Mouse in hot dog bun or just dough?

Bruce Van Dyne of Charlotte, North Carolina found this mouse-shaped form in a bag of Arnold Bakers hotdog buns. The company released a statement claiming that it's "pan accumulation, a deposit of hardened dough, on a hot dog roll."

"Company says mouse in bun just dough"

Best Wild Animal Photos of 2008

The above photo, titled "Deadlock," landed David Maitland a 2008 Wildlife Photographer of the Year award. The winners of the contest, run by the Natural History of London and BBC Wildlife Magazine, were announced last week. A photo of a snow leopard won best overall while Maitland's shot took the prize in the "Animal Behavior: All Other Animals" category.

From National Geographic:

Maitland observed from midnight to 3 a.m. as a rare Morelet's tree frog doggedly refused to become supper for a cat-eyed snake--and still didn't see the conclusion.

"I would love to have seen them go their separate ways, but I was exhausted," the photographer said. "The frog was all the time trying to pull the snake off, but the snake just wouldn't let go.

Best Wild Animal Photos of 2008 Announced

And who said Politics wasn't funny

Jim Yeager posted the following over on Skippy the Bush Kangaroo.
And who said Politics wasn't funny!

In today's weather...

A cold front has descended upon hell, and is expected to last through Tuesday evening...

Late Night Zingers

"Last week, McCain campaigned in the Ohio town of Defiance.
Next comes Anger, then, finally, Acceptance."

~ Jay Leno

Undecided voters!?

"Who could possibly be undecided at this point? It's difficult to imagine that,
at this late date, a voter could learn anything dispositive about these two men.
In fact, we know them a little too well. I've had sex with people I know less about."
~ John Cloud

Mister Cloud has a good point. Only a moron would be undecided at this point and only an idiot would have decided to vote for McPain.

And I Quote

"What most Americans, I think, realize, is that you don't offer a job, let alone
the vice presidency, to a person after one job interview. Even at McDonald's,
you're interviewed three times before you're given a job."

~ Former Reagan Chief of Staff Kenneth Duberstein, endorsing Obama.

Repugican Senate Candidate Puts Himself On Democratic Ticket

From the "repugican bag of dirty tricks" Department:

Republican Senator Roger Wicker is facing the fight of his life for reelection in Mississippi. So what is he doing to ensure another six years in Congress? He's apparently painting himself as a Democrat.

A sample ballot reportedly put out by the Senator -- who has been in office for less than a year and could very well lose his race to former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove -- seems designed to deceive voters into thinking he is on the same ticket as Obama-Biden.

Canadian father pleads guilty in freezing deaths

A man who left his two daughters to die in a frozen field pleaded guilty Monday to criminal negligence, weeping as he held his bandaged, frostbitten hands to his face.

As the wind chill hovered at 58 degrees below zero, Christopher Pauchay lost his 1-year-old and 3-year-old daughters last Jan. 29 while walking to a neighbor's house. Pauchay's family said he was drunk at the time. The girls were wearing only diapers and T-shirts.

He eventually made it to the house and was taken to hospital suffering from severe frostbite and hypothermia. Eight hours later, when he was able to speak, he asked about his children.

That set off a frantic search that ended hours later when the girls were found dead in a snowy field.

Pauchay was charged with a single count of criminal negligence for causing the deaths of both children by failing "to provide protection from exposure to the elements."

The 24-year-old sobbed in his courtroom chair after pleading guilty. Pauchay, a member of the Yellow Quill First Nation, stood and nodded "yes" to the plea at what was to be the start of his trial in a makeshift courtroom.

Pauchay's lawyer, Ron Piche, said he believes his client should serve a conditional sentence in the community and will ask the judge to allow an aboriginal sentencing circle to recommend his client's fate. The application is to be heard Dec. 5 in Rose Valley.

Prosecutor Marylynne Beaton said she opposes such an arrangement and will argue that Pauchay should serve more than two years in a federal prison.

"There is part of the public out there that says, `Hang him at dawn,' because he's committed a crime and two people lost their lives," Piche said outside court. "There's the other contingent out there - I would say the majority - who say he's suffered enough.

"He made a tragic mistake. It did indeed cost the lives of his young girls, but he's paid for that. He'll pay for it for the rest of his life."

Piche said Pauchay was a doting father, feels tremendous guilt and didn't want to go through the pain of a trial.

A sister, Sheila Pauchay, said her brother has stopped drinking and is working hard to improve his life. But she expressed doubt that however the case ends will bring any closure to her family.

Pauchay's common-law wife, who publicly said she would stand by him when he was charged, did not attend court Monday. The couple had another baby girl earlier this year.

The 900-member Yellow Quill First Nation has been plagued for decades by alcohol abuse, high unemployment and a lack of housing.

Following the girls' death, Chief Robert Whitehead called for an addictions treatment center on the reserve. A plan is still in the works and in the hands of the Saskatoon Tribal Council, he said.

Paid Repugican Workers Say They Misled Wisconsin Voters

Four employees hired by a temporary staffing agency to encourage absentee voting for Sen. John McCain in Wisconsin say they were instructed to tell people they were Republican volunteers.

*****

As if we didn't know this was going on all ready!

Read the rest here.

Mrs. Dunham has passed

Our heartfelt condolences go out for Barack Obama upon the death of his beloved grandmother.

Barack Obama's grandmother, whose personality and bearing shaped much of the life of the Democratic presidential contender, has died, Obama announced Monday, 1 day before the election. Madelyn Payne Dunham was 86.

Obama announced the news from the campaign trail in Charlotte, N.C.

Watch:

Twenty-One Hundred

For the 2100th post I felt a little bit of an artistic touch was warranted.

Home Remedies

Somehow I feel the following Home Remedies just don't quite cut it ...

HOME REMEDIES

1. If you are choking on an ice cube, don't panic! Simply pour a cup of
boiling water down your throat and presto! The blockage will be almost
instantly removed.

2. Are you clumsy? Avoid cutting yourself while slicing vegetables by
getting someone else to hold them while you chop away.

3. Avoid arguments with the Mrs about lifting the toilet seat by simply
using the sink.

4. For high blood pressure sufferers: just cut yourself and bleed for a
few minutes, thus reducing the pressure in your veins.

5. A mousetrap, placed on top of your alarm clock, will prevent you from
rolling over and going back to sleep after you hit the snooze button.

6. If you have a bad cough, take a large dose of laxatives, then you
will be afraid to cough.

7. Have a bad toothache? Smash your thumb with a hammer and you will
forget about the toothache.

World closely watching US presidential elections

When Sri Murtiningsi asked her third graders what they wanted to be when they grew up, the answers ranged from doctors to a pilot. One boy in the class raised his hand: Barack Obama said his dream was to be president of the United States.

Forty years later Murtiningsi - like the rest of the world - is watching closely as Americans prepare to head to the polls Tuesday."Barry was the only one who said he wanted to be president ... I hope his dream comes true," Murtiningsi said of Obama, who spent four years living in Indonesia as a child.

Many believe Obama's international experience would go a long way in helping repair damage caused by the unpopular U.S.-led war in Iraq, with recent opinion polls from more than 70 nations favoring him a resounding three-to-one over Republican John McCain.

Newspapers across the globe came out in support of the Democratic candidate Monday."Obama the best hope for U.S. revival," said an editorial in The Australian Financial Review.

The Gulf News, an English-language paper in the United Arab Emirates, agreed, saying only he could "undo the great damage done by the Bush administration to America's image," especially in the Middle East.

Obama "deserves to win," declared The Irish Times.

Obama's presidential bid has sparked excitement in Kenya, home to his late father, with thousands turning out for the Democratic candidate's last visit in 2006.
"Everybody is extremely happy and excited and looking forward to celebrating the day after the elections," said Malik Obama, the candidate's half brother.

In the sleepy Japanese coastal town of Obama - which translates as "little beach," images of the Democratic candidate adorn banners along a main shopping street and preparations for an election day victory party were in full swing Monday.
Koichi Inoue, who makes traditional sweet bean cakes, said his factory was working at double normal production because he had promised free handouts for every customer if Obama came out on top.
"It looks like he is going to win from the polls so I've got to be ready," he said.

Many in Pakistan, a close ally in the U.S. war on terror, will be glued to television sets on Election Day.
The results, they say, will have broad implications for their own country and neighboring Afghanistan, where American forces have been battling the Taliban and its al-Qaida allies.
The last eight years have "affected our economy and our peace," said Mohammad Zubair, a 33-year-old lawyer in Lahore, who anticipates an Obama win. "I hope the election will bring change to Pakistan as well."

Sign O'the Times

With all the 'Hype' about North Carolina being a battleground state I thought you should know that is all it is, hype.
That and wishful thinking on the part of the repugicans (if they are even capable of thinking that is).
North Carolina has always been 'BLUE' and this year we are going to reassert that in a very big way.

Like he says ...

The Times They Are A-Changin'

Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'.
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'.
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'.
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'.

*****

Just a little appropriate music for the times, don't you know. For the times they are a-changin'.

E-day, D-day, Keep the Home-fires Burnin’ !

E-day, D-day, Keep the Home-fires Burnin’ !

By Alwyn

Election day, November 4th! It’s going to be D-day, deliverance day from the insane neo-con nightmare of the last eight years.

The moon is in Aquarius on election day, that’s gonna be some kind of revolution there for sure. I think we really have a chance to turf out the incumbents, and replace them with actual living ,breathing, and, most importantly, thinking beings. Right now it’s looking up to be a landslide for Obama, but the Rethug-dirty-trick-vote-suppressing-vote-flipping-central-counting-computer-techno-chad-fiasco-machine is still active, and waiting in the wings to take a stake in how it all shakes down. I must say, however, that it actually looks like we-the-people are on the move. Stay tuned, stay awake folks, and don’t go to sleep now. ALL HANDS ON DECK!

We need a landslide for Obama, a clear mandate against monkey-business-as-usual. We need a clear mandate against the rape of our commonwealth. Obama, and the rest of America, have done a heck of a job getting out the vote. We the people need to follow through, and exercise our democratic mandate. We can’t stop there though, we have to make sure our votes are counted and counted correctly.

Back in the bad old days when they were stealing the second election for dubya, I about dropped my jaw to my knees when I heard some politician quote, just prior to the election, on national TV, (in front of the white-house no less!) “it doesn’t matter who votes, it matters who counts it.” I thought for sure the media would pick it up then, but apparently Cheney had all their kids in his undisclosed location or something, because we never heard a peep about it until the mighty blog-o-sphere started adding up all the bits and pieces of the coup. So remember this, and make your vote count; check in with your neighbors, and make their vote count. Then check in with the county, and then the state. Keep watching, and keep them honest.

Don’t take no for an answer. Don’t believe them when they say the election is too close. It’s really not. I’ve heard things in the last couple of days from dyed in the wool red-necks, lumberjacks, loggers, farmers, housewives, business people, gas station workers, waitresses, you name it, everyone is talking about it. I’ve had life-long republicans say to me I can’t vote for McCain Palin, I don’t know who else to vote for, so I’ll vote Obama. People are tired of politics as usual, and they are voting for change. Let’s see that they get it.

Democracy isn’t a one day event, folks. First we have to get the vote out, get it counted, and get Washington to stick to it. That’s why we need that landslide on November fourth. But then we have to make sure Obama takes office. Someone’s gotta get Cheney outta that bunker. I don’t care if you believe in the invisible cloud being or not, I figure we should all utilize our powers of visualization, and visualize Obama taking office. (Is it too much to ask for to have the thugs indicted on the way out of office?)

Obama was not my first choice for president. But he’s our only choice right now, so after we get him into office, we gotta hold his feet to the fire. We need him to act, not to shift the war over the border, but to shift to war over, and bring the troops home. Let’s hold his feet to the fire over the bailout, just so he can pass it on to wall street. Trickle down economics is some Republican bathroom humor, so tell Obama not to let the corporations piss all over us. If we’re going to have welfare for the rich, then Obama needs to take away their non-essential toys. Let’s give the taxpayers the golden parachutes, and tell the greedy CEOs to go to hell, or, better yet, to get a job.

We’re going to have to do our part as citizens and voters, and make our mandate heard. We are America, of, for, and by the people. And you know what? We the people have a chance to take our country back. So, Obama? We’re holding your feet to the fire. We don’t mind sacrifice, so long as everybody makes one. We don’t mind working for the common good. But we aren’t going to take politics as usual, ’cause we’ve got no place left to go, our backs are against the wall. So, stay in it folks. Vote, make your voice heard, make it stick and keep the President’s (and Congress’s) feet to the fire. Democracy is both a participatory and a contact sport. Place your bets, and take your places!

Astrologically, this election’s all about revolution. These are exciting days— E-day, D-day, let’s go get ‘em!

*****

From over at BartBlog