The Coalition of the Swilling

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June 30, 2006

major dad, Ebola and I Have a Swill Evening Planned

...with Chief Running Tab. Yes, a fellow Marine and blogger is foolishly headed our way. We intend to treat him rudely and with little respect. He should feel right at home. Copious libations on tap, with fresh beef of sufficient quality and quantity at Mc Guire's. UD is flip-flops, shorts and loud shirts.

Sergeant Major, execute the Plan of the Day.
That is all.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 02:18 PM | Comments (14)

Miss Emily Takes Issue

...with reasons given for 'why don't more women blog'. As usual, she refutes things/sexist stereotypes beautifully, as does the fellow she links to. The comments section (with Sheila, Lisa, et al, weighing in) is lively and entertaining. Again, as one would expect from women bloggers of their calibre.

But the "put another log on the fire" tone reminded me of one of my favorite VW print ads of all time...and how things change. Or don't. I give you Readers' Digest, September 1964...

Sooner or later, your wife will drive home one of the best reasons for owning a Volkswagon

Women are soft and gentle, but they hit things.
If your wife hits something in a Volkswagon, don't worry. It doesn't hurt you very much.
VW parts are easy to replace. And cheap. A fender comes off without dismantling half the car. A new one goes on with just 10 bolts. For $24.95 plus labor.
And a VW dealer always has the kind of fender you need. Because that's the one kind he has.
Most other VW parts are interchangeable, too. Inside and out. Which means your wife isn't limited to fender smashing.
She can jab the hood. Graze the door. Or bump off the bumper.
It may make you furious, but it won't make you poor.
So when your wife goes window shopping in a Volkswagon, relax.
You can conveniently replace anything she uses to stop the car.
Even the brakes.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:16 PM | Comments (10)

I'd Heard His Lawyers Were Going For This

...the other day and it looks like it's stuck.

Confession in girl's slaying thrown out
Judge does allow discovery of Florida 9-year-old as evidence

The confession of a man charged with kidnapping, raping and killing 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford isn’t admissible in court, but the discovery of her body can be used as evidence, a judge ruled Friday.

John Evander Couey, a 47-year-old convicted sex offender, gave the confession to detectives, but also told them that he wanted to consult a lawyer. He wasn’t given the opportunity to do so.

I cannot believe ~ CANNOT believe! ~ that the detectives made that egregious, that indefensible, an error in a case of such horrific magnitude. We've watched enough Law and Order to know how NOT letting a suspect chat with his Johnnie Cochran bites you in the a$$ EVERY time. WTF?! Why would they jeopardize the WHOLE thing? I can only think they were desperate to find her and decided that overrode procedure. Fortunately, the judge is allowing the body's discovery to remain. And in case anyone doubts why this animal should rot in hell forever AFTER the state executes him...

Jessica was found kneeling and clutching a stuffed animal, hands tied with speaker wire and fingers poking through the garbage bags in which she was buried alive in February 2005. Two days earlier, Couey told detectives he had kidnapped, raped and killed the girl, and he told them where to find the body.

UPDATE: More from the AP wire.

A judge in Citrus County decided today that investigators compromised that evidence when they ignored Couey’s repeated requests to talk with an attorney.

“He said no less than eight times in 46 seconds” that he wanted a lawyer, Circuit Ric Judge Howard said, adding detective Gary Atchison and former detective Scott Grace also failed to tell an FBI polygraph expert of Couey’s request.

Howard said there were two possibilities: “They forgot or ... they didn’t want (the agent) to know.”

“The inescapible conclusion is they chose to ignore it,” he said. “Such police misconduct ... is a professional violation of a bedrock of criminal law.”

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:39 AM | Comments (5)

Mini-Van Driving Soccer Moms They Ain't

And you thought 16 year olds running off gave My Space a bad name? I bid you welcome to the online world of the lovely ladies of the Canadian Jihad.

When it came time to write up the premarital agreement between Zakaria Amara and Nada Farooq, Ms. Farooq briefly considered adding a clause that would allow her to ask for a divorce.

She said that Mr. Amara (now accused of being a leader of the alleged terror plot that led to the arrests of 17 Muslim men early this month) had to aspire to take part in jihad.

"[And] if he ever refuses a clear opportunity to leave for jihad, then i want the choice of divorce," she wrote in one of more than 6,000 Internet postings uncovered by The Globe and Mail.

...The tightly knit group of women who chatted with each other includes Mariya (the wife of alleged leader Fahim Ahmad), Nada (the wife of Mr. Amara, the alleged right-hand man) Nada's sister Rana (wife of suspect Ahmad Ghany), as well as Cheryfa MacAulay Jamal (the Muslim convert from Cape Breton, N.S. who married the oldest suspect, 43-year-old Qayyum Abdul Jamal). The women's husbands are part of a core group of seven charged with the most severe crimes -- plotting to detonate truck bombs against the Toronto Stock Exchange, a Canadian Forces target, and the Toronto offices of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.

The women were bound by the same social, political and ideological aims. They organized "sisters-only" swimming days and held fundraisers for the notorious al-Qaeda-linked Khadr family. With the exception of the occasional Urdu or Arabic word or phrase, their posts are exclusively in English.

YOW. Stunningly, stunningly hateful creatures.

A warm Swill Salute to Alyosha Popovich at the TAO of Defiance, who notes...

"On some forums they are derided, disciplined, put in their place and educated, while in other places they are the ones attempting to do the disciplining and educating. And I would at this point commend the Muslims of the rational, scholared and non-insecure varieties, who have to confront these degenerates and put them in place, even as they rant on deliriously, all the while making a mockery of their religion. I have seen great patience and perseverence displayed by those who try to bring these fevered jackasses back to the straight path. Now that is a community service."

Indeed.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:21 AM | Comments (3)

So What Are...

"Hetai porn free videos: Free hentai beastiality porn videos"

...huh? Sometimes what the SPAM filter snags confuses the beejeebus out of me. Sounds like they filmed girls(?) they picked up at the Mos Eisley Cantina.
I do live in a cultural vacuum.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:33 AM | Comments (12)

Woof! I Had to Double Check the Subject

The tone of the two reports is so markedly different, one might almost be forgiven for thinking they referred to separate events. I'd noticed a quick turn around in the DOW futures and, knowing they were waiting on the core-PCE deflator (Keep in mind, the first quarter GDP had been revised UP last Thursday, from 4.8% to 5.3%, with the inflation gauge remaining steady at 3.3%, "further easing anxiety over escalating prices. " So pretty good news all around, all things considered.), thought "sheesh ~ must be okay news". The Market Watch brief was chipper...

Both income and spending for May were up 0.4% versus expectations for increases of 0.2% and 0.4%, respectively. The core-PCE deflator, meanwhile, was up 0.2%, which was right in line with expectations. While that reading puts the year-over-year rate at 2.1%, which is above the Fed's forecasted range, it has been viewed favorably by the market since it wasn't worse than expected.

...and I waited for the wire reports. The first was al-Reuters ~ a sober, hyperbole free report. They even used the word 'moderate' and added encouraging words from the Fed's statement yesterday.

Core U.S. consumer prices rose a moderate 0.2 percent last month, as expected, but inflation-adjusted spending advanced just 0.1 percent as high energy prices ate into disposable income, a government report showed on Friday.

...In announcing its rate hike, the Fed acknowledged inflation readings had been elevated in recent months, but said a slowing pace of economic growth should ease price pressures over time as it left its options open on future rate decisions.

Fair enough. But from the AP? Check the language ~ doom, gloom, death and disaster:

Consumer spending slowed sharply in May as rising gasoline prices left Americans with less to spend on other items, the government reported Friday.

The Commerce Department said that spending rose by just 0.4 percent last month after a 0.7 percent gain in April. Income growth also slowed to an advance of just 0.4 percent last month, reflecting weaker job growth.

Nominal consumer spending increased 0.4 percent in May, right on Wall Street forecasts and just enough to stay ahead of inflation. The scant 0.1 percent rise in inflation-adjusted spending, however, marked a slowdown from the 0.2 percent gain logged in April.

The report on personal incomes and consumer spending provided further evidence that the economy, after growing strongly in the first three months of the year, slowed sharply in the spring as Americans were battered by rising gasoline prices, higher interest rates and a cooling housing market.

Selective editing and 'just the facts' makes for a pretty damning report if your average Joe doesn't know the rest. (And I guess they need to get it via mind meld, since the AP isn't going to tell them.) A quick fisking? 5.3% growth is phenomenal but also unsustainable, so gradual 'slowing' is a good thing and what both the Fed and the street are looking for. Even the housing market, which has been insane, is 'cooling', not crashing. (Of course, when all those ARM's come due...but that's another story.) The 'weaker' employment'? The Labor Dept. reported a drop in claims of 40,000 last week and the unemployment index is at 4.6. (May job growth was weaker than expected ~ +75K ~ but still a positive number.) Many states have tax revenues streaming in well above predictions. And the final June consumer numbers say people are significantly cheerier. Could things be better? Sure they could. But they could be ~ and have been ~ a whole lot worse.

So there's your reason for Bush not getting credit for this economy. In spite of everything nature and man could throw against it, it's still chugging along, but who would know when the AP has us all in line at the soup kitchen?

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:08 AM

Gitmo Trials Decision

I've been reading through reports on this decision and I'm trying to figure it all out.

The court declared 5-3 that the trials for 10 foreign terror suspects violate U.S. military law and the Geneva conventions.

The ruling raises major questions about the legal status of the approximately 450 men still being held at the U.S. military prison in Cuba and exactly how, when and where the administration might pursue the charges against them.

Ok, that seems clear enough: the SCOTUS leftwits think that al-Qaeda deserves Geneva Convention protections. Color me shocked. But this bit:

"Trial by military commission raises separation-of-powers concerns of the highest order," Kennedy wrote in his opinion. "Concentration of power (in the executive branch) puts personal liberty in peril of arbitrary action by officials, an incursion the Constitution's three-part system is designed to avoid."

Confuses me a little, as we're not dealing with US citizens here, and frankly I don't give a flying fudge about the 'personel liberty' of people who have taken up arms agaiinst our troops; if I have to choose between protecting America and protecting the personel liberty of some guy with an AK in Basra, well, "you'll get used to the food, Hachmed" is all I can say.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:42 AM | Comments (8)

June 29, 2006

The PP Judge

...convicted. I think it's his lawyer's fault.

In closing arguments Thursday, defense attorney Clark Brewster called the device "a joke."

"Why in the world would anybody have this behind the bench?" he said, holding the pump.

"It's a stupid thing," he said, setting it down.

What a stoopid question to ask that jury.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:33 PM | Comments (6)

I Don't Know If These Touchy ~ Feely Things

...work ~ they sound kinda stupid to me.

...Researchers at Indiana State University in Terre Haute tried a small experiment to test the effects of having kids play with heavier toys. They found that 10 children ages 6 to 8 burned more calories and had higher heart and breathing rates when they moved 3-pound toy blocks instead of unweighted blocks.

But I know for a FACT this does.

A pair of pot smokers picked the wrong day to use the drive-through window at a KFC restaurant in Buffalo, N.Y.

Two men in their 20s pulled up to the window at the KFC Wednesday afternoon and asked for the daily special.

Narcotics detectives, who were inside ordering their usual Wednesday special, noticed a cloud of marijuana smoke wafting into the restaurant and spotted the two men smoking what one of the cops called "the biggest marijuana cigar your ever saw."

The detectives went outside and arrested 23-year-old Charles Morris and 26-year-old Gregory Quick, both of Buffalo. The two men are charged with possession of marijuana and smoking it in public.

One of the cops said he got the cashier to refund the pot smokers' money for the Wednesday special.

Hey ~ however and whatever keeps your hand outta the fried chicken bucket is a good thing.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 05:34 PM | Comments (9)

Gettin' Some of Your Own Back

Literally.

Camp Fallujah, Iraq - Call it a little bit of justice.

Marine snipers from 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment shot and killed an insurgent sniper and spotter preparing to shoot at passing Marines, June 16. And the insurgents were going to use a stolen Marine sniper rifle for the attack.

That rifle – an M-40A1 – belonged to the “Magnificent Bastards” of 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, a battalion within the Regimental Combat Team 5 family. It was taken by insurgents when a team of four Marines were killed in a rooftop outpost June 21, 2004, in Ramadi.

Nearly two years to the day, Sgt. Maj. James E. Booker, the battalion’s sergeant major during their tour in Ramadi, said the news “sends a chill down my spine.”

“It makes me feel real good to know a brother sniper got final revenge,” said Booker, in a phone interview from his post as the Marine detachment sergeant major at Fort Sill, Okla. “I really respect those young studs to do what they did.”

Posted by tree hugging sister at 04:47 PM

There Are Some Things in a Guy's Life You Don't Mess With

His liquor, his car, his guns, his dinner, his lightbulbs and his...well...gonads. (The technical term.)

Bear Flees for 2nd Time Before Neutering
A freedom-loving grizzly bear named Boo smashed a heavy steel door and barreled through two electric fences to escape a second time from a resort near this south-central British Columbia town.

Boo was recaptured Friday, two weeks after breaking out of an artificial den at the Kicking Horse Mountain Resort, but escaped from tighter confinement within a day, resort spokesman Michael Dalzell said Tuesday.

"It's unbelievable," Dalzell said. "We thought there was no way, it was absolutely impossible, but he found a way. It was basically like breaking out of Fort Knox."

...Resort staff had planned to neuter Boo, but he got away first. Once he's located, authorities will decide whether to try to recapture him again, Dalzell said.

"Right now we are in the process of looking for him . . . we are not out to try to trap or tranquilize him," he said. "We are looking at all options. Obviously, we need to just really look at our program and figure this one out."

It's easy to figure out ~ keep yer paws off his stuff. Ask first.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:44 PM | Comments (4)

Oh, Way Down Here in the Land a' Cotton

They've figured out the Gov'ner's rotten...

Former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman was convicted Thursday on federal charges of bribery, conspiracy, mail fraud and obstruction of justice in a case that derailed his campaign for governor amid wide-ranging claims of corruption in office.

Former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy also was convicted of bribery, conspiracy and mail fraud on charges accusing him of buying a seat on a state board with $500,000 in campaign contributions.

Look away! Fade away!
Time to pay, grafter man.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:27 PM | Comments (4)

Bingley Sees the Light

...at the end o' the tunnel.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:21 AM | Comments (24)

How High Is The River Mama?

40 feet high and risin'...

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:36 AM | Comments (8)

Hail The Brave Palestinians

They've shown their bravery and virtue by murdering a teenager:

Eliyahu Asheri, the 18-year-old from the settlement of Itamar, was found dead by Israel Defense Forces early Thursday morning in the A-Tira neighborhood of Ramallah.

...Shin Bet agents and special IDF troops found the body buried in a field around 2:30 A.M. Thursday morning, and determined that he had been shot in the head soon after he was kidnapped Sunday. Soldiers arrested a militant in connection with the murder early Thursday morning.

Palestinian militants from the Popular Resistance Committees said they executed the teenager.

I'm sure they'll be dancing in the streets all weekend.

Animals.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:29 AM | Comments (4)

June 28, 2006

And These Are the LEGAL Ones

The numbers of permanent residents eligible for citizenship.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 05:27 PM

Looks Like They Have This Well in Hand

...even though that's precisely what caused the whole thing to begin with.

The jurors sometimes exchange awkward looks and break into nervous laughter when the testimony takes a lurid turn.

Oh, I'll bet.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 05:24 PM | Comments (10)

A Hearty Swill Salute...

To the English Swillers:

ENGLAND's massive army of World Cup fans is drinking Germany dry, it emerged yesterday.

Breweries warned beer could run out before the final because of huge demand from our supporters.

In Nuremberg, organisers revealed 70,000 England fans who flooded the city drank 1.2MILLION pints of beer - an average of 17 pints each.

Astonished bar keeper Herrmann Murr said: "Never have I seen so many drink so much in such little time."

His bar at a fans' tent in the city ran out after they drained all 32 of his 50-litre (11 gallon) barrels.

Herr Murr calculated Britons were shifting beer at a staggering rate of 200 pints per minute.

City official Peter Murrmann said: "The English proved themselves world champs. They practically drank us dry."

Gentlemen, you have done us proud.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 01:35 PM | Comments (10)

Israel Talks "Take-Out"

...and not with the fat police. You're pretty much screwed when they tell the world they're coming after you...I hope someone's scattering the virgins.

Justice Minister Haim Ramon said Wednesday that Hamas's Syria-based leader, Khaled Mashaal, is a target for assassination for ordering the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier in the Gaza Strip.

"He is definitely in our sights ... he is a target," Ramon told Army Radio. "Khaled Mashaal, as some who is overseeing, actually commanding the terror acts, is definitely a target."

Swill Salute: Counterterrorism Blog.

UPDATE: In keeping with the 'scattering of virgins' theme, there could well be more murdering bastards headed that way...

In Moscow, meanwhile, President Vladimir Putin ordered the special services to hunt down and "destroy" the killers of four Russian Embassy workers in Iraq, the Kremlin said.

I really, really thought it was a bad career move to grab the Russians, less mind behead them, but these big Jihadiis know everything.

When the Russians get ahold of these a$$holes, they'll make their little execution videos look like amateur night.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:22 PM | Comments (3)

For Bingley and Suzette

It's been mighty quiet on the canned soup front, but I knew it couldn't last. And voilá! In today's paper, a gift from the Campbell Gods.

Tex-Mex Rice and Chicken

1 (48 ounce) bag quick frozen chicken breasts

6 cups cooked Minute rice

4 cups shredded Velveeta cheese

2 (10 ounce) cans RoTel with chili peppers

1 (10 3/4 ounce) can cream of celery soup

Boil chicken. Cut into bite size pieces. Prepare rice. In a bowl combine, chicken, cheese, RoTel and soup to the rice. Pour into a 9-inch-by-13-inch casserole dish. Bake at 350 about 25 minutes or until warm.

Well, yum. (Although I hadn't realized celery was a big part of TexMex. You learn something new and delicious every day.)

Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:13 PM | Comments (6)

In Honor Of Those Stolen From Us Five Years Ago

A tribute to the victims. Thanks to Emily Emily via Lisa for finding it.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:54 AM | Comments (2)

How Do You Say (Or Should I Say Como Se Dice...)

"Fake But Accurate" in Spanish?

A Spanish news agency apologized for a report that described a Republican gubernatorial candidate's proposed work program for illegal immigrants as "concentration camps."

The story last week caused an international stir when EFE, a national news agency of Spain, quoted candidate Don Goldwater as saying he wanted to hold undocumented immigrants in camps to use them "as labor in the construction of a wall and to clean the areas of the Arizona desert that they're polluting."

..."Upon further reflection, our investigation has determined that your plan to house illegal prisoners in a tent city is consistent with accepted practices for nonviolent American prisoners in your area," Sanchez said in the letter released Tuesday by Goldwater's campaign.

The letter also acknowledged that the freelance reporter never interviewed Goldwater or any of his staff for the story.

Well, duh, like he needed to actually talk to him; he's a Republican for gosh sake, of course he's in favor of gulags and concentration camps!

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:29 AM | Comments (1)

June 27, 2006

Hmmmm. That Works Out to 242 Cans of Beer

...for every man, woman and child on the reservation.

In a desperate effort to fight the ravages of alcoholism on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, leaders of the Oglala Sioux tribe are threatening to set up roadblocks Wednesday and stop members from bringing in beer bought at four outlying stores.

Alcohol has long been banned on the 16,500-member reservation, where drinking has been a scourge for generations. But four stores in Whiteclay, Neb., a dusty village a few hundred feet outside the reservation, sell an estimated 4 million of cans of beer every year, mostly to Indians.

That's a lot of brewskis. (Unless, of course, you live next door to the Squid Terrorist...and I do.) But I'll be curious what the reaction will be when citizens try to stop another citizen from coming home with cervesas purchased legally. Those 'standing by' tribal police could be caught in a sticky wicket.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 04:48 PM | Comments (3)

He Can Durka, Durka to His Heart's Content

“The preliminary inquiry has been concluded. No punitive action will be taken against Corporal Belile. And there will be no further investigation,” said Maj. Shawn Haney, a spokeswoman at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point in North Carolina.

Haney said the inquiry ruled out any violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice

Another Marine Corps official, who asked not to be named because details of the inquiry are private, said poor taste, poor judgment and poor timing, not to mention offensive lyrics, do not necessarily amount to criminal conduct.

Cpl. Belile is free to carry rock on.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:18 PM | Comments (5)

Chariots of FIRE Frozen Manufactured Potato Product

I'm not quite sure I get the correlation.

Earth's Climate Warming Abruptly, Scientist Says
Earth's climate is undergoing an abrupt change, ending a cooler period that began with a swift "cold snap" in the tropics 5,200 years ago that coincided with the start of cities, the beginning of calendars and the biblical great flood, a leading expert on glaciers has concluded.

...But the finding likely to cause the most debate is Thompson's conclusion that a swift and sudden cooling of the climate five millennia ago occurred simultaneously with key changes in civilizations.

"It represents a time where, for many parts of the world, people ceased to be hunters and gatherers and formed cities," he said. "Many of the modern calendars began around this time. It would also fall in the general time frame of the biblical flood."

We caused the cooling 5200 years ago and now are causing the warming...ack! (He doesn't mention polar bears at all.)

But what do I know ~ I thought a 'grill' was a...never mind.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 02:50 PM

I Inhabit a Cultural Vacuum

I thought this story was about a Weber and was prepared to defend ours to the death. Thank God they're safe. Anyway, the first clue it WASN'T (about a Weber) was...well, you read it.

Armed 'Grill' Robbery
Missing: A mouthpiece attachment with a 14 karat gold tooth and a diamond in it.
Wanted: Four men who allegedly stole it.

Largo Police say that was the situation at Brittany Bay Apartments Monday.

A gas station clerk called 911 to report a man had run into the convenience store claiming he was being chased. When officers arrived at the Shell on Ulmerton Road, the victim had this story to tell:

After being threatened with his own knife and a gun, the suspects took his mouthpiece, also known as a ‘grill.’ They also took $130, a pack of Newport cigarettes, and a pocket knife; They left his other jewelry and a cellular phone.

He didn’t call police. The worried clerk did that.

The victim told officers he isn’t worried about the cigarettes, the cash, or the knife; all he wants returned is his ‘grill.’

"After being threatened with his own knife and gun". Yup. First clue something was amiss and it wasn't the charcoal.

On a lighter note, have you noticed Bingley's not posting much... ? Then I saw this...

Groper Arrested

The Tampa Police Department says the ‘Hyde Park Groper’ is in custody.

...and thought they were talking about the fish. What a whacky, Florida kinda day.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:59 PM | Comments (3)

Superman ~ The Man of..."Stuff"

Maybe I'll skip this one after all.

SUPERMAN'S motto, "Truth, justice and the American way," has been rewritten in the new "Superman Returns" to "Truth, justice and . . . all that stuff." Jeannie Wolf reports on Movies.com that screenwriters Mike Dougherty and Dan Harris wanted to avoid outdated jingoism. Dan: "I don't think 'the American way' means what it meant in 1945." Mike: "He's not just for Metropolis and not just for America." Dan: "He's an alien, from Krypton; he has come to Earth to be kind of a savior for this world, not our country . . . And he has no papers." Mike: "What would happen with the immigration laws we have now?" Dan: "I'd like to see someone kick him out!"

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

Suzette Kelo

...in the first person.

Where do I stand at this point? I think what I have thought from the very beginning: This is my home, and no one has the right to take it from me, especially for the vague concept of "economic development." I tell you honestly, and from my heart, that nothing will cause me to change my goals or my values.

Mark Twain wrote, "Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone, you may still exist, but you have ceased to live." My illusion has been, and will continue to be, that my home is mine.

Swill Salute to RCP.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:15 AM | Comments (3)

Today's Paranoid Weather Report

Two disturbances in the Atlantic. One for Crusader and Bingley and one for us.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:07 AM | Comments (2)

Doing the Expedient Right Thing

...when NOTHING should have been done to begin with.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the Somali-born former politician who faced death threats as the result of her criticism of Islam, is to keep her Dutch citizenship, after being accused of lying in her asylum application.

The decision, taken by the Dutch cabinet late on Monday night, was interpreted by political commentators as a face-saving gesture by the centre-right government, which faced international criticism after threatening to anul Ms Hirsi Ali's naturalisation in May

...Such was the ferocity of international media criticism of the Dutch government's handling of the affair, that the foreign ministry was forced to issue instructions to Dutch embassies to explain that the Netherlands had not expelled Ms Hirsi Ali.

Mrs Hirsi Ali scripted the film Submission, whose director Theo van Gogh was murderd by a radical Islamist months after its public broadcast in the Netherlands. She too became the target of death threats and has lived in hiding ever since under police protection.

Great news but it makes you wonder why the Danish mullahs aren't being driven from the country instead. And it's a loss for us, since she was going to immigrate here.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 08:47 AM | Comments (1)

June 26, 2006

Looks Like He'll No Longer Be a WARD

...of the state.

University of Colorado Interim Chancellor to Recommend Firing of Ward Churchill
The top official at the University of Colorado's flagship campus on Monday recommended that the school fire the firebrand professor who compared some of the World Trade Center victims to a Nazi and later was accused of academic misconduct.

Ward Churchill has displayed "a pattern of research misconduct committed over a period of time," Interim Chancellor Philip DiStefano said.

..."If a university is a marketplace of ideas, then Mr. Churchill is the rotten fruit among hundreds of good apples. Hopefully, we can soon say good riddance to Ward Churchill once and for all," [Gov] Owens said.

We'll be looking forWARD to reading the entire statement.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:09 PM | Comments (7)

He Has a Paypal Button

...Pat Dollard does, for "Young Americans". (The video teasers might not be considered work safe if combat, potty mouthed Jarheads and a rocking 'F*CK yeah' sort of anthem playing in the background will get you ee-ville glances and a knuckle-smacking.)

GEORGE Clooney may be Steven Soderbergh's muse, but the director's ex-agent sure doesn't seem to be a fan of the outspoken Oscar winner.

Pat Dollard was Soderbergh's 10- percenter until he ditched his lucrative Tinseltown career to make a pro-war documentary about U.S. Marines fighting insurgents in Iraq. Last year, his Humvee convoy was blown up in Ramadi, killing two Marines and sending Dollard to the hospital with a concussion and shrapnel wounds.

So it's understandable that Dollard might have been annoyed when Clooney chastised Democrats last year for not having the guts to condemn the war. While Dollard was careful not to name names, he told Page Six that he went into "a black rage" while in Iraq after reading a certain movie star's pompous pronouncements online.

"I read something on the Internet in which someone was patting himself on the back for having the courage to oppose the war," Dollard recalled. In an obvious reference to Clooney, who owns a villa in Italy, he said, "They actually equate bravery with speaking out against the president because [losing fans] might cost them one less servant at their Italian villa . . . It put me into a black rage and made me sick to my stomach."

He sounds like quite a guy. I'm always a smidge behind the power curve, but thought if you hadn't heard about it either, I'd pass it along. If the film doesn't make it to HBO, we'll be getting the DVD.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:38 AM | Comments (2)

Instead of Bitching About Sea Turtles

...maybe he should think about moving.

Michael Martino's specialty license plate reads "Helping Sea Turtles Survive." He rents kayaks and bicycles instead of Jet Skis and motor scooters at his eco-friendly beach shop on this Florida Panhandle barrier island.

But the San Francisco native, who has seen two homes destroyed by hurricanes since 2004, calls himself "an environmental hypocrite" because he supports sand dredging that will help protect the island's homes from storm surge but has killed three rare sea turtles.

One more turtle death would likely result in the project being shutdown until fall, leaving two miles of shoreline exposed through the bulk of hurricane season, which began June 1. The turtles are close to shore because it is mating season.

"There is a saying about how you can be a tree hugger until you start to get splinters," said Martino, who lost his home to Hurricane Ivan two years ago, rebuilt, and saw the new home washed away by Hurricane Dennis less than a year later.

I'll bet he's pi$$ing and moaning about his insurance rates, too. If you've had two houses washed away, we don't owe you a third, nor the tax dollars to rebuild your buffer storm after storm. You live on a BARRIER island and that's what they do ~ migrate to and fro. No doubt you knew that, just like the folks on ShelL Island outside of Wilmington, N.C.

...When the nine-story Shell Island Resort was built in the 1980s on Wrightsville Beach only half a mile from Mason Inlet, its developers signed permits acknowledging that they were building in an erosion-prone area. The permit says, "In signing this permit, the permittee acknowledges the risks of erosion associated with developing on the site and recognizes that current state regulations do not allow shoreline erosion control structures such as seawalls to be erected for developments initiated after June 1, 1979."

"The notice was given to the developer," and the developer then sold units to individuals as condominiums, Moffitt says.

I know it's not gonna happen, but I would dearly, dearly love to see Florida adopt North Carolina's rules on hardened erosion control structures, enforce them and go from there to regulate beach renourishment.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:43 AM | Comments (6)

Taking the NYT to Task

...by Susan Estrich.

What’s wrong with the New York Times?

“A Look at Republican Priorities” said the headline of Friday’s New York Times.

And what are those priorities, according to America’s paper of record?

“Comforting the Comfortable” and “Afflicting the Afflicted.” Because they support eliminating the estate tax and oppose raising the minimum wage, the Republicans are said to be the Party that comforts the comfortable and afflicts the afflicted.

Help.

According to my Liberal Friends, I spend much of my time in the lion’s den, where one of the constant charges is that the mainstream media is dominated by liberals. Some days, like today, they make my job impossible.

...But does the New York Times have to stoop so low?

Are they afraid no one would read their editorials if they weren’t promoted with nasty headlines that question the good faith of those on the other side?

Are they no better than Ann when it comes to insulting their opponents?

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:37 AM

June 24, 2006

It Doesn't Pay to Be a Manipulative, Mean, Nasty Old Man

You're gonna die anyway.

Anna Nicole's rival for husband's fortune dies
E. Pierce Marshall known for taking Playboy Playmate to court over estate

E. Pierce Marshall, who feuded for years with former Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith over his father's oil fortune, has died, his spokesman said Friday. He was 67.

If he'd a just given her $30 million to go away when his father died, he could have enjoyed these past couple years. But, no. He had to have it all.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:08 AM | Comments (16)

June 23, 2006

Yup. You've Got ~ Just GOT ~ to Love the Aussies!

Aussies abuzz with talk of Kidman wedding
Her marriage to Keith Urban expected this weekend in Sydney

...On Friday, Kidman, Urban and some high-profile guests drove out of her waterfront property amid rumors of a ceremony rehearsal. “The nerves are fine,” the Oscar-winning actress told reporters.

The fine points of the ceremony — expected Sunday night — remain top secret. But Kidman has been gracious and obliging, even sending out a case of beer for the paparazzi camped outside her harborside mansion Tuesday, her 39th birthday.(They sang “Happy Birthday” to her over the intercom.)

Now that's a class act. I'm pretty sure there were no courtesy curbal libations delivered to campers in Namibia.

A VB in your honor, Ms. Kidman!

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:21 PM | Comments (5)

Gonzales on the Telly

U.S.: 'Homegrown terrorists' eyed Sears Tower

Court documents: Black Muslim group sought to 'kill all the devils we can*'

...for the press conference. Details abound. Keep the pressure on these bastards, NYT or no.

(Why do I find it so much easier listening to AG Gonzales than that pinch faced SOB Ashcroft? GOD, I really, REALLY despised him.)

UPDATE: The indictments.
*ths notes: This should be our aim as well and we should be committed to always aim well.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:49 AM

Worthless post for the day....

but saw something on the way to work this morning I have not seen in a long while: a tractor-trailer that got stuck under a railway bridge. Wish I'd had my camera. I wonder hoiw often this happens? It was on N. Tryon St, just outside of downtown/uptown Charlotte. Slowed traffic down a bit, but thankfully was in the outbound lane.

Posted by Crusader at 11:29 AM | Comments (12)

I Have NO Idea Who This Guy Was Talking To

Michael Arden, an analyst with New York-based ABI Research, said "ultimately they want TV shows with products onscreen that you can click and save information about them or buy them."

...but it SURE wasn't me. Or major dad. Or Ebola. Or...I can't think of a soul that would go for this. Just the thought of pop-ups on my TV screen is making my eyes glaze over red. I hate the little station promos traipsing across the bottom as it is.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:52 AM | Comments (14)

'Searching for Answers' Friday

Stuff bugs me sometimes.

It just does. Like, why do four sheets of two ply toilet paper feel like so much less than 8 sheets of one ply manipulated into a cushy little cloud? I'd much rather have the one ply and it bugs the sh*t out of me when the shelf has only two ply. Indulgent a$$holes (literally) buy two ply to show their complete disregard for the environment ~ celebrate their prosperity. I read the dang label of every single thing I buy and I can count sheets there, Kimberly Clark. Of course, the commissary and every other retailer feeds into this abomination. There's one brand, schmaybe two, of one ply and fifteen choices of the other. Pi$$es me off.

And then there's the stacks of cassettes, National Geographics, 8 tracks and laser discs piled on the garage floor that have kept us company since the mid-80's. What to do, what to do. I checked eBay about the LD's, but they're going for $1.99 ~ hardly worth listing. They're out there exposed on the concrete ~ in the way on purpose ~ because I am loathe to put them in yet another box for yet another decade ere they see the light of day and we start the drill anew. Frozen in indecision, just like the last four times. I try mightily to wage war against my genetic hoarding instincts and fail miserably nine times out of ten. At least I don't have any cats, or I'm sure I'd make the papers.

Then there's the hand-me-down Scottie ~ who still has all his male...accoutrements...with all their associated nasty habits. He's known as the Stealth Piddler. I've called the amiable Dr. Bill, surgical knife slicer extraordinaire...and feel guilty, guilty, GUILTY. Sh*t. Why couldn't the little guy just appreciate the new digs instead of mark them...CONSTANTLY. Labradorks don't do that. Is it a Napoleanic complex? Sh*t. Oh, well, done deal now.

And the frickin' backwoods, Third World gomers in this town just frost my chops. (Actually, it's an insult to the Third World to compare the two.) If we were any closer to civilization, we wouldn't have this problem but, since we're not, they rise up like hoards of Formosan termites at the slightest whiff of progress and chew on it 'til it dissolves like two ply paper in the Main Street sewer plant.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:38 AM | Comments (25)

Why I Love Australia

I'm not sure how he gets through this without mentioning Shiraz, but aside from that I agree with every word:

WASHINGTON -- In the Australian House of Representatives last month, opposition member Julia Gillard interrupted a speech by the minister of health thusly: "I move that that sniveling grub over there be not further heard.''

For that, the good woman was ordered removed from the House, if only for a day. She might have escaped that little time-out if she had responded to the speaker's demand for an apology with something other than "If I have offended grubs, I withdraw unconditionally.''

God, I love Australia. Where else do you have a shadow health minister with such, er, starch?

Read the whole thing, and send a nice "thank you" to Tim Blair.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:50 AM | Comments (4)

Don't Question My Patriotism Pulitzers

Let's pretend the government has an effective program (I know, I know, but this is an academic exercise here, people; work with me) that is legal. Further, the key to its success is that it is basically secret; again, it is completely legal, and it works to protect the country from terrorists. And let's say you find out about it, and the government asks you to keep it a secret. What do you do?

Well, if you are The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times, the spirit patriotic fervor leads you to publish everything. Go read it all, and let there be much gnashing of teeth.

As Insta says, they're on the other side.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:11 AM | Comments (2)

Gaia Menopausal?

She's having hot flashes! Last year was the hottest in 6 billion years (except, of course in areas where it was cooler):

WASHINGTON, June 22 — A controversial paper asserting that recent warming in the Northern Hemisphere was probably unrivaled for 1,000 years was endorsed today, with a few reservations, by a panel convened by the nation's pre-eminent scientific body.

The panel said that a statistical method used in the 1999 study was not the best and that some uncertainties in the work "have been underestimated," and it particularly challenged the authors' conclusion that the decade of the 1990's was probably the warmest in a millennium.

But, hey, why quibble over piddling details along the way if the conclusion is what you want? It's the new, improved scientific method: decide on your conclusion and make a computer model to schmudge the data into it.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:54 AM | Comments (11)

June 22, 2006

Damn

Military Says Murdered Soldiers Were Abandoned at Checkpoint, Launches Probe

Two U.S. soldiers who vanished during a terrorist attack on a checkpoint and were later found slain had been left alone while other vehicles in their patrol inspected traffic, the military said Thursday.

...The two soldiers — believed to have been kidnapped by insurgents before their mutilated bodies were found this week — and a third soldier killed during the attack had been alone with one Humvee to guard a hydraulic bridge at a Euphrates River canal south of Baghdad.

When the attack occurred, others in the unit could not see the vehicle and were checking on their colleagues by radio, Martin-Hing said.

"Abandoned" seems at bit strong at this point, but they definately were isolated from the unit in the last place on earth you'd want that to happen, in the next to smallest number possible. In that situation it's a fight to the death, because capture is not a viable option. I can't imagine the horror.
Or have a pact, an "Aliens" agreement...

Ripley: Hicks, you won't let them get me...

Hicks: Don't worry about it. If it comes to that, I'll do us both.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:55 PM | Comments (5)

Happy Birthday, Big Guy

You're a GOD in this house.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 05:36 PM | Comments (37)

They're Ghana Get to Go Home Early

Done in by their own mistakes and a crucial penalty call, ,b>the Americans lost to Ghana 2-1 Thursday in a game they had to win to advance past the World Cup tournament's first round.

(Soccer: piTÚ!)

Posted by tree hugging sister at 05:27 PM | Comments (2)

If the Big One Hits, California Dreamin'

...turns to the Dark Side. (And I'm not talking about the San Andreas...)

Just two Arab countries have supplied almost 50 percent of California's imported oil over the past five years, a dependence that leaves the state more vulnerable than the rest of the country to disruptions in the world oil markets.

...To meet the needs of California drivers who, according to the American Petroleum Institute, went through more than 43 million gallons per day of gasoline in 2005, the state - the U.S.'s most populous - has had turn to imports.

The increasing dependence on imports of crude oil and gasoline are largely to meet demand that has continued to climb even as the number of refineries producing gasoline in the state dropped from 32 in the mid-1980s to just 14 now - largely as a result of the state's emission standards, the toughest in the country, said Hull.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:44 PM | Comments (3)

Lord, This is Tough to Watch

The Tucker Family, bless their hearts.

A Warm Swill Salute to Blackfive He's got an address for condolences, too.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:16 PM

It Ain't The Bogeyman Under Your Bed...

It's the parking lot attendant:

WASHINGTON D.C. -- A stalker hid under a woman's bed for two days -- just for the chance to be alone with her. How he got the keys to her house is the scariest part, and and it's a serious reminder of the need to be cautious before handing over your keys.

The disturbing video shows the convicted stalker carefully hiding his video camera on a desk in the victim's bedroom. When he hears the woman and her boyfriend come in the apartment, he disappears under her bed. Carlo Castellanos-Feria remained there for two days until he was discovered by the victim's boyfriend.

...Judge Herbert Dixon handed down a three-year sentence, including treatment for mental illness and sex crimes. Court documents show the Hyattsville man had a change of clothes, condoms, a power cord and latex gloves with him under victims bed at the time of his arrest. He was a parking valet with an unnerving obsession.

"He got access to her keys. He then took that opportunity to get those keys copied. That's something we should all think about next time we leave our keys somewhere," said Ken wainstein, U.S. attorney.

Good reason to keep your house keys separate from you car keys.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 02:46 PM

The Hug

...heard 'round the world.

Gabriel Whitney says he did not plan to nearly suffocate President Bush in a bear hug. In fact, he did not plan to hug him at all.

But when Mr. Whitney, one of 202 midshipmen to graduate from the United States Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, N.Y., on Monday, stepped forward to receive his diploma, it just sort of happened. Call it irrational exuberance. But after six years of undergraduate school and 4,872 demerits, Mr. Whitney, 25, of Nashua, N.H., could hardly restrain himself.

With more reason than most to be overjoyed, the 6-foot-7 midshipman stepped onto the stage to accept his degree and hugged Vice Adm. Joseph D. Stewart, the academy's superintendent. Then he raised both arms in a victorious salute as his classmates roared their approval.

Elated and with his arms still upraised, he turned toward President Bush, who had just delivered the commencement address.

Mr. Bush, wearing a quizzical expression, responded by raising his arms as well and moved in for a hug. The midshipman — almost unwittingly — found himself squeezing the president in his powerful arms. When the president caught his breath, he shook Mr. Whitney's hand.

"I said, 'You're the man! Thank you very much,' " Mr. Whitney said in a telephone interview yesterday.

"The president thought the big bear hug was funny," said Dana M. Perino, a White House spokeswoman. "He appreciates the terrific enthusiasm of our nation's graduates, and he was honored to be the first president to address the Merchant Marine Academy. It was quite a thrill for everyone."

Mr. Whitney's sister, who works in an advertising office, had designed T-shirts for the 15 family members who attended the ceremony. Mr. Whitney's many difficulties in reaching graduation were emblazoned on the front of the shirt: 4,872 demerits ("painful"); four and a half years on academic restriction ("wounding"); two visits to the committee that weighs student expulsions ("agonizing"); two reprieves from the admiral ("necessary"); and six years of school with only an undergraduate degree to show for it ("humbling").

The back of the shirt, which bore a photograph of the midshipman and the American flag, celebrated his crowning achievement: "Passing all licensing exams, first try: Priceless."

The MSNBC video interview with the good midshipman is hilarious.
UPDATE: Yeesh ~ if you Technorati search 'merchant marine hug', you will see the leftoids being really sh*tty about something as good heartedly cheering as this. Wonkette called it "the creepy hug". (I dunno ~ I guess when you all you write about is pottymouthed, furtive, twisted, power grubbing sex in congressional men's rooms, a hug could be creepy...I guess. I'm not that cutting edge, so I can't relate.)

Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:14 PM | Comments (9)

So You Say

...again.

Study finds strong warming tie to hurricanes
Half of Atlantic temperature increase in 2005 linked to global rise

But then why is the Atlantic measurably cooler this year?

In 2006, temperatures in the Atlantic were slightly* warmer than average, particularly in the Caribbean, but strong southwest trade winds stirred the Gulf of Mexico, keeping the surface waters cool, said Adamec. In 2005, by contrast, the entire hurricane-prone section of the Atlantic was much warmer* than average. In fact, at the opening of the 2006 hurricane season, sea surface temperatures were 2 degrees cooler* than they had been at opening of the 2005 season, said Adamec. The warm temperatures in 2005 allowed a record seven storms to form by the end of July, one of which, Hurricane Emily, set records when it became the first category 5 hurricane to occur in July. All other Atlantic storms of that strength have developed later in the season.

*ths
So, what...?

Maybe less fat polar bears heating things up?

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:38 AM | Comments (9)

Hasta

...la vista.

The Supreme Court on Thursday dealt a blow to longtime illegal residents, ruling that a deported Mexican man who lived in the United States for 20 years is barred from seeking legal residency or other relief in the courts.

By an 8-1 vote, justices said that Humberto Fernandez-Vargas, who was deported several times from the 1970s to 1981, is subject to a 1996 law Congress passed to streamline the legal process for expelling aliens who have been deported at least once before and returned.

Sounds like they're pretty together on this one.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:11 AM

Whose Side is This Guy On?

As if we didn't already know.

...More than 600 people, mostly militants, have been killed in recent weeks as insurgents have launched their deadliest campaign of violence in years.

...“It is not acceptable for us that in all this fighting, Afghans are dying. In the last three to four weeks, 500 to 600 Afghans were killed. (Even) if they are Taliban, they are sons of this land,” he said.

Mr. Karzai seems to have forgotten why he needs his bodyguards. And, if memory serves me correctly, while those cuddly Taliban were in power, he wasn't exactly their best friend after the initial kissy fest...

In 1997, Karzai joined many of his family members in United States, from where he worked to reinstate Zahir Shah. His father was assassinated, presumably by Taliban agents, July 14, 1999, and Karzai swore revenge against the Taliban by working to help overthrow them.

He ran away. No doubt this latest, largely coalition operation is screwing up mutually agreed to plans to leave certain caves unexplored, as in the oh-so-successful joint U.S.-Afghani Operation Anaconda. (Remember that one?)

Of the 2,000 coalition troops involved, about half are Afghan forces whose primary mission is to block al Qaeda and Taliban forces from leaving the area, Franks said.

Dashing mujahadeen scampering about the moutainside on horseback ~ hither, thither, to and fro ~ as Omar and Osama get safely to Pakistan. The Tora Bora Backstab. Karzai's probably gonna owe some serious chips for not being able to control this present purge. And, like Omar's singular gaze, he also seems to have a blind spot about certain other citizens in his rush to embrace those 'sons of this land'.

A War on Schoolgirls
Unable to win on the battlefield, the Taliban are fighting to prevent half the country's children from getting an education.

Summer vacation has only begun, but as far as 12-year-old Nooria is concerned, the best thing is knowing she has a school to go back to in the fall. She couldn't be sure the place would stay open four months ago, after the Taliban tried to burn it down. Late one February night, more than a dozen masked gunmen burst into the 10-room girls' school in Nooria's village, Mandrawar, about 100 miles east of Kabul. They tied up and beat the night watchman, soaked the principal's office and the library with gasoline, set it on fire and escaped into the darkness. The townspeople, who doused the blaze before it could spread, later found written messages from the gunmen promising to cut off the nose and ears of any teacher or student who dared to return.

For all his technicolor robes, Mr. Karzai is barely two steps from the Stone Age cave where Mullah Omar's beady eye is watching water drip. That omission is hardly surprising, though, as it appears to be...

The Middle East Muslim Male Meme:
Lose a war ~ terrorize little girls.
WIN a war ~ overwhelm the women.

This is really the face of the deal we make with the devil in those Islamic snake pits. They turn on each other and back again as easily as 5 year olds fall in and out of best-friendships. The only difference is the body count.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:48 AM | Comments (5)

What WMDs? We Don't See No Steenkin' WMDs!

I started reading about this yesterday

Emerging buzz seems to be focused on why it took so long to release info about 500 chemical-weapons shells found in Iraq. Allah's got video of Santorum and chock full of links.

CNN is completely ignoring it, naturally. Drudge is more concerned about Dan Rather.
The BBC is ignoring it, as well.

Let's see how it plays out.

Gateway Pundit has a good round-up of the info available.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:09 AM

Bomb Class At 9 AM; Home-Wreck Is At 11

Tim Blair has a report on a nice Jihadi Academy that your earthquake relief dollars may be supporting:

SCHOOL PRINCIPAL ABDUL HADI: Do for Allah.

CHILDREN: Do for Allah. Do for Allah. Do for Allah. Do for Allah. Do for Allah. Do ... for ... Allah. Do ... for ... Allah. Die ... for ... Allah. Die ... for ... Allah. Die for Allah. Die for Allah. Give for Allah. Die for Allah. Obey for Allah. Give for Allah. Pray for Allah.

I wonder if they set that to music?

REPORTER: The American Government says they should be banned? And that they say that they're… What do you say about that?

BACHT NAWAZ: Ah, I should say that these people - about Jamaat-ud-Dawa, the people who have been working for us - they are so polite, they are so humble, they are so honest, they are so nice, that it will be injustice if the America asks for the ban on them, Jamaat-ud-Dawa. They are very humble, they don't harm the people, who are innocent people. If they are fighting for the freedom, for the people who are under oppression, then it is OK.

Well, I'm glad we know when it "is OK."

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:10 AM

I'm No Big Phan Of Phat Phil's...

But I completely disagree with Shipnuck on this:

Wanna know why Phil Mickelson lost the Open? He was having too much fun. The U.S. Open is not supposed to be fun, but he spent most of last week romping around like a schoolboy enjoying the first week of summer.

I think it's great that Phil was interacting with the fans, signing autographs, setting up writers on dates. I wish more stars at his level showed such care for the fans; you know, the people who pay their salaries.

Good for him.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:53 AM | Comments (2)

June 21, 2006

He's Not Ronery

Say "Hello" to Kim Jon-Il's heir, Kim Jong-Chol

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il's son and heir apparent, Kim Jong-Chol, toured Germany earlier this month to see concerts by rock star Eric Clapton.

Fuji TV broadcast secretly filmed footage showing a man resembling Kim Jong-Chol accompanied by his apparent girlfriend and several North Korean bodyguards.

Perhaps instead of Jimmy Carter, next time we need a Special Envoy to North Korea I suggest we send Arnold Schwarzenegger, since Jong-Chol may be literally a bit of a, um...girly man:

Seoul's Chosun Ilbo newspaper said Jong-Chol traveled to France and other European countries earlier this month to visit a hospital. Jong-Chol reportedly suffers from a rare illness that results in his body producing excessive amounts of female hormones.

"Sigh. Why can't everyone be intelligent like me?"

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:05 PM | Comments (4)

A Surprise Out of the EU-US Summit

A pretty stinging rebuke...of U.S. critics.

"That's absurd,"Bush snapped at a news conference in response to an assertion that the United States was regarded as the biggest threat to global security."We'll defend ourselves, but at the same time we're actively working with our partners to spread peace and democracy.

Unbidden, Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel rose with an impassioned defense that seemed to surprise the president.

"I think it's grotesque to say that America is a threat to the peace in the world compared with North Korea, Iran, a lot of countries,"Schuessel said. Europe would not enjoy peace and prosperity if not for U.S. help after World War II, he said.

What the good Chancellor said (and I'll paraphrase here, as I can't find the transcript yet) was that he'd been born in '45 and Europe was in ruins. The United States spent billions of dollars and many years to raise an enemy up into freedom and prosperity.

"Where," he asked "would Europe be now without the United States?"

Indeed. Thank you, sir.

UPDATE: The Gateway Pundit (As I knew he would!) tracked down the whole thing! Read and be truly amazed:

CHANCELLOR SCHÜSSEL: Let me add -- let me add something. I think Austria is really a good example to show that America has something to do with freedom, democracy, prosperity, development. Don't forget I was born in '45. At that time, Vienna and half of Austria laid in ruins. And without the participation of America, what fate would have Europe? Where would be Europe today? Not the peaceful, prosperous Europe like we love it and where we live.

Nothing -- I will never forget that America fed us with food, with economic support. The Marshall Plan was an immense aid and incentive to develop industry, agriculture, tourism. And by the way, I said it to the President, the Marshall Fund is still working in Austria. It's now transformed into a kind -- in a fund for research and development -- still working.

The American people, at that time, the American government invested billions of dollars in Europe to develop the former enemy. And now we are a partner. So I think it's grotesque to say that America is a threat to the peace in the world compared with North Korea, Iran, other countries.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 07:45 PM | Comments (9)

Our Library System's So Pitiful

...I'm not sure we're faced with such choices.

Grisham En Espanol? No Mas for Ga. Library
The library system in this suburban Atlanta county says no mas - it won't buy any more thrillers, romance novels or other works of adult fiction in Spanish.

The decision has angered Hispanic leaders and thrust Gwinnett County - where one out of six residents is Hispanic - into the nation's immigration debate.

Last week, the library board in this fast-growing county of 700,000 people eliminated the $3,000 that had been set aside to buy Spanish-language fiction in the coming fiscal year. It offered no explanation, but the chairman said such book purchases would lead readers of other foreign languages to demand the same treatment.

But, having said that, with the nickel and a half they do spend in an attempt to keep us marginally literate, English would be a good choice.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 04:08 PM | Comments (1)

I Could Tell You For $115

Larry Ellison of Oracle stiffs Harvard.

"He was enthusiastic and I am deeply committed to this project," said Prof Murray. "Right now we just don't know whose health systems are working and what should be done to improve health, which is one of the largest sectors in the economy globally."

A spokesman for Mr Ellison at Oracle refused to comment yesterday.

Okay ~ back off the Big Macs, drink more and eat only dark chocolate. No white after Labor Day.
And cancel your AOL subscription.

Academic barnacles.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:50 PM | Comments (10)

You Can Get Online

...but you can never leave.

How hard can it be to cancel an AOL account?
One man's frustrating call, caught on tape, resounds in the blogosphere
...CNBC later interviewed Ferrari by phone about his experience. “I've never ever experienced anything like that,” he said.

He recounts how the AOL representative as a last resort even asked if his dad was home.

“I think I could've put up with everything, but at the point when he asked to speak to my father, I came very close to losing it at that point,” said 30-year-old Ferrari.

UPDATE: Vincent's Blog and THE PHONE CALL.

AOL Guy: I don't know what anyone's done to you, Vincent...

Vincent: You're annoying the SHIT out of me, that's what you're doing.

Good Lord, Vincent. You win a Warm Swill jelly donut for not going berserk.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:27 PM | Comments (9)

Warm Up The Enola Gay

I'm just so disgusted by the way those poor men were butchered by the "insurgents" that my usual standards of christian restraint are being sorely tested. I basically at this point still want to turn the whole place into glass, to be quite frank.

Which led me to mention in a conversation today whether Paul Tibbets was still alive (he is, actually) and whether at 91 he could still pilot the Enola Gay and deliver the package. My google search turned up the following quote from Tibbets which gave me a good black humor laugh:

"We’ve never fought a damn war anywhere in the world where they didn’t kill innocent people. If the newspapers would just cut out the shit: 'You’ve killed so many civilians.' That’s their tough luck for being there." - Paul Tibbets to Studs Terkel, 2002

Heh.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 12:06 PM | Comments (7)

Gee, Thanks For The Vote Of Confidence, Angelina

She makes a stunning statement:

"Just because you're a Republican doesn't mean you don't care about children."

I'm sure she will be swiftly and roundly criticized for such heresy.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:47 AM | Comments (8)

NK Missile Status

So now NK wants "direct negotiations" with the US about this

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea said Wednesday it wants direct talks with the United States over its apparent plans to test-fire a long-range missile, a day after the country issued a bristling statement in which it declared its right to carry out the launch.

Tensions in the region have soared following intelligence reports that the North was fueling a ballistic missile believed capable of reaching U.S. territory. The United States and Japan have said they could consider sanctions against the impoverished state and push the U.N. Security Council for retaliatory action should the launch go ahead.

In other words, they're trying the old "bribe-us-to-be-good" bit which worked out so well for us with Envoy Jimmeh the last time. I hope we keep saying 'get stuffed.'

"North Korea as a sovereign state has the right to develop, deploy, test fire and export a missile," he said. "We are aware of the U.S. concerns about our missile test-launch. So our position is that we should resolve the issue through negotiations."

This is really the key, isn't it? This is the point that Bush has grasped and all too much of the West sputters on: in this day of widespread high technology and weapons that can deal death to millions half a world away can we still afford to allow nations that we can not trust to develop and export, let alone use, such weapons? I'm sorry, but the answer is quite simply "no." We can not allow weapons of mass destruction to be built around the world, and we can not allow countries to export delivery systems for them. It is insane. The West needs to shake off its instinctive anti-US twitch and realize just what is at stake here.

Why is it that the very people who screamed the loudest for the US to destroy its nuclear weapon stocks and marched with all those paper mache heads in the 80s are now seemingly using those heads to think as they scream for Iran's and North Korea's "right" to have nuclear weapons of their own?

And we are the reckless cowboys?

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:39 AM | Comments (2)

June 20, 2006

I'm Watching "Team America" Again Tonight

Because I want to see a lot of bastards like this

and this

die.

A lot.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:17 PM | Comments (10)

Two Soldiers Found Dead

Looks like those poor men have been found.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- An Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman said Tuesday that two U.S. soldiers missing since Friday have been found dead, Reuters reported. U.S. military authorities in Baghdad told CNN they could not confirm the report. "The two soldiers were killed and they were found in Yusufiya near an electricity plant," Major General Abdul Aziz Mohammed told a news conference in Baghdad, Reuters said.

Let's hope we get the bastards that did this.

And our prayers for these young men and their families.

ths UPDATE: Oh, God. You knew we were going to hear this, but I was hoping against hope we wouldn't. That they'd find them and get them out. Double your prayers to their families, for strength in bearing what they're going to learn.

Update and Bump: The bodies were booby trapped

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The bodies of two U.S. soldiers found in Iraq Monday night were mutilated and booby-trapped, military sources said Tuesday.

...The bodies also had been desecrated, and a visual identification was impossible -- part of the reason DNA testing was being conducted to verify their identities, the sources said.

Not only were the bodies booby-trapped, but homemade bombs also lined the road leading to the victims, an apparent effort to complicate recovery efforts and target recovery teams, the sources said.

It took troops 12 hours to clear the area of roadside bombs. One of the bombs exploded, but there were no injuries.

I know this is the reaction they want to provoke, but I freely admit it's a good thing there are no weapons within my reach right now. Bastards.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 03:22 PM | Comments (24)

Gulf War Rumors

Another one of those reports that you get nervous about:

Less than a month ago I posted on the military preparation going on in the Gulf. Additional elements are pointing towards the seriousness of the preparation in place. For instance Qatar helped by the IAEA and Western nuclear powers is putting in place a defense plan against nuclear radiations. Also Assafir reported that Gulf monarchies just finished preparing an emergency plan in case of a blockade of the Strait of Ormuz, which Iran has threatened to block. The Gulf Countries Transportation Ministers have signed on the plan which consists in using alternate ports for mostly oil transport.

Finally most Arab countries are furious about the very close rapprochement between Iran and Syria. In fact, just a few days ago, the Defense Ministers of these two countries inked a military agreement to protect themselves against " US and Zionist threats". This agreement entails that if one of the two is attacked then the other one will come to the rescue.

Skies are definetely getting darker again in that region...

But I'm not sure that "most Arab countries are furious " helps us in any way, because they still hate us more. Oh sure, they'll gladly have us solve problems for them but we can't expect any thanks.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 02:53 PM | Comments (2)

It may seem like a small thing.....

but next time you contact you Congressman/Senators, tell them to vote yes on House Bill 4806, the Military Toy Replica Act, when it comes before them. I mostly build model cars these days, but do the occasional tank or aircraft. And the licensing has just about killed the model car hobby. Don't let it kill the rest of the model hobby.

Posted by Crusader at 12:57 PM | Comments (12)

Rock, Paper, Scissors

Resident Druid that I am, even I have a problem with this.

Participants at this summer's national meeting of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will be asked to ratify a paper that says the Trinity is female.

The 217th General Assembly will be asked to ratify the 40-page report, "God's Love Overflowing," which suggests "Mother, Child and Womb" as terms equally appropriate to "Father, Son and Holy Spirit."

"In recent years new ways of speaking of the Trinity in the prayer and theology of the church have been proposed," the report states. "Some of these proposals are helpful; some are unsatisfactory. What must be clear is that we cannot distinguish the persons of the Trinity simply by assigning different attributes or acts to each of the persons. The divine attributes are held in common by all three persons: all are holy, all are loving, all are wise and powerful. Similarly, an action of God cannot be restricted to one of the three persons. All of the acts of the triune God are indivisible."

..."In praising the triune God we use biblical language, both classic - Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and surprising - Mother, Child, and Womb," the report says. "We may use words that speaks of the inner relations of the Godhead - Lover, Beloved, Love, and those that speak of the loving activity of the Three among us - Creator, Savior, Sanctifier, Rock, Redeemer, Friend, King of Glory, Prince of Peace, Spirit of Love."

According to an AP report this morning (which I canNOT find online), the delegates voted yesterday to "receive" this policy paper "on gender-inclusive language for the Trinity, a step short of approving it".

"This does not alter the church's theological position, but provides an educational resource to enhance the spiritual life of our membership," legislative committee chair Nancy Olthoff, an Iowa laywoman, said during Monday's debate on the Trinity.

Church officials get to propose 'experimental liturgies with alternative phrasings for the Trinity'. In my jaundiced eye, that's all well and good, inclusive and cutting edge but...anything that leaves "Son" out of it sort of defeats the whole point of "Christian", does it not? Jesus was a real, LIVE person, not a "fill-in-the-blank" concept.

UPDATE HAH! The AP link, thanks to Bingley's beady eyes and Mark in Mexico. Now, who the hell is St. Athanasius?

Bingley Update: Well, it all goes to prove that us Frozen Chosen are human too:

(link deleted)

Gosh, that's great! Poor baby jeebus!

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:24 AM | Comments (40)

In Knowing, There is Peace

And after 60 years, closure.

U.S. WWII Sub Appears to Have Been Found
For 60 years, Nancy Kenney wondered what happened to her father. The submarine that William T. Mabin was in disappeared while he and his crewmates were on a mission to attack a Japanese convoy in the last months of World War II.

Now, the Navy says a wreck found at the bottom of the Gulf of Thailand appears to be the sub, the USS Lagarto.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:24 AM | Comments (2)

North Korean Missles

Well, we'll just have to see how this pans out. If they launch, will we try and shoot it down? Can we dare not to?

None of these scenarios is terribly appealing.

Good thing we gave them the nuke technology, huh?

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:05 AM | Comments (3)

At Least You're Safe in Your ICU Bed

... when those New Jersey taxes cause a cardiac arrest......for now.

Earlier Monday, Mr. Corzine backed away from a plan that would have brought in $430 million by taxing hospital beds in the state, conceding in a morning radio interview that the plan was dead. "I've relented on that," Mr. Corzine said in an interview on WKXW-FM, 101.5. "There are fights you're going to have. That isn't the biggest part of my budget. And it's out."

And it was a humdinger of a plan, too.

...Gov. Jon S. Corzine in his proposed budget called for a monthly tax on hospitals at a rate of about $1,400 per bed. Half of the $430 million raised would go to the state's general fund for a variety of programs. The other half would be used to increase the amount of matching funds the state receives from the federal government under the Medicaid program, which covers health-care costs of the poor.

You all sure can pick 'em.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:03 AM | Comments (2)

The NOLA Police

Are they useless or what?

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Acting at the mayor's request, Gov. Kathleen Blanco said Monday she would send National Guard troops and state police to patrol the streets of New Orleans after a bloody weekend in which six people were killed.

Now I am glad that Mayor Noggin did this, as it will give them a chance to get reorganized and get some seemingly sadly needed efficiency...esprit...heck, I don't know, but that police force sure seems to need something. Is there any reason why the top brass in the department should not be canned? Imean, first there was their disgraceful action in the wake of Katrina, and now look at this:

The police force has been operating with depleted ranks. It has about 1,375 officers, compared with about 1,750 before Katrina. The city's pre-Katrina population of 465,000 has rebounded to about half its size.

Depeleted ranks my left, er, foot. Before Katrina there were roughly 266 residents per officer. Now there are roughly 169 residents per officer. And things are worse?

Now I realize that the efficacy of a police force also depends heavily on the civic spirit of the populace; if the general population does not respect the political leadership and the police then they will not tend to respect the laws and the city will be very difficult to keep safe and orderly. This seems to me to be a perfect chance for Noggin to show that he is indeed a 'reform' mayor who can restore order and respect for the law.

However, it seems that the NOLA police chief is more concerned about the image to tourists than he is in building trust with the residents:

Riley assured residents that the Guard was "not coming in and taking over the city."

"You will have to look for them to find them," Riley said. "They will not be uptown, downtown or in the French Quarter. Our people will be there. This will allow us to have more of our people there."

In other words, if you live here we will treat you like a criminal and have the Guard posted by you, but please come and spend money here and chat with the fat friendly cop on Bourbon Street.

Doesn't sound like a formula for success to me, but more like a way to shift some blame to the Guard when things don't work out.

Update: Michelle Malkin hits this from another angle.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:38 AM | Comments (1)

June 19, 2006

The Duke Rape Case

...in some deep, DEEP doo-doo. MSNBC's Dan Abrams has gotten his hands on the prosecution documents and they don't add up. VIDEO here. One of his most interesting points? NOT the inconsistencies of the accuser's story, medical reports, etc. but...

"...When you look at of the dates on some of the documents that were subpoenaed by the prosecution, you have the DA making statements about them before he even had access to them. Making statements about this case well before, it would seem, he'd even seen alot of the evidence."

Add today's news to the headline story in Newsweek:

The prosecutor insists his rape case is strong. One big problem: the facts thus far.

...with it's litany of prosecutorial arrogance...

...The media coverage of the case has been enormous. NEWSWEEK put the mug shots of two of the players—Reade Seligmann, 20, and Collin Finnerty, 19—on its cover the week after they were indicted. Some early accounts raised doubts about the guilt of the players, but the story more typically played as a morality tale of pampered jocks gone wild. Lately, as more evidence from police or medical reports have been filed or cited in court documents by defense lawyers, the national and local media have been raising questions about Nifong's conduct of the case and his motivations.

Asked for an interview last week by NEWSWEEK, Nifong declined, but sent an angry e-mail accusing the national media of getting spun by defense lawyers and sticking to his earlier comments to the press. "None of the 'facts' I know at this time, indeed, none of the evidence I have seen from any source, has changed the opinion that I expressed initially," he wrote. He lashed out at "media speculation" (adding, "and it is even worse on the blogs"). He said that he was bound by ethics rules against commenting any more about the case or evidence.

...Nifong called the lacrosse players "hooligans" who were stonewalling. In fact, when police asked the three co-captains who rented the house to come down to the station for questioning two days after the incident, all of them readily agreed. None tried to get a lawyer and all volunteered to take lie-detector tests (the police declined their offer).

...Later, Roberts changed her story and said that a rape might possibly have taken place. But that was after Nifong had helped her get favorable bail treatment for violating probation (she had pleaded guilty to embezzlement charges in another case). Roberts later contacted rap star Lil' Kim's publicist "for any advice as to how to spin this to my advantage."

Read the whole thing. It will curdle your blood. He'll get re-elected on the ruin of those three lives.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:22 PM | Comments (10)

Dutch Pantser Unit Spotted

Good thing it's summer:

Football's governing body has explained why up to 1,000 Dutch fans watched a World Cup tie wearing no trousers.

Around 1,000 fans arrived for the Ivory Coast tie in their traditional bright orange trousers - but bearing the logo and name of a Dutch brewery.

To protect the rights of the official beer they were denied entry, so the male fans promptly removed the trousers and watched the game in underpants.

(h/t to Lamplighter)

And that official beer?

Budweiser.

blech

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 12:59 PM | Comments (7)

There Must Have Been a Brain Dead Full Moon Up

First Natalie Maines and now the classless Mary Travers, dishing on the woman who donated bone marrow to her during her battle with leukemia. (You know ~ as in 'save your life, last chance you'll ever have' bone marrow?)

"I had to have a bone marrow transplant. It's been a terrible year," she told me. "I just learned the donor's name is also Mary. She has two daughters. I have two daughters. See, just in case something goes wrong, you must wait a year before you can communicate with them.

...Mary laughed and added: "The problem was, I'm a lifelong Democrat. I was terrified that if she's a Republican, I could go into the voting booth and, like Dr. Strangelove, my whole brain could change around. When we finally spoke I asked her about this. There was a pause then she said, 'But I am a Republican.' So I said, 'Well, hell, I guess it's about time the Republicans did something nice for me.' "

Whatever happened to "thank you"?

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:40 AM | Comments (14)

"Is A Half-Eaten Tuna Sandwich And A Crumpled Pepsi Cup...

...a playable lie?

Update: A warm Swilling welcome to Simon in the comments, who reminds me of this:

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:46 AM | Comments (4)

June 18, 2006

A Sign From God

"We need more goats,"

I'm not making this up.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:42 PM | Comments (1)

When I First Read This

...I thought they were still talking about Hawaii. But it was Spain creaking at the seams.

The wealthy semiautonomous Catalonia region gained sweeping new powers to run its own affairs Sunday, as voters overwhelmingly approved a blueprint that some fear could leave Spain's government cash-strapped and powerless.

...At stake in the voting in this region, which considers itself a nation within a nation, were a much bigger slice of tax revenues collected in Catalonia, a say in the appointment of judges and prosecutors to courts run from Madrid and, critically, an indirect proclamation of Catalonia as a "nation."

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:40 PM | Comments (5)

There's More to Ethanol

...than just corn.

City officials in Champaign and Urbana took notice when they heard that an ethanol plant proposed nearby would use about 2 million gallons of water per day, most likely from the aquifer that also supplies both cities.

"There was concern about impacting a pretty valuable resource," said Matt Wempe, a city planner for Urbana. "It should raise red flags."

There are green NIMBY issues to consider as well, in the rush to alternative fuels.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:42 PM | Comments (4)

June 17, 2006

On This Date

...yet another weird, historical confluence ~ a Yin and Yang, them and us, as it were. (Pretty appropriate, considering the debate in the House and airwaves lately.) The Yin of it?
Bunker Hill.

No one of the thousands who crowded the housetops, church steeples, and shore batteries of Boston to watch the spectacle ever forgot the extraordinary scene they witnessed. June 17, 1775, was an absolutely still, brilliantly clear summer's day. Viewers in Boston only half a mile away could make out the stages of the battle clearly.

It didn't go well, but we didn't give up.

And the Yang?

June 17, 1940 ~ France asks Germany for terms of surrender in WW II

Three days later, the 'give up' was complete.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 07:21 PM | Comments (6)

My Dinner With Genos

Well, ok, it was lunch actually, but I'm a sucker for a cheap literary reference. Anywho, as I said below I was going to drive to Philly today just to have lunch at Genos. I'm sure you've seen his story at Michelle Malkin's; I did, and as soon as I read it I decided to make the trip. Over beers on Tuesday I floated the idea to Nightfly, and as he was game we met this morning and drove to Philly with his beloved and my daughter in tow.

Thanks to the directions Michelle had linked to it was very easy to find, and when we got there at 12 or so man, the place was mobbed. There was no where to park nearby so I drove around a bit and finally found a spot after we doubled back a block over. It turns out we doubled back a tad too much, because once we walking back on 9th Street we were heading the wrong way. In a moment of Sensitive 90s Guy Lucidity™ I asked a shriveled but dapper looking Italian fellow which way Geno's was, and as he was about to answer another much younger Italian gent with (I kid you not) a bottle of Chianti in each hand said "It's down this way...but don't forget to speak English!" And with that he laughed and went on his way. Thusly encouraged, we continued on ours.

And there, glistening in the distance like the spires of Tangerine City, home of the Whiz, we saw...

I shall not deny that our pulse quickened as we approached, mainly because we were starving, but also in part to the buzz about the place. As I said before, it was packed; the line to the window stretched halfway down the block. Parked across the street was the official Geno's Mobile

And then it struck me. Right in front of me was the real reason why the 'concerned' folks in Philly are upset with Geno's. It really has nothing to do with the "Speak English When You Order Sign", though I'm sure they see that as another proof of the owner's dementia. No, my friends, the real reason Geno's is in trouble with the City of Brotherly Love is right there on his Hummer...

The Free Mumia crowd has declared war (well, actually they haven't come out and declared it, as that would require courage), as Officer Faulkner's picture is everywhere you look at Geno's,

as are window case after window case that are filled with police badges from around the country and around the world, from Anoka County, Minnesota to Australia.

Due to the wide-spread reporting on this story, Geno's has also gotten many letters of support from around the country, and they've posted some of the funnier ones:

But the point of the trip, gentle reader, in addition to giving morale and financial support to a great American institution, was this:

That, my friends, is a cheesesteak with wiz, a birch beer and some cheese fries. "Cheese" in this instance being "Cheese Whiz." And Ho Nelly was it delicious.

There are some folks who like to end their meal with a sweet treat, and there are some folks who prefer an espresso with the creamiest of heads. But for me nothing beats the vision, much like the pot o'gold that awaits every Irsihman at the end of a rainbow, the vision of the whiz at the bottom of the cup of fries

Heaven, my dear friends.

Heaven.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 03:41 PM | Comments (16)

Am I Allowed To Question Her Patriotism Now?

Probably not, of course:

"A lot of pandering started going on, and you'd see soldiers and the American flag in every video. It became a sickening display of ultra-patriotism."

"The entire country may disagree with me, but I don't understand the necessity for patriotism," Maines resumes, through gritted teeth. "Why do you have to be a patriot? About what? This land is our land? Why? You can like where you live and like your life, but as for loving the whole country… I don't see why people care about patriotism."

And soon you won't see why people don't care about you or your music, sweet pea, especially when you can't help but evoke the "M" Factor:

"It was the bullying and the scare factor," shudders banjo and guitar player Robison. "It was like the McCarthy days, and it was almost like the country was unrecognisable."

The level of debate can be gauged from the way Maines was compared to "Hanoi Jane" Fonda, who was photographed manning a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun at the height of the Vietnam war.

Yes, it always comes back to McCarthy and Vietnam, that one-two combination of leftist martyrdom. Oh, I am called to task for a stupid comment! I'm being repressed! McCarthy! How dare people not buy my music because they think I'm an ass...

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:36 AM | Comments (61)

June 16, 2006

Welcome

...to the UCMJ.

More than two weeks ago, Sullivan said he expected murder and kidnapping charges would be brought soon, and a Pentagon official confirmed charges were imminent. But none has been filed and the delay has not been explained.

According to Marine spokesman Lt. Col. Sean Gibson, charges must be filed within 120 days of servicemembers being taken into custody. Gibson put that date at May 24, which would mean charges might not be filed until September.

Maybe now people will understand why ACTIVE DUTY members are reluctant to speak out. You sign your life and every right you ever had away when you swear that oath. 'Military justice' provides many safeguards, but 'timely manner' isn't one of them. Michele Malkin with more. ( Don't confuse the manner of the Marines' confinement with 'military justice'. That/shackles/etc. are at the discretion of the Commanding Officer. There is nothing that prevents him from doing the same to any service member in his command, except the counter order of a senior officer.) It's harsh and there are reasons for it, but don't ever think that there aren't abuses and those can be arbitrary and hateful. And whether you make it to a Court Martial, an NJP (Non-Judicial Punishment ~ stand in front of the Old Man's desk for a peepee whacking) or they drop everything, don't think for two seconds that you get a shot at addressing your treatment or the 'violations' of your rights. Remember? You signed those away.

They could have held those Marines and sailor in any brig on any station. But the pictures on TV and the articles in the papers and the Congressman on the floor of the House had them chained like animals. And WTFO? Even Saddam Hussein gets to swing his arms.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:07 PM | Comments (10)

Sacre Bleu, Deja Vu!

Le Martha Stewart syndrome, she strikes yet again!

The embattled French co-CEO of Airbus parent EADS on Friday defended his sale of shares in the company before delays in the superjumbo A380 sent the stock tumbling, calling it an "unfortunate coincidence."

Queeks! Zomebody knits eem a Bastille poncho!

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:28 AM | Comments (2)

Finally! Panhandle Developers

...have to play by the rules.

The Panhandle for the first time will get a state environmental resource permitting program, similar to those in other parts of Florida, under one of the five bills signed Thursday.

"Including the Panhandle in the statewide program will preserve more wetlands, improve stormwater management and flood control and better protect some of the most pristine rivers, estuaries and streams in Florida," Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Colleen Castille said after the bill was passed last month.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 07:52 AM

It Might Be 'Common Law'

A 15-year-old girl can enter into a common-law marriage in Colorado, and younger girls and boys possibly can, too, a state appeals court ruled Thursday.

While the three-judge panel stopped short of setting a specific minimum age for such marriages, it said they could be legal for girls at 12 and boys at 14 under English common law, which Colorado recognizes.

...but could they not still charge the elder partner with statutory rape?

Posted by tree hugging sister at 07:49 AM | Comments (6)

Your Tax Dollars At Work

Katrina certainly devastated a lot of lives, and there are thousands upon thousands of folks working very hard to get their lives back in order who deserve and value what help we can give them.

But then there are also people like Theon Johnson

This winter, FEMA put up over 300 Hurricane Katrina evacuees in New York City hotels. Almost all of them have gone back to their lives, their jobs. But not Theon Johnson. He’s currently sprawled out watching Halloween 5 on one of the two full-size beds in his room at the JFK Airport Holiday Inn. He is one of four evacuees still living in a hotel in the city.

The others left in February and March, when, after spending more than $500 million, FEMA stopped paying for hotel rooms housing some 40,000 evacuees across the country. That left many scrambling for places to live. But thanks to the city’s squatters-rights law, evacuees here were safe. Their rooms weren’t paid for, but since they’d been in them for more than 30 days, the hotels couldn’t just kick them out. Only a judge’s order could evict them.

...When Johnson’s caseworker, Sharon, comes around, she gives him some bus passes and maybe a few bucks, but she’s getting frustrated. “They sit around on their butts watching TV. There’s only but so much I can do if they’re not willing to help themselves.”

After being flown here for free back in September, Johnson’s been at the Holiday Inn since Super Bowl Sunday. On April 21, the hotel served Johnson with three notices of occupancy termination, saying that it would begin court proceedings if he wasn’t out by May 9. He wasn’t, so it did. If the court boots him, Johnson could end up in one of the city’s homeless shelters. He’s been broke for over a month now. FEMA sent him $9,000 in housing aid, but he spent it all on booze, cigarettes, some clothes, and food—partying, mostly. “I spent my money just the way I wanted, and I think [fema] should send me some more,” he says.

I wish we could boot his lazy ass to Mexico; there are a hundred hard-working illegals in my town that I'd much rather have in this country and help out with my tax dollars than this piece of crap.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:34 AM | Comments (4)

June 15, 2006

'Splain to me Why THIS Picture

...would be used to illustrate this point...

The global refugee population has begun to rise for the first time in four years, largely due to instability in Iraq, a US group said in a survey, which saw refugee protection deteriorating by all measures.

...when it's: a) Indonesia and b) 3 YEARS old? The "group" doing the survey says displaced Iraqis abound in Jordan and Syria as of this past year. But I guess not one refugee drew pictures ~ or ones that suited ~ for a new AFP photo op.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:39 AM | Comments (2)

"And I'm Working On That Contract"

"It's being faxed from a Kinko's in Austin as we speak..."

Stopwatch Ticking for Dan Rather
CBS to Drop Ex-Anchor From '60 Minutes'

CBS executives have decided there is no future role at the network for Dan Rather, making it certain that the man who sat in the anchor chair for 24 years will depart by this fall.

These executives recognize Rather's contributions over four decades and are not trying to boot him because of the controversy surrounding his botched story on President Bush and the National Guard, say network sources who declined to be named while discussing a sensitive personnel matter. But the executives concluded there was no room for Rather at "60 Minutes," particularly with incoming anchor Katie Couric planning to report a half-dozen stories a year and the hiring of CNN's Anderson Cooper as a part-time contributor.

I'd say "SEE-ya!", but that would imply that a) I give a hooyah or b) I'm gloating. Let's just leave it at Eddie Murphy's "You brought dat sh*t on yoself..."

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:33 AM | Comments (5)

So in Mr. al-Maliki's Eyes, American Troops

...are just chopped liver?

Asked about clemency for those who attacked U.S. troops, he said: "That's an area where we can see a green line. There's some sort of preliminary understanding between us and the MNF-I," the U.S.-led Multi-National Force-Iraq, "that there is a patriotic feeling among the Iraqi youth and the belief that those attacks are legitimate acts of resistance and defending their homeland. These people will be pardoned definitely, I believe."

And how many more get to die, since you're floating the idea you can kill us with impunity?

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:23 AM | Comments (2)

Hadji Girl

I'm sure you've heard by now about this new 'scandal' involving the Marines, this "Hadji Girl" song. I've refrained from saying anything about it because I wanted to read the lyrics. And I'm glad I did. Thanks to Michelle Malkin, here they are:

Hadji Girl

I was out in the sands of Iraq
And we were under attack
And I, well, I didn't know where to go.
And the first think I could see was
Everybody's favorite Burger King
So I threw open the door and I hit the floor.
Then suddenly to my surprise
I looked up and I saw her eyes
And I knew it was love at first sight.
And she said

Durka Durka Mohammed Jihad
Sherpa Sherpa Bak Allah
Hadji girl I can't understand what you're saying.
And she said
Durka Durka Mohammed Jihad
Sherpa Sherpa Bak Allah
Hadji girl I love you anyway.

Then she said that she wanted me to see.
She wanted me to meet her family
But I, well, I couldn't figure out how to say no.
Cause I don't speak Arabic.
So, she took me down an old dirt trail.
And she pulled up to a side shanty
And she threw open the door and I hit the floor.
Cause her brother and her father shouted

Durka Durka Mohammed Jihad
Sherpa Sherpa Bak Allah
They pulled out their AKs so I could see
And they said
Durka Durka Mohammed Jihad
Sherpa Sherpa Bak Allah

So I grabbed her little sister and pulled her in front of me.
As the bullets began to fly
The blood sprayed from between her eyes
And then I laughed maniacally
Then I hid behind the TV
And I locked and loaded my M-16
And I blew those little f***ers to eternity.
And I said

Durka Durka Mohammed Jihad
Sherpa Sherpa Bak Allah
They should have known they were f***ing with a Marine

Durka-Durka, Mohammed Jihad is of course the rallying cry of these fellows

It's a song about a guy who falls in love with a girl who leads him into an ambush by her brother and father, and they kill the girl, not the Marine. And then he kills them, thankfully.

I'll buy his album, durka-durka.

But it's not the typical reaction from the twisted panty brigade that upsets me about this; it's this reaction in The Marine Corps Times that is most troubling: (via LGF)

Islamic scholars and the Marine Corps have condemned an Internet music video called “Hadji Girl” that allegedly shows Marines mocking dead Iraqis.

The four-minute video contains images of what is said to be a Marine in Iraq singing a song that seems to glorify killing an Iraqi young girl. The video was removed from the site on which it was posted and where more than 50,000 people viewed it, according to the Council on Islamic Relations, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group.

According to CAIR, the song’s lyrics include the lines: “I grabbed her little sister and put her in front of me. As the bullets began to fly, the blood sprayed from between her eyes, and then I laughed maniacally … I blew those little [expletive] to eternity. They should have known they were [expletive] with Marines.”

"According to CAIR". According to goddamned CAIR!!!!! What spineless a$$wipe in the USMC Brass is condemning a Marine based on a CAIR press release's version of what the lyrics are?

Fine, I will grant that the song may not be in the best of taste or perhaps some desk-bound turd can say it's "inappropriate" or some such rot, but for the USMC to come down hard on this guy based on some squealing from a terrorist-sympathizing group like CAIR is disgusting.

Update: Allah at HotAir has some contact info. Support the Marines and kick some Brass!

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:58 AM | Comments (11)

June 14, 2006

Delayed By a Dangerous Haboob

When the U.N. Security Council headed to Africa on a 10-day trip, ambassadors thought their biggest security nightmare could come during a visit to a camp for Sudanese or Chadians caught up in the Darfur conflict and angry at the United Nations. But it turned out their scariest moment came from a "haboob" - a word few had ever heard.

Flying back from Juba, the capital of southern Sudan, and approaching the national capital, Khartoum, on the evening of June 8, the ambassadors were talking about their meetings to promote implementation of a January 2005 peace agreement ending another conflict - the 21-year civil war between the government and southern rebels - when the pilot suddenly revved up the engines.

Peru's U.N. Ambassador Oswaldo Rivero, who happened to be sitting in the cockpit at the time talking to the Spanish pilot, said all of a sudden they saw a black cloud coming toward the plane. The pilot knew what it was - a "haboob" or sandstorm - and he immediately sought to gain altitude to avoid it.

"It was a terrible storm," De Rivero said. "He was concerned about sand in the engines. That is very dangerous."

I woulda hapooped.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:35 PM | Comments (2)

1994 ~ Peter Jennings and the Little Guy in Sarajevo

Watch and remember.

It was February 1994 when Eki, a 12 year old boy from Sarajevo, was interviewed by Peter Jennings.
Peter Jennings, "What do your mother and father tell you about what the future is going to be?"
Eki," They don't talk about it."
Peter, "How come?"
Eki, "They don't know what to say."

I was in tears afterwards and major dad said "Someone has to see this and get that kid out of there." Someone did, bless their hearts. George and Helen Priebe of Irvine, Calif. brought his whole family over and they settled in Michigan.

Today the Iraq War veteran, Petty Officer Eki Foco, became a citizen of the United States of America.
He says America is a great place to be.

Well, Petty Officer Foco, it's great to have you.
Congratulations.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 07:26 PM | Comments (3)

And Here I Was Gonna Donate Lunch Money

...since she always looks so cranky, gaunt and frail.

Nancy Pelosi, the House Democratic leader, listed her ownership with her husband of a vineyard in St Helena, the heart of California's Napa wine country, which is valued at between $5m and $25m.

Harry Reid-ickulous seems well heeled as well. So I'll send my $1.75 instead to Ted, who will be paying for therapy after this review of his book.

...And Senator Ted Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat, reported $50,000 in royalties on a children's book, My Senator and Me: A Dog's Eye View of Washington, which follows a day in the life of the senator from the viewpoint of his dog. The conservative National Review panned the book, saying it "reeks of liberalism from its very first sentence" and calling it "the very worst book written by a senator since, well, since Barbara Boxer's novel was released last fall".

Then again, maybe not.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 04:53 PM | Comments (1)

I Want My MTV

But if you don't want yours, you
may soon find it tough to figure out who to complain to.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 04:12 PM | Comments (1)

A Note to Our U.K. Swillers

Come July?

DUCK.

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

Never, EVER Fly This

...like THIS.

'This is not normal behavior,' says lead investigator
...According to the report, the crew came in too low and too slow, with incorrect flap settings while making a type of emergency landing regularly practiced by flying crews.

The plane also was underpowered, according to the report, after one of its four engines had been shut down because of erratic warnings from an alarm system. Pilots mistakenly tried to throttle up the engine they shut down instead of one of the remaining three working engines. That left two engines throttled up, one idling and one shut down.

“Clear and convincing evidence” showed that the pilot failed to use all of the available engines during a miscalculated landing approach that was hampered by incorrect settings on the big plane’s wing flaps, Torres said.

...or it winds up like THIS.

Pop quiz after lunch.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 02:06 PM | Comments (4)

Talk About Your 'Door Buster" Sale!

Home Depot gets my vote!

A plumber who bought a bathroom vanity for a home renovation found something else in the box: a stash of 40 pounds of marijuana and three grams of cocaine.

Police did not identify the plumber or the store, though WWLP-TV reported the vanity was purchased at the Home Depot in Chicopee.

...Ricardi said the plumber discovered the drugs in Southwick on Monday after he made the purchase. The man noticed the vanity top hadn't been included in the package and instead found two plastic bags containing the drugs stuffed inside.

Who needs a top with packing like that? Beats the hell out of styrofoam and much easier to resell.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:55 PM

A Sensible Wind Blowing In Canada?

I guess this won't get too much press:

Professor Bob Carter of the Marine Geophysical Laboratory at James Cook University, in Australia gives what, for many Canadians, is a surprising assessment: "Gore's circumstantial arguments are so weak that they are pathetic. It is simply incredible that they, and his film, are commanding public attention."

...Among experts who actually examine the causes of change on a global scale, many concentrate their research on designing and enhancing computer models of hypothetical futures. "These models have been consistently wrong in all their scenarios," asserts Ball. "Since modelers concede computer outputs are not "predictions" but are in fact merely scenarios, they are negligent in letting policy-makers and the public think they are actually making forecasts."

We should listen most to scientists who use real data to try to understand what nature is actually telling us about the causes and extent of global climate change. In this relatively small community, there is no consensus, despite what Gore and others would suggest.

I didn't realize that Darth Rove's powers extended that far north...

Appearing before the Commons Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development last year, Carleton University paleoclimatologist Professor Tim Patterson testified, "There is no meaningful correlation between CO2 levels and Earth's temperature over this [geologic] time frame. In fact, when CO2 levels were over ten times higher than they are now, about 450 million years ago, the planet was in the depths of the absolute coldest period in the last half billion years." Patterson asked the committee, "On the basis of this evidence, how could anyone still believe that the recent relatively small increase in CO2 levels would be the major cause of the past century's modest warming?"

Well, duh, because it's all about Chimpy McBushyhalliburtonoil, fool.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 12:57 PM | Comments (2)

Aussie Anti-Ahabism

These excitable outback types are a cranky lot.

The small dorsal fins on the huge, curving backs now regularly parting the winter seas just off Sydney symbolise a new front in the war against Japanese whaling.

These are humpbacks on their annual breeding migration from the icy waters of the Antarctic, and Australians call them "our" whales.

Japan's plan to add humpbacks to the list of whales it kills in the name of scientific research has outraged a nation already strongly opposed to the annual slaughter in the Antarctic.

...And with 1.5 million whale-watchers pumping 300 million dollars (225 million US) into Australia's economy each year, they also translate into official scorn for Japan's argument that it kills whales for research.

"What is it after 20 years that they've discovered? That whales go well with soy sauce?" asked the leader of Australia's Greens Party, Senator Bob Brown.

In other words, he's 'got yer Moby Dick right here, so bite me, blow-hole'.

(Bingster and I think it might be a fit of pique for getting their a$$es handed to them in a soccer fashion, hmmm?)

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:02 AM | Comments (19)

Happy, Happy

Flag Day !!

Ain't she a beaut?

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:52 AM | Comments (5)

Say It Ain't So: FEMA Waste?!?!

In a shocking development, FEMA gave out lots of money to people who didn't need it

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A $200 bottle of champagne from Hooters and $300 worth of "Girls Gone Wild" videos were among items bought with debit cards handed out by FEMA to help hurricane victims, auditors probing $1 billion in potential waste and fraud have found.

The cards -- given to people displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita -- also bought diamond jewelry and a vacation in the Dominican Republic, according to the Government Accountability Office audit.

You know, a billion here and a billion there; pretty soon it adds up to real money. Your money, and mine.

I'm not sure I agree that all of the money was wasted, though:

The GAO uncovered records showing that $1,000 from a FEMA debit card went to a Houston divorce lawyer; $600 was spent in a strip club and $400 was spent on "adult erotica products," all of which auditors concluded were "not necessary to satisfy legitimate disaster needs."

It seems to me that those expenditures were for some legitimate disasters...

Anyhow, this is the natural result of the MSM and politicians screaming at FEMA to throw money at the recovery, as if that was somehow all that was needed. So of course it was easy for people to feed at the trough, especially when I'm sure that the FEMA officials (much like cops with tickets) were under a lot of pressure to show via big numbers that they were 'doing something,'which of course led to them completely ignoring their guidelines for checking out the validity of claims. So now the MSM has something else they can point to to show this Administrations incompetence, however much a hand they may have had in its creation.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:24 AM | Comments (6)

More Scum Lawyers

What is it about "fried chicken" that they think the stupid public doesn't understand?

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky (AP) -- A doctor and a consumer group have sued KFC in an effort to stop the chicken chain from cooking with high-fat partially hydrogenated oil.

Dr. Arthur Hoyte, a retired physician from Rockville, Maryland, and the Center for Science in the Public Interest, want a judge to order Kentucky Fried Chicken to use other types of cooking oils.

Anytime I see a quote from someone associated with any organization that has the phrase "Public Interest" in it I always check to make sure I still have my wallet.

Update: Thanks to Cullen who points out that Wunder Kraut was all over this yesterday.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:26 AM | Comments (6)

June 13, 2006

Committee: Fire Churchill

Woo-Hoo! Courage in Academia! A majority of Colorado University folks on the panel set up to investigate Ward Churchill have recommended that he be fired. Allahpundit has the links at HotAir. I'm reading the full report now, and it's pretty damning.

Update: the committee went to great lengths to exclude any sort of political discussions from their investigation; they simply looked at the published materials. And on that score, he's toast.

The real tremor from this should reverberate through the heart of every tenured faculty member who was promoted as Churchill seems to have been, solely because of his claimed race. The tenure committee that recommended him for tenure should be censured, or at the very least named, for their shoddy work here and the disrepute it has brought to their university and academe in general.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:44 PM | Comments (7)

California Re-Takes The Crazies Lead

Just when I think that Florida has wrestled the title away from California for "Most Insane Citizenry" I read about Mrs. Polk:

MARTINEZ, California (AP) -- A suburban housewife serving as her own attorney at her murder trial insisted in closing arguments that she was being framed, and had no choice but to kill her husband in self defense.

Susan Polk, 48, is accused of stabbing 70-year-old Felix Polk in October 2002 at the couple's Orinda home, about 15 miles east of San Francisco. Prosecutors allege the motive was her husband's multimillion-dollar estate.

...The trial, now in its 14th week in Contra Costa County Superior Court, has been marked by the defendant's outbursts, surreal testimony about soothsaying and apocalyptic visions, and squabbles with two sons who testified against her.

While on the stand, Polk has discussed secret government experiments, psychic powers and the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. She claimed she could have thwarted the World Trade Center attacks if her husband hadn't prevented her from alerting authorities.

I'm so glad I live on the opposite coast.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 02:42 PM | Comments (6)

More Proof Of God

Cullen is very excited about a huge ball of gas zipping through the the universe. And it is pretty neat.

But I have to admit that this is a lot more interesting to me:

Astronomers at the UK's Jodrell Bank Observatory have discovered what is surely the strongest argument to date in favour of ploughing huge resources into space exploration: a giant "bridge" of methyl alcohol spanning around 288bn miles, within which is nestled a stellar nursery.

The booze cloud was spotted using the UK's MERLIN radio telescopes in an area of our own galaxy rather uninspiringly called W3(OH). According to the Royal Astronomical Society blurb, this is a region where "stars are being formed by the gravitational collapse of a cloud of gas and dust".

...Sadly, methyl alcohol is not currently suitable for human consumption, although we have no doubt that by the time mankind develops the technology necessary to reach W3(OH) it will also have evolved the capacity to successfully metabolise this molecule.

We thank you for this bounty that you have laid before us.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 02:08 PM | Comments (10)

Nice Pay For Four Years

Heck, I'd shack up with Paul for half of this:

Legal experts believe that McCartney could lose up to a quarter of his estimated £825 million ($1.52 billion) fortune after separating from his second wife.

That would equate to roughly one million pounds for every week of their short-lived four-year marriage.

Yep. Five hundred thousand pounds a week, and I'm yours, Sir Paul.

A bargain.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:35 AM | Comments (13)

Dear Professor Hawking

Regarding your recent warning:

Hawking Says Humans Must Go Into Space

We thought we should save you further embarrassment and let you know...

...someone's already out there.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:06 AM | Comments (2)

Bush in Baghdad

Bully for him!

Word is, he left the plastic turkey home for Barney.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:28 AM

Next Time

...drag his a$$ back in the store and use a bigger pipe.

A man is suing an auto-parts store for assault and battery after he attempted to hold up the business and employees responded by beating him with a metal pipe.

Dana Buckman, 46, walked into an auto shop brandishing a semiautomatic pistol last summer, only to have it turned on him by two AutoZone employees, police said. The men beat Buckman with a metal pipe and held him with his own gun.

...Buckman claims the men chased him out of the store and continued to beat him. He is suing the auto shop and the men for the injuries he suffered and for emotional distress.

...But lawyer Phillip R. Hurwitz, who represents Buckman, said the employees crossed the line by pursuing Buckman and attacking him.

"The danger was past," Hurwitz said. "These two employees took it upon themselves to go after Mr. Buckman after he left the store."

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:19 AM | Comments (1)

Everyone Who's Heartily Sick of This Sh*t

...raise your hand.

Sept. 11 Memorial to Be Redesigned
When a jury chose a Sept. 11 memorial design from more than 5,000 entries, the panel praised it for the "powerful, yet simple" use of reflecting pools to represent the destroyed World Trade Center. More than two years later, nothing is simple about the memorial, called "Reflecting Absence," which was sent back for a redesign after contractors concluded that it could cost nearly $1 billion.

A builder appointed by Gov. George Pataki and Mayor Michael Bloomberg is due to present new options Thursday that would cut the memorial's cost to $500 million. Officials hope to open the memorial in three years; preliminary construction that began in March has stopped.

"There's no reason that this memorial should be $1 billion. Absolutely none," said Daniel Libeskind, the architect who created the master plan for the 16-acre site known as ground zero.

Put the f*cking BUILDINGS back up and be DONE with it.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:08 AM | Comments (6)

Shock and Awe

First that it's San Francisco. Second that someone there had the guts to do this ~ I mean, how WHACK is this headline?

Calif. Judge Overturns Firearm Sales Ban
A California judge on Monday overturned a voter-approved city law that banned handgun possession and firearm sales, siding with gun owners who said the city did not have the authority to prohibit the weapons.

Judge James Warren sided with the National Rifle Association, which argued that a local government cannot ban weapons because the California Legislature allows their sale and possession.

::SNORT:: We LOVE it!

And Mr. Summers, as always, has some excellent links, it being his neck of the Left Coast.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:07 AM | Comments (1)

Here's A Shock

The deaths were from Palestinian mines, not Israeli gunboat fire:

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- An explosion on a Gaza beach that killed seven people last week was caused by explosives planted there by Palestinian militants, not artillery fire from an Israeli navy gunboat, Israeli military sources said...The Israel Defense Forces report, to be presented to the Israeli Defense Minister and Israeli Chief of Staff Tuesday, will cite several factors that led to the conclusion that the explosion was caused by a mine planted on the beach by Palestinian militants, the sources said.

An Israeli commando unit used the beach to enter Gaza for a mission in recent weeks, prompting the militants to place the mines, the sources said.

My money is that the Israelis are right.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:07 AM

I May Have To Take A Drive This Weekend To Philly

And have lunch at Geno's for Father's Day:

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - A civil rights watchdog agency opened an investigation on Monday into a Philadelphia cheese steak restaurant that posted a sign saying "This is America - when ordering, speak English."

The Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations complaint effectively opens a case against Geno's Steaks of South Philadelphia, said Rachel Lawton, acting executive director of the agency.

...The sign may violate the city's Fair Practices Ordinance, which bans businesses from discriminating on the basis of nationality or ethnicity, Lawton said.

"The complaint will say that the sign discourages patronage by non-English speakers because of their national origin and/or ancestry," Lawton, whose agency enforces the city's anti-discrimination laws, said before the official filing.

No, a$$wipe, it discourages no one because of where they're from; it says speak English.

Roberto Santiago, executive director of the city's Council of Spanish Speaking Organizations, said he received around 50 "hate" e-mails in response to his criticism of the sign.

..."This is dividing this nation," he said. "I'm really saddened by these individuals who are upset by having to be tolerant. I'm glad I'm living in an America where comments like Mr. Vento's are out of order."

What is "dividing the nation" is people who are refusing to learn English and assimilate, people who want no challanges in their lives but all the advantages that millions of people have worked and died for over hundreds of years. Don't give me this 'tolerant' crap. Who is less tolerant: the citizen of a nation who gladly embraces immigrants who make a minimum of effort to join their new culture, or those illegal immigrants who demand that the citizens of their new country change for them?

In the America I live in Mr. Vento's comments are protected and precious; they are the order.

Michelle Malkin's been all over this for a while now.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:43 AM | Comments (14)

Hurricane Willy

That retired old blowhard who keeps blowing:

As Tropical Storm Alberto threatened to strengthen into the ninth hurricane in 22 months to affect Florida, former President Clinton predicted Monday that Republican environmental policies will lead to more severe storms.

"It is now generally recognized that while Al Gore and I were ridiculed, we were right about global warming," Clinton said at a fundraiser for the Florida Democratic Party. "It's a serious problem. It's going to lead to more hurricanes."

Gee, and that's why you worked so hard while in office to push your wonderful Kyoto Treaty through the Senate. That's why you brought the opponents of it to their knees with your forceful, scientific, impassioned...

Oh wait, there was someone else you were bringing to their knees, something that was more important to you.

Scumbag.

Go back to chasing college girls around and STFU.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:36 AM | Comments (5)

June 12, 2006

Java Slurping and Supporting Bingley's Filthy Habits

Turns out it's good for you.

Coffee may counteract alcohol’s poisonous effects on the liver and help prevent cirrhosis, researchers say.

In a study of more than 125,000 people, one cup of coffee per day cut the risk of alcoholic cirrhosis by 20 percent. Four cups per day reduced the risk by 80 percent. The coffee effect held true for women and men of various ethnic backgrounds.

Bastard. He always was the favorite. I'm surprised the attentionwhore's not on Deadwood with major dad. There'll be no living with him now.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:26 PM | Comments (8)

Zarqawi Autopsy Results Released

The military coroner is through and the official cause of death is:

He Be All Blowed Up

May he rest in pieces.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:33 PM | Comments (9)

I'm Curious as Well

An answer would be good.

Why is 'Major Dad' on 'Deadwood'?

I clean up the dog puke at 4 a.m. and he gets all the glamour gigs.
UPDATE: YEESH! Even sounds like him...

McRaney, 57, married to actress Delta Burke (they met on her series, "Designing Women," and recently celebrated their 17th anniversary) and himself a father, is sensitive to the fact that some find the show's blunt vulgarity offensive.

While early prime time on the networks should be a family-friendly zone, McRaney is eager to make the point that it's ultimately up to the individual to decide what entertainment to allow into their home.

"It's a very dangerous thing to do," he said of further federal regulation of TV content, including proposals that were floated in Washington to extend control from broadcast to cable channels.

"I'm a little tired of government treating us all like children. I'm a conservative and I'm for limited government. This idea of telling me what I can see, what I can read -- don't go there," McRaney said.

Keep the kids away from "Deadwood" and change channels if you don't like it, he advised.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:12 PM | Comments (4)

No Wonder Stella Was Ticked About Her Stepmother...

As it seems she...got around before she scored with Sir Paul: (link mildly NSFW)

Heather Mills was fighting to salvage her reputation yesterday after an onslaught of revelations, including sensational claims that she worked as a high-class prostitute.

The estranged wife of Sir Paul McCartney was in frantic talks with her lawyers after two former vice-girls said she was paid thousands of pounds a night for having sex with wealthy Arab businessmen.

An ex-aide to a Saudi-born arms dealer also claimed to have handed over around £6,400 in cash to Miss Mills after she took part in sex sessions with his boss.

No wonder she would fit well with a Beatle.

Now we have some psychoanalysis of Paul:

Another friend offers a revealing insight into the singer's mindset: "Paul has always had a rather simplistic Madonna/whore view of women. In Linda he had a Madonna. In Heather he was delighted to discover he could have both prototype - a passionate campaigner and gutsy girl who was equally passionate in the bedroom."

Such a package, however, does not make for the easiest of lives long term.

And they get in a dig at Linda. Nice touch, that.

Will you still need me,
Will you still bleed me,
When I'm 64...

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 11:47 AM | Comments (12)

Hey Mike and JeffS!

Did you get your

POTENTIAL COMPROMISE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

...email from Uncle Sam yet? Major Dad did. We're both locked on and the first bureau contacted has to set you up with the other two. (Kcruella, Cullen, Robb and Beer Brains should probably call Equifax, too ~ 1-800-525-6285 ~ if they haven't already, to set up the fraud alerts, since it was 26.5 MILLION prior service social security numbers that went missing first. The 2.5 MILLION active duty types were a 'whoops, oh by the way...' they found later.)

Of course, Equifax is losing no time shilling their $129/yr 'monitoring' service. In chaos there is profit. Personally, I think the VA ought to be forking over the cash, since it apparently fosters a corporate climate where it's okay to head out the door with almost thirty million lives on a laptop and think nothing of it.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:27 AM | Comments (6)

New type of shark found only in South Carolina waters?

The shark resembles a common species called the scalloped hammerhead but has not yet been classified or named.

US researchers say the animal appears to be rare, breeding only in waters off the South Carolina coast.

Lemme guess, they recognized it since it was missing teeth?

Posted by Crusader at 10:09 AM | Comments (3)

The Sun Rises; Brings Calls For...

Gitmo to close:

Detainee suicides bring calls for Gitmo closure

"Guantanamo should be closed. This is an occasion to reiterate that statement," EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said on Monday as he arrived for a meeting of the bloc's foreign ministers in Luxembourg.

I would like these guys to be tried and dealt with.

Or maybe we should just ship them all to Luxembourg.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:55 AM | Comments (2)

Just to Tickle the Insurance Itch One Last Time

The owners of the sagging, flood-stained home aren't in. Above the front door, a banner explains their absence, and the lack of progress: "Allstate paid $10,113.34 on this house for storm damage."

..."I want people to drive by my home and decide for themselves: Could I repair this for $10,000?" asks Eric Moskau, the home's exiled owner who had over $1.2 million in coverage on his 3,000-square-foot home.

...Yet an analysis by the office of Donald Powell, the Bush administration's Gulf Coast recovery czar, found few communities were better insured against flooding than New Orleans: Two out of three homes had flood insurance, 13 times more than the national average of 5 percent. It's also far more than in many other communities historically prone to flooding. For example, Harris County, Texas, has one of the highest rates of repetitive flooding in the nation and yet only a quarter of homeowners have flood coverage.

Moskau, a well-to-do real estate appraiser, thought he had taken every precaution: He had the maximum federal flood insurance of $250,000. But when the government issued that check, it was issued in two names: Moskau's and his bank's. His bank applied the check to his $600,000 mortgage, leaving him with an outstanding note of $350,000 and no money for repairs.

It's a jaw dropper. And these guys were insurance adjusters and real estate appraisers ~ "in the business" types.

(Our earlier insurance throw down.)

Posted by tree hugging sister at 08:41 AM | Comments (5)

Damn You For Adding Armor, Chimpy!

You've made the Humvees more dangerous:

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) -- Thousands of pounds of armor added to military Humvees, intended to protect U.S. troops, have made the vehicles more likely to roll over, killing and injuring soldiers in Iraq, a newspaper reported.

"I believe the up-armoring has caused more deaths than it has saved," said Scott Badenoch, a former Delphi Corp. vehicle dynamics expert told the Dayton Daily News for Sunday editions.

The numbers don't lie:

An analysis of the Army's ground accident database, which includes records from March 2003 through November 2005, found that 60 of the 85 soldiers who died in Humvee accidents in Iraq -- or 70 percent -- were killed when the vehicle rolled, the newspaper reported.

What will folks say about the "humvee armor scandal" now?

Update: Cullen has an insider's view.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:49 AM | Comments (6)

Watch Spam

Gawd, this stuff is annoying. I'm cleaning out a couple hundred comments and trackbacks a day.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:47 AM | Comments (3)

June 09, 2006

Bingley Visits Royalty

Who knew we'd be graced with a visit this weekend, and that these ladies would be so kind as to pose for a few photos for your humble servant on the trip home today?

Here's the "Crown Princess"

and, of course, her Majesty "Queen Mary 2"

To give you a sense of the size of these ships, heres a view from a little ways away...

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 05:57 PM | Comments (8)

Ain't It the Truth?

Yup.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 04:56 PM | Comments (2)

There's No Rush

We don't mind if you hold off for a while.

...THE DRY WEATHER IN THE REGION OVER THE PAST FEW DAYS MAY COME TO AN END
FOR A PORTION OF THE GULF THIS WEEKEND AS A SLOWLY DEVELOPING SYSTEM IN THE NW CARIBBEAN MOVES NWARD DRAWING TROPICAL MOISTURE INTO THE E/CENTRAL GULF.
THIS SYSTEM MAY DEVELOP INTO THE FIRST TROPICAL DEPRESSION OF THE ATLANTIC SEASON IN THE NEXT DAY OR TWO.

UPDATE: The Accuweather guys' forecast just plain sucks.

But a general consensus takes the system north then northeast toward the northeast Gulf of Mexico Sunday night and Monday. How strong it is at that point is tough to say. But we could be dealing with a strong tropical storm heading toward western or northwest Florida on Monday.

I know one thing ~ I'm not waiting 'til the day before to try to find powdered mini donuts this time.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:35 PM | Comments (4)

Oh Goody

...maybe he felt something after all.

A mortally wounded Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was still alive and mumbling on a gurney when Iraqi police arrived at the site...

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:51 AM | Comments (2)

Indiana Jones, He's Not

Because he's a Marine.

Thieves of Baghdad : One Marine's Passion for Ancient Civilizations and the Journey to Recover the World's Greatest Stolen Treasure
In April 2003, Matthew Bogdanos was a long way from the courtrooms of New York City where, as an assistant D.A., he prosecuted hundreds of cases. After September 11, 2001, this Marine Corps Reserve colonel, lawyer and student of ancient civilizations, returned to uniform full-time to head counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan and later in Iraq, where Bogdanos gave himself the mission of finding antiquities that had been stolen from the Iraq National Museum during the American invasion. Beginning with an Indiana Jones-like opening that finds him in the museum's bowels, Bogdanos chronicles a journey fueled by his passion for history and frustrated by erratic record-keeping and factionalism among Iraqis, not to mention the hazards of warfare. The son of Greek immigrants who went on to achieve advanced degrees in law and classical studies, Bogdanos weaves together a detective story, adventure yarn and history lesson, committing himself to the investigation of stolen artifacts and reflecting what he deems rumor and exaggeration among the media coverage and academics who claimed irrevocable archeological tragedy. Indeed, some pieces, he discovers, were moved and protected prior to the U.S. invasion, while others were housed by Iraqis for safekeeping until after the war. Bogdanos is a remarkable blend of warrior, academic and communicator, and he cuts through politics and hyperbole to tell an engrossing story abundant with history, colored by stories of brave Iraqis and Americans, and shaded with hope for the future.

Where's the Sixty Minutes story on this? Reading all the editorial reviews you'll notice only the Washington Post goes after 'warrior' values, strained tones and class divides, while still admitting it's a helluva story. I'd hafta guess it's probably a really good book.
A warm Swill Salute to the NPR broadcast, via Corps Stories.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:09 AM

CNBC.com Has a DOW Problem

...or the 'recovery' is going really, really well.

Dow 1.096 Mil +1,993.00
Nasdaq 2,159.43 +14.11
S&P 1,260.98 +3.05
10-Yr Note 101.06 -0.09

April Fool's schmaybe?
Check it quick, before they fix it.

Now it's +2800? I sincerely DOWt it.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:39 AM | Comments (2)

Who Were The Secessionists?

Who are the 56 bastards in the Senate who voted to break up the Union?

I want them all to explain wtf they were thinking.

Update: roll call below the fold. This failed by one vote, I believe. One.

It's worth recalling exactly what they were voting on:

Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2005 - Establishes the U.S. Office for Native Hawaiian Relations within the Office of the Secretary of the Interior.

Establishes the Native Hawaiian Interagency Coordinating Group.

Recognizes the right of the Native Hawaiian people to reorganize the Native Hawaiian governing entity to provide for their common welfare and to adopt appropriate organic governing documents.

Establishes a Commission to: (1) prepare and maintain a roll of the adult members of the Native Hawaiian community who elect to participate in such reorganization; and (2) certify that the adult members of the Native Hawaiian community proposed for inclusion on the roll meet the definition of Native Hawaiian.

Outlines the process for the reorganization, which includes forming a Native Hawaiian Governing Council.

Reaffirms the political and legal relationship between the United States and the Native Hawaiian governing entity upon certification required by the Secretary regarding the organic governing documents and the election of the entity's officers. Extends Federal recognition to the governing entity as the representative governing body of the Native Hawaiian people.

Authorizes the United States, upon the reaffirmation of such political and legal relationship, to enter into negotiations with the governing entity to lead to an agreement addressing specified matters, including the transfer of lands, natural resources, and other assets, and the protection of existing rights related to such lands or resources.

This is big stuff. They want to break up a state and create a new sovereign nation within it that we would have to negotiate with concerning resources and assets. Good God.

Alabama: Sessions (R-AL), Nay Shelby (R-AL), Nay
Alaska: Murkowski (R-AK), Yea Stevens (R-AK), Yea
Arizona: Kyl (R-AZ), Yea McCain (R-AZ), Yea
Arkansas: Lincoln (D-AR), Yea Pryor (D-AR), Yea
California: Boxer (D-CA), Yea Feinstein (D-CA), Yea
Colorado: Allard (R-CO), Nay Salazar (D-CO), Yea
Connecticut: Dodd (D-CT), Yea Lieberman (D-CT), Yea
Delaware: Biden (D-DE), Yea Carper (D-DE), Yea
Florida: Martinez (R-FL), Nay Nelson (D-FL), Yea
Georgia: Chambliss (R-GA), Nay Isakson (R-GA), Nay
Hawaii: Akaka (D-HI), Yea Inouye (D-HI), Yea
Idaho: Craig (R-ID), Nay Crapo (R-ID), Nay
Illinois: Durbin (D-IL), Yea Obama (D-IL), Yea
Indiana: Bayh (D-IN), Yea Lugar (R-IN), Nay
Iowa: Grassley (R-IA), Yea Harkin (D-IA), Yea
Kansas: Brownback (R-KS), Nay Roberts (R-KS), Nay
Kentucky: Bunning (R-KY), Nay McConnell (R-KY), Nay
Louisiana: Landrieu (D-LA), Yea Vitter (R-LA), Nay
Maine: Collins (R-ME), Yea Snowe (R-ME), Yea
Maryland: Mikulski (D-MD), Yea Sarbanes (D-MD), Yea
Massachusetts: Kennedy (D-MA), Yea Kerry (D-MA), Yea
Michigan: Levin (D-MI), Yea Stabenow (D-MI), Yea
Minnesota: Coleman (R-MN), Yea Dayton (D-MN), Yea
Mississippi: Cochran (R-MS), Yea Lott (R-MS), Nay
Missouri: Bond (R-MO), Nay Talent (R-MO), Nay
Montana: Baucus (D-MT), Yea Burns (R-MT), Nay
Nebraska: Hagel (R-NE), Yea Nelson (D-NE), Yea
Nevada: Ensign (R-NV), Nay Reid (D-NV), Yea
New Hampshire: Gregg (R-NH), Nay Sununu (R-NH), Nay
New Jersey: Lautenberg (D-NJ), Yea Menendez (D-NJ), Yea
New Mexico: Bingaman (D-NM), Yea Domenici (R-NM), Yea
New York: Clinton (D-NY), Yea Schumer (D-NY), Not Voting
North Carolina: Burr (R-NC), Nay Dole (R-NC), Nay
North Dakota: Conrad (D-ND), Yea Dorgan (D-ND), Yea
Ohio: DeWine (R-OH), Nay Voinovich (R-OH), Nay
Oklahoma: Coburn (R-OK), Nay Inhofe (R-OK), Nay
Oregon: Smith (R-OR), Yea Wyden (D-OR), Yea
Pennsylvania: Santorum (R-PA), Nay Specter (R-PA), Yea
Rhode Island: Chafee (R-RI), Nay Reed (D-RI), Yea
South Carolina: DeMint (R-SC), Nay Graham (R-SC), Not Voting
South Dakota: Johnson (D-SD), Yea Thune (R-SD), Nay
Tennessee: Alexander (R-TN), Nay Frist (R-TN), Nay
Texas: Cornyn (R-TX), Nay Hutchison (R-TX), Nay
Utah: Bennett (R-UT), Nay Hatch (R-UT), Nay
Vermont: Jeffords (I-VT), Yea Leahy (D-VT), Yea
Virginia: Allen (R-VA), Nay Warner (R-VA), Nay
Washington: Cantwell (D-WA), Yea Murray (D-WA), Yea
West Virginia: Byrd (D-WV), Yea Rockefeller (D-WV), Not Voting
Wisconsin: Feingold (D-WI), Yea Kohl (D-WI), Yea
Wyoming: Enzi (R-WY), Nay Thomas (R-WY), Nay

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:02 AM | Comments (18)

Wow, This Woman Really Is A...

Democrap:

GREELEY, Colo.

Republican U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave's re-election campaign was already heated, and it just got smelly as well: Her staff accused a Democratic activist Thursday of leaving an envelope full of dog feces at Musgrave's Greeley office.

Musgrave spokesman Shaun Kenney said someone stuffed the envelope through the mail slot in the door on May 31 and then sped away in a car. Kenney said most of the preprinted return address was blacked out, but staffers used the nine-digit ZIP code to trace it to Kathleen Ensz, a Weld County Democratic volunteer.

Ensz told The Associated Press she left the envelope at Musgrave's office but said it "wasn't in the office doors, it was in the foyer." Asked what she meant by the act, she declined comment.

Heh.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:45 AM | Comments (2)

On This Day in 1973

...Secretariat said,

"See ya!"

...in the Belmont Stakes. America had herself a Triple Crown winner and a legendary champion.

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

June 08, 2006

Happy 10th Birthday, USS Cole!!

And she set sail from Norfolk today ~ back to the fleet. How great is that? But wait until you hear the story of the Marine behind the ship's name...

USS COLE (DDG 67) is the first warship named for Sergeant Darrell S. Cole, USMC (1920-1945). Sergeant Cole was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his conspicuous gallantry in the campaign at Iwo Jima .

On August 25, 1941 , Cole enlisted in the Marine Corps for the duration of the National Emergency. Following boot camp at Parris Island , South Carolina , he was appointed to the Field Music School for training as a Marine Corps Field Musician (a bugler). He was unhappy in his role of Field Musician, because he had joined a fighting outfit to fight. He had applied for a change in rating, but was refused due to the shortage of buglers. He completed instruction and was transferred to the First Marine Regiment, First Marine Division. On August 7, 1942 , he reached the shores of Guadalcanal for the first American offensive of World War II, where he had an opportunity to fill in as a Machine Gunner in the absence of the regular gunner.

Cole completed his first overseas tour of duty and returned to the United States in February 1943 where he joined the First Batallion, Twenty-Third Marines, a part of the Fourth Marine Division at Camp Lejune , North Carolina . When the unit moved to California he again asked for relief as a Field Musician and for permission to perform line duties. Due to the shortage of buglers in the Marine Corps, his request was disapproved.

During the first engagement of the Fourth Division at Roi-Namur in the Kwajalein Atoll, Cole, again forsaking his bugle, went in to action as a Machine Gunner. Later, during the battle for Saipan , Cole was actually assigned to a machine gun unit and was even designated as a machine gun section leader. During the battle his squad leader was killed and Cole, although wounded, assumed command of the entire squad. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for "…his resolute leadership, indomitable fighting spirit and tenacious determination in the face of terrific opposition." He was also awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received in action.

A few days after the battle of Saipan , Cole again led his squad ashore in the invasion of the neighboring islands of Tinian . He continued to build his reputation as "The Fighting Field Musician."

After the Marianas campaigns, he resubmitted his request for a change of rating. This time his request was approved. He was redesignated Corporal "line" and was subsequently promoted to Sergeant in November 1944.

On February 19, 1945 , Sergeant Cole led his machine gun section ashore in the D-Day assault of Iwo Jima . Moving forward with the initial assault wave, a hail of fire from two enemy emplacements halted his section's advance. Sergeant Cole personally destroyed them with hand grenades. His unit continued to advance until pinned down for a second time by enemy fire from three Japanese gun emplacements. One of these emplacements was silenced by Cole's machine guns. When his machine guns jammed, armed only with a pistol and one hand grenade, Sergeant Cole made a one-man attack against the two remaining gun emplacements. Twice he returned to his own lines for additional grenades and continued the attack under fierce enemy fire until he had succeeded in destroying the enemy strong points.

Upon returning to his own squad, he was instantly killed by an enemy grenade. By his one-man attack and heroic self-sacrifice, Sergeant Cole enabled his company to move forward against the fortifications and attain their ultimate objective.

Why do these incredible men always have those sweet, baby faces? Fair Winds and Following Seas, USS Cole.

And Semper Fi.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 07:09 PM | Comments (6)

A Good Day All Around

Closer to home, there was this great news that I heard driving home today:

NEWARK — A federal judge remanded former Middletown Township Committeeman Raymond J. O'Grady - who was found guilty earlier today on five counts of extortion and bribery - to house arrest and increased his bail to $200,000.

...O'Grady, 56, former director of the Monmouth County motor pool, was one of 13 former and current county and local public officials in Monmouth County charged in February and March 2005 as part of a wide-ranging and ongoing FBI money-laundering and bribery investigation called "Operation Bid Rig.''

He was accused of taking $6,000 in bribes from an undercover agent working with a contractor who was operating a fictitious company set up by the FBI as part of the corruption probe.

It's a beautiful thing to see slime politicians get convicted. The jury only needed three hours to reach a verdict.

I guess the glove fit.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 05:45 PM | Comments (6)

"Reality" ~ It Reads Like Poetry

Stop measuring for drapes, Nancy. If Democrats can’t win a special election for a seat left open by the guilty plea of a senior Republican congressman for bribery in a political environment that can politely be described as more sour than milk left on the counter for a week, how can they expect to win back control of the House of Representatives, handing the speakership to Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)?

They can't.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 04:43 PM

Got It Bad, Got It Bad, Got It Bad

Treacher's Teacher's hot for teacher:

TAMPA - Two Hillsborough County middle school teachers have resigned after students saw them having sex in a classroom, a report released Wednesday states.

Foreign language teacher Frances J. Sepulveda, 30, and physical education teacher Bryant J. Wilburn, 29, quit two days after the May 22 incident at Coleman Middle School, 1724 S. Manhattan Ave.

Sepulveda's classroom door was locked and paper covered its window, but a boy and a girl saw the teachers through the window, the report states.

...Sepulveda initially said she and Wilburn were just friends but later acknowledged twice having sex with him in the classroom, the report states. Wilburn said they had sex in the room during work hours "on one or two occasions."

I know it shouldn't, but the breathtaking stupidity of people continues to amaze me at times.

And school in Florida seems a lot more like a carnal college than a house of learning these days, doesn't it?

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 02:41 PM | Comments (3)

Back to Hawaii

(Not the Marines; the Swilling.) This morning I read RadioBlogger's transcript of Hugh Hewitt interviewing Frank Gaffney and thought "WHAT?!" My jokey little post yesterday got turned on it's ear. This Senate Bill ~ S.147 ~ is an amazing piece of racist effrontry and is threatening to slide through the Senate TODAY because no one knows about it, what it intends and they DON'T believe they have the votes TO BLOCK IT! MSNBC has the short story on it:

The bill recognizes the right of Native Hawaiians to form a governing entity that, upon approval by Washington, would be authorized to negotiate with the state and federal governments over such issues as historical grievances and control of natural resources, lands and assets.

...A Senate vote was scheduled for last fall but was delayed when lawmakers became occupied by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Since then, Akaka has sought to ease opposition to the measure by working out language with the Bush administration clarifying several provisions. The altered bill allows the federal government to assert sovereign immunity so that land claims may not be heard in courts of law.

It also exempts the Defense Department from future negotiations over land use, and it makes clear that the new government would not be allowed to take private land, deny civil rights or set up gambling operations similar to those allowed to American Indians.

Better yet, Ed Meese weighs in with a wonderfully instructive dissection of the bill and it's inherent unconstitutionality, excerpted in the Hawaii Reporter today.

The U.S. Senate is scheduled to begin debate as early as June 7, 2006, on the misleadingly named “Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2005” (S.147).[1] The proponents of this bill, some motivated by seemingly benign purposes and others by a desire to benefit from special preferences, argue that it redresses ancient wrongs done to early Hawaiians by various powers, including the United States. The bill purports to authorize the creation of an exclusively race-based government of “native” Hawaiians to exercise sovereignty over native Hawaiians living anywhere in the United States. This “Native Hawaiian Government” could allegedly exempt these Hawaiians from whatever aspects of the United States Constitution and state authority it thought undesirable. Not only is this a terrible idea; it is also unconstitutional.

The United States Supreme Court ruled decisively that this approach violates the Constitution in Rice v. Cayetano (2000). Yet the proponents of S.147 believe they can bypass this ruling simply by enacting a law that calls the descendants of so-called “aboriginal” Hawaiians an American Indian tribe. The bill would require the federal government to create a database of persons with one drop or more of “aboriginal” Hawaiian blood, organize elections for an “interim government” of this alleged “tribe,” and finally recognize the sovereignty and privileges and immunities (or lack thereof) that the new government establishes for its “tribal members.” Although Hawaii correctly argued in the Rice litigation that descendants of aboriginal Hawaiians are not an American Indian tribe, state officials have changed their minds—because that is the only way they can practice racial discrimination on behalf of a favored interest group. Hopefully, the United States Constitution is not so easily circumvented.

Read the WHOLE THING.

But call/email your Senator/Representative FIRST.

Unbelievable.
UPDATE: Doowwwnnnn she goes ~ Akaka bill goes under, 56-41. Mary Katharine Ham at Hugh hewitt has a round-up.

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

Oh

Now they're apologizing for showing Zarqawi's head, explaining it was so they could prove he was dead. They explained that they'd cleaned it up and brushed off the debris so it wouldn't be shown in a 'dehumanizing' fashion; with no disrespect to the body. So, of course, al-Jazeera's jumped all over the pristine, basically woundless face as proof maybe he was only mostly dead.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:47 AM | Comments (5)

Barbara Boxer Just Said on MSNBC

(typed as quickly as I could while listening)

"Zarqawi never came to Iraq until 2002. There was no al-Qaeda in Iraq before that and they've admitted it...When we went in there, al-Qaeda was drawn into Iraq...but the problem is we're fueling more al-Qaeda cells by being in Iraq...I'm ever so greateful...we want to see Bin Laden get it..."

So basically 'we brought that sh*t on ourselves and the Iraqi people.'

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

al-Reuters Starts Already

"Father of beheaded man blames Bush, not Zarqawi"

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Michael Berg, whose son Nick was beheaded in Iraq in 2004, said on Thursday he felt no sense of relief at the killing of the al Qaeda leader in Iraq and blamed President Bush for his son's death.

Asked what would give him satisfaction, Berg, an anti-war activist and candidate for U.S. Congress, said, "The end of the war and getting rid of George Bush."

Read the rest if you want to feel sick.

Update: Ken finds that the UPI Jihad is also on the case.

ths UPDATE: On the lighter side:

Zarqawi victim's brother: 'May he rot in hell'
The brother of Ken Bigley, a British engineer beheaded by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's group, said Thursday that he expected the extremist will rot in hell.

"The man was an animal and he deserved what he got. And may he rot in hell," Paul Bigley told Channel Four television on Thursday.

I heartily second that, Mr. Bigley!

ths again: Tony Snow just now:

"The practice of killing Iraqi civilians is ~ surprise, surprise ~ not all that popular with Iraqi civilians!"

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:21 AM | Comments (11)

Ann Coulter

Well, I suppose the MSM is rejoicing in that they've found a Ted Rall of the Right. Aside from the bits I've seen and heard on the radio I must admit I haven't fully read what she said, nor am I likely to. I can't stand her. Oh, I will admit to getting a small thrill when I hear about her latest outrageous statement; there's some churlish part of me that enjoys hearing the outraged sputterings of the Left when someone dares to talk back to them in the same manner as which many of their mouthpieces regularly flail those who dare oppose them. But I lost interest in her about the time Monica should have been interested in a dry cleaner; Coulter's crassness is not neither witty nor worthy of that much attention. Oh, I'm sure she's held up as representing how conservatives think, much like Falwell or Robertson is held up as typical of how I believe, but bollocks, a pox on all of them. So I'm sure the MSM will demand a statement of contrition from her, or maybe force-feed her a few Big Macs on Pay-Per-View, but I will continue to mostly ignore her.

Mostly.

Because in spite of herself and her methods she did touch upon a point that has been bothering me for a while now, and one that has been expressed far better than Coulter could ever dream of doing by Dorothy Rabinowitz in this column in 2004: (thanks to THS for reminding me of it)

But the best known and most quoted pronouncement of all had come in the form of a question put by the leader of the Jersey Girls. "We simply wanted to know," Ms. Breitweiser said, by way of explaining the group's position, "why our husbands were killed. Why they went to work one day and didn't come back."

The answer, seared into the nation's heart, is that, like some 3,000 others who perished that day, those husbands didn't come home because a cadre of Islamist fanatics wanted to kill as many of the hated American infidels in their tall towers and places of government as they could, and they did so. Clearly, this must be a truth also known to those widows who asked the question--though in no way one would notice.

Who, listening to them, would not be struck by the fact that all their fury and accusation is aimed not at the killers who snuffed out their husbands' and so many other lives, but at the American president, his administration, and an ever wider assortment of targets including the Air Force, the Port Authority, the City of New York? In the public pronouncements of the Jersey Girls we find, indeed, hardly a jot of accusatory rage at the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks. We have, on the other hand, more than a few declarations like that of Ms. Breitweiser, announcing that "President Bush and his workers . . . were the individuals that failed my husband and the 3,000 people that day."

The venerable status accorded this group of widows comes as no surprise given our times, an age quick to confer both celebrity and authority on those who have suffered. As the experience of the Jersey Girls shows, that authority isn't necessarily limited to matters moral or spiritual. All that the widows have had to say--including wisdom mind-numbingly obvious, or obviously false and irrelevant--on the failures of this or that government agency, on derelictions of duty they charged to the president, the vice president, the national security adviser, Norad and the rest, has been received by most of the media and members of Congress with utmost wonder and admiration.

Every day I see the hole in the ground that was the WTC. And every day it pisses me off anew. Firstly, mostly, and primarily, that the islamic bastards did it, and would gleefully do it again.

Secondly, but increasingly, that due in large part strident 9/11 families like the ones Coulter attacked and, as Rabinowitz says seem to feel

...their assurance that it had been given to them, as victims, to determine the proper standards of taste and respectfulness to be applied in everything related to Sept. 11...

I am pissed that I see the hole in the ground that was the WTC and not new buildings defiantly rising in its place. It's been 5 years, and while the majority of the families it seems to me have gotten on with their lives there's this small core that is intent on controlling all aspects of September 11th and wants to turn the WTC into some sort of shrine to the dead, as opposed to a place that honors them with life. If I ever hear the WTC site referred to as 'sacred ground' again I will, probably not too respectfully, point out that if you consider the materials that were there 'sacred' than you'd best make a pilgrimage to the Freshkills Landfill on Staten Island because that's where all those sacred items and relics and icons are. There's nothing left at the WTC site except a hole in the ground, a hole in the City, and a hole in the country.

And that hole needs to be filled.

Update: I see Michelle Malkin wrote bits of my screed for me last night. Oh well; that'll teach me to surf at home instead of playing SOCOM on my PSP like I did...

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:35 AM | Comments (7)

Zarqawi's Dead

Although I'm not sure at this point it matters as much as had it happened a year ago, I still think it's great news.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the most wanted man in Iraq, was killed in a coalition airstrike near Baquba, jubilant U.S. and Iraqi authorities announced Thursday.

And you know, for once I find myself agreeing with al-Qaeda:

"We want to give you the joyous news of the martyrdom of the mujahed sheik Abu Musab al-Zarqawi," said the statement, signed by "Abu Abdel- Rahman al-Iraqi," identified as the deputy "emir" or leader of al- Qaida in Iraq.

Yep, pretty joyous indeed.

Realistically, it seems are so fractured there that I'm not sure how much influence he really had, but taking him out is a good thing.

A great thing.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:22 AM | Comments (7)

June 07, 2006

Our Florida Legal Eagle Exerting His Influence At Last?

This sure sounds like his style:

NEW YORK (FORTUNE) - Faced with the inability of two bickering attorneys to resolve even the most innocuous scheduling questions without his intervention, a Florida federal judge yesterday ordered the two to meet on the steps of the federal courthouse and resolve their latest quarrel by playing "one (1) game of 'rock, paper, scissors.' "

Judge Gregory A. Presnell of Orlando ordered the unusual measure, which he characterized as "a new form of alternative dispute resolution," after the two Tampa attorneys had proven unable to agree upon where to hold a deposition, even though both of their offices are just four floors away in the very same building in Tampa.

I always sort of imagined the SCOTUS playing Twister in those robes...

THS UPDATE and BUMP: Having always been an East Coast "one potato, two potato", "DO over" kind of liberal, I made the mistake of asking my midwest spouse about the etiquette/rules of engagement of said "rock, paper, scissors". After a masterful exhibition he says "Google it". I did. And determined you RPS people need THERAAAAAPYYYYY.....!!!! (But you DO know how to throw a party tournament!)

Kristen Lance of Philadelphia, PA takes top honours at the 2006 Southwestern Pro-Am Rock Paper Scissors Tournament held at Roshambo Winery in Healdsburg, CA.

With her incredible display of RPS mastery, Ms. Lance obliterated her competition, leaving her as the sole undefeated player out of a field of 256. Players from all over the U.S. congregated to witness what many have called "The RPS social event of the season". Scorching heat and copious amounts of Zinfindel seemed to have no effect on her ability to feed each competitor their own ego.

Thanks to the organizers, referees and incredible staff at Roshambo Winery for showing the entire Southwest how to run a real RPS tournament. Remember World RPS Society members get 10% off at the Roshambo tasting room (the servers also happen to be top notch RPS players if you are looking for a match).

A girl after our own Swill heart.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:19 PM | Comments (2)

Do Marines Get Blamed for Everything?

It really seems so. Now it's our fault Hawaii's a state.

Hawaii Sen. Daniel K. Akaka thinks Hawaiians should be allowed to govern themselves as Native Americans and Alaskans do, and after seven years of pushing a bill to start the process, the Senate is expected to take it up this week.

Mr. Akaka says the bill is a way to give "indigenous" Hawaiians a sense of pride and a chance for sovereignty for the first time since 1893, when Queen Liliuokalani was deposed and lands were illegally seized by U.S. Marines and a cadre of sugar-plantation businessmen.

Illegal is a state of mind, ya'll. But not to worry about your Diamond Head digs...

"The bill will not authorize gaming in Hawaii. The bill will not allow private lands to be taken. The bill will not create a reservation in Hawaii," Mr. Akaka said.

No private lands taken? I was betting they'd already have the roadsigns for Waikikelo Beach.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 04:29 PM | Comments (4)

On This Date in 1942

...the battle that had begun three days earlier...

...concluded in a most satisfying manner.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 04:16 PM | Comments (6)

It's Almost Painful To Read Through

But you must read through Hugh Hewitt's evisceration-via-interview of Paul Campos. Sis and I are frankly at a loss about which quotes to post; there are so many knockouts.

HH: [quoting from PC column]"The War On Terror, we are assured, is a battle for our very survival, and success in Iraq is crucial to that battle." A couple of questions. Number one, do you think the War On Terror is a battle for our very survival?

PC: Oh, absolutely not.

Read the whole thing.

I don't ever want to go near Hugh's woodshed...

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 01:56 PM | Comments (9)

Haditha Massacre Coverage

...deconstructed.

Haditha: Reasonable Doubt
Special from Hawaii Free Press By Andrew Walden, 6/5/2006 7:06:33 AM
...The liberal media is chiming in to make sure that Haditha is used to wear down support for our troops in Iraq—just as they did with abu-Ghraib. Peering through the media smokescreen few have noticed that all of the actual shooting eye-witnesses in the media’s kangaroo court are local Iraqis--witnesses who are under constant threat from terrorists and whose motivations may be suspect. All the US witnesses currently quoted in the media saw events before or after the alleged shootings—but not the shootings themselves.

Only now—two and a half months after the story broke in the March 19 issue of Time magazine-- are the voices of soldiers who question the charges beginning to be heard. Marine Captain James Kimber commanded Lima Company of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment. The troops involved in the incident were from Kilo Company. He tells interviewers that he first learned about the shootings in February when he heard that a Time magazine reporter was asking questions about civilian deaths. Notably, Kimber says he heard nothing about a civilian massacre during weekly meetings with the Haditha City Council and talks with local leaders. "It would have been huge, there would have been no question it would have filtered down to us," he said. "We reported no significant atmospheric change as a result of that day." Kimber who has been relieved of his command and is back in Camp Pendleton, CA says, “I believe I was a political casualty as a result of the Haditha incident.” Some media accounts indicate that some of the dead were relatives of a Haditha City Council member. The May 12, 2006 edition of Iraq Reconstruction Update carries a photo and short article about Marine officers holding weekly meetings with the Haditha City Council with no mention of the alleged shooting controversy.

And, as in our post below, MSM reporters avouch the care with which the Marines wage their urban war.

CNN reporter, Arwa Damon, writes:

“I know the Marines that were operating in western al Anbar, from Husayba all the way to Haditha. I went on countless operations in 2005 up and down the Euphrates River Valley. I was pinned on rooftops with them in Ubeydi for hours taking incoming fire, and I've seen them not fire a shot back because they did not have positive identification on a target. I saw their horror when they thought that they finally had identified their target, fired a tank round that went through a wall and into a house filled with civilians. They then rushed to help the wounded -- remarkably no one was killed.

“I was with them in Husayba as they went house to house in an area where insurgents would booby-trap doors, or lie in wait behind closed doors with an AK-47, basically on suicide missions, just waiting for the Marines to come through and open fire. There were civilians in the city as well, and the Marines were always keenly aware of that fact. How they didn't fire at shadows, not knowing what was waiting in each house, I don't know. But they didn't….”

Did the Marines perpetrate this horrible slaughter? DID they? That's to be determined and, if so, brought before Courts Martial for trial. But this hateful distortion of everything to do with the Marines and their conduct of this war is an abomination and a betrayal. WHY was not the video of the disembowling of the Marine reservist made known to us as it surfaced? The Marines in Haditha get to walk past it every day in the marketplace and that's okay? Not worthy of note? We see video after video of pleading hostages, rampaging Muslims avenging traffic accidents and toilet flushings, the Blackhawk Army Ranger body dragged in the streets of Mogadishu, contractors strung from a bridge and never miss a chance to broadcast the latest Osama Bin Laden, al-Zawahri or Al-Zarquari video rant. But the HORRORS our troops live with every day are moot as far as the 'press' is concerned ~ in their eyes there are no mitigating circumstances, no wretched, inhuman engagements, no bestial behaviour from the enemy that rates mention, condemnation, vilification or annhilation if executed against American troops. No outraged headlines...

"Have You SEEN What These ANIMALS Did to Our Boy?"

...unless, like Blackhawk Down, it works to the plan.

You'll never hear of it otherwise.

And no Marine will tell Billy's mom you could buy the video of his death in the market.

(Well worth reading and a warm Swill Salute to Mark in Mexico for finding it.) Michelle Malkin notes one apology.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:49 AM | Comments (1)

A Quick Note From Casa de Major Dad

...nestled on the subtropical(!) Gulfcoast of FLORIDA.

We'd like to take a moment and thank Gore, Gaia, greenhouse gasses, global warming, Greenpeace, earth farts and polar bears for FIVE straight days of cool enough weather to have the airconditioning off during the day and the house wide open. (In June, no less.) The electricity we didn't use has surely saved another couple hundred pounds of something noxious floating upward into the atmosphere or belching into the Blackwater. (That doesn't mean the savings will be reflected in increased cause contributions or ticket purchases, however. Dillards has Via Spigas in the mark down bin. Sorry.)

Whatever you guys are doing, for God's sake, keep it up.

UPDATE: Via Drudge, Tallahassee's chillin' set a record. I don't think we did, but we're only 5 miles from the Gulf, too.(JOHN)

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:42 AM | Comments (1)

Another Reason the State of Florida

...(per our discussion below) should keep it's arbitrary paws off your Chuck E. Cheese stranded children?

Number of foster children missing from state care on the rise
While Florida has increased its efforts to track down children missing from state care, the number of foster children who are missing has gone up six fold in the last few years, a newspaper reported Tuesday.

State child welfare officials confirmed that 652 children are missing from the foster care system. Most of them are runaways, although some are believed to have been taken from their foster homes by their biological parents.

They do such a BANG up job with the kids they get through regular channels. If I was six, I'd take my chances with the rodent, thank you.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 08:56 AM | Comments (3)

Hey! Don't Look at Us!

Haiti's President Appoints Coalition

It's not like we asked for it or anything.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:06 AM

Now That We're Clear of the Whole "6³" Day BS

...did I ever tell you guys how this a$$hole in 1985...

'Night Stalker' wants a new murder trial
Richard Ramirez is on death row for 13 Los Angeles murders

...chased me into the garage at 3:30 in the morning? He'd been busy that evening a little south of us...

On August 24, while the police in San Francisco were scrambling to find the mysterious young man with rotten teeth, the Night Stalker had found another couple whom he could use to play out his violent fantasy—except this couple was not in the Bay Area. They were asleep in bed in Mission Viejo, fifty miles south of Los Angeles.

A computer engineer and his 29-year-old fiancée had just drifted off to sleep when they were suddenly awakened by loud gunshots in the room.

...or he might have been a little quicker through the security gate. This guy is a death penalty case in a solid gold wrapper, but, thanks to the Bird Court of the 80's, tax dollars will keep him warm and safe for the rest of his unnatural days. Mr. Summers says I can't blame her, as he is on death row and could conceivably die one day.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:02 AM | Comments (14)

June 06, 2006

D-Day

62 years ago, this morning.

Amerikanische Marineinfanteristen landen am 6. Juni 1944 in der Normandie. (c) BBC Worldwide / ProSieben / polyand 2004

UPDATE: Mr. Summers remembers and Blackfive has a masterful round-up.

It's been in my head all day, so bear with me. Or sing it with me. Or just hum. A little.

There'll be blue birds over
The white cliffs of Dover,
Tomorrow, just you wait and see.

There'll be love and laughter
And peace ever after
Tomorrow, when the world is free.

The shepherd will tend his sheep,
The valley will bloom again
And Jimmy will go to sleep,
In his own little room again.

There'll be blue birds over
The white cliffs of Dover,
Tomorrow, just you wait and see.

"Love and laughter and peace ever after" ~ makes me cry.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:01 AM | Comments (7)

Nine Heads in Boxes

...do not a massacre make.

Police find 9 heads in fruit boxes near Baghdad
Grisly discovery follows similar one on Saturday; bomb kills Iraqi pedestrian

Neither does the eight heads they found Saturday, the innocent twenty four killed Sunday:

Iraq gunmen kill 24 civilians at checkpoint
Gunmen dragged 24 civilians out of their cars at a makeshift checkpoint in a town north of Baghdad on Sunday and shot them "execution style", a senior police official said.

The victims included students, children and elderly men...

...little people...

Mutilated and killed, Iraqi boy is sectarian victim

...or any of the current daily tally.

At least 21 dead today

Nope. "Massacre"? Hell, try to find the words "murdered", "slaughtered", "cold-blooded" or "homocide" anywhere in the reports, less mind "massacre". As I've noticed (and the Gateway Pundit has posted) ~ even though the EVERY DAY deaths per incident is the same or worse, the EVERY DAY deeds as horrific or worse ~ in the eyes of the MSM, "MASSACRE" only applies...

...to us.

Michelle Malkin on smears.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:33 AM

Lynn Cheney

"This is a man with a dark hole in his soul. He can have all the fake suntans and manicures he wants," she went on to say, "but deep down inside, he's rotten."

...on John Kerry. From a wonderful (via Radioblogger) Hugh Hewitt interview with Mary Cheney.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:45 AM

Axis of Ee-ville?

French fries, soft drinks and road rage all meet in diabolical confluence worthy of today's date. (Only it happened yesterday.)

A customer upset over the long wait for an order of french fries assaulted the manager of the McDonald's on Brent Lane, Escambia County deputies said.

...The man threw two drinks across the counter while waiting on his french fries when the restaurant was busy, a police report said. The manager told deputies the man "began yelling and cursing," the report said.

He left the building after being confronted by the manager. When the manager followed him to the parking lot to write down his tag number, the man charged at the manager, who retreated back inside the eatery, the report said.

The man followed the manager inside and "grabbed (the victim) by the back of her neck and threw her into the counter," the report said.

Obviously he's a victim of the dreaded MacJacka$$ Explosive Disorder. (The "dis" is signaled by the flinging of soft drinks, indicating you no longer wish to conduct business within said establishment ~ you have "disordered" ~ thereby reversing the kinetic energy of the transaction. Flinging said manager was counter-productive in this case*.)
*I just know these things.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:13 AM | Comments (3)

We Had a 5 Year Old Cousin

...who was left behind at a laundromat once, too. In Maine.

A 6-year-old boy who was accidentally left behind by his family after they celebrated his birthday at a restaurant will temporarily remain in state custody, a judge ruled Monday.

Michael James Emanuel Jr.'s family said they accidentally left him Saturday night and didn't notice he was missing until the next day. Each relative thought the child was with another family member, they told police.

...Diane Duvall, an attorney for the boy's mother, Lacqetta Monroe, 23, told the judge there were 12 kids at the party at a Chuck E. Cheese's restaurant, and as they all piled into cars to leave, the boy was simply overlooked.

The uncle and aunt unit realized their original Catholic carload of six kids was short one micro unit and turned back immediately to retrieve her. It took a while, as they'd gotten to Connecticut before the lights went on. She was still sitting patiently in the laundromat.

It doesn't pay to be the quiet one. Of course, if they'd left her entirely, it might have.
UPDATE Major Dad says get a lawyer and sue the state. I'd sure as hell try:

A 6-year-old boy who was accidentally left behind by his mother after they celebrated his birthday at a Chuck E. Cheese's restaurant will temporarily live with relatives while the state determines whether he can return home.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 08:54 AM | Comments (5)

June 05, 2006

Being in Good Hands is One Thing

Using them to choke the life out of your average homeowner is another thing entirely.

Depending on which of Florida's two largest property insurers covers your house or condominium, you'll soon either face a wallop to your wallet, or will have to find a new insurance company.

State Farm plans massive price increases, while Allstate intends to jettison 174,000 policyholders.

Florida's biggest home insurer, State Farm Florida Insurance Co., asked state insurance officials Friday for its largest-ever increase in annual premiums -- one that will more than double the rates paid by many of State Farm Florida's customers in South Florida and in parts of the central and western areas of the state.

The company made two requests, one for an average 58.8 percent rate increase statewide plus a 12.7 percent statewide boost for its 1 million policyholders, State Farm spokesman Chris Neal said. Subject to state approval, the increases would take effect Aug. 15, which is in the middle of hurricane season that starts June 1.

In South Florida, many State Farm Florida customers are facing rate increases of at least 80 percent for their homeowners' coverage. Policyholders living east of Interstate 95 actually could see their rates fall because they buy windstorm insurance from state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp. Those living west of the interstate face larger premium increases because State Farm Florida insures their homes against hurricane damage.

The "have to find a new insurance company" is a joke ~ there aren't any 'new ones' to be had. And these aren't the gazillion dollar homes on the beach ~ these are houses like ours. Radioblogger has posted an excellent photo essay on New Orleans ~ Nine Months Later, from Mrs. Radioblogger's recent church sponsored 'helping hands' trip. Amid all the destruction, there's one poignant shot of the remains of a beautiful home, the front porch now flying a banner detailing the miniscule insurance settlement they'd received. Despicable.

New Orleans, just like us here in the Panhandle, happily paid their premiums year after year after year, with nary a claim. And those insurance companies never minded pocketing the cash all that time without ever paying out a dime. One storm, one disaster of unimaginable magnitude hits and to a person you think "thank God, we're covered for most of it." Only to find out you're not. Your interpretation of your coverage has nothing to do with the reality of the coverage they're going to tell you you have. And that they'll do everything they can to weasel out of even the little bit they're offering. So much suffering and heartache for something bought and paid for. And then? They bleed you out or drop you.

We're a year and a half post-Ivan here in Bangla-cola and we're a mess. Those folks west of here have no clue what's coming at them.

Despicable.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:56 PM | Comments (23)

Sharp as a Marble's Robb Needs Suggestions

...on how to find ~ and how not to kill ~ the little bastards who shot out the window GLASS in his ten-month-old baby's room with a BB gun.

I've got a syndrome name for those little sh*theads.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:10 PM | Comments (3)

No, You're Not an A$$hole Anymore

You've achieved victim status.

To you, that angry, horn-blasting tailgater is suffering from road rage. But doctors have another name for it — intermittent explosive disorder — and a new study suggests it is far more common than they realized, affecting up to 16 million Americans.

"People think it's bad behavior and that you just need an attitude adjustment, but what they don't know ... is that there's a biology and cognitive science to this," said Dr. Emil Coccaro, chairman of psychiatry at the University of Chicago's medical school.

I, on the otherhand, will continue to believe you're just an a$$hole stuck in the same traffic I am, but handling the frustration in an immature and ill-mannered fashion. And you need your a$$ kicked.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 06:08 PM | Comments (13)

NOLA stuff....

with interesting graphics.

Posted by Crusader at 04:34 PM | Comments (1)

Maybe Major Dad and His Brother

...could have filed a lawsuit, had they known how cruel and unusual it was.

Judge Dismisses Double-Bunking Lawsuit
A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit challenging the state prison system's practice of putting two inmates in cells designed for one, saying the double-bunking does not violate the U.S. Constitution.

The lawsuit, first filed in 1995, claimed that the practice violated the ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Inmates at 13 maximum-security prisons argued that they were more likely to be assaulted, faced higher chances of catching a disease and suffered harsh living conditions.

But U.S. District Judge Gerard Lynch, in a decision dated May 26, said that simply putting two convicts in a cell designed for one "is a far cry from the `wanton and unnecessary infliction of pain' against which the Eighth Amendment protects."

"Plaintiffs' claims that double-celling subjects them to `the stench of a cell mate's feces and flatulence' ignore the fact that even in a single cell, an inmate would be subjected to the `stench' of his own `feces and flatulence,'" Lynch wrote.

"Feces and flatulence"? That would cover any gathering of Marines. As well as Bingley (having to bunk with his less civilized older brother, Mountain Man, who is inherently dangerous, even now) so he, too, could have laid a legal whammy on our folks. The common thread here is all the law abiding average citizens who've been forced to share a room with virtual strangers (as older/younger siblings can be) and exposed to noxious manners/fumes who have still managed to survive, but a prisoner rates his own digs? Not.

In the interest of full disclosure, I never had to share a room as a child. I was special. But I can feel their pain, empath that I am.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 04:18 PM | Comments (1)

If He Needs Legal Fund Contributions

...count me in.

Marine's Father Sues Funeral Protesters

The father of a Marine whose funeral was picketed by anti-gay protesters from a fundamentalist Kansas church filed an invasion-of-privacy suit against the demonstrators Monday.

It is believed to be the first lawsuit brought by a soldier's family against Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., whose members routinely demonstrate at military funerals around the country.

Albert Snyder of York, Pa., the father of Lance Cpl. Matthew A. Snyder, is seeking unspecified damages. The younger Snyder, 20, died March 3 after an accident in the Al Anbar province of Iraq. He was buried in Westminster, Md.

"We think it's a case we can win because anyone's funeral is private," Snyder lawyer Sean Summers said. "You don't have a right to interrupt someone's private funeral."

I hope some lawyers with a heart file a multitude of suits and bankrupt the hateful bastards. Wouldn't that be loverly.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:59 PM

Go Michelle!

She's -2 after the first 18.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 02:01 PM | Comments (8)

Czech That Attitude!

"You're not even going to be able to wash your hands without the opposition,"

The Czech elections end in a dead heat and could well lead to dead lock. I'm pulling for Mr. Klaus, described as a something I'd never come across before ~

"Eurosceptic"

Rock on!

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:24 AM | Comments (3)

"Crucible" ~ Getting Used to War as Hell

...from the Sunday NYT. It's a portrait of a culture clash*, but not the one you'd image.

Among the Marines, there is a tendency, an eagerness even, to see themselves as the stepchild of the American military effort, sent into much of the hardest fighting, undermanned for the task, equipped with Vietnam-era helicopters and amphibious armored vehicles that make lumbering targets in the desert — then criticized by Army commanders, sometimes severely, for a lack of proportionality in the way they fight.

Something of this sense was suggested when a senior Army commander involved in planning the Falluja offensive — and convinced of its necessity — visited the city afterward alongside Marine commanders. He expressed shock at the destruction, along with concern at the reaction of 200,000 residents whom the Americans had urged to flee beforehand.

"My God," the Army commander said, "what are the folks who live here going to say when they see this?"

Fallujah? Well, one would hope they would say "We're not pi$$ing those guys off again..."
*Try this link to read the whole thing. Or email me and I'll send it to you. Something I hadn't read about before:

Whatever emerges from the military investigations, the narrative of the Marines' experiences in Iraq will have a central place for the brutalities associated with Haditha. Last summer, in two separate attacks over three days, Taliban-like insurgents operating from bases at mosques in the city killed 20 Marine reservists, including an enlisted man who was shown disemboweled on rebel videos that were sold afterward in Haditha's central market.

That would be difficult to stomach on patrol every day.
UPDATE: Webloggin has the NYT's front page covered.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:43 AM | Comments (8)

Imagine How He'll Tumble Around The House

Nadia Comaneci and Bart Conner are the parents of a baby boy:

Dylan Paul was born Saturday, the first child for the gold-medal winning gymnasts.

The 44-year-old Comaneci delivered Dylan by Caesarean section Saturday morning. The delivery room staff created a poster proclaiming the boy a "perfect 10."

...but the Soviet nurse only gave Nadia a 7.8 on her delivery.

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

The Evidence Keeps Mounting

Yet more perversion from the Land of Miracle Whip. Look, I can understand your grandkids getting on your nerves

TAVARES, Florida (AP) -- A couple tried to hire a hit man to kill their three grandchildren and daughter-in-law to stop them from testifying against their son in his rape trial, authorities said.

But some minds become so twisted and tainted by Kraft Spew that the unthinkable becomes the common

Police said the pair initially offered $100 to an undercover sheriff's deputy to kill their son's wife, their 10-year-old granddaughter, two step-grandchildren, ages 14 and 16, and the family dog.

..."(The deputy) said, 'You want me to kill everyone, including the dog?' They agreed," Mysinger said.

We must stop the madness Miracle Whip is causing.

Think of the children...and the dog.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:46 AM | Comments (7)

June 04, 2006

Well, He Could Afford a Camel Now

...like, if he wanted one. Jeez Louise, I SO wish I lived in California sometimes.

A jury awarded $61 million to two FedEx Ground drivers of Lebanese descent who claimed a manager harassed them with racial slurs for two years.

Edgar Rizkallah, 43, and Kamil Issa, 36, both of Pleasanton, said in the discrimination lawsuit they were called "terrorists," "camel jockeys" and other epithets in 1999 and 2000 by Stacy Shoun, terminal manager for the Oakland FedEx Ground facility where the two men were contract drivers.

And then I come out of my stupor. But hey! Being blonde ain't easy ~ just look what certain distinguished jerkwads said in the magnetic north post! Oh, baby. I feel a suit coming on and it ain't Prada.

But it could be, if everything works out...

Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:05 AM

June 03, 2006

Oh, Right ~ "Allergies"

My dying a$$. Peanuts cost more than pretzels. Hello, I can do the math.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:56 PM | Comments (2)

Terror Plot Foiled In Toronto

Hurray for the Mounties! But in typical MSM fashion the CNN article, we're the entire thing, fails to mention one thing. Can you guess what? No? here's a clue: in a linked article they list all the 'suspects':

CNN) -- Twelve adults and five youths were rounded up in Canada, suspected of plotting terror attacks in and around Toronto, Canadian police announced Saturday.

Officers said the suspects were inspired by al Qaeda.

They released the following names and addresses in Ontario of the adult suspects:

# Fahim Ahmad, 21, of Robinstone Drive, Toronto

# Zakaria Amara, 20, of Periwinkle Crescent, Mississauga

# Asad Ansari, 21, of Rosehurst Drive, Mississauga

# Shareef Abdelhaleen, 30, of Lowville Heights, Mississauga

# Qayyum Abdul Jamal, 43, of Montevideo Road, Mississauga

# Mohammed Dirie, 22, Kingston

# Yasim Abdi Mohamed, 24, Kingston

# Jahmaal James, 23, of Trudelle Street, Toronto

# Amin Mohamed Durrani, 19, of Stonehill Court, Toronto

# Steven Vikash Chand alias Abdul Shakur, 25, of Treverton Drive, Toronto

# Ahmad Mustafa Ghany, 21, of Robin Drive, Mississauga

# Saad Khalid, 19, of Eclipse Avenue, Mississauga

The names of the youths were not released.

Can you guess now what is missing?

That little word "Islamic."

Goodness, that certainly isn't relevant. Oh no.

Update: As usual, while I'm drinking wine and watching movies with my family, Michele Malkin is all over this.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:57 PM | Comments (7)

June 02, 2006

The Rise Of The Nanny Plate

I'm starting to think John and Ilyka and Ken were right and I was wrong about these Federal agencies we've got, and how this "republican" administration (and all the liability lawyers) wants to micromanage every facet of our lives. Today's report from the Kremlin FDA (ok, "FDA commissioned and funded") is the latest example:

WASHINGTON - Those heaping portions at restaurants — and doggie bags for the leftovers — may be a thing of the past, if health officials get their way.

The government is trying to enlist the help of the nation’s eateries in fighting obesity. One of the first things on their list: cutting portion sizes....

The report encourages restaurants to shift the emphasis of their marketing to lower-calorie choices, and include more such options on menus. In addition, restaurants could jigger portion sizes and the variety of foods available in mixed dishes to reduce the overall number of calories taken in by diners...

“If companies don’t tell them, people have no way of knowing how many calories they are being served at restaurants. And chances are, they are being served a lot more than they realize,” said Wootan, adding that Congress should give the FDA the authority to require such disclosure.

No, I don't want anymore 'authority' being given to regulatory agencies; they should, in fact, have all of their unconstitutional powers stripped, which would effectively result in their elimination as they currently exist.

I don't want the government encouraging restaurants to change their menus, because the government encourages by coercion, and this gives ammo to a whole slew of "health" lawsuits.

I neither want nor desire nutritional information when I go out to eat, and if I choose to Mr. Creosote myself I will do so and blame myself. Now I know this "personal responsibility" bit sends shudders of horror through law firms and 'think tanks' across the land, but none of us need the government (or advocacy groups with lawyers) restricting the size of portions we get for dinner; we can make those decisons for ourselves, thanks.

"Eat Free Or Die"

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 02:17 PM | Comments (10)

I'm not holding my breath...

but a good read.

The problem is not that the two parties are polarized. In many ways they're closer than ever. The problem is that the parties in Washington, and the people on the ground in America, are polarized. There is an increasing and profound distance between the rulers of both parties and the people--between the elites and the grunts, between those in power and those who put them there.

I just fear that most voters are too lazy to even look at a third party.

Posted by Crusader at 10:23 AM | Comments (3)

"Republican" Becoming "Retardlican"

This crap has no business being in the Constitution:

President Bush will promote a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage on Monday, the eve of a scheduled Senate vote on the cause that is dear to his conservative backers.

The amendment would prohibit states from recognizing same-sex marriages. To become law, the proposal would need two-thirds support in the Senate and House, and then be ratified by at least 38 state legislatures.

Please, dear Lord in your infinite mercy and compassion, please come up with a third Party that we can vote for, because, if I may paraphrase Black Adder, if I have to choose between voting for the current crop of Retardlicans or Democraps then I will choose starting a family with my dog...

Bush has lost support among conservatives who blame the White House and Congress for runaway government spending, illegal immigration and lack of action on social issues such as the gay marriage amendment.

Chalk me up as a "Yep" for the first two and a "I do not give a flying frankfurter with all the other crap going on in the world" for the third.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:02 AM | Comments (13)

Miss New Jersey Takes It!!

The spelling crown, I mean.

She was a cool customer. I could barely stand to watch ~ tension so thick you could cut it with a knife.

Bingley Update and bump: I live in Jersey, so this is great, but I'm sorry, the best part of this for me is that the Canadian Champ was knocked out by "weltschmerz". That's just too delicious.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 07:06 AM | Comments (6)

A Mexican Presidential Primer

Through Mark's eyes.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:22 AM | Comments (1)

Why Is It Never

..."the janitor from Burbank"?

Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is wounded and vulnerable, and yet the two Democrats vying to unseat him are tearing each other apart in the very nightmare scenario party leaders had feared.

..."The script couldn't have been written any better by the Schwarzenegger campaign," said GOP consultant Kevin Spillane. "Whichever Democrat wins is going to be a dirty campaigner and a tax increaser."

Westly, a former eBay executive who has poured nearly $35 million of his own money into his campaign, went negative first, despite a promise to run a positive campaign. He delved into Angelides' past as a developer, accusing him of paving over wetlands, building on flood plains and contributing to urban sprawl.

Angelides, also a millionaire but on a lesser scale, attacked the controller for contributions he took from a Chicago businessman who was later indicted, and accused Westly of steering state business to the man's company.

"Millionaire but on a lesser scale". What, he watches for the Nieman-Marcus sales with free shipping like I do? These classless f*ckers have too much money. I'd vote for him if he'd spent that $35 mil adopting a school district or a free clinic. But on a vanity project like an election? How disgusting is that?

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

June 01, 2006

It's

...breeding.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:01 PM | Comments (15)

Polar Opposites

Happy confluences. Tim's post ("Earth farts". How do you resist that?) got me thinking this morning and then the Grinch called about a hugely interesting site. During another global warming discussion, he said he'd heard something about Magnetic North moving and finally tracked down the info. And it's moving, okay. Not at the rate New Orleans is sinking or the ice packs are melting, but at a whopping 40 clicks a YEAR.

The North Magnetic Pole is slowly drifting across the Canadian Arctic. The Geological Survey of Canada keeps track of this motion by periodically carrying out magnetic surveys to redetermine the Pole's location. The most recent survey, completed in May, 2001, determined an updated position for the Pole and established that it is moving approximately northwest at 40 km per year.

Fascinating. Now, not being a geo/astrophysicist (or even remotely logical in any event), I was left wondering if the earth itself starts to lean a little to starboard when such things ("reversals") occur. According to the Canadian government, it does ~ and has ~ about 400 times in the past 330 million odd years.

Reversals have been documented as far back as 330 million years. During that time more than 400 reversals have taken place, one roughly every 700,000 years on average. However, the time between reversals is not constant, varying from less than 100,000 years, to tens of millions of years. In recent geological times reversals have been occurring on average once every 200,000 years, but the last reversal occurred 780,000 years ago. At that time the magnetic field underwent a transition from a "reversed" state to its present "normal state".

-Earth's axis precession- MHHE

Even if a complete reversal doesn't happen, aren't we leaning in a smidge closer to the sun every year that the pole treks northwesterly? Won't that make us a teensy bit warmer on it's own? Like the stick of butter on the counter that's moved closer to the stove, things start to heat up and soften. (And do I need to tie up the kitchen cabinets to save the dishes when we do that hard reversal jerk to the right?)

As much as I would wish it, the answer's not as simple as too many Escalades on the I-95. Which is probably why simpletons like Al try to make it so.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:39 PM | Comments (38)

Eat Dunkin' Donuts; Screw Tyson Chicken

Look, I've already told you that their coffee is excellent. Now there's this

Beginning today, all 5,000 of Dunkin' Donuts franchisees will be required to participate in a government database program to verify that workers are here legally. The company was responding to customer concerns about illegal employees.

How cool is that?

Tyson? Goya? We're waiting.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 12:24 PM | Comments (19)

Someone Better Start Practicing Their Backstroke

Or at least learn to levee-tate.

Parts of New Orleans are sinking far more rapidly than scientists first thought, more than an inch a year, new research suggests.

That may explain some of the levee failures during Hurricane Katrina, and it raises more worries about the future.

The research, reported in the journal Nature, is based on new satellite radar data for the three years before Katrina struck in 2005. The data show that some areas are sinking four or five times faster than the rest of the city. And that, experts say, can be deadly.

"My concern is the very low-lying areas," said lead author Tim Dixon, a University of Miami geophysicist. "I think those areas are death traps. I don't think those areas should be rebuilt."

We'll be spending lots more money for what appears to be a limited return.

Dokka also thinks all is not completely lost. Smarter construction can buy New Orleans some time.

"We've made the pact with the devil by moving down here," he said. "If we do things right, we probably can get another 100, 200, 300 years out of this area."

"If we do things right" means not doing them the old way, cher. And wasn't re-electing Mayor Noggin a great 'first step' away from the past?

Dolts.

I have such hope for the future...and my tax dollars.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:31 AM | Comments (2)

Sex Offenders On Playgrounds

Nice headline on CNN :Sex offenders sue for playground access

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana (AP) -- Six sex offenders sued the city Wednesday to block a new ordinance that bars them from venturing within 1,000 feet of parks, pools and playgrounds when children are present.

The plaintiffs went to federal court to argue that the law is unconstitutionally vague, violates their rights to vote and attend church, and prevents them from freely traveling on roads that may pass within 1,000 feet of the affected sites.

They're right. I dislike these Megan Laws. If these convicted sex offenders are still a threat then they should not be released from prison; increase the jail time and various 'treatments', but you can't keep punishing people after they've served the proscribed time for the crime they committed.

And don't give me this sort of bullshit:

Tenley Drescher, an attorney for the city, said officials planned to defend the ordinance. "The important part is protecting kids," she said.

Not at the expense of the Constitution.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at 11:07 AM | Comments (7)

Hirsh

...is harsh.

...You’d think the Republicans would be the ones in need of professional help. This is a party burdened with a president so unpopular he barely has a base to stand on—Bush seems to be bypassing the lame-duck stage and heading straight for dead duck—a Vietnam-scale quagmire in Iraq and a post-Katrina rot of incompetence and corruption that is infecting the very foundations of the presidency and the GOP’s control of Congress. Not surprisingly, the Republicans are at each others' throats over this loss of prestige and popularity. Neoconservatives and traditionalists are fighting bitterly over foreign policy. Moderates and conservatives are battling over immigration and deficits. And when the maverick John McCain declares his candidacy for 2008 sometime in the next year, the Republicans will be shrieking at each other in public over abortion and other social issues.

But at least the GOP is engaged in a war over real policy choices. It is an emotional debate, often a hysterical and ill-informed one, but it is a fight among adults who know what they believe in and who have the guts to battle for it. By contrast the Democrats, ostensibly the party poised to exploit this GOP civil war, don't seem to remember what it is like to behave as adults. They resemble nothing so much as ill-adjusted adolescents, afraid of their own shadows, much less the presidency. What are they afraid of? Themselves, essentially: their past, their own left, the populist rhetoric of their leaders (Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Howard Dean, Al Gore), the left-wing loony stigma represented by “Fahrenheit 9/11” filmmaker Michael Moore (every Dem’s favorite bugaboo). Above all they fear seeming and looking soft. They are all afflicted with varying degrees of megalophobia, a fear of assuming power. Even Dr. Melfi of “The Sopranos” wouldn’t take this case.

I hope nobody is paying attention.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:29 AM | Comments (7)

Winning Sales Pitch

I got an email yesterday out of the blue from someone I've never heard of or from before who was looking to do some business with us. Now, as any of you who are involved in sales know the hardest thing is the 'cold call,' when you have to really present yourself in a good light and somehow convince someone who knows nothing about you to at least be interested in doing some busiiness with you, and this email I think is one of the best I've ever gotten...

Hello Sirs or Madam, Why do you never respond my email? Why are you very arrogant? Aren't you coffee buyer? Don't you need green coffee? Did you ever big problem in doing business with exporters before? Do you think that I will not keep quality of coffee? I need your reply, my partner. Best Regards, Ucok Gondrong

Heh.

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

Don't Even

...think about it.

I thank Steve for this game and That 1 Guy for finding it.

Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:09 AM | Comments (7)