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December 29, 2006
There Are a Million Reasons Why
...this guy should die. But I think this way is a huge mistake. Why hasn't he been in the Hague like Milosevic or just about any other dictator guilty of heinous crimes? I'm especially concerned about quotes like this:
"We think he might be executed by tomorrow as a gift for the Iraqis," he [Saddam's lawyer] told BBC News 24.
And hanging is barbaric. Understandably, of course, there are tens of thousands who would gladly yank the trap open fifty times over if they could. But it's barbarism just the same as our troops fight on the streets everyday and what the Iraqi people cower from in their everyday lives. We're perpetuating it. And the visceral anti-American bias seething through the Arab mind. This will be seen as the U.S.'s puppet court.
He should have faced justice in a world court, on a world stage, with the WORLD condemning him.
Damn. I just do NOT feel right about this. He could well be swinging as I write this and I pray for our kids over there.
And every American on the street here.
UPDATE: Well the argument's philosphical and moot anyway, since I guess they'll be breaking into programming in a couple hours.
Official: Saddam to Be Executed TonightThe official witnesses to Saddam Hussein's impending execution gathered Friday in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone in final preparation for his hanging, as state television broadcast footage of his regime's atrocities.
...An adviser to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Saddam would be executed before 6 a.m. Saturday, or 10 p.m. Friday EST. Also to be hanged at that time were Saddam's half-brother Barzan Ibrahim and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, the former chief justice of the Revolutionary Court, the adviser said.
At least they're replaying his greatest hits so everyone's 'why' is fresh in their minds.
I imagine it's going to be pretty interesting in the streets of Baghdad shortly.
Keep safe you guys.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:40 PM | Comments (24)
In a Heist of This Professional Magnitude
...I'd blame infamous mob hitman Luca Brassica.
Someone got way more than the recommended daily serving of vegetables when a refrigerated trailer loaded with $50,000 worth of broccoli was stolen.
How do you tell if the police are part of the plot? By their pitiful excuses.
“We have homicides happening in town,” Zorich said. “We’re not really looking for a truck of broccoli right now.”
Sure, pal.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:27 PM | Comments (5)
December 28, 2006
BREAKING NEWS: Bring It On
The North Carolina State Bar filed an ethics complaint Thursday against Duke lacrosse prosecutor Mike Nifong, accusing him of breaking four rules of professional conduct when speaking to the reporters about the sensational case.Only four?
Anyway, it's about damn time.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 05:33 PM | Comments (4)
A Chocolate Detective
...sinks his teeth into a pricey little morsel and asks himself "What's NoKa worth?"
Four years ago, while standing on a mountaintop in Switzerland, a pair of Canadian accountants, Katrina Merrem and Noah Houghton, decided to leave the ledgers behind and enter the world of gourmet chocolate. Two years later, they founded Noka Chocolate in Plano, Texas. On to the chocolate......I'll admit that the first time I visited Noka's web site two years ago, I experienced sticker shock, even though I was no stranger to pricey gourmet chocolates. I figured I'd let some time pass, see if they survived, and maybe take a closer look at the company and its product later.
The time has come for that closer look.
In the coming days, we'll search for the answer to one simple question: Are Noka's chocolates worth the money?
You, dear Swillers, might ask "So, what's 'pricey' mean?" (We've all drooled over the 'pricey' Scharfenberger bar, right?) THESE prices blow that little bar clean out of the cocoa butter tub.
Vintages Collection (i.e., molded tablets) -- Encore Box (i.e., cardboard).
96 piece -- approximately $309 per pound
48 piece -- approximately $444 per pound
24 piece -- approximately $533 per pound
12 piece -- approximately $693 per pound
4 piece -- approximately $853 per poundVintages Collection (i.e., molded tablets) -- Signature Box (i.e., stainless steel).
96 piece -- approximately $464 per pound
48 piece -- approximately $795 per pound
24 piece -- approximately $1,146 per pound
12 piece -- approximately $1,760 per pound
4 piece -- approximately $2,080 per poundGrand Cru Collection (i.e., truffles) -- Encore Box (i.e., cardboard).
24 piece -- approximately $432 per pound
16 piece -- approximately $528 per pound
8 piece -- approximately $674 per pound
2 piece -- approximately $666 per poundGrand Cru Collection (i.e., truffles) -- Signature Box (i.e., stainless steel).
16 piece -- approximately $908 per pound
8 piece -- approximately $1,339 per pound
2 piece -- approximately $1,730 per poundLet's compare that with the products of some commonly known chocolatiers. Godiva chocolates range from about $30 to $65 per pound. Joseph Schmidt chocolates range from around $30 to $55 per pound. Fran's chocolates cost around $55 to $70 per pound. Michael Recchiuti's chocolates run from $58 to $85 per pound. And La Maison du Chocolat ranges from about $65 to $85 per pound.
Noka's pricing soars over that of most gourmet chocolatiers by a factor of five, ten, even twenty times or more.
...Who would guess that the world's most expensive chocolates (several times over) are made in a tiny kitchen shoehorned between a pair of hair salons in a half-abandoned strip mall in Plano, Texas?
WARNING: This report is on a HUGELY cranky server, but it has ten pages of foodie investigation that is absolutely riveting. These people have found the equivalent of the 75% cocoa solids pet rock, selling it to high ends like Dean & DeLuca* and Neiman Marcus.
(*Well, not to Dean & DeLuca anymore, apparently.)
Maybe life really is like a box of chocolates.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:56 PM | Comments (11)
The Breck Boy Is Back
Don't you just feel better already?
Former Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards is running for president for a second time, his campaign said Wednesday. The former North Carolina senator plans to formally announce his candidacy Thursday from New Orleans' 9th Ward, which was hard hit by Hurricane Katrina. But his campaign got a little ahead of itself Wednesday and announced his intentions online.
Seems like his staff is still the klutzkrew they were before.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:08 AM | Comments (5)
December 27, 2006
Thanks, Gerry
He was the right man at the time, and held things together when we needed it.
Gerald R. Ford, who picked up the pieces of Richard Nixon's scandal- shattered White House as the 38th president and the only one never elected to nationwide office, has died. He was 93. "My family joins me in sharing the difficult news that Gerald Ford, our beloved husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather has passed away at 93 years of age," former first lady Betty Ford said in a brief statement issued from her husband's office in Rancho Mirage. "His life was filled with love of God, his family and his country."
Rest In Peace.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:54 AM | Comments (3)
December 26, 2006
More Friends From The Spam Filter
Man, when I got in to the office this morning there were over 18,000 spam emails in the filter! No wonder the internet is mighty slow. Anyhow, here are some of my favorite "friends" whose messages I've deleted:
Extinguisher P. Bridegrooms
Detonations R. Massacred
Niceties S. Philanderer
Privation D. Tiff
Spearheading C. Obstetrician
Alcohol T. Abstract
Bloodshed S. Vibration
Prognostics U. Rooftops
Bookmakers G. Upchucks
Osteopath F. Doorknob
Legislator U. Admissibility
Vicissitudes T. Emolument
Rein H. Ovulated
Laziest I. Lampreys
Mutant A. Hologram
I promise I'll write back to each and every one of you.
Except you lazy lampreys...
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:59 AM | Comments (4)
I Hope Everyone Had A Wonderful Christmas!
It was nice to take a few days off from everything.
Except eating and drinking, of course.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:57 AM | Comments (1)
December 22, 2006
"Who Will They Come For Next?"
Some lovely hyperbole here
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Reuters) - U.S. Hispanic groups and activists on Thursday called for a moratorium on workplace raids to round up illegal immigrants, saying they were reminiscent of Nazi crackdowns on Jews in the 1930s.They accused the Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement of "racial profiling," or selective enforcement against Hispanics, for arresting 1,300 workers on immigration violations in December 12 raids at meatpacking plants in six states.
"This unfortunately reminds me of when Hitler began rounding up the Jews for no reason and locking them up," Democratic Party activist Carla Vela said. "Now they're coming for the Latinos, who will they come for next?"
Hmm, let's see. Hitler rounded up native, natural born citizens of his country; that's people who were born there and whose families had been there for hundreds of years for you playing along at home. Oh, and then he killed them.
And the people who were rounded up at these plants here? Illegal immigrants who violated laws to get here, who in many cases stole identities to get their jobs. And somehow I don't think Chimpy has put them in rail cars to send them off to AshKKKroftwitz.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 01:44 PM | Comments (6)
This Man
...is despicable.
Prosecutors dropped rape charges Friday against three Duke University lacrosse players accused of attacking a stripper at a team party, but the three still face kidnapping and sexual offense charges, a defense attorney said.Joseph Cheshire and attorneys for the other players have said for months the woman told several different versions of the alleged assault.
Cheshire said Friday that the accuser now says she does not know if she was penetrated, which he said led District Attorney Mike Nifong to dismiss the rape charges.
DOESN'T KNOW? Dismiss the rape charges for that?
Cynic that I am, I think it's more the fact that almost everyone's DNA including Santa's was in old girl's panties/nether regions EXCEPT the Duke students'.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:15 PM | Comments (8)
On This Day in 1944
...they weren't talking about warnings on Christmas cookies.
...On December 21, Bastogne was isolated. The Germans' encirclement was complete. Panzer Lehr blocked Bastogne on the south, and the 2nd Panzer on north. Some elements of Panzer Lehr remained with the 26th VGD in order to take Bastogne. U.S. Brigadier General Anthony C. McAuliffe, in temporary command of Bastogne, placed the four regiments of the 101st Airborne on the perimeter.He kept Combat Command B of the 10th Armored Division in reserve in Bastogne. A force made up of elements
of the 9th and the 28th Divisions (Team Snafu) constituted a reserve of 600 men, from which the units on the line would be able to draw according to their needs.At 11:30 a.m. December 22, four German soldiers - two officers and two enlisted men - under a white flag delivered a note to three American soldiers. The note demanded the "honorable surrender" of Bastogne. McAuliffe, reading the message, laughed and murmured, "Aw, nuts!" As the general wondered how to answer, his aide Lt. Colonel Harry W. O. Kinnard suggested: "That first remark of yours would be hard to beat." So McAuliffe sent the Germans a one-word reply in writing, and...
"Nuts"...became legend.German 1st Lieutenant Hellmuth Henke asked the Americans whether "Nuts" was a negative or affimative answer. "The reply is decidedly not affirmative," Colonel Joseph H. Harper of the 327th Infantry said, and he added a few minutes later, "If you don't understand what 'Nuts' means in plain English, it is the same as 'Go to Hell.' "
Earlier in the month, on December 8th, someone wrote a little prayer that General Patton took a real shine to. A weather prayer. But the Old Man was concerned that there wasn't enough human force driving it, so he issued Training Letter Five and prayer cards to the entire Third Army, with this admonition to his chaplains:
..."Urge all of your men to pray, not alone in church, but everywhere. Pray when driving. Pray when fighting. Pray alone. Pray with others. Pray by night and pray by day. Pray for the cessation of immoderate rains, for good weather for Battle. Pray for the defeat of our wicked enemy whose banner is injustice and whose good is oppression. Pray for victory. Pray for our Army, and Pray for Peace."We must march together, all out for God. The soldier who 'cracks up' does not need sympathy or comfort as much as he needs strength. We are not trying to make the best of these days. It is our job to make the most of them. Now is not the time to follow God from 'afar off.' This Army needs the assurance and the faith that God is with us. With prayer, we cannot fail.
"Be assured that this message on prayer has the approval, the encouragement, and the enthusiastic support of the Third United States Army Commander.
"With every good wish to each of you for a very Happy Christmas, and my personal congratulations for your splendid and courageous work since landing on the beach, I am," etc., etc., signed The Third Army Commander.
Things seem to change when they all got with the program.
...As General Patton rushed his divisions north from the Saar Valley to the relief of the beleaguered Bastogne, the prayer was answered. On December 20, to the consternation of the Germans and the delight of the American forecasters who were equally surprised at the turn-about-the rains and the fogs ceased. For the better part of a week came bright clear skies and perfect flying weather. Our planes came over by tens, hundreds, and thousands. They knocked out hundreds of tanks, killed thousands of enemy troops in the Bastogne salient, and harried the enemy as he valiantly tried to bring up reinforcements. The 101st Airborne, with the 4th, 9th, and 10th Armored Divisions, which saved Bastogne, and other divisions which assisted so valiantly in driving the Germans home, will testify to the great support rendered by our air forces. General Patton prayed for fair weather for Battle. He got it.It was late in January of 1945 when I saw the Army Commander again. This was in the city of Luxembourg. He stood directly in front of me, smiled: "Well, Padre, our prayers worked. I knew they would." Then he cracked me on the side of my steel helmet with his riding crop. That was his way of saying, "Well done."
I love that story. LOVE it. And they relieved General McAuliffe and the brave men holding on to Bastogne by their fingernails.
...[Dec 26]General Maxwell Taylor arrived with the first vehicles of the 4th Armored Division. Taylor, who had been on leave in the United States, took a plane back to Europe when he learned of the German attack in the Ardennes.McAuliffe transfered command of Bastogne to Taylor with a somewhat humorous certificate indicating the place was in good condition and disinfected of "Krauts." From December 27 to December 29, the German attacks were stopped.
I know you've all seen the movie and will have noticed the time line is a bit out of whack with actual events, but it really doesn't change the power of the words Msgr. O'Neill typed on his 3" by 5" card that evening 62 years ago.
Almighty and most merciful Father, we humbly beseech Thee, of Thy great goodness, to restrain these immoderate rains with which we have had to contend. Grant us fair weather for Battle. Graciously hearken to us as soldiers who call upon Thee that, armed with Thy power, we may advance from victory to victory, and crush the oppression and wickedness of our enemies and establish Thy justice among men and nations.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:52 AM | Comments (4)
Praise Gaia! We Will Eat At Home On Christmas!
and drink!
Still have to hook up some things, but Claude is happy
(A wine rack and refrigerator will go in those cubbies)
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:05 AM | Comments (8)
December 21, 2006
The Rats In NY Are So Big...
They poop cars!
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:50 PM | Comments (3)
December 20, 2006
You Try This...
President Clinton's national security adviser removed classified documents from the National Archives, hid them under a construction trailer and later tried to find the trash collector to retrieve them, the agency's internal watchdog said Wednesday....and let's see what happens to you.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 08:31 PM | Comments (3)
"Airport Security" Joins "Jumbo Shrimp"
On the list of contradictions in terms. This is completely insane
A woman going through security at Los Angeles International Airport put her month-old grandson into a plastic bin intended for carry-on items and slid it into an X-ray machine.The early Saturday accident — bizarre but not unprecedented — caught airport workers by surprise, even though the security line was not busy at the time, officials said.
A screener watching the machine's monitor immediately noticed the outline of a baby and pulled the bin backward on the conveyor belt.
Where the hell was the worker who was supposed to be watching passengers as they load the bins?
Of course, then there's also this lovely news via Tim Blair
Britain's border controls were condemned as "non-existent" today after it was claimed that the suspected murderer of a policewoman fled the country by disguising himself as a veiled Muslim woman.Police reportedly believe that Mustaf Jamma, a prime suspect in the fatal shooting of Pc Sharon Beshenivsky, used his sister's passport and wore a full niqab to evade checks at Heathrow airport.
Shadow Home Secretary David Davis insisted there should be an urgent inquiry.
At the time of the 26-year-old's apparent escape between Christmas Day last year and New Year's Day, he was one of the UK's most wanted men and the airport was on high alert in the wake of the July 7 bombing attacks.
But it is thought that staff rarely ask those departing Britain to remove veils in order to make sure their identification is valid.
Words fail me at things like this. I really hate to despair at this time of the year, but sometimes it is very hard not to. Good god, how could this happen?
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:13 AM | Comments (4)
December 19, 2006
Oh, Just Lovely
BeauBeau the lopped earred Louisiana Rescue Lab has discovered...
...there's water in them there toilets.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:18 PM | Comments (4)
Marion Barry Arrested Again
I know. You're shocked. As was I. However, the reason I'm posting is not the report itself, but allll the related Barry links at the bottom of it.
Marion's...
·November 14, 2006: Barry Pleads Not Guilty To DUI
·September 11, 2006: Marion Barry Detained By Police
·August 7, 2006: Barry Facing More Legal Woes
·May 12, 2006: Police: Former Mayor Fails Field Sobriety Test
·March 9, 2006: Marion Barry Sentenced On Tax Charges
·February 27, 2006: Barry Shows Off Gasifier Machine
·February 8, 2006: Federal Judge Postpones Barry Sentencing
·February 7, 2006: Marion Barry Heads Back To Court
·January 11, 2006: Marion Barry Fails Drug Test
·January 3, 2006: Marion Barry Robbed At Gunpoint
·November 11, 2005: Gasification Machine Removed From Anacostia Parking Lot
·November 10, 2005: Energy Machine Demonstration Held Without Fireworks
·November 10, 2005: D.C. Leaders Almost Go Toe-To-Toe
·October 28, 2005: Marion Barry Pleads Guilty To Tax Charges
·October 5, 2005: Mayor Offers Words Of Support For Barry
·October 4, 2005: Barry To Plead Guilty For Failing To File Tax Returns
...been a busy guy. Hell, he'd be in office for life if he'd move to New Orleans.
(And WTF is a 'gasification' machine you ask? An antipollution thingermabobber.)
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:24 AM | Comments (6)
John Podhoretz Talks
...Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, once the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Sunday that he didn't see how a troop surge would make a difference because there was a minor surge in the summer of 2006 and it didn't quiet down Baghdad.This puts Powell on the same page with the man with whom he supposedly clashed on the war, Donald Rumsfeld - who made clear last week as he was leaving the Pentagon how skeptical he was of committing new troops to a "combat situation."
Powell and Rumsfeld also agree on what tactics to use if we are to win the war in Iraq: training, training, training. Let's train the Iraqis and get out by the middle of 2007. Powell calls it the "baton pass," though he might have just used the word "escape" and been done with it.
The problem with Powell's likening the current "surge" idea to last summer's surge is that Keane designed the new plan as a counterweight to what happened six months ago.
As Keane said on Sunday, "We cleared out the insurgents and the Shia death squads from the areas but never committed ourselves to phase two of the operation, which is significant, and that is to put a 24/7 force in the neighborhoods to protect the people . . . [so that] they do not go back to their bases at night."
...This is a "heavy footprint." If we do this, we will be saying we will engage and roust the enemy and then stay put for a while. Show our presence. Make it clear to the Iraqis that we're not bugging out.
Ironically, it's only with this kind of time that the "train, train, train" option becomes a viable security measure for Iraq's future - because training takes time, too.
Can it work?
That may be the wrong question.
The right question may be: Will America allow it to work?
Considering how badly the Bush administration has botched this whole thing, I'm not optimistic. The tragedy would be if W suddenly grows a pair, gets in there, hammers bad guys left and right and then BAM. Gives in to whines from the losing Iraqi factional side and/or the 'worldwide community', and holds everything up for 'negotiations'. Like the general says above, you HAVE to stop them from coming home at night. (Sweet JESUS, what does it take? I'd offer to draw a pie chart but they pay guys big bucks for that already and still don't pay attention.) We have 'negotiations' to thank for Shamu the Cleric Sadr alive and skulking. The Marines know how helpful hold-ups for 'negotiations' were in Fallujah. And all that 'native' participation in Afghanistan's been a real success, too, right?
I'm as gloomy as Podhoretz, I'm afeared. I'm completely behind anything that lays a sustained case o' cans o' whupass on the whole slimy, murderous snakepit. To parrot Dennis Miller, "I thought we went into Iraq to be scary again?" I thought we did, too ~ "Oh thank God, we're gonna lay a hurt on these cavedwelling assholes." Nope. And now? If W grows a pair only for a limited engagement again?
Our troops pay the piper in vain AGAIN.
And that sickens me.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:39 AM | Comments (1)
The Turkey Wing
...called "Cyprus".
...Mr Erdogan was the first Turkish prime minister since the invasion to unfreeze the glacial position of immovability into which Ankara had put its Cyprus policy during the 1980s and 1990s. Appearing to put the interests of 70m Turks ahead of 150,000 Turkish Cypriots, he urged support for the Cyprus unification plan drawn up by Kofi Annan, the United Nations secretary-general, and which was put to a referendum on the island in early 2004.In doing so, he undercut the position of Rauf Denktash, the TRNC leader at the time. Mr Denktash actively opposed the deal, and had been blamed for squandering earlier opportunities for a settlement during two decades of fruitless negotiations with his Greek Cypriot counterparts and UN officials. The 2004 referendum turned out to be another false Cypriot dawn, but it ultimately secured for Turkey the bigger prize of getting its EU entry process under way.
However, to the growing dismay of Mr Erdogan's government and the Turkish public, the EU was unable, partly because of its own mis-steps, to broker the ending of the trade and political embargo on the TRNC. In Turkey, the EU is widely blamed for this, but so, to his political discomfort, is Mr Erdogan.
...Turkey's experience in dealing with the EU in the past three years has turned Cyprus from a positive – the key that unlocked the door in 2004 – to a negative. Many in Turkey cannot understand why an institution as powerful as the EU is unable to honour a small and relatively uncontroversial pledge to bring the TRNC in from the wilderness.
Imagine that. The EU is unable to act on even the littlest promise.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:20 AM
The Story Of The First Christmas Tree Angel
Daughter told me this last night, and I thought I would share this heartwarming tale with you in the Spirit of the Season...
Once upon a time, many years ago, Santa was having a very, very bad Christmas Eve.
Rudolf had a bad head cold and couldn't fly. Santa's sleigh was still broken from a particularly bad landing last year. The packages weren't wrapped because the elves had been hitting the eggnog early and hard and were now stumbling about, singing bawdy songs about dwarves. Mrs. Claus had burnt the Christmas cookies again. And the little angel that Santa had sent out to get a tree for the house had been gone all day and still had not returned. No, Santa was not neither jolly nor merry.
Suddenly, the door burst open and in fluttered the little angel, hauling a large tree behind him. The angel glanced about the house and said in a loud voice...
"Hey Fatso! Where do you want me to put this tree?"
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:24 AM | Comments (2)
December 18, 2006
Wellll....
Of course they are.
France to withdraw 200 special forces
France is to withdraw its 200-strong special forces from Afghanistan, (all of its ground troops engaged in the U.S. antiterror operation there**) a contingent engaged in the U.S. anti-terror operation there, authorities announced yesterday.The decision to pull the elite troops, based in the southeastern city of Jalalabad, comes as the Taliban militia gain strength despite the strong engagement -- about 32,800 troops -- in NATO's International Security Assistance Force, which includes Canadian troops. France has balked at sending its 1,100-strong NATO contingent outside the relatively safe Afghan capital, Kabul.
"Elite troops" who wouldn't leave the 'safe' capital and now are buggering out completely, since the bad guys are, like, getting badder.
That's how they keep those fashion forward "elite" uniforms looking so spiffy.
**SPTimes
Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:30 AM | Comments (8)
What's Opera, Doc?
Head on over to the Deutsche Oper
Airport-style scanners will be used to search people attending a production of a Mozart opera in Berlin featuring the severed head of the Prophet Muhammad. Security has been tightened because of fears of a Muslim backlash against Deutsche Oper's version of Idomeneo.Jesus, Buddha and Greek god Poseidon are also decapitated in the show.
I wonder if they will be serving ham sandwiches and danish blue cheese during the intermission?
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:14 AM | Comments (4)
December 15, 2006
This Could Be Fantastic News
Hurrah for red hot chile peppers
In a discovery that has stunned even those behind it, scientists at a Toronto hospital say they have proof the body's nervous system helps trigger diabetes, opening the door to a potential near-cure of the disease that affects millions of Canadians.Diabetic mice became healthy virtually overnight after researchers injected a substance to counteract the effect of malfunctioning pain neurons in the pancreas.
"I couldn't believe it," said Dr. Michael Salter, a pain expert at the Hospital for Sick Children and one of the scientists. "Mice with diabetes suddenly didn't have diabetes any more."
Here's the cool part
Dr. Dosch had concluded in a 1999 paper that there were surprising similarities between diabetes and multiple sclerosis, a central nervous system disease. His interest was also piqued by the presence around the insulin-producing islets of an "enormous" number of nerves, pain neurons primarily used to signal the brain that tissue has been damaged.Suspecting a link between the nerves and diabetes, he and Dr. Salter used an old experimental trick -- injecting capsaicin, the active ingredient in hot chili peppers, to kill the pancreatic sensory nerves in mice that had an equivalent of Type 1 diabetes.
"Then we had the biggest shock of our lives," Dr. Dosch said. Almost immediately, the islets began producing insulin normally "It was a shock, really out of left field, because nothing in the literature was saying anything about this."
I hope this works out, and quickly.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 12:43 PM | Comments (7)
Will Skinny Clothes Come With A Coupon For A Big Mac?
Youe don't get much more Nanny State than this
Oversize clothes should have obesity helpline numbers sewn on them to try and reduce Britain's fat crisis, a leading professor said today.And new urban roads should only be built if they have cycle lanes, according to Naveed Sattar, Professor of Metabolic Medicine at the University of Glasgow.
It boggles the mind how they want to control every aspect of your life.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 11:48 AM | Comments (6)
Spock The Doctor
And the Vulcan Tummy Tickle
I guess 'Heimlich' was a Romulan.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:37 AM
December 14, 2006
Sen. Johnson
First off, I certainly hope he recovers.
But if he doesn't then...
Should Johnson not be able to complete his term, which ends in 2008, South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds, a Republican, would appoint his replacement, which could shift the balance of power in the Senate.
Reading the relevant SD statutes here I find these rules:
12-11-1. Special election to fill congressional vacancy--Time of election of representative. If a vacancy occurs in the office of a senator or representative in the United States Congress it shall be the duty of the Governor within ten days of the occurrence, to issue a proclamation setting the date of and calling for a special election for the purpose of filling such vacancy. If either a primary or general election is to be held within six months, an election to fill a vacancy in the office of representative in the United States Congress shall be held in conjunction with that election, otherwise the election shall be held not less than eighty nor more than ninety days after the vacancy occurs.12-11-4. Temporary appointment by Governor to fill vacancy in United States Senate. Pursuant to the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, the Governor may fill by temporary appointment, until a special election is held pursuant to this chapter, vacancies in the office of senator in the Senate of the United States.
12-11-5. Special election to fill senate vacancy. The special election to fill the vacancy of a senator shall be held at the same time as the next general election. The general election laws shall apply unless inconsistent with this chapter.
The kicker in all of this is that there's nothing that defines 'vacancy' or 'unable to complete term'. Oh sure, there's this
3-4-1. Events causing vacancy in office. Every office shall become vacant on the happening of any one of the following events before the expiration of the term of such office:(1) The death of the incumbent;
(2) His resignation;
(3) His removal from office;
(4) His failure to qualify as provided by law;
(5) His ceasing to be a resident of the state, district, county, township, or precinct in which the duties of his office are to be exercised or for which he may have been elected;
(6) His conviction of any infamous crime or of any offense involving a violation of his official oath;
(7) Whenever a judgment shall be obtained against him for a breach of his official bond.
But let's say, god forbid, that he lapses into a coma or vegetative state. He's not 'dead', but can he stil be said to occupy his office, Strom Thurmond notwithstanding? The Senate Rules make no mention of whether the Senator is actually able to attend and function.
And you can bet the Dems will fight tooth and nail that unless he's dead the office ain't vacant.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:46 AM | Comments (16)
December 13, 2006
Aw, Holy Crap
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: HE'S GOT A ROTTEN BRAIN! IT'S ROTTEN, I TELL YA! ROTTEN!We did, too.
The Monster: RAAAAAAAA!
Igor: Ixnay on the ottenray.
.....
[Upon seeing the monster's manhood]
Elizabeth: Oh my God. Woof.[after sex with The Monster]
Elizabeth: Oh. Where you going?... Oh, you men are all alike. Seven or eight quick ones and then you're out with the boys to boast and brag. YOU BETTER KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT. Oh... I think I love him.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 07:21 PM | Comments (3)
Lou Dobbs
...made me laugh.
Merry Christmas! That's right, Merry Christmas. Whether you're Christian, Jewish, Muslim, agnostic, pagan, barbarian or whatever, Merry Christmas!It's what most of us say in this country come this time of year. It's about who we are, where we are and where we've been. And all the namby-pamby, little sensitive darlings among us who can't handle this verbal assault on their delicate senses should immediately begin seeking emergency psychiatric care.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:19 AM
Why Does This Article
...remind me of Ted WIlliams' charming son?
A family at cross-purposes
Billy Graham's sons argue over a final resting place
Franklin wants the old man buried in his new theme park, while Ned (the son who's actually been taking care of Rev. Graham and his frail, suffering wife Ruth) wants them buried...where they want to be buried.
...Ruth Graham has told her children that she doesn't want to be buried in Charlotte. She has a burial spot picked out in the mountains where she raised five children, and she hopes her husband will join her there.Ned Graham has been working to convince his three sisters, Gigi, Bunny and Anne, that their mother's wishes should be followed.
They've been married for a GAZILLION years and the best she has is to 'HOPE' her husband will be buried with her?! How is there even a discussion?
My personal opinion? Franklin Graham is a pretentious monster. He's Jesse Jackson to Dr. King ~ a coattail riding idealogue who will f*ck his parents over for a dollar in a heartbeat. I can't stand him or his sister Anne. They're as hateful as they come, just sprinkling "Lord, this or that' in to make it palatable.
I can't wait for Rev. Graham's head to wind up in a cryogenic freezer bucket. Just watch.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:12 AM | Comments (5)
Mad About You
Honestly. I need to work for these people.
Brussels breached rules in banning 'mad' official
The European Commission acted improperly when it declared one of its civil servants mentally unstable and forced him to leave his job, according to an employment tribunal decision that could have a far-reaching effect on how Brussels unburdens itself of officials it considers troublesome.Paul Mahoney, president of the European civil service tribunal in Luxembourg, read a brief judgement annulling a decision by the Commission's in 2004 which barred José Sequeira from his entering the development directorate where he was an administrator. His seniors claimed he had circulated documents insulting his colleagues.
...Generous employment rules mean Commission staff have jobs for life. Each year, some 200 are placed on long-term sick leave, half due to mental ill health.
Other cases alleging that the Commission forced outspoken staff to take sick leave are pending before the Luxembourg tribunal, which forms part of the European Court of Justice.
Is this any way to rule the free world? 'Mad' because he insulted his colleagues? Long term sick leave? Benefits? I am SO all over that.
BINGLEY SUCKS!!!
He knows where to send the checks.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:21 AM | Comments (1)
Pinochet
I meant to put this up the other day. Insta linked to a shocking editorial in the Washington Post on the legacy of Pinochet that is well worth reading. It's one of the most amazing things I've ever seen in the WaPo; someone must be off their meds there. Heck, if they wrote more like this it might almost make me subscribe.
Look, in no way am I trying to lessen the evil that Pinochet did, but the fact remains that Chile is one of the strongest economies in Latin America because of Pinochet, while Cuba is one of the worst because of Castro. Yet everybody loves and worships Fidel. Blech.
Follow the link or the full editorial is below the fold for those who aren't registered, as I want to save it.
A Dictator's Double Standard Augusto Pinochet tortured and murdered. His legacy is Latin America's most successful country. Tuesday, December 12, 2006; Page A26
AUGUSTO PINOCHET, who died Sunday at the age of 91, has been vilified for three decades in and outside of Chile, the South American country he ruled for 17 years. For some he was the epitome of an evil dictator. That was partly because he helped to overthrow, with U.S. support, an elected president considered saintly by the international left: socialist Salvador Allende, whose responsibility for creating the conditions for the 1973 coup is usually overlooked. Mr. Pinochet was brutal: More than 3,000 people were killed by his government and tens of thousands tortured, mostly in his first three years. Thousands of others spent years in exile.One prominent opponent, Orlando Letelier, was assassinated by a car bomb on Washington's Sheridan Circle in 1976 -- one of the most notable acts of terrorism in this city's history. Mr. Pinochet, meanwhile, enriched himself, stashing millions in foreign bank accounts -- including Riggs Bank, a Washington institution that was brought down, in part, by the revelation of that business. His death forestalled a belated but richly deserved trial in Chile.
It's hard not to notice, however, that the evil dictator leaves behind the most successful country in Latin America. In the past 15 years, Chile's economy has grown at twice the regional average, and its poverty rate has been halved. It's leaving behind the developing world, where all of its neighbors remain mired. It also has a vibrant democracy. Earlier this year it elected another socialist president, Michelle Bachelet, who suffered persecution during the Pinochet years.
Like it or not, Mr. Pinochet had something to do with this success. To the dismay of every economic minister in Latin America, he introduced the free-market policies that produced the Chilean economic miracle -- and that not even Allende's socialist successors have dared reverse. He also accepted a transition to democracy, stepping down peacefully in 1990 after losing a referendum.
By way of contrast, Fidel Castro -- Mr. Pinochet's nemesis and a hero to many in Latin America and beyond -- will leave behind an economically ruined and freedomless country with his approaching death. Mr. Castro also killed and exiled thousands. But even when it became obvious that his communist economic system had impoverished his country, he refused to abandon that system: He spent the last years of his rule reversing a partial liberalization. To the end he also imprisoned or persecuted anyone who suggested Cubans could benefit from freedom of speech or the right to vote.
The contrast between Cuba and Chile more than 30 years after Mr. Pinochet's coup is a reminder of a famous essay written by Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, the provocative and energetic scholar and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations who died Thursday. In "Dictatorships and Double Standards," a work that caught the eye of President Ronald Reagan, Ms. Kirkpatrick argued that right-wing dictators such as Mr. Pinochet were ultimately less malign than communist rulers, in part because their regimes were more likely to pave the way for liberal democracies. She, too, was vilified by the left. Yet by now it should be obvious: She was right.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:18 AM | Comments (4)
My Christmas Shopping List
Thanks to a link from Tim, I can finally complete my shopping: The most dangerous toys of all time.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:09 AM | Comments (10)
December 12, 2006
He's the Dead NJ State Trooper
But his killer's the one with her name on a NYC College community room.
New York City college students who share a community room named for an escaped cop killer called the fugitive their hero Tuesday as the school's officials demanded the removal of the honor.A handful of campus groups at the City College of New York commended the school for allowing them to work in the name of domestic "terrorist" Assata Shakur, now believed to be hiding in Cuba.
"We know that many Black people that fought for better conditions in the 70's were framed," the groups said in a statement released to FOXNews.com. "We consider Assata Shakur to be one of the people who were wrongfully and purposefully framed for her activities.
"And we consider her a hero and role model for standing up for our people and putting her life on the line."
Doncha just love these young, passionate kids?
Posted by tree hugging sister at 04:02 PM | Comments (22)
And I Think the Jackass Might Oughta Shut His Barrister Up
...because the moron isn't helping, with laughable whines like this:
...The rabbi had received "all kinds of calls and emails," many of them "odious," Grad said, adding he was "trying to figure out how this is consistent with the spirit of Christmas."
Odd. That's what we were all wondering about him and his bullsh*t lawsuit.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:33 PM
Oh
...PUH-LEEZzzzz...
Blair Shocked by Holocaust Denial Meeting
Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:53 PM | Comments (1)
They Are Just Barbaric Animals
How else do you explain something like this
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A suicide bomber targeting laborers killed 60 people Tuesday in Baghdad and wounded 220 others, Iraqi officials said.A pickup truck, loaded with about 440 pounds (200 kilograms) of explosives, pulled into Tayaran Square as hundreds of unemployed Iraqis holding picks and shovels gathered seeking a day's work.
The truck driver signaled to the would-be workers that he had jobs -- prompting people to crowd around the pickup before he detonated his bomb, said an Iraqi Interior Ministry official.
The explosion, which sent a cloud of black smoke into the sky, set several cars ablaze, and gunfire sounded after the blast, Reuters reported.
"A driver with a pickup truck stopped and asked for laborers. When they gathered around the car, it exploded," a witness told Reuters as he helped a stumbling survivor with a blood-stained head bandage.
"They were poor laborers looking for work. The poor are supposed to be protected by the government."
I'm just sickened by this. And there's really only so much the government can do when there are people willing to slaughter their fellow citizens wholesale, short of really clamping down with martial* law and basically shooting anyone who moves with out permission.
*oops! Thanks
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 11:04 AM | Comments (5)
Little Children Throwing Stones Should Be Shot
And almost were.
Hamas gunmen fire on Fatah protesters
Hamas gunmen opened fire on demonstrators from the rival Fatah movement in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, wounding four people in the first factional violence following the deaths of three children in a drive-by shooting, officials said.The demonstration was organized to protest the deaths of the children, whose car was riddled with bullets as they drove to school Monday morning. Fatah officials have accused Hamas of being behind the shooting. The children's father is an intelligence officer and Fatah loyalist who is considered an enemy of Hamas.
Saleh Hammad, a local Fatah leader, said the demonstration was peaceful, though he acknowledged that some children had provoked the Hamas militiamen by throwing rocks at them.
"Even if one or a few children lost their temper and stoned the members of the unit, this is not a reason to be fired at," he said.
Hamas continues to impress with their version of 'governance'.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:06 AM | Comments (3)
I Thought They Already
...could.
Bringing new meaning to ‘firing blind’
Texas legislator introduces bill to allow blind people to hunt
The blind would be able to go hunting if a Texas bill becomes law.The bill would allow legally blind hunters to use a laser sight, or lighted pointing instrument, which is forbidden for sighted hunters, according to State Rep. Edmund Kuempel, who introduced it.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 08:14 AM | Comments (1)
Ivan Steps On Shell
You have to give Putin credit for knowing what Russia's cards are these days and for not being afraid to play them
Shell is being forced by the Russian government to hand over its controlling stake in the world's biggest liquefied gas project, provoking fresh fears about the Kremlin's willingness to use the country's growing strength in natural resources as a political weapon. After months of relentless pressure from Moscow, the Anglo-Dutch company has to cut its stake in the $20bn Sakhalin-2 scheme in the far east of Russia in favour of the state-owned energy group Gazprom.The Russian authorities are also threatening BP over alleged environmental violations on a Siberian field in what is seen as a wider attempt to seize back assets handed over to foreign companies when energy prices were low.
Now that's a good joke, the Russians seizing the oil fields to 'defend the environment.' But the bigger political move is scary for Western Europe, and it should be. Russia showed last winter that they're not afraid to shut off oil and natural gas pipelines for political reasons, and this is a warning shot to the Euroappeasers that Ivan wants a big chair at the table. Unfortunately, this will also drive the Euroappeasers closer to Iran as a way to try and counter the Russian move, which means any hope of firm action against Iran is even more of a fantasy than before. Frankly, you'd think the Russians would support sanctions against Iran, as that would raise the value of their holdings...but would also lead to increased tensions with the muslim elements in their southern regions. Moscow's trying to juggle a couple of chainsaws here. Honestly, I can see Putin gaining control of the foreign oil assets in Russia, then supporting a tougher stance vis a vis Iran, which would provoke unrest in the southern Russian republics, which would allow him to really crack down on them, and pay for it with the much higher energy prices he'd be getting. Ugly and bloody, but there's going to be a housecleaning over there eventually and I'm sure he would prefer it to be somewhat on his terms.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:34 AM | Comments (5)
Successful Implementation of Birth Control in Emerging Nations
...comes up a little...well...
Condoms a big problem for men in India
Most men's *p-words* are an inch too short for popular prophylacticsCondoms designed to meet international size specifications are too big for many Indian men as their *p-words* fall short of what manufacturers had anticipated, an Indian study has found.
The Indian Council of Medical Research, a leading state-run center, said its initial findings from a two-year study showed 60 percent of men in the financial capital Mumbai had *p-words* about 1 inch shorter than those condoms catered for.
For a further 30 percent, the difference was at least 2 inches. A poor fit meant the prophylactics often didn't do the job they were bought for, and led to some tearing or slipping off during use.
Sounds as if the research was...inadequate. Of course, who do you send out to do the survey in the first place?
I hope all the snickering and gloating in other countries doesn't affect the national psyche.
*Edited to protect the children.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 04:56 AM | Comments (9)
December 11, 2006
Holy Aay!atolla!!
...Iranians still party like no other. See, it works like this: If you go to a party or a club in Ibiza or Madrid, you usually come home at 10:00 a.m. the next morning, but in Iran you come home the following week. There are no clubs or bars in Iran (that is common knowledge to most of the world) but really nothing, and I mean nothing, compares to a house party in Teheran.Every repressed attraction to the opposite sex, every urge to have a beer with your lunch, every desire to have a "happy hour" after a long day's work, every desire to give your partner a kiss at a restaurant forms into a tidal wave of absolute debauchery consisting of heavy drug use, massive alcohol consumption and, unfortunately, not-so-safe sex. With unemployment so high, inflation that doesn't cease, and a generation of youth that have lost ALL hope in their national government, the best thing you can do, for the time being, is pour yourself some illegally imported Russian vodka, light up a cigarette, and watch the world, as you know it, go to hell.
And 'shiraz' is originally an Iranian wine district?
I had no idea.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 04:00 PM | Comments (2)
Well, Jackass
Maybe if you hadn't gotten a lawyer, you wouldn't be worrying about being a Jewish Grinch.
...The initiative followed a decision by airport officials to remove its nine Christmas trees instead of adding a giant Jewish menorah to the holiday display as a rabbi had requested.Rabbi Elazar Bogomilsky, who made his request weeks ago, said he was appalled by the decision. He had hired a lawyer and threatened to sue if the Port of Seattle didn’t add the menorah next to the trees, which had been festooned with red ribbons and bows.
...“They’ve darkened the hall instead of turning the lights up,” said Bogomilsky’s lawyer, Harvey Grad. “There is a concern here that the Jewish community will be portrayed as the Grinch.”
So, you threaten to sue instead of work it out with the airport and then have the nerve to try to spin it your way when it blows up in your face?
I think the Yiddish word is Chutzpah:
One humorous example of chutzpah is often given as follows: "A boy is on trial for murdering his parents, and he begs of the judge leniency because he is an orphan."
That about covers it.
UPDATE: I'd call this SCHMUCK spin.
..."We are not part of the war on Christmas," said Grad. "All we asked for was inclusion and now we're getting hate mail and angry messages."
Your threat of a lawsuit is NOT "asking" for inclusion and most people would consider a lawsuit an act of war.
I sure do.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:38 PM | Comments (8)
MUST See
TV
Let the little video player pop up and just nod your head in time to the common sense.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:06 AM | Comments (6)
Some Real Bravery By Students
How easy it is to talk about 'stupid cowboys' and 'plastic turkeys'; here are some students with real courage:
TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- A group of students Monday briefly interrupted a speech by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at their university by booing and chanting "Death to the dictator," Iranian news agencies reported.The protesting students apparently avoided security guards who tried to prevent them from attending the speech at Amir Kabir University, according to the student news Web site, ADWAR.
As Ahmadinejad approached the podium to speech, the members of the Islamic Students Association -- a banned group -- began booing and chanting, while some even burned pictures of the Iranian president, ADWAR reported.
Ahmadinejad responded by accusing the protesting students of having no shame and being on the payroll of the United States, according to ADWAR. He added that he loved each one of them and said, "You insult me but I will respond to you calmly."
Let's hope nothing bad happens to them, and their protests can grow and spread.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:01 AM | Comments (1)
December 10, 2006
Every Methhead in the Country Should Be SHOT
Since they spirited all the pseudophedrin behind the pharmacy walls because of those pathetic LOSERS, the new/reformulated/safe for the shelf Tylenol Cold Severe Congestion isn't worth SH*T.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 05:46 PM | Comments (3)
December 09, 2006
Fiddling While Tehran Glows
Call me a reactionary old fool, but this scares the bejeebus out of me:
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran has begun installing 3,000 centrifuges in an expansion of its uranium enrichment program that brings the Islamic nation significantly closer to large-scale production of nuclear fuel, the president said Saturday.President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also claimed that the international community was caving in to Tehran's demands to continue its nuclear program.
And he's right.
The United States and its European allies have been seeking a U.N. Security Council resolution to impose sanctions on Tehran for refusing to suspend enrichment. But Russia and China have opposed tough action advocated by the U.S., Britain, Germany and France and the Security Council appears to have reached a standstill on the issue....On Friday, key European nations circulated a revised U.N. resolution that narrowed the proposed sanctions on Iran in a bid to win Russian and Chinese support. The new draft would ban the supply of materials and technology that could contribute to Iran's program, but it gave much greater detail on what items would be prohibited.
While the shortsighted 'realists' dither and massage in diplomatic circles the Iranians are accelerating their centrifuges. J. H. C. on a Pogo Stick. What the hell are these people thinking? While they sit in their cave and argue about the shadows on the wall in front of them the troll is walking up behind them...and they are handing him the club. I just for the life of me can not understand how anyone in the West can possibly think that allowing these guys native nuclear technology is an acceptable course of action. But I'm sure they'll chuckle over their martinis about how creative their diplomacy was when they win their little battle with the US. Yes, do nothing, declare a diplomatic agreement, and then the bombs will go off.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 03:26 PM | Comments (2)
December 08, 2006
Some Holiday Fun
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 01:53 PM
"Wii Have A Problem"
I had to steal their title; it's too good. Look what happens if you bowl a little too hard and try to put some english on the ball...
[argh. hotlinking issues]
There are some very funny images and stories on the site.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 01:43 PM | Comments (4)
We've Lost
Former U.N. Amb. Jeane Kirkpatrick dies
One-time Democrat warmly embraced Reagan era conservatism
I miss those days.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:44 AM
Happy Birthday Emily!
From your bestest buddy!
Go over and give her your best wishes!
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:17 AM | Comments (5)
December 07, 2006
"Christian" Vs "Christ Follower"
Allah at Hot Air has posted a series of videos from a contemporary church that is trying to distance itself from the term 'christian.' Go look; I'll wait.
I really don't get how the 'cool dude' calls himself a 'Christ-follower' while acting as if the Bible is not needed. While it's easy to mock the bumpersticker WWJD crowd (and certainly there are many of them that seemingly drift perilously close to the Pharisee on the corner) we are, as Christians, called to spread the faith, so I can't really fault folks who do as long as they are able to keep the focus on Christ and not their works/zeal. As Christians we shouldn't do good acts to bring glory to ourselves, to hear the neighbors say "What a decent fellow Bingley is" (it gets rather embarassing when they keep saying that, let me tell you). No. Well, we shouldn't really but of course at times we do because we are imperfect, fallen creatures. And that's okay because we confess our sins and are aware of our failings and foibles...and we know that God is also aware of them, and makes us confront them with painful clarity. To look truthfully at yourself is hard, painful traumatic business, made all the moreso by the knowledge that someone else knows all your dirty laundry and calls you on it. There's none of this "that's ok" crap; and here's where I think that 'modern' Jesus-Is-My-Bestest-Bud movements go astray: Jesus judges us, and judges us harshly. We are sinners. We do bad things. We do selfish things. We do evil things. And Jesus tells us so. And this causes shame...well deserved shame. And from what I've heard of contemporary christian music and preaching this part of it is de-emhasized, because shame and judgement are so passé, so damaging to the self-esteem. I mean, church is where you're supposed to feel good, right? NO! Church is where you confront yourself honesty, where you go before the living God who sees you as you truly are, makes you face all of your flaws...and then when you know you least deserve it says "I forgive you." And this Grace, freely given to those who should by all rights have no expectation of it causes a change, little by little, week by week, in how we act. As the saying goes we are reformed and ever reforming. We act out of thanksgiving for the Grace that God has given us, and since The Big Guy really has no need for any earthly gifts we could possibly give (well, except maybe a PS3; they've got to be hard to come by even there) we show our thanks by acting in ways that we hope would be pleasing to Him; we can not presume to always act in such a fashion, because we can't, but we can conciously try. And occasionally we succeed.
My church is a moderately large traditional Presbyterian church in NJ, and we, like many churches, are struggling with how to attract new members. I'm simply not sure if the desire to 'be contemporary for the kids' that Tom Lehrer parodied so brilliantly in "The Vatican Rag" is the call of spiritual and communal growth or the call of the Sirens. We have a large traditional Sunday morning service, replete with full choir and organ, and we've added a more contemporary Saturday night service of the guitar-based variety and we'll see how it goes. As I said above I guess what bothers me most about this whole contemporary movement is that it seems to be based on the idea that Christ is our 'best buddy' and that if you profess belief than everything is peachy and cool, when in actuality nothing could be further from the truth. Religion is hard, uneasy work. For you musicians out there it's as if life was all major chords...when it's really mostly minor. We're trying to see if we can bridge that gap.
It's sad that people who profess to follow Christ would want to separate themselves from the term 'Christian' and the Bible for political convenience, isn't it?
And if you want to see the true secrets of my Presbyterian faith revealed, the commentator "CorinthianJest" at HotAir must have hacked into our secret Presbyterian database. The BlackHawk helicopters are on their way to his location as we speak...
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:00 PM | Comments (8)
Thirteen Marines of Christmas Mail Cut-Off
Heads up, ya'll!! Monday's the 'deadline' for Christmas Priority Mail delivery to the APO/FPO addresses.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 04:15 PM | Comments (2)
I May Need To Go Undercover Here
Incognito as it were
MUSLIMS, socialists, unions and other groups will conduct a counter-rally against bikini protesters who plan to march on a Brunswick mosque on Saturday.Police will monitor the demonstrations, with white supremacists claiming to have infiltrated bikini protest ranks, increasing the potential for confrontation.
Organisers of the "Great Australian Bikini March" had planned to march against the Michael St mosque last Saturday, anniversary of the Cronulla riots in NSW.
With any luck I'll infiltrate the ranks as well.
This next bit caused me to spit out my coffee:
The so-called bikini march, criticised as being insensitive, was designed as a reaction to mufti Sheik Taj el-Din el-Hilaly's comments on scantily clad women being the cause of some rapes.
Insensitive. This guy says that women who are raped are at fault because they're scantily clad and, well, cats will pounce on raw meat, don't you know, and we have to understand their culture, yaddayaddayadda.
But wear those bikinis girls and damn you for your "insensitivity."
In response, the Islamic Information and Support Centre and the Socialist Party Australia are organising a barbecue
Scarier words were never written.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:59 AM | Comments (6)
Taliban Rule 27: No Pooftas
So now our friends the Taliban have come out with a 30 point rule book
Now, the Taliban has put out a code of conduct for its commanders and fighters -- including when to kill teachers and how to prevent sexual abuse.According to Pakistani journalist Khawar Mehdi Rizvi, who obtained a copy of the 30-point plan and provided it to CNN, the instructions have been issued to district level commanders in Afghanistan in a small handbook.
If you've ever wondered when it was ok to kill teachers, as opposed to, say, just beat them, well, just lookie here:
"It is forbidden to work as a teacher under the current puppet regime, because this strengthens the system of the infidels," says rule 24. And if a teacher refuses a warning to give up his job, reads rule 25, "he must be beaten.""If the teacher still continues to instruct contrary to the principles of Islam, the district commander or a group leader must kill him," it continues.
When schools are burned, the Taliban rules say it is important that religious texts be removed from the buildings first.
Awfully glad that's settled.
Oh, and there are no gays in Islam, especially not in the chosen purity that is the Taliban. But, in a sign of their infinite mercy and understanding for the infidels, they include this little rule
Along with rules about not smoking cigarettes and not allowing murderers to join the Taliban, there also is this entry: Taliban "are not allowed to take young boys with no facial hair onto the battlefield or into their private quarters."
Who knew they were Python fans?
You've got to love that line about "not allowing murderers to join the Taliban."
They prefer to make their own, evidently.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:03 AM | Comments (3)
It's Too Early to Quibble With This List
Let me get a cup o' coffee first.
"Heeere's Johnny!" is top U.S. TV catchphrase
"Heeere's Johnny!" -- the introduction for U.S. talk-show host Johnny Carson for 30 years -- has been ranked the most memorable TV catchphrase in a Top 100 list covering 60 years of American television shows, cartoons, commercials and quotes from news programs.Neil Armstrong's famous "One small step for man ... " comment when stepping on the moon on July 20, 1969, took second place in the list compiled by TV Land, while millionaire businessman-turned-TV star Donald Trump came in third with his curt "You're fired!" ousting of contestants from the TV show "The Apprentice."
...The Top 10 greatest TV quotes and catchphrases chosen by TV Land are;
1. Heeere's Johnny! (Ed McMahon, The Tonight Show)
2. One small step for man ... (Neil Armstrong)
3. You're fired! (Donald Trump, The Apprentice)
4. Baby, you're the greatest. (Ralph Kramden, The Honeymooners)
5. Ask not what your country can do for you ... (John F. Kennedy)
6. D'oh! (Homer Simpson, The Simpsons)
7. Where's the beef? (Wendy's)
8. Whatchoo talkin' 'bout, Willis? (Arnold Drummond, Diff'rent Strokes)
9. Yabba dabba do! (Fred Flintstone, The Flintstones)
10. I'm not a crook (Richard Nixon)
Posted by tree hugging sister at 07:53 AM | Comments (11)
Betrayal
Jules Crittenden is seeing a betrayal, and he's right.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:20 AM
Let Us Never Forget
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:59 AM | Comments (4)
December 06, 2006
Damn! Maybe I Should Drop a Few Pounds
...and hit the streets! (Or, at the very least, publishers' offices.)
BLOGGER-turned-author Jessica Cutler pulled out of next Monday's Mediabistro panel on how bloggers can land book deals. Her "blowoff" prompted Mediabistro to remind readers that Cutler is "someone known for exchanging sex for money."
I didn't realize there was a way to make this a paying gig. I've always thought Wonkette and the rest were just lucky.
Naïveté, thy name is Sister.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 02:11 PM | Comments (2)
Insensitive Joke of the Day
...courtesy of MSNBC.com.
Egypt finds 4,000-year-old doctor’s mummy
I'll bet she was Jewish.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:55 PM
Chapter One: "Jobs Derivative Auctions" Or
...""Why I Was Never an Economics Major".
"ths", you ask, "How do you ever find this sh*t?"
Well, Grasshoppers, it's like this. There I was, over at CNBC.com (people doing well affects my purely discretionary products' bottom line) and there was this payroll article. Simple enough, right? I scan it and BAMMO. This jumps out at me.
...Also on Wednesday, the second of five jobs derivatives auctions had traders betting U.S. employers added 85,400 jobs in November. The first auction on the data, on Tuesday, had an implied forecast of 82,000.
"Jobs derivative auctions"? Que? Traders buy and sell the odds/amounts of job creation? WTF is that?! So, my interest piqued, I went looking. And so they do. The little primer I found even touts how 'customers' can hedge their 'bets' if they use their particular system.
...New Profit Opportunities. Trading Economic Derivatives provides customers with new profit opportunities. Previously, customers that expressed a view on an economic number using a financial instrument might forecast the number correctly but have the market react in an unpredictable fashion, leading to portfolio losses even though the customer’s view on the number was correct. With CME Economic Derivatives, customers can express a view directly on those economic statistics without basis risk: the customer profits if, and only if, the view on the economic statistic is correct.
Damn. The only thing I can comprehend completely is that there's money to be made or lost anywhere on ANYthing.
- Seeking Gaia friendly kitchen stool covers, Bingley concludes his third 'booze for buffalo hide' trading session. ©TPI
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:41 AM | Comments (1)
December 05, 2006
This Story Should Really Be Posted At
Hot Air...
Flatulence brought 99 passengers on an American Airlines flight to an unscheduled visit to Nashville early Monday morning.American Flight 1053, from Washington Reagan National Airport and bound for Dallas/Fort Worth, made an emergency landing here after passengers reported smelling struck matches, said Lynne Lowrance, a spokeswoman for the Nashville International Airport Authority.
The plane landed safely. The FBI, Transportation Safety Administration and airport authority responded to the emergency, Lowrance said.
The passengers and five crew members were brought off the plane, together with all the luggage, to go through security checks again. Bomb-sniffing dogs found spent matches.
The FBI questioned a passenger who admitted she struck the matches in an attempt to conceal body odor, Lowrance said. The woman lives near Dallas and has a medical condition.
I will restrain myself from commenting on this story.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:52 PM | Comments (5)
Can You Hear Gaia Screaming Now, Clarice?
My cooking of late has been severely restricted around the house, as we have been redoing our kitchen. In fact, I have personally been responsible for the 15% rise in restaurant spending in New Jersey over the past month. But slowly, oh so slowly things are coming together.
The biggest decision that you face is what will your countertops be made of. We were getting rid of some blechy 40 year old laminate (which, to give it its due, did indeed last 40 some-odd years) and were torn about which material to choose. Initially I wanted maple butcher block, because it just looks some cool and, well, cozy in a kitchen. But, as my bride correctly pointed out, it takes a lot of maintenance, doesn't like liquids, and really doesn't like hot pans. Oh bother. Well, what about Corian? I have to admit it was very tempting to have an oil product in my kitchen! Plastic, New Jersey and me; perfect together. I wondered if I could get various Halliburton officials to autograph it...sigh.
But then blinding inspiration struck. I saw an article about Al Gore and the Cult of Gaia and I knew instantly what was needed here:
Gaia Flesh.
Living, breathing Gaia flesh. Ripped from her tormented body in an open pit strip mine in India by huge, smoke-belching machines. Loaded on to diesel-stench spewing trucks for a perilous drive down to the port, and from there on to a rusty freighter whose bilge effluvia leaves a sickened and oil-slickened gaian bloodstream gasping in her wake. My god, it was perfect; I had to have granite:
But gawd I hope everything is hooked up by Christmas...
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:31 PM | Comments (45)
Terrible News From Australia
First Al Gore visits and lectures them, and now this
In the late 1800s the deadly aphid phylloxera devastated much of the Victorian wine industry, but it mercifully spared the Yarra Valley. Yesterday, it finally hit its mark.The insect was found last Friday and officially identified yesterday by officials from the Department of Primary Industry in a small section of eight-year-old merlot vines in the 32-hectare Beavis Vineyard, at Coldstream. The vines had been suffering from poor vigour.
Please buy lots of Concord rootstock, Aussie Winemakers, and eliminate this before it's too late.
I need my shiraz.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:25 PM
Don't You Question Our Patrio..., Er, Commitment!
Crittenden stirs up the righteous:
A number of Canadians took offense recently to a Boston Herald column in which I slammed Canada and Europe in general for failing to hold up their end in this war for democracy, freedom and security. Specificially, I slammed them for being smug democracies that do little to help the truly oppressed of this world, while throwing insults at us and obstacles in our way.
The Canadian Hordes from the Great White North have been unleashed.
Jihad, eh? Ya hoser.
Read his post and the comments.
As he said in his original post
Islamic extremists are ascendant among the world's 1 billion Muslims thanks to their successes, which are nothing more than our failures. American voters, whether they realize it or not, have chosen the path of Europe, of Canada - wealthy, smug democracies that profess concern for the oppressed but will do little for them, little even in their own defense.
These wealthy, smug little democracies, whose very wealthy smug existences are a direct result of the US carrying the lion's share of the burden in defending them from the Soviets. All of their little social programs that they love to trumpet about would not exist had they had to fund a reasonable defense budget. So they sit back and sip their espressos and snipe at us, at everything we do and don't do. Oh, pish on the little detail that lots of our intelligence data was from them, and they agreed with the general thrust of the analysis. If we said it then well it's lies, don't you see. For oil, and McDonalds. Oh, and for Jesus. And Halliburton.
And in their advanced, compassionate ways they want to "hang a burning tire around our necks."
I want a strong, secure US border. I want radioactive searches of every container ship coming in to the US done 200 miles offshore. I want a working missle defense system. I want every US troop home from Europe (except for moving ones to Poland).
And then I want to tell the rest of the world to solve their own problems and pay their own bills.
And they better learn Chinese.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 02:21 PM | Comments (3)
Oh, Holy Crap! This Drudge Headline
...scared the pants off o' me.
Bush says rarely talks policy with dad...
I thought it said 'with the dead'.
At second glance, I'm not sure I feel any better.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:52 AM
December 04, 2006
From Here...
It was a routine patrol, in the third week of June -- if, in fact, there is such a thing as a routine patrol in Fallujah, in the Anbar Province of Iraq.Chris Walsh, a Navy medic assigned to a US Marines weapons company, was riding in a Humvee with three Marines, when a hidden bomb exploded in the dirt road just in front of them.
Even before the thick dust had settled, the Marines, and Walsh, were out of the vehicle, looking for the insurgents who had planted the remote-control device. The triggerman, as several who joined the pursuit vividly recall, was spotted first on a rooftop, then on the ground making his escape through the maze of ramshackle houses that line the road.
When Walsh and the Marines came to one doorway, M-4 rifles up and ready, a woman emerged from a room, holding an infant and saying, over and over again, "Baby. Baby sick."
Walsh put his gun down and the woman put the baby down.
Walsh had seen bad things -- as an EMT back home in St. Louis, and at war. But he told his comrades he had never seen anything like this: The child, just a few months old, looked as though her insides had been turned inside out.
Her name was Mariam, and she looked up at Walsh with dead eyes.
...to here...
Mariam's grandparents, who traveled with her because her mother has not recovered from complications at childbirth, told Maureen Walsh they had learned of Chris' death last month, when Captain Donovan visited them at the hospital.Mariam's grandfather took Maureen Walsh's hand in his and, speaking in Arabic, said, "Thank you for your son."
Mariam's family does not believe it was coincidence that Chris Walsh was the one who came into their house in hot pursuit of someone who had tried to kill him and instead put down his gun and picked up Mariam.
"This," her grandfather said, nodding solemnly, "was an act of God. God sent Chris. To Mariam. So she will live."
..."Saving Baby Miriam" is a story of promises kept.
"Thank you for your son", indeed. We all thank you, Mrs. Walsh.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:53 AM | Comments (1)
I Just Sent US Air a Little Love Note
You can, too, if the feeling moves you.
I'd like to send you all my support for both your flight and ground crews, and your corporate officers concerning the recent brouhaha with the 'flying imams'. I don't care if they're green, white, black, orange, purple or puce ~ if someone disrupts a flight at any stage, I want to know that the safety of the passengers is first and foremost on the crew's mind and NOT the sensibilities of those doing the disrupting. I want assurances that the crew won't hesitate to act in the best interests of ALL the passengers.You all did so and I thank you. You have also stalwartly supported the actions taken by your crew and I thank you for that. Well done.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:26 AM
Global Warming
Tonight
Clear and cold. Record lows in the mid 20s inland... except in the upper 20s along the coast. Inland...north winds around 5 mph. Along the coast...north winds around 10 mph.
I feel a fossil fuel fire comin' on...
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:16 AM | Comments (9)
And I'll Bet You All Thought
...it was just about goats...
I am a paranormal researcher and investigator in northeast Ohio. My first book, 'Haunted Cuyahoga', is only the beginning!!
I think we need a new category ~
The Secret Lives of Swillers: REVEALED!!
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:05 AM | Comments (4)
BREAKING NEWS
MSNBC is reporting that John Bolton has resigned as our U.N. ambassador.
Well, pooh.
Ah, the AP has a link.
Unable to win Senate confirmation, U.N. Ambassador John Bolton will step down when his recess appointment expires soon, the White House said Monday.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:30 AM | Comments (2)
December 01, 2006
Dear
...God.
THERE it is, sitting behind the bar of the East Village's Double Down Saloon - an unlabeled vodka bottle in which three bloated strips of bacon stand at attention looking like a med-school project gone awry. Ladies and gentlemen, introducing a binge too far, the final olive-covered straw, the drink that leaves us shaken, anger stirred: the Bacon Martini.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:31 AM | Comments (17)
When Imams Fly
Air marshals, pilots and security officials yesterday expressed concern that airline passengers and crews will be reluctant to report suspicious behavior aboard for fear of being called "racists," after several Muslim imams made that charge in a press conference Monday at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.Six imams, or Muslim holy men, accused a US Airways flight crew of inappropriately evicting them from a flight last week in Minneapolis after several passengers said the imams tried to intimidate them by loudly praying and moving around the airplane. The imams urged Congress to enact laws to prohibit ethnic and religious "profiling."
Federal air marshals and others yesterday urged passengers to remain vigilant to threats.
"The crew and passengers act as our additional eyes and ears on every flight," said a federal air marshal in Las Vegas, who asked that his name not be used. "If [crew and passengers] are afraid of reporting suspicious individuals out of fear of being labeled a racist or bigot, then terrorists will certainly use those fears to their advantage in future aviation attacks."
But Rabiah Ahmed, spokeswoman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), said Muslims "have to walk around on eggshells in public just because we don't want to be misconstrued as suspicious. You have to strike a balance between legitimate fears which people may have, but not allow passengers to have so much discretion that they can trigger a process that would violate a traveler's basic civil rights."
"Violating a traveler's basic rights" would include hijacking or blowing their airplane up, too, right? So I think safety and following the rules (or else...) trumps CAIR's pitiful whining. Especially over six assholes who brought that unwelcome 'attention' on themselves. People would have been reporting K-Fed if he'd acted like that. Matter of fact, he's the poster child for profiling ~ as soon as you see him you think 'SCUMBAG'.
My brain doesn't automatically flash "terrorist" when I see a fuzzy cleric or the 7-11 Pakistani guy. I don't start thinking that way until they get unruly on my airplane.
So in the spirit of the Friday FO thread, I nominate CAIR.
Via LGF.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:13 AM | Comments (2)
On This Day 51 Years Ago
...the lady kept her seat.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 07:52 AM | Comments (3)