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November 30, 2005
Sidewalk Strut
Taken with my camera phone
Posted by Daffodil at 10:57 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
The myth of 'opting out'
I'd been hearing the right wing media scream about the fact that women are abandoning the workforce in droves to have babies the last couple of days. As always I was immediately suspicious since I had seen nothing of the sort happening in my area. I had been meaning to check out their sources because I know how conservatives think and one tenth of a percent might be counted as a massive landslide trend. They aren't good at understanding numbers or even science for that matter, so you always have to double check just about everything they say. Anyway, I was commuting to work this morning and somebody with a PhD had looked at the data and found where the Republicans had fudged the numbers. The job losses in the Republican recession hurt the careers that had a larger portion of women in them. So they aren't at home by choice necessarily, they are at home because the Republican party couldn't manage the economy. I always find these kinds of coincidences interesting because Republicans like to make their own reality. They hate women and they want them to be helpless and stuck at home to be victimized at their husband's whim so they work to destroy sections of the economy to force women into that situation. I don't know but it seems like a pretty complicated plot for people who are so down right stupid. Maybe I'm giving them too much credit...they just screwed up and it just happened to come down on the "weakest" in America.
Listen to the story over at Marketplace Morning Report.
Posted by ManDrake at 7:15 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
O'Reilly: "There's a very secret plan"
Oh no!! You Neo-cons need to adjust your tin foil!! Of course when I see a headline like this I have ask the obvious question. If this plan is so secret then how did you find out about it dude? I mean if there really is a vast left wing conspiracy with all of us left wing bloggers getting secret paychecks from my buddy George then how exactly did you get in on it? If we are working in concert with the ACLU to turn America into a non-Christian nation why did we tell O'Reilly about it exactly? If we did it all over Europe successfully why wouldn't we have just executed this brilliant organizational effort and killed off Christianity before you even knew what happened? Could it be...and hold on your tin foil hats here Neo-cons...there isn't a secret plan at all??? All the vitriolic hate speech on the subject is nothing more than a desperate effort to convince people that there is a conspiracy. Trust me, if there was a long term plan by the liberal intelligenica to kill Christianity I would be in on it because they are my people. And I would have happily signed on for that mission just for the intellectual challenge of it all. What you brain dead morons seem to lack is the ability to understand that there isn't an attack on Christianity going on. It's called marketing. Adjust your tin foil again because there is a lot of stuff I'm about to say that's going require you to question your ideology. America has become something called a "melting pot". That means that there has been a drift towards a multiculturalism. We eat tacos and Chinese food all the time. Those are food traditions from other cultures. Other cultures also have these things called "holidays". These holidays coincide with Christian holidays mostly because the Christians tried to steal everyone else's holidays and giant corporations being multi-national by their very nature want to sell to as many people as possible and an easy way to get your foot in the door is to acknowledge and support their holidays. Just like they make foods for other people's culinary leanings they change holidays to reflect a more broad number of holidays. Why make enemies of future customers? Just say happy holidays and cover them all? For as long as the dollars keep rolling who cares? Now I know that's a lot of factual information for you Neo-cons so I'll let you get back to your version of reality. Yes...all we liberals are out to get you and we can read your thoughts even if you have your tin foil hats on or not. Live in fear because we are making a list and checking it twice. Oooppsss!! I'm sure the ACLU made me say that! Referencing Santa Claus in relationship to the Winter Solstice, what was I thinking? Ooopppsss!! I did it again! Bad liberal, bad!!! Well Merry X-mas everyone!! Damn, it's the mystery X that got Cheney, call Drudge and the conservative bloggers it's back!!!
If you can stomach O'Reilly's insanity it's over at Media Matters.
Posted by ManDrake at 4:49 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
Existentialist
Posted by Daffodil at 3:39 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Bush Taints GOP Candidates
Well we knew that. Of course, with the Commander in Chief speaking in Annapolis this morning I figured that he'd do some sort of fund raiser for his local Rubber Stamp Republicans. Sure enough he's going to do one for Steele during his visit. The radio was even nice enough to mention that. Does Steele really believe that no one is going to notice that he's basically saying that he will support whatever policy that Bush tells him to because he's been bought off to raise campaign money? Fired Up! Maryland went a step further and gives everyone everything they need to know to show up and protect the Steele/Bush fundraiser. So for those of that are interested in protesting I recommend you give them a look.
Read more over at From The Roots and Fired Up! Maryland.
Posted by ManDrake at 3:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Bill O'Reilly Enemies List a Dud
Ah enemies lists! Evidently they are quite a bit of work. I have to agree with Hunter on this one, my list of enemies is right at my finger tips 24/7. The only reason I might hesitate on listing them would be because it would be rude. Now the notion of being rude is pretty much alien to any Republican I've ever met. If they were allowed to kill people for existing most of them would happily spend their days eliminating everyone they came across. O'Reilly is no exception to this Republican personality trait. So why would he only list 3 media outlets as his enemies list? That's really sad. Is O'Reilly afraid that he might hurt all of liberals by saying bad stuff about us? I lose no sleep at night knowong that you America hating Neo-con fanatics don't like me. The fact that you hate my country is more than enough of a reason to put you on my enemies list. Well evidently O'Reilly is going to have to go back to his puppet masters and get a proper list made up. I know there have been a wide number of people who are demanding that they be listed on his hate list. I mean what higher honor can there be than to be hated by the most worthless piece of male human trash to have a voice on the air waves? I had to specify a gender because we wouldn't want to leave Coulter out of the most worthless category.
Read more over at Daily Kos.
Posted by ManDrake at 3:14 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Imus Smacks down Joe Lieberman
It's about freaking time someone did it!! Lieberman has evidently been spending too much time smoking the crackpipe with Bush and not enough time trying to connect with reality. I think Imus nailed it on the head "Somebody's got something on you, this is crazy". What I really love the domino effect argument. It sounds familiar. I'm reminded of the same Republican argument that was used to describe Communism. I think Imus had a very good point...after the Republicans failed to catch to Osama and they needed someone to beat and Sadam was weak so they went after him. They needed a win since they were failing completely and they needed to cover up their rampant mismanagement of foreign policy. I think Imus may have gone a tiny bit over the top by saying he was going to hell because of his anti-America opinion supporting Bush. I don't think Imus is wrong, I just don't think he should have bother to say it.
Watch the video on Crooks and Liars.
Posted by ManDrake at 2:54 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Bush outlines Iraq 'victory plan'
I was actually excited when I heard that the Bush Administration was finally caving in on its idiocy of "stay the course" plan and was going to start actually working towards some sort of positive outcome from Iraq. Of course it took about 30 seconds after I started reading it that I realized that the "victory plan" is the "stay the course plan"!! You moron! The problem isn't the damn name of the plan, it's the fact that it's not a plan at all. If you have no damn goals there is no way you can have a victory. I mean by saying we are staying until we win and never defining what a freaking win basically means we will be there forever. You don't even have to be very smart to figure that out on your own. I think that's simple enough to understand and even you moronic Republicans out there can figure it out on your own. Personally I'm not going to waste any more of my energy on this stupidity. The good folks over at Think Progress have thoroughly eviscerated this Republican crap so completely I don't need too.
Read more over at Think Progress.
Posted by ManDrake at 2:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Alexis and Santa
As we mentioned the other day when we took the grandpa, or "Papa" as she calls him, "Santa" pictures Alexis refused to sit on Darrell's lap, but today I had to run over to Arundel Mills to get my necklace clasp fixed and Alexis saw the "Santa" that was there to have your picture taken with and she nearly had a happy hissy cow over the fact that "Santa" was near her! She kept waving to him and saying, "Mommy look! Hi Santa! Sit in his lap!" Sadly today we didn't have time to have her picture taken, but we are going to give it a go in the morning and see if she's still as gung ho about the idea then. Hopefully she will be because I got her the cutest little Christmas outfit to wear for the picture and last year's picture was so cute. I think Darrell loosened her up for us. We'll see what tomorrow brings.
Posted by Daffodil at 1:56 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Pet Peeve #20
Pushy salespeople!
If I WANT to buy something I will approach you. If you BULLY me about something, even if I want it, I WON'T buy it from you! If I am walking briskly past trying to ignore you, DON'T try and stop me at your little booth to sell your wares. I DON'T buy things from carts in the middle of the isle at a mall. If I am polite and tell you "No thank you, I'm not interested" let it go and LEAVE ME ALONE!! No means no...it doesn't mean you need to compliment me or try harder! Just shut up and stop harassing people!
Posted by Daffodil at 1:22 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Berenstain Bears Author Dies at 82
Children's author Stan Berenstain, who with his wife wrote more than 200 books about a family of bears, has died at age 82.He passed away on Saturday in Pennsylvania, Audra Boltion, a spokeswoman for HarperCollins Children's Books, tells the Associated Press.
The Berenstain Bears books, written by Stan and his wife Jan Berenstain, helped children cope with trips to the dentist, eating junk food and cleaning their messy rooms. The first of their bear books, The Great Honey Hunt, was published in 1962.
Rest in peace Mr. Berenstain.
Read more here.
Posted by Daffodil at 8:46 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 29, 2005
Ethics cloud grows wider over GOP
It's called "Pay-to-Play". The GOP will put any legislation you want into a bill and have the America people pay for it if you give them a big enough cut. It's the core of the Republican culture of corruption. It's what defines them as an organization, corruption and criminality. The notion that the cloud will stop growing is almost laughable. This level of corruption spreads over most every member of the GOP. Now I'm sure we will hear the Republicans and their media puppets tell us that there is a Democrat that is involved. I wouldn't be surprised considering the only way they could get anything done was give in to the Republican culture of corruption, that Congressmen from Red districts would be particularly vulnerable to the sirens call of easy money that the GOP offered. I mean it's not like people in Red districts would care. They are Republicans they are inherently corrupt and hateful individuals. The notions of honesty are alien to them. I would hope that those Democrats would do the honorable thing and resign their seats if they are guilty of committing the crimes.
Read more over at The Christian Science Monitor.
Posted by ManDrake at 3:58 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Maine Abstains
It's an amazing thing to see, individual states standing up to Republican tyranny and mismanagement of the country to support their radical anti-America hate ideology. In this case the State of Maine has decided to stop taking federal money because the Republicans had the requirement that they abandon a wildly successful program for lowering teen pregnancy and replace it with what can only be described as juvenile and moronic abstinence only program supported by the radical right. For the radical right there is no acceptance of the reality that teenagers are actually going to do bad things when people aren't looking. Actually it's back to the fact that the Republicans don't give a damn if teenagers break the rules they only care about the fact that they must be punished for it by having unwanted pregnancies and STD's. It's the right's mentality that the only learning that can be achieved is that which comes from suffering. People that don't follow the rules should suffer and those that do should have the joy of feeling superior because they aren't suffering. Beyond that mindset being childish, it's just plain cruel. Would we all be happier and better off as a nation if teenagers abstained? Absolutely. But should we kill our kids and doom the next generation to prove a point? Absolutely not. It's moronic. Despite the desperate shrieks from the Neo-Christians about teenage sexual activity it has not increased in any way because of education. The only change is that they are less likely to suffer any long term physical side effects from it. Which is exactly what we as a society should want. Our children should have a chance to overcome childish mistakes instead of it dooming them and their futures. Growing up is about making mistakes and becoming a better person because of them. And I hear all you godless Neo-Christian fanatics hyperventilating about it destroying the nature of family and marriage. These institutions are not endanger from these kind of programs. Successful marriages and families have almost nothing do with sex. As a matter fact I can think of no more childish impression of the institutions than that. It explains a lot about people that think that way and why they are so perpetually unhappy with both.
Read more over at Tom Paine.
Posted by ManDrake at 2:57 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Where's "Munge"?
Alexis laid upstairs for her entire nap time and did anything but sleep. She sang, she kicked her feet, she whined. So when I went up to get her the conversation went a little something like this:
"Mommy, Munge downstairs?"
"No Alexis. Grams is in Tennessee. She will be here tomorrow."
"Ooooohhhh...tomorrow!"
"You thought Grams was downstairs with Mommy so you didn't take a nap?"
"Why, yes Mommy. Munge where are you? Where are you?"
I bet she won't take a nap tomorrow either. She's ready to see "Munge"!
Posted by Daffodil at 2:03 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 2005 Old Farmer’s Almanac Weather Predictions
I love to read the Old Farmer's Almanac and see what they predict in terms of weather. Often they hit it right on the head. So here's the predictions for the month of December 2005.
December 2005 Old Farmer’s Almanac Weather Predictions:
Average temperature: 32° (6° below normal)
Precipitation: 4 inches (1 inch above normal)
December 1-4: Sunny and cold.
December 5-8: Heavy snow, then sunny. Cold.
December 9-14: Showers, then sunny. Cool.
December 15-22: Rain, then sunny. Cold.
December 23-26: Heavy rain and wet snow.
December 27-31: Sunny and seasonable.
We'll revisit this during the month of December and see how accurate it is. :o)
Posted by Daffodil at 1:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Gingerbread Man
Posted by Daffodil at 1:14 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Reindeer
Posted by Daffodil at 1:12 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
Introverts are smarter!!
Like I needed to be told this. Of course like most introverts I've learned over the years how to fake my way in a world that is built for Extroverts. We've become a nation that relishes and embraces impulsive people without any consideration for the future or themselves. This partially defines the Republican party. It's so frustrating for an Introvert to just guess about the possible outcomes of a decision and yet that's the norm of the people out there. Personally I like to run all the likely scenarios of a decision before I make it, because the reality of the situation is that the scenarios are going to be run and then I'll spend hours beating myself up for not reviewing it first if I don't look at them. The need for downtime is next to impossible to explain to an Extrovert. The suggestion of it is considered anti-Social. I love people that are uncomplicated, which leaves me with the most in common with children. Extroverts on the other hand have a never ending series of agendas and impulses that you are bombarded with when you're around them. And for Introvert being around people like that is like running the mental equivalent of a marathon. It's exhausting! You have to push your brain faster and faster trying to go through your standard thought process faster to deal with them. I always get killed in interviews that way. I like to make carefully thought out answers and they expect impulsive rhetoric. If I say something I want to be able to back it up. Which is what makes blogging such a treat for an introvert. The medium allows time to think about what's being said. To ask the important questions, like what is the agenda that is being played out here? How rhetorical is this question? How much of this person's personal life has prompted this kind of reaction? Blogging allows time to dissect and research everything to the levels that make me feel comfortable about what I'm saying. It also it gives me time for my greatest joy...problem solving and planning. I live to solve problems and the more complicated they are the better. It would be nice seeing a world that supported both process equally and fairly, but I doubt we will see that kind of thing any time soon...esepcially not in our world of 24/7 punditry and hate speech. Unfortunately we have to live in the shadows and develop coping mechanisms that allow us to function in an Extroverted world. I score in the middle on the Extrovert/Introvert scale because I've learned enough ways to hide it from the world, but I'm a hard core Introvert.
[via Praxxus]
Read more over at Yahoo News.
Posted by ManDrake at 12:28 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Stop the Western Land Grab
By a two-vote margin, The House of Representatives has passed a bill to "reconcile" or adjust the federal budget. Deep within this budget bill, there are disastrous provisions that will seriously undercut the federal stewardship of our natural heritage. These provisions amount to a major land grab and a bad deal for taxpayers.There is no similar provision in the Senate version, so it is still possible that the provision can be dropped when the two bills are combined. Informal negotiations between the House and Senate have begun. Write to your Senator now!
The "mining" section of the House Budget Reconciliation bill puts millions of acres of Western public lands up for sale and actually weakens an already-antiquated 133-year-old law governing mining activities on federal lands.
Should the provision championed by Rep. Pombo (R-CA) and Rep. Gibbons (R-NV) become law, wilderness study areas, roadless forest lands, areas in National Parks and other treasured places could be turned over to mining companies, oil and gas companies and other developers.
If you think that Teddy Roosevelt had it right when he fought to protect some 230 million acres of public lands, speak out now to make sure your Senator acts to have this public land giveaway stripped from the joint House-Senate reconciliation bill.
For every bill that is passed there is always something nefarious buried within the legislation. I have ranted many times about this and I'm not going to talk about how ignorant this practice is today, but I am going to point out that we need to put an end to this type of thing. Write or call your senators today. This kind of environmental raping and pillaging needs to be stopped...NOW!!
Found via Jamison from Praxxus.
Also see the Net Environmental Trust to send you letter today.
Posted by Daffodil at 12:14 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
And We Have Epsilon!
But no, global warming isn't real folks...it's just a figment of our imaginations...yeah that's it...a figment of our imaginations.
Posted by Daffodil at 11:36 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Water Water Everywhere, But Not A Drop To Drink
Silent StreamsStorm-water runoff now threatens virtually every suburban and urban stream in the country. Stream assessments made by county governments around the Beltway in the past five years have given the majority of local streams a grade of C-minus or less, and there have been plenty of F's. (Donaldson Run was given a D.) Eighty percent of the 100,000 miles of streams in the Chesapeake Bay watershed are in similarly bad shape, according to local governments and the independent Center for Watershed Protection. Worldwide, streams and rivers are in worse shape than any other habitat, according to University of Maryland stream ecologist Margaret Palmer; the rate of species extinction in streams is five times higher than that of any other habitat and far exceeds that of land or ocean.
In case you are hoping that the problem is of concern only to nature lovers with an inexplicable fondness for miniature crustaceans, think again. A decade's worth of new scientific research makes it clear that the problem of dying streams has direct and dire implications for the supply of clean drinking water. Streams are now understood to be the vital capillaries of the freshwater system. A healthy stream and the land, or watershed, around it, are a natural and irreplaceable filter for drinking water, a giant Brita. If that function were to be lost, the water that courses into the Potomac from local streams would be far dirtier, full of all the toxins that wash off roadways, things like cadmium and zinc from brake linings, as well as lawn fertilizer and other pollutants. Getting that water to a drinkable standard would be far more expensive than it is now, and would require treating the water with many more chemicals, each with its own cost in money and human health. Water bills in the Washington area already have been increasing for years to compensate for this, according to research by the Center for Watershed Protection.
There is a related danger, as well. In times of drought, streams deprived of the slow seep of underground water that has been absorbed through meadow and forest, slacken or dry up completely, no longer able to support the reservoir and river intakes that supply drinking water. Many policy experts predict that in the coming century, clean water will become as precious a commodity as oil is today, and that water wars, long a feature of the booming cities in the dry American Southwest, will become far more commonplace. Already, legal battles have begun in the Midwest, as far-flung towns with depleted water tables sue for the right to pump water from the Great Lakes. Without healthy streams to feed it, even the mighty Potomac, which supplies virtually all of the drinking water for the Washington area, would be stressed, though local water authorities have highly sophisticated water control systems in place to help prevent shortages of drinking water even during severe drought.
If the connection between streams and drinking water is direct, it is not particularly visible. In many suburban and city neighborhoods, more than half of the streams have been shunted into storm pipes and buried underground. Many people have no idea what stream their downspouts drain into, or the name of the larger stream or river to which their local stream flows. All of that information makes up what stream scientists call a "watershed address." We all have one. A typical Washington watershed address starts with the nearest stream, then a larger creek -- Donaldson Run, for example. Next is Donaldson Run's destination, the Potomac River. And beyond that, the destination for the Potomac and all Washington area streams, Chesapeake Bay. But the connections are not widely understood, stream advocates say. Most people still believe, wrongly, that litter thrown into the ubiquitous corner storm drain (there are 10,000 of these in Arlington County alone) flows to a water treatment facility, rather than directly into a creek somewhere downstream.
If you get a chance read the entire article...it's very enlightening. Many people don't understand how the water cycle works and they especially don't understand that anything you put on the ground ends up in the water supply. Basically if you dump it on the ground you are going to end up drinking whatever you pour out...bleach, pesticide, herbicide, oil, gas, etc. If you see things lying dead on the side of a creek near your house in large numbers you can rest assured there is a problem. These things aren't arbitrary. Our fresh water supply is growing critical and things aren't looking up, especially in light of all of Bush's environmental "improvements". Would you like to drink those things? Nature is a good water filter, but we just can't seem to leave it alone to do its thing.
I would also like to recommend a couple of books that deal with the subject:
Found via a friend from the Washington Post.
*For some reason the link is showing Jimmy Carter's new book, but it is supposed to be a book entitled Fresh Water by E.C. Pielou. Amazon's code is wonky right now. Hopefully they will fix this issue soon.
**It appears to be fixed.
Posted by Daffodil at 10:28 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Admiration
Posted by Daffodil at 9:22 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
November 28, 2005
All Wrapped Up
Posted by Daffodil at 8:01 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Bees can fly!!
I'm sure for most of us that wasn't really news, but given the way science is abused in our modern age I decided this story actually merited a blog entry. Aerospace Engineers have never been able to find a model that explained scientifically how bees were able to fly. Very different statement than the popular media version of it which goes something like "Science says bees can't fly". This is what happens you start letting idiots try and interpret scientific findings. If anyone could be a scientist then this would be a very different world. It takes a great deal of mental ability and a firm grasp on reality. This is how things like ID come into existence, people too stupid to realize what exactly a hole in scientific theory means in the grand scheme of things. So for those of you that had this on the list of things in the universe that science didn't have an answer for and therefore justifies your radical hate ideology that you call a religion you lost that today. I'm sure Pat will find something else for you to justify your efforts to destroy our country.
Read more over at New Scientist.
Posted by ManDrake at 5:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Cunningham Admits Taking Bribes and Resigns
Nothing earthshaking here, just another Republican scumbag caught taking bribes like all the rest of them. Corruption and criminality define the Republican party so none of this is really news. It does make things a bit more interesting for the upcoming Republican effort to give more tax cuts for the wealthy. Realize that the Republicans have been suffering mass defections by people who think getting reelected is more important than following the party straight into the unemployment lines. Remember the Republican bill to harm the poor and defenseless only passed by two votes. This means the Republicans will have to work harder to pass bills that harm the United States going forward. It's going to get steadily harder of course since so much of the Republican party is under investigations for the rampant corruption that is the core of the party's platform. It's time for house cleaning to occur. This is just a taste for decent Americans, we will get the criminals out of our government one way or another. The important part is the remember that the Republicans embrace all forms of corruption and criminality. The only way to bring it to an end is get rid of every last one of the monsters. I always love the money trail with these Republicans...guess who Cunningham gave money too on a regular basis from his PAC??? I'll give you a hint W!! It's just another example of the Republican corruption loop. They give kickbacks to business and business gives them kickbacks for campaigns. For those of you that are interested the likely replacement for Cunningham will be Francine Busby. She's not a corrupt Republican and that's really all of us need to know about her.
Read more over at MyDD and Daily Kos.
Posted by ManDrake at 4:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Holiday shoppers seen spending modestly
Man the Republicans are in desperate spin mode right now! Their claims of a booming economy that only the Republicans seem to be able to see are delusional. Every right wing website I went today was screaming about Wal-Mart's numbers. They seem to be the only people that had any luck during this cycle, but given that they are the very definition of a Red Company it may just be some book cooking in the name of the party. Nothing would surprise me given the rampant corruption that defines the Republican party. We over at Daffodil Lane went ahead and finished off Christmas shopping before the post Thanksgiving Rush so that the worthless Republican trash couldn't claim it as part of their totals for the "great" Republican economy. Looks like Americans look at their budgets and the Republican mismanagement on every front and realized that they better save their money and do a light Christmas this year because they are likely to be screwed over when the utility bills come in. Those corporate welfare programs that the Republicans love so much are now coming back to haunt us all as we lose our shirts trying to keep from freezing to death this winter.
Read more over at MSNBC.
Posted by ManDrake at 3:28 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
I Felt So Sorry For Her
I was outside on the front porch yesterday afternoon putting up my Christmas wreath and garland and generally ignoring the neighborhood riff raff children who were riding their bikes when I heard one of them say, "Eddie and Sally's* mommy and daddy are fighting!" I didn't think much about it because let's face it those redneck idiots are always yelling and cussing each other, but then I started feeling sorry for the idiots' daughter when it became apparent that "Mommy" and "Daddy" had locked her out of the house on purpose. The little girl was standing on her OWN front porch knocking on the door and crying to get in and they were IGNORING her. Really these people had no business having children...they are complete barbarians! And then I also realized that their house was completely closed up...meaning that you could hear them screaming and yelling at each other through the walls...that's how loud they were! Complete Neanderthals I tell you, only I'd wager a guess that Neanderthals might have been a bit more civilized!!
*Names changed because I felt like it.
Posted by Daffodil at 2:28 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
State By State GOP Scandal Scorecard
I was over at the Daily Kos and this little tidbit jumped out at me. I mean we are all so used to Republicans inherent corruption it really doesn't mean much to any of us anymore. They hate America and Americans. They work every waking hour trying to undermine our great nation in hopes of destroying it for whatever diabolic agenda they are serving today. The Abramoff scandal has exposed their true criminal nature on a grand scale. This is the story we are going to be hearing about for the next couple of years. As one by one the most corrupt and evil of the Republican party are taken down by their unholy alliance with Abramoff. I was expecting to find my state mostly untouched. We only have two Republicans representing us nationally in the House. I would expect them to be corrupt as any other Republican, but they evidently haven't gotten caught yet. Instead our worthless Governor and his administration are knee deep in the scandal. It explains why they are trying to spin Steele off, because he hasn't gotten caught up in the scandal yet. But he's so corrupt he's embracing the corrupt Bush Administration so completely. Which is fine, I have a rule that all Republicans must declare their undying loyalty to Bush and his hate ideology and campaign on his anti-America platform. So Steele is following that logic. So read up on your own state and see how many Republicans have been caught up in this Republican corruption scandal in your area. Corruption and criminality are core party values so if they aren't on the list yet don't worry about it...they will be caught breaking some other law before long. It's just the kind of people Republicans are.
Read the list at Wayne Madsen Report.
Posted by ManDrake at 2:22 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Which mythical creature resides in your soul?
Dianne's creature
SIREN
You are a siren. A siren is an
enchanting seductress that usually inhabits a
remote isle in the sea. The siren's voice is
beautiful and alluring. The siren's voice is
irresitible to all those who hear it. Upon
hearing her fatal melody the listener will
either plunge to their deaths in the icy ocean
waters or they will perhaps finally reach the
siren. Once the siren has hold of them they
have no chance. The siren represents sensuality
and passion.
Which mythical creature resides in your soul? (11 Results + Pictures)
brought to you by Quizilla
Jamison's creature
DRAGON
You are the dragon. A dragon,
in western lore, is a giant lizard with wings.
It usually has the capability to breathe fire.
The dragon symbolizes immense power, physical
strength, and courage. The dragon has also been
a symbol of wisdom and of protection. Dragons
may also appear to be greedy as many a tale
depict them as keepers of vast hordes of
treasure.
Which mythical creature resides in your soul? (11 Results + Pictures)
brought to you by Quizilla
Posted by Daffodil at 2:10 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
First Snow of the Season
We got our first snow of the season on the night before Thanksgiving. That's a little early for us, so if it's any indication we're in for a snowy winter. Here at our house it was nothing more than a dusting, and that's being generous, but it was snow none the less. I just love this time of year!
Posted by Daffodil at 1:59 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Marble chunk falls from top of Supreme Court
I don't know, no matter how much the Republican spin machine screams that this isn't symbolic, I have to wonder myself. The front of the building above the allegorical figure representing "Order" and above the inscription "Equal Justice Under Law" suddenly falls off during a time in which both are under near continuous attack by the America hating Republican party has to mean something. Republicans are seeking to destroy these things in our country and it's like the physical institutions themselves are suffering from the ideological attacks. Since these things won't mean much anymore if the Republicans are allowed to institutionalize their hate ideology we all need to take a moment and redouble our efforts to keep them from doing that to our country.
Read more over at Reuters.
Posted by ManDrake at 1:56 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Pet Peeve #19: Murdered Christmas Trees
Every year around this time of the season, no matter where you go, you start seeing roadside stands and areas where they are selling what I like to call "murdered Christmas trees". I really despise cut down Christmas trees. What's the point? You cut it down, killing the tree, to drag it home and decorate it and make it beautiful, only to kick it's dead little ass to the curb the day after Christmas in a wasteful heap. It's senseless and it's a total waste of a perfectly good tree that could be planted somewhere taking on CO2!
So if you are one of those people who insists on killing a tree to celebrate Christmas just don't tell me about it...I'm much better off not thinking less of you for murdering a tree. If you have an artificial tree or choose a tree that is root bound so you can plant it after the season is over more power to you! You're my kind of people...And don't worry I've heard all the lame answers about how the tree is "fulfilling its Christmas destiny" and "that was what it was grown for" etc. It's still killing a tree and it's barbaric as far as I'm concerned!
Posted by Daffodil at 1:46 PM | Comments (4)
USGS Earthquake Site
One interesting thing about working for 3 days on my mom's computer was that I got move over her bookmarks and such to her new system. One of them was for the USGS Earthquake warning site. I vaguely remember programming it in for her on her last computer. I was thinking about it today because of Tropical Storm Delta moving toward the coast of Africa. This should drop large amounts of rain onto the Canary Islands. Which if I were ignorant as the rest of the US would mean nothing to me, but the fact that I know about the concept of the Megatsunamis and the fact that the island of La Palma fissures are caused by water trapped on the island and it suddenly becomes a timely exercise to keep up with seismic activities during the tropical storm. It's an interesting exercise to say the least. Do I think it's likely to happen? Absolutely not, but it's my job to keep this kind of stuff near the front of my brain so I don't become complacent like the Republicans.
Read more over at the BBC.
Posted by ManDrake at 1:26 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
NASA criticized over space station management
Why are they blaming NASA for mismanagement? This an endemic problem coming from the current administration and the Republican party as a whole. This is a reflection of the inherent hate by all Republicans of everything scientific and intellectual in nature. They are technophobic to the point that any sort of forward progress in how our science works is a threat to their belief in God and therefore requires immediate muting if not total destruction. NASA is showing the symptoms of Republican efforts to destroy them. First the rampant mismanagement, which is the hallmark of the Republican party. Followed quickly by efforts to cut funding that makes the mismanagement catastrophic and the never ending attacks against the organization in an attempt to create negative public opinion about the organization in hopes of closing it down. I can go to any Republican on the street and get them to blindly parrot every Republican talking point on why NASA is a bad idea and a complete failure. Did it deliver men to the Moon and return them safely? Did they build the first reusable space craft? Did they sustain human life in orbit? Yes, they did all these things, but for a Republican that means nothing. The entire organization is an unproductive boondoggle to them. What really needs to be done according to the Republican refrain is to privatize the efforts. Translation...set up a corporate welfare program that never has to deliver results in effect killing all forward progress while providing a new source of Republican campaign funds, which is the only goal of the Republican party.
Read more over at New Scientist.
Posted by ManDrake at 11:53 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 27, 2005
Beach Bucket
Then:
And Now:
Posted by Daffodil at 4:12 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Helping With The Christmas Tree
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Republicans steal Democrats withdrawal plans for Iraq
Oh my!!! The Republican party have taken crazy to entirely new level. Biden puts out a Democratic plan for getting out of Iraq and the Republicans decide to adopt it for their own and claim that there is wide bi-partisan support for their plan. Excuse me??? The Republicans are among the most morally and mentally bankrupt individuals on the planet. Now they are suddenly going to start stealing the Democrat's good ideas and claiming them as their own? Do they really think that the American people aren't going to notice that 2 weeks ago the Republicans were claiming that any mention of withdrawal was cowardice and that they would never do something like that? You worthless dirtbags have reached a brand new low. Let's only hope that you morons don't screw this up like everything else that you've mismanaged in Washington since you took over. Who am I kidding Republicans are so incompetent they can't do anything right. This is going to get screwed up too. What a world we live in.
Read more over at America Blog and MyDD.
Posted by ManDrake at 1:39 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Bah-Humbug!!!
You know what I dislike about Christmas? The Christmas cheer doesn't bother me, mostly because I haven't seen anything resembling that in decades. What I dislike most about Christmas is all the work to create the illusion of Christmas cheer. Dianne has begun the horrible yearly chore list of crap that has to be done to prepare the house for freaking Christmas. I rank it right up there with root canals and opera far as enjoyment goes. There is no joy given from work that is pointless, maybe I've missed the point. Having a chore to move a bunch of crap up from the basement only to move it back down to the basement again a month later. I don't ever look at the decorations and have a smile, all I see is all the work that went into and all the work that will go back into putting them up again. Only to begin the process all over again next year. Which leaves me nothing to say but Bah-Humbug!! Then Dianne goes overboard and we've got three freaking trees in the house!! Three times the work!!! Bah-Humbug!!!! I'm waiting for the day that I can just project a hologram up of a tree. Pile the gifts around it and call it a day. That could get me in the Christmas spirit maybe. I doubt it though because I'm burned out on Christmas and it's not even December yet. Bah-Humbug Seasons greetings to all you!!
Posted by ManDrake at 1:08 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
November 26, 2005
What is your French name?
Your French name is
~Nuit~
It means 'night'.
You are a quiet person who enjoys being alone.
Unlike Congele, you are accepted, you just like
to have time to yourself to think. You
especially like the nightime, because looking
at the stars makes you think of how small we
all are in the world, and how much there is
about the universe that we don't and can't
know...
What is your French name?
brought to you by Quizilla
Found via An Etherealgirl's Adventure in Cyberland.
Posted by Daffodil at 8:55 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
She's Making A List and Checking It Twice
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November 25, 2005
Snowflake Dancing
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2005 Santa Grandpa Picture
Every year we take a "Santa" picture of Alexis with Jamison's dad for his Christmas cards. This year Alexis wouldn't cooperate and actually sit on Darrell's lap so we tried to bribe her her with shiny objects, we tried bribing her with cupcakes and ice cream, we even had Jamison sit on "Santa's" lap:
But she flat out refused...she wanted to let us know she runs the show in case we had forgotten or something. Regardless we got some cute pictures anyway.
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As you can see in the pictures Jamison's dad is a very convincing Santa. The kids next door were convinced we had Santa on our deck and wanted to know why he wasn't giving them candy. I guess they've been to one too many parades. One of the boys yelled, "That's the real Santa!" One of the other kids wasn't so sure and asked him how he knew it was the real Santa and he told him definitively, "Because he's got a real beard!"
I look forward to continuing these pictures over the years and seeing how much she changes from year to year. As you can see from the link above in the first paragraph the first two pictures show just how much she's grown. It's a fun tradition.
Posted by Daffodil at 7:04 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Watching "Moppits" (Mary Poppins)
Posted by Daffodil at 12:45 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
But There's No Such Thing As Global Warming
Oceans, greenhouse gases rising faster: reportsWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Ocean and so-called greenhouse gas levels are rising faster than they have for thousands of years, according to two reports published on Thursday that are likely to fuel debate on global warming.
One study found the Earth's ocean levels have risen twice as fast in the past 150 years, signaling the impact of human activity on temperatures worldwide, researchers said in the journal Science.
Sea levels were rising by about 1 millimeter (0.04 inches) every year about 200 years ago and as far back as 5,000 years, geologists found from deep sediment samples from the New Jersey coastline. Since then, levels have risen by about 2 millimeters (0.08 inches) a year.
While the planet has been in a warmer period, driving cars and other activities that create carbon dioxide are having a clear impact, the Rutgers University-led team said.
"Half of the current rise ... was going on anyway. But that means half of what's going on is not background. It's human induced," said Kenneth Miller, a geology professor at the New Jersey-based school who led the 15-year effort.
Carbon dioxide emissions come mainly from burning coal and other fossil fuels in power plants, factories and automobiles.
Miller and his colleagues analyzed five 500-meter (1,650-foot) deep samples to look for fossils, sediment types and variations in chemical composition, giving them data on the past 100 million years.
They also analyzed data from satellite, shoreline markers and by gauging ocean tides, among other measures.
"It allows us to understand the mechanisms of sea level change before humans intervened," Miller said in an interview.
His team did not determine whether the rate is accelerating.
The research, funded mostly by the National Science Foundation, also found ocean levels were lower during the dinosaur era than previously thought. They were about 100 meters (330 feet) higher than now, not 250 meters (820 feet) as many geologists had thought, Miller said.
SAMPLES FROM ANTARCTIC DEPTHS
Measurements also showed that, while many scientists had thought polar ice caps did not exist before 15 million years ago, frozen water at the poles did form periodically.
"We believe the ice sheet was not around all the time. It was only around during cool snaps of the climate," Miller said.
In another report published in Science, European researchers using three large samples of polar cap ice found carbon dioxide levels were stable until 200 years ago.
"Today's rise is about 200 times faster than any rise recorded" in the samples, study author Thomas Stocker said in an e-mail interview with Reuters.
The historic data "put the present rise of the last 200 years into a longer-term context," he added.
Trapped gas bubbles in the ice, drilled out from Antarctica depths of about 3,000 meters (9,900 feet), provided scientists with information on the Earth's air up to 650,000 years ago.
Researchers participating in The European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica measured levels of carbon dioxide as well as methane and nitrous oxide -- two other gases known to affect the atmosphere's protective ozone layer.
"The study does not directly address global warming. But what we provide is an important new baseline for the climate models with which we investigate global warming," said Stocker, a professor of climate and environmental physics at the University of Bern in Switzerland.
This will continue until we make some serious efforts to change the way we treat our planet. People who think there is no such thing as global warming are completely deluding themselves, but then again that seems to be a common theme in our country. Maybe when some of the coastal areas of our country are completely flooded people will start to take notice, but I doubt it. It's a clear case of not caring what happens to anyone else unless it's happening to you. Selfishness at its finest.
Found via Yahoo! News.
Posted by Daffodil at 8:33 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
I Think We Saw This One Coming
Simpson, Lachey Officially SeparateLOS ANGELES - Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey, who turned mid-level music careers into Hollywood superstardom by celebrating their marriage in an MTV reality show and television specials, are calling it quits after months of persistent breakup rumors.
The couple announced their separation Wednesday.
"After three years of marriage, and careful thought and consideration, we have decided to part ways," they said in a joint statement released by their publicists. "This is the mutual decision of two people with an enormous amount of respect and admiration for each other."
Calls seeking further comment from publicists Meredith O' Sullivan and Rob Shuter were not immediately returned early Thursday.
The couple have been dogged by rumors that their marriage was in trouble — Us Weekly reported that they split in an Oct. 17 issue — but Simpson, 25, and Lachey, 32, brushed the speculation aside and insisted they were still together.
I had hoped they'd pull it off and make it together, but it looks like it's over. I can't say the world didn't see it coming. It was sort of evident if you watched how the reacted to one another on their "reality" series.
Found via Yahoo! Entertainment.
Posted by Daffodil at 8:29 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Have I Mentioned Lately How Creepy Tom Cruise Is?
Cruise buys sonogram machine to watch babyLOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Not every family can afford one at a price tag of up to $200,000 but actor Tom Cruise says he bought a sonogram machine for his pregnant fiance Katie Holmes so that they can monitor the development of their child.
In an interview with ABC's Barbara Walters to be aired on a November 29 television special about the "most fascinating people of 2005," Cruise said: "I'm going to donate it to a hospital when we are done."
A sonogram machine, which uses ultra-sound to look at a fetus's development, can cost between $150,000 and $200,000, according to People Magazine which published excerpts from the interview on Wednesday.
Cruise said he did not know the gender of the child but said if he did, he would not reveal it. Walters then asked him, "So what do you see?" and he answered "a little baby."
More likely they see an alien! Anyone noticed how dazed and drugged out of her mind Katie looks? Or how about the fact that they've been forcing her to drink the Kool-Aide? She looks brainwashed to me! Her family needs to "kidnap" her and have her deprogrammed! And for the sake of her child she needs to get as far away from Tom Cruise as possible! He's a menace to society and completely bonkers!
Found via Yahoo! Entertainment.
Posted by Daffodil at 8:25 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Scientists discover singing iceberg in Antarctica
BERLIN (Reuters)Scientists monitoring earth movements in Antarctica believe they have found a singing iceberg.
Sound waves from the iceberg had a frequency of around 0.5 hertz, too low to be heard by humans, but by playing them at higher speed the iceberg sounded like a swarm of bees or an orchestra warming up, the scientists said.The German Alfred Wegener institute for polar and marine research publish the results of its study, done in 2002, in Science magazine on Friday.
Between July and November 2002 researchers picked up acoustic signals of unprecedented clarity when recording seismic signals to measure earthquakes and tectonic movements on the Ekstroem ice shelf on Antarctica's South Atlantic coast.
Tracking the signal, the scientists found a 50 by 20 kilometer iceberg that had collided with an underwater peninsula and was slowly scraping around it.
"Once the iceberg stuck fast on the seabed it was like a rock in a river," said scientist Vera Schlindwein. "The water pushes through its crevasses and tunnels at high pressure and the iceberg starts singing."
"The tune even goes up and down, just like a real song."
Now that's just cool!
Found via Yahoo! News.
Posted by Daffodil at 8:23 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Things Change...Get Over It!
Definition of South, Southern Is ChangingCARY, N.C. - The joke around here is that this town's name is really an acronym for "Containment Area for Relocated Yankees." As far as Vernon Yates is concerned, they haven't been contained well enough.
Nearly surrounded by pricey subdivisions, the cinderblock Yates Grocery and Farm Supply sells neither anymore. As if things weren't bad enough, style maven Martha Stewart has chosen this Raleigh suburb to build a signature neighborhood of houses designed after her homes in Maine and New York.
Holding court near a potbellied stove, the 69-year-old man in the suspenders and NASCAR shirt laments that his old customers have been replaced by fast-talking, SUV-driving Northerners who don't seem to be able to read a STOP sign.
"It's all gone," Yates, pausing for another spit of tobacco juice, says of the Southern town of his youth. "Everything is completely different from what it used to be."
Things are indeed changing in the South. And so is the notion of what it means to be "Southern."
In this most maligned and mused-upon of American regions, the term conjures a variety of images. Magnolias, front porch swings and sweet tea for some; football, stock cars and fried chicken for others; lynchings, burning crosses and civil rights marches for still others.
We've had the Solid South, the Old South and the New South.
But are we heading toward a "No South"?
The South "doesn't" change and it doesn't want to change. As I've mentioned on many occasions "Southern Hospitality" has nothing to do with actual hospitality, it's simply a severe case of noseyitis. Everyone has to know everything about everyone else and if they don't know something about you or can't figure it out then they label you as "Unsouthern". These are only some of the things that irritated me to no end living there for the majority of my life and some of the main reasons I left.
Of course now we still live in the "South" if you ask someone north of Maryland and we live in the "North" as far as Virginia and the states south are concerned, but the fact of the matter is that things change. That's the way life works. You either change with it or it smothers you. People just need to get a big old grip on reality and get over it!!
Found via Yahoo! News.
Posted by Daffodil at 8:14 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Nelson 35 Weeks
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Yeah Because He's the One You Want Helping You With Disaster Planning
DENVERFormer FEMA Director Michael Brown, heavily criticized for his agency's slow response to Hurricane Katrina, is starting a disaster preparedness consulting firm to help clients avoid the sort of errors that cost him his job.
"If I can help people focus on preparedness, how to be better prepared in their homes and better prepared in their businesses — because that goes straight to the bottom line — then I hope I can help the country in some way," Brown told the Rocky Mountain News for its Thursday editions.
His "help" will include what to wear and how to make sure you get to eat dinner even if no one else gets to.
What lost this man his job the fact he is a clueless idiot. The nerve of this man thinking he can help you plan for a disaster speaks volumes of the Neo-Con's delusional theory that they are the center of all the universe and no one can do anything better than they can. Now if you want to shovel manure he might be the one to call, otherwise I'd stay far away from his "disaster planning" skills.
Next!
Found via Yahoo! News.
Posted by Daffodil at 7:02 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 24, 2005
NOW Let's Do Christmas
Posted by Daffodil at 9:06 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack