Pictures from Mordor….

the CAG just missed Sauron last Wed…
(Dial-up warning: Big pics ahead, open at own risk!)
Update: My lovely, stunning bride the CAG has told me that these were taken at sunrise, for those wondering.

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Just so you know….

Narnia is awesome. It was far better than I thought it would be. And don’t go in expecting LOTR, as they are equally well done, but different, aimed it different age groups. But I loved the movie, and the CAG and I both had tears in our eyes at times. *Yes, I’m a big softie when I am not shooting people.) And Aslan was just as I pictured him the first time I read thestory..

2b? Nt2b? ???

Somehow, it just does have the ring of when Shakespeare wrote it, which I guess is not surprising, as it comes from the goobers at a company called Dot Mobile:

Dot mobile, a British mobile phone service aimed at students, says it plans to condense classic works of literature into SMS text messages.

I suppose that they think this will ‘help’ idjit students who haven’t done their assignations cheat recall plot facts during tests. Somehow I can’t imagine instructors who notice 25 kids hunched over their cell phones during an exam not getting a wee bit suspicious.
I reckon the bride’s job is still secure for a little while.

I have said this for years…

but the R’s need a Condi/JC Watts ticket for ’08. This makes me even more convinced that it would cause apoplectic fits in the left. A small snippet:

Republicans in Congress are spending like profligates with no tomorrow. The freshman senator from my home state of Oklahoma, Dr. Tom Coburn, recently assumed the role of skunk at the garden party when he inquired about a quarter of a billion dollar bridge to nowhere in Alaska, and had the temerity to suggest that money could be used to rebuild several real bridges to somewhere in Louisiana and Mississippi.

I doubt it will happen, but a guy can dream. Condi has the knowledge and talent for the international events, JC has the experience with Congress to hopefully convince them to quit spending like D’s. Both ar outstanding speakers. (Of course I would have to buy a bunch of RJ Nabisco stock before the campaign started, so I could retire young.)

This is what I want my sons riding into combat in when/if they are Marines?

I don’t think so. I just don’t like this whole program, and think we could have had an aircraft already in service had we better spent the $ elsewhere.

An Air Force version of the V-22 tilt-rotor Osprey aircraft last week experienced a condensation stall of both engines after flying into a cloud at 18,000 feet, presumably because of icing problems, sources have told the Project On Government Oversight. The aircraft, CV-22 #6, was on a routine flight to Edwards Air Force base in California. It did not recover from the stall until it had descended to warmer air at about 10,000 feet, the sources said.

If this is confirmed, they really need to roll a few heads about the V-22.

Coulda Done That a Smidge Quicker

How embarrassing. Or mortifying.

Miers Withdraws Supreme Court Nomination

Or all of the above.

Bingley Will Use ANY Excuse…

…to put on his Speedos and head for the beach.

GET BACK TO WORK, SLACKER!!!

Willlllbur! I’m Pregggnannnttttt….

The names were changed to protect the horse’s identity:

An Enumclaw-area man who authorities say helped run a farm where people had sex with animals — and where a Seattle man died doing so with a horse — was charged with a misdemeanor yesterday….
…According to the King County Sheriff’s Office, which also investigated, the farm was known in Internet chat rooms as a destination for people who want to have sex with livestock. Authorities didn’t learn about the farm until July 2, when a man drove to Enumclaw Community Hospital seeking medical assistance for a companion. Medics wheeled the Seattle man into an examination room and realized he was dead. When hospital workers looked for the man who had dropped him off, he was gone, Enumclaw police said.

I’m thinking it was Seattle Slew…

6 Reasons to Love John Corzine

…besides the cute, fuzzy beard.
1) He’s a generous, gift giving kinda guy, which can save you lots in interest payments if you’re frisky enough. Call it “Fourhundredandseventythousandways to Leave Your Lover”.
2) He’s a ‘build it and they will come’ kinda guy. After all, 392 acre green tracks are a dime a dozen in the ‘Garden State’. That’s why they call it that, duh.
3) He won’t cost you a salary when he wins. (To be honest, that Forrester guy won’t either.)
4) He wants to let you toke up like they do in California. (Again, to be honest, so does the other guy.)
5) His scandals are much more popular with voters than the other guy’s (last paragraph).
6) He and Senator Frist have a lot more in common (last four paragraphs) than just a leather chair; a veritable “blind-trust leading the blind” club. It’s good he can work both sides of the aisle like that. Or just both sides.

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Oh well…

Clive Owen turned down the Bond role. I wonder who we’ll see? Orlando? (Ack!) Jude? (I could live with that.) Or another lesser-known? George is still free, I hear…..

George Will takes Dubya to the….

woodshed regarding Harriet Miers.

In addition, the president has forfeited his right to be trusted as a custodian of the Constitution. The forfeiture occurred March 27, 2002, when, in a private act betokening an uneasy conscience, he signed the McCain-Feingold law expanding government regulation of the timing, quantity and content of political speech. The day before the 2000 Iowa caucuses he was asked — to insure a considered response from him, he had been told in advance he would be asked — whether McCain-Feingold’s core purposes are unconstitutional. He unhesitatingly said, “I agree.” Asked if he thought presidents have a duty, pursuant to their oath to defend the Constitution, to make an independent judgment about the constitutionality of bills and to veto those he thinks unconstitutional, he briskly said, “I do.”

It was awesome!

Serenity was really a fun movie. Even the CAG was impressed. I would give it 4 1/2 out of 5 Stars, due to a weak initial chase scene (cheesy) and the first song in the movie was way to loud and fast for the rest of the soundtrack. Lots of Mummy/Indiana Jones-type ironic humor, and they did a great job of not showing you much of the Reapers(Thanks Mike!) Reivers, making them more menacing with the mystery. I may even pay to see it again.

Oh how I love….

battleships!

Peggy Noonan takes W..

to task, rightfully so. So much for conservatism……

I for one feel we need to go back to conservatism 101. We can start with a quote from Gerald Ford, if he isn’t too much of a crabbed and reactionary old Republican to quote. He said, “A government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take away everything you have.”

May be getting to see a movie on Tuesday…

Movie website here.

Joss Whedon, the Oscar® – and Emmy – nominated writer/director responsible for the worldwide television phenomena of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE, ANGEL and FIREFLY, now applies his trademark compassion and wit to a small band of galactic outcasts 500 years in the future in his feature film directorial debut, Serenity. The film centers around Captain Malcolm Reynolds, a hardened veteran (on the losing side) of a galactic civil war, who now ekes out a living pulling off small crimes and transport-for-hire aboard his ship, Serenity. He leads a small, eclectic crew who are the closest thing he has left to family –squabbling, insubordinate and undyingly loyal.

Never saw the series on TV it is derived from, but it sounds interesting.

I’ll try to give my thoughts on it once I’ve seen it, but be warned, my tastes in movies is…um…odd.

Public Servants…

Serving themselves:

BATON ROUGE, La. — Police found cases of food, clothing and tools intended for hurricane victims at the home of the chief administrative officer for a New Orleans suburb, authorities said Wednesday.
Officers searched Cedric Floyd’s home because of complaints that city workers were helping themselves to donations for hurricane victims. Floyd, who runs the day-to-day operations in the suburb of Kenner, was in charge of distributing the goods.

I’m sure he’s the victim of a misunderstanding.
Kind of an interesting fellow, though:

CAO Floyd was the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Data Center, a national demographics information system company specializing in Redistricting of Election Districts.

Hmm, there’s something about that line of work that just screams corruption.
But maybe I’m just cynical.
It seems he liked to use his city credit card though:

Sparks began flying as McMyne set up displays showing dozens of credit card bills from Mayor Capitano and CAO Floyd – expenses that did not include information on the business purpose of the bills.

Seems like he’s got some more explaining to do now.

I wish more of the elected folks in the US Govt…

would understand this concept, but I am not holding my breath.

The A320s nose wheel problem is not new…

as this report indicates.

Documents from Airbus indicated there have been three similar incidents in which A320 airplanes landed with the nose wheels rotated about 90 degrees. Examination of the steering control modules on two of the airplanes revealed extrusion of the selector valve’s external seals similar to that found on N628AW. Airbus had attributed the extrusion failures to the lack of a backup seal or the effects of aging on the seals. As a result of these incidents, Airbus issued Service Bulletin (SB) A320-32-1197 on October 8, 1998, to recommend replacement of the external seals on the steering control module’s selector valve on A320 and A321 airplanes within 18 months of the SB’s issuance.
At the time of the incident, neither the French Direction General de l’Aviation Civile (DGAC), or the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), had adopted the service bulletin as an airworthiness directive. The operator was not required to comply with the service bulletin, and had not complied with it.
On March 24, 1999, the DGAC issued Airworthiness Directive (AD) 1999-124-129(B) to require compliance with the SB. On December 17, 1999, the FAA issued AD 99-23-09 which was based upon the French AD, with a 12 month time of compliance for modification of the nose wheel steering control valve.

Makes you wonder if the fix did not fix it, or if the fix was ever applied. I also wonder if they ever improved the design? I would think the French taxpayers would want to get their francs….er…um…euros worth.

Interesting Marine article….

about the future USMC. Long and somewhat geeky, but gives you an idea of the Future the Corps sees.

Let the Frogs never again say…

that we are ignorant.

Oh, the wonder of…

managing your cash flow. Of course this will be Chimpy McHitlerburtons doing.

This news from Australia is….

shocking. I think I would change my taste in fashion.

More efforts…

to save us from ourselves…
God Forbid parents actually feed their kids decent stuff at home, in whivh case the one meal of crap at school would be of little consequence. Nope, easier to let someone else fix it for you.

Good thing they are not…

Mormons. No wonder the feminists raise such a furor over this policy!
[crickets chirping]

Interesting tidbit from…

Major Garrett.
Ouch.
THS UPDATE (BUMP): Major Garett was at it again this evening, only he had a Greek chorus behind him; the national director of the Red Cross, Maj. George Brooke from the Salvation Army and the field grades (‘Thibodeux’ was one lovely Cajun name) from the Louisiana National Guard, in as close to a smack-down as I’ve ever heard from the military. I’ll check the Radio Blogger and see if I can beat my pukey brother to a transcript.
Okay, Hugh Hewitt had him on (it’s there) and I’m sure the Special Report broadcast will shortly follow.