Chocolate Isn't My Favorite Flavor

That would be coconut. But I'm headed to the Apple store anyway (check out stuff for the new Ipod) and Godiva Chocolates are very close.

Chocolate Linked to Lower Blood Pressure: "This time, researchers examined the eating habits of 470 healthy men who were not taking blood pressure medicine. The men who ate the most products made from cocoa beans _ including cocoa drinks, chocolate bars and chocolate pudding _ had lower blood pressure and a 50 percent lower risk of death.

The men ate the equivalent of about 10 grams of chocolate a day.

Cocoa beans contain flavanols, which are thought to increase nitric oxide in the blood and improve the function of blood vessels.

'This is a very important article providing epidemiological support for what many researchers have been observing in experimental models,' said Cesar Fraga of the University of California Davis, who does similar research but was not involved in the new study.

Buijsse noted the men eating the most cocoa products were not heavier or bigger eaters than the men who ate less cocoa.

Could the study results apply to women?"

I'm sure it does, just as I'm sure that Godiva has something with coconut under that chocolate. Besides, doesn't chocolate work on depression?

Next thing you know there will be chocolate covered cruciferous vegetables.

Tags: chocolate, vegetables, blood pressure

Diet Advice

I might do something political after this, I'm starting to feel a little better.

This is my new philosophy in life!

HEALTH QUESTION & ANSWER SESSION

Q: I've heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life; is this true?

A: Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that's it... don't waste them on exercise. Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up your heart will not make you live longer; that's like saying you can extend the life of your car by driving it faster. Want to live longer? Take a nap.


Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?

A: You must grasp logistical efficiencies. What does a cow eat? Hay and corn. And what are these? Vegetables. So a steak is nothing more than an efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system. Need grain? Eat chicken. Beef is also a good source of field grass (green leafy vegetable). And a pork chop can give you 100% of your recommended daily allowance of vegetable products.


Q: Should I reduce my alcohol intake?

A: No, not at all. Wine is made from fruit. Brandy is distilled wine, that means they take the water out of the fruity bit so you get even more of the goodness that way. Beer is also made out of grain. Bottoms up!


Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?

A: Well, if you have a body and you have fat, your ratio is one to one. If you have two bodies, your ratio is two to one, etc.


Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?

A: Can't think of a single one, sorry. My philosophy is: No Pain...Good!


Q: Aren't fried foods bad for you?

A: YOU'RE NOT LISTENING!!!. Foods are fried these days in vegetable oil. In fact, they're permeated in it. How could getting more vegetables be bad for you?


Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?

A: Definitely not! When you exercise a muscle, it gets bigger. You should only be doing sit-ups if you want a bigger stomach.


Q: Is chocolate bad for me?

A: Are you crazy? HELLO ... Cocoa beans! Another vegetable!!! It's the best feel-good food around!


Q: Is swimming good for your figure?

A: If swimming is good for your figure, explain whales to me.


Q: Is getting in-shape important for my lifestyle?

A: Hey! 'Round' is a shape!


Well, I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about food and diets.

And remember: "Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways - Chardonnay in one hand - chocolate in the other - body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming "WOO HOO, What a Ride!"

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Tags: joke, diet

Partisan bumper sticker

FINALLY, someone has come out with a 100% bipartisan political bumper sticker.

The hottest selling bumper sticker comes from New York State
"2008 RUN HILLARY RUN"

Democrats put it on the rear bumper.

Republicans put it on the front bumper.

Tags: Hillary, bumper sticker, joke

Inside Joke

I wish I had read this before I went to the doctor yesterday.

A woman went to a K-Mart service counter and told the clerk she wanted a refund for the toaster she bought because it won't work. The clerk told her that he can't give her a refund because she bought it on special.

Suddenly, the woman threw her arms up in the air and started screaming,

"PINCH MY NIPPLES, PINCH MY NIPPLES, PINCH MY NIPPLES!!!!!!"

The befuddled clerk ran away to get the store manager in front of a growing crowd of customers. The manager goes to the woman and asks,"Ma'am what's wrong?"

She explained the problem with the toaster, and he told her that he can't give her a refund because she bought it on special.

Once again, the woman throws her arms up in the air and screams,

"PINCH MY NIPPLES, PINCH MY NIPPLES, PINCH MY NIPPLES!!!"

And doing so draws an even bigger crowd!

In shock, the store manager pleads, "Ma'am, why are you saying that?"

In a huff, the woman says,

"BECAUSE, I LIKE TO HAVE MY NIPPLES PINCHED WHEN I'M BEING SCREWED!!"

The crowd broke into applause and her money was quickly refunded!!

Tags: jokes

Questioning Should Be Lively

Clarence might even get in on the action. Everyone wants to show off for a pretty girl, doesn't matter how old or dour they are. Those robes can hide volumes.

Supreme Court to Hear Ex-Playmate's Case: "A long line of lawyers stretched through the Supreme Court hall more than three hours before the session was to begin, and camera crews were staked out in front of the building.

About two dozen photographers scrambled to snap pictures of Smith and her attorney as they arrived at a side door of the court building. Several photographers were knocked to the ground in their zeal to get a picture of Smith, dressed in a knee-length dress, high heels and black sunglasses.

'Most people will do a double take,' said Edward Morrison, a former Supreme Court clerk who specializes in bankruptcy law at Columbia University. 'It raises the novelty level and makes a technical issue somewhat more entertaining.'

Douglas Baird, a bankruptcy expert at the University of Chicago, said: 'I'd suspect some justices haven't the slightest idea who Anna Nicole is.'"

Riiight! You keep believing that. Blonde, busty and supported by Bush. They know exactly who she is. I'll bet there are more smiles per minute than there normally are per month.

Pheromones don't you know. She has a proven track record, so to speak.

Tags: Anna Nicole Smith, Supreme Court, Bush, pheromones,

I'm Here

Not having surgery this week. It has been rescheduled to the 14th. I cannot tell you how irritated and frustrated this has made me. A lot of people went through a lot of trouble to help me out, now maybe again in two weeks. The emotional disappointment is quite...crushing. I really had been looking forward to being out of pain, but hey, I'm only a patient.

My opinion of doctors is lower than it has ever been. I can't believe that I wanted to be one all my life. When I was a kid and being treated as a military dependent I received more respect and information. The incompetence astounded me. I have a mammogram every March as was discussed at the beginning of February. Now that March is tomorrow, they postponed because I need a mammogram. My brother asked well couldn't they just do the surgery and if they found anything just take it out while they were there? I told him no, plastic surgeons aren't real doctors. They are after low risk, high turnover, mucho bucks. And this was after the interminable wait which did not make me the most pleasant of people.

Our healthcare system is in ruins and it is shameful. Absolutely shameful. How can you be early for an appointment and still be seen an hour later? As one guy said to me after a three hour wait with his 1 year old. "They treat us like cattle, like our time is not as valuable as theirs". And the way they talk to you. OMG! Have they no manners? Consideration for patient feelings? Not a whit. At least if yesterday was any example.

On a brighter note, a friend gave me a 30GB video Ipod! It rocks. It charged in no time as it transferred my stuff from ITunes. Fell asleep to "Winelight" Too nice. It has been a long time since someone has surprised me with a gift. I was speechless and that is not a normal occurrence.

Still wanted the surgery though. My mood is petulant. I might play with my Ipod for a while.

Tags: Ipod, personal, healthcare system, incompetence

How Can Anyone Still Believe

That the Bush administration is trying to protect America. These guys are playing G.I. Joe with real people's lives and don't care because they don't know them. Only little people join the military. And that thing about giving back to your community and helping out when needed? Highly overrated, people should learn to fend for themselves. When they make enough money and don't need the help is when they step in with the handouts tax cuts. Everything he has done since day one is to dismantle this country piece by piece. From his arrogance in disregarding the Bill of Rights and that pesky Constitution thing as just "an old piece of paper" to his systematically singleminded drive to kill all members of the military by not protecting them adequately in the futile exercise of bringing democracy to a country that is dissolving into civil war they have shown that they care not one whit about protecting the people of this country. The people are not regarded as assets, they are mewling burdens.

Bush Policies Are Weakening National Guard, Governors Say - New York Times: "Nearly one-third of the American ground forces in Iraq are members of the Army National Guard.

This month the Pentagon backed away from a budget proposal to reduce the authorized strength of the National Guard to 330,000 soldiers, from 350,000.

'We have no intention of cutting the number of Guard or Reserve brigades, reducing the number of Guard or Reserve soldiers, or cutting the level of Guard or Reserve funding,' said the Army chief of staff, Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker.

Gov. Dirk Kempthorne of Idaho, a Republican, said Sunday that he was still 'very concerned.' The administration may have set aside the proposal on authorized strength, but it has not restored money to the budget to pay for 350,000 Guard members, he said.

In a recent report, the Government Accountability Office, an investigative arm of Congress, said that 'extensive use of the Guard's equipment overseas has significantly reduced the amount of equipment available to governors for domestic needs.'

Since 2003, the report said, the Army National Guard has left more than 64,000 pieces of equipment, valued at more than $1.2 billion, in Iraq. The Army has not kept track of most of this equipment and has no firm plans to replace it, the report said.

Governor Kempthorne said the National Guard was bearing 'a totally disproportionate share' of proposed cuts in the growth of the Army's budget over the next five years, even as the Guard's responsibilities at home were increasing.

Governors of both parties said a Pentagon plan to reorganize the Army National Guard would significantly weaken its ability to save lives and property at home."

Why do people persist in believing that this administration is interested in saving lives and property at home? Just invoke eminent domain, seize the property and give it to your friends to "develop".

Since 2001 jobs have disappeared, pensions have been reduced or eliminated, healthcare strained to the point of being almost undeliverable unless you are rich, our education system is educating very few, safety requirements for everything everywhere have been eliminated, dying on the job has increased, one major city and a military complex on US soil were attacked while another major city was destroyed by a foreseeable combination of the elements and a diversion of their National Guard to "rebuild" a country that is worse off than before we got there, poverty at home is increasing, people are working harder for less while paying more for the basics of living in a country that is supposed embody freedom to the rest of the world.

Meanwhile on Planet Bush, beautiful music is playing.

Did you know the band kept playing as the Titanic went down?

Tags: Bush, Iraq, National Guard, Governors,

Meet The Press Reporter

For quite a while the Fourth Estate has acted more like they were located in the slave quarters than an equal in the idea of keeping our democracy free and open. Reporting the news has been reduced to telling the news, with personal and sometimes venomous attacks on people of differing opinions, equating them to terrorist sympathizers or enablers or accusing them of being traitors. What the press hasn't been doing, is investigative reporting. If it ain't sex, they ain't looking. Inside the US at least. Outside the US, other countries had and still have accurate and up to the minute reporting of world events. Mick Smith, the reporter who broke the Downing St. Memos is as mystified as I am by the "yes Massa" attitude of the US press corps.

Weblog - Mick Smith - Times Online: The Bullying of the Press: "But the memos were so momentous in what they told us about how Bush and Blair went to war, and just as importantly about the criminal lack of preparation for the aftermath, that they surely had to be reported.

By and large the US media decided it was old news. Not to the readers, it seems. There was of course an argument, made by most of those who defended the decisions not to publish, that the major US newspapers had already covered the way in which the administration lied to take us to war. But those reports had come from unnamed sources. The reporters themselves knew they could trust the sources, that they were copper-bottomed, and had to be anonymous because to talk openly would see them sacked or even jailed. But the readers were understandably not sure what to make of it, and when George W Bush dismissed the claims, they were more inclined to believe their president, than someone who was not even prepared to put his or her name to the allegations they were making.

But the memos were entirely different. They were documents from the heart of the British government, the Bush administration’s closest ally. They were not only “the smoking gun” that proved all the lies; they also proved the lack of planning for the aftermath; the fraudulent use of the UN to make the war legal; and – together with other evidence – the way in which the allies began the war in the summer of 2002, ramping up the allied air patrols over southern Iraq into a full-scale air war, months before they went to the UN or Congress to get backing for war.

We don’t need to go into the way the story had spread across the web by the bloggers and internet newspapers who demanded to know why the mainstream media wasn’t running the story. We know all that. But it is often difficult as a reporter to persuade the editor a story needs to be run, particularly if others are saying it is nothing new. It took time, but led by very good reporters on the Washington Post, the LA Times and the Associated Press, the memos did actually get widely reported. The Post even had me on their website answering questions on the memos.

Others still held out, continuing to claim there was nothing new in the memos. I suspect there was a large degree of arrogance among some of the journalists involved, strikingly similar to the arrogance many Europeans detect in the way that America acts under this administration. US journalists had already done the job and this was just British journalists catching up, that was the nub of it and it was clearly apparent in a piece the New York Times eventually carried on the memos. You'll note that it claims as its main point that the ninth memo, the briefing paper for that July meeting, says no decision has been made on whether to go to war. If you look at the actual text, the memo actually says no political decision has been made on what military plan to use and that the Prime Minister agreed at Crawford in April 2002 to go to war, so the British needed to "create the conditions" which would make the war legal under international law"

Heaven forbid that little detail would be widely reported. Our press has systematically underreported every important news story, scandal or illegality for the last 6 years while enthusiastically reporting at the top of the hour about the current missing blonde woman or more about the offscreen exploits of reality stars who will not be remembered by history. Our soldiers in Iraq have become no more than a grief montage in the local news. The scandal over the body armor alone should have been enough to energize the press to look for deeper graft and incompetency, just in case they had forgotten the Katrina debacle. The most important part of the Abu Ghraib torturers was Lyndie Englund's sex life and ensuing pregnancy. It was worse than a soap opera because this was actually important to the world's perception of American justice and the press fluffed out.

The excuse that the story has already been covered by another paper is so weak that it couldn't support a snowflake. Reporters are arrogant. Who doesn't think that their colleague didn't miss some important detail that could really make the story stand out or branch off into a deeper tale of intrigue?

At least he acknowledged that bloggers thought the story was important, that some of us were paying attention and trying to spread the truth.

Tags: Mick Smith, Bush, Blair, Iraq, US media,

Olympic Screwup

When I was a little girl the Winter Olympics were a complete writeoff because our athletes had to train by themselves against the "Soviet bloc" which was government financed and we hardly ever won any medals. Forty years later our athletes are overpaid, overendorsed, arrogant and the one with the loudest mouth was impotent. Something tells me this guys sex life is the same way. All flash no substance and timing is probably a major issue. Looks will get you started in the right direction, but character is what sees you through.

ABC News: Unrepentant Bode: 'Man, I Rocked Here': "As for his obligation to prepare, Miller said he was less ready for these games than the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, where he won two silver medals.

'I've been living my life as if I might have died two weeks before the Olympics started,' he said. 'That left me the opportunity to dig deep, to go down that other route, to make more sacrifices and get back to where I was.'

Miller said that while he might have prepared differently, he isn't one to second guess and he started each race fully focused and determined to win.

He called his Olympic experience 'awesome' and cited the gold medals by teammates Julia Mancuso and Ted Ligety as one reason. Another, he said, was Sestriere's bar scene.

'My quality of life is the priority. I wanted to have fun here, to enjoy the Olympic experience, not be holed up in a closet and not ever leave your room,' he said. 'People said, 'Why can't you stay in for the two weeks, three weeks? You've got the rest of your life to experience the games the way everybody else does.' But I like the whole package. I always have.'"

Pretty bows and ribbons can make any package look beautiful, but isn't it what's inside that counts?

Tags: Olympics, bode miller,

Birthday Trivia

Some programmers have waaay too much time on their hands.

Birthday Calculator: "You entered: 5/19/1956

Your date of conception was on or about 27 August 1955 which was a Saturday.

My parents did not have sex, I am immaculate. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

You were born on a Saturday
(in other words I will work until I die) under the astrological sign Taurus.
Your Life path number is 9.

The Julian calendar date of your birth is 2435612.5.
The golden number for 1956 is 19.
The epact number for 1956 is 17.
The year 1956 was a leap year.

Your birthday falls into the Chinese year beginning 2/12/1956 and ending 1/30/1957. You were born in the Chinese year of the Monkey.

The date of Easter on your birth year was Sunday, 1 April 1956.
The date of Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent) on your birth year was Wednesday 15 February 1956.
The date of Whitsun (Pentecost Sunday) in the year of your birth was Sunday 20 May 1956.
The date of Whisuntide in the year of your birth was Sunday 27 May 1956.
The date of Rosh Hashanah in the year of your birth was Thursday, 6 September 1956.
The date of Passover in the year of your birth was Tuesday, 27 March 1956.
The date of Mardi Gras on your birth year was Tuesday 14 February 1956.

As of 2/25/2006
You are 49 years old.
You are 597 months old.
You are 2,597 weeks old.
You are 18,179 days old.
You are 436,319 hours old.
You are 26,179,185 minutes old.
You are 1,570,751,105 seconds old.

Your age is the equivalent of a dog that is 7.11506849315068 years old. (You're still chasing cats!)

There are 83 days till your next birthday on which your cake will have 50 candles.

Those 50 candles produce 50 BTUs, or 12,600 calories of heat (that's only 12.6000 food Calories!) .
You can boil 5.71 US ounces of water with that many candles.

In 1956 there were approximately 4.0 million births in the US.
In 1956 the US population was approximately 150,697,361 people, 50.7 persons per square mile.
In 1956 in the US there were approximately 1,667,231 marriages (11.1%) and 385,144 divorces (2.6%)
In 1956 in the US there were approximately 1,452,000 deaths (9.6 per 1000)
In the US a new person is born approximately every 8 seconds.
In the US one person dies approximately every 12 seconds.

Your birthstone is Emerald

Your birth tree is

Chestnut Tree, the Honesty

Of unusual beauty, does not want to impress, well-developed sense of justice, vivacious, interested, a born diplomat, but irritable and sensitive in company, often due to a lack of self-confidence, acts sometimes superior, feels not understood, loves only once, has difficulties in finding a partner."

Not too sure about the beauty part but the rest of it rings true.

Tags: birthday calculator

Oops, have to go to work

I'm writing this long post about my dad and myself and just ran out of time. I'll have it up later this evening.

This work thing really has bad timing but I should have plenty of time next week.

If I can move my arms.

Forgot It Was BHM

That would be black history month. I'm trolling along this am, can't find anything to post about before I go to work and voila'.

Equal but Separate - Los Angeles Times: "
The older blacks at the 4 Way consider themselves admirers of the civil rights movement, but most still prefer eating in the former Jim Crow section.

They don't go up front, they say, because they simply feel more comfortable in the back. They mention that blacks have been sitting on those three stools as long as anyone can remember, trading gossip and cutting up.

'I just like it back here,' says Smith, a 77-year-old handyman. 'You see what fun we have.'

'It didn't ever bother me eating back here,' says Mack Sanders, 66. 'When [integration] passed I still didn't go up there. I still came back here. It's just something you get used to.'

From their spot near the six-burner stove, the old regulars can watch a younger generation of African Americans walk in the front door and get served with no hassles. But these days, treatment is just as good in the back.

On both sides of the restaurant, the 4 Way's chatty waitresses take custom orders for hog jowl, grits and homemade gravy. They ask after mutual acquaintances. They take care of their favorites: On a recent weekday, Smith was eating biscuits and salmon patties that a white employee, Rachel Kendricks, had brought from home.

Starnes is a 38-year veteran of the 4 Way. She and her sister took ownership of the diner about two years ago, when the proprietor died.

Today, she seems sweetly bemused by the black regulars and their stubborn preferences. They will often wait for one of the three stools in back even though seats are available in the main room.

'We'll say, 'You want to come up front?' And they'll say, 'No, I want to wait back here,' ' said Starnes, 54. 'I just feel that they feel comfortable eating back there…. I know them all, and I don't see no color.'"

A well written article without hysteria. How refreshing. My experiences of living in the south in the 70's was that if you had money, they had time and service. It wasn't until I got older and moved to New York and back to California that I ran into serious racism. I had a lot of fun in Huntsville AL.

A lot of fun. Iuka MI, not so much but the story is good for a laugh.

Tags: Black Histroy month,

Warrantless Spying or Future Transportation Method?

Hmm, Star Trek is closer than you think. At least the technology part, not too sure about the advanced, compassionate civilization though. Currently we act more like the Borg in our relations with other peoples, albeit not as successfully.

Quantum telecloning Captain Kirk's clone and the eavesdropper: "
The scientists have succeeded in making the first remote copies of beams of laser light, by combining quantum cloning with quantum teleportation into a single experimental step. Telecloning is more efficient than any combination of teleportation and local cloning because it relies on a new form of quantum entanglement - multipartite entanglement.

Professor Sam Braunstein, of the Department of Computer Science at York, said: 'Quantum mechanics allows us to do things which we previously thought were impossible. In 1998, I was involved in an experiment in America which was one of the first for quantum teleportation in which we transmitted a beam of light without it crossing the physical medium in between.

'This new experiment is an extension of that work. Whether it will change the world for individuals or is just of use to governments or big companies is hard to say. Any new protocol is like a new-born baby and it has to develop, but we know this one could be used to tap cryptographic channels.

'Quantum cryptographic protocols are so secure that they can not only discover tapping but also where and how much information is leaking out. Now, using telecloning, the identity and location of the eavesdropper can be concealed.'"

I was so excited when I started reading this article until I realized the nefarious purposes it could also be used for. Then I realized the research was outside the US, and breathed a sigh of relief.

Frakked up, wouldn't you say?

Tags: telecloning, teleportation, star trek

Scientific Bets

Have the most interesting results. I can see many uses for this, but if we ever get to Janus IV, we might want to keep the process to ourselves.

Wired News: A Solid That's Light As Air: "Aerogel isn't exactly space-age technology. It was invented in 1931 by Steven Kistler, in response to a bet made by a fellow scientist. Kistler found a way to remove the liquid from a silica gel without destroying the long silica molecule chains that gave the gel its structure.

Holding a piece of aerogel is an uncanny experience. It's so light it feels nearly weightless, like a chunk of solidified fog or smoke. It feels a bit like Styrofoam, and it squeaks when you rub your finger on it. It's strong enough to support many times its own weight if the load is distributed evenly. But bend it or squeeze it too hard, as one Wired News editor discovered, and a chunk of aerogel will shatter into tiny fragments.

Ordinary gels, like Jell-O, are comprised of tangled chains of molecules -- polymers -- surrounding empty pockets of a liquid, such as water. If you try to dry out a cube of Jell-O at room temperature, the surface tension of the liquid will cause the polymer structures to collapse as the liquid evaporates. The result is that the gel cracks, shrinks and eventually crumbles to dust.

Modern scientists make aerogel by pressurizing and heating an ordinary gel to its 'supercritical' point, where the liquid's fluid and gaseous phases are indistinguishable, and then draining off the supercritical liquid. Because there's no gas-liquid interface, there is no surface tension and so the liquid can be removed without destroying the gel's polymer structure. With the liquid gone, air fills up the spaces between the polymers, and the result is a meringue-like aerogel.

Scientists aren't sure why aerogel works so well as a cosmic duster. One theory, says Brownlee, is that the porousness of the material gives particles a chance to slow down as they smash through the nanometer-scale silica structures. As they go, the particles pick up a 'paint' of melted glass on their front edge, which protects them from further collisions with the structure until they come to rest.

The transparency of aerogel was also critical to the Stardust mission because it allowed scientists to find the particles by following their tracks through the material."

Of course it could also be used as lingerie in a cold environment, there are plenty of people who would pay to appear naked and be warm at the same time. Or people who like houses that are mostly glass could move to snow country without an outrageous heating bill. Or the space station viewing area.

If those ideas help to move the project along, please feel free to use them as justification towards moving us into the future.

Tags: aerogel, horta, NASA, space station

So Conservatives Are Happier

What a load of crap. George Will goes on and on in the useless exercise of a ridiculous theory designed to justify antisocial behaviors.

Smile if (and Only if) You're Conservative: "Conservatives' pessimism is conducive to their happiness in three ways. First, they are rarely surprised -- they are right more often than not about the course of events.

In this century? I don't think so. They haven't been "right" on anything. Iraq, outsourcing, warrantless spying, Katrina, outing a CIA officer, the list goes on.

Second, when they are wrong, they are happy to be so.

Right. If you take into account how many times they blame someone else for the problems caused by their lack of realistic foresight. It is never their fault. The Iraq war springs to mind again. Umm and didn't we just have a more recent example? Something about shooting a hunting companion and then trying to make it look like it was his fault. I don't remember exactly, all of the scandals are blurring together. They are starting to occur at a rate faster than one a week, and I'm beginning to lose track.

Third, because pessimistic conservatives put not their faith in princes -- government -- they accept that happiness is a function of fending for oneself. They believe that happiness is an activity -- it is inseparable from the pursuit of happiness.

What do you mean conservatives don't put their faith in government? They use is it at every opportunity to ensure that they benefit when needed. Tax cuts and pork barrel spending spring to mind. How is that bridge to nowhere doing? Their happiness is an activity predicated on taking from the little people to give to people who already have more than they need. Or deserve.

The right to pursue happiness is the essential right that government exists to protect. Liberals, taking their bearings, whether they know it or not, from President Franklin Roosevelt's 1936 State of the Union address, think the attainment of happiness itself, understood in terms of security and material well-being, is an entitlement that government has created and can deliver."

The government is supposed to protect the people, specifically the little people, not make sure that those who have, keep having, and to then prevent anyone on the bottom from ever moving up. Try pursuing happiness in this country without a decent education, good healthcare or the right contacts. Your odds are better if you plan on winning the lottery.

George, you should be ashamed of yourself. With the Republican party in disarray and the conservatives confused about what they are conserving, your time would be better spent writing about the abuses of power that the aforementioned government seems to be exercising. That's as far from conservative as this country has ever been.

Oh yeah, how's our budget deficit these days?

Tags: George Will, happiness, delusional thinking, Iraq, Katrina, conservatives

We Were Supposed To Watch?

Oops, my bad. I tried but it was soo boring I gave up. I tried taping the ice dancing, but that didn't work out as well as one might have hoped.

The Olympics America Missed - Yahoo! News: "It's a damn shame NBC has messed up the Winter Olympics, because there has been drama a-plenty, enough to satisfy even a nation of reality TV junkies.

There was speed skater Shani Davis of Chicago becoming the first person of African descent to win an individual gold at the Winter Olympics--amid a feud with teammate Chad Hedrick. This culminated with a stunning turn in the 1,500-meter finals when Italy's Enrico Fabris blew both out of the water and the subsequent press conference where Davis and Hedrick engaged in trash-talk icier than the Torino terrain.

There was an ice-dancing competition that looked more dangerous than crossing the track during the Daytona 500. Roman Kostomarov and Tatiana Navka of Russia won in dazzling fashion, as Kostomarov flew across the ice on one skate with Navka teetering on his knee.

And what about the mysterious raid by Italian police of the Austrian ski team, for suspected drug violation? The suspended Austrian coach Walter Mayer--working, we now know, with cooperation from Austrian officials--tried to sneak into Turin with a bag full of performance enhancing goodies. But Italian police were following Mayer and busted down the doors of the team's hotel room. As players threw bags out of windows and flushed steroid-masking agents down the toilet, Coach Mayer made a mad dash and was captured 250 miles from Turin after attempting to bust through a police barricade.
International Olympic Committee chairman Jacques Rogge later said, 'It's like being in a movie.'

In other words, there have been compelling acts of athletic derring-do and personal turmoil during these games. If only the NeoCon Bellowing Corporation would have had the imagination and the backbone to fully and fairly cover what was happening, these Winter Olympics would not have been such a staggering waste of time and talent."

Seriously, there's not and original episode of Veronica Mars or Lost. Guess I'll turn in early.

Tags: winter olympics, boring,

Jack and Ennis Go Shopping

For groceries! Of all the Brokeback jokes this is my favorite so far. Thanks Uffish.

uffish: I want to be stereotyped. I want to be classified.: "Weekly Grocery Lists for Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist, Summer 1962

WEEK ONE
Beans
Bacon
Coffee
Whiskey

WEEK TWO
Beans
Ham
Coffee
Whiskey

WEEK THREE
Beans
Bacon
Coffee
Whiskey
K-Y

WEEK FOUR
Beans
Pancetta
Coffee (espresso grind)
Whiskey
2 tubes K-Y

WEEK FIVE
Fresh fava beans
Jasmine rice
Prosciutto, approx. 8 ounces, thinly sliced
Medallions of veal
Porcini mushrooms
1/2 pint of heavy whipping cream
1 Cub Scout uniform, size 42 long
5-6 bottles good Chardonnay
1 large bottle Astroglide

WEEK SIX
Yukon Gold potatoes
Heavy whipping cream
Asparagus (very thin)
Eggs
Lemons
Gruyere cheese (well aged)
Walnuts
Arugula
Butter
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
6 yards white silk organdy
6 yards pale ivory taffeta
Case of Chardonnay
Large tin Crisco"

Where's the chocolate? Nothing like good food to make you feel like a million dollars.

Tags: Brokeback Mountain, humor, grocery shopping

Salt In The Wound

As I used to tell my patients, "everything in moderation". Every time a new report hits the airwaves, people panic, worry about what they are eating and then binge because they were on one of the diets that has data showing that diet doesn't work. This last few weeks has been brutal for those who slavishly follow every new report saying that something is bad for you and must be eliminated from your diet. Oops.

CBS News | Low-Salt Diet May Not Help Heart | February 22, 2006�12:34:43: "
“Some people may very well benefit from eating a low-salt diet, but there is little clinical evidence supporting a blanket recommendation that everyone needs to eat this way,” he says.

Lichtenstein agrees that it is increasingly clear that salt affects different people differently.

“There is a tremendous amount of data showing that there is a wide range of individual variation in the response to salt,” she says. “The problem is we don’t know who the hyper-responders are.”

Lichtenstein is a professor of nutrition at Tufts University and a member of the American Heart Association nutrition committee.

The AHA recommends not only restricting salt, but eating a diet that is high in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat or fat-free dairy products to lower cardiovascular risk.

Studies suggest that following such a diet can have a modest but potentially important impact on blood pressure.

Lichtenstein lists not smoking, maintaining a healthy body weight, getting plenty of exercise, and limiting the amount of saturated and trans fats in the diet as the most important things people can do to reduce their risk of dying from cardiovascular disease."

If you make sure to eat all colours of the rainbow on a regular basis you should be able to receive the nutrition your body needs for healthy functioning. Enjoy what you eat without overeating and you should be able to enjoy your life. And your tastebuds.

If you feel the urge to splurge one day, then make it up a few days later with a sparse eating day. There is no reason to deprive yourself and then feel guilty for being unable to push yourself away from the table later. It is okay to have dessert, just not every meal and fruit does qualify as a dessert, not just a topping.

Tags: low-salt diet, restricted sodium, another health claim in flames,

Lonely, Oh So Lonely

A great voice returns. At least he is one of my favorites. I loved the Beau Brummels.

Decades in obscurity, Beau Brummels front man surfaces to remind us what the fuss was all about: "As lead vocalist of the Beau Brummels, San Francisco's answer to the British Invasion, he sang the 1965 hit 'Laugh Laugh.' That record and the subsequent 'Just a Little' were his high water marks on the charts, but the Brummels went on to record cult-classic albums such as 'Triangle' and 'Bradley's Barn,' and Valentino's haunting vocals made him a famous talent in record industry circles. He sang the scratch vocals on the original recording of Randy Newman's self-titled premiere album in 1968, although Newman overdubbed his own vocals later.

More than just San Francisco's first rock star, Valentino could transform a song with the sound of his voice. That skill is evident on his new CD, the first solo album of his 45-year career. Valentino and his longtime collaborator John Blakeley struggled for nine years to release 'Dreamin' Man,' a masterpiece shot through with the sort of artistic confidence and depth of character that takes a lifetime to accumulate.

'He's like a Van Morrison,' says Blakeley, a producer and arranger who played with Morrison in the '70s. Valentino's 'got a personal musical style I've never heard anybody even come close to.'"

Too cool. I hope it works out for him.

Tags: Beau Brummels, Sal Valentino,

Should Have Thought Of That Earlier

Before innocent people were killed unnecessarily. I detect dismay and disarray on the right, the abandon ship order should commence momentarily.

Scotsman.com News - International - Neocon architect says: 'Pull it down': "However, Mr Fukuyama now thinks the war in Iraq is the wrong sort of war, in the wrong place, at the wrong time.

'The most basic misjudgment was an overestimation of the threat facing the United States from radical Islamism,' he argues.

'Although the new and ominous possibility of undeterrable terrorists armed with weapons of mass destruction did indeed present itself, advocates of the war wrongly conflated this with the threat presented by Iraq and with the rogue state/proliferation problem more generally.'

Mr Fukuyama, one of the US's most influential public intellectuals, concludes that 'it seems very unlikely that history will judge either the intervention [in Iraq] itself or the ideas animating it kindly'.

Going further, he says the movements' advocates are Leninists who 'believed that history can be pushed along with the right application of power and will. Leninism was a tragedy in its Bolshevik version, and it has returned as farce when practised by the United States'.

Although Mr Fukuyama still supports the idea of democratic reform - complete with establishing the institutions of liberal modernity - in the Middle East, he warns that this process alone will not immediately reduce the threats and dangers the US faces. 'Radical Islamism is a by-product of modernisation itself, arising from the loss of identity that accompanies the transition to a modern, pluralist society. More democracy will mean more alienation, radicalisation and - yes, unfortunately - terrorism,' he says.

'By definition, outsiders can't 'impose' democracy on a country that doesn't want it; demand for democracy and reform must be domestic. Democracy promotion is therefore a long-term and opportunistic process that has to await the gradual ripening of political and economic conditions to be effective.'"

Noticed that did you? I love how these guys decided to play Risk with real people and now that the game isn't going the way they envisioned, it's time to pack up their toys and go home.

The early outers are the smart ones, able to adapt to a new way of thinking. Please tell me there will be more. Please.

Tags: Fukuyama, neoconservativism, Iraq, Leninists, democracy

Dubai Dubya

New week, new public relations problem. The First Renter continues to show how little he thinks of the little people. People are starting to notice that there is a double standard at work here, or maybe something a little more like the lobbying scandal (the scandal that keeps giving) that started the new year.

CNN.com - Bush backs Dubai port deal, vows veto - Feb 21, 2006: "The administration has faced a wave of criticism this week over its decision to let a subsidiary of maritime management firm Dubai Ports World run ports in New York and New Jersey; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Baltimore, Maryland; Miami, Florida; and New Orleans, Louisiana.

The company recently acquired the British-based firm that currently directs commercial operations at those ports, Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation. The takeover by Dubai Ports World means that it will be in charge of those operations.

'I don't understand why it's OK for a British company to operate our ports but not a company from the Middle East when we've already determined security is not an issue,' Bush said."

Umm, maybe because of stupid incidents like this or this or this piece of brilliance. It's the principle at this point, not anything racist. You set this situation up with your rabid attacks on the axis of evil and the supporters of terrorism. You and your VP have been stoking the flames of "fight them over there so we don't have to fight them here" malarkey, all the while reaping benefits that the "average" American is ineligible for.

The WaahPoo weighs in with more.

"But Bush was direct in his response. "They ought to listen to what I have to say about this," the president said after inviting pool reporters on his plane back to his compartment to talk. "They ought to look at the facts, and understand the consequences of what they're going to do. But if they pass a law, I'll deal with it, with a veto."

Bush said he did not consider this a political fight and stressed that he felt the sale had been carefully vetted for security concerns."

Whose security? Inquiring minds would like to know. Congress might not be too happy with you discussing a veto while they are still taking angry calls from their constituents.

Seriously, did you really think people would just let this slide by? Gitmo has prisoners who have less to do with terrorism than this company, no matter what you might think or say.

Tags: Bush, Abramoff, lobbying scandal, Dubai Ports World, maritime management, presidential veto, stupid ideas

On The One Hand

It is nice to be able to contact your professor when you need help, but I thought school was about learning to find your own solutions. Half the fun of learning is trying to figure out where, who, why, what, which or how to get the information needed to accomplish the task. These kids are so spoiled.

For a generation that is functionally illiterate upon graduation, maybe they should spend a little more time focusing on the subject at hand instead of what makes them feel good at the moment or what is most convenient.

To: Professor@University.edu Subject: Why It's All About Me - New York Times: "College students say that e-mail makes it easier to ask questions and helps them to learn. 'If the only way I could communicate with my professors was by going to their office or calling them, there would be some sort of ranking or prioritization taking place,' said Cory Merrill, 19, a sophomore at Amherst. 'Is this question worth going over to the office?'

But student e-mail can go too far, said Robert B. Ahdieh, an associate professor at Emory Law School in Atlanta. He paraphrased some of the comments he had received: 'I think you're covering the material too fast, or I don't think we're using the reading as much as we could in class, or I think it would be helpful if you would summarize what we've covered at the end of class in case we missed anything.'"

Pay attention and you won't miss anything. My rule going through school was if the teacher repeated it more than once, wrote it on the board or assigned certain books, it was fair game for the test. Not that way anymore. Now classes are focused to the idea of testing, not expanding your horizons to cover every eventuality. There is a running gag in Real Genius (love that movie, based on real people and ideas) that involves students, tape recorders and lectures. Quite cute. Yesterday was this soporific little article, displaying a disconnect from the reality of most schools across the US (financially and otherwise), that says teaching to the test is valuable and everyone should do it. Of course, as you read the paragraph you will notice some of these courses don't exist in Mississippi, Arkansas or Oklahoma so most kids aren't going to benefit from his ivory tower view of the world and don't even know these options are out there.

In some classes, such as the Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and Cambridge courses that have become popular in Washington area high schools, the need to prepare for a challenging exam outside of the teacher's control has often produced a remarkable new form of teamwork. Teacher and students work together to beat an exam that requires thought and analysis, not just memorization. If that is teaching to the test, let's have more of it.

Because we are doing so well with our latest program.

More than 50 percent of students at four-year schools and more than 75 percent at two-year colleges lacked the skills to perform complex literacy tasks.

That means they could not interpret a table about exercise and blood pressure, understand the arguments of newspaper editorials, compare credit-card offers with different interest rates and annual fees or summarize results of a survey about parental involvement in school.

The results cut across three types of literacy: analyzing news stories and other prose, understanding documents, and having math skills needed for checkbooks or restaurant tips.

Our education system is falling apart faster than you can say "entropy"

Tags: teaching, education, spoiled children, email, illiteracy

Peek-A-Boo

Now you see, it now you don't. The disappearing public files.

U.S. Reclassifies Many Documents in Secret Review - New York Times: "Mr. Aid said he believed that because of the reclassification program, some of the contents of his 22 file cabinets might technically place him in violation of the Espionage Act, a circumstance that could be shared by scores of other historians. But no effort has been made to retrieve copies of reclassified documents, and it is not clear how they all could even be located.

'It doesn't make sense to create a category of documents that are classified but that everyone already has,' said Meredith Fuchs, general counsel of the National Security Archive, a research group at George Washington University. 'These documents were on open shelves for years.'

The group plans to post Mr. Aid's reclassified documents and his account of the secret program on its Web site, www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv, on Tuesday.

The program's critics do not question the notion that wrongly declassified material should be withdrawn. Mr. Aid said he had been dismayed to see 'scary' documents in open files at the National Archives, including detailed instructions on the use of high explosives.

But the historians say the program is removing material that can do no conceivable harm to national security. They say it is part of a marked trend toward greater secrecy under the Bush administration, which has increased the pace of classifying documents, slowed declassification and discouraged the release of some material under the Freedom of Information Act.

Experts on government secrecy believe the C.I.A. and other spy agencies, not the White House, are the driving force behind the reclassification program.

'I think it's driven by the individual agencies, which have bureaucratic sensitivities to protect,' said Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists, editor of the online weekly Secrecy News. 'But it was clearly encouraged by the administration's overall embrace of secrecy.'

National Archives officials said the program had revoked access to 9,500 documents, more than 8,000 of them since President Bush took office. About 30 reviewers — employees and contractors of the intelligence and defense agencies — are at work each weekday at the archives complex in College Park, Md., the officials said.

Archives officials could not provide a cost for the program but said it was certainly in the millions of dollars, including more than $1 million to build and equip a secure room where the reviewers work."

Also could be said of our valuable tax dollars.

Tags: reclassification program, national archives, coming to get you

In The Pink

Support your local butcher and this won't be an issue. Plus you get the added benefit of just the right size and cut for your dinner. You can control a lot of what goes into your body if pay attention. Shopping at Safeway can be expensive in more ways than one. You think you are saving money and time, without realizing that you are actually taking it off the end of your life.

FDA Is Urged to Ban Carbon-Monoxide-Treated Meat: "But the growing use of carbon monoxide as a 'pigment fixative' is alarming consumer advocates and others who say it deceives shoppers who depend on color to help them avoid spoiled meat. Those critics are challenging the Food and Drug Administration and the nation's powerful meat industry, saying the agency violated its own rules by allowing the practice without a formal evaluation of its impact on consumer safety.

'This meat stays red and stays red and stays red,' said Don Berdahl, vice president and laboratory director at Kalsec Foods in Kalamazoo, Mich., a maker of natural food extracts that has petitioned the FDA to ban the practice.

If nothing else, Berdahl and others say, carbon-monoxide-treated meat should be labeled so consumers will know not to trust their eyes.

The legal offensive has the meat industry seeing red. Officials deny their foes' claim that carbon monoxide is a 'colorant' -- a category that would require a full FDA review -- saying it helps meat retain its naturally red color.

Besides, industry representatives say, color is a poor indicator of freshness as meat turns brown from exposure to oxygen long before it goes bad.

'When a product reaches the point of spoilage, there will be other signs that will be evidenced -- for example odor, slime formation and a bulging package -- so the product will not smell or look right,' said Ann Boeckman, a lawyer with the Washington law firm Hogan & Hartson. It represents Precept Foods LLC, a joint venture between Cargill Meat Solutions Corp. and Hormel Foods Corp. that helped pioneer the technology.

Much is at stake. The U.S. market in 'case ready' meats -- those packaged immediately after slaughter, eliminating the need for butchers at grocery stores -- is approaching $10 billion and growing, said Steve Kay of Cattle Buyers Weekly, which tracks the industry from Petaluma, Calif. Tyson Foods, for example -- one of three meat packagers that has received a green light from the FDA to use carbon monoxide -- just opened a $100 million plant in Texas to churn out more case-ready 'modified atmosphere' packaged meats, Kay said."

Gross, just gross. You are what you eat and I guess America is just a fixative away from spoilage.

Tags: carbon monoxide meat, case ready meat, butchers

Not A Problem

There are a few of us who would like to oblige you. Except that the First Renter doesn't seem to think you are much of a threat and seems to have forgotten his vow of "dead or alive".

Bin Laden Vows Never to Be Captured Alive - Yahoo! News: "'I have sworn to only live free. Even if I find bitter the taste of death, I don't want to die humiliated or deceived,' bin Laden said, in the 11-minute, 26-second tape.

In drawing the comparison to American military behavior in Iraq to that of Saddam, he said:

'The jihad (holy war) is ongoing, thank God, despite all the oppressive measures adopted by the U.S. Army and its agents (which has reached) a point where there is no difference between this criminality and Saddam's criminality.'

Bin Laden also denied Bush administration assertions that it was better to fight terrorists in Iraq than on U.S. soil.

'The reality shows that the war against America and its allies has not been limited to Iraq as he (Bush) claims. Iraq has become a point of attraction and restorer of (our) energies,' he said."

Do you think bin Laden is tired of having a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent?

Tags: bin Laden, Bush, dead or alive, Iraq,

Stray Facts

The big boys of media really do have competent people on staff. They've just been hiding them from us. Or they've been out researching.

United Press International - Intl. Intelligence - Commentary: Rumsfeld's complaint: "U.S. capitalism is no longer seen as the unequal sharing of blessings but as a gigantic sucking sound that allows CEOs to earn 500 times more than factory floor workers while a growing number of employers inform workers they can no longer afford to pay their pensions.

or

About 33,000 lobbyists, the equivalent of two U.S. army divisions, are now in orbit around 535 U.S. lawmakers.

and

Led by Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Bolivia's Evo Morales, popular anti-U.S. leftist movements sweep over Latin America, giving Fidel Castro a new lease on life, as he becomes an octogenarian.

Now, that's funny. I never understood the fuss about Castro, he's on a tiny island that hasn't been a threat to us in 30 years. The press has been reporting that he was ready to kick the bucket almost as many times as someone thinks Abe Vigoda is dead. Neither is true.

The Bush administration's rejection of the Kyoto Treaty on the environment and its conviction that global warming is much ado about not much...as glaciers melt at an alarming rate in Greenland.

When you can deny physical evidence, or that it even exists, is frightening. To keep denying it smacks of another motive or that you just don't care.

Connecting all the dots in the defense department is no mean feat for a secretary of Defense. But connecting the Pentagon to all the other dots that have displaced America as the shining citadel on the hill is apparently beyond Mr. Rumsfeld's purview. But he should realize that blaming MSM (mainstream media) and public affairs officers is tantamount to disinformation."

Wow! Actually referring to itself in blogger terms. Too cool. Maybe somebody is realizing that we are all in this fight together. Bloggers (at least the ones I read) have been trying to spread the truth for a while, while the MSM was throwing off the effects of the kool-aid. The more voices that speak the truth, the more ears will hear the word; the more hearts and minds that are engaged, the more voices will speak the truth; until America wakes up and realizes that their country is gone.

Tags: Rumsfeld, Iraq, Castro, environment, connecting the dots

February 28th is C Day

A few months back the Rev and I were going around and around about elective medical procedures and he wrote a post entitled I Demand My Boob Job. I responded quite forcefully.

Well, the purpose of this post is that somebody in my doctor's office must read my blog or the universe is in alignment with the galactic center, but I am having the melons reduced to peaches with a little lift thrown in for looks. I am so excited. Scared also, but it needs to be done.

My plastic surgeon thinks that a C cup will be too much of a shock but I told him I would deal. People lose arms and legs all the time and they manage to deal, a little excess frontal fat being relocated to the trash bin titillates me, makes me want to go SHOPPING! Something I really can't afford. I will have to buy all new upper body wear. Nothing and I mean nothing will fit on March 1st. Yea!!

So, in planning for the big day I realize i need an Ipod, video of course. I can't afford to buy one, but if I could borrow one for a week it would be appreciated. It will be easy to hide in the hospital, won't be too heavy to hold and will help to distract me from the pain. This is important because I am allergic to most pain medications and will have to tough it out without any. I usually take aspirin but that will be contraindicated for a few weeks.

Have I mentioned how excited I am?

Tags: breast reduction, personal stuff, donations, loans, Ipod

When The Levee Broke

The First Renter and trusty companions were partying like it was 1999.

New Katrina E-Mails Show White House Chaos - Newsweek Politics - MSNBC.com: "Like President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and homeland-security adviser Frances Townsend, Card was on vacation when the hurricane struck. Back at the White House, the job of monitoring the storm was left to Kenneth Rapuano, Townsend's deputy. At 10 p.m., Rapuano left the White House to go home for the night, believing everything was under control.

It wasn't. Half an hour later, at 10:30 p.m., the Homeland Security Operations Center sent out a two-page bulletin reporting massive flooding and bodies floating in the water. Rapuano later told Congress that no one at the White House woke him to tell him about the report, and he didn't realize the extent of the damage until 6 the following morning, when another Homeland bulletin warned that 'it could take months to dewater' the city. Only then did it begin to dawn on top administration officials, including the president, how grave a human—and political—disaster they were facing."

Initiative is sorely lacking in this administration. Everyone waits for someone else to do something, therefore nothing gets done. Unless you count the many opportunites they have exploited to say that nobody could have foreseen...was there a Hale-Bopp exchange after all? I'm running out of explanations for the administration's disconnect and that sounded like as good an explanation as any at this point.

Four days after Katrina hit, on the evening of Thursday, Sept. 1, it was finally clear to everyone that things had gone horribly wrong. But Brown and other officials seemed mired in office politics.

Four days. Four days that the rest of the world watched a greater tragedy than 9/11 unfold. Four days before they got a clue.

I guess Florida is finally happy about those hanging chads now.

Tags: Katrina, White House Chaos, Bush, Vacation,

Stupid Things I Hope I Never Do

Believe me, I have done more than my share. Some of them still make me shake my head and wonder "what the hell was I thinking?" Email can be fun but it can also be dangerous, quickly. As soon as you hit the send button your email is speeding along an information highway where you are no longer have any control over who sees it and where it goes. Recorded for posterity and can be viewed by any number of people along the way. This not a government conspiracy (they come a little late to the spying on workers game), just a fact. If you send or receive email at work, well they scan most emails. If you use certain phrases from home, your ISP can filter what you send and receive besides turning over all your records to the government. That being said, it is just never a good idea to throw an immature hissy fit and leave a "paper" trail.

As any good lawyer could tell you.

ABC News: The 'Bla Bla Bla' Heard 'Round the World: "'The pay you are offering would neither fulfill me nor support the lifestyle I am living,' she wrote, turning down his job offer.

Korman was not happy.

'You had two interviews, were offered and accepted the job (indeed, you had a definite start date).'

He'd already ordered her stationery and business cards, and set up her office computer and was amazed she conveyed her second thoughts by e-mail.

'It smacks of immaturity and is quite unprofessional,' he wrote.

Abdala's response? 'A real lawyer would have put the contract into writing and not exercised any such reliance until he did so,' she wrote.

'This is a very small legal community,' Korman responded. 'Do you really want to start pissing off more experienced lawyers at this early stage of your career?'

Abdala finally answered, 'Bla bla bla.'"

This girl is so disconnected from reality that she will probably try and sue for defamation of character. Exactly how much money does this girl think she is going to make as a starting lawyer with no experience? By the time she gets done paying her own business bills she might realize that there is very little left over to "support the lifestyle she is living". If her lifestyle is already that great, why work at all?

Tags: bla bla bla, Abdala, Korman, email

Crisis Management 101

First lesson. Do not do it this way!

VP Accident Tale Filled With Discrepancies - Yahoo! News: "'There's a reason they call this crisis management,' said corporate damage-control specialist Eric Dezenhall, 'and that's because it's a mess.'"

Ya think? Blaming the victim really isn't a good idea, as they soon found out.

In the first days after the vice president wounded attorney Harry Whittington while shooting at quail last Saturday in Texas, blame was placed on the victim for not announcing his presence to fellow hunter Cheney.

Riight. Your hunting (?) so you run around making noise to let everyone, including the quarry, know where you are. Our ancestors would have died of starvation with that strategy. The incident was then investigated rigorously by the Texas sheriff's department.

Authorities did not investigate the accident until the next day. The Texas Parks and Wildlife accident report, dated two days after the shooting, checked "No" on the question of whether Cheney appeared under the influence of intoxicants. It did not address whether the hunters had been drinking at all. (The report also included a diagram depicting Whittington's wounds on the wrong side of his body.)

These must be the same guys who had to get new jobs after botching the OJ and JonBenet cases. I was under the impression (from tv mostly) that all gunshot wounds had to be reported immediately to the police and were investigated rather thoroughly, especially when there are severe injuries.

Initial reports had him treated at the scene, then taken by ambulance to the hospital, where in no time he was cracking jokes with the nurses. It turned out that after being taken to the emergency room of a local, small hospital, he was flown by helicopter to the intensive care unit of the larger hospital in Corpus Christi.

Of course, I am a person of color and I am not the sitting Vice President so that just might be in my world only. My favorite part of this AP article shows just how disconnected from reality these people are.

Armstrong, for her part, said no one at the ranch even discussed releasing the news on Saturday.

She said her family realized Sunday morning that it would be a story and decided to call the local newspaper, the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. She said she then discussed news coverage with Cheney for the first time.

"I said, 'Mr. Vice President, this is going to be public, and I'm comfortable going to the hometown newspaper,'" she told The Associated Press. "And he said, 'You go ahead and do whatever you are comfortable doing.'"

How drunk were they not to realize that when the VP farts much less SHOOTS SOMEONE, it makes news.

However, McClellan said he didn't personally know Cheney was the shooter until the next morning, about 6 a.m. EST Sunday, when he was awakened with the news.

Do you think he put the pillow over his face for a good silent scream? How much more can this poor guy take? I am beginning to feel sorry for him. He needs to take lessons from Will Bailey who has his press corps so cowed that they don't even twitch when he walks into a room.

The money we spent investigating a private matter between a husband, wife, mistress and a blue dress seems a little more ridiculous in the light of the last few years doesn't it?

I used to admire the Secret Service but their reputation isn't worth very much at this point, is it?

Tags: Cheney, McClellan, Whittington, Armstrong, stupidity, alternate realities, politics, coverup, conspiracy

Amy Fisher Is Sooo Jealous!

Mary Jo wasn't nearly as forgiving. Oh yeah, Amy shot her deliberately. My bad.

Compassion for Cheney as Victim Heads Home - New York Times: "The patient, Harry M. Whittington, an Austin lawyer and well-known figure in the state's Republican Party, thanked his doctors, praised the news media and expressed sorrow that the whole incident had become such a political flashpoint for the vice president.

'This past weekend encompassed all of us in a cloud of misfortune and sadness that is not easy to explain, especially to those who are not familiar with the great sport of quail hunting,' Mr. Whittington said.

'My family and I are deeply sorry for all that Vice President Cheney and his family have had to go through this past week,' he added.

Dressed in a dark suit, white shirt and gold tie, with only a few scratches and purplish blotches visible above his crisp collar, Mr. Whittington walked out of the hospital and spoke for slightly more than three minutes, taking no questions."

Well, then he'd have to answer them and even for a lawyer, it must be difficult to stretch the truth into a lie when you aren't feeling up to par.

This is taking that stiff upper lip thing just a litt bit too far. Even with a name like Whittington the Brits won't adopt you. At 78 one may have a cavalier attitude about one's time on earth, but I doubt if that extends too all members of his family. There are accidents and there are accidents. Getting shot in the face doesn't usually entail the victim apologizing to the offender's family. Your family was worried about your life, Cheney's family was worried about his reputation and how it would affect their lives. They just don't want you suing...

or telling the truth.

Tags: Cheney, Whittington, stupid apology,

Convenient To Give

Not so convenient to receive. The reason why retailers like to sell gift certificates is because 50% of them are never redeemed. Money in the bank. Except now the banks have horned in on the action with their attendant fees and regulations. All designed to part you from your money. Extremely convenient. For them.

Bank Gift Cards Come Wrapped With Limits: "In other words, it is up to a gift-card user to know the exact balance -- down to the penny. That is not always easy, especially if has been a long time since the card was used. Some companies charge a monthly $2.50 fee on cards that have not been used for several months, so the amount may be further reduced.

Alexandra Langley, a part-time sales associate at a local clothing store, said she once had a customer who discovered these fees had eaten up 50 percent of the balance by the time he tried to use it.

The Fine Print

-If purchase is more than card amount, it may be automatically rejected. Attempts to combine with cash for leftover value may be thwarted.

-A monthly fee may be deducted from cards that haven't been used for several months.

-Restaurants may add 20 percent to the cost of a meal when they submit card for approval.

-Gas stations may preauthorize large amounts ($50-$75) before letting customers pump gas, a process that could tie up the card's funds for several days.

The card companies permit consumers to check balances online, but 'if the customer is in the store, they can't just run home and check the balance on their computer,' Langley said. Some cards offer a toll-free telephone number for balance inquiries, but that often takes too much time at checkout. Besides, there is sometimes a fee for telephone inquiries, Langley said."

Once again, banks have found a way to adhere to the time honored practice of making you do the work to get your money out of the institution you put it in for safekeeping. And one way or another they make sure you don't get all you deposited.

Just saying.

Tags: Gift cards, bank fees, ripoffs

On The Face Of It

This looks like a relatively good study. But it isn't since they didn't include white collar crime. I really don't think that Ken Lay or Michael Milken are all that good looking and they can't be described as the most upstanding citizens by most of their shareholders.

The Ugly Face of Crime: "These economists found that the long-term consequences of being young and ugly were small but consistent. Cute guys were uniformly less likely than averages would indicate to have committed seven crimes including burglary and selling drugs, while the unhandsome were consistently more likely to have broken the law.

Very attractive high school girls were less likely to commit six of the seven crimes, while those rated unattractive were more likely to have done six of seven, controlling for personal and family characteristics known to be associated with criminal behavior.

Mocan and Tekin aren't sure why criminals tend to be ugly. Other studies have shown that unattractive men and women are less likely to be hired, and that they earn less money, than the better-looking. Such inferior circumstances may steer some to crime, Mocan and Tekin suggest. They also report that more attractive students have better grades and more polished social skills, which means they graduate with a greater chance of staying out of trouble."

Maybe the teachers spent more time with them, rewarded them more and let their own prejudices continue the cycle of oppression. My dad used to say "an ugly man can make it in this world, an ugly woman can't". This was before everything was decided on television, now even that doesn't apply. Helps to understand why the internet is so popular, it levels the playing field, at least until video takes off.

I wonder, if they did a study on whether attractive people are more spoiled, self-centered, shallow and have a vastly overrated opinion of themselves, would the results be as predictable as this exercise in beauty glorification? Probably, but the not so attractive people should write the test.

Smile.

Tags: Ugly face of crime, Mocan, Tekin,

"It's bad luck to die on empty stomach."

Rest in peace Andreas, you will be sorely missed. He was one of my favorite character actors. Mom and I were watching Babylon 5: The Gathering and after G'Kar had spoken a few words I said "that's the one-armed man!" His character grew to be one of my favorites even though I will always love Flounder, I mean Vir.

"Babylon 5," "Fugitive" Actor Dies - Feb 15, 2006 - E! Online News: "Though his name might not immediately be recognizable, Katsulas' scowl and furrowed brow were perfectly suited to villainous roles. He was a ruthless mobster opposite Tom Berenger and Mimi Rogers in Ridley Scott's 1987 thriller Someone to Watch Over Me. He was a terrorist leader in the 1996 Kurt Russell-Steven Seagal airplane-based thriller Executive Decision. And he murdered the wife of Ford's Dr. Richard Kimble in the Oscar-nominated The Fugitive, setting the plot in action.

But his greatest fame came on the small screen. After appearances in the syndicated Alien Nation TV series and The Death of the Incredible Hulk telefilm, Katsulas played the Rommulan commander Tomalak in a handful of episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. That in turn led to his most memorable role, as Narn Ambassador G'Kar in 1993's Emmy-nominated Babylon 5: The Gathering and the subsequent syndicated cult-hit series.

Donning heavy alien makeup, Katsulas played the cool, cunning diplomat with a sense of humor.

While G'Kar began as purely a baddie singularly focused on freeing his people from their arch-enemy, the Centauri, as the seasons wore on, the character evolved into an important spiritual leader, who still had his hand in a few nefarious plots, natch.

Born May 18, 1946 in St. Louis, Katsulas majored in theater at St. Louis University and obtained a master's in theater from Indiana University at Bloomington."

There is a great tribute piece, it is a video of clips as a goodbye message. Great tearjerker and reminder of what a great actor he was.

Majorly bummed.

Tags: Andreas Katsulas, Babylon 5, G'Kar,

If They Only Had Better Music

I love ice skating and dancing, hockey not so much. I just wish they had more contemporary music, one with a discernible beat. That was one of the things that made Zhang and Zhang so great when they danced to Kashmir. When she landed it was exactly on beat, which made the triple even more spectacular and points should have been awarded for exquisite timing. I'm lucky if I can walk across a room while singing and bopping to the music. I don't think I could add twirls and leaps.

Figure Skating Is A Cut Above the Frills: "The blade of a figure skate is a quarter inch of steel, with sharpened edges.

There. That's a quarter inch. Now let's see LeBron James land on it.

On Thursday night, Evgeni Plushenko and Johnny Weir will skate for the gold medal in the men's long program. As you watch them, keep in mind that quarter inch. They will zip along a glaring sheet of ice at 30 mph, jump several feet in the air, spin four times and land in time for a tight turn to avoid the boards. And if they weren't wearing spangly suits made of mauve taffeta, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

The skate is the toughest competitive shoe in sports. You can't find a more precarious piece of equipment, or a more precarious playing surface. The combination is deadly, and that's what makes it fascinating, and why people watch it by the millions, including yours truly, not because we have some fascination with bad music and campy outfits.

Furthermore, skaters push athletic boundaries in their sport as hard as athletes in any Olympic endeavor. Think for a moment about how the sport has progressed, how the jumping bar has been raised just in the past decade. It seems like only yesterday that the throw triple axel in pairs ranked right up there in danger with the balance beam in gymnastics. The throw triple axel was going to give somebody brain damage. 'Oh, my God,' we'd scream. 'Here comes the throw triple axel.' Now they're going after quads.

There is another possible answer to this question, one that will drive Wilbon crazy: Maybe figure skating is part art. If the most powerful moments in skating are the blends of skill, strength and beauty in interpreting a piece of music, then at it's best, perhaps it's not sport but ballet.

The trouble with this explanation is that it doesn't take into account that quarter inch. The skate. Or the consequences of falling.

As my friend Christine Brennan says, no other sport has a more non-negotiable moment of decision. A water shot in the final round at Augusta is nothing compared with what a figure skater faces when he or she attempts a triple axel in the Olympics. There's no next tee. No third strike. No fourth down. You either land cleanly on that quarter inch, or you lose it all -- and you don't get to try again for four more years."

Sort of like politics, but prettier.

Tags: ice skating, Olympics, Sally Jenkins,

Cheney's Top Ten Ways To Kill Someone

Found over at Mixter's Mix. People have waay too much time on their hands.

Thank goodness.

Tags: Cheney, photos, humor.

The Hate Magnet

The loyalty of the Republicans is finite. Backstabbing, manipulation and outright sedition are making an appearance.

OpinionJournal - Peggy Noonan: "But what are they thinking that they're not saying? Here's a hunch, based not on any inside knowledge but only on what I know of people who practice politics, and those who practice it within the Bush White House.

I suspect what they're thinking and not saying is, If Dick Cheney weren't vice president, who'd be a good vice president? They're thinking, At some time down the road we may wind up thinking about a new plan. And one night over drinks at a barbecue in McLean one top guy will turn to another top guy and say, 'Under the never permeable and never porous Dome of Silence, tell me . . . wouldn't you like to replace Cheney?'

Why would they be thinking about this? It's not the shooting incident itself, it's that Dick Cheney has been the administration's hate magnet for five years now. Halliburton, energy meetings, Libby, Plamegate. This was not all bad for the White House: Mr. Cheney took the heat that would otherwise have been turned solely on George Bush. So he had utility, and he's experienced and talented and organized, and Mr. Bush admires and respects him. But, at a certain point a hate magnet can draw so much hate you don't want to hold it in your hand anymore, you want to drop it, and pick up something else. Is this fair? Nah. But fair has nothing to do with it.

This is a White House that likes to hit refresh when the screen freezes. Right now the screen is stuck, with poll numbers in the low 40s, or high 30s.

The key thing is Iraq. George Bush cares deeply about Iraq and knows his legacy will be decided there. It has surely dawned on the White House that 'Iraq' will not be 'over' in the next two years. Iraq is a long story. What Dick Armitage or Colin Powell said about the Pottery Barn rule was true: If you break it, you own it, at the very least for the next few years."

Refresh, revamp, reVeep. Do these guys ever finish the job they start? They break the toys, destroy the kitchen and expect someone else to clean up the mess.

Tags: Cheney, vice president, noonan,

I Was Robbed!

I deserved that award. I am Best in Show! I am, I am.

Oh well, I bet I get more movie offers.

Tags: Dermot the Pug, Westminster dog show