imkittymyers at hotmail dot com
Saturday, February 25, 2006
WEEKEND FUN
I don't know why HBO canceled Carnivàle. I miss it; it was a great period piece: The Depression-era Dust Bowl -- sex, greed, mysticism, and nobody took a bath -- with a seductive opening sequence using Tarot cards, which set the mood and drew you into the show.8 Free online Tarod Card reading, although not as dark and mysterious.
h/t Corrine Kenner
8 Bored? Try one of the hundreds (?) of these online jigsaw puzzles.
8 Back by popular demand, that meanie on a mission with the battleship hips, Slap Hillary!
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Friday, February 24, 2006
CONGRATULATIONS BRAINSTER!!
Yee-HAW! Once again, Pat, Brainster in the blogosphere, has caught the attention of a biggie. Michelle Malkin links him often, and now it's National Review Online!It took a blogger — Pat Curley, of Brainster’s Blog — to break this story.
Surf over to Brainster and congratulate him.
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DROOPY DRAWERS
Ever wonder why boys wear such baggy clothing? One school district (don't know where) decided that a dress code was in order.
Here's why. Frightening and amazing.
h/t Simone!
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MORRISSEY MALADJUSTED
I love this. Here's another gassy entertainer (a Brit) who shot off his mouth post 9/11 and called the president a "terrorist" and is questioned by both British and American intelligence.“You can't really speak your mind and if you do you're investigated."
So he SWAPS NAIVE LA FOR ROME.
If Morrissey thinks that Italy is more tolerant, he should read the following.
A Costly T-Shirt?: The Italian judiciary is investigating whether Roberto Calderoli, who resigned from his post as government minister last week, is guilty of “contempt of religion.” Mr Calderoli wore a T-shirt with a cartoon of the Muslim prophet Muhammad. If he is found guilty the former minister can be fined a penalty of €1,000 to €5,000.
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YOU SAY IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY
IF TODAY IS YOUR BIRTHDAY (LoanCat;): Money matters are important but don't let them rule your life. Self worth is not just about dollars and cents, it is also about how you view yourself from a higher perspective, one that has nothing to do with how much you earn or what baubles you own. The most important thing is that you like yourself as a human being - and like others too.Happy Birthday to a really good friend, even though we don't always agree on things. And, yes, I'm enjoying Tinsley Ellis ... THANK YOU!!
For everyone who still has birthdays, here's a neat Birthday Calculator. (LoanCat, did you send that to me?)
In other news ...
8 Double-take headline: HILLARY GETS UGLY
8 Triple-take headline: Catherine Zeta Jones Like a Man in Drag
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Thursday, February 23, 2006
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Wednesday, February 22, 2006
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JUST THE FACTS, MA'AM
Lucianne's blogtruth of the day ...Dubai Port deal - good or bad? Everyone needs to calm down and take a deep breath.
The critical point is that Dubai Ports World won't be running the port of Baltimore, or any other U.S. port for that matter. What it would be doing, as ex-Rep. Helen Delich Bentley (R-MD), a respected expert on Maritime matters, explained in a Feb. 18th letter, to the "Baltimore Sun," is hiring the longshoremen to load and unload the cargo from the vessels. The Maryland Port Authority, an agency of the state, she underscored, would continue to "run the port of Baltimore's public terminals and be the spokesman for the port in general." Bentley added that this transaction only means that the "UAE's Dubai Ports World will be the firm bidding competitively for contracts to handle cargo coming off or loading on to ships in the six ports where P&O Ports has contracts. Baltimore is one of those ports."
(2) It is also important to emphasize that the vast majority of the cargo handling in the six U.S. ports mentioned above is done by union labor, who are locally based workers. They are card carrying members of the International Longshorman's Association (AFL-CIO), which is headquartered in New York City.
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A BIT ABOUT DUBAI
Yesterday, Rush mentioned his trip to Dubai a year ago.What I Saw in Dubai
[W]hen I went to Afghanistan in February of last year, I had to stop in Dubai.
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I was expecting some little desert outpost. I admittedly had not been hard working on informing myself of what this place was, but I'm telling you, I was stunned. I flew over some of the most desolate desert I've ever seen. It makes United States desert look like an oasis. But then out of nowhere, amidst the dust and the sand of the desert rises this futuristic, giant city, with skyscrapers and buildings that would make Las Vegas look like, you know, a suburb of a town of 30,000 people, and there is construction going on left and right, all over the place, and all the signage is in English ...
The UAE is enjoying huge economic growth.
UAE's private wealth set to grow by 12.5pc
The UAE, which is home to nearly 53,000 dollar millionaires — accounting for a stronger density of high networth individuals than the world's richest nation USA — is poised to record a major surge in private wealth over the next three years on the back of a vibrant economy driven by record oil revenues and all-round growth, leading private bankers said.
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With a per capita income of $28,138, one of the highest in the world, the UAE, which boasts the fourth largest gas reserve and third largest oil reserves in the world, has reinforced its position as the second largest economy in the GCC after Saudi Arabia. However, 67.4 per cent of the country's fiscal revenue is derived from non-oil sectors, underscoring the buoyancy of the services, property and manufacturing industries.
Which reminded me of this amazing piece I stumbled upon last year, which I knew I'd eventually have a reason to post. (Forget that it's the Aljazeera.)
Dubai desert gives way to ski resort
Tuesday 26 April 2005, 14:47 Makka Time, 11:47 GMT
Ski Dubai is a formidable engineering feat, an incongruous 25-storey structure rising from the Gulf emirate's sands as some 1000 labourers work round the clock building the Middle East's only indoor ski resort and the world's third largest.
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Ski Dubai, covering an area of 22,500 square metres, or the equivalent of three football fields, will use 6000 tons of real snow settling 50 centimetres thick. It will have a capacity of 1500 people at any one time while the objective is to try and attract 500,000 visitors a year, Taylor said.
Thirty tons of fresh snow will be made every night to replenish the slope when the indoor temperature will be reduced from minus one Celsius throughout the day to about minus seven.
I'm posting these things because of their interest, especially now. I have not come to any conclusions about the port deal.
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FORGET CARTER, LISTEN TO BUSH
Photo montage: Rush Limbaugh I wasn't going to touch the port subject. Just wasn't. In fact, I was not even going to blog today as I had planned on writing, instead. That and wait by the phone as I'm still on "sick kid alert" -- this time asthma. (Because of an asinine law passed last year, should Little H need his inhaler, I'll have to go to his certified daycare facility and administer it to him.) But I digress.
Lately I've been lurking on the edges of politics since I can't blog on politics and write and do both well -- "well" being an entirely subjective opinion here. But this port issue is spewing forth like a volcano. I'm seeing thinking-engaged people become unhinged, especially when they heard that Carter is in agreement with President Bush.
I can't say if I'm for this port deal or not, but I do trust Bush. I trust him implicitly, which is not to say that I always agree with him because I don't. But I do trust him, especially when it concerns the interests of our country. So, with that in mind, forget that bastard Carter and listen to Bush.
Rush is right when he said this knee-jerk reaction is a tsunami.
What we have here is a tsunami. We've got tsunami of coverage on this port deal that is disabling any reasonable debate about this, and I know it doesn't help this idiot Jimmy Carter has just come out for this port deal. I mean, if Bush really wanted this, Jimmy Carter has just screwed it. Jimmy Carter's just blown this deal sky high by coming out and endorsing it.
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There are legitimate really good economic reasons to do this deal, as I said yesterday, but they are going to be overshadowed by the politics.
Here is a good article for some facts.
Paranoia about Dubai ports deal is needless
First, the deal has been vetted by an inter-agency committee. And ports, in any case, are in one of the most highly regulated sectors in the US. What matters is how they are managed, not who owns them.
Second, leading Dubai companies such as DP World bring with them certain advantages. They habitually: spend money to make money; headhunt the best professionals (in DP World that includes top Americans); and produce high rates of growth. The ambitious new $15bn aerospace enterprise Dubai announced this week will be built around that formula.
Third, the honourable senators might get this purchase in perspective by pondering the extent to which the Gulf allies they so distrust already own vast quantities of US assets, as well as dollar assets held offshore. For Abu Dhabi alone, a 1 percentage point move in US interest rates now means more than a $10 per barrel swing in the price of oil. Do the math.
As Rush pionts out, the port deal has caused some strange bedfellows and a delicious, albeit unintended, consequence.
Democrats Finally Acknowledge the Enemy
Now, I know it gives them an opportunity to attack Bush, but at the same time this is a rope-a-dope tactic, if nothing else, by Bush because now the Democrats have come out and admitted that there is an enemy. But up until now, Abu Ghraib wasn't necessary, Club Gitmo wasn't necessary, the NSA foreign intelligence isn't necessary. We don't have any enemies. The biggest threat posed to world security they think is George Bush. Now all of a sudden it's the UAE. Don't forget that aspect. There's a lot to learn here in this, and political events are happening here that Democrats are going to regret having had a knee-jerk reaction themselves on this because next time they run around the acting like there are no enemies. The enemy is Bush. Somebody can say to them, "Why did you oppose the port deal? If there are no enemies, if we really have nothing to face, what's the problem?"
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Tuesday, February 21, 2006
TUESDAY'S SPECIALS
8 Double-take headline: Boise police consider limits on shooting at moving cars
8 My buddy Pat was on the radio this morning discussing The Port Thing: As I mentioned while talking with Jamie Allman and Smash [radio talk show] this morning, I'm willing to be convinced that the deal makes sense, and that security will remain tight. But the administration needs to sell its case. It can't just assume that the fuss will blow over.
8 The Dlisted snarkmeister was interviewed: Shooting the snark with the king of Dlisted
Q: What's your day job?
A: I copy-edit for a dot-com. I don't do anything there. That's why it's so easy for me. I just blog all day. Nobody at work knows.
8 Interesting tidbit in Cindy Adams' column: HELEN Thomas, former long time White House press corps chief: "I think Iraqis were better off under Saddam than they are now. More importantly, the Israelis think so, too." . . .
8 Rik, my favorite American blogger in Italy, has learned he’ll have to move: I've been moping around for over a week now and just can't seem to find joy or happiness in anything.
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HRC NOMINEE: DREAMBOAT OR SHIPWRECK?
I wouldn't be surprised if Her Royal C had this picture enlarged and framed.For all the half-vast left-wing's ranting about Drudge, it was Matt D who prominently posted this picture for all the world to see. I can imagine how her supporters cheered when they saw it; it jolted me. The picture is like a political Rorschach test.
Let's not even discuss if she's running, because she's been gunning for this position her entire adult life. There's always the chance that she can win, so the question is, Will she win?
8 According to the polls the RESISTANCE TO HILL'S RUN RISING: The negative poll results suggests that her mix of blasting President Bush, defending her vote for the war in Iraq and backing a law to ban flag burning just isn't scoring points.
8 Which may explain HRC's "symbolic" Purple Heart award last week. Scripps Howard News so far is the first news organization to print a story about it, thereby receiving Lucianne's blessing to post it. Purple Heart group gets flak over nod to Sen. Clinton: Clinton was the 15th recipient of the group's "inspirational leadership award." Though aware of the enmity felt by many on the right toward Clinton, the organization decided she deserved recognition, not the least for her efforts since 2002 to get the U.S. Postal Service to issue a Purple Heart stamp and her recent successful push for the service to re-issue it when rates increased this year.
**Be certain to read the Ldotters' comments, especially #14 and #41.**
8 Wizbang goes so far as to write about The upcoming Hillary Clinton wreck: Hillary has it all. She has the name recognition, approval of her party, money which she can transfer from her senate race to prime the pump, access to all the key democratic players and media directly or through her husband and the desire to be president. The only thing that can stop Hillary is Hillary deciding not to run. And that's when you see the other car come into the picture and the inevitability of the wreck happening.
QUESTION: What do you think Hillary's chances are of being elected?
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Monday, February 20, 2006
JACKSON HOLE WANTS PEACE
I was surfing through my list of webcams around the country and noticed protesters in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Hmmmm, this could be interesting. So I called the Jackson Trading Company, which sponsors the webcam, to learn what they were protesting. A sweet young thang answered the phone.
Me: Is your store located right in Jackson Hole?
Sweet Young Thang: Yes.
Me: I'm looking at your webcam and notice protesters in the town square.
SYT: Oh, they're not protesters!
Me: Then what do their signs say?
SYT: Honk for peace.
PEACE! PEACE! All they want is PEACE!
Aaaaaaaaaa little piece of Poland
A little piece of France
A little piece of Hungary
And Austria, perchance?
A little slice of Turkey
A little spot of Greece...
Aw, shucks, I just checked the webcam and they're gone.
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JACK'S BACK ... TONIGHT
If you miss tonight's episode, and if you forget to tape it, you can always read the best recaps at Blogs4Bauer, for which their B4B Guide to Nicknames will come in mighty handy.Rush, who's a diehard "24" fan, posted this: I gotta tell you -- I've been meaning to mention this, and it just keeps slipping my mind, but -- the latest issue of my favorite magazine, Cigar Aficionado, has a cover story on "24." Kiefer Sutherland's picture is on the cover, but they talked to Joel Surnow, the creator and producer, and for people to whom this is all new, it's a great, great piece.
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GEORGE WASHINGTONGeorge Washington's Birthday (Observed): Contrary to popular belief, today has never been designated "President's Day" by the Federal Government. Today is, rightly, the observation of the February 22nd birthday of George Washington.
8 Lincoln's birthday has passed.
Gone are the days in grade school when we celebrated the birthdays of Lincoln and Washington by cutting out their silhouettes.
OVAL OFFICE ODDITIES
PRESIDENTS Day may not get much respect - but that hasn't stopped intrepid Webster Hall curator Baird Jones from compiling a roundup of fun facts marking today's holiday. We're told that Gerald Ford allegedly had a flatulence problem, often blaming the Secret Service men surrounding him. President Grover Cleveland was a draft dodger. He hired someone to enter the service in his place, for which he was ridiculed by his opponent, James G. Blaine. It was soon discovered, however, that Blaine had done the same thing himself. Franklin Pierce had a violent temper and was arrested after angrily running over an old woman with a horse in 1853. But the case was dropped so as not to expose the president to international embarrassment. Grover Cleveland is the only U.S. president to have personally hanged someone: He threw a noose over two criminals' necks while working as a sheriff of Erie County, N.Y., an experience he de scribed as "nightmarish." Finally, John F. Kennedy was supposedly plagued by the venereal disease chlamydia and spent the first moments of the Bay of Pigs invasion getting a giant shot of penicillin.
8 An Oval Office tour with President George Bush.
8 20 Interesting tidbits about the presidents.
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Sunday, February 19, 2006
BLOGGER ON DOPE?
Blogging the past few days has been frustrating.Like blogger has been/is on barbiturates.
AARRRRGGG!!!
For the record:
I have hot water (new hot water heater).
I have heat (new pump on furnace).
The kitchen is once again dry.
My cat Ichabod still has a cold.
It was 31* below freezing this morning (which is 1*, but "31* below freezing" sounds colder).
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I SEE LONDON, I SEE FRANCE
I see dirty underpants?At least that's what her billboard butt implied to me.
When I first saw that ad I thought that it was strictly for advertsing purposes, that VS wasn't really selling bikini bottoms with the word JUICY. I mean, the image of a JUICY butt conjures up the aftermath of a Chinese chicken dinner or drinking the water in Mexico.
However, for a mere $84 you, too, can have a JUICY butt.
Oh, I know, horny guys of all ages will drool all over themselves if they saw JUICY, and Montezuma's revenge will not be on their minds.
Speaking of body images ...
8 From fat to phat?: In addition to a new album, which Britney said to expect by the end of the year, Spears is excited to debut her hot new body! "She's getting into pre-baby shape by doing a combination of cardio, yoga, Pilates and weight lifting."
8 The Naked Truth: "As our perception of beauty is altered by plastic surgery," one studio exec told TMZ, "it becomes increasingly intimidating to put yourself on screen."
8 Making matters worse is HDTV: High-Definition TV, which offers a picture up to six times clearer than regular TV, allows you to see the stars as they look in real-life. And because the picture offers such incredible detail, you soon notice that some "beautiful" celebrities have terrible skin problems.
And now for something completely different ...
8 I Love It: Environmental kooks are pi$$ing their pants (what else is new) over President Bush's meeting (and reported agreement) with author Michael Crichton, whose best-selling book "State Of Fear" belittles and challenges the science behind the "gospel truths" so revered by the "We're All Going To Die Tomorrow" global-warming crowd.
8 Rush is keeping track of Algore's Doomsday Prediction: As of today, we have 9 years 343 days until the global bar-b-q.
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