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May 30, 2008
On the Cutting Edge
Yeesh.
Knife violence in London is now running as high as gun warfare in some US cities, it is claimed today.
"Gun warfare"? That's a little harsh, although they do mention Los Angeles.
But they've got a fix-it plan!
...He said there was a real "potential" for surgeons and doctors to help in the fight against crime through a variety of schemes - such as doctors visiting schools to talk about knife injuries.
Whew! That'll turn the little miscreants around, especially since they've shown a real aptitude for learning life's lessons already...
...He described how, on occasions, the wards in his hospital resembled "a war zone" with some patients being treated for their second or third knife wound.
Brilliant! I wonder if they count Islamic honor killings as part of the total?
Posted by tree hugging sister at 05:42 PM | Comments (10)
Let's Rethink Bailing Out Mortgage Mess Banks
...whose only interest in 'the bottom line' starts at the top.
Around the country, Washington Mutual (WM, news, msgs) regularly plays the tough guy with homeowners who fall behind on mortgages. This as foreclosure filings overall rose 60% nationwide in February.And its involvement in the subprime mess has been tough on stockholders. Since last summer, the company's shares have lost nearly 80% of their value.
...After CEO Kerry Killinger and other top executives missed all or a big part of their bonus pay last year, Washington Mutual wasted little time taking steps to apparently make sure it won't happen again -- even if the mortgage market and the company remain in the tank.
The board decided in February to use different performance yardsticks that could make it look like Killinger and other top executives were doing great jobs -- and all but ensure them millions of dollars in bonuses for 2008.
Those huge losses piling up because of subprime loans and foreclosures?
At bonus time, the bank will ignore them.
DAMN!
It's great work if you can get it. Where do I sign?
Posted by tree hugging sister at 04:34 PM | Comments (3)
How Much Is That Bingley
...in the window?
(The one with the raggedy tale?)
Important UPDATE:
...Peckman said the video was shot by Stan Romanek, a Colorado resident who has claimed more than 100 unexplained experiences, including abduction by aliens. In the footage, a weird-looking face pops up several times from the bottom of a window.The Denver Post quoted Peckman as saying Romanek shot the video in 2003, while he was living in Nebraska, because he was concerned that a "peeping Bingley" was looking into his house. The Post said Romanek was not present for Friday's news conference, which was attended by about 30 journalists.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:59 PM | Comments (3)
Ken's Finally Getting The Help
He needs
One of the world's rarest otter is receiving help from a Scottish-based wildlife charity.Ken, a male hairy-nosed otter, is the only one of his species to be kept legally in captivity (the exact charges have yet to be filed by the authorities).
Ken, seen here looking for shrimp, expressed his thanks in a statement to the press.
"What with all the spam I've had to deal with of late, I really appreciate these oysters. And shrimp. And Sierra Nevadas.Especially the Sierras."
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:55 AM | Comments (5)
May 29, 2008
Where'd She Hide The Loot?
I'm just, you know, curious
TAMPA - A nude maid cleaned up good at a Florida man's home.The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office says the maid stole more than $40,000 from a Cheval home despite not wearing any clothes.
The 50-year-old man hired the maid from the Internet on Friday to clean his suburban Tampa home.
Authorities say the woman arrived at the home in a one-piece, light colored dress. She took off the dress and cleaned the house for $100-per-hour.
Sheriff's office spokeswoman Debbie Carter says the man told deputies he left the maid alone in the bedroom to clean.
When the man's wife came home from vacation, she discovered $40,000 in jewelry missing from their bedroom.
Police are investigating.
I'd love to have been a fly on the wall when the guy explained to his wife what happened...
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:55 AM | Comments (13)
May 28, 2008
Religious Texts Burned! Riots Over Desecrations! Chanting Crowds Mass In Streets
Standard death threats issued in the name of Peace!
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Police in Israel are investigating the burning of hundreds of New Testaments in a city near Tel Aviv, an incident that has alarmed advocates of religious freedom.Investigators plan to review photographs and footage showing "a fairly large" number of New Testaments being torched this month in the city of Or-Yehuda, a police spokesman, Micky Rosenfeld, said Wednesday.
The episode has worried defenders of Israel's minority population of Messianic Jews, who consider themselves Jewish but believe in the divinity of Jesus, as do Christians. It also has concerned evangelical Christians in North America, Europe and Asia, who visit Israel by the hundreds of thousands.
Calev Myers, an attorney for Messianic Jews in Israel, told CNN he plans to file a formal complaint Thursday with the national police at the request of the United Christian Council in Israel, an umbrella organization for a few dozen Christian organizations outside Israel.
Folks, at the end of the day any particular Bible is just a book; an object made and owned by men. And the Word of God can never be "owned" by men; it is God's alone. So this veneration, this worship, of the false idol of the Book, something that man can control and manipulate, leads one away from the Word, from the worship of God.
So you can burn my Bible, stick a cross in urine and dung and call it "art" if you'd like; whatever. Hell, with proper planning you can probably even get the government, and by extension me, to fund your little exercise. It's more a demonstration of mankind's degradation than an attack on my faith. I won't get all worked up about it; "vengeance is the Lord's" as it says. As I've noted before I could not worship a god who requires men to do his dirty work like some sort of cosmic mafia Don.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:20 AM | Comments (2)
May 27, 2008
Eight Years Of Bush And Rove: Marauding Nazis Openly Take To The Street
And attack immigrants. The racist, hating Bastards. You knew it would come to this.
In Rome.
Balaclava-clad gangs, some wearing bandanas emblazoned with swastikas, smashed shop windows with iron bars and baseball bats and beat up shopkeepers in a hitherto bohemian neighbourhood of Rome.Members of the gangs shouted “Get out, bastard foreigners” as they attacked Bengali shopkeepers in the explosion of xenophobic violence.
And Naples.
Italian police began a nationwide round-up of nearly 400 illegal immigrants from the Balkans and North Africa yesterday in the midst of a series of arson attacks on Roma gypsy camps in the suburbs of Naples.The first step in a drive on crime promised by the new centre-right government of Silvio Berlusconi targeted temporary encampments on the outskirts of cities from Naples to northern Italy. Some 118 people held in the operation were ordered to be expelled immediately for offences ranging from drug dealing and robbery to prostitution.
But in Naples local people have anticipated the new policy, taking the law into their own hands.
This week’s assaults on Roma shanty towns by scores of youths on scooters and motorbikes wielding iron bars and throwing Molotov cocktails were sparked off by the capture of a 17-year-old Roma girl who last weekend entered a flat in Ponticelli and tried to steal a 6-year-old girl. Chased by the mother and neighbours, she had to be rescued by police from being lynched.
The city erupted in fury, with local women leading the marches on the Roma camps to the chant of “Fuori, fuori [Out, out]”. Night after night young men — allegedly acting on the orders of powerful local clans of the Camorra, the Naples Mafia — have set the sites ablaze, blocking attempts by the fire brigade to put out the fires, with exploding gas canisters completing the destruction. The women jeered at the firemen, shouting, "You put these fires out, we start them again”.
My god, it sounds like the horrible anti-immigrant racist scene we see here in the States every single day.
Not.
Remember the Mantra: the Europeans are our Betters. We want them to like us.
Repeat ad infinitum.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:08 AM | Comments (6)
When In Rome...
...avoid the cappuccinos from "nice" strangers
ROME -- An American tourist from California was killed by a train as he walked on the tracks in a daze after he drank a cappuccino laced with drugs and then was robbed, railway police said Monday.Frank Phel, 74, of California, died early Friday at the suburban Tiburtina station, police official Giovanni Piccolantonio said. Phel's hometown was not disclosed.
The suspected robber, a 54-year-old Italian man who was arrested Saturday, had chatted with Phel and his wife before fetching them cappuccinos at a local cafe and then adding a mix of drugs including sleeping pills, Piccolantonio said.
"This man approached these two tourists and earned their trust, and then offered them two cappuccinos with drugs," Piccolantonio said.
How horrible.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:58 AM
May 26, 2008
We Remember Them All
...and give thanks.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:32 AM | Comments (3)
May 25, 2008
Tasty Juicy Butt
A few weeks ago I bought myself a Webber Smokey Mountain Cooker, aka "The Bullet", because as much as I love my gas grill sometimes you just want to make some slow-cooked BBQ. I've used it for a few things so far, but I really hadn't done "real" BBQ on it until yesterday, for you see yesterday I did a butt. A wonderful fine tasty pig butt from Costco. The best place in the world to get info on cooking with your Bullet is here, at the Virtual Weber Bullet; it's an invaluable resource and there are tons of very experienced cooks on the forums to answer your questions and help you on your way. Everything I did was based on their advice and techniques.
So I went to Costco and got my butt. Well, butts, actually, because there are 2 in the cryovac package, for a total weight of about 15 pounds. I was only going to cook one, so using the rough cooking time formula of 1.5-2 hours per pound I was looking at something like a 14 hour cook. Let's see, I told our friends to come over at 5, so counting back 14 hours that means I need to put this on at...1 am. As in 1 am right after the wine and steaks and scallops and corn on Friday night. Oh boy.
Not surprisingly, me getting up to cook at 1 am Saturday morning didn't happen, due in large part to the fact that I didn't go to bed until nearly 12:45. And the wine. And the scotch. But mostly the wine. Mostly.
I did manage to get up at 3:30, though. I opened up the cryovac, re-wrapped the butt I wasn't going to cook and popped it in the freezer and tied this beauty up with some butchers twine to hold it together for the rub
The rub I used was from TexasBBQRub.com, and I was also using their method of applying it: you coat the butt with worchestershire sauce and then rub on the, er, rub.
The key to BBQ is low and slow cooking. Low temperature (around 225-250) maintained for a long time will allow the meat to break down and just become the softest, tastiest stuff imaginable. But tending a fire for 12 or 14 hours obviously sucks. A lot. So this fellow named Jim Minion devised a way to get his bullet to cook for up to 18 hours without needing more charcoal. For this he should be awarded the Nobel Prize.
Anyhow, I started the Bullet up using the "Minion Method" (probably 8 lbs of charcoal and 5-6 chunks of hickory) and at 4:15 am put Porky on
It was a bit of a struggle keeping the temp low enough, but over the next few hours I got it to settle in the 250-ish range by adjusting the vents, and by 2:30 in the afternoon the internal temp was up to 170 (you need to get it up to 190) and he looked like this
Now the folks on the forum all sing the praises of the ABT ( which stands for..."Atomic Buffalo Turd") as an appetizer to accompany the piggy. The "atomic" comes from the jalapeño (or hotter) peppers used. I've learned to tred carefully around hot peppers, so I used this great recipe as a starter and made a few minor changes.
Set the 2 packages of cream cheese out to come up to room temp, and wash the peppers in the sink
I used a mix of sweet peppers and mildly hot anaheims (it turns out I was too timid; they needed more kick from the peppers. Next time I will use anaheims and jalapeños).
When the cream cheese is squishy add to it a tablespoon of dried onion, two tablespoons of honey, a heaping teaspoon of garam masala, and 1 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar
and mix it all up
and let it sit while you de-seed the peppers. On mild peppers like these this is not such a big deal, but when you use the nu-kyoo-lar ones this is a very important step
Put the cheesey goo in a ziploc freezer bag and snip off a corner
and you can pipe the filling right into the pepper
and then you put the two halves back together and wrap a slice of bacon around them, holding it all together with a couple of toothpicks.
Can you hear your arteries crying, Clarice?
You cook those for about an hour at 250 until the bacon is done.
Meanwhile, it's now after 3 pm. Porky's been cooking for about 11 hours and the internal temp is up to 185.
Why, yes, I will. Thank you.
Finally, at 4:45, after 12 1/2 hours of cooking (and not adding any charcoal at all to what I started with in the Bullet) the temp reached 190, so I took the butt off, tightly wrapped it in a double layer of aluminum foil and set it on a folded towel in a cooler in the garage to rest until I was ready to pull it. Our friends arrived at 5, I put the ABTs on the grill, we had the first few rounds of drinks and at 6 we pulled the pork.
Unbelievable. I can honestly say it's one of the tastiest things I've ever cooked.
They left about 1.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 01:01 PM | Comments (14)
Bingley The Hutt Kind Of Day
I was planning on driving over to Geno's today for lunch, but after all we ate and drank last night I may never eat again.* I just want to lounge here on the couch all day, watching the slave girls dance.
Which I don't have.
But I do have a loudly snoring LabraDork next to me, so that's a reasonable substitute, I guess.
*"again" being defined as "until my belly rumbles."
Which it is doing now...
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:28 AM | Comments (3)
May 23, 2008
OUTRAGE ~ I HATE Budweiser, But This
...is just un-American. I'm emailing Pelosi's office.
Belgian brewer InBev NV is working on a $46 billion bid for Anheuser-Busch Cos Inc , according to a source familiar with the situation.
Change the Clydesdales to Belgian DRAFTS?!?!?!
I THINK NOT!!!
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:39 PM | Comments (3)
Odd How Siblings Separated By Thousands of Miles
...continually think exactly the same.
Comforting in a twisted sort of way. My incomparable husband has thoughtfully made me my first caipirinha of the season and I will blissfully sip as I ponder the wondrous mystery of family.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 08:04 PM | Comments (1)
Hey Porter, Hey Porter!
Tell me it's grillin' time!
Just garlic salt and coarsely ground fresh pepper.
Oh! Look what I found
Thanks for everything, Boss.
To absent friends!
Sweet baby jeebus, this 8 year old Cab is divine. The tannins have really mellowed out and it has almost a raisiny syrupy flavor and mouth feel. Wow. I wish you could taste it.
Well, not really, because there would be less for me.
Update: Reading through that article and hearing their anecdote about their meal at Windows On The World (sigh) reminds me of my Mondavi story: In August of 1992 my Bride and I took a vacation to San Francisco and Napa, and we took the tour of the Mondavi winery. I asked a few questions and I guess somehow gave the tour guide the impression that I appreciated tasty wine so near the end of the tour the tour guide took us aside and told us to "hang back" after everyone else left. So of course we did. She then took us by ourselves to one of the winery's tasting rooms and poured for us a glass of the Mondavi Botrytis Sauvignon Blanc dessert wine. Oh. My. God was it divine. I adore these wines, and this was great. It had this raisin/honey/fig unctuousness and crisp acidity to wash all that sugar away. Sigh....talk about a nectar of the gods.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:28 PM | Comments (7)
Memorial Friday Dinner
Woohoo! A full 3 day weekend of gastronomic excess!
Tonight as an appetizer we've got a pound of fresh sea scallops
marinating in the juice of 2 limes with some EVOO (that's what all the cool kids call it) and red pepper flakes. Let that marinate for an hour or two in the fridge, flipping occasionally, and then grill those puppies. Yum!
As the veggie we'll have some grilled corn on the cob
peel back the husk, pull off the silk and then roll the husk back up, sprinkle with a littl water and wrap them in tin foil and grill on the top rack of the grill for, heck, 40 minutes or so.
As the main course I've got a couple of big honking porterhouses lying around here somewhere which I'll...grill.
I haven't decided on the main wine. My urge is to get out some Mondavi Cabs and raise a toast to The Man himself who passed away last week.
We'll have to see.
What are y'all eatin' this weekend?
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 05:28 PM | Comments (6)
Moscow On The Potomac
Ed at HotAir has the story of Rep. Waters letting slip her socialist plan to nationalize the oil companies.
As Ken would say, Jesus H. Christ on a pogo stick.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:50 AM | Comments (2)
I'm Shocked, Shocked To Find Gambling Here!
(here are your winnings, Sir)
OPEC chief Abdala El Badri on Thursday said members were unhappy with surging prices he blamed on speculators and a weak US dollar."We are not very happy with this increase in oil prices," said El-Badri during a visit to Ecuador.
"Volatility has nothing to do with the fundamentals. It has nothing to do with world demand," he said, stressing that a dropping dollar was driving prices higher.
Oh yes, we hateses these higher oil prices, we do!
Gimme a break. You're loving every second of it, you bastard.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:29 AM | Comments (2)
May 22, 2008
The Fürhrer Never Said "Baby"
But he did sing the "Jefferson's Theme"
via that dry cleaning magnate Ken.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:32 PM | Comments (8)
So the Most Probable Culprit, Most LIKELY Suspect in $150+pb Oil Is?
Your granny. HAH! Just as I thought. And she's working a little money market mojo to pull it off.
If you're wondering why driving to work has gotten so expensive, you might want to peruse your pension fund's investments. That's because speculation by institutional investors pouring money into the commodities market may be largely to blame for spiking oil prices, according to testimony on May 20 before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs.... The explosion in the number of financial players in the energy markets has occurred particularly in the past two years -- also a period of soaring energy prices. That's why speculators are now under fire from Congress and the public as potential culprits [BusinessWeek.com, 5/15/08].
But in the hearing, Masters distinguished between traditional speculators and what he calls index speculators, or passive investors who enter the commodities markets as a long-term hedge against inflation. Commodities exchanges limit the number of positions an investor can take in the market, but Masters says the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has allowed unlimited speculation in these markets through a loophole. This so-called swaps loophole exempts investment banks like Goldman Sachs (GS) and Merrill Lynch (MER) from reporting requirements and limits on trading positions that are required of other investors. The loophole allows pension funds to enter into a swap agreement with an investment bank, which can then trade unlimited numbers of the contracts in futures markets.
Hmmm. Loopholes and little if any oversight. Sounds eerily like the recipe for a housing crash, all thanks to those sweet faced, gravel voiced queens of speculation, babes of the back room deal ~ grannies.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:20 AM | Comments (5)
More Dynastic Creep
Or maybe it's "creeps." I have to say the only attraction that Obama has for me is the fact that his name is not "Clinton" or "Bush" or "Kennedy"
Ted Kennedy has made clear to confidants that when his time is up, he wants his Senate seat to stay in the family - with his wife, Vicki.Multiple sources in Massachusetts with close ties to the liberal lion say his wife of 16 years has long been his choice to continue carrying the family flame in the Senate. Kennedy won the seat in 1962; his brother John held it from 1953 to 1960.
"There's no question that he'd like Vicki to continue in his seat," said one Massachusetts Democrat with ties to the Camelot clan who spoke to Kennedy recently, before his health crisis.
"She's smart, and smart politically."
One of the most depressing signs of the decay of our Republic has been the rise of this dynastic tendency, this emergence of a "ruling class" in lieu of truly competitive elections. Certainly we've had such families in the past (the Adams and Roosevelts spring to mind) and certainly local politics have tended towards these sorts of things, but never, it seems to me, have things on the national level been so dominated by so few. The system is stacked against independent candidates, with enormous amounts of money needed for runs, arbitrary election rules created by the two entrenched parties to hinder independents and foster their own, the media turns their noses at independents for the most part, etc. It's just a sad situation.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:51 AM | Comments (9)
May 21, 2008
Forget Momma
His wife's 7+ months pregnant.
He is SO toast.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:03 PM | Comments (6)
Sorry. No "Little Rat Pie Hole" This Week.
But it's still funny.
...Many eons ago, during the early stages of the Democratic campaign season when dinosaurs roamed the earth, Obama mentioned during a debate that, if elected president, he would be willing to hold direct discussions without preconditions with President Ahmadinejad of Iran and by implication, other heads of hostile nations engaged in the support of terrorism. Senator Clinton saw that statement for what it was, a stupid statement, and hammered Obama for being naïve and inexperienced in foreign policy matters.Interestingly, Democratic Senator Chris Dodd from the fine state of Connecticut (state motto: “Connecticut - The Forgotten New York City Borough”) also implied that Obama’s willingness to meet with terrorist sponsoring states showed naivete and lack of experience. Now that Dodd is out of the race he’s found a way to spin those charges in a positive light. How excellent is political life?
Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:01 PM
If It Was My Little Girl
...I'd be so proud.
Police in a Galveston County, Texas, school district have been confiscating dozens of cell phones from students after nude pictures of two junior high girls began circulating, the district superintendent said."Those students forwarded the images and the circle opened up and got wider and wider," Superintendent Jon Whittemore said Tuesday.
He said that it all started when two Santa Fe Junior High School students took nude photos of themselves and sent them to their boyfriends. The boyfriends forwarded the photos to others, who in turn forwarded them again, he said.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 02:45 PM | Comments (7)
Not Filling the Strategic Reserve
...sounds like a GREAT idea, given the current conditions.
The Energy Information Administration announced that crude inventory levels for the week ended May 17 fell 5.32 million barrels, marking the first decline after four consecutive weeks of inventory builds. Analyst expected stockpiles to increase by 300,000 barrels.As a result, crude oil prices spiked from the unchanged mark to a gain of 2.4% at $132.08 per barrel, marking an all-time high. Crude prices are up 16% in May, the largest monthly percent advance in nearly four years.
And that whopping 70K + barrels a day (WOW! THAT much?!?!?!) will make a HUGE difference in gasoline prices.
A group of senators called on President Bush on Thursday to halt billions of dollars in sophisticated arms sales to Saudi Arabia and several other Gulf oil producers unless they agree to pump more petroleum, reflecting growing frustration in Congress over soaring energy costs.Separately, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said that Bush should stop putting 70,000 barrels of oil a day into the government's Strategic Petroleum Reserve, saying the oil would be better left in the market place to help lower prices. The Energy Department recently announced it is extending oil shipments into the reserve, which holds 700 million barrels, through the end of the year.
(And Bush caved to the reserve pressure.)
Holy macanoni, Nancy! It's GREAT to know you're lookin' out for us. No ANWAR, no shale, no Gulf, no weapons for them A-rabs. ( Let all that filthy lucre prop up the...say...Russian or Chinese military machines, with schmaybe a little Kim Jong action on the side. There are hungry faces in NoKo, after all. I mean, who can resist them? Not any Democrat I know!) and now no spare capacity.
So, sure, why not? We're one big happy world! And spreading the wealth is a centerpiece of Democratic strateegery, isn't it? So grab yourself a cold kumba rumba cuba libre and follow the bouncing ball!
For the math impaired Congressionals busy pounding their solar calculators, work this one (Careful now. It's a WORD problem): If you have a BIG salt cavern filled to the drippy barrel brim with gooey fruits of filthy Arab gushers and then take away in (one week) fivepointthreetwomillionbarrels...HOW many days at seventythousandbarrelsperday does it take to make that up? If you really want to be Einstein-like (unless you're anti-Jewish) throw in the variables that make math so fun ~ war, pestilence, Paris Hilton (you know, stuff we can't control).
Granted, that 5.32M was stockpile drawdown vice the petroleum reserves, but the exercise is useful in pointing out how rapidly we deplete resources when the mood takes us. Gas may be $4 a gallon, but SOMEBODY somewhere's been doing some driving. And woof! There's goes another couple bucks per barrel because some trader somewhere is thinking the exact. Same. Thing.
When you're talking millions of barrels down in a 'surprise', that 70K won't be missed.
Sitting in a gas line for two hours on an odd day sucks, my friends. And that was only a couple years ago, not the '70's. I can't wait 'til the rest of the country gets to share our pain.
And thanks, Nance! Have a great summer.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:59 PM | Comments (1)
Nothin' But the Clothes on Your Back
That's what it's coming to.
American Airlines to cut capacity, charge for bags...The company plans to charge $15 for many passengers' first checked bag starting in mid-June, an unprecedented move by a major U.S. airline as it tries to claw back more of its extra fuel costs. Rivals are considering following suit.
Fifteen bucks a pop and they'll STILL lose them. Plus, I cannot wait to see what passes for "carry-on" now.
Can you sue if somebody drops a 60 lb duffel bag on your grape that they were trying to stuff into the overhead?
Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:51 PM | Comments (3)
Just When You Thought Congress Couldn't Get More Idiotic
They manage to top all expectations and come up with this
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved legislation on Tuesday allowing the Justice Department to sue OPEC members for limiting oil supplies and working together to set crude prices, but the White House threatened to veto the measure.The bill would subject OPEC oil producers, including Saudi Arabia, Iran and Venezuela, to the same antitrust laws that U.S. companies must follow.
The measure passed in a 324-84 vote, a big enough margin to override a presidential veto.
What kind of complete morons are these people? Oh wait, it's an election year, so they are pandering morons. There is absolutely no reason why foreign companies in foreign countries should be subject to US anti-trust laws, or any US laws, for that matter. Of course OPEC is a cartel and limits supply to try and keep prices elevated; it doesn't matter. If they were a US based group then something Congress does might have relevance. Oh sure, if Congress really cared about taking a stand against OPEC they would say "because they are a monopoly we are not going to allow any of their products into the US; that'll teach 'em." And that would be the extent of what they could do. Our legislative authority extends to our borders, and that's it. It is a very very dangerous idea to try and extend it with stupid ploys like this, because then it must be a two-way street. Should US-based companies, whose products are produced in the US, be subject to foreign laws? I don't think so.
I mean, that would be like allowing the author of a book who lives in America and the book was published in America to be sued in, say, a British court for libel. Completely insane, right?
Election year economic populist legislation such as this leads to towering examples of Solomaic wisdom as expressed by this noted thinker:
"This bill guarantees that oil prices will reflect supply and demand economic rules, instead of wildly speculative and perhaps illegal activities," said Democratic Rep. Steve Kagen of Wisconsin, who sponsored the legislation.
It does nothing of the sort. In fact, were I OPEC I would institute an immediate cut in production of, say, 1/2% to spike prices some more and show the complete impotence and incompetence of the US Congress. How do you like them supply apples now, Rep. Kagan? What are you going to "do" about it now, big guy?
How about approving the building of some nuke plants, approving ANWR drilling and oil sand extraction?
Oh, and wind farms off of Hyannis Port would be nice, too.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:42 AM | Comments (16)
May 20, 2008
If You Like It...
...You can be assured Greenpeace is against it
Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo are not doing enough to eliminate potentially harmful chemicals and metals from their games consoles, Greenpeace has said.The body examined materials used inside the Sony PlayStation 3 (PS3), Microsoft Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii.
Greenpeace said that while all three machines complied with European laws, the consoles still contained harmful materials that "needed to be replaced".
Nintendo's environment policies were "non-existent", Greenpeace added.
"Nintendo doesn't have any environmental policies, " said Zeina Al-Hajj, Greenpeace's International Toxic Campaign co-ordinator.
Why is it that people who are "concerned" about, well, damn near everything are the whiniest old damp dish towels imaginable? And maybe I missed something along the way, but since "all three machines complied with European laws" why doesn't Greenpeace just stfu? Who replaced the EU parliament with them?
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:28 AM | Comments (7)
May 19, 2008
Well, Good On 'Em
Oh, those cagey generals ~ letting all the neighbors through the door just in time to carry back to their countries all those lovely biblical, epidemic diseases.
Myanmar relents, will allow relief help
Military junta to permit neighboring countries to over see aid distribution
Domination by elimination ~ sounds like a plan to me! Pass a high energy biscuit over here!
Posted by tree hugging sister at 05:47 PM | Comments (2)
Finally! After Millions of Dollars and Reams of Battlefield Data
...it can conclusively and empirically be stated that the routine and continued ingestion of plastic turkey foisted on unsuspecting troops by a complicit and unfeeling government bureaucracy...
...inevitably results in slower troop movements...
...as the smiling vegan on the left clearly demonstrates.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:58 PM | Comments (15)
Bottoms Up! Or: Sad Kangaroo Tales
"So, mate, there I was, sittin' 'round the bar and asking the sheila behind fer a cold quaff. She grabs 'erself a bottle, then the opener and crikey!!"
"It's like me 'ol body shrieks Danger, Danger, DANGER!!!"
Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:15 PM | Comments (8)
When He Gets Home, I Hope His Momma
...kicks his ass.
-May 18: Taliban bullet shatters a wall an inch from face of U.S. Marine from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit during firefight with Taliban near Garmser in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:27 AM | Comments (10)
In All Honesty, I Can See $5 For a Nathan's Dog
But a NINEDOLLAHFITTYCENT BUDWEISER?!?!?!?
• $9.50 for Budweiser on tap.• $10.50 for Foster's beer on tap.
• $5.75 for a box of Cracker Jacks.
• $8 for Italian sausage.
• $5 for a Nathan's hot dog.
Not even for my boys would I spend that.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:19 AM | Comments (6)
You Know, I Really Don't Give A Rat's Ass
About what other countries think of us
Pitching his message to Oregon's environmentally-conscious voters, Obama called on the United States to "lead by example" on global warming, and develop new technologies at home which could be exported to developing countries."We can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times ... and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK," Obama said.
"That's not leadership. That's not going to happen," he added.
And I'm really getting tired of our "leaders" trying to fellate foreign media. I don't care if the Brits want to eat everything fried or if the French want to smoke the stinkiest damn cigarettes imaginable; they can do what they want.
"Leadership" is not getting everyone to like you and say nice things about you.
"Leadership" is not forcing your people to abide by some other's standards and look to another country for approval; that's treason.
"Leadership" is doing what is best and right for your country, and the foreign opinion be damned.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:39 AM | Comments (7)
May 16, 2008
An Island
...after my own heart.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 07:59 PM | Comments (12)
Good News, Gazers!
From now on, you don't need a subway grate...
...to peek up skirts in Florida!
An Escambia County Judge set a new legal precedent in the case of a former high school teacher charged with voyeurism.Judge G.J. Roark ruled that upskirting a woman with a mirror in a public place, is not illegal under Florida's voyeurism statute. Pensacola Police arrested former Catholic High teacher Brian Presken when a woman accused him of looking up her skirt with a mirror at the Barnes and Noble bookstore in Pensacola last summer.
No ruling yet from the judge on what happens if victims hereafter choose to kick the shit out of the asshole with the mirror vice calling police, since it follows that there should be no expectation of being safe from an ass kicking in a public place, then.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 07:04 PM | Comments (5)
Oh, God Love 'Er
"Great shot, girlfriend!"...
..."I understand when you're running for office you sometimes think the world revolves around you. That is not always true. And it is not true in this case," she said.
...ths says, as she
in delight.Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:29 PM | Comments (5)
Bumper Sticker Contest
Wunder is having a bumper sticker contest. Go give it your best shot!
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 12:30 PM | Comments (5)
Sorry
I couldn't resist it.
I am weak.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:27 PM | Comments (6)
The Burmese Horror Keeps Growing
Now it's reached 78,000
The official death toll for Burma's cyclone disaster has jumped to almost 78,000 people, with nearly 56,000 missing, according to state TV.Previously, Burma was giving a toll of 43,000 dead and 28,000 missing while the Red Cross and United Nations had estimated a death toll above 100,000.
Aid agencies are frustrated at the slow progress of aid to areas worst hit.
Cyclone Nargis battered southern regions of Burma, including the Irrawaddy Delta, on 2-3 May.
A BBC reporter in the delta this week saw little sign of official help and foreign aid workers have been barred from the area.
Foreign aid workers barred. Jesus H. Christ. I can understand Chinese reluctance, as they have millions of troops able to help out with their earthquake relief, but these bastards in Burma? Oh wait, they say everything is honky-dory now
Burmese Prime Minister Thein Sein has announced that the "first phase of emergency relief" is over and that the focus is now on reconstruction.
Nothing to see here folks, move along.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 11:42 AM | Comments (5)
It's As If Cruel Fate
...engineered a Salvador Dali nightmare.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:13 AM | Comments (2)
Obviously, They've Never Read Some Of My Poems
I bet I could give him a run for his money
Poems by the man ridiculed as "the world's worst poet" are expected to fetch up to £6,500 at auction.Thirty-five of William McGonagall's works - many of them autographed - are going under the hammer on Friday.
The ditties by "The Tayside Tragedian" have been valued in the same league as Harry Potter first editions signed by JK Rowling.
McGonagall, who died in 1902, was often mocked and had food thrown at him during readings in Dundee.
Now here was a real artist, a man who interacted with his adoring public
"He tried to hawk these poems around the streets of places like Dundee and he was notoriously encouraged to give performances just so people could make fun of him."Poet-baiting became an ongoing activity, they used to throw vegetables at him and all sorts."
Poet-baiting.
I love that.
Everyone's homework assignment for the weekend is to email me some of the worst, most tortured drek they wrote during those teen angst years and I'll publish it next week. You know you all did it. We're all friends here. We won't laugh.
Well, in fact we will, which is the point.
Go hit those crap scrap books!
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:16 AM | Comments (3)
Best Headline I've Seen In A While
I wonder if the guy is auditioning for the NY Post?
Naked Ugg boot ram-raider jailedA man who ram-raided a supermarket dressed in only a pair of Ugg boots has been jailed for four years.
David Ball, 32, from Tyseley, Birmingham, ram-raided a supermarket and stole about £1,500 of cigarettes.
"Naked Ugg Boot Ram-Raider"
My goodness.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:07 AM | Comments (3)
May 15, 2008
Is Angelina Jolie Canadian?
Via Ace, I mean, I know the winters are mighty long up in The Great White North, and Canadians are upset about polar bear testicles and stuff, but it seems to me that this is carrying their carvingcraving for some Nanook nookie a little too far
A Winnipeg woman who accidentally plunged a knife into her boyfriend's chest during a drunken bout of rough sex received a three-year conditional discharge yesterday.... Allan said the man and woman had been drinking heavily and were engaged in "rough sex activities" when the man requested she "carve artwork" into his chest.
"He said they engaged in dangerous play, and due to her intoxication, was not precise with the knife and punctured his heart," Allan said.
The man told police the stabbing was an accident and that the two routinely cut and scratched each other with knives. The man showed police several wounds, including a heart-shaped scar on his back featuring the woman's initials.
I wonder if she made him a "get well carve"?
Her teachers always said she was a knife girl from a good family.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 02:01 PM | Comments (23)
No Thanks, I'll Stick With Geno's
I don't want schmancy cheese; I want da' Whiz
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ― Sliced, sizzled and slathered with cheese ... the famous Philly cheesesteak serves as an iconic representation of our city and now, an expensive luxury.That's because Chef James Locascio, of Rittenhouse Square's Barclay Prime, created Philadelphia's "haute" cheesesteak, an upscale version of the sandwich that includes butter poached lobster and shaved truffles.
"It's every ingredient you want to try in a life time in one," said Locascio.
Still, that kind of lavishness doesn't come cheap. For one cheesesteak, expect to pay $100. That is nearly 15 times more than the original.
Truffles? Lobster?
Pffft.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 01:26 PM | Comments (3)
Happy Birthday to Kcruella!!!
My cosmic twin, who ~ oddly enough ~ shares a birthday with...
...the Enumclaw Mountain Man (aka brother-born-between-ths-and-Bingley).
A happy, Happy Birthday to you, sweet little brother!!!
Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:33 AM | Comments (5)
No Wonder The Von Trapps Left
So Long, Fare Well,
Auf Wiedersehen, Adieu
I'll take my axe
To you and you and yoo-u
(CNN) -- An Austrian man has confessed to killing five members of his family with an ax, Vienna police said Wednesday.The man walked into a Vienna police station early Wednesday and told authorities he had killed his wife and 7-year-old daughter early Tuesday, police spokesman Michael Braunsperger said.
The man, a self-employed public relations consultant according to The Associated Press, said he had also murdered both his parents and his father-in-law in the cities of Ansfelden and Linz, respectively, the spokesman said.
Police found the five victims, who had all been killed with an ax, Braunsperger said. The man said his motive was "financial difficulties."
"He said he'd been speculating on the financial markets and had lost everything, so he ... wanted to spare his family the shame," Braunsperger said.
What a thoughtful guy. I wonder if that's a traditional Austrian saying: "Spare the shame and axe the child."
Austria certainly has had its share of wackos lately, hasn't it?
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:17 AM
The End Of An Era...
Tim Blair has moved his blog to here, which seems to be run where he works...and now it's moderated. It's just starting up and the delay seems to be down to under 10 minutes before something is posted, but it still will crimp the 'live conversation with someone around the world' aspect that made the old site such a blast.
And there's no Mistress Andrea to keep the naughty folks in line.
Sigh.
That's progress, folks.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:43 AM
May 14, 2008
Today's Version of "If I Ran the Zoo"
"...said young Gerald McGrew."
...I know it’s all relative, but if I come back as a lab rat in another life, I hope I’m forced to eat powdered drink mixes instead of having a cigarette shoved in my little rat piehole or made to wear experimental lipstick.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:39 AM | Comments (3)
Baby You Can Fly My Car
Somewhere Gaia is crying
The Lexus LS600H, which costs £84,000, was a gift from Lexus to the 65-year-old former Beatle, who helped promote the hybrid vehicle.But instead of arriving by boat as expected, the car was flown to Britain on a Korean Air flight, creating a carbon footprint almost 100 times bigger than if it had come by sea.
Gawd, I just love this stuff.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:48 AM | Comments (2)
May 13, 2008
In Most Instances, ENORMOUS Faux Pas. But In Bingley's Case
...it's a necessary evil.
• The applicant smelled his armpits on the way to the interview room.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 06:28 PM | Comments (5)
"That Is What the Average Punter Wants."
Here. Let me help you with that:
A vicar is to apply for a drinks licence so he can sell wine and beer at his small village church.The Reverend Geraint ap Iorwerth could be made licensee of St Peter ad Vincula Church in Pennal, near Machynlleth, close to the Powys-Gwynedd border.
He joked that there were plans to serve more than just spirits, though, with lager and wine on the menu too.
Oh, and a punster, too, God love 'im!! (Of course, you'd have to be half in the bag just to read that second line correctly.)
Praise 'n raise ~ it might just catch on. The Reverend's a pretty cutting edge guy himself.
And a tip o' the warm Swill cup to al dente for the find.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:30 PM
Oh, GET a GRIP, People!!
Man fined for buckling in beer, leaving kid looseEveryone KNOWS the the kid's insured but the beer's NOT.
Police 'shocked and appalled' after Australian leaves 5-year-old on car floor
Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:36 AM | Comments (1)
May 12, 2008
It Depends If You See the Salt Cavern As Half Empty
...or half full.
..."The purpose of the reserve is not for price manipulation," said a White House spokesman. "The modest fill rate has a negligible impact on prices, and the President believes it is in our national security interest to continue filling it up."One oil trader said the president is actually making the right decision, and filling the SPR could even lower prices.
"It acts as a deterrent," said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Alaron Trading in Chicago. "If it was twice the size, we'd be less concerned about disruptions from places like Nigeria or Iran."
Dude...
Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:59 PM | Comments (5)
Where One Hand Doesn't
...wash the other. Oil companies are raking in it at the moment but independent refiners seem to be missing the joy ride.
Times are so tough for oil refiners in America that success is measured not so much in gains as in their ability to stay afloat....Rising crude prices have hit oil refiners hard with increasingly thin margins, since gasoline and other products aren't keeping pace. Even though Holly is one of the leaders in the industry, its shares have dropped 35.0% over the past year. That's only half the story though. According to Byrne, Holly and its peers have also been hurt by weakening gasoline demand in the United States, which is the biggest driver behind independent refiners.
Oh, we need them going under like a hole in the ozone.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:44 PM | Comments (3)
Headline Reads: "Marine Corps Surpasses Recruiting Goal"
The Marine Corps far surpassed its recruiting goal last month and could eventually be more than a year ahead of schedule in its plan to grow the force to 202,000 members.All military services met or exceeded their monthly recruiting goals in April, with the Marine Corps signing 142 percent of the number it was looking for, the Pentagon said.
So who do they show in the picture accompanying the article?
Some dork ass Army recruiter. [Ed.: Apologies to JeffS...sort of.] [Sheesh. And Cullen.] [But I'm NOT sayin' sorry to...well...you know who. I'm just not.] [Tough.] [Suck it up, Gator Girl.]
Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:15 PM | Comments (4)
I Don't Think There's Enough Material
...to technically call it a prom "dress".
Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:59 PM | Comments (9)
Who’d Vote for THAT Cranky, Lyin’, Cheatin’, Ancient Ass Old Bastard??
I mean really?!?!! Lemme 'splain how I came to this.
Instapundit's link to a post on a NYT story yesterday got me thinking. Not because of the obvious 'inconsistencies' in the story itself, but because they use the term "soft touch" to describe it. A little background ~ being one of the three households left in the country who actually GET the NYT Sunday edition thrown inaccurately towards our vehicles each weekend, I got to see the SECOND Obama article as presented IN the paper and found the ‘soft focus’ of the two HUGE pictures accompanying it off-putting enough that I couldn't even read it. I just waved it at major dad and sputtered something unladylike (I think it had to do with lubrication ~ of the camera lens.). This warm fuzzy took up two thirds of the bottom half...
...while an close-up of earnest Obama eyes dominating two thirds of the top. In FULL color, the both of them.
Major, MAJOR Barrack MacDreamyQuiverin', leg MacShiverin' material. Sweet baby Jesus, who doesn't just want to HUG this guy?!?!?!
While bringing this obvious tilt of the old girl's beam to light for those subscriptionless losers in the world, I stumbled across the NYT bio page of the sweet son of HOPE and CHANGE. Dear. God. Every headline is poetry! Struggle, unity, pragmatism, STAR POWER, race, closing income gaps, dogs and cats, living together....STOP. Hold the sandtrout!
He IS the KWISATZ HADERACH and controls the Spice.
Take a deep cleansing breath. Now. For perspective, contrast those with the headlines a la John McCain's NYT bio. Hence, my post title. They reveal nothing but a broken down old man dealing in ghosts, busted marriages, developers’ ties, Republicans and his own arrogance.
And he'll probably die any minute. He's THAT f*ckin' old, in case you didn't notice.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:58 AM | Comments (2)
May 10, 2008
Irish Stink
Well, I deployed the Irish StinkSpring
and got rid of the old bars
Man, the yard stinks so bad now I don't want to go in it...
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:19 PM | Comments (10)
Bambi...
You hungry
little turd
Eating away at both my grapes and my Granny Smith tree!
(And someday I'll figure out how to get non-blurry macro close ups...)
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:13 AM | Comments (10)
May 09, 2008
A Bad Case of Corn
...smut.
...What everyone is trying to avoid admitting is that the one enduring objective of ethanol supports--a purpose known to every politician who voted for them--was precisely to jack up the price of corn. And everyone knew the calculation behind that goal: the purpose of ethanol supports was to buy votes in Iowa by boosting the profits of farmers at the expense of everyone else.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:21 AM | Comments (9)
“Saturday night, all I heard was 12 cracks in a row.”
So said 78 year old WW2 vet Dale Davis, who on Saturday night bowled his first perfect 300 game. Oh, by the way, he's blind
A perfect game. The most difficult achievement a bowler can accomplish.It’s even more impressive when a blind World War II veteran does it.
That was the scene at Saturday evening’s All-League Playoffs at Century Lanes in Alta. Dale Davis, just three months from his 79th birthday, his sight stolen years ago by macular degeneration, rolled 12 consecutive strikes in front of an enthusiastic and supportive crowd. The effort was the first-ever 300 game at Century.
“It was quite a thrill,” Davis said of the achievement. “When I got to the tenth frame, I said ‘Lord, let me throw three more good balls.’ When I did, people on other teams were yelling and cheering. A few guys were hugging me and almost broke my skinny bones.”
With his neatly combed back hair and 115-pound frame, Davis is proud of the fact he still uses the heaviest ball available, explaining that he and his ball “weigh over 130 pounds together.”
God bless him.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:40 AM | Comments (4)
Burmese Bastards
My god, those poor people in Myanmar. The dictatorship is stealing the aid
The World Food Programme has halted aid shipments to Burma after the contents of its first delivery were impounded on arrival in the military-ruled country.The UN body says the Burmese government seized aid material flown in to help victims of Cyclone Nargis, which has killed tens of thousands.
The WFP said it had no choice but to halt aid until the matter was resolved.
I'm sure the UN is getting ready a very strong letter even as we speak.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:29 AM | Comments (6)
May 08, 2008
"Mugabe"
...ring a bell? Why foreign real estate is always an 'iffy' thing. One socialist president and there goes the farm.
American Rancher Resists Land Reform Plans in BoliviaFrom the time Ronald Larsen drove his pickup truck here from his native Montana in 1969 and bought a sprawling cattle ranch for a song, he lived a quiet life in remote southeastern Bolivia, farming corn, herding cattle and amassing vast land holdings.
... After armed standoffs with land-reform officials at his ranch this year, Mr. Larsen made it clear which side he was on, emerging as a figure celebrated in rebellious Santa Cruz Province and loathed by Mr. Morales’s government, which wants to reduce ties to the United States.
“I just spent 40 years in this country working my land in an honest fashion,” said Mr. Larsen, who resembled Clint Eastwood with his weathered features and lanky frame. “They’re taking it away over my dead body.”
Could be.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:40 PM | Comments (1)
"Overweight, Binge-Drinking Reality TV Addicts"
As a famous bloke once said,
“I beseech you in the bowels of Christ think it possible you may be mistaken.”
Unfortunate as 'twould seem, apparently there's been no mistake.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:27 PM
Spring!
The vineyard is growing
the bushes are flowering
and Claude wants a treat for taking a dump
ain't life grand?
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:19 PM | Comments (6)
A Burqa In Manhattan
So I'm walking to catch the bus home today, and as I round the corner onto Broadway right there by the naked bull in Bowling Green what do I damn near bump into but some scowling fellow wearing muslim garb and a woman in a toe-length burqa. I was stunned.
You know, I'm a big believer in the freedom of religion. You can worship, or not worship, whatever deity floats your boat. And I will defend that right until my dying breath.
But you do not, no matter what your god or prophet or spaghetti monster says, under any circumstances, have the right to enslave another human being. We've spent hundreds of years, and spilled the blood of hundreds of thousands of our fellow Americans, as we've stumbled towards the dream f all of us being equal before the law and each other, and I will be god-damned if I'm going to quietly sit around and allow people to be treated like chattel in our country.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:52 PM | Comments (12)
Using Spain's Own Twisted, Rapacious Logic
Spain demands return of $500 million treasure
Court battle over U.S. deep-sea firm's shipwreck haul intensifiesSpain is demanding a U.S. deep-sea exploration firm turn over the entire $500 million treasure it salvaged from a shipwreck, saying Thursday it has determined the vessel is definitely Spanish.
James Goold, a Washington-based lawyer who represents the Spanish government, said the 19th-century shipwreck at the heart of a dispute with Odyssey Marine Exploration is without a doubt the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes — a Spanish frigate sunk by a British warship southwest of Portugal in 1804.
...WHY then wouldn't the wreckage technically be British because it's a war prize?
Don Massaredo: Mmm... I wonder if their excellencies realize they're setting free a man who will doubtless be a thorn in their side for many years to come.Hornblower: I shall endeavor not to disappoint them. sir.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:33 PM | Comments (18)
The Next Senator From Pennsylvania?
He's getting the rightresume together
NEW KENSINGTON, Pa. -- A local principal was arrested in a sex sting.Kim Sean Crummie, the principal of Valley Middle School in the New Kensington-Arnold School District, has been charged with sex crimes.
According to police, Crummie met with the undercover officer in the men's bathroom at Harrison Park in Harrison Township. It was there that Crummie allegedly made his indecent proposal to the officer.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 12:41 PM | Comments (1)
Shockingly, His Name Isn't McCartney
Though I'm sure Macca was often tempted
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- A Florida man is accused of ripping off his wife's prosthetic leg during a fight after leaving a sports bar.Officers in Port St. Lucie said they found a 29-year-old woman in a sport utility vehicle Tuesday night with a bruised eye and missing a leg and pants.
Police then questioned the woman's husband, Luis Ramirez, 35, who said he was arguing with his wife after leaving a bar, TCPalm reported. He denied stealing her leg.
The woman told police that Ramirez became possessed and started screaming.
Ramirez was jailed on battery charges, Local 6 reported.
For those non-lawyers amongst our readership: "stealing a leg" in Florida is not a felony...it's a "misde-femur."
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:24 AM | Comments (14)
Capt. Von Trapp He's Not
I really have refrained from commenting on this horrific story in Austria because it's just too disgusting for words, and it just keeps getting more bizarre. Now today we hear that the poor fellow is upset about his image
Fritzl's lawyer, Rudolf Mayer, said his client had access to a television in jail and was closely watching coverage of his case, which has garnered worldwide attention.Mayer said Fritzl was bothered by the fact that he was being made out to be a monster. He said Fritzl told him, "I'm only being portrayed as a monster and not as someone who committed monstrous acts."
I love the parsing. I'm not a monster; no, no, no; I'm just a person who has done monstrous things for decades. Really, I'm aces.
Blech.
Oh, and there's this gem
Mayer made his comments when asked to confirm a report Wednesday by the newspaper Oesterreich that quoted Fritzl as saying he was not a monster and that without him, his 19-year-old daughter Kerstin would no longer be alive.
Well, quite frankly, you disgusting scumbag, the poor dear would not be alive in the first place if you hadn't constructed a dungeon to drug, rape, impregnate and imprison your own daughter for decades. Repeatedly. So don't try and wrap yourself in this "Oh, but I saved her" cloak of complete and total bullshit.
Is there any reason why this complete and totally vile despicable thing, who has confessed to all of this intentional, premeditated horror, is not just taken out and shot?
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:50 AM | Comments (4)
May 07, 2008
"We Need to Get Everybody Out"
Oh. NOW the guy develops a sense of urgency.
Brilliant.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:08 PM | Comments (6)
Because I Need A Laugh Tonight
Via Damian Penny I proudly present this link to our Cultural Superiors in Europe and their leading lights, the Leningrad Cowboys and the Red Army Choir doing "Sweet Home Alabama"
I really love the addition of the "Volga Boat Song" at the end there. Really makes the piece for me.
Remember, folks: it's the high opinion of these folks that our political class is so desirous of winning back...
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:57 PM | Comments (4)
Warning ~ Sympathy Meter Pegged!
Frustrated owners try to unload their guzzlersAfter paying $75 to fill his black Dodge Ram pickup truck for the third time in a week, Douglas Chrystall couldn't take it anymore.
Feeling pinched at the pump, and guilty as well, Chrystall, a 39-year-old father from Wellesley, is putting ads online to sell the truck, and the family's other gas-guzzler, a Jeep Grand Cherokee.
WAAAAAA.
SUVs were, ARE and EVER WILL BE a stupid indulgence for your everyday ride.
Rare is the individual who actually needs a Ford F-150 or Toyota Tundra or Hummer or the like to haul their butts into the office, or their precious chittlins to soccer practice (Less mind actually park one efficiently enough that two other spaces aren't taken up by their behemoth...but that's a personal pet peeve.). There were plenty of efficient, safe and stylish means for the transport of you and yours (Every Dodge minivan we've rented for out-of-state shows has gotten 26+ mpg screaming along at 75+ mph and loaded to the gills with my crap. If we'd packed, say, an Excursion/Suburban instead? Hurt city.) which would have answered your needs nicely while being a responsible choice. AND one that now would have left you saying "whew!" instead of "wow!" He's not filling up any more times a week, it's just COSTING him more. Let me re-iterate:
WAAAAAAA.
Gas and oil have been on an upwards trajectory for years, so you can't claim you weren't warned. Perhaps in your self-indulgent world you didn't notice, but that's a different thing entirely. Perhaps you haven't bothered to tweak the driving you do do in your ridiculous vehicle ~ habits are hard to break ~ like combining trips vice separate rambles for every little thing?
Thankfully somebody's starting to think, though, since the gains in today's weekly crude stockpile report were pretty impressive:
According to the Dept. of Energy, crude stockpiles for the week ended May 3 rose by 5.7 million barrels. Analysts had forecast that inventories would increase by a smaller amount of 1.6 million barrels.
Almost 3 times the build that analysts had expected. Of course, in the perverse little universe we're inhabiting at the moment, that doesn't equate to falling prices ~ back into record territory right after the announcement, which has been a pretty consistent pattern as well.
Perhaps Mr. Chrystall's champagne tastes exist because he's too young to remember 1973: even-odd fill-up days, sometimes no gas at all, the regular reports from the NYC news media helicopters as they counted oil tankers off the New Jersey coast and the American public incredulous about how geo-political events were inconveniencing us. The conservation learning curve came real quick, as did the sticker shock, as did the appearance of something called "the economy car". No one had heard of a 'B210' before that and most only knew 'Datsun' as something from a bad joke. (...and the dealer said "Dat soon?")
Ah. He's probably too young, but one would think a little common sense would creep into a young guy's consciousness someway, somehow, for at least ONE of the family's vehicles. I mean, LOOK at the PICTURE in the article! Big ass show tires on fancy rims and a king cab to boot, with God knows what else motor-wise. Good Lord. What a DOOFUS. (WAAAA>>>)
Now, us? Rat ass Commando Wagon/ '87 Pathfinder (17 mpg @ 340+ K miles) for hauling my stuff, couple of older German cars (23 and 24 mpg respectively) and the everyday go-to vehicle? A '96 Camry (27 mpg). Ebola's POS (as it's fondly referred to) aka '94 MX-3 settles in around 31mpg and even our much loved little red truck of death ('85 SR-5 4X4 'yota ~ Skyler should remember it) averaged 24 mpg. (All mpg's 'around town'.) It's always been a factor for us and would have seemed irresponsible not to be. And, wouldn't you know, the ONE time the fickle finger of SUV seduction waved in my direction, I went to my boys at CarTalk and looked up the Ford Expedition. Their very first sentence of the review?
"There's no reason on EARTH for ANYBODY to own this car."
That ruined it for me. I felt guilty and dirty and cheap that I'd even considered it. WAAAAA.
I remember major dad telling Real JeffS this past January about how we thought gas should get to $4 and stay there, because that would be about the price where Americans would consciously start to conserve. Economics would force what common sense, tree hugging, Al Gore, government and technology couldn't. And it sure looks like we're coming to it.
If I were Mr. Chrystall, I sure as hell woulda dumped that truck before everyone else started rushing for the exits.
Or at least park the thing and get the last '96 Camry in town.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 02:21 PM | Comments (12)
If I Were the "Supervisor of Teachers"
...I'd watch my ass.
Florida Substitute Teacher Fired, Accused of Wizardry...Jim Piculas said he made a toothpick disappear and reappear in front of students at the Rushe Middle School in Land 'O Lakes, Fla., Local6.com reported. He said he later got a call from the supervisor of teachers, saying he had been accused of wizardry.
Wizard bytes kan be pretti nasti...
A warm Swill salute to Sad Old Goth.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 02:05 PM | Comments (6)
"Lick My Swizzle Stick"?
Sorry.
I'm a sucker for bad pick-up lines.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:15 PM | Comments (4)
When "Courage" and "Heroine" Weren't Used So Lightly
...this sweet, brave lady personified both. In the name of love.
For marrying the only man she ever loved, Mildred Loving paid a price: She was arrested, convicted and banished from her home state....[But] in Caroline County word spread to the commonwealth's attorney, the equivalent of a district attorney, that the two had married. He obtained a warrant for their arrests. One July night, the Lovings woke up about 2 a.m. to the see the sheriff and deputies surrounding their bed, shining flashlights and demanding to know who Mildred Loving was.
Loving explained: "I'm his wife." Richard Loving rushed to show the men their marriage certificate. The sheriff was not moved.
"That's no good here," he said."They told us to get up, get dressed. I couldn't believe they were taking us to jail," Loving said.
The Lovings were indicted by a county grand jury and pleaded guilty to violating the 1924 Racial Integrity Act, another version of the state's anti-miscegenation law. Judge Leon M. Bazile sentenced the couple to a year in jail but suspended the sentence for 25 years on the condition that they leave the state and not return together during that time.
To avoid jail time, the Lovings moved to Washington, D.C., but the years in exile were difficult. Loving missed her family, her friends, the rural life. In 1963, she wrote to Robert F. Kennedy, then the U.S. attorney general, and asked for his help.
Mrs. Loving died this past Friday.
We are ever so grateful to her.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:59 AM | Comments (6)
Socialist BASTARD!!!
New London mayor bans booze on public transportThe common man is skeptical...
..."Perhaps the mayor will come out with his underpants on over his trousers like Superman one Saturday to show us how it should be done," he added.
Be careful what you wish for, Earthling.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:50 AM | Comments (1)
Uncle Walt
...is spinning like a top.
Andy Marlette strikes again.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:41 AM | Comments (3)
Tick Tick Tick For Billary
So Obama won NC convincingly and Hill barely won Indiana, with the result being that Obama has slightly increased his lead in the delegate count. Mind you, I guess it shows that there are still deep racial divisions in this country for Michelle O. to bemoan about when Hillary wins the white vote 59 to 36 (I'm guessing the balance of folks rightly refused to answer the question) but it shows unity and pride, not racially-based voting, when Obama wins the black vote 91 to 6.
Whatever.
I'm so tired of this endless campaign. It's been going on literally for years, and at this point we have 3 very unsatisfactory candidates.
And still 6 freakin' months until the election.
Where's my drink...
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:59 AM | Comments (5)
May 06, 2008
Yesterday It Was 4,000
...today it's more than 22,000 dead
YANGON, Myanmar (CNN) -- A Myanmar government radio station said Tuesday that more than 22,000 people are dead and the U.N. estimates up to a million could be homeless after the catastrophic cyclone that battered the country.A news broadcast on the state-run station said Tuesday that 22,464 people had been confirmed dead from Cyclone Nargis. The broadcast added that thousands more were missing.
How awful. And how awful that the military dictatorship there evidently was rather slow in getting storm warnings out to people.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:18 AM | Comments (4)
Sveinbjörn Halldórsson
Via Tim, how can you not love the manly tale of a fellow whose name does not mean "hold the door, pig boy"
Sveinbjörn Halldórsson, a 44-year-old real-estate agent from Reykjavík, drives a Chevy S10 pickup with a souped-up engine, 44-inch tires with spikes, and four kinds of radios and phones on the dashboard. Filling up the truck's 240-liter tank (about 63 gallons) for the weekend costs him nearly $500, with gas costing $7.84 a gallon. He rolls with one of many so-called gangs on Iceland's highly competitive 4x4 off-road vehicle scene....Samúel "Wolf" Thór Gudjónsson, a lanky 21-year-old electrician with long blond rocker's hair, joined with dozens of other jeep fans earlier this month to protest climbing fuel prices, blocking oil companies' depots. Others drove their jeeps through the city's streets at 5 miles an hour to demand cuts in fuel taxes.
Demonstrations are rare in stoical Iceland, a country of only 300,000 people. But the threat to jeep habits is just too much. Alfred "Spotti" Bergisson, a 26-year-old plumber who drives a beefed-up Toyota Land Cruiser, is willing to fight for his right to party. "I just want to go where I want to go," he says. "I get energy in the mountains. I think there."
Reykjavík's 6,000-strong 4x4 Club has clout. It previously talked the government into letting its once-outlaw trucks pass inspections, despite supersized wheels with studs that rip up roads. Many of the trucks wouldn't be street-legal elsewhere in Europe.
That's 2% of the population; the equivalent of a group in the US with 6 million members. That's some clout, folks.
And who says local craftsmanship is dead?
Many 4x4 enthusiasts wield their own blowtorches, rebuilding big American and Japanese 4-wheel-drive off-roaders to suit their taste. Local innovations include exhaust-fed balloons that can lift cars out of snowdrifts, and the "bumper dumper" -- a flip-down toilet seat on trucks' rear end for use in the wild.
A toast to you, my lads!
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:50 AM | Comments (2)
May 05, 2008
Just What We've All Been Waiting For
The McGreevey divorce trial!
TRENTON — She claims she was duped into marriage by a closeted gay man who needed the cover of a wife to advance his political career. He says he gave her a child and the coattails she rode to the governor's mansion, thus fulfilling the marriage contract....McGreevey, 50, who now lives with a male partner and is studying to be an Episcopal priest, says in his book the marriage was "a contrivance on both our parts."
It was "your parts" which caused all this mess to begin with, buddy.
"Inherit The Wind" this ain't....
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:48 AM | Comments (7)
London's New Mayor
Born in New York
The 1990s were a decade of brilliance for Boris, capped in 1999 with the editorship ofThe Specator.He was still only 35 but this prize was far from the limits of his ambition. As a youngster, he once confided to a friend that he would like to be President of the United States. (His birth in New York made this possible, albeit ludicrous).
So long Red Ken!
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:04 AM | Comments (1)
May 02, 2008
Cannonball Express
...to Heaven's Gate, unfortunately.
Civil War Buff Killed By 19th Century Cannonball
Collector Sam White Was Restoring Cannonball When It Exploded...But in February, White's hobby cost him his life: A cannonball he was restoring exploded, killing him in his driveway.
More than 140 years after Lee surrendered to Grant, the cannonball was still powerful enough to send a chunk of shrapnel through the front porch of a house a quarter-mile from White's home in this leafy Richmond suburb.
...White estimated he had worked on about 1,600 shells for collectors and museums. On the day he died, he had 18 cannonballs lined up in his driveway to restore.
Note to self: when told to "put that thing back"...do it.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 05:25 PM | Comments (4)
We Love You, Son
If ever someone stood for Semper Fidelis...
Miracle Marine Dies...The former turret gunner was dubbed the "Miracle Man" for his determination in facing his wounds, which cost the former saxophone player his fingers and rippled his face with scars. He endured more than 40 surgeries, spent 17 months in a hospital and had to learn to walk again.
"Sometimes I do think I can't do it," he told The Associated Press last year. "Then I think: Why not? I can do whatever I want. ... Nobody has ever been 97 percent dead and survived, and lived to walk."
Bless your brave, brave heart, Leatherneck. And our deepest thanks to your family.
What a man they raised.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:10 PM | Comments (11)
My God, How Awful
I can't imagine what this poor girl's parents must think about this
MADISON, Wis. — A college student apparently called 911 from her cell phone shortly before she was killed but a dispatcher hung up, failed to call back and never sent police to investigate, authorities said Thursday.Madison Police Chief Noble Wray said it was too early to know whether a better response could have prevented the April 2 slaying of Wisconsin-Madison student Brittany Zimmermann or helped police capture her killer.
Authorities refused to release the content of the phone call, but Wray said it should have been enough for the Dane County 911 Center to take it seriously.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:47 AM | Comments (2)
The Accidental Tourist
He really didn't mean to escape...it just sort of happened
An inmate who was discovered outside the walls of an open prison claimed he had escaped from the jail by accident.William Whitson, 34, said he had no intention of absconding from Castle Huntly, near Dundee, and was simply running away from another inmate.
He was shown mercy by a sheriff after the court heard he was still wandering around near the prison two hours later.
Whitson had an extra three months added to his sentence, compared to the usual eight months for absconders.
One has to wonder how "minimum security" a facility this is where he could run away from another inmate and not be noticed by a guard.
I love this classic bit of understatement by his solicitor
"He accepts, with the benefit of hindsight, that it might have been better to report the matter to the prison authorities."
Hehehe.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:26 AM | Comments (2)
May 01, 2008
Is There Someone Out There Staring Back At Me?
Via Insta, a very interesting article from someone who really hopes we don't find evidence of life on Mars.
What could be more fascinating than discovering life that had evolved entirely independently of life here on Earth? Many people would also find it heartening to learn that we are not entirely alone in this vast, cold cosmos.But I hope that our Mars probes discover nothing. It would be good news if we find Mars to be sterile. Dead rocks and lifeless sands would lift my spirit.
Conversely, if we discovered traces of some simple, extinct life-form--some bacteria, some algae--it would be bad news. If we found fossils of something more advanced, perhaps something that looked like the remnants of a trilobite or even the skeleton of a small mammal, it would be very bad news. The more complex the life-form we found, the more depressing the news would be. I would find it interesting, certainly--but a bad omen for the future of the human race.
Neat stuff, and I guess I can agree with his general theory about the "Great Filter." I find it an intriguing idea, but I'm not so sure that I'd be so tied as he is in thinking there's a specific Great Filter event. Rather, I think that given how rare life may be it seems to me more likely that there are in fact many potential Great Filter moments that could prevent life in any one given place from evolving to the point where interstellar travel/colonization becomes feasible and survival "assured."
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 11:17 AM | Comments (26)
Considering The Crap Most Of Us Type...
...this is not surprising
Some computer keyboards harbour more harmful bacteria than a toilet seat, research has suggested.Consumer group Which? said tests at its London offices found equipment carrying bugs that could cause food poisoning.
Out of 33 keyboards swabbed, four were regarded as a potential health hazard and one harboured five times more germs than one of the office's toilet seats.
Oh, the damage to the atmosphere that will be caused today by people scurrying about to spray Lysol on their keyboards!
Here's an interesting bit of trivia:
They also found that on average women have three to four times the amount of germs in, on and around their work area.
That's because men lift the keyboard when they use it...
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:10 AM | Comments (8)
Relax, Folks. The Government Is Protecting Your Privacy
What could possibly go wrong?
There has been outrage in Italy after the outgoing government published every Italian's declared earnings and tax contributions on the internet....The finance ministry described the move as a bid to improve transparency.
Unbelievable.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:14 AM | Comments (1)
First They Came For Our Runny Eggs...
It's really amazing the crap they come up with in Trentoon. Once again, instead of actually cutting spending, which is what you and I, slovenly normal taxpayer citizen types that we are, do when the budget gets a little tight, our Beloved Betters in Trentoon are floating the idea of a new tax.
WINDSOR, N.J. (CBS) ― The sputtering economy has caused an increase in prices of many staples including gasoline, rice, ice cream, even beer. Now some lawmakers in New Jersey are considering taking food taxes a step further and install a proverbial "sin" tax on fast food....The thought of taxing a Big Mac or a Wendy's burger came up at a New Jersey Hospital Association meeting where Gov. Jon S. Corzine was asked if it could be an option to help fund struggling hospitals. At the meeting, he reportedly called it a "constructive suggestion."
Here's a "constructive suggestion" Speed Racer: cut spending by 10% across the board. Every Department. No exceptions. An immediate freeze on all hiring.
No
New
Taxes.
Everyone in Trentoon needs to go. There may be a few babies that get tossed with the bathwater, but when the water is so fetid, youse gots to do what youse gots to do.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:42 AM | Comments (2)