Haggenwyn Farms

He Lied, Fish Died

2006-05-14T20:48:00.000-04:00

As reported last week Dubya told a German newspaper that the highpoint of his Presidency was catching a 7.5 pound perch in his private (stocked) lake.
Bill Maher caught Bush in a lie. The largest perch ever caught is a little under four pounds for a white perch, and just over 4 pounds for a yellow perch. Of course if it was a Nile Perch all bets are off. (I don't think it is).

Of course, here is a picture of a White perch and here is one of a yellow perch. My best guess is a bad translation from the german.

Here is official Whitehouse transcript

The best moment was -- you know, I've had a lot of great moments. I don't know, it's hard to characterize the great moments. They've all been busy moments, by the way. I would say the best moment was when I caught a seven-and-a-half pound large mouth bass on my lake. (Laughter.)

So, it seems the official line is it is a Large-mouth bass.
But it don't don't look like one to me nor does it look like a small mouth bass. It does look like a Striped Bass Hybrid.
More accurately I think it is a Palmetto Bass
This is a dilettante fish.
And it's the best moment of his adminstration.

Feh.

What About the One that Got Away?

2006-05-08T08:22:00.000-04:00

High Point of Bush's Presidency catching a 7.5 pound perch in his own lake.

Not finding this guy
not a big deal.

The Right Way to Learn Calculus

2006-05-05T10:40:00.000-04:00

Ahh d/dx

Also, those mighty Beavers of M.I.T. go into battle chanting this...

"E to the U, dU dX, E to the X, dX
Cosine! Secant! Tangent! Sine!
3-point-1-4-1-5-9!
Integral! Radical! µ, DV
Slipstick! Slide rule! M.I.T.!"

One of the many problems in this country is our lack of basic, and advanced, math skills. We dumb down how we teach. When I was in HS, we had to do logarithms in with a table. Now you can use a calculator.

I have a Ph.D. in Chemistry and I failed calculus in College (the first time). Of course, I learned practical calculus for PChem and in grad school, so I am a functionally literate calculus-or, but that's about it.

Favorite Lyric

2006-04-26T09:37:00.000-04:00

Well, to have a little fun, I am listening to my CD player, and right now the Fun Loving Criminals are on it...
I think one of the best lyrics ever written is

"running around,
robbing banks,
whacked on Scooby Snacks..."

Any other votes?

Save the Internet

2006-04-24T13:22:00.000-04:00

Save the Internet

Nobody in their un-TeleComm-Lined mind can possibly think this is a good idea.

Please take action.

Neanderthal in Sports...Shocking

2006-04-24T11:00:00.000-04:00

Hernandez a Doofus

And she ranks ahead of the video coordinator on the org chart.

And, well, she plays a crucial role:

The Padres also are relying on their full-time massage therapist, Kelly Calabrese, who has earned a reputation for hamstring maintenance. Two players who came to the club with a history of hamstring problems, Jay Payton and Dave Roberts, suffered no DL-caliber hamstring injuries in their first season with the Padres. “Kelly is phenomenal,” Roberts said. Her regulars this year likely will include Sledge, who in May had surgery to repair a torn right hamstring.

Hernandez was a good player... to me the most notable thing about his career was that 1984-86 he batted .310, .309, and .311. Even neater, in two of those years, 84 and 86, he OBP'd .409 and .413, and SLG'd .449 and .446. That's consistency.

But "a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small mind".

Small mind indeed.

Shouldn't Grampa be asleep in front of the TV...

2006-04-21T13:59:00.000-04:00

...not in a White House Briefing?

Rules to Have Sex by

2006-04-20T12:20:00.000-04:00

Satan's gonna get yer nuts

"Moon's warning to America is that we must have sex the way he entreats us, in the positions he has designated, or else forfeit our "love organs," as he dubs them, to the dark lord Satan.
After the act of love," read the instructions from the Rev. Moon's
conservative Family Federation, "both spouses should wipe their sexual areas
with the Holy Handkerchief. Hang the handkerchief[s] to dry naturally and keep
them eternally. They must be kept individually labeled and should never be
laundered and mixed up.
The women are the problem in history," he said in 2004. "Women who don't want to have children should cut away their breasts, bottoms and love organ because the purpose for those was first for the children. If they don't fulfill that purpose, then they are not needed."

A Wiki Guide to "The Master". And that, boys and girls, is why you should listen to America's Taliban.

Well...DUH!!!

2006-04-20T08:38:00.000-04:00

Worst.President.Ever

What about those Other 364 Days

2006-04-19T08:09:00.000-04:00

The Easter Bunny Hates you

Savior on a Stick

2006-04-14T08:07:00.000-04:00

The General hits Passover right on the head.

I wasn't back home more than a few minutes before Ofjoshua was dragging me off to a Passover Seder. It's an old Christian custom where everybody eats crackers, horseradish, and some kind of jellyfish.

Also, I got my first real dose of midwestern living yesterday, a girl (maybe 6) asked me yesterday at TKD what I gave up for Lent. I told her that I was Jewish (for demographic purposes only). I think I literally saw her brain explode as for possibly the first time in her life she met an "Other". I was feeling nice, so I didn't add my usual, "We are the ones who killed you savior."

Listening to the radio on the way in this morning, the usual morning banter centered around Good Friday. Well, they were talking about no meat on Fridays, and they couldn't figure out if the Last Supper had meat. Well, of course it had a paschal lamb AND Fish, the Jellyfish that the General mentions. It is really amazing how little people know about Easter.

Yellow Belt Achieved

2006-04-04T09:22:00.000-04:00

You may have been following Ben and my efforts towards Taekwondo yellow belt. Well, we did it.
Ben's Taeguk Il Jang (First Form) was the best he had ever done.

When it came time to break the board, Ben was the second one up...and on the very first kick he broke his board (he is holding it in the photo above). You should have seen his face, I have never seen a bigger smile on his face.

Next stop, Green Tip.

Hippie Father Found Out in Oklahoma

2006-03-22T11:45:00.000-05:00

Toddler wanders into Strip Club

Christopher Greg Killion, 31, was arrested Saturday on a complaint of "encouraging a minor child to be in need of supervision."

This totally flies in the face of the Conservative world view of Personal Responsibility. Equally shocking is that this took place in very red, Oklahoma. I place the blame for this at the feet of the liberal academic mind-controllers that David Horowitz points out in his new book. I mean no one should encourage a child to be in need of supervision, they should be encouraging them to be independent and not rely on others. Obviously Mr. Killion (sounds French to me) is a liberal, tree-hugging, America-hating hippie liberal.

The only good news is that whiney kid will probably grow up to be a good Conservative.

Taekwondo Update II

2006-03-17T08:47:00.000-05:00

As reported here, Ben and I are making great TKD progress.

As you can see, Ben now has all three stripes, and we will be testing for our Yellow Belts on March 31.
Ben is doing great, his Form 1, kicking pattern, and one steps are looking very good.
For the test, however, we need to shadow spar (no actual hitting) and break a board with a sidekick. Master Brochin said that he thinks Ben will be able to do it.
Wish us luck.

Hamster Tracker

2006-03-15T08:22:00.000-05:00

There are INSANE pet owners out there. For example, This guy who has electronic monitoring of his pet hamster. Okay, this is slightly neurotic, but actually very very funny.

(Hattip to Cuteoverload for the link)

V for Vendetta

2006-03-13T08:33:00.000-05:00

After reading this, I decided to go out and purchase a copy prior to seeing the movie.
The trailer is here

I bought the book yesterday, and started reading it last night.
WOW!!
The genre takes some time to get used to since a lot of the plot occurs in the drawings, and not via text, but once you get into the rhythm, it is amazing. Simply amazing. I have always liked comic books, but I was never one of the "Holden and Banky" types. I appreciated the art form, and really dug the X-men (I remember reading them at Camp Kennebec, borrowing them from a friend who had the whole collection.)
If the movie is half as good as the book, then it should be mindblowing.

Update (060317): I finished the book. It was really, really good. And the movie comes out today. I hope to be able to see it.

Update (060324): I saw the movie. I really, REALLY liked it. They changed it a little...but nothing too horrible. I think people will go expecting the Matrix 4 and be disappointed. I literally had tears in my eyes at the end, not because of V's demise, but at the power of the people overcoming tyranny.

Soap Blogging

2006-03-07T09:32:00.000-05:00

You may or may not know, but I am a Soaper. I have been making all of our soap since 1999 or so. The impetus for this was when Erica came home with a very expensive (8$) bar of glycerine soap. While it was pretty, I said, darn it, I am a chemist, I can do this. So I did. Erica was very supportive especially when I told her that the main ingredient in all store bought soap is tallow. That was enough for my vegetarian wife.
All of the soap we have made since then has been 100% pure vegetable oil soap. We started making soaps with a large percentage of soybean oil, but it is just a filler, and the most luxurious soaps have no fillers.
We primarily use four oils in our soap: Coconut oil, Palm Oil, Avacado oil and Olive oil. I have two main recipes I use, the PCO (Palm, Coconut, Olive) and "Baby Soap" (Olive and avocado).
I can send recipes and directions for those interested in making their own soaps.
I get all of my supplies (oils, fancy additives like mango butter, shea butter, cocoa butter, etc.) from Majestic Mountain Sage.
This past weekend, Ben and I made soap. (We have been doing melt-and-pour soap with him as a craft, but it isn't real soap in my eyes.) He loved it and said he likes it better than melt-and-pour.

How to make Soap (with pictures)
For cold process soap you first need Fat, typically 2/3 solid at room temperature (RT), 1/3 liquid at RT (on the floor stacked in the pic). N.B. The proper eye protection worn by Ben.

For the first one, we broke that rule (but it was based upon a recipe at MMS). This soap is Coconut, Palm, and Palm Kernel oil, with 4 oz of Mango Butter.

The fats are all melted at about 120-125°F (50°C). As the fat is melting, you need to ready your molds. I use a combination of gladware, premade molds, and PVC pipe (held by our model, Ben).

Then you add a lye solution that has been cooled to about the same temperature as the fat. The process of saponification begins immediately.
Using your handy-dandy-10$-at-Target hand blender, start mixing. This is important becuase if you want to be old-school it can take you an hour to reach "trace".

This is what "trace" looks like. The oil-lye mixture has the consistency of thick pudding. You add your scents here (and they can accelerate trace, so it is best to do it before thick trace.) For this batch we used Awapuhi Seaberry FO.

Then, pour into the molds, cover with saran wrap. This part is important because lye (NaOH) can also react with the CO2 in the air and create sodium bicarbonate. While this is a harmless white solid that brushes off the finished soap it also diverts the lye from reacting with the fat, and your supperfatted soap can end up being more than supperfatted, it can be oily and greasy and just plain yucky.
This is what the soap looks like right after it goes into the molds.

Then... BOOYA!!! the science starts. The lye reacts with the fat and a tremendous amount of heat is released. The heat of fusion is ~175kJ/kg for the mix of acids in these fats. We made ~2 kilos of soap here, which means we are generating ~300-325 kJ from this reaction which is why the soap is melting.

It is important to conserve the heat here because if the soap gets cool before all the lye has reacted, you can get very harsh soap, and you may even get pockets of unreacted lye in the finished soap.

After this, you let the soap cool overnight. Take off the plastic the next day and put it somewhere to "ripen". During this time, the soap will lose excess water and eventually it will pop out of the mold. Then you use a sharp knife to cut into the appropriate size.

Credit Card Debt Means You Love America

2006-03-03T09:39:00.000-05:00

Don't Pay Off your Credit Cards Unless you Hate America

I wish this were an Onion story. With tax refunds, and bonuses for those of us lucky to get them, coming in this season, I would expect that a lot of people will be paying down credit card debt.
We are planning on paying off the credit card completely this month.

I just hope I don't get shipped to Gitmo

What is Love?

2006-02-24T12:02:00.000-05:00

This is.

I heard this on NPR this morning driving to work, and it brought me to tears.

Love is the romantic weather report, offering ice cream late at night, and so much more...

Proud to be from Rhode Island

2006-02-22T14:00:00.000-05:00

Well, the latest polling data is out. No state hates Preznit Chimpie more than Rhode Island. A mere 25% of the state approves of him. In fact, in only 8 states does the majority approve of him, led by progressive states Utah and Idaho, as if the Mormons and Napoleon Dynamite weren't enough to be ashamed of.
Rhode Island is Blue as Blue can be, dating back to the founding of this country, Lil Rhody has been about Personal Freedom. It was the last state to ratify the constitution over concerns about a Federal Government impinging on State's Rights (of course that state right was corruption). Anyhoo...

So, RI has decided to take that State's Right focus to Washington and has started a move towards impeachment proceedings. Sheeler is the third man in the Democratic Primary to take out abortion-rights in name only supporter, Lincoln Chaffee so probably has no chance to win, but Swamp Yankees do like to say "Fuck You" to the Man (see the re-election of Buddy Cianci).

Yay to Rhode Island.

I wonder how those Federalist Society members will feel about this?

Hilarious...DubaiGate

2006-02-22T13:55:00.000-05:00

NC Rep to Bush in response to letting a Foreign Government linked to al-Qaida control our major ports. (Hat tip to dKos)

Thou Shalt Not Kill

2006-02-22T09:16:00.000-05:00

Medical Doctors in California have decided that assisting in revised lethal injections is unethical.

I couldn't be happier. The Death Penalty is barbaric. Here is Amnesty International's fact sheet.
The scariest facts:

During 2004, at least 3,797 people were executed in 25 countries and at least 7,395 people were sentenced to death in 64 countries. These were only minimum figures; the true figures were certainly higher.
In 2004, 97 per cent of all known executions took place in China, Iran, Viet Nam and the USA.

China has killed the most, 3400 is the AI estimate. Iran is second with 159. Viet Nam and the US are are a close 3 and 4 (64 to 59). But I think the US can catch the world...

60 prisoners were executed in the USA in 2005, bringing the year-end total to 1004 executed since the use of the death penalty was resumed in 1977.
Around 3,400 prisoners were under sentence of death as of 1 January 2006.
38 of the 50 US states provide for the death penalty in law. The death penalty is also provided under US federal military and civilian law.

Those people who say it deters more violence, well that just isn't supported by the facts. What really gets me is the "Eye for an Eye" crowd obviously haven't actually read the bible.

Matthew 5:38

Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

The very next sentence says that "Eye for an Eye" is evil. I mean, shit, this is the Sermon on the Mount. That's pretty much the Gettysburg Address of Christianity. If you disagree with this, well, you think Jesus is the shortstop for the Royals. I mean we get the Beatitudes from this here speechifying.

Just a little bit of the way down from the Beatitudes, but the same freakin' chapter, and BEFORE the eye for an eye bit...

5:19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

So, what is Jesus referring to? Well, best I can figure, the commandments are the Ten Commandments!!

Not Killing...that's Number 6 on the Top Ten Things That Piss Off God (or Yahweh). I figure that has primacy in terms of biblical dictates. Even if you consider the Sermon on the Mount to be the Christian midrash I would say that it is pretty clear that killing people, especially for revenge is frowned upon by the Father AND the Son. Even if the Holy Spirit has a vote, its still 2-1 against killing others.
Think about the hypocrisy in the "Culture of Life" as espoused by most right wing Christians in this country. It is a paramount mission to save the "Unborn", but it is alright to kill someone for a crime. The Catholic Church (which is pretty much completely out of sync with the modern world) has at least a coherent position: Pro-Life means anti-death penalty, anti-abortion, anti-war.

So, pretty much it boils down to "Don't Kill".

For me, my opposition to the death penalty also hits upon some pretty fundamental aspects of being human. We are fallible. Our jurisprudence is based upon the belief that 50 guilty people should go free so that one innocent person is not falsely imprisoned.
Virginia is retesting old DNA evidence. Kudos the #2 Institutional Killer for shining some light on a flawed system. To date, two people who were convicted and had already served their terms were found to have been innocent. That's 2 of 31 RANDOMLY chosen cases. To me, that's 2 too many, to our Founding Fathers, that's 2 too many. Many people point to the post-facto confirmation of the guilt of a man who was put to death. You could hear the collective sigh of relief from every pro-killing person.
The ultimate punishment should not cause people to be worried about the outcomes of a reevaluation of the evidence used to convict someone to death. Transparency should be welcomed, if not for legal CYA, then at least for moral surety.

In summary, we convict people who are innocent. We kill more people every year except for three other countries. We are going against a fundamental judeo-christian tenet.

Can anyone help me out why we should be executing people?

Taekwondo Update

2006-02-22T09:13:00.000-05:00

As reported last week, Ben got his first stripe. I got my first one last Saturday, and my second one (for my kicking form) yesterday. I think we will both test for our yellow belts at the end of March.
I will add the pictures of us in our uniforms later.

Ben Moves Toward Taekwondo Supremacy

2006-02-16T09:31:00.000-05:00

Ben earned his first stripe in Taekwondo last night. It took him many tries, and he still needs to polish it, but he earned it in time to take it to school today for Show and Tell. He is enormously proud, and so are we.

I am also taking Taekwondo, and I hope to get my first stripe for successfully mastering Taeguk Il Jang, or my first form. In addition to the martial art of Taekwondo, Ben is learning Korean counting because Master Brochin gives us commands and counts in Korean. Master Brochin is a fascinating guy. Besides being an avid outdoorsman, who has a TV show, a falconer, he is an excellent teacher.

Yes We Do Torture

2006-02-15T09:21:00.000-05:00

Abu Graib Photos Released!!!

WARNING: These are graphic and not for the faint of heart.

If you can look at these photos and not be ashamed to be an American, you are a better person than I. Even the most rabid Cultists have to admit these photos are disgusting, and absolutely unamerican. TheU.N. thinks we torture, Amnesty International does (in June '05), and the list goes on.

Of course, Preznit Chimpie thinks AI is living in a "pre-9/11" mindest:

The latest denunciation [of Amnesty International] came from Bush himself during a White House press conference Tuesday. ''I'm aware of the Amnesty International report, and it's absurd. The United States is a country that promotes freedom around the world,'' he said, adding that Washington had ''investigated every single complaint against (sic) the detainees.''
...

In their view, Amnesty, ''is trapped in a 20th-century mindset where the greatest threat to individual life and liberty stemmed from the actions of sovereign governments. That is simply no longer the case.'' NGOs, they added, ''simply do not consider that the defense of the American population, and the vindication of each individual's right to live without the threat or actuality of terrorist attack, is their problem -- and it is time they did.''

The backatcha from AI:

''It is worth also worth noting,'' stressed Schulz, ''that this administration never finds it 'absurd' when we criticize Cuba or China, or when we condemned the violations in Iraq under Saddam Hussein.''

UPDATE: Salon.com has ALL of the Abu Ghraib photos. These are the ones that the ACLU sued to get, and yet they had to be leaked. I don't think they hate us for our freedom...

Bird Shot at 30 yards

2006-02-14T18:45:00.000-05:00

28 Gauge at 30 Yards

So, despite conspiracy theories, 200 pellets would hit the neck and torso at 30 yards...

Blue Dog For NOLA

2006-02-14T11:44:00.000-05:00

Blue Dog Relief

George Rodrigue, the guy who paints Blue Dog, is trying to help raise money for rebuilding the NO Museum of Art...becuase, well, you know, the Goverment fucked up anything else it tried to fix.

I wish I had the money to buy one, I like blue dog, I think in large part because it is rumored that Blue Dog is part corgi...

Let's Find the Zartlers!!!

2006-02-13T12:51:00.000-05:00

Zartlers in the World
Join my Frappr map of Zartler's and help me to generate a world wide Zartlermap.

Add a comment to this post on the blog so I can track who is joining.

Best News of the Year

2006-02-13T11:48:00.000-05:00

The Truck leaves Fenway Today

Only 5 days until pitchers and catchers report. YAY

The Sox have a totally new infield, Lowell (Fla-trade), Alex Gonzalez (Fla-FA), Loretta (SD-trade), and Youkilis (bench in '05). Coco Crisp takes over in CF for the dearly departed JD.
I am cuckoo for Coco.
Add Josh Beckett to the rotation.

Wow, I will have a more in depth analysis after P&C report.

See Dick Hunt

2006-02-12T21:27:00.000-05:00

Don't be a Dick

The CEO Administration?

2006-02-10T13:13:00.000-05:00

Not so Much"Heckuva Job" Brownie says he told the CEO administration the levees were breached and NOLA was drowning on August 29.

``If I've told Joe Hagin or Andy Card, I've told the president,'' Brown responded.

White House spokesman Scott Mcclellan said he couldn't comment on Brown's statements because he hadn't seen them. He said the Bush administration was far less concerned with the cause of the flooding than the flooding itself.

This best analogy I can come up with is that they wanted to cleanup the flooded basement, and to hell with the pipe that has sprung a leak?
Here is the Katrina Timeline. Note that on August 28, at 1am, Katrina is a Cat4 storm. 7 hours later she is a Cat 5. 4 hours later Preznit Chimpie is briefed. 18 hours later Katrina, back to Cat 4, makes landfall. 29 hours from Cat4 to landfall and the Preznit stays on vacation, Condi buys Ferragamo, and Dick and Andy are off flyfishing or some such.
Boy that is some efficient administration there.

Right Wing is...as Right Wing Says

2006-02-10T11:44:00.000-05:00

Rightwingerssaywhat? And just remember, you can't say this in a not-free country.

Rightwingersdowhat?
Well, sell your National Forests...
Or equate Wingnuts from any country or religion with representing everyone in that country or religion.

My sick-of-this-crapometer is pegged at this point.

Lost World...Found.

2006-02-10T08:24:00.000-05:00

WOW!!
Pix Here
Map Here scroll Down some

Summary of their findings:

A new species of honeyeater, the first new bird species discovered on the island of New Guinea since 1939
The formerly unknown breeding grounds of a "lost" bird of paradise - the six-wired bird of paradise (Parotia berlepschi)
First photographs of the golden-fronted bowerbird displaying at its bower.
A new large mammal for Indonesia, the golden-mantled tree kangaroo (Dendrolagus pulcherrimus)
More than 20 new species of frogs, including a tiny microhylid frog less than 14mm long
A series of previously undescribed plant species, including five new species of palms
A remarkable white-flowered rhododendron with flower about 15cm across
Four new butterfly species.

In fourty years the rainforests will be gone. Of course, the number of species that we are killing off, is miniscule compared to the total number of species that have been killed off in the history of the earth.

One of the interesting readings of the Gaia Hypothesis is that you cannot hurt the earth and saving single species or hundreds of species is a waste of resources. In fact, maintaining the earth for human compatability (i.e. slowing or stopping global warming) is totally anthropocentric.

Gaia cares not if humans live on it, in fact you could interpret Global Warming as a fever induced by a virus. Let's have Agent Smith explain:

Agent Smith (to Morpheus chained): I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species. I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You move to an area, and you multiply, and multiply, until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet, you are a plague, and we are the cure.

So, you can take several views of the world, as Gaia, the eternal living mother, or the
Fragile Blue Orb.

I for one, tend to take the Good Mother Gaia view, but want to protect the environment, stop global warming, protect endangered species for purely selfish reasons. So, let's be honest, the Spotted Owl, Iowa Pleistocene Snail, and other endangered or threatened species don't need to be saved for their sakes, they need to be saved for our sakes.
To paraphrase Gandhi (I think), we are judged not how we treat the strongest members of society but our weakest. I take a very Jainist view of the world, every living thing is part of the biosphere, and part of our society.

Are We Safer Yet?

2006-02-06T08:42:00.000-05:00

It is a threat to the President to be Brown in America.

For close to an hour the man, who was born in India but is an American citizen, was questioned by the Police, who thought he resembled someone on a Secret Service photo watch list...

Welcome to the Gulag Archipelago. They are giving out $$$ to Build them.

In another shining example of modern day corporate fascism, it was announced recently that Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown and Root had been awarded a $385 million dollar contract by Homeland Security to construct detention and processing facilities in the event of a national emergency.

Concurrently in the US, a new provision in the extended Patriot Act bill would allow Secret Service agents to arrest and jail protesters accused of breaching any security perimeter, even if the President or any other protected official isn't present. The definition of 'free speech zones' can be shifted around loosely and this would open the floodgates for protesters to be grabbed and hauled away in any circumstance at the whim of the Secret Service.

If you build it, they will come.

Of course, if expediency needs it, Terrorists Go Free.
If he calls someone in the US for help Bush Will Hear, illegally of couse.

Masturbate for Peace

2006-02-03T13:10:00.000-05:00

I Cum for Peace
Ahhhh, the Peace Movement has it all over the warmongers when it comes to funny.

"All we are saying, is give Peace a Hand."

Tae Kwiznon Do

2006-02-03T12:52:00.000-05:00

Ben n I have both started tak'n Tae Kizzy Do . Ben started three weeks ago, I have been at it almost a week and yo momma. There is parts of mah body which is sore, which I didn't even know could be sore fo gettin yo pimp on. Brotha we both love it fo gettin yo pimp on. Ben thinks its bootylicious ta have D-A-Double-Dizzy in class, D-A-Double-Dizzy loves doing it, tha martial arts being sum-m sum-m that has always interested me and yo momma. Masta Eddie Brochin is our poser a fifth degree black bizzy in tha WTF.

Coz of its focus on safe sparr'n tournaments, it has been criticized by some fo` steppin' (although not eliminat'n) combat or self-defense train'n .

Boo-Yaa!. I am all `bout that. The class is focused on creation of forms n skill, not whack'n tha bejeezus out of yo killa inexperience classmates . They call me tha black folks president. As P-to-tha-izzart of tha chillin' fo` mobbin' in belts, you git ta whack tha S-H-to-tha-izzit out of boards, good ole fashioned Kizzle Fu style. How coo` is that?

(Translation Courtesy of Gizoogle)

Tae Kwon Do

2006-02-03T12:38:00.000-05:00

Ben and I have both started taking Tae Kwon Do. Ben started three weeks ago, I have been at it almost a week. There are parts of my body which are sore, which I didn't even know could be sore. However, we both love it. Ben thinks its great to have Daddy in class, Daddy loves doing it, the martial arts being something that has always interested me.
Master Eddie Brochin is our teacher, a fifth degree black belt in the WTF.

Because of its focus on safe sparring tournaments, it has been criticized by some for de-emphasizing (although not eliminating) combat or self-defense training.

I am all about that.
The class is focused on creation of forms and skill, not whacking the bejeezus out of your other inexperience classmates. As part of the testing for advancing in belts, you get to whack the shit out of boards, good ole fashioned Kung Fu style. How cool is that?

Gearing Up for Spring Training

2006-02-01T09:04:00.000-05:00

Shirts Available Here

I'll bet you one Eliza Dushku. Care to raise?

Republican Dictionary

2006-02-01T08:54:00.000-05:00

What Chimpy Really Said

State of the Union Day After

2006-02-01T08:27:00.000-05:00

Erica and started playing the State of the Union drinking game, but it just turned into drinking all the time, mostly to dull the slow, painful throb in my head from listening to Dumbya.

Arianna has the goods, with a real good list of guest bloggers. Harry Reid, Russ Feingold, Nancy Pelosi, John Conyers, and Bob Barr.

As for the speech, the signature moment was the Democrats applauding him when he said Congress didn't pass my Social Security Reforms. Man, he looked flummoxed after that.
And for those of you who think we aren't heading for a police state, Cindy Sheehan was arrested for wearing a shirt!!!
And yet, there was the happy prop family of the Fallen Marine®. Gag me with a spoon.

Cry for America

2006-01-31T12:09:00.000-05:00

The Senate has confirmed the Supreme Wingnut

Kiss your beloved freedoms goodbye.

And it will on get worse if (M)AnnCoulter starts making dinners for the Supremes.

Anybody know if they are hiring in Canuckia?

State of the Union

2006-01-30T08:11:00.000-05:00

In Preparation for tomorrow's SOTU, I thought I would update those of you who are unaware of its state, minus the rhetoric.

We are bankrupt, having maxed out our credit cards and actually breaking the law, technically.

Factoring out the plundering of excess social security contributions, the US government borrowed $52B in 3Q05, $96B in 4Q05 and expects to borrow $171B in 1Q06. A trend nearly as mind-boggling as the soon to be discontinued M3 series.

Pick your healthcare provider carefully, they could refuse to care for you.

More than a dozen states are considering new laws to protect health workers who do not want to provide care that conflicts with their personal beliefs, a surge of legislation that reflects the intensifying tension between asserting individual religious values and defending patients' rights.

About half of the proposals would shield pharmacists who refuse to fill prescriptions for birth control and "morning-after" pills because they believe the drugs cause abortions. But many are far broader measures that would shelter a doctor, nurse, aide, technician or other employee who objects to any therapy. That might include in-vitro fertilization, physician-assisted suicide, embryonic stem cells and perhaps even providing treatment to gays and lesbians.

But if you are poor, it won't matter, because you will be without medical care.

Politics are changing. The grassroots are on fire trying to press for a filibuster of Alito. Jane, Kos, Sen. John Kerry, and others are leading this charge. Mr Aravosis has refused to enter the fray, and to many of the regular readers of his blog, to their great dismay. I will say this once, and again, its his blog and he can do what he wants with it, but I for one have lost quite a bit of respect for him. As one commenter said, maybe if Alito had ruled more vigorously against Gays John would be involved. I think John has greater career aspirations than being a blogger.

The war in Iraq is going great. Help support the troops by buying them the body armor the Army won't maybe they can find the squandered money, which is nothing compared to the billions stolen. And the poster boys are coming home with PTSD

The man in the photograph is James Blake Miller, now 21, and he is an icon, although in ways Rather probably never imagined.

He's quieter now -- easier to anger. He turns to fight at the sound of a backfire, can't look at fireworks without thinking of fire raining down on a city. He has trouble sleeping, and when he does, his fingers twitch on invisible triggers.

The diagnosis: post-traumatic stress disorder.

At home on the political front, Bush has bought off the Abramoff prosecutor with a judgeship.

Of course, if you are planning on watching the real SOTU, at least have some fun.

2006-01-25T09:49:00.000-05:00

50 Worst People 2005 Version

39. Dr. David Hager

Charges: A Bush appointee to the FDA who was the key figure in its rejection of emergency oral contraceptive Plan B as an over the counter drug, which Hager bragged was the second time in fifty years the FDA has ruled against the overwhelming approval of its own advisory committee. The author of books like Stress and the Woman’s Body and As Jesus Cared for Women, Hager repeatedly sodomized his ex-wife for years against her will, alternately apologizing for or denying it when confronted by her, offering excuses like "You asked me to do that" and "Oh, I didn’t mean to have anal sex with you; I can’t feel the difference," she told The Nation. Seems a bit fishy, a supposed authority on women’s health who can’t detect such a significant distinction with his most sensitive instrument.

Exhibit A: "My official comment is that I decline to comment."

Sentence: A three-day group ramming by the multi-dildoed Oregon chapter of NOW, after which Hager will walk with a pronounced limp, never to regain control of his sphincter, and discover himself to be inexplicably pregnant.

33. Johnny Damon

Charges: Any baseball player with highlights in his hair should be faced with the same penalty system applied to those using performance-enhancing steroids. It’s ruining the game. And if a ball player is going to grow a beard, it should be a Charlie Manson/Thurman Munson scraggle of bushy whiskers, not a neatly manicured and softly conditioned frame for your pretty face. The only thing that got Damon to step into line and quit hair-farming was a 52 million dollar check from the New York Yankees. Boston prayed for the multi-bladed Gillette that officially made him a Yankee to slip while gliding over his Adam’s apple and spill his lifeblood into the bathroom sink.

Exhibit A: Going from the Red Sox to the Yankees is like fucking the guy that murdered your husband.

Sentence: Killed by barrage of hurled D cell batteries when he takes the field at Fenway next season.

15. Karl Rove

Charges: A greasy pig whose only distinction in life is his total lack of decency. Rove is decidedly not a genius; he is simply missing the part of his soul that prevents the rest of us from kicking elderly women in the face. His admirers have elevated fanatical, amoral ambition to the status of a virtue, along with lying, cheating, and negligent homicide, all in the name of "values." Quite possibly the worst person in the worst White House in American history.

Exhibit A: "As people do better, they start voting like Republicans - unless they have too much education and vote Democratic, which proves there can be too much of a good thing."

Sentence: Lowered head first into oil refinery smokestack.

5. Tom Delay

Charges: A politician so horrible, his prior career as an exterminator constitutes fratricide. Smiled for his mug shot like it was a campaign poster. Asked three young Katrina evacuees, “Now tell me the truth, boys, is this kind of fun?” One of an elite handful of white Americans still engaged in the time-honored tradition of screwing over Indians. Responding to a request he extinguish his cigar in a restaurant in accordance with federal regulations, Delay replied, “I AM the federal government.” Claimed that there was “no fat left to cut” from the federal budget to offset New Orleans reconstruction costs. So arrogant in abuse of power that he doesn’t even take time to construct plausible lies.

Exhibit A: Explaining his failure to enlist during Vietnam: "So many minority youths had volunteered…that there was literally no room for patriotic folks like myself."

Sentence: Bashed to death with hammer.

Anybody here Surprised?

2006-01-25T08:21:00.000-05:00

Latest Defense of Illegal FISA Workaround a Lie

This is an excellent breakdown of the latest case the Crooked Administration is trying to convince the American Public with. Lies, lies, lies.

Somebody, somewhere, please tell me how ILLEGAL warrantless wiretaps have made us safer.

States Rights Forever

2006-01-25T08:00:00.000-05:00

Bush Can be Impeached by a State
RI, VT, HI, and MA all have veto-proof majorities in their state houses, and therefore could impeach Chimpy McSmirker, over the objections of their Republican Governors.
So, contact your state representatives, or friends in those states, and have them contact their representatives.
I wonder how the Republicans feel about State's rights now.

33rd Anniversary of Roe v. Wade +1day

2006-01-23T21:27:00.000-05:00

Celebrate Women's Freedom Today it may not last

Even St. Thomas Aquinas -- arguably the most influential theologian in Roman Catholic Christianity -- did not consider a fetus human until the quickening [24 weeks].

This was the way it was for the most part until 1869. That's when Pope Pius IX declared all abortion to be homicide.

Your Future Corrupt Majority Leaders

2006-01-20T14:02:00.000-05:00

Whose Makeup is Worse?

Of course hearing these guys talk about reform is like Paris Hilton talking about living the Purpose Driven Life.

No Protesting Death in Indiana

2006-01-20T07:44:00.000-05:00

Here in RedState Indiana it will soon be a Class D Felony (that's 3 years in the pokey and 10k$) to protest at Funerals.

Why does a state have to pass such a law?

Well, for the non-cognoscenti, it because of Uber-Wingnut Fred Phelps who says that military deaths are because the military doesn't hate gays enough. Well, I for one, am actually happy that this state has finally found something so abhorrent that they take a stand against wingnuttiness. But (you know that was coming):

Gov. Mitch Daniels has not said whether he would sign the bill if it reaches his desk.
He called the group's behavior horrific but said government must be "very, very careful where genuine free speech rights on matters of public debate and consequence are concerned."
"I think the First Amendment occasionally has been used on behalf of things I don't believe James Madison and the other founders would have understood," Daniels said. "But this speech, however abhorrent, may well be covered by that."

Which makes a good point (did I just write that?). Isn't this just speech? Totally hatefilled, abhorrent speech, but constitutionally-protected speech nonetheless. In the article, they compare it to yelling "fire" in a crowded theater, but I think that doesn't make it past the laugh test. I don't see a panicked crowd trampling people at a protested funeral, unless of course it's to open a can of whoopass on Fred Phelps and supporters.

2006-01-19T12:56:00.000-05:00

To be completely self-referential, go here to read the First Amendment.

It's being attacked again!

``Google is not a party to this lawsuit, and the demand for the information is overreaching,'' Wong said.

of course, if you substitute "America" for "Google", and "Bush-Approved Wiretap" for "Lawsuit", well, it pretty much makes the quote about this entirely different story.

Liberal Media...My Ass

2006-01-18T08:52:00.000-05:00

Boycott CNN

White House Lies...Go Figure

2006-01-18T08:42:00.000-05:00

We said we would do it, before we said we wouldn't.

"I'm making sure that I have a thorough report back to you on that," he said in his press briefing Jan. 5. "And I'll get that to you, hopefully very soon."

McClellan said Tuesday [Jan 17] that he checked on it at reporters' requests, but wouldn't discuss the private staff-level meetings. "We are not going to engage in a fishing expedition," he said.

Gore Calls Bush a Dickhead

2006-01-17T13:54:00.000-05:00

Rudepundit has the shakedown on Gore's speech yesterday. Gore's speech rocked, and Rude has his fabulous spin on the whole thing:

But the other thing Gore is doing is good ol' locker room politics: he's calling Bush a dickhead. "You want threats?" Gore is saying. "Dude, you only gotta keep track of a couple hundred goatfuckers who shit in holes on the side of a mountain. Try dealin' with a few million Soviets. God, stop being a dickhead about it and just do your job without fucking up the joint too much, a'ight?"

And Bushlicker Gonzales tried to spin it.

Dayyyaam, how facts get in the way of good spin

Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick testified in 1994 that the President could conduct warrantless physical searches, before FISA required physical searches to be conducted pursuant to a warrant. Gorelick was arguing that the President could conduct warrantless physical searches in the absence of Congressional action. At no time did she suggest that, after Congress required the President to obtain a warrant, the executive branch could ignore the law, nor is there any evidence the Clinton administration failed to comply with FISA.

As the Rudepundit says:

Haven't things come to a strange pass when to be "radical" is to merely ask that the government of the nation respect its own laws?

England to Go To Hell

2006-01-17T12:49:00.000-05:00

While American's continue to gasp at the portrayal of Gosh, Real Life, England had decided that criminalizing prostitution just doesn't make sense. So they have legalized brothels.

Imagine that, legalization of "immoral" conduct so that you can protect the providers.

The strategy includes measures to encourage women to get help with drink or drug problems.

Wow, you mean help people, and not punish them. This country should follow the lead.

End of a Dynasty

2006-01-16T09:29:00.000-05:00

I have to write about the loss of the New England Patriots AND Indianapolis Colts in the playoffs this weekend. As a New England sports fan, I definitely have had a lot of reason to cheer lately, three of the past four superbowls were won by the "Patsies". The 2004 World Series of course being the highligh of my sports fan life. Times have been good, and to feel robbed or cheated because the Patriots didn't win the superbowl again is just plain greedy. It's been nice, but with the injuries this year, just having them make the second round has been great.
As for the game Saturday night, New England simply gave the game away, and credit to the Broncos, they took it. New England outgained the Broncos 420-286. That would lead you to believe that the Pats won, but, too many times the Patriots gave the Broncos the ball in NE's half of the field, you can't win many games that way.

The Colts on the other hand, I couldn't have rooted more for a team to lose than them. The Colts' fans are the among the most fairweather I have ever encountered (Those Falcons fans are first). They are like the rich kid who gets a great job thanks to Daddy, then lets you know how great his job is, when you spent your entire life working to get the same job. To quote Arianna, it's being born on third base and thinking you hit a triple.

All the talk in Indy this year is how the Colts were going to win it all, unstoppable offense, great defense, then San Diego came in and smacked them...
Of course, the Colts didn't need to win that game, so everyone wrote it off, continued talk of how great they were. Well, Manning is not clutch, he is 3-6 in his career in the playoffs. If he hears footsteps, he throws the ball a split earlier, and well if you watched the game yesterday, you know what that does.
Of course, I couldn't have been happier to see them lose, at HOME, in their first game of the playoffs. Of course, the Colts came back to make it a real game, and the Jerk Vanderjagt shanked a clutch kick. HAHA.

There is value in pain, "That which does not kill me only makes me stronger." If you don't share the pain, you have no right to the pleasure.

Weekly Weird January 16, 2006

2006-01-16T07:41:00.000-05:00

Past Weekly Weird

Gynecologists interviewed by The Wall Street Journal in December said business was booming for the $1,800 to $5,000 hymenoplasty (the re-creation of the hymen), for men who want to deflower their non-virgin women (surgery obviously good for one night only). [Agence France-Presse, 10-11-05, 10-17-05] [Wall Street Journal, 12-15-05]

In December, according to police in Jersey City, N.J., Roselean Walker, 36, sat at one screen in a movie cineplex with her boyfriend while her 11-year-old son watched the longer Harry Potter film at another screen, but after her movie ended, she tired of waiting for the son and went home with the boyfriend to New York City. When police called her the next morning to come pick up the boy, she demanded that they drive him home. After officers ordered her immediately to the station, she showed up in a bad mood, threatening a lawsuit for the inconvenience, and wound up being charged with assaulting an officer (in addition to endangering a child's welfare). [Jersey Journal, 12-9-05]

Animals Gone Wild: A billy goat reportedly attacked Zimbabwe's strong-arm President Robert Mugabe during a gas-station stop en route to the mountain resort of Nyanga in December, injuring Mugabe's scrotum and large bowel. [ZimDaily.com, 12-21-05]

How does one's scrotum and large bowel get injured by an attacking goat?

Can You Make him Sound Intelligent

2006-01-13T09:31:00.000-05:00

Bush Speechwriter

You Should be Worried

2006-01-13T08:19:00.000-05:00

Economy Go Boom

The gist of this is that as Americans, we spend too much, save too little, and drive gas guzzling cars.

Meanwhile, the world's central bankers have been trained to focus exclusively on inflation. Many will recall how oil-price increases in the 1970s fuelled rapid inflation, and will want to show their resolve not to let it happen again. Interest rates will rise, and one economy after another will slow. The march towards higher interest rates has already begun in the US and elsewhere.

Low interest rates help the middle class, who of course have been snookered with interest-only mortgages, and the like. Well, folks, the piper is due to be paid, and with the change in bankruptcy laws, it ain't gonna be pretty.

And if you are going to be homeless don't live here

For the past three years, falling interest rates have been the engine of growth, as households took on more debt to refinance their mortgages and used some of the savings to consume. Central bankers are hoping that this will not play out in reverse - that higher interest rates will not dampen consumption. Hope may not be enough. House prices could well decline; at the very least, the rate of increase is likely to slow down.

So our economic health is coming to do central bankers hoping that basic economic principles no longer hold true...I feel better now.

Martini Recipes

2006-01-11T21:29:00.000-05:00

Erica and I have been getting more and more into martinis, it all started at Erik Shapiros wedding when they had a martini bar...Erica and I think we had about 15 martinis that night.

Now now don't worry, Ben was with Grammy and Grand-Bob.

So, I want to know if you like martinis and what your favorite kind is.

For me, I like a martini that you make by putting vermouth in the glass, swish it around, pour it out, fill the glass with cold stoli and put in three olives (two for my Aunt Sue and one for me).

We have made here at home Orange martinis (Absolute Orange and triple sec), Chocolate martinis (from a mix), and Apple Martinis (Sour Apple schnapps and vodka or from a mix). The foofy martinis are best from the mix, at least in my short life as a mixologist, but we are still trying.

Webtender
This is not the worst drink guide on line...any suggestions?

Oprah Taken by Con-Man

2006-01-11T21:26:00.000-05:00

Con-Man Unmasked

Publisher to Refund Money

Oprah Puts Hit out on Whole Industry?

"Poppycock"

2006-01-11T08:20:00.000-05:00

PoppyCock

That's how Lawrence Tribe describes Bush's explanation for the NSA wiretapping. Conyers has the feel details, but essentially, Bush has acted totally illegally.

Go figure.

Weekly Weird

2006-01-09T07:55:00.000-05:00

Here is the dose of Weekly Weirdness from News of the Weird

Every Woman on the World Already Knows This

Scientists at Syracuse University, recently describing for a British journal their study of body measurements of bats, found an inverse size relationship between a male bat's brain and testicles. The researchers hypothesized that both sperm and brains are metabolically costly to produce, and in species with relatively stable monogamous relationships, brains are allowed to grow, but where females are promiscuous, males that do not overdevelop testicles get left out of the race to procreate. [News Limited (Sydney) (News.com.au), 12-7-05]

Unclear on the Concept

In September, based on the complaint of only one letter-writer (and that man later said he was more being provocative than complaining), the band director of C.D. Hylton High School in Prince William County, Va., dropped from his playlist the popular Charlie Daniels Band song, "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," because it centers on Satan. Daniels, interviewed by The Washington Post, was appalled: "I am a Christian, and I don't write pro-devil songs." [Washington Post, 10-16-05]

Guaranteed Mensa Acceptance

Sidney Hale, 31, was arrested in Bluefield, Va., in November after enlisting a female friend to help him to, as he put it, sharpen his reflexes in case an intruder broke into his trailer home. The woman was to knock at the front door, and Hale was then to quickly grab his handgun. (A third person was to gauge Hale's reaction time.) According to a sheriff's detective, she knocked, and Hale grabbed the gun. However, it accidentally fired a slug through the door into the woman's back (but she is fine following surgery). And in December in Lake Worth, Fla., a 16-year-old boy found a .45-caliber bullet, began eagerly pounding it with a hammer and screwdriver, and shot himself in the stomach. (He was treated and released at a hospital.) [Richmond Times-Dispatch, 11-22-05] [South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 12-10-05]

Flying Spaghetti Monster

2006-01-08T21:27:00.000-05:00

The American Taliban are coming to a school comittee near you soon.
As a scientist, I am of course all for the teaching of evolution as the central tenet of biology. I am also absolutely against any mention of Intelligent Design (ID) being mentioned in science classes. It is backdoor creationism and everyone knows it.

It has been mentioned as a something that might happen in Indiana. Of course the wingnut governor said "not on my watch" because Indiana is trying to make itself into a midwestern Biotech hub (more on that some other time).

However, if you do find yourself battling the forces of ID, just mention that you believe in the Flying Spaghetti Monster and unless he gets equal billing, it is obviously creationism.

Spread the Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

Thank God for the Smoking Gun

2006-01-08T09:09:00.000-05:00

Free Juan

...wear clean underwear

Me Like Moose

Damon Fallout

2006-01-06T10:25:00.000-05:00

Damon Leaves Red Sox

While Johnny was a very good lead off hitter (461 runs in his four years in Boston), there are signs of decline in his performance, notably his 31-30-19-18 SB totals over those four years. According to B-R.com, his most similar player at age 31 is Tim Raines, which is good and bad for Damon. Comparing their stats through age 31, Damon had more power (more 2B and HR), more RBI, but not a whole lot. Raines had more SB (almost 400 more), and a better eye (0.034 edge in OBP). Damon's OPS+ through age 31 is 102, while Raines' is 128.
So what happened to Raines post-age 31? Raines played 10 more seasons, only two of which he played in more than 130 games (1992, age 32 and 1995, age 35). 1992 was a very good year for Raines, right in line with his career numbers, but the for the rest of his career he was plagued by injuries and ineffectiveness, and completely lost his speed by age 33.
His age 32-35 SB totals: 45-21-13-13.
While this is all well and good, what does it have to do with Damon? Well, Damon as I said has been very good, but is at the age when skills can erode quickly (although modern athletes are better at maintaining their peaks). Damon may very well be a 13 million dollar a year player this year, but more likely his worth is closer to the 10 million the Sox offered for this year, and by year four of the contract, he probably won't be worth nearly that much in adjusted dollars.
So, while the Sox are not better off for 2006 without Damon, I think they are much better off without him for 2007 and beyond.

But this leads us to a bigger problem. Ben is a HUGE Damon fan.

I dreaded having to tell him...but eventually I just decided to do it. This is the kid who during the 2003 playoffs came up with "The Yankees poop in their diapers." and says it every time the Yankees are mentioned.
Like tearing the band-aid off, "Ben, you know how Pedro left the Red Sox last year as a Free Agent?"
"Yes".
"Well, Johnny Damon just left also."
Quivering lower lip, "yeah", hesitantly.
"And he joined the Yankees."
Full fledged tears.
"But he can still be your favorite player," Erica and I said (thinking of the plethora of Damon paraphenalia he has.
"Oh...OK", still teary. "Who will be my favorite player now??!!!"
"Anyone you want", hoping to avert a full fledged 4 year old meltdown.
"How about Big Papi?", Erica said.
The tears stopped slowly.
"And we can buy you a Ortiz shirt."
His face brightened, "My favorite player is Big Papi and Johnny is Big Poopie."
All was right in the world.

Of Ye of Little Faith

2006-01-06T10:03:00.000-05:00

What is it with the American Taliban? As I understand faith (and for complete openness, let me say, I was raised Jewish [even had the Orthodox Bar Mitzvah), was a practicing agnostic for a long time, and am now an avowed Atheist (I refuse to believe that 80% of the world is wrong which they have to be if one religion is right, and it doesn't matter which one, because each religion demands that it is the one true faith.)), faith is unassailable.
In fact m-w.com, has Faith: Def 2b as

(1) : firm belief in something for which there is no proof (2) : complete trust

If this is the case, why do they feel the need to attack everything which doesn't conform to their pukey interpretation of the bible? This whole thing about NBC's "Book of Daniel" sounds a lot like The Last Temptation of Christ "controversy".
I saw the movie (that's a story in and of itself) and then read the book. BTW, the music and source music is awesome, if you like world music. The story of LToC is about the ultimate temptation for Jesus, being let off the cross and allowed to marry Mary and have a normal life without anyone knowing. It is a very moving book and was meant by Kazantzakis to demonstrate the power of Christ and affirm (not deny) Christians faith.
But, the American Taliban went batshit about the movie for several reasons: Mary Magdalene was shown to be a whore (which is probably later Church Propaganda anyways) and Judas was Jesus' most loyal disciple (very much like Jesus Christ Superstar).
Why is this so horrendous to think about? I just don't get it. Especially if you consider that Jesus doesn't succumb and does die for your sins.
If you don't have complete trust in Jesus isn't that your problem and not mine?

Read It Before it's Too Late

2006-01-06T09:52:00.000-05:00

Going
200+ years in the making, 5 in the destruction.

Going
I, IV, V, VI, VIII, IX...who needs 'em.

Gone?

As somebody somewhere posted, a BJ is impeachable so who will sacrifice and "Go Down to Take Down" Bush.

Whatcha Listening To?

2006-01-06T08:57:00.000-05:00

I love music, all music. I think it goes back to when I was a kid and my parents would always have WGBH on (the only public radio we could get in the boonies of RI) and on the weekend Robert J. Lurtsema would have his music show. Well, the dear man happened to go to India, and brought back lots of Raga. Our family withstood weeks of it, as well as most of NE. I distinctly remember my father covering his ears at times, and in general hating it.
Why do I tell you, because from this experience I learned an important lesson (and isn't life just a string of important lessons?): you never know what you like until you try it enough to know you don't like it. I don't like Raga.

I do like Scissor Sisters.
The best way I can explain them is something like BeeGees meets Dave Matthews

I am also very much into Atomic Kitten

If you want a neat way to find new music try Pandora

This is a very neat site which allows you to tell it what kind of music you like (by artist or song) and learns from you, and then plays music, some of it new. It's neat, but as of yet I haven't been thrilled by anything it has suggested. But I like the site.

So, what are you listening to?

Why Haggenwyn Farms?

2006-01-06T08:31:00.000-05:00

So, you may wonder why this is called Haggenwyn Farms. Well, let's take a trip in the wayback machine...
"(makes doodle-y doo sounds and waves hand in front of face like Garth and Wayne)"

Way back in 1995, Erica and I moved into a row home on 27th St in Philly.

Well, moving out of an apartment and into a house got me to thinking, can we test the Zartler Domicile Naming Law which states every rich person's house has some fancy name, so if we give our house a name, will we become rich?

So, being a big fanof Gaelic, and having a slightly gullible GF, I came up with Haggenfus, and told her it was old Gaelic for "Love Shack". She believed it for a while. We even had a housewarming party (which in grad school consists of a keg, a few bags of chips, and twenty or thirty drunk grad students). As part of this festivity, someone gave us a bottle of champagne (or more accurately sparkling wine) to christen the house with. I still have the scar on my hands. Point of reference, those smashed champagne bottles on ships don't have the cork in.

So we lived happily in Haggenfus until August of 1998, when we got , a miracle of veterinary Science.
Can't have a Gaelic name, with a Welshman in the house now, can ya? Especially, not with two of them

So, Haggenfus had to become Haggenwyn, which was the name of our house in Athens.

Athens was awesome, we absolutely loved it, and would move back there in a cocaine heartbeat. One time, Erica went shopping at one the multitude of "cute stores" there, and came back with an 8$ bar of glycerin soap. I said, "Holy Shit...I am chemist, I can make soap." So I did. We haven't used store bought soap since. More about that later.

But, as with all crafties, our venture (which will never be a business) had to have the name Farms in its name (to connect the city slickers with the pastoral past they have forsaken for such conveniences as indoor plumbing and Starbucks). So Haggenwyn Farms was born, and is still in operation.

Was it really interesting enough to read?

Testing

2006-01-05T22:05:00.000-05:00

Blogger blew up my first try at this