Reason 49879898 why I homeschool

Students gear up for Iowa. This is the article that made me lose my breakfast yesterday.

Their friends may be wrapping up their holiday break playing Wii video games, watching reruns of "Gossip Girl" or drinking too much mocha at local coffee shops.
But the students in an Ann Arbor high school class are packing for a whirlwind, firsthand look at presidential politics in Iowa.
As part of the Picking the President class at Ann Arbor Community High School, 24 students are to board a 6 a.m. flight to Des Moines on Wednesday.
After they land, they'll be working on the campaigns of their favorite candidate until the Iowa caucuses begin at 7 p.m. Thursday -- all while other students at the high school are off until next Sunday.

Humn, I wonder who their favorite candidates are? I'm sure it's a nice mix ...

"I really feel like we'll be making some changes," said Estelle Drent, a senior who, like most of her classmates, supports U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.
Most of the students support abortion rights, abhor the war in Iraq and would like to see the United States regain its reputation around the world.

Color me shocked.

They read the New York Times, Atlantic Monthly and watch the Sunday morning news shows, recapping the week's events on the campaign trail at each Tuesday night class.

But, I'm SURE their teacher encourages them to read from a wider variety of news sources than that. I mean, after all a teacher is supposed expand their educational opportunities. Who is the teacher anyway? I'm sure he is unbiased.

And they, or their parents, are willing to pay the $260 needed for airfare, food and lodging. But many are planning to stay with Iowans willing to open their homes.
They use words like integrity, electability and vision.

Great. They sound like robots already.

And they respect the importance of Iowa's caucuses, knowing that the field of Democratic and Republican candidates will be whittled with the results of the first-in-the-nation caucuses.
"For each of the parties, there are only three tickets out of Iowa," Lansing political consultant Dan Pero told the class earlier this month.
Thirteen of the 24 students support Obama, calling him a fresh, exciting leader who would bring diversity and a more contemporary vision to the White House.

But, what about CHANGE. Will he bring change? I'm dying to know.

"I just don't want another old white person in there," said Erik Levinsohn, a 17-year-old senior. "This is going to be like a second Christmas for me. I'm totally geeked."

What was it that MLK said about judging people? I can't really remember...

Only one student -- Liz DeMonte, a 15-year-old sophomore -- supports a Republican (former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani). She considers herself a fiscal conservative, but a social liberal.
"I don't really like any of the other Republicans," she said. "None of them are pro-choice, and that's pretty important to me."

@@. I throw up my hands. Honestly, I'm just lost. One Republican out of 24 and she's pro-choice?

Just one student -- Mira Fishman, a 15-year-old sophomore, will campaign for Democratic front-runner Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York.
"Women have been held back for so long. It's really important to break down those barriers," said Fishman, who also likes Clinton's position on health care, the environment and the war in Iraq.

Because NOTHING is more inspiring to young women than a femal erole model who got to where she is today because of her husband. And her husband's lover.

Five students like former Democratic Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, primarily, they said, because of his dedication to eradicating poverty in the United States.

Uhm ... good luck with that.

Four have chosen New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson because of his experience in the legislative and executive branches -- and for strategy.
"There's a distinct advantage of going with Richardson," said Lydia Austin, a 16-year-old junior. "With a smaller campaign, we can get much more involved and have a more integrated part in the campaign. I feel it's going to be a better experience."
This will be the second time the class has been offered by the Ann Arbor schools.
In 2004, Chuck Wilbur, a senior adviser to Gov. Jennifer Granholm, taught the class and took 13 students to New Hampshire to work in the days before that primary.
Word of mouth swelled the class to 24 students this year.

Tell me I'm not the only one who has a problem with this. Chuck is a Granholm appointee; her education policy advisor. And he's also a teacher in a class on the political process.

But, of course, can you think of a better way to make future Democrats?

Jingles the Snowman

My 5-year-old son received this for Christmas from my mother (obviously bizarre gifts run in the family). It is FOUR pounds of chocolate. Keep checking in for the snowman's progress as it gets eaten.




This is "after" my son's first session with Jingles.

Offered with minimal comment

I think you'll want to *clicky* to see it in it's full glory.

My mother received this for Christmas from her brother.

Michigan Trivia

I got this from one of those email things:

Interesting Information for People Who Live In Michigan
1. Governor Granholm is the 3rd highest paid Governor in the country at $177,000 in salary. This does not count her $60,000 expense account. Only the Governor of New York and California make more than her!
2. Governor Granholm's husband has 3 assistants paid by the state. The highest paid assistant makes $117,000 a year.
3. Our state Congressmen and Senators are the 2nd highest paid at $79,650 in salary. This
does not count their $20,000 expense account. Only California legislatures make more.
4. Our teachers are the 3rd highest paid teachers in the country
5. Our cigarette tax is the 4th highest
in the country
6. Our Corporate Income Tax rate is the 7th highest.

Funny how we don't have enough money to pay our bills and the only answer is for us to pay more in taxes, when our public servants are getting fat on our sweat!

Why the frak does her husband get assistants?

A Poem for me

Written by Jack M, over at Ace's.

Happy Collectivism

Morning, Merry Christmas! I hope everyone had a good holiday. We survived, although my husband is (still) sick.

Anyway, since it's the twenty-six, and the first day of Kwanza, let me be the first to say ... Happy Kwanza, Comrade. The radio just did an interview/rundown of the ideals behind each day, and several of them smacked of socialism. Perhaps, of course, I see socialism everywhere? I'm hypersensitive, you're thinking, right? Well, I googled socialism and Kwanza ... and apparently I'm no the only one:

The specific values celebrated in Kwanzaa, however, suck. They are socialist-Marxist-collectivist-totalitarian crap. Everyone seems to tiptoe around Kwanzaa feeling that they have to be respectful, I guess because they are fearful of being called a racist. However, I find it terrible to see such a self-destructive set of values foisted on the African-American community. These values are nearly perfectly constructed to keep blacks in poverty - just look at how well these same values have played out in Africa.

See, that's what I was thinking. Maybe I'm not crazy. The seven days are Umoja (unity), Kujichagulia (self-determination), Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility), Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics), Nia (Purpose), Kuumba (Creativity), and Imani (Faith). Now, some of those jump right out at you. I'm looking at you Ujima and Ujamaa. Coyote Blog can take it from here; he took the "values" with their definitions from the offical Kwanza site:

Umoja (Unity)
To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation and race

On its surface, this is either a platitude, or, if serious, straight Marxism and thoroughly racist. Think about who else in the 20th century talked about unity of race, and with what horrible results.

In practice, the notion of unity in the black movement has become sort of a law of Omerta -- no black is ever, ever supposed to publicly criticize another black. Don't believe me? Look at the flack Bill Cosby caught for calling out other blacks.

Kujichagulia (Self-Determination)
To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves

Generally cool with me -- can't get a libertarian to argue with this. When this was first written in the 60's, it probably meant something more revolutionary, like secession into a black state, but in today's context I think it is fine.

Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility)
To build and maintain our community together and make our brother's and sister's problems our problems and to solve them together

Um, do I even need to comment? This is Marxism, pure and simple.

Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics)
To build and maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit from them together.

OK, I said the last one was Marxism. This one is really, really Marxism.

Nia (Purpose)
To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.

There's that collectivism again

Kuumba (Creativity)
To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.

I guess I don't have much problem with creativity and make things better. My sense though that if I was to listen to the teaching on this one in depth, we would get collectivism again.

Imani (Faith)
To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

What about in ourselves as individuals? Through all of this, where is the individual, either individual responsibility or achievement? It is interesting that a holiday that was invented specifically to be anti-religious would put "faith" in as a value. In fact, Karenga despised the belief in God as paying homage to "spooks who threaten us if we don't worship them and demand we turn over our destiny and daily lives."

However, this is in fact very consistent with the teachings of most statists and totalitarians. They tend to reject going on bended knee to some god, and then turn right around and demand that men go on bended knee to ... them, or other men. This is in fact what this "faith" was about for Karenga - he is a statist laying the foundation for obedience to the totalitarian state. He wants blacks to turn over their destiny and daily lives to their leaders, not to god.

So, do you really want to see the spread of this holiday? Is wishing someone a "Happy Kwanza!" as harmless as it appears?

Looking on the bright side ...

Glass is half full optimism from The Pool Bar regarding outcomes when the Democrats win the next election.

I like the first one best:

Abrupt withdrawal from Iraq results in chaos in the Persian Gulf region, which leads to $300/barrel oil. Global warming grinds to a halt, and Al Gore finally shuts the hell up.

I kinda dig that blog.

Another book I'm reading ...

The Closing of the American Mind by Allan Bloom.

Excerpt:

Lack of education simply results in students' seeking for enlightenment wherever it is readily available, without being able to distinguish between the sublime and trash, insight and propaganda. For the most part students turn to the movies, ready prey to interested moralisms such as the dipictions of Gandhi or Thomas More - largely designed to further passing political movements and to appeal to simplistic needs for greatness-or to insinuating flattery of their secret aspirations and vices giving them a sense of significance. Kramer vs. Kramer may be up-to-date about divorces and sex roles, but anyone who does not have Anaa Karenina or The Red and the Black as part of his viewing equipment cannot sense what might be lacking, or the difference between an honest presentation and an exercise in consciousness-raising, trashy sentimentality and elevated sentiment. As films have emancipated themselves from the literary tyranny under which they suffered and which gave them a bad conscience, the ones with serious pretensions have become intolerably ignorant and manipulative. The distance from the contemporary and its high seriousness that students most need in order not to indulge their petty desires and to discover what is most serious about themselves cannot be found in the cinema, which now only knows the present. Thus, the failure to read good books both enfeebles the vision and strengthens our most fatal tendency - the belief that the here and now is all there is.

And, by "lack of education", he doesn't mean what you may think he means. Modern education is "lacking" because it fails to teach the "Classics" - including the Bible. Students don't read enough of the good stuff.

Review

"I Am Legend" - the story. OMG, was it good. Find it. Read it (preferably before you see the movie.) Be warned, though. I thought it was a full book, and almost cried when, halfway through the paperback, the story ended. The remainder of the book is other short stories.

Honestly, I'm still smarting from that.

I also read Mark Levin's "Saving Sprite" - which made me cry.

What is everyone else reading?

Who loves his bone?

Oskar does, that's who!


Speaking of loving the bone ... can you believe that Jamie Spears is preggo? Of course, you can.

"Funky Chicken" sums up sorta what I was thinking, over in the comment's at Ace's :

Oh, and some advice for Disney, which apparently needs it: if you create a TV show for elementary-school age children, and your 16 year old "star" moves in with her 19 year old boyfriend, you probably need to introduce her to Norplant or Depo Provera ...

I mean, CRIPES, my daughters watch that show. GOOD JOB DISNEY (ED - I mean, Nick, but it doesn't change the sentiment).

We've got snow ...

You certainly can find THIS dog in the snow ....




This is real early this morning ... we've gotten a few more inches since then.

Now I'm morally bankrupt

For spending (a lot of) money trying to save Greta. Here in comments. You see, there are sick and starving children, who all would have been saved if I had simply put a bullet in her head. I suppose, euthanizing her myself who serve as additional monetary savings, and thus even more sick and starving children could have been saved.


Or, something like that.

So, while you're out shopping for Christmas, spending money on things other than sick and starving children, don't forget that you are morally bankrupt.

Blast from the past

David Bowie, Loving the Alien acoustic.

Man, I loved this song.

Three Cheers for Candice Miller

Rep. Miller Urges President Bush to Release Jailed Border Agents
Contact: Audra Miller
Contact Phone: (202)225-2106
Contact Email: audra.miller@mail.house.gov
WASHINGTON, DC—Congresswoman Candice Miller (MI-10) today signed a letter to President George W. Bush asking that he pardon border agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean. Ramos and Compean were prosecuted for their actions in attempting to apprehend a Mexican drug smuggler who brought 743 pounds of marijuana across our border. They were sentenced to 11 and 12 years for wounding the drug smuggler on the United States border with Mexico in 2005. Miller released the following statement:

“It is time for these men to come home,” Miller said. “They should be released for time served after six months. The conviction of these border agents rested on testimony from a known drug smuggler. It is outrageous that the drug criminal was given immunity by the Department of Justice in order to testify against the two law enforcement officers that were trying to stop his illegal activities. It is time the President let Agents Ramos and Compean go home to their families.”

Here is a reminder of what happened:

In February 17, 2005, Ramos and Compean were patrolling the border town of Fabens, Texas, when a Mexican illegal alien and drug smuggler, attempted to secret nearly 800 pounds of marijuana into the United States in his van. Agent Compean chased Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila by vehicle and on foot, ordering him to stop. Compean says Aldrete-Davila ignored him, pushed him down, and assaulted him, whereupon the agent called for backup, drawing seven additional units, including Ramos. When he arrived on the scene, he heard gunfire, saw Compean bleeding on the ground, and the fugitive – still refusing to stop as commanded – stealing furtive glances over his shoulder while holding something shiny he believed to be a handgun. Both state they felt threatened, and both fired rounds in the alien’s direction, Ramos striking him in the buttocks. The alien got away, but the two men had jeopardized their own well-being to keep his noxious contraband off our streets.

Returning to Mexico, Aldrete-Davila related his misfortunes to his mother, who contacted the mother-in-law of Border Patrol agent Rene Sanchez. Sanchez in turn tipped off a member of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, who went to Mexico to offer immunity if Osbaldo would act as a state’s witness against Ramos and Compean: the feds wanted to prosecute the agents shooting the alien narcotics supplier.

To sweeten the immunity deal, the feds paid for Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila’s medical treatment of his ailing backside – a taxpayer-funded recuperation at William Beaumont Army Medical Center in El Paso, Texas. He showed his gratitude by breaking his immunity agreement in October 2005, when officers say he attempted to smuggle 1,000 pounds of marijuana into America. The prosecution further extended its immunity to this felony and sealed the indictment from jurors. Aldrete-Davila repaid this new shower of grace by suing the federal government for $5 million, alleging the shooting violated his civil rights. However, he agreed to help in their criminal prosecution, as well, and the feds are apparently happy to collaborate with the pusher as long as he helped put effective lawmen behind bars.

Huckabee Review

On the WOT and Gitmo.

Symptoms that he's woefully disengaged from international politics. And, by extention, not exactly qualified to deal with such issues as president:

Huckabee defended himself in Miami this morning, according to CBS News’ Joy Lin, saying his “major concern” in 2002 was to try and “revive a sagging economy” impacted by the recession. “Our rice markets were in trouble…At that time, my primary responsibility was simply to hear the concerns unique to my state,” he said.
Since then, Huckabee said, he had been able to find new markets for the rice market by going to Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea to find Asian markets for the state’s rice. Another reason for the policy change, explained Huckabee, was that he was “really not that aware” of the issues the issues that exist between Cuba and the United States.

“Being in Arkansas, that’s not one of the issues I am in close proximity with,” he said.

Flipper on immigration; he was for illegal immigrants (receiving in-state college tuition) before he was against it (Minuteman endorsement),

Taxes - he's for a flat tax, but his record in Arkansas shows a tradition of increased taxes:

Huckabee oversaw tax increases, including 37 percent higher sales taxes, 16 percent higher motor fuel taxes and 103 percent higher cigarette taxes, according to Americans for Tax Reform in Washington.

And this:

the average Arkansas tax burden increased 47% over Huckabee’s tenure. Huckabee supported (in chronological order) a sales tax hike; gas and diesel fuel tax hikes; another sales tax hike; a cigarette tax hike; a nursing home bed tax; another sales tax hike; an income surcharge tax; a tobacco tax hike; taxes on Internet access; and higher beer taxes.

Jonah Goldberg on Huck:

Huckabee represents compassionate conservatism on steroids. A devout social conservative on issues such as abortion, school prayer, homosexuality and evolution, Huckabee is a populist on economics, a fad-follower on the environment and an all-around do-gooder who believes that the biblical obligation to do "good works" extends to using government -- and your tax dollars -- to bring us closer to the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.

For example, Huckabee has indicated he would support a nationwide federal ban on public smoking. Why? Because he's on a health kick, thinks smoking is bad and believes the government should do the right thing.

And therein lies the chief difference between Paul and Huckabee. One is a culturally conservative libertarian. The other is a right-wing progressive.

Robert Novak on Huck:

The rise of evangelical Christians as the force that blasted the GOP out of minority status during the past generation always contained an inherent danger: What if these new Republican acolytes supported not merely a conventional conservative but one of their own? That has happened with Huckabee, a former Baptist minister educated at Ouachita Baptist University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. The danger is a serious contender for the nomination who passes the litmus test of social conservatives on abortion, gay marriage and gun control but is far removed from the conservative-libertarian model of Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan.

There is no doubt about Huckabee's record during a decade in Little Rock. He was regarded by fellow Republican governors as a compulsive tax-and-spender. He increased the Arkansas tax burden 47 percent, boosting the levies on gasoline and cigarettes. When he lost 100 pounds and decided to press his new lifestyle on the American people, he was hardly being a Goldwater-Reagan libertarian.

There is no doubt about Huckabee's record during a decade in Little Rock. He was regarded by fellow Republican governors as a compulsive tax-and-spender. He increased the Arkansas tax burden 47 percent, boosting the levies on gasoline and cigarettes. When he lost 100 pounds and decided to press his new lifestyle on the American people, he was hardly being a Goldwater-Reagan libertarian.

As a presidential candidate, Huckabee has sought to counteract his reputation as a taxer by pressing for replacement of the income tax with a sales tax. More recently he signed the no-tax-increase pledge of Americans for Tax Reform. But Huckabee simply does not fit within normal boundaries of economic conservatism, such as when he criticized President Bush's veto of a Democratic expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program. Calling global warming a "moral issue" mandating "a biblical duty" to prevent climate change, he has endorsed a cap-and-trade system that is anathema to the free market.

So, in summation, if the only issues you care about are abortion (anti-), gay-marriage (anti-), and guns (pro-) - Huck may be your guys. As good as a flat-tax may seem, I have a hard time believing such a thing is anything but a pipe-dream, and certainly Huckabee doesn't have a good track record in regards to taxation.

It's been a week?

Well, crap, I just didn't have anything to post. I'm doing some research on Huckabee though, so I'll get back to you.

Uptown, antiwar, Man

Nothing brings out the holiday spirit like an anti-war Christmas carol from Billy Joel:

"Christmas In Fallujah"


It's Evening In the Desert
I'm Tired and I'm cold
But I'm just a solder
I do what I am told

We Came with the Crusaders
to save the holy land
It's Christmas In Fallujah
and no one gives a damn

And I just got your letter
And this is what I read you said

I'm fading from your memory
so I'm just as good as dead

We are the armies of the empire
We are the legionnaires of Rome

It's Christmas In Fallujah
and we ain't never coming home

We came to bring these people freedom
we came to fight the infidel

there is no justice in the desert
Because there is no god in hell

They say osama's in the mountains
deep in a cave near Pakistan

But there's a sea of blood in Baghdad
A sea of oil in the sand

Between the Tigris and Euphrates
another day comes to an end

it's Christmas In Fallujah
Peace on earth goodwill to men

it's Christmas In Fallujah
hallelujah hallelujah
(hoorah)

The proceeds go to Homes for Our Troops which builds homes for returning, disabled soldiers. So, at least that's a good thing. But, why (oh why) couldn't Joel write a Holiday song that gave TRIBUTE to our soldiers? That would have been a tad more in the spirit.


This is more like it:

About my birthday party

Who's gonna come over and help me clean up?

Holiday Greetings

Elf Yourself.

Music suggestions?

As a b-day gift to myself, I'm looking for some new Christmas music. Any suggestions?


Recommend Clay Aiken or Mariah Carey and you will be banned.

You learn something every day

Like, last night, I learned that I am a sexist conservative who supports a particularly virulent strain of sexist Socialism.

The "sexist socialism" I "support" is that I believe men bear some responsibility for the children they create.

I guess I should just join NOW ...now?

Riddle Me This

How many Republican Plants were there at the last Democratic debate?

And, before you say Oh, it's no big deal, here's how that exchange gets offered and answered at Michelle Malkin's site :

On November 29th, 2007 at 12:04 pm, Rusty said:
Being a Democrat does not make one a “plant.” I support Hillary Clinton. Does that not mean I don’t deserve the chance to ask the Republican candidates a question?


Yup, that’s exactly what it means. It’s called a primary which is only for members of the party. And these Dem plants took away valuable question time from those that actually have a stake in the voting. You get to question the candidate the party chooses to run for President. Until then, it’s not your issue unless you switch parties.

So, to sum up, so far there were four "plants" last night:

1) Abortion questioner is declared Edwards supporter
2) Log Cabin Republican questioner is declared Obama supporter;
3) Lead toy questioner is a prominent union activist for the Edwards-endorsing United Steelworkers
4) Retired Brig General/gays in the military is Lobbyist/Hillary-Kerry supporter.

The biggest irony of all this, was that the Republicans agreed to go on CNN (Clinton News Network) while the Democrats refused to go on a Fox supported debate. What exactly did the Democrats fear, and how is that different from the treatment the Republicans got? Dishonest and despicable.

Cute Overload

Translation:



H/t: Protein Wisdom Pub

Useful Idiots

Ah ... Venezuela ...

Why go stand by side by Hugo Chavez in Venezuela? Why do that? Would you rather live under him than George Bush?


Sheehan: "Yes. Hugo Chavez is not a dictator like you introduced him. He's been democratically elected eight times. He is not anti-American, he has helped the poor people of America. He has sent aid to New Orleans, he has sold heating oil to disadvantaged people in America at low cost, and the people of his country love him."

Sean Penn:

"If the people of the United States, those millions and millions of poor people ... if that nation realizes what is truly happening here, there would be a revolution in the United States," Chavez said, eliciting applause from Penn.

Noam Chomsky:

“I have been quite interested in his policies,” Chomsky said. “Personally, I think many of them are quite constructive.” Most important, he said, Chavez seems to have the overwhelming support of the people in his country. “He has gone through six closely supervised elections,” he said.

And, in one of the most tone-deaf headlines, Venezuela's Proposed Reforms Don't Endager Democracy on the Huffy Post:

Polls indicate that the majority of Venezuelan voters may well approve the proposed constitutional reforms on December 2. If they do, the U.S. government and media - and the Venezuelan opposition - should respect the result.

I don't know what "respect the result" should mean, when already citizens in Venezuela aren't allowed to voice opposition.

A large number of National Guard and Metropolitan Police officers Wednesday prevented students of Metropolitan University (Unimet) from reaching Francisco Fajardo Avenue in Caracas to deliver fliers against the draft reform on the changes to the Constitution.

The purpose of Unimet students was to deliver informative material related to the contents of articles that President Hugo Chávez wants to change.

State security forces launched tear-gas canisters and pellets to students, who had to run.

Behold Democracy!




Remember, he is NOT a dictator, no matter how closely he resembles one.

h/t: Gateway Pundit, and photos from Reicht-Wing Propaganda Machine FauxNews, who I'm sure photo-shopped pictures of a peaceful protest against the Patriot Act, brought down by Bush's jack-booted thugs, to support this faux story.

About my iTunes list

My son got an iPod for his birthday, and he's been ordering songs.

I wonder

What is is that drives some people to live each day hoping to offend as many people as possible. Or, should I say, offending certain people.

For all the hyper PC treatment of Indians Indigenous Americans, blacks African-Americans, Islamic-radicals Muslims, etc ... liberals are perfectly happy to offend Christians without even batting an eye. I have yet to see a liberal with a bumper sticker criticizing Muslims, but I suppose there is nothing offensive about this?

And, nothing makes my blood boil more than seeing a "Fuck Bush" bumpersticker in the car ahead of me as I'm driving my five kids somewhere. I had hope the conversation in Pandagon's comments was actually showing signs of hope:

I could do without the “Bush is a dipshit” bumperstickers I see: the public debate is debased enough with obscenities written unavoidably on the vehicle in front of you.

But, fearless leader Amanda Marcotte, ever blind to reasons:

Considering how the right mostly communicates in empty slogans (the entire argument against Al Gore is that he’s a nerd and against Hillary Clinton is that she’s a scary female and against Bill Clinton is that he’s getting laid more than you, etc.), maybe it’s time to aim your criticisms against the more deserving instead of whining here.

Sorry, honey, that may be the outer limits of Republican thought that you hear, but that's only because lefties never fucking listen. Hate to get all potty-mouthed, but I could make a nice long list why I didn't vote for Gore, thought Bill was a bad president, and strongly fear Hillary as president. But, there is no point, because most liberals won't even listen/read.

And, it is pretty predictable that Marcotte's response for a desire to raise the level of discourse is basically to call the person a whiner.

Do People Still Fall For This?

MANAGING PARTNER
TANFIELD CHAMBERS & ASSOCIATES LAW FIRM
2-5 Warwick Court,London,WC1R 5DJ.
DX:LONDON, Chancery land - United Kingdom


FINAL NOTIFICATION OF BEQUEST,


Dear Beneficiary

On behalf of the Trustees and Executor of the estate of Late Engr. Jurgen Krugger; I once again try to notify you as my earlier letter was returned undelivered.


I hereby attempt to reach you again by this same email address stated on the WILL. I wish to notify you that late Engr. Jurgen Krugger made you a beneficiary to his WILL.
He left the sum of Seven Million One Hundred Thousand Pounds (£7,100.000.00 ) to you in the codicil and last testament to his WILL.

Being a widely traveled man, he must have been in contact with you in the past or simply you were recommended to him by one of his numerous friends abroad who wished you good.
Engr. Jurgen Krugger until his death was a member of the Helicopter Society and the Institute of Electronic & Electrical Engineers. He was a very dedicated Christian who loved to be involved in charitable projects. His great philanthropy earned him numerous awards during his life time.

Late Engr. Jurgen Krugger died on the 23rd day of December, 2006 at the age of 80 years, and his WILL is now ready for execution.

According to him, this money is to support your humanitarian activities and to help the poor and the needy in our society. Please if I reach you this time as I am hopeful, endeavor to get back to me as soon as possible to enable me conclude my job.

I hope to hear from you in no distant time.

Yours in Service,

BARRISTER ANDREW BUTLER ESQ.
(Head of Chambers.)

PRINCIPAL PARTNERS: Barrister Aidan Walsh.Esq Markus
Wolfgang, Mr. John Marvey Esq, Mr. Jerry Smith Esq.


Honestly, I never get tired of reading them.

Icebergs strick back!

I didn't know there were any icebergs left in Antarctica.

Feminists finally take notice

How many times have I said to myself "Why don't feminists seem to care about the plight of women in oppressive Muslim societies?" Well, I don't honestly know, but it's a high number.

But, viola - now there is this:

Anti-choice misogynist crazies aren’t confined to the U.S. and Canada — religious conservatives kill gynecologists in Iraq, too.

Male gynaecologists are being targeted by Islamic extremists in Iraq as they are accused of invading the privacy of women. Women’s NGOs have raised concerns as there are few women gynaecologists in the country and their male counterparts are scared to continue working.

“Because of the extremists’ religious views, doctors are scared to continue with their work and the number of women gynaecologists is very low and cannot meet the demand,” said Mayada Zuhair, spokeswoman for the Women’ Rights Association (WRA).

“Extremists say that [male] doctors are not allowed to see the private parts of women and two male doctors were reportedly killed last week after leaving their clinics. A message was left near their bodies saying that was the end for any doctor who insists in invading the privacy of Muslim women,” Mayada added.

An Iraqi Medical Association (IMA) spokesman, Walid Rafi, told IRIN it knew of at least 22 male gynaecologists who had been sent threatening letters.

The justification is different, but the outcome is the same: Doctors are dead for doing their jobs. And Iraqi women are the ones who are suffering:

Heath services in Iraq have been seriously undermined by the shortage of doctors. According to the IMA, at least 75 percent of doctors, pharmacists and nurses have left their jobs at universities, clinics and hospitals. Of these, at least 55 percent have fled abroad.

“There are days when we find more than 80 patients per doctor in our hospital, an average of 170 daily. All of them are divided among the two women gynaecologists who are left in our clinic,” said Afaf Abdul-Qahar, a gynaecologist at Karada Maternity Centre, in the capital.

Glad to see we’re exporting American values so thoroughly.

See, the Islamic nutters aren't killing gynaecologists because their version of the religion is fucked. It's because of American anti-abortion nutters!

It's interest that the feminists didn't seem care about "brown" women until they could somehow, in a twisted, convoluted manner, blame it on the evil, patriarchal, American society.

But, I also want to draw attention to the hype regarding the murder of abortionists. To hear the caterwauling of the pro-abortionists, it would appear to be a crises. But since 1993, there have only been 7 murders of those related to the procedure of Abortion. Seven in 14 years. I bet more lawyers have been murdered in that time period. Certainly more cops. Yet, the feminist, pro-abortion lobby milks each murder for it's last drop of self-righteous indignation.

As I said somewhere else on the intertubes yesterday, to lefties America excels at nothing, and is the root of everything bad. I have an idea, how about considering, just for a nanosecond, that the Islamo-nuts who kill the doctors of women are motivated by something other than the influence of America's bad cultural values. Maybe, just maybe, it's something else.

Who else could we ship down there ...

It's not as if I don't have sympathy for the Cuban people, but this sounds like an excellent plan. If O.J. could blaze the trail, perhaps we could get all the other Socialist lovers to follow his example. Of course, O.J. is just trying to escape prosecution (and jail), but I've never understood why people who love socialism don't just move somewhere ELSE where socialism is going strong.

Well, of course, socialism is never "going strong" - it's always on the brink of failure. But let's not quibble about the details.

Socialism is Un-American. Don't elect Hillary!

Global Warming Alert!

Oops, false alarm. Nothing to see here folks.

Update!

We could learn a lot from Cuba's "Energy Revolution." They've reduced oil/energy comsumption through "saving and efficiency."

Behold, the future green kitchen!Z.

Oskar

(click for bigger)

Finally, blogger will let me upload pictures again. So here, from last week, is a picture of Oskar.

And, here's one I wanted to post a while ago:



What is Greta doing here? Digging for rocks in the water, of course. Her favorite thing eva.

There HAD to have been something better on tv last night

Preston Taylor Holmes has a nice wrap-up of last night's Democratic Debate debate. And, by nice I mean entertaining in that it barely touches on the debate itself. Which was horrible. I'll never get that 90 minutes of my life back.

BUSH is teh suXor

Peter Berkowitz on Bush Hatred:

In short, Bush hatred is not a rational response to actual Bush perfidy. Rather, Bush hatred compels its progressive victims-who pride themselves on their sophistication and sensitivity to nuance--to reduce complicated events and multilayered issues to simple matters of good and evil.Like all hatred in politics, Bush hatred blinds to the other sides of the argument, and constrains the hater to see a monster instead of a political opponent.

Prof. Starr shows in "Freedom's Power" that tolerance, generosity, and reasoned skepticism are hallmarks of the truly liberal spirit. His analysis suggests that the problem with progressives who have succumbed to Bush hatred is not their liberalism; it's their betrayal of it. To be sure, Prof. Starr rejects Bush administration policies and thinks conservatives have the wrong remedies for what ails America today. Yet at the same time his analysis suggests, if not a cure for those who have already succumbed, at least a recipe for inoculating others against hating presidents to come.

Ala - Bushhitler, George Bush hates black people and all the shallow, bumper sticker arguments leveled against George Bush. Often, when I end up in arguments with people of the other political persuasion, I feel as if were debating with the back of a Volkswagen.

Chavez is such a card!

This from Reuters:

Chavez, who called former conservative Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar a fascist at the weekend meeting, has courted controversy at summits before, most notably last year by calling U.S. President George W. Bush the devil at the United Nations.

Political analysts say Chavez relishes such fights because he uses them to fire up his support base among the majority poor at home with blunt rhetoric that plays on their misgivings of rich countries' investments in Latin America.

On Tuesday, he said the king's "arrogance" exposed that colonial attitudes toward South America have not died out.

But the folksy president also showed he had a sense of humor over the flap.

When a reporter asked him a series of questions about the raft of constitutional changes expected to be passed in next month's plebiscite, he joked: "Why don't you shut up?

Ha ha ha ... but you know, what do you expect from a folksy president? I mean, sure he's seized private property, and paved the way for him to become leader for life ... but he's just so gosh-darn likable.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez demanded on Tuesday Spain's king apologize for telling him to shut up, warning that Spanish investments could suffer in its former colony because of the spat.

Chavez, who railed against imperialism and capitalism, named banks Santander and BBVA as possible targets, saying the OPEC nation did not need Spanish business.

"The king lost it," Chavez said at a late-night political rally. "He should say, '... I, the king, confess, I was beside myself, I made a mistake."

ALL HAIL CHAVEZ. You must kiss my ass, or I will seize the billions of dollars you have (foolishly) invested in Venezuela.

I don't think he's joking about that second part. How high, do you think, Spain will jump?

Pot/kettle

If Iran wants to execute gays and lesbians, I don't know why it's any of our business.

Homosexuals deserve to be executed or tortured and possibly both, an Iranian leader told British MPs during a private meeting at a peace conference, The Times has learnt.

Mohsen Yahyavi is the highest-ranked politician to admit that Iran believes in the death penalty for homosexuality after a spate of reports that gay youths were being hanged.

I mean, we won't even let homosexuals marry, so it's not as if we have any room to talk.

As for this:

The latest row involves a woman hanged this June in the town of Gorgan after becoming pregnant by her brother. He was absolved after expressing his remorse. Britain said that this demonstrated the unequal treatment of men and women in law and breached Iran’s pledge to restrict the death penalty to the most serious crimes.

I'm sure the bitch had it coming. Did she show ANY remorse? I doubt it. Fricken Lolita, is what she was ...

h/t: Ace

Act Now!

The Jena 6 need more money for bling their defense!

Don't be distracted by the videos, and the accusations that fund donated for defense attorneys is being used for bling, cars, and travel expenses. From the Chicago Tribune:

Michael Baisden, a nationally syndicated black radio host who is leading a major fundraising drive on behalf of the Jena 6, has declined to reveal how much he has collected. Attorneys for the first defendant to go to trial, Mychal Bell, say they have yet to receive any money from him.

I'm sure a check got lost in the mail or something.

Meanwhile, photos and videos are circulating across the Internet that raise questions about how the donated money is being spent. One photo shows Robert Bailey, one of the Jena 6 defendants, smiling and posing with $100 bills stuffed in his mouth. Another shows defendants Carwin Jones and Bryant Purvis modeling like rap stars at the Black Entertainment Television Hip-Hop music awards last month in Atlanta.

The teenagers' parents have strongly denied that they have misused any of the donated money. Bailey's mother, for example, insisted that the $100 bills shown in the photograph were cash her son had earned as a park maintenance worker.

"Misused" is such an ugly word. And so ... lacking in specific meaning. You say potay-to, I say pota-to.

Honestly, I don't know what all the gripping is about. If the boys needed some ca$h to buy some bling, clothes, and cars- it's only to be expected. You can't expect them to walk the red carpet looking like regular folk.

h/t: Six Meat Buffet

Free Speech in Canada; it's not for everyone!

And who is behind the firing of Toronto Sun columnist Rachel Marsden? The Daily Kos, of course. Her crime? She wrote a column in defense of waterboarding.

WAY TO GO, Daily Kos! Since you can't win in the arena of ideas, it's best to shut out the other side.

Puppy Report

We took Oskar for a nice long walk yesterday, and he was SO TIRED last night. He just lay on the floor all night.

Pat went to wake him to take him potty, and he just peed right on his little "bed" we'd made for him. WHILE HE WAS LAYING DOWN. Barely woke up.

I have to say, that was a first. Never saw that before.

Anyway, this morning we went outside and made his business (1& 2) like a good doggie.

Musical Interlude

It's been a while since I posted a vid, so I thought it would be ok.



This isn't actually a video, since there isn't one, but you can hear the song, which is the point.

Foo Fighter's Stranger Things Have Happened.

It makes you wonder why the heck Kurt Cobain was doing all the singing.

Blog Reading Level

Get a Cash Advance

If you choose to believe it. It probably rates sentence length (my run-ons work to my advantage) and potty words, which, although I'm not afraid to use, certainly don't appear that gosh darn often.

via Gail.

Conflicted

Last night, as I was falling asleep, suddenly the name "Ozzy" came to me ... even Oz for short.

I think it's cute.

Oskar update

Oskar is afraid of the stairs. He's probably never encountered them in his life (5 months) - and they are wood, so tricky for the experienced.

Anyway, I looked it up, and it's apparently something with large breeds that you shouldn't push. So, push I won't. I'll walk him around outside. That should get old pretty quick. The things I do for doggies.

Oskar?

PSA

It is snowing. I'm sure it is somehow George Bush's fault. Global warming, or climate change or something.


Additionally, watch this spot for coming pictures of a new dog. Let the naming contest begin!

The pup is a black, male German Shepherd. It has a tiny white speck on it's neck. I prefer German names for my German dog.

This is what socialism looks like

Venezuela:

On Thursday, protesters staged the biggest demonstration against Chavez in months, and appeared to revive Venezuela's languid opposition. Soldiers responded with tear gas canisters, plastic bullets and water cannons to scatter tens of thousands who said the amendments would violate civil liberties and derail democracy.

The pro-government VEA newspaper on Friday predicted an overwhelming victory and urged government supporters to join "a life or death battle in which the present and future of the Venezuelan nation is in play.

See, you can't really protest in a socialist society because the government has already decided what is best for everyone. Protesting that "you" are unhappy with the situation is a sign that you haven't conformed to the idea that individuality, and your personal happiness, takes a back seat to the "common good." Don't make me go all "enemy of the state" and what not, because that brings up such bad memories.

Protesters hit with tear gas, plastic bullets and water cannons

So, it's finally here. The day when we've totally lost our right to protest. To voice our displeasure at the government. Bushitler and his facsist thugs have finally implemented KKKarl Rove's evil plan ...

Soldiers used tear gas, plastic bullets and water cannons to scatter tens of thousands who massed Thursday to protest constitutional reforms that would permit Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to run for re-election indefinitely.

Led by university students, protesters chanted "Freedom! Freedom!" and warned that 69 amendments drafted by the Chavista-dominated National Assembly would violate civil liberties and derail democracy.

Oops, my mistake. We're talking about Hollywood's favorite Venezuelan thug, Hugo Chavez. Really, what's the big deal? Obviously Chavez is the most qualfied to be the king leader down there, and Sean Penn and Kevin Spacey seemed to like him. I'm sure if the people are not happy with him, they'll just vote 'em out of office. Perhaps Jimma Carter can oversee the voting process?

Sick

And lacking motivation/inspiration.

From Comments/Updated

Perhaps you should wait on getting another dog til your family learns not to let dogs out in traffic unattended? Maybe get a fence?

See, this is the problem with the internets. Self-rightout, uninformed people feel perfectly comfortable rubbing salt in a wound.

First of all, you know GEE, I never until this moment considered how horrible it was that my dog got hit by a car. You know, to me they are just perfectly disposable. I can just pick up another at the pound, and if it gets hit by a car .... oh well. Because EVERYONE who has ever had something bad happen to their dog (whether is ran away or was hit by a car or simply got fat and had a heart attack) is a bad owner. EVERY one of them.

Same must be said for anyone who has a child that got hit by a car. Or who was in a car accident. I sure hope you've never been in a car accident, because it MUST have been your fault and you should have immediately stopped driving until you learned not to let that happen again.

Why don't you lecture me a bit more, because, you know I'm not upset enough by the experience. I care so little about my dog, and that's why we spent $12,000 trying to get her better, and that's why I nursed her every night. Cleaning up her messes, and hugging and kissing her.

For the record, when my dog was hit, she was not under my care. I was away - for one night -at a wedding. We had recently moved out to the country. On ten acres. ONE NIGHT. I thought, certainly one overnight away wouldn't be a big deal. Not long enough to take her so my sister's house (who usually watches her) because it was only ONE NIGHT. My (handicapped) father was watching her, and when he let her out to go potty (10 acre property and we're very far from the road), she decided not to listen to him. She went (unknown to him) to wait for us by the road. I think she was looking for us, really. It was a tragedy. It was a misjudgment. She wasn't ready for us to leave her at the new house (it had been a couple of weeks, but she is really devoted to us.) I certainly have never left her unattended to play in traffic. But, you know, I'll admit my mistake. She wasn't ready to be left with my dad. Even for one night. I have to live with what happened to her, and the price I paid was to lose the best dog I ever had.

If you think, somehow, that this hasn't plagued me for the weeks since it happened and that somehow your wonderful comment is enlightening on the experience ... well,than I just don't know what to say.

I do, actually. I said it in response to your comment.

Update:

Actually, there was a proper way to question my ability to be a dog owner, based on your limited knowledge of the incident. Here it is:

Oh how sad, what happened?

Or, perhaps:

How awful. How are you going to make sure such a thing doesn't happen again?

Instead, you were just mean.

Formerly "PSA ", now merely things you should know

If you, or your children,have seen Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore's movie, An Inconvient Truth make sure you check out this piece that points out the 35 inconvient errors that Noble Peace Prize winner Al Gore made.

Did I mention he won a Noble Peace Prize? That puts him right up there with Yassar Arafat and Jimmy Carter.

Updated: Michele has, perhaps, a more important PSA, so I've renamed this post. Too many PSAs and people start to ignore them.

Where I pretend this is a gossip blog

What the hell has happened to Ryan Gosling? Perhaps he gained weight for a role, but it is time for him to promptly lose it.

Now, here's something to wash your eyes out with.

Did I mention?

That there is a dead deer at the end of my driveway? And, apparently it is my responsibility. I'm supposed to drag it into the woods or something. I'll get right on that.

Expect a lot

Of posts, that is. I'm sad, so don't feel like doing anything. And what fits the bill (of not doing anything) than spending all day on the internets? I may take the kids out for a nature walk later, but I need to be around to help my dad into/out of the car for his physical therapy appointment.

Perhaps with all the dog drama coming to an end, I can start concentrating on politics again. I just read that Obama has two-year-olds giving the maximum donation. That brother has a following! Go Obama!

Not to switch gears,that's the way I'm gonna roll for now, but what do you think is an appropriate mourning period? I'm not ready (obviously) for a new dog, but I'm sorta, kinda curious as to when I might be ready? I really hate not having a dog; and it was awful waking up this morning and not seeing Greta lying over by the side of my bed.

I lectured the kids last night that if we got a dog too soon, we would constantly be comparing her/it to Greta and we might come to resent it. You know, Greta never chewed our shoes kinda stuff. Honestly, she NEVER chewed shoes. Even when she was a puppy. I've never had a dog that didn't ruin a few pairs (if not many pairs) of shoes. Ocassionaly she would take them outside, but she didn't chew.

Once, long ago, she took our remote outside and we couldn't find it. Silly dog.

Anyway, I want to wait so that we're ready, and I know such a thing varies with everyone, I was just wondering how long others have waited before getting a new friend.

End

The pain Greta was feeling was a blood clot, which had probably been there since Thursday. Treatment wouldn't address future clots (clots often mean more clots), nor would the outcome for her affected leg been at all good. So we put our sweet, wonderful, beautiful dog to sleep last night.

I'm sure I don't need to mention how empty the house seems without her.

Forward and back

Greta update:

Ok, so by late last night, we were seeing small signs that she could move her left leg. But, this morning, she insisted on going outside, and dragged me deep into the woods (stupid dog) - me thinking she wanted to take a dump in the woods. She was not curling her leg under (which she had been doing, and was a bad sign), but sorta dragging, and pulling. As if she could move it, but it was really weak. Anyway, this feverish attempt of Greta's continued; go potty or no? Finally, she's starts whining. I really don't know; but she ended up working herself up into such a fit of pain, that I had to go get a shot of morhpine from the vet. She was dragging herself around the basement; in circles, around couching, lying down and then getting back up. And the whining/crying was unbearable. It was really, really awful. She is now (post morphine and maxed-up on pain bills) really drugged out beneath the computer table. My plan is to keep her really doped-up on pain pills for the next few days.

So, giving that she was starting to move her leg, the vet's thought that she messed up her recovering pelvis, which caused inflamation leading to pain and paralysis looks like perhaps the correct answer.

Doggie Prayer Circle Needed Again

Greta popped her hip out of joint. Sigh. The vet is trying to reset it right now; it doesn't always work. Plus, about 50% of the time, it pops out again. Like it already did once. So, you think I'll be beating the odds this next time? Assuming, of course, doc gets it in.

The only good news, is that the vet is about 2 miles from my house, AND I can pick her up later today.


So, rounding up the prayer requests contained in this post:

1) Vet gets hip in place.
2) Hip stays in place.
3) That this doesn't cost me another million dollars.

Ok, so I hadn't mentioned that last one, because I figured it would be so glaringly obvious, I didn't want to insult your intelligence. But, you know, just in case ...

UPDATE:

Doc just called, her hip isn't out of place. He doesn't know what's wrong with her. All I know, is that she suddenly couldn't support her back end, and was in a ton of pain. Waiting ...

Update 2:

Well, it doesn't look good at this moment. She not moving her one leg. It could be inflammation (and thus go away) or it could be something else. Most of which are all bad. I've brought her home to see how she is in the morning.

Iggy or Cosmo?

I can't be sure which cat is responsible, but I found these on my doorstep this morning:



That second one appears to be some sort of internal organ of another little ... whatever it is that they are catching.

Another success story

This is from at least a week ago, but I didn't have AlGore's internet and couldn't comment.

Nathanial Abraham is a real role model of our society's ability to rehabilitate violent, young criminals.

He may be rapping about popping niggers and all, but only because it's art and it's coming from inside him. See, by rapping about drug dealing and killing and shit, kids will turn away from the darkness. Certainly they wouldn't get from his music that a guy could pop a dude, do a few years in a juvie facility, get released to be supported by the state, and then get a rap career.

No, that wouldn't occur to them at all. Matter of fact, I bet listeners to his music all run to join the chess club, or marching band or something.

More Greta Pictures

This is what we call Greta's Magic Carpet Ride. We put her on this blanket and drag here where it is she needs to go. She's gotten pretty used to this; and she'll climb on and lay down for her little trip across the floor.


I don't know how many more trips she'll need; she's doing really well today, but the floors are slippery and that's what really seems to be giving her the problem. This is where she is RIGHT NOW.

For Real Now

Greta, one week after the accident:



She's still got the epidural, urinary cath, and IV port (which I had to deal with and eventually remove) in this picture. And, basically this is ALL SHE DID for a few days. Lay there.

Greta earlier today (exactly two weeks after the kaboom):



I have another picture of her on her "Magic Carpet" which we use to transport her from room to room, but I'll post that tomorrow.

You ask, you get- Greta pics

I'd really like to help you out, but blogger has decided to take a crap at the moment, so it won't let me load pictures. I'll try again in a bit.

I'm baaaaack

Yea yea yea!

And, in honor of my return, it is now time to send in your submissions for the Halloween Crapsastic Contest (TM). River Rat is setting the bar high with this one:



Update:

Not content with first place, RR now wants first and second place:

Updates

STILL no internet yet. It totally sucks, but luckily I've been busy so ... yada yada yada ...

Ok; Greta, as Kirby mentioned, got hit by a car on Saturday night. She's had one surgery to repair the internal organs (put things back where they go and repair her diaphragm) and she needs another to fix her pelvis. She popped one hip out of joint and fractured the other side ( I have no idea how she was running like that, but run she did for a while after the accident.) I visited her today, and she looks ... good, considering. She was pretty happy to see us, but she is tired and hooked up to all sorts of stuff. I'm hoping, praying that everything goes well over the next 24 hours and she gets that last thing fixed tomorrow and that I can take her home on Thursday.

River Rat - where have YOU been? I haven't seen you around in ages. I've moved at least an hour closer to you ... ha ha ha!

I haven't checked my email at all - IhatedialupIhatedialup, so if any one has emailed me I'm not ignoring you, I just haven't seen it.

Anyway, Hughsnet is really pissing me off ... I ordered it last week, and as of an hour ago they couldn't tell me why an installer hasn't called or showed up at my door. I ASSUMED I'd have it running by now.

I miss everyone, and will be back as soon as humanly possible.

I've got fricken DIAL UP

Oh my God, do people actually still use this? Anyway, I'm still in the process of trying to figure out the internet situation, so in the meantime I'm suffering w/o internet. Because this is not the internet.

Now, I'm going to hit the publish button, go eat dinner, and perhaps when I'm done I'll be able to load another page.

On Nooooo

I just learned that there isn't a decent bookstore within 30 miles of my new house.

Crap crap crap.

Update on the teacher/test story from yesterday

All's well that ends well.

The verdict? The teacher didn't really present a question properly, so kids were being marked off for THAT when they thought they were getting points off for their "I didn't study" answer.

Monday morning wake-up

The next time I hear some asshat telling me about scientific consensus, I'm going to think about Michele's son and getting a 20% grade reduction on a science test for admitting that he hadn't studied.

Because, I guess there is some sort of consensus that kids should study even if they already know the material. Or kids should lie to make their teacher feel good about their chosen profession.

Regardless, the question asked by the teacher on the test has nothing to do with science. Which, when you come to think of it, reminds me of something else ... now what is that? It's just not coming to me this morning.

Oh well, I'm sure I'll eventually remember.

Announcement

This is my new favorite Tool song:

It's our fault, even when it's not

A bit of local news. "Local" as in really close; across the Detroit river in Windsor. First, the news story:

Over the past three weeks, 220 undocumented immigrants -- mostly from Mexico -- have driven from their homes in the United States to Detroit and crossed the border into Windsor to seek refugee status.

Much of the rush stems from groups in Florida that were putting false information on the Internet that Canada is now taking in illegal immigrants and offering them generous financial assistance, Windsor officials said.
"The word has spread like wildfire for other illegal immigrants to do the same," Mayor Eddie Francis said. "There seems to be an ongoing effort by community groups who have been advertising that by coming to Canada and seeking refugee status, you're able to escape enforcement and get access to social assistance and health care until your claim is heard. That's been the driving force."

So, let's all feel sorry for Windsor and Ontario. I can only imagine the cost in human services. Housing. Medical. It must just be, like, awful!

The city is required to pay 20% of their social services, with Ontario required to pay for the remaining 80%.
Francis said he spoke Friday with Canadian government officials, asking for financial help. He also asked them to expedite the refugee application process.
The city is working with area motels and the Salvation Army to help house the newcomers. About 10 to 12 families stayed at the Devonshire Motel on Howard Avenue in Windsor recently, said manager Mike Soni. And there were 22 people at the Salvation Army shelter on Church Street, said Salvation Army spokeswoman Maj. Patricia Phinney. Some of the immigrants have as many as eight children, she said.

Eight children! Well, I sure hope Windsor has bilingual education set up to handle all those kids.

Here's my favorite part of the article:

"Quite frankly, the city can't afford to pay for the consequences of U.S. immigration policy," Francis said. "We just can't."

Uhm ... hello? This is a consequence of our immigration policy? Actually, this is a consequence of the fact that these immigrants come from STINKHOLES who would rather break laws and take their chances with immigration officials than remain in the festering pustule (in terms of government, corruption, and crime) in which they were born? And, the only reason Canada doesn't have more Mexicans in the Great White North is because the U.S. serves as a buffer zone. Well, that and who wants to live in Canada? I keed, I keed. But, the situation is that they illegally immigrated to Canada JUST LIKE THEY illegally immigrated to the U.S. We don't want 'em either, because they are a drain on our resources as well.

EWWW

Iamfelix, from comments way down, recommends the blog What Jeff Killed; which chronicles the wide variety of things killed by a big, orange cat named Jeff. Yes, it's gross, but how could it not be?

Regardless, I think any cat owner knows the truth that many PETA people don't seem to understand. Man is NOT the only animal that kills for "fun."

Blogging Cat behavior

It takes Iggie about 2 minuets to notice someone has this blanket on their lap, before he is there, doing that cat/claw thing, purring like a madman.

Someone 'splain...

How I'm supposed to move with the following conditions:

1) No disorganization, mess in either house
and
2) no interruption in television viewing, via Direct TV?

If anyone has an answer to this, comment away.

Photobooth

My iMac has this little program that allows the children to easily take pictures of themselves, in a variety of "styles", while sitting right in front of the 'puter. They've taken about 600 of 'em. I think this one is Erin and Hannah.

Saturday Night Photo

We're party-all-the-time over here.

Here's a fun, new Blogger time-waster. It shows you photos (supposedly) as they're being uploaded to blogger. It's hypnotizing.

Confession

I didn't break my bones or anything, but I did bite my nails. I'm talking REALLY short.

And sometimes those awful cuticle-cuts occurred. Those really hurt. But, I say let the healing begin.

Mos Def

The left loves Mos Def. And, for the record, Mr. Def thought OJ was innocent. It would appear, according to his comments in the video, that black men are actually never guilty of any crime.

My crush on Mos Def aside, do check out the video. Feminists and other equal rights activists often discuss the value of simply putting non-male, non-white, non-heterosexual, non-able-bodied people on TV, in newsrooms, and in the public eye, and I think this video helps to illustrate why that argument is important. It’s not because there’s one Woman’s View or Black View or Queer View; it’s because it (a) helps to normalize regularly “othered” groups, and (b) it shifts the conversation and the hierarchy of what’s important. When you have more women in newsrooms, regardless of whether or not those women self-identify as feminist, things that are important to women but traditionally demeaned as “women’s issues” — education, health care, child and elder care, etc — get more front-page play. They become normalized as everyone’s issues. When the people who are setting the agenda come from a wider range of backgrounds, the agenda becomes more inclusive

What kind of bubble does Jill live in that she doesn't regularly hear "othered" groups? I hear crap like this all the time.



But,then I don't live in bubble.

But, for the record, just about everything out of Mos Def's mouth is crap.

9/11 Commemoration, Commie Style

Truthers have a new spokesman in their corner. Fidel Castro:

"Today one knows there was deliberate misinformation," wrote Castro, who has not appeared in public since July of 2006 when life-threatening surgery for a secret illness forced him to hand over power to his brother Raul Castro.

"Studying the impact of planes, similar to those that hit the Twin Towers, that had accidentally fallen on densely populated cities, one concludes that it was not a plane that crashed into the Pentagon," Castro said.

"Only a projectile could have caused the geometrically round hole that allegedly was made by the plane," he said.

"We were fooled like the rest of the planet's inhabitants," he wrote.

I'm sorry, but I don't buy the "We're only asking questions" defense. From my perspective, the questions being asked, have been answered again and again. The question I have for truthers is "why"? Because, really, that gets to the meat of the truther movement.

Why would Bush either cause or allow (see I know the movement is divided into two groups) allow this to happen. At the BASE of this movement, which is what keeps the flame burning, is a hatred for Bush.

All I need to remember

And, a big F-U to truthers of all types; You're as looney as you look.





Image by Zombie. There is much more at the above link; go and see how thin the line is between Peace rallies and communism. The mind wobbles.

Policitical Closet Dead?

I don't know how prevalent this is around the country, but Detroit has a editorial columnist whose entire focus is gay issues. Deb Price never, ever, writes about anything else but issues relating to gays. How can that be? I mean, gays compromise, what, 3% of the population, right? Anyway, I read her column for the same reason I can't help looking at car accidents. I don't want to, I know I shouldn't, but I just can't stop myself.

So, today Price's column is entitled "Closeted anti-gay politicians can run but not hide." Yep, she is advocating the outing of public gay officials. Probably Republican (because, you see, they are hypocrites.) It's only a "weapon" to those that are viewed as being anti-gay, when, in reality, Rethuglian are mostly against gay-marriage, not against gays in general. Some of my best friends ... but, whatever.

The political closet is dead. Debating the ethics or value of "outing" is now a waste of breath. It's a weapon that's here to stay. And in the Internet era - with the pressures of 24/7 news coverage and bloggers often setting the pace - if politicians are gay, they're foolish not to come out before they get shoved out.

So, sexuality is not a private matter. Because so many gay people define themselves by their sexuality, it seems incomprehensible that some people who prefer to not have it public knowledge. I find it interesting and confusing that for years we were told to not "judge" people by who they chose to sleep with (but the content of their character, I suppose) but now it is their sexuality that is being shoved in our faces.

But, really this isn't the big reason I'm bringing up Deb Price's article. The impetus of the piece was, of course, the Larry Craig episode. What's her opinion of that?

Gay and bisexual men, many of whom are married, are swept up every day in outrageous police sex stings. Bumping shoes in a men's room stall signals interest; it's not actual public sex and shouldn't be treated as criminal. Countless men have had their lives ruined by overzealous cops.

So gay and bisexual men are swept up by (outrageous) sex stings, but the shoe bumping only signals interest and shouldn't be a crime. She's admitting that it's a signal. For what? Meeting in the nearest hotel? Uhm, no. It's a signal for bathroom sex. Which is illegal. Should the cops actual start engaging in sex with these men - so the actual crime occurs? I can't see a lot of cops lining up for that detail.

As a parent, I'm all for ensuring that gay/bisexual men aren't prowling bathrooms. It's disgusting, degenerate behavior that shouldn't be protected in the least. It isn't (so much) that these are gay men - it's that the behavior is so improper, so beyond the acceptable, I can't believe anyone would defend it. Yet, defend it Deb does.

These sex stings are set-up where the behavior is prevalent. I'm not a man, but I've used a public toilet and I've never come even mildly close to tapping a neighbor's foot. Wide stance or not.

Whether or not Larry Craig did or didn't - honestly I don't care. He's not my senator, and I'm sure his own voters will decide what should be done with the matter.

Riddle Me This/ Animal edition

Ok, this just isn't funny anymore. I've mentioned before the proclivity my cats have for killing (or at least capturing) assorted vermin and flying creatures. Well, this morning I discovered, dead on the floor in my dining room, God only knows what. It wasn't a mouse or rat, and it wasn't a bird. It looked sorta like a baby dog, but much smaller.

Would it be gross if I took a picture of it?

My life ...

New Digs

View from across the lake. Gonna start moving crap this week.

We did it

We got the spam comments off the front page. Good job.

This and That

Fat March; anyone watching it? I caught part of the last episode. Really, rather inspiring; losing all that weight just walking and dieting.

And, Greta is now in heat. I didn't mention it, but I found a white German Shepherd near-by. The time is now.

Michigan News

I am loving this.

All Michigan is asking for is an opportunity to weigh in on the nominees before the race is all but decided. It wants to move primaries for both Republicans and Democrats to Jan. 15. The earlier date would force candidates to campaign in Michigan and address the issues of a struggling industrial state.

But Democrats are having none of it. The national party says if Michigan moves its primary into January -- as it will do under a bill signed Tuesday by Gov. Jennifer Granholm -- it will not seat its delegates at next summer's national convention.

Clinton, Obama, and Edwards have agreed to isolate Michigan. Of course, what does it matter to them? Michigan is a blue state failure. It's blue cities, blue governor, and state government are mired in unemployement, budget shortfalls, and rising taxes. Yes, I suppose it's just best to completely step over this turd instead of showing up and having to answer questions and come up with possible solutions.

In other Michigan news, VW is picking up its ball and moving to another state. Another 1000 jobs lost. THANKS JENNY!

You see, this is comthing people don't seem to understand. You can raise taxes and claim it's all about people paying thier "fair share", but people, and companies aren't stuck in Michigan. They can, and will, leave.

Bahahahaha

A British Yatchmnan who set out to to cross the Russian Arctic north, demonstrating the affects of global warming on Arctic ice, is stuck in the ice. He's hoping the Russians will send a nuclear powered ice breaker to get him out of the mess.

To me, the carbon footprint left by a nuclear powered ice breaker seems a bit extreme for the rescue of one man lefty moonbat.

Football Announcement

I'm only a passing-fan of football. But, all the Michigan bashing that has occurred since Saturday is turning me into a Michigan booster. That's just the way I roll.

Can we care now? Updated

About that foreign-named Clinton donor? I mean, now that Kos has come out and agreed that it's news-worthy too? Doesn't that give it a stamp of legitimacy now in the eyes of the non-right-wing-wingnuts?

Before his forced resignation last week, Norman Yuan Yuen Hsu (pictured with Hillary) sat on the board of trustees of the liberal New School university in New York with former Loral Corp. head Bernard L. Schwartz, who was allowed to transfer restricted satellite and missile technology to a People's Liberation Army front after contributing a record amount of cash to President Clinton's 1996 campaign.

It's not the foreign-sounding name that bugs me. It's the whole ties to a country with questionable intentions that is the sticking point.

Update: There's more. I mean, even more shady donors associated with the Clintons.

Sant S. Chatwal, an Indian American businessman, has helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaigns, even as he battled governments on two continents to escape bankruptcy and millions of dollars in tax liens.

The founder of the Bombay Palace restaurant chain, Chatwal is one of a growing number of fundraisers in the 2008 presidential campaign whose backgrounds have prompted questions about how much screening the candidates devote to their "bundlers" while they press to raise record amounts.

Chatwal's case reached from his native India to New York City. The IRS pursued him for approximately $4 million in unpaid business taxes, while New York state placed a lien seeking more than $5 million in taxes. He forfeited a building to New York City on which he was delinquent on property taxes and was sued by federal regulators seeking to recoup millions of dollars in loans from a failed bank where he served as a director.

Across the ocean, three Indian banks forced him into U.S. bankruptcy, and he was charged with bank fraud. He was out on bond when he showed up in India in 2001 during a visit by his longtime friend Bill Clinton.

Democrates delinquent on paying their taxes? Say it isn't so!