Tomorrow's meeting room.
I may make it appear otherwise, but it's NOT easy being me.

Oh, the humanity!

This just has to STOP!

Crustaceans kept on ice rather than in water tank

(ANSA) - Vicenza, April 26 - A restaurant operator has been fined 688 euros for allegedly mistreating lobsters which were on display for potential customers, the local press reported. The fine was the result of a complaint filed in March 2002 by a former activist from Italy's animal protection agency ENPA .

The 34-year restaurant operator was accused of keeping the lobsters on ice rather than in a water tank .The fine was levied despite the restaurant operator's request for the opinion of an expert and he has appealed.

According to the restaurateur, four years ago there were no specific guidelines on maintaining live lobsters, regulations which entered the law books only in 2004 .

The general opinion of lobstermen is that a hard shell lobster can survive out of the water for 24 hours or more, while soft shell lobsters, those which are re-growing their shells after shedding, are best kept in water .

They also maintain that lobsters, sometimes referred to as the 'cockroaches of the sea', do not suffer, for example when they are thrown into boiling water for cooking.

So, I ate one last night for dinner.

Rumor has it there's marches set up for Monday in support of illegal immagrashion.

Get a brain, morans!

To the Rough Men

There's a character trait that's decided by fate
Comes (sadly) to many, far too faint, far too late.
They won't face the aggressor, stand up to his ire
They have not the will to fight his fire with fire.
So they bend over backwards to see all sides as fair,
Till they're faced with dragon breath fire in their hair.
Like our brethren in France, who'd know better than we,
Yet seem never to learn, seem doomed never to see.

Yes, it seems there are some who're determined by fate,
To possess not the courage to step up to the plate,
Who shrink from all threat because nothing's worth war.
But how can they know lest they've been there before?
Thank God some have courage, the will, yes, the grace,
To stand for the shirkers, stand strong in their place.
Thank God we have stalwarts who'll stand for us all,
Who will rise to the challenge at their nation's call.

The faint-hearted, who fear, whose reaction is flight,
Have no comprehension of those who will fight.
To hide their own trepidation they attempt to demean
The rough men, who defend them, as barbaric, obscene.
Yet these rough men stand ready, hard weapons to hand,
To put placaters behind them, draw a line in the sand,
To preserve for the peaceniks what they won't defend,
So their own unearned freedom won't perish, won't end.

To appeasers, rough men are coarse government tools.
To rough men, appeasers are dumb delusional fools.

Russ Vaughn
2d Bn, 327th Parachute Infantry Regiment
101st Airborne Division
Vietnam 65-66

Here's the appeasers in action.

And we were sooo damn close, too.

Hope to be complete someday, though.

Yella State is more gooder than Red States in this map.

Tomorrow's her Anniversary.
That'll be twenty-nine years on the chain for me.
I'm not so much a bad dog any longer.

Darwin just miss

Officials: Sumter man attempts to steal copper from electrical pole

(Sumter, SC) April 25, 2006 - A Sumter man was found in critical condition after officials say he tried to steal something from an electrical pole.
Barely conscious and trapped between transformers is where Sumter police found Wayne Odom.
His stepfather says a bad crack habit led to the serious injury. Marshall Knotts says, "He would do anything he could do to get it. He was so strung out."
Sunday night police say Odom climbed an electrical pole and was shocked. What was he trying to get his hands on, they think, was copper.
Chief Patty Patterson says copper is normally stolen from construction sites, not electrical poles, "I don't think it would be of great value and clearly not of value to put yourself in danger, to run the risk of major bodily harm to yourself."
Police actually recovered copper from Odom's backyard.

Congrats Twins Fans

And thank you, taxpayers!

Minnesota House passes financing plan for new Twins ballpark

By BRIAN BAKST, Associated Press WriterApril 26, 2006
AP - Apr 26, 6:36 pm EDT

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- The Minnesota House gave the Twins stadium hopes a big lift Wednesday, voting 76-55 in favor of an open-air ballpark that would be paid for mostly by taxpayers.

The focus now shifts to the state Senate, where the proposed increase in the county's sales tax could run into some early trouble. The Senate Taxes Committee, headed by a lawmaker opposed to the plan, will begin its deliberations on Thursday.

The downtown Minneapolis stadium project would cost $522 million -- three-fourths from a higher Hennepin County sales tax -- and would allow the Twins to leave the Metrodome, their home since 1982 and the place where they've clinched two World Series crowns.

The coolest part about the whole deal, as I understand it, is that there's a little law in MN that says taxpayers are required to vote on such an increase before it's passed onto them.
Seems they've thus far skipped that little step.
But the taxpayers won't mind that, will they?

If it all gets worked out, and the taxpayers cough up their majority portion to build a multimillion stadium for multimillionaire players and owners, it'd be nice to see the Twins play outdoors again.
Goodbye HHH Econo-dome?

NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs!
Who'll be left standing?

I'm feeling Sofa King lazy today.

How low?!

Open waters. Denied wishes (for now).

Were was this when I needed it!!!?

Sorry, Curty.

Tomorrow I may be a little teed off.

There goes another $.50

Hurricane over the Dakotas and headed towards.....?

59 Things a Man Should Never Do Past 30

1. Coin his own nickname.
2. Use a wallet that is fastened with Velcro.
3. Rank his friends in order of best, second best, and so on.
4. Hacky sack.
5. Name his penis his name plus junior.
6. Hang art with tape.
7. Hang The Scream, unless he stole it from the Munch museum in Oslo.
8. Ask a policeman, "You ever shoot anybody with that thing?"
9. Ask a woman, "Hey, you got a license for that ass?"
10. Skip.
11. Take a camera to a nude beach.
12. Let his father do his taxes.
13. Tap on the glass.
14. Shout out a response to "Are you ready to rock?"
15. Use the word collated on his resume.
16. Hold a weekly house meeting with roommates.
17. Name pets after Middle Earth characters.
18. Jokingly flash gang signs while posing for wedding photos.
19. Give shout-outs.
20. Use numbers in place of words or locations, such as "the 411" for information, or "the 313" for Detroit.
21. Hug amusement-park characters.
22. Wear Disney-themed neckties.
23. Wake up to a "morning zoo."
24. Compare the trajectory of his life with those of the characters in Billy Joel's "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant."
25. Request extra sprinkles.
26. Air drum.
27. Choose 69 as his jersey number.
28. Eat Oreo cookies in stages.
29. Volunteer to be a magician's assistant.
30. Sleep on a bare mattress.
31. End a conversation with "later skater."
32. Hold his lighter up at a concert.
33. Publicly greet friends by shouting, "What's up, you whore?"
34. Wear Converse All Stars with a tuxedo.
35. Propose via stadium Jumbotron.
36. Decide anything based on the ruminations of Howard Stern.
37. Call "shotgun" before getting in a car.
38. Dispute someone else's call of "shotgun."
39. Whine.
40. Mist up during Aerosmith's "Dream On."
41. Purchase fireworks.
42. Google the word vagina.
43. Ride a pony.
44. Sport an ironic mustache.
45. Hit 13 against a 6.
46. Organize a party bus.
47. Say "two points" every time he throws something in the trash.
48. Buy a novelty postcard in another country of topless women on a beach and write, "Wish you were here" on it.
49. Keg stands.
50. Purchase home-brewing paraphernalia.
51. The John Travolta point-to-the-ceiling-point-to-the-floor dance move; also that one from Pulp Fiction.
52. Put less than ten dollars' worth of gas in the tank.
53. Keep a minuscule amount of marijuana extremely well hidden.
54. Read The Fountainhead.
55. Watch the Pink Floyd laser light show at a planetarium.
56. Refer to his girlfriend's breasts as "the twins."
57. Own a vanity plate.
58. Whippits.
59. Say goodbye to anyone by tapping his chest and even so much as whispering, "Peace out."

What a putz I am.
Thirty-six days ago I missed a big day for someone.
Completely blew it off.
Selfish prick that I am in that regard.
Forty-five can be an emotionally heavy one, too.
Ask anyone who's been through it.
It's one of those that kinda sticks ya.
Stings a little.
But better than the alternative, they say.
Happy very belated Birthday to you.

Even little kids know about me.

Morning laugh

While driving into work this morning, listening to the local radio station talk show, whos special guest was our State's Congressman, who took the ocassion to brag about his hard work for his voters, was heard saying, "....and the bill coming out of the Senate is about the most foolish piece of legislation I've ever read. It effectively (and here's the good part!) criminalizes illegals."

"Criminalizes illegals"??!!! Say it aint so!

What a putz. I won't vote for him again.

Are you going to just sit there watching the sunset or are you going to mail in those tax forms??!!!

Mowing season has officially started.
Be careful out there!

Wake Up

Impolite things to say at a wake
* So, what are you gonna do with his golf clubs?
* Who do I talk to about his bar tab?
* Say what you will, Madame Toussot does nice work.
* It's weird not seeing him drunk.
* Isn't that suit gonna be a little warm for Hell?
* I was there when he died. Man, what a baby

Health Question?

Q: I've heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life; is this true?

A: Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that's it... don't waste them on exercise. Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up your heart will not make you live longer; that's like saying you can extend the life of your car by driving it faster. Want to live longer? Take a nap.

Immigration Debacle

Senate Shelves Immigration Bill
Apr 07 10:27 AM US/Eastern

The Senate sidetracked sweeping immigration legislation Friday, leaving in doubt prospects for passing a bill (prior to them all taking a two week Easter break, even though many of them push an agenda of complete and total separation of church and State... ed) offering the hope of citizenship to millions of men, women and children living in the United States illegally.

It separates illegal immigrants now in the U.S. into three categories.

Illegal immigrants here more than five years could work for six years and apply for legal permanent residency without having to leave the country. Those here two years to five years would have to go to border entry points sometime in next three years, but could immediately return as temporary workers. Those here less than two years would have to leave and wait in line for visas to return.

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/04/07/D8GR7DSO6.html

Where’s the asterisk?
You know…. The one that’s there to say that this amnesty-of-sorts legislation ONLY applies to Mexican citizens who are illegal immigrants, not those who simply came through our porous southern border from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Syria, Egypt, UAE, or (god forbid!) France.
Where is that specified? Or is just some Beltway ASSumption at this point?
Are those al-Queda cell members, who have been here since they missed their assigned flight because the pilot was in jail, eligible for the same program?
Will they be discriminated against? Will the ACLU be forced to defend their new found rights?
Is there an asterisk?

My current desktop.

Border Protection

More on illegal border crossings from a different country.
Maybe our government will follow this example?
Probably not.
Oh by the way, walking across the Bering Strait..... wow.

2 Detained for Crossing Bering on Foot
By MARIA DANILOVA, Associated Press Writer

MOSCOW - Russian authorities have detained an American and a British citizen in the far east after the pair made a rare crossing by foot of a frozen 56-mile stretch of the Bering Strait, officials said Tuesday.

The two were arrested in Chukotka province for failing to register with the authorities, Andrei Orlov, spokesman for the Federal Security Service's (FSB) northeastern border guard division, said on NTV television. All visitors are required to register with police within three days of their arrival in Russia, even if they have visas.

Russian authorities did not identify the two or say when they were arrested.

But one of the adventurers, Briton Karl Bushby, said on his Web site that he and Dimitry Kieffer of Anchorage, Alaska, reached Chukotka province Friday. It took them 15 days to walk the 56 miles from Alaska to Russian territory.

The Web site said Bushby, a 36-year-old former paratrooper, made the crossing as part of a round-the-world walk that began in 1998 at the southern tip of South America.

They did not enter the country at a border crossing, so they had no stamps in their passports.

"Because they were walking across the Bering Strait, they could not take the normal route. Consequently, they didn't have the correct stamps and a landing permit," Keith Bushby told The Associated Press.

"We don't blame the Russian bodyguards because they are doing their job. Karl fully expected a problem, because he knew this would happen."

Spring has indeed sprung

With this news, it's now officially spring.

River's Rise Threatens N.D., Minn. Floods
By DAVE KOLPACK, Associated Press Writer

FARGO, N.D. - City officials say the Red River's rapid rise took them by surprise, but the sandbag walls that volunteers quickly built around homes and businesses were so far protecting the city.

"This has been a very dramatic rise. We have not seen a 5-foot increase (each day) for two or three days ever," said Public Works Director Dennis Walaker.

The Red River, which runs north along the North Dakota-Minnesota line, has been swollen by melting snow and heavy rains.

Residents in the rural county around Fargo already had used up 160,000 sandbags, 50,000 more were on order, and officials had shut down dozens of roads, Cass County Commissioner Vern Bennett said.

"We had to rent about 50 road closing signs because we ran out," Bennett said.

(Renting signs. I should be in that business.)

Sprung Ahead

Workday #2 after having sprung ahead.
I hope the sadistic bastard who thought up this whole time change thing, died in some painful manner. Possibly an early morning fire?

Kick Ball, Anyone?

Either one?

Operation "On Spirit's Wings"

This family helped us. It's now payback time.
Step up, if you can.

(Via GatewayPundit.com)
Operation "On Spirit’s Wings."

Many of our heroes serving in Iraq came home to celebrations and warm embraces.

MSG Rhys Wilson from northwest Missouri came home from Iraq to find his wife Theresa diagnosed with 4th stage neuro-endocrine cancer, unusual for a woman her age. The cancer has metastasized throughout her body.

The Airman was brought back from Iraq to assist with his wife and her 8 year old who has undiagnosed heart problems. (They have a total of 6 children in their blended family, five are pictured here.)

The maintenance treatments (3 shots per day) cost $6000.00 per month and they have to advance those costs and then get them reimbursed by insurance. The actual treatment is close to $20,000.00 and is only available in Basil, Switzerland. She is under the care of an oncologist from the University of Iowa and from Columbia, Missouri. This treatment is not covered by insurance, nor will airfare, lodging or food so the family is looking for frequent flyer miles as well.

Operation "On Spirit’s Wings."

State Representative Colonel Jack Jackson (USMC-Ret.) Chairman of the House Veteran’s Committee in Missouri and strong veteran supporter tipped me off to this story last week. Since then, I have had several discussions with Pat Rowe Kerr, Ombudsman for the Missouri Veteran’s Commission, who does an outstanding job with helping Missouri veterans in need of assistance, a job she loves and puts her whole heart into.

Pat spoke with Carole Farnham who runs the site Operation Undergarment which is a grass roots clothing drive to provide injured and sick soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen that are deployed in combat zones with clothing items to make their hospital stays more comfortable. Carole agreed to set up her PayPal account to accept donations to help with this emergency.

The PayPal account at Operation Undergarment HERE is now accepting emergency donations for this family. It is the "Operation Undergarment" account but all donations are currently being forwarded to the Wilson family.

To clarify, The PayPal account has the "Undergarments" name. All of the donations collected at this account will go to "On Spirit's Wings".

Since the drive is for the wife of Airman Wilson, it is called
"Operation On Spirit's Wings"

100 percent of all contributions go to the family.

http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2006/04/please-help-this-us-iraq-war-veteran.html

Update 8: (Monday Late Night) 4190.27 is total as of now!

Very, Very Familiar View

SOON TO BE GONE - On Wednesday evening the Burntside River was beginning to show its water course. A steady rain Thursday night and Friday is quickly making the waterway reappear from the winter's ice. Photo by Anne Swenson

Studies show.........

A Penn State Professor, after a lengthy study, has discovered that people with insufficient brain and sexual activity read blog posts with their hand on the mouse.

Don’t bother taking it off now, it’s too late.