Daffodil Lane: January 2006 Archives

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January 31, 2006

Question of the Day

Will you watch the "State of the Union"? In other words will you watch Dubya's painful attempt to make it through a big worded speech of lies he doesn't understand in the first place? Or will you catch the "highlights" later?

Posted by Daffodil at 5:04 PM | Comments (9)

Pet Peeve #23: Swollen Taste Buds

I have a swollen taste bud on the end of my tongue and boy does that sucker hurt! You wouldn't think something that small would cause such discomfort, but it does and then some!! Ick!!!

Posted by Daffodil at 4:54 PM

Some days my head just hurts!

Ok, I have a strict policy of trying to help as many people as possible in my average day. I send emails to people because it's just effective as calling and it doesn't require me to gather a lot of things together. Most of the time people find my presence distracting. I'd love to believe it's my commanding personality, but my wife has kindly informed me that it's because I'm so elitist to most people I scare them or annoy them instinctively. Which ever, the effect is the same. It just ends up being a counter productive exercise for me to attempt. Today was a perfect example. I decided that I could no longer ignore the Republican smear on Wikipedia against one of my favorite local candidates. I've sent emails about it several times over the last year since I noticed it. A local Republican hate group focused on guns has been defaming my candidate for quite a while. I know I could just fix it myself, but if I do it nobody learns anything from the exercise. The entire give a man a fish parable. Anyway, so I'm finally in a foul mood and looking for something to do with my negative energy. So I decided to take the direct approach in spite of my rules against it. So I give the Candidate's office a call.

The conversation as I remember went like this:

Me: Hello I'm Jamison, I'm a Maryland Blogger, I noticed that the Candidate's Wikipedia entry has been replaced with a Republican smear, you need to fix that.

Them: What's a Wikipedia?

Me (with my brain now hurting): Wikipedia is an online Encyclopedia that anyone can update.

Them: Why would anyone trust something anyone could update?

Me: It's just as accurate as Encyclopedia Britannica.

Them: How old are you?

Me: 32?

Them: So would you say that people your age would trust this Wikipedia.

Me: It's the gold standard for people my age and younger.

Them: Would you say that you're liberal, conservative, or centrist?

Me: I'd say liberal. (*Yeah, I'm a right winger exposing a radical right wing conspiracy because I'm a good person, yeah right!*)

Them: Thank you for your help, we will look into this.

My head is hurting so badly now. This is how I'm actually going to have to fix problems with the Democratic party isn't it? I'm going to have to get physically involved! Ridiculous!! This is not to imply any grief on a volunteer working at a Candidate's office. They were prefectly reasonable. It's just the fact that we are in different worlds all together. I think the first thing I'm going to have to fix is the email block so I can get my emails to those who need to be listening. They sure have things set up to work one way, but I'm done with that kind of Democracy...it's time for things to change! I want access to my elected officials.

Posted by ManDrake at 4:01 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

What Kind of Frog Are You?

The African bullfrog, or Pixie frog as it is often called (because of it's latin name, not because it's as cute as a fairy!), is one of the largest frogs in South Africa. Usually, they hang out in open grassland, and if there are any to be found, they'll sit around in puddles. When startled, these frogs will blow up like balloons to scare away the intruder! In the dry season, they will burrow into the ground. These guys eat lots and lots of really big bugs, fish, mice, lizards, and even other frogs.

What kind of Frog are you?

Found via Cheri.

Posted by Daffodil at 2:59 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Well OK: Part 2

A few weeks ago we brought you the story of Mr. Sharkey and his run for the governorship of Minnesota. Now it appears Mr. Sharkey has been arrested on outstanding warrants:

Vampyre candidate for governor arrested
MORA, Minn. -- A fringe candidate for governor who played up his satanic side — and pledged public impalement for terrorists — wound up behind bars today thanks to a sharp-eyed sheriff's dispatcher.

Jonathon Sharkey, 41, of Princeton, was arrested Monday night on two felony counts from Indiana, said Mike Smith, the Mille Lacs County jail administrator. One warrant was for escape, another for stalking.

Sharkey launched his campaign last month under the banner of the Vampyres, Witches and Pagans party. His platform includes an emphasis on education, tax breaks for farmers and better benefits for veterans, but he also said he favored impaling certain wrongdoers in front of the State Capitol.

Sheriff Brent Lindgren said Sharkey's warrants were discovered by a dispatcher making routine warrant queries. Lindgren said the dispatcher had seen news stories about Sharkey's campaign and recognized the name on the warrant — Rocky Flash — as a name Sharkey had used as a pro wrestler.

Sharkey was arrested by police in Princeton without incident, Lindgren said. He remained in the jail Tuesday pending extradition proceedings.

Roger Rayl, a spokesman in the Marion County, Ind., prosecutor's office, confirmed outstanding warrants for Sharkey but didn't immediately have details on the cases.

I reiterate again...you just can't make this stuff up!

Found via Daily Kos.

Read the story here.

Posted by Daffodil at 2:44 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

And Now We Sing Jamison's Praises For This Christmas...

The other day I mentioned my pasta maker that Jamison got for me Christmas 2004 and today I'm going to talk about another new toy he got for me this Christmas...and by this Christmas I mean 2005! This year Jamison got me a Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker that is to die for! You keep the bowl in the freezer and when you want to make some ice cream you mix up your ice cream mixture, pop it in the frozen bowl and 20-25 minutes later you've got soft ice cream! And if you want super firm ice cream (Jamison likes it that way) you can pop it in the freezer for a hour or so and viola...Ice cream! The other day I made some vanilla to try out the machine and today I'm making Alexis' favorite, strawberry! It rocks!

Posted by Daffodil at 2:11 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

No Two Are Alike!

This is a really awesome look at just how varied snowflakes really are! There are some amazing pictures at snowscrystals.com. They have information on natural snow, created snow crystals, the physics of snowflakes, etc. It's a project at Cal Tech. Check it out! It's neat!

Posted by Daffodil at 1:08 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Maryland Monday Postponed One Week

I forgot about Maryland Monday yesterday in the haze that was Alexis with no sleep and my fish tank woes. I had planned to put in an entry today, but decided instead to just do an entry next Monday instead. That will mean two Maryland Monday's on back to back weeks, but that's ok. See you then!

Posted by Daffodil at 12:57 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Coretta Scott King Dies at 78

ATLANTA - Coretta Scott King, who turned a life shattered by her husband's assassination into one devoted to enshrining his legacy of human rights and equality, has died. She was 78.

Markel Hutchins, a close family friend of the Kings, told The Associated Press he spoke early this morning with Bernice King, who confirmed her mother's passing.

Former Mayor Andrew Young said on The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Web site that Bernice King found her mother at about 1 a.m.

Young, who was a former civil rights activist and was close to the King family, told NBC's "Today" show: "I understand that she was asleep last night and her daughter went in to wake her up and she was not able to and so she quietly slipped away. Her spirit will remain with us just as her husband's has."

Efforts by The Associated Press to reach the family were unsuccessful. They did not immediately return phone calls, but flags at the King Center were lowered to half-staff Tuesday morning.

Rest in peace Mrs. King. Our thoughts go out to her family.

Found via Yahoo! News.

Posted by Daffodil at 8:42 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

January 30, 2006

"Mommy's Sad!"

Alexis didn't take a nap today (who would have thought?) and thus is reaching the end of her screechydom. I'm currently in the process of making her dinner. A few minutes ago she came into the kitchen carrying her pitchfork and had the mother of all meltdowns. Quite appropriate with the pitchfork no? I promptly gave her a stern admonition and sent her to her time out chair. Now she's sitting in that chair whining and saying over and over again "Mommy's sad!" Gee Alexis you think? Someone is getting ready to eat dinner and go straight to bed!!!! Do not pass go! Do not collect $200!

Posted by Daffodil at 4:35 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Monday morning shut down the Senate switchboard

For those of you that have been watching the Filibuster battle it has been an interesting day. All over the country hundreds of thousands freedom minded individuals have been fighting desperately to get the attention of their elected officials trying to get them to stand against the evil monster that is Alito. There are several people keeping up with the progress so check it out over at Democrats.com. I've taken a more neutral approach towards this situation than most. This is a win-win situation for Democrats. As soon as they possibly can the Republicans will use Alito to rewrite the Constitution of the United States to turn this country into a third world theocracy. I have little doubt that this will happen, my question is what will the America people do about it? We know the anti-America hate group that is the Republican party will happily march us into slavery. My question is what about everyone else? For me what's even more tragic is the notion held by some that there is some way to reason with Republicans of any sort. It's laughable because they hate America, end of sentence, end of thought, end of line. There isn't any reasoning with them. For decades this notion of "moderate" Republicans has been floated in Blue States to allow them to get elected. The reality has always been that they were just waiting for their chance to betray our country. Now they have it and they are striking like the serpents in the grass they've always been. Republicans have been working in the shadows for decades trying to destroy our country. Many of us have been screaming warnings for years that this was their only goal, they hate our freedom, they hate our way of life, they hate America, it's core to the kind of people they are. It's not new, it's the way they've always been. I know what you're thinking...how is the destruction of our country really good for Democrats? For decades the Republicans have screamed from the roof tops that if they were able to change the world into their third world theocracy and take away all of our rights and freedoms that we would live in Utopia finally. And the stupid among us ate it up with both hands. Sometimes stupid people just have to choke on their ignorance before they learn anything. The Republicans have already started moving cases into the courts in anticipation of Alito's tipping the court to the radical right. They are moving as quickly as they can to destroy America in this one moment that they have to harm us. It's only by allowing this duplicity that we can end this evil cancer growing on our great nation once and for all. It's time for Americans to decide once and for all if they want freedom and prosperity, or if they crave slavery so much that they will embrace it. Honestly for the first time in my life I can't tell you which outcome is more likely. We've entered one of the darkest times in our Republic's history. I can't predict one way or another how the masses will react. I used to believe Americans were naturally great people and that we would rise to any challenge like our forefathers, but this cancer of cowardice that has started to consume our greatness put many things in doubt for me. I want to believe, but I see nothing that inspires me to confidence about my country's future. My instinct is to sit back and watch the dice roll and hope for the best. I'm not sure there is much else that can be done at this point.

"Riding the Bus" With Zoe and Elmo

Posted by Daffodil at 2:10 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

FEMA failed to accept Katrina help, documents say

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Federal emergency officials failed to accept offers of possibly life-saving aid from the Department of Interior immediately after Hurricane Katrina, according to documents obtained by CNN.
The Interior Department offered the Federal Emergency Management Agency the use of personnel who were experienced in water rescues and also offered boats, helicopters, heavy equipment and rooms, the documents say.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, chairwoman of a Senate committee with jurisdiction over the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA, said the additional resources may have saved lives.

"It is indeed possible that there was additional suffering and maybe even loss of life that might not have occurred if these assets had been deployed," Collins said.

Her panel, the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, is set to hold hearings Monday looking into the search-and-rescue response to Katrina.

Yet more proof that Bush and his cronies are past inept, but sadly I'm sure that those Neo-cons out there can explain this away in a way that will make sense to only them. They didn't just screw up this whole situation...they frogged it in massive proportions and should be completely ashamed of themselves! Of course that would involve having a conscious and a soul, which they have proven time and again they have neither of.

Found via CNN.

Posted by Daffodil at 1:50 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Study confirms Republicans are racists

I sure didn't need a scientific study to provide that kind of information to me. Like most of us I can review any conversation with the average Republican that I know and racism makes up the foundation and 90% of their platform. The more religious the Republican the more racism that they expose is another thing I've discovered over the years. Which is why I finally made the link between the Christian Identity movement and the Evangelical/Fundamentalist movement that is the backbone of the radical right wing Republicans. What I really enjoyed about this one has been the response from the Republicans to the study. It must be wrong, the researchers must be biased. etc. Funn because every non-Republican you find on the street can pretty much confirm the study from personal experience and that's call reproducibility folks. The Republican party platform is built around racism: welfare reform, death penalty, education reforms, social security reform, healthcare reform and on and on. All their efforts are aimed at decreasing access to these services to minorities. And trust me racism sells, especially in areas that were controlled by the Klan and other hate groups in the past. Which is why you can lay the slave states and non-slave states from the 1800's over the political map today and get an almost perfect match up of Blue and Red states respectively. Which is why the Republican "Segregation Now" campaign has been so effective in this country. They've picked up the banner of the Klan and started to run with it. I think the Hispanics that supported the Republicans are having the startling realization that they hate all non-whites, no matter how many religious commonalities exist. The Republican party is the evil menace we've all thought they were for a long time. And if you're sitting there claiming you're a Republican and you don't believe in racism then it's time for you to find a new party, because if you vote for them you're voting for their hate.

Crab Quilt

I know I said I was going to work on Sam and Sue, but I got sidetracked. I found my crab pattern and decided to put together a quilt that we can take with us to the beach to sit on. What better theme than crabs??!?! I want to get the quilt top put together so I can have someone else quilt it before our trip in September.

I found some backing fabric that I LOVE from eQuilter.com. They only had 1/2 a yard left though so I called them this morning to see if they were planning on getting anymore any time soon. The lady I spoke with is supposed to get back to me sometime this afternoon after she spoke with their purchasing department. Hopefully they will be ordering some soon because I really like that fabric!

My plan is to make 5 different crabs and then mix them up throughout the quilt. Here are the fabrics I'm going to work with:

The darker blues are for the crabs and the two lighter blues are for the border. I will use one of the lighter blues as the wave like border around the crab (see the picture of the pattern above) and the other as the border around the finished quilt itself. I haven't decided which will go where yet, but I will soon since I'm getting ready to cut everything out. The white is for the background behind the crab and though you can't see it has little white stars on it.

I'm off to cut out crabs! I'll post some pictures later. :o)

Posted by Daffodil at 12:50 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

More Starbucks

Posted by Daffodil at 12:12 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Hiding

Posted by Daffodil at 12:08 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

It's official now God is a registered Republican

We all know the Republicans have been saying it for years, but now they've gone and made it official. A man in Reading Pennsylvania has signed his voter registration as God. Of course local officials are a bit skeptical, so I'm sure for you America hating Republicans out there they are Democrats or something like that. I don't know...maybe we could throw around the word sane or Democrats, it all the same difference in this context. He claims that in his job as a bail bondsman that he's regularly referred to as God, so he signs most of his official documents with the state that way. I'm sure we will see Dobson and Robertson weighing in on this one before long. Evil Democrats trying to cheat God out of his right to vote. Hell it might make it into W's State of the Union address tomorrow. You never know with Republicans, crazy is all they know.

January 29, 2006

It Gets Me Everytime

Don't get me wrong...I love hugs and kisses from Alexis. They are wonderful and precious, but she melts my heart right on the spot everytime she says "Mommy hold your hand?" and reaches up for my hand. There is something so sweet and pure about my daughter wanting to hold my hand and it gets me everytime!

Posted by Daffodil at 3:45 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

"No Pwease!"

We've been working with Alexis to say "No please" when something happens that she doesn't like. I started this a month or so ago when it became apparent to me that a lot of "well meaning" adults are actually quite cruel to children by harassing them mercilessly, when in fact they are the ones that should get a grip on reality not the child!

Anyway, so instead of Alexis pitching a fit, we've been teaching her to simply say "No please!" or "Stop please!" and then if whomever is bothering her doesn't do as she says then I say something to them about it because it's ridiculous to pick on a child! This seems to be working quite well, except for now whenever Alexis doesn't want to do something she says "No pwease!" or "Stop pwease!" So now we are working on helping her to understand that sometimes there are things you don't want to do (i.e. bathing, eating, going to sleep) that you have to do anyway because they are what's best for you.

Last night Alexis didn't want to go to bed and she kept saying "No pwease! No pwease! NO PWEASE!!" When we explained to her that she had to go to sleep and how it is alright to say "No please!" when someone is touching you or tickling you or being mean to you and you don't like it, sometimes when Mommy and Daddy do things "No please!" doesn't work because we are doing what's best for you. She looked stunned and told me, "But Mom I'm using my words!" I had to suppress a laugh at that one. "Yes you are using your words and it's very good that you are, but you still have to go to bed!"

Isn't parenting fun? LOL ;o)

Posted by Daffodil at 3:09 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Health Care Is Now at Top of Bush's Agenda

You have to laugh or else you'd cry. Nearly 50 million Americas are without medical insurance. The Republican party's answer is always the same...Let private enterprise take over. Which as we've seen with their other corporate welfare programs usually ends in utter disaster. So now the Republicans have a new spin...Americans are over insured. That's right, we have too much insurance is the problem. All those people who are going bankrupt trying to keep their families alive are over insured. The reality is that Republicans are looking for a way to move the American healthcare system to a system that allows them to let people die on the streets while continuing to provide the best coverage for the rich and powerful at fair prices. When a Republican says they want healthcare for Americans they mean healthcare for those that can afford it and the rest of the country can just die when they get sick. The Republican dream is to establish a distinct class barrier between the rich and the poor. It's all apart of their dream of establishing a third world theocracy in America. Of course the most ironic part of all this is that it was the radical Anti-America Republicans that stopped any efforts to solve this problem a decade ago because they claimed that "market" forces would work the system out. And yet we see yet again that they were dead wrong. Not surprising because now it's a problem because campaign contributors in the business community that helped block efforts in the 90's are now worried about rising costs. It's interesting that when Democrats were saying that something needed to be done, there was no problem. But when business leaders are going bankrupt because nothing has been done, suddenly an issue that needs to be looked at. Republicans are always a day late and dollar short. If they could get past their hate of this country and start working on the problems when they became obvious we would all be better off.

[via America Blog via Talking Points Memo]

Spies, Lies and Wiretaps

Not that we needed another one, but the New York Times has done another great editorial on the Republican party's efforts to undermine our way of life. I really have nothing in the way of evidence to add because they cover everything that proves that the Republicans are breaking the law and that it's unconstitutional. And a really good section on why it would be insane to "trust" a Republican to do anything in the best interest of America. We've all known that for a very long time. But on the streets I feel that this is playing out differently. The radical right wing America haters in the Republican camp refuse to see that there is anything wrong with breaking the law. I mean this is a core value of every Republican from the President down to every rank and file member of the Republican party. The laws only apply to the enemies of the Republican party, they don't actually apply to them. They've never believed in the rule of law accept when it's convenient for them. They believe that the might makes right. And I'm not sure what good any amount of evidence is for people who hate this country and want to see it turned into the third world theocracy. They are willing to allow any crime to go on just as long as their leadership delivers them the destruction of the United States of America. It's hard to imagine that people like this can be swayed. Now I've heard the argument from liberals that there is a massive amount of Independent voters that vote for the Republicans that have enough sense to know right from wrong and that the arguments are really focused on them. I find that hard to believe. I mean anyone that would willing vote for any Republican for any reason is a complete and utter fool. Can you really depend on fools to have a sudden change of heart? I think Qusan summed it up perfectly...anyone that votes for the Republican party is either greedy or stupid. So the question is which are they? The Republicans dangle a few bucks a paycheck, while giving billions to the top 5% and these "Independents" will happily sell out their country. They don't care about tomorrow, they only care about making money today. I really don't think there is anyone to reach at this point, the battle lines have been drawn. The America haters have offered the 30 pieces of silver to the Independents and they happily have accepted and will do whatever they ask to destroy America. The reality I think is that we need to start considering is that after all the effort we've put into saving this country, what if the country doesn't want to be saved? I know it's a crazy thought, but if the American people want to march themselves into slavery exactly what can we do about it? Sure when the time comes and the stupidity of their decision is like a whip on their backs they will scream to be saved, but if they have to get to that point are they really worth saving? I know it sounds harsh, but I think it's time we started talking out loud about the possibility now.

[via America Blog]

Iran crisis 'could drive oil over $90'

That sounds about right to me. I agree if you look at the saber rattling that went into the invasion of Iraq, there was a massive increase in oil prices. Right now all it would take to tip the scales against us is a bit of bad weather, which we can have little immediate control over. There are some that are making more outlandish claims of the $200+ a barrel. I I think that's a bit on the unrealistic side, but significantly higher is what the Republican are pushing for so they can get their buddies in the Big Oil to deliver the campaign contributions that they desperately need to the win this election cycle. Of course it's not what's best for America, but that's not what ever crosses the mind of a Republican. Only what is in the best interest of the campaign contributors is what concerns them. It could get really ugly if there is a prefect storm or Nigeria descending into Civil War, while Iran embargos us and if Chavez got in the mood to prove a point. And for all the talk of OPEC they've really got no more supply they can tap to help out their puppets in Washington. Also given that the Hurricanes for the Gulf will likely be just as bad this year as it was last year. I think people that don't own hybrids are going to be looking like pretty big fools when things go wrong. I wonder when you Republican fools can't drive to work or to feed your families anymore if you'll still think it was a great idea to destroy the United States and turn it into a third world theocracy? Who am I kidding? They'll love it! They are Republicans they don't have souls or human emotions only their hate of the United States and her people. Crazy stuff, hopefully it will wake up the rest of America to how evil the Republican party really is.

Campaign Contributions of the Rebuild New Orleans Commission

There is little in the way of a surprise that the rebuilding of New Orleans is working on decreasing diversity and enforcing the Republican ideals of their new campaign slogan "Segregation Now". I know what you're thinking... Jamison you're being too hard on them, the decision of the commission are totally being done in the best interests of the "people" of New Orleans. Yeah right! That's why the wealthiest areas of the city are being worked on while the poorest areas are now in a forced building freeze. The Republicans are working on their plan to "whiten" New Orleans in hopes of changing the City's Congressional vote. And I know some of you still refuse to believe that Republicans are so sinister and that far thinking, but let's be honest...they are so evil and dishonest nothing is beyond the realm for a Republican. As further proof we look to the campaign contributions of the businessmen on the committee that were assigned by the Bush Administration. I'm sure none of you will be surprised to see numbers that make the Coal Company campaign contributions look more like they are Republican leaners rather than wholehearted supporters of the radical anti-America agenda of the Republican party. They have a 94% campaign contribution rate to the Republican party. I wonder if that had anything to do with their appointment to a committee that seems hell bent on implementing the Republican "Segregation Now" campaign?

[via America Blog]

January 28, 2006

Test Pasta

Last year for Christmas (and by that I mean 2004) Jamison got me an Imperia Pasta Maker. I've always wanted a pasta maker, but between school and then just life I hadn't even had the chance to play with it yet. So today I broke the sucker out and decided I was going to make some pasta, which I did. Unfortunately while I read the instructions for making the pasta dough out of my pasta cookbook I didn't read the actual instructions for the machine. It turns out the first batch you send through the machine can't be eaten because it cleans the oil out of the machine and in essence ruins the pasta. So I made noodles that couldn't be eaten, but they were pretty!

Spaghetti and Fettuccine Noodles

But now that I know how easy it is I'll be making some edible pasta sometime this week! I also am going to look into getting the Lasagna noodle attachment as well as the ones for Ravioli and some of the round pastas. I was highly entertained! What can I say...I'm easily amused! ;o)

Posted by Daffodil at 5:39 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack

Climate Expert Says NASA Tried to Silence Him

More "shocking" revelations. The Bush Administration trying to silence experts working for the government on anything that doesn't fall into line with the radical hate ideology of the Republican party isn't new. I mean let's be honest the Republicans have made that the point of the Republican controlled government. Silence the experts by overriding them from the top down. Forcing the radical ideology the Republican party down onto them. Weakening the foundations of what makes America great. It's what the Republican party has been planning for decades. Sane people would never agree to their hate filled agenda, so they just create the illusion that everyone agrees. Talk about the silent "majority" which is the common tactic they learned from their brothers and sisters in the Christian Idenity movement. All us smart people are participating in a conspiracy to undermine the radical right wingnuts rights to do harm to the United States. And the fact that the voices of reasons are trying to protect the nation and her people makes us the bad guys. Nothing new here...it's the Republicans just acting normal. And the American public will happily ignore it just like they've ignored every other conspiracy against this once great nation before the Republican cancer started eating at its soul.

Senators Request Investigation into Whether Big Oil Companies are Restricting Access to Biofuels

Whoa!! Did someone in the anti-America Republican controlled Congress notice the obvious?? I mean it doesn't surprise me that a Democrat is doing his job, but the Republican party is bought and sold to the lowest bidder on such a regular basis noticing that a criminal effort to undermine America's future fuel independence is a freaking miracle! Evidently the future President of the United States, Mr. Obama, has acquired documents that the Oil Companies are punishing any of their associates that try to sell Bio-fuel with massive fines. Now given that the Republican party is bought and sold by Big Oil I'm sure that this is being done with their blessing. So I'm not sure what the point of trying to investigate it is. The Republicans believe in free markets right up to the point that one of their major campaign contributors stands to lose a few bucks and then they turn protectionist and anti-free markets. Standard Republican hypocrisy...free markets are great when they are robbing Americans of their jobs, but bad when it puts the squeeze on the billionaire owners of capital. I have no doubt that the GAO will have no trouble proving that the Republicans and their Big Oil masters are guilty, but there will never be any effort at enforcement in the best interest of Americans. Which will lead us down the road where we have to force these anti-American corporate monsters to do the right thing or go to prison, but I imagine we will see the Republicans handing out pardons like Halloween candy. There is nothing they love more than corrupt business people screwing over America and Americans. It's part of their party platform to see who can do the most to destroy America.

Poison Justice Stevens, Coulter "jokes"

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (AP) -- Conservative commentator Ann Coulter, speaking at a traditionally black college, joked that Justice John Paul Stevens should be poisoned.
Coulter had told the Philander Smith College audience Thursday that more conservative justices were needed on the Supreme Court to change the current law on abortion.

Stevens is one of the court's most liberal members.

"We need somebody to put rat poisoning in Justice Stevens' creme brulee," Coulter said. "That's just a joke, for you in the media."

This is not funny. You don't joke about poisoning someone. I bet she's the kind of person who laughs at car accidents or when people fall down! And quite frankly she isn't "conservative" about any thing. There is a distinct difference between being a true conservative and just being down right mean! This woman is just VILE!! She's a nasty, nasty person!

Found via CNN.

Posted by Daffodil at 10:49 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

Alaska Volcano At It Again

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - After 10 days of relative calm, Alaska's Augustine Volcano roared back to life late on Friday, shooting a cloud of ash 40,000 feet into the sky.

It was the 10th explosion since January 11, when the 4,134-foot (1,260-meter) volcano in southern Cook Inlet began an eruptive phase, reported the Alaska Volcano Observatory, a joint federal-state office.

As of late Friday, there were no reports of ash settling onto any of the nearby communities, but some was expected to drift onto Kodiak Island, southeast of the peak, said Janet Schaefer, a geologist with the volcano observatory.

Because it was dark when the eruption occurred, the ash was not visible to casual observers, she said. "We do see from satellite imagery that the ash cloud is moving southeast," she said.

Jamison and I have been watching this region, along with the St. Helens region on the earthquake map and both have been very active as of late. Again, no big surprise considering it's in the middle of an eruptive event, but a stellar example of nature's force none the less.

Found via Yahoo! News.

Posted by Daffodil at 10:33 AM

January 28, 1986

I still remember that winter morning all those years ago. We were out from school on a snow day and I was in the 7th grade. We were watching the Challenger launch on TV and didn't realize anything had happened at first and then reality set in. It's hard to believe it's been 20 years.

Crew memeber included Commander Dick Scobee, Pilot Mike Smith, Ellison Onizuka, Judy Resnik, Ron McNair, Greg Jarvis and Christa McAuliffe.

Cover The Baby

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Nelson's Hat

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January 27, 2006

Bumper sticker humor from my commute home.

We all know Republicans are worthless hypocrites, but sometimes they are so stunningly arrogant and stupid it begs to be reviewed. So I was following behind this worthless America hating GOP'er and he had two bumper stickers. The first one said "Abortion, which part of Thou Shall not Kill do you not understand" and right next to it was a "Support our Veterans" sticker. It's interesting the disconnect from radical America hating Republicans on this one. You can't support war and the death penalty without question as to the will of God, then turn around and take an absolutist point of view on the Ten Commandments and be taken seriously. I mean in GOP circles it will make perfect sense and that's why the brain-dead fools congregate together so they have people that will agree with their radical hate ideology at hand so when faced with reality they can fall back on one another for support. If you want to be absolutist then the same rules have to apply to everything. If there is even a single exception to the rule then there has to be flexibility to all aspects of the rules. I know you Neo-Christian America hating fanatics are hyperventilating at the suggestion of some attempt to actually apply reason and intelligence to something so I'll stop now. You can now return to your standard hate ideology, turn back on Fox News and feel safe in your hate of our freedoms.

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Thinking

Katherine is upstairs taking a nap while Alexis and I watch Nelson. Somehow Nelson is asleep next to my desk in his carseat and has remained so even through all of Alexis' noises just being herself. I think this kid got his mom's can sleep through anything powers! :o)

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Naughty and Nice Friday

As always we will start off with our Naughty person of the week and this week’s honor goes to NBC’s Katie Couric for falling to the dark side of news casting by verbally assaulting DNC Chairman Howard Dean with erroneous facts about Abramoff giving money to the Democrats when there are rock, solid facts that this is not the case. Think Progress sums it up well, so go check out their write up of the whole fiasco.

And for our Nice person of the week, this week I’m going with Bill Gates. It’s no secret that we here at Daffodil Lane aren’t big fans of Gates per se, but he and his wife Melinda really do do a lot of charitable work that is worth noting. This week Mr. Gates promised $900 million over the next decade for Tuberculosis research. I’m a big fan of this as my grandfather had Tuberculosis. Way to go Mr. Gates! Your business practices may not be ideal, but at least he has his charity ducks in a row.

Until next week!

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Snails and Turtles

This one is for Nelson. I finished it this morning. Now my plan this weekend it to try and finish Alexis' Sam and Sue quilt that I haven't worked on at all since August!

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Public Worried About Federal Deficit

It's so funny how suddenly concerned Americans are becoming at the election of the Republican party to hold office. What exactly did you fools think they were going to do? They are Republicans, their party platforms are racism, sexism, elitism and hate. Did you think they were going to get a majority and sudden focus on doing something good for America. They're Republicans, all their everintended to do was give massive gifts to their campaign contributors at our expensive, while robbing us of our basic protections as America so they could build their dream of a third world theocracy. The funny part is that they are going to make our kids pay for the work they are doing to destroy our country. That's the rub...they give the big deals to these campaign contributors which are taken out on loan from China, those campaign contributors give them more money to influence the weak-minded Republican supporters, while their kids are doomed to economic slavery to pay back the debt they incurred while they were trying to destroying our way of life. One way or another the Republicans are going to destroy this country because they hate our freedom and our way of life. If you're honestly worried about your country the only choice this November is to vote against every Republican on the ballot no matter how "good" of person they claim to be. Anyone with an (R) after their name is a criminal or hasn't been caught yet. That's just the way it is now. If you don't vote, it's time to register if only to save the future so you can be lazy again and ignore politics. The Republicans are trying to destroy this country, the only choice is to take action if only to save your children's future.

President 'looking forward' to congressional campaigning

And I personally demand that every Republican running make sure that they get their pictures taken with this President and post their undying support of his hate ideology on their websites. Let's face it there pretty much isn't a Republican in Congress that isn't a Rubber Stamp for this President at one level or another. Corruption and Dishonesty are the foundations of the Republican party now and I think they should be proud and stand by that mindset. Remember you Republicans scum don't listen to polls, you follow your "principals". Of course the notion of principals and Republicans are laughable. When they say principals they actually are talking about the will of their major campaign contributors and nothing else. Your average Republican has the moral compunction of a wild dog! The other poll data is interesting, but mostly it shows how gullible people are about Republican talking point. It just goes to prove you can keep repeating the same damn lies over and over again and there is certain portion of the populations that are so stupid they will start to believe it no matter how much the evidence points to it being untrue. But that's more of a function of the other wing of the Republican party, the traditional media. Lie after lie flies by them and they happily follow their orders from their Republican party bosses and keep repeating them. There isn't even a moment of consideration for them. The President just keep saying it's not important that a felon was in the White House on average every business day of his first ten months of his administration, he just keeps saying it's not important while three quarters of Americans seem to think different. The traditional media sees that and basically doesn't seem to care for fear of angering their Republican bosses. Or worse actions like what Katie Couric did it yesterday to Howard Dean with the long since disproved Republican talking point that Abramoff gave the Democrats money. The FEC records prove this to be a total lie, yet she gets a talking point from the GOP and there isn't a moments consideration, but to keep repeating the lie and people will believe it. The traditional media has completely abandoned it's role as the caretakers of our Republic and instead have embraced totally the radical hate ideology of the Republican party.

Is the Republican Democracy drive empowering Islamic Extremists?

Well the short answer appears to be absolutely. On the one hand it's hard to imagine anyone willingly trying to empower future terror states, but when you couple it with the Republicans justifying their existence as a party only on the fact that they need to fight the war on terror, it makes absolutely prefect sense. Mind you the Republicans make absolutely no effort to actually win the war on terror, they just use it as a justification for their existence. The Republicans need these radical kinds of religious states to exist to justify their own efforts to move America towards become a radical religious state of their own making. The entire Republican push for Democracy around the world is nothing more than a subtext as they attempt to destroy the most powerful Democracy on Earth and move us toward becoming a third world theocracy. Some are making the argument that these terror states are nothing more than an unintended consequence of the Republican Democracy drive. I don't buy that, the warnings that this was going to happen have been repeated loudly for decades. The fact that the current version of the Republican party decided to ignore the warnings, unlike their predecessors and decided to believe some twisted vision of peace on Earth through violence is really their own fault for being so stupid.

Read more over at Christian Science Monitor.

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Reed blasts ‘guilt by association’ in friendship with Abramoff

That's what I love about Republicans. They hang out with Felons all the time and help them defraud people and then claim that it's some sort of unfair attack to lump them together. Dude! You helped orchestrate fraud to protect gambling interests of tribes represented by a felon and your defense for this action is that you thought the money that they were paying you with came from "other" sources??? Let's go back...it's not the money that you're getting grief over, it's participating in a fraud that is raising the eyebrows. I believe the proper Southern analogy is when you lie down with dogs you come up with fleas! Reed is the living embodiment of the Republican efforts to utilize people's faith to achieve a political end that does not help the goals of that faith. Reed followed the Republican playbook. Let's be honest he helped write the Republican playbook on preying on the weak minded religious types to achieve any political end they desire. We see it replayed a hundred times a day on the traditional media outlets as they parrot the Republican talking points.

[via Talking Points Memo]

N.J. boy, 17, wins fight to wear skirt in school

The Rumor that's going around is that Pat Robertson has already put out a hit on him because he's trying to move transgender education into the mainstream. The sad part is that it's a total joke and yet none of us have to stretch our imaginations very far to imagine Pat doing something like that. That man is a menace! On a side note he made it to number 1 on the 50 worst people in the country. Beating out W and Cheney who were two and three respectively. But I digress. The guy is fighting against the school for banning wearing shorts, but allowing girls to wear skirts that are usually shorter than shorts to school. It's some sort of reverse sexism from his point of view and the ACLU has been willing to back him up on that. My thought on this is that this school curriculum is way too lax that the kids have this much free time to sit around and get outraged enough to start cross dressing to prove a point. School uniforms are the way to go to get around this problem. Standardized shorts, skirts, pants and shirts for everyone. That keeps this kind of silliness from creeping into your education system. And it sure would keep you out of the national headlines. Of course a bit a good sense when making rules would have the same effect.

The Sad Truth of it All

While all of us want to believe this isn't how it's going down, most of us have some grasp of the reality that this is how the Republican party works and it's sadly more true than we want to realize.

Baby Quilt

Earlier this week I finished a baby quilt for my friend Amy's daughter Hannah. I didn't want to post pictures of the quilt until they had actually received it, but they got it yesterday so now I can share some pictures! Here are some pictures of the finished quilt.

And last but not least the beautiful girl the quilt was made for...Miss Hannah!

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January 26, 2006

Corn Ethanol is Better than Gasoline

I love to see studies like this one. They are basically brutal eviscerations of the radical right wing ideology that we must sell our souls to the oil companies. Your average wingnut screams at the top of their lungs that any effort to break away from our dependence on oil is a foul attack on American values. And yet time and again it's proven beyond a shadow of a doubt other than protecting the Republican campaign contributors there is no way that sticking with our dependence on oil serves any purpose. Republicans depend on ignorance and stupidity to support their point of view. For example any time you see a study that supports their point of view you can quickly turn to the back of the study and look for their ethanol source data. You'll find that it's almost exclusively from the 1970's. Or a newer trick they've started doing to cover up their lies is to quote from another one of their buddies that is quoting from the 1970's data. See then it looks like they are using new data when in reality that they are fixing the outcomes of their studies to fit their radical anti-America agenda. Another way they are able to make things seem worse is by ignoring all the useful by-products of the Ethanol process. Remember all the stuff that's left over is great animal feed that you can sell. They leave all that off so they can make it seem like it's a money losing enterprise. It's really a disgrace when you look at it. First it's a disgrace that anyone who supports this radical anti-America agenda is allowed to publish when their data that is so obviously false and secondly because they make it through any sort of peer review. It just speaks volumes about how much damage the Republican hate ideology has done to the scientific community. Now I know you America haters are screaming that lying is your right to support your hate ideology. Your political agendas shouldn't be interfering with the defense of my country you worthless human trash. If you don't like America get out on the first bus that will take you out of it! I hear the folks in Iran think like you, go join them. They are always looking for new crazies.

Rocking With Daddy

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Upsidedown Alexis

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My First Real Blog Entry

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Sling

It looks like I'm going to get to see my little squishy butt tomorrow! Yeah!

Get ready Nelson...Aunt Dianne has a few week's worth of kisses just for you! ;o)

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My new FTP Client

Having a blog you need an FTP Client about once every year or so. Since Dianne got a new computer since the last time we needed to use one I had to find a new FTP client. And guess who had one?? Firefox!!! That's right! It slices, it dices and now it's a FTP Client platform as well. There is a great plug-in called the FireFTP that integrates into the Firefox browser. It has all the functionality you need for an FTP Client, they claim it's a little slow but I hardly noticed after doing it manually for the hour before. I was really surprised by how easy it was to use as well. Anyway, I got Dianne's 3.2 plug-ins she wanted up on the system. So if you find yourself in need of a FTP Client I highly recommend the FireFTP plug-in for Firefox. If you don't use Firefox I don't know what to tell you. You need to be upgrading to the better browser today!

Get the FireFTP plug-in.

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Fours

I was tagged by Cheri for a Four Meme:

Four jobs I've had in my life:
Retail
Daycare worker
Preschool Teacher
Assistant

Four movies I can watch over and over:
Roman Holiday
The Quiet Man
Gone With the Wind
Love Actually

Four places I have lived:
Etowah, Tennessee
Knoxville, Tennessee
Huntsville, Alabama
Phenix City, Alab

Daffodil Lane