Just So You KNOW Why the Picture’s on the Wall Outside the Door

…next time you’re tempted to go into the bathroom with the little silhouette of YOUR gender on it.

Sex-Segregated Public Restrooms Are an Outdated Relic of Victorian Paternalism

“…Many states follow the guidelines laid out in the Uniform Plumbing Code, which stipulates that “separate toilet facilities shall be provided for each sex,” with exceptions for very small businesses as measured in square footage and/or customer traffic. In the eyes of the law in these places, a business with two unisex toilets can be considered to have no toilets at all, since neither facility explicitly serves men or women.

Such laws date back to 1887, according to Terry S. Kogan, a University of Utah law professor and a contributor to the book Toilet: Public Restrooms and the Politics of Sharing. One hundred and twenty-seven years ago, Massachusetts passed the first law mandating gender-segregated toilets, and many states quickly followed suit. Many of those laws have never been substantially modified, with obvious exceptions in progressive enclaves like D.C. and San Francisco, meaning that much of the United States’ toilet-related building codes reflect a literally Victorian prudishness that we might mock in other contexts…”

Where he makes his mistake is that me and my thugs have NO PROBLEM invading the men’s room when the ladies’ line becomes overwhelmingly long, or there’s only two single bathrooms. The thing is, we make sure THERE ARE NO MEN IN THE HEAD when we do it. It’s being polite, not Victorian. Also, I have no desire to share a toilet with a strange man (whatever SEX he’s claiming at the time), so add selfish to that list as well.

Lots Of Barricades Up On Broadway And Wall Street This Morning

And tons of cops around. I asked one what was up and he sort of chuckled and said “Third Anniversary of Occupy.”

Oh for god’s sake.

The Left is doing whatever they can to yell “squirrel!”

Seen On A Wall In Decatur, IN

Bira Bira on The Wall

Sometimes when you’re on a vacation the last thing in the world you want to do is get in a car and schlepp about on a Sunday morning, especially when it’s 90+ outside and there are scurrilous and unfounded rumors about that you were drinking at a samba club until 2am the previous evening.

But there are also in life some things that you simply must do, and in this life if you are in Rio then you must get in the car and drive 45 minutes south to a little seaside village glued to a steep slope over looking a nature preserve. The town’s name is Barra de Guaratiba.

The restaurant is Bira de Guratiba.

My Bride and I first came here in 1998. We were in Rio for basically a long weekend. We flew overnight, got off the plane, were picked up at the airport, dropped our bags at the hotel and drove down to Bira for our welcome lunch. Whether it was the jetlag or the 5 caipirinhas or some mystical combination of both it was one of the finest meals I’d ever had and I knew on this trip we had to go back. I admit I was somewhat nervous that after all these years it would understandably not live up to our memories and Daughter, after hearing us talk about it for so long, would not be amused about being dragged about so.

The drive took longer than anticipated, as there were some accidents plus a lot of Sunday beach traffic but we got there and the view was everything we remembered

you can see the ocean to the left and then as we pan in see the estuary. Much of the seafood here is caught here; it’s amazingly sweet and fresh

it’s also a very civilized place, as you can see by this floating bar

speaking of which

One of the glories of Brazil is the language: Portuguese mixed with indigenous Indian vocabulary and sprinkled with enough English to make you giggle. The above is a perfect example. In English we call it ‘passion fruit.’ The Brazilians call it “maracuja”, and even better they pronounce it “mah-rah-koo-ZHA” which just rolls off your tongue in a delightful fashion.

But even more delightful is the above, a caipirinha made not with lime but with maracuja. Oh my oh my, is that ever tasty.

And it led nicely into the first appetizer, which was a platter of fried prawns with garlic and oil

They were huge.

And tasty.

And soon gone.

and followed by what to me is one of the simplest yet finest dishes I’ve ever had: the Vinagrete Misto

so elegantly simple: fresh shrimp, octopus and mussels in a vinaigrette with chopped onion, tomatoes, lime and some cilantro. So simple yet so completely dependent on the freshness of the seafood, and this was as fresh as it could be, with that sweet slightly salty tang of the ocean still clinging to every morsel.

the orange ones are the females, btw.

But then it was on to the main courses:

a Moqueca de Camarão (shrimp with coconut milk)

Moqueca de Robalo com Camarão (fish and shrimp with coconut milk)

all served with a hearty amount of Pirão (which is a creamy manioc/fish based sauce)

plates don’t get much happier than this

and we just ate and ate and enjoyed the views, the nature. It was and still is fabulous.

After such a wonderful meal we drove languidly back to Rio and stopped on a seaside overlook just south of Leblon for a few pictures

This is a fancy Sheraton resort tucked into the cliffs; I’ve always thought it rather oddly sited

and this is a view the other way, back towards Leblon with Ipanema on the far right

I’m sorry to say that for dinner that night I forgot to take the camera, which is a pity. We ate at CT Boucherie, which is a french steakhouse not far from where we were staying. It was outstanding. It was so good in fact that Daughter annoyed me greatly by eating all of her steak, all of it, and leaving none for me.

Dang.

Trust Me ~ It’s Not Just “Wall Street” and We’re Not Just “Worried”

We’re absolutely confident of their abilities to do so.

Wall Street Worries Washington Will Wreck Economy – CNBC Survey

Wall Street’s concerns about Washington are escalating, with the December CNBC Fed Survey finding growing investor angst about a recession, the fiscal cliff and the Fed’s monetary policy.

The 48 economists, fund managers and strategists who responded to the survey rank the “fiscal cliff” as the top threat facing the U.S. economy and, partly as a result, put the chance of recession in the next year at a 13-month high of nearly 29 percent.

…Chris Rupkey of Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi said the Fed “wrecked the money market and now their actions are wrecking the bond market… As long as they keep doing this it tells the public the economy is still not right in their view. This policy is starting to look like a mistake.“

Really?

Friday, September 14th, 2012, Wall Street And Broadway

Occupy Wall Street-types camped out in front of Trinity Church across the street.

WARNING: Put Your Coffee Cup Down and SWALLOW Before You Read Any Further

Or you’ll ruin a perfectly good screen.

… Late last night Obama (via his campaign account, @BarackObama) tweeted a photo of himself looking skyward, with a quote from himself: ” ‘Same-sex couples should be able to get married.’–President Obama.” The text of the tweet read simply: “History.”

If he could govern 1/32 as well as he can pose, we wouldn’t be in 1/2 the bad shape we’re in.

What a worthless POS.

I Told You They Were Setting Up an “EE-Ville” Wall Street Bankers/Speculators Excuse Line

…for the administration when World News Tonight ran the opening salvo the other evening. Right on cue, lookee here what I found in my inbox from my least favorite Senator on earth:

Bill Nelson
Representing Florida

Dear Friends,

Gas prices most places are pushing $4 a gallon – again. And news reports say it could be $5 or more by summertime. That’s outrageous – and unjustified.

Whether it’s the continuing threat of unrest in the Middle East or the lure of quick profit, the price of oil is driven in big part by traders, speculators and, of course, fear.

There’s been unrest in the Middle East for thousands of years, as we’re seeing right now with Iran and the Strait of Hormuz. Every time we’re faced with this international uncertainty, especially in the Middle East, we’re reminded why we must get off of foreign oil. Nothing’s going to eliminate the volatility in oil prices like becoming less dependent on foreign energy sources.

But we’ve also got to stop a new brand of oil trader who has emerged in the last decade, a middle man of sorts, who’s also driving up the price we pay at the pump.

Many experts agree we should not allow these traders to bid up the price of oil and flip futures contracts like condos. Yet in the last ten years the share of the oil market controlled by investors and speculators has more than doubled.

During the same time, American drivers have seen the price of gas at the pump go from about $1.56 per gallon to around $3.61 per gallon or more. By bidding up oil futures, speculators also increase costs for our airlines, industrial energy users and other businesses. And these higher costs are passed on to consumers like you and me.

Fact is, the level of speculation in today’s energy markets greatly exceeds the historic norm. If you want to know the truth, it’s partly the fault of broken-down policies from a Congress dominated by partisanship and extremism. Congress deregulated oil traders in December 2000. And it hasn’t tackled a comprehensive alternative energy policy since Nixon and Carter first talked about one in the 1970s.

Anyone can push for gas-tax holidays and the Keystone Pipeline. In fact, I support the pipeline as long as it’s in an area where it’s not as much of a threat to the entire Midwest water supply and we require that the oil stay here at home and not be sold to foreign countries.

We’ve already given the oil companies more than eight million more prime acres in which to drill in the Gulf of Mexico. Now we should curb the activities of speculators. And, in the long term, we must develop alternatives to gasoline.

I think Congress should pass legislation that aims to drastically limit the ability of speculators to artificially drive up energy prices. If this bill passes, there would be the first-ever limits on how much of the oil market speculators can control. The chief cosponsor of my bill is Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV).

Plain and simple: the legislation says no single investor could hold more than 5 percent of the oil futures market, thereby greatly reducing speculators ability to manipulate prices.

Does this sound like an idea you could support? Please let me know. Also, let me know what else you think we could do to bring down gas prices.

Sincerely,

Bill Nelson

WAR in the Middle-East? Oh, gosh, things are always unsettled. Barack didn’t do that! The team is getting into position with a unified message.

There’s a question over on Instapundit which is the title of a Slate article. It asks:

Why did the Obama administration agree to a “robo-signing” settlement that barely punishes the huge banks behind the foreclosure crisis?

Glenn’s answer is “Have you looked at his donors list lately?” and that, in any other circumstances, would be the go-to assumption. I would like to posit another, more sinister reason.

It’s to keep the whipping boys under control. They are being set up to be demonized at the level of, if not worse than, bail-out time, and they need crumbs to keep them just bumping the doors in the stable out of frustration. If they protest too loudly, try to kick the doors down in rage, squawk in indignation at the brush they’re being painted with, SOMEBODY will quietly point to these “little” favors the industry owes the administration. The “look what we did for you here and this is how you treat us?” effect. Sending them whimpering about the injustice of it all back to their Aladdin’s Caves, while the gas prices tar brush flies.

Watch “The Godfather”. Same means and effect.

WALL STREET, EE-Ville WALL STREET, IS TO BLAME FOR ALL YOUR MISERY

Got that?

Gas Prices: Wall Street at Fault?

Financial regulator says big banks gambling on oil are to blame.

ABC’s World News Tonight wants to make sure you know WHO to point the finger at…in the voting booth as well, I’m guessing.

(Just listen to how many times they say “Wall Street”…)

Nice to get an assist like that.

Reason Number 9857 Why Occupy Wall Street Types Are Not Like the Tea Party

…and can go f*ck themselves:

They’re just so pretentiously damned clever with their Tweets and all.

@zuccottipark
redmarcopolo

American homes destroyed by Al Qaeda last yr = 0. Destroyed by banks = 1,200,000. Who are the real terrorists? #ows #opdx

Doesn’t he set your teeth on edge?

Ooooo. He did mine.

For Bingley and Wall Street

The Only Protester I Saw On Wall Street

Those darn Juice.

Is there nothing they can’t do?

I took this at 11 am or so at the end of Wall on Broadway.

Pathetic.

In the Wall Street Journal: “‘Scuse Me, Festus”

“You ‘plying ta the aeroplane fac’try fer one a’ them there jobs, too?”

…We should be aghast that Boeing is sending a big fat market signal that it wants a less-skilled, lower-quality work force.

…We depend on Boeing to out-compete Airbus, its European rival. But when major firms move South, it is usually a harbinger of quality decline.

Takes some grits to write a column like that. But then again, Mr. Geoghegan is from CHICAGO.

He’ll know all about tools.

Oddly (And Luckily) Enough, the One Card Not in My Wallet

…or I’d be sick.

…What was so disturbing was the email listed someone we all know- LTC(r) Allen West, and how the VFW, of all people, THE VEE-EFF-FRICKING-W, was ENDORSING HIS OPPONENT.

You read that right.

His opponent? Democrat Ron Klein. WHO HAS NEVER SERVED IN UNIFORM.

You read THAT right, too.

…Now, it seems, the time has come to rip, burn, and toss my Lifetime Membership for the VFW. I feel like they have completely left us at the station here. Over at the Farm Team, Jonn Lilyea lays out just who the VFW has announced they are supporting:

Barbara Boxer, Alcee Hastings, Barbara Lee, Steny Hoyer, Barbara Mikulsky, Chris VanHollen, John Dingell, Chuckie Schumer, Pat Leahy and Patty Murray

Call the VFW at 1-202-544-5868. Email them at: vfwpac@vfw.org.

Heard the phones are busy. If you belong to a local chapter, don’t let them off them hook ~ it’s YOUR dues allowing the national organization to sell you out. Raise hell!

(Via Instapundit)

The Advantage Of Walking Down Wall Street At 5:45 am

Is that it’s mostly empty and quiet. The disadvantage is that there’s no place to hide from a reporter and camera crew that want an early morning soundbite…

Why Wall Street Fears…

Obama

Investors this summer have been placing their bets on an Obama presidency, and for the most part that hasn’t been good for the market.
Without giving him a chance to explain himself in detail on the campaign trail or at the Democratic National Convention, they are voting with their shares by tossing financial, health insurance, manufacturing and high-dividend stocks into the ash can, and are growing skeptical about energy companies as well.
It’s not that major institutional investors don’t like the man — far from it. He has many backers among the financial elite, including multibillionaires George Soros and Ron Burkle. And it’s not that there aren’t many other reasons for investors to sell stocks now, as the global economy tangles with the terrible twin beasts of bank deleveraging and inflation.
It’s just that Obama’s rhetoric on taxes and health care is scaring common wealthy people with large capital gains from investments made over the past decade, and a lot of them don’t want to wait around to see whether it’s just populist fluff that might be set aside once he takes office.

Aside from the populist rhetoric, does anyone know what his policies actually are? It’s not a question of “giving him a chance to explain himself;” for god’s sake, the man is running for President. He should be laying out for us his plan.
And this is comforting:

Plus, the Democrats who run Congress know that a weaker economy favors their nominee — and they are loath to pass banking or trade legislation now to improve the nation’s industrial standing over fears that it could backfire and give comfort to the Republicans.

Because, obviously, the health of their Party is more important than the health of their country.
But don’t question their patriotism!

I Wonder What They Call Earthen Walls That Hold Back Floods?

Well, it seems that the good people of Lesbos don’t like certain uses of the Island’s name

Three islanders from Lesbos … have taken a gay rights group to court for using the word lesbian in its name.
One of the plaintiffs said Wednesday that the name of the association, Homosexual and Lesbian Community of Greece, “insults the identity” of the people of Lesbos, who are also known as Lesbians.
“My sister can’t say she is a Lesbian,” said Dimitris Lambrou. “Our geographical designation has been usurped by certain ladies who have no connection whatsoever with Lesbos,” he said.
[Lambrou and two women] are seeking to have the group barred from using “lesbian” in its name ….
Lambrou said the word lesbian has only been linked with gay women in the past few decades. “But we have been Lesbians for thousands of years,” said Lambrou, who publishes a small magazine on ancient Greek religion and technology that frequently criticizes the Christian Church….

Of course your sister can say she’s a lesbian!
Things get interesting when you say it though, Dimitris…
Good thing we have lawyers in the EU to straighten this all out for us.

Downsizing is a Tough Pill to Swallow

Musab al-Zarqawi replaced
IRAQ’S resistance has replaced Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as political head of the rebels, confining him to a military role, the son of Osama bin Laden’s mentor said in Jordan.
“The Iraqi resistance’s high command asked Zarqawi to give up his political role and replaced him with an Iraqi, because of several mistakes he made,” said Hudayf Azzam, who claims close contacts with the rebels.
“Zarqawi’s role has been limited to military action,” said Azzam, whose late father Abdullah Azzam was the mentor of bin Laden, the al-Qaeda boss.
“Zarqawi bowed to the orders two weeks ago and was replaced by Iraqi national Abdullah bin Rashed al-Baghdadi,” Azzam said.

Saw this yesterday via The Counterterrorism Blog and wondered if it had any credence. Low and behold, it’s just showing up on MSNBCcom, so I figured it was safe to share.
I sure wish they’d whacked the little f*cker, instead of moving him down a notch. But hopefully now this means he’s vunerable and schmaybe a ‘patriot’ (or a pragmatic businessman…) will sell him out.

My Take on Google vs.Great Wall

I’m going to use comments I left on a Vodka Pundit post by Will Collier.

In a perverse way, I think this might be very enlightening for the average Chinese citizen and a very good thing. If ~ as they have stated they intend to ~ Google notes what searches have been censored when the results appear, that’s a confirmation of the regime’s repressiveness that one reading a newspaper or watching state TV might have long suspected, but had no way to prove. “Results Censored” in their faces how many times a day may well be a big straw for the camel’s back.

As for comparing Google’s stiff-arming a crawl-up-your-butt justice department with kow-towing to the Chinese? That’s flamingos and pelicans in my book. We have a hard-fought freedom here that needs to be jealously safe-guarded against intrusions of the federal kind, and rightly so. Every attempt to errode that, no matter how well meaning, needs to be examined under a microscope ~ fought tooth and nail to be proven necessary ~ vice blindly acquiesced to. The Chinese have no such tradition, no such rights worth bloody brawls. But a little freedom light will shine from every computer screen when “Search/Results Censored” notifications tell the searcher that there was something out there for them to find, but they weren’t allowed to see it. Not allowed to read it and decide for themselves. The resentment will fester and grow and that’s a good thing. An in-your-face-every-day good thing. It reminds me of something I heard Lieutenant Viktor Belenko (who defected with a MIG-25 in 1976) say. Asked what had caused him to even consider taking the plane to the Americans, he replied it was watching outraged news reports about the persecution of Communist Party members in the U.S. . One day it dawned on him that the Americans had a Communist Party, persecuted or not. The reverse certainly couldn’t be said for the Soviets. How could a country that allowed an ‘enemy’ party to be part of the political process be as evil as they said it was?
And it’s a much smaller world now. Let a little light shine.

Nail Bingley to the Wall, Baby!!

Even so, they hold the same megaphone as the adults and enjoy perceived credibility owing to membership in the larger world of blog grown-ups. These effete and often-clever “bloggies” are rich in time and toys, but bereft of adult supervision.
Spoiled and undisciplined, they have grabbed the mike and seized the stage, a privilege granted not by years in the trenches, but by virtue of a three-pronged plug and the miracle of WiFi. They play tag team with hyperlinks (“I’ll say you’re important if you’ll say I’m important”), and shriek “Gotcha!” when they catch some weary wage earner in a mistake or oversight. Plenty smart, but lacking in wisdom, they possess the power of a forum, but neither the maturity nor humility that years of experience impose.
Each time I wander into blogdom, I’m reminded of the savage children stranded on an island in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. Without adult supervision, they organize themselves into rival tribes, learn to hunt and kill, and eventually become murderous barbarians in the absence of a civilizing structure.

Kathleen Parker doesn’t like us. She really, really doesn’t like us. Bingley’s big mouth ruins everything for me.

The THS Rail Road Tie Wall

Coalition Book Club

The “disjointed disappointment” was a real slog of an effort called “Independence Lost: Lives on the Edge of the American Revolution.” I REALLY had high hopes for it – and, quite honestly, it was filled to the BRIM with good stuff – but, LORD, was it hard to get through, not to mention had some pretty off-the-wall mistakes in it. (And DON’T call us “Pensacolans.” We are “Pensacolians,” ffs.) (Grrrrr.)

Anyways, always willing to give it another go. I will let you all know what I think in a bit, because I’m not yet halfway through THIS…

…and it’s a brick.

But WHAT a READ.

I Hate Pajama Boys

Hateses them.

UPDATE: I see that the original poster has chosen to finally delete his tweet, after taking what could generously be described as a brutal pounding. Let me set the scene for you:

A video of the moving walkway at Atlanta airport. As travelers – including the poster – use the center conveyor, the sides are flanked with hundreds of American SOLDIERS, probably members of the 82d, awaiting transport to the latest flare-up in the always peaceful Middle East. Some are walking along the glass railing adjacent to the autowalk, but most are just patiently standing in line. A LONG line along the terminal walls.

The poster’s written comment on HIS video?

This is terrifying.

The tweet below was my answer.

After deleting his despicable commentary on America’s blood and treasure, “Danny Ocean” settled for this:

I assume we are all meant to worship at the altar of his profoundness.

UPDATE PART DEUX: Well, lookee here what I found when I opened the laptop. A “terrifying” moment in time, frozen for all eternity.

You be the judge…

I HATE these POS.

************************************************************************

And I hope you all don’t mind my dropping the tweets in here. It’s a prelude to being about to post on a regular basis like I used to years ago, as I am now a member of the great unwashed and unemployed, which is VERY MUCH to my liking.

Here’s fair warning…gird yer loins.

“Capitalism Is Killing Me”

So I’m walking back to my office and I see a young lady doing a slow, writhey sort of dance in front of the Old Federal Reserve building on Wall Street, right below the statue of George Washington.

I noticed that she had a large cardboard sign that says “capitalism is killing me.”

Everyone else seemed to only notice the fact that she was topless (and lacking tan lines).

Who knew capitalism targeted shirts first?

I Can’t Access The Story

(it’s behind an Aussie paywall) but with a headline like this, I really don’t need to:

“Traumatic effect of beheading on boy who hid in house”