Veteran's Day, 10/13/2103 - Washington D.C.

Then...

...and now!

 

Meanwhile, at Gettysburg...

Park Police Mounties...

 

...face a hostile and dangerous force.

Mmmmmm, Could Be...!! (Updated)

This is probably not exactly true (he is speculating, after all), but it sure sounds plausible!

Head fake! Is Healthcare.gov only an

empty shell MOCKUP of a working

Obamacare exchange?

Wednesday, October 09, 2013
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
Editor of NaturalNews.com (See all articles...)
Tags: Obamacare exchanges, programming failure, mockup

(NaturalNews) As the days of glitches, snafus, down-time and critical errors mount up, evidence is mounting that the Healthcare.gov Obamacare exchange is not actually a fully-formed online application. More and more, it appears to be a mockup of a health care exchange enrollment system.

Go.  RTWT!!

(Via Mr. Taranto)

Update:  Added the "giggle du jour" tag so you all know that I'm not taking this article seriously.  You'll understand if you read the first few comments.  And, "The Health Ranger"?  Too cute...

Twenty-five Things

I found myself at Never Yet Melted, who has a list of "25 Ridiculous Things Obama Shut Down".

The first commenter posed a challenge, to which the second commenter responded:

JackOfClubs

We need a companion list: 25 things Obama could have shut down instead but didn’t.

leelu

25 things…, let’s see
Obamacare
HHS
EPA
Homeland (In)Security
HUD
IRS
Dept. of Energy
Dept. of Education
FEMA
Any non-DOD/DOJ/Treasury group that has its own weapons stash.
Post Office
NEA
PBS
NPR
Dept of Agriculture
Dept of Labor
Dept of Commerce
Reduce Social Security back to a simple retirement program
DEA*
BATFE*
NSA*
CIA*
The “Secret” Courts” approving NSA activities
All positions of “Czar”
Presidential and Congressional staffs

*Consolidate under the FBI, well-scaled down!

What do you think I've missed??

(Via Gerard)

xkcd du jour...

...presented sans comment:

Dakota Has Passed On

Koda (as he was affectionately known), went into convulsions at about 2:30 this afternoon.  I took him to the 24-hour emergency vet, after trying a few first aid things at home.  They pumped him full of valium, which reduced the convulsions to mild tremors.

The vet was straight up with the prognosis - based on what the expensive tests that I can't afford might tell us, she was not optimistic that he could go home and be OK.  So, I made the decision to let him go.

He passed peacefully.  The med they use anesthetised him immediately, and continued on to an overdose.  He slipped away in less than a minute.

Pax vobiscum, Koda.

Dakota (Updated)

Tuesday, Dakota took a pretty good tumble down a full flight of stairs, spine first.  Nothing was broken, but I noticed yesterday that he seemed to have lost balance and strength on his left side.

Last night, he went into full-body convulsions for a minute or so. 

We are off to the vet at 3:30.  Koda is resting on the air mattress down here on the first floor.

I don't like how this day is shaping up.

Update:  Back from the vet. We are treating "symptomatically", as the diagnostics for Koda would cost more than mine!  He now has industrial-strength steroids (Dexamethasone) to take over the next two weeks.  If his symptoms are caused by swelling resulting from the fall, this should clear them up.

I'm cautiously optimistic, which is a big improvement.

Happy...

...Broderick Crawford Day!

When I saw this:

I thought of Sip.

I guess I'm going to see how his sense of humor is...

About Damned Time!

The Washington Times reports that:

 "Mrs. Pelosi should be denied Communion until she changes her advocacy views on abortion, Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke said, according to the Western Center for Journalism."

Seems she is continually breaking Canon Law 915, which says:

"...that Catholics who are stubbornly contrary “in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to Holy Communion.”

I wonder if she even goes to Mass?

Via Drudge.

(Sorry, Sister.)

Local Teen Does Good (Updated)

Temar Boggs and some of his friends chased down a kidnapper, who released his victim.

Story at LANCASTERONLINE

Update:
Yes, the first label/tag was what went through my brain when I first saw this poster.

The Freeburg Rule

Worth observing and passing on...

"You call me a racist for having a problem with His Majesty’s execrable policies, or insinuate in any way that my “real” problem is with having a black guy in the White House…

…I’m going to call you a coward for hiding behind someone else’s skin color."

From The House of Eratosthenes

And hiding behind someone's skin color does seem, well, racist, no?

Heh.

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Avec update!)

The Kiddo PASSED THE BAR EXAM!!!

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYY!!!!  WOO-HOO!!!

Congratulations, Kiddo!!

She is now licensed to practice in two states.

We celebrated long-distance w/ burgers - she had McDonald's, I had Five Guys'.

(Me.  Proud?  Nah... )

Update:

Since Montana is a "Uniform Bar Exam" (UBE) state, she will also have  leg-up on practicing in eleven other states!  UBE state are: 

 Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

States have the option of simply allowing someone to practice, or may add other requirements as they see fit.

Spam du Jour!

Lucky me!!

Hello

I am Mrs. Suzanne.. the wife of the former Egyptian leader, Hosni Mubarak who is currently on house arrest and facing a retrial on charges of complicity resulting from political turmoil during the 2011 uprising which was fabricated without evidence. the government has seized everything we have here and prevent us from traveling out of Egypt.

As a result of this, I need somebody outside Egypt to represent my interest to manage our reserved funds value (150,000,000.00 U.SD) in long-term business venture especially in public and private business (including real estate investment,

I am willing to negotiate with you how much i will offer you to handle this for me after your acceptance.And the legality and movement of the (150,000,000.00 U.SD) shall or will be duly follow in due course.

Yours Faithfully,

 I figure 10% sounds about right, no??

As We Suspected...

...Barry leans east:

Found at Mme. Scherzo's

Good News About Abortion!

Really!!

From Christianity Today:

Abortion Clinics Closing at Record Rate

 The reasons vary, according to the article, from retiring doctors, to more state laws requiring clinics to adhere to the same standards at outpatient surgery clinics.

Yay!!

Go!  RTWT!!

(Via Drudge)

Sippican Cottage on the Boulder Colorado Flood Cleanup

Sip nails it:

"Say, shouldn't you people be out looting or something? Waiting for a morbidly obese governor to hand you a check? Getting your stories straight for your fraudulent insurance claim?...What the hell's wrong with these people"

With a very nice accompaniment!

Go.  RTWT

Demon's Nest of Sentiments...

...Dru on voters and politicians:

International Buy A Nun... (Updated x3)

...A Book Day!

 Update III:

Got this from the Sister to whom I'd written:

Thank you so much, Lee. I can identify some Sisters who will be thrilled to receive the books.

Sister Kathryn

 Update II:

My book club has notified me that two of the books I've requested have been mailed.  No word back from the convent, tho...

Update:

 Didn't hear back today, and since the day is next Tuesday, I went ahead and ordered books that I've enjoyed and though the good nuns might also.  Here's my e-mail:

Hello, Sister,

 

As the 'official' day is next Tuesday, I went ahead and picked out four book to be sent to directly you for distribution.  They will probably be arriving over the next week or two, which is a function of how the swap club works.  Each book will be coming from a different member, so arrival is a function of how soon each member gets to it, and how far it has to travel.

 

I wound up ordering three books that are favorites of mine, and one similar but different from a series I have read from.
 

They are:

 

A Letter of Mary, by Laurie R. King

The Dante Club, by Matthew Pearl

The Tao Te Ching, by Lao Tsu, translated by John C. H. Wu

The Best American Short Stories 1997, ed. by Kenison(?)

 

I hope you all will enjoy them!

I wondered what books to get, and who to give them to.  I suddenly realized/decided that I wanted to send them to the nuns (or the order, anyway) who taught me in grade school.  I've managed to track down the "Mother Ship" convent in California, and sent an e-mail off asking what books might be appreciated.

So, if you know (or knew) a nun, buy her a book!

(This seems to be a word of mouth/blog thing, so pass it on!)

9-11

Where are we today?  And what has happened to us?

Cheese Nazis....

...from Fox:

Florida official tells Christian charity to choose between Jesus and cheese

A Florida ministry that feeds the poor said a state agriculture department official told them they would not be allowed to receive USDA food unless they removed portraits of Christ, the Ten Commandments, a banner that read “Jesus is Lord” and stopping giving Bibles to the needy.
“They told us they could no longer allow us to have any religious information where the USDA food is going to be,” said Kay Daly, executive director of the Christian Service Center.

Florida is saying its the USDA's call.  The USDA is saying, according to the article, that basically as long as a religious organization is not discriminating against people of different faiths, religious display is OK

I didn't vote for him.

Demon's Nest of Sentiments...

Dru* on Syria:

Remember, kids, "When it comes to the law, what really matters is the name you succeed in imposing on the facts, not the facts themselves"!  (Harvard Law Professor Jerome Cohen, ca. 1971)

* I shall attribute these to Dru, since she is more of  a demon (a succubus) than Mr. McEldowney, and it's her picture at the bottom of each sentiment.  (I'm giving Mr. McEldowney the benefit of the doubt...)

Stolen From Gerard

Hatefacts

Things that are true but must never be spoken for fear of penalty: Some other hatefacts - things that are true but must never be spoken for fear of penalty:

• Native Americans were not living in peace and oneness with the environment before Europeans arrived in America.
• Men are raped more often than women in America - in prison; the Justice Department estimated that over 200,000 rapes of men happened in 2008 alone.
• Gun ownership has skyrocketed in America, but gun crimes dropped - and the tougher the gun laws, the more gun crime an area suffers.
• On average, men test 5 points higher on IQ than women.
• Groups of young black men are attacking whites due to racial hatred, and the incidents of this have exploded in frequency and number since Obama became president.
• For the last fifteen or more years, the average warming on the planet has been .05 degrees per decade... plus or minus .08 degrees.  As in no warming, or even cooling.
• On average men are better than women at mathematical skills.
• Homosexuals are much m ore likely to suffer from and transmit sexually transmitted diseases than normal people.

-- Word Around the Net: HATEFACTS AND HERESY

My log for the fire is this one: Asians have a higher average I.Q. than whites, who have a higher average I.Q. than blacks.  It's only a coupe of points either side of us whites, but, still.  Dunno about Hispanics.

I'm hoping to get a place next to Gerard in Hell.  You know it's where we're going for this.

My Take On...

...Syria:

Hamas and al Queida duking it out.  What in God's name is the UPSIDE of getting involved? For a line in the sand he denies he ever personally drew.

Unless by "involved" you mean nuking the entire area (excluding Israel) from orbit.

(Another one grabbed from Gerard.)

Feeling Gerard's Pain

When I got the "bad ware" alert from Firefox/Google about the comments section on one of the posts are Gerard's site, I sent him a e-mail by way of a heads up, and we had a little conversation  (bottom-up post order):

Condolences.

 

On September 1, 2013 at 11:37 PM Gerard Van der Leun wrote:

I'm working to fix it and eradicate the code the bastards snuck in.

On Sun, Sep 1, 2013 at 3:17 PM, leelu <lawebber@cwassociates.net> wrote:

Got this on my Firefox browser when I clicked the comments ;ink on the Michelle's shower curtain dress comment link:

 

https://www.stopbadware.org/firefox?hl=en-US&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.americandigest.org%2Fmt%2Fmt-comments.cgi

 

Maybe Bill got miffed about something?? 

But, when I saw this post this morning:

For those who have come through the deadly warning barrier!

My apologies. This is a very annoying time. Fixing this issue takes, I have found, lots of digging with the superb staff at Hosting Matters, a good deal of digging out of code that came in from Croatia, a resetting of all security params, a restore from a backup and then a review from Google.
It is indeed a royal pain.

I felt I should condole him some more.  (Read from the bottom up...)

...sorta sounds like my last divorce. 

On September 4, 2013 at 2:16 PM Gerard Van der Leun wrote:

It takes, I have found, lots of digging with the staff at Hosting Matters, a good deal of digging out of code that came in from Croatia, a resetting of all security params, a restore from a backup and then a review from Google.

 

It is indeed a royal pain.

 

Sigh.

On Wed, Sep 4, 2013 at 11:14 AM, leelu <lawebber@cwassociates.net> wrote:

STILL at it!?  Wow... that shit is nasty.

 

Have you tried re-generating the dilithium crystals??

 

"When is leelu not in trouble?"
Korben Dallas

 I suspect he would appreciate prayer in any denomination at this point.  It does sound as if he's getting good support at Hosting Matters, tho.  Big plus in his favor.

Racist Cookies

Oreos were my favorite cookie when I was growing up.  Being a touch OCD, I would eat them three at a time, so the three rows in the bag would always be even.

As I got older, I learned that "Oreo" had a connotation other that a tasty, creme filled cookie.  It also referred to a black person who was really "white" on the inside.  Dr. Benjamin Carson, Mayor Mia Love, Sen. Tim Scott, (C), S.C., and Allan West, to name just a few.  (I suspect  that Dr. Martin Luther King would be on the list, if he were alive a preaching what he preached in the 60s).  Don King, Karl Malone, Harriet Tubman,and the Rock are all mentioned in a HuffPo article as being Republicans (as was Dr. King.)

This, however, is not a label that would apply to our President.  Yes, he may be a half-and-half kind of guy, but is innermost self is definitely not white.  Which brings me to what I found in the local Giant on my last trip out:

Pink filled Oreos.  As you can see, there is a "plain vanilla" Oreo, for those of us who are white both on the inside and the outside.  There was also a double-decker - cookie, vanilla filling, cookie, chocolate filling, cookie.  A more appropriate symbol for our president's ethnicity, I suppose. But the pink filling hit the spot, in a way that the term "red diaper baby"was applied to children raised in the U.S. by Communists.  So, we have a pink Oreo president.

Is anyone surprised?

He's Back...

...with A Demon's Nest of Sentiments

I can see Obama doing the Hokey-Pokey with the Girl Scouts.  But not Michelle - she's be on the sidelines, rolling her eyes and giving him The Look.

Latest (and Greatest)...

...Unorganized Hancock:


Proud dad story at Sippican Cottage.

Not Counting Well..

For reasons not exactly well-known to me, I had it in my head the Brooke McEldowney had only posted a couple of his "Demon's Nest of Sentiments" Sunday offerings.  But when I clicked around the calendar over at gocomics.com, I discovered that he'd been at it for a couple of months.  So, today's post will allow you to get up to speed on this.

I swear, he sounds like all of the founding fathers rolled into one!

It's important (and below the fold).  Read 'em and laugh.  Or, read 'em and weep.

(Note:  none today...)

Ultimate Interweb Post

The BSBFB has won the prize for this one: (Caution... mildly NSFW)

I think we're done here.

A Demon's Nest of Sentiments

Brooke McEldowney has been on quite the roll off and on the past few Sundays.  I have taken it upon myself to share:

 

Whilst you're at it, visit his blog and store, too!

And don't forget 9 Chickweed Lane!

When I was in college, our chief engineer and some of us students had arrived at a similar sentiment.  We decided that anyone who received a "no confidence" vote could never, ever run for office again.  For anything, anywhere.

Conversation With A Friend Updated: Instructional Video

This started out as an email to some friends about this scale-model B-17 that's about the size of a Cessna 140.

As it happens, our exchange makes for an interesting post (reversed to chronological order:)

On August 9, 2013 at 10:58 AM rob  wrote:

Which leads me to a question, do you have any current hobbies? I guess the blog keeps you busy, but do you do any traditional hobbies (e.g., model building, stamp collecting, wood working, sewing, book club, etc.)? What are you in to these days?

To: rob
Subject: RE: Here is something you can do in your spare time....

My first answer would be "computers", but that is fading some.  Much less of a need to stay up with the curve these days.  Before the back detonated, I was teaching some basic computer classes at the library.  I'll probably e-start those in a month or so.  I've been gardening - just picked about 2 gallons of tomatoes yesterday.  And, I'm catching up on my fun reading.  Read a book called "Jack 1939" by Francine Mathews.  She re-works JFK's summer before senior year trip to Europe to research his senior thesis in to quite the spy/adventure novel.  Discovered she writes as mumble Barrett, doing a series of mysteries with Jane Austin as the detective.

 

I start PT 2 - 3X next week, so that should be a boost in getting me back to some sort of regular physical activity.  (Somehow, without trying, I've dropped 40 pounds since my melanoma removal!  275 => 235)

 

I read the internet a lot.  And yes, I'm a little B.F. stir crazy.  Need to explore the countryside some more.  Also want to get a shooting range membership.  Did I tell you that I now own a Springfield Armory Stainless Steel 1911 .45, and a Hi-Point .45 ACP carbine.  I have shooting to do!!  One can get a permit to use the target ranges at some of the state hunting grounds, but between the back and the weather ("mostly overcast, chance of showers and thunder storms"), that's not happening.  Doc doesn't want any sudden jarring on my spine, and .45 ACP has a habit of doing that.  Especially, I think, coming out of the carbine.  Sigh.

 

Oh... and I'm working on a plan to overthrow the government.  It involves lobotomies for just about all current office holders, reduction of the number of Cabinet positions, and a return to basic free market principles.  For starters.

   

How you two doing?? 

 On August 10, 2013 at 11:13 AM rob wrote:

It's really interesting to hear what you are up to. I'm still into programming and actually doing much more of it than I was at Boeing, where management is less about management and more about brown-nosing. Carole is still keeping her hand in real estate, but backing out slowly. Her daughter and her partner just had twins so Carole is getting more into that.
 
I admire your willingness to teach at the library. I just don't have the patience to teach, but I keep thinking that I should find something I could at least volunteer at.

After your PT is done we should talk. Your congressional lobotomy idea could fit into the killer robot idea that I'm working on. I was going to use a death ray in my robot but a lobotomy ray might be more humane after all.  (Let's see, we've mentioned death, killer, congress and guns. If the word "al-qaeda" shows up in this email it's bound to be picked up by the NSA.)

Deny everything.

My response this morning:

Dude, congress was just a start.

 

I think we could get by with a cabinet of DOD, DOJ, State, Transportation, and maybe Interior.  Make the idiots at TSA US Marshals, (real ones, with training and everything), put a couple on each flight originating in the US, one ICE agent every 1/4 mile along the Mexican border, w/ air and mechanized support.

 

Lots of training input from the Israelis.  In Costa Rica, *ALL* bags are searched, in front of you, before they can be checked in.

 

Oh, and listen when the Russians have something to say about potential terrorist activity, and follow up on it. 

Saw two Warthogs fly over this morning.  No big booms, so I guess everything was OK,

He responded:

Now you've done it. Expect to get audited next April.

And then, Mr Bingely takes the proverbial cake with this instructional video!

I Am Now Free To Roam About The Planet! Updated!

Update - moving this thread to the Window on Red Lion blog.  Too much crazy shit going on to mix my health issues in with 'em.

Well, that was fun...

I was released from the therapy hospital last Wednesday, and stopped off to see the surgeon on the way home.  He pulled some of the staples, and I have another appointment next Wednesday for the rest of them.  Healing well, take it easy, no strain, etc, etc, etc.

So, why 2 weeks instead of 2 - 3 days??  I'll tell ya.

Apparently, Oxycodone and I do not get along.  As you know, I went to college during the late 60s and early 70s.  The oxy took me to places that were a) weirder, b) not really fun, and c) where I have no wish to return.  It also (apparently) caused my bladder to go off line, so I got to get yet another catheter.  I slept most of Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, sleeping and detoxing in a military-industrial Alice in Wonderland sort of world.  Seemingly very real, so when I awoke, I would have to remind myself that none of it could have happened, because I was in a hospital room, and had been for a few days.

I got transferred to a rehab hospital for physical and occupational therapies.  The night before I left (Monday) as I was taking my evening constitutional around the nurses' station, I saw two people in wheel chairs w/ IVs, and heard someone in the room next to me discussing how people are treated with dignity after death.  I then saw the two people in wheel chairs, and one in a hospital bed being moved out.  I have a feeling that there was some donor/transplant stuff going on.  Next morning, I awoke to a conversation amongst several women just outside my door.  It seemed to be about the three individuals, but it had the tone and quality of a Seal Team debriefing.  Someone said three words, someone else responded with three words, done.

I wondered a) if they had rappelled into the OR from a Black Hawk, b) if they knew I was in the next room hearing all of this, and c) what my current life expectancy was due to b.

Obviously, I hadn't completely dried out.

Rehab was mostly about making sure I could do things like manage stairs, do all of the things one needs to do in a bathroom, cook, do laundry, and some basic strength and stretch work, within the limited weight and motion restrictions I'm under.  And walking.  Lots of walking.

So.  I seem to be healing up nicely.  I've over done a bit here, since I left the house thinking I'd be back in 2 - 3 days, not two weeks.  Laundry is done, dishwasher emptied and partially re-loaded.  Not expecting company, so not worried about the rest of it.

I'm rejoicing in an almost complete lack of pain for the first time in almost 40 years!  The incision itches, the back muscles are sore and achy, but I can walk unaided (I use a cane for assist in balance when necessary, or going up and down stairs).  Took the dogs for a walk yesterday, first time in ages (don't ask).

I'm scheduled for out-patient PT starting next week.  I have a feeling that this will more about strength, endurance, and range of motion.  I tire easily, and that's a bit frustrating.

I want to thank all of you for your prayers and good wishes and thoughts for me.  I know that has supported me through this "interesting" time.

I am comfortable, all news is good, and I'm figuring out how I want to live in a house with a basement and three stories.

Thank you all.  Blessings upon you and those you hold dear!

Live From Skowegan Riverfest...

...Unorganized Hancock!



Gerard makes the best comment so far: "It's comforting to know that we'll have a replacement for the Everly Brothers and the Beatles in one duo."

Hello, World!

I'm using Jen's emails as the basis for a short post.

Dad's doctor just called and said everything went A+.  Took care of the fact that everything was "horribly compressed" by drilling out everything they could while keeping the integrity of the joints intact. They also removed a cyst growing out of one of the joints.  Extremely minimal loss of blood, a teaspoon maybe, and no spinal fluid leakage. All in all it went well.  He's in recovery now.

Update:

My Dad is going to be in the hospital past Friday (yesterday's plan) due to the need for observation and physical therapy.  He's in pain understandably and trying to sleep as much as possible right now.  So, he will reach out to chat when he's ready. I will share more as I know more.

I will share more information but I expect my Dad will be making calls and sending emails directly as soon as he can.

Well, here it is, Thursday morning, un-godly early, and I thought I'd check in.  Jen actually knows more about it that I do, since I sort of wasn't there at the time.  I was doing OK thru Wednesday morning,  until the Oxycodone took a sharp turn South, with me along for the ride.   Sadly, it caused my bladder to think that it could go offline.  After about 24 hrs of futzing, I got a new catheter, and by Monday I was in low-earth orbit.   Tuesday, I was transferred to a physical therapy/rehab center.  Goal is to get me able to magnage both the Shibas and the stairs at the house.  Wound is healing well (photos below the fold, for the squeamish).  Did I mention he took a cyst out, as well??  Good times!

Thank you all for your encouragement, support and prayers!

Lee

John Galt, Call Your Office

Without comment:

Obama gives himself control of all communication systems in America

 Found at Rodge's

We Can Repair Him...

...we have the technology!

Had my consult with the neurosurgeon yesterday.  He did a bit of poking and pushing on his own, and confirmed what I was pretty sure of - surgery is indicated.  Both L1 - L2 and L4 - L5 are pretty well munged, and L2  -L3 is also degraded.  (My numbering may be off a bit - it's the whole lumbar part of the spine.)  I could get away with letting the L2 -L3 go, but on the other hand, we both agreed that going back in later was something neither of us wanted.  So the entire lumbar section of my spine will be "decompressed".  Basically, that means re-opening the foramen (the hole) that the nerves pass thru, to alleviate the pressure, and thus the pain and weakness.  (I did a quick look on spine-health.com. which goes into some detail and apparently has videos.  I only take umbrage at the comment "A condition that primarily afflicts elderly patients, spinal stenosis is caused by degenerative changes that result in enlargement of the facet joints."  Elderly my tuchus!)

He expects the procedure to last about 2 1/2 hours.  He's not sure if there's any interesting disk degeneration, but will tend to that if need be.  He doesn't want to do a fusion at this point.  Based on my recovery, I'll be in the hospital one to five days.  My personal goal is one day only.

I go in on the 16th of this month.

Prayer in any denomination is appreciated.

Happy 4th!!

Found these at Mme. Scherzo

a-mass-musing:

Long exposure firework photographs - David Johnson

(via ascenseurstory)

Biden Tee (Updated!)

Allahpundit at Hot Air remarked that, like Hillary, Biden needed a tee shirt.  So, here it is:

Update - found a picture I liked better:

(Found at heavy.com)

(Original First effort below the fold...)

FLOTUS...

...appears to have gotten herself a new gig:

Via Drudge, of course!

Audit The IRS - 6/19 (Bumped and Updated!)

More here!

I'd love to go, but the cost of gas is, shall we say, prohibitive.  I'm looking for someone in the York/Lancaster, PA area who would like to drive and split the cost of gas.  (I'll drive and split the cost if you prefer.)

Leave a comment if you're interested.

Thanks!

Update:  I've been put in touch with a group that is arranging buses to the rally.  The pick up sites are relatively close to the York PA area (Westminster, MD, Owings Mills, MD, and near Towson and Bel-Air as well.)

Info and sign-up at: Restore America's Mission

Father's Day, 2013 (Updated)

Had a nice, long chat with the Kiddo.  She was sitting in her car, on top of The Rim at the Billings airport, knitting while we chatted.  She had sent me a present, which arrived Friday.  I told her that I would wait until today to open it.  I resolved to open it when she called.  She called once, but it rolled to voice mail without ringing.  I left a message on her's, and, since she had called, decided to go ahead and open it!

To my joy and surprise, it was a cook book holder.  It's collapsible, to the size of a smallish cigar box laptop.  And, it has some storage!  And a conversion chart, from teaspoons to cups, to ounces to milliliters.

The book support has a clip for holding recipe cards and such.

And of course it holds books!

Eat What You Want And Die Like A Man by Steve H. Graham

As part of dinner this evening, Crock Pot Beans!

`

If you're wondering...

1 lb white beans                       1 c brown sugar

1 large onion                             1/3 c yellow mustard
1 lb ham, in chunks                   1/4 c cider vinegar
1 12oz can diced tomatoes      1 tbsp liquid smoke 
1 can tomato paste                   1 tbsp Worchestershire sauce
About 20 oz stew run-off (chicken or beef - I'm not sure which.  Smelled good, tho.)

I started soaking the beans Friday night to de-gasifiy them.  (Safety tip!!)

Saturday afternoon, I put everything into the crock pot, and cooked on high for about 6 hours.  I turn to low when I went upstairs, and let it go over night.  Turned down to warm this morning when I got up.

All of the above are "to taste", measurement approximate, since I squeeze and splash instead of measuring.  YMMV!  I neglected to account for heat - a couple of Thai Hot Peppers should probably have gone in, but I can always add some Tapatio if I need heat!

Dinner: planning on grilling a couple of burgers (if it doesn't rain), and having some mashed potatoes. Brownies for dessert!

Update:
I should have added more sugar.  The amount I used was what normally works well when I use catsup instead of canned tomatoes.  Also, some more liquid smoke.  I didn't get around to brownies, but I did grill the burgers outside.  And got beer.

All in all, a great Father's Day.

I May Not Be Spock...

...but I had some cool toys to share!

The Kiddo and me, at the Bird Farm, 2004-ish.

My Dad Is...

...Mr. Spock!

OK, you win.

(Via Post Secret!)

Look Out! It's A Trap!!

Richard Stallman, the man who wrote the GNU half of "GNU/Linux" and started the Free Software movement (which has forked into the Open Source movement) was interviewed a while back by The Guardian.  He cautions against "cloud computing" because he sees that as yet another way to suck people into closed-source, "...proprietary systems that would cost them more and more over time."

More importantly, he says that computer users should be reluctant to hand over their data to a third party.

Which got me to thinking... in light of the whole U.S. Government stomp on privacy, and given the apparent size to the government data centers in Ft Meade and Nevada Utah, it's probably safer to assume that the "top" of the cloud is there, and Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, et. al . are just renting space.

It's just cheaper and easier for everyone!

NSA Whistleblower Comes Out

Go.  Read the whole thing.

Mr. McEldowney's Editorial

I have been reading Brooke McEldowney's 9 Chickweed Lane and Pibgorn for years, now, and have even had an e-mail conversation with him.  I love his art, I especially love his story telling, the range of human experience he manages to capture, from the sensual interplay of relationships to the embarrassment of drooling (temporary) idiocy.  I especially love his wry use of language.  No one I know writes like him.

Today, on his gocomics.com Pibgorn page, he posted what I believe is his first editorial:

As I wrote to him, I believe we are poised for the second step.

Pronunciation (Tweaked)

This might be considered, oh, I don't know, challenging.

Or, brutal.

(Best when read out loud!)

If you can pronounce correctly every word in this poem, you will be speaking English better than 90% of the native English speakers in the world.

After trying the verses, a Frenchman said he’d prefer six months of hard labour to reading six lines aloud.

 

Entire text below the fold:

A Day Without...

Found at the NeatoShop

Bring it!

Back in 2003, when the Mistress of Pain and I were in the middle of playing real estate roulette, there was, for me, a particularly bad Wednesday when something yet again went south on me.  It was a relatively complex transaction, our purchase being contingent on the sale of our respective condos.  I was slipping into despair of ever seeing escrow close on the house we both really, really wanted.  Thursday, I was feeling better, and by Friday, things were cool again.

Then, Friday evening, our agent called me, to tell me that my buyer's lender had gone bankrupt.

I got this silly grin on my face, shook my head, and started laughing.  I felt like Lt. Dan, on top of the mast in storm, yelling to God "Bring it!  Is that all you got??  BRING IT!!"

The news about the NSA's PRISM program, reading the internet traffic on nine ISPs' servers has put me in the same frame of mind.  After, oh let's see (in no particular order), the AP story, Benghazi, IRS targeting conservatives, Sebelius hitting up the companies she regulates for contributions, I was feeling pretty down.  The I saw the PRISM article, and all I have to say is "Bring it!"

I can't wait to see what's next.  Should make for an interesting summer.

Go.  Read!

Cebolla Verde

...from Unorganized Hancock



My second favorite jazz number after "Take Five"

Via Sippican Cottage

Destroying Childhood Memories...

...one swimsuit at a time.

Via Gerard

The Problem With Diesel Powered Ambulances

Seems they have a little device required by the EPA that can shut down the engine - at the most inopportune time.



At The Daily Caller

Not About The Nail

Story over at The Coalition about an Afghani man who had a pencil lodged "...from his sinus to his pharynx..."

Which, of course, immediately brought this to mind:

Funny Peculiar...

Drudge has a link up to this Daily Mail article, and a bunch of others.  A flight from Heathrow to Oslo was interrupted because the left engine nacelle covers popped open on takeoff.  The pilot decided to return, and while on approach, the right hand engine caught fire.

I'm not an engineer, but I have spent a significant part of my life in and around airliners and transports.  Two engines going south at  the same time are extremely rare.  The officials are calling it bird strike.  Maybe, but after the beheading murder, I'm wondering if something else might be in play.

Am I paranoid?  Dunno...

RTWT

Trail o' Breadcrumbs (Updated)

Update - Breitbart has a post by Joel B. Pollak wondering if the deliberate small plane crash into the Austin, Tx. IRS offices wasn't the trigger for the "let's get the Tea Party" attacks.  The crash happened on Feb 18, 2010.  Speculative, yes, but Obama's meeting with the IRS union boss happened less than two weeks later, and the attacks began the next day.

RTWT

Pundette has a link to this story at American Spectator, about a meeting between the head of the IRS' employee's union and Obama the day before the IRS started messing with "... the Tea Party and other conservative groups..."  So it thus appears that the IRS' marching orders, while coming from the very, very tippy-top, were actually communicated from the "side", instead of through the legal chain-of-command.

The story at the links is loading very slowly, if at all.  I suspect that's because it is linked on both Drudge and Instapundit. (5-20-2013)

Hilarity Ensues...

...watch until the very, very end!

Kind of reminds me of Team Obama and all of these "alleged" scandals.

Heh.

Found at The Coalition.

How Long Until...

...a transporter??

NASA is funding a prototype food synthesizer.

They're working on pizza!

Via Ars Technica

Paranoid, yet??

To paraphrase Yoda, "You should be!"

Via DougM at Sondrakistan

There is a Better Word

"Perinate".  Not "fetus". 

A perinate is an infant in the perinatal period, which in turn is defined as five months before and one month after birth

They do feel pain.

More Decompression

Go Dodgers!!

Dodgers Pitcher Plays Catch with Kid in Outfield Stands Before Game

(RTWT at Breitbart)

Watergate

I was the house husband during the spring and summer of the televised Watergate hearings, so I got to watch them live on TV.  Sam Ervin was my favorite and my hero.  "English is my mother tongue..." is my favorite quote of his.  What is starting to foment/ferment around the Obama administration, what with Benghazi, the IRS' harassments of patriots and Jews, the DOJ's AP phone grab and gun walking, the DOE's green money dump, HHS' "fundraising",  and God-knows-what-else, is starting to look, feel and sound like the run up that old summer-time hearing.

I knew Nixon was doomed the day my mom, a staunch supporter, said to me "He must have known..."  Well, mom is gone, so I don't have that barometer.  Had she been here in 2008 and 2012, I doubt she would have voted for Obama, and I bet she would have said "He must have known..."as soon as she heard the YouTube BS.  OTOH, the stirring of the old media could mean the almost the same thing, "Did he know?  And if so, when?  Was it at his order?"

Popcorn.  We're going to need lots and lots of popcorn.

Whodunit

CNN's Jake Tapper is making a big to-do about a new memo from 9/14, that he says was mis-quoted to say the State's interest in the Benghazi talking point's were to be addressed in a weekend meeting.  He's busy mis-directing about the "mis-quotes", leaving the impression that the memo discredits the reporting on the issue.  It doesn't:

So whoever leaked the inaccurate information earlier this month did so in a way that made it appear that the White House – specifically Rhodes – was more interested in the State Department’s concerns, and more focused on the talking points, that the email actually stated.

I couldn't resist commenting:

"...significance seems to be..."?   Well, is it or isn't it?

This part:

"Insofar as we have firmed up assessments that don't compromise intel or the investigation, we need to have the capability to correct the record, as there are significant policy and messaging ramifications that would flow from a hardened mis-impression.

We can take this up tomorrow morning at deputies."

doesn't persuade me that the talking points weren't changed. The real question about that is still "Who had them changed?" State? CIA? Oval Office? 

It's important we know. Go find out, and report back.

I neglected to ask about the redacted part.  Sorry.

His column here.

Memo here.

Major linkage about talking points at Pundette!

Obscure Reference??

Chris Muir has an good roundup of just how incestuous the relationship between the White House and the MSM is.  He also has a possibly obscure geek reference:

From http://www.daybydaycartoon.com/

I refer you to the Oracle of Bacon for understanding.  The default will tell you how many actors separate Kevin Bacon from any given actor.  For example, if you put in "Elvis Presley" you will find that they both worked with John Wheeler of different movies (a Bocon Number of 2).  If you want to know, click the "How It Works" tab on the left.  Mark Ruffalo worked with him on the same movie, for a Bacon number of 1.

Warning:  Can be a serious Time Waster!

Drudge is my Hero!!

Q.E.D. and Res Ipsa Loquitor!!

From the ever awesome Drudge!

Decompression

Last week was a veritable Charlie Foxtrot for news of the world around us.  Fortunately, xkcd had the antidote:

...aaand, Stilton for the counterpoint!

Happy Women's...

...Reproductive Health Day??

Tweeted from the White House:

Thanks to the #ACA, 1 in 3 women under 65 gained access to preventive care—like birth control—with no out-of-pocket costs. #HappyMothersDay
— The White House (@whitehouse) May 10, 2013

(From the Weekly Standard, via Drudge)

Wiley...

...on the media:

(Click!)

Drudge For The Win!

CBS Reports FBI Posts New Benghazi Suspect Pictures

...if only!

Original at CBS

P S A

From Maggie's Farm

Gerard...

...is back:

(5/5/2013)--

(Found at Gerard's)