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May 31, 2007
Oy! I Heard This Interview on the Car Radio This Morning
...and the LOOOONNGGG pause before he answered the question. My first thought was, "Holy scha-MOLY! Is he gonna catch it!"
NASA administrator Michael Griffin is drawing the ire of his agency's preeminent climate scientists after apparently downplaying the need to combat global warming.In an interview broadcast this morning on National Public Radio's "Morning Edition" program, Griffin was asked by NPR's Steve Inskeep whether he is concerned about global warming.
"I have no doubt that a trend of global warming exists," Griffin told Inskeep. "I am not sure that it is fair to say that it is a problem we must wrestle with."
Sure didn't take long.
...Griffin's comments immediately drew stunned reaction from James Hansen, NASA's top climate scientist at the Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York."It's an incredibly arrogant and ignorant statement," Hansen told ABC News. "It indicates a complete ignorance of understanding the implications of climate change."
I love how when you disagree with these a$$holes, you're 'incredibly arrogant and STOO-PID'. Whatever happened to "I'd have to strongly disagree with my esteemed colleague's opinion..."
I think we have Cindy Sheehan to thank for this total lack of civility in a discipline that ~ prior to shrinking polar bear gonads ~ had always been pretty circumspect in public.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:34 PM | Comments (6)
May 30, 2007
This Date in 1431 Proves Two Things:
1. NEVER listen to the voices in your head.
2. No good deed goes unpunished.
I could say something about royalty being weak, inbred, mewling, duplicitous cowards...but I won't.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:26 AM | Comments (15)
The Point Of The Exercise
Insta had one of those moments this morning
WHY WE HAVE KIDS, even though they're a lot of trouble: When I got up this morning, I looked in on the Insta-Daughter, who'd been a bit ill last night. She was sleeping and I kissed her on the cheek. She smiled, murmured, "I love you Daddy," and went back to sleep. My day is already made.
I'm blessed to say that the last thing I do every morning before I leave the house is to give Daughter a kiss as she's sleeping, and 9 days out of 10 I get a drowsy hug and a kiss back (the 10th day she's too sleepy to notice). Makes everything that follows worthwhile, it does. Work to live, folks, not the other way 'round.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:54 AM | Comments (1)
The Fat In NJ Is Not The Citizens
But the government
N.J., with new agency, steps up fight against fatTRENTON - New Jersey's health department is escalating the battle against the bulge by starting an Office of Nutrition and Fitness to better coordinate programs aimed at preventing obesity.
When will the Governor work on the Battle of the Bulge in Trenton, whose expanding girth and ever-greater hunger threatens to crush us all?
No, goodness, that would take work. Much better to start yet another agency, higher more state workers and increase the state's long-term fiscal liabilities all in the name of "the children."
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:29 AM | Comments (3)
May 29, 2007
At Last!
The white man no longer speaks with forked tongue!
"A random group of homeless people under a bridge would be far more intellectually sound and principled than anything I've encountered at the university so far."
I wouldn't doubt it for a second, considering all Ward Churchill himself has done for the state of education as we know it.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 06:27 PM | Comments (5)
Now This Is A Great White
I think I'd be very nervous of their water park
Most cats do not like getting wet - as anyone who has tried to bathe a moggie will know.But as these pictures show, there's always the exception to the rule. For the cat in question is a large male white Bengal tiger called Odin.
Six years old, and at the prime of his life, Odin lives at the Six Flags Discovery Kingdom Zoo in Vallejo, near San Francisco. He is about 10ft long from nose to tail, and is an excellent swimmer.
Yikes!
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 11:49 AM | Comments (11)
How Can 'The Man' Keep You Down
...if you don't even try to get up?
An amazing, heatbreaking, three part series from a talented writer who quit his cush newspaper job to do the right thing.
I only have one beef with the series: I think he cops out in his epilogue. It's more of an argument to save the system for the six serious kids in it, vice addressing the inherent problems in the students' upbringing ~ a culture where being smart and using it makes you a social pariah. Or a target. I don't expect a Cosby-like railing against hip-hop and baggy pants, but, after it being such a central point of his disillusionment, you'd think he'd touch on it.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:40 AM | Comments (1)
One Fish, Two Fish, But No Red Fish
And damned straight there's no Blue Fish, either. Blech, I can't stand that stinky greasy fish. I really never ate seafood until after I was married; it's been sort of a life project of my Bride's to get me to branch out a bit. Needless to say it's rare when seafood is cooked here at Netherfield, but for Mother's Day I thought I'd give my Bride a treat. Well, two treats, really: first, I'd cook her a yummy (hopefully) dinner on Saturday night, and then, secondly, I'd leave town on Sunday afternoon for a few days. Win-win for her all around.
Obviously one of the major concerns one has when planning a meal is what to drink. My Bride has always been rather partial to Gavis, and this is a luverly one
Araldica Gavi La Luciana 2005. For $10 you get a smooth, medium bodied wine with some very nice lemon and mineral undertones. A very nice summer wine for fish and, heck, just everyday sipping.
But now on to the grub...
I thought I would fry some fish and serve it with risotto and asparagus. After flipping through Marcella Hazan I found a few recipes that seemed tasty and tweakable. As an aside, do buy her book; it is loaded with great stuff. Anyhow, first things first was to get the rice for the risotto cooking. Pretty standard stuff, I got a bag of Arborio rice and got that a going using the tried and true 2 parts water to one part rice ratio. Once simmering you can forget it for 20 minutes and concentrate on the wine other parts of the meal.
Starting the risotto is the second easiest part of this. The easiest is cooking the asparagus: simply trim off the ends of the asparagus and place it in a shallow vegetable dish with about a half inch of water. Cover this with plastic wrap, poke a hole or two in the wrap and put it in the microwave. Approximately three minutes (more or less depending on your micro) is all it takes to cook it perfectly. Trust me on this.
So I minced up half a medium onion and got that sizzlin in a few tablespoons of olive oil
added about the same amount of minced celery
let that cook for a few minutes than add two heaping tablespoons of capers
What I want to know is who decreed that capers must come in these stupid narrow jars that no spoon known to non-coke users will fit into? I had to use a knife blade to carefully ladle the darn things out. A big pain.
Anyhow, once that has melded nicely you can remove that pan from the heat and set it aside. This dish originally calls for one type of fish, but I thought it would be fun to cook both swordfish
and tuna
so I got nice sized steaks of each (dang near a pound per). In a separate pan that's big enough to hold both steaks get some (say 1/2 inch deep) rapeseed canola oil warming over medium heat (it doesn't need to be nu-kyu-ler). Carefully dredge the steaks in flour
Notice I said "carefully." As you can see the steak slipped off the fork as I was putting it on the plate and the counter (and especially the floor) got flour bombed, which elicited a f-bomb of a different nature from me...
Now play Viking and fling your victims into the boiling oil!
Give 'em 3-4 minutes per side, depending on thickness and how well you like your fish done. The nice thing about using tuna and swordfish is that when you are done frying the fish your house doesn't smell like you've been frying fish.
Meanwhile the rice should be just about ready
Blend into the rice a couple ounces (the more the cheesier) of buffalo mozzarella, a few tablespoons of good grated parmigiano-reggiano and several fresh basil leaves that you've ripped into medium sized pieces and set this aside for a few minutes, covered, so the flavors can melt and meld.
Warm up the pan with the onion mixture in it, and transfer the steaks to it.
Turn on the microwave for three minutes to cook the asparagus.
Add a couple of tablespoons of white wine vinegar to the pan with the steaks and cook over medium heat for a few minutes, flipping the steaks to coat them on both sides and letting some of the liquid cook off
Remove the fish to a warmed platter
And serve immediately, half a steak of each type per plate with all leftover juices spooned on top, with the risotto and asparagus.
And more wine.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:34 AM | Comments (20)
May 27, 2007
God Bless Them
Every...
...one.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:57 PM | Comments (5)
The Only Sunday Cartoon to Mention Memorial Day Besides Mallard Filmore
...was Doonesbury, where Trudeau posted half the names of those we've lost in Iraq since April 2006. (Second half of his memoriam next week.)
Good for him.
And shame on everyone else.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:05 AM | Comments (6)
May 25, 2007
DAMN It!
Months of planning go down the YouTubes.
From the crippling amounts his people spend on weddings to the local fashion for gold teeth, Tajikistan's leader is on the warpath against extravagant spending.... He criticized the teachers' gilded dentistry, saying they were alien imports and explaining that they could damage the country's ability to attract foreign aid.
"How are we to persuade donors that we are poor when our teachers have gold teeth?" Rakhmon demanded.
Whoa! Now the cat's outta the burqua! I predict Escambia County teachers will be moving en masse to Tajikistan after hearing that. I can hear the rallying cry from the union now:
"No more working part time at Wal-Mart to survive! You get enough for gold teeth in Tajikistan!
To the planes!!"
But there is dark side to Rahkmon's intrusive governing style...
...Rakhmon told a group of lawmakers, clerics and intellectuals that guests at weddings should be restricted to 150; at a funeral, 100; and at a circumcision ceremony, to 60.
Really. Now that's going too far. The last thing we need in an influx of Tajikee party planners and gazers seeking asylum.
President Bush, BUILD THAT WALL!
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:05 AM | Comments (11)
Loss Of Innocence
The BBC has a sweet tale on one man losing his Star Wars virginity.
How did they find him?
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:42 AM | Comments (4)
May 24, 2007
Big Time
...bathing beauties.
Newly discovered fossilized claw marks paint a picture of a carnivorous dinosaur pedaling its hind legs as it swam against a strong current and struggled to maintain a straight path.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 06:06 PM | Comments (8)
I'm Sure They Could Find the Pope and Bin Laden Share Responsibility
...for this, if they really wanted to. I mean, they've got just about everybody else.
The father of Josh Hancock filed suit Thursday, claiming a restaurant provided drinks to the St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher even though he was intoxicated prior to the crash that killed him.The suit, filed in St. Louis Circuit Court by Dean Hancock of Tupelo, Miss., does not specify damages. Mike Shannon’s Restaurant, owned by the longtime Cardinals broadcaster who starred on three World Series teams in the 1960s, is a defendant in the case along with Shannon’s daughter, Patricia Shannon Van Matre, the restaurant manager.
Other defendants include Eddie’s Towing, the company whose flatbed tow truck was struck by Hancock’s sport utility vehicle in the early hours of April 29; tow truck driver Jacob Edward Hargrove; and Justin Tolar, the driver whose stalled car on Interstate 64 was being assisted by Hargrove.
So, if your car poops out on the highway, make damn sure there's no DRUNKS on the highway miles behind you, because it's your fault if the DRUNKEN bastard hits someone else and miraculously only kills himself.
You can't say I didn't warn you.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 05:53 PM | Comments (17)
Hey New Hampshire
Have we in New Jersey got a Governor for you
Concord – The mandatory seatbelt bill hit a bump in the road when the Senate Transportation and Interstate Committee voted to recommend the bill be killed.
And he'd really fit right in, since the main paper is the Union Leader, and we know he has a history of, er, rather close relations with Union Leaders...
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 03:06 PM | Comments (1)
Turf Battle?
Jules Crittenden links to a very interesting and revealing discussion on how best to conduct a counter-insurgency campaign. What I think some of the commentators are missing is the audience to whom the various remarks are addressed: The Army/USMC folks who wrote the report are speaking to the troops who will be doing the brunt of the fighting; the Air Force general is writing to the Congress (and MSM) who will control the budgets.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:12 AM | Comments (2)
May 23, 2007
A Little Slice O' Jersey
...courtesy of Peter King.
...Eyewitnessed at the Pilgrim Shopping Plaza, Verona, N.J.:Woman in late-model minivan, just in front of me, begins to turn right into a row of parked cars, looking for a parking space. She slams her brakes suddenly, causing me to slam mine. The reason: Another woman, this one in a tan Audi, is driving slowly down the row, right in the middle of the row, with a cell phone pressed to her ear. The Audi women is not paying attention, until the minivan woman leans on her horn continuously for a full five seconds. Now the minivan woman puts her car in park and, with her van cutting off the Audi, gets out of the car. I've never seen this before. Audi woman looks steamed.
"GET OFF YOUR *&%#ING PHONE! GET OFF YOUR &^%#ING PHONE!'' minivan woman yells...
...I find myself cheering on minivan woman.
...Minivan woman yammers some really good Jersey language at Audi woman, and I never hear Audi woman because she never opens her window. She looks like one of those people in a Southwest Airlines commercial. (You know, the ones that ask, "Want to get away?) ...
God love her.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:05 AM | Comments (1)
How Could We Not Have Realized This?
Studious Swillers will recall that equine love affair in Washington (Washington State, mind you; in DC there's only swine) which we have reported on occasionally in order to fulfill our commitment to Reader Knowledge, but it has taken a far finer mind and keener insight to the workings of the world than this Humble Scribbler shall ever possess to ascertain the True Meaning of These Events. Yes, dear friends, thanks to The Anchoress for clearing the clouds from our vision, for, you see, all we needed to do was Blame Bush!
So if the message is too subtle for you - you’re supposed to sympathize with the men having what they claim is consensual sex with horses, and you should find beauty in all this…or you’re a bad person, or something. Also, you should consider that all of this happened because the engineer/victim was working for a company that might have been making weapons for George W. Bush. Got that? He probably wouldn’t have been screwing horses and advocating “mammal-to-mammal love” otherwise.
I am such a fool. The pieces were all there. Man works for defense contractor. Evil Rovelian mind waves from such association with AmeriKKKa obviously twist and pervert, wait, I can't say that, that's too judgemental...lalala...working for such a slave owning racisthomophoboids under Abu Ghraib-like conditions forced this poor man, in much the same manner as the mere existence of Gitmo forces innocent kindly shepherds to strap dynamite to their bodies and liberate their internal organs in a peaceful exchange of coexistence in crowded Israeli shops or Baghdad markets/schools...yes YES the same force that causes these things caused this poor victim to, in a perverse (oops, there's that word again) inversion of Hegelian natavistic desires to want to let the Horse play the Cowboy to and with him; in his own simple way this poor man was trying to right what is so horribly wrong with the world today. And we all know who the Cowboy is, now don't we?
Yes, it all makes sense now.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:12 AM | Comments (3)
May 22, 2007
If You Could Talk to the Animals, Just Imagine It!
Thinks of all the things you could discuss!
Supporting Vick
Skins Portis, Samuels ridicule dog fighting as crimeWashington Redskins players Clinton Portis and Chris Samuels defended Michael Vick on Monday by ridiculing the notion that dog fighting is considered a crime.
... "I don't know if he was fighting dogs or not," Portis said. "But it's his property; it's his dogs. If that's what he wants to do, do it."
Portis said dog fighting is a "prevalent" part of life.
Portis, a native of Laurel, Mississippi, added: "I know a lot of back roads that got a dog fight if you want to go see it. But they're not bothering those people because those people are not big names. I'm sure there's some police got some dogs that are fighting them, some judges got dogs and everything else."
"Politicians," added Samuels, who found it hard to keep from giggling while Portis was talking.
...Portis said that if Vick is charged and convicted, "Then I think he got cheated. ... You're putting him behind bars for no reason -- over a dog fight."
"Haven't you seen Animal Planet?" Samuels added with a giggle.
Make that 'think of all the things that could disgust'.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:12 PM | Comments (7)
Whenever I See The Term "Safety Activist"...
Then I know the hyperbole is about to fly fast and furiously
Blind spots are a deadly flaw for most SUVs 'There’s actually an epidemic going on right now,' safety activist warnsBy Herb Weisbaum
MSNBC contributor
Updated: 6:43 p.m. ET May 21, 2007How many kids can sit behind an SUV without being seen by the driver in the rearview mirrors? This is not a trick question. In fact, knowing the answer could save a child’s life.
According to the consumer group Kids and Cars, as many as 62 children could be in that blind zone and you’d never know it. And that’s a huge problem.
Well, you'd never know it if you never looked behind your car, but why quibble.
Your driveway is the last place you’d expect a child to get hit by a car. But Janette Fennell, president of Kids and Cars, says at least 100 children are killed there each year in backover accidents. Another 2,400 children are seriously injured this way each year.
Actually, my driveway is the first place, because when she was young that's where my daughter and her friends spent most of their time, drawing with chalk.
“The problem has gotten worse with the increased popularity of SUVs, pickup trucks and minivans as family vehicles,” says Mike Quincy, an automotive expert with Consumer Reports. “Some of the blind spots are incredible.”
Perhaps. But I would also say that the problem, if it has indeed gotten worse, has done so because people are rushing out of houses, jabbering on their cell phones, and because frankly a lot of people seem to be spending less time watching their kids.
Is federal action needed to cut the tragic toll?This may surprise you, but there is no federal standard for rear visibility. Last week, the “Kids Transportation Safety Act of 2007” (S.694) passed the Senate Commerce Committee and is now headed to the full Senate for a vote.
The bill, which covers a number of automotive safety issues, would require the U.S. Department of Transportation to create rules that would expand the required field of vision behind a vehicle.
The bill does not say how this would be accomplished; that would be worked out in the rulemaking process.
Hooray! Let's increase the size of the Government!
Look, it is a terrible tragedy when someone runs over their own child in their driveway, but do we really need a whole heap of Federal Legislation and Regulation? How about an ad campaign to remind folks to peek behind their car before they hop in it and zoom off?
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:52 AM | Comments (8)
I Would NOT Be a Lebanese Prime Minister
...for all the Dunkin' Donuts in China. What a thankless frickin' job.
Artillery and machine gun fire echoed around a crowded Palestinian refugee camp Tuesday as the Lebanese government ordered the army to finish off the Fatah Islam militants holed up inside the camp in the country’s north.The fighting — which resumed for a third straight day after a brief nighttime lull — reflected the government’s determination to pursue the Islamic militants who staged attacks on Lebanese troops on Sunday and Monday, killing 29 soldiers. Some 20 militants have also been killed, as well as an undetermined number of civilians.
...The camp is home to more than 31,000 people living in two- or three-story white buildings on densely packed narrow streets. It is one of more than 12 impoverished camps housing more than 215,000 refugees, out of a total of 400,000 Palestinians here. Lebanese authorities do not enter the camps, according to a nearly 40-year-old agreement with the Palestinians.
FIRST thing I'd do is change the wording on THAT piece of toilet paper. Nothing like giving the Palestinians carte blanche to turn your country into the state-'o-the-art-shithole they seem to live for and thrive in. Besides, who represents the Palestinians, anyway? Last I heard they were busy whacking each other in their own streets, so declare the thing null and void, and go clean out that snake pit. All those campers can head on back to Gaza if they don't like it.
...The leader of Fatah Islam, Palestinian Shaker al-Absi, has been linked to the former head of al-Qaida in Iraq and is accused in the 2002 assassination of a U.S. diplomat in Jordan. He moved into Nahr el-Bared last fall after being expelled from Syria, where he was in custody.Since then, he is believed to have recruited about 100 fighters, including militants from Saudi Arabia, Yemen and other Arab countries, and he has said he follows the ideology of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. Among the militants killed in the fighting Sunday was a man suspected in a plot to bomb trains in Germany last year, according to Lebanese security officials.
Beirut security officials accuse Syria of backing Fatah Islam to disrupt Lebanon, charges that are denied by Damascus, which controlled Lebanon until 2005 when its troops were forced to withdraw from the country following the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri.
Syria again, huh? Oh, that's easy! We've got just the girl to chat up Bashar and get this squared away. She WAS heading out on a fossil fuel burning no carbon offsets wing-ed transport for a global warming tour d' force, but I'm sure she could be persuaded to cover up/pucker up on more time.
The "road to Damascus is the road of peace".
Sweet Jesus, I tear up every time I read that.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 08:03 AM | Comments (8)
Sitting in a Tent for the Weekend
...does have it disadvantages. Like missing the heads-up on this great post from Lamplighter.
Go get 'em, Mike!
Posted by tree hugging sister at 07:58 AM
Rachel Lucas Is Back
I for one am very glad.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:01 AM
May 21, 2007
I Think Somebody
...Interviewed on the TODAY Show about the comments, Carter said, "They were maybe careless or misinterpreted." He said he “certainly was not talking personally about any president.”When pressed by NBC’s Meredith Vieira as to whether he was saying his remarks were careless or reckless, the former president said, “I think they were, yes, because they were interpreted as comparing this whole administration to all other administrations."
What a blithering idiot. And I'm still wondering why no one has brought up his magnificent brand of diplomacy when he goes off on these tears. I mean, like to his face at the second he opens his mouth...
"Indeed, Mr. Carter. You certainly handled your last batch of raving Islamic lunatics and attack rabbits with aplomb and decisiveness. And, of course, we all know that had no lasting impact on our current state of affairs... "
Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:22 AM | Comments (5)
The Daft Immigration Bill
I haven't had much of a chance to look through this beast (hell, neither have any of our esteemed Senators, either) but it looks like a complete mess. Look here if you want to actually wade through the gibberish, and Michelle Malkin has a variety of posts up too. This bill seems to be a complete surrender on every conceivable point.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:34 AM | Comments (7)
The Cutty Sark Burns
What a shame
A fire which severely damaged the famous 19th Century ship Cutty Sark is being treated as suspicious by police.The ship, which was undergoing a major restoration project, is kept in a dry dock at Greenwich in south-east London.
An area around the 138-year-old tea clipper had to be evacuated when the fire broke out in the early hours.
A Cutty Sark Trust spokesman said 50% of the ship was removed for restoration work. He said the trust was devastated but it could have been worse.
What kind of a sick moron would set fire to her?
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:21 AM | Comments (2)
May 17, 2007
I've Got a Update
...on the murder of Cpl. McKay by Bode Miller's cousin. There's a little more background on the friction between the two familes and a line that the murder has 'split the town'. Well, pinheads they may be there, the poll on the page is overwhelmingly on the side of Cpl. McKay.
It mentions that Bode Miller is 'royalty' in that town. Knowing the little I do of that bastion of modern maturity and responsibility's regard for anything other than himself and his own indulgence of the moment, I would urge Franconia to adopt Bosnian orphans or one of Queen Elizabeth's brood in their quest for 'royalty', vice a miserable example of homegrown corrupted gift and privilege.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 08:55 PM | Comments (8)
Al Gore's "Assault On Reason"
Between phone calls I've been working my way through the Time extract this morning, and while he's at his slick seductive best here there are still some parts where the real Al shows up. He spends several paragraphs sketching out an interesting and frankly compelling case for how television has changed American Democracy for the worse, and admits to having taken part in it, which is all well and good. He rightly decries how Congressmen have basically stopped being people who stand for a set of principles and have rather become simply people who are continually standing for election. He claims to want to re-empower the American People
In order to reclaim our birthright, we Americans must resolve to repair the systemic decay of the public forum. We must create new ways to engage in a genuine and not manipulative conversation about our future.
Sounds great, except that very quickly he makes it quite clear that what this means to him is "People Must Stop Disagreeing With Me." Am I over-reacting? Look at the very next line to the quote above:
We must stop tolerating the rejection and distortion of science.
Gosh, someone is taking the criticism of someone's little movie kind of personally, no? The very next line could well be applied to some of his crusades:
We must insist on an end to the cynical use of pseudo-studies known to be false for the purpose of intentionally clouding the public's ability to discern the truth.
So it is clear that his 'solution' for a people who are feeling disconnected from 'their' government is more restrictions on what they can say; to paraphrase Henry Ford (and in a sense George Orwell) "You have the freedom to say whatever you like as long as I approve it."
Thanks, but no, Al.
But what really shows that Al, like so many of his ilk, looks disdainfully down on We the Sheeple from his intellectual perch is this little paragraph:
Unfortunately, the legacy of the 20th century's ideologically driven bloodbaths has included a new cynicism about reason itself—because reason was so easily used by propagandists to disguise their impulse to power by cloaking it in clever and seductive intellectual formulations. When people don't have an opportunity to interact on equal terms and test the validity of what they're being "taught" in the light of their own experience and robust, shared dialogue, they naturally begin to resist the assumption that the experts know best.
My God. Put all your faith in the "experts". Do not question them.
And don't look behind the curtain, little girl.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:19 AM | Comments (19)
If Global Warming Were True
...there should be more Canadian strippers, not fewer, and they wouldn't need special visa programs to entice them in
Under the current law, the onus is on strip club owners to prove there is a shortage of Canadian dancers each time they apply to bring in a foreign exotic dancer.The new law will take the restriction one step further, and is based on the government's concern that foreign dancers are in some cases forced into the illegal sex trade.
Many strip clubs rely on dancers from Asia and Eastern Europe to fill their rosters.
Hell, so do most hockey teams.
Critics say a proposed Tory law that will stop immigrants from coming in on a stripper's visa solves a problem that largely no longer exists and may make things worse....In 2004, when Liberal Paul Martin was prime minister, there were 423 visas issued for foreign exotic dancers.
Since Conservative Stephen Harper took over in early 2006, 17 permits have been issued -- seven so far this year.
What horrible trait do Canadian men possess that only foreign women will dance for them?
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:55 AM | Comments (7)
May 16, 2007
Sounds Like Fightin' Words
...to me.
GOP threatens to shut down House over rules changeHouse Republicans Wednesday threatened to shut down House business by calling a series of procedural votes until the Democratic leadership assured them that rules governing key parliamentary procedures would go unchanged.
Republicans began their assault in the mid-afternoon after hearing that the Democratic leadership allegedly planned to change the germaneness rule, which would limit the ability of the minority to challenge provisions in a bill on the floor.
“This is an astonishing attempt by the majority leadership to duck accountability for tax-and-spend policies the American people do not want,” said House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio). “The majority leadership is gutting House rules that have been in place for 185 years so they can raise taxes and increase government spending without a vote. House Republicans will use every tool available to fight this abuse of power.”
Nancy Amin Dada can try to do anything she wants, since there seems to be no cherishing of tradition in this bunch anyway.
It should be interesting, to say the least.
After losing a string of embarrassing votes on the House floor because of procedural maneuvering, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has decided to change the current House Rules to completely shut down the floor to the minority.The Democratic Leadership is threatening to change the current House Rules regarding the Republican right to the Motion to Recommit or the test of germaneness on the motion to recommit. This would be the first change to the germaneness rule since 1822.
In protest, the House Republicans are going to call procedural motions every half hour.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 05:14 PM | Comments (6)
May 15, 2007
BREAKING NEWS
I can see it now...
God's office buzzer goes offGod: Yes, Peter?
St Peter: Jerry's just arrived, Heavenly Father. Shall I send him in?
God: Oh, you betcha, Peter.
God's hand hovers over the comm button
God: Oh, and Peter?
St. Peter: Yes, Lord?
God: Make sure you close the door behind him.
St. Peter: Oh, you betcha.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:40 PM | Comments (8)
God to the Chinese: "CLEAN Up Your Act..."
"...or ELSE!"
Pollution threatens national liquorThe water purity of a river tapped to make China's national liquor is being threatened by uncontrolled building of other drinks factories along its banks, the official Xinhua news agency reported Monday.
Kweichow Moutai, maker of the fiery Maotai drink served at Chinese state banquets and used to toast guests ranging from Margaret Thatcher to Kim Il-sung, draws water for the brew from the Chishui River in remote southwest Guizhou province.
But authorities are investigating how 39 illegal alcoholic drinks plants have sprung up by the river, polluting both the air and water, Xinhua said.
...The drink -- a 53 percent proof tipple made of mountain water, sorghum and grain -- is steeped in Communist lore. Though it traces its origins back two millennia, Maotai has been the drink of choice for generations of Communist Chinese leaders.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:54 PM | Comments (20)
May 14, 2007
Am I the Only One Who's Worried
...that this kid is now in mortal danger?
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:00 AM | Comments (9)
May 13, 2007
Old Mullah Dadullah
...bites it.
A U.S.-led coalition operation supported by NATO troops killed the Taliban's most prominent military commander, dealing the insurgency a "serious blow," a NATO statement said Sunday, confirming Afghan reports of Mullah Dadullah's death.
Rock on!
Raise one to the good guys.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:58 AM | Comments (3)
If This Doesn't Define "DIRTBALL"
...I'll be damned if I know what does.
A cousin of skiing star Bode Miller fatally shot and ran over a police officer, then was killed by a passer-by who grabbed the officer’s gun.Attorney General Kelly Ayotte said Liko Kenney shot Cpl. Bruce McKay four times, then ran over him with his car after a traffic stop Friday night.
Gregory Floyd, who was driving by with his son, grabbed McKay’s gun, then shot the 24-year-old Kenney when he refused to put his gun down, Ayotte said.
...Bode Miller, who had bailed his cousin out of jail once, was on his way home to Franconia, his father said. In 2005, Bode Miller was fined $250 for going 83 mph in a 40 mph zone in his hometown of Franconia. According to an article published on Sports Illustrated’s Web site, SI.com, Miller said he chose to contest the ticket “to try to get my fine reduced and to antagonize McKay.”
Bode Miller's dad is already making with the 'he brought that shit on himself' spin. Charming. So it's not just Bode Miller who's the lazy, arrogant piece of shit. It's his whole family.
I sure hope his ritzy racing sponsors read this all the way to the bottom. Imus pales in comparison.
UPDATE: HAH! Why am I not surprised who stepped in and took charge?
New Hampshire authorities said yesterday that they will not press charges against a former Marine who stepped into a deadly shooting and killed a 24-year-old high school dropout who had moments earlier fatally shot a police officer.The former Marine, Gregory W. Floyd, 49, was driving with his son along Route 116 in Franconia on Friday night when he saw Liko Kenney, 24, shoot Franconia Police Corporal Bruce McKay, 48, four times in the torso. After Kenney drove his Toyota Celica over McKay as the officer lay on the ground, Floyd grabbed the officer's service weapon and shot and killed Kenney. . . .
OO-RAH, Mr. Floyd and Bravo Zulu to you, sir!
We extend all our heartfelt sympathies to Officer McKay's family.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:50 AM | Comments (8)
May 11, 2007
What Are You Going to Do?
Bleed on me?
Some people are just incorrigible.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:58 PM | Comments (6)
A Friend
...has a friend in need. A desperate need.
I wonder if you guys would help me try to save a friend's life. A leading Bangladeshi reporter, Tasneem Khalil, has just been arrested by the military regime there for speaking out against human rights violations in the last few months since the military takeover in my country of birth. He was arrested after midnight Bangladeshi time (this afternoon our time in Eastern US) and taken away from his home. He is likely being tortured right now and may be in danger for his life. If you could simply highlight his plight on your blogs, I would be much indebted. If you could pass on the appeal to others I would be further indebted.
So far, Human Rights Watch has issued a press release demanding his release and CNN Wire (he writes for CNN from Bangladesh) has carried a short article.
More updates and contact info through the link. Mash is a good, good egg.
God, there's so MUCH of this dehumanizing, horrible stuff going on, it makes me ill.
And very angry.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:25 PM | Comments (3)
And I Wasn't Even Playing
Last year over the course of the four rounds of the Player's Championship 57 balls were hit in the water at No. 17. In yesterday's first round, thanks in large part to Andrea, 50 balls went swimming
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Camilo Villegas dropped his club, then dropped his head. His ball dropped a few seconds later - right into the murky lagoon surrounding the famed 17th hole at the TPC Sawgrass.Villegas hit one of 50 balls into the water surrounding the island green Thursday, helping break the single-round tournament record of 45 set in 2000.
...About a third of the field found water at No. 17 during the first round of The Players Championship and made the short, somewhat embarrassing walk to the drop area for a third shot.
Davis Love III, Ben Curtis, Kent Jones and Trevor Immelman couldn't even hit the green from there, needing a third tee shot to land on the 90-by-85 foot putting surface. They finished with quadruple-bogey 7s.
The 128-yard hole played tougher than any other Thursday, mostly because wind gusts reached 39 mph and swirled in different directions.
There were 12 birdies, 70 pars, 26 bogeys, 23 double bogeys and 12 ``others'' at No. 17. The daunting hole left many golfers shaking their head, questioning their club selection and feeling either frustration or relief as they walked to the 18th tee.
Hee-hee. I agree with Tiger that it's gimmicky, but that doesn't make it any less fun for us hackers to watch the pros splash it.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:10 AM
May 10, 2007
The BBC Is...Kind To Bush
I think this fellow has it exactly right
The endearing thing about George Bush is that his body language and the spoken variety both betray his true emotions at every turn....The most memorable gaffe had been committed earlier that day, when the president almost implied that the Queen was 200 years older than her current age by thanking her for attending America's bicentennial celebrations in 1776.
He corrected himself mid-date, then did what he often does in sticky circumstances. He winked, smiled and lunged for recovery.
The Queen was heard to mutter: "Wrong year!"
The president responded with disarming honesty. The Queen had given him "a look that only a mother could give a child" he told his guests and the world, under a glorious Washington May sky.
Call me churlish, but I thought this was a charming escape from Royal Protocol Armageddon.
To my knowledge no reigning Queen of England had ever been winked at.
That's exactly how I thought of this event. I wonder how long before this correspondent is Lileksed?
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:04 AM | Comments (24)
May 09, 2007
Let's Just Call Him "Obama"
"...von Schtupp".
"Here I stand, the god of Dems' desire
Set pols on fire,
I have this power.
Morning noon and night, it's tappy dancing,
Quick question ans'ring,
A thoughtful qlower.
Stage door nutroots constantly surround me,
They always hound me,
With one request.
Who can satisfy their spiteful web biz?
I'm not a math whiz!
I need some rest!I'm tired,
Sick and tired of love,
I've had my fill of Rove,
From below and above,
Tired,
Tired of being admired,
Too tired to try to inspire...
Let's face it,
I'm tired!"
-©2007 TPI
Mel Brooks is one prescient mofo.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:39 PM | Comments (4)
May 08, 2007
Chortle Of The Day
Look who isn't a Paris Hilton fan
Chloe Sevigny says she’s nothing like Paris Hilton — and bristles at a comparison.A journalist recently tried to compliment the “Big Love” star — telling Sevigny she is sexier than the jail-bound heiress.
“Well, I don’t find trashy sexy, so I’ll try to take that as a compliment,” she said, reports WENN.
Yes, you are one classy classy lady, Chloe.
As anyone who googles your name and then clicks "images" will discover.
But don't do it at work, like I did...
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:21 PM | Comments (16)
Aging Infrastructure?
We don't see no steenkin' "aging infrastructure"!
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:30 PM | Comments (6)
Well, When It Comes to Warm Weather Fiestas
...Bangla-cola style, don't NObody party like...
...the lab.
There now! That put the 'baby!'...
...after the 'oh'.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 05:12 PM | Comments (5)
::sigh:: Bring It On
...BASTARDI.
I know how to prep for one. Or two or three....
Or four.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 02:21 PM | Comments (12)
Duka Duka, Mohammed Jihad
I'm shocked, shocked, at the composition of these folks here in Jersey
Federal investigators last night arrested six Islamic radicals who were planning a heavily armed attack against soldiers at Fort Dix as part of a jihad against America, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.In a statement released this morning that confirmed an earlier report on nj.com, The Star-Ledger's Web site, the U.S. Attorney's Office said the men planned to "kill as many soldiers as possible."
...Some of the would-be attackers have been living illegally in the United States, while others are legal immigrants, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Four are ethnic Albanians, one was born in Turkey, and a sixth was born in Jordan, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Officials identified the men as Dritan Duka, Eljvir Duka, Shain Duka, Serdar Tatar, Mohamad Shnewer and Agron Abdullahu.
Sherpa sherpa, bak allah.
Keep it tuned to Hot Air for the latest updates.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 11:53 AM | Comments (2)
WHAT?!
UnFRICKIN' believable, the limp Richarded corporate toadies dhimmis. Nobody's ever made time for me to dance naked with a bleeding headless chicken either and maybe they should have.
Let me rephrase. I'll make DAMN sure they DO, the next time I hold a payin' job.
HotAir lets Minnesota Somali cabdrivers know where the real pushovers are.
UPDATE: After getting my panties in a wad (Upon getting dressed after returning inside from uninhibited ritual dancing, of course. The bird carcass could be tough to explain...), I have noticed said inflammatory article is dated March 2005. Hmmmm. I wonder what's happened in the meantime. Hold that outrage for just a sec.
UPDATE Redux: Okay, stay outraged. So far I have a REALLY interesting article about how different corporations handled the problem. Dell we know about. WHIRLPOOL, on the other hand, decided to 'just say NO'. Good for them.
...Big employers in the Nashville area have responded in drastically different ways to their Muslim employees' requests to slip away from their workstations for about five minutes to pray.For example, Whirlpool Corp. chose last year to take a similar dispute before a federal jury, which agreed with the company that the employees' sunset-prayer request created an undue hardship on the La Vergne plant's production schedule.
I have all Whirlpool appliances, anyway. However, another of my favorite slimy corporate targets went along with caving to Muslim demands...
...In 2001, Tyson Corp. opened a processing plant in Goodlettsville, where it packages meats for the region's grocery stores.The plant's human resources director said the plant has two Muslim prayer areas. The company also posts the daily prayer times and accommodates the workers by rotating them off the production lines every evening when the sun goes down.
''Yes, it's a challenge for some of our managers because they have to move some folks around,'' said Tyson's Gary Denton. But the company is determined to make it work.
''The way we look at it, we're a company of diverse people.''
...giving me all the more reason not to buy their crappy products. And, as ever, these things are facilitated by intellectual sounding, 'I feel your pain' gobbeldeegook and claptrap.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:35 AM | Comments (9)
Bottoms Up!
So I hear Ken and John met up for drinks last night.
Sounds like they had a good time knocking back a few.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:05 AM | Comments (7)
May 07, 2007
Oh, Well Said
...indeed!
..."The reason she [Royal] did not have the female vote is not because there was no solidarity but because she was not up to it," said Tita Zeitoun, founder of the Action de Femme group which fights to get more women into top business positions.
"Just because you're a feminist, you don't vote for a women who does not have the ability. We're talking about the presidential election here ... It's too serious to link this to a phenomenon of femininity or feminism," she said.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:16 PM | Comments (1)
BREAKING NEWS
MSNBC is reporting:
Man killed as backpack explodes in Las Vegas hotel parking garage
No story link yet.
UPDATE: Got it. Oh, man.
1 dead, 1 hurt in Las Vegas parking lot blast
Explosion occurs in parking garage behind Luxor hotel-casinoA backpack exploded in a parking garage attached to a Las Vegas hotel early Monday, killing a man who had picked it up and injuring another person, authorities said.
The man had removed the backpack from atop his car when it exploded shortly after 4 a.m. on the second floor of a parking behind the Luxor hotel-casino, said Officer Bill Cassell, a police spokesman.
The second person was taken to an area hospital.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:34 AM | Comments (10)
They Should Be Shot
That's what one does with looters
GREENSBURG, Kansas (AP) -- Four soldiers and a reserve police officer were arrested Sunday on suspicion of looting cigarettes and alcohol from a store in this tornado-ravaged town, state officials said.
Bastards.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:41 AM | Comments (4)
Stunning Photos Of A Town Blown Away
Many more here via Tim Blair.
When you look at this destruction you can't but wonder how "only" 9 people died; you would expect the toll to be many times that.
Please visit the Salvation Army link on the side bar if you're able.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:12 AM | Comments (4)
May 04, 2007
I Got Dibs on the T-Shirt Line
Neighbor takes in needy woman, talks marriage, then kills her
When Lisa Salisbury was evicted from a nearby trailer park, Tony Eugene Phillips invited her to live in his house with him, his mother and his two children."I was raised to help people out when I could," said Phillips, a construction worker who lived on Bush Street near Ensley.
He and Salisbury eventually became lovers. Then he killed her.
Nasty business, locally. First rule of thumb? If you're a cavalier, murderous BAStard, DON'T take the stand in your own defense. Especially against a lady prosecutor. I've met her. I don't think she has a sense of irony, less mind humor.
...Because he wanted her body to sink quickly, Phillips said he tried to cut off her head with a keyhole saw often used to cut Sheetrock.That effort failed, but her body sank eventually, and he went home to bed.
...Sounding almost cavalier, he explained why he washed the saw before going to work after he killed Salisbury:
"You don't want to get blood on Sheetrock."
Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:49 PM | Comments (6)
I'm Confused ~ Whose Side
...is al-Reuter's rooting for?
Last campaign day for French presidential candidatesFrance's presidential candidates prepared for a final day of campaigning ahead of Sunday's vote with all opinion polls pointing to a victory for right-winger Nicolas Sarkozy over Socialist Segolene Royal.
Alrighty, then. After one gets through the intricacies of French campaign laws, they describe one candidate thusly:
...Sarkozy, a right-wing former interior minister and the favorite of financial markets, has hammered young hoodlums, illegal immigrants and enthused supporters with his attacks on the left wing protesters of May 1968.Hated and feared as a dangerous authoritarian by many on the left, he has nonetheless been consistently rated the more "presidential" of the two candidates by most voters.
Ms. Royal, on the other hand?
...has struggled to shed an image of fuzzy inconsistency...
She's merely 'fuzzy'. Reuters has it down to Darth Vader...
...vs. a Teletubbie.
The choice is clear, for those who didn't know.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:51 AM | Comments (1)
May 03, 2007
Well This Explains Why...
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - A gang stripped a South African man before supergluing him to an exercise bicycle while they ransacked his house, according to a report Thursday.SAPA news agency said the attackers, dressed in suits, hijacked a man in his 50s and forced him at gunpoint to take them to his home in Johannesburg.
“The victim was then forced to strip, after which he was superglued to the seat of an exercise bicycle, his hands were superglued, as were his feet and then his mouth was superglued shut,” SAPA quoted Mark Stokoe, a spokesman for emergency services Netcare 911, as saying.
Ouch.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 12:47 PM | Comments (7)
Joke Of The Day
Although I'm not sure if the bigger joke is McGreevey or the Episcopal Church
Former Gov. James E. McGreevey has started the process to become a priest in his newly adopted Episcopal faith and hopes to begin a three-year seminary program in the fall.McGreevey, who often described himself as a devout Catholic while in public office, was officially received into the Episcopal religion on Sunday, at St. Bartholomew's Church in Manhattan, and is now part of the church's "discernment" phase that usually precedes any seminary work, said the Rev. Kevin Bean, vicar at St. Bartholomew.
While more 'fundamental' christian faiths may occasionally talk about 'Hell Spawn' our friends the Episcopalians have attracted folks like McGreevey who are better described as "Hell Spong"...
(Thanks to LawHawk for the McGreevey update)
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:35 AM
May 02, 2007
I Thought 'May Day'
...was a peculiar choice, too.
...I'll bet you know about the illegal alien amnesty marches, but I don't know of a single news organization, electronic or print that pointed out that May 1 is America's Law Day. The cable news networks gave almost wall-to-wall coverage to the illegal alien demonstrations, but they apparently couldn't find any American celebrating Law Day.And no one seems to want to take note that we are first a nation of laws, and that without those laws and their enforcement, the foundation of our great republic turns to sand. What a spectacle on Law Day for demonstrators to demand amnesty for those who broke the law to enter our country, many of whom also broke the law with fraudulent documents.
And what a mess when the president of the United States and the U.S. Congress are pandering to a group of people who are not citizens and refuse to demand enforcement of our immigration laws, our criminal laws, and fails to secure our borders and ports.
I couldn't help but wonder as I watched monitors bringing images of the marches and demonstrations from all across the country, who should really be protesting on May Day. What about the millions of legal residents who followed the long, drawn-out process to secure a visa to enter the United States lawfully? Maybe they should be protesting. What about the seven-figure backlog at the Citizenship and Immigration Services agency of people who are following the rules. Should they demonstrate?
What about all of our fellow Americans who are being marginalized by the massive importation of illegal, low-cost and mostly uneducated labor into this country? Perhaps those citizens should take to the streets. And what about the more than 250 million Americans who make up our middle class and those who aspire to it whose wages have stagnated and who are paying for the social, medical and economic costs of illegal immigration? That's a big march.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 06:06 PM | Comments (13)
Bwaawck, Bwaawck, Bwaawck
At long last! A finger lickin' good decision and a judge who's not a fat head dumb cluck.
Trans Fat Lawsuit Against KFC Tossed Out...In an occasionally sarcastic opinion, U.S. District Judge James Robertson said Dr. Arthur Hoyte could not show that he was harmed by KFC's use of the artery-clogging fats.
That was enough to doom the lawsuit, but Robertson also noted other flaws in the case.
"While it might be appropriate for this court to find, as a matter of law, that the consumption of fat -- including trans fat -- is indeed within the reasonable expectations of the consumers of fried chicken and french fries prepared in fast food kitchens, it is not necessary for me to reach that question," Robertson wrote.
And in response to Hoyte's claim that customers have a growing understanding of the dangers of trans fats, Robertson wrote: "If consumers are increasingly aware of trans fat, where do they expect to find it if not in fast food restaurants?"
I'm dying here.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:15 PM | Comments (1)
Yo, Ho !
The counter argument sounds spurious to me.
Imus won't go quietly...But Imus has hired one of the nation's premiere First Amendment attorneys, and the two sides are gearing up for a legal showdown that could turn on how language in his contract that encouraged the radio host to be irreverent and engage in character attacks is interpreted, according to one person who has read the contract.
The language, according to this source, was part of a five-year contract that went into effect in 2006 and that paid Imus close to $10 million a year. It stipulates that Imus be given a warning before being fired for doing what he made a career out of - making off-color jokes. The source described it as a "dog has one- bite clause." A lawsuit could be filed within a month, this person predicted.
...But in Imus' case, his free speech rights are tempered by the fact that he said what he said on the public airwaves - which are subject to Federal Communications Commission regulations about what is appropriate content.
"[Garbus is] a First Amendment lawyer who's argued many important cases," said Washington, D.C.-based attorney Lynne Bernabei, who has often represented plaintiffs in employment disputes. "I'm sure they're trying to make this a First Amendment case. But the airwaves are heavily regulated by the FCC.
"In my mind there is a big difference between someone who is under contract and is under FCC regulations and someone who speaks out in town hall. This is someone in a heavily regulated industry and who used the public airwaves."
"Used public airwaves"? The same public airways inhabited by "fuck the police", "bitches", "niggers" and "hos" ad nauseum, but set to "music"?
However revolting Imus is personally, your average hour of hip-hop/alternative/etc. programming has him beat to pieces for socially unacceptable airwaves anti-matter.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:53 PM | Comments (2)
"It's Like Gnats Swarming Around the Warhorse"
Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:39 PM | Comments (3)
Outrageously Obscene!
Oh Mr. President, you immoral beast
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been accused of indecency after he publicly embraced and kissed on the hand an elderly woman who used to be his schoolteacher.At a ceremony on Tuesday ahead of Iranian teachers' day, Mr Ahmadinejad was photographed and filmed by state media stooping to kiss the woman's hand and then clasping her arms in an embrace.
The ultra-conservative Hezbollah newspaper, which is not related to the group in Lebanon of the same name, criticised him on the front page.
"The Muslim Iranian people have no recollection of such acts contrary to sharia law during Islamic rule [since the 1979 revolution]," it said.
"This type of indecency progressively has grave consequences, like violating religious and sacred values."
The elderly woman, who was not named, wore thick gloves along with a headscarf and long black coat, meaning that Mr Ahmadinejad avoided any skin contact.
Imagine if Bill Clinton was President there...
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:05 AM | Comments (9)
May 01, 2007
Feinstein Financing
Good thing for her she Chairs the Senate Rule Committee
Anyone who knows much about real power in Congress knows that almost every member of the House and Senate lusts after a seat on the Appropriations Committee and hopes one day to achieve the status of Cardinal. The Cardinals, of course, are the folks who chair the various Appropriations Committee subcommittees and literally control the billions of dollars that pass through their hands.California Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D) chairs the Senate Rules Committee, but she’s also a Cardinal. She is currently chairwoman of the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies subcommittee, but until last year was for six years the top Democrat on the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies (or “Milcon”) sub-committee, where she may have directed more than $1 billion to companies controlled by her husband.
If the inferences finally coming out about what she did while on Milcon prove true, she may be on the way to morphing from a respected senior Democrat into another poster child for congressional corruption.
The problems stem from her subcommittee activities from 2001 to late 2005, when she quit. During that period the public record suggests she knowingly took part in decisions that eventually put millions of dollars into her husband’s pocket — the classic conflict of interest that exploited her position and power to channel money to her husband’s companies.
These people make me sick.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 03:42 PM | Comments (3)
Hmmmm
I'm sure we won't hear much about this...
Congressman loses taped-call ruling
Appeals court rules McDermott wrong to leak illegally recorded callRep. Jim McDermott had no right to disclose the contents of an illegally taped telephone call involving House Republican leaders a decade ago, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.
In a 5-4 opinion, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that McDermott, a Washington Democrat, should not have given reporters access to the taped telephone call.
McDermott’s offense was especially egregious since he was a senior member of the House ethics committee, the panel ruled.
...The ruling upholds a judgment in favor of House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, who was among several GOP leaders heard on the December 1996 call, which involved ethics allegations against then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga.
McDermott, a Washington state Democrat who was serving on the ethics panel at the time, leaked the tape to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The New York Times, which published stories on the case in January 1997.
...or, if we do, he becomes a freedom fighter martyr type.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:32 PM | Comments (1)
The Facts of Life inTwo Words
...dude.
Macaulay.
Culkin.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 02:53 PM | Comments (2)
Hey, You Sick Gazer! No Pekin
...at the duck's package, okay?
Patricia Brennan, a behavioral ecologist, examining the phallus of a Pekin duck.
- Christopher Capozziello for The New York Times
Oh, and thank you, Jules.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 02:43 PM | Comments (5)
Let's Not Make Excuses For Him
He was evil, end of story. I don't care if his mommy never bought him a puppy or kids laughed at him in High School
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) - Long before he boiled over, Virginia Tech gunman Cho Seung-Hui was picked on, pushed around and laughed at over his shyness and the strange way he talked when he was a schoolboy in the Washington suburbs, former classmates say.
Every kid gets laughed at at some point in school. Tough. It's life.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:22 AM | Comments (7)
Is Anybody Paying Attention
...to Turkey? Maybe they should be.
Turkey's financial markets remained nervous on Tuesday ahead of a decision by the country's highest court that will determine the future of a controversial presidential appointment.Stocks and the lira were slightly weaker, although there was no repeat of the sharp sell-off seen on Monday. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister, and Ali Babacan, the chief minister responsible for the economy, both appealed for calm.
Mr Babacan, in an interview on Turkish television on Tuesday, acknowledged that political risk factors had risen for investors in the Turkish markets after a clash at the weekend between the military and the government over the credentials of Abdullah Gul, the foreign minister, as Turkey's next president.
Several newspapers reported on Tuesday that the constitutional court had been advised by its appointed legal expert to reject an opposition claim that a first round of voting in parliament on Mr Gul was invalid. If the court rejects the claim, it would put the matter back in the political arena.
The constitutional court is expected to rule on the matter later on Tuesday or on Wednesday.
Mr Erdogan said in a televised address to the nation on Monday night that any threat to Turkey's economic and political stability must be rejected.
"Unity, togetherness, solidarity – these are the things we need," Mr Erdogan said.
His address was recorded on Saturday, hours after the military issued what is seen as an ultimatum to the Islamist-rooted government to drop Abdullah Gul, foreign minister, as its presidential candidate.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 07:55 AM | Comments (3)
I'm Surprised All They Caught
...was the bear.
Bacon grease, honey bun help nab pesky bearEnding a 200-pound bear’s nightly ramblings through a subdivision required just a trap and some tempting bait: a honey bun and bacon grease.
Damn! I'm starving.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 07:42 AM | Comments (6)
Um, So What?
I'm not sure why the AP feels this is some scandalous issue
OAKLAND, Calif. - The driver who crashed a tanker loaded with gasoline and brought down a heavily trafficked highway overpass had a history of criminal activity, including drug and burglary arrests, yet was given a commercial trucker's license.James Mosqueda, 51, served two years and eight months in prison following a 1996 arrest for heroin possession in Sacramento County, court records show. His criminal rap sheet stretching back to 1981 includes arrests for burglary, felony drug charges and possession of stolen property, according to the California Department of Corrections and the Sacramento County District Attorney's office.
Yet Mosqueda was able to get his commercial truck driver's license because there is nothing in the state's vehicle code that prevents a convicted felon who has served his sentence from working as a truck driver — so long as he has a clear driving record, California Highway Patrol Chief Steve Vaughn said.
And that's as it should be, it seems to me. He served his time and unless the state wants to ensure that he have no option but return to crime you have to give the guy a chance to earn a living. If the theory is that criminals who serve their time are to be re-integrated into society then most professions need to be open to them.
Otherwise be prepared for a lot more burglary.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:16 AM | Comments (4)