Scottfoot

Just fiddling around: Scott McClellan as Bigfoot the pooflinger

Let me take a couple of minutes just to say a few quick thank-yous. I've already thanked the President, and I want to say that I'm also forever grateful to the President and Mrs. Bush for making this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity really special. My wife and I value our friendship with the President and Mrs. Bush.

I also want to thank the entire White House staff, because you cannot do this job without the support and help of all those that are part of this team. My job is to help provide you information so that you can do your job, and to help the President advance his agenda. And I depend on people throughout this White House for timely responses...

whole other subject:
I'm off to go build a wall for the government. Why now, when traffic is horrible and lumberyards are crowded? Because now is when there is money to build it and the decision makers never know when the Democrats will decide to fiddle with the Defense budget and cause "my" funds to get borrowed from. Thank you Nancy, I'll be thinking of you as I stand in line at Home Depot.

Isolated tribe spotted in Brazil

Somewhat. Call it somewhat isolated.

Rough Night

some pixels may have been moved around a bit

Tough Decisions

"Oh, I can't decide! You don't think it would make me look cheap?"

Maybe She Can Locate Alec Baldwin for Us

Big Big Really Big Entertainment News:

SUSAN SARANDON, who appeared in three films last year and won kudos for her TV movie "Bernard and Doris," is still not a contented soul. She says if John McCain gets elected, she will move to Italy or Canada. She adds, "It's a critical time, but I have faith in the American people."

Susan sweetie, don't let the screendoor hit you in the ass on the way out. K?

Pallywood

Speaking of Rachael Ray, and pro-Palestinian celebrities in general, I wonder how many of them base their opinions on fake "news" from Pallywood? I seldom watch YouTubes that run this long (18 min) but this one was worth it. It should be mandatory for anyone who is perky and hosts a Food Network show that I like.

Best Friends

Click for uber-cute photos that lead up to this shot.

OK, Get Down on the Floor, and Quit Laughing at Me

ARVADA – Police were searching Thursday for two men believed to have robbed a gas station wearing brightly-colored women's thong underwear over their faces.

Arvada Police say the robbery occurred at the Diamond Shamrock at Wadsworth Boulevard and West 68th Avenue on May 16 just before 5 a.m.

The suspects entered the business with the thongs over their faces and....

Is this a wonderful world or what? I mean, somewhere, in Mom's basement, where one of these guys lives, they were sitting around, out of beer money, no jobs, and there was no more Wrestlin' on the Tee-Vee... and all of the sudden one of them gets an idea.

"Hey let's just rob a store."
"No that won't work, we got no disguises."
"Well wait a minute, I think Jeanie left a couple of thongs over here. Check behind the couch cushions."

It was either that, or they were sitting around wearing the thongs on their faces when the robbery idea struck. Either way, thank you world, thank you internet.

h/t: plime

Yum-o

I'm not sure where I stand on this whole cute cook keffiyeh kerfuffle. If you're unfamiliar with the story: perky Rachael Ray wore the keffiyeh in a Dunkin Donuts ad, and many people are taking it as a pro-Palestinian statement. And it might easily be, but I'll be interested to hear Rachael's reaction to the commentary. I mean, doesn't she seem like the kind of likable-ditzy girl who might have just worn it because it matches her table cloth? "Keff-i-what? Is that those mushroom stuffed fillo dough thingies? Oh, Yum-O!"

I don't know, maybe I'm being gullible, but I have trouble thinking poorly about the girl who clued me in to putting a whole brick of cream cheese into the mashed potatoes. (in addition to the usual cheese-butter-cream additives) I mean, how can such a girl go so wrong? Really, try the potatoes and see if you don't agree.

Craigslist

new york craigslist > manhattan > missed connections
You told me, “Stop crying, it makes you look fat.” - w4m - 29 (uptown Q)
Date: 2008-05-17, 1:51PM EDT

I was sobbing on the Q train having just received the news that my favorite aunt died in a car accident. You were sitting next to me, and one of my snotty tissues fell into your lap by accident. You threw it back at me and said, “Pull yourself together, Chunky.”

I need a date to the funeral on Tuesday. What do you say?

As Was Foretold, Meat in a Can Will Save Us

Great googily moogily, they do like to talk down the economy. The Yahoo most-popular news page has stories about selling your blood for gas money, home prices falling, and now, Spam making a comeback because it's all anyone can afford:

What was once cheeky, silly and the subject of a musical (as Monty Python mocked the meat in a can), is now back on the table as people turn to the once-snubbed meat as costs rise, analysts say.

OK, now don't get me wrong, I like Spam. Fried Spam is good. Cardiologists probably aren't crazy about it, but it's Good Eats, occasionally. But it's not a big money saver.

The article puts the price of spam at $3.50 per pound. So how do you save money by passing up the $2.00 per pound whole chicken? And that's an everyday chicken price, there is often a sale of some kind going on. (I just got boneless chicken breasts for $2.00 a pound. They were as big as your head too - from chickens that shake the earth as they lumber around the coop)

So what does this article tell you? really? Well, either times aren't so bad yet, or the country needs refresher math classes, or both. I'm betting both.

Monbiot Goes all Barney Fife

Citizen's arrest! Citizen's arrest! Citizen's arrest!

Van Helsing notes the self-inflicted beclowning of George Monbiot:

George Monbiot, the damp little rodent from whose name the term moonbat is believed to have been derived, has announced a bold plan to subject former UN Ambassador John Bolton to a citizen's arrest for imaginary "war crimes."

Word is, he tried, but was thwarted when a pile of wet napkins blocked his path. Apparently much huffing, puffing, and foot stomping followed.

I've wondered about the origin of "moonbats". If this guy isn't the true root, he'll do until a better one comes along.

Just a Matter of Time

Just give them time, the CO2 police will take whatever power they can get. Speaking of which, I'm angling for the job of livestock corker when the state finally declares that our every waking moment must be devoted to greenhouse gas abatement. How do you get such a job? Claim prior experience? On second thought, corking livestock, I might be uncomfortable associating with my coworkers. And in your social life, all smalltalk would go out the window once people found out what you did for a living. Yeah, think I'll stick with pretending to cut down trees.

link

What Now?

From the what-fresh-hell-is-this desk.

***update: Don't know where my head was at, this one should have been obvious:

Foot in Mouth

I'd been looking for the video of this; should have known the amazing MM would have it.

".....as our nation honors its unbroken line of fallen
heroes - and I see many of them in the audience here today... "

Reverence for those fallen heroes is all that prevents me from doing the obvious photoshop of the candidate addressing an audience of the undead in uniform. It would be involving them in this stupidity, know what I mean? Anyway, the fact that Obama said this makes me wonder if he knows what "fallen" means, and what Memorial Day is about.


The rest of the speech is a pathetic embarrassment as well. Using the occasion of Memorial Day to advance your own political ambitions takes a special lack of class. Sure Obama, your suits are nice, I'm sure you use the proper fork for the salad, your passport is well used, and your dinner conversation sparkles. But class? Nope.

Memorial Day

“ ‘It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who have died. Rather, we should thank God that such men live.’ Think about that.”
-Gen. George Patton following the battle for Sicily in 1943

All citizens are asked to pause in their Memorial Day activities at 3 pm to respectfully honor the memory of those who died in the service of our nation.

Got Schadenfreude?

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton defended staying in the Democratic nominating contest on Friday by pointing out that her husband had not wrapped up the nomination until June 1992, adding, “We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California.”

"Pow! Pow! Pow! Ah lighten up Barry, I'm kidding!"

Hey, I think everyone knows Hillary didn't mean anything by her remarks. Isn't it fun to watch though? If you're Republican, and you say 'happy birthday' to the wrong person, the NYT will speculate on how maybe you are guilty of lynchings, sedition, and mopery. So, yes, I guess I am just a little bit amused by the Hillinator's troubles. Just a little.

Polar Bear d'oh!

Ha-ha! Bears can't read.

Gay Marriage

McCain doesn't duck the issue, via NRO:

DeGeneres: "Let's talk about the big elephant in the room. I was planning on having a ceremony anyway this summer, even though it wasn't legal, but I feel that at least I get to celebrate my love. And then, it just so happens, I can now legally get married, as everyone should. To me this is only fair and only natural... What are your thoughts?"

McCain: "My thoughts are that I think people should be able to enter into legal agreements, and I think that is something that we should encourage, particularly in the case of insurance and other areas, decisions that have to be made. I just believe in the unique status of marriage between man and woman. And I know that we have a respectful disagreement on that issue."

It's a butt-bite that where McCain takes the conservative position, it's on an issue I don't care so much about. Actual man-woman marriage, with mortgages, minivans, children, violin lessons, parent teacher conferences, toilet seat disputes, mother-in-laws, hidden bags of Oreos, and credit card debt bordering on the insane will always be the same, no mater what happens outside the institution. Heck, I hope this doesn't sound as bad as it is bound to sound, but, heck, some people have marriages for their dogs. And it doesn't affect anything in my life. My marriage will still have a spiritual dimension that I don't believe "nontraditional" marriage can have. Yikes, I think it did sound as bad as I feared.

Anyway, Ellen said it, she was going to get married anyway. And I think that's fine, whether it's recognized by a state or not. One thing I think almost everyone can agree on: if Ellen's partner one day lies in a hospital bed unable to make decisions for herself, or if she needs health insurance through Ellen's health plan, or anything else in which status as a spouse determines eligibility, well than I think we should have a mechanism that allows them to be treated as such. What is sacred about the marriage between a man and a woman will still be sacred; it exists outside the laws of man.

Blond Jewelry

So if you lose the right earring, your head disappears, but if you lose the left your head expands to fill the universe. Scary.

French Fiction

I have nothing against the French, well mainly I don't. If they'd just stick to exporting cheese, and quit fabricating news stories. That whole Al-Dura hoax leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Good news though, the courts agreed that Philippe Karsenty defamed nobody when he claimed the Al-Dura story was staged by France 2:

The al-Dura lie is an assault on our ability to think, to criticize, to evaluate, and finally to reject information — especially the right to reject information on which we base our most cherished assumptions. One of Europe’s most cherished assumptions is that Israel is a vicious Nazi-like entity that deliberately murders Palestinian Arab children. Moreover, polls conducted in Europe have identified Israel as the greatest threat to world peace, greater than Iran and North Korea, Pakistan and Syria. The al-Dura hoax is one of the pillars on which these assumptions rely.

It is ironic that I, a private individual, had to lecture one of France’s most influential TV stations in order to demonstrate that a child cannot move; lift his head, arm, and leg; stare at the camera; and still be considered “dead” a good 10 seconds after the newscaster tells us “the child is dead.” One need only look at France 2’s own footage to realize that the “death” scene was faked.

Good. maybe there's hope for them yet.
Thanks to OMMAG

Hank's Rehab Video

It's good to see a man turn his life around.



I'm told this is very similar to Leonardo DiCaprio's struggle to end his addiction to the frivolous burning of fossil fuels.

Rocky Wedding

The music at a wedding procession always reminds me of the music of soldiers going into battle.
-Heinrich Heine

A Chinese couple have some memorable wedding pictures. The quake hit as they were leaving the church and the photographer caught the aftermath. (click on the numbers to browse pages)

h/t Plime

Yee Gads

James Taranto asks:

What kind of man supports Barack Obama? The Associated Press reports that James Yee, a former Muslim Army chaplain at Guantanamo Bay who was accused of spying, has been chosen as an Obama delegate to the Democratic National Convention.

Yee was not prosecuted on those charges. The AP states that he was "cleared," but a 2004 New York Times editorial said otherwise:

In dropping the prosecution last week, the military refused to clear Captain Yee, contending that it had acted only because of ''national security concerns that would arise from the release of the evidence.''

Last year, the Middle East Media Research Institute aired a clip of an interview Yee gave to Syrian television. Blogger Charles Johnson has a transcript. Yee claimed that the Koran "was being desecrated in Guantanamo in many different ways." Yee acknowledged that he did not actually witness any of the purported desecration; he merely took the detainees' word for it.

What kind of man supports Barack Obama? The kind of man who goes on TV in an Arab country ruled by a hostile authoritarian regime and participates in propaganda that seems designed to inflame anti-American sentiment.

Is it Hot in Here?

Thirty-one thousand scientists say nope:

More than 31,000 scientists across the U.S. – including more than 9,000 Ph.D.s in fields such as atmospheric science, climatology, Earth science, environment and dozens of other specialties – have signed a petition rejecting "global warming," the assumption that the human production of greenhouse gases is damaging Earth's climate.

"There is no convincing scientific evidence that human release of carbon dioxide, methane, or other greenhouse gases is causing or will, in the foreseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the Earth's atmosphere and disruption of the Earth's climate," the petition states. "Moreover, there is substantial scientific evidence that increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide produce many beneficial effects upon the natural plant and animal environments of the Earth."

This petition has been around for awhile but is now getting a boost by, strangely enough, the Warminator himself, Al Gore:

The petition is needed, supporters said, simply because Gore and others "have claimed that the 'science is settled' – that an overwhelming 'consensus' of scientists agrees with the hypothesis of human-caused global warming, with only a handful of skeptical scientists in disagreement."

The list of scientists includes 9,021 Ph.D.s, 6,961 at the master's level, 2,240 medical doctors and 12,850 carrying a bachelor of science or equivalent academic degree.

The petition even more extraordinary because of the nastiness of the Warmanistas. Any scientist signing it has to consider that there might be repercussions from the lunatics who seem to run the science asylum these days.

h/t: Frogman

Challenge: draw yourself as a teen

The meme is: here

a bit of an embarrassment but there it is

Dutch Naiveté

THE HAGUE, 09/04/08 - A primary school in Amsterdam wished to provide its pupils with an understanding for other cultures. But during a visit to a mosque, the children were told they were dogs.

With a view to developing understanding and respect for other cultures among children, primary school De Horizon regularly organises outings to various religious organisations. The chairman of the El Mouchidine mosque told the children from group 7 (aged 10) and their chaperones however that non-Muslims are dogs.

In a letter to the children's parents, the school expresses its regret at the incident: "We are shocked that during the guided tour, the mosque's chairman told the children and chaperoning parents that non believers were dogs. We consider this statement as unacceptable since we allow our children to partake in this project to develop respect for freedom of religious choice".

In the meantime, the school's management has addressed the mosque on the undesirable behaviour of the chairman.....

The whole thing is understandable and predictable. Of course this would happen. What happens next is the best part though. Watch now as "[addressing] the mosque on the undesirable behaviour of the chairman," gets turned around with accusations of Islamophobia and religious persecution.

Kennedy's Problems

BOSTON - A cancerous brain tumor caused the seizure Sen. Edward M. Kennedy suffered over the weekend, doctors said Tuesday in a grim diagnosis for one of American politics' most enduring figures.

Whatever problems I may have with the man's politics, this is truly the kind of thing you wouldn't wish on anybody. I wish him well with his treatment and recovery.

MPs back creation of human-animal embryos

are you my meow-my?

Brave new world, here we come:

British scientists will be allowed to research devastating diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s using human-animal embryos, after the House of Commons rejected a ban yesterday.

An amendment to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill that would have outlawed the creation of “human admixed embryos” for medical research was defeated in a free vote by a majority of 160, preserving what Gordon Brown regarded as a central element of the legislation.

Note the reason, it's just to "research devastating diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s". So if you oppose this, well, you're a Parkinson's promoter. Like those monsters who opposed federal funding of fetal stem cell research. (which, by the way, I'm a twofer on this, I oppose them both, thereby, I'm sure, effectively killing Michael J Fox twice)

Sometimes the Dead Horse Begs a Beating

So you're telling me in 44 years you only recently found reason to be proud of this country. Well, Ms Obama, I give you.... toilet races:



Not impressed? Then how about belt sander races? Huh?



And it's not just races. There's Mentos in Diet Coke, there's Harley Davidson, Chocolate Rain, Tom Waits, GPS, key lime pie, drive-in movies, Disneyland, NASA, the Wonderbra, and South Park. Lighten up Michelle Hussein Obama. Even if you lose the presidential race and have to go back to being regular millionaires, we have many fine airlines which can take you to some country that you could bring yourself to be proud of on a daily basis.

Do Play With Your Food

More food constructions.


Best part of making these would be that you get to eat the mistakes.


I can do this stuff too. Here I've made ordinary okra in to Lilliputian wagon wheels:


Best thing for okra is the trash can, unless you've got a garbage disposal.

Cystic Fibrosis Walk

Today was the 20th Annual Great Strides, A Walk to Cure Cystic Fibrosis. Our event was also christened John's Walk. There will be walks in 47 states this weekend and the goal is to raise $38 million.


Lots of kids participated, of all ages.


And afterwards, there was gourmet food.


And, balloon hats. I was hatted against my will, but I soon realized the best feature of balloon hats: they attract the women. Oh yeah.


Course, the whole thing was about raising money for Cystic Fibrosis, and by all accounts it was a great success, raising $10,000 more than last year. Woo-hoo.

And Then There's This

This lady wasn't proud of her country until recently? All I can say is she must not get out much. I'm proud daily. See the above post.

Dishonest Reporting

Headline: Wildlife numbers plummet globally: WWF
Oh my, and there's a picture of a polar bear.

LONDON (AFP) - The world's wildlife populations have reduced by around a quarter since the 1970s, according to a major report published Friday by the WWF conservation organization.

So, see? the polar bears are an endangered species. They must be, right? Endangered to the extent that the estimated populations in the 1970's of 5,000-10,000 have only grown to 20,000-25,000 today.

The Audacity of Change

I wish I wasn't in such a hurry, and that there were more good pictures of Osama, but this will have to do. Heck, if I had more time I'd have put Teddy K in there...
Have a good weekend.

Oh No You Deh-Ent

He dropped the sweetie-bomb, ha-ha.

More important Obama news is summed up by K-Lo:

Dems are still up in arms (if MSNBC is any indication) about a speech the president made that they consider a wild and unprecedented attack on their presidential nominee. The only American politician he cited, however, was a dead Republican.

But if the shoe fits, my friends...

Gay Matrimony, Not Just Getting Really Drunk at the Reception

Truth is, I don't really have a dog in this fight. Gay couples that get married in California really don't affect my marriage, or the institution, as far as I can see. In my opinion, it's not really the same thing, though I'm sure there are aspects of committed gays' marriages that are the same as the hetero variety. Anyway, for now, it's legal in California:

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - California's Supreme Court declared gay couples in the nation's biggest state can marry - a monumental but perhaps short-lived victory for the gay rights movement Thursday that was greeted with tears, hugs, kisses and at least one instant proposal of matrimony.

One difference, and it's not such a small thing: gay marriages would side-step one problem that is often an issue with young hetero marrieds, ie the whole toilet-seat-up-down imbroglio. It took my wife and I months to iron that one out. We'd probably still be arguing if I hadn't removed the seats and plastered over the mounting holes.

Lets Just End Tenure

Could it be that the trend of silly people teaching sillier ideas in America’s colleges is reversing?

Often it seems as though American higher education exists only to provide gag material for the outside world. The latest spectacle is an Ivy League professor threatening to sue her students because, she claims, their "anti-intellectualism" violated her civil rights.

Priya Venkatesan taught English at Dartmouth College. She maintains that some of her students were so unreceptive of "French narrative theory" that it amounted to a hostile working environment. She is also readying lawsuits against her superiors, who she says papered over the harassment, as well as a confessional exposé, which she promises will "name names.".....

......After a winter of discontent, the snapping point came while Ms. Venkatesan was lecturing on "ecofeminism," which holds, in part, that scientific advancements benefit the patriarchy but leave women out. One student took issue, and reasonably so – actually, empirically so. But "these weren't thoughtful statements," Ms. Venkatesan protests. "They were irrational." The class thought otherwise. Following what she calls the student's "diatribe," several of his classmates applauded.

Ms. Venkatesan informed her pupils that their behavior was "fascist demagoguery." Then, after consulting a physician about "intellectual distress," she cancelled classes for a week. Thus the pending litigation.

Good work, students. Seems to me, if you're going to go all fascist demagoguic, you picked the right target. Ecofeminism, what's that? A bunch of plants marching around with signs that read: "Keep Your Laws Off Our Gynoecia"?

Diet Time

Or maybe just time for a bigger doggie door.
h/t: DRB

Sean Penn Again

How lucky are we that Sean Penn came along in our lifetimes? Really, the guy is just a genius:

”I don't have a candidate I'm supporting and I'm certainly interested and excited by the hope that Barack Obama is inspiring,” he said, but went on to accuse him of a “phenomenally inhuman and unconstitutional” voting record.

”I hope that he will understand, if he is the nominee, the degree of disillusionment that will happen if he doesn't become a greater man than he will ever be,” Penn said.

What eloquence, “phenomenally inhuman and unconstitutional” voting record. Most of us didn't even realize there were degrees of inhumanity. And me, ha! meat-head me, I never suspected that there were unconstitutional ways to vote. And "if he doesn't become a greater man than he will ever be,” now there's one to ponder.

Maybe we aren't lucky. Maybe lucky would have been to live in a time when Sean Penn went into medicine and cured cancer, AIDS, and whatever that disease is that Michael Jackson's got. If we'd really been lucky, Penn would have joined NASA and you'd be reading this on Moon Base One, before going out for a round of supergolf.

Lil' Cars

I have nothing against little cars, but I found this Reuters article about the Smart "micro car" a little silly:

The 8-foot, 8-inch vehicle received the highest rating of good in front-end and side-impact testing by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, helping address some concerns that consumers may be more vulnerable in the tiny two-seater.

The tests, released Wednesday, show how well vehicles stack up against others of similar size and weight.....

Hello? "It's good, for a little car," doesn't answer the question. Course most people just read the headline, Smart receives top crash scores, and will now have the impression that the little car is safe. It is cute, but safe I'm not so sure about.

In the WV

Gee, I Wish I'd Never Shot You

Seen this?:

NEW YORK - A weeping Remy Ma was sentenced to eight years in prison Tuesday for shooting a woman outside a Manhattan nightclub. "I feel so bad for all the physical and mental pain you've gone through," the Grammy-nominated rapper told the victim. "This has taken a toll on us and both our families. I would never wish you harm and I pray the best for all of us."

I would never wish you harm? Remy, you shot her. There are better paths to not doing harm than, you know, shooting someone.

He's Still better Than the Other Two

John McCain is, just marginally, better than the two D alternatives. But his Global Warming Bandwagon jump is starting to worry me. In fact, they all three worry me. This may well become a contest to decide who will take longer to flush us all down the toilet.

Oh, and that reminds me! Global warming news for those of you who worry (needlessly) that we are killing the polar bears:

We now have proof that the polar bears aided the Nazis during WWII. Don't let them give you that "we were neutral" crap; that's what the, well, we'll leave the Swedes out of this.


(I joke, Swedes, I joke)

Rough Day at the Office

h/t: BoingBoing

Too Late for Hillary?

I forget where Obama is now in relation to Rev. Wright. Somewhere between, "Reverend Who?" and "well, I know him somewhat but only to throw rocks at." Really, it's changed many times. But I can almost swear that I haven't heard: "Oh yes I know the Reverend, I've appeared on the cover of his church magazine many times."

OK so now that people are digging through old copies of the Rev's magazines, get ready for: "Is that me?" and "Well, yes, but I've never really read those issues."

Marching Through the Blog

Looks like the demonstrators have found us.

(sound off - toggle on and hit "GO" for crowd noises)

Recurring AWL Theme

Who controls the remote:

Come on ya bastard, we're through watching Matlock!

For Fathers Day

I want it, I want it, I want it:

The Bug Bat is shaped like a tennis racket, but the similarities end there. Anything that touches the strings on the racket face receives a powerful electric shock. Gizmag got their hands on one and said the shock is enough to sting your finger if you touch it, and packs more than enough juice to end the life of an insect. Fittingly, the insect's death is punctuated with the satisfying crack of an electrical discharge. And a smile. Your smile.

How cool is that? The only way you could possibly improve it would be to add an electronic score keeper. FLIES: O (that part could be painted on) HUMAN: 63

h/t: Plime

It's a Weird World

The "Halp us Stevin Keng" Newsbusters link brought lots of traffic last week. One of the hoard, from Oregon, Chris M, noticed "Lumbie" the cartoon character you'll find over there with my profile. Why take notice? Well, it seems the restaurant Lumbie originally came from burned down a day or two earlier. Here it is, Oney's Restaurant:


Almost looks like he's warming himself by the fire, doesn't it? Anyway, I've never been to Oneys. I got the character from someone else's photo of the place. Lumbie just struck me as the perfect lumberjack, not too gruff, not at all sissified. Anyway, I sure hope they rebuild. I'll put them on my bucket list for sure if they do.
h/t: Chris M.

Happy Mom's Day Everyone

May your kids treat you better.

Talk Fast

Hezbollah overruns west Beirut as Lebanon on brink:

Hezbollah gunmen seized control of west Beirut on Friday after a third day of battles with pro-government foes in the Lebanese capital pushed the nation dangerously close to all-out civil war.

The sectarian fighting had eased by early afternoon as the army and police moved across areas now in the hands of Shiite opposition forces who routed Sunni militants loyal to the Western-backed government.

"There are no clashes anymore because no one is standing in the way of the opposition forces," a security official said on condition of anonymity.

The Cliff notes version: though the news media will call this a civil war, this show is being run by Iran. What to look for next: Jimmy Carter explaining how much worse this would have been if he hadn't already established an atmosphere of peace in the region. Release the doves Jimmy.

Next question: Does Obama think he can talk to Hezbollah?

It's Just Not Right

Gosh, I feel like one of those oversensitive PETA jerks but I just have to say it: Eating kittens is wrong. OK? Just wrong. And "I didn't know they belonged to anybody," is no excuse.

Cue the Fainters

I heard the audio of someone fainting in a Hillary rally yesterday. My only question was: what took you so long? Obama deployed his fainters early, and used them as part of his Messiahnization. (and then over-used them if you ask me) But what I can't figure now is: is this a me-too, or is this clumsy demonstration to show how staged Obama's faint-events were?

"Here, let me bring the water down, Keep her airway open! What? Here, let me down there, I know how to work the defibrillator. Medic, start a drip D-5-W, TKO, stat!"

Lumberjack

whack-a-messa

Strange Changes

Turn



and face them

Conservatives Happier Than Liberals

A Live Science article says we're happier anyway. But who didn't know that? I'm not sure about the reasoning though:

To justify economic inequalities, a person could support the idea of meritocracy, in which people supposedly move up their economic status in society based on hard work and good performance. In that way, one's social class attainment, whether upper, middle or lower, would be perceived as totally fair and justified.

If your beliefs don't justify gaps in status, you could be left frustrated and disheartened, according to the researchers, Jaime Napier and John Jost of New York University. They conducted a U.S.-centric survey and a more internationally focused one to arrive at the findings.

"Our research suggests that inequality takes a greater psychological toll on liberals than on conservatives," the researchers write in the June issue of the journal Psychological Science, "apparently because liberals lack ideological rationalizations that would help them frame inequality in a positive (or at least neutral) light."

The "idea of meritocracy"? Meritocracy isn't an idea, it's how things are. If you and I both work on our lawns but I work harder, smarter, and longer, what is unexpected about me having nicer grass? It's just the way the world works.

And if neither of us do much yard work, and we both end up with weeds, (a more likely scenario, really) am I happier because I know why I've got weeds? I suppose so. But I'm at a loss to understand how anyone could look at their weedfull lawn and not know why it's in that condition.

Comix

Wondermark - making comics from public domain Victorian era sketches. Cool idea. Funny too.

thanks: Mike B

They Beat A Woomen

I bought some music from the Choir of Kiev Pechersk Monastery last year so now I'll occasionally get offers for some pretty interesting stuff. Which being, what I'm talking bout:

CD: They Beat A Woomen
Milana sings the songs about woomen’s life and woomens felling. Naked truth without lie, exaggeration or underestimation. The album was produced by Alexsey Zakharenko AKA Origen. He composed 12 of 14 songs for this album and made Russian translation of Bohemian Rhapsody. Yes, 30 years after The Queen, Milana was the first who performed Bohemian Rhapsody in Russian. It's worth to listen even if you don't understand Russian.

Go here to check out the rather strange album cover, and to hear Bohemian Rhapsody in Russian. (which, I have to say, isn't bad as covers go)

Halp Our Boys Stephen King

Noel Sheppard called him on it:

I don't want to sound like an ad, a public service ad on TV, but the fact is if you can read, you can walk into a job later on. If you don't, then you've got, the Army, Iraq, I don't know, something like that. It's, it's not as bright. So, that's my little commercial for that.

And formerly Sailorette schooled him on it:

Hate to break it to ya, Mr. King, but I was the EPO in boot camp-- Educational Petty Officer. EVERYONE has to not only be able to read, but be able to pass several tests in history, memorize regulations and learn seamanship-- all on less than six hours of sleep a night, for roughly two months. Oh, and it's all in English.

You don't pass, you don't leave boot camp. There isn't any "nudging" the scores, either-- all machine graded, and there are multiple test versions in each class.

If you're going to write fiction, why don't you go back to the scary stuff and stop trying to pass such fiction off as reality?

I work with, and next to Marines, most days and I, too, can testify that Mr. King has got it wrong.

By the way, an article from eight years ago struck me as funny today:

FRYEBURG, Maine (AP) The accident that put Bryan Smith in the spotlight _ running over horror writer Stephen King - was far from his biggest worry before he was found dead in his trailer last weekend. He took pain medications for a longstanding back injury. One of his arms was weak. Carpal tunnel syndrome and depression only added to the problems of a 43-year-old grandfather who was surviving on disability payments.

Smith was buried Tuesday. Autopsy results were inconclusive, and the state medical examiner's office was awaiting toxicology reports before determining a cause of death.

Police, however, said there is no evidence Smith killed himself. And friends and relatives said he wasn't particularly upset about the accident that injured King, nor was he tormented by the writer's fans.

"Not particularly upset"? Sheesh, he whacked the hell out of him. And I'm not laughing at Mr. King here.... though I am suppressing a grin.