortest, most direct rail route between Chicago and Los Angeles.

24. New York, NY. Merrill Lynch is one of the world’s leading financial management and advisory companies, Merrill Lynch operates offices in 36 countries and manages private client assets of approximately $1.6 trillion. As an investment bank, it underwrites debt and equity securities for corporations, governments, institutions and individuals worldwide.

25. Dallas, TX. Southwest Airlines operates more than 3,000 flights daily, carrying more than 70 million passengers annually to 60 cities. In May 1988, Southwest was the first airline to win the monthly “Triple Crown” - Best On-time Record, Best Baggage Handling, Fewest Customer Complaints. It’s since captured more than 30 monthly Triple Crowns and five annual Triple Crowns.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:10 PM

Just Because Something Can Be Done...

Doesn't mean it should be:

Jones Soda, the Seattle company that scored a hit during the last two holiday seasons with its turkey-and-gravy-flavored sodas, said it is offering the orange-hued fish-flavored drink this year in a nod to the Pacific Northwest's salmon catch.
"When you smell it, it's got that smoked salmon aroma," said Peter van Stolk, chief executive of Jones Soda.

And it carries this ringing endorsement from the company's chief executive:

...van Stolk said: "I cannot finish a bottle, I just can't."

I must say it is worth supporting a company with such candor...

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:41 AM | Comments (12)

According to My Sources

...they've cancelled "The Night Stalker". That makes Thursday night officially a dank, black oubliette.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:37 AM | Comments (2)

God, I'm SOOO EAsy

...but I just couldn't resist this one. You're a guy (or were one, originally), you're in the LADIES ROOM and your staff still gets to rough up someone?

Michael Jackson beat it after a startled woman starting taking his picture while he was attending to his toiletry in the ladies’ room in a Dubai shopping mall. A 37-year-old Tunisian woman spotted Jackson wearing a T-shirt, trousers and traditional Arab women’s headscarf, according to the Khaleei Times. The horrified woman screamed and started snapping the star’s picture with a cellphone camera. but Jackson’s staff reportedly confiscated the pics.

And what the hell are your goons doing in the girl's room? If it was any other person caught in an Islamic ladies WC, they'd be in a black oubliette for the rest of their natural (or un-natural in his case) days. If they were lucky.

I'd read where this manufactured freak was moving permanently out of the country. Instead, he should be in prison for what he's doing to his children.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:28 AM | Comments (6)

Sniffing Paint Today

...in a bold bid to have modern art masterpieces to peddle for Friday's Gallery Night, so THS blogging* will be sporadic and mostly unintelligible. Mostly.

*Except for that new, right hand turn in the track. Now that is really bugging me. Dampening the creative spirit. I need another can of paint...

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:41 AM

It's All a Question of Leverage

...and how badly we need it.

Kyrgyzstan has accused the US of reneging on a promise to review past payments made by the Pentagon for use of its Manas air base and is threatening to limit access to the facility, which is crucial to US operations in Afghanistan.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:33 AM | Comments (2)

Singed and Shriveled

No, not Mr. Summers' goat. The French. (Of course, I think we've suspected the "shriveled" all along.)

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:25 AM | Comments (3)

I Went Hunting, But I Didn't Inhale...

Ah, the arresting cast of bombastic weasels that comprise the upper echelons of Escambia County government are at it again, praise Jesus. Only this time, they've decided to go as a touring ensemble and share the love on the road.

Escambia County Sheriff Ron McNesby, Escambia County Commissioner Mike Whitehead, the Rev. Gordon Godfrey of Marcus Pointe Baptist Church and 15 other local residents are among 46 people charged with violating numerous hunting laws in Wisconsin.

..."I'd never been there before," McNesby said. "I was there for about an hour one day and an hour the next, but I didn't shoot anything."

White Hunters, Black Hearts
Escambia County Sheriff Ron McNesby describes how County Administrator George Touart (left) saw, in the glare of the jack-light, a chronically wasted deer leaning down to drink at a forest pond and shouted "Blast HIM!!" Sheriff Ron said he respectfully declined, choosing to leave all of the Lord's creatures in peace. Especially since he was never there, anyway. ©TPI

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:23 AM | Comments (4)

November 14, 2005

You Think You Know Your Friends and Then

...BLAMMO !!! They channel James Watt. On Yahoo is chipper news about the woods...

Forest covering an area about the size of Greece disappears each year around the world, but replanting efforts are beginning to reverse the trend, according to a report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

But on Wunderkraut, it's just WOOD CHIPPER news.

( I'd normally add how fetching he looks during his TV appearence, but I'm not speaking to him. "Drainage", indeed.)

Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:17 PM | Comments (11)

Any Opportunity to Fight Injustice

...or get your opportunistic MUG on TV.

Rev. Jackson calls T.O. punishment 'much too severe'

Puh-leez.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:39 AM | Comments (4)

November 13, 2005

New Jersey Bruce Rocks!!

I mean the REAL MAN Bruce,
not the scruffy guy that sings

It's about these guys. It's about these guys who do what they are asked to do for very little money to defend and fight for what they consider to be freedom. And it's not just for this country. It's for the world. It is time for terrorism to stop. And the United States is the country that can stop it. And that's what they're doing over there.

Swill salute to the Blogfaddah.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:12 PM | Comments (2)

November 12, 2005

Welcome Back to the U S of A, the_real_jeffS!!!!

We're so GLAD you're home from Kuwait, safe and sound...
...we could KISS YOU!!!

Well, Bingley wants to anyway. I can wait.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:45 PM | Comments (12)

Yippee! I Get To Buy A New Appliance!!!

Our dishwasher has died. Well, to be more precise, we've decided that something of its vintage is not worth sinking $300 into to repair.

My heartfelt suggestion to my bride that it wouold be very theraputic for her, in order to releave the stress and tension of her days, what with all the student problems and disappointments, to do the dishes by hand for a few weeks was surprisingly not well received; I'm constantly amazed how women mis-interpret men's compassionate and concerned suggestions in such a manner.

Anyhow, we scoped out a hot little Kitchenaid beauty dressed demurely in black last night, so soon she shall be ours!

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:40 AM | Comments (7)

I'm Not Sure If I Should Be Proud Of This...

But we're #3 on Google searches for "Cheerleader Action Shots"!!

A welcome to all those so seeking, but you will be somewhat disappointed!

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:31 AM | Comments (4)

Autumn Is Here

The ocean takes on a completely different color and character, and you get these "English Seascape" clouds shining in the crisp light...

And the colors on the leaves have turned into all the hues of yellow and orange that one could want...

Now if I could only convince them to stay on the trees.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:59 AM | Comments (5)

Operation Twelve Marines of Christmas

UPDATE FROM Lt. SARAH:

For many Marines in this unit, including several of my Marines, this is their third deployment in 3 years and at least the second Christmas in a row they’ve missed. I can definitely give you some suggestions for things we’d like/need/want out here: RedBull, beef jerky, hard candy, movies, music, packs of tuna, oatmeal, healthy snacks, magazines, and good books. Honestly, they said don’t send a ton of cookies, because around Christmas-time we get inundated with those sort of things from groups and they are trying to be healthy! (from my Marines! {:^) ). It is cold here already and the rainy season will start soon. We are supposed to be here until early/mid March. Um… let’s see, I’m trying to think of other stuff that might be relevant or helpful. I think that’s about it for now. Honestly, though, ANYthing you guys send will be AWESOME. And, yes, letters and cards from people, even though they don’t know them, are always great, too.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Wise words from Cullen...

I read one to two books a day over there because of the availability.

Hard candy and beef jerkey is great. Do they have access to microwaves? Microwave Mac and cheese was a great thing. The things my wife sent me most were coffee, Mac and cheese and magazines. Cookies and such are nice, but like Sarah said, it's hard to stay in shape there esp. 'cause you can't keep a regular PT program going a lot of the time.

and a really good question about hand held games from Faith (which jeffS says they love, but adds "Don't forget to send along extra batteries!") got me thinking I needed to email Sarah again...

Yes, hot cocoa is great. Also, tea and coffee are consumed in large amounts here. We do have microwaves, or, at a minimum, the ability to make hot water in a coffee pot and pour it on oatmeal, mac n’ cheese, tea, etc. Oh and as far as movies go, if people want to send those, tell them to send DVD’s not VHS. Everyone out here has either a laptop or DVD player to watch movies on.

I guess I need to actually write up a suggestions list, since there are so many different things one could send that would help out.
(A THS P.S.: Add corn nuts and sunflower seeds to the list, too)
This is a list I asked Sarah to work up, for all of those other things they might need/like that you all have been asking me about ~ and I don't have a clue! Now, don't think you can't send cookies if you'd planned to! We've got a great diversity of folks all doing different things, so there's not going to be millions from us and it's gonna work out fabulously, I just know it. If you all could let me know what you decide to send your Marine(s), I'll do a running ledger and try to keep things even-steven. Don't worry about letting me know if you're sending cards/notes ~ that's icing on the cake and we so appreciate everything you all do.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:24 AM | Comments (1)

November 11, 2005

They Can Keep the Nickname

But the Chief's gotta go.

The governing body, however, said Chief Illiniwek remains a “hostile and abusive” image of American Indians.

Personally, I think the guy's a stud.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:01 PM | Comments (1)

Support Our Troops

"because insurgents don’t know about happy hour,"

The Off Duty Beer Helmet, made from stuff they're already wearing anyway.

“It’s bad enough that our soldiers in Iraq have to drink non-alcoholic beer,” notes Ron, DrinkingStuff’s chief product designer, “add to that the fact they may be shot at while drinking it and you can see there’s a problem waiting to be solved.”

Thank God for American ingenuity. Bingley has two
and he's just in New Jersey...

Posted by tree hugging sister at 08:23 PM

But You Can Give Me a Good Old Crucifix in Urine Anytime?

"We're walking around and people are looking at us suspiciously, asking 'Is this what Muslim women are like? Are they oppressed?' That directly offends us," said Sada Ahmed, Harper College student.
"The statement was that people or women wearing the hajad, or veil, are repressed. These women that are walking around campus don't feel that way. They feel liberated wearing the veil," said Ahmed Rehab, Council on American-Islamic Relations.

As opposed to being indirectly offended? What? I missed this when it happened. Maybe you did too.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 08:09 PM | Comments (4)

Operation Twelve Marines of Christmas

UPDATE: Okay, I have bloodied my puddies typing them to the bone to get emails out with your Marine's name and address on them. I did ask for a reply, so I have an idea of who actually got what I sent out, but PLEASE to let me know if your email didn't arrive. Or, if this is the first you've heard of our grand plan and would like to, are foaming at the mouth to, help make Thanksgiving and Christmas a little cheerier for a small group of our Marines in Iraq.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 04:13 PM

Flying the Friendly Skies Circa 2005

Ebola is on his very own, first, self-bought-and-paid-for jaunt. He had a lovely flight into Et-lanta from Bangla-cola, but the leg from Et-lanta to Salt Lake City was educational. His in-flight meal?

A granola bar.

Man, is he cranky.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:27 PM | Comments (10)

Here's Hopin'

"We will never back down. We will never give in. We will never accept anything less than complete victory,"

...he means it and that the American people stay the course. More from Don Surber.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:48 PM | Comments (3)

Raptor in the Pattern

Things should really get rockin' pretty soon. Why? Oh, man! Did I neglect to mention this weekend is...

The Blue Angels Homecoming Show?

And I've got a ring side seat.

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

GySgt R. Lee Ermey, USMC

...goes back, tonight on Mail Call at 8 p.m. EST, 7 p.m. CST.

For the first time since leaving on a Freedom Bird back in 1969, R. Lee Ermey travels back to Vietnam. In this two-hour special Lee visits his old stomping grounds, Da Nang, where he served 13 months as Staff Sergeant assigned to the Marine Air Support Group. Lee also pays tribute to our fighting men and women at such historic locations as Hue, Khe Sanh, Hanoi and the US Embassy in Saigon. And, of course, Lee answers viewers' questions about what it was like to fight during the long, bloody conflict. Features interviews with veterans spanning the entire history of the war--from the Commanding Officer of the first combat troops to arrive in 1965 through the last Marine to step off the Embassy roof ten years later.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:40 AM

Dear Governor Corzine

$60 MILLION to get any job is obscene. O.B.S.C.E.N.E. You need to talk to this kid:

18-year-old holds 2-vote lead in mayoral race
Sessions used $700 from a summer job to fund his race

Posted by tree hugging sister at 08:51 AM | Comments (5)

Thanks To All Who Serve

Go read Ken, too.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:10 AM | Comments (2)

November 10, 2005

The Religion of Peace and Love

"I'd say that's a little over the top. Is he God now?"

A Dover, PA resident about Pat Robertson's latest articulation of all the love in his heart. Now, send him $10 so he can keep the spirit flowing.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 07:07 PM | Comments (4)

Music to My Ears

Probably to yours, too.

"Burn in hell, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi!"

A bee-yoo-tiful chorus.
UPDATE: Newlyweds Ashraf al-Akhras and Nadia al-Alami pose with their fathers at the Radisson SAS in Amman, Jordan, Wednesday shortly before the hotel was bombed.

The dead there included the fathers of the bride and groom.
UPDATE: According to ABC World News Tonight, the bomber walked past all the Westerners in the lobby, straight into the Muslim wedding. Al-Qaida considers weddings with drinking, women dancing with men and a bride wearing white to be blasphemy and an abomination. Against Islam.

Bastards.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 02:37 PM | Comments (9)

People Know a Poo* Sandwich

...when they see one.

"Any poll I do, the rest of Louisiana thinks, 'New Orleans is a deep, dark hole, and no matter how much money we send, it doesn't seem to get better.' "

*For Rob {8^P

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:52 AM | Comments (4)

Christmas is Coming, the Goose is Getting Fat and

WE NEED YOUR HELP

We have some brave Devil Dogs (twelve to be exact ~ more on that later) keeping UAV's in the air on the Syrian border right now, with one of Major Dad's favoritest First Lieutenants in charge. She says most of her kids get hardly any mail at all and, being LCpl's and Cpl's, that means not much internet time for them either. The Swilling immediately adopted the whole bunch and this is where you guys come in. We'd love to have ya'lls help getting cookies, treats, paper turkeys, magazines ~ whatEVER you feel you can do ~ to the Marines of VMU-1 Forward's S-2 shop, so Thanksgiving and Christmas are a tad more tolerable. Time's getting short for Thanksgiving and the Christmas mailing recommendations are out (APO addresses by Dec5!), so we need to get crackin'. For example, I sent Sara a box of cookies prior to Halloween and tucked in a bag of individually wrapped candy corns. Now, they've been in the field for a couple weeks, so no packages, but it'll be waiting on her to get back. Stuff like that. I'm going to try to get a T-Giving box together with little turkey party thingers. We'd love to have you all on board, for cookies or for postcards ~ WHAT doesn't matter, but the THOUGHT does. I know there're quite a few worthy and wonderful (like Valor-IT) fundraisers going on around the blogosphere now, too. But those are big picture and impersonal. We're doing little picture, up close and personal. Like what hearing your name at mail-call does for a young Marine's heart. Drop me or Bingster a note (our contact info at right) if you'd like to join us. We'd love to have you. I mean, we'd LOVE to have you.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:29 AM | Comments (31)

230 Years Young. OO-RAH!

On November 10, 1775, the Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia passed a resolution stating that "two Battalions of Marines be raised" for service as landing forces with the fleet. This resolution established the Continental Marines and marked the birth date of the United States Marine Corps.

Four legendary Marines who served with bravery and distinction during the 20th century will be immortalized by the U.S. Postal Service when it issues the Distinguished Marines Commemorative Postage Stamps November 10th at 1:00pm, during a ceremony at Marine Barracks Washington,DC. The event is in conjunction with celebration of the 230th Birthday of the United States Marine Corps.

Great faces, shitty places.

Bless their brave hearts. Happy Birthday, Marines.
Semper Fi.

From me and Major Dad.

(Loading up for DESERT SHIELD, MCAS El Toro, 1990)
Please consider joining us in sending cheer to one of our in-country Marines.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 07:57 AM | Comments (24)

November 09, 2005

BREAKING NEWS

Big bombs go off in a hotel in Amman Jordan.
The Grand Hyatt, the Radisson and the Day's Inn in near simultaneous attacks.
According to the expert on Fox right now, those hotels (esp. the Hyatt) are used for high ranking Israeli visitors, the int'l press, Iraqi diplomats and have been a target of al-Zarqawi's before. At least 12 dead so far.

UPDATE: Three explosions, one at each hotel. They're located in a geographic triangle and the explosions WERE simultaneous. AP saying the first bomb shattered the Grand Hyatt's stone entrance, Reuter's saying the Radisson blast caused by a bomb in a false ceiling.

UPDATE DEUX: Ah. King Abdullah is on his way to the U.S. for meetings. Jordanian news service Petra saying it was suicide bombers.
They(reporters) are saying that Jordan was the place you thought you could let your guard down.

4:30 CST round-up: Fox saying 53 dead, 2 suicide bombers (one who walked into a wedding/Radisson) and one car bomber who couldn't get past the security, so lit it off outside ("A third explosion was reported at the Days Inn Hotel. Muasher said a car packed with explosives approached the hotel but could not cross a protective barrier, so it detonated outside.). Reuters here. The borders are closed and one can assuredly assume there's one whale of a man-hunt in progress. AP latest here.
CONTINUED: MSNBC has the death toll at 57, with hundreds injured and a brief reminder that this is not the only attack lately...

Second attack in months
This is the second attack in Jordan in the last three months. Attackers fired three rockets at a U.S. assault ship docked at the Red Sea resort of Aqaba in August, missing the ship but killing a Jordanian soldier. It was the most serious attack on the U.S. Navy by militants since the USS Cole was bombed in 2000. Two Syrians and an Iraqi were captured during those attacks.

Fox correspondants in the area were also noting that once one went off the beaten path in Amman, it was common to have stones, etc. thrown at your taxi as it went by.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 02:34 PM | Comments (1)

‘Untouchable’ Indian President Narayanan

He was once barred from primary school because he couldn't afford the fees, but stubbornly stood outside the classroom to listen to lessons.

...has passed away. What an extraordinary man he was.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:15 PM

Hmmmm...I'm Sensing

...a perilous poultry pattern.

Exhibit A: The injured chicken is at animal services on campus.
Exhibit B: A woman has been arrested for padding her bra -- with a stolen rare parrot.

Exhibit C: "I could have died over some fried chicken left on the stove,"

Exhibit D: Hot chicks in hot water soon shooting hot shots?

(Normally, I'm willing to die FOR fried chicken, but, considering recent events here in the Sunshine State, I think I'll hold off for a while.)

Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:42 PM | Comments (2)

The "Ward Churchill School of Screenwriting"?

"I turned to my friend during the movie and said, 'I have always wanted to see my book on the big screen and there it is; I just didn't get credit for it,' " said Mr. Turnipseed, who served as a truck driver with the Marine Corps for about 90 days in 1991.

I mean, how could you possibly screw over a Marine named Turnipseed? That's just un-American.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:15 AM | Comments (7)

Speaking of Harsh Language

...South Korea's newest generation says "thanks for the memories".

John and I have discussed the Japanese version of that particular sign at some length here, but, in their defense, the Japanese got their a$$es kicked and just have never gotten over it. Okay, understandable. Everyone's entitled to an opinion. On the otherhand, the only reason the South Koreans can wear Gucci while putting nasty signs up is because we saved their a$$es.
When Bingley's favorite Fearless Leader sends his famished hordes over the border, I hope they remember to take the signs down before they yelp for help.

A Swill Salute to onefreekorea (check out his contacts at the end of the post), via the always timely Gateway Pundit.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:19 AM | Comments (2)

Word of the Day

sang·froid / 'sän-'f(r)wä/ noun
: self-possession or imperturbability especially under strain

Example Sentence: Le Monde, the newspaper of France's political elite, accused the prime minister of sending a message of "staggering brutality" to the youth of the suburbs, who are for the most part children and grandchildren of African immigrants.

By invoking a law created in 1955 to put down unrest during the Algerian war of independence, Le Monde said, Mr de Villepin had "lost his sang-froid" and was sending the message that "France intends to treat them [the French-born children of immigrants] as it did their grandparents. The prime minister should remember that this spiral of incomprehension, of martial fever and powerlessness has driven the republic to its worst setbacks".

If curfews are "staggering brutality", what do they use when the "unrest" doesn't peter out? Harsh language?

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:30 AM | Comments (4)

November 08, 2005

Rest In Peace, Schweet Schmacks

I'm so sorry Sis.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 11:16 AM | Comments (27)

Oooo, They're Getting Tough Now!

After 12 days of riots the French Cabinet considers curfews!

"We are composing letters to these youths, telling them how angry we are."

"We will now be able to act in a preventative manner to avoid these incidents," Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said.

"We will monitor, bit by bit, the evolution of events," AP quoted him as saying. "For a period of 12 days, raids will be possible every time that we have a suspicion of a stockpiling of weapons."

But they've got the situation under control:

Rioters burned 1,173 cars in 226 towns nationwide overnight compared to 1,408 the previous night, AP quoted police as saying.
Meanwhile, 330 people were arrested, down from 395 the night before, National Police Chief Michel Gaudin told a news conference.

"The intensity of this violence is on the way down," AP quoted him as saying.

And the 3 car dealerships that are left in the country will be doing a booming business over the next few months!

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:06 AM | Comments (4)

November 07, 2005

Channeling Governor Blameco

Whatever dope he's smoking, I hope to hell no one else gets ahold of any.

Dominique de Villepin, the beleaguered prime minister, announced that officials in riot-hit areas would be authorised to impose late-night curfews "wherever it is necessary" in a bid to halt the disturbances.

He rejected calls by a police union for troops to be sent in but said that 1,500 reservists were being called up and repeated an appeal to parents to keep adolescent rioters off the streets.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:50 PM | Comments (6)

Quote of the Day

"[W]e were inundated with hate mail. We were disparaged as 'immoral cowards; a nation of effeminate, improbitive [sic], whimpering, timorous poltroons.' And isn’t it racist to say 'I hope you enjoy Islam. I hope you do not expect to move to the U.S. when the Muslims run you out of your own country'?"

~the French Ambassador to the U.S., Jean-David Levitte

Dead to rights, but in June 2004.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:59 AM | Comments (2)

Carnival of the Recipes

...is warming up the stove top!

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:28 AM

Alors Si Je Comprends Bien...

Ten days of your country under attack and you don't pipe up until the afternoon of the eleventh? Hell of a way to run a country, Monsewer President. Ce qui m'agace c'est que; for someone who's so quick to point out...

...how wrong everyone else is, maybe it's time you kept your mouth shut and took a look at the old homestead. Quit playing pique-a-boo with your citizens, and BE the leader you tell everyone else how to be.
UPDATE: Let's play "What's Wrong With This Headline?"

10 Officers Shot as Riots Worsen in French Cities

I'll go first. I think it should read "Officers Shot 10 Rioters".

UPDATE the UPDATE: Three Hundred towns ??!!

PARIS - Rioting by French youths spread to 300 towns overnight and a man hurt in the violence died of his wounds, the first fatality in 11 days of unrest that has shocked the country, police said Monday.

As urban unrest spread to neighboring Belgium and possibly Germany, the French government faced growing criticism for its inability to stop the violence, despite massive police deployment and continued calls for calm.

I love the 'continued calls for calm' bit. That might have worked before day three, but I'd be packing my bags about now. Looks like a worn, old joke of the Grinch's that holds sadly true to this day.

How many French troops does it take to defend Paris?

Don't know. No one's ever tried it.

"Calm", my derrière.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:11 AM | Comments (8)

For You "Hot Cheerleader Action" Fans

I'm not sure "2:10 am in a bathroom stall" is what you envisioned:

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Two Carolina Panthers cheerleaders were arrested after a bar dispute that broke out early Sunday after patrons complained the women were having sex in a bathroom stall, a police arrest report said.
Police reports named the women, but The Tampa Tribune reported officials were checking into whether one of them gave a false identification. One woman was charged with battery, and the other with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.

Both women were released on bond later Sunday

The women were locked in a stall at about 2:10 a.m. Sunday when other patrons got angry they were taking so long in the bathroom, the police report said. The women left the stall, and one began arguing with another patron of Banana Joe's, eventually hitting that patron in the face with a closed fist, police said.

Two women having sex in a stall? I'm assuming it was a handicapped one, so they'd have a little more room (and that sturdy bar...), but still...ick all around.

Update: Mugshots!!

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:44 AM | Comments (8)

Neil Armstrong on 60 Minutes

...last night coincided with a review (by Douglas Brinkley, piTU!) in the NYT of his authorized biography "First Man". CBS mentioned how they were 'strolling on his family farm in Ohio'. One additional, fascinating tidbit noted in the NYT was...

...after leaving NASA in 1971 Armstrong named his farm "Rivendale"...

Posted by tree hugging sister at 07:54 AM | Comments (15)

November 05, 2005

Chicken Sh&ts and the Honor of Islam

Rebels Dressed as Women Attack Iraqi Police Station
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Saturday, Nov. 5 - Insurgent attacks across central Iraq, including one in which the guerrillas disguised themselves as women, left at least 16 dead on Friday as Shiite Arabs across the country began celebrating the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
In the deadliest assault, insurgents dressed in women's clothing attacked a police checkpoint in the town of Buhriz, 35 miles north of Baghdad, killing at least 6 police officers and wounding at least 10 others, American and Iraqi officials said. The guerrillas were armed with Kalashnikov rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars, and pulled up in five cars, an Interior Ministry official said. The police officers killed at least two of the gunmen, he added.

Pretty convenient, that "sense of moral superiority to everything around them, including women": you get to keep your women all swathed up in billowing cloth. Who the hell knows who's under those miles of bedsheets? Thank God for democracy and the equality of the sexes. They'd never get away with such bold, manly acts here. We'd see through it in a heartbeat.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 08:28 AM | Comments (8)

Like a Bridge Over Troubled Water?

...In a speech to a group of conservative academics and policy experts, DeLay blamed the runaway spending of recent years on minority Democrats. When he took questions, the first came from a senior official at the American Conservative Union, who asked DeLay, "How large does the Republican majority in the House and Senate need to be before Republicans act like the fiscal conservative I thought we were?"

Give the guy that asked the question a Tootsie Pop!

Posted by tree hugging sister at 08:15 AM | Comments (3)

November 04, 2005

Well, um...YEAH!

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Contending that the Supreme Court has undermined a pillar of American society -- the sanctity of the home -- the House overwhelmingly approved a bill Thursday to block the court-approved seizure of private property for use by developers.
The bill, passed 376-38, would withhold federal money from state and local governments that use powers of eminent domain to force businesses and homeowners to give up their property for commercial uses.

The one nay voter they quote has a "D" by his name, go figure. But I'm sure there's just as many slavering little "R's" in local governments, scrambling to get the dirty deeds done before this kicks in. Greed is universal. So is grease.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:04 PM | Comments (1)

You Light Up My Life

...might be Paris' theme song at the moment, but there are pretty awful things afoot all over Europe that aren't getting any press time. And, coincidence of coincidence, they all have one thing in common. You got it. The religion of PEACE.

In June a Danish* newspaper, tired of artists censuring themselves for fear of Islamospastics, called for artists to send in charicatures of the prophet. Twelve brave souls sent in their offerings, which the paper then published. Reaction was swift, pretty predictable and typically Islamospastic-fervent.

'This type of democracy is worthless for Muslims,' Imam Raed Hlayhel wrote in a statement. 'Muslims will never accept this kind of humiliation. The article has insulted every Muslim in the world. We demand an apology!'

(Not that any democracy seems to work for these a$$holes, but that's another post.) That was over 5 months ago and things are still fired up. Literally en fuego.

From a City Journal piece, this observation rings ever so true, along with some frightening thoughts for Britain.

Even if for no other reason, then (and there are in fact other reasons), young Muslim males have a strong motive for maintaining an identity apart. And since people rarely like to admit low motives for their behavior, such as the wish to maintain a self-gratifying dominance, these young Muslims need a more elevated justification for their conduct toward women. They find it, of course, in a residual Islam: not the Islam of onerous duties, rituals, and prohibitions, which interferes so insistently in day-to-day life, but in an Islam of residual feeling, which allows them a sense of moral superiority to everything around them, including women, without in any way cramping their style.

...Surveys suggest that between 6 and 13 percent of British Muslims—that is, between 98,000 and 208,000 people—are sympathetic toward Islamic terrorists and their efforts. Theoretical sympathy expressed in a survey is not the same thing as active support or a wish to emulate the “martyrs” in person, of course. But it is nevertheless a sufficient proportion and absolute number of sympathizers to make suspicion and hostility toward Muslims by the rest of society not entirely irrational, though such suspicion and hostility could easily increase support for extremism. This is the tightrope that the British state and population will now have to walk for the foreseeable future; and the sweet dream of universal cultural compatibility has been replaced, in a single day, by the nightmare of permanent conflict.

Paul Belien of the Brussels Journal noted that there are two reasons for the appeasement of politicians:

The first one is that the Muslim population in Western Europe has become so large that politicians fear what it might be capable of.

...while invoking that most French of disasters in the second...

A second reason why some politicians try to appease the Muslims is that these are now a substantial segment of the voting population. Demographics are deciding the fate of Europe’s democracy. Time is running out. If Sarkozy cannot win the battle today, it is unlikely that he or anyone else will be able to do so tomorrow. If Clichy turns out to be Sarkozy’s Waterloo, it will be a catastrophe not just for France.

I wish I could say my money was on the French...or the Dutch...Danish*...or anyone on the Continent. And I'm so worried for the Brits. As Piglet goes, so goes Picadilly? Or Poughkeepsie.

Perish the thought.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 07:11 PM | Comments (3)

Sucking Up Means Always Having to Say

...you're sorry. Even if there's a veiled threat involved.

LONDON -- A British judge apologized Thursday to a suspected Islamic militant ordered to appear in court for an extradition hearing on one of the Muslim calendar's holiest days.

..."For me it is not a problem," he(Haroon Rashid Aswat) told the judge. "I can understand it is about technical difficulties. But for these people doing these bombings in this country, they are very simpleminded - they take it as an insult."

(Judge) Workman apologized for the timing of the appearance, saying: "If I had known we would have picked a different day."

Posted by tree hugging sister at 06:07 PM | Comments (1)

World Exclusive

Our intrepid team of reporters here at TPI has gotten exclusive footage of one of Ken's liasons returning from last week's Mystery Trip.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 02:42 PM | Comments (5)

You Can Do It, But We Won't Help

Home Depot was sued by a shopper who claims he got stuck to a restroom toilet seat because a prankster had smeared it with glue.
Bob Dougherty, 57, accused employees of ignoring his cries for help for about 15 minutes because they thought he was kidding.

...The lawsuit, filed Friday, said Dougherty was recovering from heart bypass surgery and thought he was having a heart attack when he got stuck at the Louisville store on the day before Halloween 2003.

A store employee who heard him calling for help informed the head clerk by radio, but the head clerk "believed it to be a hoax," the lawsuit said.

...Paramedics unbolted the toilet seat, and as they wheeled the "frightened and humiliated" Dougherty out of the store, he passed out.

..."This is not Home Depot's fault," Dougherty said. "But I am blaming them for letting me hang in there and just ignoring me."

Well, whoever did his bypass surgery should be named "Doctor of the Year", since he obviously did a fine fix.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:33 AM | Comments (11)

I have said this for years...

but the R's need a Condi/JC Watts ticket for '08. This makes me even more convinced that it would cause apoplectic fits in the left. A small snippet:

Republicans in Congress are spending like profligates with no tomorrow. The freshman senator from my home state of Oklahoma, Dr. Tom Coburn, recently assumed the role of skunk at the garden party when he inquired about a quarter of a billion dollar bridge to nowhere in Alaska, and had the temerity to suggest that money could be used to rebuild several real bridges to somewhere in Louisiana and Mississippi.

I doubt it will happen, but a guy can dream. Condi has the knowledge and talent for the international events, JC has the experience with Congress to hopefully convince them to quit spending like D's. Both ar outstanding speakers. (Of course I would have to buy a bunch of RJ Nabisco stock before the campaign started, so I could retire young.)

Posted by Crusader at 08:14 AM | Comments (8)

November 03, 2005

Sandy Hook, 6:10am, November 3rd 2005

Kinda peaceful and nice.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:53 PM | Comments (7)

Word of the Day

catachresis \kat-uh-KREE-sis\ noun
*1 : use of the wrong word for the context
2 : use of a forced and especially paradoxical figure of speech

Example sentence:
The paper printed a correction for the previous day's catachresis: dubbing a local artist-philanthropist a "socialist" when they meant "socialite."

I find myself calling Bingley a "fascist" when I meant to say "fathead", so this has some relevance.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:54 PM | Comments (10)

Why Not?

FBI: Muslims detained at stadium weren't profiled

EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (AP) -- Five Muslim football fans were detained and questioned during a game at Giants Stadium because they were congregating near an air duct on a night former President Bush was in the stadium, the FBI said Wednesday.
Some of the Muslims said they did not know they were in a sensitive area, and they complained that they were subjected to racial profiling while they were praying, as their faith requires five times a day.

First off, once again there is this seeming conflation of 'race' and 'religion', which drives me nuts to no end. Secondly, a bunch of RoPers getting together in a packed stadium where a former President of the US was? Hello?

Anyone congregating there should have been detained and questioned, as these folks were, but, sorry, especially RoPers. Too many things have exploded in their wakes around the world of late.

"We do not profile anyone that comes into our arena, stadium or racetrack on any basis," said George Zoffinger, president of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, which operates the stadium. "There was no profiling of our customers. I want to make that clear."

I'd feel safer if you did.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 12:22 PM

Mommy Knows Worst

The Insta-Wife reviews Lileks' newest book, and I agree with her:

...However, this is not to say that the baby boomer's children are without their own problems. Yes, we have learned from yesterday's mistakes in areas like proper sun exposure and showing parental affection. But as a psychologist specializing in adolescents, I have seen the pendulum swing too far in the opposite direction with some current child raising fads.
...What I learned from Lileks' interesting and entertaining book is that moderation is the key in child rearing and, sometimes, it is best to trust our own instincts. Experts are there to help but Lileks reminds us that they are human and make mistakes, too. Mommy Knows Worst is a great read for those who wonder if child rearing was always this hard. Apparently, the answer is "yes."

The Cult of Self Esteem is our generation's horrible fad that we are inflicting on our kids.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:05 AM | Comments (8)

November 02, 2005

We Are So Proud of Him, Our Marine

We had to let him know. Had to make sure his family knew what his life and their God awful sacrifice meant. Little knots of us ~ five, ten, fifteen strong ~ lined the miles from the funeral home to the gates of NAS Pensacola. So many strangers, all with the same aching heart. The strangers with red eyed, tear streaked faces who nodded at us through car windows, tissues pressed to their mouths, as the miles long procession rolled quietly on by.

Strangers on street corners and sidewalks. I met Frances, who helped me hold my ratty flag. She was there on her birthday with her very gentlemanly husband. Their son Gary, a Vietnam Marine, rode the one motorcycle in the unending line of cars; the Marine Corps flag flying proudly from his handlebars. There was the dad who made sure his son was with him, complete with red, white and blue bandana flags. "It's hard to find little flags this time of year", he said. "We had these bandanas..." I thought they were perfect.

And then the escort appeared. Flags went up, backs stood tall and straight, hats came off and hands went on hearts. On all those aching hearts. By God, we're proud of you, son. All of us just wanted you to know.
On eagle's wings, sweet boy. Semper Fi, Marine.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 04:00 PM | Comments (7)

The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear

...well, you know. Presenting our:

Hog For Your Blog ~ Pork Post of the Day

Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:30 PM | Comments (2)

You Can Only Use Your Skin To Think

So it seems as far as the Democrats in Maryland are concerned:

Black Democratic leaders in Maryland say that racially tinged attacks against Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele in his bid for the U.S. Senate are fair because he is a conservative Republican.

Republican=Racist

Such attacks against the first black man to win a statewide election in Maryland include pelting him with Oreo cookies during a campaign appearance, calling him an "Uncle Tom" and depicting him as a black-faced minstrel on a liberal Web log.

Nice, huh?

As the Man says, read the whole thing.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:05 AM | Comments (2)

Ken's Having A Senior Moment

Please help him find a post.

Don't do it for his sake, do it for the kittens:

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:13 AM | Comments (7)

November 01, 2005

A Step in the Right Direction

...since he wouldn't step aside.

Judge Removed From DeLay's Criminal Case
...The ruling came after a hearing in which attorneys for the former House Republican leader argued that state District Judge Bob Perkins' political donations called his impartiality into question. Perkins, a Democrat, has contributed to candidates such as John Kerry and the liberal advocacy group MoveOn.org

Let's see where it goes now.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:50 PM | Comments (1)

A Room With a View

...is gonna cost you.

ORFORD, N.H. --The one-room cabin David Bischoff built in a cow pasture three years ago has no electricity, no running water, no phone service and no driveway.

What it does have is a wide-open view of the surrounding hills -- a view valued at $140,000, according to the latest townwide property revaluation.

The so-called "view tax" increased the value of his property sevenfold, from $22,900 to $162,900, a figure he believes is far more than its actual value. He expects a sharp jump in his $500 annual property taxes as well.

"I'd be happy if they assessed me $50,000 for the view," said Bischoff, chairman of the Board of Selectmen.

I guess that's a White Mountain version of 'beach front property'.

A problem named Maria checks out her bitchin' New Hampshire pad, recently purchased for her as a vacation love nest by Captain von Trapp. "Ach du liebe!" she gurgled with delight.
"It goes from here...all zee way to dere!"

"You little minx," he's quoted as saying, while handing her the keys. "See what happens when you put out?"
©TPI

Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:35 PM | Comments (7)

Pig Of The Day

Brought to you by the swine folks at Mikeska's BBQ.

Yumyumyumyumyum.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 12:13 PM | Comments (12)

Welcome to Our World

They are sick — and tired too — of playing second fiddle to New Orleans. Just like New Orleans, Port Arthur's schools are still closed, but East Texans here say they've been cheated of both help and sympathy.
“People are, frankly, sick of hearing about Katrina around here,” says Wayner Moore, the administrator of Christus Hospital-St. Mary. That, says Moore, is because there was suffering here too.

Has there been any storm before or after Katrina for the past year? I don't think so. On a lighter note, Major Dad sent me a CNN "your emails" link that seems lifted from our post-Wilma discussion the other day. The tenor of the emails chosen is amazing for an MSM column!

People who live in hurricane prone areas should learn to be self-sufficient. It is their responsibility to have at least 72 hours worth of food and water; they should fill their tubs, gas tanks and get as much cash as possible. This country was not built by people who depended on others to take care of them. During the Cuban Missile Crisis in the early 1960's all of South Florida kept about a week's worth of food and water in their linen closets in case a bomb was dropped. The concept of self reliance is not new, just common sense. The government should not set expectations that they will be there any sooner than 72 hours. They actually did a great job in South Florida -- the people failed their government.
Edi Meadows, Weston, Florida

Gives one a tiny glimmer of hope, pas vrai?
UPDATE: Well...DUH. But the whole concept is racist and insensitive.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:58 AM | Comments (1)

Plan Away, Boys

Why does this particular headline aggrevate my acid reflux?

US steps up planning for a Cuba without Castro

Because this particular bunch of knot-head neo-cons couldn't plan a Bar Mitzvah, that's why. And when someone has a plan that tries to cover all the bases, it's "too negative". Like who? Anthony Zinni, for one.

"But how to square away this attitude with invading Iraq? Assume away the need for nation building. Again, White explains: "We had this mind-set that it would be a relatively straightforward, managable task, because this would be a war of liberation, and therefore reconstruction would be short-lived." Rumsfeld's spokesman, Larry Di Rita, went to Kuwait in 2003 and told the American offcials there that the State department had messed up Bosnia and Kosovo and that the Bush administration intended to hand over power to the Iraqis and leave within three months.

So the Army's original battle plan for 500,000 troops got whittled down to 160,000. If General Tommy Franks "hadn't offered some resistance, the number would have dropped well below 100,000," Packer says. At one point, Franks' predecessor, Anthony Zinni, inquired into the status of "DESERT CROSSING*", his elaborate postwar plan that covered the sealing of borders, securing of weapons sites, provision of order and so on. He was told that it had been discarded because its assumptions were "too negative." - Fareed Zakaria reviewing The Assassins' Gate by George Packer, Sunday NYT Book Review.

*More on Desert Crossing below

General Zinni asked himself what would happen if Iraq suddenly collapsed. Who would pick up the pieces and help rebuild the country? To examine these questions, Zinni sponsored a war game called “Desert Crossing” in late 1999, with a wide range of government agencies and representatives. In his words, “The scenarios looked closely at humanitarian, security, political, economic, and other reconstruction issues. We looked at food, clean water, electricity, refugees, Shia versus Sunnis, Kurds versus other Iraqis, Turks versus Kurds, and the power vacuum that would surely follow the collapse of the regime (since Saddam had pretty successfully eliminated any local opposition). We looked at all the problems the United States faces in 2003 trying to rebuild Iraq. And when it was over, I was starting to get a good sense of their enormous scope and to recognize how massive the reconstruction would be.”

And...

So at Central Command before I left -- I retired in 2000 -- I started a plan called Desert Crossing for the reconstruction of Iraq because I was convinced nobody in Washington was going to plan for it, and we, the military, would get stuck with it. So when I left in 2000, we were in the process of that planning. When it looked like we were going in, I called back down to Centcom and said, "You need to dust off Desert Crossing."

They said, "What's that? Never heard of it." So in a matter of just a few years, it was gone. The institutional memory had lapsed completely.

In February [2003], the month before the war, I was called before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to testify on this, and the panel before me was the planner for the State Department and the planner for the Pentagon. And they were briefing their so-called plan. It was clear to me that there was no plan. The current government was way underestimating what they were getting into. That they had done virtually no planning.

Why didn't they do it? They naively misjudged the scope and the complexity of the problems they were going to have. They thought they could do it seat of the pants.

He was right about the military getting stuck with it and getting it stuck to them.
Forget the Bar Mitzvah. At this point I think they couldn't plan themselves out of a paper bag.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:36 AM | Comments (1)

Word of the Day

golden handcuffs \GOAL-dun-HAND-kuffs\ noun
: special benefits offered to an employee as an inducement to continue service

Example sentence:
Ken eventually accepted the golden handcuffs and agreed to five more years with the goat.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 08:28 AM | Comments (6)

The Coalition of the Swilling

et non sapientior a TOWACA production

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Damn Your Bawdy Boldness, Darcy!

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November 19, 2005

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I Wanna Stay Home and Drink Beer Like the Rest of 'Em

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Headline of the Day

::GASP::

What He Said

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Note to Self

et non sapientior
a TOWACA production