I'MMA LET YOU FINISH
What? No cats?
no way! first?
Kitties yet?
damn you, watertiger! (/Jon Stewart)
er...
Inquiring minds, Atrios....
y'know, atrios, if i didn't know better, i'd say you're not looking very hard for that UBS cord.
but i know you're tearing the place up at this very moment.
meow meow Chessie's back meow!
purrrr purrrr new photo purrr
meow Chessie here meow
"Be just and fear not." --W.S., Henry II
Nothing to say actually, but still here for a bit
USB. UBS would be the company that merged with Paine Webber.
Chessie's on Code Orange alert.
fun... fun Atrios, when you won't even unaturally exploit and otherwise subjugate your feline friends to all manner of critique for our exhalted pleasure- no...no I think not!
A coterie of wealthy liberals to fund left-leaning think tanks
While the GOP is able to rely on think tanks such as the Heritage Foundation and the American Entrerprise Institute to produce a generation of educated and well-paid conservative pundits, until recently the Democrats have not had such a luxury. With John Podesta's founding of the Center for American Progress, America's left began to catch up with the right's extensive infrastructure. Now, with the suppor of some very rich people, the progressive network might finally be able to reach parity with its conservative adversary. E.J. Kessler reports this week in Forward [free subscription required]:
A handful of ultra-wealthy Jewish liberals are resolving to do battle with conservatives by providing a big infusion of cash to progressive think tanks and idea mills.
New York-based financier George Soros, Cleveland insurance king Peter Lewis and Oakland, Calif., banking magnates Herb and Marian Sandler made the pledge at a meeting in San Francisco last month.
more here, with analysis
And in other Jewish political news...
Jewish groups to oppose restrictions on abortion rights
Although the Jewish community makes up only a small portion of America's population (between 2.5% and 3% of the country), when it speaks in near-unanimity on an issue, lawmakers tend to listen. Accordingly, the recent move by leading Jewish organizations -- including some in the Orthodox community -- to actively oppose Republican attempts to curtail abortion rights is quite significant. Forward's Ori Nir and E.J. Kessler report [free subscription required]:
America's two largest synagogue movements and several major national Jewish agencies are joining a campaign to oppose attempts to outlaw abortion, arguing that reproductive rights are a religious freedom.
more here, with analysis
Sorry... I screwed up the second link. I promise to be more careful in the future. Sorry.
Kittens and Fatboy Slim
You said you want cats.......
15th! Or so...
BTW, my wife, dog and I went on a jaunt around VT with an LATimes reporter today. I'm gonna be famouser than Atrios someday...
Of course, I had nothing to do with the disappearance of Atrios' USB cord this evening, though it does mean one less trip to the emergency room.
NTodd you wife is cute.
What did you do, tell her you were rich or something?
What's been bugging me lately is that it took the whole world fighting together to extinguish the angry hysterical cult that Hitler built.
What is going to take to stop the angry wanker cult that worships GWB?
What did you do, tell her you were rich or something?
I've asked her if she married me for her money. She said if she were the marrying-for-money type, she wouldn't have married me. 'sides, I thought I was marrying her for her money--turns out her dowry was just the dog. And I so wanted a pony...
For those who are about to be . . .
Storm Rising
The changes are subtle. To the inexperienced, they would not be noticed at all. The first change is that the street seems to be clogged by snowplows. These denizens of the night are suddenly on nearly every corner, even though the snow which has arrived so far is slight. The more experienced know that they are checking the equipment. It is similar to the theater troupe going through a dress rehearsal. They make sure all of the hydraulics and the brakes are functioning. For soon they will be needed.
The stores and gas stations are suddenly busy. The snow is only a rumor at this point. But those who know the capriciousness of the Michigan Winter understand that when they wake up in the morning the roads might not be there anymore. You anticipate the storm's arrival. If the storm is severe enough, it can be a pleasant experience. . . for a while. The morning after a big storm is a joyous time when the world suddenly stops. Large breakfasts of pancakes and sausage and syrup and strong coffee will be served. It will be a chance for the important things in life to be considered again. Are you warm? Is there food to eat? If you have done your preparation: it is can be very satisfying
The television weather man suddenly is grinning as if he is wearing mink lined underwear. His smile stretches from one side of the television to the other as he speaks in gleeful tones about the "Storm." It is his reason for being there and he loves every minute of it. Being a weatherman in Michigan is being in the bigs. The rookies and minor leaguers are needed in the South and Southwest where any idiot can put together a weather report: "Sunny in the morning, afternoon clouds, highs in the 80's , lows in the 50s. "Here the weather report can include anything from thunder snow to mighty winds and hail - and it can be on the same day!
Before you go to bed for the night you turn on the outside light to see if the snow has begun. It has. You look at the driveway and curse the job you're going to have to do in the morning. You secretly pray for enough snow to make this job unnecessary. If there is enough, you can do it at your leisure for there will no work in the morning.
As you lay in bed the windows shake in their frames. The wind whistles through any errant crack in the foundation which has not been properly chinked. The upstairs gets colder by degrees as the furnace struggles to keep time. You begin to get used to cycling and after a while do not even notice it. The heat is sapped from the house as if it were a maple with a bucket hanging on it. The wind plays a tune which you can hear. First there is a the percussion of the snow on the window, then the snare drum TAT TAT TAT of the windows in their frames. Soon the mighty roar of the thunderous winds shake the house. The covers are snugged a little more tightly and you roll over secure in the feeling that even though the storm is mighty, you are
II
you roll over secure in the feeling that even though the storm is mighty, you are safe and warm.
Sometimes, if it is a bad storm, you rise in the night to go to the bathroom window and attempt to peer out into the gloom. The snow is falling sideways and you see the eaves of the house next drifted into Salvidor Dali shapes. You shake your head and hop into the still warm bed and feel that blessed security as the blankets encase you in their warmth.
The morning begins long before light. If the storm refused to dump enough to negate the possibility of going out, you have to try to clear a path to the road: and hope the snowplows don't get there ahead of you. The drivers take a gleeful view of filling a newly cleared driveway with the road snow.
The snow has altered the landscape into a fairy land of fantastic shapes. You realize that one of these creations is stretched across your driveway. You retreat to the garage to get a small shovel. The drifted snow is much heavier than the snow which has simply fallen. You use your shovel as some sort of natural knife and carve out pieces of the drift. You do your best to move these out of the way. One by one you cut them and place them. The wind is still coming and little blasts of snow are cut from the new piles you are making.
After you create the minimal path necessary for your vehicle, you go back inside to see if the schools have the wisdom to shut down. Your children are up now and all are gathered around the tv watching the rural schools names crawl across the bottom of the screen. One by one the schools which always cancel are canceled. There is still hope. Suddenly there it is: school is canceled. You let out a mighty holler and retreat to the kitchen to sit by the window and watch the snow. . .
What is going to take to stop the angry wanker cult that worships GWB?
reinstatement of the draft, with the age limit at 34.
that ought to do it.
So... wait. Are we liberals evil Zionists now, or are we still anti-Semites? Or both? Damn it, I need a scorecard or something.
Chalabi alert: $300 million in boxed cash missing from Iraq.
According to a senior Iraqi financial official with knowledge of the deal, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject, the $300 million was then transferred to the Warqa Bank, a private Iraqi financial institution with a capitalization of about $7 million. That bank, the Iraqi official said, does not have the ability to transfer money electronically to another account in another country. An equivalent amount of cash was then taken from the vault of the Central Bank of Iraq, taken to the airport, loaded on an airplane and sent to Lebanon.
"The government here knows it is coming to an end," the official said. "This is what governments do when they are coming to an end."
I've asked her if she married me for her money.
Uh...of course that would be "if she married me for *my* money". If she married me for her money, that would be wicked dumb. 'course, if I stole her money first, then she married me to get it back, well, that would be the makings of a bad movie that would probably make a killing at the box office.
Darn, posted too late in the other thread...
Mad Kane started a new blog President Boxer
Letter to the editor tonite in the (sortof) local paper. Woman whining that she was "so embarrassed" about Barbara Boxer's unladylike "grilling" of Condi Rice. How dare she cross examine her like that!?! Never mentioned the fact, of cours, that all she was doing was facing her with her own words. Am composing a letter in response. Is "Asshole" hyphenated???
Asshole is not hyphenated.
simpering-mass-of-random-protoplasm, is
Pen Island
Love that URL. Envisioning a theme park...
.
Oooooh, I like that! Mind if I use it?
DWD, maybe asshole SHOULD be hypenated.
Ass-hole.
May be a good thing.
Last Summer, Bush was very impressed that the planning of Reagan's funeral started right after Reagan's inauguration. He wanted to do the same this time around. Thus, he asked his Chief of Staff, Andy Card, to look into suitable burial places befitting his fervent religious convictions.
So, this morning they met go over the options for burial plots. The first suggestion was Arlington Cemetery. Bush mulled it over and said, "I dunno, I can just see all my critics bringing up me bein' AWOL again and it's not religious enuff. What else have you got?"
"Well, we can have you buried at The Vatican." replied Card.
"Andy, Andy, Andy, you know I'm not Catholic and the Pope dared to criticize my war! It just won't do." exclaimed Bush, petulantly...
Click through for punchline
Substitute cat thread up.
Scaramouche - maybe it's the Rufina talking, but that was moderately funny and a well-executed blogwhore. Bravo!
Full Disclosure - Blogwhoring not paid for by Howard Dean ahead:
Don't Cry for Michael Powell
NT Todd,
From blogwhore 'par excellance', that is praise indeed.
En Garde!
From blogwhore 'par excellance', that is praise indeed.
My calling is to impart whatever blogwhoring wisdom I can. Sometimes the Word of NTodd is unpopular, but it must be heard: the truth will out.
the truth will out.
And savoir faire is everywhere!
The FDA is delaying its decision on whether to approve over the counter sales of the "morning after pill."
I don't know whether this is reason to hope that they're going to do the right thing or not; I'd like to think that those of us who commented on this issue had some effect.
And savoir faire is everywhere!
As the great prophet, Prince said:
Excuse my savoir faire,
But, baby I'm dying 2 take u everywhere (oh yeah? )
I wanna show u 2 my friends
Because baby, you're the living end
Jeffraham made me laugh.
My girlfriend, nay my fiance, was part of Prince's show in Milan back in '87. She carried a placard in tights, like betweeen boxing matches.
check out my blog
The Iraqi interim goverment is arresting Ahmad Chalabi because he "maligned" the new Iraqi defence ministry.
Maligned? Arrested?
Let Freedom Ring!
Adamsrib - "rump-slot", maybe? "Digestive release valve"?
Just tryin to help....
So, I keep looking at that picture of The Leader and Gonzales that Atrios has up. And it looks like The Leader is thinking (for lack of a better term) "who the fuck told me to appoint this little shit, he looks like a fuckin hobbit or one of those munchkins that hung with Dorothy".
I'm wondering if the article on themissing money in Iraq is related to this article on the 2 contractors shot and killed.
U.S. Contractor Slain in Iraq Had Alleged Graft
The Weapons Dealer had Accused Officials in the Defense Ministry of a Kickback Scheme
Dale Stoffel, 43, was shot to death Dec. 8 shortly after leaving an Iraqi military base north of Baghdad, an attack attributed at the time to Iraqi insurgents. Also killed was a business associate, Joseph Wemple, 49.
The killings came after Stoffel alerted senior U.S. officials in Washington that he believed Iraqi Defense Ministry officials were part of a kickback scheme involving a multimillion-dollar contract awarded to his company, Wye Oak Technology, to refurbish old Iraqi military equipment.
---
Note: Additional articles say Stoffel was working for CLI Corp which does work on coal processing plants.
What's an arms dealer doing working on contract for a coal processing company?
A conservative's ultimate dilemma
Join the revolution for progressive legislation
http://www.boycott-republicans.com
Write this url on your one, five and ten dollar bills. Also
visit these fine websites
www.Buyblue.org
www.choosetheblue.com
www.bushblackout.com
www.imblue.net
www.ididnotvote4bush.com
http://www.2005blue.com
Sign the petition to stop social security privatization, increase the minimum wage,and repeal the faulty Republican prescription drug benefit and replace it with a simple 80 percent coverage of medication under Medicare Part B.
http://www.petitionspot.com/peti...ons/
progressive
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http://www.petitionspot.com/peti...ions/
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