Say What?

Federal court blocks beef exporter from testing for Mad Cow disease

The USDA tests 1% of cattle of Mad Cow disease.

Kansas-based Creekstone Farms Premium Beef Exporters wants to test 100% of its cattle for Mad Cow disease.

But the Bush administration took Creekstone to court, and a US federal appeals court ruled that the USDA has the authority to stop meatpackers from testing more than 1% of its cattle.

The dispute pits the Agriculture Department, which tests about 1 percent of cows for the potentially deadly disease, against a Kansas meat packer that wants to test all its animals.

Larger meat packers opposed such testing. If Creekstone Farms Premium Beef began advertising that its cows have all been tested, other companies fear they too will have to conduct the expensive tests.

The AP reports that "The Bush administration says the low level of testing reflects the rareness of the disease."

The Bush administration should apply the same logic to the TSA.
Terrorists are extremely rare, so only 1% of passengers ought to be checked by airport security.

(In lieu of the 30% or more that are detained every day at airports around the country.)

Read the rest here

Okay, so we know the flaw here ... shrub administration - logic ... two mutually exclusive things trying to be conjoined.

It begs the question ...
Why in the hell not?
The beef exporter wants to test ALL of the beef it handles - at it's own expense, I might add - and the feds say no way to testing more than they require?!

Want to bet if they wanted to test less than the 1% required to be tested the feds would be singing a different tune?

Russian police kill Web site owner

Looks like the police in Minneapolis aren't the only ones using strong-arm tactics contrary to the law not to mention humanity ...

The owner of an independent Web site critical of authorities was shot and killed Sunday by police in a volatile province in southern Russia.

Police arrested Ingushetiya.ru owner Magomed Yevloyev on Sunday, taking him off a plane that had just landed in Ingushetia province near Chechnya.
Police whisked Yevloyev away in a car and later dumped him on the road with a gunshot wound in the head.
Yevloyev died in a hospital shortly afterward.

In Moscow, Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said in a statement that Yevloyev was detained by police and died in an "incident" while being taken to police headquarters for an interrogation.
Markin did not elaborate, saying that a check to clarify the circumstances of Yevloyev's death had begun.
The committee is under the Prosecutor General's office.

Yevloyev has angered regional authorities with bold criticism of police treatment of civilians in the region.
A court in June ordered him to shut his site on charges of spreading "extremist" statements, but it reappeared under a different name.

Yevloyev arrived in Ingushetia from Moscow on Sunday on the same plane with regional President Murat Zyazikov.
Police blocked the jet on the runway after it landed in Ingushetia's provincial capital, Magas, entered the plane and took Yevloyev out.

Yevloyev's death is likely to further stir up passions in Ingushetia, which has been plagued by frequent raids and ambushes against federal forces and local authorities.
Government critics attribute the attacks to anger fueled by abductions, beatings, unlawful arrests and killings of suspects by government forces and local allied paramilitaries.

Many in Ingushetia are intensely unhappy with Zyazikov, a former KGB officer and a close ally of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Immediately after Yevloyev's detention, his Web site urged Ingushetia's residents to gather outside the headquarters of a leading opposition group.

*****

Remember folks this is the type of country the repugicans want - where they and their flunkies can do as they please to anyone they please.

Their paranoia is showing ... part duex

Found this over at Boing Boing and it goes along with my "Their Paranoia Is Showing" post earlier.

Report: Massive, warrantless raids on peace protesters in Minneapolis, ahead of RNC.

Glenn Greenwald at Salon.com reports that protesters in Minneapolis, where the Republican National Convention will soon begin, have been subjected to massive, pre-emptive police raids. Those arrested include members of Food not Bombs, and a group calling itself the "RNC Welcoming Committee," and a group that uses video to protect civil liberties by documenting police activity at first amendment events. Snip:

[They have been targeted by a series of highly intimidating, sweeping police raids across the city, involving teams of 25-30 officers in riot gear, with semi-automatic weapons drawn, entering homes of those suspected of planning protests, handcuffing and forcing them to lay on the floor, while law enforcement officers searched the homes, seizing computers, journals, and political pamphlets. Last night, members of the St. Paul police department and the Ramsey County sheriff's department handcuffed, photographed and detained dozens of people meeting at a public venue to plan a demonstration, charging them with no crime other than "fire code violations," and early this morning, the Sheriff's department sent teams of officers into at least four Minneapolis area homes where suspected protesters were staying.

Jane Hamsher and I were at two of those homes this morning -- one which had just been raided and one which was in the process of being raided. Each of the raided houses is known by neighbors as a "hippie house," where 5-10 college-aged individuals live in a communal setting, and everyone we spoke with said that there had never been any problems of any kind in those houses, that they were filled with "peaceful kids" who are politically active but entirely unthreatening and friendly. Posted below is the video of the scene, including various interviews, which convey a very clear sense of what is actually going on here.

In the house that had just been raided, those inside described how a team of roughly 25 officers had barged into their homes with masks and black swat gear, holding large semi-automatic rifles, and ordered them to lie on the floor, where they were handcuffed and ordered not to move. The officers refused to state why they were there and, until the very end, refused to show whether they had a search warrant. They were forced to remain on the floor for 45 minutes while the officers took away the laptops, computers, individual journals, and political materials kept in the house. One of the individuals renting the house, an 18-year-old woman, was extremely shaken as she and others described how the officers were deliberately making intimidating statements such as "Do you have Terminator ready?" as they lay on the floor in handcuffs. The 10 or so individuals in the house all said that though they found the experience very jarring, they still intended to protest against the GOP Convention, and several said that being subjected to raids of that sort made them more emboldened than ever to do so.

Massive police raids on suspected protestors in Minneapolis. Glenn's post includes videos. One of them is embedded here, below, "from the house that had just been raided."

Glenn's Salon item also points to blog posts from the targeted protest groups, including this one from I-Witness. This group previously "videotaped police behavior at the 2004 GOP Convention in New York and helped get charges dismissed against hundreds of protesters who were arrested." The post excerpted below was published while the police raid was happening today:

The house where I-Witness Video is staying in St. Paul has been surrounded by police. We have locked all the doors. We have been told that if we leave we will be detained. One of our people who was caught outside is being detained in handcuffs in front of the house. The police say that they are waiting to get a search warrant. More than a dozen police are wielding firearms, including one St. Paul officer with a long gun, which someone told me is an M-16. We are suffering a preemptive video arrest. For those that don't know, I-Witness Video was remarkably successful in exposing police misconduct and outright perjury by police during the 2004 RNC. Out of 1800 arrests, at least 400 were overturned based solely on video evidence which contradicted sworn statements which were fabricated by police officers. It seems that the house arrest we are now under and the possible threat of the seizure of our computers and video cameras is a result of the 2004 success.

Miscellanies

Ten Miscellanies

The World's Oldest Guitar has been attributed to Belchior Diaz, a Portugese builder who probably made the instrument around 1590.

Wife Swapping Swinger's Orgy Porgy Party (Audio Stag, AS1004, 1971) Oh, music from those heady days of 1971.

Patent number 1,867,377, issued to Otto Frederick Rohwedder on July 12, 1932.

Renaming products to match their qualities - Honest Products at Worth 1000.

Sexy people, a celebration of The Perfect Portrait. Use Caution When Viewing!

A large collection of long forgotten pictures of Japan by Rob Oechsle, a photographer from Okinawa.

Ashrita Furman currently holds more than 75 Guinness records, including the official record for holding the most records. Since setting his first record of 27,000 jumping jacks in 1979, Ashrita has broken more than 180 records overall. His records include "Pushing a 4150 lb. Van, the fastest mile" (21 min 8 sec.) and 'Rolling the Largest Hula Hoop", 16 feet 5 inches in diameter.

The design of the Olympic medals through the years.

Recommended storage times for refrigerators and freezers.

How Robert P. McCulloch bought a London Bridge in 1969 and transported it to the Arizona desert.

And I Quote

Good fortune is what happens when opportunity meets with planning.

~ Thomas Edison

repugican reaction to palin

"It's important that America has a vice president who has eaten a mooseburger."

-- some GOP dude on CNN searching for the good news and how to spin the disaster of McCain picking Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his VP

Really? Sarah Plain and Tall from Alaska?

McCain has indicated he's waaaaay too old for two terms,
so his VP will naturally assume front-runner status for 2012
...and the GOP is going to be led
...by a vagina'd American?

(That's the GOP's reaction to a woman in power, not mine.)

For What It's Worth

What with the current election being about change I thought this reminder of the change we started and the neo-cons derailed was needed - so we can finish the job we began all those years ago.

Yeah I was there or at least they tell me I was

Memory's a bit hazy from August of '69 but I do remember this band from that concert in upstate New York I was at.

The Band performing "The Weight" at Woodstock

Copperhead Road Twenty Years On

Damn, it's been twenty years since Steve Earle told us a familiar tale for the Vietnam Generation.

Olde Schoole

Tommy James and the Shondells doing it old school.

(For all you young whippersnappers out there that thing in the video is an single vinyl 45rpm record)

Who will cut taxes again?

For all you 'tax cut' fanatics of the wing-nut variety as well as all the rest of us ordinary folks check out this calculator to see which presidential candidate's tax plan will actually cut your taxes.

In my case:

Your Obama Tax Cut is: $4,156.62

Don't get a damned thing from McPain!

Gustav just short of becoming a top-scale Category 5 hurricane

Gustav slammed into Cuba's tobacco-growing western tip as a monstrous Category 4 hurricane Saturday while both Cubans and Americans scrambled to flee the storm as it roared toward the oil-rich Gulf of Mexico and New Orleans.

Forecasters said Gustav was just short of becoming a top-scale Category 5 hurricane as it hit Cuba's mainland after passing over its Isla de la Juventud province, where shrieking 150 mph (240 kph) winds toppled telephone poles, mango and almond trees and peeled back the tin roofs of homes.

Meanwhile on the Gulf Coast authorities began ordering mandatory evacuations along Louisiana and Mississippi's Gulf Coast on Saturday as Hurricane Gustav roared past Cuba and into the Gulf of Mexico.

"They made it very clear that this storm could be as bad as it gets," Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said Saturday afternoon of the Category 4 storm, with sustained winds that reached 150 mph. "We could see flooding even worse than we saw in Hurricane Katrina."

Thousands of people had begun fleeing the coast by the time a hurricane watch was issued Saturday afternoon for southeastern Texas to the Alabama-Florida border as Gustav pursued a projected path toward the U.S. Gulf Coast.

The watch, which means hurricane conditions are possible within 36 hours, was announced the day after many in the region marked the third anniversary of Katrina's landfall.

Following in Katrina's footsteps

Gustav swelled to a fearsome Category 3 hurricane with winds of 120 mph (195 kph) as it shrieked toward the heartland of Cuba's cigar industry Saturday on a track to hit the U.S. Gulf Coast, three years after Hurricane Katrina.

The storm already has killed 78 people in the Caribbean and the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said it had become the second major hurricane of the Atlantic season, following Bertha in July.

Hopefully this time those on the Gulf Coast will heed the signs and leave the area.
And that the response to any need be swift and proper.

Nude Vacationers

The number of people who are taking and want to take a vacation and leave their clothes behind is increasing.

Check out this article on the increase in nude vacationers.

Their paranoia is showing ...

Police raided a rental hall used by a group organizing protests at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Friday.

The RNC Welcoming Committee, which describes itself as "anarchist/anti-authoritarian," accused St. Paul police of trying to disrupt their protest planned for Monday, the day the GOP convention is set to begin.

While no one was arrested, the group said police temporarily detained and photographed at least 50 people who were inside the building.

St. Paul Police spokesman Tom Walsh said they were executing a search warrant.

"The cause for the search warrant is not public at this time," Walsh said.

As many as 30 police officers entered with guns drawn, according to witnesses in the building.

"The convergence center is simply a gathering place and is not used for illegal actions -- it is a place for workshops and trainings," a statement from the protest group said. "Tonight, we were watching films and sharing food."

"We are now accused of a simple fire code violation," the statement said.

*****

Now what I want to know are where are the reports of raids on those protesting at the DNC in Denver last week ... oh, wait there are none.

A few 'good ol'boys' planning to kill the Democratic nominee and had the arsenal to do it are treated like 'boys will be boys' and a room full of liars were left alone by the police in Denver at the discretion of a repugican U.S. attorney.
But lord, in Minneapolis there are people watching a movie - send in S.W.A.T!
Want to bet there is a repugican U,S. attorney in Minneapolis as well?!

Nice Quote

Remember only the good; the bad will never forget you.

~ Doug Horton.

Women respond to Palin

The Mrs., says "Who is this no name thing that McPain chose, he has lost his fucking 72 year old mind?"

This has been the typical response from every woman I have met today ... some had even more colorful terms to express their displeasure at the choice.

Looks like the 'strategy' has backfired.

Buchanan loved it.

Of all the hoopla and bruhaha and so forth that has surrounded this election so far and will continue to surround it the fact that one of the right-wing's staunchest and outspoken members Pat Buchanan had to be cut off due to time while he gushed and lauded Obama's speech last night should be telling.

If it doesn't send a loud and clear signal through the thick skulls of the wing-nuts and assorted whackos on the far right ... something is very off in the universe.

See Pat Buchanan's reaction to Obama's speech here.

The Times they are A'Changin' ... To quote Robert Zimmerman aka Bob Dylan.

Just in case you missed it ...

In a clear cut attempt to sway women voters McPain picks Palin for vice president.

Sarah Palin, the first term governor of Alaska is the first woman to be named to the repugican ticket.

A move that will lose McPain the evangelical whackos and not sway enough women to vote for him to cover the losses ... thereby conceding the election before it starts.

Palin, in typical and what appears to be standard repugican procedure won her seat by clamoring on about corruption, ethics and criminal acts of those in office and how she was above such ... well, guess, who is under investigation for just such.

Of course McPain would pick someone under investigation - he had too, there is not a repugican not under investigation for some type of turpitude that I can think of.

History repeat?

With a new storm threatening to cause chaos in New Orleans all over again, a horse-drawn carriage brought the last seven unclaimed bodies of Hurricane Katrina victims for entombment at a memorial site on Friday during ceremonies marking the disaster's third anniversary.

The ceremonies were tinged with a recognition of how much the city has rebuilt since Katrina's floods, as well as fear that another disaster could be looming.

"We look ahead to a better day, as we also prepare ourselves for another threat," Mayor Ray Nagin said as he helped guide a gleaming coffin into a mausoleum.

Tropical Storm Gustav was swirling near Jamaica, Friday after being blamed for 67 deaths in Hispaniola.

Forecasters said it could hit the Louisiana coast early next week as a major hurricane and city and state officials were preparing for possible weekend evacuations - the first in the state since Katrina hit in 2005.

You know the shrub has a fishing trip planned for next week, don't you.

Forever means exactly that

I am glad to see that a court has ruled that the word 'forever' means exactly that.

For those wondering what I mean by that ... there has been a big stink in Asheville, NC over a developer trying to build on land that was donated through a will over 100 years ago to the Public Trust with the stipulation that the land remain in the Public Trust as parkland 'forever'.

Yesterday a judge ruled that is exactly what it is to remain and the developer has given the hosing up the arse he has been trying to give the citizens of Asheville ... Karma works that way, you know.

While this saga of greed and unmitigated gall does not affect all of you directly - it actually does, because similar types of 'deals' are going on everyday in your little corner of the world as well ... many happening without anything known about them.

More alert and aware citizens are what these 'deal-makers' fear the most and with their free run for the last eight years coming to an abrupt end they are scrambling to squeeze even more out of us. But it is like trying to push back the ocean with a sponge - it won't work and you will get wet.

Right on cue

Damn, the wing-nuts have been up all night 'inventing' what Obama said in his speech for their mindless faithful drones.

Some of the stuff they are saying he said has to have been pulled straight from their asses and the rest from whatever planet they reside on, which isn't the one who actually listened to Obama give his speech last night.

Of course they are repeating the same old same old trying to get the mindless to believe it.
No need to repeat them here you all know what they are.

It is utterly amazing how ignorant the ignorant think the rest of us are.

Here are a few of the things Obama actually DID say in his speech to the nation and to the world last night ...

... the record's clear: John McCain has voted with George Bush 90 percent of the time.

Senator McCain likes to talk about judgment, but, really, what does it say about your judgment when you think George Bush has been right more than 90 percent of the time?

I don't know about you, but I am not ready to take a 10 percent chance on change.

. . .

Now, I don't believe that senator McCain doesn't care what's going on in the lives of Americans; I just think he doesn't know.

. . .

Washington has been talking about our oil addiction for the last 30 years. and, by the way, John McCain has been there for 26 of them.

And in that time, he has said no to higher fuel-efficiency standards for cars, no to investments in renewable energy, no to renewable fuels. And today, we import triple the amount of oil than we had on the day that senator McCain took office.

. . .

You know, John McCain likes to say that he'll follow bin Laden to the gates of hell, but he won't even follow him to the cave where he lives.

. . .

We are the party of Roosevelt. We are the party of Kennedy. So don't tell me that Democrats won't defend this country. Don't tell me that Democrats won't keep us safe.

The Bush-McCain foreign policy has squandered the legacy that generations of Americans, Democrats and republicans, have built, and we are here to restore that legacy.

. . .

As commander-in-chief, I will never hesitate to defend this nation, but I will only send our troops into harm's way with a clear mission and a sacred commitment to give them the equipment they need in battle and the care and benefits they deserve when they come home.


. . .

The times are too serious, the stakes are too high for this same partisan playbook. so let us agree that patriotism has no party. I love this country, and so do you, and so does John McCain.

The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and republicans and Independents, but they have fought together, and bled together, and some died together under the same proud flag. they have not served a red America or a blue America; they have served the United States of America.

So I've got news for you, John McCain: we all put our country first.

Obama's Speech

Federal judge indicted on sex abuse charges

A federal judge accused of fondling a former court employee was indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday on sexual abuse charges.

U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent is charged with two counts of abusive sexual contact and one count of attempted aggravated sexual abuse.

*****

When is it going to stop?

Oh, no he didn't ...

a. A man's home is his castle, in a manor of speaking.
b. Dijon vu - the same mustard as before
c. Practice safe eating - always use condiments.
d. Shotgun wedding: A case of wife or death.
e. Those who jump off a bridge in Paris must be in Seine
f. A man needs a mistress just to break the monogamy.
g. A hangover is the wrath of grapes.
h. Does the name Pavlov ring a bell?
i. Condoms should be used on every conceivable occasion.
j. Reading while sunbathing makes you well red.
k. When two egotists meet, it's an I for an I.
l. A bicycle can't stand on its own because it is two tired.
m. Definition of a will: A dead give away.
n. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
o. She was engaged to a boyfriend with a wooden leg but broke it off.
p. A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.
q. If you don't pay your exorcist, you'll be repossessed.
r. With her marriage, she got a new name and a dress.
s. When a clock is hungry, it goes back four seconds.
t. You feel stuck with your debt if y ou can't budge it.
u. Local Area Network in New Zealand or Australia: the LAN down under.
v. Every calendar's days are numbered.
w. A lot of money is tainted - It taint yours and it taint mine.
x. A boiled egg in the morning is hard to beat.
y. A midget fortune-teller who escapes from prison is a small medium at large.
z. Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.

AND:
aa. Once you've seen one shopping center, you've seen a mall.
ab. Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead-to-know basis.
ac. Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses.
ad. Acupuncture is a jab well done.

Could it be a tad disparate or something?

White supremacists with rifles? No big deal.

Black inmate with baby powder? Credible threat

Dave Neiwert, writes about the disparity in the Colorado justice system towards threats against presidential candidates.

It seems there may be a reason federal law-enforcement officials are not interested in pursuing serious charges against the white-supremacist tweakers who were caught this week in Denver:

The man making the decision is a republican operative.
And when it came to a threat against John McPain by a black man, he had a completely different approach.

The ap story describing the official pooh-poohing of the threat gives us a clue:

"we're absolutely confident there is no credible threat to the candidate, the democratic national convention, or the people of Colorado," U.S. attorney Troy Eid said in a statement.

But when a black man in prison sent John McPain a threatening letter containing baby powder, it was another story altogether:

Marc Ramsey, an inmate in the Arapahoe county jail, the man accused of sending a threatening letter to McPain through McPain's Colorado headquarters office, admitted he sent the letter.

On Friday afternoon, the U.S. attorney Troy Eid announced Ramsey will be charged with knowingly threatening to harm or kill through the u.s. mail.
The charge is punishable up to five years in federal prison and up to $250,000 fines.

"We won't stand for threats of this kind in Colorado," Eid said.
"A death threat is not a legitimate form of political expression," Eid said.

So, on the serious threat meter, this is how it goes:

A black inmate sending letters with baby powder - serious threat.
White men with rifles, a caches of guns and ammo, consipiring to kill Obama...not so much.

Dave goes on to investigate U.S. attorney Troy Eid, who was part of the Karl Rove-Harriet Miers team.

But you have to wonder, what's the big deal?

A meth-head with a rifle, that's not dangerous at all!
Not in the least!

Futurese

Language evolves over time. Here are examples of how English has evolved over the last 1000 years and how it might evolve over the next 1000 years. All examples say the exact same thing.

1000 AD:	Wé cildra biddaþ þé, éalá láréow, þæt þú taéce ús sprecan rihte, forþám ungelaérede wé sindon, and gewæmmodlíce we sprecaþ...
2000 AD:	We children beg you, teacher, that you should teach us to speak correctly, because we are ignorant and we speak corruptly...

This is how some think English will sound in the future ...

3000 AD: *ZA kiad w'-exùn ya tijuh, da ya-gAr'-eduketan zA da wa-tAgan lidla, kaz 'ban iagnaran an wa-tAg kurrap...

Read the full article here.

Ancient Mayan underworld discovered in Mexico

This is an update on a subject of an earlier post:

Archeologists in Mexico think they might have discovered Xibalba, a mythical Mayan underworld also known as the "place of fear." After some serious scuba diving and inching across deeply submerged underwater tunnels near the Yucatan peninsula, investigators reached an entrance to a bunch of dry chambers with the stone ruins of eleven sacred temples and a 330-foot long road. There were also lots and lots of human bones. According to the ancient Mayan scripture Popol Vuh, the entrance to Xibalba was once protected by rivers filled with blood, scorpions, and pus, and houses swarming with shrieking bats. Thanks to Boing Boing for the photo

Read more at Reuters

(Thanks to Boing Boing for the photo)

As of this moment ...

Because of the shrub's greed and insanity in Iraq
4,147 brave men and women are gone.

4,147 families have been destroyed

Support our troops ... Bring them home today!

Then and Now

But after this...

we now have this...

And I Quote

If you would like to know the value of money, go and try to borrow some.
Benjamin Franklin

My wife has a slight impediment in her speech.
Every now and then she stops to breathe.
Jimmy Durante.

Kids are quick

TEACHER: Maria, go to the map and find North America .
MARIA: Here it is.
TEACHER: Correct. Now class, who discovered America ?
CLASS: Maria
________________________________________
TEACHER: John, why are you doing your math multiplication on the floor?
JOHN: You told me to do it without using tables.
__________________________________________
TEACHER: Glenn, how do you spell 'crocodile?'
GLENN: K-R-O-K-O-D-I-A-L'
TEACHER: No, that's wrong
GLENN: Maybe it is wrong, but you asked me how I spell it.
____________________________________________
TEACHER: Donald, what is the chemical formula for water?
DONALD: H I J K L M N O.
TEACHER: What are you talking about?
DONALD: Yesterday you said it's H to O.
__________________________________
TEACHER: Winnie, name one important thing we have today that we didn't have ten years ago.
WINNIE: Me!
__________________________________________

TEACHER: Glen, why do you always get so dirty?
GLEN: Well, I'm a lot closer to the ground than you are.
_______________________________________

TEACHER: Millie, give me a sentence starting with 'I.'
MILLIE: I is..
TEACHER: No, Millie..... Always say, 'I am.'
MILLIE: All right... 'I am the ninth letter of the alphabet.'
_________________________________
TEACHER: George Washington not only chopped down his father's cherry tree, but also admitted it. < face="Verdana" color="red" size="4"> Now, Louie, do you know why his father didn't punish him?
LOUIS: Because George still had the axe in his hand.
______________________________________

TEACHER: Now, Simon, tell me frankly, do you say prayers before eating?
SIMON: No sir, I don't have to, my Mom is a good cook.
______________________________

TEACHER: Clyde , your composition on 'My Dog' is exactly the same as your brother's. Did you copy his?
CLYDE : No, sir. It's the same dog.
___________________________________
TEACHER: Harold, what do you call a person who keeps on talking when people are no longer interested?
HAROLD: A teacher

Puns

It is said that the ability to make and understand PUNS is the highest level of language development. Here are the top 10 winners in the International Pun Contest.


1. A vulture boards an airplane, carrying two dead raccoons. The Stewardess looks at him and says, 'I'm sorry, sir, only one carrion allowed per passenger.

2. Two fish swim into a concrete wall. The one turns to the other and says, 'Dam!'

3. Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, so they lit a fire in the craft. Unsurprisingly, it sank, proving once again that you can't have your kayak and heat it, too.



4. Two hydrogen atoms meet. One says, 'I've lost my electron.' The other says, 'Are you sure?' The first replies, 'Yes, I'm positive.'



5. Did you hear about the Buddhist who refused Novocain during a root canal? His goal: transcend dental medication.

6. A group of chess enthusiasts checked into a hotel and were standing in the lobby discussing their recent tournament victories. After about an hour, the manager came out of the office and asked them to disperse. But why they asked, as they moved off. 'Because,' he said, 'I can't stand chess-nuts boasting in an open foyer.'



7. A woman has twins and gives them up for adoption. One of them goes to a family in Egypt and is named Ahmal. The other goes to a family in Spain ; they name him Juan. Years later, Juan sends a picture of himself to his birth mother. Upon receiving the picture, she tells her husband that she wishes she also had a picture of Ahmal. Her husband responds, 'They're twins! If you've seen Juan, you've seen Ahmal.'



8. A group of friars were behind on their belfry payments, so they opened a small florist shop to raise funds. Since everyone liked to buy flowers from the men of God, a rival florist across town thought the competition was unfair. He asked the good fathers to close down, but they would not. He went back and begged the friars to close. They ignored him. So, the rival florist hired Hugh MacTaggart, the roughest and most vicious thug in town to 'persuade' them to close. Hugh beat up the friars and trashed their store, saying he'd be back if they didn't close up shop. Terrified, they did so, thereby proving that only Hugh can prevent florist friars.

9. Mahatma Gandhi, as you know, walked barefoot most of the time, which produced an impressive set of calluses on his feet. He also ate very little, which made him rather frail and, with his odd diet, he suffered from bad breath. This made him (Oh , this is SO BAD, it's good) a super calloused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis.

10. And, finally, there was the person who posted ten different puns, with the hope that at least one of the puns would make them laugh. No pun in ten did.

Just in case you missed it ...

It's official: Democrats nominate Obama.

Tree Yoga for a New Relationship with the Environment

Check this out from treehugger.com

Do you love doing yoga? The "tree" pose (Vrksasana) connecting your body to the earth while your soul reaches to the sky? Then you will enjoy the news that "husband and wife Hal Preussner and Debra Pruessner have taken yoga to new heights with the Tree Yoga Multi-Sling (TYMS)". This device allows users to suspend themselves from any strong tree, in a multitude of poses ranging from beginner to very advanced. Yes, it is yoga meets anti-gravity boots.

Read more: Tree Yoga for a New Relationship with the Environment

Twelve Hundred

Twelve hundred posts are a lot so I thought a vivid reminder was in order.

Let's do the Time Warp again ...

Just a break in reality, mind you.
Nothing to get concerned about.
Please carry on as if it was a normal part of your day.
That is all.

Why Neanderthal man may not have been as stupid as he looks

Neanderthals were not as stupid as they have been portrayed, according to a study showing their stone tools were just as good as those made by the early ancestors of modern humans, Homo sapiens.

Read the rest here.

From the "You're Joking, Right?" Department

Baghdad plans to build giant Ferris wheel

Iraq is calling on companies to submit designs to build a giant Ferris wheel in Baghdad - the latest in a string of lavish proposals painting the capital as a leisure friendly city.

The Ferris wheel, dubbed the Baghdad Eye, will soar more than 650 feet over the city and feature air-conditioned compartments that would each carry up to 30 passengers, Baghdad municipal spokesman Adel al-Ardawi said Wednesday.

Al-Ardawi said the wheel would be taller than the iconic London Eye, which sits on the banks of the River Thames and reaches a height of about 450 feet over the British capital.

The project would including a six-star hotel, spa, an 18-hole golf course and a country club.

Iraq's Tourism Board also is seeking investors to develop a "romantic" island on the Tigris River in Baghdad that was once a popular honeymoon spot for newlywed Iraqis.

*****

Might be a 'tough sell', don't you think?
Sectarian violence, suicide bombings, and general warfare aside - it's the middle east for Pete's sake and it has never been known as a place of leisure or hedonism ... at least as a pan-cultural ideology.
There have been single cultural groups to embrace those ideals throughout history, but as a whole the region has not.

Paul McCartney gig revives Israeli Beatles tale

An upcoming concert by Paul McCartney has revived memories of the 1960s, when an Israeli official supposedly called off a Beatles concert for fear it would corrupt the nation's youth.

The episode is often fondly quoted as a relic of a long-lost Israel where the public's innocence needed protecting.
Trouble is, the story might not be true: With Israelis in a tizzy about McCartney's arrival, the official's blamed for the 'cancellation', son is taking the opportunity to try to clear his father's name, calling the tale a "Zionist urban legend."

So pervasive is the story of the concert's cancellation 43 years ago that this year Israel's ambassador in London wrote a letter expressing regret over the matter to surviving members of the band.
He told them the country would like to make it up to them: come play during this year's celebrations marking Israel's 60th anniversary.
"Israel missed a chance to learn from the most influential musicians of the decade, and the Beatles missed an opportunity to reach out to one of the most passionate audiences in the world," Ambassador Ron Prosor wrote.

On Wednesday, McCartney confirmed the Sept. 25 concert in Tel Aviv, which had been rumored for days.
In a news release, McCartney acknowledged the brouhaha, saying he is finally coming "43 years after being banned by the Israeli government."
He promised to give Israelis "the night they have been waiting decades for."

Even before McCartney announced the show, tickets went on sale at prices ranging from $140 to $430.

The Israeli official blamed for canceling the 1965 concert was Yaakov Sarid, a stern-faced man in horn-rimmed glasses who was the Education Ministry's director.
He is remembered today - to the extent that he is remembered at all - mainly for his alleged role in denying Israeli youth their chance to faint and scream at the Fab Four.
Also implicated is David Ben-Gurion, Israel's founding father and prime minister at the time.

Sarid, who died in 1976, was the father of Yossi Sarid, for years an outspoken member of Israel's parliament and currently a newspaper columnist.
The younger Sarid, now 67, claims his father had nothing to do with the decision.
He wrote a column - only partially tongue in cheek - for the daily Haaretz this week to call the story "a Zionist urban legend."
He has tried to make the point in the past, he said, but the story has become too firmly ensconced to budge.

The real story, Sarid said, involved a more mundane feud between two Israeli concert promoters.
The competition was so bitter that when one of them, Yaakov Uri, was about to bring the Beatles to the Jewish state, the other, Giora Godik, used his official connections to torpedo the government approval his rival needed to get the foreign currency to pay for the gig.
Sarid said his father was not involved.

This version of events is supported by Israel's pre-eminent pop music critic and historian, Yoav Kutner, who recounted the details in Haaretz on Monday.
"It never happened that way," Kutner said of the oft-told story.
Sarid said his father had never heard of the Beatles - his artistic tastes leaned more toward European Jewish liturgical music - and that Ben-Gurion probably hadn't either.

The false version of events only emerged after his father's death, or "after my father was unable to listen to the Beatles," in Sarid's words.
Sarid said the story was first written in a journalist's anthology about Israeli history and gained traction because of Sarid's own political career.
Sarid the son was one of the most liberal members of parliament and an outspoken critic of government censorship, which gave the story the necessary ironic punch.

The story has lived on because - accurate or not - it accurately reflected the times.
The 1960s was the heyday of Israel's socialist ideology, which sanctified sacrifice and scorned materialism and Western frivolities.
Officially, earnest Hebrew paeans to the beauty of the Land of Israel and to the military were in.
"Love Me Do" was out.

Though Sarid wants the record set straight and his father's name cleared, he also finds the story amusing and realizes it has taken on a life of its own.
"It's a nice story, in this case much nicer than the truth," he said.

Ancient Dead Sea scrolls to go online ...

... and they will surprise some with what they contain (if they are published in their entirety and direct translation).

Israeli and American scientists are bringing the oldest known version of the Hebrew Bible into the 21st century.
They're digitally reproducing the Dead Sea Scrolls online.

The ancient manuscripts containing almost the entire Hebrew Bible date back more than 2,000 years.
They are widely considered to be one of the most important archaeological finds ever.
They were discovered accidentally by a Bedouin shepherd looking for a stray sheep in 1947.

The Israeli Antiquities Authority said Wednesday that reproducing the thousands of scroll fragments will take about five years.
Special imaging cameras are being used to record the priceless manuscripts without damaging them.

DHS contractor threatens woman with arrest for wearing "lesbian.com" tee on federal property

It's not just the idiots at the TSA - the entire Department of Homeland Security is rife with mentally ill whack-jobs ...

For example:

Security guards contracted by the DHS threw a woman out of a Social Security office in Van Nuys for wearing a t-shirt that read "lesbian.com." He claimed that "The Rules and Regulations Governing Conduct on Federal Property" gave him the right to throw her out for wearing a t-shirt with the word "lesbian" on it.

As she headed for a line to pick up a Social Security card for her son, Gilbert was stopped by a guard who said her T-shirt, naming an educational and resource Web site for gay women, was offensive.

She said the guard, who works for a private company hired by the Department of Homeland Security, demanded that she leave the building or face arrest.

T-shirt gets Van Nuys woman kicked out of federal building

When will the bigots learn? We keep asking the question even though we know the answer - Never.

Chinese people discovering fortune cookies

Check out the story here.

A Slice of Philosophy

Until he extends his circle of compassion to include all living things, man will not himself find peace.

~ Albert Schweitzer

And I Quote

He that always gives way to others will end in having no principles of his own.

~ Aesop.

An intellectual is someone who has found something more interesting than sex.

~ Edgar Wallace.

Old man fights robbers

Full Story

Excerpt:

Two masked gunmen came into the Subway just after 11 p. m. There was a lone diner, John Lovell. After robbing the cashier, the two men attempted to shove Lovell into a bathroom and rob him as well. They got his money, but then Lovell pulled his handgun and opened fire on the criminal assholes. He shot one of the thieves in the head and chest and the other in the head. Lovell was in the Marine Corps.

He is not expected to be charged, authorities said. ''He was in fear for his life; '' Detective Rettig said, 'These criminals ought to realize that most men in their 70's have military backgrounds and aren't intimidated by idiots'.

Something tells me this old Marine wasn't 'in fear for his life', even though his life was definitely at risk.
The only thing he could be charged with is participating in an unfair fight. One 71 - year young Marine against two punks.

*****

Simper Fi, brother Simper Fi.

Seven Reasons Why the Gym is Better Than Therapy

I have a love affair with my gym. She’s not much to look at: a rubber track and weight room in a dank basement, but appearances aren’t everything. She’s there on my best days and on my worst days. We never fight, and she doesn’t care what I look like as long as I give her my full attention for a few hours a week.

I was talking with a fellow gym goer recently (the gym and I have an open relationship). He mentioned that whenever he is facing something frustrating, he goes to the gym. The gym is his form of therapy, and if I think about it, it’s my stress release too. So, I’d like to present my list of ten reasons the gym is better than therapy.

Read more from 7 Reasons Why the Gym is Better Than Therapy

Just an observation, mind you

You know what Denver is nice this time of year.

Faux News gets their comeuppance ... live

Skippy the Bush Kangaroo posted this yesterday and it bears repeating:

The following video report, as seen live on fox "news" yesterday, demonstrates that the far-right "news" channel has no clue what the words "raucous", "out of control" or "freedom of speech" actually mean, as "reporter" Griff Jenkins is seen taunting DNC convention demonstrators, only to receive chants of "fuck fox news", live on air, in the bargain...



Those morons at faux news can't even discern when they are being told to take a long walk off a short pier and 'blame' those that are telling them to take that walk of failing to speaking up for what they believe ... you got to love the stupidity of faux news - not!
Then they try to link the Chicago riots of 1968 to the Democratic convention in Denver saying that is what those that won't talk to them are planning to 'recreate' ... ah, the noise machine at work folks.

Future Tech

Remember: today's science fiction is tomorrow's science fact ...

The military is looking at some pretty radical ideas in future tech.

For example -

Drugs that make soldiers want to fight. Robots linked directly to their controllers’ brains. Lie-detecting scans administered to terrorist suspects as they cross U.S. borders.

These are just a few of the military uses imagined for cognitive science — and if it’s not yet certain whether the technologies will work, the military is certainly taking them very seriously.

“It’s way too early to know which — if any — of these technologies is going to be practical,” said Jonathan Moreno, a Center for American Progress bioethicist and author of Mind Wars: Brain Research and National Defense. “But it’s important for us to get ahead of the curve. Soldiers are always on the cutting edge of new technologies.”

Read Wired for the full story

TSA declares war on large breasts

Yet another misadventure from our fellows over at the TSA!

A large-breasted woman flying from Oakland to Boston was accosted by the TSA when the underwire in her bra set off the magnetometer. She was given a choice: allow her breasts to be fondled or give up on flying. Instead, she raised a stink:

Kates asked to see a supervisor and then the supervisor's supervisor. He told her that underwire bras were the leading item that set off the metal detectors, Kates said.

If that's the case, Kates said, the equipment must be overly sensitive. And if the TSA is engaging in extra brassiere scrutiny, then other women are suffering similar humiliation, Kates thought.

The Constitution bars unreasonable searches and seizures, Kates reminded the TSA supervisor, and scrutinizing a woman's brassiere is surely unreasonable, she said.

The supervisor told her she had the choice of submitting to a pat-down in a private room or not flying. Kates offered a third alternative, to take off her bra and try again, which the TSA accepted.

Arbitrary, no-exceptions "security" rules unduly punish innocents -- people with surgical pins in their bodies are now subject to discriminatory treatment when they fly, as are those whose names are similar to aliases used by suspected terrorists, and they're now joined by women with large breasts. Free societies shouldn't punish the innocent to get at the guilty.

Delayed by her bra, air passenger is indignant

The TSA dolts shouldn't be allowed a free show. They should have to pay like the rest of us - and through the nose, too, at the local Titty Bar

North Korea claims to have invented anti-hunger noodles

A North Korean propaganda release claims that the hunger-stricken country has developed a "hunger-delaying" soy-protein noodle that doesn't induce the same carb-based hunger pangs that starch-based noodles cause:

According to the newspaper, which is seen as closely linked to the Pyongyang leadership, the new noodles have twice as much protein and fives times as much fat as ordinary noodles.

"When you consume ordinary noodles (made from wheat or corn), you may soon feel your stomach empty. But this soybean noodle delays such a feeling of hunger," it said on its website.

The noodles would be available soon across North Korea, the newspaper said.

An estimated one million people starved to death in North Korea in the late 1990s after natural disasters and government mismanagement devastated the country's economy.

N Korea 'develops special noodle'

Okay, now they have their noodles, what are they going to do with them? Produce enough to end world hunger? Or, are they just off their 'noodles'?

Reaping what they sow

With the wingnut mouthpieces calling for riots Denver and killing Liberals on Hate Radio is it any wonder this happened?
There are just enough wackos listening to those spewing troglodytes to take them at their word.
What is notable is one of these bozos in named Adolf ... does that strike you as odd, too?

*****

Federal authorities are looking into reports that a man arrested with rifles, ammunition and drugs in his truck may have made threats against Barack Obama, officials said Monday.

Two other men were arrested in the case."It's premature to say that it was a valid threat or that these folks have the ability to carry it out," said a U.S. government official familiar with the investigation.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

Obama will be in Denver later this week to accept the Democratic nomination for president.

FBI spokeswoman Kathy Wright confirmed the FBI was investigating the reports but declined to elaborate.
The Joint Information Center - a command set up by Denver, state and federal authorities to field media inquiries during the Democratic convention - said it had no immediate comment.

Tharin Gartrell, 28, was arrested during a traffic stop early Sunday by police in the eastern Denver suburb of Aurora. In his truck, officers found two rifles, including one with a scope; a bulletproof vest; boxes of ammunition; walkie-talkies; and suspected narcotics, said Aurora police Detective Marcus Dudley.

Police alerted federal authorities, who soon arrested Nathan Johnson, 32, at a hotel in Denver, Dudley said.
A third man, Shawn Robert Adolf, 33, was arrested at a suburban Glendale hotel, Dudley said.
Adolf allegedly tried to escape officers by jumping from a sixth-floor window.
He was hospitalized and was being held on $1 million bond for several outstanding warrants involving drug charges.
Johnson also was being held on drug charges and his bond was unknown, Dudley said.

It wasn't known if the three men had attorneys, Dudley said.
Dudley didn't say what tied the men together but that more arrests were possible.

One of the rifles was stolen, and authorities had traced it to Kansas, Dudley said.
He declined to say to whom it belonged.

Aurora police alerted federal officials because of heightened security surrounding the Democratic convention, Dudley said.
"Clearly we found there are federal implications - otherwise we would not have notified them," he said.
"The weapons clearly would cause great concern."

U.S. Attorney Troy Eid said the case was under investigation.
"We're absolutely confident there is no credible threat to the candidate, the Democratic National Convention, or the people of Colorado," Eid said in a statement.

Officials with the FBI, Secret Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and Aurora police set a news conference for this (Tuesday) afternoon.
Authorities in Denver are trying to find out whether the reported threats to Obama were valid.
"It could also turn out that these were nothing but a bunch of knuckleheads, meth-heads," the U.S. government official said.

And I Quote

Whiskey is by far the most popular of all remedies that won't cure a cold.

~ Jerry Vale

Marijuana Grow House Found In Mall Of The Americas

The Drug Enforcement Administration discovered something unexpected in the Mall of the Americas.

DEA agents found a hydroponics lab with more than 200 marijuana plants, standing 3 to 6 feet tall in the air and worth millions of dollars, in a storage area on the second floor of the mall.

Authorities said the electricity that powered the lab was diverted from the mall's main power supply.

No arrests have been made. Authorities said officials with the Mall of the Americas are cooperating with the investigation.

Check out the details here.

Mother Jones interactive military presence map

Mother Jones launched an interactive map that shows US military presence around the world from 1950 to 2007. It's based on worldwide troop data from the Pentagon.

From Mother Jones:

These numbers are often fuzzy: Some deployments are classified, others are temporary, and just because the Defense Department claims 30 US troops in Indonesia last year doesn't mean 1,500 didn't pass through on training missions. Even so, the map, and the associated research, should give you a good feel for what the Pentagon is up to around the world.

Mission Creep: US Military Presence Worldwide

We need more stories like this

We need more stories like this:

Raccoon's courthouse crime spree ends with capture

The evidence in his office gave the judge pause: a half-eaten apple and some very distinctive footprints.
Federal bankruptcy Judge Paul W. Bonapfel reported the break-in last week at the Richard B. Russell Federal Building in downtown Atlanta.

The intruder made no effort to cover his tracks across a stack of federal memos in the 14th-floor office.
When the judge called in his staff and others to examine the scene, the evidence was conclusive: The perpetrator was a raccoon.

In the following days, judges and staff who work in the building reported other thefts - chocolate chip cookies stolen from a 10th-floor desk, a sandwich on the 9th floor, and a packet of dried soup purloined from the 23rd floor.

A court clerk created a "wanted" poster, and Bonapfel's staff posted a "raccoon crossing" sign on the judge's door.
Workers from a company that specializes in catching wildlife placed a trap in the ceiling over a judge's office and baited it with tuna.

The wait ended Monday when a judicial assistant heard a noise overhead.
Two workers removed the ceiling tiles and grabbed the suspect.

Office workers named the raccoon "Russell," in honor of the building's namesake.

The General Services Administration, which manages the building, theorizes that Russell wriggled into the heating system from outside.
"We're going to see if we can get him turned loose on a farm somewhere," said Robert Perkins, the building's manager. "We're going to take him a long way from this building."

*****

With all the hate, crime and scandal dominating the 'news' we really do need more stories like this one.

Earthquake!

The U.S. Geological Survey says a 6.3-magnitude earthquake has hit China's western region of Tibet.
No casualties were reported after the Monday night quake, state media reported.

The official Xinhua News Agency said, however, it was felt strongly and cracks appeared in some buildings in Zhongba county, the quake's epicenter.
Xinhua put the magnitude at 6.8.

On May 12, a 7.9-magnitude earthquake in China's Sichuan province killed 70,000 people and left 5 million homeless.

Carolina Naturally is read in ...

All around the United States in:
Missoula, Ithaca, Fountain Valley, Royal Oak, Sylmer,
Falls Church, Marion, Idaho Falls, Gadsen, Cambridge,
Lake Wales, Amherst, Corona, Poughkeepsie, Wahiawa,
and Livermore.

Across North and South Carolina in:
Central, Sanford, Greensboro, Shelby,
Charlotte, Asheville, Boone, Cullowhee,
Due West, Darlington, Rockingham,
Hot House and Manteo.

Carolina Panthers 2008 Schedule

Date	Opponent	Time	Network
Sunday, September 7	@ San Diego	4:15 PM EST	FOX
Sunday, September 14	Vs Chicago	1:00 PM EST	FOX
Sunday, September 21	@ Minnesota	1:00 PM EST	FOX
Sunday, September 28	Vs Atlanta	1:00 PM EST	FOX
Sunday, October 5	Vs Kansas City	1:00 PM EST	CBS
Sunday, October 12	@ Tampa Bay	1:00 PM EST	FOX
Sunday, October 19	Vs New Orleans	1:00 PM EST	FOX
Sunday, October 26	Vs Arizona	1:00 PM EST	FOX
Sunday, November 9	@ Oakland	4:05 PM EST	FOX
Sunday, November 16	Vs Detroit	1:00 PM EST *	FOX
Sunday, November 23	@ Atlanta	1:00 PM EST *	FOX
Sunday, November 30	@ Green Bay	1:00 PM EST *	FOX
Monday, December 8	Vs Tampa Bay	8:30 PM EST	ESPN
Sunday, December 14	Vs Denver	1:00 PM EST *	CBS
Sunday, December 21	@ New York Giants	1:00 PM EST *	FOX
Sunday, December 28	@ New Orleans	1:00 PM EST *	FOX

They ignored her cries for help

This is inexcusable. Self-centered, lazy, uncaring: all the things they have their well deserved reputation for ... these New York City dwellers need to be horsewhipped publicly!

Investigators say neighbors waited more than a half hour to call police after hearing a woman's screams for help as she was being stabbed to death at a New York City apartment.

Police found 21-year-old Ebony Garcia lying in a pool of blood at about 2:10 a.m Saturday.
She was stabbed about a dozen times and died two hours later at a local hospital.

Witnesses say neighbors ignored the woman's screams for more than 30 minutes before someone called the police.
One neighbor says she ignored the cries because she thought the victim had been drinking.

Police want to question Garcia's boyfriend.
She had obtained a restraining order against him.

Mickey Mouse bridges the culture war when teaching evolution to evangelical students

Teacher David Campbell managed to slip evolution into the high-school science curriculum in the conservative Florida town where he teaches -- by using images of Mickey Mouse through the years to illustrate the principle:

On the projector, Campbell placed slides of the cartoon icon: one at his skinny genesis in 1928, one from his 1940 turn as the impish "Sorcerer's Apprentice," and one of the rounded, ingratiating charmer of Mouse Club fame.

"How," he asked his students, "has Mickey changed?"

Natives of Disney World's home state, they waved their hands and called out answers.

"His tail gets shorter," Bryce volunteered.

"Bigger eyes!" someone else shouted.

"He looks happier," one girl observed. "And cuter."

Campbell smiled. "Mickey evolved," he said. "And Mickey gets cuter because Walt Disney makes more money that way. That is 'selection.' "

Teacher shows that science, religion don't have to clash

This is hilarious and sad at the same time ... You got to laugh at the ignorance that breeds the climate wherein a cartoon character has to be used to educate our youth - not that using cartoon characters is wrong, just funny you HAVE to use them - and it is very sad that you have to use them at the same time ... it is a very sorry state of affairs when they are required to be used due to ignorance and blind dogma.

Kids can't "go out and play" anymore

This story from the LA Times about the lack of free, unstructured outdoor play and movement for kids really hits mark: young kids are just not allowed to "go outside and play" and we treat older kids who do as potential threats to life and property to be run off as quickly as possible:

But today, for most middle-class American children, "going out to play" has gone the way of the dodo, the typewriter and the eight-track tape. From 1981 to 1997, for instance, University of Michigan time-use studies show that 3- to 5-year-olds lost an average of 501 minutes of unstructured playtime each week; 6- to 8-year-olds lost an average of 228 minutes. (On the other hand, kids now do more organized activities and have more homework, the lucky devils!) And forget about walking to school alone. Today's kids don't walk much at all (adding to the childhood obesity problem).

Increasingly, American children are in a lose-lose situation. They're forced, prematurely, to do all the un-fun kinds of things adults do (Be over-scheduled! Have no downtime! Study! Work!). But they don't get any of the privileges of adult life: autonomy, the ability to make their own choices, use their own judgment, maybe even get interestingly lost now and then.

Read the entire article: Remember 'go outside and play?'

Medical Humerus

Who says medical personnel don't have a sense of humor?

These are actual writings from various hospital charts.

1.The patient refused an autopsy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2. The patient has no previous history of suicides.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3. Patient has left white blood cells at another hospital.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
4. She has no rigors or shaking chills, but her husband states she was very hot in bed last night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
5 Patient has chest pain if she lies on her left side for over a year.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
6. On the second day, the knee was better, and on the third day it disappeared.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
7. The patient is tearful and crying constantly. She also appears to be depressed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
8. The patient has been depressed since she began seeing me in 1993.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
9. Discharge status: Alive but without permission.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
10. Healthy appearing decrepit 69-year old male, mentally alert but forgetful.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
11. Patient had waffles for breakfast and anorexia for lunch.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
12. She is numb from her toes down.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
13. While in ER, she was examined, x-rated, and sent home.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
14. The skin was moist and dry.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
15 Occasional, constant infrequent headaches.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
16. Patient was alert and unresponsive.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
17. Rectal examination revealed a normal size thyroid.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
18. She stated that she had been constipated for most of her life, until she got a divorce.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
19. I saw your patient today, who is still under our car for physical therapy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
20. Both breasts are equal and reactive to light and accommodation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
21. Examination of genitalia reveals that he is circus sized.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
22. The lab test indicated abnormal lover function.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
23. Skin: somewhat pale but present
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
24. The pelvis exam will be done later on the floor.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
25. Patient has two teenage children, but no other abnormalities.

(Did anyone happen to catch the medical joke above?)

Daily Funny

Paddy was in New York He was patiently waiting and watching the traffic cop on a busy street crossing.
The cop stopped the flow of traffic and shouted, 'Okay, pedestrians.'
Then he'd allow the traffic to pass.
He'd done this several times, and Paddy still stood on the sidewalk.
After the cop had shouted, 'Pedestrians!' for the tenth time, Paddy went over to
him and said, 'Is it not about time ye let the Catholics across?'

Question

What is the meaning of life and why does it involve green tea and fried tomatoes?

Catch up musing

Things have been hectic around the farm and library the last few weeks and the heat of summer has been a pain for the animals.
Luckily for them the aquifer under the farm has been extra gracious in coming out of the natural well at a faster rate than normal (there is still more than enough for better than a hundred years at the current rate, so my bottled water business will continue to do well), and they have had plenty of water even with the water restrictions my neighbors have had to deal with.
There are benefits to owning your own water.

The Renaissance fair is fast approaching so a busy fall is in the offing.

The Carolina Panthers are showing some good things for the upcoming season and should make for some good game day parties.

My leatherworking business is hopping right now as it does every year when the Fair rolls around and all the Rennies want or need something made or repaired - and to think I started it eight years or so ago as a hobby ... even have branched out into tailoring costumes - who says a man can't sew - and the ladies who do sew costumes and such for a living come to me for any work that deals with the heavier fabrics for help and advise because I work with leather and they all know I can handle the heavier stuff, the delicate stuff is another story all together.
The one problem is I do too good with my work and I have yet to have had any repair work on any of my pieces (I have repaired other's work) other than replace a screw or two that did not set when I glued it (inserted glue on the grooved cylinder to hold is from undoing itself).

Lamentations for the demise of a vibrant, dynamic place are being voiced.
Now, as to them being heard ...
Cryptic enough for you?
I know some who will think it is referencing them - sorry, but no it is not.

*****

Live by this simple mantra ... Smile - it confuses people ... and you will be happy.

Mauled, I tell you, mauled

The Carolina Panthers mauled the Washington Redskins last night to the tune of 47 to 3 in NFL action.

Traditionally a good indication of how the regular season is going to be - the third game of the pre-season was a night to remember for the Panthers and one the Redskins would like to forget.

It looks like it is going to be a long season for Carolina Panther opponents.

Thought for the Day

What is scary is that this is reality today ...

Insightful commentary on surveillance from webcomic Boy on a Stick and Slither.
For more comics in the series check out the link below.

Boy on a Stick and Slither

Klingon knife scares the crap out of dumb British scandal-sheet

That pitiful excuse for a newspaper that scandal-sheet rag The Daily Mail has a hilariously breathless account of a giant stainless steel Klingon fighting-knife received by police during a knife-amnesty; to hear them tell of it hooded thugs are roaming the streets with Klingon dueling swords looking for little old ladies to terrorize.

A spokesman for police in Gloucester, where it was surrendered, said: "It is a particularly nasty weapon that can, literally, take someone's head off. We are very glad it is off the streets and we want more weapons handed in."

The blade is believed to be a stainless-steel copy of a Klingon weapon used in the science fiction series Star Trek. "It's an extremely dangerous weapon," said a martial arts expert last night.

Lethal Star Trek blade seized in knives amnesty

You got to love it! Imagine the reaction to Phasers!

Alice In Wonderland from 1903

Alice In Wonderland - 1903

Restored the very rare, first film version of Alice In Wonderland, made in England by Cecil Hepworth in 1903 (this versatile director also plays Frog in the film).

The original negative is severely damaged, and much of the film has deteriorated. No known prints survive anywhere so restoration is next to impossible.

The music you will recognize as Claude Debussy's "Prelude To The Afternoon Of A Faun."

The BBC have rescued this film from obscurity by releasing it as an extra, with commentary, on their DVD for the 1966 Jonathan Miller production of Alice in Wonderland.

*****

Thanks to Milk and Cookies for the link.