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Posted on March 15, 2011 August 13, 2014 by vinnielopes
My men's volleyball media poll ballot
Weeks featuring a significant amount of non-conference matches can lead to some of the biggest changes in a poll — and last week was no different.
With everything from a top-five team losing to an unranked opponent to UCLA eking out two five-game victories at home against some of the best EIVA and MIVA teams, there was a significant amount of movement in the bottom of my top 10 ballot this week.
Check out this week's top 10 men's volleyball media poll and my ballot with explanations on why ranked each team where I did.
Let the debate begin on who are the best teams in the nation.
ASICS/Volleyball Magazine Men's Division I-II Top 10 Poll
1. USC (9) — 99 points
2. BYU — 83 points
3. Stanford — 80 points
4. Ohio State (1) — 78 points
5. UC Irvine — 50 points
6. Long Beach State — 42 points
7. UCLA — 38 points
8. UC Santa Barbara — 33 points
9. Penn State — 27 points
10. Hawai'i — 14 points
Others Receiving Votes: Loyola, Lewis
My ASICS/VBM Men's Division I-II Top 10 Poll ballot
1. USC (14-1, 14-1 MPSF)
Last week's results: defeated UC San Diego UC Irvine
All remains good for USC. The Trojans continue to move closer to becoming the first team in more than 10 years to be ranked No. 1 from the preseason to the end of the regular season. It also is leading the nation with a .367 attack percentage and a 9.68 digs per game average. In addition, outside attacker Murphy Troy had 27 combined kills in its two wins this weekend and is the front-runner for the National Player of the Year.
2. Stanford (14-4, 11-4 MPSF)
Last week's results: idle
Having a bye week does not hurt you on my ballot. Enjoy the bye week before your non-conference match against Cal Baptist next week and wake me up in two weeks when Stanford gets its next serious test against No. 6 Long Beach State.
3. BYU (13-6, 9-5 MPSF)
The bye week did not change much with this team in terms of the rankings. It is still one of the best defensive teams in the nation, it is one of the few teams that could get the at-large bid to the Final Four and it is still ranked behind Stanford because it lost to the Cardinal twice at the beginning of the season.
4. Ohio State (15-2, 8-0 MIVA)
Last week's results: defeated Ball State
You know this team has depth when it does not even need All-American outside attacker Shawn Sangrey to defeat a good Ball State team. Setter Steven Kehoe is leading the nation averaging 12.10 assists per game and outside attacker John Klanac is fifth in the MIVA with a 3.14 kills per game average. As long as Sangrey can return from his injury soon, this team should be on cruise control heading into its match at the end of the month against No. 5 UC Irvine.
5. UCLA (13-9, 6-8 MPSF)
Last week's results: defeated Penn State and Loyola
When UCLA was on its five-match losing streak earlier this season coach Al Scates said he wasn't extremely concerned because other Bruins teams had struggled at the start of the year and then won a championship. The Hall of Fame coach might have been on to something as the Bruins are on a five-match winning streak. This team probably won't win a national title this year, but with Wes Dunlap in the middle it could be a dangerous low seed to play against in the conference tournament.
6. UC Santa Barbara (12-9, 9-7 MPSF)
Last week's results: defeated Lewis; lost to Penn State
The Gauchos have the fifth best attack percentage in the nation at .337, and setter Vince Devany is in the nation's top five with a 11.41 assists per game average. In addition, outside attackers Jeff Menzel and Cullen Irons are both among the conference leaders averaging 3.50 kills per game. However, the biggest test for UC Santa Barbara will come in its final six matches as it tries to advance to the postseason for the first time in five years.
7. Long Beach State (10-8, 8-5 MPSF)
Last week's results: defeated Penn State; lost to Lewis
Long Beach State's loss against Lewis was the first time it lost to a MIVA team since playing Ball State in 2002 and the first time it lost a home match against a MIVA team since 1988. The team recovered to beat No. 9 Penn State to salvage its home tournament, but the loss to Lewis is its first bad loss of the season.
8. UC Irvine (12-10, 9-7 MPSF)
Last week's results: lost to USC
Outside attacker Carson Clark in the last five matches has a combined 87 kills, including a match-high 27 kills in the four-game loss to USC. The junior is also fourth in the nation with a 4.67 kills per game average. Despite its loss to the Trojans, the Anteaters have won six of their last eight matches and are in sixth place in the MPSF. With six conference matches left, don't be surprised if UC Irvine finishes in the top four and hosts an MPSF Tournament match.
9. Penn State (15-5, 7-0 EIVA)
Last week's results: defeated UC Santa Barbara; lost to UCLA and Long Beach State
The Nittany went 1-2 on its West Coast road trip but really needed to win one more match against the MPSF to move up in the rankings and make its case that it should be higher than the No. 4 seed in the Final Four. Penn State should still win the EIVA, barring an absolutely collapse, and will get to host the NCAA Final Four. Time to start looking forward to that USC versus Penn State NCAA semifinals match in about six weeks.
10. Hawai'i (10-9, 8-6 MPSF)
Last week's results: defeated Pacific twice
For the first time this season, this top 10 preseason team finally has a winning record. The Warriors swept their four-match homestand and are in the top half of the MPSF standings with eight conference matches remaining in the regular season. In addition, outside attacker Jonas Umlauft continues to lead the nation with a 5.35 kills per game average.
Loyola — The Ramblers traveled to the West Coast undefeated last year and got blown out in almost every match of that road trip. Loyola this season proved it can compete with the West Coast schools. This is the best non-MPSF team outside of Ohio State and Penn State.
Lewis — Lewis defeated Long Beach State to pick up its first victory against a top 10 team this season. One signature win, though, is not enough to get them in the top 10 right now when Loyola and Hawai'i have multiple signature wins.
Ball State — This team will need to win its road match against Penn State to get any consideration of moving into my ballot. The positive news is Ball State was one of the last three teams to beat Penn State at home — that victory came in January 2006.
CategoriesMedia Poll, Rankings TagsBYU, Hawai'i, Lewis, Long Beach State, Loyola, Ohio State, Penn State, Stanford, UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, UCLA, USC
Previous PostPrevious The top 5 men's volleyball stories of the week


In addition to Sölvesborgs GIF, 195 other teams from 39 different countries played in Boys 15. They were divided into 48 different groups, whereof Sölvesborgs GIF could be found in Group 1 together with Gammelstads IF, Clube Campo Belo and AP Top 54.
Sölvesborgs GIF continued to Play off A after reaching 2:nd place in Group 1. In the playoff they made it to 1/32 Final, but lost it against SKF Indonesia with 0-6. In the Final, AP Top 54 won over Stjarnan 1 and became the winner of Play off A in Boys 15.


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NYPD Officer Killed In Harlem Shooting, Another Fighting For His LifePolice say three officers were sent to an apartment at 119 W. 135th St. around 6:15 p.m. Friday in response to a 911 call from a woman who said she was in a dispute with her son.
New York Weather: CBS2's 1/21 Friday Afternoon UpdateElise Finch has the Tri-State Area's latest forecast on CBS2 News At Noon.
Joe Schoen Named General Manager Of New York GiantsSchoen spent the last five season as the assistant general manager of the Buffalo Bills.
Valanciunas, Hart Lead Pelicans Past KnicksLeading scorer Julius Randle shot just 1 of 9 from the field and scored four points in New York's third home loss in four days.
Traffic Cameras Generating Three-Quarters Of NYC Ticket Revenue
Filed Under:Independent Budget Office, Mayor Bill de Blasio, Paul Murnane, Speed Cameras, traffic cameras
Red light camera (credit: CBS 2)
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Cameras over New York City roadways now account for 75 percent of ticket revenue, up from 38 percent 15 years ago.
The city's Independent Budget Office says cameras generated $41 million in fines in the last fiscal year, compared to $14 million from tickets written by real-life cops, WCBS 880's Paul Murnane reported.
READ MORE: NYPD Officer Killed In Harlem Shooting, Another Fighting For His Life
Cameras are catching red light, bus lane and now speeding violations. Revenue from speed cameras is expected to jump from $2 million to $8 million in the 2014 fiscal year after state lawmakers approved the installation of 120 cameras in school zones, part of Mayor Bill de Blasio's Vision Zero initiative aimed at curbing pedestrian deaths.
At Broadway and West 96th Street, some people told Murnane that the technology is not improving safety.
READ MORE: SEE IT: Mayor Adams, NYPD Commissioner Sewell On Killing Of NYPD Officer In Harlem: 'An Attack On The City Of New York'
"I think the politicians realize that the automobile is a definite way to make money," one man said.
However, a cab driver admitted, "I almost went through the light, but I had to stop because of that (a camera)."
Read the Independent Budget Office's report on traffic camera revenue.
MORE NEWS: With Tragic Shooting Of 2 Police Officers In Harlem, 5 NYPD Officers Have Been Shot In January
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Alternate Side Parking Suspended In NYC Thursday Due To Expected Snowfall

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Being a entrepreneur is hard.
Even though I wrote a book about alternatives to a job (51 Alternatives to a Real Job), and I talk about multiple streams of income, and I regularly present to youth and adults about starting their own business, and I think that being creators trumps being consumers any day, I know that being an entrepreneur is hard.
And at times, it's not for anyone.
Not at the moment. Sometimes the timing is right, but that doesn't mean the timing is always right.
Elation beyond measure, to get a regular paycheck (no more high ups and low downs).
Sadness, because of having to move on from having built something that is just not buildable anymore.
Embarrassment and shame to quit on your dreams of so many years, and admit that you simply weren't good enough to make it work.
But circumstances shift, needs change, support from family changes, markets evolve. At the intersection where dreams meets reality, you learn just how hard it is to get something close to break even, much less highly profitable.
Your respect for those who founded and created businesses from yesteryear skyrockets as you realize that to get to what looks like an easy, privileged and exotic lifestyle, founders had to sacrifice health, relationships, and sanity.
I've seen entrepreneurs-at-heart pull the plug on their dreams and get a job.
And here's what I think: THAT IS OKAY.
I read Seth Godin's book, The Dip, and what I got out of it was you have to learn when to quit or change course. He's not talking about quitting in a depression and giving up on life. He's talking about figuring out when to change what you are doing, either in a big way (close your business) or a small way (change your strategy, offering, packaging, etc.). Change, re-evaluating, and some-might-call-it-failure, is OKAY. It's necessary. It's expected. It's important.
You've heard that you should fail quickly, learn from it, and move on, right?
This is a really, really hard pill to swallow when it's your idea, your business, your attempt. It's your ego, and eventually, your identity.
Quitting means you don't believe in yourself. You slip into a depression where you have validated, once again, that you weren't as competent and qualified as you thought you were. Perhaps you will only amount to being a cog in someone else's wheel. This is not the career you envisioned.
But in reality, you shouldn't think that way. Whether you are a cog in someone else's wheel, or you create the next Facebook, you have value. And as I mentioned earlier, circumstances change. Maybe your role as cog today will lead you to successful entrepreneur in the future. Or maybe you'll be a great cog, with a great career, with financial stability and all the joys that can come from having a fulfilled life.
I admit that I have always wanted to be an entrepreneur, but I couldn't figure it out until the idea for JibberJobber came. There were a few false starts with other businesses, but my heart wasn't in it, and they weren't the right path. I eventually pulled the plug on them. But when JibberJobber came, it was like a calling from God. And for parts of the last nine years, that calling has been hard to fulfill. I've done the stuff I'd heard about from other entrepreneurs: lived off of credit cards, borrowed ridiculous amounts of money from family, burned through my 401k, payed my employees for months without taking any salary, etc.
Glamorous? Only in the movies.
Did I think about giving up? Many times.
Did I have any way out? I've had job offers and buyout offers over the years, but none of them were right.
For now, this is my calling. I'm blessed to have a wife who is all-in, and gets the vision of what I'm doing. Not to say that there haven't been times when she wanted something different (like a paycheck every other week), but she gets it. She supports it. And that's the reason why I can still be here, as an entrepreneur, fighting the fight, while I might otherwise get a high-paying job with benefits and vacation, and some facade of security.
Luckily we figured out the money part of this business, which is something that my ex-competitors can't say.
I choose to fight this bloody, messy fight.
Getting a job? Pulling the plug on entrepreneurship? If it's right, right now, then do it.
I think that's only a step in the big journey of being an entrepreneur. After all, with the state of job security being what it is now, aren't' we all taking entrepreneurial risks?
I'm currently working on finding a job after a year of working on my first business idea. This article is so spot on. It IS elating and depressing at the same time. But I know that I have more ideas in me. I actually think that my company is still doable. I just ran out of funds. Thank you for this article!
Excellent blog. When my daughter was struggling with a career change and worried about 'failing', I said to her "Failure is only a state of mind!" She's now successfully pursuing a new career and life and ploughing her own road. Now I have to practice what I preached as I face the same situation. Being entrepreneurial in thought is easy when someone else is paying the bills. Being an entrepreneur is entirely different. Thanks for the insights.


Routing apprenticeship funding directly to employers will mean providers can no longer "force employers to take whatever training they happen to want to offer," Education Secretary Michael Gove has said.
In a speech at the McLaren Technology Centre, in Woking, Surrey, today on the future of vocational education, he praised the apprenticeship review carried out by former Dragon's Den investor Doug Richard, describing his work as "brilliant".
Among Mr Richard's recommendations taken forward by the government was that the funding of apprenticeships should be rerouted, bypassing providers and instead going straight to employers. He suggested using the tax system to do this, which was also taken on by the government as part of its reform proposals.
Mr Gove said: "Following his [Mr Richard] recommendations we're introducing reforms to put employers in the driving seat — giving them control of more than £1.4bn invested in apprenticeships by the government so that employers can demand higher quality from whatever training provider they choose, rather than giving it to providers who force employers to take whatever training they happen to want to offer.
"We're getting rid of those study requirements which were inserted by self-serving lobby groups, bureaucrats and trade unions and which have nothing to do with preparing young people for the modern workplace.
The Tory MP had opened his speech by saying: "We need to end the artificial and damaging division between the academic and the practical — the apartheid at the heart of our education system.
"We need to ensure that more students enjoy access to the academic excellence which will make a practical difference to their job prospects in a fast-changing world.
He added: "It is striking that the jurisdictions which have seen huge improvements in their schools in recent years — such as Poland — have been those which ensure all children have access to a stretching academic curriculum until at least the age of 17.
And, just months after Mr Gove's Department for Education (DfE) announced it would be cutting the level of funding for full-time 18-year-olds to 17.5 per cent less than that of their 16 and 17-year-old classmates, he said: "We changed the funding of education for students between the ages of 16 and 18 to make it equal for all, whatever qualifications and courses they took — overturning a status quo which favoured the purely academic.
"We also changed the demands we make of students after the age of 16, so all students — whether they are studying more practical or more academic courses — are increasingly expected to pursue maths beyond GCSE.
He went on to outline the government's adoption of policy following the review, three years ago, of 14 to 19 vocational education by Professor Alison Wolf.
"She recommended changes to practical and technical qualifications — to make them as rigorous and demanding as academic qualifications," he said, adding: "Now, every qualification which counts in our schools and colleges — academic or technical — must have a rigorous marking structure, external assessment, robust content and real stretch, or must be redeveloped to meet that standard.
Mr Gove further said the government had "sorted out the nonsense" of "arcane, confusing and unnecessary regulatory burdens" preventing firms providing work experience.
"Last year the Health and Safety Executive stripped away unnecessary health and safety rules, the Home Office removed the need for criminal checks on employers offering under-18s work experience, the insurance industry — at the government's request — confirmed that young people on work experience will be covered by employers' liability insurance, and the DfE introduced new funding rules that encourage schools and colleges to arrange post-16 work experience," he said.
Once again we seem to have a sweeping broom to clear up all providers when it is relatively few that have abused their relationships with employers.
I, like many providers, both private and public sector, pride myself on the solid partnership arrangement I have with employers.
Whenever we are discussing a learning programme we discuss the employers' needs, the needs of the candidate/s, go through the available qualifications and frameworks, agree which routes best suit the needs of the company and their employees before providing them with a timetable of activity.
This is then monitored throughout the programme and adjusted if necessary.
Isn't this what we do?, providing a quality learning programme for our customers, and presumably, this is why apprenticeship success rates have increased year on year to an all-time high!
I do not recognise what Mr Gove is alluding to!!
Similar to the previous comment, I do not recognise the picture portrayed by Gove. My college was judged to be outstanding by Ofsted for our partnerships, the majority of which are with employers. We are a small/medium college yet still worked with circa 900 employers last year and most of this is repeat business. I've worked in FE colleges for 24 or so years now and market forces have applied in all of that time. Would employers really keep coming back if they were unhappy with either the quality or relevance of offer? Our employers are usually fairly clear on what they want, maybe not in curriculum speak but definitely in terms of their business needs. We pride ourselves in our customer facing approach with employers. Mr Gove is throwing baby out with the bath water. I hope Margaret Hodge is on standby.


9 out of 10 based on 180 ratings. 1,570 user reviews.
Rover 25 Manual - Free download Ebook, Handbook, Textbook, User Guide PDF files on the internet quickly and easily.
Rover 25 Manual Ci13245 Pdf Enligne 2019 Free Download Books Rover 25 Manual Ci13245 Pdf Enligne A great Rover 25 Manual Ci13245 Pdf Enligne takes references from their books. The large number of publications that are used as recommendations can be used as a benchmark intended for assessing quality.


text:
package fortiss.media;

public enum NetworkType {
	HEAT,
	ELECTRICITY
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
The iPod Speaks:
The Broken Windmill - Tom McDermott
Fall-On - Troy Andrews
Mississippi Home - The Subdudes*
Sweet Little Baby - Champion Jack Dupree
Neal and Pray - Kenny Neal
Across The Border - Bruce Springsteen
Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans - Louis Armstrong
Luberta - The Hoodoo Kings
Mud - North Mississippi Allstars
Who Knows - Jimi Hendrix
Lay My Burden Down - Dr. John
Crazy Love - Van Morrison
Bonus lyric:
*"It's so quiet in here,
you can hear the roaches climb the walls."
Posted by coldH2O at 11:39 PM 10 comments:
Friday Cat Blogging - Tipitina Version
Bringing An Outbreak Of Freedom
All this Bu$hCo administration can bring is crap, crap, crap.
"A car bomb detonated today near a fruit and vegetable market in Hilla, a Shiite town south of Baghdad, killing at least 8 people and wounding 41. It was the second attack in two days of bloodletting that has left 110 people dead."
Tell Me Something Else That's True
Illegal activity in the White House? What will we tell the children? Maybe the American public, or at least that section that supports this caricature of a human being, will see what a fool we have as Preznit.
"Federal auditors said today that the Bush administration had violated the law by purchasing favorable news coverage of President Bush's education policies, by making payments to the conservative commentator Armstrong Williams and by hiring a public relations company to analyze media perceptions of the Republican Party.
In a blistering report, the investigators, from the Government Accountability Office, said the administration had disseminated 'covert propaganda' inside the United States, in violation of a longstanding, explicit statutory ban."
"The Astonishing Hypothesis"
More evidence that consciousness has a physical seat in our bodies. This is exciting.
"As we slip into deep sleep, higher regions of our brains take a vacation from each other, disconnecting so much that consciousness is snuffed out and a once highly integrated organ becomes separated, according to a groundbreaking experiment by University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers."
Here is an example of true leadership.
"The new regulations will require 85 percent of the car's materials, by weight, to be recovered and reused; the figure includes 5 percent through energy recovery, typically by burning materials that are not economically practical to recycle.
In 2007, networks set up by carmakers in the European Union must be ready to accept all scrap vehicles, regardless of age, at no cost to the car's last owner. In 2015, the portion of each vehicle that should be recycled increases to 95 percent."
Remember, It's Just A Bunch Of Magnets
Yo SideKick.
Good Luck with the MRI.
Everything will be fine.
If it's not, however, there will always be the stuff in the GREEN BOTTLE & the BLUE BOTTLE.
Talk to you tomorrow night.
Why Can't I Think Of A Title For This Post?
Via Raw Story.
King Kong, please pass the hammer, I've got another nail for Dipstick Design's coffin.
"'This is a truly astounding discovery,' he said in a statement. 'Tool usage in wild apes provides us with valuable insights into the evolution of our own species and the abilities of other species.'"
Bush's Depression? What About America's?
Those dopes in the White House are finally feeling what the rest of us have been feeling for five years.
"Depressed and demoralized White House staffers say working at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is "life in a hellhole" as they try to deal with a sullen, moody President whose temper tantrums drive staffers crying from the room and bring the business of running the country to a halt.
"It's like working in an insane asylum," says one White House aide. "People walk around like they're in a trance. We're the dance band on the Titanic, playing out our last songs to people who know the ship is sinking and none of us are going to make it.""
Via WTF Is It Now?
It's Time To Start Paying Attention
This coupled with the previous post about the food shelf, doesn't bode well for people in the northwoods, among many other places. I wonder what Bu$hCo plans to do about it. Oh, yes, keep the thermostats at, say, 50 degrees or so, come, be as tough as me, the Texas dopeboy.
"Since the beginning of the summer, the price of natural gas has doubled. But unlike crude oil or gasoline, whose recent gains have been widely felt by most Americans, the surge in natural gas prices, the most popular form of energy for home heating, has so far gone largely unnoticed."
Making Fun, I Need It Version
OK, It's On To Grantsburg.
Headline in the Burnett County Journal:
Harsdorf's resoltion fails in Senate vote
•Missed the override by two votes
Must have been a resoltion on spelling. ReThugs never could spell very well. Takes brains, you know. Emphasis added.
On to law enforcement:
-Sept. 20, Daniel B. Songetay, Danbury, was traveling north on Hwy 35 when he lost control of his vehicle, causing him to go in a ditch, colliding with a tree headfirst. He suffered severe injuries from the accident. It is unknown if alcohol or drugs were a factor.
& it is unknown if reading this entry will cause permanent brain damage.
-Sept. 23, Joseph R. McGeshick, Siren, attempted a u-turn on Herman Johnson Road, but ended up in the ditch, knocking down a stop sign.
Stop sign in the ditch? What the hell is going on in west central Wisconsin? Call the DOT for cripes' sake.
-Sept. 24, a 2003 Honda Odyssey van owned by Peter D. Porotko, Brooklyn Park, MN, was hit by an unidentified vehicle in the parking lot of Wayne's Food Plus. The suspect then fled the scene, making it a hit and run.
If he hadn't fled it would be a "hit & stay"?
Sports. Yes, sports:
Like the ancient, mythical bird, The Phoenix, which was said to be extinct but rose up once again, so did the Webster Tigers rise up from a shaky 0-5 volleyball start to win three matches at the Grantsburg Invitational before falling 2-0 to Grantsburg.
Did ever occur to the reporter to know what the hell he was talking about before writing it down? No wonder schools have such a hard time convincing students that knowledge is a good thing. Has Higgin ever heard of Google? Here's what the truth about the Phoenix really is:
phoe-nix also phe-nix (fnks).
1. Mythology. A bird in Egyptian mythology that lived in the desert for 500 years and then consumed itself by fire, later to rise renewed from its ashes.
2. A person or thing of unsurpassed excellence or beauty; a paragon.
3. Phoenix. A constellation in the Southern Hemisphere near Tucana and Sculptor
Extinct? I don't think so.
"Many miscues spell disaster" -
No it spells miscues.
-St. Croix Falls stuns Pirates 17-14 after stalls inside the scroing zone, interceptions and fumbles destroy Grantsburg's chances.
I'm stunned by the scroing zone. I thought that was illegal. I'm also wondering about why there there were stalls in the scroing zone. I thought stalls were in barns.
-Freshman Ben Nelson's runner's knee won't stop him because he's the fifth runner in Frederic's success plan -
That's right, I'm number five, I can do anything - I won't let my bad knee stop me from being NUMBER 5.
Mr. Higgin, please don't resign, it's just too much fun.
Food Shelf
So, this morning I get my cup of coffee, slip on slippers & a coat & let the dogs out for their morning thing. Coolest morning yet, but the damn horses got out of their paddock. Well, three of the four. Got the two mares in easily, but the other gelding was his usual pissant self. He finally allowed me to halter him, boy, there was plenty of soft talking & praise. I felt I was in some sort of low-key revival meeting. But on to the serious stuff. Mrs. coldH2O was at a meeting last night where the bare shelves of the Ashland, Wisconsin, food shelf were discussed. The state officials said the reason for the lack of food was that they were not getting their normal shipments of commodities. Asked why, they replied that the commodities were being shipped to Iraq. Just effing great, not only has Bu$hCo drained the money out of programs for the good of people, now he is sending off commodity foods that are clearly needed here. What a complete damn tool. I'll bet he isn't missing any food from his shelf, apparently he's not missing any cocktails either.
Kyoto, We Don't Need No Stinking Kyoto
Idiot boy keeps strumming his guitar while the world weeps, literally. Looks like we can begin kissing polar bears goodbye. Just when I believe I was forming an optimistic thought, this comes along. Same old, same old. Jeez.
"A natural cycle in the polar atmosphere, the Arctic Oscillation, that contributed to the reduction in Arctic ice in the past was not a significant factor right now, he said, adding that rising temperatures driven by accumulating greenhouse-gas emissions had to be playing a role."
Ya think? This timidity, while stating the truth, is really the result of Bu$hCo's war on science.
Yay, DeLay - Indicted
Jeez, a perp walk is all we need to make this really sweet.
"Said House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi: 'The criminal indictment of Majority Leader Tom Delay is the latest example that Republicans in Congress are plagued by a culture of corruption at the expense of the American people.'"
Very Interesting #2
Justice for all, that's my story & I'm sticking to it. Let's hope a later headline is: Yay, Delay - Indicted.
Neverending Supply
Sadly, No! has an interesting list. I wonder why our enemies are so all powerful when they are in their last "throes"? I remember how powerful the Soviets were, even though their people were enslaved to their Communist masters. This sort of building up of the "enemy" while at the same time attempting to publicly humiliate them has never seemed to work. I guess the ploy is just to show what "hard" work it is being President, or whatever he thinks he is.
U.S. Troops Obstruct Reporting Of Iraq
Rumsfeld's understanding a free & undead press is an oxymoron, with the emphasis on moron.
"LONDON, Sept 28 (Reuters) - The conduct of U.S. troops in Iraq, including increasing detention and accidental shootings of journalists, is preventing full coverage of the war reaching the American public, Reuters said on Wednesday."
"Schlesinger said the U.S. military had refused to conduct independent and transparent investigations into the deaths of the Reuters journalists, relying instead on inquiries by officers from the units responsible, who had exonerated their soldiers."
"Schlesinger's letter said: "It appears as though the U.S. forces in Iraq either completely misunderstand the role of professional journalists or do not know how to deal with journalists in a conflict zone, or both."
"Reuters and other media organisations in Iraq had repeatedly tried to hold a dialogue with the Pentagon to establish appropriate guidelines on how to safeguard journalists. These efforts had failed "and the situation is now spiraling out of control", Schlesinger said."
Conservation, My New Best Fried
Bu$hCo showing leadership.
"We can all pitch in...by being better conservers of energy. I mean, people just need to recognize that the storms have caused disruption and that if they're able to maybe not drive...on a trip that's not essential, that would be helpful."
First, we all were supposed to go shopping to show those evil terrorists, now, we are supposed to stay home to show those nasty hurricanes a thing or two. Well, fortunate son, which is it? Oh, by the way prez, storms don't drive, they fly, or something scientific, give me a break, I'm an English major.
From a May 7, 2001 press briefing. You will recall Ari Fleischer, the first Bu$hCo press dopesman.
Q: Does the President believe that, given the amount of energy Americans consume per capita, how much it exceeds any other citizen in any other country in the world, does the President believe we need to correct our lifestyles to address the energy problem?
MR. FLEISCHER: That's a big no. The President believes that it's an American way of life, and that it should be the goal of policy makers to protect the American way of life.
& then there is Cheney, the Impaler:
"Conservation may be a sign of personal virtue, but it is not a sufficient basis for a sound, comprehensive energy policy."
"Personal virtue" is something the whole Bu$hCo administration doesn't understand. & a "sound, comprehensive energy policy" is alien to this group of oilyboys.
Finally, Little Scottie, Bu$hCo's latest spokestool, responding to a question concerning the approximately 11,437 gallons of jet fuel wasted by Bu$hCo in flying to Texas just for the most recent trip:
"It's important for the president of the United States to travel to the region and get firsthand accounts of the operations and to provide comfort and support to those who have been affected. ... That's an important responsibility of the president of the United States."
Well, I'd wish he'd come up my way. He could comfort me about the price of diesel fuel & the fact that his tax cuts are only for his rich friends & the fact that neither of his daughters have enlisted in his "noble cause" &, y'all get the picture. Bu$hCo not only doesn't like black people, he doesn't like me.
Quotes via Cheers and Jeers via Kos. Go read more.
Science Wednesday
Too bad about the tentacle, however. I hope it grows back, twice as stout, if you know what I mean.
"'This has been a mystery for a thousand years,' said Richard Ellis, author of 'Monsters of the Sea' (Knopf, 1994). 'Nobody knew what they looked like in the wild. We only saw them dead. These images will open the door to more detailed study of their life.'"
That Hollywood
Good stuff from Steve & Jen. Clooney is another man I have a crush on & it's stronger after reading this post. I've got to get these crushes under control, or at least prioritize them. OK, I'll admit, as stated earlier, to 1 extra-strength Tylenol, 1 vike, & recently 2 aspirins - for the sweeet, thin blood. I do feel a bit better, but, man, stretching my left arm out, jeez, it hurts like hell.
A Few Good Jokes
Go here & smile while you cry in your beer.
"'Now here's some sad information coming out of Washington. According to reports, President Bush may be drinking again. And I thought, `Well, why not? He's got everybody else drinking.''
--David Letterman"
Duluth, Again, & On The Same Day
Air America finds its voice on the AM band in Duluth. I'm surprised it took this long - Duluth is Number 3 in terms being the most organized city in the U.S. Organized as in UNION.
What A Tool
Horseshit is too good a word for Brownie. My dogs love to roll in a piles of my horse's crap, but would probably shun the stink pile coming from Brownie.
Went to Duluth today, a mini-road trip. Went to pick up some windows & cabinets for a friend at a building materials recycling place. They had a lot of cool stuff at reasonable prices. My friend, L., read to me on the way up, from a book on lucid dreaming & from a book on the 50,000 word novel in November. We decided we would write the novels this year.
While loading my friend's purchases in my truck, I was bending over a couple of her "private detective noir" doors & managed to either break a rib or do some other painful damage to the right ribcage. Tylenol & a vike have hardly dented the pain. I hope it isn't serious, since our 12 cords of firewood arrived today. Plus, the first frost warning was posted online today, so Mrs. coldH2O is in her yearly frenzy about bringing the plants outside inside. I have decided tonight that I hate houseplants, especially large cacti. What good are they?
My Duluth purchases amounted to four earrings for myself, 3 CDs - Tab Benoit, Shemekia Copeland, & Delbert McClinton. I was happy & I got them at a small store, no Best Buy. Although, I will admit to a Best Buy purchase today, a DVD recorder. I wanted to record the second night of "No Direction Home", but the wind is so effing hard tonight, that the leaves on the sainted maple tree in the yard are sporadically blocking the satellite signal from the local station. Every other station on the dish is fine. Oh well, the DVD is already out, so I'll just go get one of those. We just should have kept the national network feeds. The national PBS feed always delayed these programs, in deference to the local stations I guess, but then we didn't get this extremely irritating blipping in & out. I hate bitching about stuff like this, I mean, things are a lot worse in just about every other part of the world, but damn, I want to see Bob Dylan.
Interesting piece by Jane Smiley. Cowboy Bu$hCo never learned these lesssons. Not obvious enough, I guess.
"Skill is on display, but also kindness and respect toward the animals — equine and bovine."
"Sorry about that"
Agent Maxwell Smart is dead. Long live the shoe phone.
"'I once listened to three weeks of Beethoven,' Smart says.
'I don't believe it,' another character says.
'Would you believe two weeks of Brahms?'
'No.'
'A day of Looney Tunes?'"
Scorsese's brilliant portrait of Bob Dylan as a young man shows an artist bound for glory
Holy Crap Huckabee
Apparently it wasn't just a lot of fat that Huckabee lost.
Via Atrios.
The Dirty 13
The 13 members of Congress recommended for investigation ... are:
• Sen. Bill Frist: The report accuses him of violating federal campaign finance laws in how he disclosed a campaign loan. It also calls for an inquiry over his recent sale of stock in HCA Inc., his family's hospital corporation. The sale has raised questions about possible insider dealing. Frist aides confirmed Friday that the SEC was investigating. They have denied claims of campaign finance violations.
• Rep. Roy Blunt: The report criticizes him for trying to insert provisions into bills that would have benefited, in one case, a client of his lobbyist son and in another case, the employer of his lobbyist girlfriend, now his wife.
• Sen. Conrad Burns: The report says that questions arose over $3 million in appropriations he earmarked for an Indian tribe in Michigan that was a client of lobbyist Abramoff. The senator received substantial campaign contributions from Abramoff and various clients.
"Sen. Burns did nothing wrong, and any accusation to the contrary is pure politics," said James Pendleton, his director of communications. He said Burns had earmarked the appropriation at the request of the Michigan congressional delegation.
• Rep. Bob Ney: The report says the chairman of the House Administration Committee went on a golf outing to Scotland in 2002, arranged by Abramoff, at a time when the congressman was trying to insert a provision into legislation to benefit one of Abramoff's tribal clients.
Ney reported to the House that the trip was paid for entirely by the National Center for Public Policy Research, a conservative think tank, which denied paying any of the costs. Ney has said he had been duped by Abramoff.
• Rep. Tom Feeney: The report says he incorrectly reported that a golf trip to Scotland with Abramoff in 2003 was paid for by the National Center for Public Policy Research, which denied it. A Feeney aide said the congressman had been misled. Questions also have arisen about two other privately funded trips.
• Rep. Richard W. Pombo: He paid his wife and brother $357,325 in campaign funds in the last four years, the report says. He also supported the wind-power industry before the Department of Interior without disclosing that his parents received hundreds of thousands of dollars in royalties from wind-power turbines on their ranch.
Brian Kennedy, a spokesman for Pombo, said that "each of the charges is baseless." He called the watchdog group "a Democratic attack group, and all of their charges should be taken with a grain of salt."
• Rep. Maxine Waters: The report cites a December 2004 Los Angeles Times investigation disclosing how members of the congresswoman's family have made more than $1 million in the last eight years by doing business with companies, candidates and causes that Waters has helped. Before publication of the Times investigation last year, Waters declined to be interviewed, but said of her family members: "They do their business, and I do mine."
• Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.): The report says he encountered controversy over disclosures that Pennsylvania taxpayers paid for his children's schooling while they lived in Virginia. Santorum maintained he did nothing wrong, and has pulled his children out of the school, according to reports.
• Reps. Randy "Duke" Cunningham and William J. Jefferson: Both congressional veterans are under federal investigation.
Cunningham, who has announced that he will not run for reelection, faces questions over his dealings with a defense contractor who allegedly overpaid him when he purchased Cunningham's house. Jefferson is under scrutiny for his role in an overseas business deal. Normally the House ethics committee does not hold inquiries while criminal investigations are underway.
• Rep. Charles H. Taylor (R-N.C.): The report says that questions have been raised about his private business interests, including a savings and loan in Asheville, N.C., and personal business interests in Russia.
• Rep. Marilyn N. Musgrave (R-Colo.) and Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.): Both second-term House members encountered criticisms tied to campaign activities, the report says.
Musgrave was accused of misusing her congressional office for campaign purposes. Renzi was accused of financing portions of his 2002 campaign with improper loans.
11 ReThugs; 2 Democrats. Notice that both Dems are African-Americans. Just asking.
Via L.A. Times.
Spaceballs, Indeed
Joe Bauman, 83; Set Home Run Record That Lasted 47 Years
Joe Bauman, 83, whose 72 minor-league home runs in 1954 stood as a professional baseball record until Barry Bonds hit 73 in 2001, died Tuesday in Roswell, N.M., where he played for the Roswell Rockets of the Longhorn League during the 1950s.
Oh, sure, Roswell,
Intelligent Design This! Morons.
Analysis of Chimp Genome Affirms Science of Evolution
"If Darwin was right, for example, then scientists should be able to perform a neat trick. Using a mathematical formula that emerges from evolutionary theory, they should be able to predict the number of harmful mutations in chimpanzee DNA by knowing the number of mutations in a different species' DNA and the two animals' population sizes.
'That's a very specific prediction,' said Eric Lander, a geneticist at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard in Cambridge, Mass., and a leader in the chimp project.
Sure enough, when Lander and his colleagues tallied the harmful mutations in the chimp genome, the number fit perfectly into the range that evolutionary theory had predicted."
"Evolution's repeated power to predict the unexpected goes a long way toward explaining why so many scientists and others are practically apoplectic over the recent decision by a Pennsylvania school board to treat evolution as an unproven hypothesis, on par with "alternative" explanations such as Intelligent Design (ID), the proposition that life as we know it could not have arisen without the helping hand of some mysterious intelligent force."
It's really unfortunate & destructive of American education, that people are fooled by the I.D. junk science proponents that get elected. The fools that elect these people need to be taken to task & shown just how backward they are. Of course, this lawsuit, filed by parents with a brain, is from Pennsylvania, home of the dope Santorum, that would be man-on-dog Santorum. This whole I.D. thing makes me sick.
Who Shot President Kennedy?
I, for one, don't believe either of the following men have a clue. Plus, if you look at their pictures, could you believe anything, anything, they said. First, here's Byron Higgin:
& here's his opening paragraph on the subject:
"It's been the standard joke for many years. Do you know who killed President Kennedy?"
I'd like to know what standard he follows? I had no idea that the assassination of a President was a joke. Oh, wait a minute, Kennedy was a Democrat, now I understand.
& now Brad Ayers & an unfortunate choice of dingbats (& I mean it) in an on-line version of a newspaper article:
"Because he never was an agency employee – and, as such, never signed a prepublication agreement with us – any suggestion that the CIA tried to censor or suppress his writings is incorrect," Gimigliano states in his letter.
The CIA hired Army personnel to help with training prior to the Bay of Pigs and subsequently, to train Cuban expatriates for planned operations inside Cuba.
"Ayers gathers evidence that his bosses at the CIA in Miami had direct involvement in the killing of both Kennedys."
That, too, is garbage and should be treated as such."
A lot of "ooos" & not one "ah". Poor Brad. He'd like to live a quiet life:
"I would like to live out my life here with some reasonable degree of peace, acceptance and respect," he said. "I don't know why I must constantly defend myself for my past, falsely condemned for speaking my mind."
Article via The Leader.
I wonder if it ever occurred to him that writing a book about the CIA assassinating a President might actually bring attention to his life? Maybe he should have written a book about how hurricanes & earth quakes & airplanes flying into buildings are all caused because of gays & lesbians & the ACLU, oh, wait a minute.... I need another mojito. The doctor told me it would change my day, I believe it may change my life.
This Will Piss Off The Football Coaches
Inside the best school in the world
"Our poor students do extremely well, so the gap between them and the high performers is small compared to that in other countries. But we know you have to work extremely hard with those students. If you stress competition, they will be the losers and the gap will widen.'"
From Shakespeare's Sister. Renaming the ReThugs has me laughing, even though the Packers are doing a crappy job of playing football, TB just intercepted. Via Atrios.
Packers just intercepted TB! Returned it 38 yards. It's being reviewed. Ruling stands.
UPDATE: Packers suck, lose 17-16 & are now 0-3. Farve can't win without a line, the team gave up on Farve after all he's done for them. On the other hand, he's a ReThug, or at least was - he supported stupid Tommy Thompson for our governor. I'm torn.
Reason #3833 To Impeach
Toledo Blade editorial.
"The EPA's exceptions, according to the Sun, would allow pesticide testing on 'abused or neglected' children without permission from parents or guardians; permit 'ethically deficient' human research if necessary to 'protect public health,' and allow more than a minimal health risk to a test subject if there is 'a direct benefit' to the child and parents or guardians approve."
Protestant Jambalaya
Cheesehead Life.
"Finnegan said he knew he would like Cream City as soon as his fellow pub-goers assured him we Milwaukeeans 'don't have a town drunk - we just take turns.'"
"A Leinenkugel's," he said, practicing a Wisconsin accent. ""Yah, it was good."
HIPPIE. That's why I love this quote. The article is just a list of people at a New Orleans benefit in New York.
"Allen Touissant, a legendary New Orleans pianist, summed up the night: 'If you'd like to know how to get from the Big Apple to the Big Easy, take Highway Love, and you'll get there.'"
Here's a Special Report about Jim Morrison & his "Florida" years. Long lost love, regrets, lonely, trailer park existence, rat poison - it's all here. Go read.
Take this Kos. As Athenae says at First Draft:
Inch.
"He came along when country music was dominated by novelty acts and huck-and-shuck mediocrities and comics with blacked-out teeth and Ma-and-Pops-and-Cousin-Hezzie bands and Republican daddies like Roy Acuff and Tex Ritter, and in blew this lean drifter"
Sat. Night
Slow blogging today. The kid, son-in-law, friend from St. Louis, & Mrs. coldH2O went sailing on Lake Superior today. That's an iffy proposition on an extemely warm day in summer. I had to take a garbage bag of dry clothes up to them. We had dinner with the Sidekick & Mrs. Sidekick. A slightly belated b-day for Mrs. Sidekick. They all had some pizza & I had some pork ribs. It was all good. The Wisconsin/Michigan game was all good too, until now, Michigan just scored a TD to take the lead in the 4th. I drove the bike to town & back, just beating some rain. I'm getting more comfortable on it, but the city driving is hard to get used to. The slow turning is goofball with the big bike. Kind of like getting the Sidekick to understand his role. My job is never done. Later.
Rising waters breached an industrial levee in New Orleans today, submerging the Lower Ninth Ward.
Lab & Cat - They are both leftys.
Tough Life
Friday Random iPod Ten
Native Stepson - Sonny Landreth
Too Much Traffic - Shemekia Copeland
Trouble - Cowboy Mouth
Wrap Up You Troubles In Dreams - Kermit Ruffins
Great Gulf Wind - Sonny Landreth
Total Devotion - Irene Sage
It Takes A Long Time - Tabby Thomas
The Ring That Shines - Wayne Toups
Wine, Wine, Wine - Champion Jack Dupress
I'm Just A Fool To Care - C.C. Adcock
(I still haven't figured out this random thing yet. I wonder if the iPod knows about the hurricanes? Spooky.)
Cheer, Cheer
Mrs. Sidekick is going in for a medical procedure today. We all hope it goes lightly. Since it appears she is on the side of Scooter in battling the evil Sidekick, whose answer to everything appears to be - "Lock them up in the basement." - here's a little cheer for Mrs. Sidekick.
Butterflies Are Almost Free
Cool & Heartening.
"A phenomenal clustering of migrating monarch butterflies - up to several thousand a night - occurred over a succession of evenings recently in a grove of trees at a residence in Jerusalem Township."
One More Time, Duh
Who cares about the overly-rich, it's the fish that are important.
"The fish are also imperiled by dam construction that has cut off spawning grounds and by damage to their habitats from pollution."
Grantsburg Water
Sorry, Curtis, nothing too cool (stupid) in the paper's Police Blotter this week. There was something about fights always breaking out where alcohol is sold, but I let it pass. Maybe next week.
SadNo Select
Bob Herbert's new column via SadNo Select.
"Maybe, just maybe, the public is beginning to see through the toxic fog of fantasy, propaganda and deliberate misrepresentation that has been such a hallmark of the George W. Bush administration, which is in danger of being judged by history as one of the worst of all time.
"Mr. Bush's approval ratings have tanked as increasing numbers of Americans worry that their president, who seems to like nothing better than running off to his ranch to clear brush and ride his bike, may not be up to the job.
"Reality is caving in on a president who was held aloft for so long by a combination of ideological mumbo-jumbo, the public relations legerdemain of Karl Rove and the buoyant patriotism that followed the Sept. 11 attacks. The Bush people were never big on reality, so sooner or later they were bound to be blindsided by it."
It's all Clinton's fault.
Cutting Taxes The Most Important Priority
Sirota via Daily Kos
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, President Bush and Republicans in Congress have refused to consider rolling back the $336 billion in new tax cuts that the richest 1 percent are slated to get over the next five years. They say we need to pay for reconstruction not by asking the wealthiest to sacrifice just a little bit, but by massive cuts to spending. And now we see what that means: The Navy Times today reports that those cuts "include trimming military quality-of-life programs, including health care" . . . This, while troops are fighting and dying for our country in Iraq.
. . . The specifics are ugly. They are, for instance, asking troops to "accept reduced health care benefits for their families." Additionally, "the stateside system of elementary and secondary schools for military family members could be closed." In the past, this idea "has faced strong opposition from parents of children attending the schools because public schools [in and around bases] are seen as offering lower-quality education."
None of this, I suppose, is all that surprising. In the past, we've seen tax cuts put before making sure troops have adequate body armor heading into war - a tax/budget decision that very likely increased U.S. casualties. We've also seen Republicans vote down efforts to reduce tax cuts for the very wealthy in order to restore cuts to military family housing. And we've seen tax cuts come as the White House has refused to adequately fund a variety of other programs for troops. The truth is, the GOP has in moments of candor admitted that they care about cutting taxes for the wealthy far more than they care about the troops.
As you may recall, it was Tom DeLay who said before the Iraq invasion "Nothing is more important in the face of a war than cutting taxes." Apparently, nothing is more important in the face of a war AND massive destruction to the homefront than tax cuts either.
Censorship In Titletown, USA
This is not a good thing in a democracy. "Patriot Act" does what art ought to do - tell the truth.
New Dog Flu Virus
Wisconsin is one of the seven states where this virus has been reported.
"A new, highly contagious and sometimes deadly canine flu is spreading in kennels and at dog tracks around the country, veterinarians said yesterday.
"The virus, which scientists say mutated from an influenza strain that affects horses, has killed racing greyhounds in seven states and has been found in shelters and pet shops in many places, including the New York suburbs, though the extent of its spread is unknown.
"Dr. Cynda Crawford, an immunologist at the University of Florida's College of Veterinary Medicine who is studying the virus, said that it spread most easily where dogs were housed together but that it could also be passed on the street, in dog runs or even by a human transferring it from one dog to another. Kennel workers have carried the virus home with them, she said.
"How many dogs die from the virus is unclear, but scientists said the fatality rate is more than 1 percent and could be as high as 10 percent among puppies and older dogs."
Herd Of
antelope, pack of wolves, murder of crows, lamentation of swans, school of fish, pride of lions, flock of bluebills - & now a CRASH of rhinos. Yes, I do watch the Animal Planet & I have a crush on Jeff Corwin.
Excellent & A Poet
Sharon Olds writes a letter. Excepts below, but go read the whole thing.
"I tried to see my way clear to attend the festival in order to bear witness--as an American who loves her country and its principles and its writing--against this undeclared and devastating war.
"But I could not face the idea of breaking bread with you. I knew that if I sat down to eat with you, it would feel to me as if I were condoning what I see to be the wild, highhanded actions of the Bush Administration.
"What kept coming to the fore of my mind was that I would be taking food from the hand of the First Lady who represents the Administration that unleashed this war and that wills its continuation, even to the extent of permitting 'extraordinary rendition': flying people to other countries where they will be tortured for us.
"So many Americans who had felt pride in our country now feel anguish and shame, for the current regime of blood, wounds and fire. I thought of the clean linens at your table, the shining knives and the flames of the candles, and I could not stomach it."
& Then There Is Baucus
A Baucus Betrayal
"Well, I call em as I see them too. And I have found that Max Baucus meets my criteria for a gutless son of a bitch. Baucus demonstrates a healthy disrespect for his Leader in the Senate and for the values and principles that define the Democratic Party."
"If you have an emergency, please call my office directly at (800) 332-6106 (from MT) or (406) 657-6790."
This is an emergency, call him.
Testes & Ovaries
Josh Marshall has it right. Let's hope the Democrats & the decent ReThugs act the same way about the suspension of the Davis-Bacon Act.
"House-Senate Katrina probe dies as Dems refuse to participate in GOP-controlled probe.
"Mammalian biologists cite development as new evidence for late-stage testiculogenesis."
50 Mile Trip
Took the bike out for my/its maiden trip to town. I had to pay a small bill at a store, so took the Harley. The highway was fine, the town was dicier. Slow turns are tough, at least for me. But, I made it through the 50 miles without causing an accident, or getting into an accident. The shifting is still a mystery to me, I shift & if it sounds OK, I guess it is OK. More later.
Let's See
He resigned last Friday, that's like four days ago. So how come ex-White House aide makes it sound like this happened months, if not years ago? How about "Recently Resigned White House Aide Indicted" for a headline?
"A senior White House budget official who resigned abruptly last week was arrested Monday on charges of lying to investigators and obstructing a federal inquiry involving Jack Abramoff, the Republican lobbyist who has been under scrutiny by the Justice Department for more than a year.
"The White House said in a statement that Mr. Safavian had resigned on Friday
"His wife, Jennifer Safavian, is chief counsel for oversight and investigations on the House Government Reform Committee, which is responsible for overseeing government procurement and is, among other things, expected to conduct the Congressional investigation into missteps after Hurricane Katrina."
Go read today's Cheers & Jeers via Daily Kos.
"CHEERS to tipping the scales. (via The Raw Story) This week's issue of Newsweek gives Democrats a 50%-38% edge over Republicans in the 2006 mid-terms, an unthinkable achievement just a few months ago. The numbers reflect either A) a unified Democratic strategy coupled with powerful think tanks and media dominance...or B) the sudden realization that the Republican party is going to kill us all. (Hint: it rhymes with 'Bee')
Law, Indeed
Mr. Watson, I presume.
"Let us not beat about the bush — the common assumption that evolution through natural selection is a 'theory' in the same way as string theory is a theory is wrong. Evolution is a law (with several components) that is as well substantiated as any other natural law, whether the law of gravity, the laws of motion or Avogadro's law. Evolution is a fact, disputed only by those who choose to ignore the evidence, put their common sense on hold and believe instead that unchanging knowledge and wisdom can be reached only by revelation. "
Had he been this eloquent about Iraq, among other things, the result last fall might have been different. Although Diebold probably would probably just have cheated a little harder in Ohio, IMHO.
"Katrina is a symbol of all this administration does and doesn't do. Michael Brown -- or Brownie as the President so famously thanked him for doing a heck of a job - Brownie is to Katrina what Paul Bremer is to peace in Iraq; what George Tenet is to slam dunk intelligence; what Paul Wolfowitz is to parades paved with flowers in Baghdad; what Dick Cheney is to visionary energy policy; what Donald Rumsfeld is to basic war planning; what Tom Delay is to ethics; and what George Bush is to "Mission Accomplished" and 'Wanted Dead or Alive.' The bottom line is simple: The 'we'll do whatever it takes' administration doesn't have what it takes to get the job done."
Go to this section of Campaign For America's Future's website & email your elected representatives concerning the suspension of the Davis-Bacon Act. It took Bu$hCo forever to respond to Katrina, & the first thing he did was suspend the good wages that the residents of the destroyed area could use to begin rebuilding their lives. What a douchebag. Do this, or your cat(s) will pay even less attention to you. Thanks.
Good Letter, No Response
Why didn't Hastert do anything about this letter? Oh, wait, Hastert doesn't want New Orleans rebuilt anyway. ReThug dipstick.
Times Select?
Paul Krugman here.
"Consider this: in the United States, unlike any other advanced country, many people fail to receive basic health care because they can't afford it. Lack of health insurance kills many more Americans each year than Katrina and 9/11 combined.
"But the health care crisis hasn't had much effect on politics. And one reason is that it isn't yet a crisis among middle-class, white Americans (although it's getting there). Instead, the worst effects are falling on the poor and black, who have third-world levels of infant mortality and life expectancy."
Fewer alcoholics are seeking treatment
The free market is evil, pretty much all of the time. This country has continued to march backward since 1980, with the arrival of St. Ronald the Truly Demented. & what is so stupid, is that this march backward has been accompanied by the rise of the American fundamentalists - not Christians in my understanding. A Christian, at least according to its book, cares for the poor, the infirm, the sick. But according to the American Taliban, all of these afflictions are the fault of the afflicted, because god does not love them enough, or some other equally moronic reason. You see, the genetic component of alcoholism is fake science, something invented by, oh, I don't know, John Tower maybe.
It's worse than you think
But, but, but if we do anything about this it will ruin the American economy. NOLA was just practice.
More Truth-Telling
Katrina Jazz Concert
''When the hurricane struck, it did not turn the region into a Third World country ... it revealed one,'' actor Danny Glover told the audience in a speech with Harry Belafonte.
''Katrina was not unforeseeable,'' Belafonte said. ''It was the result of a political structure that subcontracts its responsibility to private contractors and abdicates its responsibility altogether.''
Robin Williams poked fun at the Bush administration during his standup routine, in which he imagined an ethnically named Hurricane, and imagined its attitude: ''I'm going to go to Kennebunkport and see if they respond any quicker!''
Jazz singer Jon Hendricks summed up the tone of the evening. After singing one tribute, he said, ''That's the way I feel about New Orleans. This is the way I feel about the country right now.''
Then he launched into the angry song ''Tell Me The Truth,'' singing lines like ''Nowadays, wrong is right, down is up, black is white, bad is good, truth is a lie'' before defiantly singing, ''Somebody tell me what's right,'' to the applause of the audience.
WWOZ Update
Here is some info about NOLA musicians, with further links. I don't understand the Mayor appointing 8 blacks & 8 whites? With the city being 60% - 70% black, how come Nagin made it even-Steven? That's a rhetorical question, people. Wink, wink.
More On Bush Family Values
Tbogg has more on the kind of parents we are supposed emulate. These are the good, right-wing Christian folk that some claim are the leaders of the country. Seems like they missed something somewhere. Oh, wait, it's OK if you are a Bush.
I'm really exicited - today I got my first troll. A real, true, ignorant troll. I don't know what to say. I feel, well, all tingly & new. A Christian who wants to kill people, particularly if they are black. A Christian who wants (has?) to throw the first stone. Man, I'm going to clean the shotgun, today was the first day of grouse season, & then have a beer. I feel like I've made it. Thanks to Craig Lowry, a man who gives stone masons world wide a bad name. Go to his website & let him know how much you "appreciate" his kind of, well, thinking.
Times Haven't Changed Much
Racists? No, not us. We were just keeping the city clean, yeah that's the ticket. Of course, race is just not an issue to the white boys.
"This wasn't just one man's decision,' Mayor Ronnie C. Harris said Thursday. 'The whole community backs it.'"
Friday Random Ten #Something
Baby Break It Down - The Rolling Stones
Stutter Step - Hot Club of New Orleans
Wild Tchoupitolas - Los Hombres Calientes
I'll Say So Long - Terrance Simien
These Are The Days - Van Morrison
Ain't Got A Dime - Tabby Thomas
Be For Real - Leonard Cohen
Drop Down Mama - North Mississippi Allstars
Up Over Yonder - North Mississippi Allstars (Random?)
Well You Needn't - Thelonious Monk
Old Enough
How come the Bu$hCo nephew is drunk in Austin instead of helping in Iraq or Louisiana? Useless bastards.
The conference ends this a.m. Had a good meeting concerning commissioner's responsibilities yesterday. Actually am bringing home some good info for my commissioners. Given some of the questions beings asked by other commissioners from other parts of the state, I feel very confident in our Executive Director & the rest of the workers at our authority. They keep us well informed about the programs we are involved in, as well as programs that we potentially we become involved in. Unlike Bu$hCo, being a non-profit that exists to provide low & moderate income housing to people is hard work. Our authority, while being small, has done an exceptional job in fulfilling that goal. I'm about to leave, but must remind the SideKick of the wonderful t-bone I had the other night, with an luscious coconut shrimp appetizer. It's seems unfair to mention, but that won't stop me, of dining on the lobster, crab legs, & shrimp last night. Not to forget the late night, spooky dancing.
Second Wave
Scooter's friends, to the rescuse.
Bad.
Completely stupid.
Massachusetts Rejects Bill to Eliminate Gay Marriage
More Grantsburg COPS
Quick & Appleton version:
Sept. 9, Ted P. Sterling, Danbury, reported right field fencing missing at the Danbury Baseball Field. The incident is under investigation.
(Who cares? They always put the loser in right field anyway. Yes, it's true, that's the position I played.)
Cynthia A. Hageman, Webster, is under investigation for possible theft at the Siren Veterinary Clinic. The incident took place in July, and she since then has been terminated. When confronted by the store manager, she said the money was used for large animal clippings and that she would pay it back. The money, $170, has been paid back (call Julie Turner or Ron Wilhelm for questions).
(I have a question for Julie or Ron - how come those large animal clippings are so expensive? Actually I have another question - did Julie or Ron want their names mentioned in the "Police Blotter"?
Patricia J. Swenson, Frederic, backed into a 1992 Pontiac Grand Am, owned by Jennifer VanWagner of North Branch, MN, at the Grantsburg Family Foods parking lot. The front left side of the car sustained the most damage.
(No offense, but Patricia J. Swenson must have one hell of a rear end.)
Sept. 7, BP Amoco reported a gas drive off. The car had no front license plate and drove away with about $76 worth of gas.
(Well, that sure helps. What's in the water in Grantsburg?)
Posted by coldH2O at 10:12 PM 2 comments:
'Big One' on its way
I wonder if there are too many gays & lesbians in Vancouver. Or is this the punishment for Canada actually being a progressive nation? But if it takes 200 years, Robertson's god is not only vengeful, but cruel as well. I'm glad that my god is an iPod. Attention Les & George.
Cripes, That Light All Of A Sudden Seems Dimmer
152 dead.
I had seen this on several blogs but thought it was a photoshopped joke. Apparently not. J C F C. The leaker of the free world. Via Raw Story.
OK, here's the pic:
United for Peace
This could be a good road trip, although rlk had a good suggestion as well. Think about this, maybe a bus or something? Remember, peace is the goal & anyone who can help make that come true is a friend.
United for Peace - September Mobilization
Good Place For Info
Veterans For Peace Hurricane Relief Message Board
Yes, They Have A Connection
Sorry, all four readers, the hotel does have an internets connection, so I will be posting. I know many of you were relishing the idea of being me free for a couple of days, but, tough. I will say that this hotel may be a bit fancy, even I blanched at the $49.95 price for a Porterhouse. That's even pricier than Piggy's.
Time Off?
I'm leaving today for a housing meeting. I'll be gone for a couple of days & I'm not sure I'll be posting. It depends on the hotel & the availability of an internet connection. I'll be in the city where they buried Joe McCarthy. Many, many years ago a few friends & I drove up from Madison, had a few beers, it was legal to drink beer at 18 in those days, & danced on the grave of that son-of-a-bitch. We had fun. Anyway, I want to leave you with a picture of our fearless leader in New Orleans.
Followup - Sick, Digusting, Ghoulish Bastards
I hope somebody from Menomonee Falls takes this & runs against that fat bastard.
"James Sensebrenner, who is displaying all of the signs of a man desperate to get into hell on a special express train, would rather not house the homeless, if it's all the same to you."
Elsewhere, Same Old, Same Old
Meanwhile the war on the terrists runs on.
& on.
"The Islamic Army in Iraq, which has previously claimed responsibility for kidnappings and killings of foreigners, made a bounty offer for the assassination of key Iraqi officials.
"The militant group called in a Web posting for its "holy fighters to strike the infidels with an iron fist." It offered $100,000 to the killer of al-Jaafari, $50,000 for the interior minister and $30,000 for the defense minister."
Via the wonderful & essential Raw Story.
Posted by coldH2O at 11:01 AM 1 comment:
Why Does The NRA Hate America?
Raw Story has this piece about the jack-booted thugs from the NRA.
""What we've seen in Louisiana...is exactly the kind of situation where the second amendment was intended to allow citizens to protect themselves," NRA chief Wayne LaPierre said in a statement."
Yeah, I'm sure the fabulous Founding Fathers sat around & thought of New Orleans being destroyed by a hurricane as a reason to include the 2nd ammendment. I think it was actually something about a well-ordered militia, which of course would have been a great addition to the first responders dealing with this crisis, but they were away in Iraq, don't you know, fighting for, for, for....
""Local authorities in New Orleans are turning nature's assault on human life into man's assault on human rights," LaPierre added."
Well, well, if possessing a gun is a human right, I hope Herr LaPierre also supports my human right to a cheesecake a day, & I want that cheesecake made at the Daily Bread, in Mayor Fred Schnook's city of Ashland. Cheesecake for all law abiding citizens. Yeah, that's the ticket.
Posted by coldH2O at 10:35 AM 2 comments:
Well, I wish. Slow posting day. I started out this a.m. by being picked up by my fireman friend & we went to look for a pothole another friend said I was welcome to duck hunt on. We did find a large swamp, but no pothole. We'll try again, maybe this time I will get some specific directions. Please, no shots about men & maps. Then I went up to a doctor's appt. That done, I came home & it has been raining since. I can't seem to see much to post. I'm pretty much losing it as far as NOLA goes. It is so overwhelming & Bu$hCo's response so underwhelming. I would like to look forward to bird season, but the grouse population is still at rock bottom (six years running) & with the woodcock population going to hell as well, it's hard to get my blood up. Maybe the nice, cool days of October will change that, or maybe a trip to either of the Dakotas for pheasants or sharptails would help. Right now, who the hell knows. Whenever anyone asks me how things are going, I normally respond by saying "Things could always be worse." Right now, I'm not so sure they could.
UPDATE: On the up side, yes there is one, I took the Harley out on the highway for the first time yesterday & all went well. I even got buffeted about a bit by a strong wind. It was fun.
'Bout Time
He's not doing a heck of a job anymore. Thank goodness.
Doesn't This Sound Familiar
"Dr. Schultz said he was not familiar with the February report from Guidant that broke out the short circuit figures. He said he did not have information about what percentage of reports were reviewed within 90 days."
Another Gatemouth Obit
Gatemouth, R.I.P. #2
I have to admit that I'm glad football season has started. & so far, so good. New Orleans just beat Carolina on a last second field goal. The stinking Vikings lost, ha, ha, ha, ha. & right now the Packers started their first game. I hope that the Packer's radio announcers, particularly the play-by-play guy has some new cliches this year. Oh no - the completely informative - "Receivers left & right". Just called my fireman friend & left a laugh track on his cell phone voice mail - he's a suckwad Vikings fan. & the first series run by the Pack didn't look great.
UPDATE: The Packers looked awful. It may be a very long season. My young fireman friend has been kind.
How Bush Blew It
"Impeach George W. Bush. Impeach him now."
More Jeff Tyberg
It's time for more Jeff Tyberg. As you know (if you don't, it won't hurt you) Mr. Jeff Tyberg is running for Congress in Wisconsin's 7th District. Here is his position paper on pro-life: I'm in the bold, black type, Jeff is the other guy:
Jeff Tyberg's position on "Pro Life"
Our Founding Fathers made it very clear where they believed life came from and what it's worth when they wrote, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
(So Jeff, I hate to say it, but the passage you quote doesn't give a street address or price tag. Just where did life come from & how much did it cost?)
Abortion is morally wrong at any stage, it is also a breach of the baby's God-given right-to-life.
(I agree abortion would be morally wrong on the stage at the Guthrie Theater. Their coat hangers probably aren't sterile.I do wonder, however, about the value of using the words "breach" & "baby" in the same sentence. Some of your supporters might confuse you with an OB-GYN. I also wonder whether God is liable when a baby is stillborn? The lawsuits, the lawsuits....[I don't mean to be insensitive to people who have had stillborn fetuses, it's just that Jeff Tyberg is just so full of it, that I can't think of anything else to say - except that maybe his ideas are stillborn.])
Abortion is also a major contributing factor in the shaky future of Social Security as there are some 43 million fewer people in the workforce than otherwise would have been.
(Of course, it has nothing to do with St. Reagan's incredibly high budget deficits or Bu$hCo's incredibly high deficits. Well, to solve this problem, I make a modest proposal - privatize all baby making, oh wait, we already do that - socialize all baby making, thus forcing adults to have many children, even if they don't want them. Make them suck it up to help provide Social Security benefits.)
This is also a factor in the apparent need for illegal immigrants to fill so many jobs.
(Factor this, Mr. Jeff Tyberg, if you know what I mean.)
Morally, Constitutionally, economically, abortion is bad for America and needs to be stopped!
(I didn't know "constitutionally" was a proper noun. What needs to be stopped is Mr. Jeff Tyberg before he capitalizes again.)
It's time for a change! It's time for Tyberg!
(Oh, I don't think so.)
The legend of Tchoupitoulous continues.
St. Petersburg Times
"Here is the Bush agenda come home to roost - on a roof. And it's caved in. Can't get much more real than that."
Gatemouth Brown, R.I.P.
Gatemouth Brown died yesterday. He had evacuated from Slidell, LA to Texas. We saw him at last year's JazzFest in New Orleans. Here is the obit.
Nickname?
"You're doin' a heck of a job, Boltheadie.
Yes, The Krewes?
The following comment was about this post.
"I have been thinking about Fat Tuesday since this disaster began to collapse all around us. Mardi Gras will be a sign of undying spirit so evident in the city of wonder. Sometime somebody is going to come up with a Lance Armstrongarmed bracelet for the victims of Katrina. I would say save the money on the bracelets, give as much money as you can to the restoration of the city, its noble spirit, and glorious people. And think about wearing a string [of] Mardi Gras beads now to keep the spirit and the memory alive. Let the good times roll."
The Heretik | Homepage | 09.10.05 - 1:09 pm | #
Emphasis added. I also corrected the word "of", in the original, the author had a typo of "on".
Wow, 38%
Man, that Holden guy must have a herd of ponies by now. Maybe enough to start a business giving rides to children at the county fair. I am against glue factories, BTW.
WI Badgers
You know you're liberal when your team wins 65-0 & you cringe & hope the other team was just pathetic, so that your team didn't run up the score on purpose. Too bad about Notre Dame, however, they won. Boo.
Hot Saturday Afternoon
So, it's been quite a day already. It is very warm & humid & I'm having a hard time breathing, something that I believe is the result of the beta blockers & ace inhibitors that I take. So hot that the Sidekick couldn't shame me into going fishing. I did, however, drive up to the coffee shop, thinking the air conditioning in the truck would cool me off enough to raise my spirits. It did that, but then I got into a heated conversation with a young man. He is working for our local overly rich man. The rich man, SueHank Martinsen is remodeling a motel & is employing non-union workers. The carpenters local from Duluth came down this week to set up informational pickets at the job site. Anyway, I sat down with the young man & I asked him how "happy" he must be working for SueHank Martinsen? It was a joke, since SueHank had been quoted in the local paper as saying how happy his workers looked. It reminded me of the plantation owner looking out over the cotton fields & commenting how happy the darkies looked. So I asked about the benefits that SueHank offered. The young man said he had no benefits. SueHank had stated in the paper that the workers had the same benefit plan as his management team. So it appears that SueHank was disassembling, to quote Bu$hCo. From there the wife stated that the workers felt like the union members who were picketing wanted their jobs. I explained about informational picketing & that they didn't want their jobs, they wanted to organize. Well, things quickly went downhill from there. The young man & his wife started complaining about unions & the Democratic Party. Soon the young man & I were nose to nose. I kept telling him of the sacrifices that the early leaders of the union movement had to make, like getting killed. He seemed completely ignorant of that. It was that Green Party (I don't mean all the Greens) parroting of Nader's condemnation of unions & Democrats as being corrupt. Well, as a card carrying inactive member of the Teamster's, I took a bit of offense to that charge & got a little closer to his nose. & he slapped at my head, knocking my hat off. No more swinging was involved, but it is a sad day. It is no surprise to anyone who is breathing that corruption has certainly been a part of the history of both institutions. But where would all of us be if there had been no unions, no early Democratic Party that championed the working class? I am no fan of the centrist Democrats who continue to put their own personal interests above the people, who somehow think that we need to be Republican-lite in order to win elections. But, where, exactly, do we put our energies? The Green Party? Young Socialists? Communist Party? I have voted for people running under the imprimaturs of all three of those parties. While none of the people I voted for won, nor did I think they would win when I voted for them, it was and is important to me, personally, to put my vote where I thought it would do the most good. I have also voted for Democrats, & at least where I live, my vote did back winners, except, of course, Nixon, Nixon, Reagan, Reagan, Bush I, Bu$hCo & Bu$hCo. Now even the winning Dems did/do not always make me happy. My local Democratic State Assemblyman wants me to support centrist Dems, like our Gov, yet wants to throw progressives out of the party! Yeah, that's the ticket. But I will vote for him again, unless some progressive runs against him. I have never & will never vote for a Republican. The point is, however, that this young man & I are probably on the same side. He needs to work, he has plans & dreams for his & his wife's future. He has bills to pay. His life is like mine, except I'm a lot older, "own" a house we're still paying for, "own" two cars we're still paying for, own a minorly bad heart we're still paying for, a twenty-one year Harley we're still paying for, etc. etc. Y'all get the picture. Yet this young man claims he has fought many battles & has had many victories. Good for him. But when you start bragging about your past victories, you are losing the present war. & when you start condemning the institutions that have, in small & large ways, to one degree or another, kept & are keeping this country from falling into fascism, well, all I can say is to hell with the young people who don't have a clue. Condemn the unions, yet who was out in front of the young man's worksite explaining the value of union labor? The Greens weren't there, but the union was. & I know that these union members are Democrats, liberal Democrats. So keep on saying unions are bad, keep on expecting that you will be able to convince SueHank of your exquisite philosophy, but remember, if you can, that it was the union out on the highway & they wanted to organize you.
Why Can't Any American Walk?
Sterile, indeed.
Ya think? Although, to be honest, there are many of us who have believed this for years. If only Bu$hCo, himself, would believe this, it would be the beginning of our national recovery. & not just from Katrina, or as Mrs. Bu$hCo termed it, Corrina. They care.
There's A Fungus Among Us
Sorry, I don't have the link to this. I think I was on the Netscape browser homepage. Anyway, it's good to see something that is so delicious be beneficial, as well.
Study: Mushrooms Source for Anti-Cancer Vitamin
Mushrooms are the best-known source for an antioxidant thought to protect against cancer and cardiovascular disease, according to a study by researchers at Penn State University.
White button mushrooms, the type most commonly consumed in the U.S., have about four times more of the antioxidant ergothioneine than chicken liver, which was previously considered the best source for the vitamin, according to the study to be presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society in Washington.
"This is another good reason to eat mushrooms," said Joy Dubost, the Penn State researcher who led the study. "It's a good antioxidant to have in your diet."
Ergothioneine helps the body eliminate so-called free radicals, which are chemicals that can start chain reactions harmful to a body's cells, Dubost said.
White button mushrooms have about 12 times more ergothioneine than wheat germ, also a good source of the nutrient, the study said. Exotic mushrooms such as shiitake, oyster and maitake mushrooms have about 40 times more of the antioxidant than wheat germ, the study said.
A 3-ounce serving of button mushrooms, about the amount that would be served on a hamburger, has as much as 5 milligrams of ergothioneine, the study said.
Does Anyone Know What They Are Doing?
I thought they just announced this a couple of days ago? WTF? How in the world are the people supposed to get the internets access? & why announce it on Friday? Oh, yes, getting ready for the weekend.
"That creepy feeling John Roberts gives you..."
These are fighting words. & I hope the Dems don't let him through.
Kanye West/CCR
Great song by Kanye just now. I'm going to buy the CD you reccomended E. Thanks.
Two CCR songs on the benefit concert. & to think, Somerby thinks he's a true liberal, but doesn't remember his bands. What's his deal anyway?
Land O The Loons #2
Boy am I ever glad we have quality candidates to run for public office. If this guy gets elected, well, that idea has all the appeal of a plugged toilet. & it's not plugged with paper, if you know what I mean.
Responding to Sen. Feingold
Dear Editor;
As most of your readers know, I'm running for Congress next year.
(Well, I didn't know, & what I didn't know didn't hurt me.)
Since I desire to be your representative in Washington, it behooves me to respond to Russ Feingold, even though I will be running against Dave Obey.
(That's right, respond to someone you are not running against. & baby, behoove all you want. I love behooving. I'd watch out with that desiring stuff though. Remember Jimmy Swaggert?)
If Mr. Feingold gets his way, and a deadline is set for bringing the troops home, here is what will happen: The terrorists will lay low until the deadline, preparing their attacks here in this country and organizing their resources for such attacks.
(Sorry Jeff, much like Bu$hCo, you get an F in grammar. It should be lie low. I'll bet your high school English teacher(s) aren't very proud of you.)
The day after our pullout they will unleash terror HERE.
(So, if we leave Iraq, as the terrorists apparently want, then the terrorists will attack us here. I don't understand. Jeff, are you suggesting that the terrorists want us in Iraq.)
While we are in Iraq, and while the Iraqis are building themselves a stable government, the terrorists have to focus on Iraq, where they have little or no support.
(What the hell does that mean?)
But they have to fight there, with imported soldiers from Syria and Iran, because we have taken the war to them.
(Please remember, this was a war of choice, Jeff. Not a war of necessity. Can you remember Jeff, or did your memory lay low?)
The only deadline for withdrawal is a free and democratic Iraq. As for Judge Roberts, well, Mr. Feingold voted for him just two short years ago.
(How do these two sentences go together? There is no prize for getting this one correct.)
The fact is President Bush couldn't have nominated a better candidate and they know that. He is being opposed for the simple reason that President Bush nominated him.
(I think it is a bit more complex than that. Actually, though, that would be a good enough reason for me. Jeff, did you see how his children behaved? Not a very good parent? Probably doesn't behoove enough.)
As your representative in Washington, I would fight hard to get control of our borders!
(Yes, another unbelievably dumb transition. & an equally dumb racist idea.)
While we are doing a great job in Iraq, and are working to control Iraq's borders with Syria and Iran, we are doing nothing to control our border with Mexico!
(If we are doing such a great job in Iraq, why do the majority of Americans now think it was a bad idea? Jeff, you need to keep up with current events. I didn't know Syria & Iran wanted to help us with our border with Mexico.)
I applaud the Minuteman movement, and truly hope that they will fulfill their goal of prodding Washington to do something. If you?ll send me to Washington, I will be an untiring voice for enforcing our immigration laws and controlling our borders. Please check out my website at www.tybergforcongress.com to see my positions on other important issues.
(I ususally hate to suggest bonehead websites but, yes, please check out his website. You will need to cut & paste the above address. Listen, quit bitching, I can't link to everything. On the website you'll learn that Mr. Jeff Tyberg invented the blog. Please scroll down & view the first ever blog.)
Jeff Tyberg
Now I hope you all are happy with the candidate running against Dave Obey, although he will not respond to Dave, only to Sen. Feingold.
Scorsese's brilliant portrait of Bob Dylan as a yo...


Bicycling to Porvoo from Helsinki is a popular day trip. Follw the road 170! For a longer but even more interesting route find your way through Nickilä and Hinthaara.
The distance is about 50 kilometers and takes about two hours without stops. A recommended option is to take ship or a bus one of the directions. Or why not stay over night in Porvoo!


This Paper considers why a manager would choose to submit himself to the discipline of bank monitoring. This issue is analysed within the context of a model where the manager enjoys private benefits, which can be restricted by the monitor, and is optimally compensated by shareholders. Within this setting, we find that managers will submit to monitoring when they receive favourable private information. This result is consistent with event study evidence that suggests that the market has a favourable view of financing choices that increase monitoring.


text:
Federal Circuit to Reconsider Achates Decision en banc
The Federal Circuit is set to reconsider one of its more controversial decisions en banc, when it decides whether the Achates Reference Publishing, Inc. v. Apple Inc. decision was correctly decided. Specifically, in Wi-Fi One, LLC v. Broadcom Corp., the Court requested supplemental briefing on the following issue:
"Should this court overrule Achates Reference Publishing, Inc. v. Apple Inc., 803 F.3d 652 (Fed. Cir. 2015) and hold that judicial review is available for a patent owner to challenge the PTO's determination that the petitioner satisfied the timeliness requirement of 35 U.S.C. § 315(b) governing the filing of petitions for Inter Partes Review?"
There have been several justices who have suggested that the Achates decision should be revisited by the entire bench, especially in view of the Supreme Court's Cuozzo decision. We'll have an answer soon on whether the broad discretion that has been afforded the PTAB regarding issues related to a decision to institute will continue, or whether the Federal Circuit will allow itself more leeway to consider foundational IPR issues.
Federal Circuit Clarity on Key IPR Issues May Be on the Way
Wi-Fi One: PTAB's Time-Bar Determinations are Reviewable; Achates Overruled
Federal Circuit Grants Petition for Rehearing en banc


I have always had a deep love for Nature and animals of all kinds. As a child I would spend hours tracking ants, patiently observing tiny fish in rock pools, which I mastered the art of catching with my little hands, and I always had a pet. They were a colourful collection of animal souls: a rat, four precious dogs, an adopted gentle old horse, Mrs Hen, some slimy snails, my tiny chameleon, Freddy and even a cockroach. My pets were just a few of the many I grew up with since each of my beautiful seven sisters, and my brother also had pets of their own. Menageries of wonderful animals filled my youth and fond memories of watching litters of kitten and puppies being born are as fresh as if it happened yesterday.
Now, still surrounded by darling pets, there is one animal that dominates my life, the shark. I've always said, "I didn't choose sharks, they chose me". But this is only partly true. When my dear friend, Michael Copley, an extremely talented musician, poet and spiritual teacher, sadly recently deceased, introduced me to the concept of animal totems, I realized the deeper meaning of why I had chosen to give up everything and dedicate my life to shark conservation, why they are my animal totem.
For some the concept of animal totems might seem 'far-out' but in my opinion the only far-out thing is the big mess we've made of our world because we have forgotten what our ancestors knew: everything is connected. They respected that, we don't. Many clans and tribes worldwide understood their connection to Nature and all of life and revered many animal spirits, including sharks. If we take the time to observe animals, like they did, we begin to realize how much animals can teach us, including what qualities and behaviors we should emulate somewhere in our daily lives. Animal wisdom emits the fundamental truths of the Universal Consciousness; some call it God, our umbilical cord connected to all Truth, which most of us in our fast-forward lives are disconnected from. But if we are willing to learn and understand the language of animals, open ourselves up to 'meeting' our animal totem, they will speak to our hearts and help guide us along our soul journey.
Though other animal spirits make appearances throughout our lives at specific times to help us with certain lessons of life, it is believed that each of us come into this world accompanied by a specific animal spirit. They represent our strong, inner spiritual nature, and reflect our innate core traits. They are our closest personal spirit guides who help us to discover the truth of who we really are, why we are here and how we can become better people and live better lives. They are faithful, with us till we die.
In a similar way I 'listen' to my shark totem and what it tries to teach me. It profoundly represents some of my personal qualities, like my loner spirit, my acute sense of smell and sound, my choice to swim in the depths of life rather than the shallows, my extremely driven personality, which is constantly on the move. I have also learnt that the shark totem offers the power of protection to those that resonate with it, which can be called upon. It teaches me how to swim the currents of my busy life, to trust my gut-feelings and intuition, and to exercise fearlessness as I move forward in my efforts to help save them.
Imagine if everyone became aware of their animal totem, started listening to what the animals are trying to tell us. Besides people living more consciously, surely there would be less senseless slaughter, less unspeakable pain and cruelty inflicted upon them by humanities ignorance and arrogance? Less species becoming extinct? An awakening amongst the masses is my wish for them, and for us.
Very interesting and well written, Lesley. You are right when you say that we have become disconnected from nature as we see ourselves as superior to the animal world . Connecting with animal spirits and finding your animal totem opens up channels of communication that are being rapidly forgotten about in our internet driven social networked lives. Reconnecting with nature might just be what's needed if we are planning to act together to save our blue planet.


text:
Q: Return plot in its original position after zooming Below is my JavaScript code which plots scatterplot for a given data defined in the data array. When I perform zoom on the scatterplot and drag the plot with mousedown event the scatteplot moves from the center.
I wonder how to modify my code that after zooming the scatterplot returns into its original position? In current setting I control this behavior with the reset button but I wonder how to do it automatically.
The JSFiddle is here and the d3.js code is pasted below.
var data = [{
  centrality: 12,
  density: 15
}, {
  centrality: 14,
  density: 9
}, {
  centrality: 10,
  density: 6
}, {
  centrality: 16,
  density: 7
}, {
  centrality: 8,
  density: 5
}]

var margin = {
    top: 30,
    right: 20,
    bottom: 30,
    left: 50
  },
  width = 500 - margin.left - margin.right,
  height = 270 - margin.top - margin.bottom;

// Set the range for x axis
var x = d3.scaleLinear()
  .domain([0, d3.max(data, function(d) {
    return d.centrality;
  })])
  .range([0, width]);

// Set the range for y axis
var y = d3.scaleLinear()
  .domain([0, d3.max(data, function(d) {
    return d.density;
  })])
  .range([height, 0]);

// Define mean of x axis
var xMean = d3.mean(data, function(d) {
  return d.centrality;
})

// Define mean of y axis
var yMean = d3.mean(data, function(d) {
  return d.density;
})

// Define zoom function event listener
function zoomFunction() {
  var transform = d3.zoomTransform(this);
  d3.select("#map_g")
    .attr("transform", "translate(" + transform.x + "," + transform.y + ") scale(" + transform.k + ")");
}

// Define zoom behavior
var zoom = d3.zoom()
  .scaleExtent([1, 5])
  .on("zoom", zoomFunction)

var chart = d3.select('#main')
  .append('svg:svg')
  .attr('width', width + margin.right + margin.left)
  .attr('height', height + margin.top + margin.bottom)
  .attr('class', 'chart')
  .attr("id", "map_g")
  .call(zoom)
  .call(zoom.transform, d3.zoomIdentity)
  .on("mousedown.zoom", null)
  .on("touchstart.zoom", null)
  .on("touchmove.zoom", null)
  .on("touchend.zoom", null)
  .on('mousedown.drag', null);

var main = chart.append('g')
  .attr('transform', 'translate(' + margin.left + ',' + margin.top + ')')
  .attr('width', width)
  .attr('height', height)
  .attr('class', 'main')

// Draw the x axis
var xAxis = d3.axisBottom()
  .scale(x)
  //.orient('center')
  .tickSizeOuter(0)
  .tickValues([]);

main.append('g')
  .attr('transform', 'translate(0,' + y(yMean) + ')')
  .attr('class', 'main axis date')
  .call(xAxis);

// Draw the y axis
var yAxis = d3.axisLeft()
  .scale(y)
  //.orient('right')
  .tickSizeOuter(0)
  .tickValues([]);

main.append('g')
  .attr('transform', 'translate(' + x(xMean) + ',0)')
  .attr('class', 'main axis date')
  .call(yAxis);

var g = main.append("svg:g");

var circle = g.selectAll("scatter-dots")
  .data(data)
  .enter().append("svg:circle")
  .attr("cx", function(d, i) {
    return x(d.centrality);
  })
  .attr("cy", function(d) {
    return y(d.density);
  })
  .attr("r", 5)
  .attr("fill", "black")

// Reset function
function resetted() {
  chart.transition()
  .duration(750)
  .call(zoom.transform, d3.zoomIdentity);
}

// Reset button
d3.select("button")
  .on("click", resetted);

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange