Doctor???...Oh Doctor???

Your Glove Is Still In My Ass...


Thank God...I thought that I was actually losing my touch these days, because I was having such a hard time working up a really good, insensitive rant about much of anything.

Then this story came along about some silly woman that has managed to impose herself on the Harvard medical school for four or five years and now continues to demand concessions from the medical licensing board.

Harvard mom wins appeals court victory
By DENISE LAVOIE,
Associated Press Writer Fri Oct 5, 2:44 PM ET

BOSTON - An appeals court cleared the way Friday for a Harvard student to receive extra break time during a lengthy medical licensing exam so she can pump breast milk for her infant daughter.

The state Appeals Court refused to overturn a decision issued by a single justice of the court last week allowing Sophie Currier, 33, an extra 60 minutes of break time.

Currier is scheduled to take the nine-hour exam over two days next week, but the National Board of Medical Examiners planned to appeal to the state Supreme Judicial Court, said the board's attorney, Joseph Savage Jr.

A justice of the Judicial Court declined to hear the case last week, saying the board had to first go to the appeals court.

Currier sued after the national board said she could have only the standard 45 minutes of break time.

...

Ignoring the need to pump could cause her significant pain, Katzmann said.

The licensing board appealed Katzmann's ruling to the full, three-judge panel of the appeals court. On Friday, the full court refused to overturn Katzmann's decision.

The court said it based its decision on whether Katzmann abused his discretion or made a clear error of law. The court said it found neither. It did not rule on the merits of the case.

...

Currier already has received special accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act for dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, including permission to take the test over two days instead of one. The board also offered her a separate testing room where she can express milk during the test or during break time, and the option to leave the test center to breast-feed during break times.

Currier has finished a joint M.D.-Ph.D. program at Harvard University while having two babies in the past two years. She has been offered a residency in clinical pathology at Massachusetts General Hospital beginning in November but cannot accept it unless she passes the test. Her goal is a career in medical research.

She took the exam in April when she was 8 1/2 months pregnant, but failed by a few points.


OK people, I have to admit that after spending nine months eating ice cream and dill pickles, barfing my head off, and finally squirting a near eight pound screaming wild animal out of my groin, that I might be considered a little crazy, and then having to spend another twelve months with my little munchkin attaching itself to my chest every few hours during the day that the circumstances would probably drive me over the edge of sanity if I survived the birthing process, but still I have to ask...

WTF?

Here's a photo of the fragile, lactating doctor wanna-be Miss Currier sitting with defense exhibit "A" her lovely offspring.

I don't know about you, but to me Miss Sophie looks a little scary. There might be some manic depression roaming around behind those dark eyes, in addition to her admitted Attention Deficit Disorder and whatever other crap that the Americans' with Disabilities Act has allowed her to beat everybody over the head with so far.

(I think that if someone had had the foresight to apply some duct tape to her ankles, in order to keep her knees together, that a significant amount of legal hot air would have been avoided over the past few years...but then again..that's just one angry, insensitive white southern Redneck's opinion.)

I'm not sorry, but back in the day when I was trying to go to school, you did things based on accommodating your class schedule. I never had to resort to going to court in order to adjust my final exam schedule or to move around those pesky Chemistry lab sessions in order to accommodate my need to eat a Varsity chili cheese dog and some onion rings every two hours.

For instance, I couldn't take a job and commit to working from nine to five, five days a week, and at the same time sign up at Tech for an eleven o'clock AM thermodynamics class and then expect to go to court and demand that they let me attend a lecture at 6:30 PM three days a week.

The blankin' class was held at 11:30 AM on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and getting my girlfriend pregnant (I didn't), buying a house(I did), working two jobs, or whatever else I had going on in my life didn't excuse me from being there when the class was in session if I wanted the chance to earn the credit toward my college degree.

Also, there wasn't much of this stupid crap like ADD and AADD to use as an excuse to take a hand full of meds or involve the courts in my life. College back then involved ADDING and SUBTRACTING, and while we were at it we had to learn Calculus, then do things like INTEGRATING and DIFFERENTIATING (and our integrating didn't have a racial component as far as I know.)

So any way, this woman wants to get through medical school.

FINE, let her.

But she could do a few things to help, like not having not one, but two, babies in the process, and if she does choose to reproduce SHE might consider making a few concessions to the process.

I haven't had any kids of my own, but I have been around a few mother/infant relationships in my days and as far as I know no women have ever died from having to wait three or four hours between breast feeding sessions. Plus, there is the little detail that the baby could have one or two bottles of formula instead of sacred, USDA approved mother's milk for one nine hour period without the Department of Children's Services showing up and ripping the child out of the mother's custody.

Pulllleeeeaaaasssseeee...

Finally, with all of this woman's self admitted mental/physical disorders, I, personally, would have a real problem donning a paper gown and sitting on a cold paper covered stainless steel table and letting her anywhere near my body parts...thus the reason for this posting's title.

With her ADD, God forbid she leave anything behind, in my behind...

Dopey Dopers, And The Dope They Do

More Crap That Is Wrong With The World, But In The End Really Doesn't Matter


Olympic runner Marion Jones has admitted that she has hemorrhoids used steroids before the Sydney Olympic Games.

After years of angry denials, Marion Jones is ready to admit she doped.

The three-time Olympic gold medalist is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in White Plains, N.Y., on Friday to plead guilty to charges in connection with steroid use, a federal law enforcement source told The Associated Press.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing, and would not provide specific details about the plea.

Jones also sent family and close friends a letter in which she said she used steroids before the Sydney Games, The Washington Post reported Thursday. The Post was the first to report that Jones would come clean on doping.

"I want to apologize for all of this," the Post reported Jones saying in her letter, quoting a person who received a copy and read it to the paper. "I am sorry for disappointing you all in so many ways."

Jones said in her letter that she faced up to six months in jail and would be sentenced in three months, according to the newspaper

Besides really not giving any more of a damn about this story than the Barry Bonds story, I also agree that both Jones and Bonds should not be allowed to have their records count in history if private sports organizations want to enforce their rules.

BUT, I also think that trying them in court and putting them in jail for their drug use is also way beyond the government envisioned by Franklin, Adams, Washington, and Jefferson.

Dammit.

.

New Computer Skills

I'm Learning Video Editing...


In the process of continuing my lifelong learning experience in Engineering, recently I've spend a good deal of time worrying about the phenomena generically called "Waterhammer."

For the general public's experience, waterhammer is that sound you sometimes hear in your house when your washing machine or toilet finishes filling with with water. Sometimes the shower valve and other water valves in the house will cause waterhammer, along with the radiators found in older homes.

Waterhammer in domestic water piping is generally nothing more than a nuisance sound, but waterhammer in industrial settings like large water and petroleum pipelines and hydroelectric Dam penstocks, and a different kind found in steam piping systems can cause catastrophic property damage, injury, and death.

What started out last night as a preliminary PowerPoint presentation using slides developed on AutoCAD and Photoshop, tonight evolved into a a video clip using Microsoft movie maker.

Here's the results of about six hours worth of work:




Pretty Boring...Huh? (I just realized that the small format makes it impossible to read.)

Any way, I still have a long way to go, but the editing process is becoming easier as I move along and I can see doing some funny videos of Missy the Turbo Pup when I have time to shoot some of her antics.

Poly-ticking

It's Election Season...


Based on the past month's events, I don't know if I'm going to survive watching and reading the news for the next 13 months until November 2008, let alone make it through the local and state elections held in the interim for stupid stuff like local option sales taxes and other crap that they do on days when nobody shows up at the polls.

It really is quite damning to endure.

In case you weren't paying attention, Georgia just had their latest Voter ID law upheld by a court, but I'm certain that the ACLU and all of the Race Warlords will conduct a furious appeal campaign to have it thrown out. They'll probably wait until summer to get started and get some idiot Judge to put a temporary restraining order on the process covering the next presidential ballot.

It's so obvious to me what their intent is in challenging any and all requirements to produce some form of valid ID when registering to vote and when presenting yourself at the poll to vote in an election.

Outright fraud.

You can't cash a check without ID.

You can't have a bank account without ID.

If you've ever lost or misplaced your driver's license, see how far you will get ANYWHERE except in your own bedroom and bathroom without valid, government issued identification.

Some people that I know have dogs that will bite them if they come home and don't present ID prior to entering the front door of their own houses.

Georgia has bent over backwards in this matter, even going so far as to make getting an ID free to individuals that can prove financial hardship, and even COMING TO THEIR DOOR TO MAKE AND DELIVER THE DOCUMENT if they will take the time to pick up the telephone and ask.

That said, look at where many state's voter registration laws have gotten them when they simply take an individuals word at "face value" and mail out absentee ballots without checking the facts first:

Director of King County Elections Sherril Huff today canceled the registration of Duncan M. MacDonald, an illegal registration presented to King County Elections by Jane K. Balogh.

When Balogh fraudulently registered her Australian shepherd terrier-mix dog in August 2006, she knowingly and illegally declared her pet was a legal United States citizen, 18 years old, and a citizen of Washington state; a violation of both federal and state laws. Huff forwarded the case to the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office after Balogh returned a ballot in her dog's name in the May 15 special election.

"This incident provides a compelling example of the need to examine processes and to identify and respond quickly to signs of registration fraud," said Huff. "While we are legally bound to follow registration laws and use the tools available to verify proper ID, we still must be vigilant in protecting our voter rolls and act quickly to forward suspect cases on to the proper legal authorities."

The King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office has filed gross misdemeanor charges against Balogh for providing false information on a voter-registration application. A case setting is scheduled for Wednesday, July 11, 2007

After doing a little Googling, I found that News of the weird has the outcome of the story:

Jane Balogh, 66, was informed in September that she will not be prosecuted for defrauding elections officials in Seattle, despite having illegally registered her dog, Duncan M. MacDonald, to vote.

Balogh, protesting how easy officials have made it for people to vote illegally, put her home phone account in Duncan's name, which is all the proof required for registration, then signed him up, and when an absentee ballot arrived, she went public about her scheme.

However, despite the public confession, Duncan continued to be sent official absentee ballots for the two subsequent election cycles. [Seattle Times, 9-6-07]

Just imagine how many fake voters there are out there that didn't register as a joke or in protest, and how many close elections have been influenced as a result of a dog's vote?

Cover Your Eyes

Or Possibly Put On Your Sunglasses...

Doddering Around Africa

Better He's Over There, Than Over Here...


Did you hear?

Former President Jimmuh Carter was seen having a fit and trying to bust a blood vessel over in the Sudan yesterday.

KABKABIYA, Sudan (AP) - Former President Jimmy Carter confronted Sudanese security services on a visit to Darfur Wednesday, shouting "You don't have the power to stop me!" at some who blocked him from meeting refugees of the conflict.

The 83-year-old Carter, in Darfur as part of a delegation of respected international figures known as "The Elders," wanted to visit a refugee camp. But the U.N. mission in Sudan deemed that too dangerous.

Instead, Carter agreed to fly to the World Food Program compound in the North Darfur town of Kabkabiya, where he was supposed to meet with ethnic African refugees, many of whom were chased from their homes by militias and the Arab-dominated government's forces.

But none of the refugees showed up and Carter decided to walk into the town - a volatile stronghold of the pro-government janjaweed militia - to meet refugees too frightened to attend the meeting at the compound.

He was able to make it to a school where he met with one tribal representative and was preparing to go further into town when Sudanese security officers stopped him.

"You can't go," the local chief of the feared Sudanese secret police, who only gave his first name as Omar, ordered Carter. "It's not on the program!"

"We're going to anyway!" an angry Carter retorted as a small crowd began to gather around. "You don't have the power to stop me."

I hope they got Jimmuh wrappped up good in Kevlar, because I don't want to spend the end of this year watching reruns of his funeral and enduring socialist salutes to the disaster that was his four year Presidency.

Heh...


.

Be Careful Liars...

The Bloggers Are Watching, And We Have A LONG Memory


Sorry folks, but this Rush Limbaugh thing continues to intrigue me, not because I really care about the outcome in public opinion or think that it will actually matter in six weeks, but still--the Lamestream Media's handling of the story is quite predictable and at the same time amazing.

I was doing some more reading this morning and came across the Friday, 9/28 posting on the USA Today Political Blog, and even in their Blog format USA Today can't seem to bring themselves to tell the whole truth.

In their published story line, they reference a prior telephone caller to Rush's "Phony Soldier" comment, and completely ignore the discussion that followed only minutes later about Jesse Macbeth.

If all you read is this posting, I could see where a reader could be left with an entirely different understanding of the controversy, and I have to admit that I think that that is EXACTLY what USA Today intended to convey.

Yesterday USA Today's Blog continued their story line, although they did admit to the absurdity of Iowa Senator Tom Harkin's assault on Rush from the Senate floor, particularly in light of his own false claims of having been a fighter pilot flying sorties over Vietnam in the 1960's.

Watch this whole thing keep festering and churning until there's another missing/murdered pregnant woman or another Hurricane jumps up in the Gulf of Mexico and distracts the media morons.

Apparently the Truth will never set anyone free anymore, but it will certainly bore me to death in the process...

We've Got Big Birds

Our Fine Feathered Island Friends


One of the coolest things about moving down here to live on the Georgia coast has been our encounters with the wildlife that we had lost touch with in the Atlanta metro area.

Perhaps the most visible difference is presence of the wide variety of birds, particularly the larger Raptors that will just wander out into your back yard while you're not paying attention.

Almost the first thing you notice while driving on the island are the large nests situated in the top of pine trees and on man-made platforms atop old telephone poles adjacent to the marsh. These are generally occupied by a pair of Osprey and their offspring.

Then there is the Red Tailed Hawk, one of which resides every few miles up and down Frederica Road making sure that the Squirrels and Rabbits pay attention on their daily foraging.

Rumor has it that we've had a few pairs of American Bald Eagles living out in the remote areas on the north end of the island out toward Hampton Point, but I have yet to have the pleasure of seeing one in person.

Much to my surprise, this past week between 4 and 6 AM, one of these fellows (or gals) has been coming over and "Hooting" around in our back yard for a half hour or so.

I haven't actually seen the bird yet, but it's sitting in a big pine tree right now out on our fence line declaring it's dominance of the local territory.

Dang I'm gonna miss this place...

Crap I Have To Worry About

Somebody Stop Me...

Media Smedia

I'm Not Gonna Tell You What To Think..Read It For Yourself


I guess that by now you have heard about the current media flap surrounding Rush Limbaugh and his so called "Phoney Soldier" comment last week?

I'm aready tired of the whole thing, but for those of you that don't have the time and energy to go out and Google for the facts, I'm putting them all together here, including the original links.

In summary, most everyone from the left, including many Democratic Congressmen and Senators, are demanding that Rush apologize for comments he made recently about convicted "Phoney Soldier" Jesse Macbeth.

In case you missed it, here's the link to the United States Attorney's Office, Western District of Washington Website and here's the opening text of the announcement of Sullivan's conviction:

U.S. Attorney Jeffrey C. Sullivan today announced some of the results of “Operation Stolen Valor,” a year long effort to investigate and prosecute those who lie about their military service for financial gain or other reasons. Sullivan and Doug Carver, Special Agent in Charge of the Veteran’s Affairs Office of Inspector General detailed eight prosecutions in the Veteran’s Affairs Northwest Region in 2007.

“As a Vietnam Veteran, and the father of a decorated Army officer currently serving, I feel very keenly the damage done by Jesse Macbeth and these other fakes,” said Jeff Sullivan, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington. “Macbeth’s lies fueled hostility to our servicemen in Iraq and here at home. Those who falsely claim medals for heroism, cheapen the recognition of our true war heroes.”

“The ‘phony war hero phenomenon’ plagues the American landscape and tarnishes the service of thousands of veterans who have served honorably. It strangles VA resources from providing critical care and benefits to deserving veterans returning from war,” said Douglas J. Carver, Special Agent in Charge of the VA Office of Inspector General, Western Field Office. “It all boils downs to this: these phonies submit claims to the VA for compensation and medical benefits they are not entitled to, and it takes away valuable resources from those who are entitled.”

In a dozen cases under investigation in the northwest, the fraud totals more than $1.4 million. Eight of the cases have been publicly filed and are in various stages of being adjudicated:

*Jesse Macbeth, 23, Tacoma, Washington, sentenced today in connection with his fraudulent claims of military service. Macbeth sought medical benefits claiming to suffer from PTSD related to service in Iraq and Afghanistan, in fact, Macbeth was discharged from the Army about a month after he joined. Macbeth never traveled outside the U.S. with the Army. Macbeth duped reporters, claiming to be a decorated Army Ranger who had witnessed war crimes.

Now here's the entire transcript of Rush's 9/26 on air conversation as shown on the Media Matters Website, including a 1:13 minute segment of unrelated discussion that Rush edited out when he replayed the exchange on Monday of this week.

From the September 28 edition of Premiere Radio Networks' The Rush Limbaugh Show, including (in bold) the portion of the original segment cut from Limbaugh's "entire" audio clip:
LIMBAUGH: I was not talking, as Contessa Brewer said here, about the anti-war movement generally. I was talking about one soldier with that "phony soldier" comment, Jesse MacBeth. They had exactly what I'm going to play for you. This is Michael J. Fox all over again. Media Matters had the transcript, but they selectively choose what they want to make their point. Here is -- it runs about 3 minutes and 13 seconds -- the entire transcript, in context, that led to this so-called controversy.

[begin audio clip]

LIMBAUGH: I -- it's not possible, intellectually, to follow these people.

CALLER 2: No, it's not, and what's really funny is, they never talk to real soldiers. They like to pull these soldiers that come up out of the blue and talk to the media.

LIMBAUGH: The phony soldiers.

CALLER 2: The phony soldiers. If you talk to a real soldier, they are proud to serve. They want to be over in Iraq. They understand their sacrifice, and they're willing to sacrifice for their country.

LIMBAUGH: They joined to be in Iraq. They joined --

CALLER 2: A lot of them -- the new kids, yeah.

LIMBAUGH: Well, you --

[begin Limbaugh edit]

LIMBAUGH: -- know where you're going these days, the last four years, if you signed up. The odds are you're going there or Afghanistan or somewhere.

CALLER 2: Exactly, sir. And, and my other comment was -- and the reason I was calling for -- was to report to Jill about the fact that we didn't, didn't find any weapons of mass destruction. Actually, we have found weapons of mass destruction in chemical agents that [inaudible] been using against us for awhile now.

I've done two tours in Iraq. I just got back in June and there were many instances of -- since [inaudible] not know what they're using in their IEDs [improvised explosive devices]. They're using mustard artillery rounds. The VX artillery rounds in their IEDs.

Because they didn't know what they were using, they didn't do it right, and so it just kind of -- it, it didn't really hurt anybody but there are -- those munitions are over there, it's just -- it's a huge desert. If they've buried it somewhere, we're never gonna find it.

LIMBAUGH: Well, you know, that's a moot point for me right now --

MIKE: Rush --

LIMBAUGH: -- the weapons of mass destruction. We gotta get beyond that. We're, we're there. What -- who cares if, if -- we all know they were there and, and Mahmoud [Ahmadinejad, Iranian president] even admitted it in one of his speeches here about -- talkin' about Saddam using the poison mustard gas or whatever it is on his own people -- but that, that's moot, right? What, what's more important is all this is taking place now in the midst of the surge working.

And all of these anti-war Democrats are getting even more hell-bent on pulling out of there, which means that success on the part of you and, and your colleagues over there is, is a great threat to them.

[end Limbaugh edit]

LIMBAUGH: It's just, it's frustrating and maddening, and it is why they must be kept in the minority.

Look, I want to thank you, Mike, for calling. I appreciate it very much. I gotta -- let me see -- got something -- here is a "Morning Update" that we did recently talking about fake soldiers. This is a story of who the left props up as heroes. And they have their celebrities.

One of them was Jesse MacBeth. Now, he was a "corporal," I say in quotes -- 23 years old.

[reading from "Morning Update" (subscription required)]

What made Jesse MacBeth a hero to the anti-war crowd wasn't his Purple Heart. It wasn't his being affiliated with post traumatic stress disorder from tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, though. What made Jesse MacBeth, Army Ranger, a hero to the left was his courage in their view off the battlefield.

Without regard to consequences, he told the world the abuses he had witnessed in Iraq: American soldiers killing unarmed civilians, hundreds of men, women, even children. In one gruesome account translated into Arabic and spread widely across the internet, Army Ranger Jesse MacBeth describes the horrors this way:

'We would burn their bodies. We would hang their bodies from the rafters in the mosque.'

Now, recently, Jesse MacBeth, a poster boy for the anti-war left, had his day in court, and you know what? He was sentenced to five months in jail and three years probation for falsifying a Department of Veterans Affairs' claim and his Army discharge record.

He was in the Army. Jesse MacBeth was in the Army, folks, briefly -- 44-days before he washed out of boot camp. Jesse MacBeth isn't an Army Ranger. Never was. He isn't a corporal. Never was. He never won the Purple Heart and he was never in combat to witness the horrors he claimed to have seen."

You probably haven't even heard about this, and if you have, you haven't heard much about it. This doesn't fit the narrative and the template of the drive-by media and the Democrat [sic] Party as to who a genuine war hero is.

Don't look for any retractions, by the way, not from the anti-war left, the anti-military drive-by media or the Arabic websites that spread Jesse MacBeth's lies about our troops, because the truth of the left is fiction, is what serves their purpose. They have to lie about such atrocities 'cause they can't find any that fit the template of the way they see the U.S. military.

In other words, for the American anti-war left, the greatest inconvenience they face is the truth.

Why in the world Media Matters thinks that it's somehow important that Rush chose to edit out 1:13 of unrelated material out of the audio clip for brevity I'll never understand.

It's not like he could be further impuned by comments about WMD's, so I don't believe that deception was his intent.

The other thing that explaines his tone is the fact that his "Morning Update" notes from his website had already included commentary on Jesse Macbeth's demise, and Rush likes to promote the website whenever it meshes with the caller's commentary.

Once again this is a total non-issue that has blown up way beyond reality, and what amazes me is how few people--important people like Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and his staff--can't actually check the facts before opening their mouths in public.

Again, being on the verge of commentary, read through what I've shown you here and see if you can in any way believe that Rush said anything negative about soldiers that didn't support the war in Iraq.

It just isn't true, in my opinion, but that never stops the Lamestream Media once they get up a good head of steam.

UPDATE (5:20 PM)

This Jesse Macbeth character was a complete dumbass. Take a look at the link to the video they shot of him back in 2006, and see if you don't agree with me.

The anti war crowd apparently will believe anybody and anything that fits their template.

No Matter What They Find, She's Still Dead

Why Don't They Let It Go?


I was coming out of the restaurant with some dive buddies on Walkers Cay Bahamas back on the evening of August 30, 1997, and on our way to our hotel rooms in anticipation of flying back to Ft. Lauderdale the next morning we stopped by the pilot's lounge to check the weather forecast on a computer terminal.

In the process we were shocked to learn that Princess Diana had been killed in the now infamous car accident. Just like 9/11, I'll never forget where I was when I learned of the event, but my life has moved on since then as I wasn't listed in her will and rarely pay attention to celebrities and so-called royalty in the first place.

It was a sad event, but how many people remember that Mother Teresa died that exact same week?

Not many, I suspect.

Any way, now, over ten years later, they've opened up yet another investigation into Lady DI's death.

Would somebody please call Jimmy Hoffa and Elvis and see if they can be of any assistance?

Miss Moneypenny Gonna Miss Work

Sean Connery & Roger Moore Lost A Great Love Interest...


I'm sad to report that Q's secretary, Miss Moneypenny, passed away yesterday:




The James Bond movies have never been quite the same in the past few years for all of us older fans, and now it will be even harder to recapture the glory days.

Those Liberal Geniuses In California

Are They Actually Smarter Than The Average Southern Redneck?


Gee whiz people, it seems that the local governments out in California have gotten together and come up with new ideas to save energy and in the mean time--cut your electrical bill in the process.

Get this... the rocket scientists out in LA County are calling for people to turn off their lights that they're not using in order to cut our nation's energy usage.

Imagine that?

Here's a sample of their thinking:

Following San Francisco's lead, Los Angeles County and city officials are urging people, businesses and government to switch off nonessential lights for one hour next month to save energy.

Led by Supervisor Yvonne B. Burke and City Councilwoman Wendy Greuel, the proposed effort asks Angelenos to simultaneously go dark between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 20, as San Franciscans do the same.

Local officials are expected to vote on the plan next week.At the original event in Sydney, Australia, in March, 2.2 million people cut the lights, causing a 10% drop in electricity use. The so-called Earth Hour reduced 25 tons of carbon dioxide, equivalent to taking nearly 49,000 cars off the road for 60 minutes, organizers said.

"It's a great opportunity to conserve," Burke said, "a great [symbol] of people coming together."

They're going to take the time to VOTE on something like this?

But first they had to THINK about it?

What totally moronic, useless, unmitigated, feckless, mindless government BULLSHIT.

(Taking a big breath...)

I have at least a couple of things to say here.

First of all, I didn't know that people in Los Angeles are willing to be called "Angelenos?"

How totally Hispanic...everyone this side of the Rockies should pay particular attention, I think.

Second, apparently on the left coast they are either so stupid else they are otherwise somehow willing to let the government tell them that when they leave a room they need to turn off their lights?

Seriously folks, is this where our country is going?

Are we this Stupid?

Are YOU that stupid?

Well, I'm not.

I think that, as a sign of my own white male, libertarian, contrarian, protest, I'll stop blogging and run around turning on every single light in my house during that hour of that day just to offset some of their efforts.

In fact, if you will excuse me now, I'm going to go replace my 60 watt bulbs with 100 watt bulbs and turn them all on and burn them for the next 24 hours as a symbolic beacon to all of the dumbasses out there that are too mentally dim to do things like this without a government proclamation.

Dammit.

They Eat Their Own Young, Don't They?

What's Amazing to Me Is, Of All Places, The NY Times Is Talking About It....


Check out this NY Times article about a federal judge that actually has a little intellectual ability:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A federal judge refused Friday to dismiss a defamation case against Rep. John P. Murtha and ordered the Pennsylvania Democrat to give a sworn deposition in the case.

A Marine Corps sergeant is suing the 18-term congressman for alleging ''cold-blooded murder and war crimes'' by unnamed soldiers in connection with the deaths of Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha.

The deaths became prominent in May 2006 when Murtha, who opposes the Iraq war, said at a Capitol Hill news conference that a Pentagon war crimes investigation will show Marines killed dozens of innocent Iraqi civilians in the town in 2005.

''You're writing a very wide road for members of Congress to go to their home districts and say anything they choose about private persons and be able to do so without any liability. Are you sure you want to do that?'' Collyer said, adding later, ''How far can a congressman go and still be protected?''

Collyer said she was troubled by the idea the lawmakers are immune from lawsuits regardless of what they say to advance their political careers.

Of course giving this story a little ink and newsprint is a simple play for the Times, particularly since Murtha isn't running for anything this year and no one outside the state of Pennsylvania pays much attention to anything he says or does.

Still, I'm surprised that the Times is covering the story, considering how they usually participate in circling the troops and ignoring things like this in favor of the "Bush Lied, soldiers died" rhetoric delivered on a day by day basis.

Heh...About Time...

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Moving Into Exile?

Everyone Pray For Us...


I've put off writing about this subject thus far, but I guess that now is as good time as any to mention that we received some distressing news back in August, just as we were settling into the new house here on our little island.

The ink was still wet on our one year lease when Pat was advised by conference call that, as a result of the merger of the company employing her for the past 24 years with a larger competitor, that her office in Illinois was being closed. Actually, merged with another Midwest office owned by the new partner company.

Everyone was instructed to keep the news confidential, which limited her new job search ability within the company, but if she stuck things out until the end of November to assist in the transition she would receive a generous severance package, and possibly the offer of another job.

The only problem is, the number of tele-commmute jobs are limited, and since Pat has telecommuted for the past five or six years we've sort of grown used to the idea of meeting for Green Tea on the sofa in the morning prior to going our separate ways in our PJ's or shorts for the day.

All of that might be changing come December, and instead of living here on our little slice of paradise, there is a distinct possibility that we may be facing 46 inches of annual snowfall living adjacent to the Mississippi River in the great state of Iowa.

(cue the sound of crickets chirping...)

That's right, I said IOWA.

Somewhere north and west of Chicago, just slightly south of Minnesota.

THAT Iowa.

My feet get cold just thinking about the prospect.

Another problem is that the house fire took all of my winter clothes back in 2001, and right now I own exactly one Izod jacket and a couple of windbreakers.

I've never lived north of Atlanta in my entire life, and had no intention of moving north of south Alabama/Georgia in the next fifty years...

I guess that I might have to go shopping.

The Lord works in mysterious ways, so would everyone please pray that we get a last minute reprieve?

After all, I prefer a Jet Ski to a Snowmobile any day.

"Too Little Too Late"

Or Is it "Better Late Than Never?"


This week the President of Duke University made a half-assed attempt at apologizing for his personal and the administration's behavior toward the wrongly accused Lacrosse Players.

What I want to know is, where is Al Sharpton and the Rev. Jackson and all of the other race warlords that jumped on this bandwagon and in front of TV cameras back before they put the prosecutor, Ray Nifong in jail and took away his law license?

Oh, that's right, they're all busy protesting down in Jena, Louisiana defending another group of thugs that are in the process of being prosecuted and convicted of assault and other charges.

Their justification?

The kids were "provoked", and it was just a "schoolyard fight" (six against one), so they shouldn't be charged...

Just a suspension, or maybe a good spanking?

Riggggghhhhhhhtttttt.....