“That Global Warming Is the Biggest Joke I’ve Ever Known,”

“[W]e’ll stick a dadgum tree up somebody’s rear if they want that and think that’s going to cure something.”

You tell ’em, Pops.
Personally, I think hand lettered “TIME Infidels Must DIE!! TIME to Behead Infidels!!” placard is called for ~ or WOULD be, if…you know…I was the excitable type.

An Outbreak Of Spam-nesty?

This is really rather creepy

MINNEAPOLIS – The number of mysterious neurological illnesses among workers who processed pig brains at pork plants in three states has grown to as many as 24, and other possible cases are being evaluated, researchers said Wednesday.
Dr. Daniel Lachance, a Mayo Clinic neurologist, said there are now 18 confirmed cases among people who have worked at the Quality Pork Processors plant in Austin, Minn. That’s up from 13 cases reported as of February.
…The common thread among the affected workers is that they all worked in a part of the plants that used compressed air to blow pig brains out of skulls, Lachance said. All the plants have discontinued the practice.
The working hypothesis, he told reporters, is still that some of the brain tissue was turned into a fine mist during the process, and that the workers became exposed to it and somehow developed an autoimmune response that caused nerve damage.
“The precise mechanism by which that is occurring, we do not yet understand,” Lachance said.
Common symptoms include pain, weakness, fatigue and numbness. A unique pattern of antibodies has been found in all the patients, Lachance said.
A Spanish-language interpreter at an Austin clinic and plant nurses realized last year they were seeing a pattern of similar illnesses among the workers. The Mayo Clinic reported 12 cases to the state Health Department in November. In January, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention gave the condition a name — progressive inflammatory neuropathy, or PIN.

Breathing misty pig brains can’t be a lot of fun, in fact it’s probably downright offal. A quick glance at the cheery Quality Pork Processors website yields this info

We are a co-packer with Hormel Foods Corporation with Hormel as our only customer. We do the slaughter, cut and conversion of fresh pork products. Located in Austin, Minnesota, we are 100 miles south of Minneapolis/St. Paul and 45 miles west of Rochester, Minnesota. The town of Austin has a population of approximately 23,000 people. We process (kill/cut), on average, 17,000 hogs per day and bone out over 300,000 lbs. of loins per day. QPP employs over 1,200 people.

17,000 per day. That’s a lot of pig brains. I sure hope this is some sort of an allergic reaction by their nervous systems and not an indication that there’s some type of “mad-swine” disease that’s appearing; that would be truly frightening.
In the meantime I hope they just dispose of the whole heads until they figure out what the issue is here.

Real Compassionate Care

Ah, to retire in Denmark

April 16 (Bloomberg) — When a male resident at Kildegaarden nursing home in Denmark made an indecent sexual proposal to a member of the staff, the home’s director, Inger Marie Kristensen, told a nurse to telephone for a prostitute.
“There was a considerable change in his demeanor after the escort girl had paid him a visit,” Kristensen said in an interview. “We do this for our clients just as we offer them other services that they need as human beings.”
Kildegaarden, located 100 miles (160 kilometers) west of Copenhagen in Skanderborg, has about 100 residents, including victims of Alzheimer’s disease and strokes. Nurses arranged visits by call girls three times in the past three years.

I love that quote

There was a considerable change in his demeanor after the escort girl had paid him a visit

Gee, ya think?
If this is what we have to look forward to with Nationalized Health Care…

What I’m Drinking Tonight

Shaken, not stirred.
Gosh, what do you think, Suzette?

Too Much Of A Good Thing

…can be a bad thing

LONDON, England (CNN) — Taking antioxidants like vitamins A and E to prolong life may actually have the opposite effect, new research has found.
Taking vitamin supplements in large quanities may actually prove detrimental to your health.
A review of 67 studies involving more than 230,000 people found “no convincing evidence” that the vitamins prolonged life, the Press Association reported.
“Even more, beta-carotene, vitamin A, and vitamin E seem to increase mortality,” according to the researchers.
However, other health specialists said the research was “flawed” and the supplements were safe to take.
The review, published by The Cochrane Collaboration, involved trials on beta-carotene, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, and selenium.
The experts said the studies involved different doses of each antioxidant. A total of 232,550 people were involved.
Forty-seven trials included 180,938 people and had a low risk of bias. In these trials with a low risk of bias, the “antioxidant supplements significantly increased mortality”, the report’s authors wrote.
When the different antioxidants were assessed separately and low risk of bias trials were included and selenium excluded, vitamin A was linked to a 16% increased risk of dying, beta-carotene to a seven percent increased risk and vitamin E to a four percent increased risk.

I always chuckle when I read these studies and they say that ‘x’ “increases risk of dying.” Last I checked it’s still 100%.
Anyhoo, I guess I’ll pass on the Flinstones Chewables now and reach for the one true health tonic:

My Nephew ~ Kcruella’s Baby Boy

…graduates from Army boot camp in Ft. Benning tomorrow. We’re so dang proud of him.
And I get to be there!!!
UPDATE: Hmmmm… Forgot about that.

Schmaybe I was letting my enthusiasm get the best of me.

Now Here’s My Kind Of International Scandal

Talk about “fightin’ words”…

A French MP has said he is outraged that the song chosen to represent the nation in the Eurovision song contest has English lyrics.
Jacques Myard, of the UMP party, has urged the company that runs most of France’s TV networks to reconsider.
…Mr Myard told the BBC that allowing an English song to represent France was a fiasco: “The French language is the tool of a huge industry in terms of cultural influence and if we French give up our language, what do you think the others will say?”
Mr Myard, himself a fluent English speaker, said it was not appropriate that, in a European contest, France should “monkey another’s culture”.

“Monkey”
Baaaad choice of words from an “outraged” Frenchman…

I Am Normally Loathe to Suggest This, But…Listen to the Iraqis!!!!!

Listen. To. The. Iraqis.
Please.

Differences have emerged between the U.S. and Iraq on how to deal with Shiite militant Muqtada al-Sadr, with the Americans appearing more willing than the Shiite-led government to concede a legitimate political role to the anti-U.S. cleric.

He’s a bad, BAD guy.

Make him a grease spot. Please.
Before he turns around and bites you in the ass. Again.

Note to Self:

Before asking major dad to use a multi-meter to check AA batteries for juice (since the BRAND SPANKIN’ NEW camera won’t turn on for JACK, no matter WHAT you do), find some other indication on the camera case where the positive terminal is supposed to be. Or, after repeated attempts to load said batteries according to the diagram you think you see (with no joy) and point out to him, major dad will gently tell you:

“That’s a screw.”

%$#@*&%!!!!!!

We Have a Wonderfully Talented LOCAL(!) Cartoonist

…who pretty much nailed reaction to this headline:

Jimmy Carter Embraces Hamas Official

We LOVE this guy.

Mrs. O’Leary’s Cash Cow

Just because no one ever called you on it didn’t mean it was okay to begin with.

The head of the Smithsonian Latino Center resigned after an investigation found she abused her expense account to fund her extravagant use of spas, luxury hotels and frequent limousine rides, according to a report released by the institution.
Pilar O’Leary, 39, billed the nonprofit museum complex for “extravagant” and “lavish travel expenses,” the Smithsonian Institution inspector general found. In one case, she charged the Smithsonian for a limo she took across the National Mall from one Smithsonian building to another, according to the report, which was released Monday.
…In statements attached to the report, O’Leary said she relied on authorizations from former Deputy Secretary Sheila Burke for her expenses and was never questioned.

I’m guessing they were assuming you were a ‘responsible’ adult.

Moo.

Energy News

Capt. Ed at HotAir has a couple of posts up this morning on some recent discoveries in energy. One is the finding of a large oil field off the coast of Brazil (something like the 3rd largest known) and another is on a potential process of converting sugar into hydrogen for power generation. This also has a Brazilian angle to it, as Brazil is far and away the largest cane sugar producer in the world (producing some 40% of the world’s cane).
Now I know Fausta is very positive about Brazil’s potential, and there’s a lot of things on her side in this, but one always needs to remember the old adage about Brazil: It’s the Country Of The Future…and it always will be. I love and adore Brazil, but it will never come close to its potential until it can reform its epidemic corruption, especially of its political class.
A perfect example of this showed up the other day. Brazil has long led the world in ethanol production and use in cars. I remember being in Rio in the mid-80s and seeing them for the first time and talking to folks about how hard they were to start on cold days (a problem they’ve since solved, at least for ‘cold’ as defined by Brazilians…). Anyhow, evidently Petrobras, which until about 10 years ago was state-owned and thus had a monopoly on oil production in Brazil, has been feeling the pinch in the internal gasoline market in Brazil, as due to the high world oil prices ethanol was cheaper than gas and so the Brazilian consumers were buying much more ethanol and forcing Petrobras to sell their excess gasoline production to foreign markets at a cheaper price.
So naturally Petrobras has lobbied/bribed legislators to raise the internal tax on ethanol from 3.5% to 21%.
Nice, huh?

How Sad And…Pathetic, Really

via Tim, this story

A 33-year old Italian artist, Giuseppina Pasqualino, also known as Pippa Bacca, was found dead in Turkey on Saturday, after having been raped and murdered. Paqualino was hitchhiking towards Israel dressed in a wedding dress in an appeal for peace.
The woman was last seen on March 31 in the mainly industrial city of Gebze, while hitchhiking to Israel in the wedding dress as part of her “Brides on Tour” project aiming to plead for peace in conflict areas. She disappeared after using her credit card around noon. Police found her naked body hidden in bushes in a forested area near Gebze, after questioning the man suspected of the murder late Friday, the governor’s office said.
Police tracked down the suspect when he switched on Pasqualino’s mobile phone, having inserted his own SIM card, an Italian Embassy official said. The official asked not to be named because he was not authorized to give information on the police investigation.

Evidently she took pictures of the animal who did this and they found her camera in his house. Think what you will about the delusion of her ideals and “artistic vision” but she certainly didn’t deserve such a fate.

You. Neanderthal. BASTARDS.

Ruin everything.

Male sex hormone may affect stock trades
The hormone that drives male aggression and sexual interest also seems able to boost short term success at finance. But what seems to start out well can turn bad, with elevated testosterone levels over several days possibly leading to irrational risk-taking, according to researchers at the University of Cambridge in England.

Keep it IN your pants, okay? Wallet freakin’ included!!!!
How hard tough is that?

Mystery Solved!

So everyone’s all a-twitter about this naughty film of Marilyn Monroe’s (and let’s hope that this doesn’t serve as another inspiration for Lindsay Lohan) and the identity of the man involved

The silent black-and-white flick shows Monroe on her knees in front of a man whose face is just out of the shot.
…There are heavily redacted, declassified FBI documents talking about a “French-type” film.

It was Marcel Marceau!

Well, Like Millions Of Other Folks…

My Xbox360 has given me the dreaded RRoD. I have to say because MicroSoft was afraid of lawsuits over how many of these things crap out that they’ve (so far, at least) got the response down to a science: you call the 800 number and a few days later you receive a box to UPS your console back to them, and in a few weeks you get another one back that hopefully works. We’ll see.
Anyhow, to tide me over until it returns I’ve re-connected the PS2.
Man, I really missed playing Rachet and Clank! Especially “Up Your Arsenal” featuring Courtney Gears…

R&C is one of the funniest video games out there.

So I Guess the Message Is:

“It doesn’t matter what he says, so long as he says it purty like.”

…”I don’t think he put his brain in gear before he engaged his mouth,” Little said. “But he apologized. … I think he has the right ideas, and I like hearing him talk. I put him in sort of the same mold as the Kennedys, JFK and Bobby.”

Gads.
Now, I’m feeling bitter…probably just a bile eruption in an involuntary reaction to egregious fatuity.
I should get used to it, yes?

Ken May Be Moving Soon

Not that this has much of a chance of being enacted in it’s entirety

SACRAMENTO – Joe Six-pack will have to pay a lot more to get his buzz on if Assemblyman Jim Beall has his way.
The San Jose Democrat on Thursday proposed raising the beer tax by $1.80 per six-pack, or 30 cents per can or bottle. The current tax is 2 cents per can. That’s an increase of about 1,500 percent.

I love the “Joe Six-pack” slap at folks. Yes, anyone who likes an occasional beer is some low edjumacated boor who fills his tanks with suds between bouts of hittin’ the missus and watching NASCAR.
(h/t to Vodkapundit)

Here’s A Shocker

100%ALCOHOLIC

(thanks to Theresa)

Attention Snowmobilers

It is generally not a good idea to ride into a volcano

A man was evacuated by helicopter after falling into the crater of Mt. St. Helens while snowmobiling on the mountain Saturday.
John Slemp, 52, of Damascus rode his snowmobile along with two others to the west rim of the crater at Mt. St. Helens.
Slemp got off his snowmobile and walked out onto a cornice overhanging the crater when it gave way, according to police.
Slemp reportedly fell about 1300 feet before landing on the interior slope of the crater. He then slid on hands and knees to the bottom of the crater.

You are here.
Now, I’m not one to question the veracity of our glorious Media…but “he fell 1300 feet”? Hmmm.

Has It Really Been 50 Years Since Krushchev Asked

“Is he the best?“

Yes it has.

1962 ~ Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.1 Mvt III
That man can rock the keys.

Reach For The Laptop At Your Peril

It’s well protected

American, BA To Merge?

And base all of their MD-80 flights out of Terminal 5 at Heathrow to “more efficiently disrupt the passengers’ plans” the CEOs said in a joint statement issued today. “We’re very excited by this confluence potential of our experience and demonstrated skill sets; we’ve coined the term ‘Screwnergy’ which we think best describes what our valued clients can expect from our combined efforts in the future.”
Gosh, can’t wait.

“Circle of Men Prayed…”

“…cried during temple raid”

Oh, I’ll BET they did.

My Sentiments

…EXACTLY.
First off, I’ll apologize for not noticing this story until I hit my favoritest trashy gossip site today. But the story was so compelling…

Former cycling champion Tammy Thomas seemed to be in the midst of shaving her face when an Olympic drug tester paid her an unannounced visit in 2002, according to testimony Wednesday in her trial on perjury charges.
Tom McVay, a tester for the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, told a jury in U.S. District Court in San Francisco that on March 14, 2002, he was assigned to locate Thomas at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, east of San Diego, and collect a urine sample for a steroid test.
The visit was memorable, McVay said, because of Thomas’ appearance when she answered his knock on her apartment door.
“It appeared to be like shaving cream on the left side of her face around her ear,” he said.

…and her picture?

Read more »