I'MMA LET YOU FINISH
Hey
And they were lovely cat pictures too.
Can't you resize them?
Oh, almost forgot...and that would be soooooo unlike me.
Now that Abigail Van Buren has died (she did die right?) Dr. Atta J. Turk has stepped into the breach to give advice to the love starved Republican.
Let's call it "Desperate Blogwhores"!
Dr A, was New York satisfying or more bullshit?
"Mornin', Ralph..."
"Mornin' Sam...
Did anybody flag this MoJo article???
Read and fear..
WGG, Morning. Lovely morning in NM?
can't sleep- WTF?
If you're looking to read something that doesn't make your head explode with rage:
Screwy Hoolie looks for a glimmer of hope in the Iraqi election - And Finds It.
Scrutiny Hooligans mine East Blogistan for solutions to the Opium Poppy problem in Afghanistan
Catchy Pseudonym gives step-by-step instructions on how to keep from being serial killed
It's going to be a balmy 32F in the Boston area today. Bust out the sandals and beach towels, it's gonna be a scorcher!! 
I am fucking frozen in here. The whole place has a hard-candy shell. I can't unlock my car because the lock's frozen solid, and even if I could, I don't think my little four-cylinder Sentra will mount even one of the several hills I'd have to climb to get to work. Walking's out of the question, as the sleet is coming down and I own neither cold-weather boot or long-handled underwear.
In short, I don't know if I'll be able to go to work today.
Darn.
DWD:
The vestige of the waning moon is declining over California, way on the western horizon, while the sun paints the clouds behind the Sandia Mountains on the East. It's cold, about 25 degrees...the weather guys say we have a winter storm heading our way, this afternoon and evening, possibly persisting all week....
The coffee's hot, the brandy is fruity, the dogs have been fed...we'll see...
How's things where (?) you are?
A good pair of Timberlands are your best friend in the winter.
Read Brooks In the NYT today!
The foreign policy of the Bush officials is beginning to sound more like compassionate conservatism all the time.
Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!
A good pair of Timberlands are your best friend in the winter.
BlakNo1
And as Dick Cheney would tell you, Don't Forget about them in Poland either!
Mornin', all. Sorry I've been so hit-and-miss this week. Anything interesting happening? 
Backslider,
I hate that feeling. Just call in sick and spend the day under the covers. At least in Georgia you know it will be fine in a day or two.
pol -- I saw that. Who in the hell does Bobo think he's fooling?
Try imageshack.us for all your image hosting needs.
If the picture is already on the web, download to your PC then upload to imageshack (otherwise, I think imageshack just redirects to the original site, which defeats the purpose if you're trying to get around bandwidth limits).
pol -- I saw that. Who in the hell does Bobo think he's fooling?
filkertom
For that, all he need do is look in the mirror.
cold rain here in central, Ca.-
let the community cat sleep in the laundry room he must eat at 10 different homes and still has a fuckin attitude- what catballs!
A good pair of Timberlands are your best friend in the winter.
BlakNo1 | Email | Homepage | 01.29.05 - 9:38 am | #
That's as maybe, but all I got is a pair of tennis shoes. Granted, this is Georgia and one rarely needs anything stronger - unless, of course, one makes a practice of going out in the woods on early winter mornings to shoot small creatures - except, of course, today. So, my quandry is whether the $9.15 an hour I get to make mashed potatos and slice turkey is worth the mile-and-a-half of ice covered road I'd have to cross, by hook or by crook.
Given that it's gonna be a slow day and given that I did a whole lot yesterday, I'd probably have about three hours' work. This is the ethical quandries one has when one tries to live up to a certain standard of honor yet goes out-of-one's way to completely avoid any and all responsibility or shread of maturity. Bummer.
The Third Coast is fine. Lovely sunlight kissing the tops of the trees now. Temps are hanging in the mid teens, but the winds (What winds there are) have been from the East driving Vicki's Unacloud over Wisconsin. Here we just count the days off. Every day it is not storming and nasty, is one less day it will be. But the coffee is good, and the music better. And the company is good as well. Everytime someone dies, I listen to their music in tribute. One of the founders of Blind Faith died yesterday, time for a little Dear Mr Fantasy (Bush?) and Can't Fine My Way Home. These are making the day seem better than it is. Plus, I am looking forward to my record-setting seven different artists set of Someone to Watch over me that is coming next. So far, the Rosemary Clooney version is still the best.
John, Give Flickr.com a try. really easy to use, no bandwidth limits, but you are limited to 10mgs/month upload and 100 pics for the free accounts. Prolly more than you need for catblogging.
Nice interface, some nifty (cat)blogging tools, and the opportunity to upload from your desktop, or from websites.
A thriving and supportive community of photographers, and an incredible set of windows to all parts of the world.
I'm a satisfied user, several times over.
Otherwise not affiliated nor am I accepting any renumeration of any kind from Flickr.
Just good stuff, man.
Jean Dudley.
Atrios,
You've been cited by npr.org! Was just listening to Scott Smarmon interviewing some G.W. University technology professor on blogs. I went to NPR's website, and found your name under the "rumors" section. The professor liked the way you discredited the "Ohio was stolen" rumor.
Other than that, the interview was utterly predictable.
pol -- I saw that. Who in the hell does Bobo think he's fooling?
filkertom
For that, all he need do is look in the mirror.
attaturk | Email | Homepage | 01.29.05 - 9:42 am
He is starting to sound like that one ROTC at the end of Animal House, isn't he? "EVERYTHING'S FINE! DO NOT PANIC!"
By the way, Dr. Atta J. Turk is a hoot.
Darn.
Backslider | Email | Homepage | 01.29.05 - 9:34 am | #
Crack open some beer, drink on it, pee on it to unfreeze... just kidding, there. On the previous post, mr bill posted a funny article about a guy that got out of an avalanche by drinking 60 bottles of beer and peeing on the snow.. ha ha ha *snort*, that just kicks my funny bone.
The foreign policy of the Bush officials is beginning to sound more like compassionate conservatism all the time.
You know what? Seems as if Brooks has inadvertantly told the truth. "Compassionate conservatism" is an oxymoron and describes theft cloaked in lies. Bush's foreign policy is similarly oxymoronic and is in actuality theft cloaked in lies. Perhaps Brooks is finally speaking truth.
I hate that feeling. Just call in sick and spend the day under the covers. At least in Georgia you know it will be fine in a day or two.
Hecate | Email | Homepage | 01.29.05 - 9:41 am | #
Actually, I've already called work and told 'em I'd probably be late. Manager said I was the only one. Good thing about my job is I got no set schedule. I come in when I please and leave when I have nothing else to do. So, maybe if it clears up I might go in this afternoon, but I haven't decided yet.
And I couldn't call in fake sick. I'm a horrible, horrible liar.
BTW, the cats are back.
Shorter David Brooks: Boy, that whole pre-emptive war thing was a really bad idea and we fucked it up royally. Let’s not do that again.
Backslider -- just be careful, man. And don't stress yourself sick. Sometimes, at my last job, I used to be so desperate to get out of there that I'd end up headachy or nauseous... but not badly enough so that I felt I could leave. So I was stuck at work and feeling sick. Miserable.
filkertom,
Oh, there's very little stress involved. I really don't like my job that much, but then again, I really don't like work in general that much. Apart from the aforementioned moral quandry - you get paid to do a job you should do it (even though if I don't go in, I won't get paid) - the only thing that'd bother me about getting fired is I just really hate looking for new jobs. Have to pretend, at least for a little bit, like I actually want to go there just so I can eat. Never sets well with me.
Morning, WGG - sun is out, but there are big black clouds moving across from the northwest, heading right for you. First stop looks like Flagstaff, after that, heading straight in on I-40. Make sure to bring in enough wood for the fire.
The last manual labor job I had, I dreaded it so much it gave me insomnia. It was only part-time as well.
Even in the summer, I still wear my Tims. That's what having bad ankles will do to ya.
The Guardian has an article of interest..."Bush payola scandal deepens as third columnist admits being paid ".
Seems that the Bush Admin has had quite a few "journalist" on the payroll than they have been willing to admit too.
Politics is one thing, but using taxpayer dollars to advance a Party plank is illegal, unconstitutional, and, IMHO, reeks of high crimes and misdemeanors, which I believe is an impeachable offense under the Constitution.
But I'm preaching to the choir...the republicans run the Legislature and are not about to do a thing to stop it.
regards
.
And Backslider? You're aware that you have a whole community here, any one of whom would call you in sick with great persuasiveness. I bet Hecate could really do you proud, or Tena - or WGG. This is what 'phoning it in' should mean in this day and age. Golly, there are even people here who'd be able to write you a doctor's excuse....
Ok I'm ready for winter to be over.
I'm watching a program about Fonteyn & Nureyev that I must have seen 100 times but watch everytime it comes on.
In short, I don't know if I'll be able to go to work today.
Darn.
That's why snow days are great...it's yes or no. No ethical quandries...
I say when in doubt, stay home in the heat and blog all day long!
You can also get black Tims for those solemn occasions as well.
Backslider, Morning. Stay home if you can. Life is short, and it doesn't sound worth it today. Fire one up and talk to us.
My nomination for best quote of the day
"He's CEO of the world, and he walks and talks as if he's about to fire everybody. His indifference to tone is mesmerizing, like a work of conceptual art designed to provoke and madden his audience. He's the Marcel Duchamp of American politics."
William Powers, National Journal
(via Dam Froomkin, WaPo
Even in the summer, I still wear my Tims. That's what having bad ankles will do to ya.
Cowboy boots. For my back. Were 'em constantly. It's that, or gimp around bent over as my lower back spasms whenever I get up, sit down, or move.
And LLBean hunting boots for cold/wet conditions (got 'em when I lived in St. Louis).
Wow. What a subject for a morning conversation....
...good day for pinon coffee. 'bout time I brewed some....
It's going to be a balmy 32F in the Boston area today. Bust out the sandals and beach towels, it's gonna be a scorcher!!
Yup, we're s'posed to get up to 28 in northern VT. After getting down to -13 last night, it's finally warmed up to +1, so I'm less skeptical than I was before.
Cat blogging
First I tear up a box and make a big ole mess. I generally try to do this in the middle of the night when everyone is asleep. This gets the downstairs neighbor all riled up and batshit crazy. Then I go to sleep for a couple of days.
Hee hee. Drives QuiltLady crazy.
"were 'em"? I don't even pronounce "wear" that way.
Coffee....
Robert M. Jeffers - you just slipped into a Canadian mode. Were -is- pronounced 'ware' or 'wear'. Look out for weir tho.
Seems that the Bush Admin has had quite a few "journalist" on the payroll than they have been willing to admit too.
How about the fact that Kenneth Blackwell served on the board of directors of an organization that received $600K from the Dept. of Ed. to promote No Child Left Behind? Uninteresting, I'm sure, to those who fail to believe that there were any shenanigans in the presidential elections...
The Black Alliance for Educational Options received a $600,000 grant in 2002 to publicize No Child Left Behind in the African American community. Two members of that organization's Board of Directors are Armstrong Williams and Kenneth Blackwell, Ohio's Secretary of State.
GWPDA,
No, it's not a matter of not being able to do it. I'm not sick, therefor I can't call in sick. Lies make the Baby Jesus cry, remember.
BlakNo1,
I haven't owned a pair of boots since high school, when I hunted regularly. I have rather odd feet - they're flat as a pancake and unusually wide - so buying boots as opposed to tennis shoes has always been a problem. I have to buy my shoes one size too large - or get them specially made - and boots have never felt right like that. Usually, I'd have no use for boots.
Quiltlady, just perfect.
Maybe a mere $600K payoff to an organization on which Blackwell sits as a director isn't enough for ya...
The Department of Education provided an additional $2.5 million to the Black Alliance for Educational Options in 2004 to fund an ongoing public relations effort over the next five years.
And speaking of the Boston area, my brother just got back from Martha's Vineyard last night. He went up there with his boss to get a console for the studio, and they'd just missed the worst of this weeken'd blizzard. He'd never seen snow up to his knees before, nor snowbanks on roads that block vision. He said it was amazing.
Backslider - but remember too that we are all sinners, and that the Baby Chuy will forgive us....
Thanks Mena. And thanks to all here who taught me how to embed a link. Especially to the person who recommended PhotoBucket. Those folks couldn't make it easier.
GWPDA:
If i lived in the heights, i could probably see the impending weather coming. The horizon from the base of the mountain is about 6o miles: Mt Taylor, by Grants, is an easy landmark...but I live in the Valley, no more than a mile from the river, but with a severely truncated vista, being almost 1000 below the actual foothills.
Got a TON of wood, none of it really good (pinon or juniper, which smells so good in the fireplace), mostly being the detritus from a Chinese elm/cottonwood tree trim summer before last...but it burns fine...
how were the waffles?
Kenneth Blackwell, Republican Secretary of State, Ohio. He's on the boards of every Right-funded "school choice," "youth," or "pro-family" group imaginable. Blackwell acted as the front-line African American TV mouth for Bush during the Florida fiasco.
Re: Michael Jerkoff, Homeland Gauleiter
Security Nominee Gave Advice to the C.I.A. on Torture Laws
By DAVID JOHNSTON, NEIL A. LEWIS and DOUGLAS JEHL
Published: January 29, 2005
This article is by David Johnston, Neil A. Lewis and Douglas Jehl.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 28 - Michael Chertoff, who has been picked by President Bush to be the homeland security secretary, advised the Central Intelligence Agency on the legality of coercive interrogation methods on terror suspects under the federal anti-torture statute, current and former administration officials said this week.
Depending on the circumstances, he told the intelligence agency, some coercive methods could be legal, but he advised against others, the officials said.
Mr. Chertoff's previously undisclosed involvement in evaluating how far interrogators could go took place in 2002-3 when he headed the Justice Department's criminal division. The advice came in the form of responses to agency inquiries asking whether C.I.A. employees risked being charged with crimes if particular interrogation techniques were used on specific detainees.
MORE
WGG - I'm crazy enough down here to get in a half cord of split mesquite and juniper every year. Last year, when my furnace finally died, I relied on the fireplace thru all of what passed for winter, and it worked out fine. When my house was built, in the forties, somebody who knew how to do it built that fireplace and it heats the whole house very effectively, even the new parts. Haven't gotten any pinon for a couple of years, but somebody nearby has it - early morning the scent covers half of north central Phoenix.
Decided to save the waffles for Sunday morning treats.
By way of the invaluable Cursor, sorry if you've already seen it,
In a letter to Stars and Stripes, a dozen retired generals and admirals say Attorney General nominee Alberto Gonzales is 'not right fit for GIs.'
(also interesting spiegel article at homepage)
Nice cat blogging, QuiltLady.
Morning, everyone.
I miss living in a house with backup wood heat. I'm totally dependent on the grid now.
Backslider here in Portland OR we have an ice storm generally once a year that coats everything in a thin sheet of ice. Walking outside becomes very difficult; it was suggested on our local news, and seems to work, that you put socks over your shoes to walk on the ice. Apparently the sock material lightly sticks to the ice reducing the liklihood of slipping. If you're desperate you could try this.
Quiltlady's cat:
"First I tear up a box and make a big ole mess. I generally try to do this in the middle of the night when everyone is asleep. ... Hee hee. Drives QuiltLady crazy."
Hi, Quiltlady's cat, my name is Elvis and I have one of those too .. a quilting lady. And totally agree about activities at night. My favorite is to grab the thread right off of her machine and run around the house dragging it behind. You know, under the chair, sofa, kitchen table etc. My owner get's soooo mad, she starts to throw pillows at me. I stalk her toes to pay her back.
Great fun. From another quilting lady's cat, Elvis.
Well, my corner of North Georgia looks like it's been coated in clear acrylic. I have a heat pump and a wood stove (for real heat), a supply of shabbas candles and oil lamps in case the power goes out, and no one has driven by on my road all morning. I'm not opening the bookstore today, but instead will try to finish Johnathan Strange and Mr. Norrell and make chili for the kids. And not start the burbon until 5:00.
For the record, the NYC meeting was BS as usual.
But I got to shake Dr. A's hand. And I told Ms. Teachout she was as vacuous as I had imagined.
For the record, the NYC meeting was BS as usual.
=====================
I was gonna drag Mr. QuiltLady, but we were just too tired. You know, getting older, Friday, after a hard week at work. Glad I didn't miss anything.
Coincidence? These three wire headlines appear in sequence at the top left of Salon.com:
"Insurgents bomb polling places in Iraq"
"Iraqi president: Most people won't vote"
and then:
"Bush: Iraq vote will set global example"
Yep, can't wait for my country to start emulating Iraq's example.
WoodyGuthrie'sGuitar: How's things where (?) you are?
Where(?)?
Gnashvegas is wet and cold, but luckily, we were spared the dreaded freezing rain overnight. That caused some of our guests to overstay their welcome (not really, but it sounded good), and much money changed hands in friendly -- yet competitive -- tournaments of canny pool and Texas hold-'em.
Today is for napping, I suspect.
.
Atrios, for what it's worth, comcast seems to be upgrading their service, which of course means a downgrade in service at least temporarily. We got a notice today to unplug our modem, wait 60 secs, then replug. Just did it, and now everything seems very very very slow to load.
mrbill,
I'm in Athens and the whole place looks frosted. I've seen cars pass my pad, going up the hill...and then I see them going past my pad, sliding down the hill. For them who were concerned, I called work and told the bossman that unless he really needed me, I wasn't going to walk a mile-and-a-half in this mess for what would basically be $25 at best.
Per MSNBC.com - rocket hits US Embassy in Baghdad, 2 dead....
I'm a malicious, immature asshole < href="http://tinyurl.com/59pxu>and it's all the Internet's fault!
Shockingly missing from the non-stop coverage of the recent train tradegy is one simple premise: what if, instead of a failed suicide attempt, this was the work of an angry muslim?
Our already fragile economy would be crippled by the realization that our rails are totally unsafe and there's nothing a pathetic figure-head like Tom Ridge could EVER do to stop it. All it takes is a single person, no training in Afgan camps, no satellite phones to tap, nothing. Just an anger at the US for illegally invading his country and killing his brothers. What if one of these trains were one of the many shipping dangerous materials thru our neighborhoods on a daily basis with NO PROTECTION? Seems like W and his pals are oblivious to the simple fact that you don't stop terrorist attacks by comitting them yourself.
Sigh. I also forgot a " ....
Coincidence? These three wire headlines appear in sequence at the top left of Salon.com:
I saw our embassy was also hit by mortar fire, killing 2 Americans.
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