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January 31, 2008
"...But It Featured the 10 Most Shocking Words..."
"...in the history of the Super Bowl:"
“Erections lasting longer than four hours may require medical help.”
I'm supposing the majority of male America wanted to be able to say they had to make that call for help.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:45 PM | Comments (1)
Speaking Of The Debate Last Night
Did any of you catch the Elvis Presley-esque "Viva Viagra!" commercial? How awful was that?
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:46 AM | Comments (1)
January 30, 2008
Tonight's Debate
Well, I caught the last half-hour or so of the debate this evening and I have to say I dislike McCain even more now than I did before. First off, he just looks old, I mean real old; nasty old, the kind of old man who lives on your street muttering to himself and slipping razor blades into the apples he gives out on Halloween kind of old. And his constant default position anytime he's questioned - I served in Vietnam! - gets pretty tiring. He's a nasty bitter old crank who wants to do away with border security and the First Amendment. Someone explain to me please how he has an (R) next to his name? And believe me, if he is the nominee the MSM will suddenly discover the Keating Five and all his temper tantrums; they can't wait for him to get it.
Romney improved in my view. He had a cool demeanor and reasoned responses to McCain's whining. i only wish he had really attacked him.
Huckabee is one smooth talking snake oil salesman, that's for sure. I really truly dislike how he has so closely tied his religious beliefs to how he claims he will govern, but he is certainly the best speaker on that stage.
Ron Paul is, well, he really is there solely for his entertainment value. Bring back the Gold Standard! End all foreign policy!
Anyhow, there's a lot more interesting stuff at Hot Air.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:55 PM | Comments (9)
Just got home from a GOP event here in Norf Cackalackie...
for Fred Smith, who is trying to be the GOP candidate for 'guvner, and all I can say is: The CAG has been instructed to never again sit us at the table with any life forms wearing a Ron Paul '08 sticker or pin. Ye gawds, the Paulnuts/Ronulins are even worse in person. 2 people in the whole room with Ron pins, and I get stuck next to and across from them both. I now have a nasty scar on my wrist from the dull butter knife that I was trying to slit my wrist with.
Posted by Crusader at 09:00 PM | Comments (11)
Depends What Your Version of "IS...
...LAM" is. Can't have those ugly un-truths filtering through.
Malaysia bans 11 books on IslamMalaysia has banned 11 books for allegedly giving a false portrayal of Islam, such as by linking the religion to terrorism and the mistreatment of women, an official said Wednesday.
The government ordered the books -- most of them released by U.S. publishers -- to be blacklisted earlier this month "because they are not in line with what we call the Malaysian version of Islam," said Che Din Yusoh, an official with the Internal Security Ministry's publications control unit.
"Some of them ridicule Islam as a religion, or the facts are wrong about Islam, like associating Islam with terrorism ... or saying Islam mistreats women," he said. "Once you mention something which is not correct, it's not proper."
See? No mention of a fatwah for the authors! Now that's civilized behavior.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:44 AM | Comments (3)
January 29, 2008
I Don't Think So
But what I thought would be a polling place festooned as usual turned out to be...kinda pitiful.
Like a sick ET, or something.
Or having to vote for McCain.
Or something.
Pitiful.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:43 PM | Comments (6)
It Would Seem Obvious, On the Face of It
...if we weren't in an election year, with all its heaving, hyperventilating hyperbole (i.e.: recession, apartheid, ad nauseum).
December durable orders rose 5.2%, larger than the expected 1.6% rise. Excluding transportation, orders still rose a healthy 2.6%. This strong level of orders in December does not support the assertion that the economy is in a recession.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:13 AM
Ah, The Kindness Of Mother Gaia
"You know, getting clubbed by Canadians doesn't sound so bad right about now..."
via Insta, an amazing series of Great White shark photos.
Nature ain't cuddly, folks.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:32 AM | Comments (7)
Those Darn Presbyterians
No one seems to understand their peaceful ways
A 37-year-old Birmingham man has pleaded guilty to plotting to kidnap and kill a British soldier.Parviz Khan, an unemployed charity worker, intended to seize and behead the unnamed Muslim serviceman "like a pig", Leicester Crown Court was told.
Three other men, Basiru Gassama, 30, Mohammed Irfan, 31, and Hamid Elasmar, 44, have admitted other offences connected with Khan's plot.
The court heard Amjad Mahmood, 32, and Zahoor Iqbal, 30, denied involvement.
The jury was told how Khan, of Alum Rock, intended to kidnap the soldier while on a night out, behead him in a lock-up garage and then release footage of the killing on the internet.
"Behead him like a pig." Nice.
Peaceful, even.
Mr Mahmood denies knowing about Khan's plot and failing to disclose information about it, while Mr Iqbal denies possessing a computer disc called Encyclopaedia Jihad, which would be likely to be useful to a terrorist.
I wonder if the "Encyclopedia Jihad" books are anything like the "Encyclopedia Brown" books I loved as a kid?
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:24 AM
January 28, 2008
Breaking Hostage News In Pakistan
This doesn't sound good
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Militants took hostage up to 250 Pakistani schoolchildren in the northwestern town of Bannu on Monday, the interior minister said.Police had earlier said about 25 children had been taken hostage after the gunman took refuge in the school following a clash with police.
"There are 200 to 250 children in the school and about seven militants. The provincial government is negotiating with them," Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz told Reuters.
Link from Hot Air.
Update: Now there's word they will free the hostages and 'surrender' to locale tribesmen.
Hmmm.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:33 AM | Comments (2)
January 27, 2008
Drink Read Up
...Shriners!
..."If you don't want to exercise too much," asks Dr. Morten Gronbaek, epidemiologist with Denmark's National Institute of Public Health, "can you trade it for one to two drinks per day and be fine?"
A study Gronbaek and colleagues just published in the European Heart Journal suggests the answer just may be yes. That finding, not surprisingly, has proved to be a crowd-pleaser.
And there was much rejoicing.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:23 PM | Comments (3)
Why Do I Sense Something
...foul?
Tyson Wins Court Victory Against Poultry Competitors...Sanderson Farms, Foster Farms and Perdue Farms filed a motion Friday for a temporary restraining order prohibiting Tyson from continuing its "Raised Without Antibiotics" chicken marketing program. They claimed the program, which is in the midst of a transition, contains incorrect information.
However, Judge Catherine Blake of U.S. District Court in Baltimore, denied the competitors' motion...
...Tyson announced in December the company and USDA had agreed to a new and more informative labeling for the company's Raised Without Antibiotics chicken program. The new label will include the following language:
"Chicken Raised Without Antibiotics that impact antibiotic resistance in humans."
Ah. Clarity.
And here I thought they were trying to camouflage something.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:51 PM | Comments (3)
"Are You Going to Kill Me Now?"
Rescue. And redemption.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:37 PM | Comments (1)
The 'Single Sheet' Whitehouse Plot
...and it's straight from the horsey mouth. (Proving, yet again, there is nothing too small for the maestro's evil Rovian machinations.)
...Last spring, you were held up as a parody of environmental correctness when you proposed restricting the use of toilet paper to one square per bathroom visit. What was that about? I think it’s a fantastic and eye-opening example of how the media is operated by political figures, of how Karl Rove was humiliated in the media and how, within 24 hours, he was able to humiliate me and take any sort of credibility away from me.What are you saying? You think Karl Rove leaked the toilet-paper story to the press after you and Laurie David sparred with him about global warming at the White House correspondents’ dinner? I cannot tie him directly to that leak, but within 24 hours of our exchange, as we were leaving D.C., it was on the CNN ticker tape: “Sheryl Crow has proposed that we legislate toilet paper to one square.”
Did you ever actually suggest that? It was always a joke. It was part of a shtick...”
Karl says you already know where to shtick it.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 07:38 PM | Comments (7)
January 26, 2008
"OK, Who Double-Dog Dared Who?"
That was the nurse asking.
...Gavin Dempsey and James Alexander were serving on flag duty at Jackson Elementary School Friday morning, with the job of raising and lowering the school's flags. They decided to see if their tongues really would stick to the cold metal.
Our squadron actually had its own version of this story enshrined in our memories, only it was Osan, -10° and...
...one of the 500 pounders hung on a ready-to-launch Intruder.
That was one lispy-assed plane captain.
Thank God they use hand signals.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 08:15 PM | Comments (10)
January 25, 2008
Quote of the Day
From Kcruella, who emails to instruct me:
...and if you find me pass out, please call the paramedics before you call one of the olsen twins
I need clarification.
Do you mean call both of them, instead? Call one more than once…or…don’t call them at all?
Who says celebrity tragedies have no impact on the real life of us little people?
We can all learn something.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:01 PM | Comments (6)
Breaking Insider Info On The SocGen Trader
Via an email from our Secret Correspondent:
FRIENDS of rogue trader Jerome Kerviel last night blamed his $7 billion losses on unbearable levels of stress brought on by a punishing 30 hour week.Kerviel was known to start work as early as nine in the morning and still be at his desk at five or even five-thirty, often with just an hour and a half for lunch.
One colleague said: "He was, how you say, une workaholique. I have a family and a mistress so I would leave the office at around 2pm at the latest, if I wasn't on strike.
"But Jerome was tied to that desk. One day I came back to the office at 3pm because I had forgotten my stupid little hat and there he was, fast asleep on the photocopier.
"At first I assumed he had been having sex with it, but then I remembered he had been working for almost six hours."
As the losses mounted, Kerviel tried to conceal his bad trades by covering them with an intense red wine sauce, later switching to delicate pastry horns.
At one point he managed to dispose of dozens of transactions by hiding them inside vol-au-vent cases and staging a fake reception.
Last night a spokesman for Sócíété Générálé denied that Kerviel was over worked, insisting he lost the money after betting that the French were about to stop being rude, lazy, arrogant bastards.
hehehe
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 11:32 AM | Comments (2)
January 24, 2008
Too Bad for San Francisco
...eh?
Gateway Pundit quotes Our Marines:
We traveled to 10 different states and 15 locations across the U.S. to create the "America's Marines" commercial.
Except...San Francisco.
I think they've left their heart...and their minds...in a black hole somewhere. I'll never go back.
UPDATE: If you've never seen the Silent Drill Team, watch...and weep. It's a thing of beauty.
A warm Swill Salute to Tizona.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:40 PM | Comments (4)
One Little Sentence Caught My Eye
...in this article about Obama not being Muslim.
...Kerry's note was titled "Swiftboating" -- a reference to Kerry's own presidential campaign in 2004, which was famously sunk by falsities spread by the lobbying group Swift Boat Veterans for the Truth. Many politicos believe that Kerry's decision not to "dignify" the rumors and fight them aggressively contributed to his campaign's defeat in the general election.
What was 'false' about what the Swifties presented? I don't remember hearing anything besides Kerry sputtering they were lying, or his supporters trying to prove they were, all the while refusing to release his service records. Remember this?
" In an irregular response to a government records request, the Navy’s letter referred Judicial Watch to the Kerry campaign Internet site for “Numerous responsive U.S. Navy service record documents, as well as service record documents not subject to disclosure requirements under the FOIA . . .”
And ~ as of Nov. 17, 2007 ~ according to the NY Post and T. Boone Pickens, he STILL hasn't proved the Swift Boat Veterans told a single lie.)
Am I wrong here? Shouldn't 'The Swifties LIED' be right up there with 'The Plastic Turkey'?
Posted by tree hugging sister at 04:14 PM | Comments (2)
Let the $7B Global Conspiracy Spin Begin!
As it clearly the intent, the Daily Mail is practicing diversionary stategery by the canny placement of OTHER news items alongside the report. Click on the pic to see what I'm talking about...
Oh, yeah. After that teaser, you're really gonna read about the banker...
Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:23 PM | Comments (4)
It's Best Not to Be a Smug Beeyatch
...until AFTER sentencing, eh?
A judge sentenced a woman to nearly the maximum prison term for negligent homicide after hearing a recorded jail conversation in which she made light of the cyclist she killed....[Superior Court Judge] Cruikshank said he found a telephone conversation between Arrington and an unknown male friend, a week after L'Ecuyer was killed, to be "breathtaking in its inhumanity."
During the conversation, the man told Arrington that an acquaintance believed she should get a medal and a parade because she had "taken out" a "tree hugger, a bicyclist, a Frenchman and a gay guy all in one shot."
Arrington laughed. When the man said he knew it was a terrible thing to say, she responded, "No, it's not."
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:59 AM | Comments (6)
SocGen Gets Socked
I'm sure we've all known someone at places we've worked who has cheated the company, be it via creative fudging on expense reports, using the company credit cards for private purchases or other forms of, well, stealing. But all of them look like rank amateurs compared to this as of yet unnamed fellow who managed to defraud Societe Generale of $7.1 billion
French bank Societe Generale says it has uncovered a fraud by a Paris-based trader which resulted in a loss of 4.9bn euros ($7.1bn; £3.7bn).The bank said the fraud was based on simple transactions, but concealed by "sophisticated and varied techniques".
It also announced new write-downs of 2.05bn euros related to the sub-prime mortgage crisis in the US.
The bank's shares, which were suspended in the morning, lost 3.6% when they resumed trading.
The bank, one of France's largest, will need to seek 5.5bn euros in new capital to offset the losses.
But it said it would still make a profit of 600m to 800m euros for 2007, despite the blow to its balance sheet.
"One trader... had taken massive fraudulent directional positions in 2007 and 2008 beyond his limited authority," the bank said.
It added that the trader had "in-depth knowledge of the control procedures resulting from this former employment in the middle-office".
"The transactions which involved the fraud were simple - taking a position on shares rising - but hidden using extremely sophisticated and varied techniques," chief executive Daniel Bouton said in a letter to the bank's customers.
The bank said that the trader had confessed to the fraud and was being dismissed. His managers were to leave the bank as well.
That's "billion" with a "b".
How the hell does something like this go on? Well, there's a couple of ways. Firstly, I agree with this fellow
"I am sorry but I have a hard time buying the fact that a trader was able to set up a 'secret trade' of 4.9 billion without anybody finding out," said Ion-Marc Valhi at Amas Bank.
There's no doubt these trades were noticed; in fact, probably the next day. The real question is how they were explained and justified. My first thought was that this was accomplished via mis-valuation of positions. This sort of thing happens all the time in futures and commodities. Accountants know accounting; they have no clue about futures or options, so quite often when we are audited our auditors ask us to value the positions so they can figure out profits or loss, as absurd as that seems. It is therefore very easy for a dishonest (or just plain stupid) trader to float along for a few years showing 'profits' by over-valuing his positions; eventually it does catch up to you, of course, but you can get away with it for a little while.
But it seems that wasn't the case here
The alleged fraud took place in Paris, and - in SocGen's words - was carried out in "plain vanilla futures hedging on European equity market indices". So there was no connection to CDOs or structured finance.
I simply can't understand at this point how this was accomplished via regular futures trades without a lot of people involved. There's just too many hands that these trades have to go through every day; someone should have said 'wait a minute' pretty early on.
UPDATE: According to this report he "did not directly benefit from the fraud." So my curiosity has increased further. We trade on electronic machines, and it is very easy to enter trades you don't mean to. So we have what are called 'fat finger' filters on our machines for an added level of protection, for as any reader of the Swilling will attest my typing is atrocious, and there have been many times where I have meant to sell, say, 10 lots of futures but my damned fingers typed 100...or 1000. And the filters make you stop for one second and confirm what you want to do, which has saved me thousands of dollars.
Having said that, I can't imagine making a multi-billion dollar error. One guess is that he made a multi-million dollar error, perhaps, which is easy enough to do in stock futures trading, and instead of reversing it immediately and taking his relatively minor (albeit very painful none-the-less) lumps he thought he'd be cute and trade his way out of it and put on a huge option position which has gotten completely blown out by the worldwide stock downturn.
Update: All your croissant are belong to us
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:22 AM | Comments (7)
January 23, 2008
She, She Pueda?
Where there's a pander to be made you'll find a Clinton
ABC News' Eloise Harper Reports: Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., flew across the country to receive the United Farm Workers endorsement in Salinas, California on Tuesday. The Union, founded in 1962 by Cesar Chavez, represents 27,000 farm workers.The Senator took the stage with bleachers filled behind her with UFW members wearing red t-shirts chanting "Si Se Puede!" Clinton who rarely utters Spanish to Hispanic crowds, shouted back at one point during her remarks. "Si se pueda is right! That's right, yes we can!" Clinton used the wrong tense of the the word "puede," presumably accidentally to the crowd. Clinton has admittidly told audiences that her language skills are not her strongest suit and often referneces her french teacher from college who said to her her "Madmoiselle, your talents lie elsewhere."
(Obviously language skills are also not Eloise Harper's strongest suit: "admittidly"? "referneces"? These MSM folks are the professionals! Bow before their staffs and editors!) My Spanish is a little rusty, but isn't "pueda" in the subjunctive, so what she said was more along the lines of "Yes! We can! Maybe!"?
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:01 AM | Comments (3)
Funny How You Only Ever Hear About
The wall that those nasty evil Zionist Israelis built; who knew that the Egyptians had built one too
RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) - Tens of thousands of Palestinians poured from the Gaza Strip into Egypt Wednesday after masked gunmen with explosives destroyed most of the seven-mile wall dividing the border town of Rafah.The Gazans crossed on foot, in cars or riding donkey carts to buy supplies made scarce by an Israeli blockade of their impoverished territory. Police from the militant group Hamas, which controls Gaza, directed the traffic. Egyptian border guards took no action.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Arye Mekel said Israel has no forces on the Gaza-Egypt border and, "therefore it is the responsibility of Egypt to ensure that the border operates properly, according to the signed agreements."
I'm shocked that the Egyptians would have a wall segregating their Palestinian Brothers! And not do all within their power to end the "Israeli" blockade.
Gosh, it's enough to make one think that maybe, just schmaybe there might be something, shall we say, undesirable about the folks that even the Egyptians want to keep them out.
Egypt has largely kept its border with Gaza closed since the Hamas takeover, amid concerns of a spillover of Hamas-style militancy into Egypt.However, Hamas has orchestrated daily demonstrations on the Gaza-Egypt border in an apparent attempt to appeal to Arab public opinion and pressure Egypt to open the passage.
You don't say.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:30 AM | Comments (1)
January 22, 2008
Jeez
I wish people would make up their minds...
This stuff ain't easy on a shoestring, yo.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:16 PM | Comments (8)
Fred Drops Out
A pity, but his heart never seemed to be in it. So now I guess we end up with some sort of McCain/Romney combination.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 02:48 PM | Comments (7)
After A Full Generation Of Feminist Policies Women Still Lag Behind
It's scandalous, really, and an issue that i hope Hilary addresses in the next debate
Men are drinking twice as much alcohol as women, figures for 2006 suggest.Data from the Office for National Statistics suggest men drink an average of 18.7 units a week, compared with 9.0 units for women.
Some 21% of men, and 11% of women had drunk on at least five of the seven days before the survey was carried out.
We need urgent government action to solve this inequity!
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:46 AM | Comments (6)
January 21, 2008
Another Deployed Marine Suffers Horrific Wounds
...in the line of duty.
Bless her heart.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 02:19 PM | Comments (2)
"Quite Frankly, You Don't Even Look Like a Soldier..."
"You're a small little [blank],"That's because he wasn't a soldier, asshole. He's a MARINE. Just like the Assistant State's Attorney prosecuting your case...
...Assistant State's Attorney Patrick Kelly, (Marine Corps/Vietnam 1969-1972)...and the judge hearing it.
...Judge O'Malley has also traveled, but in his youth. He was a police officer on the West Side during the riots before law school. And before that, he performed another public service.And, to a one, despite your most outrageous and egregious behavior (which warranted an immediate ass kicking of epic proportions on its own), they've been law abiding gentlemen to a fault. And you still can't show up to court on time?Judge O'Malley served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1961-1964.
Not the sharpest tack in the box, are you, Mr. Grodner? Thank God someone's out there protecting your right to live your version of "stuck on stupid".
Your Honor, ADA Kelly, Marines in the courtroom and the deployed Sgt. McNulty?
DAMN, you make me proud. Semper Fi.
And Sgt. McN? Stay safe, Leatherneck. And God speed.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:59 PM | Comments (6)
"Peace, Eh?"
Oh, you bet. Sing it, my brother.
Thanks, Hot Air.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:02 AM | Comments (2)
January 19, 2008
Burfday Lunch
As Sis so kindly pointed out, yesterday was my birthday, and I took the day off from work and was quite the lazy bumpkin at home. I did manage to rouse myself to make lunch, however
The burgers are from the Stock Yards; they are the trimmings from the divine Filets and NY Strips that they sell, and they're sitting atop some thick slices of Maytag blue cheese."
Orgasms on a bun, my friends.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:38 AM | Comments (9)
Christmas Dinner
Oops, a little late in posting this. Here's a quick pic of dinner on Christmas day
The steak au poivre is on the plates, and scattered about are the green beans, twice-baked potatoes, creamed spinach and the Torbreck Shiraz.
Merry Yumness to All!
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:15 AM
January 18, 2008
So Today is Bingley's Birthday !!
Besides a multiplicity of candleworks, according to Instapundit, he shares it with Cary Grant.
Funny. The two even look alike.
I mean, Bingley looked EXACTLY like this when the guy caught him in his plane...
Posted by tree hugging sister at 08:53 AM | Comments (16)
January 17, 2008
It's Hard To Believe
On one hand it doesn't seem like it's been this long, yet on the other it seems like it's been forever. You see, 10 years ago today was the first time any of us ever heard the name "Monika Lewinsky."
Oh sure we all heard the whispered stories about JFK and movie stars, but, I don't know, maybe it should be chalked up to glassy-eyed nostalgia or foolish innocence, but the idea that the President, our President, would do something so base in the freakin' White House for gosh' sakes was just simply beyond my imagination, and it has forever scarred how we view both the office and its holder.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:11 AM | Comments (5)
January 16, 2008
That Took Balls!
Well, okay.
It only took one.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 07:43 PM | Comments (4)
Former Republican Congressman Indicted For Helping Taliban
My goodness
WASHINGTON (AP) - A former congressman and delegate to the United Nations was indicted Wednesday as part of a terrorist fundraising ring that allegedly sent more than $130,000 to an al-Qaida and Taliban supporter who has threatened U.S. and international troops in Afghanistan.The former Republican congressman from Michigan, Mark Deli Siljander, was charged with money laundering, conspiracy and obstructing justice for allegedly lying about lobbying senators on behalf of an Islamic charity that authorities said was secretly sending funds to terrorists.
Nice.
It looks like he's given us a clue about his changed view earlier this year
Former Michigan congressman Mark Siljander will recount his spiritual journey in which he “discovered commonalities between Islam and Christianity” in Reconcilable Differences: The True Story of the Quest to Bridge the Divide Between Islam and Christianity, slated for a summer 2008 publication by HarperSanFrancisco. Siljander also served as US ambassador to the United Nations.
This should be interesting to watch.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 03:08 PM | Comments (3)
Tree Hugging Earth Mother That I Am
...I can still tell when the pot is calling the kettle "terrorist".
... Japanese officials said Sea Shepherd must agree not to attack the whaling vessel during any rendezvous to turn over the two protesters. Watson refused to comply, demanding an "unconditional" release."When people hold hostages and make demands, that's the behavior of a terrorist organization," he said. "I'm not going to acquiesce to their demands."
Posted by tree hugging sister at 02:05 PM | Comments (6)
Hillary Keeps It Fresh And Real
Oh yeah, she's the one to vote for if you want change. How ridiculous an idea is that? The core of Bill's argument is stolen from Yogi: She's such an insider that she's an outsider. It's not like Obama is some refreshing agent of reform (no product of the Democratic Chicago Machine can ever really say he's for 'change' with a straight face), but compared to Hillary...
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 11:55 AM | Comments (4)
January 15, 2008
"Absolutely Stupid"
Dear Obama
I know you're kinda new to this whole Legislature thing, being in your first term and all (thanks Jeri!), but Civil Rights leaders don't sign legislation into Law.
Love
Chuck
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:14 AM | Comments (5)
January 14, 2008
One Of The Bestest Guys In The World Needs Your Prayers
Tim Blair, a man I'm honored to call a friend, has cancer.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 02:24 PM | Comments (3)
We've Come For Your Liver
In what seems to be a scene straight out of Monty Python, hell, in what is a scene straight out of Monty Python, the UK Government has decided that they can take your organs with out your consent
Gordon Brown has thrown his weight behind a move to allow hospitals to take organs from dead patients without explicit consent.Writing in The Sunday Telegraph, the Prime Minister says that such a facility would save thousands of lives and that he hopes such a system can start this year.
The proposals would mean consent for organ donation after death would be automatically presumed, unless individuals had opted out of the national register or family members objected.
Now that's bad enough, but they are going even further: they are going to pressure hospitals to come up with ever larger numbers of "donors"
The Government will launch an overhaul of the system next week, which will put pressure on doctors and nurses to identify more "potential organ donors" from dying patients. Hospitals will be rated for the number of deceased patients they "convert" into donors and doctors will be expected to identify potential donors earlier and alert donor co-ordinators as patients approach death.
The outcome of this is clear: since it costs far more money to keep patients alive the UK system will devolve into little more than an organ farm. Hey, why waste time and money prolonging your life when they've got that back-log of transplants to attend to? Heck, the medicines they give you to cure whatever ails you might in fact harm some of your organs, and the hospitals do have their quotas to meet!
"A system of this kind seems to have the potential to close the aching gap between the potential benefits of transplant surgery in the UK and the limits imposed by our current system of consent," Mr Brown writes.
Yes, allowing people to decide how their bodies are used is so limiting, isn't it, Gordo? Such an archaic concept like "consent of the governed" is so limiting when you, the big happy friendly government want to "help" people, isn't it?
Oh, but this is a policy from the Labour Party, so it can't possibly be bad, right?
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 01:36 PM | Comments (7)
For Second I thought We Were Talking Episcopals
...or whack job Huckabee. Well, shoot, it's only Presidential Candidate Obama's church.
Peace, my brothers. As long as you're the same color as everyone else.
And unless you're one of those filthy 'middleclass' types.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:44 AM | Comments (1)
January 12, 2008
Fred's Supporters Turn Up The Pressure
Professor Bainbridge has the proof
The "Sick ET" line caused my coffee to go a'flyin'.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:29 AM | Comments (0)
January 11, 2008
Oh, It's Easy to Say Fred! Needs Metamucil
...when you're already a little sh*t. There's lots of pissiness flowing from your own campaign...
...A Huckabee spokesman suggested Thompson apparently can't sell himself so is resorting to desperate tactics.
...because Fred!'s been using you as a Sani Wipe in the debates. So, before you dump on him again, you might want to stay loose, take a stool and watch your movement in the polls circle the bowl.
Ask yourself if losing No.2 is worth it.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 06:05 PM | Comments (1)
So, That Means
...what?
...In broken English, one woman told Clinton how she wasn't making money as a broker anymore.¿Que?"I have no income at all," she said. "So how will I survive?"
Choking up with emotion, the woman said, "In my neighborhood, there are brand-new homes, but the value is nothing. I'm glad you are here so I can tell you, because you're going to be the president, I know."
A man shouted through an opening in the wall that his wife was illegal.
"No woman is illegal," Clinton said, to cheers.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 05:08 PM | Comments (2)
Ken Is A Bad Boy
Funny as hell, mind you, but still baaaaaad.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 03:02 PM | Comments (1)
That's PETA for You
Always a tad LATE with their concern.
PETA Requests Vegetarian Diet in Jail for Cannibalism Suspect
But at least they're helping. I supposed it was because no bunnies, moo-cows or piggies were harmed during the making of this particular dish.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:02 AM | Comments (7)
We've Lost a Jaunty Fellow
The grandest social climber of all time.
Well DONE, sir. And God speed you (and keep you warm.)
Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:53 AM | Comments (0)
More Proof Of Gorebal Warmening
Crisis! We must stop all carbon production now!!!
Scotland's ski centres have had the "best snow for years" as a result of the country's recent wintry weather.All five of the country's snow sports areas have opened early - an achievement which operators said was highly unusual.
All the areas reported superb snow, with most main runs complete and ample nursery areas.
A Scottish climate scientist examines the profound effects AGW is having on Scotland
Feel the Consensus.
Become the Consensus.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:21 AM | Comments (3)
January 10, 2008
My View Going Home Today
Was nowhere near as purdy as Ann Althouse's was this morning.
If I was a Philostopher I would find some deep significance in the allure of looking to the glowing City to the West over the tired one to the East...
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:33 PM | Comments (5)
"LUKE! I am Your Father", Said Darth...
...SMALL?
Cool dad, regardless.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 04:48 PM | Comments (2)
What's Bigger
The iPod Nano or the Tata Nano
Amidst all the glitz, glamor and horsepower that surround the Detroit auto show, we’d almost forgotten that a motor show was being held in New Delhi, India. The most notable unveiling, Tata’s Nano, is designed to carry a price tag below $2500 - and is virtually the antithesis of anything being shown in Detroit.Looking not unlike the offspring of a Ford Th!nk and a Mitsubishi i, the Nano is a small, five-door, four-passenger hatchback. By small, we mean small; the car measures in at just under 3.1 meters (11 ft) long, and 1.5 meters ( 5 ft) wide. Nanos will be powered by a 623-cc gasoline engine (how many cylinders is currently unknown) capable of 33 horsepower. Coupled through a four-speed manual transmission, the micro car supposedly can reach a top speed of around 105 km/h (65 mph).
Looks like the engine is a 2 cylinder monster.
Who needs AC in India?
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:54 AM | Comments (10)
January 09, 2008
"Weekend at Bernie's"
The corpse in the chair was a dead giveawayTwo men wheeled a dead man through the streets in an office chair to a check-cashing store Tuesday and tried to cash his Social Security check before being arrested on fraud charges, police said.
UPDATE: Heh.
“Hell’s Kitchen has a rich history,” said Paul J. Browne, a police spokesman, “but this is one for the books.”
Posted by tree hugging sister at 08:49 PM | Comments (8)
Thou Spongy Fen-sucked Vassal...
...Bingley!
(I'd forgotten how much fun this was.)
(That is all.)
Posted by tree hugging sister at 04:18 PM | Comments (3)
Don't You Know
...we could use more like him? Just for the honesty alone.
..."There's an attitude everywhere else that people are smarter than they are in New Orleans and in Mississippi. They're not," the 60-year-old general said at his office at Fort Gillem, just outside Atlanta. "What happened in New Orleans could have happened anywhere on the Eastern Seaboard."
Thank you, sir.
And the best of everything to you.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:33 PM | Comments (5)
For Those People Think Professional Golfers Are Pussies...
This will only serve as more proof
DRUG LIST: Toward the end of the U.S. PGA Tour's anti-doping program manual distributed to players last month is a section that lists examples of medications that are permitted, such as antibiotics, hemorrhoidals and muscle relaxants.It was surprising to see vaginal preparations as the final entry.
Hehehehe.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 01:04 PM | Comments (1)
I Guess They'd Never Heard
...of 'New' Coke.
1977
Leading Import in the U.S.
Sales skyrocket in the U.S. as Löwenbräu becomes the leading import.1980s
Formula Changed in U.S.
Löwenbräu is reformulated in the U.S. to compete in domestic category.
Dolts. But take heart purists ~ we learned something we didn't know.
2002
Löwenbräu is back.
Back by popular demand, Löwenbräu reintroduces Löwenbräu Original Lager in the US , importing it directly from the Löwenbräu brewery in Munich.
Glad to hear he got his roar back. Shame you can't resurrect that market share.
UPDATE:
That's not much for getting the word out. Most disenchanted folks already thought it was.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:12 AM | Comments (5)
Why is This Picture Now So Completely Appropriate?
Think big, inert gasbag.
What I can't believe is that it took so long.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:00 AM | Comments (1)
Finally Someone Takes A Good Long Look At Ron Paul
And I'm shocked, shocked! at what they found
If you are a critic of the Bush administration, chances are that, at some point over the past six months, Ron Paul has said something that appealed to you. Paul describes himself as a libertarian, but, since his presidential campaign took off earlier this year, the Republican congressman has attracted donations and plaudits from across the ideological spectrum. Antiwar conservatives, disaffected centrists, even young liberal activists have all flocked to Paul, hailing him as a throwback to an earlier age, when politicians were less mealy-mouthed and American government was more modest in its ambitions, both at home and abroad. In The New York Times Magazine, conservative writer Christopher Caldwell gushed that Paul is a "formidable stander on constitutional principle," while The Nation praised "his full-throated rejection of the imperial project in Iraq." Former TNR editor Andrew Sullivan endorsed Paul for the GOP nomination, and ABC's Jake Tapper described the candidate as "the one true straight-talker in this race." Even The Wall Street Journal, the newspaper of the elite bankers whom Paul detests, recently advised other Republican presidential contenders not to "dismiss the passion he's tapped."Most voters had never heard of Paul before he launched his quixotic bid for the Republican nomination. But the Texan has been active in politics for decades. And, long before he was the darling of antiwar activists on the left and right, Paul was in the newsletter business. In the age before blogs, newsletters occupied a prominent place in right-wing political discourse...
...But, whoever actually wrote them, the newsletters I saw all had one thing in common: They were published under a banner containing Paul's name, and the articles (except for one special edition of a newsletter that contained the byline of another writer) seem designed to create the impression that they were written by him--and reflected his views. What they reveal are decades worth of obsession with conspiracies, sympathy for the right-wing militia movement, and deeply held bigotry against blacks, Jews, and gays. In short, they suggest that Ron Paul is not the plain-speaking antiwar activist his supporters believe they are backing--but rather a member in good standing of some of the oldest and ugliest traditions in American politics.
Read the whole thing. And if you have the stomach for it read the comments, as the Ronulans are out in force.
The MSM have been so under the thrall of their BDS that anyone with a (R) next to their name who was anti-Chimpster was A-OK with them. It has amazed me the love affair and free pass that this whack job loon Paul has gotten so far.
Kudos to The New Republic; this story will go a long way to help restore their reputation.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:05 AM | Comments (9)
January 08, 2008
When You WORK for an Organization
...signed a contract that says you "can be required to serve anywhere in the world under penalty of dismissal with limited exceptions", still take your paycheck home every other week and use your bountiful benefits, you DON'T get to decide you suddenly aren't available because the CEO needs you someplace sucky. And maybe you don't agree with why, but you should have said something at the beginning and then quit out of principle...
Nearly half of U.S. diplomats unwilling to volunteer to work in Iraq say one reason for their refusal is they don't agree with the Bush administration's policies in the country, according to a survey released Tuesday.
...especially since we all know you'd be in Europe like a shot if they needed to send you there.
And if I were a colleague who volunteered to do YOUR job so the business of the United States could go forth? First off, you'd best not get promoted if you're lucky enough to remain employed. Secondly?
Dang. There just might be harsh words in the girl's room.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:55 PM | Comments (1)
Dear GOD
60% reporting and she's still got a 2 point lead. Old girl may just be on the verge of pulling this out of her support hose.
Chingao...62% and she's back up to a 3 point lead. Obama JuggerNOT.
Who loves ya, pretty momma? I guess New Hampshire does.
Carville and Begala back to the mad bad-dog kennel for the moment?
UPDATE: Whelp, they've called it for her.
Clinton defeats Obama in N.H. primary
Add that one to the exit poll circular file. (Man, I wish Fred! had had the $$'s to compete. There might have been a surprise or two in those exit polls, too.) So who starts chewing off their arm first thing tomorrow, eh? Hillary's going to be knew-it-all-the-time smug: that's a given. It's gonna be interesting watching the little wheels spin and spin.
9:45 CST Especially since the spread keeps cracking a little wider ~ now it's 40-36 with 71% in.
Another positive that contradicts the polling? Ron Paul has 8% vice the 15% predicted. Thank Xenu some of those voters were just little jokesters when it came to interview time.
10:14 CST Women apparently broke big for the old girl and I'm finding a little ring of truth in one of the comments.
Not only did the media attack Hillary for her eyes welling, but in households around NH, husbands were telling their wives “this is why a woman can’t be President,” or “see, women can’t help but cry all the time.”Oh, I'll bet they were. (They were doing it all over the RW blogs, even though they were also saying it was vintage, calculated Clinton thespianism.) And guaranteed, nothing will get a rise out of the little woman like being told to get another log or "is that all you can do? Cry?" Even in a loving, joking manner. (Like you guys always claim you meant it when she starts turning colors.) Close as the race was, every pissed-off granddaughter or housewife casting a "Oh yeah? Take THAT!" vote counted.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:07 PM | Comments (4)
"Whatever Possessed You..."
"...to go running off into the paddy like that?""A Marine"
"How do you mean?"
"He's a Marine. I'll take care of him."
Posted by tree hugging sister at 05:25 PM | Comments (1)
I Am Dying
...here.
"Protecting the Earth's environment will require many human sacrifices. But what sort of sacrifices, and by which people?"
Behold, PETA maiden!! The Goreacle approacheth!!!
When my sides stop aching, I'll say thanks.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:06 PM | Comments (1)
So New Hampshire Democrats
...are plumb running out of ballots, huh?
Even at this late stage, ChimpyMcBushhitler and his Rovian Republican toadies will do ANYTHING to steal an election.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:46 PM
Presented Without Further Comment
Ken passed this along to me
Women and gay men are likely to be the worst drivers, a new study has shown. Be afraid: Women or gay men could be behind the wheel of any carResearch has revealed that both perform poorly in tasks involving navigation and spatial awareness when compared to heterosexual men.
The computer-based tests were carried out on 140 volunteers, and demonstrated that gay men, straight women and lesbians navigated in a similar way, sharing the same weaknesses.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:30 AM | Comments (7)
To Get To Tool About Town...
In a 50 year old hand built race car
Call me old-fashioned, but I like a car to have a few niceties about it. I don't expect sat-nav or even electric windows, but seat belts and some sort of heating system I consider the bare minimum requirements – neither of which were found in the 1956 Lotus Eleven Sport I was recently invited to drive.To be fair, I knew it wouldn't come "suited-and-booted" with a leather and walnut interior. It is, after all, the actual car which was assembled and raced by one the greatest motoring legends of his era: Graham Hill...
...The "Yellow Peril", XJH 902, is steeped in so much history it is impossible to ignore the importance of the role it played in post-war British motor sport. Hill built the car when he was working as a mechanic at Lotus Engineering in Hornsey, London, and raced it in the 1,200cc class of the Autosport Production Car Championship. To save money, the relatively impoverished future world champion would drive it to race meetings, compete in it, and then drive it home.
How cool is that?
Tim will be awfully jealous.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:36 AM
January 07, 2008
Just for Sir Rob of Crab Lane, Appleton:
In the absence of sacrificial poultry, the major and I have stuffed ourselves full of Louisiana's finest...
...to assist (in spirit) the efforts of your favorite team...
...no sacrifice being too great for a friend.
I hope the juju is good.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 08:15 PM | Comments (8)
Just a Note Reality Check for the Clown
I don't care if your baristas steam up java made from vermin poo served in golden arches cups: the closest I will EVER get to McDonald's is the drive through. And, oddly enough, I DON'T think I'm just speaking for me.
McDonald's brings on baristasThe Hamburglar has his eye on the Grande Mocha Latte.
McDonald's (MCD, news, msgs) will install coffee bars with baristas -- experts in preparing coffee drinks -- at nearly all of its 14,000 restaurants in the U.S., The Wall Street Journal reported.
The move is part of the fast-food chain's continued effort to challenge Starbucks' (SBUX, news, msgs) dominance in the coffee market.
The truth hurts, eh kid?
Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:19 PM | Comments (19)
Um...
OUCH.
...The Clinton industry, encrusted with the beneficiaries and acolytes of the first and probably only Clinton presidency, has turned Hillary into a product whose sell-by date has passed.
UPDATE:
When it comes to dissecting Hillary's 'who-did-her-in'...
...Ignoring ObamaIn some ways, Obama isn’t quite the outsider and systematic change agent that he claims to be. Yes he is an African-American who now calls the South Side of Chicago home – and that will always make him an outsider to some extent. In many other ways, however, he is just a new wave of what Bill and Hillary were years ago – an on-the-make, Ivy League-educated, Democratic lawyer eager to seize power in Washington. If Hillary was going to say that, she needed to have done it months ago. She did not.
...I guess "The Love Boat" has sailed.
A concerned Democrat asks...
"Can't we all just get along?"
Posted by tree hugging sister at 12:07 PM | Comments (3)
January 06, 2008
There Are Rescue Drops
A British deep-sea fishing boat which has been wedged in Antarctic pack ice for two weeks was running again last night after receiving an emergency airdrop.Two previous attempts to deliver a spare piston had failed...
Yesterday a US air force C-17 Globemaster finally managed to drop the replacement part on to pack ice beside the ship from 120 metres (400ft) overhead.
And there are RESCUE drops.
..."The US air force was fantastic. They offered to drop the package on the deck but I had visions of it smashing through the bridge.
"So they dropped it nearby on the ice with a large buoy and put a 20lb box of chocolates inside."
Life is like that.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:45 PM | Comments (4)
January 04, 2008
Pffft
..."I just wanted to help my daughter write a compelling story," she said. "There is no more compelling story than the struggle and sacrifices of our military and their families."Oh, gag me. And on the Today Show, no less.
Selfish, stupid bitch.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 03:58 PM | Comments (10)
Is That Why It Comes
...in a plain brown wrapper?
...That is not what this DVD is about. What it is exactly is hard to pin down. On the surface, it looks like a yoga video – for about the first 15 seconds. It starts to get weird immediately after words proclaiming “Beginning exercises” appear on the screen.I’ve taken a fair amount of yoga classes and I have to say, most of these poses were foreign to me. Particularly the ones where you need two other naked ladies to be your partners. Particularly if all of the participants are doused in glycerin that is supposed to look like sweat. Particularly if the three of you are on a giant rotating disc. And especially if you have trouble seeing each other because of the fog machine.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:51 PM | Comments (5)
As Obama Rewrites History in Iowa
...tucked into a teeny AP blurb in the local fishwrap, it appears scribbling fingers are doing the same in New Jersey.
NJ Nears Undermining Electoral CollegeNew Jersey is close to entering a compact that would eliminate the power of the Electoral College to choose a president if enough states endorse the idea.
The state Senate voted Thursday to approve delivering the state's 15 electoral votes for president to the winner of the national popular vote. The Assembly approved the measure in December and needs Gov. Jon S. Corzine's signature to become law.
"The bill is subject to a thorough review, but Gov. Corzine has long been a supporter of this concept," Corzine spokesman Jim Gardner said.
The measure could result in the electoral votes going to a candidate opposed by voters in New Jersey, which has backed Democratic presidential candidates since 1988.
Corzine/concept ~ why am I having a problem with that?
Leaving aside the constitutional questions, the basic thrust is, as one Pennsylvania voter pointed out...
...He [Vermont State Representative Christopher Pearson] was questioned by skeptical Allegheny County House Democrat William Kortz, who raised the possibility that under the proposed compact agreement, one presidential candidate could get every single Pennsylvania popular vote but still lose the state’s electoral votes:(Kortz:) “So, our vote wouldn’t count. Pennsylvania’s vote wouldn’t count, theoretically. Am I correct?”
In typical socio-political weasel-speak, the answer was "Yes and no", until pressed.
(Pearson:) “And the answer is no. You’re incorrect. Pennsylvania’s votes count because your popular votes are added into the aggregate total of the nationwide popular vote.”So that's the 'compact's' argument. Which means nothing besides proving that New Jersey's shit isn't only confined to covering the beaches.
UPDATE: If you want to read some crap, attend to Joreko in the comments. He appears to be a flunky for this cabal of State Legislatures. My answer?
Smug talking points, per my 'weasel-speak' assessment above. If the National Popular Vote is so, well, POPULAR, then a Constitutional Amendment to CHANGE/eliminate the Electoral College shouldn't be a problem, right? But, no. That's NOT how you're choosing to do it. A constitutional amendment vote would allow ALL voters to make their choices known/HAVE THEIR VOICES HEARD, vice the State Legislatures now colluding to massage your pet project AROUND/CIRCUMVENT/skitter on the edges OF the Constitutional requirements......Political supporters of the Agreement have been curiously reticent to discuss the validity of the Agreement under Article I, section 10. Although some similar proposals would be invalid under section 10, the Agreement adopted in Maryland does not abuse the structure of the Electoral College, nor does it disrupt the balance of power among the states or between the states and the national government....which strikes me as implicitly underhanded and denying me my vote.
Sorry. You REEK of sneaky weasels.
If the National Vote was the will of the people, you'd think after 2000 that schmaybe, just schmaybe we'd be voting on an amendment by now. But we are NOT. I have no intention of letting my state legislature strip me of my CONSTITUTIONAL rights through intrigue and prevarication. I want to see the list of states comtemplating this end run.
Wake the f*ck up, people.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:13 AM | Comments (16)
Iowa Thoughts
First off, I need to say it seems insane to me the amount of attention and weight given to the votes of 116,00 people on the Republican side (and I'm assuming a similar number for the Democrats) in a nation of 300 million. It's just ludicrous that this has the effect it does...but in this era of 24 hour hyper-hyping news porn that we live in, sadly it does.
So what have we learned?
On the Democratic side, people just don't like Hillary. Given the choice between 2 inexperienced Senators and a slick lawyer they prefer the warm and cuddly inexperienced Senator Obama over the nasty Hillary and the too-slick Edwards. In general I agree with that, mainly because I really dislike the dynastic turn that our Presidential politics has taken over the past 20 years; it's a horrible development for our republic. However, there is a part of me that whispers that in a major crisis we could count on Hillary to use the military in a forceful way and I just don't have that confidence about Obama.
On the Republican side, again it seems that cuddly prevailed in the form of Huckabee. And he's a guy that I agree with on a number of issues: school vouchers (against), abortion (against but it's an issue for the states, not the federal government). But on the issues that are to me the most important: national security, illegal immigration, 2nd Amendment, limiting federal government; the only candidate that I agree with is Fred Thompson. Huckabee, Romney, Giuliani, McCain were all in favor of that horrible Immigration Bill, and are squishy on securing the borders. Romney and Giuliani are in favor of tighter gun restrictions. Huckabee greatly increased government size and spending, Romney taxed the bejeebus out of everyone, and I can never forget McCain's role as a Keating 5 member.
So I am officially declaring myself for Fred. In fact, I even contributed to his campaign this morning (a first for me). I agree with Bryan; Fred needs to now step up the pace.
Did I forget to mention Ron Paul?
Well, that's because he's a Nucking Fut.
Update: you know, it's amazing. You just put the words "Ron Paul" on your blog and within minutes someone has visited your site via Technorati. These Ronulans are a devoted bunch, ain't they?
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:18 AM | Comments (16)
January 03, 2008
In Honor of Global Warming
...and the frozen Iowa Caucusoids, I give you balmy Bangla-cola...
...on a typical Thursday morning.
Keepin' it real*.
In the Sunshine State.
(*Polar bears not included.)
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:10 AM | Comments (9)