Oh

…yeah.

Now That’s a Send-Off

HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) — Before the nearly 4,100 soldiers in the 34th Brigade Combat Team leave for Iraq, family and friends wanted to make sure they were sent off in style – and with a little taste of home.
At Camp Shelby Wednesday, there were 8,000 home-cooked steaks, a band and plenty of kegs of beer. Lines of cars with out-of-state license plates snaked through the roads to the base to arrive at the party.
The soldiers hail from Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Nebraska and New Jersey, but about 2,600 are from Minnesota. Those soldiers are the largest contingent of Minnesota’s National Guard to see combat since World War II.
A popular St. Paul restaurant, Mancini’s, served up the same steaks that customers get back in Minnesota. Ted Marti, whose son is part of the brigade expected to be gone for a year, brought dozens of kegs of beer and root beer from his family’s Minnesota brewery.
Like other National Guard units to deploy in recent years, the brigade represented a cross-section of people from soldiers in their 50s to those who were too young to drink the free beer.
“We’ve got a lot of emotions with our son going,” he said. “So we wanted to throw them a party. This is New Ulm (Minn.) style.”

God speed, ya’ll.

Wanna Stretch?

Then it’s gonna cost you or quit whining and put your knees up.

For an extra $15, Northwest Airlines Corp. will sell coach passengers a few more inches of legroom.
Starting Tuesday, Northwest will ask passengers on most domestic flights if they’re interested in paying extra for certain prime seats in coach exit-row seats or aisle seats near the front of the cabin.

I Hate to Break It to the Big Guy

…but we’ve been talking about it for months DAMN near the whole year we’ve been around. (Maybe if he spent a little time among the teeming underclasses instead of hobnobbing with toady book publishers and academic glitterati, he’d already know, huh?)
Anyways, toDAY’S news on the economic front, brought to you courtesy of the McChimps at Hitler, Halliburton & Rove:

U.S. consumer prices rose a modest 0.1 percent last month, both overall and excluding food and energy, the government said on Thursday in a report showing even less inflation pressure than Wall Street expected.

Word of the Day

nugatory \NOO-guh-tor-ee\ adjective
1 : of little or no consequence : trifling, inconsequential
2 : having no force : inoperative
– NOU-gat : see:BINGLEY

Please Give A Warm Swill Welcome

To the latest member of our blogroll: Careful Thought.
Poor guy is under assault by the Unschooling Army. “Unschooling” is homeschooling without the school, I think. Go look at the FAQ Section and see if you can figure it out. Look, I’m not a big fan of homeschooling, but I think it can succeed with the proper support network and recognition by the parents that it is a heck of a lot of work.
One thing that is clear from reading the comments is that the first thing that is unschooled is manners.

Oh Please Please Please…

Let them sell it to Halliburton!

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Seeking to ease Congress’ trepidation about a controversial ports deal, a company owned by the United Arab Emirates said Wednesday it would sell the management rights to six American facilities to an unrelated U.S. buyer within six months.

Then our Master Rove’s plans will be fulfilled!
Buwhahahahahahaha!

And An Xbox360 In Every Living Room…

I wasn’t aware that broadband access was a ‘right’ that the government needed to address:

America lags behind other countries that have universal broadband deployment, Pelosi said; but the Democrats’ agenda “guarantees” that every American will have affordable access to broadband within five years.
“We also believe that the nationwide deployment of high speed, always-on broadband and Internet and mobile communications will fuel the development of millions of new jobs in the United States,” Pelosi said.

“Mr. President, we’ve got a broad…band gap with the commies!”

King of the Musher People!

This makes Iditarod victory number four for Gentleman Jeff and his pugnacious pack.
Bravo, team!

If the End’s Nigh, You’re Supposed to Bend Over and Kiss

…Djibouti good-bye…right? According to this article, it could be time to pucker up.

…In north-eastern Africa’s Afar Triangle, though, recent months have seen hundreds of crevices splitting the desert floor and the ground has slumped by as much as 100 meters (328 feet). At the same time, scientists have observed magma rising from deep below as it begins to form what will eventually become a basalt ocean floor. Geologically speaking, it won’t be long until the Red Sea floods the region. The ocean that will then be born will split Africa apart.

A HUGE HUZZAH!! HUZZAH!! HUZZAH!!!!

…for sweet Sister NJSue’s college team!!

Monmouth Lets Its Play Justify Its Place in Final 64

Joy on the faces of the Monmouth Hawks on Tuesday belied the atmosphere of debate and rancor that has cloaked the N.C.A.A. tournament since its field was selected and seeded Sunday.
Monmouth provided a respite from the rhetoric with a simple reminder of what makes this postseason event enthralling.
The Hawks basked in the glow of winning an N.C.A.A. tournament game for the first time since its founding in West Long Branch, N.J., in 1933.
“To this date, this is Monmouth’s finest moment,” Hawks Coach Dave Calloway said.
Monmouth, 19-14 and champion of the Northeast Conference, officially became a No. 16-seeded team by defeating Hampton University, 71-49, in the opening-round game at the University of Dayton Arena.

Ahhhh…the little team that could. She’ll be high-fiving and trash talkin’ with all her students this morning ~ if anyone made it to class after last night. (Bingley was positively giddy when he called with the news last night and he hasn’t posted yet…)
Now, about that game on Friday. Don’t sweat it Monmouth ~ I’ve already got a close friend workin’ it for ya…

Read more »

Well, That’s Just Great

We’re been annointed the duty experts all of a sudden. (Yeesh. Maybe Diptera was right to worry about us and our eeeee-ville influence.) But no matter. It’s a burden and so we carry it.

It is beyond our control.

UPDATE: Martha Stewart, being the obliging sort of gal she is, has just sent me a lovely salmon recipe for St. Paddy’s Day. Salmon is as Irish as potatoes bah-DAY-does, so celebrate and keep Lent at the same time.

See? We are the resident experts. Google knows what it’s doing.
UPDATE: So does MSN Search. I guess.

Weeellll, If Bugs Has to Go

…I guess you need a way to take him.

Maybe I should caption this “Easter Bunny in CHAINS!“.
Nah.
Don’t want to upset Ebola.

Right, Left ~ I Think He Got the Horse Angle

…completely wrong.

Hugo Chavez wanted to make a political statement with

his new Venezuelan Chavista Coat of Arms, but the joke turns out to be on Hugo.
“…’A Coat of Arms’ because they are derived from the front painting of a shield are always read from the point of view of the bearer of the shield.
In other words, previously the horse pointed to the left and looked back at the right opposition left behind. Now, the horse is not only pointing to the right, it is galloping frantically away from the left (where Chavez stands politically).”

I say scrap the whole thing, Hugo. Instead, to make it right, may I suggest…
…? It works.
A warm Swill Salute to The Gateway Pundit and Venezuela News and Views.

This Is Interesting

I bet she’s got an interesting tale to tell:

(CNN) — Brazilian police said they have arrested a woman wanted for questioning in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
The arrest of Rana Abdel Rahim Qoleilat, a Lebanese woman, was made in Sao Paulo, authorities said. Qoleilat also is wanted in Lebanon for bank fraud, according to Joseph Sayah, the Lebanese consul in Sao Paulo.
…The Associated Press reported that Qoleilat was carrying a British passport identifying her as Rana Klailat of Northern Ireland. She allegedly offered police up to $200,000 (euro168,035) to release her and was arrested for attempted bribery, AP reports said. It was not clear if the passport was valid, according to the AP.
Qoleilat’s passport showed she had been in China, Iraq and Egypt, reported the AP, citing Sao Paulo police inspector Nicanor Nogueira Branco. Interpol asked Brazilian police on December 3 to try to find her, but no arrest warrant was issued, Branco told the AP.

Never Let Facts Get In The Way…

Via Tim Worstall, yet another blogging Tim shows that George Clooney is as good as his word:

Syriana is a film largely about the workings of the oil and gas industry, in particular the Middle East oil and gas industry, and as I know a thing or two about this subject, I was interested in watching it. Having now done so, I think Clooney was understating the fact.

A good primer on how business in the ME really works.

I Guess She Has to Spend Her Money on Something

…since she gave up drugs last week.

Moss bought a limited-edition, Jimmyjane “Little Something” vibrator in 24K gold for $350. The buzz-worthy bauble comes inscribed with choice of endearment (“Sugar,” “Be Mine,” “Sweetie” or “Flirt”) and is guaranteed not to get you in trouble with the law.

Fight! FIGHT !!

In THIS corner, the challenger…

N.Y. Times’ Iraq Detainee Story Challenged
The New York Times is investigating questions raised about the identity of a man who said in a Page 1 profile that he is the Abu Ghraib prisoner whose hooded image became an icon of abuse by American captors.
The online magazine Salon.com challenged the man’s identity, based on an examination of 280 Abu Ghraib pictures it has been studying for weeks and on an interview with an official of the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command. The official says the man the Times profiled Saturday, Ali Shalal Qaissi, is not the detainee in the photograph.

Whew, Dog!

As if being a senior wasn’t stressful enough. I mean, if you have any ambition at all…which I never have. (Pisces ~ we sorta float through life.)

1,600 More SAT Scoring Problems Found
The College Board disclosed Tuesday that an additional 1,600 SAT scores have not been rechecked from an exam in October that had scoring problems.
The previously overlooked batch of answer sheets came from among those being scored separately for a variety of reasons, including security concerns. Some of those scores were on hold and had not been reported, but others may have been reported incorrectly, according to an e-mail sent to college admissions officers and guidance counselors early Tuesday. The statement also was posted on the College Board’s Web site.

A THS Public Service Announcement

I’ve found an excellent primer for all my wanna-be organic treehuggers. And I know you all wanna be one. If Bingley and Kcruella can turn slowly to the dark side, now you all can too! (It even tells what not to waste your ‘organic’ dollars on.)

A Tidbit More on General Shinseki

…and the PhD’s post. He was every bit the professional military officer and, for his honesty born of combat experience, treated abomidably by the ‘civilians’ he was sworn to protect. Whatever their disagreement, for the arrogant BASTARDS to do THIS was INEXCUSABLE.

There were a few empty chairs at General Eric Shinseki’s June 2003 retirement ceremony. U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld didn’t make it to the event, which honored Shinseki’s 4 years as U.S. Army chief of staff and 38-year military career. Neither did Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, nor any of Rumsfeld’s other close associates. For a four-star general concluding a brilliant career, it was a major breach of protocol.
It was also no surprise, given Shinseki’s simple answer to a simple question a few months earlier. On February 25, 2003, as the general testified before a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the looming war in Iraq, Senator Carl Levin asked him what kind of manpower he believed it would take to keep the peace in postwar Iraq. “Something on the order of several hundred thousand soldiers are probably, you know, a figure that would be required,” he said. It was the reasoned estimate of a lifelong military man who had lost most of a foot in Vietnam, had led NATO’s Peace Stabilization Force in Bosnia, and had commanded both NATO’s land forces and the U.S. Army in Europe.
But it was not the answer his civilian boss was looking for. Rumsfeld was then in the process of convincing Congress that the war would require relatively few ground forces. Shinseki could have parroted the party line, or hedged his answer to appear more neutral, but he didn’t. As Bill Clinton recently put it, Shinseki committed candor. “He was a darn good military leader but not a very good politician,” says Les Cotton, the sheriff of Navarro County, Texas, who served as a soldier with Shinseki in Vietnam.

Amen to that, Les. Where and how is the Neo-Cons’ dismissive arrogance toward a general officer’s intelligence and experience any less disgusting than the Clintonites’ loathing of the uniform itself?

It Was “Sickle Cell Trait Complications”

…like the torso found on the beach was a ‘boating accident’ in Jaws.

“I think he made a mistake.”
That’s what forensic pathologist Michael Baden said Tuesday morning about the Bay County medical examiner who performed the first autopsy on Martin Anderson, a 14-year-old boy who died after a confrontation with guards at a panhandle boot camp.
“He [Anderson] did not die of natural causes,” Baden said.

UPDATE: Since this might be largely unfamiliar to non-Florida types, MSNBC has more on the story and the report, plus the video of the beating. I can’t stand to watch it.

On March 12th

…a certain young man turned 5…
…for the 55th time.
He had a belated birthday cake in our comic section today, complete with Dennis saying “It seems like only yesterday I was just FIVE YEARS OLD!” Happy Birthday, Dennis.
Now that the congrats are out of the way, I have to admit to an immediate sense of the creeps when I saw the cartoon this morning, as would any Harlan Ellison fan. Jeffty is Five, too.

When It’s A Slow News Day…

Thanks god we have Pat to liven things up:

Television evangelist Pat Robertson said Monday on his live news-and- talk program “The 700 Club” that Islam is not a religion of peace, and that radical Muslims are “satanic.”
He remarked that the outpouring of rage elicited by cartoons “just shows the kind of people we’re dealing with. These people are crazed fanatics, and I want to say it now: I believe it’s motivated by demonic power. It is satanic and it’s time we recognize what we’re dealing with.”

Can you say “satan”, Pat?

Satan and Jesus go toe-to-toe!
Who, aside from news reporters looking for easy copy, actually watches the 700 Club?

I’d Think About Rehiring the Officers You Laid Off

…and maybe filling in the gaps with hired guns.

If the Federal Emergency Management Agency approves the sheriff’s department’s proposal, which would cost $70 million over three years, up to 100 DynCorp employees would be deputized to be make arrests, carry weapons, and dress in the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Department khaki and black uniforms.

$70 million can go along way and you won’t have the police/community issues you will with a hired paramilitary outfit. What worked for them in Kabul won’t fly here.
And another thing I noticed ~ is this WaPo code-speak for “Mexican construction labor”?

Besides being nearly broke, the department has a host of new challenges. The FBI has warned that gangs such as Mara Salvatrucha, also known as MS-13, could come attached to construction crews and establish operations, prompting the department to establish a strike team that has already arrested eight alleged members, police officials said.