Well, Hell. They never really noticed now, did they? But the MSM sure don't seem to have any problems finding hatred, extremism, violence, and "racism" in the Tea Parties, do they? Here's a quick refresher, via Lex:
So... what happened to that fascist coup d'état, anyhoo? Did BusHitler, Darth Cheney, and The Eeeevil Karl Rove lose interest? I guess they were just frickin' amateurs when it comes to building a fascist state and the Pros From Dover might could be in power now. Kinda looks that way, don't it?
Rate the President in a CBS News poll... link below.
Rate the President for CBS News!
Wow! Here's your chance. Everyone should take a shot at this. It takes all of 15 to 20-seconds and that's if you look at his current stats.
If you haven’t seen it, this is important enough that I'm taking a recess from income taxes to forward it so that you can vote before it's pulled off the CBS web site. It's quick and you'll see what the rest of the US of A thinks about the job our president is doing as soon as you hit the submit icon.
It appears that CBS has the guts to report honest results without fear of retribution from the White House. Take the poll yourself and when you submit your grading, a second page will come up showing you the current results of how America is voting. Please note, this isn't Fox doing this. This is mostly people who watch CBS. That's telling.
I just took the poll and the results are astounding! I might even watch CBS news this evening to see if they report the results honestly. By that I mean pigs might actually fly, yanno?
I've been struggling to write something sensible about yesterday's big news out of CERN in Geneva, to wit:
GENEVA, March 31 (Reuters) - Physicists at CERN, buoyed by their ground-breaking success in creating mini-Big Bangs, giving them a glimpse of the dawn of time, have set their sights on pushing closer to the very birth of the universe.
[...]
The aim is to increase in the coming months the flow of data on what happens when particles smash into each other at a total force of 7 million million electron volts, or 7TeV, and at a mini-fraction under the speed of light.
At those powers, the collisions came very close to simulating events just nano-parts of a second after the real Big Bang 13.7 billion years ago which led to the creation of galaxies, stars, life on Earth, and perhaps life elsewhere.
The Large Hadron Collider achieved its first collisions at 7 TeV yesterday, prompting this lil celebration (Do not adjust your set. The video is from a webcam and it's jerky.):
I find this subject fascinating even though (a) I don't understand 99% of what I see or read and (b) the discussions tend to make my head hurt. Speaking of discussions... Charlie Rose had two noted physicists involved with the LHC project... Lisa Randall of Harvard and Kyle Cranmer of NYU... on his show last evening. The 30-minute discussion that ensued is highly recommended if you find the LHC fascinating and/or want to know more about what the physicists are doing with it.
And just to keep things in character here at EIP, lest you think I'm getting too deep... I have a new lust object:
That's a screen cap of Ms. Randall from last night's "Charlie Rose." The woman is HOT. "Talk nerdy to me, Baybee..."
But it helps... particularly the bits about the nautilus. That animal and its geometric beauty has always fascinated me.
―:☺:―
Yeah... it's a video kinda blogging day. We're not in the mood to bitch about politics or point out the stupidity of our fellow man, and Lord knows the news is chock-full o' that kinda shi'ite today.
On the plus side... Our weather is quite warm... it's s'posed to hit 86 today. We just might have to run the AC for the first time this year as it's too windy to put our awning down. Or throw all the windows wide open... on account of the dust what's in the wind. I had to wipe down all my flat surfaces THREE times last Friday because of wind-borne dust. It can get ug-lee, but it sure beats snow.
My cherry tree is almost in full bloom but the light isn't quite right for pictures today. That said, the tree IS a most pleasant sight and will bear considerable contemplation once Happy Hour arrives. Me and the Japanese, yanno?
"I've driven every kinda rig that's ever been made
Driven the back roads so I wouldn't get weighed"
Which brought to mind an old, old joke from the way-back, to wit:
This ol' boy picks up a girl for their first date and takes her to a carnival that's in town. They do the usual midway things... ridin' the rdes, eatin' bad food (funnel cake!), and hittin' this booth and that booth. About a half hour into it the ol boy asks his date "What do you wanna do next?"
"I wanna get weighed" she replies.
So it was off to one of those "guess your weight" thingies, where she won a stuffed teddy bear. Rinse, repeat. Every half-hour or so he asks her the same question and gets the same reply... "I wanna get weighed." After about the fourth time this happens the ol' boy decides there's sumthin' seriously amiss here and decides to take her home, along with the armload of stuffed animals they've won.
He drops her off at her house and she goes inside where her mama is waitin' up.
Mom sez "How was your date, Dear?"
She kicks the stuffed animals into the corner and sez "Wowsy."
Badda-da-boomp. And now it's back outside into the loverly 75 degree day... where things are most certainly NOT "wowsy."
Blogger seems to be having some sort of snit-fit today. Fully half my Daily Reads have posted pics that I can't see and every image on my sidebar and most of the main page pics have gone missing. So we checked Blogger's status and sho'nuff:
Monday, March 29, 2010
Our image backend is experiencing problems which may affect the display and/or uploading of photos. We are working to resolve this and will update this post when we have more information.
when you're old enough to repay but young enough to sell?"
Ah, but there's the rub... we're no longer young enough to sell. But we most certainly seem to be in the repaying bid'niz. (sigh)
Added after our third beer:
Heh. Yeah, let's "take it down to El Eh." As if. That said, I sure am lovin' me some Neil this afternoon. Which, of course, is the classic "you hadda be there" sorta thing. But, as if I hadda remind you: it's MY blog.
So... I was watching the president's remarks at Bagram AB as I pecked this out. I noticed he's sporting a very new looking USAF A2 jacket (at left) with an official "Air Force One" patch on his right breast and an official-looking USAF leather name tag on his left breast. The feed hasn't provided a close-up, but it looks like the leather name plate has a small gold presidential seal where the wearer's wings would normally go, "Barack Obama" as the usual and customary "name" line and what I suspect is "Commander in Chief" in the space where the wearer's rank usually goes (the UCR line always reads something like "Lt Col, USAF" or "TSgt, USAF").
All very right and proper according to USAF regulations... ooops, I mean "instructions." The image of The One in an A2 is jarring none the less, and I do NOT approve. There was nothing wrong with the traditional blue Air Force One jacket (at right) formerly worn by Obama and his predecessors. But Hey! He's always gotta be frickin' different, doesn't he?
Added, a few minutes later: I'm so frickin' pedantic. I had to google the dress and appearance AFI... and here's what it sez about the A2:
Leather A-2 flying jacket with flight suit, hospital whites, or service uniforms (not service dress uniform). Do not wear with civilian clothes. Attach MAJCOM patch and nametag with velcro. Nametag is 2 x 4 inches, brown or black leather, simulated leather. Emboss with wings or qualifying badge, first and last name, rank, and USAF. Members may add an inside pocket, at their expense, when it does not detract from the external appearance. The Wing and Star patch may be worn by individuals not assigned to a MAJCOM. Issue brown leather flying gloves may be worn. NOTE: Generals (4 Star), regardless of their Air Force Specialty Code are authorized to wear.
I suppose The One issued himself a waiver, as is his right as CinC. That doesn't mean I gotta like it or that his wearing the A2 is "reasonable and proper."
The accounts of the Obama-Netanyahu Close Encounter are downright embarrassing.
I can just hear my mother's voice, scolding the Young President for his wretchedly poor display of how NOT to host a world leader at the White House.
[...]
Maybe that's the solution to the Obama bad-manners department -- we need a corps of strong Southern Mothers to move into the White House to "shake a knot" onto the Young President's head and to teach him some rudimentary etiquette.
Heh. Moogie has a very valid point. She brought to mind both my Mom and my grandmother, two Southern Belles to whom good manners and comportment were the very essence of civilization. It's obvious The One was raised differently; most Liberals are, nowadays.
Why did he DO that? Lake Superior is frickin' cold! Well, because of this, in part:
What's more entertaining than the sight of civic leaders fawning all over Google for a little high-speed action? In recent weeks, cities across the U.S. have staged some fairly bizarre antics to convince Google to build its proposed 1-gigabit fiber-optic network in their area. The search giant will make its decision by the end of 2010.
Naturally, when the competition is this fierce -- at least 600 communities are vying for the fiber network -- you've got to stand out. And acting a little kooky is one way to show Google you care, even if you come across as, well, a little desperate. Here are five particularly nutty publicity stunts:
Duluth
Nothing says "we care" quite like hypothermia. Perhaps that's what Don Ness, mayor of Duluth, Minnesota, was thinking when he jumped into icy Lake Superior in February. Question: Will Ness' plunge sway Google's execs to choose Duluth? Or will they simply ponder theGeorge Costanza-like effects of 35-degree water on male shrinkage?
Heh. There are more Stupid Civic Tricks at the "because of this" link. And one cool video in addition to the above, as well.
It's a beautiful day here on The High Plains of New Mexico... and Spring has definitely sprung:
The blossoms are few and far between at the moment, but they're THERE.
So... just a few minutes ago... we're sitting outside in the sun sipping our beer and marveling at the weather. The neighbor ladies passed by with tots in tow, one of which was ensconced in his little red stroller/car. Our neighbors stopped for just a minute right in front of us, so to speak... about 50 feet away or so. The young boy, who couldn't be more than two years old, jumps out of his lil car thingy, steps to the curb, pulls his shorts down, and begins to water the grass. The deal was done before Mom realized what was going on and she was mortified.
"Oh, I'm SO sorry" she sez to me, adding "But... boys! What are ya gonna do?"
My reply: "I might have been there. Once or twice."
Laughter all around and all is good. And now it's back outside... yadda, yadda.
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The last thing a Blackhawks fans wants to do is root for the Red Wings, but it’s probably the right thing to do these last few weeks of the season.
If the playoffs started on Thursday, the Hawks and Detroit would meet in the first round, which is not what anyone at the United Center wants.
The Red Wings are hot, however, and ended play Tuesday night eighth in the Western Conference with 87 points but only 3 points out of fifth place.
The Hawks would much rather face Los Angeles, Nashville, Colorado or Calgary in the first round than the experience and dangerous Red Wings.
Heh. What was that Ryan Lambert said only three days ago? Well, to paraphrase an ol' sayin'... Play me now, or play me later. Makes no nevermind to us.
Apropos of nuthin'... this is the image search I used to get the graphic above. Note the search term. Now note that THREE of the first 21 results were "Red Wings suck." We are loved; we are hated. Be that as it may, you'll never lack for a plethora of Winged Wheel jerseys in ANY NHL arena when the Wings come to town. Except perhaps for Montreal, but there's no explaining or understanding the Québécois.
This quiz has been taken 87352 times with an average score of 45%
I take comfort in the fact the average score on this thing is 45%. I wonder how I would have done if the quiz was "Slogans of Pricey Imported Beer and Microbrews Few People Have Ever Heard Of?" I doubt I would have done worse. My score includes two "passes," as I have little to no knowledge of malt liquors, as defined here in these United States. Well... back to the drawing board. Or the dive bars. Whatev.
There's actually a pepper hotter than a habanero? Who knew? Apropos of the above... the Scoville Food Institute looks like a good place to order hot sauce if your local grocer or other supplier thinks Tabasco = Hot Sauce. We don't labor under those conditions, Gentle Reader. We live in New Mexico.
Greg Wyshynski speculates on an alternate career path for Miss Alaska (at Puck Daddy, of course):
Our choice for new NHL czar of discipline, by the way: Sarah Palin. Divisive, destructive, inconsistent ... and yet so entrenched in her convictions and extreme in her sense of justice that headshots would be out of the game in about 25 seconds.
Sigh. I just can't get away from politics, even when I'm only tryin' to get my hockey fix. But Mr. Wyshynski has it right about La Palin, if nuthin' else.
Added, 1435 hrs:
NEW YORK, N.Y. (March 24, 2010)- VERSUS, the fastest growing sports cable network in the country, earned a .7 National HH rating and averaged 622,000 viewers for the March 22 Detroit Red Wings/Pittsburgh Penguins game making it VERSUS’ highest-rated and most-watched NHL regular season game in network history and the most-watched NHL regular season telecast on cable since 2004. The game peaked at a .9 National HH rating and 760,000 viewers during the live telecast.
Monday night’s game surpassed VERSUS’ previous highs set by the Washington Capitals/Philadelphia Flyers game on October 27, 2009 in terms of HH rating (.6) and the Toronto Maple Leafs/Detroit Red Wings 2008/09 season-opening game on October 9, 2008 in average viewership (577,000).
Locally, Pittsburgh delivered a 6.7 HH rating and Detroit earned a 4.7 HH rating making VERSUS the top-rated cable network and also one of the top networks (among both cable and broadcast) in both cities.
AirPigz is becoming my "go-to" site for excellent plane pr0n of late. Today's subject is the Lockheed Super Constellation... for which we went to Airpigz to get a view of those massive flame-belching Wright R-3350’s from inside a Connie during take-off. That particular video was interesting as all get-out, but it was the associated videos (thank you, YouTube!) that really floated my lil boat. Here are a couple:
And this spectacular night take-off...
The voice-over in the first video observes that every era has its iconic aircraft and the Connie was one such in the 1940s and '50s. I can vouch for that fact.
Those of you who have been with me for a while know that I attended the third, fourth, and fifth grades at the DoD dependent school on Orly Field... the USAF portion of Orly International Airport in Paris. That was back in the day when kids had a LOT more freedom than they do these days and my schoolmates and I would often spend our lunch hour in the snack bar in the international terminal, where we would eat lunch while watching passengers boarding or deplaning from the airliners of the day... chief of which were the Connie and the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser... essentially a civilianized B-29. It's easy to tell which was the more beautiful bird...
The Stratocruiser.
The Super-Connie.
Fat and ungainly versus lithe, sleek, and sassy. They simply don't make 'em like that any longer... and I wish to Hell I would have had the opportunity to fly in a Connie. Alas, my piston-engine airliner experiences were limited to DC-3s and DC-7s. More's the pity.
This time it's his appearance on last night's (Monday) Red Eye, where he comments on Obamacare and other things. It's seven and a half minutes of conservative political goodness and wry one-liners.
Everyone goes on a lot about Rep. Paul Ryan... and they're justified in doing so because Mr. Ryan is both smart and articulate... so I feel it's my duty to give the equally smart and articulate Mr. McCotter some air time. Besides that, McCotter is a LOT funnier; that might be coz he has better straight men.
Just back from Cannon Airplane Patch and certain events had me hummin' this tune most of the way back home:
Three of 'em, to be specific. To say the aroma is "pungent" when one blasts by with the top down is understating the case. Severely.
We are resupplied with beer and victuals. We are also in possession of new blue USAF ID card that reflects our true status in military life now, as well. Geezerhood is officially here. Time for a beer or four.
I liked Emrick's comment about Detroit being a city that likes fighting goalies. True, dat.
―:☺:―
Just a slight exaggeration... from the AFA's Daily Report:
Russia Not in Tanker Game: Despite a slew of news reports to the contrary over the weekend (ed: including us!) quoting a US lawyer ostensibly representing Russia's United Aircraft Company and an unidentified US contractor, there will be no Russian entrant in USAF's KC-X tanker replacement program. RIA Novosti news service reported Monday that UAC issued a statement, saying the claims are "false." Further, Alexey Fedorov, UAC president, said in the statement, "The UAC does not plan either to take part in this tender or set up a joint venture."
Further in the exaggeration category... there was some BS going around the 'net that military folks (read that as people covered by TriCare) were gonna have to buy supplemental insurance to meet the gub'mint's shiny new health care mandate. Not true:
Tricare Is Exempt: Along with the health care reform legislation the House approved over the weekend, lawmakers voted 403 to zero on legislation (HR 4887) introduced by Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) to amend the Internal Revenue Code to term the Defense Department's Tricare military health program "minimal essential coverage." Skelton noted in floor remarks Saturday that the reform legislation currently under review would not call for Tricare beneficiaries to purchase additional coverage. He emphasized that his bill would simply "reassure" Tricare beneficiaries "they will not be negatively affected." Defense Secretary Bob Gates issued a statement Monday, confirming that the Skelton bill "clarified" the matter, saying, "The President and I are committed to seeing that our troops, retirees, and their families will continue to receive the best quality health care."
Ummm... Mr. Gates? May I have a word with you about that RETIREE health care statement? Sir? Sir?
It's been a wacky couple of days at the top of the Western Conference.
San Jose can't stop giving up goals and has lost five straight. Chicago's in the same boat, conceding 22 goals in their last seven games and losing five of those.
Meanwhile, the league-subsidized Coyotes have stormed up the standings with nine straight wins. After last night's shootout victory over Dallas, they're a point up on San Jose (albeit with an extra game played) and tied with Chicago at the top of the conference with two extra games played. Many have tried to explain it away as San Jose getting their annual chokejob done early, or the Blackhawks' questionable goaltending situation finally catching up with them.
But I see now what it really is.
No one wants to play the Red Wings in the first round of the playoffs.
Read on to see why. More than one person sees the Beloved Wings as back in "Unstoppable Red Wings Mode." And we'll get to watch them play the Evil Flightless Birds this evening on Versus. It's hockey, so anything could happen. That said... I'd LOVE to see 87 humbled. Then again, I would say that, wouldn't I?
Lotsa folks are posting this lil vid... and I'm of the opinion we need ALL the comic relief we can get today.
Of course it ain't funny at all on at least one level... both of these countries have nukes and the level of animosity between the two ain't no small beer (three major wars and one minor one since 1947, not to mention innumerable border clashes). Still and even... ya gotta laugh. Especially at the headgear.
I watched some of the tortuous proceedings in the House last night, including John Boehner's speech (video and transcript here - it's good), 25 seconds of Madame Speaker's follow-up rant (wtf IS it with that woman's "heh-heh-heh" voice tic, anyway? Is that Beavis or Butthead she's channeling?), and the floor votes on the Senate Bill (219-212) and the reconciliation package. I also caught some of the commentary from Charles Krauthammer... other than that I had the teevee pretty much on mute after the premiere of the Discovery Channel's "Life" series ended (priorities, yanno?) and I switched channels to watch the the House's kabuki play on steroids. Apropos of nothing... Geraldo Rivera is still an idiot. Fox News scrapes the bottom of the host barrel on late-night Sundays... but Rivera is preferable to that asshat Blitzer or whichever twit sits in MS-NBC's anchor chair. Barely.
So... it's nearly over. The president still needs to sign the bill into law and the Republicans will fight their rear-guard action in the Senate. That said, The Fat Lady sang her aria and she's left the building. All that remains is to suck it up and wait for the myriad unintended consequences to begin rearing their ugly little heads. And watch the lawsuits being filed. All that aside, it looks like I picked a bad week to find a doctor who'll take Medicare. I suppose that's what I get for my chronic procrastination. I wonder if there's a drug for this condition? And will the gub'mint authorize it, if it does exist? So many questions... so few answers.
Finally... why does Benjamin Franklin's famous "A republic, Madam... if you can keep it" quote keep ringing in my ears? That's purely a rhetorical question, of course. We both know the answer, Gentle Reader.
I listened to this game last evening on My Very Expensive Radio and didn't realize it was possible to leap to one's feet and shout YES! while listening to the radio. Go figure.
Yesterday's Gary Varvel 'toon... playing off the same sheet music as Friday's "Only In America" post:
Heh.
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A blast from the past... plane pr0n from 1959's Farnborough Air Show. The Vulcan take off and subsequent fly-by is MOST impressive:
The above is the second of two seven-minute segments, via AirPigz. You can see the first segment at the link. You'll also note that every single aircraft featured in the two clips is British made, including significant offerings in the commercial segment. The British aerospace industry is but a shadow of its former self these days and more's the pity.
Apropos of nothing... The Second Mrs. Pennington and I went to the 1982 Farnborough show. We went on either the first or second day, being the clue-free types we were. And by that I mean we had NO idea the first three days of the show were "invitation-only" days reserved for vendors, forces, and visiting dignitaries, read as: buyers. But there we were, following traffic into the giant car park. We got to the end of the queue... about a half mile into the airfield... when we were stopped by a constable who asked for our passes and invitations. We responded with our patented dumb-ass look, saying "what invitation?" The PC replied "Well, park over there. If you've made it this far you might as well go the distance." And so we did. Milling around the aerodrome gawking at the static displays, watching the aerial demonstrations (there were about four that day), and wandering through the various display halls without the crushing crowds was a wonderful experience. I don't think one could pull that off these days.
―:☺:―
More dreamtime... and we'll be brief. Last night's nocturnal adventure featured a former twenty-something neighbor of mine who appeared in my dream loaded down with a pile of books. I asked what she was reading and she said it was a collection of stories set to old rock 'n' roll tunes (don't ask... I have NO idea). She showed me the first book which was titled "Maybe" and had a list of well-known people under the title, prominent among which was "Betty Ford." Again... don't ask. I said "Hey! I know that tune!" and launched into a spirited rendition of this... and it was note-perfect:
I wore out a 45 of that song in the way-back (that would be 1958) while mourning the end of my first Puppy Love - the end of the frickin' world as I knew it then. Little did I know what was to come...
Speaking of "what was to come," here's that same song done by Her Majesty, Consort to Jack Daniels:
I'm hard-pressed to say which version is best, if such a thing is even possible. Let's just call it a draw.
A Russian company said Friday it plans to enter a bid to build a new aerial refueling tanker for the U.S. Air Force, adding yet another twist to the long-running saga of the Pentagon's attempts to award one its biggest and most controversial weapons contracts.
United Aircraft, a holding company for several Russian aerospace firms, is expected to announce Monday a joint venture with an American defense contractor, according to John Kirkland, a Los Angeles-based lawyer representing the group. Kirkland would not name the U.S. contractor, saying only that it is "not one of the three or four major defense companies." United Aircraft's biggest shareholder is the Russian government, Kirkland said.
The announcement of the Russians' entry into the contest comes 11 days after Northrop Grumman dropped out of bidding for the $40 billion contract. Northrop had partnered with Airbus parent European Aeronautic Defence and Space (EADS) to compete against Chicago-based Boeing. But Northrop said it felt that the competition favored Boeing's smaller 767 aircraft.
I'd laugh at the very idea, except for this lil bit o' politically-correct bullshit:
Bryan G. Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman, said the Defense Department "remains committed to a fair and open competition and welcomes proposals from all qualified offerers."
He said the Pentagon is considering the request from EADS to extend the due date for proposals.
The very idea that USAF would fly Russian tankers is beyond ludicrous. It's just frickin' silly. As is the idea we would outsource the manufacture of mission critical airframes to any foreign supplier, including EADS.
In much the same way, the Deemocrats are deeming their health bill to control costs rather than actually controlling them. Medicare doesn't reimburse doctors the cost of treating the patient; it reimburses what the bureaucracy "deems" it to have cost. In a deemocracy, this works. In real life, it's more problematic.
Investor's Business Daily argues that the "health" debate is really a proxy fight on the size and role of government. According to their poll, 64% of people think the federal government has "too much power." Correct. But a big chunk of that 64% voted less than 18 months ago for a man and a party explicitly committed to more government with more power, and they're now living with the consequences.
Obama is government, and government is Obama. That's all he knows and all he's ever known. You elected to the highest office in the land a man who's never run a business or created wealth or made a payroll, and for his entire adult life has hung out with guys who've demonized such grubby activities. Obama's Cabinet has less experience of private business than any in the last century. What it knows is government, and government's default mode is to grow, and grow.
This morning I counted up the number of friends and acquaintances who either claim to have voted for The One or said they intended to do so. I came up with six. The phone lines are now open; we shall accept your apologies and/or "WHAT was I thinking?" statements as soon as you're ready. I'm willing to bet not a single one of these six individuals would vote for Obama again. But I could be wrong, again. Well, I'll say it: I frickin' TOLD YA SO! But you wouldn't listen, would ya?
(HEAVY sarcasm) Thanks a lot, guys. (/HEAVY sarcasm)
We're a little over 14 hours away from the vernal equinox if a casual glance at my watch and quick mental calculations hold true. And this is the view out my back door at the moment:
