Nutrition Rears Its Ugly Head

For some unbeknownst reason my Bride wasn’t feeling so brilliant on Saturday so for lunch I decided that I would make some soup-type concoction. I had bought some fennel at the ShopRong and decided to give that a whirl.

I cut the two bulbs into roughly 1/2 inch cubes

and then put them in a big straight-sided sautee pan with, oh, probably four tablespoons of olive oil on med/high heat to get nicely a sizzling, added some pepper and salt and let it begin to brown up, stirring every thirty seconds or so

after five or so minutes I threw in some carrots because a) I had them, b) I like them, and c) most importantly they add both a nice visual contrast and the sweetness of the carrots would (I hoped) compliment the mild “bite” of the fennel

after another 3-4 minutes of lazy stirring just to let the browning continue and for the carrots to warm through I added enough buzzard stock to cover everything by about 1/4 inch

then I covered the pan and let everything simmer for 15-20 minutes and reduce down slightly (this also really helped the carrots to soften)

and then into the bowls

Very tasty and, frankly, disgustingly healthy. The anise-with-a-slight-spicy-bite flavor of the fennel melded well with the full sweetness of the carrots, and the chicken stock is a nice base to hold it all. A good lunch for a Winter’s Day.

Thank god I used the chicken stock, because my general rule of thumb as a beastly carnivore is that something MUST DIE for every one of my meals.

Headline Of The Day

Comes to us from CNN

Washington, New Jersey move toward same-sex marriage

Talk about a long-distance relationship!

Douchey Little Local Fishwrap Strikes Again

In the front section, page 5A today was this little AP gem, headlined:

Details emerge on Rep. McKeon’s Countrywide loan

So we read it and of COURSE he’s a Republican, but HEY! If he deserves to get skewered, by all means ~ sharpen the knives! Sordid story about his western wear business going south, income plummeting, etc., builds a case for a guy in a LOT of financial distress who very well might have taken advantage of his position. However, in the FINEST tradition of the Pensacola News Journal, we get this very leading final ~ and please remember FINAL means “as PUBLISHED in the edition of the paper we all received in our homes and was NOT LINKED from the News Journal’s website” ~ paragraph, which had major dad and I seeing stars:

…House investigators are trying to determine whether McKeon and three other congressmen, including fellow California Republican Elton Gallegly, broke rules against gifts when they received loans as part of a VIP program where some of the favored customers were known as “Friends of Angelo.”

That was it for the article: naming ONLY two of the FOUR, identifying those two as REPUBLICANS and implying they were guilty of…something, while completely forgetting about the other possible miscreants.

WHAT?!?!?!?

So I went looking for the link and, of course, the PNJ website is so cheesily unusable, it’s migraine inducing. But I always try to give them the benefit of the doubt, quote my sources directly AND save myself the pain-in-the-ass of taking a picture of the stupid article in the paper, then having to type in the whole line for a search and praying for a hit. Wound up having to do that anyway.

Right off I got a hit.

It’s AMAZING what a partisan little RAG can leave out of a paper when they want to, n’est pas?

The original article is twice as long. Immediately, I noticed another sentence they’d left off the end of ours and the next paragraph is clearly more informative:

…The House ethics panel will also investigate whether they performed any favorable actions for the lender.

The other two congressmen are Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, and Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y. None of the lawmakers has been accused by the ethics panel of any wrongdoing, and may never be if they convince investigators they had no knowledge of the discounts. Preferential terms are not illegal but can be looked upon as a gift and must be declared in financial statements.

NOT illegal? No one’s been accused of anything? Well, who knew?

Sure couldn’t tell from the tenor of the snippet WE got on 5A.

It goes on from there with more information on McKeon’s case in particular, but can you imagine? If I hadn’t been incensed about what I saw as blatant “guess that party” manipulation, I would have NEVER been aware of just how egregious the sin of editorial omission really was.

Now, the entire Countrywide episode (just like their schweet little trading deals) REEKS to high heaven and should be exposed for ALL the noxious vapours to escape, BUT.

I do mean ALL the noxious vapours. Not the judiciously edited ones your little platform gives you sway over.

I Really Don’t Have Anything Else to Add

…commentary-wise…

Crazy Norwegian Ice Skater Video Of The Day

When I first watched this, I thought it was a vodka commercial. It’s not. It turns out the guy is just a lunatic. (Thanks to Nathan Perry, of Grain Valley, Mo., for the video.)

…other than, “Yes. He most assuredly is.”

May You Finally Find Peace

OccuGone

Pretty much all of the cattle-control barriers are gone from Wall Street now.

One person in Zucchini Park.

They’ve declared “victory” and gone back to mom’s basement.

A Useful Fact

…seeing as Westminster is coming up next week.

Scottish Terrier
Number of wins: 8
Price: $1,500-$2,500

The Scottish terrier, or Scottie, not only holds eight Best in Show awards, it is also the only breed of dog that has lived in the White House three times. Presidents Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower and George W. Bush all owned Scotties during their time in office.

Originally bred to hunt vermin on farms, the Scottish terrier came to the U.S. in the 1890s and is now a popular pet. Just don’t forget to send it to obedience school — the American Kennel Club says the dogs have “spirited natures.”

Good to know who keeps their competitive teeth sharp year after year.

“Spirited”. Heh. That’s a laugh riot.

Goodbye Google

Here’s that most rarest of animals: an opinion piece at CNN that I agree pretty much 100% with

Here’s what Google knows about you, what it stores right there on its servers, waiting for a hacker:

Google has every e-mail you ever sent or received on Gmail. It has every search you ever made, the contents of every chat you ever had over Google Talk. It holds a record of every telephone conversation you had using Google Voice, it knows every Google Alert you’ve set up. It has your Google Calendar with all content going back as far as you’ve used it, including everything you’ve done every day since then. It knows your contact list with all the information you may have included about yourself and the people you know. It has your Picasa pictures, your news page configuration, indicating what topics you’re most interested in. And so on.

If you ever used Google while logged in to your account to search for a person, a symptom, a medical side effect, a political idea; if you ever gossiped using one of Google’s services, all of this is on Google’s servers. And thanks to the magic of Google’s algorithms, it is easy to sift through the information because Google search works like a charm. Google can even track searches on your computer when you’re not logged in for up to six months.

I’ve looked at reports on this new policy, though I haven’t read all of it as this author has, and I can tell you that as of March 1st I’m done with them. My google, gmail and youtube accounts will be closed. For my friends on various blogger, well, I will be only commenting there if I can do so anonymously from now on (this may in fact not be a loss for you). Any searches I do will be using bing or some other engine, not google.

I will be contacting my Congress Critters and requesting that they introduce the following legislation:

The Preservation Of Online Privacy Act of 2012

(POOP for short)

As of 30 (thirty) days from the date of POOP’s passage no company may keep data containing identifiable information concerning internet usage of an individual for more than 3 (three) years from the date of the online activity without either express written consent of the person(s) so involved or a court order specifically listing potential felonies and specifically limited thereto. The data must be deleted on a monthly basis.

Violations of POOP will be punishable by fines of at least but not limited to $1000 per mb (megabyte) of data in the aggregate per day.

Never Let It Be Said We’re Not All About Expanding Your Mind Culturally As Well

Firefly’s 15 Best Chinese Curses (and How to Say Them)

For example:

1) Holy Testicle Tuesday
Shun-SHENG duh gao-WAHN
This is one of the shortest phrases on the list, but makes up for word count with sheer outrageousness. Remember, these phrases are originally composed in English (though the idea that they pick random Mandarin phrases with no notion of what they mean is quite amusing, and not difficult to believe). Therefore, Ben Edlund and Jose Molina, the writers of this episode, had to go to the show’s translator, Jenny Lynn, and ask her how to say: “Holy Testicle Tuesday!” in Mandarin Chinese. Damn, we’d kill for a job like that!

As for context — once again, Saffron brings out the most bizarre vulgarities imaginable in the Serenity crew: Mal and Saffron break into the palatial estate of Durran Haymer, an Alliance officer with an incredible collection of priceless antiques from “Earth That Was”. These three words (or four in Pinyin) are how Mal chooses to express the impressiveness of Haymer’s knick-knacks.

There ya go. Get back to us when you’ve got a couple down pat. Should be fun.

It’s One of Two Things: Either He’s the Baaa Ram Ewe Bunny

…or the sheep are familiar with the bunny in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

JUST So We’re Clear ~ In Case You Were Suddenly Tempted to Offer An OPINION ~ I Wanted It Known

…that no one who could do anything anyway HAS “an opinion”…

The White House Has No Opinion About Whether the Senate Should Pass a Budget

…meaning yours scarcely matters, so don’t waste your breath, capice?

Okay, back to drinking and watching my coffee beans ripen.

“Beef Jerk-You-Around Time!”

The Harvardians want the Cameroonians to move their rucksacks, like, NOW:

Harvard wants U.S. Marshals to evict Cameroon from embassy in Washington

The government of Cameroon is illegally squatting in its embassy property in the nation’s capital and should be evicted by federal marshals, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court Tuesday.

Harvard University, which owns the property, wants a federal judge to order the U.S. Marshals Service to remove the African nation’s embassy after nearly two years there.

The lease ended a week ago, but Cameroon’s embassy has yet to leave and “has not provided any indication of when it will vacate,” court documents say. The embassy’s website still lists the disputed property as its address.

Boehner’s Congress Has Been Busy Boys Today

First, the Keystone Pipeline Bill passes Committee:

House panel approves Keystone pipeline bill

The House Energy and Commerce Committee on Tuesday approved legislation that would reverse President Obama’s rejection of the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline.

The bill is the latest GOP-led effort to advance the Alberta-to-Texas pipeline. Republicans are also trying to punish Obama politically ahead of the 2012 election for failing to greenlight the project that GOP lawmakers call a way to create jobs and boost energy security.

…It would instruct the independent Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to issue a permit for TransCanada Corp.’s proposed pipeline within 30 days, taking the issue out of the State Department’s hands.

…and then the Speaker seems to have won a union show-down as well:

Boehner claims victory in FAA bill labor fight

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is claiming victory in a fight union rules that had tied up a multiyear funding bill for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The House and Senate have approved legislation that provides nearly $16 billion per year to the FAA through fiscal year 2015. President Obama is expected to sign the bill, which is the first long-term funding measure approved for the agency since 2007.

…“House Republicans achieved reforms that reinstitute the majority-of-eligible threshold at an earlier stage in the process, eliminate a union tactic to force run-off elections, and implement new levels of transparency and oversight at the NMB where previously there was none.”

Under the compromise, 50 percent of a company’s workforce would need to support unionization for a vote to take place, up from the current level of 35 percent. That overrides an NMB decision from 2010 that would have counted non-votes in union elections as “no” votes.

Go. Go. GO.

Filed Under “Here’s Your Sign” ~ When Planning a FALSE Rape Accusation

…make sure to erase the steamy post-coital text messages suggesting you meet again for more.

Kelly cleared

‘Mutual lust’ nixes claim by rape accuser

Manhattan prosecutors will not seek rape charges against Greg Kelly, the TV talk-show host and son of Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, stemming from a complaint filed by a 29-year-old woman, authorities said last night.

The case was over nearly as soon as it started — after it surfaced that his aspiring-model accuser, Maria Di Toro, engaged in steamy texting with him after their sexual encounter, suggesting they get together again, sources said.

“Those aren’t the words of a woman raped,’’ one law-enforcement source flatly told The Post.

Another source said the later texts showed that “the lustfulness for each other was mutual’’ and added that it should be “no surprise’’ that the investigation was dropped.

“Between her story, her texts, his story, the small amount of alcohol [involved that night], there was just no evidence,’’ the source said. “The only theory was that she was physically helpless, not forced, but there was no proof that she was in a drunken stupor.’’

I do not get these women. Notch your bedpost with the score and get over it.

As a fellow Marine who followed Greg’s reporting during the first Gulf War, I am delighted (but not surprised) for him.

I hope he can sue the pants off of her.

From the Fading Recesses of What Was Once My Brilliant Mind, I Can Still Pull Instantly Forth the Hideous Visages of Both Pat Buchanan and His Harpy Sister

…as their coterie took over, and almost singlehandedly destroyed, the Republican Convention. Turning it from an energizing, INCLUSIVE pep-rally for electoral battle into a planting-of-the-flag, take-no-prisoners, snarling SoCon new face of the GOP as it headed into the 21st century: where a candidate’s stand on social issues trumped the everyday, every American issues of national security, the economy, and energy.

That hateful “trumped” got us “thumped” by a smooth talking, easy going guy who got “it’s the economy, stupid“.

And guess what? IT IS THIS TIME, TOO!!!!! Along with, oh, I don’t know…only the FUTURE OF AMERICA AS WE KNOW HER?!?!?!?

WHY am I torturing myself with images of times past? Have you read some of the comments about (whiney baby boy*) Santorum’s wins last night?

Oh, dear God.

Honestly, I get the “anybody but Mitt” thing, I really do. But THIS “anybody” is not the guy who will bring the Americans he needs to the table to vote for him. A rigid Social Conservative may do well in his district (or not ~ Santorum is NOT CURRENTLY a U.S. Senator, right?), but the country has proven time and time again she is a BIG tent who self corrects when leaning too left or right, and YOU, as President or political party, have to leave the flap open.

Or the show folds.

Santorum.

Just shoot me.

Pravda On The Constitution

I’m sure by now most of you have seen this article from Monday on the Constitution

‘We the People’ Loses Appeal With People Around the World

WASHINGTON — The Constitution has seen better days.

Aside from the irony that the writer plainly misses given the current Administration’s actions the one thing that really sticks in my craw after reading this is this line

The United States Constitution is terse and old, and it guarantees relatively few rights.

The main point of our Constitution is not to “guarantee” specific rights: it is to limit the reach of the Government to ensure our rights.

And the Left has never forgiven the Founders for this.

Update: And this brings me back the draft of a post I wrote several months ago but never finished:

Here’s our President on the Constitution

But, the Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth, and of more basic issues such as political and economic justice in society. To that extent, as radical as I think people try to characterize the Warren Court, it wasnt that radical. It didnt break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the founding fathers in the Constitution, at least as its been interpreted and Warren Court interpreted in the same way, that generally the Constitution is a charter of negative liberties. Says what the states cant do to you. Says what the Federal government cant do to you, but doesnt say what the Federal government or State government must do on your behalf, and that hasnt shifted and one of the, I think, tragedies of the civil rights movement was, um, because the civil rights movement became so court focused I think there was a tendancy to lose track of the political and community organizing and activities on the ground that are able to put together the actual coalition of powers through which you bring about redistributive change. In some ways we still suffer from that.

This is not some mindless rant by a starry-eyed high school or college student. He was 40 years old and had already been a member of the Illinois Senate for several years.

That’s his view; that’s their view. The Constitution is the impediment to their plans to make our lives more better.

Really.

Trust them.

Giants’ Parade Day

5:30 am and there are hundreds upon hundreds of police everywhere, every square inch of Broadway from Bowling Green to at least Worth Street is barricaded off with the cattle-chutes, and there are already a bunch of folks waiting for the floats to go by.

Wonder how things are in Boston?

When Criminals in This World Appear and Break the Laws That They Should Fear

The cry goes up both far and near
for Goat! Leaping Goat! Goat! Leaping Goat!

Speed of lightning, hooves of thunder
Launching over cops Down Under!

Goooooat! Leaping Goat!

Leaping Goat!

Really.

You think Blair would tell you about this National Embarrassment?

Hardly. He wants to talk about guys named “Peter Slipper” and wankers in wigs.

Do They Know The Difference Between Satire and Farsi?

Ay caramba atollah!

REPORTING FROM TEHRAN — Sorry kids, the Simpsons are now forbidden in Tehran. An agency tied to the Iranian government has banned the sale of dolls of the American cartoon characters, an Iranian newspaper reported Monday.

According to Shargh, an independent newspaper, the Simpsons were banned to avoid the promotion of Western culture, putting Bart and Homer alongside Barbie on an Iranian toy blacklist.

Before and After Shots

…make you understand why local residents wanted to shoot some Occupiers.

Filthy assholes with their pretentious “all for you” little signs.

A Little Communication Help for Gisele Bundshoe Bunion Bundchedup

F*ck it. The skinny bitch married to Brady, since all she seems to be doing is pissing people off.

Tom Brady’s Wife Blames Patriots Teammates

…”You (have) to catch the ball when you’re supposed to catch the ball,” she is heard saying. “My husband cannot [expletive] throw the ball and catch the ball at the same time. I can’t believe they dropped the ball so many times.“

Here’s a melodious, therapeutic, time proven way to get through to your husband that won’t offend anyone else, or rub already raw feelings rare.

Now, go sit in the corner and quietly croon to the ploser.

ths update: You’ll notice the Patriots haven’t won a single Super Bowl since they got caught cheating, right? And that Eli has COMPLETELY PWNED Brady EVERY time they’ve met in one?

Oh, Tommy? Can you hear me?

Happy Birthday, Ronald Reagan

Here’s a little Sherman’s Way Back Machine for all these wanna-be’s who claim they either were your right hand man, or are your heir-apparent.

Pffft.

As if we couldn’t tell the difference.

Apparently Newsday Has Won the Much Coveted

…Battle of the New York Super Bowl Win Headlines.

Heh.

Ymmmm, Tom Brady…

…how do you like your chili?

Gisele’s sweet salty tears are delicious!

Santelli Explains the Job Numbers