and got rid of the old bars

Man, the yard stinks so bad now I don't want to go in it...

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...)

...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.

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.

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.

American Rancher Resists Land Reform Plans in Bolivia

From 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.”

“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.

the bushes are flowering

and Claude wants a treat for taking a dump

ain't life grand?

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.

Spain 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.

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.

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."

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?

Brilliant.

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...