And I Quote

Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.

~ Victor Borge

Hamas prevents Muslim pilgrims from leaving Gaza

Hamas police prevented Muslim pilgrims from leaving Gaza Sunday for the annual Islamic pilgrimage because of internal Palestinian squabbling, drawing rare rebukes from Arab countries.

Hamas, the militant Islamic group that rules Gaza, blocked the crossing into Egypt, stranding Palestinians on their way to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
The reason - they got visas from the rival West Bank government led by moderate President Mahmoud Abbas.

The "hajj" pilgrimage is considered the crowning moment in a Muslim believer's life. This year's trek should be completed by Dec. 5, according to Muslim authorities.
But early Sunday morning, black-clad Hamas police blocked the only passenger crossing between Gaza and Egypt. A handful of people waited nearby.

"We are old, tired. We've been waiting all our lives (for the pilgrimage)," said Umm Jihad, an elderly woman."This is not a Hamas delegation or a Fatah delegation," fumed Ashraf Lafi, a young man with a full beard and Muslim-style clothes. "This is a delegation for God."

Saudi Arabia sets quotas to different regions for the number of pilgrims they can send to Mecca each year. Gaza is allowed to dispatch about 3,000.
Abbas' Palestinian Authority and Gaza's Hamas rulers each submitted separate lists of Gaza pilgrims to the Saudi authorities for visa approvals, but so far Saudi Arabia has rejected the Hamas list.

Hamas officials were defiant on Sunday, saying nobody would leave until those who applied through the Gaza government are given visas by Saudi Arabia.
"The priority is for those who registered with us," said Hamas official Abdullah Abu Jarbou. "It is not for those who bypassed the legitimate government. They didn't go through the legal channels."

In a sign of a widening rift with regional Arab countries, Egypt's Foreign Ministry said the ban damaged "the reputation of (the) Islamic movement."
Saudi Arabia also expressed its displeasure in indirect but rare criticism.

A Saudi foreign ministry official who said he was "shocked that a member of the Palestinian parliament," - referring to Hamas - "said that Saudi Arabia did not give visas to Gaza pilgrims."Saudi Arabia "gave its visas to the Palestinian Authority," in a statement released to the Saudi news agency.

Conservative Arab regimes are troubled by the Hamas takeover but usually refrain from open criticism in the name of solidarity with the Palestinian people.

Star Dancing

Every once in a while, something will appear in the night sky that will attract the attention of even those who normally don't bother looking up. It's likely to be that way on Monday evening, Dec. 1.

A slender crescent moon, just 15 percent illuminated, will appear in very close proximity to the two brightest planets in our sky, Venus and Jupiter.

Check out msnbc for more.

To see the event:

Look to the southwest after sunset on Dec. 1 for a close conjunction between three bright solar system objects: the moon, Venus and Jupiter. If you have binoculars, you might even be able to fit all three of them in the field of view.

Fractured Fairy Tales

Leaping Beauty

Science News

Ocean currents can power the world, say scientists

The technology can generate electricity in water flowing at a rate of less than one knot - about one mile an hour - meaning it could operate on most waterways and sea beds around the globe.

Existing technologies which use water power, relying on the action of waves, tides or faster currents created by dams, are far more limited in where they can be used, and also cause greater obstructions when they are built in rivers or the sea. Turbines and water mills need an average current of five or six knots to operate efficiently, while most of the earth's currents are slower than three knots.

Read the rest in the Telegraph.

At the Last Minute, a Raft of Rules

In a burst of activity meant to leave a lasting stamp on the federal government, the Bush White House in the past month has approved 61 new regulations on environmental, security, social and commercial matters that by its own estimate will have an economic impact exceeding $1.9 billion annually.

Some of the rules benefit key industries that have long had the administration's ear, such as oil and gas companies, banks ...

Read the rest in the Washington Post.

Shrub Aides Rush to Enact a Rule Obama Opposes

The Labor Department is racing to complete a new rule, strenuously opposed by President-elect Barack Obama, that would make it much harder for the government to regulate toxic substances and hazardous chemicals to which workers are exposed on the job.

The rule, which has strong support from business groups, says that in assessing the risk from a particular substance, federal agencies should gather and analyze “industry-by-industry evidence” of employees’ exposure to it during their working lives. The proposal would, in many cases, add a step to the lengthy process of developing standards to protect workers’ health.

Public health officials and labor unions said the rule would delay needed protections for workers, resulting in additional deaths and illnesses.

With the economy tumbling and American troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, President Bush has promised to cooperate with Mr. Obama to make the transition “as smooth as possible.” But that has not stopped his administration from trying, in its final days, to cement in place a diverse array of new regulations.

Read the rest in the New York Times.

Oldest stash found!

2,700-year-old marijuana found in Chinese tomb

Researchers say they have located the world's oldest stash of marijuana, in a tomb in a remote part of China.

The cache of cannabis is about 2,700 years old and was clearly ``cultivated for psychoactive purposes," rather than as fiber for clothing or as food, says a research paper in the Journal of Experimental Botany.

The 789 grams of dried cannabis was buried alongside a light-haired, blue-eyed Caucasian man, likely a shaman of the Gushi culture, near Turpan in northwestern China.

The extremely dry conditions and alkaline soil acted as preservatives, allowing a team of scientists to carefully analyze the stash, which still looked green though it had lost its distinctive odor.

"To our knowledge, these investigations provide the oldest documentation of cannabis as a pharmacologically active agent," says the newly published paper, whose lead author was American neurologist Dr. Ethan B. Russo.

Remnants of cannabis have been found in ancient Egypt and other sites, and the substance has been referred to by authors such as the Greek historian Herodotus. But the tomb stash is the oldest so far that could be thoroughly tested for its properties.

Read the rest in the Toronto Star.

Riot at Nerf factory in China

Associated Press story about a riot in the factory where Nerf toys were manufactured for Hasbro.

Tempers began flaring Tuesday when the plant's Hong Kong owner, Kader Holdings Company Ltd., prepared to lay off 216 migrant workers at the factory that employs 6,500. About 80 senior workers claimed they were getting shortchanged on their severance pay, and they mobilized a mob of 500 — mostly other unemployed workers and friends, Guo said.

The workers battled security guards, turned over a police car, smashed the headlights of police motorcycles and forced their way through the factory's front gate, Guo said. They went on a rampage in the plant's offices, damaging 10 computers, the company said.

The account was confirmed Wednesday by several of the 200 or so jobless laborers peacefully milling around the street in front of the four-story factory complex covered in soot-stained white and green tiles. Small groups of workers inside the factory pressed against glass windows and stared at the crowd below. When their shift ended, they flooded into the streets and mixed with the angry workers.

"The factory's management and the local officials really look down on the workers," said one laid-off worker who would only give his surname, Qiao, because he feared criticizing the company might jeopardize his chance of getting any compensation.

Workers riot at Chinese toy factory

India ends Mumbai rampage after 60 hours, 174 are dead

It took just 10 young men armed with rifles and grenades to terrorize this city of 18 million and turn its postcard-perfect icons into battlefields until security forces ended one of the deadliest attacks in India's history.

A previously unknown Muslim group called Deccan Mujahideen - a name suggesting origins inside India - has claimed responsibility for the attacks that killed more than 170 people

*****

All right then ... it's high time - way past time - we ended this. The hate bred by these groups and the hate that breeds these groups needs to stop. If non-violent means does not work then violent means will ... unfortunately this leads to more hate, but it may be necessary to end this cycle of idiocy.

Daily Horoscope

The daily horoscope today says:

You are especially cute now, so definitely ask for what you want.

Ain't it the truth, now!

I Want Candy

Bow Wow Wow

ESTP - The Doers

I just ran Carolina Naturally through the Typealyzer to see what type personality the writing this blog has on it and according to Typealyzer this blog is:

The active and playful type. They are especially attuned to people and things around them and often full of energy, talking, joking and engaging in physical out-door activities.

The Doers are happiest with action-filled work which craves their full attention and focus. They might be very impulsive and more keen on starting something new than following it through. They might have a problem with sitting still or remaining inactive for any period of time.

Well, I'll be! Who knew a blog had a Meyers-Briggs personality classification.

Fresh new look

How do you like the new look?

I decided on a simpler look yet still have a bit of color to it rather than a stark white look punctuated by black typeface.

Not everything has to be multi-graphic maxed-out color extravaganzas.

Hellbender

Hellbender

Southern Expressions

We, Southerners are world renowned for our ability to turn a colorful phrase and from time to time I post some of them here.

Today's installment is:

He's like a dose of the clap.

(Meaning he is always unwelcome when he shows up and he is always irritating when he does.)

And you know you know someone just like that, don't you!?

Canadian government backs down

Canada's government said Saturday it was withdrawing a contentious political funding proposal, apparently hoping to thwart opposition efforts to drive the Conservatives from power.

But the opposition countered that the announcement won't change anything and talks will continue on toppling Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government.

Opposition Liberals, New Democrats and Bloc Quebecois have been discussing forming a coalition government, arguing Harper has no solid plan to deal with the global economic crisis.

*****

It would be a good thing to oust Harper and the conservatives before they can screw Canada over any more and before they can screw Canada over a la their idols the shrub and the cabal which we have voted to send packing - straight to a prison cell as the cosmos is properly in aligned again.

Daily Funny

Two guys, one old timer and one young, are pushing their carts around Kmart when they collide.

The old timer says to the young guy, 'Sorry about that. I'm looking for my wife, and I guess I wasn't paying attention to where I was going.

'The young guy says, 'That's OK. It's a coincidence. I'm looking for my wife, too. I can't find her and I'm getting a little desperate.'

The old guy says, 'Well, maybe we can help each other. What does your wife look like?'

The young guy says, 'Well, she is 24 yrs old, tall, with blond hair, big blue eyes, long legs, big boobs, and she's wearing tight white shorts, a halter top and no bra. 'What does your wife look like?'

The old timer says....... 'Doesn't matter --- let's look for yours.'

Dumb Patrol

Bugs duels with Yosemite

How The Grinch Stole Health Care

From The Progressive Puppy in their piece How The Grinch Stole Health Care we learn that the shrub and the cabal have put the screw to the poor yet again. In effect saying 'just go ahead and die'.

Low-income Americans who depend on medicaid will soon face higher co-payments for doctors’ services, hospital care and prescription drugs, thanks to a new federal rule by the Bush administration. enacted as a money-saving measure, the rule will allow states to deny care or coverage to patients who can't afford their premiums or their share of the cost for a particular item or service. The administration concedes that this will cause our nation's poor to forgo medical treatment rather than pay the more expensive cost-sharing obligations. (which is, of course, the whole idea behind the rule.)

The gall never ends! We can hope this is fixed shortly after January 20th of 2009.

Secret tunnel in central London for sale

A stuffy, noisy mile-long secret Cold War tunnel is up for sale in London, asking price $7.4 million connecting up Chancery Lane with the Thames. It's only got two elevators, which means you couldn't possibly get fire-code approval to run it as a hotel or club, but there's all kinds of other possibilities for this much subterranean jewel-in-the-rough.

But it was not long before the documents had to be moved again to make room for a secure international telephone center that the government deemed necessary as relations between Washington and Moscow grew tense. During the cold war, the British government instructed its telephone department, which later became BT, to set up a secret communications system based on the latest technology that would be able to survive a nuclear attack.

It was the beginning of the busiest period for the tunnels, with almost 200 workers spending their days and nights underground to route up to two million calls a week across the 6,600 phone lines. In 1963, the hot line established between Moscow and Washington after the Cuban missile crisis ran through the London tunnels.

The buzzing complex soon became known as “underground town,” with its own recreation room complete with dartboards and billiard tables, a movie theater and two dining halls. Workers often spent the night in sleeping rooms.

Mile of London Tunnels for Sale, History Included

The new The Fireman album is out

The Fireman’s much anticipated third studio album Electric Arguments finally came out this week.

Listen to the album at http://myspace. com/thefiremanmusic or http://www. thefiremanmusic. com

To launch the album, earlier this week, Paul visited The Fire Station pub in London to chat to the world’s media about Electric Arguments.

Talking about the new album, Paul told the media, “ We had creative freedom to make this album any way we wanted. It could have been very carefully considered but that wouldn’t be The Fireman.” Talking about working with Youth he added, “I like working with someone. I like giving up control. It’s more fun than sitting in a room on your own all day. ”

On the decision to include vocals this time round, Paul commented, “The first two Fireman albums were instrumental. Youth suggested to me, ‘how about a bit of vocal?’ And I said, ‘well I haven’t got any songs, I’ve got no idea’. And because it’s The Fireman and anything goes, I said, ‘yeah sure’. So I just ad-libbed it and eventually a song came out of it. ”

Full-size cardboard figure causes bank standoff

A standoff at a New Jersey bank is over after police learned a "person" seen inside was actually a full-size cardboard figure.

Officers went to the PNC Bank in Montgomery Township on Thursday night after an alarm went off. They saw what they thought was at least one person through the windows of the bank, which had its blinds drawn.

The area was sealed off and three nearby apartment buildings were evacuated as a precaution. Meanwhile, authorities used bullhorns and made telephone calls in a bid to make contact with whoever might be in the bank.

After repeatedly failing to get a response, a SWAT team entered the building and discovered the cardboard figure.

It was not immediately clear what set off the bank alarm.

Unable to see and unwilling to quit

Cracked ribs made it hard to breathe. A chipped bone in his hip ached as he walked. And 60-mph winds stabbed at him like icy needles.

But at that moment, Trevor Thomas of Charlotte could not imagine feeling better.

He was a third-of-a-mile from the rocky summit of Mount Katahdin, a granite giant that climbs skyward out of Maine's wilderness.

The peak marked the end of a 2,175-mile journey, the completion of a through-hike on the Appalachian Trail. And for the first time in six months, Thomas knew for sure he was going to make it.

“Just keep moving,” he said to himself. “Whatever you do, don't stop.”

Hiking the entire Appalachian Trail is an accomplishment few people can claim. This year about 1,600 have tried and about 460 have finished.

Only one of them – Thomas – was blind.

Way to go!

Glued locks stalled the Black Friday sales

Glued locks stalled the Black Friday sales at a number of shops in downtown Charleston.

Vandals poured glue inside door locks on dozens of shops along King and Market streets on Friday.

A Charleston police officer estimated more than 20 merchants were affected.

A group of locksmiths were scrambling to open doors while shoppers waited outside.

Merchants didn't think the delayed opening would hurt much, since shoppers usually make it to downtown shops later in the day on Black Friday.

Wal-Mart Worker Crushed to Death on Black Friday

This is why we all should avoid retail stores on the day after Thanksgiving!

A worker at a New York Wal-Mart location was crushed to death this morning, "Black Friday," when hordes of shoppers overwhelmed him to get inside for bargain-hunting.

From the AP:

At least four other people were injured, and the store in Valley Stream on Long Island was closed. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in Bentonville, Ark., called the incident a "tragic situation" and said the employee came from a temporary agency and was doing maintenance work at the store.

"He was bum-rushed by 200 people," co-worker Jimmy Overby, 43, told the Daily News. "They took the doors off the hinges. He was trampled and killed in front of me. They took me down too. ... I literally had to fight people off my back."

The United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1500, which represented the deceased worker, has called for a investigation by OSHA and the NY State labor department.

Director of Special Projects for Local 1500 Patrick Purcell called Wal-mart's comments in response to the incident both "cold and heartless." "If the safety of their customers and workers was a top priority, then this never would have happened," Purcell stated. "Wal-mart must step up to the plate and ensure that all those injured, as well as the family of the deceased, be financially compensated for their injuries and their losses. Their words are weak. The community demands action," Purcell concluded.

Purcell also suggested that people visit the website walmartcrimereport.com to review other incidents of Wal-mart not providing a safe work and shopping experience.

Thief is 'victim' of his own crime

This is why thieves aren't smart.
You got to know who your 'victims' are!

A quick seven

Things we all are thankful for this Thanksgiving

1. The shrub will soon be gone. Regardless of all of the dismal forecasts of martial law and suspended elections (and knowing that he still has 54 days left for this kind of mischief), the Reign of Error is nearly over and, as a parting gift, Our Worst President Ever has ruined the neo-con movement as a political force; proven Milton Friedman’s untrammeled free trade and Arthur Laffer’s supply-side ‘Trickle Down’ economic theories a bitter joke by implementation; soured the majority of America on the right-wing agenda; lessened the political influence of the christopugicans; eliminated the chance of any future spawn of the shrub's family holding national office for many generations if ever, and destroyed the repugican party as a bonus.

2. President Barack Obama – if he does nothing else, just by his election he has changed the way the world sees us, and the way we see ourselves. And it will be refreshing to have a president that we can be proud of for a change, and one who can even complete a full sentence in grammatical English.

3. Big Media influence is waning as ‘Citizen Journalists’ on the net and in the blogosphere present opinions not found in the corporately-owned mass media. Americans now read more of the foreign press online than ever before, meaning we are gradually becoming less parochial and xenophobic in our knowledge of the world.

4. The GOP might actually nominate Sarah Palin as its presidential nominee in 2012, thereby guaranteeing its decline into a minor regional party sure to lose national elections for many, many generations to come. Short that, the GOP will be wandering lost in the wilderness – they have to either go left, and lose their base, or stay to the same course and learn defeat.

5. Karl Rove and his minions are finished as a force in politics, and Rove himself will face indictments up the whazoo after January 20th. He will be frog-marched in handcuffs yet.

6. The Buzz is, that hundreds of federal employees, silenced by fear or fiat during the reign of cabal, will be blowing the whistle following Obama’s inauguration. Can investigations, indictments and convictions be far behind?

7. Science and the Rule of Law will be respected once again by our government, and decisions will be made by a president who uses his brain for the job.

UBS poised to name US tax dodgers

Boy, could this get interesting ...

Considering it came less than two months after the last occasion when thousands of UBS shareholders assembled to hear about the Swiss banking group’s woes, Thursday’s special meeting in Lucerne held more information than might have been expected.

The 2,395 investors gathered in a dingy suburban hall and heard for the first time that the world’s biggest wealth manager looked poised to bow to US pressure and release the names of an unspecified number of American customers who may have committed tax fraud in squirreling away their assets.

They'll have some explaining to do ... to say the least ... on why they fucked the country over and denied the basics to our soldiers, working people, the young, the elderly and the infirmed.

Read more at Financial Times.

This'll burn you a new one

From the "Give me the money and screw you!" Department:

theodp writes "Bank of America has taken steps to cover up the original we-don't-need-no-stinking-America sentiment of its patent application for Country Assessment, which described BofA's innovative way of dealing with the problems of 'a typical American employee [who] demands a high salary, good benefits, a good work environment, vacation time, and other job-related perks' -- relocating jobs to India or the Philippines.

BofA has instructed the USPTO to strike its remarks about why employing Americans is such a bad idea, and to replace references to India and the Philippines with 'Country X' and 'Country P'.

How clever.

By the way, BofA came under fire Tuesday as news broke that CEO Ken Lewis, who is currently preaching 'tough love' for the Big 3 automakers was quietly spending $7B of his spare cash to up BofA's stake in China Construction Bank after snagging a whopping $25B in U.S. bailout money."

See more of this at TechDirt.com

National Buy Nothing Day

Remember today is not only the one time only National Heritage Day for American Indians ... it is also ...

National Buy Nothing Day!

National Buy Nothing Day is a celebration of rejecting the consumerism of the retailers and sending them a message that we want better products for better prices and not just teasers of one item at a ridiculous price that they want thousands to fight over in the scheme of getting them in the stores and then gouging them on other items in want is aptly termed Black Friday.

Turkey Awards for 2008

Of course there can be no end of the year celebrations without remembering the 'Turkeys' that paraded themselves before us in 2008 ...

Bill O'Reilly
Sean Hanity
Rush Limbaugh
Ann Coulter
Michelle Milken
Joe 'The Plumber'

This is getting to be a pattern ... wing-nuts dominating the 'Turkey Awards'.

Top Political Turkeys of 2008

Yesterday was Turkey Day in the United States, but in the world of Politics everyday is 'Turkey Day'!

Here is a list of the Political Turkeys of 2008

Rudy Giuliani
Elizabeth Dole
Ted Stevens
John McCain
Karl Rove
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Robin Hayes
Pat McCrory

Hey, and they're all repugicans!
Now who would have thought that!

Daily Horoscope

The daily horoscope says:

You're starting to see how this could lead to a steady paycheck.

Interesting?!

Ten Worst Corporations of 2008

American Insurance Group (AIG)
Cargill
Chevron
Constellation Energy
Chinese National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC)
Dole
General Electric (GE)
Imperial Sugar
Phillip Morris International
Roche

See why these corporations made the 2008 list here.

A Command of the Law

November 26,2008 New York Times Op-Ed by Roger Cohen:

"It’s Thanksgiving. I’m thankful for many things right now, despite the stock market, and first among them is the fact that the next U.S. commander in chief is a constitutional law expert and former law professor."

Read all of Roger Cohen's piece in the New York Times here.

He is spot on when he says ...

"Nothing has been more damaging to the United States than the violation of the legal principles at the heart of the American idea."

(In specific reference to Guantanamo Bay, but can be applied to everything the cabal has done for the last eight years.)

National Heritage Day

For the first time, federal legislation has set aside the day after Thanksgiving - for this year only - to honor the contributions American Indians have made to the United States.

American Indians are getting the shot shrift again I see!

They get a day ... finally ... to commemorate their contributions to our culture and society and it is only for a one time deal! Also it was only set aside about a month ago so planning any meaningful type of commemoration was impossible.

Way to go there shrub!

Arkansas man arrested after scratching out sentence

A man caught trying to scratch out a judicial decision sending him to jail faces a new charge.

Police said the 25-year-old man received a four-day jail sentence along with a $650 fine Monday from St. Francis County District Judge Steve Routon for driving on a suspended license and hazardous driving.

Officers said Routon told the man to turn in a notice listing his sentence to the clerk's office.

A clerk told police she saw the man scratch something off the notice.

When an officer looked at the notice, they saw the four-day sentence had been scratched through.

Police say the man is now charged with tampering with a public record.

Another Smelly Story

A federal judge says a Detroit city employee can proceed with a civil suit claiming she couldn't work because of a co-worker's strong perfume.

The Detroit News says U.S. District Judge Lawrence Zatkoff determined Susan McBride has a potential claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The city is asking to have the suit dismissed.

McBride says she's severely sensitive to perfumes and other cosmetics. She says the perfume worn by a co-worker in the city's Planning Department made it difficult for her to breathe.

She says the co-worker also used a plugged in room deodorizer.

The suit says the co-worker later agreed to stop using the room deodorizer but kept using perfume.

Obama's Thanksgiving Day message

Obama's Thanksgiving Day message.

Ten Myths Conservatives Believe About Progressives

1. Liberals hate America.

Wrong, we love America. In fact we founded the nation on our values and principles and it galls the conservative to no end ... so much so they try and claim otherwise.

2. Liberals want to leave us defenseless in the face of evildoers around the world.

Wrong, we have always been the ones to stand up against the evildoers both foreign and domestic. Something the conservative conveniently forget, especially since they are the domestic evildoers most of the time.

3. Liberals hate the free market.

Wrong, we want a free and open market. One that is honest in its dealings with everyone not just a select few.

4. Liberals hate our troops.

Wrong, we love our troops. In fact we love them so much we do not want to see them used and abused in warrant-less military actions and if they are in harms way we want to see them provided with the proper equipment to do the job asked of them unlike conservatives who send them into harms was willy-nilly without the proper equipment and buy cheesy yellow magnets showing how big of a moron they are.

5. Liberals are a bunch of elitists who hate decent working- and middle-class Americans.

Wrong, in fact we are the decent poor-class and working-class and middle-class and upper-class Americans

6. Liberals are against "family values."

Wrong, and if the peccadilloes and trysts and scandals of the conservatives in recent years still have you convinced of this myth, then there is no hope for you.

7. Liberals want to raise our taxes.

Wrong, we liberals have maintained lower tax rates or lowered them on those that pay the bulk of the taxes while the conservatives have raised taxes on those that pay the bulk of them every time they could and raised them higher than any liberal thought about.

8. Liberals are Godless—and therefore, amoral.

Wrong, we have many gods as do the rest of the world. And about being immoral, please refer to the answer for myth number 6 for the answer to that.

9. Liberals don't believe in personal responsibility.

Wrong, liberals live by personal responsibility. Conservatives blame everything on everyone else but themselves.

10. Liberals are wimps.

Wrong, liberals are the ones that stand for others. Conservatives do not even stand for themselves ... so just who is a 'wimp' here?!

*****

Be sure to check Susan Robinson's reasons for why these myths are just that ... myths.

You want to talk about stinking!?

Disabled boy to lose his tiny pony because the neighbors don't like the smell

A disabled boy in a rural Ontario town may have to give up the miniature pony that he rides as part of his therapy and for his basic mobility.
The family's neighbors (bordering a fuckin' cow farm no less) have complained about the smell.

The boy can’t walk or crawl, and Emily is part of his therapy regime.

“When we take him off the pony he cries. Even if he’s tired he doesn’t want to leave her,’’ his mother, Antonia Spiteri, said today.

But at the end of July, the town notified the Spiteris the pony had to be removed due to the complaints...

‘‘The cows go right up to their property too. We thought, ‘You’re kidding – seven cows to one miniature pony?’ We were quite shocked by what we thought was a joke at first.”

Caledon bylaw enforcement manager Glenn Blakely said the Spiteris’ one-acre property is zoned as rural residential and is too small to house a miniature pony.

Town threatens to evict disabled boy’s pony

This is a load of shit, people!
If the smell of seven cows does not bother you the smell of one pony does not.
This is just a case of pettiness and spite and town officials with no balls or backbone!

China executes man for ant-breeding scheme

China has executed a businessman convicted of bilking thousands of investors out of $416 million in a bogus ant-breeding scheme.
The official Xinhua News Agency said Wang Zhendong, who was found guilty of fraud and sentenced to death in February last year, was executed in north China's Liaoning province on Wednesday.

The death penalty is used broadly in China.
Though usually reserved for violent crimes, it is also applied for nonviolent offenses that involve large sums of money or if they are seen to threaten social order.

Wang, chairman of Yingkou Donghua Trading Group Co., had promised returns of up to 60 percent for investors who purchased ant-breeding kits from two companies he ran.

Ants are used in some traditional Chinese medicinal remedies, which can fetch a high price.
Wang sold the kits, which cost $25, for $1,300.
Wang attracted more than 10,000 investors between 2002 and June 2005, when investigators shut down his companies.

The closure of his business set off a panic among small-time players who saw their life savings disappear overnight.
It was reported earlier that one investor committed suicide after realizing he had been duped.
Investigators put the size of the fraud at $416 million.
Only $1.28 million was recovered.

Fake investments and pyramid investment schemes have become common during China's transition from a planned economy to a free market.
Chinese leaders have tried to eradicate the scams, fearing widespread losses could add to already percolating social unrest.

*****

I wonder if the same punishment could be applied to those that have fucked over our entire economy?

It's Turkey Day

For all those celebrating ...

Happy Turkey Day!

Irish Drinking Toasts

May you be in heaven
half an hour before the devil knows you're dead.

~ Old Irish toast

Twenty-Five Hundred

2500 posts ... man that's a lot!

Innocence and Despair

Back in 1976-1977 a group of middle school kids recorded themselves singing some of the hits of the day and their favorite songs. Over the years they had their copies and lost their copies and threw away their copies ... and one made its way into the hands of a producer who turned it into the recording below ... a recording true to the original as it is the original - no dubbing or polishing, just the music raw and unvarnished as the kids played the music and sang them those many years ago.

It is a must have for any record collection!

"The backing arrangement is astounding. Coupled with the earnest if lugubrious vocal performance you have a piece of art that I couldn't have conceived of, even with half of Colombia's finest export products in.me." --David.Bowie (on the Langley students' rendition of "Space.Oddity")

TRACK LISTING
(& original recording artists):

01) Venus and Mars/Rock Show
---- (Paul McCartney &.Wings)
---- >>listen to clip
02) Good Vibrations (The Beach Boys)
---- >>listen to clip
03) God Only Knows (The Beach Boys)
04) Space Oddity (David Bowie)
---- >>listen to clip
05) The Long and Winding Road
---- (The Beatles)
06) Band On The Run
---- (Paul McCartney & Wings)
07) I'm Into Something Good
---- (Earl-Jean/Herman's Hermits)
08) In My Room (The Beach Boys)
---- >>listen to clip
09) Saturday Night (Bay City Rollers)
10) I Get Around (The Beach Boys)
11) Mandy (Barry Manilow)
12) Help Me, Rhonda
---- (The Beach Boys)
13) Desperado (The Eagles)
---- >>listen to clip
14) You're So Good To Me
---- (The Beach Boys)
---- >>listen to clip
15) Sweet Caroline (Neil Diamond)
16) To Know Him Is To Love Him
---- (Teddy Bears)
17) Rhiannon (Fleetwood Mac)
18) You're Sixteen *
---- (Johnny Burnette/Ringo Starr)
19) Little Deuce Coupe *
---- (The Beach Boys)
20) Wildfire (Michael Martin Murphy)
21) Calling Occupants of
---- Interplanetary Craft
---- (The Recognized Anthem
---- of World Contact.Day)
---- (Klaatu/The Carpenters)

Read more about this work here.

There's a kind of a hush all over the world ...

For the next few weeks, fans of Ann Coulter - Hello, is there anyone out there? -will have to rely on skippy-the-wonder-dog to provide their mind-boggling sound bites.

Because of a nasty fall last month, the 46-year-old slut will have her jaw wired shut.

Didn't think it was possible to silence Miz Coulter, but we are overjoyed that the screeching reactionary broke her jaw and the 'mouth that roared' has been wired shut.

(Is there anyway to make that wiring permanent .... I wonder?)

And I Quote

"The Capitol Hill Christmas tree arrived. And they've got to decorate it so a $10 billion contract went to Halliburton."

~ David Letterman

At Least 80 Dead in India Terror Attacks

Coordinated terrorist attacks struck the heart of Mumbai, India’s commercial capital, on Wednesday night, killing dozens in machine-gun and grenade assaults on at least two five-star hotels, the city’s largest train station, a movie theater and a hospital.

Even by the standards of terrorism in India, which has suffered a rising number of attacks this year, the assaults were particularly brazen and drastically different in scale and execution. The attackers used boats to reach the urban peninsula where they hit, and their targets were sites popular with tourists.

"Mumbai" is the right way to pronounce "Bombay," which is considered the financial center of India.

New York Times

Addendum: After a night of fighting the police said 104 people were killed and 314 injured. Officials said eight militants were also killed.

The Obamas visit a Chicago food bank

The Obamas visit a Chicago food bank and help hand out food.

President Barack Obama and his family spent an hour handing out chickens, potatoes, bread and other Thanksgiving food to poor families on Chicago's south side this (Wednesday, November 26, 2008) morning after Obama introduced his latest economic advisers.
Then he shook hands with catholic grade school students ecstatic to see him.

..."at Thanksgiving, it's important for us to remember people in need," Obama said. "They told me the number of people coming here is up 33 percent from last year."

About 600 families got food, said Kate Maehr, executive director of the greater Chicago Food Depository.
That's up from 270 families last year, said the Reverend Matt Eyerman.

This is the fourth year in a row that Obama has handed out food before Thanksgiving.
Last year, he did it in New Hampshire.

Chicago Sun Times

Rogue Cops in Newark

This rogue cop even says "I can do what I want". News Flash for you buddy ... no you can't.

Even though news cameramen and reporters are not the most welcome at times if they are on public property they can do their jobs ... how else do you think FauxNews gets their stuff from - they have to get a real picture and pull a misleading story out of their ass or have a real story and pull misleading pictures out of their ass every day.

Man steals three-year-old's identity

Authorities say a North Carolina man used a Social Security number belonging to a 3-year-old girl to sign up for telephone and natural gas service. The News and Record of Greensboro reported Tuesday that 44-year-old Michael John Maris of Mebane was charged with one count of identity theft and two counts of obtaining property by false pretense.

Alamance County sheriff's officials said the child's grandmother, Linda Raker, contacted authorities after a collection agency began looking for unpaid utility bills in her granddaughter's name.

The sheriff's office said the suspect is related to Raker, but did not disclose the relationship.

Maris was being held Tuesday on $5,000 bond at the Alamance County jail. Court records didn't show that he had an attorney.

Accused drunk driver ends up running over himself

From the "Now this is fine how do you do!" Department:

A 21-year-old man was accused of driving drunk and leading police on a chase that finally ended with him running over himself. The man was treated for minor injuries at a Santa Fe hospital and booked in to the Sandoval County detention center on charges of aggravated driving while intoxicated, fleeing a police officer, careless driving and two other outstanding traffic warrants.

A tip to the state's DrunkBuster hot line Sunday afternoon alerted authorities to a possibly drunken driver.

State Police Officer Grace Romero spotted the man's pickup truck swerving across both lanes of a highway, driving slowly and then fast. He refused to stop.

After narrowly missing other vehicles, police said the suspect drove through a ditch and a barbed-wire fence before stopping. He tried to put the truck into park, but it ended up in reverse.

Police said the man fell from his open door and both of his legs were run over by the front driver's side tire.

Classics

Piotr Llich Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture (Finale)

Marine archaeologists find remains of slave ship

Marine archaeologists have found the remains of a slave ship wrecked off the Turks and Caicos Islands in 1841, an accident that set free the ancestors of many current residents of those islands.
Some 192 Africans survived the sinking of the Spanish ship Trouvadore off the British-ruled islands, where the slave trade was banned.

Over the years the ship had been forgotten, said researcher Don Keith, so when the discovery connected the ship to current residents the first response "was a kind of shock, a lack of comprehension," he explained in a briefing organized by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
But after word got out "people really got on board with it," he said, and the local museum has assisted the researchers.
He said this is the only known wreck of a ship engaged in the illegal slave trade.

Keith and his co-researchers from the Texas-based Ships of Discovery organization came across a letter at the Smithsonian Institution that referred to the sinking and began their search for the ship.
"The people of the Turks and Caicos have a direct line to this dramatic, historic event - it's how so many of them ended up being there.
"We hope this discovery will encourage the people of the Turks and Caicos to protect and research their local history, especially the history that remains underwater," he said.

"It really is a mystery, it's a detective story," added marine archaeologist Toni Carrell.
"We do all of this because we recognize the importance of history. This is an important part of the Turks and Caicos history," she said.
The team was able to determine that authorities on the islands apprenticed the Africans to trades for a year and then allowed them to settle on the islands, many on Grand Turk.
The Spanish crew was arrested and turned over to authorities in Cuba, then a Spanish colony.
An 1878 letter refers to the Trouvadore Africans as making up the pith - meaning an essential part - of the laboring population on the islands.

When the wreck was first discovered in 2004 it was named the Black Rock ship because the researchers were unsure of its identity.
They have since become convinced by the timing and design of the vessel that it is the Trouvadore.
"We were not fortunate enough to find a bell with 'Trouvadore' on it," Carrell explained.

Useful parts of the ship had been salvaged before winds and currents carried it into deeper water.
"It's rare and exciting to find a wreck of such importance that has been forgotten for so many years," said Frank Cantelas, marine archaeologist for NOAA's Office of Ocean Exploration and Research.

The team also found the remains of the U.S. brig Chippewa, a ship built for the War of 1812 which was engaged in chasing pirates when it was lost in 1816.
That vessel was identified by the unique type of cannons, called carronades, it carried.
Indeed, the researchers said the Turks and Caicos now possesses one of the world's best collections of carronades.

Tame deer at Houston sanctuary beheaded

The "LOWEST OF THE LOW" ...

A tame deer known as Mr. Buck has been found beheaded at a wildlife sanctuary in Houston.

The remains of the child-friendly deer were discovered Tuesday at Bear Creek Pioneers Park.

A bloodhound was used to try to track the killer.

Harris County Commissioner Steve Radack says anyone who attacks an animal in captivity "is just the lowest of the low."

Authorities say someone cut through a remote fence to reach the animal, taking the deer's head and antlers.

The carcass was left behind.

Taxidermy shops in the Houston area were being advised about the crime.

Charges including felony animal cruelty and poaching could be pursued against any suspects.

One Liner

Home computers are being called upon to perform many new functions, including the consumption of homework formerly eaten by the dog.

~ Doug Larson.

DMT lab busted in Buffalo, NY

Four men were arrested this morning (November 25, 2008) as federal drug agents busted a South Buffalo laboratory where a potent psychedelic drug known as dimethyltryptamine — or DMT — was being manufactured illegally.

The clandestine drug lab was believed to have been operated for at least the past six months in a house on Fredro Street, in the Clinton-Bailey area, said Dale Kasprzyk, a Buffalo supervisor of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

“To our knowledge, this is the first DMT lab busted in Western New York, and only the third ever in New York state,” Kasprzyk said. “DMT is a drug that is just beginning to emerge in this area.”

Buffalo News

As Taboos Ease, Saudi Girl Group Dares to Rock

“They cannot perform in public. They cannot pose for album cover photographs. Even their jam sessions are secret, for fear of offending the religious authorities in this ultraconservative kingdom. But the members of Saudi Arabia’s first all-girl rock band, the Accolade, are clearly not afraid of taboos.

The band’s first single, “Pinocchio,” has become an underground hit here, with hundreds of young Saudis downloading the song from the group’s MySpace page. Now, the pioneering foursome, all of them college students, want to start playing regular gigs — inside private compounds, of course — and recording an album. “In Saudi, yes, it’s a challenge,” said the group’s lead singer, Lamia, who has piercings on her left eyebrow and beneath her bottom lip. (Like other band members, she gave only her first name.) “Maybe we’re crazy. But we wanted to do something different.”

In a country where women are not allowed to drive and rarely appear in public without their faces covered, the band is very different. The prospect of female rockers clutching guitars and belting out angry lyrics about a failed relationship — the theme of “Pinocchio” — would once have been unimaginable here. But this country’s harsh code of public morals has slowly thawed, especially in Jidda, by far the kingdom’s most cosmopolitan city. A decade ago the cane-wielding religious police terrorized women who were not dressed according to their standards. Young men with long hair were sometimes bundled off to police stations to have their heads shaved, or worse.”

From The New York Times.

As of this moment ...

4206 Brave men and women are not returning from Iraq
Alive!

Texas police turn traffic tickets into toy drive

Some police officers in a North Texas suburb are playing Santa Claus with naughty drivers.

For the next month, some motorists pulled over in Sansom Park will be given a "ticket for tots" instead of a formal citation. Drivers are then asked to drop off a $10 toy at the police station.

"This is a low-income community. A lot of the kids are not going to have a Christmas at all," Martinez says.

While it's not mandatory to donate a toy, police think forgoing writing motorists a ticket could lead people to return the kindness.

Officers have discretion over who gets issued a citation or "ticket for tots" depending on the violation.

Police point out that the average traffic ticket in Sansom Park - a Fort Worth suburb - costs about $165.

New Zealand billboard thief gets his own ad campaign

A billboard on the corner of a major road intersection in downtown Auckland, New Zealand, Monday, Nov. 24, 2008. A thief who stole expensive fittings from a billboard in New Zealand's largest city has become the subject of giant "Wanted" posters after the company that owns them obtained a photograph of the crime. The unidentified thief was photographed by a suspicious onlooker as he uncoupled 15 expensive electrical transformers that boost the lighting of a billboard in Auckland in October.

*****

A thief caught on camera stealing expensive equipment picked the wrong target if wanted to keep a low profile: a billboard company that has plastered his image around New Zealand's largest city seeking his capture.

The unidentified thief was photographed by a suspicious onlooker as he uncoupled 15 electrical transformers used to boost the lighting on a billboard in Auckland.

The photographer knew the pillaged sign belonged to Mark Venter, who runs OTW Advertising, one of New Zealand's oldest billboard companies.

So when the photographer offered pictures of the thief in action it cost Venter nothing to mount the images on four city billboards with the inscription: "Who is this Thief? Reward $500."

The photo of "the ratbag" was "too good an opportunity to let go," Venter told The Associated Press. "We've all had stuff stolen ... but usually they don't leave this calling card."

He said he had received more than 100 calls since the photograph was posted six days ago, though most were calls supporting his campaign rather than offering information on the crime.

Police Sgt. Roy Simpson said several calls to police and to Venter had named the same man as the possible thief, and he was now being sought by police.

Venter noted the thief had had one piece of good luck: If he had tried stealing the transformers at night "when they have 50,000 volts going through them - he'd be dead."

Student arrested for 'Passing Gas'

A student at a Florida school has been arrested after authorities said he was "passing gas" and turning off his classmates' computers. According to a report released Friday by the Martin County Sheriff's Office, the 13-year-old boy "continually disrupted his classroom environment" by intentionally breaking wind. He then shut off some computers other students were using.

The Spectrum Junior-Senior High School was arrested November 4.

A school resource officer placed the boy under arrest after he confessed about his behavior, according to the report. He was charged with disruption of school function and released to his mother.

Man shot by his dog

A man who was accidentally shot by a 12-gauge shotgun on Saturday after his dog jumped into a boat is recovering. Matthew Marcum's legs and buttocks were injured in the bizarre incident and he was taken to Legacy Emanuel Hospital & Health Center in Portland.

Marcum's father, Henry, said his 23-year-old son was about to tie up an 11-foot open aluminum boat, when his 3-year-old Labrador, Drake, jumped into the boat.

Matthew Marcum said his dog, Drake, is a good dog and he isn't upset with him.

Hope he didn't use all his luck

In a span of 10 days, a man learned he won two automobiles in separate contests. Michel Horton picked up his newest ride on Friday, a 2008 "Bon Jovi Special Edition" Saturn Outlook, at a dealership in Topeka. He was notified of the win on Oct. 15.

The entry also netted him a guitar and gold-plated Bon Jovi records.

But that was his second free vehicle. Horton was notified Oct. 5 he had won a Mitsubishi Lancer in a contest sponsored by Bic lighter.

As if that weren't enough, he also won tickets to a recent Kansas City Chiefs game in another drawing.

Horton said rather than collecting the Lancer, he opted to take the cash-in value of $28,800 for the car. He said that will help pay the income tax and personal property taxes on his winnings.

Less than brilliant there bucko

Police in Leavenworth, Kan., say a thief who tried to bust an ATM open like a giant piggy bank is lucky to be in one piece himself.

They say the 49-year-old pried an ATM loose from a credit union early Sunday by using a stolen skid loader. Then, in a bid to break open the 3,000-pound cash machine, the man used the skid loader to drop it down a 50-foot wooded embankment.

Police Chief Patrick Kitchens says the problem is, when the ATM fell, the skid loader and the thief plummeted right along with it.

The man was found trapped inside the battered machine and was taken to a hospital. His injuries were not considered life-threatening, but Kitchens says he could end up facing federal charges.

Welcome readers

Carolina Naturally would like to welcome our readers in our newest country Turks and Caicos.

Turks and Caicos Islands

That makes 144 out of 196 countries world-wide reading Carolina Naturally.

Jet pack pilot flies across 1,500-foot-wide canyon

A daredevil wearing a jet pack has flown across a 1,500-foot-wide canyon in southern Colorado.

The stunt's sponsors says Eric Scott took 21 seconds to cross the Royal Gorge at 75 mph on Monday and that he didn't use a parachute while flying across the 1,100-foot-deep canyon.

He was wearing a jet pack powered by hydrogen peroxide and developed for stunts, promotions and other events.

Hit and run shoe thief

Idaho Police arrested a hit-and-run suspect who also allegedly stole a pair of shoes from a nearby home as part of his attempt to flee the crime on Sunday. Authorities said the 22-year-old faces charges ranging from drunken driving, leaving the scene of an accident and burglary.

Witnesses told police that a vehicle hit a parked car and that the driver fled the scene on foot. Several minutes later, police said they received a call that a man matching the driver's description had entered a nearby residence, was bleeding and stole a pair of shoes before leaving the home.

Police said they arrested the man a short time later.

You might Be A Neocon If ...

This is so accurate and so hilarious. RS Janes puts it all in line for us.

By RS Janes

With a hat tip to Jeff Foxworthy, it’s time to play:

You Might Be A Neocon If…

… you believe any of the following: Barack Obama is (a) a socialist; (b) a Muslim; (c) the illegitimate son of Malcolm X; (d) the illegitimate son of Uncle Ben.

… you think Obama was a domestic terrorist who helped Bill Ayers plant bombs in the Pentagon; that he doesn’t have a legal birth certificate proving he’s an American citizen; and that his middle name indicates anything more than sheer coincidence.

… You believe President Obama’s first act will be to make the ‘nation’ of Africa our 51st state and send every resident a free Cadillac.

… you heard Obama was born in Hawaii in 1961 and don’t think it was a state then, thereby making it illegal for him to be president, but are too lazy to look it up before you forward the email.

… you believe Sarah Palin is really intelligent and informed and that the reason most of America thinks otherwise is due to the liberal media and their evil ‘gotcha’ questions.

… you think an unwed teenage girl’s pregnancy is a sign of the moral failings of permissive secular parents and liberalism in general, except for 17-year-old Bristol Palin.

… you believe Sarah Palin is (a) a real feminist; (b) a true populist; (c) a ‘good ole gal just like me!’; (d) winking at you seductively through the TV.

… you think it was fine for the Big Media to criticize every detail of Hillary Clinton’s campaign and excoriate her for her laugh, her clothes, her personal taste, or minor mistakes, yet Katie Couric asking Sarah Palin to name what newspapers and magazines she reads ‘every day’ is an outrageous and out of bounds ‘gotcha’ question.

… you thought John Kerry’s record of military heroism didn’t entitle him to be president, but John McCain’s did.

… you believe that, despite everything, this remains a ‘center-right’ nation.

… you think any of the following windbags are still politically relevant: (a) Rush Limbaugh; (b) Bill O’Reilly; (c) Sean Hannity; (d) Michael Savage; (e) Glenn Beck; (f) John McCain’s brother Joe.

… you actually believe that Big Media corporations are owned by flaming liberals, except Fox News.

… you think Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch is ‘too liberal’ because he once held a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton and employs Alan Colmes.

… you believe any of the following are real-live conservative intellectuals: (a) Bill Kristol; (b) Pat Buchanan; (c) Dinesh D’Souza; (d) Joe the Plumber.

… you think prayer in school is more important than a good education in school.

… you believe that courts should not ‘make law’ but go by a strict interpretation of the Constitution, except in the case of Bush v. Gore, Terry Schiavo, and keeping those designated as ‘terrorists’ by the president in prison without due process.

… you think Swift Boater Jerome Corsi is a great investigative journalist.

… you think Michael Moore is a communist dedicated to overthrowing the country’s health care system and forcing you to go to a government doctor for free.

… you’ve never read anything by Karl Marx other than a quote or two, yet consider yourself an expert on what is Marxist.

… you believe liberals and/or Democrats are all (a) atheists (b) liars (c) commies (d) America-haters (e) arugula eaters (f) always sitting around trying to think up ways to take away your guns.

… you think anyone who disagrees with you is unpatriotic, even if it’s an old woman in a wheelchair yelling at you for parking in the Handicapped space.

… you think Handicapped parking spaces are liberal commie plots to take away our freedoms.

… you believe wearing a flag pin is more important than living up to the Constitutional law of the land.

… you think the Constitution was signed by men who were all devout Christians and the nation was founded with a Christian rather than secular government.

… you’ve ever rendered a strong opinion on any book, magazine article, website, film, TV show or play you’ve never actually read or seen.

… you think waterboarding is no different than a fraternity prank.

… you think there was actually a War on Christmas outside of Bill O’Reilly’s head.

… you think any government program that helps ordinary people is horrible socialism, but when our tax money is spent to pay contractors for shoddy work and overcharges, that’s free market capitalism at work.

… you think questions surrounding the events of 9/11 are ridiculous, but firmly believe that the Clintons had something to do with the death of Vince Foster and should be subject to further investigation.

… you think Bush ignoring the August 6, 2001 CIA brief entitled “Bin Laden Determined to Strike in United States” was understandable, since he was on vacation, but are convinced that 9/11 happened because Bill Clinton ignored Al-Qaeda during his presidency.

… you think Osama bin Laden is a lying terrorist sack of crap, yet was telling the truth when said he wanted John Kerry as president in 2004, right before Election Day.

… you still believe Bush and Cheney are moral men with your best interests at heart.

… you don’t want to pay a dime for national health care, yet expect a taxpayer-funded emergency room to treat you immediately after you’ve had an accident.

.. you still think Bush is right even when he’s proven wrong, again and again.

… you think every problem America has can be traced to liberals and/or Democrats.

… you’ve ever called anyone a ‘pinko’ or ‘commie,’ especially someone who demonstrably isn’t either.

…you don’t know the difference between socialism and communism and you don’t really care either.

… you think a) Saddam Hussein had WMD and hid them somewhere outside of the country right before the US invaded, or b) you think we found WMD in Iraq.

… you think former CIA covert agent Valerie Plame ‘deserved’ to be outed because her husband is a ‘traitor’ who revealed the truth about Bush’s phony claims that Iraq tried to buy Niger uranium.

… you think junkies should spend long sentences in jail but Rush Limbaugh should be forgiven for his human frailty.

… you think Ann Coulter is hilariously funny.

… you think talk show blabber Dennis Prager is either a religious expert, conservative intellectual, political philosopher, entirely sane, or all four.

– you are a Christian who experiences temporary blindness whenever you read the Sermon on the Mount.

… you think every word in the Bible was written by God in English, even the letters to the Greeks by Paul.

… you are waiting for Armageddon and believe you will be taken up into heaven during ‘The Rapture,’ even though you lie to your customers, sell products that are made by slave labor overseas, or own a private mercenary company that murders people in other countries.

… you think individual people need strong laws and strict enforcement to keep them in line, but corporations should be able to make their own rules without government interference.

… you think no-bid contracts are a smart way for the government to do business.

… you think Richard Nixon was brought down by the ‘liberal media.’

… you think ‘habeas corpus’ has something to do with hamsters, so what’s the big deal?

… you hate the theory of evolution even though you’ve never read it. You also hate Charles Darwin without knowing anything about him, and point him out as the perfect example of a ‘know-nothing’ American liberal. (He was actually British.)

… you’ve ever read a rant by Michelle Malkin without laughing out loud at its sheer rancorous stupidity.

… you think Charles Krauthammer is sane.

… you still think Karl Rove is a great man.

… you believe might makes right since the Surge is working and the Afghanis just love us.

.. you watch “24″ and believe if we only had a guy like the fictional Jack Bauer in charge of our intelligence operations, we could lick the terrorists in a month or two.

… you are a self-hating closeted gay male Republican politician.

Why does failure inspire some and demoralize others?

Good Question.

Stanford Magazine reports on the applications from psychological research Carol Dweck's work, which uses careful experiments to determine why some people give up when confronted with failure, while others roll up their sleeves and dive in.

Through a series of exercises, the experimenters trained half the students to chalk up their errors to insufficient effort, and encouraged them to keep going. Those children learned to persist in the face of failure—and to succeed. The control group showed no improvement at all, continuing to fall apart quickly and to recover slowly. These findings, says Dweck, “really supported the idea that the attributions were a key ingredient driving the helpless and mastery-oriented patterns.” Her 1975 article on the topic has become one of the most widely cited in contemporary psychology.

Attribution theory, concerned with people’s judgments about the causes of events and behavior, already was an active area of psychological research. But the focus at the time was on how we make attributions, explains Stanford psychology professor Lee Ross, who coined the term “fundamental attribution error” for our tendency to explain other people’s actions by their character traits, overlooking the power of circumstances. Dweck, he says, helped “shift the emphasis from attributional errors and biases to the consequences of attributions—why it matters what attributions people make.” Dweck had put attribution theory to practical use...

...[S]ome of the children who put forth lots of effort didn’t make attributions at all. These children didn’t think they were failing. Diener puts it this way: “Failure is information—we label it failure, but it’s more like, ‘This didn’t work, I’m a problem solver, and I’ll try something else.’” During one unforgettable moment, one boy—something of a poster child for the mastery-oriented type—faced his first stumper by pulling up his chair, rubbing his hands together, smacking his lips and announcing, “I love a challenge.”

Such zest for challenge helped explain why other capable students thought they lacked ability just because they’d hit a setback. Common sense suggests that ability inspires self-confidence. And it does for a while—so long as the going is easy. But setbacks change everything. Dweck realized—and, with colleague Elaine Elliott soon demonstrated—that the difference lay in the kids’ goals. “The mastery-oriented children are really hell-bent on learning something,” Dweck says, and “learning goals” inspire a different chain of thoughts and behaviors than “performance goals.”

The Effort Effect,
Carol Dweck's book, "Mindset: The New Psychology of Success"

The bailout is going to cost us ... Big Time

Did you ever wonder how much the Bailout brought on by the shrub's and the repgicans fucking up of our economy (not to mention the world's economy) will cost us?

Here's a clue:

The Bailout costs more than the Marshall Plan, the Louisiana Purchase, the Moonshot Program, the S&L bailout, the Korean War, the New Deal, the Iraq war, the Vietnam war, and NASA's lifetime budget ... COMBINED!

Barry Ritholtz says:

In doing the research for the "Bailout Nation" book, I needed a way to put the dollar amounts into proper historical perspective.

If we add in the Citi bailout, the total cost now exceeds $4.6165 trillion dollars.

People have a hard time conceptualizing very large numbers, so let’s give this some context. The current Credit Crisis bailout is now the largest outlay In American history.

Crunching the inflation adjusted numbers, we find the bailout has cost more than all of these big budget government expenditures – combined:

• Marshall Plan: Cost: $12.7 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $115.3 billion
• Louisiana Purchase: Cost: $15 million, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $217 billion
• Race to the Moon: Cost: $36.4 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $237 billion
• S&L Crisis: Cost: $153 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $256 billion
• Korean War: Cost: $54 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $454 billion
• The New Deal: Cost: $32 billion (Est), Inflation Adjusted Cost: $500 billion (Est)
• Invasion of Iraq: Cost: $551b, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $597 billion
• Vietnam War: Cost: $111 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $698 billion
• NASA: Cost: $416.7 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $851.2 billion

TOTAL: $3.92 trillion

And the repugicans still say they are better at handling the economy!? What a crock! It took only eight years to ruin our economy and screw us over for more than any time in history!

Never again!

Daily Horoscope

My daily horoscope says:

Watch out for a group who decides to spend more of your money than you think is appropriate for something you don't even want.

Hey, Congress are you listening!?

And I Quote

"You’re living in a world that no longer exists. I, along with millions of Americans, clearly see the world the way it as - and we embrace what it can be. You, on the other hand, seem incapable of looking for new ideas or moving beyond what worked in the past ... Obama's election is a movement of the people that you most fear. It’s a movement of progress - and your words on FOX News only show how truly desperate you are to maintain control of a world that is changing before your very eyes."

~ Candace Gingrich, writing to her brother Newt,

Truth About Political Philosophies

With all the yammering from the Radicals as this graph so aptly puts it you would think that the politics of America would be skewed to the wing-nuts' side of the median.
However, you would be in error to think so.

As the graph clearly shows the political leanings of Americans are squarely center and to the left of center ... where they have always been since the inception of the nation ... and where they have reasserted themselves this past November 4, 2008.

So do not listen to the lies coming from the radicals about how this nation is 'center-right' nation.
It never was. It never will be ... despite how many times they say it.

Labor Activist Acquitted

A Malaysian court on Monday acquitted a prominent labor activist who was arrested 12 years ago for claiming that police tortured illegal immigrants in detention.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled in favor of Irene Fernandez, the director of the human rights group Tenaganita, who had appealed a one-year prison sentence issued in 2003 for maliciously publishing false news.

"I'm so happy that finally truth and justice prevailed," Fernandez, 62, said. "I should never have been charged in the first place."

She was arrested in 1996 for reporting that illegal immigrants were tortured at detention centers but remained free on bail while fighting her case.
Seven years later, she was sentenced to one year in prison but appealed.

Musical Elves?

Someone left a piano in the woods around Harwich, Massachusetts and people don't know why.
Why? That's simple ... so the woods elves will have a piano to play their music on!

Discovered by a woman who was walking a trail, the Baldwin Acrosonic piano, model number 987, is intact -- and, apparently, in tune.

The piano was at the end of a dirt road, near a walking path to a footbridge in the middle of conservation land near the Cape.

Mystery piano in woods perplexes police