Monday, February 20, 2006

Confusion abounds..

It appears my son, Doug has not yet left for Iraq.

We just spoke with him tonight, and he currently says he may not be leaving til April...

I believe the confusion came when we received a text message on our cell, something to the effect of "I'm on my way;". I guess he must have meant that he was on his way to Louisiana for some training.

Nonetheless, he is back at Camp Shelby right now.

I'll keep you posted as things progres... to the best of my knowledge, that is.


(filed under heroes)

Move over, Cartman...

Here comes Leo!!



How would you look as a Southpark character??


Click here and find out!





(Filed under fun stuff)

Don't drink the water.. at least in St. Cloud

Just got this in that St.Cloud has issued a water warning:

The city of St. Cloud issued a drinking water warning Monday evening after finding a possible contamination of the E. coli bacteria, said Utilities Director Ken Robinson.

The warning also affects St. Augusta residents.

Officials say residents should boil their water for one minute before drinking it.

Robinson said he does not believe the contamination is suspicious.

Officials tested the water in several locations in the facility and the tests in the first stages of the treatment came back negative.

Robinson said he expects the water to be back to normal tomorrow.

"We're being very careful," he said.

E. coli can make you sick, especially for people with weakened immune systems like children and the elderly. It can cause diarrhea, cramps, nausea, headaches or other symptoms.

Robinson said the Water Treatment Facility tests its water daily for bacteria. After receiving positive results on Saturday and Sunday, the city put out an alert as is outlined by the Environmental Protection Agency, he said.

The cause is unknown at this time and the Water Treatment Facility continues to do testing in the facility and in distribution centers. Those results will be made public as soon as they are available, Robinson said.

On Monday evening, no one had reported being sick to health officials.

The presence of fecal coliforms and E. coli in water indicates that the water may be contaminated with human or animal wastes.

Although the St. Cloud Times states that "water will be back to normal tomorrow", a perusal of local Cable Channel 19 does not state this... Thus far no reports of illnesses, so it's my take that this warning is purely a precautionary measure at this time...


Perrier, anyone?

(filed under miscellany)

Bush on energy...

From here:
By DEB RIECHMANN

MILWAUKEE (AP) - Saying the nation is on the verge of technological breakthroughs that would "startle" most Americans, President Bush on Monday outlined his energy proposals to help wean the country off foreign oil.

Less than half the crude oil used by refineries is produced in the United States, while 60 percent comes from foreign nations, Bush said during the first stop on a two-day trip to talk about energy.

Some of these foreign suppliers have "unstable" governments that have fundamental differences with America, he said.

"It creates a national security issue and we're held hostage for energy by foreign nations that may not like us," Bush said.

Bush is focusing on energy at a time when Americans are paying high power bills to heat their homes this winter and have only recently seen a decrease in gasoline prices.
Of course, the loyal opposition weighs in with their usual socialist rhetoric:
Energy conservation groups and environmentalists say they're pleased that the president, a former oil man in Texas, is stressing alternative sources of energy, but they contend his proposals don't go far enough. They say the administration must consider greater fuel-efficiency standards for cars, and some economists believe it's best to increase the gas tax to force consumers to change their driving habits. (emphases added)
They may actually be partly correct. While I don't have any problem with looking into future alternative energy sources--indeed I definitely find merit in same; Bush is not going far enough in term of ensuring that our current energy needs are met. While working toward future alternative energy sources is laudable, current exploration and extraction of available domestic resources needs to take place so as to ensure that we will have enough reasonably-priced supplies of energy that will carry us through until alternative energy sources can be brought online. To ignore current energy needs can only spell catastrophic, irreversible damage on an economy whose continuing competitive edge depends on readily available energy resources. If we continue to allow prohibitively expensive energy to rule the day in the near-future, we may not have much of an economy to salvage once those alternatives finally do come online, and other energy-independent nations will necessarily leave us in their economic dust.


(Filed under energy madness, enviro-whackism)

In an Eric Burdon moment...

But I'm just a soul whose intentions are good
Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood
Yes, I'm just a soul whose intentions are good
Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood

-Eric Burdon and the Animals-

In a bout of serious semantic gymnastics and unbelievable backpedaling that would make Bill Clinton look like a rank amateur,

From here:

By Sebastian Alison

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Iran's foreign minister denied on Monday that Tehran wanted to see Israel "wiped off the map," saying President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had been misunderstood.

"Nobody can remove a country from the map. This is a misunderstanding in Europe of what our president mentioned," Manouchehr Mottaki told a news conference, speaking in English, after addressing the European Parliament.

Yeahhhh... that's the ticket!

Translation:
They don't want to wipe Israel off the map.. they just want to wipe its people from the map, and they'll then take the leavings...

heh...


(Filed under religion of peace?, world affairs)

Be careful what you ask for...

From here:

VIENNA (Reuters) - British historian David Irving was sentenced to three years in prison for denying the Holocaust 17 years ago, an Austrian court ruled on Monday.

He was sentenced by a court of eight lay jurors and three judges in a case based on remarks he made in a 1989 interview and in speeches when he visited Austria, where denying the Nazi genocide on Jews is a crime.

No question that this guy is a dolt. But is being a dolt a crime punishable by imprisonment? When people are imprisoned for speech, it necessarily casts a pall upon a free society.

Freedom includes the freedom to be an idiot, if one so elects. And if what you think happened in Austria could never happen here, think again. And again.


(Filed under First Amendment assaults)

Uncle Ben, Beware...


In case you haven't heard, Uncle Ben has been posting much regarding the licentious sexual behaviors of his charges, Oiseau and Aileron.... Just thought that Ben should be forewarned that there are consequences to such behaivor, and that Ben should take a little bit more time out of his busy days to teach his birds some morals... or at the very least have them partake in a shotgun wedding.

I believe that Petco may be a good place for a bridal registry...



(Filed under fun stuff with da mob, great blogs)

Beyond surreal...

...if not downright disturbing... Click here, and turn on the speakers...




(Filed under fun stuff)

Sunday, February 19, 2006

I would have like to have fisked this one...

But Surly Dave beat me to it. And he did a helluva good job, to boot (not that I'd expect anything less). His post is entitled, "Mike Hatch is an Idiot". Yes, I know the title is redundant, but the post is nonetheless worth reading. It appears that Mike Hatch wants to go after "Big Drug Companies" for the manufacture of pseudoephedrine because--get this--meth dealers use the ingredient in plying their trade! So, of course, in Hatch's eyes, Big Pharmaceuticals are therefore responsible for the resultant costs. The meth cooks and dealers are no doubt innocent bystanders.

And this guy wants to be our governor???


(Filed under great blogs)

Curious George author murdered...

From here:

Two Men Confess in Killing of 'Curious George' Collaborator, Cartoon Producer

February 10, 2006
By Kimberly Maul

Two Florida men confessed late Wednesday night in the stabbing murder of Curious George collaborator Alan Shalleck, 76, whose body was found Tuesday in the driveway of his Boynton Beach, Fla., trailer home. Rex Spears Ditto, 29, and Vincent J. Puglisi, 54, turned themselves in at a local police station and were arrested immediately. When maintenance worker Burt Venturelli found Shalleck’s body Tuesday morning, it was covered in trash and blood in a designated garbage area for more than a day. Authorities said Shalleck had suffered several stab wounds.





Jeeze...
What an ending for a guy who helped bring joy into the lives of millions of children. Sad.














(Filed under miscellany)

Forget China......

Just yesterday I posted this regarding censorship of internet usage in China:
A kinder, gentler form of tyrrany. Now ain't that cute?

What I can't understand, is that there are those in our own country who would move us closer and closer to that day when we'll be seeing the equivalent of Jingjing and Chacha on our own comptuer screens.

We already have thought crimes on the books.

Jingjing and Chacha can't be far behind.
Little did I know that Jingjing and Chacha, in various forms, are alive and well in Chicago...as well as other cities:

Daley wants security cameras at bars
By Judy Keen, USA TODAY
CHICAGO — Surveillance cameras — aimed at government buildings, train platforms and intersections here — might soon be required at corner taverns and swanky nightclubs.
A police camera, mounted with a microphone, can detect the sound of gunshots within a two-block radius. A police camera, mounted with a microphone, can detect the sound of gunshots within a two-block radius.
File photo/AP

Mayor Richard Daley wants to require bars open until 4 a.m. to install security cameras that can identify people entering and leaving the building. Other businesses open longer than 12 hours a day, including convenience stores, eventually would have to do the same.

Daley's proposed city ordinance adds a dimension to security measures installed after the Sept. 11 attacks.

The proliferation of security cameras — especially if the government requires them in private businesses — troubles some civil liberties advocates.

"There is no reason to mandate all of those cameras unless you one day see them being linked up to the city's 911 system," says Ed Yohnka of the Illinois American Civil Liberties Union. "We have perhaps reached that moment of critical mass when people ... want to have a dialogue about how much of this is appropriate."

Milwaukee is considering requiring cameras at stores that have called police three or more times in a year. The Baltimore County Council in Maryland ordered large malls to put cameras in parking areas after a murder in one garage last year. The measure passed despite objections from business groups.

"We require shopping centers to put railings on stairs and install sprinkler systems for public safety. This is a proper next step," says Baltimore County Councilman Kevin Kamenetz, who sponsored the ordinance.
This move by Emperor Daley does not surprise me in the least... Daley has a long history of unilateral, dictatorial actions. What will be telling is if these plans are actually allowed to stand. How much of a police state are we willing to endure in the name of security? And just how far will this be allowed to progress? Will there come a day, incrementally, when cameras are mandated to be installed within our own homes?

Call me a tinfoil-hat wearer if you want. But it appears that as technology gets bigger, our privacy rights get smaller.

Although a few decades late, it would appear that 1984 may not be all that far away.


(Filed under miscellany)

The alternative would be quite acceptable, thank you.

From here:
Bin Laden Vows Never to Be Captured Alive
Feb 19 9:48 PM US/Eastern
Email this story

By STEVEN R. HURST
Associated Press Writer

CAIRO, Egypt

Osama bin Laden promised never to be captured alive and declared the U.S. had resorted to the same "repressive" tactics used by Saddam Hussein, according to an audiotape purportedly by the al-Qaida leader that was posted Monday on a militant Web site.

The tape appeared to be a complete version of one that was first broadcast Jan. 19 on Al-Jazeera, the pan-Arab satellite channel, in which bin Laden offered the United States a long-term truce but also said his al-Qaida terror network would soon launch a fresh attack on American soil.

"I have sworn to only live free. Even if I find bitter the taste of death, I don't want to die humiliated or deceived," bin Laden said.
You don't want to be captured alive? Fine. Just let us know where you are and a daisy cutter or two will accomplish the alternative, scumbag.

(Filed under world affairs)

A brief history of compromise

From here:

com·pro·mise
Audio pronunciation of "compromise" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (kmpr-mz)
n.
    1. A settlement of differences in which each side makes concessions.
    2. The result of such a settlement.
  1. Something that combines qualities or elements of different things: The incongruous design is a compromise between high tech and early American.
  2. A concession to something detrimental or pejorative: a compromise of morality.

It would appear that the fine folks at the IAEA would compromise our very safety, suggesting that the West may have no alternative than to let Iran go nuclear

IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei will make no recommendations in a broad report on three years of probes in Iran he is to give to board members on February 27, a week before they convene to weigh whether to urge a course of action by the Security Council.

But he has already suggested in diplomatic circles that a compromise may lie in accepting small-scale enrichment in Iran in exchange for guarantees of no full nuclear fuel production that could enable diversions into bomb-making, diplomats say.

...hmm... Seems like I've heard that somewhere before
1994:

North Korea and the United States sign an agreement where Pyongyang pledges to freeze and eventually dismantle its nuclear weapons program in exchange for international aid to build two power-producing nuclear reactors.

The art of compromise necessarily involves the give and take between two opposing sides, resulting in mutual benefit. The art of compromise also presupposes that both sides doing the dealing are actually worthy of trust.. Bill Clinton's nuclear mistake (brokered by none other than that mental giantgnat, Jimmy Carter) was to pre-suppose that North Korea's leadership would actually keep its part of the bargain (and we all know how well that worked).

So, now ElBaradei, in his omniscience, appears all too willing to repeat history by proclaiming that we may just have to live with a "limited" nuclear Iran, a nation whose leadership has already more than proven themselves as of late to be much less than trustworthy; much akin to Neville Chamberlain's call that we just may have to live with Hitler's incursion into Czechoslovakia:
"We regard the agreement signed last night and the Anglo-German Naval Agreement as symbolic of the desire of our two peoples never to go to war with one another again.
Thank God we have a leader who is not given to similar "compromise" in the face of evil. It's all too apparent that the bozos at the U.N. are more than willing to repeat history.


(Filed under world affairs)

The man who would be king?

From here:

By Brian Ellsworth

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Sunday he may seek to lift constitutionally mandated presidential term limits if opposition parties boycott the upcoming December presidential elections.

"I might sign a decree calling for a popular referendum -- do you agree that Chavez should run for a third term in 2013?" Chavez said during his weekly Sunday broadcast. "It's not a firm decision, it's something I'm thinking about."

Make no mistake about it... Venezuela is on the fast track to tyranny. A moniker of "little Hitler" may not be far off the mark..

And in another tirade reminiscent of an megalomaniacal pychopath:

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Sunday warned Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice not to "mess with" him days after Rice described Venezuela as a menace to regional democracy in the midst of tense diplomatic relations between the two countries.

"Don't mess with me Condoleezza. Don't mess with me, girl," Chavez said during his weekly Sunday broadcast, sarcastically offering her a kiss and jokingly referring to her as "Condolence."

Word has it that Chavez' next move will be to dress in blackface and be the next guest on Oprah..

(Filed under world affairs)

If it's good enough for them...

If it's good enough for Dan, and now Ben, I guess I'll give it a go...

The Naked Truth...

There once was a pussy cat who started a blog. This pussy cat, being a traffic whore, started posting prurient material. But all along, the pussy cat nude, nude all along that it was a bad, bad idea.. and came to the conclusion that all pussy cats are boobs.

The end.

Now I'll just sit back and wait for the avalanche on my site meter.


(Filed under fun stuff)