Shitters to the Rescue

HMH-462 out of MCAS Miramar helps fight the Cocos Fire in San Diego County.

There’s “Low”

…and then there’s SO low, even pond scum is embarrassed.

Man arrested for sneaking into Thad Cochran’s wife’s nursing home

A Pearl man who runs a political blog is accused of sneaking into a nursing home where U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran’s wife is bedridden and photographing her, then posting the image in a video political “hit piece” on the internet.

Madison Police arrested Clayton Thomas Kelly, 28, of Pearl on Friday night on a charge of exploitation of a vulnerable adult. He’s being held on a $100,000 bond.

Kelly is accused of sneaking into St. Catherine’s Village in Madison, where Rose Cochran has resided since 2000, suffering from progressive dementia and now bedridden.

What a miserable, soulless prick.

A Big Step Bactrian for Higher Education

What a bunch of dromedary queens.

‘Hump Day’ event cancelled after students claim bringing a camel to campus was racist

Students at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota have cancelled an event to celebrate the end of the year after complaints that bringing a camel on campus could offend those of Middle Eastern cultures.

The “Hump Day” event, put on by the Residence Hall Association (RHA), was supposed to be “a petting zoo type of atmosphere” in which students could hang out and take photos with a live camel. According to Aaron Macke, the group’s advisor, the camel is owned by a local vendor and trained for special events.

But the event was subsequently cancelled after students took to Facebook to proclaim their concerns. The students said they were concerned about the money spent on bringing the camel to campus—around $500—and the implication that it would be racially insensitive to Middle Eastern cultures.

“It appears however, this program is dividing people and would make for an uncomfortable and possibly unsafe environment for everyone attending or providing the program. As a result, RHA has decided to cancel the event.”

OMFG.

‘As Politically Correct’ as Poop ‘in a Punchbowl’

That would be the Idaho GOP governor’s primary debate.

In Idaho’s Republican gubernatorial race, it’s politics as unusual, a situation evidenced by a recent debate that brought attention to the broad spectrum of candidates in contention.

“It’s a race between a cowboy, a curmudgeon, a biker, or a normal guy,” says Harley Brown, one Republican candidate for governor.

You HAVE to check out the opening shot of them all on stage. CLASSIC.

They Say “Be Careful What You Wish For”

Man finds “bullet proof” vest and decides to show friends how it works.

Um, yep

Deputies have charged an 18-year-old South Carolina woman with the fatal shooting of a male friend who had donned a bulletproof vest and allegedly asked her to “shoot me,” according to local media.

The killing occurred Wednesday in Honea Path, S.C., after 25-year-old Blake Randall Wardell discovered the old vest in a garage where he had been hanging out with friends, WYFF-TV reports.

Anderson County deputy coroner Don McCown said Wardell asked Taylor Ann Kelly to “shoot me,” the TV station reports.

Kelly allegedly fired a small caliber weapon at Wardell, but the bullet went through the edge of the vest and into his heart, McCown said.

It always comes down to “Pronoun Trouble.”

So Their Majesties Are In Town

To deign to give their Royal Notice to the opening of the WTC/Sept 11 Museum.

And to stay at the Waldorf and completely screw up traffic, naturally.

There has of course been some controversy from the usual suspects about how certain aspects of the attacks are portrayed.

I maintain that it is fitting and proper that the names of the 19 hijackers be memorialized in marble.

As public urinals.

Female NYT Editor Fires Equality Shot Across Grey Lady’s Bow in #WarOnWomen

Grey Lady just fires her.

Leaked photo from Sulzberger's last New York Times meeting with Jill Abramson surfaces. pic.twitter.com/kbyteAjZrP

— Popehat (@Popehat) May 15, 2014

We Have Arec Barrwin

…in handcuffs

Three months ago, Alec Baldwin declared in a New York magazine cover story, “I just can’t live in New York anymore.” Maybe he should have pulled up stakes then. The volatile actor, 56, was arrested on Tuesday morning in Manhattan after he was pulled over for riding his bike the wrong way down a one-way street and mouthing off to the arresting officers.

“The officers approached him and told him that he was riding the wrong way on the street [16th Street near Fifth Avenue] and asked him for ID,” an NYPD spokesman tells the New York Daily News. “But he didn’t have any ID on him. He then began to act belligerent to police.”

Imminent Glacier Collapse Update: Not ONLY Is It Going to Take 10,000 Years, Vice the NEXT WEEK (OMGS!!!) the Reports’d Have Us Believing

…but, actually READING the report, it turns out the little frozen BASTARD’S PULLED THIS TRICK BEFORE!!!

WAIT AN APOCALYPTIC MINUTE! That damn Antarctic glacier's DONE THIS BEFORE? Who'd they blame 3.5 million years ago? http://t.co/FjK3tiHkgp

— tree hugging sister (@treehuggingsis) May 13, 2014

…The Wilkes Basin likely experienced a similar episode of massive ice discharge about 4.8 million to 3.5 million years ago, according to sediment remains in the area. That past discharge occurred during the Pliocene epoch when global climate was warmer than it is today, but similar to the climate projections for the end of the 21st century.

#WarOnWomen

Yet another successful woman SILENCED by the oppressive Right-Wing Academic Patriarchy!

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde canceled plans to deliver the commencement address May 18 at Smith College, bowing to protests by students and faculty over the fund’s policies.

President Kathleen McCartney said she heard over the weekend from Lagarde, who wrote to her that “it has become evident that a number of students and faculty members would not welcome me as a commencement speaker,” according to McCartney’s statement on the website of the women’s college.

This is the University! We can’t have differing opinions here!

Steyn: #BringBackOurBalls

As usual, Mark nails it

It is hard not to have total contempt for a political culture that thinks the picture at right is a useful contribution to rescuing 276 schoolgirls kidnapped by jihadist savages in Nigeria. Yet some pajama boy at the White House evidently felt getting the First Lady to pose with this week’s Hashtag of Western Impotence would reflect well upon the Administration. The horrible thing is they may be right: Michelle showed she cared – on social media! – and that’s all that matters, isn’t it?

Just as the last floppo hashtag, #WeStandWithUkraine, didn’t actually involve standing with Ukraine, so #BringBackOurGirls doesn’t require bringing back our girls. There are only a half-dozen special forces around the planet capable of doing that without getting most or all of the hostages killed: the British, the French, the Americans, Israelis, Germans, Aussies, maybe a couple of others. So, unless something of that nature is being lined up, those schoolgirls are headed into slavery, and the wretched pleading passivity of Mrs Obama’s hashtag is just a form of moral preening.

Read the whole thing.

And weep for what we once were.

ONE Too Many Gay Jokes and NFL Cheerleader Pron

…gets Ace his very own Ewok-targeted drone strike.

POOF!

Their back-up site is working…so far.

From The “Unfortunate Juxtapositions” Files

This morning on CNN’s site I was greeted by this

The image in that Google ad atop the “Breaking News” headline is…unfortunate.

Well, Happy Mother’s Day

…to me. Totally unbelievable week (post coming) getting Ebola out of here and my nose isn’t finished rotting off from the toxic goo the dermatologist gave me AND the A/C has sh*t the bed.

On the bright side, major dad has one of his World Famous pork butts schmokin’ away and my wonderful son found the time to order flowers for me from his temporary digs in Guam.

Really. Happy Mother’s Day to ME.

All y’all, too.

Pizzas The Second

Ok, so we just polished off the second batch for dinner, using half of the dough I made this morning (which was 50% whole wheat, ‘cos I’m like totally a nature kinda guy) I also bumped the temp up to 525º per OregonGuy’s suggestion in the previous post)

The first was a pesto/mozz/artichoke heart/sundried ‘mater pie

I used too much pesto so it was a leetle greasy but it was exceedingly yum. The piquancy of the art hearts and the sundrieds was a nice counter balance to the richness of the pesto and the creaminess of the mozzarella.

The second pie was ricotta and pesto

Meh, not so successful. It was alright but bland compared to the previous.

I’ve got enough dough for two more pies tomorrow, so now all I have to do tonight is finish this next bottle of wine and wait a couple of hours for the steel to cool off enough that I can clean the excess pesto grease off of it…

GREAT Idea You Had There, Skippy

And the result of your shameless vote buying “unintended consequences”?

Your pandering asshat-ism is dumping vets into the street.

Minimum wage order sends veterans packing from nursing homes

SHREVEPORT, La –
Some military veterans are being forced to leave their nursing home. It’s an unintended consequence of President Obama’s executive order in February to raise the minimum wage for new federal contract workers from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour.

Sandy Franks, public affairs officer at Shreveport’s Overton Brooks V. A. Medical Center, explains that nursing homes that have contracts for subsidized care from the Veterans Administration become federal contractors. If they refuse to raise their wages, their contracts will not be renewed.

Former Marine A.J. Crain just wheeled himself into his new room at Shreveport Manor on Mansfield Road when he got the news that the home’s contract will end this month.

“We fought all your wars, and now we’re broke. Where do we go from here?” Crain asks.

“We gotta go. Simple as that. We gotta go,” says Vietnam War Bronze Star and Purple Heart recipient John Washington.

“I think it’s very wrong. I think it’s very distasteful,” Washington goes on to say about Shreveport Manor’s decision. “I mean some of these people here work their backsides off to keep this place going,” he said, pointing to a woman changing his bed.

Shreveport Manor is owned by Gamble Guest Care. Their Chief Operating Officer says if they raise wages for workers there, they have to do that at all eight of their facilities.

In a statement, Gamble COO Matt Machen said, in part,

“The additional labor expenses are simply unaffordable. As such, many long term care providers have indicated that they will no longer seek or renew V.A. contracts.“

Franks at the V.A. agrees that this has the potential to be a national problem as more V.A. contracts with nursing homes expire.

“Has the POTENTIAL” to be a problem?!

And just what the doctor ordered for the VA right now, wouldn’t you say?

Steel Yourself: Pizza

So today was the day when I made my first foray into the world of pizza making!

I had planned to start out on the simple side, using pre-made dough, but when a certain-dog-who-shall-not-be named got me up on the wrong side of 6 am this morning I figured I make a batch of dough to use tomorrow; it’s currently sitting on the dining room table pumping out the CO2

the instructions said “cover tightly with plastic wrap for 12-18 hours” but that sucker is bulging like Vesuvius so I may have to do some venting later.

Anyhow, I went to the local Commie Store and bought some fresh dough and other needed sundries for the experimentation. I also got my few remaining hairs cut, which was rather exciting.

Upon house returning I moved the baking steel up to the second-from the top rack and got the oven going to 500º

ah, the Baking Steel! As y’all are well aware, it’s a 1/4″ solid steel armored plate, and as I always say: “If 1/4 inch plate is good enough for the Wehrmacht than by gum it’s good enough for Bingley!”

I figured I would make my own sauce as well, and my Dear Bride found a recipe that is all simplicity: simply place in your food processor a drained can of whole ‘maters with some salt and a dash of olive oil

Observant readers will note a black line well down the processor’s bowl. I discovered after making the sauce that the line bears the legend “max fill level for liquids.” Oops. We’ve had the processor for nearly 25 years (it was in fact a wedding present from Crusader) and I ain’t getting rid of it.

After cleaning up the very slight leakage I opened a bottle of wine that I really need to get Gregor drinking

another in what is a very welcome trend from US winemakers of producing yummy blends at reasonable prices: this is only $10 but be warned it is a very…thick, syrupy wine that quite happily only checks in at 13.5% or so, so it doesn’t throw you for a loop too quickly. If you like a full bodied fruity wine than I say do check it out.

Following tips I had gotten of the InterWebs I had split the Commie Dough into two portions and had placed each into a lightly oiled soup container

to come up to room temperature with the added benefit that the round container made the dough round when you dumped it out, which would help in achieving a vaguely roundish pie. I floured the counter and worked the dough over a bit and then transferred it to a lightly floured Norman Vincent

spooned and spread out 4 tablespoons more or less of sauce and added the chunks of fresh mozz and 4-5 fresh basil leaves ripped into big pieces

and then carefully slid it off of NV onto the steel in the exceedingly hot oven, let it cook for about 7 minutes and yum

I was very happy for a first attempt. It wasn’t as crispy as I would have liked; I let the next one go for a touch over 8 minutes (this time with some sausage on it)

and that was better but I still need to let it go a tad longer, and I also need to try and get the dough thinner but these are all errors/learning on my part. I have no complaints about the steel, as it does allow one to make really yummy bar pizzas at home for a fraction of what you’ll pay in a bar.

I have a feeling that by the end of tomorrow my Bride and I will be sick of pizza…

Throwback Saturday

What better way to spend a rainy Saturday

than listening to Caruso (and Gigli, of course) on a first generation iPod?

That’s Why I Always Went To Bars

Headline of the Day:

Mail-Order Chicks Infect 63 People, CDC Says

Victimhood Pays

Sandra Fluke couldn't afford condoms… Now she can afford vacations in Venice!! #tcot #RedNationRising #oas2014 pic.twitter.com/pOb6HvaE3w

— Young Conservative (@steve0423) May 9, 2014

I Feel Something Is Amish…

So a few weeks ago when my Bride and I travailed out to Indiana for my Dashing Nephew’s wedding to his scrumpdillyiciously beeeee-youtiful Bride we took, as y’all well know, a survival pack to get us through the weekend because my Google-Fu had revealed that the locality where the hitching was occurring was an Amish town and bars were not surprisingly few and far between.

As we drove into town we were serenaded by the delightful clippity-cloppity patter of the horses’ hooves as they perambulated about with their buggies attached, filled with bearded blue-shirted men and be-shawled women. It makes for…interesting…driving conditions for those of us in motorized vehicles. Kind of cool, but interesting.

After we checked into the hotel I asked the charming gal at the front desk where we could eat and more importantly drink. As what I rightly took as a sign of favor from the Divine, she informed me that the one occupied dwelling in the otherwise empty mini-strip mall next door happened to be a “decent” Mexican restaurant with a liquor license. Hallelujah!

Now here is the time in this tale when I must confess my dreadful ignorance: whilst I may display a worldly facade, I am in fact naught but a simple provincial knave from the untamed mountains of western New Jersey. Case in point: I had always assumed that Amish men spent the weightier part of their days in somber conversation, referring to each other as “Elder Jakob” or some such all the while stroking their beard in a rustic yet learned manner.

I am ashamed.

Little did I realize that the Amish, well these Amish at least, are, in fact, Party Animals.

My first hint to this groundbreaking revelation was ascertained when I looked longingly out our hotel window at the Mexican restaurant and saw this

That, my friends, in all its “Blazing Saddles” glory, is a buggy tied up at a horse rail.

Outside the Mexican restaurant.

Which serves these

And inside, indeed, there were the Amish folk drinking margaritas and beer, washing down the (tolerable) Mexican food.

I love this country.

DOJ and CAIR: “Nice Little Council Seat You Have There…”

“Be a shame if you did anything to screw it up.”

Councilwoman Bess Rich Calls for Investigation

City councilwoman Bess Rich says leading up to a Mobile Planning Commission meeting on April 17th, her freedom of speech was compromised.
At that meeting, plans were approved for an Islamic Mosque to expand. The Islamic Center is located on East Drive in Mobile.

Today, she read a 7 page document before the council detailing what happened and asked for an investigation. Rich says prior to the April 17th meeting, she was told by city council attorney Jim Rossler that a complaint had been filed to the Justice department on behalf of the Islamic Center concerning a possible discrimination of rights violation*.

She says she was also warned not to object to the Planning Commission application submitted by the Islamic Center.

“As a result of this legal advice and my great fear of a lawsuit, I reluctantly did not step forward to render my opinion or thoughts regarding the proposed development,” Rich read. She went on to say during an interview after the meeting,

“I was told that if I address the issue I would be personally held responsible and could be sued by the Justice department and so I was warned not to address the Planning Commission on the application and to make no objects.”

Oddly enough, after the planning commission voted to let the mosque go ahead, the city attorney said, “OOPS!” After “further research” he’d determined his initial advice had been wrong and that the city was, indeed, obligated to defend her. But that update was too late in coming to affect the recommendation for approval.

‘Magine that.

*More on the alleged discrimination of rights violation complaint:

…City Councilwoman Bess Rich, who represents the neighborhood where the Islamic Center expansion is slated, said during Tuesday’s council meeting that she was told by City Council Attorney Jim Rossler to be wary about voicing her concerns on the development during the commission’s April 17 meeting because of a threat that she could be personally sued.

Her concerns stem from an investigation that was initiated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office last year over a potential violation to the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, which prohibits governments from imposing a land use regulation that imposes substantial burdens on religious freedoms.

The probe stems from the City Council’s vote in May 2013 to deny the Islamic Center of Mobile’s application for an expansion project that included a new school and mosque.

The council, amid concerns about traffic issues along East Drive and parking during the project’s construction, voted unanimously against the project.

…Rich said she was approached by Rossler ahead of the April 17 meeting and was told not to say anything about the project because legal action might be forthcoming by the Justice Department. She said that Rossler told her that if she was sued, not to expect the city to defend her against the federal agency.

…Rossler confirmed that the Department of Justice informed the city that they were opening an investigation. He said a formal letter about the probe into the council’s denial of the Islamic Center’s application last year was opened on Nov. 15.

…Rich said she is concerned that her civil rights as a concerned representative of the district might have been affected. She is equally concerned that other commissioners or city officials might have been approached ahead of April 17 meeting over concerns about how a federal investigation might be handled if they were opposed to the Islamic Center project.

“It’s a very serious issue to have your civil rights, which are constitutionally protected freedoms of speech, to have been thwarted,” Rich said. “That’s a very serious violation even as an individual, but more so or equal to as an elected official … that you would be personally sued (if you spoke out against the project). I did not get that (concern) corrected until way after the hearing.”

Rich requested that a hearing into an appeal of the Planning Commission’s recommendation be delayed until “an investigation is initiated on what was told to the planning staff and commissioners.” She said she wants to find out who was involved in last year’s appeal to the Justice Department and whether the federal investigation prevented a “fair and opening hearing” on April 17.

As for “discrimination”, well…I can understand parking and traffic issues completely. We have little home grown Christian churches around here and Bible studies that just outgrow the neighborhoods, and they’re a pain in the ass, God love ’em. We’re not telling you you can’t have your church anymore. But PLEASE MOVE it where the infrastructure can HANDLE it.

Then again, those little preachers ~ most of them ~ don’t have kids like THIS particular mosque’s Imam, either.

Mosque Leader Says Discrimination a Factor

It’s a situation that has the president of a local mosque pondering his next move.

“I believe in all my heart that this is somewhat of a discrimination,” said Shafik Hammami.

The Islamic Society of Mobile has called East Drive home for over 20 years. The buildings however, are much older, and that’s why Hammami wants to rebuild.

…”Does it have anything to do with them being Muslim?” I asked [a neighbor] Montgomery. “Not really, no. Of course it’s, you know we have feelings. Terrorist that came from that particular mosque, makes you think,” she said.

And that terrorist is Omar Hammami, who is Shafik Hammami’s son. He is on the America’s Most Wanted list for supporting the terrorist organization Al Shabaab and recruiting terrorist for the organization.

“I don’t blame the American people for having the fear, but I do blame people who do not pursue the truth. The truth is we are a peaceful religion, and we have nothing to do with the terror acts going on all over the world,” said Hammami.

Soooo, schmaybe it’s NOT JUST the traffic that’s giving the neighbors fits and starts, eh? And the son’s name might not ring the proverbial bell, but if I tell you he’s the chirpy little bearded f*cker who was the mouthpiece for Al Qaeda affiliate Al-Shabaab in Somalia, who has since been reportedly whacked by those same good-natured fellas, would that ring a bell?

As for his religion of peace loving dad, his comments on his murderous son’s death were:

…”Of course I hope not, I hope it’s not true,” Shafik Hammami told ABC News in a telephone interview from his Alabama home. “Our lives have been on a roller coaster for a long time, and we’ve been there before… we just hope that it’s not true this time.”

If the reports are accurate, however, Shafik said his son died “fighting for his principles.”

“He did what he wanted to do and he fulfilled his principles,” Shafik said. “If he indeed died, he died fighting for his principles, whatever they are.“

TOTAL REPUDIATION of the violence inherent in Islamic teachings THERE, wouldn’t you say?

And trust the Obama DOJ to come down on the side you’d figure they would.

Be Aware the Rates to Canada Vary Depending on YOUR Location

…if you want to report that you’ve seen him.

A mock "missing persons" poster with a photo of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford. More Editor's Choice: http://t.co/2ycIm01Yij pic.twitter.com/TelXPuf8kS

— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) May 8, 2014

Spam Of The Day

The spam folder has been pretty pathetic of late, this is the best I could find

Remember that the only thing worse than change, is change that you have no control over.Wheeled bags on the other hand are considerably better as even a heavy suitcase can be dragged along effortlessly.Such would help you deal with scammers who try to give you a fake one at a highly low price.Isolation? It comes with a DVD to assist you discover dozens of illusions.

Leaning Towards A Pizza

A few weeks ago I had a yearning for pizza, so my Bride ordered one from our usual place and I went to pick it up. It was just a medium pie and perhaps a salad was ordered as well and it was nearly $25.

Insane.

That was the final straw to get me to acquire another cooking gadget. Well, gadget is not really the right term, as this is far simpler. Everyone talks about their ‘pizza stones’ and how they make great pies. But the problem is that they are somewhat fragile and break fairly easily. After reading a bit I heard talk of a pizza steel, a slab of steel that made better pizza than a stone and was pretty much indestructible. Better, because due to the thermal properties of the steel it transmitted the heat to the crust more efficiently than stone, and indestructible because, well, it’s a 1/4 inch thick solid steel plate.

The perfect, logical extension of my current cast iron obsession.

So, naturally, I ordered one.

It arrived last night and it is heavy. And steely.

And heavy.

So be prepared, for this weekend we shall be making a lot of pizzas!