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July 31, 2007
A Little Doob'll Do Ya
A single joint of marijuana obstructs the flow of air as much as smoking up to five tobacco cigarettes, but long-term pot use does not increase the risk of developing emphysema, new research suggests....However, the researchers found that the progressive chronic lung disease emphysema, often associated with cigarette smoking, was uncommon among marijuana smokers. Only 1.3 percent of the long-term pot smokers were found to have signs of the disease compared to 16.3 percent of those who combined marijuana and tobacco, and 18.9 percent of those who only smoked tobacco.
But every bit of good news has it's downside...
...Last week, another study published in The Lancet medical journal suggested that using marijuana may increase the likelihood of becoming psychotic, with even infrequent use potentially raising the overall small risk by up to 40 percent.
I dunno ~ I think they may have had latent psychotic tendencies to begin with, because every doper I've ever known was sleepy-time mellow and too stoned to worry about Karl Rove. And who ever heard of a Kiwi killing spree?
...The three-year Thorax study involved 339 people in New Zealand, where pot smoking is fairly common.
That explains why the visuals for LOTR were so intense. Take a little tolkien the pipe...
...and come up with a boss a$$ fantasy.
But there was one last, little info nugget that brought a chortle on...
...Jeff Garrett, president of the Australia-New Zealand Thoracic Society, who was not involved in the study...
RIGHT.....
Dude, you are so busted.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:12 PM | Comments (2)
Your Moment of Zen
Remember this recent post? God forgive me and restore my sight, there's actually a picture of the crime scene. And I've posted it.
I'd say it's NSFW, but it's so far beyond that, that there's no point.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:08 AM | Comments (6)
July 30, 2007
A Little Taste Of Brazil In Long Branch
So after daughter got done with her basketball camp on Saturday we went to one of our favorite places for lunch
The West End Bakery and Luncheonette in Long Branch. I swear to you that walking in there is like eating in a nice place in the interior of Brazil; the food is simple but wonderful. Beans, rice, sausages and grilled meat. Yum Yum Yum. And then we went next door and bought a case of Guarana and some Dendê oil.
life is good.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:33 PM | Comments (2)
If Sid Viscious Had A Kitchen...
I imagine it would look much like mine, with Extra Virgin olive oil, Sea Salt, aged balsamic vinegar,
...and razor blades.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:06 PM | Comments (8)
Getting Off With Gorebal Warmning
It's good to Al.
Al Gore III pleaded guilty Monday to possessing marijuana and other drugs, but a judge told the former Veep's son he can withdraw that plea and have the charges dropped if he successfully completes a drug diversion program. What a bargain!
What an understatement. What a gelatinous, worthless a$$hat.
Either Al.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 02:11 PM | Comments (7)
Walking the Walk
...combined with talking the talk. Amazing concept, n'est pas? As the Blogfaddah noted, Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institute had a joint NYT Op-Ed piece this morning, with a pretty astounding headline:
A War We Just Might Win
But major dad and I already knew his opinions had taken a remarkable turn because of his appearance this weekend on CNN's This Week at War. My immediate reaction was, "Has CNN lost their collective minds broadcasting something this positive?"
...FOREMAN: So what's the real situation on the ground? Arwa Damon is in our Baghdad bureau. CNN military analyst Brigadier David Grange, U.S. Army retired joins us from Chicago and here in Washington Michael O'Hanlon, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, just back from Iraq. Michael, let me start with you. The basic question, is the surge working?MICHAEL O'HANLON, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: In military terms, yes. Two big reasons, one, we are doing very well against al Qaeda in Iraq. I don't want to jump into this whole debate about whether they're taking orders from Osama bin Laden or not, but they have an extreme ideology and they have gone so far that the Sunni-Arab tribes are now fighting against them. I walked through the streets of Ramadi a couple of days ago without body armor. That city is turned around, 95 percent reduction of violence because the Sunni sheikhs and tribes are with us now against al Qaeda. That's going great. The sectarian violence much less well resolved so far, but at least we've put a bit of a cap or a lid on it with our greater troop strength. So that's the more long-term problem.
But the fight against al Qaeda is going brilliantly at the moment.
Wow and I mean WOW. We guessed CNN had not completely given up their agenda, as the actual CNN Baghdad correspondent (ARWA DAMON) was trying mightily to throw cold water on everything O'Hanlon said.
...FOREMAN: Arwa, is there a sense in Baghdad on the ground that that's exactly what's happening?ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tom, actually not when you speak to the Iraqi people. In fact, most of those that I've spoken to will not really say that they feel that the situation is getting better. Remember, they're not measuring their own security in terms of numbers of U.S. casualties or numbers of bodies that were found unidentified throughout the entire capital. They are measuring their sense of whether or not things are getting better by the level of comfort with which they can leave their homes. For most Iraqis, they are still just as petrified of falling victim of sectarian violence or any other sort of attack that could take place in the capital today as they were before the surge began.
Her negativity was surprisingly countered repeatedly by the strength of O'Hanlon's statements (bolstered, of course, by the fact that he has been on the ground there) and the show's military consultant's pointing out of the obvious ~ that you can't change the fundamental public viewpoint until you prove you mean what you're about. Trust takes time.
...FOREMAN: General Grange, militarily why is this working now? Is it a different approach or is it just the sheer numbers of the surge?BRIG. GEN. DAVID GRANGE (RET), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, I think it's something to do with numbers, but it's really the new strategy. And it's funny you hear the debates going on politically about we need a new strategy. We need a new strategy. In fact, there is a new strategy. It was just really implemented full force mid June. So it has to have a little bit of time to work, and I think the new strategy of clear, hold and build - in other words, once you go in the area and you do what you have to do against any adversaries, you start to give people some confidence in the security forces whether it be U.S. or Iraqi and then you actually show you're going to improve the lifestyle of the area, the quality of life. You start to get in locales, these different locales, a sense of achievement and improvement. I think that's what's happening.
Tangible improvements already and all the 'surge' elements have only been in place and implemented in full for a little under two months.
On the whole, it was remarkable media exercise, even buried on the weekend as it was. I'm glad O'Hanlon puts his name to it on paper.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:48 PM | Comments (2)
July 29, 2007
I'd Have to Disagree With the Basic Premise
The number of Atlantic hurricanes in an average season has doubled in the last century due in part to warmer seas and changing wind patterns caused by global warming, according to a study released on Sunday....From 1900 to 1930, Atlantic hurricane seasons saw six storms on average, with four hurricanes and two tropical storms. From 1930 to 1940, the annual average rose to ten, including five hurricanes.
What jumps out at you with these dates? Yes, you're right up there with my thinking. In 1900 they didn't even have frickin' electric street lights ("Gas lighting for streets gave way to low pressure sodium and high pressure mercury lighting in the 1930's..."), telephones were an obscene luxury ("The first regular telephone exchange was established in New Haven in 1878. Early telephones were leased in pairs to subscribers. The subscriber was required to put up his own line to connect with another.") and the vast majority of the country had yet to be connected to a power grid , less mind being able to count every low pressure system that developed in the vast Atlantic or even the more exotic reaches of the Gulf of Mexico. No clue. Just ask the folks who watched as the Great Galveston Hurricane of 1900 rolled ashore ~ to the tune of over 8,000 people dead ~ devoid of the usual warning signals accepted for impending heavy weather of the time.
... The usual signs which herald the approach of hurricanes were not present in this case. The brick-dust sky was not in evidence to the smallest degree. This feature, which has been distinctly observed in other storms that have occurred in this section, was carefully watched for, both on the evening of the 7th and the morning of the 8th. There were cirrus clouds moving from the southeast during the forenoon of the 7th, but by noon only alto-stratus from the northeast were observed. About the middle of the afternoon the clouds were divided between cirrus, alto-stratus, and cumulus, moving from the northeast. A heavy swell from the southeast made its appearance in the Gulf of Mexico during the afternoon of the 7th. The swell continued during the night without diminishing, and the tide rose to an unusual height when it is considered that the wind was from the north and northwest. About 5 a.m. of the 8th Mr. J. L. Cline, Observer, called me and stated that the tide was well up in the low parts of the city, and that we might be able to telegraph important information to Washington.
'Might be able to telegraph' information and expecting what answer? ("Ya'll be careful out there"?) Washington certainly couldn't give them particulars or prognostications in return. They could only wait for a damage report. That's 1900. Let's take a couple decades' leap to 1926. The communications and weather forecasting have improved little.
...Therefore, in those days before satellite pictures and reconnaissance aircraft, the hurricane remained somewhat of a mystery, with only a few ship reports to tell of its existence.In those days, storm warnings were centralized in Washington, DC, and disseminated to field offices like Miami. However, as late as the morning of September 17, less than 24 hours before the category 4 storm's effects would begin in South Florida, no warnings had been issued. At noon, the Miami Weather Bureau Office was authorized to post storm warnings (one step below hurricane, or winds of 48 to 55 knots). It was only as the barometer began a precipitous fall, around 11 PM the night of September 17, that Gray hoisted hurricane warnings.
If they had no clue in Miami what was about to happen, Pensacola was even worse off...
...The 1926 Miami Hurricane made a second landfall in Florida on September 20 near Pensacola before moving on in a weakened state to coastal Mississippi and Louisiana on September 21.
...and might could have used a little warning.
PENSACOLA DAMAGE PUT AT $3,000,000; Naval Air Station Near There Also Hard Hit -- Eight Docks in City Destroyed.
September 23, 1926, Thursday
PENSACOLA, Fla., Sept. 22 (By Wireless to The Associated Press, New Orleans). -- Destruction of eight docks and numerous small craft, the beaching or damaging of twenty-five fishing smacks and the crippling of public utilities constituted the toll taken by the tropical hurricane which struck Pensacola on Monday.
And damn near a couple hundred dead between us and it's route out of town through Alabama/Mississippi. But there's no accurate body count, because there's no accurate census of our Godforsaken Red-neck of the woods at that time. (Ooooh! Dovetails NICELY into my thesis...) By virtue of NOAA's own website, if you didn't have a ship free itself from disaster and report a storm, no one had Clue One what was swirling around out there or on it's way in. No barometers, no cell phone, no radar (doppler or otherwise), satellite views (either visual or water vapor) ~ no satellites, period. (Werner von Braun was just breaking out his chemistry set as a 12 year old.) Sorry, research types ~ it was all a big mystery right up to the middle of the century. And, even then, folks were still washing out to sea. We simply didn't have the tools, and, when we finally got them, the interpretive skill set had to evolve. But, if you point out the obvious, you get the head tilt and dreaded 'S-Word'..
...Skeptics say hurricane data from the early decades of the 20th century are not reliable because cyclones likely formed and died in mid-ocean, where no one knew they existed.
'Skeptic' as soon as you point out the obvious problem with their data set. 'Skeptic' as soon as you question what they so confidently assert. 'Skeptic' as soon as you want to know how they know what is basically unknowable.
...More reliable data became available in 1944 when researchers had airplane observations, and from 1970 when satellites came into use.But Holland and Webster said the improved data from the last half of the century cannot be solely responsible for the increase.
"We are led to the confident conclusion that the recent upsurge in the tropical cyclone frequency is due in part to greenhouse warming, and this is most likely the dominant effect," the authors wrote.
Well, I could be confident in asserting ANYTHING if I, as confidently, discount common sense and the complete lack of data bolstering my confident conclusion from ANY source which might upset my confident conclusioning. If I assert wholeheartedly that I KNOW that the period from 1900-1930 had X amount of storms AND NO MORE ~ regardless of scientific observations confirming or discounting my assertion, because of the technological limits of the time ~ it must be SO. And if I then accept I am correct in the unproven basis of my assertion, all that I assert thereafter MUST BE SO.
So there. (I'm blonde ~ it works for me.) (Well, it would if, even as a blonde, I could live with myself so ethically debased/deluded.)
This isn't tree rings, or layers in an ice core, or geologic stratigraphy, or carbon dating. They're MAKING. IT. UP.
The MSNBC homepage says:
"Study: Rise in storms tied to warming"
...but the story headline adds: "U.S. officials call study citing doubling of storms since 1905 ‘sloppy science’". Talk about misleading and oh, PUHleez ~ call it what it is!
"MAKING. SH*T. UP".
(And since when do maker-uppers get their name in the news as if they were experts? Whatever happened to peer review before a study made the big time news?)
God, these a$$holes are insufferable.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:16 PM | Comments (17)
July 28, 2007
How Do You Know the Guy's Effective?
When the footdragging status quos and murdering thug lobby want him gone.
Tempers flare between Iraqi, U.S. officials
Iraq prime minister reportedly wants Petraeus replaced for arming SunnisA key aide says Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s relations with Gen. David Petraeus are so poor the Iraqi leader may ask Washington to withdraw the overall U.S. commander from his Baghdad post.
...Sami al-Askari, a key aide to al-Maliki and a member of the prime minister’s Dawa Party, said the policy of incorporating one-time Sunni insurgents into the security forces shows Petraeus has a “real bias and it bothers the Shiites,” whose communities have been targeted by Sunnis in Iraq’s sectarian conflict.
“It is possible that we may demand his removal,” al-Askari said.
A lawmaker from the al-Sadr blo, who wouldn’t allow use of his name because of the political sensitivity of the matter, said al-Maliki once told Petraeus:
“I can’t deal with you anymore. I will ask for someone else to replace you.”
I hope Bush has made it clear this guy's bulletproof.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 08:19 PM | Comments (5)
July 27, 2007
Nice Try, Prince Freddy
Like we haven't heard this from Bingley a THOUSAND times.
Zsa Zsa Hubby Found Naked in Rolls — Claims Hot Girls Carjacked Him
All that money and he can't come up with something original.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 04:41 PM | Comments (6)
So, IDK, My BFF Kcruella Picks Up My Beloved Nephew Darkstar at Newark
...and all I get is this LOUSY picture...
This is wrong on so many levels.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:23 AM | Comments (9)
July 26, 2007
The 'Old Dominion'
...and 'pay-as-you-go'. Pedal to the metal in your pony car? Expect to pony up. And up.
Virginia's new $3,550 speeding ticket
Starting July 1, an array of traffic offenses, from expired licenses to speeding, come with a "civil remedial fee" attached. That means a motorist convicted of reckless driving (75 mph in a 55 zone would qualify) faces not only a fine of up to $2,500 and a year in jail, but a non-negotiable $350-a-year tax for three years. The law forbids judges from waiving or reducing the fee.Many fees dwarf the fines. A driver who disobeys an officer's order to pull into a weigh station would be fined $35 and required to pay a $61 court processing fee. But the civil remedial fee would be $900 over three years.
Drunken driving? A fee of $1,000 a year for three years, plus fines and court costs. No insurance? That's $300 a year for three years, plus fines.
It doesn't stop there. Anyone unlucky enough to have 8 points or more on his license (reckless driving is good for 6 by itself) would pay an additional $100, plus $75 for any points over 8, up to $700 a year.
...In fact, Virginia added a fee rather than increase fines because it wanted the money to improve its roads, and revenue from fines must go to public schools**. The fees are expected to raise $200 million a year...
...One twist that has Virginia drivers enraged is that the state can't charge fees on out-of-state drivers or revoke their licenses. For now, the fees apply only to residents.
WHEW!
And I'm really shocked New Jersey didn't think of this first.
** But! BUT! The children! Legislators just screwed the CHILDREN!
Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:32 PM | Comments (4)
Goodbye, Dear Jake
Jake the Rescue Dog has died
NEW YORK - A black Labrador that burrowed through smoking debris after Sept. 11 and flooded rubble after Hurricane Katrina in search of survivors has died of cancer.Owner Mary Flood had 12-year-old Jake put to sleep Wednesday after a last stroll through the fields and a dip in the creek near their home in Oakley, Utah. Flood said Jake had been in pain, shaking with a 105-degree fever as he lay on the lawn.
Thanks, you schweetie.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 12:22 PM | Comments (1)
July 25, 2007
Oh Barkeep...
Make my caipirinha a double, please.
yummy-yummy
Good night folks.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:21 PM | Comments (6)
Those Cheeky Brits!
She seems rather non-plussed by it all.
I guess it happens a lot.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:59 PM | Comments (6)
I Really LIKE This Guy!!
Pope Benedict XVI said the debate raging in some countries — particularly the United States and his native Germany — between creationism and evolution was an “absurdity,” saying that evolution can coexist with faith.The pontiff, speaking as he was concluding his holiday in northern Italy, also said that while there is much scientific proof to support evolution, the theory could not exclude a role by God.
“They are presented as alternatives that exclude each other,” the pope said. “This clash is an absurdity because on one hand there is much scientific proof in favor of evolution, which appears as a reality that we must see and which enriches our understanding of life and being as such.”
He said evolution did not answer all the questions: “Above all it does not answer the great philosophical question, ‘Where does everything come from?’”
Benedict also said
the human race must listen to “the voice of the Earth”or risk destroying its very existence.
That has to be one of the most beautiful sentences I've ever read. And he has perfectly articulated what I have always believed.
The miracle is not how and what we've become ~ it's how that first pulse of life on earth started.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 05:13 PM | Comments (3)
If Only We'd Known Conquest
...could be so easy.
Giant badgers terrorize Iraqi town
"It ate a cow." "It's the size of a dog, with a monkey's head."
As always, the Truthers have the explanation...
...Some even allege that British forces have planted the beast there to spread panic.
...and this time they're right. TPI© has obtained transcripts from a secret audiotape of the British High Command skulking secretly in a dark closet, planning this latest outRAGEous indignity to foist upon innocent Iraqi citizens.
...Leftenant General Sir BEDEVERE:
"Oh. Um, l-- look, i-- i-- if we built this large wooden badger--"
Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:27 PM | Comments (4)
Who Needs Science Fiction
When we've got these weird beasties in our oceans.
Man, there are some nasty looking critters there.
(thanks to the Blogfaddah for the link)
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:31 AM | Comments (14)
July 24, 2007
Sounds Like It's Gonna Be a Big Tent and Open Doors
...at the Obama Whitehouse.
...In Monday's debate from Charleston, S.C., Obama was asked by a questioner via YouTube if he would be willing to meet — without precondition — in the first year of his presidency with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea."I would," he responded.
Kim Jong Il gonna be ronery no more. The other day, La Raza was assured of unlimited entry to the land of milk and honey for any Latino who wants to walk on over. And cavortin' with Castro's gonna go over real big at a Babalu backyard barbeque. CONGA!!
Can't wait 'til primary time!
Posted by tree hugging sister at 05:27 PM | Comments (2)
Islam's Concept of 'Honor'
...just gets more 'HORRIFIC'.
A Kurdish woman was brutally raped, stamped on and strangled by members of her family and their friends in an "honor killing" carried out at her London home because she had fallen in love with the wrong man.Banaz Mahmod, 20, was subjected to the 2-1/2 hour ordeal before she was garroted with a bootlace. Her body was stuffed into a suitcase and taken about 100 miles to Birmingham where it was buried in the back garden of a house.
How convenient to have your religion excuse every manner of inhuman perversion. Sweet Mary, Mother of God/Baby Jesus/God the Father (none of whom, incidentally, require this sort of thing)...is there no end to this?
Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:31 PM | Comments (4)
A Shocking Discovery?
Three-million-year old mammal remains found in GreeceI think not. We pretty much already knew...
...it was at least that old.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:49 AM
July 23, 2007
Can We Kiss Gorgeous George
...buh-bye?
Galloway Suspended From UK ParliamentThe British Parliament's lower house on Monday suspended a lawmaker accused of concealing his financial dealings with Saddam Hussein's government.
George Galloway, known for his fierce opposition to Britain's role in the invasion of Iraq, was suspended for 18 days, following an investigation which found that a charity he set up was partly funded by the Iraqi dictator.
The decision, which came without a vote, followed a recommendation from a parliamentary disciplinary panel that investigated the charity.
Galloway accused his opponents of hypocrisy.
"Being lectured by the current House of Commons on the question of the funding of political campaigns is like being accused of having bad taste by Donald Trump, like being accused of slouching by the Hunchback of Notre Dame," Galloway said.
Hunchback and bad manners? Pot calling kettle, pot calling kettle!
Posted by tree hugging sister at 05:35 PM | Comments (3)
Well, Damn! Ain't the Truth
...a bitch?
A judge dismissed former U.S. Rep. Gary Condit's defamation lawsuit against an Arizona newspaper that said the Democrat had lied to investigators about his relationship with a Washington intern who was later found dead.The Sonoran News, a weekly that describes itself as "The Conservative Voice of Arizona," had included the statement in a 2005 article about Condit's brother.
...Judge Kristin Hoffman ruled that Condit was a public figure, had failed to prove that the statement was false, and had failed to show that the newspaper published it with either knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard as to its truth.
An affidavit provided by Condit did not deny that he lied to investigators, and he balked at answering questions on whether he told investigators that he had a "romantic and-or sexual relationship with Chandra Levy," Hoffman wrote in her ruling, filed Thursday.
I'm a little foggy on the whole concept of suing someone for saying you'd lied, when you're not willing to say you didn't. One should really read that stuff aloud in the mirror before filing papers. Finding out how ridiculous you sound ahead of time saves both time and money.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:37 AM | Comments (2)
July 22, 2007
Best Wishes, RebeccaH!
As Tim and Ken have already said, best wishes for a full and speedy recovery!
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 11:08 PM | Comments (8)
July 21, 2007
Well Damn
I've spent all evening cooking a yummy Lamb Curry Soup and when I connected the camera to load the pictures it decided that the card was "not initialized" and now I seem to have lost all of the photos. Damn damn damn.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:55 PM | Comments (5)
July 20, 2007
I'm So Ronery Again
Well, it's true. My wonderful Bride and daughter are out of town again this weekend, leaving me to fend for myself in this cruel and heartless world. How's a mild-mannered and kind-hearted fellow supposed to withstand the trials and tribulations that this theocratical chimpyteric world is sure to fling my way with such disdain?
Well, this will help
That's 2.2 pounds of luscious rib steak ( or "a kilo" for those of you born after 1970 or who secretly wish to be Canadian) just dying to have its excess fat trimmed off and be slathered in Cajun seasoning
Now we let that come up to room temperature whilst we attend to the taters
and pop those suckers on to the side burner
Now, I'm going to put the rest of the photos below the fold, and I can not suggest any more strongly that my readers of Gentle and Kind disposition do not under any circumstances continue on, for what they will find below is so shocking, so disheartening that it may call into question their very will to go on. Even now I'm not quite sure how it happened, but I am honor bound to relay it to You, dear Loyal reader, regardless of what the consequences may be after you have fully ascertained the full depth and breadth of the horror I am about to reveal; indeed, the pitiless nature of this betrayal may in fact cause you to shed copious tears as you scream incoherent yet oddly moving rantings at your computer screen.
Today, for the first time in some 5 years,
I bought French wine.
Who can say what causes such madness, such betrayal of all that one holds dear. Perhaps I, like so many other impressionable 43 year olds, was caught up in the feelings of amitié for Sarkozy. Perhaps I'm simply insane. Whatever the shameful roots of such madness, none the less there it is, open on my counter, poured into my glass.
And tasting damned yummy. The 2003 Guigal Côtes du Rhône for $12 is an outstanding value, a very smooth wine with nice cherry and fruit flavors.
Anyhow, now that I've shared my dirty horrid secret with you it's time to put the rib on the grill
My thought was I'd get the grill as hot as I could, which sadly for me is only around 600º, sear both sides quickly and then stand it up rib down for a slower cooking that would let the outer layer of fat tastily enjuicify the meat.
So while that was happening it's time to check out the vineyard, which sadly is not doing well.
Roughly 50% of the vines have died, and I'm desperately trying to get the surviving ones to flesh out the trellis as my Bride has made a few subtle comments about the look of the 'clothesline' in the back yard
Next Spring I'll replant the vines that have died, assuming these survive. Ah, the life of a Gentleman Farmer.
No wonder Mr. Jefferson died in debt.
meanwhile, back on the grill I've shifted the rib from the hot side to the cooler side for some slower cooking
Bonjour!
The steak, much like me after a few more drinks, has sadly fallen over
but it is looking quite tasty and at the desired degree of doneness.
as are the spuds
So dump the spuds into a colander and into the still-hot pot add 1/4 stick of butter and 4 heaping tablespoons each of parmesan cheese and feta cheese. Dump the steamy hot spuds back on top to help things melt and add a quarter cup or so of half and half (if you drink sufficient quantities of red wine then you can gleefully spit into the face of cholesterol) and the secret ingredient
ah, whole nutmeg! How shall I sing the praises of thee? seriously, throw away all the ground nutmeg you possess and buy whole nutmeg and scrape/grate it yourself fresh as needed
the flavor is indescribably delicious, and then you put the little nutmegian nugget back in the jar for another day
and hopefully you haven't shaved too much fingertip into the dish
But now it's time to eat. ah! Look at the size of this beast!
I feel like Fred Flintstone!
After polishing off the brontosaurus rib I plopped the potatoes in the juices for dessert
Washed down with the rest of the wine and I am one happy camper.
a very full and drunk camper, but a happy one.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:44 PM | Comments (12)
July 19, 2007
Like I'm Gonna Believe Anything
...a guy with a name like THAT says.
Shark bites diver in the fjordOdd Ingebretsen told Aftenposten.no on Wednesday that he was diving off Sjøstrand in Asker when he saw what he thought was a large, dead fish on the sea bottom.
"When I touched it, I realized quickly that it neither was dead nor an ordinary fish," he said.
This is what bit diver Odd Ingebretsen.
~ PHOTO: KJETIL PALMQUIST
Shark in the fjord my akterspeilene.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:16 PM | Comments (8)
July 18, 2007
Well...Sorry About That, I Guess
Why wasn't anyone bemoaning the broken families left on the Mexican side of the border when Juan scuttled over the fence initially?
An estimated 1.6 million children and spouses have been separated from family members forced to leave the country under toughened 1996 immigration laws, a human rights group said Wednesday.The separations have taken a toll on families who have sold homes, lost jobs, lost businesses or been thrown into financial turmoil, Human Rights Watch said in a new report.
The widespread impact on American families has been truly devastating, said Alison Parker, a senior researcher with Human Rights Watch.
But that's exactly the problem. If they were AMERICAN (or even just 'LEGAL'), no one would be sending anyone anywhere.
UPDATE: Let me expand on this whole concept. Yesterday on MSNBC I saw an African American D.C. alderman or ward boss, not sure which. He was furious about a $200,000 day laborer center that had been set up to keep the illegals in one convenient place, vice scattered on this corner and that. Now, we lived across the street from one of these popular corners in Santa Ana, CA a MILLION years ago, so this problem is not new. And yes, these people are just looking for a day's wages. Granted. That sounds innocuous enough, but, until you've lived with it, most folks have no idea what really goes on, day after day. They ~ anywhere from fifteen to fifty on any given day ~ would start to wander over to the corner around sun-up, bringing their radios and maybe some tools. (The radios would be ON.) As they whiled away the hours, nature would invariably call and ~ since you didn't want to leave the area for fear of missing a cruising landscaper/construction/restaurant looking for help ~ you pissed across the street on the nearest wall. Which happened to be mine. As the day wears on and hopes of employment slim, you pool your pesos and send a buddy down to the corner bodega for whatever cervesa can be bought cheaply and in quantity. That in turn generates more urination, coupled with trash flying everywhere, the occasional violent Latin temper explosion, bored mischief making/cat calls and/or out-and-out larceny attempts. They all wander home around 4 p.m. to rest up for the redux on the morrow. I watched them racially stereotype themselves, rain or shine. Five. Days. A. Week.
For twelve years.
So here's this poor, earnest D.C. type wondering WHY ~ when there's homeless CITIZENS sleeping on the street and off-the-charts unemployment amongst the other ills of life in the District ~ WHY they're spending $200,000 of the TAXpayers' hard earned cash to make it easier for employers to hire illegals. (He might wanna double check the $200K. This article says: "Mr. Thomas has secured $500,000 in budget funding to build the center, which he hopes will connect day laborers and local residents to jobs....But it is still not clear how or whether D.C. officials will check the immigration status of workers at the proposed site.") I have to agree with him. And, if I were him, I'd do some digging in the figures they're throwing around since, in Montgomery County, Maryland, the center's cost isn't all they're forking out.
...Annually, the county spends about $200,000 on this facility and doles out about $2.3 million to CASA of Maryland, a nonprofit immigrant advocacy group.
Hot DAMN! I could sure stand to be on that dole! Wonder if taxpayers know about that budget item.
UPDATE REDUX: Trust me, they were never this well mannered.
Home Intruder Found Sitting On ToiletA startling sight greeted a Fredericksburg woman when she returned home from picking up a newspaper early Thursday, police said. A man she didn't know was sitting on her toilet. The man had apparently entered her home in the 300 block of Germania Street by cutting a screen and unlocking the door, police said.
...When she got home, she noticed that the bathroom door was closed. She opened the door and the man was sitting there.
Bledsoe said the woman asked the man a couple of questions, including "How long are you going to be?" but didn't understand the man's response because it was in Spanish.
She then told the man she was calling to police and he got up and left. The woman noticed the cut screen after the man was gone.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:38 PM | Comments (2)
Congress Is On a Roll
...eerily similar to Jack and Jill after they'd made the hill with the pork barrel pail.
...But the marks for Congress, mired in gridlock over a series of partisan political battles after Democrats took power in the 2006 elections, continued to drop.While 83 percent said Congress was doing a fair or poor job, just 14 percent rated it excellent or good. Last October, in its final days, the Republican-led Congress earned ratings of excellent or good from 23 percent of voters.
"There is a growing sense that people voted for change in 2006 and they aren't getting it," Zogby said.
King Harry fell down and broke his crown, and Nance came tumbling after.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:36 AM | Comments (1)
38 Years Ago Tomorrow
Blubbo went driving.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 11:27 AM | Comments (5)
The World's Most Convenient Busy Airport
Which is also why it's probably the most dangerous
Imagine LaGuardia sitting on a little hill in the center of Manhattan and that's Congonhas and these poor people
A passenger plane has crashed and burst into flames at Brazil's busiest airport, in the heart of Sao Paulo, killing up to 200 people.Rescue crews said none of the 176 people on board the Airbus A320 could have survived, while more people were killed on the ground.
The TAM airliner skidded off the runway as it landed in wet weather, shot over a busy road and hit a fuel depot.
I've flown in and out of there many times and it always amazes me. You feel like you are literally dodging the 30-40 story buildings as you come in to land.
Update: The best way to describe Congonhas is an aircraft carrier, that's what landing there is like.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:44 AM
July 17, 2007
Let Me Not Add to Bingley's Miserable Mood
...by sliding in a little Birthday Shout Out.
So I won't.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:15 PM | Comments (4)
What I'm Drinking Tonight
Man, I know it's only Tuesday but it sure feels like at least Thursday.
and I really really need this
the dirtiest martini you can imagine, chock full of blue cheese stuffed olives
Come here you wild rascal you...
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:10 PM
Sweden
...isn't just for blondes, anymore and it's starting to worry them. Good. Get a handle on it now.
Sweden has welcomed immigrants with open arms for decades but now it is grappling with how to integrate them into society, especially in the southern town of Malmoe amid a massive influx of refugees.Once a thriving industrial town with full employment, Malmoe has seen many of its plants shut down since the 1990s. That, combined with a never-ending stream of foreigners arriving, has led to rising juvenile delinquency and rampant unemployment.
Of the town's 280,000 inhabitants, a third are foreigners and 60,000 are Muslims.
...Compared to slums and projects in France or the US, Rosengaard looks like a nice community. But it stands out in a Swedish context.
On a recent visit, veiled women walk behind the men, casting quick glances at their husbands before refusing to speak to AFP's reporter. At the local mall, more Arabic is heard than Swedish and 28 of the 30 shopkeepers are immigrants.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:42 AM | Comments (1)
July 16, 2007
"I'm Too Sexy For My Car Bus"
"...too sexy for the bus, too sexy..."I get that all the time, so I understand completely the burden 'babe-ness' is.
German bus driver threatened to throw a 20-year-old sales clerk off his bus in the southern town of Lindau because he said she was too sexy, a newspaper reported Monday."Suddenly he stopped the bus," the woman named Debora C. told Bild newspaper. "He opened the door and shouted at me 'Your cleavage is distracting me every time I look into my mirror and I can't concentrate on the traffic. If you don't sit somewhere else, I'm going to have to throw you off the bus.'"
Posted by tree hugging sister at 05:19 PM | Comments (12)
Ebola
...will be crushed to hear this.
IHOP to buy Applebee's for $2.1 billion
The last time Kcruella and I were in a IHOP, it cost an arm, a leg and three quarts of blood and ~ both service and meal ~ sucked to high heaven.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:59 AM | Comments (22)
Swillers Know Where We Stand on the Whole Teen Driving Thing
Lord knows we've taken our share of heat for it. But dang if parents and their late children don't keep lining up to be examples for our next futile rant.
Text messages were sent and received on a 17-year-old driver's cell phone moments before the sport utility vehicle slammed head-on into a truck, killing her and four other recent high school graduates, police said....Goodman's inexperience at the wheel; evidence she was driving above the speed limit at night on a winding, two-lane highway; and a succession of calls and text messages on her phone were cited Friday by Sheriff Phil Povero as possible factors in the June 28 crash in western New York.
...Routine tests ruled out alcohol as a factor in the 10 p.m. crash, and police don't suspect drug use was involved. Goodman had only a junior driver's license, making it illegal for her to be driving after 9 p.m. without supervision or to be carrying so many young passengers.
Hello. Sorry to rain on the grief parade YET again, but her parents are as culpable in this tragedy (and a good argument could be made that the other girls' parents are as well) as that young thing they gave the keys to.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:52 AM | Comments (3)
July 13, 2007
And the Beat Insanity Goes On
Court of Appeals takes up Corrie lawsuitThe U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit will hear arguments Monday whether there is merit to a lawsuit by the family of Rachel Corrie, the 23-year-old activist from Olympia killed by a bulldozer in the Gaza Strip in 2003.
The defendant in the case is Caterpillar, which made the D9 bulldozer involved in her death.
...Cindy and Craig Corrie, the woman's parents, allege Caterpillar violated human rights and committed war crimes by knowingly selling its equipment to the Israeli army, which used the bulldozers to raze Palestinian homes and endanger people. Rachel Corrie was run over by a bulldozer driven by an Israeli soldier as she tried to block a home from demolition.
"We are essentially arguing that you cannot knowingly provide substantial assistance — the means to commit war crimes, which is essentially what Caterpillar has done here," said Maria LaHood, with the Center for Constitutional Rights, on the Corries' legal team.
I can see how their daughter was
Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:11 AM | Comments (10)
July 12, 2007
If the Courts Won't Play Dhimmi Ball
...then it's fatwa time!
Islamic Society of Copenhagen can’t accept the secular laws of Denmark, and therefore they plan to seek support in the Middle East for a fatwa against Jyllands-Posten, if the newspaper is acquitted in a pending civic case, which a number of Muslim organizations has initiated against the paper, and if the European Human Rights Court also makes a decision that goes against the legal demands of the Muslims.
This is tomorrows top story in Jyllands-Posten.
...”No Muslim will ever forget that the prophet was insulted,” says Kasem Ahmad.
I know a judge who lost a pair of pants who won't give up, either. For God's sake, give it a rest already.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:45 PM | Comments (2)
Run Away!!
House votes to pull troops out after Iraq report
White House report cites success on 8 goals, failure on 8, mixed effort on 2Iraq has achieved only spotty military and political progress toward a democratic society, the Bush administration conceded Thursday, an unenthusiastic assessment followed quickly by a House of Representatives vote to withdraw U.S. troops by the spring.
The measure passed 223-201 despite a veto threat from President Bush, who has ruled out any change in war policy before September.
...While Bush announced last winter he was ordering thousands of additional troops to the war zone, the full complement has only arrived in recent weeks. "The full surge in this respect has only just begun," the report said.
And they only just got there?! And have acomplished almost half of the goals already? Let's just send a loud and clear to those troops that all that effort makes them losers and those 'losers' of ours are gonna have a bullseye on their backs thanks to these weasels. How much harder is their job going to be when the world knows that Congress wants us to start buggering out in four months ~ FOUR months!
Lord. I'm completely revolted.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 06:28 PM | Comments (3)
BREAKING NEWS
MSNBC is reporting:
President Musharraf vows to crush Islamic extremists in Pakistan
No link yet. You go, guy! Maybe Zawahiri shoulda held off on the "Kill the Pakistani!!" YouTube for a week or so.
Now they've just pissed him off.
UPDATE: Got it.
President Gen. Pervez Musharraf vowed on Thursday to crush Islamic extremists in every corner of Pakistan, after the captured chief cleric of the Red Mosque led funeral prayers for his slain brother.The army crackdown on the radical mosque has raised Musharraf's standing among moderates and foreign backers worried about rising extremism in Pakistan.
But WHAT kind of whacko move was this?
...Officials released Ghazi’s body directly to his relatives, who carried it to his ancestral village in Punjab province for burial on Thursday.Captured cleric leads brother's funeral
Police escorted Aziz, who was caught during the eight-day siege while trying to flee disguised as a woman, to Basti Abdullah so that he could lead the prayers at his brother’s funeral at a seminary set up by his father.
I'm not too sure about that. I like our "you shoot up the government, you don't get out for the funeral" way of handling men in girls' clothing here. EsPECIALLY when you know he's just going to run his mouth ~ WHY give him the platform?
These people are strange.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:59 AM | Comments (5)
Just Another Case of a State Representative
...who sucks.
State Rep. Bob Allen was arrested Wednesday afternoon at a local park after offering to perform a sex act on an undercover officer in exchange for $20, police said....Titusville police were at Veteran's Memorial Park on East Broad Street on a burglary detail when they noticed an unshaven man acting suspicious, going in and out of the restroom three times, said Lt. Todd Hutchinson.
An undercover officer decided to go into one of the bathroom stalls, Hutchinson said. Moments later, Allen knocked on the stall door and offered to perform oral sex on the officer for $20, according to the police spokesman.
...Allen told a television reporter that what happened was a "misunderstanding."
Well, that blows.
UPDATE: Holeee CRAP! He's a McCAIN aide!
A day after four of Sen. John McCain’s top political strategists stepped down, the Arizona Republican’s presidential campaign was dealt another setback when the co-chairman of his Florida campaign was arrested Wednesday for allegedly offering an undercover police officer money for a sex act, Titusville police said....Allen told CNN affiliate WFTV the incident was “a very big misunderstanding.”
“This is a very gross mistake, a very big mistake,” he said, adding that this is what the judicial system is for.
I'm with him on the 'gross' and it might also explain why he needed the money... I don't think McCain-Feingold covers donation solicitations like this.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:21 AM | Comments (11)
July 11, 2007
A Wednesday American Factoid
...Americans typically use twice as much toilet paper as Europeans -- as much as an arm's length each pull, Thorne says. The company decided the best length is about 20 inches -- or precisely five standard toilet paper squares, though the machine can also be adjusted to churn out 16 inches or 24 inches, depending on the demand.
The machine they're referring to is Kimberly-Clark's latest mechanical wonder ~ the TP dispenser ~ which, I am relieved to say, at 5 sheets per whiz (of the mechanical roll, not the act necessitating the sheets) obviously wasn't developed with Cheryl Crowe.
World traveler major dad informs me that such a marvel was already in use in Singapore in 1979, in the form of a little Singaporean responsible for doling out the appropriate amount per pooper. Which was, in this case, very Crowish ~ one sheet. Being Marines, it resulted in major dad's buddy (6' 4" corn-fed redhead) snatching the whole roll from the terrified 'headboy' to use as he saw fit ("You're sh*ttin' me! I can't wipe my NOSE with one sheet!!") and then tossing it over the stall wall to major dad in a text book perfect example of military camaraderie. The unused portion of the roll was gallantly returned to the toilet police, minus more than the alloted two sheets.
(My experience in the Orient has been the exact opposite. Whatever toilet paper I had access to came from what I could fit in my tennies before heading out to the ville, so I am green with envy.)
Posted by tree hugging sister at 05:02 PM | Comments (15)
Pour Mon Frere Bingley et Mademoiselle Suzette
My inestimable local food columnist has renewed my faith in her choices yet again. I give you :
Chicken Spaghetti
1 (2-pound) package spaghetti
1 teas margarine
12 boneless chicken breasts
Accent seasoning, to taste
Garlic powder, to taste
Onion powder, to taste
Lawry's seasoned salt, to taste
(Getting mighty tasty here, aren't we...? ~ ths)
Dash of black pepper
1 cup milk
1 (8-ounce) box Velveeta cheese
1/2 (10 3/4 ounce) can Cream of Chicken soup
1/2 (10 3/4 ounce) can Cream of Mushroom soup
1/2 (10 3/4 ounce) can Cream of Celery soup
1 (16-ounce) bag frozen green peas
1 (8-ounce) bag shredded mild Cheddar cheese
Preheat oven to 350º
Boil spaghetti according to package directions, adding margarine. Drain.
Season chicken with Accent, garlic powder, onion powder, seasoned salt and pepper.
Sauté chicken in skillet until done. Cut into bite-size pieces.
Coat two 9 inch by 11 inch or one 15 inch by 18 inch casserole dish with non-stick spray. In a saucepan, combine milk and Velveeta cheese. Cook over medium heat until cheese is melted.
Place chicken in dish. Layer spaghetti noodles, melted cheese and (1/4 can each) soups. Top with spaghetti. Layer half bag of peas, melted cheese, remaining (1/4 can) soups, peas and spaghetti. Pour remaing cheese over top.
Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees, or until peas are done.
Sprinkle cheddar cheese over entire top and place back in oven for 5 minutes until cheese is melted.
Serve with Granny's yeast rolls* and a tasty dessert.
*ths note: You'll have to come up with Granny's yeast rolls on your own ~ typing this was ghastly enough.
Bone appateet.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 04:41 PM | Comments (3)
Happy, HAPPY Birthday
...to a dear friend of the Swilling: Chief Running Tab
WHOOPS! Fat fingers...heh.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:39 PM | Comments (1)
This Story Involves "Missionary" And "MILF" But Still Manages
To go tragically wrong
MANILA, Philippines - Philippine troops recovered the bodies of 14 marines, some of them beheaded, after clashing with Muslim insurgents while searching for a kidnapped Italian priest, a marine spokesman said Wednesday....About 50 troops went to Basilan island to check on reports of sightings of the Rev. Giancarlo Bossi, a 57-year-old missionary from Milan who was kidnapped by gunmen on June 10.
The marines were heading back to camp when they were attacked by about 300 suspected Abu Sayyaf guerrillas, Caculitan said.
But Mohagher Iqbal, chief negotiator for the Muslim separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which is engaged in peace talks with the government, said his forces fought back after marines attacked an MILF stronghold.
He denied his forces were responsible for the beheadings, saying he would investigate. Four MILF members were killed in the fighting while seven others were wounded, he added.
Is there nothing these guys don't ruin?
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:58 AM | Comments (3)
Shock: Pope Declares "Only Catholics Are Catholic"
I mean, sorry but yawn. Oh sure, rags like the Grauniad would love to see some christian infighting
Protestant churches yesterday reacted with dismay to a new declaration approved by Pope Benedict XVI insisting they were mere "ecclesial communities" and their ministers effectively phonies with no right to give communion.Coming just four days after the reinstatement of the Latin mass, yesterday's document left no doubt about the Pope's eagerness to back traditional Roman Catholic practices and attitudes, even at the expense of causing offence.
but really, isn't he just restating what he's supposed to state? I think he fears, rightly, that all these talks of "ecumenical community" need to take place in an atmosphere of clearly delineated belief, and when he sees how squishy the Anglicans and many Protestant denominations have gotten he, rightly, in my view, says "we ain't going there." The proof of this is right there in the Grauniad's reporting:
"even at the expense of causing offence"
You can not be the leader of a religion, or frankly an adherent either, if your primary concern is someone else's widdle feewings; religion is your relationship to God, not man.
I mean, as a Presbyterian I don't overly value what the Pope says (we settled that point four hundred years ago) but unless you are unafraid to firmly say "This is what I believe" ...then you don't really believe it, do you?
And in a world that is increasingly becoming dominated by a crowd that fervently believes in something and is very willing to act decisively, indeed is required by that faith to act so, being "squishy" very quickly becomes "squashed."
Hot Air as always has an interesting comment thread going.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:03 AM | Comments (17)
July 10, 2007
Doug Marlette
He did some great stuff.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 07:16 PM
Drink Wahaha Water
And the joke's on you
BEIJING (AP) -- China's food safety monitor promised Tuesday to investigate a report that more than half of the water coolers in Beijing use counterfeit branded water.The water is either tap water or purified water from small suppliers put into the water jugs and sealed with bogus quality standard marks, the Beijing Times newspaper said in a lengthy report Monday.
...Suppliers keep track of how carefully their customers inspect the deliveries, and give jugs with fake or no seals to the inattentive, the report said.
...A spokesman for Wahaha water, one of the victims of the counterfeiters cited by the Beijing Times, refused to give his name or comment, saying he had not read the report, and added he was leaving the office for the day.
China's starting to lose its sense of humor about all these food scandals.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 01:54 PM | Comments (3)
Those Are Some Lucky Damn Guys, I Tell Ya
I'm sure they'll be thanking the new president from the bottom of their hearts.
Clinton presents plan to end Iraq war
Democratic presidential front-runner Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) Tuesday unveiled her plan to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq within 60 days of taking office....Clinton promised to initiate phased redeployment as soon as she takes office. However, as part of her plan, specialized forces would remain to fight terrorists.
With the absence of U.S. troops, the senator hopes to stabilize the country by focusing on aid efforts that put money in the hands of the Iraqi people.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:39 PM | Comments (4)
Don't Ski For Me, Argentina
Oh what a circus, Oh what a show
A cold snap sent thermometers plunging in South America in recent days, killing three people in Chile and Argentina while Buenos Aires saw snow on Monday for the first time in 89 years.
Anyone know if Gorezilla flew down to BA for some R&R after Live Flop Earth?
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:25 AM | Comments (2)
Shocker: Iraqi Government Misses Goals
My, really big news this is
WASHINGTON (AP) - A progress report on Iraq will conclude that the U.S.-backed government in Baghdad has not met any of its targets for political, economic and other reform, speeding up the Bush administration's reckoning on what to do next, a U.S. official said Monday.
I think this report shows, in fact, that Iraq has a level of democratic government that looks remarkably similar to our own
Pelosi lays blame for missed goals on Senate(06-30) 04:00 PDT Washington -- The problem for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi isn't just President Bush. It's the Senate.
Pelosi sounded more apologetic than celebratory Friday when she announced with her Senate counterpart, Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democrats' list of accomplishments six months after they seized control of Capitol Hill and promised "a new direction" in Washington.
"I'm not happy with Congress, either," Pelosi, of San Francisco, conceded.
She pinned the blame on "the obstructionism of the Republicans in the United States Senate."
Immigration has joined Iraq, stem cell research, Medicare drug pricing, the 9/11 Commission's recommendations and other promises in the dustbin of the current Congress. Heading into a July Fourth recess after a bruising failure on immigration, Congress has a public approval rating in the mid-20s, lower than Bush's and no better than Republicans' ratings on the eve of their catastrophic election defeat in November, when the GOP lost control of the Senate and the House.
So little has been achieved that Reid threatened to hold the Senate in session during the August recess, the congressional equivalent of torture.
And it seems to me we've had a bit more practice at this democracy stuff then the Iraqis have.
And people aren't blowing up cars in markets around DC, either.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:52 AM | Comments (2)
So the D.C. Madam Posts Her Rolodex
...and I'm thinkin' 'YAWN', until...!!!!
...NUMBER OF JOHN / JOHN'S NUMBERWTF!!! The wanna-be goobernatorial floozy has some 'splainin' to do...
#257 / 1-317-RLa-Vitr
#258 / 1-872-867-5309
#259 / 1-800-BIN-GLEY
Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:21 AM | Comments (4)
July 09, 2007
This Is Stupid
There. I said it. And it's late and this kind of weasel speak makes my head spin. For the record, more American service members died during the Clinton years than have left us so far during Bush's tenure. Well, okay. Some gooberhead wants to argue about more "combat" deaths during Bush's term, but dang Einstein ~ it's a WAR. As opposed to Bubba's Somalia/Haiti/Bosnia/ad nauseum adventures in Commander-in-Chiefness. Honestly...aren't people expected to die in combat any more? Else, why would we call it 'combat'? And, if we weren't in a 'MAJOR conflict', why were all those folks dying during Clinton's 8 years? Maybe Hillary can answer, huh? And if all these combat deaths still don't add up to what was, in actuality, a peacetime armed forces during Bubba I & II, WHY were there so many dead service members? (Come to think of it, there were a lot of dead/dying Clinton types period, weren't there?) (Forget I said that ~ I mean no harm...) Training accidents, schmaybe? If so, then we should be vastly proud of the advances made in troop safety manifesting itself in far lower numbers once we bugger out and stop all those nasty 'war' wounds. They just screw up the stats.
A Swill Salute to the Gateway Pundit for confusing the pi$$ out of me.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:55 PM
What Is Wrong
...with this picture?
...Rebel leader Abdul Rashid Ghazi told the private Geo TV network that his mother had been wounded by gunfire.“The government is using full force. This is naked aggression,” he said. “My martyrdom is certain now.”
To paraphrase John Kerry, "Would it were so, Ghazi old boy." Gunfire woundage caused, no doubt, by your trying to steal her burkha like the other brave
UPDATE: Rumor has it that he's martyred at long last.
The leader of the rebel mosque being stormed by Commandos in Islamabad has been killed, according to the Pakistan government.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:12 PM
Oh, I Am a Happy, HAPPY Girl Tonight!
My favoritest magazine in the whole, wide world is coming back.
Hoffman Media has taken over publishing it (they do Southern Lady, etc.) and I have great hopes. The typeface is back, the photography looks like it will be just as voluptuous...oh, DANG! This is COOL.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 06:31 PM | Comments (5)
It Says On Their Website
..."Two faced, but in a good way." I think that's probably open to interpretation.
Sprint hangs up on ‘excessive’ complainers
Drops 1,000 customers who company says call customer service too muchSprint Nextel Corp, which recently launched an advertising campaign to attract new customers, is disconnecting more than 1,000 subscribers for calling its customer service lines too often and making what the company called unreasonable requests.
My favorite quote:
..."In some cases they were calling customer care hundreds of times a month for a period of six to 12 months on the same issues even after we felt those issues had been resolved," she [Sprint spokeswoman Roni Singleton] said.
Considering how AT&T has jonesed us before and after their multiple Cingular morphs, I can understand a customer who might be hugely annoyed with their wireless company. This last go-round, I've written FCC/AG/BBB letters. How nice they get to decide when a matter is settled. And I'm curious how Sprint would handle you breaking a two year agreement because of 'excessively' annoying, unreasonable, shitty service? I doubt you'd be able to just drop them like they're ditching the problem children. Cost you big time, that would.
...Sprint waived final balances on canceled accounts and gave customers 30 days to transfer their phone numbers to other wireless providers, she said."We're working very hard to improve customer service. That's our number one priority," Singleton said.
Oh yeah they are. It's easier to satisfy customers you don't have any more. Like the AT&T supervisor telling me last month after the 15th jacked up bill and BS phone run around, "We appreciate your business."
Oh no, you don't. But when it's my scribbled names and notes from all the phone calls against your corporate computer 'customer care' collusion? I can see how someone could call 40 times a month.
.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 05:31 PM | Comments (2)
TALIBAN?
I'm guessing the TSA goobers never saw this movie...
Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:29 PM | Comments (4)
Baby, You Can Ride In My Car
Or maybe not.
CORZINE SUV AIDE TRANSFERREDTHE aide to New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine who was with him April 12 when he was seriously injured in a car crash was suddenly reassigned last month because the two had become "too close," said an inside source.
Samantha Gordon, a "tall and attractive" 25-year-old, worked for a year as an "intellectual valet" to the governor, traveling with him wherever and whenever he went, much as Huma Abedin is the "body person" who travels with Sen. Hillary Clinton.
"Samantha was extremely devoted to him," said the source.
Gordon was riding in the middle row of seats in Corzine's SUV when his two-car motorcade crashed on the Garden State Parkway, but she emerged unscathed.
Corzine, 60, was rumored to have been sitting next to her and not in the front seat with no seat belt as he claimed, said our source. This would better explain why Corzine was found in the very rear of the vehicle by responders to the scene.
Juicy. An 'intellectual valet'.
And no, major dad, you can't have one.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 02:56 PM | Comments (11)
Time For Some Tough Actin'
...Tinactin.
Man's smelly feet trigger police raidGerman police broke into a darkened apartment fearing they would find a dead body, after neighbors complained of a nasty smell seeping out onto the staircase.
...But instead of a corpse, they found a tenant with very smelly feet, asleep in bed next to a pile of foul-smelling laundry...
Woof! I hope the cops sock it to 'im.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:04 PM | Comments (6)
So Is 'IMMIGRANT' the New
...'French Youth'?
3 Immigrants Killed in Texas SUV CrashSAN ANTONIO (AP) - A sport utility vehicle packed with at least 19 suspected illegal immigrants crashed after a high-speed chase with authorities, killing three immigrants and sending 12 others to hospitals.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:00 PM | Comments (2)
Nothing Like Having Your Family
...be quietly supportive.
All Grown Up -- and Going to WarJuly is a month I sincerely hoped would never come.
At the end of this month, my young son, my only child, deploys with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit. His departure had been six months away, three months; now it is a matter of weeks...
...The ironies of this conflict are many for me. More than 30 years ago, I wrote my master's thesis at Columbia University on "Political Integration of the Kurds in Iraq." Little did I ever suspect that any child of mine would be a pawn in a senseless conflict in that distant land...
Couldn't she have held off sending this very PUBLIC message until her hard chargin' Jarhead was in country? Where maybe mom's writing the freaking WaPo with her liberally credentialed, anti-war screed wouldn't embarrass or even demotivate her son in real time?
You'll notice that NOWHERE in her navel gazing accusations and gloomy prognostications (Mentally deranged? Wounded, even? Scarred and limbs missing? She's already got him legless in a VA hospital in her mind!) does she mention pride in her son. Nowhere does she speak of the man he has become and how she feels about him. Pitiful. Her letter is a selfish, pitiful intellectual exercise.
Grow up, Ms. 'Columbia' and be a man...for your boy. Save the Cindy Sheehan parenting handbook steps for when he's deployed and busy with the life-or-death life he's chosen.
Oo-RAH, Marine. Semper Fi.
A Swill Salute to Wake Up, America.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:16 PM | Comments (7)
At Long
...last.
"Signin My Ballz", indeed.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:45 AM | Comments (3)
Presbyterians Guilty In London Plot
Hopefully they'll rot some where for a long time
Three defendants in the 21 July terror trial have been found guilty of a plot to bomb London's transport network.Jurors found Muktar Said Ibrahim, 29, Yassin Omar, 26, and Ramzi Mohammed, 25, guilty of conspiracy to murder.
The verdicts on three other defendants, who all deny charges against them, are still being considered by the jury of nine women and three men.
Woolwich Crown Court heard how the cell tried to detonate bombs on three tube trains and a bus on July 21, 2005.
The suspects had claimed the bombs were fakes, and the attacks had been intended as a protest against the war in Iraq.
Sort of a novel defense, I'll grant them: Since the bombs didn't explode they were therefore fakes and thus this was speech, and not terrorism.
And let us not forget Yassin Omar's moment of glory
Omar was arrested in Birmingham after travelling there disguised as a woman in a burka.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:33 AM
July 08, 2007
I Was Waiting for the Transcripts So I Could Share
...and see if you were as surprised as I was. The setting? A round table on CNN's "This Week at War". The participants? BRIG. GEN. David Grange, U.S.A.(RET), Jamie McIntyre, the usual CNN suspects, including...correspondent Michael Ware. I was already rolling my eyes. They would wind up bugging out in shock.
...[Tom] FOREMAN: Jamie, how afraid are the generals that now with General Petraeus in command, they are moving in the right direction that things actually are making progress but that the clock in Washington has just run out?McINTYRE: You saw that comment from General Lynch. It followed the one on Thursday from General Mixon, his counterpart to the north. There's a united front from front line commanders who are urging patience with the surge. The biggest fear now is that the surge is going to be successful in the short term and then the troops are going to be pulled out. It's all going to go back to the way it was. That's what they're warning about now and basically say they're not paying attention to what's happening in Washington, but they can feel the heat of the disillusionment in Washington, the impatience with the policy and they're very concerned that the rug might be pulled out from underneath them just when they think they have a strategy that's working.
...FOREMAN: Michael Ware, you've had some of the most pessimistic outlooks at times that anything can be done to make things better, but you're on the ground there. You see the so-called surge at work. Would you say to the politicians here, yeah, give it until September, see how it works out or would you say, look, we've waited and waited and waited. Maybe you're doing the right thing to change now?
WARE: What I would say is quite the contrary. I would say that, you know, I'm sorry, but American forces took this country. A set of circumstances emerged and whether you like it or not, whether you're for or against this war from the beginning, whether you're for or against the surge now, I'm sorry, America has very little choice but to stay and for the long-term. I mean, this country is broke. America's enemies are emboldened and stronger. Their spheres of influence are increasing as a direct result of U.S. presence here and the ongoing war. And what, you want to turn around and pull out and leave it behind to them? If that's what you want to do, I mean, if America wants to pull out now...
...is America ready to pay the price?
The next question is "General Grange, what do you think that price would be, very briefly?" and you can tell the General is stunned by what came out of Ware's mouth, as were we. He was all fired up to dispute what he knew Ware was going to say, got completely blindsided and has to regroup, speaking as if he can't believe what he's about to say...
GRANGE: I think Mike's right on.
Buried on a Saturday afternoon show, I doubt this got the attention it deserves, since the New York Times editorial page had already gone to print. Sh*t. I'll bet they had this written a year and a half ago and were just waiting to spring it.
It is time for the United States to leave Iraq, without any more delay than the Pentagon needs to organize an orderly exit....It is frighteningly clear that Mr. Bush’s plan is to stay the course as long as he is president and dump the mess on his successor. Whatever his cause was, it is lost.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:19 PM | Comments (3)
'Youth'-ful Passions Inflamed/-s
...again.
Some 50 masked attackers smashed cars and clashed with police in northeast Paris on Friday night. Three officers were injured, police said....Tensions have remained high between police and French youth, especially minorities in rundown housing projects, since riots erupted in such neighborhoods nationwide in 2005. Most of the rioting hit impoverished suburbs that ring French cities, while Paris was largely spared.
Everyone seems to have adopted the code phrase.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 04:24 PM
I Got Yer Live Earth Right Here
While Gorezilla was jetting about telling us to use less fuel and our own Governor Corzine was signing and touting some legislation to ruin our economy
EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Reuters) - New Jersey became on Friday the first U.S. state to mandate sharp greenhouse gas reductions by 2050 to help fight climate change.The law, signed by Gov. Jon Corzine, a Democrat, makes New Jersey the latest state to bypass the Bush administration by setting mandatory regulations to fight emissions of gases that scientists link to global warming.
"We want to send a message to Washington. Wake up, get with the program and start doing something about greenhouse gases," Corzine told reporters at Giants Stadium on the eve of former Vice President Al Gore's international Live Earth concerts.
The Global Warming Response Act mandates cuts of greenhouse gas emissions throughout New Jersey's economy by about 16 percent by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050 in the country's most densely populated state.
(hopefully Gov. Speedracer will realize that if he drives 55 instead of 90 he might cut down on emissions)
Yes, while all these bloviating gas bags were doing all types of emitting in the name of conserving I was grilling, charring as much flesh as I could
That's 7 pounds of spare ribs, some filet mignon, 2 buffalo steaks, some grilled corn on the cob and twice-baked potatoes, because you've got to love anything that makes you use the oven twice.
Oh, and of course it was all washed down with wine from Australia to maximize the carbon footprint.
Hear Gaia scream.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:46 AM | Comments (11)
July 06, 2007
Couldn't Have Been Much of a Party
...if I wasn't invited.
Former U.S. senator and actor Fred Thompson spent part of his Gulf Coast vacation Thursday night in Pensacola garnering political support for a potential presidential run.Thompson had a private dinner with local supporters at the Fish House restaurant, and then he spent some time meeting and greeting locals.
He said the informal dinner was "testing the waters" and he plans to announce "in the not too distant future" whether he'll run for president.
"People are looking for a new direction for the country," Thompson said. "I will talk straight to them and not be afraid to have a vision for the future."
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:20 AM | Comments (7)
Since This Happened in Our Neighborhood
...I'll blame Al Gore III for the copycat crime.
Girl charged in DUI, chase
11-year-old driver from Perdido Key in 100-mph chase in Orange BeachAn 11-year-old Perdido Key girl has been charged with driving under the influence after she led Orange Beach police on a high-speed chase.
Greg Duck, Orange Beach assistant police chief, said the Tuesday night chase — which was caught on a dashboard camera in a police cruiser — started about 10:30 p.m. in Orange Beach near the Florida line. It ended just inside the Gulf Shores city limits when the girl crashed and rolled the Chevy Monte Carlo she was driving.
I hope she didn't hit a Perdido Key Beach Mouse on her way through.
She's really in hot water then.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:48 AM | Comments (3)
Gaia Was Warmer Than They Thought
Damn you, Chimpy! It seems your nefarious reach extends farther back than we thought
Scientists who probed two kilometers (1.2 miles) through a Greenland glacier to recover the oldest plant DNA on record said Thursday the planet was far warmer hundreds of thousands of years ago than is generally believed.DNA of trees, plants and insects including butterflies and spiders from beneath the southern Greenland glacier was estimated to date to 450,000 to 900,000 years ago, according to the remnants retrieved from this long-vanished boreal forest.
That contrasts sharply with the prevailing view that a lush forest of this kind could only have existed in Greenland as recently as 2.4 million years ago, according to a summary of the study, which is published Thursday in the journal Science.
Wait a minute! You mean the data contradicts the "consensus"? Has anyone told Gorezilla? The Cult of Gaia will be quick to attack these infidels!
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:03 AM | Comments (1)
July 05, 2007
China Has A Big Problem
As these stories proliferate it could have a big impact on world trade
PANAMA CITY - A top Panamanian prosecutor said tests show at least 94 people have died from taking medicine contaminated with diethylene glycol since July 2006 and that 293 more deaths are under investigation.Prosecutor Dimas Guevara told The Associated Press on Wednesday that people have continued to die this year even though the tainted medicine was pulled from shelves in October, with some struggling for months before dying.
...A chemical commonly found in antifreeze and brake fluid, diethylene glycol was used in cough syrup, antihistamine tablets, calamine lotion and rash ointment made in a Panama government laboratory.
Investigations revealed the chemical was made by a Chinese company that fraudulently passed it off as 99.5 percent pure glycerin, a sweetener commonly used in drugs, to a Spanish company. That company sold it to Panama’s Medicom SA, which sold it to a government laboratory.
Just look at all these problems.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 12:14 PM | Comments (1)
How Do You Clean Uranus?
With a space sponge!*
One of the strangest moons in our solar system is Hyperion, a Saturnian satellite so pockmarked by deep craters that it looks like a giant, rotating bath sponge adrift in space.New image analyses suggest the moon's odd appearance is the result of a highly porous surface that preserves craters, allowing them to remain nearly as pristine as the day they were created.
The finding is just one of several new details about the quirky moon revealed in two studies published in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature. Scientists determined that Hyperion is composed mostly of water ice and that the bottoms of its craters are covered in a dark red gunk that could be the key to resolving some of the moon's other strange properties.
*not safe for septic systems
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:26 AM | Comments (2)
July 04, 2007
Tour de Gore
UPDATE REDUX: Honest to GOD, I swear the whole family's smokin' dope. (DOPE being the operative word.)
The artist formerly known as Cat Stevens — and now known as Yusuf Islam — will perform at one of Al Gore's Live Earth concerts. Click here....including links to a video in which Mr. Peace Train expresses his desire for Salman Rushdie to burn at the stake, plus his connections to Hamas.
Via the Blogfaddah.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 07:42 PM | Comments (1)
Between the 'Rock Star' Tour and the '100 MPH' Speedster
...those carbon offsets are gonna cost a bundle.
UPDATE: I guess this (circled in pink) would be a 'mitigating factor'.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:04 PM | Comments (7)
When In the Course of Human Events
IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------The 56 signatures on the Declaration appear in the
positions indicated:[Column 1]
Georgia:
Button Gwinnett
Lyman Hall
George Walton[Column 2]
North Carolina:
William Hooper
Joseph Hewes
John Penn
South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge
Thomas Heyward, Jr.
Thomas Lynch, Jr.
Arthur Middleton[Column 3]
Massachusetts:
John Hancock
Maryland:
Samuel Chase
William Paca
Thomas Stone
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:
George Wythe
Richard Henry Lee
Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Harrison
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Carter Braxton[Column 4]
Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Franklin
John Morton
George Clymer
James Smith
George Taylor
James Wilson
George Ross
Delaware:
Caesar Rodney
George Read
Thomas McKean[Column 5]
New York:
William Floyd
Philip Livingston
Francis Lewis
Lewis Morris
New Jersey:
Richard Stockton
John Witherspoon
Francis Hopkinson
John Hart
Abraham Clark[Column 6]
New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett
William Whipple
Massachusetts:
Samuel Adams
John Adams
Robert Treat Paine
Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins
William Ellery
Connecticut:
Roger Sherman
Samuel Huntington
William Williams
Oliver Wolcott
New Hampshire:
Matthew Thornton
Happy Fourth of July!
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:02 AM | Comments (5)
July 03, 2007
While Reading a Chapter or Two Before Beddie-Bie
...a passage made me laugh. It really is so true that the more things change...
"...As yet another, Nathaniel Grubb complained in 1763 to the Pennsylvania legislature that "a pack of insignificant Scotch-Irish" was responsible for having retaliated too fiercely against a series of Indian attacks."
...the more they stay the same.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:39 PM | Comments (4)
Butter Wouldn't Melt in His Mouth
And he's making sure you don't have a choice whether it will in yours.
Trans Fat Fight Claims Butter as a VictimMATTHEW REICH is a baker dedicated to natural ingredients. He prefers butter in the cookies and brioche he turns out at Tom Cat Bakery in Long Island City, Queens, and like many professional cooks he applauds the public health effort to get artificial trans fat out of food.
But, in a twist of science, the law and what some call trans-fat hysteria, Mr. Reich and other wholesale bakers are being forced to substitute processed fats like palm oil and margarine for good old-fashioned butter because of the small amounts of natural trans fat butter contains.
"NO BUTTER FOR YOU!!" ~ Mayor Bloomberg tells the seething masses.
Buttinski billionaire Bloomberg ~ who sees butter as the enemy ~ needs to look elsewhere for votes.
I can't stand the guy already and here's one more log on the fire.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:58 AM | Comments (6)
July 02, 2007
Pesos in the Mornin', Pesos in the Evenin'
Pesos at suppertime!
While you're hiding pesos,
Don't forget that they are mine!
A Chinese-Mexican businessman charged in the largest drug-related cash seizure in history accused a top Mexican official of forcing him to stash millions in illicit campaign funds in the walls and closets of his Mexico City mansion.In the first major accusation linking the administration of President Felipe Calderon to Mexico's drug underworld, Zhenli Ye Gon claims Javier Lozano Alarcon, now Mexico's labor secretary, threatened to kill him unless he stored duffel bags stuffed with at least $150 million.
In a written response Monday to The Associated Press, Lozano Alarcon denied the accusations and said he was considering a defamation lawsuit against Ye Gon.
Ye Gon is charged in Mexico with drug trafficking, money laundering and weapons possession for his alleged role in illegally importing 19 tons of a pseudoephedrine compound used to make methamphetamine, charges he denies. He is presumably in the United States; Mexico considers him a fugitive.
Another worthy illegal who could have paid the fine! DAMN talk radio!
Posted by tree hugging sister at 07:24 PM | Comments (1)
Two Words for Dems
...as they start their pained, Obama-like "These are the politics we must change..." yowling:
Mark. Rich.
And maybe:
Yeah. Right.
UPDATE: A commenter over at HotAir posted this Clintonian PARDON link. Busy guy, our Bill.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 06:41 PM | Comments (6)
I'll Show You "Sophisticated"
Tim Blair has a very kind post up talking about how all these Gorezilla concert goers who think they are going to a "New York" concert for Mamma Gaia are actually going to find themselves in the midst of a New Jersey swamp. In the midst of comments from certain folks who should know better than to abuse my beloved state dear Gary from Jersey makes the following statement
Look. We got the best food, loudest women, greatest beaches and the craziest stories in the country. Mr. Bingley can probably give you lists for all those because he’s more sophisticated, except maybe about the loud women. The rest of you? Just send your money and stay home. We’ll finish the beer for you.
Now, I must humbly admit that every word of that is true.
And to prove my sophistication, especially combined with the approaching holiday, it is time for me to once again invite you, Dear Reader, to Say 'Hello' to MacInslosh™
Yes, by this time tomorrow my dear MacInslosh will be holding not one but two of those most glorious of Australian gifts to the civilized world, the box-wine; both a Red and a White as you will see below the fold on the custom desktop print. 10 liters of joy in a handy, compact case.
I love this country.
Let the celebrations begin!
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:12 PM | Comments (4)
Islamic Terrorists Presbyterian Carpooling
...saves gas and the environment.
One of the seven people arrested in last week's failed car bombings in London and at Glasgow's airport is believed to be have been involved in the incidents at both locations, ITN reported Monday.Also Monday, Britain's Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said at least 19 locations were searched as part of the “fast-moving investigation.”
According to reports obtained by ITN, one of the suspects arrested in connection with the Glasgow attacks was the driver of one of the cars found in London tied to the foiled bombings.
They're gonna have to work on the whole carbon offset concept, though. Flaming cars, flaming gas, flaming Presbyterians (as opposed to Presbyterian flamers) and buildings in flames do NOT reduce your carbon footprint ~ I don't care what the manual says.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 02:30 PM
Oh, Jumpin' Jihadi...
I sure hope there aren't any South Asian doctoral candidates/medical interns Presbyterians Googling in the U.K. any time soon.
Oy.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:33 PM
At Last My EEE-ville Plan Comes to Fruition!
You thought I just wanted the black man gone? WRONG-OLA, NOLA!
The whole thing is in the toilet next time.
BBWWAAAhahahahaha!!!
Stronger levees could hurt French QuarterThe government’s repairs to New Orleans’ hurricane-damaged levees may put the French Quarter in greater danger than it was before Hurricane Katrina, a weakness planners said couldn’t be helped, at least for now.
Experts say the stronger levees and flood walls could funnel storm water into the cul-de-sac of the Industrial Canal, only 2 miles from Bourbon Street, and overwhelm the waterway’s 12-foot-high concrete flood walls that shield some of the city’s most cherished neighborhoods.
...“A system is much like a chain. We have strengthened some of the lengths, and those areas are now better protected,” said Robert Bea, a lead investigator of an independent National Science Foundation team that examined Katrina’s levee failures.
“When the chain is challenged by high water again, it will break at those weak links, and they are now next to some of the oldest neighborhoods, including the French Quarter, Marigny, and all of those areas west of the cul-de-sac.”
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:28 AM | Comments (7)
Shock: Man Whose Name Begins With "M" Held In Bombings
I'm shocked. And stunned
Police are urgently hunting at least one person over attempted car bombings in London and at Glasgow airport.Five people - none thought to be British - have been arrested so far in Paisley, Liverpool and Cheshire.
Houses are being searched in Houston, near Paisley, Merseyside, and in Staffordshire, where one of two doctors arrested in the inquiry lived.
Police are linking the failed bombings and the UK remains on high alert amid fears of a possible further attack.
On Monday, Staffordshire Police closed off Priam Close, in Bradwell, not far from Chesterton, where one of the people being held, Dr Mohammed Asha, lived.
A doctor, one of two being held. What ever happened to "first, do no harm?"
Evidently the Hippocratic Oath has been updated to include "I will procure Mercedes so that my friends may slaughter the Infidels. Peace be upon them."
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:57 AM | Comments (3)
July 01, 2007
So Yesterday, There We Were
...hanging out, just down the road.
I thoughtfully emailed this to Kcruella two seconds after I snapped it and what do I get in return?
"Bitch."
Which, sad to say, I had predicted before her terse little text even hit the AT&T server.
Churlish of her, huh?
Posted by tree hugging sister at 06:01 PM | Comments (6)