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Been under attack by comment spammers but I think I got all 700 deleted with the help of MT-Blacklist

Moving around

Joni who is the design guru who remade this site into its present wonderful state has changed her URL, again, sheesh.

Her new site is at http://www.babygotblog.com.

Good Question, Better Question

Dean ask the question what will republicans do if Kerry is elected.
I think a much better question is what will Dems do when Kerry loses?

After an election we are supposed to get behind the winner and work together for a better america. I can do that no matter who is elected because I think America is more important than the fool who leads it.

Can the Dems after all the vitriol of the last year or two do or say the same? I doubt it. I don't think the Michael Moore's will ever do that because to them America is the problem. To a lot of people on the left we are the enemy not the Islamists. That is very sad.

A Different World

Michael Totten is back from Tunisia and has some awesome pictures.

The Music Man

Quote of the Day

Harold Hill: A man can't turn tail and run just because a little personal risk is involved. What did Shakespeare say? "Cowards die a thousand deaths, the brave man... only 500"?

The Music Man - 1962

Trouble in Beantown

Great speech last night by B.J Clinton.
He is a real spellbinder and had them in the palm of his hand.
What did he say? Does it matter?
No it is the typical Dem choice of style over substance.
It doesn't matter what you have done or have not done as long as you look good doing it, or not doing it.

Clinton is to politics what Prof. Harold Hill is to instrument sales.
He could sell 76 trombones to a town without a band without breaking a sweat and afterwards they would still love him.
A true Con-man.

SunFlowers

This is not something we planted.
One day it just shot up in one our beds, and up and up and up.
It is about 8 feet high right now and I have no idea what to do with it.

Carnival of Cats

Laurence has the new Carnival of Cats up.
If you were to assume that I was pointing this out just because I was included you would only be half right.

Kerry Pitches

Kerry stopped by the ballpark in Boston to throw the first pitch of the game.
In a move that might be thought symbolic of his campaign or even his presidency should he win (shudder), the pitch came up short and got by the National Guardsman they had found to catch it.
I hope this is not the last time his pitch comes up short.

He's back

Bill Whittle is back with a hiya post with promises of essays in the near future.
I can't wait.

Musical Cat

Everybody else is posting pictures of cats so I thought I would post one of mine. Actually it is my daughter's cat.
It is her piano too.
That cat has spent more time on it in the last year then the kid has. I expect Moonlight to turn it on and start playing any day.

Yiddish Insults

I came across this web site of Yiddish insults and I thought I would share it.
Not bad for a "dying" language.

It is amazing what you can find on the internet when you look.
It is also amazing how many yiddish words have gotten into general usage in the english (US version) language.
Like klutz, bupkis and everyones favorite Putz.

To pronounce them properly think german.

Of Mice and Men

Quote of the Day

Lennie: I wish we had some ketchup.
George: Whatever we ain't got, that's what you want!

Of Mice and Men - 1939

Family Day

I took the girls for a little ride today. First we stopped at a local Nursery and then I took them down to Fry's since neither of them had ever been there.

We looked at washing machines and very expensive TV's but made no purchases in those sections.
I tried to interest my wife in a getting a new PC but when she saw the new I-mac's I lost her. I wish there was a PC manufacturer they made boxes as snazzy looking as Apple does.

The kid wanted to get a game for "my" Xbox but she couldn't find what she was looking for and so ended up getting a game for the gameboy.

I finally got something with the money I received on my birthday. as you may (or may not) recall I spent most of my cash present on fixing the riding mower and replacing my wife's windshield. Today I broke down and got part of what I wanted to get. I wanted to get several seasons of Babylon 5 on DVD but settled for season 2.
Now I think I will go watch it.

Learning to Shut UP

Next time I say something like I did the other day about things starting to go right somebody please smack me on the side of my head.

No sooner was the ink dry on that post (figuratively) than the house A/C developed a problem. Being as the the temperature in North Houston has been in the triple digits lately this became a priority. It got fixed today at a cost of $574 for a new fan and motor.

On top of that the drivers front seat in my car collapsed which will cost several hundred to fix. Since I am already looking to sell this faithful but old (123k miles) steed I looked for an alternative that would let me drive a few days or weeks more without killing my back. My fix, or workaround if you will, was to buy a 44lb. bag of dog food and stuffif behind the seat. Total cost $17.
Its not pretty but it works.

Update: I forgot to add that my Small Business Server which I use for testing things like Active Directory as well as holding all the network's mp3's also decided to die last night.

Passing Time

I spent last night doing some Daddy/Kid bonding on the new Xbox until 1:30am.
I have been pretty well shot all day.

To Have and Have Not

Quote of the Day

This, IMHO, is one of the great all time movie quotes.

Slim: You know you don't have to act with me, Steve. You don't have to say anything, and you don't have to do anything. Not a thing. Oh, maybe just whistle. You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together and... blow.

To Have and Have Not

Now he is Concerned

I don't know if I should be happy about this or not. It seems that the French are finally concerned. Not because of another attack on jews but because someone who wasn't a jew was attacked because the attackers thought she was.

Police said the attackers erroneously assumed the woman was Jewish because she was living in Paris' posh 16th district.

"Only Jews live in the 16th district," one of the men was quoted as having said.

French President Jacques Chirac expressed his horror and condemned what he called "a shameful attack."

It should be interesting to see if the attackers are caught and if so how long it takes.

Busy Week

It has been a busy week indeed.
I am still getting used to the new job and already they have me doing technical interviews for prospective employees.

I got my first paycheck this week, WooHoo!!!

We had our usual Computer User Group meeting on Thursday but when Thursday came around our speaker, from Borland, cancelled. Talk about last minute. Luckily we got someone from Microsoft to fill in on short notice.
You can say a lot of things about Microsoft both good and bad but they have some amazing people working for them. Not only smart but good people.

So we had out meeting, we had the raffle, which I run, and after the raffle the President asks me to stay up front for a little with some of the other board members. He makes a little speech about how all the board members are volunteers and they work really hard. He says that the board has decided to award one of its own the honor of Voluteer of the Year. This is the first time I heard of it and the reason became clear shorty as it turned out that I was the Volunteer of the Year. While my mouth was still hanging open he told how the board had voted to award me an Xbox for my work during the past year.
Since I am the Treasurer also they didn't have one to give me but told me I could go get one for myself.
I don't think any of you guys read this blog but if you do, thanks.
I was totally surprised.

Just the honor was enough for me but the Kid loves the Xbox and I think it is pretty neat too, even if I had to spend another $60 out of my own pocket to get some extra stuff for it.
This is the reason I ended up in Blockbusters today as the kid got up early and dragged me over there.

Bogie

I was reading over at Mrs. uu Toit's and she had some questions she was answering. One of them was to choose between Casablanca and To Have and Have not. She prefered To Have and Have not.
Casablanca is not favorite movie of all time so I didn't agree but I love Bogie so today while in Blockbuster on another mission I picked up a copy (they only have VHS) which I will watch tonight. I may have to add the DVD to my wish list which is getting long.

The spirit of dhimmitude

If you have been curious about just what has been happening in Europe this past 20 years or so read this speech.

Things are even worse than I ever thought according to Bat Ye'Or.
Scary stuff.

Hat Tip to Roger.

Pink Grapefruit

We have had this grapefruit tree for about 5 years. Last year it did not have any fruit at all because the year before it almost died during the late (March 1) frost we had.
This year it did a lot better, too much better in fact. I was told at the local nursery I should probably limit its fruit so we picked off a lot of the smaller stuff and there are about 12 fruits left on it. Still not bad if they all make it.
The tree itself is only about 5 feet high.

The reason the leaves are so light, almost yellow is because of all the rain we have been getting.
This is what they look like up close. When they turn yellow its time to eat.

Blackhawk Down

Quote of the Day

Eversmann: Nobody asks to be a hero, it just sometimes turns out that way.

Blackhawk Down - 2001

It's a start

I don't have an "It's about Time" category but perhaps I should start one because this story should be in it.

We now have a functioning missle defense system. Well we will have by the end of the month

"Today we have nothing," he said. "When we put that system on alert, that will be a significant improvement. Anything is better than nothing."

I couldn't agree more. Anything is better than nothing. Remember the purpose of this weapon like so many others, at least our purpose, is to have it so that we won't have to use it. Just having one operational changes the thinking of any foe and that is what we want.

Moving Up

I am a Large Mammal in the Ecosystem. I am not really but that is what is says. It just seems unlikely that I would go from 1607 to 338 in one day. According to the info page I now have 180 unique inbound links whereas yesterday I had 58.
Maybe it was the Brando quotes? Maybe it was the link to the java fireworks?
Maybe the ecosystem just burped?
My money is on the later.
I am sure that neither Tony or Glenn is particularly worried about the sound of my foodsteps getting closer to them.

I suspect I will be back with the Little Rodents before too long but what the heck, easy come easy go.

On another note I went to the unemployed bloggers ring to remove myself but it seems I am no longer there. I guess someone read about my new job and beat me to it.

Posting of garden pictures will resume shortly now that the garden is starting to dry out from the 19" of rain we had in June.

Disconnected

The post prior to this was a link to a java applet that simulated fireworks which I thought people would find fun.
In response to that I got this comment.

So all of a sudden you want America to believe that George Bush loves New York City?!

What didi he say about the NY Times reporter? Wasn't it a swear word of all things? And what did the EPA tell NYers after 9-11? That that white substance they were breathing was not asbestos? And what did Bush do with his promise to the First Responders?!

I started to reply in the comment thread but I thought I should do it out front instead.


What in the world does your comment have to do with my post?
I should delete your comment since you are too cowardly to use your real email address but I will let it stand to show how people on your side of politics have no interest in communication other than to spout your party line.

In the interest not apprearing to duck your point. Let's take them one at a time.
In fact let's continue this on a post instead.

First we have a comment that was made about Adam Clymer, I believe, the comment was made, they thought, in private and was picked up by a mike they didn't know was turned on.
Was is your beef here? That Adam is not an asshole? Well from what I have seen of him he is.
Perhaps you think that everything said in private should be subject to censorship? Let's see what any member of congress says in private during a week and then we can talk.
If it a swear word that bothers you then you issue should be with John Kerry who used the f word on a public radio show. Did you take issue with that?

I will skip over the EPA unless you think that Bush directed them to give out imformation that is incorrect. As we have seen through administrations of both parties the EPA frequently gives out incorrect information.

On first responders. The bext thing that can be done for them is to make the effort that is needed so that they will not have a future problem. That is what we are doing in Iraq. I would much rather try to prevent the problem than to spend the money being prepared to clean it up after it happens.
That is not to say that First Responders are being ignored. As a former member of the local bioterrorism task force I can attest to the fact that federal money is going out to the local governments as fast or in most cases even faster than they can spend it. In a lot of cases I saw the problems that exist are not at the federal level but at the local level where petty bureaucrats look at this as just another honey pot opportunity to add to their local empires.

In the future please stay on topic or limit your posts to the DU where they like your kind of crap.

Fireworks

Lady Liberty!

Link via : No Pasaran.

About Time

It has been a while since I have posted anything on this topic so it is with great pleasure that I read this story.

A 20-ton slab of granite, inscribed to honor "the enduring spirit of freedom," was laid Sunday at the World Trade Center site as the cornerstone of the skyscraper that will replace the destroyed towers

Guys and Dolls

Quote of the Day

Sky Masterson: One of these days in your travels, a guy is going to show you a brand-new deck of cards on which the seal is not yet broken. Then this guy is going to offer to bet you that he can make the jack of spades jump out of this brand-new deck of cards and squirt cider in your ear. But, son, do not accept this bet, because as sure as you stand there, you're going to wind up with an ear full of cider.

Guys and Dolls - 1955

The Godfather

Quote of the Day

Don Corleone: Do you spend time with your family? Good. Because a man that doesn't spend time with his family can never be a real man.

The Godfather - 1972

Sweep

Of all the wonderful things in the world there are few that are as wonderful as the Yankess taking 3 games in a row from the beantown boys.

The third was a doozy of 13 innings with Jeter making a great catch that had him flying into the stands and out of the game with injuries. Hopefully he will be back soon as the Yanks pulled to 8 and half games ahead of the sox.

In another issue, I wasn't so sure about A-rod when the Yanks picked him up and he started this season slow. He seems however to have settled into third base and now leads the team in HR, runs and stolen bases, what's not to like.
Welcome to NY A-Rod, I hope you like your ring.

Update: Michele has a great graphic and some good comments.
Someone on her comments wanted to know if there was a magic number counter for the Yanks, so I googled 'Yankee magic number' and got back one of my own posts from last year, sheesh.

Update: I could be wrong but I put the magic number for the Yanks at 78.
If they won 78 games and boston won every game they have left to play the Yanks would still win.

Drive Safe

I just heard on the radio that three of the most deadly days for driving are this weekend. Today(9), 7/3(2) and 7/4(1).

So have a good Independence Day and be safe.