Yeah, Right, Whatever

It's Tuesday, and that means it's Cotillion Time. The "topic" that brings all the posts together is "How to be a Domestic Goddess"... uh... I gave up on that one a long time ago... sorry...

I do have other things to post about... really... but I thought this was pretty cool.

h/t to The Llama Butchers

(h/t to Jay Tea at Wizbang)I have found the perfect place for Franklin to be transferred to if Foamy becomes too much of an emotional drain on his psyche - Kandahar. Starschmucks could make a fortune on Canadian Army bases over there (and the American bases, now that I think about it). I mean, it's pretty obvious that Tim Hortons isn't interested in the business.

The Canadian Forces want to raise morale among troops deployed here by setting up the furthest flung coffee and doughnut franchise in the world: Tim Hortons Afghanistan.

But the Canadian icon is balking at the idea of opening shop at Kandahar Air Field, where more than 2,000 Canadian soldiers are being deployed this month, saying it "is not part of our business model."

What really stinks is that Tim Hortons have stores on Canadian bases in Canada. They wouldn't even have to set up a full service cafe in Kandahar- a kiosk-style set-up would make a fortune and raise morale. But... nooooo... it's not part of the business model. Why don't you just say you're against the troops being deployed and get it over with it.

So... who will step up and fill the void? Starschmucks? Seattle's Best? The Coffee Beanery? Dunn Bros.? It's A Grind? Come on... someone has to be willing to do this? I mean, there are quite a few American fast food chains in theater right now... why not add a little caffeinated love?

I'm willing to head up the project if someone can front me the start-up money, handle all the DOD paperwork, and set up childcare for the next couple of years... or maybe we could homeschool... talk about a learning experience!

I'm not sure how many of you heard about the Danish Cartoon Story, so... in a nutshell, a Danish newspaper published some editorial cartoons of Mohammed that were not as... flattering as many Muslims would have appreciated. They threw a hissy fit ( which is their right- free speech is still allowed in Denmark). IIRC, Denmark responded by saying, in Danish of course, "too bad. so sad."

For some reason, the Religion of Peace has a problem with people not caving in to their every whim. And they're taking action. The Saudi ambassador has been recalled from Denmark. Libya is shutting down its embassy. Two international Islamic organizations are calling for a UN resolution "banning attacks on religious beliefs" (as long as those attacks are aimed at Islam.... Islamofacists can attack other religions all they want). They're threatening suicide attacks in Denmark. Now, several Arab countries are boycotting Danish goods.

Here is a partial list of companies being boycotted.

Denmark is taking a stand for free speech and freedom of religion. Go, support them. You know you want to have a Calsberg or two, then have some Aalborg Akvavit with herring on rye chasers along with some Havarti. (OK, granted, I'll probably pass on the herring...)

Now, shoo... go shopping...

Last week, after the Judiciary Committee hearings concerning the confirmation of Judge Alito to the Supreme Court, Diane Feinstein (Dem.- California) said that she could see no reason for a filibuster of his confirmation. This week, she's changed her mind. Why's that? Mother Sheehan opened her mouth, that's why.

Gold star mother Cindy Sheehan has decided to run against California Senator Diane Feinstein if Feinstein does not filibuster the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Samuel Alito. While in Venezuela attending the World Social Forum, Sheehan learned that several Democratic Senators had announced their plans for a filibuster but that Senator Feinstein, who’s up for re-election in November, had stated she would vote against the nomination but not filibuster it. “I’m appalled that Diane Feinstein wouldn’t recognize how dangerous Alito’s nomination is to upholding the values of our constitution and restricting the usurpation of presidential powers, for which I’ve already paid the ultimate price,” Sheehan said.

That's not how it's being spun. I'm not sure what else Cindy's been saying, but that's from the e-mail that she sent out. This is how it's being played (so far) in the media.

Cindy Sheehan, the peace activist who set up camp near President Bush's Texas ranch last summer, said Saturday she is considering running against Sen. Dianne Feinstein to protest what she called the California lawmaker's support for the war in Iraq.

"She voted for the war. She continues to vote for the funding. She won't call for an immediate withdrawal of the troops," Sheehan told The Associated Press in an interview while attending the World Social Forum in Venezuela along with thousands of other anti-war and anti-globalization activists.

What more can I say? Run, Cindy! Run! (Seriously, she can't be much worse... right?)

Just go listen to this. It's in the Koran... right?

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the STS Challenger accident. Since then, the US has gone back into space, and then the STS Columbia accident occured, the fleet was grounded again, then up for one flight, and grounded once again.

For me, today is not a day to ask the tough questions. Those have been asked and will be asked again and again. Today is a day to remember those who died living out their dream.

The poem "High Flight" by pilot John Gillespie Magee, Jr. has become tied with the Challenger accident because President Reagan quoted the first and lines of the poem during the memorial service. Here it is:

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air. . . .

Up, up the long, delirious burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or ever eagle flew —
And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

*Thanks to my editor (Dad) I've fixed the crew photo.

That's the question asked by DJ at Polipundit. After much campaigning and voting, the winner has been announced... his name is... Emperor Darth Misha I.

From the final voting came this result:

The Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler – 81.0%
Ace (from Polipundit’s Comments) – 12.1%
Michael Yon – 06.9%

OK... it was a landslide, folks. No other way of interpretting that data. No whining about how Misha not playing fair or how he's a breakfast pastry. To quote me... yeah, right, whatever. Ace and Yon are cool... Misha is Jack.

Just one thing, Sire... from what I remember from each season, Jack's Main Squeeze doesn't always fair very well... you might want to give the Empress a heads up... just sayin'...

I'm not an expert when it comes to basketball... I know there are 5 players per team on the court at any one time, there is a free throw line and 3 point line, you have to bounce the ball a lot, and I stink at it. Is there anything I missed?

Oh, yeah... they have these things called technical fouls. According to Wikipedia, a T is "an infraction of the rules concerning unsportsmanlike non-contact behaviour." (A good example is Bobby Knight and his chair-tossing.)

So... why in the world would I, Little Miss Anti-Basketball, bring up technical fouls? Well, HDD sent me a link to a story... and I couldn't believe it. But... since it had to do with officiating, I gave it a second look. (Sorry, Dad... you're the only ref I usually trust... some are good... many are... not.)

COACH WHO EARNED HIS COURTESY CAR

And earned the right to run over a certain Conference USA officiating crew with it: Houston's Tom Penders. You probably heard that Penders drew a T last Saturday for having the gall to collapse on the sidelines during the Cougars' loss to UAB -- and that officials upheld the T even after they discovered that, gee, Penders wasn't lampooning a call, but was being wheeled out on a stretcher. Thankfully, Penders feels well enough now to laugh about the incident.

"It's a good thing I didn't die," he told the Houston Chronicle. "They [the Blazers] would have gotten two more free throws and possession."

I did a little more digging and found this:

Conference USA said yesterday that officials "exercised poor judgment" when they upheld a technical foul called on Houston coach Tom Penders after he collapsed Saturday during a game against UAB.
... Penders, 60, dropped to his knees, then fell face-down as UAB's Wen Mukubu drove to the basket and was fouled by Oliver Lafayette with 52 seconds left in the half and UAB leading 46-44. Officials called a technical foul on Penders, apparently thinking he was reacting to the foul call. But the game stopped, and the crowd hushed when Penders didn't get up.

The well-traveled Penders, who had stints at Columbia and Fordham, has cardiomyopathy, a congenital heart condition, and had a defibrillator implanted in his chest in 1997. Houston officials attributed the incident to Penders' heart condition and dehydration.

Officials refused to reverse the technical after Penders received medical attention, and UAB's Carldell "Squeaky" Johnson made both free throws.

Wow. I hadn't realized that passing out was unsportsmanlike conduct. Well, now we know. G*d forbid someone has something serious happen on the sideline... they might have to forfeit the game.

I'm glad that Conference USA is reviewing this and will send down some sort of sanctions. Maybe a little first aid training, while they're at it... that way the Zebras will know the difference between a temper tantrum and a heart attack.

Before I get into the story... let's get everyone's blood pressure good and raised... take a look at the cover of the new issue of Rolling Stone.

Just how many things are wrong with it? Really, just one... Kanye West isn't Jesus. Not even close. He's not even playing Jesus in a play or movie or anything... he's just being inflamatory.

The outspoken rapper defends his brash attitude inside the magazine's pages, on newsstands Friday. He is also pictured posing as Muhammad Ali.

"In America, they want you to accomplish these great feats, to pull off these David Copperfield-type stunts," he says. "You want me to be great, but you don't ever want me to say I'm great?"

Huh? So... because everyone wants you to be great, it's ok to equate yourself with Jesus? And then there's the whole "The Passion of Kanye West." Oh, yeah... makes sense to me. Not.

Well, of course, Christians are just a *little* upset. My buddy Charmaine (here is her post on the cover) was quoted in this news piece:

Christian activists are outraged by a Rolling Stone magazine cover that depicts rapper Kanye West as a Christ figure with a crown of thorns atop his head.

...Christian groups are outraged, and have called the cover image "sacrilegious" and an insult to Christians.

..."I think Kanye West is a distraction from the real story," Charmaine Yoest, vice president of the Family Research Council, told NewsMax.

"The real story is Rolling Stone mocking millions of Christians in this country and worldwide who believe in Jesus Christ.

"Let's just imagine they did this with Mohammed or one of the world's other major religions. There would be a huge outcry. But not with Christianity. They think they can attack Christianity with impunity.

"This is an issue of corporate responsibility."

She has a point. Christianity, for some reason, is always fair game. We don't have our own version of CAIR or ADL (well, we do have the FRC). As Christians, we're just too darn nice.

The Bible tells us that we will be persecuted for our faith. I'm not entirely sure that this is what God had in mind when He inspired those particular verses. This isn't persecution. If we don't stand up for what we believe, we can't expect anyone to take us seriously. After all, we're not taking it seriously- why should anyone else?

There is a difference between Kanye's photo and a photo of James Caviezel from The Passion of the Christ. Caviezel was playing a role, not mocking a religion. (And... interesting side note... Howard Stern presented a similar photo of himself to Rolling Stone in the 90s... and they rejected it. What changed?)

When the early Christians were being thrown to the lions, something interesting happened. Their willing sacrifice (calmly facing their death, knowing that they remained true to their faith) made those in the crowd take notice. Christianity actually spread by the deaths of the early Believers.

No, I'm not saying that we should throw ourselves into a lion's den, for goodness sake. I'm saying that if we just blow stuff like this off, saying "it's just today's culture," when we refuse to take a stand, we turn our backs on our faith... we turn our backs on God. And, no, it's not enough for Charmaine or Tim Wildmon (American Family Association) or Bill Donahue (the Catholic League) to do it. At some point, we each have to take a stand.

Personally, I've never purchased an issue of Rolling Stone. And I've never heard a Kanye West song. Never will. But, this does make me wonder if there are other things that I've become accustomed to that bring Christianity down.

Sen. John Kerry (D- Massachusetts) is calling for a filibuster of Judge Sam Alito's confirmation vote on his SCOTUS nomination.

Sen. John Kerry will attempt a filibuster to block the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court, CNN has learned.

Kerry, in Davos, Switzerland, to attend the World Economic Forum, was marshaling support in phone calls during the day, he told CNN.

Kerry said he told a group of Democratic senators Wednesday, and urged that they join him. Kerry said he has the support of fellow Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy.

Let's see... how many ways is this just plain STUPID???? A failed presidential candidate (no doubt just a little bitter) is calling for a whiny temper tantrum filibuster against a nominee who has majority support in the Senate, but who also has 60+% public support. Plus, at least one Democrat member of the "Gang of 14" has already said that she will not support a filibuster. And at least 3 Democrat Senators have pledged their votes to confirm Alito. And we can't forget that the bitter failed presidential candidate (who says he may run in '08... we could only be so lucky) maked his call for a filibuster from Europe, instead of from the floor of the Senate where any responsible Senator would have taken his stand.

Some senior Democrats told CNN they are worried that the move could backfire.

No, really? How could it backfire? Well, I mean, anymore than anything else with this confirmation process has backfired on them. The Democrats on the Judiciary Committee acted like a bunch of whiny kindergarteners during the hearings instead of with the dignity their office should demand. The public got a good look at a group of people who firmly believe that it's all about the sound bite and making themselves look good to their backers and not about what's best for the United States of America. It got so bad that Senator Byrd, the senior Democrat Senator, spent most of his debate time today chastizing his party for their juvenile beahavior. Now we have their chosen candidate for President of the United States in the last election calling for his fellow minority party members to bloke the up or down vote... from Europe...

Judge Alito has at least 54 votes in favor of confirmation. That's not going to change. Let Kerry call for a filibuster- it won't happen and it will just make him look even more like the whiny brat that he is.

Georges Sada, the Iraqi general who was second in command of Iraq's Air Force under Saddam Hussein, has written a new book, Saddam's Secrets, has revealed that Iraq's chemical weapons were sent to Syria prior to the 2003 invasion. He explains that 2 commercial airliners were stripped of their passenger seats and filled with weapons and sent to Damascus during 56 flights . This echoes what Israeli General Moshe Yaalon said in an interview last month.

Um... I could have sworn that I read reports of this in the blogosphere (LGF, DEBKA and RedState, to be specific- I'm looking for specific links) months if not years ago. But this is news because this is a high level Iraqi official confirming what everyone thought they knew- Iraq HAD WMDs, shipped them to Syria, and Baby Bashar al-Asad hid them.

Now, two questions arise. #1- how does the US prove it? I mean, it's not like Bashar al-Asad is just going to throw open the doors to his country and let us hunt for the WMDs. And, #2- if, by chance, we do find the WMDs, will the LLL acknowledge it?

Early voting results are in, and it looks like Hamas has won the Palestinian elections. And this is news why?

Mushir al-Masri, a Hamas candidate who won election in the northern Gaza Strip, said peace talks and recognition of Israel are "not on our agenda" but the group is ready for a partnership - presumably with Abbas.

Hamas has vowed to wipe Israel off the map. As Mancow pointed out this morning on Fox & Friends, what would we do if Al Qaeda was elected to lead the government of Canada? It's the same thing, really.

uh... Michael's at it again... can't say that I'm entirely surprised.

MANAMA, Bahrain - Michael Jackson visited a mall in Bahrain's capital Wednesday, covering himself in a black abaya robe traditionally worn by conservative Bahraini women and a veil hiding his face.... The 47-year-old pop star was accompanied by three children, apparently his, whose faces were covered with dark scarves. They wore yellow shirts and sweat pants or khakis, without robes.

Jackson, who seems to be settling in the Persian Gulf, was seen leaving Marina Mall holding a young child by the hand. On the way out through a back door, he shook hands with security guards.

He was wearing an abaya, a robe with long sleeves, under which his pants, white shirt and men's shoes could be seen. His head and face were wrapped in a black veil and he was wearing black gloves.

He was also seen in a women's bathroom, applying make-up.

uh... um... yup. I'm speechless.

Prince Harry, that is.

Prince Harry, completing his army officer training, has chosen to join a regiment which could be deployed in Iraq. Harry, 21, third in line to the throne, has opted to join the Blues and Royals regiment of the Household Cavalry, his father Prince Charles's Clarence House residence said Wednesday.

Granted, I don't know a whole lot about the British military. He can pick his orders? Is that just him, or any officer graduates from Sandhurst?

Harry hopes to become an armoured reconnaissance troop leader at the forefront of army operations.

In an interview to mark his 21st birthday in September, Harry insisted he would be willing to serve on the front line once his training days as Officer Cadet Wales are over.

"There's no way I'm going to put myself through Sandhurst and then sit on my arse back home while my boys are out fighting for their country.

"That may sound very patriotic, but it's true. It's not the way anyone should really work."

The last British royal to see military action was Harry's uncle Prince Andrew, who flew as a helicopter pilot in the Falklands War in 1982.

His last name is Wales? I thought it was Windsor... but I digress.

Like I said, gotta love Harry. He could have taken the easy way out and chosen a desk job or something.

I got this from Strange Cosmos... it make sense to me!

Recently, a California website ran an e-mail forum (a question and answer exchange) where the topic was "Policing the Community." One of the civilian email participants posed the following question:

"I would like to know how it is possible for police officers to continually harass people and get away with it?"

From the "other side" (the law enforcement side) a cool cop with a sense of humor replied:

It is not easy. In California we average one cop for every 2,000 people. About 60% of those cops are on patrol, where we do most of the harassing. One-fifth of that 60% are on duty at any given moment and are available for harassing people. So, one cop is responsible for harassing about 10,000 residents. When you toss in the commercial, business and tourist locations that attract people from other areas, sometimes you have a situation where a single cop is responsible for harassing 20,000 or more people each day.

A ten-hour shift runs 36,000 seconds. This gives a cop one second to harass a person, and three-fourths of a second to eat a donut AND then find a new person to harass. This is not an easy task. Most cops are not up to it, day in and day out. It is just too tiring. What we do is utilize some tools to help us narrow down those people which we harass.

They are as follows:

PHONE: People will call us up and point out things that cause us to focus on a person for special harassment. "My neighbor is beating his wife" is a code phrase we use. Then we come out and give special harassment Another popular one on a weeknight is, "The kids next door are having a loud
party."

CARS: We have special cops assigned to harass people who drive. They like to harass the drivers of fast cars, cars blasting music, cars with expired registration stickers and the like. It is lots of fun when you pick them out of traffic for nothing more obvious than running a red light. Sometimes you get to really heap the harassment on when you find they have drugs in the car, are driving drunk, or they have an outstanding warrant.

RUNNERS: Some people take off running just at the sight of a police officer. Nothing is quite as satisfying as running after them like a beagle on the scent of a bunny. When you catch them you can harass them for hours.

CODES: When you can think of nothing else to do, there are books that give ideas for reasons to harass folks. They are called "Codes". Penal, Vehicle, Health and Safety, Business and Professional Codes, to name a few. They spell out all sorts of things for which you can really mess with people. After you read the code, you can just drive around for a while until you find someone violating one of these listed offenses and harass them. Just last week I saw a guy smash a car window Well, the code says that is not allowed. That meant I got permission to harass this guy. It is a pretty cool system that we have set up, and it works pretty well.

We seem to have a never-ending supply of folks to harass. And we get away with it. Why? Because the good citizens who pay the tab actually like the fact that we keep the streets safe for them. Next time you are in my town, give me a single finger wave. That will be a signal that you wish for me to
take a little closer look at you, and then maybe I'll find a reason to harass YOU.

Looking forward to meeting you!

Have a Great Day!!!

The Blogosphere is all abuzz with righteous indignation over Joel Stein's latest op/ed piece for the LA Times. Many bloggers are calling for Stein's head on a silver platter. At first glance, I agreed.

Then I re-read the piece, and then this transcript of an interview that Stein did with Hugh Hewitt today. And I got to thinking.

I still think that Joel Stein is the ultimate in scum, and he's pretty darn clueless to boot. But... I have to admire him for one thing and one thing only... he's sticking by his convictions. To him, it's wrong to support the troops involved in a military action you don't agree with. It's disingenuous, to him, to say, " I support the troops but not the war." You can't have it both ways, according to Joel Stein.

Scary when I actually have to almost admire the little scum for the courage of his convictions.

Zombie has a photo essay taken at the Walk for Life in San Fran last Saturday. Zombie is neither pro-life or pro-choice... he just took the pictures. It's very interesting... Guys might be interested in Part 3. Just sayin'...

Your grandchildren do NOT... repeat... DO NOT want one(each) of these for their birthday and/or Christmas.

That is all...

Here's some of the stuff you may not have seen today:

• Joe Pesci decked a guy... for taking his picture.

  According to the police report, Montenegro, a student at Broward Community College, says he first saw the Oscar-winner in front of a Circuit City store and shook his hand. He then went inside to buy a camera, and came out to ask Pesci if he could take his picture.
  
  "Not now," was Pesci's purported response, as he kept walking to his car.
  
  Montenegro claims he followed Pesci, 62, who suddenly stopped and pulled an about face.
  
  The student says he then snapped a photo, and the "furious" actor gave him a case of smash mouth with his right fist.

  uh... then the idiot deserved the fat lip.
  
• A court decided that a rabbi can have prayer services in his home.

  In 2001, Konikov and his family were ordered by code enforcement officers to stop holding prayer meetings in their home, near Disney World, alleging he was in violation of local laws that forbade "operating a synagogue or any function related to a synagogue and/or church services. ..."
  
  The county issued Konikov another code violation in February 2002, and at a hearing the following month, he was given 60 days to stop the prayer gatherings or be fined $50 per day...
  
  In March 2002, Konikov filed his lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida after the county refused to negotiate a settlement.
  
  The district court initially dismissed the case, ruling the county's ordinance was permissible, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta later ruled the ordinance violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.
  
  The appeals court said ordinance was so "vague" that even the county's code enforcement officers were confused about how to properly apply it.

  You know, I might expect something like this in China. Or Cuba. Or... well, somewhere else. But not in Orlando, Florida. That is insane.
  
• You know all of those goofy names that celebrities give their kids (Kal-El Cage comes to mind for some reason)? Well... the kids don't like it!

  Peaches, the daughter of Sir Bob Geldof and the late Paula Yates, says her own name has made her life hell.
  
  Her given name in full is Peaches Honeyblossom Michelle Charlotte Angel Vanessa Geldof.
  
  She said: "I hate ridiculous names, my weird name has haunted me all my life."
  
  ...Peaches has three sisters named Fifi Trixabelle, Pixie and Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lilly.

  Let's see... Dweezil, Diva, and Moon Unit Zappa... Dandelion Richards, Apple Martin (daughter of Gwenyth Paltrow)... Tallulah Belle and Rumer Glenn Willis... geez- makes Aimee, Kelly, Jack, Eliot, Jessica and Louis (Ozzy Osborne's kids) seem absolutely... normal.
• Russia has its first baby conceived after one parent's death.

  Russia's first posthumously conceived child has been born in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg, television station NTV reported Friday. The baby boy was conceived using the frozen sperm of a man who had died nine years earlier, the station reported. The man's semen, frozen and stored at a Tel Aviv hospital where he had been treated for cancer, was brought to Yekaterinburg by his mother.

  So... this guy died nine years ago... his mother brings his sperm back to Russia, gets donor eggs, have them implanted in a surrogate, and is now raising her... grandson (who is "the image of his father")? Does anyone else see therapy in this child's future?
  
• And... in a study in contrasts, we have the Austin ISD planning a single-gender Young Women's Leadership Academy for grades six through twelve while Newsweek is reporting that "Boys in Every Demographic Are Falling Behind According to Almost Every Key Societal and Academic Metric". Wonder if AISD will have a boys' only campus as well... nothing like being a decade or two behind the times, Superintendent Forgione.
  

The Senate Judiciary Committee is having their one last Hurrah before they vote on whether or not to send Judge Sam Alito to the full Senate for an up or down vote. A talking head mentioned something interesting... and annoying.

It was pointed out that if Judge Alito is voted in as the next Supreme Court Justice, then the liberals will use it as a point of contention in the 2006 election. My first reaction was "well, duh" and then "oh, great... just what conservatives need"... but then I got to thinking...

Let them (the libs) use Judge Alito as their latest "bad guy." Mainstream America, all of those people that are supposed to be so far removed from Judge Alito's point of view, will see through their rhetoric to what the libs are trying to hide with all of their attacks- they have no real agenda... no real positive plans for America. They only want to defeat President Bush and the GOP. They wouldn't know what to do if they came back into power (well... except raise taxes and strip the military bare).

During their final "speeches" before the vote, I noticed a trend. The Republicans point out how many Democrat judges have come forward to say that they support Judge Alito for the Supreme Court. Then they point out his stellar qualifications. The Democrats, on the other hand, take comments out of context, and make far more out of stare decisis than the Constitution itself. And, in an interesting twist, they're moving away from "a woman's right to choose" (although they are mentioning it... can't upset their backers) and toward Judge Alito's seeming deference to the Executive Branch of government (pointing out that President Bush "broke the law" with the wiretapping... as the President pointed out, if he was trying to break the law, why did he brief Congress???).

The Democrats in the Judiciary Committee are overlooking something very important... the one thing they tend to rely on so heavily... public opinion. In spite of what NARAL might want you to believe, there has never been 50% support for legalized abortion- far less than half of America's population has ever wanted legal abortions with no restrictions. And far more than half of America's population believes that President Bush was in the right to order wiretaps of calls to and from foreign countries when he had compelling information that national security was at risk.

So, let them rant, reading off their talking points (handed to them by... well, who knows... but I can guess which organizations gave them the talking points), and making themselves look like fools. Let them think that America is really worried about the NSA and the FBI and whatever other acronym listening to their phone calls as they call out for pizza or dish the latest gossip. Let them think that abortion is the most important issue on the table. Let them think that Joe Average American thinks that the President is evil incarnate.

Yeah... let them think that. The GOP could use a few more seats in the House and Senate this year.

... so it shouldn't be too surprising if Chris Matthews gets something right once in a while.

Newsbusters (the blog of the Media Research Center) makes mention of Carole Keeton Strayhorn's appearance on Hardball last night. Here's some of what Ian had to say about it:

Matthews, however, took her party change as a sign of anger with the Republican Party because it is "corrupt". Matthews brought up the subject of her party change many times during the interview and repeatedly tried to get her to say she left the party because of corruption, as if she had an ulterior motive. At one point in the interview he tried to link current Governor, Rick Perry (R) with Jack Abramoff and Tom DeLay.

The interview included questions like “Did you leave the Republican party because of Rick Perry?”, “Are you a conservative”, and “Do you feel that Republicans have left their fiscal conservative roots”.

I'll admit it... I didn't see Hardball last night. As a matter of fact, I don't think I've ever seen Hardball. That being said...

She didn't leave the Republican party because she's mad. According to her own radio ads, she hasn't stopped being a Republican. She didn't decide to run as an Independent for Governor because of corruption, but she did make that decision because of Rick Perry. You see, she can't win the primary as a Republican. It's not that Perry is so popular... it's because she's so... unpopular.

Matthews will always try to make the Republicans look evil. It's his job. I guess I'm just a little bummed because I wish someone would call Strayhorn onto the carpet and ask her tough questions about her record and her motives. Then again, I wish One Tough Grandma One Whiny Biddy would just retire into the sunset. I've only lived in Texas for 9 years, and I'm way past tired of her.

With all of the news stories lately about teachers having... improper relationships with students, I thought it would be refreshing to see a report about a teacher just being a complete jack@ss, and not sexually assaulting a student. Shall we?

An ethnic studies high-school teacher and die-hard Steelers fan in Pittsburgh has "humiliated" one of his students who wore a Denver Broncos jersey to class, making the boy sit on the floor and having his classmates pelt him with paper.

Before we get into the what this idiot teacher supposedly did, do I have to mention how much I despise the idea of an "ethnic studies" class in high school? We will never have the color-blind society that MLK dreamed of if we keep pointing out how much one race jerked around another race.

But... back to the story at hand.

According to a report in the Denver Post, Joshua Vannoy, 17, showed up for his midterm test sporting a John Elway No. 7 Broncos jersey. Not only did his teacher at Beaver Falls High School, John Kelly, make him take the test while sitting on the floor, he had the teen sit in a circle of desks and told others in the class – under threat of losing points on the exam – to throw paper wads at him...Kelly defended his actions, saying he had warned students not to wear a team jersey other than the Steelers to class. The teacher claims he was "just messing around" with the boy.

So... just because this idiot wants to "mess around with the boy," he can humilate the kid and call him a "stinking Denver fan." Lovely. Just plain lovely. And evidently this isn't the first time he's done this. He pulled the same stunt with a kid who wore a Colts shirt.

The principal is going to "talk" to the teacher about his actions. Joshua's mom wants him to be able to retake his mid-term. Sorry... that's not enough. If I was in a bitter mood, I'd suggest putting his sorry rear in the middle of a circle and have Joshua and the Colt's fan throw whatever they darn well please at him.

Since I'm not in a bitter mood, just fire him. Now.

Gummy Bears

You may be smooshie and taste unnatural, but you're so darn cute.

Just in case I haven't whined nearly enough about it, it's Cedar Season. The mountain cedar (ashe juniper) is a plague, an invasive plant that steals water from healthy plants (that I'm not allergic to) and making my life (and the lives of millions of others) miserable.

So, I'm doing a little surfing, to see if there's anything I can do to combat this evil (besides turning into a Bubble Girl... and yes, I've thought of that option... really), and I find this site, People Against Cedar. Where do I sign up???

It won't really matter... looking at the chart on that page, I'm doomed. I'm also allergic to mold, ragweed, and a few others. Where's my bubble?

What does a rat snake eat? Rodents, right? Well... usually... then there's Aochan and Gohan.

A rodent-eating snake and a hamster have developed an unusual bond at a zoo in the Japanese capital, Tokyo.

Their relationship began in October last year, when zookeepers presented the hamster to the snake as a meal.

The rat snake, however, refused to eat the rodent. The two now share a cage, and the hamster sometimes falls asleep sitting on top of his natural foe.

"I have never seen anything like it," a zookeeper at the Mutsugoro Okoku zoo told the Associated Press News agency.

The hamster was initially offered to Aochan, the two-year-old rat snake, because it was refusing to eat frozen mice.

That's just not fair. I was snake-sitting once for a cute little Burmese python named Damien. She got out of her cage and snacked on my Siberian hamsters, and then set out after my beagle. It's just not fair.

They named the hamster Gohan... Japanese for "meal." Supposedly the two are getting along very well. One of these days, Aochan is going to get really hungry... say "buh-bye" to the cute little hamster.

Michele Malkin highlights this Publis Pundit post on the tricks that Code Pink is up to.

Last summer, a group of women held a protest in Iran prior to the election there. Here's a photo from the protest:

Then Code Pink worked their "magic" on it:

That's not even a very good Photoshop job. The woman in green's face looks... well, she looks kind of like Jack Nicholson as the Joker in Batman. Or one of the rabbits from Alice in Wonderland.

So... am I surprised that Code Pink used a pro-democracy rally for their less than noble purposes? Nah. But I'm passing this information along because they're going to keep getting away with their stupidity unless they are exposed for their lunacy.

NASA's New Horizons probe launched yesterday without a hitch, beginning its 3 billion mile (and then some) trip to Pluto.

The New Horizons spacecraft blasted off aboard an Atlas V rocket Thursday afternoon in a spectacular start to the $700 million mission. Despite the speed - it can reach 36,000 mph - it will take 9 1/2 years to reach Pluto and the frozen, sunless reaches of the solar system. "It looked beautiful," said Ralph McNutt Jr. of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, one of the mission's scientists. "I was getting a little bit antsy." The 1,054-pound spacecraft was loaded with seven instruments that will photograph the surfaces of Pluto and its large moon, Charon, and analyze Pluto's atmosphere. Two of the cameras, Alice and Ralph, are named for the bickering couple from TV's "The Honeymooners."

teeheehee... that's cute...

On site to witness the launch was Patricia Tombaugh, 93. Don't recognize her name? How about her late husband, Clyde Tombaugh? He discovered Pluto back in 1930. Some of his ashes were onboard.

"I got emotional. I really did. I just got carried away," said Tombaugh, 93, of Las Cruces, N.M. "It was so beautiful and we've waited so long."

I know that a lot of people are against spending money on space research, and there's a part of me that understands it. But, the other part of me is in favor of it... I just wish they'd overhaul NASA. Put me in charge... yeah... I'd fix it good.

So... mark the calendar for 9+ years from now... that's the next time we'll hear from New Horizons.

There's a new study out, and it makes the public school system look... abysmal.

More than half of students at four-year colleges - and at least 75 percent at two-year colleges - lack the literacy to handle complex, real-life tasks such as understanding credit card offers, a study found.

The literacy study funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts, the first to target the skills of graduating students, finds that students fail to lock in key skills - no matter their field of study.

The results cut across three types of literacy: analyzing news stories and other prose, understanding documents and having math skills needed for checkbooks or restaurant tips.

Without "proficient" skills, or those needed to perform more complex tasks, students fall behind. They cannot interpret a table about exercise and blood pressure, understand the arguments of newspaper editorials, compare credit card offers with different interest rates and annual fees or summarize results of a survey about parental involvement in school.

A couple of thoughts jumped into my head when I read this...

First, all of these skills should have been taught in JUNIOR HIGH. If you make it out of eighth grade, then you should be able to read a table and balance your check book. No ifs, ands or buts.
Second, if you are not competent at those skills, the blame falls on two groups of people- whatever school you went to, and your parents for not making sure you know how to do those things.

Third, my kids (in 6th grade) can probably do all of those things (balancing a checkbook would have to be explained, but that's just because they've never had to deal with one). I know for a fact that they can interpret tables and calculate tips. As for understanding arguments in editorials... oh, yeah- they understand... and they're quite opinionated. Hopefully I can convince them that they never need to understand credit card offers (except to throw them in the trash)- I'd love to have my kids stay debt-free. I'm working on that.

What does that say about the public school systems in the US if kids going to college can't balance a checkbook (that's about as basic of math as you can get!)??? Yes, you can call me a hypocrite if you want to- T1 and T2 are in the public school system right now. Unlike some parents, however, I take the time to make sure my kids have the basic skills to get through life, and we talk about what propaganda they're learning and what the truth really is. And, yes, if given the chance, I'd homeschool them again.

Here's something else that's... scary...

Most students at community colleges and four-year schools showed intermediate skills. That means they can do moderately challenging tasks, such as identifying a location on a map.

Yikes. The year that we homeschooled (4th grade), the boys not only learned how to read a regular map, but they learned how to read a topographic map.

Like I said, this is an indictment of the parents as well as the schools. The public school system, honestly, isn't there to teach your kids life skills. Geez- they have enough trouble trying to teach kids to read. If your kids aren't learning the basics, whose fault is that? YOURS.

I got tagged by Russ with this collection of questions, so... here goes!

Four Jobs I've Had:
university bookstore clerk
financial aid assistant
teacher
mom

Four Movies I Could Watch Over and Over, and Have:
Ladyhawke
Armageddon
Star Wars: A New Hope
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Four Places I have Lived:
Belleville, IL
Norman, OK
Saratoga Springs, NY
Virginia Beach, VA

Four TV Shows I Love to Watch:
House
CSI
Good Eats
Fox & Friends

Four Places I've Been On Vacation:
Disneyworld
Wisconsin Dells
London
Chattanooga, TN

Four Websites I Visit Daily:
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler
Spatula City BBS
Random Firings of Neurons
Who Tends The Fires

Four Favorite Foods:
sushi
licorice
coffee
noodles with Thai peanut sauce

Four Places I Would Rather Be Right Now:
anywhere where they don't have mountain cedar (ashe juniper) trees
hanging out with good friends
Belleville, IL
????


Four People I'm Tagging With This: (I'm not going to tag... just request that they do it)
Lord Spatula
Humble Devildog
Denita
Harvey

Why does Drudge have this picture on his site (I didn't edit it AT ALL)?

Something is... just not quite right... funny, but not right.

On another note about Osy... all of the MSM outlets are talking about that stupid truce he mentioned in his audio tape yesterday. I forgot to mention it in my post about the tape, but there's something that people unfamiliar with Islam (ie all those fact-checkers within the MSM) evidently don't know. Starting with Mohammed, and carrying on through Saladin during the Crusades and on to today, truces don't mean the same thing to Muslims that they mean to those of us in civilization. According to dictionary.com, a truce is "A temporary cessation or suspension of hostilities by agreement of the opposing sides; an armistice", but it's usually implied that it's a step toward peace. According to Mohammed, however, a truce is just a pause in the fighting so that they can mount a huge offensive (in other words... it's a trick).

Osy also mentioned something about being forbidden by Allah to lie. That is very true... Muslims are not allowed to lie... to other Muslims. They are encouraged in the Koran to lie to infidels (that would be us).

Just thought I'd mention that.

Like I said, this is Mom and Dad's anniversary. Some other things have happened on this day in history.

Of course, several Presidents have been sworn in. 25 years ago today, Ronald Wilson Reagan was sworn in. One hour before his inauguration, the hostages were released in Iran. Coincidence? I don't think so...

Today is my parents' 38th wedding anniversary. Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!!!!!

Wilson Pickett passed away today from a heart attack at the age of 64.

Wilson Pickett, the soul pioneer best known for the fiery hits "Mustang Sally" and "In The Midnight Hour," died of a heart attack Thursday in a Reston, Va., hospital, according to his management company. He was 64...

...Pickett - known as the "Wicked Pickett" - became a star with his soulful hits in the 1960s. "In the Midnight Hour" made the top 25 on the Billboard pop charts in 1965 and "Mustang Sally" did the same the following year.

He was an amazing writer as well as singer. Rest in peace, Mr. Pickett.

Our favorite bad guy sent Al-Jazeera a new audio tape. (Why no video, Osama? We'd love to see your mug.) The editor of Al-J said that it was dated December (uh... which December?), but would give no other details.

In the audio tape, Osy (Can I call you Osy,Osy?) claims that the only reason AlQ hasn't attacked the US again is because they had to make plans, and not because of our increased security. (The fact that three Algerians were arrested in Italy for planning a massive attack on US stadiums, ships, and railway stations didn't have anything to do with it, either.) Osy also bragged about attacks in "European capitols" (I guess since he couldn't get to the US because of planning). Then he offered the US a truce... of sorts.

"We do not mind offering you a long-term truce with fair conditions that we adhere to," he said. "We are a nation that God has forbidden to lie and cheat. So both sides can enjoy security and stability under this truce so we can build Iraq and Afghanistan, which have been destroyed in this war. There is no shame in this solution, which prevents the wasting of billions of dollars that have gone to those with influence and merchants of war in America."

Good luck with that. So... he doesn't want to spend all that money on war when it could be better used for... what? Educating women and girls? Upgrading the Muslim world into the 18th century? (Wouldn't want to shock them too much... we need to get them used to the real world gradually). Declaring peace with Israel?

The timing of the tape is interesting. There was a report at the beginning of January that Osy achieved ambient temperature in December and was buried in Iran. (He could have recorded the tape before he died... if he died... ) His #2 guy, Ayman al-Zawahri recorded the video message that corresponded to The Haj (a first). Last week, Predator drones targeted al-Zawahri, and took out Osy's favorite recreation officer and poison procurer, Midhat Mursi al-Sayid Umar (whether or not they put a dent in al-Zawahri is unknown at this time).

It would have made more sense if al-Z had released a tape, just to let us know that he was alive. With the way Osy's been leading the opposition as of late, learning if Osy's right-hand man is still breathing is much more important.

"Scientists" (sorry- I have a problem calling them that seriously when they come up with stuff like this) have made a major discovery- your ear... you know, that thing you HEAR with... evolved from a fish's gill... you know, that thing they BREATHE with.

Your ability to hear relies on a structure that got its start as a gill opening in fish, a new study reveals.

Humans and other land animals have special bones in their ears that are crucial to hearing. Ancient fish used similar structures to breathe underwater...

...In the other fish, Eusthenopteron, a small bone called the hyomandibula developed a kink and obstructed the gill opening, called a spiracle.

However, in early land animals such as the tetrapod Acanthostega, this bone has receded, creating a larger cavity in what is now part of the middle ear in humans and other animals.

This makes perfect sense. Why didn't anyone think of this early? It's so clear to me now. I guess it doesn't really matter that fish have a separate organ for hearing. Our hearing must have evolved from what is, effectively, their noses.

My ear, with its delicate detail and multi-function reliability, didn't come from a fish's gill. That isn't even a logical conclusion. Our bodies are amazingly complex systems (so are fish anatomy, for that matter), but it always adheres to the rule of "form follows functions." It's illogical to believe that not only was there a species jump (several of them), but that over the course of those jumps, an organ completely changed functions.

There is such a thing as survival of the fittest (anyone who's made it through high school can tell you that). And there is a type of evolution- adaptations to the environment that are passed from generation to generation. I used to believe in Intelligent Design- that there was a Creator who directed the course of evolution over billions of years. As I learn more, I can't believe that the Creator would be party to such confusion and far-reaching guesses (which is all these researchers have done).

I still believe in an Intelligent Designer... which is why I can't believe in evolution...

In the past day or so, I've heard about a couple of bloggers who are in need of prayers.

First is Captain Ed and his wife, The First Mate. She recently found out that she will have to have a (second) kidney transplant, and she is currently fighting a viral infection.

Second is Mad Mikey. Over the weekend, he suffered a very serious stroke. He is in his thirties, and has end-stage renal failure (in other words, he's on the kidney transplant list). He is married, and they have a daughter. Da Goddess is posting updates on Mikey's site, as is Smash.

Please keep these two families in your prayers.

I'm going through my regular roster of blogs, and I come across this from Rob at Wizbang.

Today as I was listening my eyes wandered down the list of other hosts who air their programs on the station. Pretty typical talk radio fare: Rush, Dr. Laura, Dr. Dean Edell, Matt Drudge and....Jesus?

That's right. Jesus, apparently, has a talk radio show.

This I had to see. So, I went to the KFI AM 640 web site, and there it was- The Jesus Christ Show.

2000 years ago He walked this earth.... teaching.... guiding.... loving and
preparing to make the ultimate sacrifice...

What if... today, you could talk to Him, laugh with Him...cry with Him? Not
just through prayer, but through the radio...

Tune in this Sunday morning to find out why the young and old from all over the world listen (via the internet & radio waves) for the answers to life's toughest questions.

Hosted by Jesus Christ
And
Produced by Neil Saavedra

At first glance, I was about to completely blow this off as fruitcake California stuff... but I did a little more research (Google is my friend). I'm still not sure of it, but it's not quite as bad as it sounds.

From what I can tell, Mr. Saavedra does a form of "radio theater" where he plays the part of Jesus for two hours every Sunday.

The two-hour broadcast starts with a sermon-like introduction by Saavedra, who then fields theological and practical questions from callers. His listeners run the gamut from doubtful atheists who tune in for entertainment to church-oriented Catholics looking for clarifications and enlightenment of Scripture.

"Everyone’s welcome on the show, but I do not want this to be a Christian lovefest. I want to challenge and frustrate the Christians as much as I frustrate the atheists," he told the Los Angeles Times in its August 10 edition.

No, I'm not very comfortable with the idea of this guy presuming to know what Jesus would say. Then again, Saavedra wasn't very comfortable with it, either.

The Jesus Christ show was the brainchild of (then) Program Director, David G. Hall. He asked Saavedra, who once had an "Hour of God" show, to do a guest spot to answer questions as Jesus on Bill Handel's morning show for Easter, four or five years ago. "I said no, because it seemed so blasphemous," said Saavedra. But then I thought more about it, talked to some theologian friends, and decided that under certain conditions, I would go ahead. He asked to choose all the calls taken, and also wanted to play the role in character as Jesus. Handel honored his requests, and gave a great deal of promo support to the shtick. Reaction was hugely positive.

"I'd walk in with great trembling and pray a lot before I went on," Saavedra said. Back then, he chose his words very carefully. Now, he is more comfortable in Jesus' sandals, but never takes the role lightly.

Honestly, I have no idea what to think of this. On the one hand, like I said, I'm not real happy with someone presuming to know what Jesus would say. (Then again... a whole lot of preachers do that every Sunday morning.) On the other hand, the Bible says "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." (Isaiah 55:11- emphasis mine). This guy is reaching a group of people who probably wouldn't receive the Word any other way. They have no desire to go to church (or have been burned by those oh-so-loving Christians in the churches). He provides an opening for contemplation that his listeners may not have found otherwise.

Besides, from the description of Saavedra, I know a few believers like him... not quite made in the mold of the average Christian. I get the feeling God made 'em that way for a reason.

Thoughts? Anyone? Bueller?

Seems our Predator drones don't just take out innocent women and children.

ABC News has learned that al Qaeda's master bomb maker and chemical weapons expert was one of the men killed in last week's U.S. missile attack in eastern Pakistan.

Midhat Mursi, 52, also known as Abu Khabab al-Masri, was identified by Pakistani authorities as one of three known al Qaeda leaders present at an apparent terror summit conference in the village of Damadola.

You know... the military keeps on doing things like this and the media will have to report something besides the quagmire in Iraq...

What am I thinking? The media would never do anything like that! Silly me!

Good work, whoever was piloting the drone. Good shot. Keep up the good work.

Do you remember Paul Hackett? He's the Iraqi war veteran who ran as a Democrat for a Senate seat in Ohio during a special election. He's running for the seat again, and he's quickly becoming the Left's favorite mouth piece. Why? Well, because of gems like this:

According to The Columbus Dispatch, Hackett accused the overwhelming majority of Ohioans of being “un-American” because they voted to support a constitutional amendment prohibiting gay marriage. He continued:

“The Republican Party has been hijacked by the religious fanatics that, in my opinion, aren’t a whole lot different than Osama bin Laden and a lot of the other religious nuts around the world,” he said. “The challenge is for the rest of us moderate Americans and citizens of the world to put down the fork and spoon, turn off the TV, and participate in the process and try to push back on these radical nuts – and they are nuts.”

Lovely, eh? And when asked if he stands by what he said, his response was equally... open-minded and lacking spite.

“I said it. I meant it. I stand behind it. Equal justice under the law for all regardless of who they are and how they were born is fundamental to our American spirit and our American freedoms. Any person or group that argues that the law should not apply equally to all Americans is, frankly, un-American.”

“The Republican Party has been hijacked by religious fanatics, who are out of touch with mainstream America. Think of the recent comments by Pat Robertson – a religious fanatic by any measure – that the United States should assassinate a democratically elected leader in Venezuela, and that Ariel Sharon’s stroke was divine punishment because Sharon wished to trade land for peace.”

“Since the Republican Party has been utterly unable to stand for something positive, they have created an atmosphere of fear and intimidation, and have pandered to religious fanatics not to vote for something they believe in, but to vote against their fellow Americans with whom they disagree. Those among us who would use religion and politics to divide rather than unite Americans should be ashamed.”

THAT, right there, is why Pat Robertson needs to shut his trap and go quietly into retirement. But I digress...

At this point in time, I would like to encourage Mr. Hackett to keep up the good work. Keep shouting it from the mountain tops. And, oh, yeah, don't forget to make sure that the calm, well-mannered head of the DNC, Dr. Howard Dean, knows all about you and puts you on a speaking tour. More people need to hear your point of view.

I mean, really. Not enough people know what the Left really thinks about your average, run-of-the-mill Republican. You're going to encourage hundreds, if not thousands, of people to get out and vote in the next election.

Really. Trust me on this one.

I'm not a big O'Reilly fan. I've read his books- not bad. I watched The Factor for a while, but it's always the same thing... he's an attack chihuahua for his own pet causes. He has been successful at getting things done by bringing attention to blatant stupidity, don't get me wrong. But, sometimes he just doesn't get it.

Take the Golden Globes. Commercials for tonight's O'Reilly Factor say that he'll be talking about last weekend's award show and discuss whether or not the Golden Globes have lost touch with mainstream America.

News Flash, Bill- the Golden Globes are voted on by the HFPA- the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. The HFPA has absolutely nothing to do with America's Heartland. They are foreign reporters who pass on the latest gossip in Hollywood to their readers and viewers- none of whom are in the US.

It doesn't surprise me that Brokeback Mountain got an award, or that the the woman who played a transgender character got one. Unfortunately, that just provides one more bit of evidence as to where large sections of society are headed.

What surprises me is that anyone in the real world cares anymore.

Nothing major in the news today... so here are a few tidbits... some of these are pretty funny...

• Here's the ultimate forwarding address:

  A Swiss joker had his last wish fulfilled when his obituary was published as a change of address notice.
  
  The obituary published in the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper read: "Change of address for Roland Jacob.
  
  "My new address is the Rehalp cemetery, plot number 4276. I look forward to your visit."

• A cartoonist used his skill to catch a crook.

  A burglar who stole from a cartoonist in Australia was arrested - after his victim drew his picture.
  
  Bill Green, 82, known for his pictures of sports stars, saw the man take a cycle from his shed, says the Mirror.
  
  He gave his sketch to police who matched it to a man arrested for a different theft in Melbourne, Australia.
  
  Senior Constable Michael Henry said: "Holding up the cartoon, officers were amazed to find it was the spitting image of the man in the back of their paddy wagon."
  
  A 34-year-old man was charged with burglary and assault and is due in court.

• uh... here's something for the guys to do if poker night is a bust.

  Knit New York, a wool and craft store in Lower Manhattan, is fighting the stereotype that knitting is the province of women. "Are you strong enough to knit and man enough to purl?" says an advertisement for Boyz Nite on the shop's Web site.
  
  The store draws dozens of men to its weekly men's night where beginners and experts gather to exchange tips over beer and hot dogs.

  Good luck with that... really...
  
• Just when you thought that all of the species in the US had been found...

  Spiders, centipedes and scorpion-like critters are among the 27 new animal species that biologists have discovered in the dark, damp caves of two Central California national parks, officials announced Tuesday.
  
  The finds were made during a three-year study of 30 caves in Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks. Many of the creatures live only in caves—and some only in one particular cave of Sequoia and Kings Canyon, according to the study, conducted by park staff and biologists from Austin, Texas-based Zara Environmental.

  Makes you wonder just how many more critters we have yet to find.
  
• When "indecent exposure" isn't as indecent as other "indecent exposure"...

  Just in time for the city's largest street party, a St. Louis alderman and tavern keeper is seeking to change the law against urinating in public.
  
  Alderman Ken Ortmann, with an eye toward next month's Mardi Gras celebration, introduced a bill that he hopes will lower the penalties for some instances of public urination.
  
  Public urination "does not uniformly constitute indecent exposure," Ortmann's bill states, and should not always be grouped with sex offenses and similar crimes.
  
  Ortmann, who runs the Cat's Meow bar in Soulard, says police should not throw the book at all revelers caught leaving their mark in the neighborhood. His bill would allow police to issue a different citation for those trying to be discreet.

  You know... I think I agree with him. I mean, doing whatcha gotta do isn't the same as flashing someone. And... if the guys are using the dumpsters, then there are more porta-potties for the girls. Works for me!

There you go... now there's a car chase on FoxNews... in Houston... this might be interesting...

William Shatner, in a move that is as narcissistic as we've come to expect from James Tiberius Kirk, sold a kidney stone to an online casino.

William Shatner has sold his kidney stone for £14,000 to an online casino. The Star Trek actor agreed to sell it to GoldenPalace.com to raise money for a housing charity, says the BBC.

Uh... ok... Shatner was quoted as saying that it's impressive enough to wear on a ring... Ew...

Just in case you were wondering, that works out to approximately $25,000. I've been told by someone who has passed one of those little beauties that $25k isn't nearly enough for the pain and suffering.

The Psalmist once wrote, "The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork." (Psalm 19:1, NKJV) (For those of you in Rio Linda, the "firmament" is the sky.) Then, in the Gospel according of Luke, the Pharisees told Jesus to make his disciples be quiet. He responded, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.” (Luke 19:40) Or, as Andrew Lloyd Weber paraphrased, "Why waste your breath moaning at the crowd? Nothing can be done to stop the shouting! If every tongue were stilled, the noise would still continue! The rocks and stones themselves would start to sing!" (Jesus Christ Superstar).

And, I'm bringing this up why? Because of today's Astronomy Picture of the Day. (BTW, if you don't check out APOD, you really should... a new very cool pic every day). Here's the pic:

That is quite a declaration, no? Oh, wait... I forgot. All of that just... happened. No design... No Designer... riiiiiight.

Sunday was the anniversary of the birth of Darth Misha.

Happy Belated Birthday, Sire!

I'm a pretty laid back individual. Ask most people who know me. It takes quite a lot to get me riled. But... when I do... grrrrrr...

At least 3 times today (I stopped counting after that), when someone found out that T1 and T2 are twins, I heard something to the effect of "Bless your heart! You sure have your hands full!"

No, I don't! I never have. Those two have been the most low-maintainance kids you could ever find. (I'm not including when they were not feeling well as babies- that's just not fair.) They were on a schedule that they didn't want to break as babies. They slept through the night by 4 months. They have never been picky eaters- they'd eat almost everything from Day 1. They've been well-behaved for the most part since they were little (yeah, I can tell tales, but they're boys... they've very well-behaved for boys). They are smart and funny and helpful and polite and a blast to be around. And you know what? That's not what I've said about them- that's what other people have told me about them.

So, I get a little peeved when people presume that my life is somehow made more difficult by the redheads. On the contrary- I think I got the easy job. From my perspective, having them two at a time is the way to go.

And... let's face it... when I see a parent with only one child, I don't comment on how difficult it must be to raise a spoiled brat. Or, when I see someone with a herd of youngins, I don't point out that they do know what causes that and how to prevent it. No, I might think it, but I sure won't say it.

"What a blessing!" or "How special!" or "How wonderful!" or "How exciting!" are all good responses when hearing about any number of crumb-crunchers a person may have. "My, you must have your hands full" is just... not.

There's an uninvited guest in the house right now. Bronchitis is its name. T1 and T2 have been perfecting their walrus impersonations for the past few days, and I think they finally got it down pat. The doctor was so impressed that he gave them some meds to help get rid of Mr. Bron Chitis. But no cough medicine. Evidently, pulling a couple of ab muscles is a good way to get rid of the little monster.

You know that post I made the other day about the one-eyed kitten that I thought was a fake?

Uh... yeah... well... it wasn't a fake. (WARNING- only click on that link if you don't have a weak stomach or haven't eaten in about a week or so!!!!) The owner froze the body in case researchers want to examine it.

Uh... thanks, Denita for finding out about this... I think...

Yeah, I know... I finally get back to posting, and then I disappear again. Well, Cedar Season is alive and well in Central Texas and is totally kicking my derriere. And... well... there just isn't much to post about. The Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee are making complete fools of themselves in plain sight during the Alito hearings. Sharon is still clinging to life. The sole surviving miner from the explosion is doing as well as can be expected. The Dow crossed that "psychological barrier" of 11,000 (come on, people, it's just a number... it only matters to journalists... really).

Yup... that's about it... I'm taking the weekend off... Have fun...

And when I say "quick," I mean "quick."

• LULAC thinks that The Minutemen are a bunch of racists. And that's news... why? It's definitely not new news.
  
• Ahnold doesn't have a motorcycle license. Doesn't matter- he was still operating it legally. Gotta love technicalities.
• Mexico wants the US to allow more migration. Sure, no problem... as long as it's done LEGALLY. Just a little quirk of mine.
• A medical screw-up may have contributed to Ariel Sharon's stroke. Uh... how do you say "Oops" in Hebrew?
  
• Speaking of Sharon... he's a crime fighter- from his hospital bed. Makes sense... in a warp, twisted way. Hmm... will that work anywhere?
  
• The ferrets are making a comeback! Are they related to rabbits, by any chance?
  
• A British airline has forbidden employees from wearing Christian symbols or carrying a Bible on flights to and from Saudi Arabia. I really hate that I almost agree with this. It wouldn't "fly" in most countries, but SA has its laws, and like it or not, they need to obey the law.
  
• While we're on the topic of Islam... huh?
  
• Back in the whacky world otherwise known as The United States of America, a woman who had passed away was left in an easy chair... for over two years. Ew... maggots and flies and... and... just ew...
  
• And finally, an explosive device was disabled at a SanFran Starschmucks. Who did they make mad? Geez...
  

OK... I'm outta here... loads to do today.

Some middle school kids were sick over the weekend. For good reason.

Several metro middle school students were sick Friday night after eating food that had been left out since before Christmas.

Cafeteria workers at Western Oaks Middle School, in the Putnam City school district, on Northwest 23rd Street made the mistake, officials said. According to reports, the workers left behind a tray of about 25 burgers inside a warmer.

When school resumed after the holiday break, that food was mixed with fish sandwiches and served to students.

Officials said they took immediate action to get the bad food out of the cafeteria rotation. However, 10 students took at least a bite of old hamburger. Some ate the whole thing.

Well, there goes my appetite.

Some parents are calling for the firing of the entire cafeteria staff. Gee... ya think? That's a good start.

PHOTO has been removed due to massive bandwidth problems. Click the link to see it.

Sorry, but I'm throwing the brown flag on this one. Newborn kittens don't open their eyes for anywhere from five days to two weeks, depending on the breed. And, even if you ignore that fact, newborn kittens' eyes are no where near that large.

This is more than likely a sick Photoshop trick. I'd bet $1 (I'm not big on gambling) that the owner destroyed the kitten's body, thereby making independent varification impossible. (Here are photos of real one-eyed cats)

What's funny (in a "y'all are a bunch of idiots" kind of way) is that AP and YahooNews believed it without other proof.

I have discovered the source of global warming in the 21st century. It's all the hot air coming from the Alito Confirmation hearing in DC. Here's a few of the slow leaks that whistled out of the Senators' pie-holes today during their pompous pontifications opening statements.

"They are worried that you would be a judicial activist who would restrict our rights and freedoms." -Dick "The Turbin" Durbin, D- IL No, sir. They're worried that if they don't get RID of the activist judges, we won't HAVE any rights or freedoms left.-B

"In an era when the White House is abusing power, is excusing and authorizing torture, and is spying on American citizens, I find Judge Alito's support for an all-powerful executive branch to be genuinely troubling." - Ted "Pour-me-a-Double" Kennedy, D- Taxachusetts No, sir. Judge Alito stated that the responsibility of producing laws that impact the average person should be in the hands of the people responsible TO the average person (ie elected officials) and not appointed-for-life ideologues. -B

"We will need to examine whether - as your critics contend - you will consistently side against the individual or whether your supporters are correct that you are a mainstream conservative who will fairly decide all cases." - Herb Kohl, D-Wisconsin well, Senator, if you actually check his critics' sources, you'll find that they don't HAVE any. They just regurgitate whatever their brain-washers tell them. -B

"We need judges who will stand up and tell the executive branch it is wrong when it ignores or distorts the laws passed by Congress. We need judges who see themselves as custodians of the rights and freedoms that the Constitution guarantees, even when the president of the United States is telling the country that he should be able to decide unilaterally how far those freedoms go." -Russ "Free speech is what I say it is" Feingold, D-Wisconsin We all know that you think that freedom is an abstract term for you. You have a problem with civil liberties when it affects your party's ability to get elected. Can't have that, now, can we? -B

"I think it's fair for us to try to determine whether your legal reasoning is within the mainstream of American legal thought and whether you're going to follow the law regardless of your personal views about the law." -Diane "There is only one issue" Feinstein, D-California Mainstream? Senator, despite what the nice folks at NARAL have been telling you, mainstream America (ie- the majority) do not agree that abortion on demand for social reasons is acceptable, nor that it is the most important issue to our country. An important issue, yes. The be-all-and-end-all? Only for a few, on both sides of the issue. -B

"we - you and I and this committee - owe it to the American people in this one democratic moment to have a conversation about the issues that will affect their lives profoundly. They're entitled to know what you think."- Joe "Partisan? Who me?" Biden, D-Delaware. That's scary. He was almost right. He just didn't actually say what he meant. He doesn't want to know what Judge Alito thinks- he wants to know how he will vote on his pet issues. Subtle but important difference. Nice try, though. -B

Let's face a few ugly facts. The Senators already know how Judge Alito is going to answer, and they know how they're going to respond. They just want the face-time to look good to their respective backers.

I would love to see Judge Alito throw them some curve balls. "Yes, I still think that Roe v. Wade is bad case law. Plenty of Pro-Choice people agree with me. It doesn't matter if you feel it was a good outcome or a bad one... as case law goes, it plain stinks." Or maybe, "No, President Bush and his administration are NOT violating citizens Constitutional rights by doing no-warrant taps. He's not going to be impeached. Next!" Or, "No, Senator, I'm not going to declare legislation unconstitutional just because you don't like it."

Ah... a girl can dream. But I still think I deserve the Nobel Prize...

Let's look at this story and see if she has a snowball's chance in Hades of winning her lawsuit.

A woman who was left a paraplegic after being shot several times by Warren police in the moments following a high-speed car chase has accused officers of using excessive force in a lawsuit filed in Macomb County Circuit Court.

OK... if she had stopped and surrendered peacefully after the chase, then she's got a case. Right? But, wait! There's more!

Mattera, 45, a Warren native who had been living in Roseville, was charged with two counts of attempted murder, fleeing police and assault with a dangerous weapon, among other offenses. She was found "not guilty by reason of insanity" about 10 months later following a 1-day bench trial in front of Macomb County Circuit Judge Donald Miller.

Hmmm... two counts of attempted murder, eh? Let's dig a little deeper and see what happened, shall we?

The incident began as a family dispute regarding her parents that went from her to her brother's residence on Martin Road in Roseville. Her brother, nine years older than her, called police, saying that his sister had pointed a gun at him and had fled in a Chevy Malibu. Mattera refused to stop for police on Gratiot Avenue, speeding away at speeds up to 110 mph first on westbound I-696 then on eastbound I-696, where Madison Heights police used "stop sticks" to puncture the tires of her car and caused it to crash into a freeway wall.

Officers Houtos and Marsee said they fired their guns in response to seeing smoke or a fire flash coming from the end of the barrel of the .38-caliber handgun being held by Mattera in the car. Schnur testified in a 37th District Court hearing that he approached the vehicle to find a bleeding Mattera lying across the front seat with a revolver in her hand. "She turned her head in my direction and raised the gun directly at me," Schnur testified. He yelled to fellow officers that she had a gun, and he fired "three or four" rounds in her direction as he retreated.

"She raised the gun directly at me"??? Why is she still breathing?

She claimed that there were "40 or 50" police officers at her brother's house, and that she was "scared half to death" when her car crashed. She supposedly shot "into the air and wide" and stopped when she realized "it was doing no good." At what point is shooting a gun anywhere in the same time zone as a cop (unless you're at a range or hunting with him or her) ever "doing good"????

She's claiming violations of her constitutional right to due process, equal protection, and to enjoy life and liberty. She lost all of those when she shot at a cop. After a high speed car chase. After brandishing a weapon and threatening her brother. No, I'm not going to give her a break because she's mentally ill. The police can't take the time to ask for a complete medical history before determining whether or not that weapon you're aiming at him is loaded and if you really mean to use it. You point it. You get shot. They can't take that chance. Good men and women die that way.

Like I said... she's lucky that Officer Schnur is a bad shot.

"Well, honey, that's because the nice waiter decided to give you a Long Island Iced Tea instead."

Cynthia Pereles said she took her (five-year-old) son Seth to dinner at the franchised restaurant (Applebees) in Battery Park City and ordered him an apple juice.

Pereles said she did not realize her son was drinking a concoction of white rum, gin, vodka, triple sec, Coke and sweet-and-sour mix until it was too late. The boy's eyes became glazed and he began to laugh uncontrollably, according to a report.

He was taken to the hospital (by ambulance), had a .09 blood alcohol level, and was given fluids for dehydration. His mom is sueing Applebees for $75, ooo for medical expenses and emotional damage.

Let's dive into the facts a little bit more. Seth took a sip of his "apple juice" from his kids' cup, and told his mom that it tasted funny. She told him to go ahead and drink it. He took another sip, and refused to drink any more. Mom opened the cup, took a whiff, and called over the waiter. The waiter said that the bartender must have done it, but the waiter is in charge of taking care of the kids' cup drinks. The manager came over, apologized to Mom, and offered to bring the check over to her.

The boy was rushed by ambulance to the hospital, where he was treated for dehydration (those bills were approximately $1000. Seth has had nightmares and fears dying now, and is receiving counseling (which is what the other $74,000 is for, I guess).

In no way does Applebees get off the hook. Personally, I'd contemplate filing child endangerment charges against the waiter if I was Seth's mom, but that's just me. Also, the idea that the manager didn't just shred the bill on the spot was callous and stupid.

But I don't believe that Applebees' staff's stupidity in any way caused Seth's fear of death or his nightmares. I'm pretty sure his mom took care of that all by herself. It never would have entered his little skull-full-of-mush that he could have died (if he had drank the entire cup). Someone had to tell him that.

Granted, she may not have told him directly. She may have expressed her (legitimate) fears within earshot of Seth (which is anywhere in the same building, it seems some days). None the less, she planted the fears in his head, and yeah, he's probably scared right now.

Should Applebees be held responsible for its employees' behavior? Oh, yeah. Should Mom be whacked upside the head for scaring her poor baby into counseling? Yup.

The Humble Devildog has found what has to be THE best blonde joke in the history of blonde jokes.

Every religion has its creation myth and its end times prophecy. There are some similarities between some of the creation myths, but rarely are there commonalities between eschatologies. And, when there are, it can be... enlightening...

Take Christianity, for example. In Christian eschatology, there will be a person who will bring peace to Jerusalem and reign for seven years (The Tribulation). After the Tribulation, Jesus will return to judge the living and the dead.

Now, let's look at Islam. In Islamic eschatology, the Imam Mahdi precedes the arrival of Jesus, the Islamic messiah. The Mahdi will establish peace, justice and truth and reign for seven years. Then the Final Judgement shall occur.

Interesting, no?

Why do I bring this up? Am I just indulging in a little Islam bashing? Actually, no. That's not my intention at all. I bring all of this up because our favorite hostage-taker nutcase Iranian president is at it again, and he might just turn the Middle East into a glass parking lot in the process.

Iranian President Mahmoud's Ahmadinejad's mystical pre-occupation with the coming of a Shiite Islamic messiah figure – the Mahdi – is raising concerns that a nuclear-armed Islamic Republic could trigger the kind of global conflagration he envisions will set the stage for the end of the world.

Oh, yeah... that's what we need... a more-than-slightly off-his-rocker leader with a a nuke... sounds like a plan to me...

He (Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) sees his main mission, as he recounted in a Nov. 16 speech in Tehran, as to "pave the path for the glorious reappearance of Imam Mahdi, may Allah hasten his reappearance."

According to Shiites, the 12th imam disappeared as a child in the year 941. When he returns, they believe, he will reign on earth for seven years, before bringing about a final judgment and the end of the world.

Ahmadinejad is urging Iranians to prepare for the coming of the Mahdi by turning the country into a mighty and advanced Islamic society and by avoiding the corruption and excesses of the West.

All Iran is buzzing about the Mahdi, the 12th imam and the role Iran and Ahmadinejad are playing in his anticipated return. There's a new messiah hotline. There are news agencies especially devoted to the latest developments.

Usually, an End Times cult will have a couple dozen members, maybe a hundred or so if the leader is really charasmatic. But there is an entire country who is expectantly looking for the coming of their Sign.

This isn't the only time Ahmadinejad has felt that he has been touched by Allah. When he was in New York to speak at the UN, he felt what could almost be seen as an "annointing", for lack of a better term.

In a videotaped meeting with Ayatollah Javadi-Amoli in Tehran, Ahmadinejad discussed candidly a strange, paranormal experience he had while addressing the United Nations in New York last September.

He recounts how he found himself bathed in light throughout the speech. But this wasn't the light directed at the podium by the U.N. and television cameras. It was, he said, a light from heaven.

The Iranian president recalled being told about it by one of his delegation: "When you began with the words ‘in the name of Allah,' I saw a light coming, surrounding you and protecting you to the end."

What does all of this mean? Maybe it means that Mahmoud is a few fries short of a Happy Meal™. Maybe it means that he is a misguided leader of a desperate group of people, hoping for their messiah. Or maybe it means that he really is a pawn of prophecy.

If that's the case, I think he's going to be in for a BIG surprise when the seven years are over.