Man, Just When Oysters Were Getting Reasonable Again…

Army Corps of Engineers Opens Gates at Bonnet Carre Spillway to Save New Orleans

The Army Corps of Engineers began opening some floodgates at the Bonnet Carre spillway upriver from New Orleans on Monday.

With the river continuing to rise, the corps expects the spillway to take pressure off levees in populated areas to the south. Fresh water from the river will be diverted into Lake Pontchartrain, and from there out into the Gulf of Mexico.

While the diversion will help stabilize river levels, the fresh water also poses a danger to oyster grounds that are beginning to recover from last year’s BP oil spill.

Shucks.

When Someone Can Use a “Cat” To Torture His Dog

…somehow waterboarding Al-Qaeda scum pales in significance.

Layers Of Editors

Yes, that’s what sets the Pros apart from us pajama-clad hackers

WINNETKA, Ill. (AP) – The 14-room brick house defended from intruders by a young Macaulay Culkin in the movie “Home Alone” is up for sale in suburban Chicago for $2.4 million.

Owners John and Cynthia Abendshien bought the red-brick Gregorian in 1988 for $875,000. They tell the Chicago Tribune that they know it’s not the best time to put a high-end home on the market, but that they hope the home’s notoriety will help.

I’m not familiar with the “Gregorian” style of house.

I should ask the expert.

I Swear to God, Treacher Should Be a Household Name

If you really want Obama to release the pictures, just tell him Bin Laden donated to the GOP

…It really is hard to keep track of what you’re supposed to be proud of these days, isn’t it? Remember:

Pouring water on a terrorist’s face goes against our core values as Americans. You gotta break into his house and shoot him in the eyes.

Although I understand completely why he’s not.

(Watch out crossing the street my friend. They won’t miss next time…)

Monday Monday

I need a drink.

Yojimbo Nails It

I couldn’t have said it better myself

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms in SwillingNation. And especially happy Mother’s Day to all the moms with loved ones deployed, or soon to be deployed, in overseas contingency operations.

Indeed.

Goodbye, Seve

Rest in peace, and thanks for all the thrills.

It’s the Greatest Show on Earth: Joe Biden Telling a Captive Fort Campbell, KY Audience

…how almighty terrific the SEALS are.

**snicker**

The Missing 25 Minutes of Tape

This Is A Beautiful Thing

This is the best 11 minutes I’ve spent in a long long while.

The “discussion” between Larry

and Condi

goes pretty much as you would expect.

A Sweet Birthday Poem

For her Boo.

Who says Romance is dead?

Let’s See What’s “Unexpected” Today

The Non-farm payroll number is due out at 8:30

U.S. nonfarm payrolls, due at 1230 GMT, are seen rising by 186,000 last month, according to a Reuters survey of economists. In March payrolls rose by 216,000 which was the biggest increase in 10 months.

Note they’ve already scaled back expectations from March’s number.

Doom!

Update from Reuters:

Economy adds 244,000 jobs in April, jobless rate at 9.0 percent

So better jobs but unemployment goes up!

win/win!

unexpectedly more jobs and unexpectedly higher unemployment rate.

Updatedly update: Some extra info

The gain in overall payrolls, above economist expectations for a 186,000 increase, was supportive of views the economic recovery would regain speed this quarter after stumbling in the first three months of the year on high commodity prices.

Data for the previous two months was revised to show 46,000 more jobs were added.

The internals, though, were less encouraging.

The total amount of unemployed was unchanged from March at 13.7 million people.

The labor participation rate also was stuck at 64.2 percent, refuting the notion that the rise in the unemployment rate reflected more discouraged workers looking for jobs.

Also, the so-called real unemployment rate—which the government calls the U-6—which encompasses discouraged workers as well, actually rose in the month two-tenths of a point to 15.9 percent.

Still very fragile, it seems to me.

Now With Even More Updates!: as Drudge reminds us, 62,000 of these “great new jobs” were at McDonalds.

Captain Nathan J. Nylander, USAF

When he was the Company Grade Officer of the Quarter, the press release makes you smile:

Capt. Nathan J. Nylander – Flight Commander
LEADERSHIP & JOB PERFORMANCE IN A DEPLOYED ENVIRONMENT:
· The best part of his deployment is the ability we all have to affect change within U.S. military units but also within the AAF
· His greatest accomplishment since joining the military is working up through the ranks of Airman Basic to Technical Sergeant, earning my Bachelor’s degree, and getting his commission with the support of his family
· His deployment goals are to work hard, making a difference, affecting change and build strong relations with the Afghan Air Force weather personnel.

How I wish he could’ve had that chance…

KABUL, Afghanistan — Eight American troops and a U.S. contractor died Wednesday after an Afghan military pilot opened fire during a meeting at Kabul airport — the deadliest episode to date of an Afghan turning against his coalition partners, officials said.

The Afghan officer, who was a veteran military pilot, fired on the Americans after an argument, the Afghan Defense Ministry said.

…The shooting occurred in an operations room of the Afghan Air Corps at Kabul airport.

…to make see if he could make that difference. To come home, grow old…watch his three kids grow up. Anything, but what happened. God bless her, how does she explain something so traitorous, so hateful, so evil…so horribly final?

Apr 29, 2011 TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) – The United States Air Force has confirmed that an officer based at Davis Monthan Air Force Base was killed in Kabul, Afghanistan on Wednesday.

A Davis-Monthan Air Force Base spokesperson says 35 year-old Captain Nathan Nylander was killed after a shooting at Kabul International Airport, Afghanistan. His body arrived at Dover Air Force Base Friday. The Kentucky native was based in Tucson.

We thank you, Captain, for your service and sacrifice. God bless you, son.
Our most earnest thanks and heartfelt condolences to your brave family.

Unexpectedly Ugly

Recovery Spring!

Expected Initial Weekly Jobless First-Time Filers: To fall to 400,000 from 429,000 last week

Actual Filers (per Drudge): 474,000

That ain’t purdy.

Oh, and of course last week’s numbers got revised…up

The Labor Department revised the prior week’s figure up to 431,000 from an initially reported 429,000.

I love how the Media tries to spin this as not so bad:

The four-week moving average for jobless claims, a less- volatile measure, rose to 431,250 from 409,000.

See? That’s not so bad, now is it?

Until you think about it for a minute and realize that the “less-volatile” measure rose nearly 5.5% in a week.

“Now Is Not The Time To Spike The Football”

So of course it’s just a coincidence that Obama’s visiting Ground Zero today…for the first time since being elected.

Shock: “Time” Has Positive Article…

…about Bush

There has rarely been a starker juxtaposition of evil and innocence than the moment President George W. Bush received the news about 9/11 while reading The Pet Goat with second-graders in Sarasota, Florida.

Seven-year-olds can’t understand what Islamic terrorism is all about. But they know when an adult’s face is telling them something is very wrong — and none of the students sitting in Sandra Kay Daniels’ class at Emma E. Booker Elementary School that morning can forget the sudden, devastated change in Bush’s expression when White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card whispered the terrible news of the Al Qaeda attack.

…”I don’t remember the story we were reading — was it about pigs?” says Williams, 16. “But I’ll always remember watching his face turn red. He got really serious all of a sudden. But I was clueless. I was just seven. I’m just glad he didn’t get up and leave because then I would have been more scared and confused.” Chantal Guerrero, 16, agrees: even today she’s grateful that Bush regained his composure and stayed with the students until The Pet Goat was finished. “I think the President was trying to keep us from finding out,” says Guerrero, “so we all wouldn’t freak out.”

Read the whole thing. Quite a compassionate and daringly revisionist, and long overdue, take on a key moment in his Presidency.

Hey Porter!

with a little sauteed broc rabe

because sometimes you just have to.

I Do Notice One Omission in Our Continuing Happy Dances Here

One I will rectify immediately.

Good on you, Mr. President, for having the intestinal fortitude to greenlight this thing.

It was a decision of presidential proportions.

Sierra Hotel.

Every Single One of Them Deserves a Head Shot

But I like Rob’s idea of a dumpster burial.

On the first day of its promised spring offensive, the Taliban used a 12-year-old boy as a suicide bomber in an attack Sunday that killed four civilians, President Hamid Karzai said, calling the child’s recruitment inhumane and un-Islamic.

You’ll remember this is the same Karzai who is negotiating with these same Taliban and who eviscerates American troops ~ who put themselves at risk trying to minimalize civilian casualties with their ROEs ~ when bombs or bullets go astray, as things tend to do in a WARZONE.

I think it was Lara Logan who schooled Katie Couric on what an “outrage” really was.

Speaking Of Shark Bait

A talented friend just sent me this

Hehehe.

Yeah, I’m gloating at someone’s death.

Sue me.

Update: Per requests in comments.

Quote Of The Day

I admit it, this made me laugh:

Abbottabad? Is that near Costelloabad?

A Good Day

Yes, indeed.

And he’s now shark bait.

I like that.

Ding Dong

The murderous son-of-a-bitch is dead and the United States killed him.

I feel giddy.

update: A report has him living in a mansion outside Islamabad. New York Post is reporting SpecOps took him out. Pakistanis have anything to answer for?

Monday Update I will tip my hat to the 10:59 Patrick J commenter on Mark Steyn’s post here:

AndrewL, that’s kind of our point. “The usual politics” weren’t suspended last night, when Obama bragged on himself and Panetta and refused to even throw a crumb to the hardworking efforts of the Bush adminsitration that helped lead to this. When he made no reference to Navy Seals or the hated American military...

After Obama’s speech (during it, I was texting Bingley, “Why the history lesson?”), major dad said, “Oh. So it was a CIA operation.” Ebola said the same thing on the phone immediately afterward and we were all amazed the spooks hadn’t fucked it up, as has been their wont lately. Heartened and surprised as I was by his, “God bless America” and, frankly, the balls to pull the trigger period, his, “me, myself and I” reared it’s ugly head straight off. WTF, dude? Great action/result, typical Obama bullshit ruining it aftward.

Spring Means Pah

Dinner Pah last night

Breakfast Pah right now

It’s fruit!

It’s healthy, damn it!

Spring Has Arrived In Jersey!

Finally my lilac is blooming

yay!