This guy hits the nail on the head:
Made in the USA: Spoiled Brats
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As much as I like to complain about the weather, I must admit we've had a nice run over the past two weeks. According to Wunderground.com, the average high over the last 15 days has been 66.5 degrees F. The average high for this sample is 67.0 F. I still fear another repeat of 2005 when we had a miserable May; especially that second-half. I remember high temperatures in the 50's the week before Memorial Day. That year was the one of the coldest recorded Mays in Boston's history. Even the Boston Globe mentioned it. I don't know why an article from 2005 has a (c) 2006 footer though. Yes, I live 300 miles from Boston but the whole Northeast (and then some) was in the same weather glut that year.
I bought the plants today for my garden and that means the weather should turn sour again soon. Gosh, I can be so pessimistic sometimes. Anyway, I bought 12 tomato (Rutgers, Viva Italia, and Better Boy), four jalapeno, and four anaheim chili. I have two pumpkins started from seed as well as six sunflowers. I toned it down a bit from last year when I had 12 tomato, eight jalapeno, four generic hot peppers, four habanero, and one pumpkin. I still have jalapenos and some habaneros as well as habanero sauce left from last year and I also have some salsa and tomato sauce I made too.
Last week I checked my fencing. It appears to be small, furry animal-proof. In some areas there are actually three layers of fencing. I also reinforced the fence to make it six to seven feet high to, hopefully, deer-proof it. Other than that, I think I am ready to plant which I will do tomorrow or Sunday.
UPDATE: No sooner do I make this post then I go outside to see a rabbit in my garden. Granted, there were no plants in there yet but still. In six years of doing this, that was the first time I saw anything other than a deer in my garden. The deer, by the way, jumped the fence in October after I had pretty much harvested everything. That is when I found out a four-foot high fence isn't good enough. Anyway, as for the rabbit, I ran around the perimeter, which drove the rabbit nuts, to see where he would exit. He bounced off the fence a few times here and there and finally he got out through the gate. Needless to say, I will fix that gate today.
I also checked the forecast this week. Forecast lows for Sunday night are in the upper 30's. I may wait now until Monday or Tuesday to plant.
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It's not quite Googlezon, but it might be close; rumors flew yesterday that Microsoft might try to acquire Yahoo. Apparently, the talks died before they really began, luckily. I would really hate to have to stop using Alltheweb as my primary search engine or my Yahoo calendar. I think we will see some mega mergers in the coming years. Here are a few that I think could happen:
Google acquires Ebay
Wal-Mart acquires Amazon.com
Microsoft acquires Yahoo
Honda buys Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep
AT&T acquires Verizon or Verizon acquires AT&T
H-P acquires Gateway
Samsung acquires LG
Of these, I think the Google-Ebay move is more likely than it seems. Google easily has the power and means do something like auctions. Since Ebay is a monopoly, I wish someone with the power of Google would create some competition in that field. Perhaps they aren't because they see acquisition potential. Google rolls out a lot of stuff and I think it's only a fraction of what goes on there.
Walmazon - 'nuff said; sounds so natural.
Gateway is ripe for takeover. If it isn't H-P, it will be Dell or Sony.
I think Honda will try for Chrysler, if for nothing else, to acquire the Dodge truck line and Jeep SUV line. Toyota and Nissan already have popular truck lines and I don't really think Ford or GM are interested in Chrysler. Then again, maybe Daimler will break apart Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep and sell them individually so maybe Dodge will go to Honda and Jeep and Chrysler elsewhere.
Yahoo will be acquired and not by Google. That leaves only one other suitor.
As for the others, who knows what will happen; just some guesses on my part, that's all.
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Since it seems everyone likes lists, I decided to list my ten favorite movies. Granted, in the past ten years I have seen fewer than ten in a theater and probably rented fewer than ten in the past ten years as well. We bought a DVD player in December and up until a few days ago, had yet to rent, borrow, or buy a movie to play in it. We know it works because we have an "I Spy" DVD game that we have played in it a few times. Over the weekend, someone gave us our first DVD as a gift so know we own one DVD for our player.
Nonetheless, I do like some movies and my aversion is because most of what Hollywood puts out is junk and recycled junk at that so I have given up on going to the movies. I have seen two movies in the theater (both were at drive-ins, every time one closes, a bit of Americana is lost) since 2000. My list is a snapshot of how good movies used to be. Anyway, here are my top ten, in no particular order:
10. Patton - What's amazing about this movie is that is was released at the peak of the anti-war movement during Vietnam and yet it still won big at the Oscars.
9. Platoon - Oliver Stone's magnum opus
8. Saving Private Ryan - Forget Jaws, E.T., or Schindler's List, this is Spielberg's masterpiece
7. Stalag 17 - great to watch around Xmas as this takes place during Xmas, 1944; complete with some BBC "play by play" of the Battle of the Bulge.
6. Apocalypse Now - creepy, funny, and powerful, my favorite Coppola film. Normally I am not a big fan of Robert Duvall but he's fantastic in this one;
"Charlie don't surf!"
5. Blazing Saddles - Absolutely hilarious, some great one liners - "scuse me while I whip this out" "the sheriff is near..."; great stuff
4. Airplane! - way too many funny things to comment on but I can watch this, uncut, anytime
3. Dr. Strangelove or How I stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Bomb - Stanley Kubrick's other great film, Peter Sellers at his finest showing why he was one of the premier actors of the 20th century
2. The Empire Strikes Back - the best of the five I have seen
1. 12 Angry Men (1957) - if I were to pick my favorite movie ever, this one might be it; so well done with superb acting, no special effects, no glitz, nothing, just a plain room with a few minutes from inside the men's room. The viewer is forced to follow the actors' words and actions and the movie delivers; a true masterpiece.
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I've been fairly busy the past three or so weeks which comes as no surprise to those of you who know why and, thus, I've really only had time to scan the news of late. There have been some big stories, too, like what happened at Virginia Tech, Congress waving the white flag, and Toyota beating GM in sales for the quarter. I really only have time to make a quick comment on Congress.
It appears that the Commander-in-Chief will veto Congress' bill. Wasting taxpayer time and money on such an issue is malfeasance at its worst. Telling the world that we can't take pain and suffering is a mistake, too. I want our troops to come home as much as anybody but leaving now is a mistake. Maybe it was a mistake to invade Iraq but we need to fix it if we broke it. Let's suck it up and fix what we broke. Rhetoric and symbolic gestures fix nothing. What ever happened to "my country, right or wrong?" When we are wrong on something, it used to be improper to broadcast it to the world but that's not so anymore.
I don't want to get too political but abandoning something just because 1) we don't like it and 2) it's difficult is indicative of a society that doesn't want to deal with things that require work and patience. As a people, we are becoming lazy and impatient and that indolence is now beginning to creep into Congress.
I'll close with two links from some letters from a corporal in Iraq:
[Link 1]
[Link 2]
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"A veteran California senator has resigned as chair of a powerful military construction committee after reports that for years she abused her position to award her husband’s companies billions of dollars in government contracts."
[source]
Since a prominent senator is involved in such flagrant ethics violations and obvious war profiteering, I wanted to see what the bastions of today's media outlets had to say on the matter. So I did some searching.
"feinstein military husband" on CNN's search yields seven results, none relevant. The same query on nytimes.com (searching the last year) yields 10, none relevant. If I change the search to "Dianne Feinstein military" I get 18 from the NYT and "Sorry, we are unable to perform your search because we are experiencing technical difficulties. Please try again later" on CNN.com; seriously, I did. So I tried CBSNews.com; "dianne feinstein military" yields nothing.
Well, I thought, maybe I am not using the correct terms. "feinstein committee" yields 22 results, none relevant, on the NYT, 10 on CBS, none relevant (but a few about Harriet Miers), and 174 on CNN. I narrowed the CNN search (it was working again) to "feinstein resigns committee" and got 24, none relevant.
Ok, so I just stuck to the basics. Just plain "Dianne Feinstein" into CBSNews yields 20, none relevant to the resignation and the same into CNN gives 351; by date, nothing through Feb. mentions the resignation. I typed "Dianne Feinstein" into the NYTimes search box and checked back 30 and 90 days. Surely, I would find something. I found nine results from the past 30 days and 28 from the past 90 and many of those 28 deal with the attorneys being fired so I know that the NYTimes is capable of covering current events; they just pick and chose which ones to cover.
Surely, her hometown newspaper is covering this story. A search on sfgate.com yields seven results from the past 30 days, nothing relevant.
Maybe the liberal bloggers who said we need ethical leadership in Congress are talking about it. "feinstein committee resigns" returns three non-relevant posts on Dailykos.com. At least Kos makes no bones about their agenda so I can't fault them.
As for the mainstream media, their duty is to inform. Liberal bias? Nah..., double standard? c'mon.... pushing an agenda? no way.... manufacturing Republican scandals with our track record of being balanced? nothing to see here, move along...
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"It's been so warm lately..."
Q: "So how warm has it been?"
A: "It's been so warm, that activists had to rename 'a national day of citizen action on global warming' to a 'climate change' rally." [Link]
It appears that they didn't have time to reprint the signs.
"Global warming rally cut short by cold weather"
[Link]
That's a great headline; someone send it to Jay Leno. That belongs there with "Nothing destroyed in fire, but damage near $100,000" or "City increasing speed limit to slow down drivers" or "High crime areas said to be safer."
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I am just as sick of hearing about Don Imus as anyone else but I can't help thinking about it. I think what concerns me the most is that Al Sharpton has become the most powerful man in America. If Al doesn't like what you say, then you are finished and the dinosaur media is more than willing to give him as much time as he wants with the bullhorn on a soapbox.
Like others, I am beginning to wonder who's next. Liberals who want Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, and the ultimate prize - Rush Limbaugh - smell blood. Imus was none of those three, even if you disagree with them, Imus did not have the talent nor did he have the ratings of those three. It's possible CBS Radio and MSNBC were looking for reasons to can Imus and he gave them their reason but I doubt it. Al said "jump" and CBS Radio and MSNBC quickly responded with "how high?"
Still, I think this sets a dangerous precedent. Allowing a nobody to dictate policy is very dangerous.
I do wonder who's next. We can live without Imus. But will it stop there? I foresee a trickle down effect to the average blogger. Some bozos want bloggers to register as lobbyists so the intent is already there to monitor and restrict bloggers. Yes, we can do without Imus but we cannot do without the average person being able to post his beliefs without fear of being regulated, registered, or replaced.
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...my children will ask me: "Daddy, why didn't you do anything about global warming?" To which I'll reply: "I wanted to, but it was just too darn cold to do anything."
April 5: 42/32 (avg: 56/35)
April 6: 40/28
April 7: 41/24
April 8: 41/25
April 9: 46/23
April 10: 48/25
April 11: 54/24 (avg: 58/37)
Spring is a myth.
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Even though she is abroad and affirming the veracity of my letter to the editor, I'll give Speaker Pelosi credit for one thing: she is not bad-mouthing the US and blaming us for everything, unlike Al Gore does when he travels abroad.
The Phillies have started 0-2 and have blown leads late in both games. This is not a good way to start April but it's not unusual. The Phillies seem to forget that games played in April count. I hope they remember this when they are two games back to the Mets in late September.
Even though I have given up watching the cable new channels, I can still hear the panting the MSM is doing over the prediction of 17 named Atlantic storms this season. They are still bugged over last year's super-hyped predictions of destruction only to be let down by five named storms that didn't do any major damage.
Speaking of weather. Where I live, the average high/low for this time of year is 56/35. Here's the five-day forecast: 42/23, 43/21, 40/24, 44/26, and 49/29. If anyone reading this is getting some of that global warming action, blow some this way, please. Better yet, locally, all we need to do is get out and drive our cars more. That will warm things up in a hurry. I had to put the storm windows in today; something I usually do at the end of baseball season, not at the beginning.
I usually don't comment or link to others' letters to the editor, but this guy hit the nail right on the head. There ought to be a law against lazy and stupid people getting laws passed. I don't know which is worse, those who write and propose stupid laws or those who enact them.
Our Congressman has been flagged by the White House as "vulnerable to defeat" in the next election. ALL members of Congress should be "vulnerable to defeat" in every election. It's too bad people in West Virginia, Massachusetts, and PA's 12 Congressional district aren't progressive enough for change.
Adblock for Firefox is OK, but blocking advertising sites through a router is better and easier; that is if your router has that feature.
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Here's my letter to the editor that was published yesterday. The link is good for about two weeks.
Letter to the editor
Here's the cartoon.
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...versus someone who is less "Green."
"Bush's House more Eco-Friendly Than Gore's" [Link]
USAToday article: [Link]
From Snopes: [Link]
Pictures of Gore's house: [Link]
Is Al Gore carbon neutral? [Link]
Since I don't watch any of the cable news channels anymore, I can only assume that CNN, MSNBC, CBS News have called Al Gore on this to have him explain his "do as I say, not as I do" philosophy.
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