Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Windows Vista: naaah.

Bad news for Microsoft: the techhies say it's just a warmed over XP and not worth the money.

Ten Reasons to buy Windows Vista

Ten Reasons not to buy Windows Vista

War of civilizations? (Rant: Okay to skp)

D'Souza's book that the obscenities and immorality pushed by western cultures into more conservative societies are partly causing backlash among ordinary Muslims, leading to some sympathy for more radical forms of Islam.

Full rant posted to Screedblog and cross posted to BNN...

Oklahoma news

Usually Oklahoma gets in the news when we have tornadoes or icestorms.

So congratulations Miss Americas...Okies two years in a row.

And (via Blogfather), Senator Tom Coburn has an article about him in a major men's magazine...no, not the one with the naked women...he's a doc, and ran against the hand picked GOP candidate in the primaries, and won due to grass roots support. He has been busy the bipartisan corrupt practice of wasting taxpayers money on pork...Sort of like Mr. Smith goes to Washington...

When most of the US news on CNNI is bash bush, latest shootings, or Brittney Spears, it's nice to read an article on the REAL problem of Congressional corruption, and that one man is trying to take on the establisment...

Okay, altogether now:

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

How to fold a shirt quickly and neatly

NOW you have no excuse.

includes photos and flash photos.

You can't keep a good duck down

Still alive...Perky was shot, frozen, defrosted, and then had cardiac arrest on the operating table...as the nurse commented:"one tough duck".


You're "ahhhh" story of the day.

Air Force Rules of flight

"It is generally inadvisable to eject directly over the area you just bombed." - U.S. Air Force Manual

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"Though I Fly Through the Valley of Death , I Shall Fear No Evil. For I am at 80,000 Feet and Climbing." - At the entrance to the old SR-71 operating base Kadena , Japan

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"You've never been lost until you've been lost at Mach 3." - Paul F. Crickmore (test pilot)

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"The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire."

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"Blue water Navy truism: There are more planes in the ocean than submarines in the sky." - From an old carrier sailor

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"If the wings are traveling faster than the fuselage, it's probably a helicopter -- and therefore, unsafe."

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"When one engine fails on a twin-engine airplane you always have enough power left to get you to the scene of the crash."

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"Without ammunition, the USAF would be just another expensive flying club."

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"What is the similarity between air traffic controllers and pilots? If a pilot screws up, the pilot dies; If ATC screws up, ... The pilot dies."

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"Never trade luck for skill."

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The three most common expressions (or famous last words) in aviation are: "Why is it doing that?", "Where are we?" And "Oh S...!"

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"Progress in airline flying: now a flight attendant can get a pilot pregnant."

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"Airspeed, altitude and brains. Two are always needed to successfully complete the flight."

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"A smooth landing is mostly luck; two in a row is all luck; three in a row is prevarication."

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"I remember when sex was safe and flying was dangerous."

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"Flying the airplane is more important than radioing your plight to a person on the ground incapable of understanding or doing anything about it."

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"If something hasn't broken on your helicopter, it's about to."

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"You know that your landing gear is up and locked when it takes full power to taxi to the terminal."

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your email of the day from Col. UPdraft...

Headlines below the fold

Wake up and smell the coffee...if you can't it might be early Alzheimer's.
Actually, the loss of smell is a marker for brain damage. We have long known that loss of smell in HIV patients warns doc about HIV dementia...but don't panic, it also just might mean you have a sinus infection.

Prayer alert one: Will Burundi be the next Ruanda?

Prayer Alert two: Molly Ivins' cancer has relapsed

Note: for athiests, praying "to whom it may concern" or "hey you" is fine.

Attention Andrew Sullivan and NPR : It's not the Anglican Bishops in Nigeria who should worry you...LINK

Attention pet owners: let me see the registration and license for Buffy...(headsup DaveBarryBlog)

Darn....they won't let you eat the guinea pigs that you adopt. What's next? Rules about not eating Fido?...(headsup BoingBoing)

The 15 richest men...not...LINK
Headsup from OneHandClapping...

Monday, January 29, 2007

Is Small Still Beautiful?

As Bishop Cruz points out, the Philippine government backs globalization, but the result has been importing cheap Chinese good (which underprice and end up destroying local industries) but we pay for this by exporting our people. Indeed, most of my stepson's wealth is from my husband's fifty years of work in the USA as a doctor.

I support globalization, but it is not good for families when the only way they can survive is to break up family ties. It would be much better to find good paying jobs here.

Yet what is the alternative? Despite the NPA and a lot of aging PC nuns and priests preaching liberation theology, socialism has failed.

A third way, more popular in "hippie" days but whose roots are deep in the Catholic idea of subsidarity, is EE Shumacher's Small is Beautiful.

Many of these ideas are similar to those expounded by GK Chesterton, a writer most famous for his "Father Brown" mystery stories.

Joseph Pearce, who has written biographies on Chesterton (and Tolkien) has a new book updating these ideas to the modern world.

Thanks for headsup from HeavenandEarth Blog.

SPAM SPAM SPAM

Family news


Chano is at a bazaar/trade fair in Manila. We hope he makes a profit. His capiz orchids are beautiful, and he is also selling organic brown rice.

The rice fields have been planted, and so it's quiet.
The dogs killed two goats that browse and eat at the nearby vacant lots...we had to pay for them. BAD DOG. Usually it's the big white watch dog that bites people, but this time it was our breeding mother who went out to find her boyfriend, and killed goats instead.

More construction going on...building a second story above our garage. We need room for workshops now that the other rooms are being used for meetings and luncheons.

For example, Saturday we were overrun with Bible school teachers. I hid out of course. Too many Baptists for me.

But so far we only average one meeting a month...we're hoping now that things are almost finished we will get more scheduled. Alas, we were too late to open up for Christmas parties.

Lolo is fine. I am well.

Headlines, we have headlines

Did you know Chemical Ali admitted to the Kurdish Genocide? LINK2

Check Michael Yon for latest news, and StrategyPage clarifies "myths" behind the headlines.

Tens of thousands at the March for Life...Page A10.
Tens of thousand at the anti War March...all over the news. No bias, of course.
Humorblog Scrappleface has the best fake quote about the march:

"The speaker roster reminds me of a Hollywood game show" said an unnamed staffer of the Vegan Lesbians for Peace and Nuclear justice..."I mean Fonda, Sarandon, Glover and Jackson might as well be Charo, Joan Rivers , George Gobel and Paul Lynde..."

Google Transit... They can tell you which plane/bus/train to catch to travel from here to there...in the USA.

Blogfather like New Zealand butter...well, most of the milk and butter in our stores come from there, and it is good. I should note that most of our milk however is locally bought and comes from local water buffalo.

Mugabe continues to wreck Zimbabwe.THIS ARTICLE praises him for his revolutionary purity...hmmm...I'm trying to remember how you say "ass kisser" in ChiKaranga... I can think of no better word to describe the reporter.
That's the bad news. The good news is This report suggests his successors might be simple greedy politicians and thieves rather than Marxists.

And the most heartwarming story of the days is This one. Three cheers for Sister Frances.

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Now for the really important stuff

Ain't misbehavin'...Hog Maul Stomp...Sloppy water blues...the music of Fats Waller and other jazz musicians are here for your listening enjoyment.

If you are a yuppie, Thislinkhas music from the Grateful Dead...

The Gods Graves and Glyphs weekly update on Free Republic is up...includes links about MacBeth's
castle, ancient brassieres in China, and Neanderthal art...

links to old articles: global cooling 8000 years ago, A discussion on Atlantis from NYTimes and A BBC websit with the history of ancient Egypt.

do you want to call someone but don't know if they are up, and have trouble with the math trying to figure out the time in Zamboanga or East St. Louis? Well just look atDaylight map which shows you the world in real time with light and darkness...

THIS site has film clips from the early 20th century, including suffragettes marching and the Battle of the Somme.

and finally, your craft item of the day:Knit a vegan fox to drape around your shoulders...a new take on the old 1940's fashion where women would drape a couple fox or ermine skins around their necks.

Nowadays, we use faux fur, or if you like you can knit this atrocity with fuzzy yarn...

Saturday, January 27, 2007

the Philippine war in Mindanao

Most of it I knew, but I didn't know about the Moros taking slaves from Luzon...a good summary from Pajamas Media...

Stories behind the news stories

Can't tell a Sunni from a Shiite? Here's a quick overview LINK

Want to stop smoking? Have a stroke...

A Requium for Dafur at Carnagie Hall...and the good news is that Ban will make stopping the genocide a priority......

The Federal government has shelled out $653 million for stem cell research...LINK, but since none went to killing embryos to get stem cells, most people think Bush is not allowing ANY stem cell research...


How to survive worst case scenerios: Pop Mechanics tells you how. My favorite? How to control a runaway camel...

They also have a long article about alternative fuels..NYTimes article nere.and check LINK...

and the Philippines is looking into it, since we don't have oil beneath our islands.link...

OK altogether now:
I've got a loverly bunch of coconuts

The birds are coming back

and it's Bush's fault....

Iraq marshes, BirdLife International
The marshes are undergoing a recovery
... the re-flooding of the marshes after the US-led invasion of 2003 may already be delivering benefits to bird populations in the region.

About 40% of the marshlands area of Iraq has been restored to its 1970s condition.

Large areas were drained in the 1990s to punish the Marsh Arabs for rebelling against former leader Saddam Hussein. Diversion of water further upstream by some of Iraq's neighbours also hit the wetlands.

Guys and their ladders


The Freepers are at it again, with a montage of how to use a ladder (not).

And check the comments, which include historical illustrations.

Note: FreeRepublic is a political site, so might be banned from some workplaces.

Garbage art and the art of garbage

Usually when I talk of "garbage art" I mean art exhibits like the one the janitor threw out in the UK.

But check out Bluetea Blog, who has links to web sites which photograph abandoned buildings and wrecks...which are actually art, making beauty and poignancy of what was past.

For example, Opacity makes me wish I had a million dollars to restore some of the sites...

and Lost City chronicals the nostalgic past.

if you want fonts to lable these things, try Font Diner who has all sorts of retro downloads

And then there is the Dirty Car Art Gallery

Or how about Insect paintings?

And how about some Concept art...doesn't say if it's for a game or a movie...and what's that centaur doing in a sci fi landscape?

and finally, your Craft item of the day.

Friday, January 26, 2007

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a...

Hand knitted Lorenz Manifold
a7996_1546.jpg

CHAOTIC CRAFTWORK. A crocheted Lorenz manifold brings the shape's swirls into sharp relief.
Univ. of Bristol



"...For years, Osinga and Krauskopf, both of the University of Bristol in England, had been studying the Lorenz manifold, a complicated surface that emerges from a model of chaotic weather systems. The pair had created an algorithm to generate 2-dimensional computer visualizations of the surface, but Osinga found the flat images unsatisfying. When Krauskopf asked his question, she suddenly realized that the computer algorithm could be interpreted as crochet instructions. "I had to try it," she says. Eighty-five hours and 25,511 crochet stitches later, Osinga had a Lorenz manifold almost a meter tall and about 25 centimeters in diameter, which now hangs in the pair's house as a decoration..."

Bird Flu: NO NO NOT MY FIGHTING COCK

I am tired of posting bad news, but Bird flu is still perculating under the fold.

Recent news include reports of drug resistant cases in Egypt, culls of chickens in Japan and South Korea, rumors of either birdflu or SARS in SE China.

This news report mentions a real danger: backyard chickens...350 million of them, and many in cities.

Many Indonesians, like many Pinoys, have a couple chickens in their back yards, mainly for eggs and meat, but also fighting cocks.

Taking an Asian's fighting cock away from him is like taking the deer rifle from an NRA member. It's more than just a sport, it's a passion...
So you see the problem.

Longer essay found HERE

Headlines

Is the MSM, by echoing the Democratic talking points, biasing the perception of the Iraq war by the American people?
Robert Novak notes the Democrats are happy Bush is down, and prefer to bet on a bad outcome (so they can blame Bush) rather than risk supporting a risky strategy to win
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Yet the NYSun is more optimistic...and points to the demise of many foreign insurgents and the increasing wish for local Sunnis to get rid of these outside troublemakers. Indeed, according to StrategyPate, the "surge" of American troops is about protecting these more moderate Sunnis from Shiite payback. Much of the increase of troops by Bush is about getting rid of or calming down Shiite hit squads (money from Iran) who are revenging the car bomb and other deaths by so called insurgents (AKA Alqaeda or Baathist elements)...Blackfive is also mildly optimistic...
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As for press coverage on Iraq, SP notes:On average, about 36 people a day died. ..." No one is sure, but perhaps a third of the civilian deaths were terrorists, or those involved in supporting the terrorism".
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The Phil Armed forces wounded one of the Bali bombers, but he got away.
On the other hand, they found and destroyed a bomb making factory of the NPA...yup. We still have commies in this country.
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Another day, another volcano...not near here, thank God.
Our main worry is Dengue fever..


Imagine the headlines

17,000 killed last year. Widespread kidnappings. Car bombs and IED's killing policemen. State officials killed by "insurgents". Militant rightists killing those associated with the insurgents. It's Bush's fault.

Nah, it's merely the normal headlines from Colombia...whose civil war has been going on since the 1950's, but rarely gets publicity.

As Strategy Page LINK2 points out:, the murder rate is one of the highest in the world (43 per 100,000 population.) Iraq's murder rate last year was 51, but got a lot more coverage in the media. That's because the carnage in Colombia has been going on for decades, and long since ceased to be "news." The murder rate in the United States last year was 4.8.

Yet what is helping win the war is like what is happening here in the Philippines: A combination of government pressure/success against leaders (including the druglords who help fund the insurgents), successful kills of insurgents that send the message that joining them is no longer a good job opportunity, offers of amnesty, and economic expansion that allows young men an alternative to joining the insurgents




So the message for all those rich yuppies who keep trying to rewrite Iraq into Viet Nam, could I instead suggest it might be more relevant to compare Iraq to Colombia or even the Philippines?

And if you go hiking in the rural Andes, have a cup of coffee at my oldest son's restaurant.

That handsome young man is my youngest who visited during the holidays.

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Attention Hunters



In the USA, I've seen handwarmers sold mainly in hunting stores to keep the trigger fingers warm so they can shoot Bambi's mother.

So here is a "helloKitty" handwarmer for you.

Craft item of the day


Knit an a Squipod.

Happy Rabbit Week

a

Attention Osama

Is that a wasp or a WASP?

Or maybe a Bionic Hornet?

BBC evaluates Report on Global warming

BBC has someone read the entire report on Global warming, and finds problems with the economic data in the report....and the critics are defenders of the Global warming idea.

Headlines below the fold

Increasing the minimum wage destroys jobs. No, not in Washington but here, where the government is now insisting that maids be over age 25 and be paid at least $400 a month...they estimate this means a 40% drop in Pinay maids to other countries, especially the Middle East, and will hit women from Muslim Mindanao the most.

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Canadian David Warren discusses Somalia..like my previous post, he wonders if the press ignored the good news that some Ethiopians, Somalians and Kenyans opposed AlQaeda and their fascist attempt to subvert that country... thereby ignoring the heroism of local soldiers protecting their fellow citizens, and of course the heroism of US and Aussie special forces who help them....

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Remember the terrible earthquake in Pakistan last year? If you read follow up stories, it was probably either about wasting money or that the Taliban was helping victims. THE CSMonitor has a more realistic story about rebuilding, retraining, and cellphones.

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Why are Clinton and Carter trying to destroy Bible based religious policies of the Baptist church?

If the Republicans tried to do this, there would be hell to pay.

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I'll pass on the Oscars...the only one I saw was Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada...and she really is great in it..

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Science news of the day: want cleans sponges to wash your dishes? Zap them with a microwave...

or maybe not: A British firemarshal warns you might clean the sponge, but burn your house down...

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And finally:Great Balls of Fire: scientists have created ball lighting in their lab.

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

China: New epidemic?

Lots of "below the headlines" stuff about Japan and Indonesia killing chickens to stop bird flu...

and a lot of worry that Indonesia's inefficient culling of chickens is allowing that disease to persist, meaning the chance of it's mutating is getting higher.

But this rumor, that China is covering up either human bird flu or SARS in GuangGhou, is really worrysome, especially with the Chinese New Year celebrations coming up soon.

Hello Kitty the Video

update: Go to link...the movie was driving me nuts so I removed it.

Headlines below the fold

CNN Int is busy twisting all the news to show Bush failed, and his state of the union will be a failure.

Ironically, when they get around to headlines they say Iran is testing a new missile as a warning to Bush....

Which might explain this article in the UKGuardian...about the US placing a missle defense system near Prague...hint: it's not to defend Tulsa from being Nuked by North Dakota...
Austin Bey links to an article on old Europe's reflexive Anti Americanism HERE... but of course, like Tommy Atkins, they know they can kick around the US, but the US will be there if they get attacked...

When even Blogfather notices the biased tone of reporter's questions, it makes one wonder...

Iraq as VietNam? Maybe, if like some of us on the blogosphere you think the press spin ignores the truth. Which is why THIS ARTICLE should give you a pause.
Usually I'd ignore such claims, but the article is not from a right wing site, but from the more placid CSMonitor, and the writer points to newly available documents from Viet Nam to bolster his claims.

Spengler, not exactly a fan of America, reviews a new book that reminds us that those who claim Reagan and Thatcher and the Pope had nothing to do with the fall of communism often said the exact opposite in the 1980'...

In the meanwhile, the WOT continues here in the Philippines: the big question: Who gets the reward for killing Jajalani? The US put up the reward because he beheaded an American tourist...Next step, the Bali Bomber's associates. There are rumors that Aussie and US Special forces are involved, but no hard reports....Payback's a bitch, ain't it...

And finally, the headline of the day:

Snooker: No furthur action on Ding "abuse".

remember: You read it first here...

Monday, January 22, 2007

A Blogger from France Thanking Bush?

No, don't think that Hell is freezing over. You see, he is African, and knows about Bush's support for Africa.

" George W. Bush also stopped another series of wars on the continent, namely; in Angola located in Southern Africa, and Liberia located in West Africa.
The Liberian Civil war lasted long because, her corrupt president and former war load Charles Taylor, formerly living in exile in Nigeria now in detention at the Hague, had the support of France and all neighbouring French-speaking West African states with the exception of the Republic of Guinea Conakry. .... But all stopped when in 2003 President Bush rose up and said the UN hanky panky was enough; he decided to put aside the funny UN that need fundamental reforms and spoke tough against Taylor for peace to come back in Africa’s oldest Republic. For that action, the Children in Monrovia the capital of Liberia have only Bush in their mouths and the number of Children named after George Bush are very high."...

Bush has granted more aid to Africa than Bill Clinton. Under this administration that is vilified by its detractors using all sorts of adjectives and stratagems, the reality is that, its bilateral aid to Africa is $ 3.2 billions whereas under the sainted Clinton, it was just $1.1 billion. And in the month of June 2005, the current administration committed/pledged another $ 674 millions to Sub-Saharan Africa specifically. This is far more than what any US government has allocated to Africa since 1997. Furthermore, during the last G-8 summit that took place in the UK town of Gleneagles, and before that, during the finance Ministers meeting in London, this administration spearheaded efforts to cancel debts of 38 poor countries 18 of which are found on the African continent.Acknowledging the scourge of HIV/AIDS on the whole continent, this administration has again pledged $ 15 billions to fight the pandemic.

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Read the whole thing. It's from a new African News site.

Craft item of the day

How to make a paper rose from a maple leaf.

Dang. No maples. Will a banana leaf work?

Headlines below the fold.

Did you hear about how American funding, both government and private, along with UNICEF, is eradicating Measles in Africa?

It's Bush's fault

Six more Pinoys kinapped...this time from a ship off the coast of Nigeria.LINK

and did you know subterranean species are traditionally named after mythological characters? So Spanish scientists named this one Gollumjapyx Smeagol

(Headsup from Freeper Malquiladora)
Way to go Freepers...you don't read stuff like that on the Daily Kos.
;-)

In olden days a glimpse of stocking was looked on as something shocking

Manolo presents the Burkha fashion show.



But, as this link shows, even a Burkha doesn't stop men from leering at women...LINK



Maestro, music please

Gift idea of the day

Headsup from PajamasMedia

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Family photos

Animal news


Dog owners live longer than cat owners. They think it's from a combination of emotional support, meeting others and exercize. Yup. Chansing dogs around to chain them up during the day keeps me fit.
Oh, the photo is of one of our dogs, Scout...

Taking your dog to a costume party? Well, now they are selling Dog kilts with...underwear. So at least we all now know what dogs wear under those mysterious kilts...

A NYTimes article has the headline "What Shamu taught me about a happy marriage"....it seems that the writer saw how they train dolphins patiently by showing them little by little and then giving rewards...so she used the same technique on her husband.
Of course, any pre feminist wife could have told her the same thing.
Earth To NYTIMES: anyone with kids knows Shamu is not a dolphin but a killer whale...

But animals can be dangerous....

ATTENTION KIWIS: Burning possums are a fire hazard.

And finally, the most dangerous animal of the day alert:

Beware of feral Shih Tzus.

Saturday, January 20, 2007

Want Whiter whites? Cleaner teeth? and other weird news

"...Good news: scientists have identified the source of the dazzling whiteness of a beetle called Cyphochilus, and harnessing that knowledge could help make everything from paints to t-shirts more blindingly white. ."

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There's an old ditty: Who put the overalls in Mrs. Murphy's Chowder.

Well, the UK has a new versions LINK...

Around 30 pairs of knickers have been draped over road signs and gravestones in Purton, near Swindon.
No-one has reported the items as stolen and they all appear to be new and of quite good quality...

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And then there are the UFO's in Iran...hmmm....E.T? Or drones?

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Finally, a job for me: Watching leaves decay... Call me in ten years and I'll tell you if they are still there...


Hey Dr. Chesbro

here's your weather forecasting stone.

Smile Newsbabe Smile.

CNN Int is full of ugly babes with british accents who smirk at anything concerning Bush.

I've criticized it before, thinking it was bias. But maybe it's just CNN policy: Smile, ladies, or you lose your job...
yesterday I watched the business news, and the newsreader and the reporter both had smiles...but the smiles didn't match the rest of their faces...their facial muscles were tense, and their eyes were hard and worried looking.

I mean, they weren't reporting anything big (I mean, neither good nor bad news or even big news...) so why the smiles?

Do we see Neil Cavuto or Lue Dobbs forced to smile while reporting the Dow was down or up a tenth of a point? Of course not.

And their newsreaders aren't much better. A women yesterday on one show had a bad hair days, yet wore a blouse with cleavage down to her fifth intercostal space, and in case you didn't notice her, she wore a necklace had a clunky long shells at the end as if it was an arrow pointing at her B cup...

Earth to CNN INTERNATIONAL: Loose the smirks.

and hire the makeup artists from Fox. I mean, if they can make Greta S. and Susan E. nice looking, they could probably help your newsbabes.

Of course, they can't give them brains, but that's another problem you need to check into...

Headlines below the fold

Remember Lebanon? Michael Totten has a report from Beruit...summary in two words: Pyrric victory. An older Strategy Page article notes the same thing.

Jimmy Carter opines on how we can have peace...if Israel just offers to leave the occupied territories...whoops. They did just that back in 1998, but Arafat went home and started another terrorist war. Carter has been accused of Anti Semitism; actually it's probably not true. He's merely dumb. After all, what kind of person personally writes letters asking for pardons for Nazis?

Do you know that there was Bioterrorism in World War I? No, not the flu...anthrax and glanders...against horses.

Tolkien Trivia note: World War I was the watershed between the traditional and the modern...horses were used at the start, but replaced with trucks and tanks by 1918.. ..Tolkien served in a reserve colonial unit that broke and trained horses for the front until he graduated and was sent to France in 1916....

And finally, apparantly there is no Marxist murdering tyrant that some people can't defend...LINK....LINK2 to interview...LINK 3 to the group
Guess what? They are an offshoot of this Anti War group...who have an amusing article about Bush "invading" the world by multinationals...hmmm...wonder if they ever heard of China? Nahh...neither website mentions China, Singapore, or Malaysia, since globalization and capitalism seems to be helping the poor in those countries...

Astroturfing by the anti war movement.

Milblogs has the details of an important story concerning the "grassroots" anti war movement among the miltitary, and finds many of the stories generated by a public relations firm.

This is known as "astroturfing":
"In politics and advertising, the term astroturfing describes formal public relations (PR) campaigns which seek to create the impression of being a spontaneous, grassroots behavior. Hence the reference to the "AstroTurf" (artificial grass) is a metaphor to indicate "fake grassroots" support."

The story starts with a man, Johnathan Hutto, who had long been active in left wing causes. He joined the Navy, got a not very dangerous job as a maintenance man, but then made an anti war website, and voila, this site was then used to prove "spontaneous" proof of troop opposition to the war.

The story was then paraded to the media by PR group Fenton Communications.

The NYSun apparantly picked up both the left wing funding and the PR firm's connection with the site, yet few other MSM bothered to note that the "the soldiers' anti-war group Appeal for Redress" was a put up job.

The Fenton Group behind the "anti war soliders" stories is the same one who manipulated the press about grieving grandmother Cindy Sheehan.

The problem with all of this reminds many of us about the glowing stories of Russia or China under the communists which later turned out to be Potemkin villages that fooled willing reporters.

Like the Dan Rather papers, one wonders if the story was covered because it was too good to be true rather than from pure bias. Yet in these days of the internet, one wonders when the MSM doesn't even bother to spend a half hour googling names.

Hint to NYTimes: I'm available and cheap...

Friday, January 19, 2007

A Codger's advice

* Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.

* Keep skunks and bankers at a distance.

* Life is simpler
when you plow around the stump.

* A bumble bee is considerably faster
than a John Deere tractor.

* Words that soak into your ears are whispered...not yelled.

* Meanness don't jes' happen overnight.

* Forgive your enemies.
It messes up their heads.

* Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.

* It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge.

* You cannot unsay a cruel word.

* Every path has a few puddles.

* When you wallow with pigs,
expect to get dirty.

* The best sermons are lived,
not preached.

* Most of the stuff people worry about
ain't never gonna happen anyway.

* Don't judge folks by their relatives.

* Remember that silence is sometimes
the best answer.

* Live a good, honorable life.
Then when you get older and think back,
you'll enjoy it a second time.

* Don't interfere with somethin' that ain't botherin' you none.

* Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.

* If you find yourself in a hole,
the first thing to do is stop diggin'.

* Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.

* The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever have to deal with,
watches you from the mirror every mornin'.

* Always drink upstream from the herd.

* Good judgment comes from experience,
and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.

* Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier
than puttin' it back in.

* If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence,
try orderin' somebody else's dog around.

* Live simply.
Love generously.
Care deeply.
Speak kindly.

Headlines below the fold

Art Buchwald died. RIP and keep 'em laughing in Heaven, Art...

Birth defects cost money...well, yes. Ironically, many are caused by nutrition/drugs/illicit drugs/ chemicals etc. and could be prevented with education and change of behavior by the mom or by passing laws against big business from polluting...but the dirty little secret is that a lot of the "prevention" money is spent on screening for defects, and then offering (dare I say pressuring) the moms to abort the baby, who is usually a much wanted child?

And except for drought, HIV, a communist dictator who is destroying the economy, most of the healthy young people fleeing to other countries for work, and economic collapse, what else can occur to the people in Zimbabwe?
Foot in Mouth Disease...

And finally, here is a new food item: Hello Kitty Wine....actually it's Sake, i.e. Rice wine...Great to wash down that snack of Hello Kitty Pop Tarts...

Bon Appetit!

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Headlines

Did you know Shiite Islam is illegal in Saudi Arabia?
A good background article. One wonders if the increase in combat troops is Bush trying to calm down the Saudi's worries that the Shiites, now tired of "insurgent" attacks, are now seeking revenge.

Spengler has more.

And Pajamas media has several reports that "insurgents" are fleeing Baghdad..

As for the troop buildup, what I haven't seen mentioned is that the increase is for 20 000 COMBAT troops; the dirty little secret is that for every soldier in combat, there are 10 or 20 non combat personnel. All soliders are not created equal....And another dirty little secret is that many of these "non combat" positions are being filled by hiring civilians...That's why you always hear about Egyptian or Turkish truck drivers being kidnapped....


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Is Castro dying because he was too proud to wear a colostomy bag? My comments are HERE...
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The internet to China and the Philippines is partly fixed...still slow. Did anyone in the news cover it in the USA? Just wondering...

Dog philosophy

Dog Philosophy
There is more truth than poetry in some of the sayings

The reason a dog has so many friends is that he wags his tail instead of his tongue.
-Anonymous

Don't accept your dog's admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful.
-Ann Landers

If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.
-Will Rogers

There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face.
-Ben Williams

A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.
-Josh Billings

The average dog is a nicer person than the average person.
-Andy Rooney

We give dogs time we can spare, space we can spare and love we can spare.
And in return, dogs give us their all. It's the best deal man has ever made.
-M. Acklam

Dogs love their friends and bite their enemies, quite unlike people,
who are incapable of pure love and always have to mix love and hate.
-Sigmund Freud
[See the attached file]
I wonder if other dogs think poodles are members of a weird religious cult.
-Rita Rudner

A dog teaches a boy fidelity, perseverance, and to turn around three times
before lying down. -Robert Benchley

Anybody who doesn't know what soap tastes like never washed a dog.
-Franklin P. Jones

If I have any beliefs about immortality, it is that certain dogs I have known
will go to heaven, and very, very few persons. -James Thurber

If your dog is fat, you aren't getting enough exercise
-Unknown

My dog is worried about the economy because Alpo is up to $3.00 a can.
That's almost $21.00 in dog money. -Joe Weinstein

Ever consider what our dogs must think of us? I mean, here we come from a
grocery with the most amazing haul, chicken, pork, half a cow. They must think
we're the greatest hunters on earth! -Anne Tyler

Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.
-Robert A. Heinlein

If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you; that is the
principal difference between a dog and a man. -Mark Twain

You can say any foolish thing to a dog, and the dog will give you a look that says,
'Wow, you're right! I never would've thought of that!' - Dave Barry

Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.
-Roger Caras

If you think dogs can't count, try putting three dog biscuits in your pocket and then
give him only two of them. -Phil Pastoret

your email of the day from Col Updraft.

Family photos from Chicago

Chona sent these photos by email.
I'm just posting here for an easy link for family members.

Image hosted by Webshots.com
by crdavid54
my photos will be posted soon.

The good news is that we now are back on line (TADA).

The bad news is that I have 5000 emails to go through

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

well, at least I can get my yahoo mail

No internet at home but I can get my email now, and the internet at the mall is fast again.
Bad news: 100 emails.

Hopefully we will be back on line in a week or so.

Friday, January 12, 2007

Well, we have a little mail

The good news: For the first time in three weeks I have internet.

I actually got yahoo email open.

The bad news: No internet at home yet.

We are well.

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Internet still down

I'm at the intenet cafe and Yahoo is still not posting so I can't get my email.

The internet at the house won't work at all, and they are checking if it is the telephone line or the internet cable to Manila overloaded.

SIGH.

Nothing new here.

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Internet still down.

It's hell getting the news from CNN Int.

The spin on S.H. being executed showed one hour ofhim in his glory, but not one of the 300 plus mass graves...and they NEVER bother to say the "Arab" press is by government owned and operated media, not free press... The best news is that it pissed off the Saudis. They hyperventillate over Sadam but never about "honor killing" or about OFW who are killed...

Monday, January 01, 2007

Family news

Internet still out. Yahoo mail unavailable, and having trouble with Hotmail. Google is okay.

We stayed up last night to greet the new year. Firecrackers galore, and all the dogs hid under Lolo's bed. Some kids shot out our light by placing firecrackers below the lamps and setting off the firecrackers.

We are all well.