Gardening - Ludicrous

The Miracle Gro Morons have decided to sue tiny little Terra Cycle, a company started by a couple of college students that markets worm poop.

If you're a gardener, and you'd rather garden organic than synthetic, go help out the nice people at TerraCycle. The whole thing sounds utterly ludicrous. I can tell you now I'm never buying MiracleGro crap products again. Lousy bastids should know better than to sue some tiny little backyard company.

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Iraq War - Billions Spent, Down The Drain

I'm thinking, they could have spent those billions right here, rebuilding the city of New Orleans.



Giving health care to all Americans.


Rebuilding the aging infrastructure of the country. Securing ports, bridges, freeways, against future terrorist attacks.

But Chimpy McJeebustard, the man with the reverse Midas touch, finds a way to make spending umpteen billion yield shit: [...]

Poor planning and coordination by U.S. officials meant that even successful individual projects failed to do the job; for example, health-care centers were built at great cost but had no water and sewer service. Poor work-site management by contractors meant that some projects went awry.

[...]

"What reconstruction?" Othman said in an interview last week. "Today we are drinking untreated water from a plant built decades ago that was never maintained. The electricity only visits us two hours a day. And now we are going backwards. We cook on the firewood we gather from the forests because of the gas shortage."

The cost to taxpayers? $38 billion. Of course, that doesn't include the tons of cash that were airlifted into Iraq and disappeared into unnumbered Swiss bank accounts.

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Politics - Impeachment

So I was wambling around blogtopia (y,Sctp) today, as I often do when I'm feeling out of sorts, when I dropped by Maru's site (linky-linked here as Snark du Crank), and Peacechick had left a comment, so of course I had to go visit Peacechick's site, and what do I find there? This, that's what (linked in the post Dream Doing as Peaches in the House. It's the Impeach Map:

George Bush and Dick Cheney have lied the nation into a war of aggression, are spying in open violation of the law, and have sanctioned the use of torture. These are high crimes and misdemeanors that demand accountability. Since Congress doesn't seem to get it, on April 28 Americans from Miami, Florida to North Pole, Alaska are going to spell it out for them: IMPEACH!

Use the new ImpeachMap below to find out what's going on in your area, post a new action, or find people to team up with. Complete instructions beneath the map.

Whereupon I bethought me of this diary at DailyKos, in which the writer wonders how come someone's flying a plane trailing an IMPEACH! banner. Synchronicity. It's a beautiful thing.

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Politics - the "No-Knock" Warrant

This is why we don't need "No-knock" warrants. Because a 92-year-old woman should not be riddled with bullets by stupid frightened policemen acting on false information. Poor thing! Imagine being in your home and hearing what you think is someone trying to break in. What would you have done?

The charges followed a Nov. 21 "no-knock" drug raid on Johnston's home. An informant had described buying drugs from a dealer there, police said. When the officers burst in without warning, Johnston fired at them, and they fired back, killing her.

Fulton County prosecutor Peter Johnson said that the officers involved in Johnston's death fired 39 shots, striking her five or six times, including a fatal blow to the chest.

Johnston fired only once through her door and didn't hit any of the officers, he said. That means officers who were wounded likely were hit by their own colleagues, he said.

I swear to gawd, it sounds like the fucking Keystone Kops.

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Religion - It Makes You Insane Files

Okay, he's a Mormon, which means he probably believes that God punishes evildoers by making their skin dark, which would kinda tend to sorta explain why he thinks this, but:

Utah County GOP delegate links illegal immigration to Satan

By Deborah Bulkeley
Deseret Morning News

The devil is sticking his pitchfork into the nation's immigration politics.

At least that's what one of Utah County's Republican delegates thinks.

Don Larsen, a district chairman, has submitted a resolution equating illegal immigration to "Satan's plan to destroy the U.S. by stealth invasion" for debate at Saturday's Utah County Republican Party Convention.

Referring to a plan by the devil for a "New World Order ... as predicted in the Scriptures," the resolution calls for the Utah County Republican Party to support "closing the national borders to illegal immigration to prevent the destruction of the U.S. by stealth invasion."

In part, the resolution states, "There are ways to destroy a nation other than with bombs or bullets. The mostly quiet and unspectacular invasion of illegal immigrants does not focus the attention of the nation the way open warfare does but is all the more insidious for its stealth and innocuousness."

Isn't any sane person willing to run for this twit's seat? Surely there's a better caliber of potential leaders around - sane people, for example?

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Food - Dinner at Casa de Los Gatos

Ants Climbing Trees, or Ma Yi Shang Shu

Thin rice noodles tossed with ground pork cooked in a very spicy sauce. Deelish! Also, grilled fish for some of the FAT people around here who need to get back to a hiking weight, and a baked lemon chicken served on a bed of saffron rice cooked with 15 cloves of garlic. Stir fried broccoli, asparagus, and greens. For the furballs, a raw food mix which includes chicken hearts and livers (ugh, I'm squeamish about chopping those, they cling to your fingers). We're not going to starve to death this week.

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Politics - Revolting Hypocritical Godbag Resigns

From the "You Can't Make This Shit Up" Files.

Former U.S. AID Director and Deputy Secretary of State Randall Tobias resigned on Friday after his hypocrisy became clear. This piece of scum once had the gall to insist that money disbursed to organizations that assist victims of AIDS should be contingent upon an "anti-prostitution loyalty oath," i.e., the organization receiving the money should not use any monies they received - even their private funds - to benefit prostitutes. In a display of unexcelled athleticism, the godbag then proceeded to remove the existing foot from his mouth, and plant the hitherto untasted other foot therein, despite the obvious limitation of having his head stuck firmly up his arse. In his own words:

Tobias added that he was overseeing several “highly successful” relationship programs “aimed at men and boys to help them develop healthy relationships with women.”

Story found at ThinkProgress (thinkprogress.org).

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Caturday!

My Pumpkin Lumpkin, aka Zingiburrito

I've switched the little horrors to a raw meat diet. They took a while to get used to it. Madu's first bite was followed by the immediate horkment of a hairball, followed by frantic clawing activity as he tried to bury what he apparently thought was the remains of one of his little hunting forays. Yeech. Gojira loved it, but she's the ass biter in the family, so that doesn't necessarily bode well for my bum. Bandicoot acted as if there was a nefarious plot afoot to deprive him of food, and probably beat him and sell him into slavery as well. That is, he ate it all, asked for more, cleaned up everyone else's plates, finished a second helping, then barfed it all back up. Mainly as a result of having eaten too fast. He keeps acting as if we're up to something. Zingiber ate, barfed, ate again. His little tummy is a mite sensitive. I know, hard to believe when he crushes the scales at an impressive 20 (very) odd pounds. But he likes his food warm but not hot, and not cooked at all. Madu prefers his lightly cooked (too bad, kid, yer outa luck). Gustav approves.

Incidentally, the prep is a pain, and it's a commitment. Kibble you can free-feed. Raw food must be handled properly, with much washing of hands, floors, bowls, sink, utensils, and prep surfaces. You have to keep everything refrigerated or frozen until right before you feed the beasts. Do not defrost or warm up in the microwave. Warm under running hot water instead. You have to get it to the right temperature. Most cats will vomit up anything that's too cold. Anything not eaten within half an hour should be disposed of carefully, and bowls washed thoroughly so that no smell of food lingers to tempt the little horrors into guilt-tripping you. Any ingredients you use must be human-grade. No scraps. If you're going to raw-feed your animals, do the research, get a good workable recipe, source your supplies with care. Salmonella is an issue. I might consider getting frozen rabbit shipped in, but for right now, they're getting meats purchased from the local grocery store, which is NOT a chain and has an excellent reputation for high-quality, affordable foods. I'm using free-range no-hormone/antibiotic stuff locally produced, and absolutely no grain, as cats are obligate carnivores and don't need the grain. (Shut up, Bandicoot, you can't be starving when you weigh 19 lb!) You'll have to add supplements like taurine and fish oil, since cats have nutrition needs that you don't. This site offers some excellent advice. Disclaimer: I am not a nutritionist, especially not an animal nutritionist, and cannot guarantee that any of this information is valid. You assume the risk if you choose to feed a raw diet.

They do barf a bit - I'm not sure if it's more than when they were eating kibble. On the plus side, they seem to have a lot more catly energy. They eat, run around like crazy, then fall asleep and stay peaceful for a couple of hours, then they're up and about again. They seem healthier already. Zingiber's fur is glowing, and he's stopped those dreadful wheezing, blorting noises. Bandicoot is sneezing less, Gustav's eyes don't seem as runny. (Gustav has had feline herpes since he was a teensy kitten.) So, overall - good.

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Memorial Maxx

I don't think I posted at all yesterday - too many other things going on. So I missed Memorial Maxx Friday. But here's a picture of ol' Barleycorn Toes hisself. Dear sweet Maxxie!

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Animals - Woman's Best Friend To The Rescue

Sure, everybody says of their pet at one time or another, "(S)he saved my life!" Well, more likely their dog, as a rule, since most cats would admire to trip you as you grope your way down the stairs in response to an order for feeding same pronto, and dine on your hapless carcass thereafter - at least till you start to turn.

But this woman's dog actually performed the Heimlich maneuver on her. Bet he's eating steak for the rest of his days.

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Science - Could Ancient Crete Be The Lost Atlantis?

Auntie Beeb speculates, interestingly:

The legend of Atlantis, the country that disappeared under the sea, may be more than just a myth. Research on the Greek island of Crete suggests Europe's earliest civilisation was destroyed by a giant tsunami.

Until about 3,500 years ago, a spectacular ancient civilisation was flourishing in the Eastern Mediterranean.

[...]

But what caused the tsunami? The scientists have obtained radiocarbon dates for the deposits that show the tsunami could have hit the coast at exactly the same time as an eruption of the Santorini volcano, 70 km north of Crete, in the middle of the second millennium BC.

Yowza! I can honestly say, while finding the topic, and the video fascinating, I am really really relieved not to be anywhere near a 21-metre wave.

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Politics - Poodle Delusional

Tony Blair, preening himself

This poodle is almost as delusional as his master. He is only saved by the fact that Chimpy McFascist is thicker than two short bricks, whereas Blair is as thick as two short bricks. Here, he babbles like one who has lost all reason:

By Adrian Croft Fri Apr 27, 12:21 PM ET

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Tony Blair, preparing to step down after a decade in power, says he has changed British politics for good and history will judge his decision to back the invasion of Iraq.

Blair set out his achievements in a memo to lawmakers of the ruling Labour Party, obtained by Reuters on Friday, and described by the media as his "last will and testament."

Blair is expected to announce his resignation soon after he reaches the milestone of 10 years in office on May 1 and after local elections on May 3 in which the Labour Party is expected to take a mauling.

That's the extent of his achievements. He invaded Iraq, licked his master's boots, and ruined the Labout Party. A la lanterne, I tell you.

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Iraq War - They Speak Out

AP's THOMAS WAGNER reports:

BAGHDAD - An active duty U.S. Army officer has taken the unusual step of openly criticizing the way generals have handled the
Iraq war, accusing them of failing to prepare their forces for an insurgency and misleading Congress about the situation here.

"For reasons that are not yet clear, America's general officer corps underestimated the strength of the enemy, overestimated the capabilities of Iraq's government and security forces, and failed to provide Congress with an accurate assessment of security conditions in Iraq," Lt. Col. Paul Yingling wrote in an article published Friday in the Armed Forces Journal.

"In 2007, Iraq's grave and deteriorating condition offers diminishing hope for an American victory and portends an even wider and more destructive regional war," he said.

Meanwhile, DimWit McJeebus opined the following:

Bush made it clear again Tuesday that he would use the second veto of his tenure against the legislation, which would set a goal of pulling most U.S. combat forces from Iraq within six months of Oct. 1.

"I'm disappointed that the Democratic leadership has chosen this course," Bush said. "They chose to make a political statement. That's their right, but it is wrong for our troops and it's wrong for our country. To accept the bill proposed by the Democratic leadership would be to accept a policy that directly contradicts the judgment of our military commanders."

How Orwellian. Black is white, bad is good, and supporting the troops means sending them to war and keeping them there till dead, maimed, or exhausted, depending on their luck. Broken, in any event.

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Iraq War - Treating Disabled Veterans

Tim Ngo with his girlfriend and his mother
NPR reports:

Tim Ngo almost died in a grenade attack in Iraq. He sustained a serious head injury; surgeons had to cut out part of his skull. At Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., he learned to walk and talk again.

When he got back home to Minnesota, he wore a white plastic helmet to protect the thinned-out patches of his skull. People on the street snickered, so Ngo's mother took a black marker and wrote on the helmet: U.S. ARMY, BACK FROM IRAQ. On this much, everyone agrees.

But here is the part that is in dispute: The Army says Tim Ngo is only 10 percent disabled.

What this means is, this guy cannot get continuing health care coverage from the military.

This is disgusting. It's a disgrace. How can you take a healthy young person and injure or kill them and then ignore the suffering that you created? Write your congresscritter. This cannot be allowed to go on.

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Science/Health - Oooh, nice to know

Here's some bad science for y'all.

Cherry picking data to prove a point about cannabis


Ben Goldacre
Saturday March 24, 2007
The Guardian

The more I see of the world the more it strikes me that people want more science, rather than less, and that they want to use it in odd ways: to abrogate responsibility, validate a hunch, or render a political or cultural prejudice in deceptively objective terms. As long as you cherry pick the data and keep one eye half closed, you can prove anything with science.

Last week's Independent on Sunday splashed with the headline: Cannabis - An Apology. It went on: "In 1997 this newspaper launched a campaign to decriminalise the drug. If only we had known then what we can reveal today ... record numbers of teenagers are requiring drug treatment as a result of smoking skunk, the highly potent cannabis strain that is 25 times stronger than resin sold a decade ago."

Checkidout.

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Health - Fat In Food - No, No, NOOOO!

Can you believe this?

OTTAWA, April 23 (Xinhua) -- It is well known that eating too many high-fat meals will clog arteries and increase heart attack risk, but most people cannot imagine that even a single high-fat meal is enough to damage human cardiovascular function, Canadian scientists found.

Researchers at the University of Calgary looked at the stress responses of 30 students broken into two groups and found that the group eating high-fat were more reactive to stress, recording greater reactivity in several cardiovascular measures, a report by Canadian Television said Monday.

No more hamburglars? Oh, just kill meeee! Okay, don't. The hamburglars will. Shit, fuck, piss and corruption. Bye bye pizza, burgers, steak, pork chops, eating out at all. Feh.

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Seen Any Good Movies Lately?

Two with Gerard Depardieu, who I just really, really like:

• Le Placard*****
  
• Les Comperes*****
  
• Happy Together**
  
• The Wedding Banquet***
  
• Weekend (Jean-Luc Goddard)*
  
• King of Hearts*****
  
• Forbidden Planet (with Leslie Nielsen)*****
  
• Stir of Echoes*
  
• Saboteur***
  
• Young and Innocent/The Cheney Vase (early Hitchcock)**
  
• MST3K - Godzilla vs. Megalon*
  
• Frenzy (more early Hitchcock)**
  
• Heavens Above!***
  
• I'm All Right Jack****
  
• Murder! (still more early Hitchcock)*****
  
• Incident at Blood Pass***
  
• Four of the Zatoichi TV series**
  
• The entire collection of Foyle's War *****
  
• Kung Fu Hustle*****
  
• The Crime of Padre Amaro*****

We're now watching the entire Father Ted series. Dreadful. In a very funny sort of way.

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Cats - Further Squiddity

Ordinarily, I'd leave this sort of post till next Caturday, but I can't think of anything I love more than cats and squid, individually and separately. So finding a cat and a squid together was sort of like having chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, topped with chocolate bits. I think the cat would win the battle, if it could wipe that disdainful look off its face.

Picture courtesy of Majikthise blog.

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Cute!!!

Bilbo

A baby bamboo lemur abandoned by its mother is being raised by the Stockholm zoo. Bamboo lemurs are highly endangered, and it is believed that there are only 200 left in the wild.

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Health - Abortion

Personally, I think abortion should be a woman's absolute right. There's way too many people in the world, and most of them are terrible parents, as one can tell just from looking around and noticing how truly fucked up the vast majority of human beings are. Parenting should be a licensed activity subject to stringent tests of fitness, physical, emotional, financial, mental, total. That said, Auntie Beeb weighs in with the following:

Many women who consider a late abortion did not realise they were
pregnant, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service says.
Details.

Okay, how can women not realize they're pregnant? I mean, I remember when just about everybody I knew agonized about the possibility of being pregnant just about every time they had sex with a fertile partner. What's changed? Are people just fatter? More complacent? What?

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Health - Care For A Cuppa?

Drinking just two cups of tea per day could cut the risk of developing skin cancer, a study suggests.

The US research compared the tea-drinking habits of 1,400 people with skin cancer and 700 who had not developed the disease.

Reminds me of Gong Band, "We are representing the Hubble Gubble Tea Company of Tibet. Would you like some tea?" and the amazing drummer on that piece, Cuppa Tea. Pity I'm not allowed to have any after midday, but I'd be up all night if I did.

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Health - New Milestone In Fight Against AIDS

Yay!! Auntie Beeb sez:

A natural ingredient of human blood has been shown to block HIV, raising hopes of a new class of drugs to treat infection with the virus.

The molecule works in a way different to current antiretroviral therapies, and so could be a new line of attack.

Researchers found its potency could be boosted by making tiny changes to its chemical structure. It also worked against drug resistant HIV strains.

Paraphrasing from the study performed at the University of Ulm, results apparently published in this month's Cell.

This is especially important in light of the increase of drug-resistant strains of AIDS:

The UK has some of the highest levels of resistance to HIV medication in the world - and levels are increasing, research suggests.

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Religion - It Makes You Insane Files

My first introduction to YouTube was through this loony tune. Apparently, in real life she's a "nice" person, whatever that means. But this heah rant? I went off religion for life:



She's a complete fucking loon. And I pity that poor little kid, her daughter or granddaughter or whatever. Oh, incidentally, this was from some Faux Noise show about swapping family members - Screamella here traded places with some woman possessed of more brain cells who hosted a radio show and was, apparently, a Wiccan. Participants get paid to do this, and Screamella is shown tearing up the check she received. Later, with less fanfare, she accepted the check after all and had some bariatric surgery. Unfortunately batrachiectomy is not yet an accepted medical offering. She coulda stood one.

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Health - Put Down That Salt Shaker Now

Auntie Beeb tells us that salt is worse for you than we've thought in the past:

Eating less salt can cut cardiovascular disease risk by a quarter and fatal heart disease by a fifth, work shows.

Lovely. We don't add much salt to our food, and rarely eat out, but we're paying attention. Faugh.

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Politics - What Is Freedom Of Speech

Jen, over at The News Blog, has a great piece up on freedom of speech today, and used this terrific YouTube video of monologuist Mike Daisey to make her point:



She's right, you know. Free speech is not the right of Don Imus to make scabrous racist comments. Free speech is the right of the artist to make art without fear of censorship. Don Imus has not been censored. Should he wish to put his soapbox, or blog, up and reiterate his comments, he is free to do so. What he is not free to do is use the public airwaves to enrich himself by indulging in naked racism.

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Religion - It Makes You Insane Files

Holy quacking duckshit. How crazy do you have to be to pull this kind of crap with your kid?



I've always been ambivalent about having kids, but every day I find another reason to be grateful I didn't have them. Because you know if I did, I'd go off on them like Mumsy here, and they'd be just the kind of bratz who'd vid the whole thing and fucking post it on YouTube.

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Politics - Poodle's Era Over

Tony Blair Poses For Publicity Shot

I hope there's partying in the streets when the stupid bootlicking git finally gets his arse out of the hizzy. Yup, you read right. Tony Blair is stepping down May 9th. So sez Raw Story. Pity he can't be dragged out of Number 10 on a tumbril, but hey.

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Politics - Salt Lake City Mayor Lays Out Case For Impeachment

Extry! Extry! Hear all about it!

Rocky Anderson sez:

"If impeachment were ever justified, this certainly is the time," says Anderson, "This president, by engaging in such incredible abuses of power, breaches of trust with both the Congress and the American people, and misleading us into this tragic and unbelievable war, the violation of treaties, other international law, our constitution, our own domestic laws, and then his role in heinous human rights abuses; I think all of that together calls for impeachment."

What do you think?

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Science - From The Get Over Yourself Files

First it was chimps and humans share most of their DNA (disclaimer - we only share approximately 95% of our genetic material with them. Then it was:

"Even the DNA of plants is similar to that of humans. We share 60% of our DNA with a banana."

Banana (pisang emas, I think) from RasaMalaysia

And now, it's

Human Brain Has Origin in Lowly Worm
By Robert Roy Britt
LiveScience Managing Editor
posted: 21 April 2007
11:05 am ET

The origin of the human brain has been traced back to primitive central nervous systems in worms and bugs, researchers now say.

Earthworm, Lumbricus terrestris

Next time someone gives you lip, point them to that article, won't you?

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Politics - Henry Waxman Tells Andy Card What's What

Pic from Raw Story


Bloviating water-carrier and all-around lickspittle Andy Card, Bush's former Chief of Staff (before he resigned to spend more time with Snotty McLellan's children) gets The Word from Congressmember Henry Waxman:

"On April 16,2007, you appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and discussed the leak of [former covert CIA Agent Valerie Plame] Wilson's identity," Waxman (D-CA) wrote to Andrew Card, the former White House Chief of Staff. "[White House Counel Fred] Fielding's position appears to be that it is appropriate for you to discuss these matters on The Daily Show, but not before a congressional committee. You will not be surprised to learn that I take a different view of this matter."

I love the snark. Crooks and Liars has the Stewart ep. Card seems like a nice enough guy, but it really pisses me off that he has bought into the Bushit so extensively. Are these people stupid or insane? Because there really aren't too many other choices, given the devastation that wretch and his cohorts have wreaked upon the world.

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Cats - Caturday

Bandicoot!


Must be the weather. They're all lying in the same spot they were when I woke up. I'm sure they've moved but you couldn't prove it by me.

I'm feeling especially sympathetic to The Area Rug (aka Bandicoot) today. We're putting them on a raw diet because of all the contamination scares. He'll soon be a lot slimmer. On the other hand, maybe he'll get fluffier.

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Cute!

Molly and Tod


Awww - what a sweet doggie!

Orphaned fox cub adopted by dog

A fox cub taken in by a rescue centre after being found beneath the body of his dead mother has got a new surrogate parent - a three-year-old mongrel dog.

Twelve-week-old Tod - named after the cub who befriends a puppy in the Disney film The Fox and the Hound - was adopted by the British Wildlife Centre.

Samantha Johnson, a worker at the centre, in Newchapel, Surrey, then took him to her home in nearby Lingfield.

She said her dog Molly "just took to Tod and is now his surrogate mother".

"He follows her everywhere," Ms Johnson added.

More here.

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Funny - Cockatoo

Awww! Poor Pippa. I wonder if, and when, she'll realize that chocolate eggs hatch into bunny rabbits?

A cockatoo at a wildlife sanctuary has spent a fortnight trying to hatch a bowl of chocolate eggs.

Pippa has been protecting the chocolates at Nuneaton and Warwickshire Wildlife Sanctuary since she was taken outside, put on a table and saw them.

Her owner, Geoff Grewcock, said: "She went straight over, climbed on the creme eggs and that was it. She thinks they're her eggs.

"Until she clicks they're not real eggs, we'll just leave her there."

Auntie Beeb covers it in greater detail.

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Politics AND Entertainment - Jon Stewart

rips McCain:


The best line award goes to Asif Mandvi for the quip about Indiana. Har har har. Really.

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Science - Nor Beauty Nor Grace Nor Intelligence Will Save Them

Atlantic white-sided dolphins


Because we, carcinoma sapiens, don't value any other living thing enough to consider its needs - not even members of our own species.

At the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Mississippi, Kelly the dolphin has built up quite a reputation. All the dolphins at the institute are trained to hold onto any litter that falls into their pools until they see a trainer, when they can trade the litter for fish. In this way, the dolphins help to keep their pools clean.

Kelly has taken this task one step further. When people drop paper into the water she hides it under a rock at the bottom of the pool. The next time a trainer passes, she goes down to the rock and tears off a piece of paper to give to the trainer. After a fish reward, she goes back down, tears off another piece of paper, gets another fish, and so on. This behaviour is interesting because it shows that Kelly has a sense of the future and delays gratification. She has realised that a big piece of paper gets the same reward as a small piece and so delivers only small pieces to keep the extra food coming. She has, in effect, trained the humans.

Who is the trainer, who the trained?

Already, the Yangtze river dolphin is gone forever. How soon before other river dolphins are wiped out by the greed and low cunning of the deadly humans with whom they must share the planet? I wish Douglas Adams were right, and they really would all return to their home planet with a "So long, and thanks for all the fish," but I fear that is just wishful thinking.

The Guardian discusses scientists' latest estimation of dolphin intelligence here.

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Science - Evolution In Action

A fascinating story of a pride of lions marooned on an island. Checkidout:

Marooned on an island, this group of lions should have died out. Instead, in an evolutionary twist, they've learned to swim and become strong enough to tackle their only prey... giant buffalo

Fearless, ferocious and mightier than the world has ever seen, this is the new breed of super-lion.

Only one species of prey holds its attention: the buffalo — and in order to bring its powerful foe to the ground, it will take to deep water, use sophisticated hunting techniques and then silence the gigantic beast with a single swipe of a savage paw.

But the pride has a dirty little secret. More here.

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Science - More Squiddity

The Biomes Blog, which you should bookmark because it's simply fascinating, posted a series of photos of dissection of a jumbo, or Humboldt, squid. I wonder if there are other closet cephalophiles out there like myself, who would admire to be, or see (but never dissect) a squid that size?

No, I'm clearly not that squeamish, since I cheerfully chop up chicken, fish, and all kinds of other little beasties for eating purposes. I just have a massive amount of guilt from all those years of eating Pon-Pon (Chewing Gum of the Orient!) in the little green-and-white plastic packets. Sotong!

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Entertainment - You Say, I Say

Havidol

I really enjoyed the quiz. It showed me that I'm more likely this type of person:

The Antidote

In addition, of course, to being depressed, overworked, et cetera, ad infinitum, ad nauseam.

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Science - Anatomy Of A Black Hole

I'm not sure where I found this, but it sure is cool.

It's a demo of the current theory of black holes, although I believe the wormhole time-travel aspect of the theory has been very recently debunked. Enjoy.

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Politics - The Man Who Would Be King

I wonder if Bush ever watches The Crier Wire. Because he'd be screaming "Off with her head," if he did. Crooks and Liars posts a video smackdown of Li'l King Georgie at his worst.

The arrogance!

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For Bri

When a guy's gotta Go, a guy's gotta Go, Bri.

Picture courtesy of Sensei's Library

If you get my drift.

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The Fat Rant

I never heard of Joy Nash before this, but I really like what she has to say here:



Not because I'm fat (which I am, right now), but simply because she makes so much straightforward, clearheaded sense! Fat is a feminist issue, and has been used for years to bludgeon women into silence. But, as Joy says in her video, just because you're fat doesn't mean you get a free pass on everything else that might be wrong with you. Checkidout. Four stars.

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Cats - Friday is Maxx Day

I can't believe how much this boy still moves me. Dear Maxx. This evening, as I was watering the luculia, I was talking to him, begging him to come down through the branches of the old pine tree, come visit me, darling boy.

Here he is, in all his beauty:



I miss him every day. Dear Maxx. What a beauty. I love you, darling.

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Politics - Is He Losing It?

Or has he always been this nuts, and the media is finally covering it?

Picture from betterdonkey.org.


When Bush went to Ohio on Thursday to talk about terrorism, he ended up musing about marriage and chicken-plucking plants, the agony of death and his Oval Office rug, which resembles a sunburst.

About his legacy, Bush said historians are still assessing George Washington, the nation's first leader. "My attitude is, if they're still writing about (number) one, 43 doesn't need to worry about it."

On being married: "A good marriage is really good after serving together in Washington, D.C."

Maybe the president just felt like jabbering at the town hall-style event in Tipp City, Ohio. He began talking about terrorism and ended 90 minutes later after chattering about everything from life after the White House to Vietnam War and the brutal Khmer Rouge regime.

Some highlights:

"Politics comes and goes, but your principles don't. And everybody wants to be loved - not everybody. ... You never heard anybody say, `I want to be despised, I'm running for office.'"

"The best thing about my family is my wife. She is a great first lady. I know that sounds not very objective, but that's how I feel. And she's also patient. Putting up with me requires a lot of patience."

"There are jobs Americans aren't doing. ... If you've got a chicken factory, a chicken-plucking factory, or whatever you call them, you know what I'm talking about."

"There are some similarities, of course" between

Iraq and Vietnam. "Death is terrible."

"I've been in politics long enough to know that polls just go poof at times."

As he has before, Bush told the story about how his first presidential decision was to pick a rug for the Oval Office, a task he quickly cast to his wife. He told her to make sure the rug reflected optimism "because you can't make decisions unless you're optimistic that the decisions you make will lead to a better tomorrow."

Later, when he talked about his hope for succeeding in Iraq, Bush said, "Remember the rug?"

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Religion - The Sins Of The Fathers

Photo courtesy of Aunt Beeb

are many and visited, as a rule, upon the heads of the defenseless. Why is religion such a force for evil rather than good? Because we have minds and wills of our own, and religion indoctrinates us into putting our minds and wills under the control of others, in return for the comfort of never having to struggle with hard questions or make our way across the minefields of moral turpitude that are daily life. If you give up your free will to some godbag who tells you how to think and what to think, then you never have to experience the daily struggle against despair and darkness. God, after all, the godbag assures you, Died For Your Sins, therefore even if your life sucketh most mightily, after you die, you'll get a nice clean robe which will never have to be laundered, and you'll sit at the Right Hand Of God. Or have seventy-two virgins. Or red leather Pradas, for free.

Meanwhile, the godbag can molest your children without fear of discovery. And once again, I ask in disgust, what kind of evil hypocrite preys upon defenseless children? FWIW, I'd be equally incensed if the victims were defenseless elderly people, or disabled people. The issue is the helplessness of the victim, not their age, or other status.

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Politics - Go, Barbara!

I was furious with Boxer when she campaigned for the Lieberwhore. But at least she's standing up for women's right to choose, now that Lieberwhore's best buddies Alito and Roberts are trying once again to turn women into uteri on legs.

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Politics - Rep. Murtha Gives 'Em What For

I really really really like Jack Murtha. He visits the injured servicemen faithfully at Walter Reed, he's in touch with the troops and the war and the whole ugly mess, and he has spoken up repeatedly, at great personal and political cost to himself. I'm sorry that he is not the Majority Leader, because Steny Hoyer hasn't done doodly-squat to end the MessOPotamia. Anyway. Here he lets Congress know what he thinks of the "we're fighting this war" meme.



Found at Raw Story, which got it from BradBlog, which put it up on YouTube.

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Food - More Recipe For Zoe

Stir-Fried Broccoli

2 bunches broccoli (about 4 stalks)
1/2 bunch asparagus (~6 stalks)
1 large red bell pepper
1/2 lb. ground chicken or turkey or pork
3-4 Tbsp. chicken stock or water
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 Tbsp. thin soy sauce
1 tsp. sugar (preferably palm or brown sugar)
2 Tbsp. Chinese rice wine (Xiaohsing)
2 tsp. dried red chilli flakes
4 cloves garlic
1 tsp. ginger
~2 Tbsp canola or peanut oil

Snap off tough ends of asparagus and cut remainder into 1-2 inch pieces. Separate broccoli florets from stalks. Slice stalks 1/4", removing any tough ends. Dice bell pepper small. Mince garlic. Peel and mince ginger (a piece the size of your thumb).

In a cup or small bowl, mix chicken stock, rice wine, soy sauce, and sugar till sugar is dissolved. Add cornstarch and mix thoroughly till smooth. (If using 4 Tbsp chicken stock, use 2 Tbsp cornstarch.)

Heat a wok till smoking. Add oil and heat till smoking. Add garlic and ginger, stir to keep from burning, ~1 min. Add ground meat, stir, add chilli flakes. Keep stirring till meat is no longer pink. Add peppers, stir till slightly softened, ~3 min, add broccoli and stir till bright green. Add asparagus, keep stirring to coat all veges well with oil. When asparagus is slightly soft and tasty (test it!), add cornstarch mixture, stir well, cover and turn off heat. If using an electric stove, remove wok from stove. Test for salt/seasonings, and adjust if necessary. Serve over rice.

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Food - A Recipe for Reader Zoe

Chettinad Chicken Curry

1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs
4 Tbsp vegetable oil, preferably canola or olive (not extra-virgin)
2 bay leaves
4 cardamom pods
2 medium onions
2 Tbsp ginger
3 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp green chilli peppers
1 Tbsp crushed dried red chilli pepper
1 Tbsp whole green peppercorns
1 Tbsp coriander seeds
2 tomatoes
2 tsp dried fenugreek leaves
3/4 cup coconut cream
2 Tbsp coriander (cilantro) leaves for garnish

Peel and chop onions in small dice. Peel and finely chop ginger. Peel and mince garlic. Chop tomatoes coarsely. Chop green chillies (~6) fine. Crush coriander seeds and green peppercorns separately. If substituting fresh fenugreek leaves for dried, use 2 Tbsp. and mince. Fenugreek leaves can be purchased at most Indian or Asian grocery stores. Finely chop about 1.5 Tbsp coriander leaves, reserving the remainder for garnish.

Remove any fat and silver skin or tendons from chicken thighs, and cut in quarters.

Heat oil high till shimmering in a large saucepan or skillet. Add bay leaves and cardamom pods, stir ~ 1 min., add onions, lower heat to med., stir till soft and golden. Add half the ginger and all the garlic, stir till fragrant, ~3 mins. Add tomatoes, bring to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer ~10 min to make a thick sauce.

Add chicken, stir, cook at med heat ~15 min till no longer pink, stirring. Add remaining ginger, green chilli, red chilli, coriander seeds, stir to mix thoroughly. Add coconut milk, stir ~1 min, add fenugreek leaves and green peppercorns, stir, simmer ~5 min till done. Add salt, stir to mix, test for taste and doneness.

Serve garnished with coriander.

Cook's notes: Don't use Roma, Italian, or paste tomatoes, they're too thick to make a good sauce. If necessary, use canned chopped or diced tomatoes. If using tomato sauce, use approximately 1 cup (8 fluid oz).

Use Indian chillies or Fresnos. If using jalapenos, you might want to substitute more.

Cook till sauce clings to chicken. This should not be a liquid dish.

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Politics - Racism Redux

Holy quacking DUCKSHIT!!! Is there ever an end to this egregious offensiveness? Some military trainer in Germany is asking recruits to envision killing black New Yorkers? Tell me it isn't true. Sweet suffering Christ on a pogo stick!
A Parting Of The Hair With The Bat O'Clue For The Offender

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Shootings at Virginia Tech

Let me guess: his girlfriend dumped him so he had to kill her. Pity a few dozen others had to cack along with her, eh? Why do these sumbitches think they're entitled to do this? And why can't they off themselves first? I'm waiting for details. I'm sure there's more to the story, equally unpleasant.

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Politics - Can It Bees Tiem For FrogMarch Now?

I'm about to burst into the closing bars of the Beatles' "Let it be." All around foul carrionbeast and general promoter of incivilitude, Karl Rove, MIGHT (Oh, please, benevolent deity of Spaghettiness) be looking at obstruction of justice charges. Patrick Fitzgerald, my man, get OFF your ass and look into this! (whimper!)

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Politics - Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkeys, Eh?

Apparently, French Intelligence knew about a plan to hijack a U.S. plane in 2001, and informed U.S. Intelligence. Also, apparently, Chimpy McStupidSon and his coterie of incompetents did zilch about it. More here.

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More On The Incivility Wars

Brooke McEldowney, cartoonist extraordinaire and creator of one of my favorite strips (9 Chickweed Lane), contributes to the discussion:


I couldn't resize the strip sufficiently to be visible to any but the best vision, but here's a transcript:

A locutionary field guide to Earth (the hard little planet with the soft center).

Murder and incivility:antipodes on the spectrum of affronts to society, incivility being the most heinous.

On Earth, the crime of murder is universally celebrated, a fascinating wellspring of entertainment profits that corresponds in direct proportion to the ferocity of the murder. To date, there are very few, if any, television programs, novels, stories, plays, or films about incivility.

Mr. McEldowney was kind enough to grant me permission to post this strip here. Please do not violate his copyright by copying this strip. For a look at some of his work, go to 9 Chickweed Lane.You can contact him at that site.

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Cats - Cute Cat Tails - The Wandering Bunny

The Babies When They Won Their Kitten Of The Month Award

I'm not saying they're the culprits, though.

The children have their favorite toys, of course, and one of the top contenders is the white terrycloth bunny. We keep all their toys in a milk crate (sturdy, plastic, washable) under the dinner-wagon, and they periodically rummage around and retrieve one or another and cart it about for nefarious play purposes.

Lately, the white terrycloth bunny has become the object of someone's obsessive affections. We're still trying to figure out who's responsible, but at least once a day we discover the hapless bun either in the bed or somewhere close by, on the floor. Whenever we find it, we toss it down the stairs, hoping they'll take the hint and leave the bedroom uncluttered by their silly toys. No such luck. Moments later, it seems, the bunny is back.

Sometimes the bunnynapper drops the bunny at some midpoint - on the stairs to the bedroom, or in the bathroom because they're trying to sneak it in unseen.

Last week, apparently, someone had decided the bunny needed a wash. They dropped it quite neatly in the laundry basket, and it was duly laundered, hung by an ear from the clothesline, and returned all dry and pristine. Hopefully they won't reject it for smelling too clothesline-fresh.

Update: I am reliably informed that it smells just fine to them - someone dropped it on the steps between bedroom and foyer. Whoever could it be?

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Politics - Rock Your Hijab

It has come to our attention that certain denizens of the blogosphere are up in arms over Nancy Pelosi's visit to the middle-east, even going so far as to protest her wearing a headscarf out of respect for the cultural mores of the countries she visited. I bethought myself of some other fine ladies who might have visited those parts, and possibly might have a passing acquaintance with a headscarf, or hijab, as those furrners term 'em:

Condi in Hijab

Oh, look, it's our esteemed Secretary of State, Bootsie Ferragamo. And what's that on her head? No! It can't be!


Pickles McStepford Dons The Gear

Not to be outdone, the Other Wife with her favorite shade of Liberals'Blood Lipstick and Hijab.

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Video Funny - Mr. Deity

My nose is running and stuffy at the same time. Will I ever be all better again? Anywho, that's why I'm here putzing around at the 'puter instead of enjoying the beautiful weather.

Mr. Deity and Lucifer mix it up. Checkidout:

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Health - Breeders' Cup

With millions of children starving to death every day, or being violently abused by their parents, guardians, and other caretakers, sold into slavery, raped, tortured, or discarded like spent trash, the Miracle of Assisted Reproduction, far from derailing, appears to be picking up speed. You can now make sperm cells from bone marrow. So says Auntie Beeb. And no doubt the wealthy and infertile hordes will push for more dollars to be spent to bring little DesignerTrophies and MiniMes into the world. Bugger the starving millions, we can always turn them into fertilizer for the crops, right? Right?

Sometimes I feel so deeply cynical and bitter.

The most important thing? Infertility is not a disease. Humans are not obligate breeders - they will not die or sicken if they do not breed. And there are already way too many of us. What's more, while we spend millions making weapons to kill each other, and assisting reproduction, people are dying of perfectly curable diseases. Folks, not everybody needs to reproduce. And in fact some people need to not reproduce. Truly.

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Health - What is brain and brain?

High blood pressure? It's all in your head. Or at least in your brain. Auntie Beeb sez so.

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