I can haz roomba?

Kittens + roomba robot vacuum =

Dachshunds

My wife introduced me to the "joys" of having a wiener dog shortly after we got married when we got a red smooth mini. Fenway passed away in the fall of 2007. It really was like losing a member of the family, because she was. This past spring we got another dachshund. Another female red mini, but Liberty (Libby) is a long hair. She's starting to look like an Irish Setter sawed off at the legs.

Bridget over at Numbers not Invited has some great dachshund posts. This one of her two "kids" in the snow has some great pics.

Tax Time

All across America regular folks are rounding up their W-2s, 1099s, receipts and other scraps of paper for the annual rite of Tax Time. For it is widely known that Spring will not come until every American has filed.

Every American, except some High Profile Democrats that is. In the last few months we have learned that Al Franken had "tax problems" in 19 different states. nineteen. Charlie Rangel went for a two-fer - tax dodges on investments and misuse of rent control apartments (there may have also been campaign finance violations in the mix). At least two Obama appointees have "problems": Tim Geithner, despite getting a specific allowance from the IMF to pay taxes did not, and now we learn that Tom Daschle owed taxes on a car and driver that was "loaned" by a wealthy friend. And Daschle didn't report over $80,000 in income in 2007.

I hold Al Franken in pretty low regard, however of the four he has the best 'defense': 1) He's an idiot. 2) As an "entertainer" he didn't know the laws and he relied on an accountant, or at least so he can say... He has other money issues dating to his tenure with Air America, but those are probably behind him. Probably.

Rangel's tax issues can't be as easily explained away. He's chairman of the Ways and Means committee - the hell whence tax laws come. As a member of the House of Representatives he voted on these tax laws... Yet nothing will come of his crimes.

Geithner's transgressions - and their implications - are worse. It boils down to this: he was given an extra allowance to pay Social Security taxes. He signed documents indicating he knew it was his responsibility. But he didn't pay. For 4 years. He got caught first by an IRS audit - not the publicity of his nomination. But the audit was for 2003 and 2004. When caught, he paid up. But he also owed for 2001 and 2002. Did he take the opportunity to fix the issue then? No. It was only when he was nominated did he finally make good. Now he is the head tax collector.

Daschle has two tax problems. He was loaned the services of a car and driver. For years. Why did he need a car and driver? The real answer is he didn't. But it was nice to have. Much is currently being said about the tax issue, but I think this illustrates a bigger wrong. A wealthy fundraiser loans a car and driver to a former Senator for years... for nothing? Really? Well - let's assume the Franken defense - he's an idiot. But failing to report over $80,000 in income in 2007? It requires the willing suspension of disbelief...

Clearly if they were Republicans the press coverage and reaction would be much different. Any Republican transition team would have pulled Geithner's and Daschle's nominations. An inexperienced candidate like Franken would have been eaten alive for his tax transgressions if he were a Republican. And if a Republican had done the things Rangel admits, the ethics investigation would have been finished faster than the Blagojevich impeachment.

My advice to Franken, Rangel and Daschle? If anything else comes up, you can always throw yourself on the mercy of the head Tax Collector. 

Newsbusted, 1/27/09

The latest installment from Newsbusters:

Going Dutch

Pat Condell, one of my favorite atheists, on the persecution of Geert Wilders:



This whole thing with Wilders really pisses me off... The only thing that can comfort me is more PopeKrieg:

Baseball

According to my daily e-mail from Jerry Remy, we are only 14 days away from pitchers and catchers. This puts me to mind of renewing my Red Sox Nation membership Citizenship and baseball blogs. Some of my favorites include Centerfield, Soxaholix, Sox Nation and a few others. No surprise, they are all Red Sox related.

I just added a link to a blog called touch em all. It's a blog out of LA - Dodger LA, not that fake Los Angeles that's really Anaheim. So why read it, why link to it? It's Alyssa Milano's blog. Yes, THAT Alyssa Milano. Actress, clothing designer and blogger. She would be perfect.... except for her politics.

I think this would look good on my wife:



Let's see what having a picture of Alyssa Milano does for the blog's stats.

Sarah

It's been a while since I've had a Palin post.

Sarah is front and center again with the roll out of her political action committee, SarahPAC.

It's no guarantee for 2012, but....

Juxtaposition

Two consecutive headlines on Reuters via Handstand on my G1:

Israeli Soldier Killed, Gaza Truce Breached

Obama says Time Right to Resume Mideast Peacemaking

Obama and Al-Arabiya

BO's first formal television interview wasn't with CNN, Fox, MSNBC, or even the CBC or BBC. But Al-Arabiya. Yes, really.

Update: From Jim Vicevich comes a portion of the video... Now that he's POTUS, and it suits his needs, he talks about his Muslim family:



Perhaps BO's handlers should have watched this:


It's In The Koran - Funny video clips are a click away

Update: How soon I forget... Obama granted an interview to the network that brought you this laughing 'journalist'

A modest proposal

Good Lord. She's a mother... and a grandmother, and she comes up with this?

Stephanopoulos even gives her a chance to soften her position, but SanFranNan will not spit out the hook:

PELOSI:....One of those - one of the initiatives you mentioned, the contraception, will reduce costs to the states and to the federal government.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So no apologies for that?

PELOSI: No apologies. No. we have to deal with the consequences of the downturn in our economy.

I guess what she's saying is we can't afford low income 'babies of color'. Had a Republican even intimated something like this the backlash would have been immediate and fierce. But there will be little, if any, consequence for Madame Speaker.

Sunday Stupid

So THAT's what it's called... ne1 s`prizd?

Hearts

I saw this picture at Theo Spark's place.

My first reaction: "Good Lord!"... and my second - I hope they are not posthumous.

Getting away with it

So you're a lawyer and should act ethically (yeah, I know what you are thinking, but most really do). Suppose you work for the government and don't like your boss. What to do? How about write a 'poison pen' letter... posing as someone else? And if you get caught, so what?

Incredible:

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) _ A Connecticut state government lawyer has agreed to pay a $1,000 fine for posing as an anonymous whistleblower in a letter that played a role in her boss' firing.

The Office of State Ethics says Maureen Duggan, former attorney with the old State Ethics Commission, failed to conduct herself ``in a manner which promotes the integrity and impartiality'' of the commission.

Duggan has admitted she wrote a 2004 letter pretending to be an anonymous parking lot attendant, raising misconduct concerns about then-state Ethics Director Alan Plofsky. She says she feared retaliation.

Plofsky was later fired. He denied all charges and appealed to a state panel that reinstated him, but not to his old job. He retired in May 2008.

Duggan now works for the Department of Children and Families.

She should have been disbarred and fired. I don't know what kind of person Plofsky is, or what kind of boss he was. He got rail-roaded, and this woman helped.

Withdrawn

Not so Sweet Caroline has withdrawn her name from consideration for Hillary Clinton's Senate seat... after learning she was no longer under consideration.

Caroline Kennedy tonight withdrew her name from consideration to replace Hillary Clinton in the U.S. Senate after learning that Gov. David Paterson wasn't going to choose her, The Post has learned

It sort of reminds me of this exchange in an old episode of M*A*S*H.

Update: I almost forgot:

Nahnahnah, heyheyhey, goodbye!

All of a sudden....

Somehow, I just became an Arizona fan... even though it was those heathens who took Brady out....

I hope BO keeps this up

This is almost as good as Constitutional language that says "Congress shall make no law..."




Didn't be promise he'd save the world and make everyone's teeth white at 12:01PM on his first day in office?

Was it really 28 years ago?

I converted this to MP4 (a mere 92 MB) so I can play it on my G1 phone during The One's speech:

Of Gaza, the media and rockets

Israeligirl posted a link to the video below, Al-Arabyia reporter/newsreader Hanan  al-Masri reacts to a missile launched from her own building. This was on 1 January, 2009. If you click on the closed caption button you will see an English translation:



The reporter/journalist/whatever laughs at the thought of the office building being used as a super double secret HAMAS launch site. I googled her name, and found several hits, but this one seemed almost funny/ironic. From the Committee to Protect Journalists:

New York, January 15, 2009--The Israeli government must ensure that media facilities are not targeted in the conflict in Gaza, the Committee to Protects Journalists said today. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) fired at least one missile today directly at a Gaza City building that houses multiple news organizations, injuring at least two journalists and forcing others to evacuate, Reuters reported.

Reuters, Fox News, Al-Arabiya, and more than a dozen other regional and international news organizations and production companies are located in Al-Shuruq Tower. Abu Dhabi TV said in a statement that Bureau Chief Aiman al-Razi and cameraman Muhammad al-Susi were injured in the attack. Both are being treated at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza, according to the statement. Reuters reported that the injuries were not life-threatening.

Shrapnel hit the Reuters office, forcing staff to evacuate but not causing injuries, the news agency reported. Live video footage from Reuters and the Ramattan news agency shows smoke rising from the building. Al-Arabiya correspondent Hanan al-Masri, who was on-air when the attack occurred, was forced to abandon the live broadcast midway. (How's that for irony? - mfh) The station aired that footage again in a subsequent broadcast.

I can't find the video of Ms Masri during the on air attack. I wonder if she laughed then too?

Of note in the CPJ report:

A fire in the basement of the building destroyed a power generator and has disrupted communications equipment, according to Russian news channel Russia Today, whose offices are also in Al-Shuruq Tower.

 
Let's see... would that be the same basement from which a  rocket was launched? Surprise!

Note to CPJ - Journalists can protect themselves by vacating a building that is being used by terrorists to launch rockets. It is too much to ask that the journos not allow the building to be used that way... 1) They don't own it... and 2) they have no way of backing up a demand that their building be not used as a military site. But if part of your building has been turned into an armed camp, it is time to get the hell out. Sooner or later, out going mail will be answered.

I couldn't resist

How could I not use the Obamicon.me web thingy to not do this:

CHANGE.... Your Hair?

It's amazing what my spam filters don't catch. Case in point is an e-mail I just received from... The Hair Cuttery. WTF? I don't know how they got my address, but they wasted their bandwidth (and mine) sending this to me:

Newsbusted 1/16/09

Those Defensive Tunnels

I think this must have been what Jimmy Carter was thinking about when he wrote about those 'defensive tunnels' that HAMAS/the Gazans/Palestinians used:

Pictures from Gaza

Brian of London, also of Shire Network News posted a tweet about this series of pictures from the Telegraph. Note the food shortage in the first picture:


And one set of pictures was ALMOST a "bombs between the minarets" moment. Too bad...

NewBusted, 1/9 and 1/13

I guess I'm slacking off here:

1/9/09


1/13/09

Justice is served

Justice delayed isn't always justice denied. It's shameful he had to wait until his last year of eligibility, but he's now Jim Rice, HOF.

16 years. One team. Left field.

I was always thrilled when he came to bat. Anything could happen. A towering homer over the nets... or the lamest double play ball. Hell, he was the first player I ever saw break a bat on a check swing.

Get this picture at Escape to the 70s

Unbelievable

Update: Video link changed... Islamonuts pulled down their original post...

Brian of London sent a link on Twitter to this video at JihadWatch.

As Brian put it in his tweet:

If you're Jewish, live in Europe and can think, this video should terrify you. The police will not save Jews from the mob(.)

The text at JihadWatch:

Jihad Watch reader Oao just sent me this:

:16 AM Received from Muqata Blog Reader in Germany, Sebastian M.

Today, 10.000 people demonstrated against Israel here in my hometown Duisburg (Germany) and to express their solidarity with Hamas. So, my girlfriend and me put two Israel flags out of the windows of our flat in the 3rd floor. During the demonstration which went through our street the police broke into our flat and removed the flag of Israel. The statement of the police was to de-escalate the situation, because many youth demonstrators were on the brink of breaking into our apartment house. Before this they threw snowballs, knifes and stones against our windows and the complete building. We both were standing on the other side of the street and were shocked by seeing a police officer standing in our bedroom and opening the window to get the flag. The picture illustrate this situation. The police acquiesced in the demands of the mob.

And as you can see from the video, the mob applauded, cheered, and shouted "Allahu akbar" when the flag disappeared.

It appears the Polizei will buy "peace" at the cost of people's property and liberty. I'll go one more higher than Brian of London on the alert scale for Europe's Jews. Get Out Now. Emigrate to the US, Israel, or Australia. I'd take Canada off the list, given their lack of free speech these days. No where is truly safe, but find a place where the government isn't going to hold you down while someone else beats you. Read Mark Steyn's piece on The Oldest Hatred.

Would the police have pulled down the cross from an offensive church? Not yet, but that day is coming.

F--- You, Penguin

My new favorite place to see what should be cute pictures... made bearable by cutting commentary... F*** You, Penguin.

Check out this post on a snake... who doesn't seem to want to eat:

This snake has zero game:

So this snake was supposed to eat this hamster, but supposedly it decided that the hamster was just too wonderful to eat and now they hang out and stuff. People think this is a metaphor for world peace.

Personally, I'm not impressed. I think the snake waited too long to eat the hampster because there were people watching, and now it's stuck in the friend zone. All they do is hang out and watch TV, and every time the snake says "Hey, wouldn't it be weird if I ate you?" the hamster is like "Haha, you're so funny" and changes the subject. So fuck you, Snake, for making people think world peace is achievable, when all you need to do is grow some balls.

Ironically, you can vote for this blog for the 2008 Weblog awards... in the Pet category...

The Other Red Meat

I have so far seen two major benefits of Twitter: Getting an inside track on what Lileks is thinking (usually something ordinary, but framed in a disturbing way), and getting leads to places I wouldn't likely go.

One of those places I wouldn't have found on my own is the site What Does That Prayer Really Say? Written by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf. A look to the right shows you that I link to the American Papist blog, so I'm not really a stranger to Catholic blogs. But WDTPRS strikes me as different. Maybe it's the layout, maybe it's the writing... I don't know...maybe the anti-squirrel jihad crusade?

But I just visited for the first time, and I scrolled down to see pictures of squirrels. A dapper red squirrel and a rather uptight looking gray. Then I read Fr. Z's lead in:

It will come as no surprise to anyone who has followed WDTPRS for a while that I am no great lover of squirrels.

Yes… I know this might lose me some votes in the 2008 Weblog Awards election… (VOTE FOR ME!) ... but I do admit it.

I don’t like them.

So I was quite amused when a reader sent me a link to this article in Hell’s Bible... er um… the New York Times.

What follows is an extended quote with Fr. Z's additions throughout. My favorite:

These days, however, in farmers’ markets, butcher shops, village pubs and elegant restaurants, squirrel is selling as fast as gamekeepers and hunters can bring it in. [I am on board so far.]

“Part of the interest is curiosity and novelty,” said Barry Shaw of Shaw Meats, who sells squirrel meat at the Wirral Farmers Market near Liverpool. “It’s a great conversation starter for dinner parties.” [Yes… I suspect it is.]

While some have difficulty with the cuteness versus deliciousness ratio — that adorable little face, those itty-bitty claws [blech] — many feel that eating squirrel is a way to do something good for the environment while enjoying a unique gastronomical experience. [Yes! Offing a squirrel helps everyone!]

"Offing a squirrel..." I think I like this guy! He's got the right attitude about the NYT as well (Hell's Bible... heh).

And as Fr. Z mentioned, he's nominated for Best Religious Blog... go ahead and give him a vote.

UN Ambulance = "Armored" Personnel Carrier

The armor coming in the form of the Red Crescent and the Red Cross on the vehicles:



H/T to IsraelBoston

And in case you haven't seen this yet... HAMAS... in their own words. This is what civilization is up against:



Via HotAir

Some light stupidity

Just a little office soccer... or something:

Newsbusted, 1/6/09

For your viewing pleasure, the latest Newsbusted:

Red Sox' New Hat

I've let this percolate for over a month. But I just can't get behind the new "alternate" hat for the Red Sox. The hat should have the "B" (not a B, THE B) on it. But the new "alternate" hat is gayer than bike shorts.

I'm OK with the semi-retro road jerseys. But that hat... It would be fine on my 11 year old son, but not on a major league player.

Note: I have a picture of the hat in question, but Blogger just won't let me upload it. Bastards.

The 20 Most Annoying Liberals

Courtesy of Right Wing News, the 20 Most Annoying Liberals.

A commenter on Twitter wondered how hard it was to whittle the list down to just 20... Good question.

Weasel

Jim Vicevich at Radio Vice points us to this comment by Harry Reid (D-Collaboration):

Major Avital Explains it All

`Nuff said.

The Original Yes, We Can!

Fresh for 2009 - Your Periodic Reagan:



YouTube user eaglephin posted this video with these comments... I'm going to shamelessly steal the whole thing:

It takes more than a pretty video and a bunch of celebrities singing to make a great president. It takes a person who understands where the true greatness of America lies.

Long before anyone ever heard of Barack Obama, Ronald Reagan challenged Americans to hope, to dream, to believe....

In themselves.

He brought change. He told us "yes we can". Except he also told us we didn't need government to do it. He inspired us with his words and his actions. He showed us that our individual liberty and creativity is what makes our country great not any government program.

Today, Americans are wowed by the empty oratory of politicians who promise nothing but failed socialism in disguise. Even the presumptive Republican nominee cloaks himself in the mantle of Reagan but has shown that he doesn't understand Reagan's philosophy.

Reagan was an idealist AND an ideologue. His policies were based in his rock solid conservative ideology. That doesn't mean he never compromised. But compromise is something different than standing on the same side of an issue with those who are supposed to be your political adversaries.

John McCain is no Ronald Reagan.

Days gone by

Happy 2009.... I've been busy with the 'activities of daily living'... and my current compulsion to try a new Linux distro every couple of days. I thought I had broken the cycle on New Year's Eve when I installed opensolaris. Only to find out there's no easy way to get video codecs installed. The one thing that I was really looking forward to was Time Slider in opensolaris.

I blew away a crumbling Ubuntu 8.10 and an unremarkable openSuse install to put opensolaris on my machine. Its installer didn't have a strong partitioner, so I gave it all of my former Linux disk space to convert to zfs.... Which means I spent this morning re-re-repartioning my HD... I made an 8 gig slice for /, another 12 or so for swap (generous, I know, but what the hell?) two 40 gig partitions (one for home, one not used at all - for now), and I pushed another 50 gig or so back to ntfs.

I then installed Linux Mint, a re-roll of Ubuntu. When all is said and done, I'll probably blow everything away when Windows 7 comes out and just run multiple OS's under VirtualBox. I just get the feeling I'll never be able to get away from Windows/M$.