Wanker of the Day: John Boehner.
My question to Atrios: When isn’t he?
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Technorati Tags: S-CHIP , Atros , Eschaton , Duncan Black , John Boehner , Wanker of the Day , Republicans , U.S. House of Representatives , Politics
It’s the end of the week, the end of the political campaign reporting quarter, and the last day of Gen Peter (Perfect Pete) Pace as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Fabulous first!
Happy birthday, Mini.
She’s seven and I just had my first “old parent” moment: She had to show me how to turn the speaker phone off on her phone. Cripes, I’m getting old.
I had lunch with her today…She wanted a McDonald’s cheeseburger. All you health nuts out there shouldn’t freak out, either. School food ain’t that much healthier and the Mickey D’s sure enough tastes better.
Farewell to Gen Pace. In a message, he says good bye to the troops:
During this challenging time in our nation’s history, you have contributed immeasurably by defending the homeland and fighting terrorists who threaten the values we hold so dear.
Let’s remember some of Pace’s most memorable moments…
Remember when Gen Pace told us that then-Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, lead the military by the voice of “God”?
“He leads in a way that the good Lord tells him is best for our country,” said Marine General Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
That’s nice.
Remember when Gen Pace told us that homosexuality is immoral? And from just the other day, remember Gen Pace’s explanation for that statement?
“And that is, very simply, that we should respect those who want to serve the nation but not through the law of the land, condone activity that, in my upbringing, is counter to God’s law.”
So the military should act in accordance to “god’s” law? Indeed…
And finally, let’s remember Gen Pace’s letter to Judge Walton, asking leniency for Scooter Libby.
General Pace, you’ve violated your oath as a uniformed officer of the United States Marine Corps. You should be ashamed and you have dishonored all of us that have worn the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor of America’s mightiest service. Good bye, General. I hope that we never, ever, hear from you again.
It’s the end of the fundraising quarter for political campaigns and Onslow County’s own Joe McLaughlin is asking for money help. Says the candidate (and occasional County Commissioner):
However, those in Washington who have an interest in this race look at other things. Saturday marks the end of the current reporting period for Congressional campaigns and our numbers will be looked upon by many as a signal as to how the campaign is progressing.
Indeed, how much money will McLaughlin raise in the 3rd quarter? More interestingly, from who will McLaughlin raise the money?
Also of interest, how will McLaughlin respond to the FEC’s request for more information? It seems that his first FEC report has some errors…Since he’s a financial consultant, I would’ve thought McLaughlin would be better at this sort of thing…
Lastly, Apple releases an update which bricks illegally unlocked phones. The problem? It bricks legitimate phones too. ValleyWag isn’t so compassionate:
People are buying unproven technology, and some are fiddling with it. And then they’re shocked when it doesn’t work?
And they’re right. Which is one of several reasons I didn’t get an iPhone (and why I don’t recommend the iPhone to anyone.)
That’s my fabulous Friday…How’s yours?
Need additional tools in the old box? Tips and Tricks Thursday is here with fresh ideas for stale problems.
Need to lose some weight? Here’s a few ways to lose 50 pounds in a year.
Dumb Little Man Tips for Life.
The basic rule of weight loss is that you take in fewer calories than you burn — and if you want to turn a positive calorie balance into the calorie deficit you need to lose weight, just make some smart choices in what you eat and drink, and how you burn calories.
The tips are pretty easy and simple: Drink water, exercise, replace fatty and sweet snacks with vegetables and fruit, etc. I’m working on losing about 50 lbs, though I hope it won’t take a year…
I’m trying to become a better writer and as a part of that, I’ve been doing a lot of reading about writing. In my travels along the interwebs, I stumbled upon this bounty of information. It’s a great source for libraries, dictionaries, and style and editing guides.
My favorite and most well-used guide, though, is still the Chicago Manual of Style, but I’ve been known to dip my toes into the AP Style Guide because it’s got answers to darned near everything related to writing.
Since I’ve moved into an apartment, I’ve discovered that I have more junk than space to store it. I have significantly cut down on my amount of stuff, but I could always use some new tips on how to better use my space. MSN came to the rescue.
Some of the solutions are hiding shelving and other unattractive storage spaces with curtains, using ottomans with storage space, and store stuff up high.
If you’re short on space and high on stuff, check out the article for some new ideas.
Want to raise your chances of having a good day? Lifehack.org has a few tricks to boost that potential.
Waking up early, creating a morning routine (so early tasks become habit don’t require thought), eating breakfast, and planning enough travel time are definitely winners (and all areas that I’m lacking). I’m going to try these out…Especially the getting up early and eating breakfast. Since I’ll be biking to work soon, they’ll be important to keeping me healthy (and employed).
Yesterday, I briefly mentioned taking a few minutes just to be. I wanted to expand on that and to say that I’m serious. There are definite benefits to meditation. I’m beginning to see that and have been trying to spend about 15 minutes a day in meditation. If you’ve got the time, listen to The Meditation Podcast. It’s certainly a great way to learn to meditate for those of us that don’t have a lot of experience.
I’ll let you know how the meditation thing goes…If there are any noticeable changes, I’ll let you know.
Got any tips or tricks? Want to share?
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What’s going on with the folks running for election this November?
I’ve not seen hide nor hair of the candidates since the Jacksonville Daily News coverage of the filing period…
And I’m not even blaming the Jacksonville Daily News (Though a feature such as the video profiles available at Elizabeth City’s Daily Advance would be nice): I blame the candidates. Where are they? What’re they doing? Websites? Editorials? Letters to the editor? None that I can find.
Where are you, candidates? We, the Voters, the People, would like to know…
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I apologize as I’ve been remiss from posting this video from the Young Democrats Day at the USO.
Marshall knows the importance Young Democrats (and young people in general) play in our communities. He knows the value of the sacrifices that young members of the military are making in Iraq and Afghanistan. He knows first hand the losses we face as a society because of the continued occupation of Iraq. Two of his children have been in Iraq: One was wounded in combat and the other is currently deployed.
Neither Joe McLaughlin nor Congressman Walter B. Jones, Jr. know a fraction of Marshall’s sacrifice or the sacrifice of his family.
Related Posts:
Marshall Adame. Walter B. Jones, Jr. Joe McLaughlin. Young Democrats.
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Need something to tickle the brain? Wordly Wednesday is here to stimulate your synapses.
Got a load of animal dung hanging around? Mental Floss has 6 great ways to use your extra poop.
From fertilizer to fuel to flaming baggies on doorsteps, you probably know all the standard uses for dung. But apparently there’s a whole world of crap you don’t know. The following are 6 unexpected ways to make the most of animal dung.
On the list of uses is spermicide, paper, and jewelry. It’s true, oh, it’s true.
Saturn has hexagonal rings. They’re visual in normal and infrared spectrums and were first observed in 1980.
In the new infrared images, the strong brightness of the hexagon feature indicates that it is primarily a clearing in the clouds, which extends deep into the atmosphere, at least some 75 kilometers (47 miles) underneath the typical upper hazes and clouds seen in the daytime imagery by Voyager.
The longest word in the Oxford English dictionary is “Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis“.
The oldest continued government in the world is the Iroquois Confederacy. The Confederacy began in 1142, greatly influenced our current form of government in the U.S., and continues today.
The original United States representative democracy, fashioned by such central authors as Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, drew much inspiration from this confederacy of nations. In our present day, we can benefit immensely, in our quest to establish anew a government truly dedicated to all life’s liberty and happiness much as has been practiced by the Six Nations for over 800 hundred years.
Pythagoras (582 BC - 507 BC)
Wisdom from the past is often more valuable, and more reverberating, today. If we fail to take care of ourselves, to revere ourselves, it isn’t possible take care of others. Give yourself a little time today. Sit in a darkened corner, or in the bright sunlight (my preference), and just be for five minutes. You’ll feel better. Believe me, you will.
How’s your Wordly Worldly Wednesday?
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Need some good news? Tremendous Tuesday is here to lift your spirits.
Colin Ferrell proves that all well-off actor-types aren’t pricks.
Big-hearted Colin Farrell made a homeless man’s day by taking him on an impromptu shopping spree and splashing out over £1,000 in a Toronto store.
If 10 people a day did something similar (maybe not on the same scale, of course) in their communities, imagine how much happier we’d all be?
Smoky the Cat is A-Okay after a battle with a tornado in Wisconsin.
More than three months after disappearing during a tornado, Smoky the cat has been reunited with his owner.
Smoky was last seen June 7, before a tornado destroyed Wanda Ploeger’s mobile home in rural Riverview, scattering her belongings.
That’s a rare happy story coming out of a tornado strike.
High schoolers in Nova Scotia are “fighting” against bullying by wearing pink.
Two students at Central Kings Rural High School fought back against bullying recently, unleashing a sea of pink after a new student was harassed and threatened when he showed up wearing a pink shirt.
In retaliation, the two coordinated a pink protest.
They used the Internet to encourage people to wear pink and bought 75 pink tank tops for male students to wear. They handed out the shirts in the lobby before class last Friday — even the bullied student had one.
“I made sure there was a shirt for him,” David said.
They also brought a pink basketball to school as well as pink material for headbands and arm bands. David and Travis figure about half the school’s 830 students wore pink.
It was hard to miss the mass of students in pink milling about in the lobby, especially for the group that had harassed the new Grade 9 student.
“The bullies got angry,” said Travis. “One guy was throwing chairs (in the cafeteria). We’re glad we got the response we wanted.”
Bravo, friends. And they say this new generation of humans aren’t interested in the world around them.
A world away, another nonviolent protest seems to be working.
The Christian Science Monitor.
Earlier this month, the village of Bilin, which has held weekly protests since 2004, garnered widespread attention and praise in the Palestinian press when the Israeli Supreme Court ordered a part of the military’s separation barrier near Bilin to be dismantled. Increasingly, other Palestinian villages are following Bilin’s lead, though it remains to be seen whether this kernel of nonviolence will grow into a full-fledged movement.
“Before Bilin, people never had faith it would achieve anything, neither nonviolence, nor the legal system,” says Mohammed Dajani, a political science professor at Al Quds University. “Maybe this will be a response to the skeptics, that, ‘Look, it works.’ ”
Nonviolence does work. Especially in the face of flagrant abuses by authoritarian groups.
Buy a PC for yourself and one for a needy child in Africa.
Inexpensive laptop computers designed for students in poor countries will be sold to US and Canadian customers in a buy-one-GIVE-one scheme: Between November 12-26 they can pay $399 — one laptop goes to the buyer, the other to a needy student.
Yes, the “$100 laptop” is more expensive than that, nearly twice as much. Yes, it may not be the fanciest, most powerful machine around. But you can provide a needy kid with a great learning tool. Doesn’t that make it a good thing?
Is your Tuesday tremendous?
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After a conversation with with J.B. Thomas (Editorial Assistant at the Jacksonville Daily News), I’ve been freed from the blacklist.
The explanations for why none of my letters were printed are varied…Here’s the quick list:
Today, they printed this letter.
So, bully for me: It’s a red letter day!
Related Posts:
| Joe McLaughlin | Marshall Adame | Letters to the Editor |
| George Cleveland | NC House 14th District | The Jacksonville Daily News |
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It’s mad, mad world, friends and neighbors.
Vice President Cheney tried to get Israel to pick a fight with Iran. Why? So the U.S. could legitimately attack back.
Vice President Dick Cheney had at one point considered asking Israel to launch limited missile strikes at an Iranian nuclear site to provoke a retaliation, Newsweek magazine reported on Sunday.
Is there no end to the lengths these people will go to start a war?
Senators Lieberman and Kyl want to give President Bush the authority to attack Iran, just in case…
Amazingly, no one anywhere in the US media seems to have noticed that yesterday Jon Kyl (Arizona) and Joe Lieberman filed an extremely threatening amendment on Iran to the FY 2008 Defense Authorization bill.
The amendment would’ve pre-approved action against Iran if it’s decided that they’re contributing to the destabilization of Iraq.
American snipers lay bait for insurgents.
The (Raleigh) News and Observer.
“Baiting is putting an object out there that we know they will use, with the intention of destroying the enemy,” Capt. Matthew P. Didier, the leader of an elite sniper scout platoon attached to the 1st Battalion of the 501st Infantry Regiment, said in a sworn statement. “Basically, we would put an item out there and watch it. If someone found the item, picked it up and attempted to leave with the item, we would engage the individual as I saw this as a sign they would use the item against U.S. Forces.”
Because, clearly, anyone trying to get “detonation cords, plastic explosives and ammunition” out of the road (perhaps to protect children playing nearby or to identify the threat to appropriate authorities?) should be “engaged.”
President Bush threatens to veto an increase in children’s health insurance programs because it might lead to reduced private insurance profits and increased cigarette taxes.
CNN.
But Bush has promised a veto, saying the measure is too costly, unacceptably raises taxes, extends government-covered insurance to children in families who can afford private coverage, and seems like a move toward completely federalized health care.
How nice that Mr. Bush can, in one breath, accuse Democrats of being irresponsible and partisan (even though the measure had wide bi-partisan support in the House and Senate) while asking for $200 billion to continue funding the military occupation of Iraq.
One of Onslow County’s delegation to the NC State House accepts pay for work not performed. Russell Tucker (NC House-4) is one of fifteen Representatives that accepted two days of paid leave for the special session held to respond to Governor Michael Easley’s veto of the GoodYear Give-away.
Under The Dome from The (Raleigh) News and Observer.
According to the Wilmington Star-News, checks were sent to Wright and Reps. Becky Carney, Jerry Dockham, Phil Haire, Hugh Holliman, George Holmes, Edgar Starnes, Russell Tucker and R. Tracy Walker and Sens. Katie Dorsett, Eddie Goodall, Malcolm Graham, Jim Jacumin and Clark Jenkins.
It’s bad enough when these folks get paid for doing a poor job…But to get paid for not doing it at all?
What’s going on in your Mad World Monday?
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Technorati Tags: Iran , Iraq , U.S. , Israel , Vice President Richard Cheney , Senator Joe Lieberman , Senator Jon Kyl , Reuters , CNN , President George Bush , Democrats , Republicans , S-CHIP , Under the Dome , Raleigh News and Observer , Russell Tucker , NC House 4th District , Onslow County
I took a little road-trip yesterday and went to the NC Zoological Park in Asheboro, NC. There were lions, giraffes, bears, and lots of great birds.
There were also lots and lots of children running around, making noise, and trying to get run over by the park’s tram. My favorite instance of childish stupidity was the kid yelling at the large red bird to “Say something! Say something!! Say something!!!” repeatedly. Over and over and over again. There were kids yelling at animals, tapping on glass, and the incessant running around people and through legs, and bumping and pushing into people with no regard of consideration. It always amazes me that there are parents that just let their children run willy-nilly around lots of other people…It also amazes me that many of these parents smoke in the park, which is a posted smoke-free area. Even though there’s no smoking allowed in the zoo, there was certainly no shortage of cigarette butts littering the ground. How’s that for consideration?
The zoo should consider a child-free day. Adults could wander the zoo for hours without the shrieking of hungry, tired, hot, bored, loud, sweaty, thirsty, irritated little people. You’d be able to experience the quiet of an African savannah or enjoy the chirping of tropical birds without shrill echoes of “Say something! Say something!! Say something!!!”. Conversely, the zoo should have an adults-free day for the kids. They could meet in groups with a zoo employee to guide them through the park. They could see the feedings and learn how the zoo-keepers maintain the facility and care for the animals.
It wasn’t bad, though, and I had a great time. The picture above is one of several hippopotamus statues that were at the front of the African entrance. Throughout the zoo there were similar sculptures and I was surprised at the amount of artwork throughout the park. I wanted to get more photos, but most of the animal sculptures had kids posing for family photos. You can see more pictures here.
I’ve pretty much decided that I’ll be making another trip soon, probably early in the morning during a week-day to avoid the kiddie crowds and get to see the animals before a long day of heat and sun.
On the way back, I ate at Red Robin. Definitely a great place to have dinner. The atmosphere is very relaxed and the walls are tastefully covered in quite the eclectic selection of photographs and posters. I had the Guacamole Burger and it was great! Even cooked with just a touch of pink in the middle (most restaurants prefer to cook hamburger to the puck stage!) The fries with Red Robin seasoning were great, too.
It was a good trip.
