It's worth a thought

With the choices with which we have been presented, this might be a viable alternative.



Stolen from The Smallest Minority

Available at Cafepress.com along with shirts and other stuff.

Free advice to the Giants

Just for fun, I think each and every one of the Giants’ players should be issued a “boot” to wear when they hold open practice on the fields of Arizona. Redwings, cowboy boots (no, ion second thought scratch the cowboy boots unless they have to scrape the cowboy out of them first), Survivors (available at your local WalMart), rubber galoshes, any kind of boot would do. It would be the sort of move that would lighten the mood of the team while at the same time poking fun at all the attention Tom Brady’s “walking cast” has been getting.

Happy Birthday Jessica!

As the day winds down I would be remiss in not wishing my daughter, Jessica, a very happy birthday. It was 28 (28!?) years ago today that she appeared upon this Earth of ours and changed the lives of her mother and I completely. Mostly for the better, I might add.

A talented musician who played any instrument they gave her in middle school and high school and Jessica went on the study Music Education at the University of Massachusetts from which she graduated in 2003. Somewhere along the way, she taught herself to read Japanese ("It's just like reading a music score, Dad.") and spent a semester in Japan.

She has mad skills on the computer and is a MAC whiz to whom I defer. (While still in high school, she assisted me and a fellow teacher in installing software in a new middle school computer lab. She also worked in her high school's and college's computer labs as a trouble shooter.) She taught herself to touch type at speeds close to 90 wpm. (I can't wiggle my fingers that fast. And she makes no mistakes.) A prolific reader, she is seldom to be found without a book or two in progress.

Additionally, she has demonstrated deft skills in the needle arts where she prefers knitting and crocheting and has spun her own yarn for numerous projects. (I think she'd like to have a couple of her own sheep, but Grandma can barely stand having the ferret in the house.) When still a youngun', she won ribbons at the New Jersey State Fair for her work in embroidery (or maybe it was counted cross stitch...my memory isn't what it used to be *sigh*).

She's also a pretty damn good cook, but I believe her little brother might give her some stiff competition if it came down to an Iron Chef battle royal!

Terry and I love her dearly and wish her many, many happy birthdays to come.

Ohhhhh!

This was sent to me by a friend who, sadly, continues to reside in New Jersey, although he is up in the northwest corner of Sussex County as far from these characters as possible.

Ohhhhh!

"A game by guys from New Jersey for guys from New Jersey."



UPDATE: Sorry, it's been pulled. :-(

Confined to quarters!

Or at least that's how it feels.

I got a call yesterday from the body shop saying they had the parts to replace the roof of the Tundra and that I could bring it in anytime. So I did. With Rick having taken the Blazer west and Terry out doing her EGA (Embroiders' Guild of America) stuff today, I'm left at the Aerie with the cats and no means of escape. They'll have the truck until mid-week or so, so I better figure out something to do inside until then.

It's a bright, sunny day but the temperatures have ranged from a low of 10 degrees at sunrise up to 20 degrees now at noon. (We haven't had anything above 25 in at least two weeks.) It's too damn cold to do anything outside for sure. Although I'll probably put on my boots and gloves and bring in some more logs from the wood pile after lunch.

The chickadees have been hitting the feeders hard and watching them zoom in to pick up a single seed and then fly off to the pines before eating is tiring. The tufted titmice and mourning doves at least sit at the feeder and eat a few seeds before they scramble. That seems a more energy efficient means of feeding to me.

Cheer Up, for crying out loud.

Cheer Up

So says the New York Sun. And they are correct. It’s time to stop looking at the glass as half empty and start to realize things are much better than they are being reported.

Don Suber had similar thoughts on Wednesday:
The Panic of ‘08

Gee, it must be the second coming of the Great Depression if the sales of Apple are up 35%.

Mr. Suber was responding to an AP report that contained the following:

As investors pummeled Apple Inc.’s stock over a disappointing financial outlook, a key question remained about the results: just how badly will the company be hurt by slowing economic activity in the United States and fears of a recession?

(He’s got lots more to say and the full AP story on his post so go on over and read the whole thing. Lot’s of snark.)


I mean, Apple reports an increase in sales and its stock still goes down just because it wasn’t quite as large an increase as predicted? Should I panic when the weather forecast says it will be 35 but it only reaches 32? I’ll never understand investors’ mood swings. Far, far worse than a woman with uncontrollable hormones.

Oh, and that whole world-wide crash thingy that took place last weekend? One slimy French bastard playing fiddles with the books of a big French bank.

Société Générale loses $7 billion in trading fraud

Rogue trader preparing to give himself up in £3.7bn bank fraud 'was a bit like Tom Cruise' (Hey Tom, are they talking about a movie role like Mission Impossible, or Scientology?)

One hell of a short market crash, no? Buyers will be laughing all the way to the bank but probably NOT Société Générale.

It's like they say (whoever the hell "they" are), things are never as bad--nor as rosy--as they appear.

A "one-in-six-billion miracle."

When she was a little girl of nine, Demi-Lee Brennan got sick and had to go to hospital. She received a donor liver when her own liver failed.

And then strange things happened inside her. Not alien strange, no, anybody can get weird parasitic creatures to grow inside them. No Demi-Lee had something even more unusual happen. Now, at 15, she’s a whole new person…sorta.

Australian girl changes blood group, immune system

Brennan's body changed blood group from O negative to O positive when she became ill while on drugs to avoid rejection of the organ by her body's immune system.

Her new liver's blood stem cells then invaded her body's bone marrow to take over her entire immune system, meaning the teen no longer needs anti-rejection drugs.

This is an absolutely amazing story. When you consider the care that is taken to match organs to donors. The change from blood type O-negative to O-positive…well that’s pretty amazing, but to change her entire immune system?! Wow! Just, Wow!

Given that only 7 of 10 liver transplants are successful over a five year period because of rejection complications, this young lady will be in a category all her own.

May she enjoy a long, happy and healthy life. But first she’ll have to get the doctors to leave her alone.

The Law of Unintended Consequences strikes again!

UN Warns of Biofuels' Environmental Risk

The world's rush to embrace biofuels is causing a spike in the price of corn and other crops and could worsen water shortages and force poor communities off their land, a U.N. official said Wednesday

And here in the US we are seeing a rise in food prices and fuel costs created by the sale of corn as an ethanol source. You’d almost think the politicians rushing to making these decisions didn’t anticipate the consequences.

Idiots.

Man's best friend...even if he was just looking out for his bitch buddy.

Did I mention that Rick, my son, is headed to Oregon? He’s looking into a job with either a tree service (where he worked last spring) or walking electric and gas right of ways to recommend tree/brush clearing. (A power line arborist, he says.) He mentioned that he would have to get a dog if he did start trekking right of ways. We discussed bears but forgot all about the mountain lions. (If he had himself a permanent address, I’d also recommend a .357 or a .44 on his hip—just in case.)

From out in Bend, Oregon comes this report: After cougar terrorizes a terrier, Riley the bulldog saves the day. It sounds like Riley earned himself an extra dog biscuit (and maybe some loving from Sage).

Remember, boys and girls, ALL animals in the wild are potentially dangerous no matter how cute and cuddly they might look as a plush toy.

Ummm!

Theo Sparks has a list of Thoughts For Today that’ll make you go, “Ummm.”

Examples:

Did you ever notice: The Roman Numerals for forty (40) are " XL."

Did you ever notice: When you put the 2 words "The" and "IRS" together it spells "Theirs?"

The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting in line for.

He’s got more, so go take a look.

Just say: NO!...

...to socialized medicine.

Morning Glory has a YouTube video up called A Short Course in Brain Surgery which she subtitles: Or: Why we don’t want single-payer, socialized medicine… (aka: Universal Health Care; aka: Hillary Care)

It tells the story of one Canadian who sought, on doctor’s orders, to get an MRI for a suspected brain tumor. Go on over and take a look.

It’s scary stuff. If you can watch this and still think Universal Health Care is desirable, perhaps you should seek help.

On the road---again!

No, not me, the prodigal son.

Rick just left the Aerie for...somewhere. He'll eventually end up in Eugene, OR, but even he isn't sure what route he'll be taking. He called some friends in NJ but hasn't gotten any return calls so he doesn't know if he'll be heading east or west when he gets down to I-80. (Probably west since to head east would be about 400 miles round trip out of his way. And that means a couple of tanks of gasoline and a day or two to visit.)

He's anxious to get out west to find himself a job (he's already got a place to stay) and start earning some money.

It's tough to see them leave the nest. You go and teach them independence and then they put it into practice and...well, it's difficult to see them go.

He's driving the Blazer with PA plates and registration, has Oregon insurance (thanks to the internet!), and an Idaho driver's license. I hope he doesn't get stopped by some local cop along the way 'cause it's going to take some explaining!

Settled Science? Surely you jest!

Come on guys, make up your mind!

Study: Warming may cut US hurricane hits

First they told us that Global Warming would mean more and stronger hurricanes. And now this:

In it, researchers link warming waters, especially in the Indian and Pacific oceans, to increased vertical wind shear in the Atlantic Ocean near the United States. Wind shear — a change in wind speed or direction — makes it hard for hurricanes to form, strengthen and stay alive.

So that means "global warming may decrease the likelihood of hurricanes making landfall in the United States," according to researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Miami Lab and the University of Miami.

Of course, the acolytes of the Goracle are aghast that someone should doubt and have jumped on the research and the researcher.

Critics say Wang's study is based on poor data that was rejected by scientists on the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. They said that at times only one in 10 North Atlantic hurricanes hit the U.S. coast and the data reflect only a small percentage of storms around the globe.

Hurricanes hitting land "are not a reliable record" for how hurricanes have changed, said Kevin Trenberth, climate analysis chief for the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo.

But using temperature sensors located near parking lots and in newly developed urban centers to measure “change” is just hunky-dory?

Trenberth is among those on the other side of a growing debate over global warming and hurricanes. Each side uses different sets of data and focus on different details.

WAIT A MINUTE! Wait just a gol-darn minute! “Other side”? “Growing debate”? What happened to the Gore almighty’s “consensus?”

You keep using this word: “Consensus!” I do not think it means what you think it means.

One group of climate scientists has linked increases in the strongest hurricanes — just those with winds greater than 130 mph — in the past 35 years to global warming. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has said "more likely than not," manmade global warming has already increased the frequency of the most intense storms.

But hurricane researchers, especially scientists at NOAA's Miami Lab, have argued that the long-term data for all hurricanes show no such trend. And Wang's new research suggests just the opposite of the view that more intense hurricanes result from global warming. The Miami faction points to a statement by an international workshop on tropical cyclones that says "no firm conclusion can be made on this point."

So it’s “climate scientists” vs. “hurricane researchers.” In a question of hurricane behavior, which has more expertise?

(Meanwhile, keep in mind that when they talk of “all those IPCC scientists, most never even read the whole report and those that criticizes portions of it were hushed up. So, let’s just undercut our—and the entire developed world’s—economy upon the fear mongering called “Man-made Global Warming” or “Climate Change” when, in fact, it’s a perfectly natural phenomenon.)

Too cute!

moar funny pictures

It's all over for the Saudis

HA! They are DOOMED! DOOMED, I say. Saudi Arabia to lift ban on women drivers

Saudi Arabia is to lift its ban on women drivers in an attempt to stem a rising suffragette-style movement in the deeply conservative state.

Give ‘em an inch and they’ll take a mile. To think this will stem the suffragette-style movement is foolish. It will, instead, merely encourage the women of Saudi Arabia to flex their muscle. Soon they will take over the kingdom and relegate the men to second class status.

Should have never let the girls go to school.

Bwaaaaa!

[Yes, dear. I'll do the dishes in a moment, dear. And then do you want me to do the vacuuming?]

h/t to Glenn Reynolds

Ooh-boy!

Jeez, ya think this will get any play?



Nah, me neither. What a chump.

Here today...

As I mentioned, Rick is back from his sojourn to Guyana where the local school system was even more messed up than you might find in an inner city in NJ.

He appeared on Thursday last and will be heading out to the northwest later this week after we arrange to transfer the title of the Blazer to his name…again, and he manages to obtain auto insurance. We had made the switch last August and he had dropped his insurance carrier because he was going to be gone until next June. However....



Among the things he brought home with him was a wad of Guyanese $20 bills thick enough to choke a horse.



It translates to about $4,000 Guyana or $20 US. About what the average person in his village could live off of for two days. (Bread cost $240 per loaf…which isn’t all that bad. The $4K in the stack could buy around 16 loaves. Try that with $20 US.)

He left behind two roommates from California who were upset to see him go. (They were upset because he was the best cook and because they weren’t leaving.)

He has no job lined up out in the Eugene, OR area to which he is headed but has feelers out. He worked there for a while last sumer and his former employer (a tree service) said he would be welcomed back so he can always fall back on that. He has some friends out there with whom he can crash until he figures out where he’ll be working and living.

Footloose and fancy free. For a guy so allergic to cats, he seems to embody many of their traits.

Man, that's cold!

Congratulations to the New York Giants for their victory last night over the Green Bay Packers. The score, in overtime, of 23-20 does not reflect the dominance of the Giants in the game. They should have won it in regulation. A dropped pass or two near the end zone, a turn over on downs, two missed field goals (one on a bad snap) should have put the Giants well ahead.

It's difficult to fathom the conditions under which the game was played. With a starting temperature of -1 degree and wind chills of -23 degrees....well, that's damn cold! I just stepped out on the deck here at the Aerie where the temperature is 2 degrees above zero and can't imagine running around in shirt sleeves (or even long sleeves) playing football. Every breath would bring searing cold air into your lungs. Every snap of the ball or slap of a hand against your arm would be like the touch of cold steel. And let's not even thing about being driven to the ground on a tackle!

On a lighter note, yesterday was the first time I saw the Master Card Pep Talk commercial in which Peyton Manning talks about being bummed out about the football season coming to an end. I'm sure they filmed it with the intention of airing it when ever his season did, in fact, come to an end. That it should air while little brother Eli is still playing...priceless.

They should quickly film a sequel in which Eli walks over and asks Peyton if it's true that it's not over 'til the fat lady sings. Eli would have a roll duct tape in his hand. When Peyton says, I guess so, little bro could say, "Good!," and then they could cut to a shot of some heavy set soprano in full operatic Valkyrie gear and a strip of duct tape across her mouth.

Ouch!

I’ve read Deerslayer several times and used to enjoy it for the setting—Lake Ontario and the Adirondacks. But after reading this I would have to agree with much of what Mark Twain said about James Fenimore Cooper’s lack of literary craft.

Twain was a master at criticism and one who suffered fools and charlatans very, very lightly.

Back to (below) normal January

It was a mere 4 degrees F this morning at the Aerie with a dusting of light snow at daybreak. The snow has ended and the sun is finally rising above the hill but the temperature hasn't moved. The wind is blowing out of the northwest at a respectable 15-20 mph and it's damn cold out.

Sure, compared to what the Giants and Packers will face tonight it's down right balmy, but I'm feeling the chill here on the Northern Tier of north-central PA.

BTW: The average high for this date is around 32 and the average low is around 13. We'll be well under those figures. Part of the discrepancy has to do with the location of the weather.com station and our 2100 foot elevation, but even at their station (wherever it may be) it will be well below average.

Mark reports that things are even colder and snowier at the Bolt Hole where lake effect snows coming from Lake Ontario may drop a foot of fresh powder later today and early tomorrow while the morning temperature was into negative numbers.