We didn't stray too far from home yesterday. We visited an old Jewish cemetery I never knew existed and a castle I used to grovel around in when I was a kid.
.
Note:
If you've missed anything and want to get caught up on the trip so far, just go here and scroll down. I set it up so everything will stay on the main page for the duration.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Snow Day
We got another foot of snow overnight, so I was out bright and early this morning participating in the Sierra Nevada Homeowner Winter Pentathlon, which consists of:
1. Snow shovelling
2. Ice scraping
3. Snowthrowing, with sub-event
a. Trying to keep the dog's nose out of the augur
4. Stand under a pine tree when it unloads its snow (aced this one! It's all in the timing...)
5. Try to not fall on your ass
I learned something (again) and I'll pass it on: empty the snow out of your hoodie before you put it on your head.
Anyway, after all that exertion, which is good for you, I was taking off my snow boots and felt the dreaded sproinggg! in my lower back. Uh-oh. I basically just got Mrs. G's truck out and had lots more snow to move. I can do it in pain (lotsa practice) but it's no fun.
Mrs. G called and I told her about it. She said, "Gee, it's too bad we don't have one of those Shiatsu massaging cushions."
At this point, the lights came on in my head and I went and (gently) unwrapped her Christmas present.
Fifteen minutes with that thing and three ibuprofens and I'm rarin' to go! If you have need of a back massage, I recommend one of these gadgets. It's a lot cheaper than the alternative, the Japanese massage lady who walks on yer back. Unless she doesn't eat and can sleep standing up in the closet next to the vacuum cleaner, of course.
Did I mention that the storm passed by and the Sun is brightly shining and it's a beautiful day? See ya.
Update:
Yes, I remembered to re-wrap Mrs. G's present. Loosely, just in case...
She'll never suspect a thing...
1. Snow shovelling
2. Ice scraping
3. Snowthrowing, with sub-event
a. Trying to keep the dog's nose out of the augur
4. Stand under a pine tree when it unloads its snow (aced this one! It's all in the timing...)
5. Try to not fall on your ass
I learned something (again) and I'll pass it on: empty the snow out of your hoodie before you put it on your head.
Anyway, after all that exertion, which is good for you, I was taking off my snow boots and felt the dreaded sproinggg! in my lower back. Uh-oh. I basically just got Mrs. G's truck out and had lots more snow to move. I can do it in pain (lotsa practice) but it's no fun.
Mrs. G called and I told her about it. She said, "Gee, it's too bad we don't have one of those Shiatsu massaging cushions."
At this point, the lights came on in my head and I went and (gently) unwrapped her Christmas present.
Fifteen minutes with that thing and three ibuprofens and I'm rarin' to go! If you have need of a back massage, I recommend one of these gadgets. It's a lot cheaper than the alternative, the Japanese massage lady who walks on yer back. Unless she doesn't eat and can sleep standing up in the closet next to the vacuum cleaner, of course.
Did I mention that the storm passed by and the Sun is brightly shining and it's a beautiful day? See ya.
Update:
Yes, I remembered to re-wrap Mrs. G's present. Loosely, just in case...
She'll never suspect a thing...
Descendants of Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse break away from US
AFP via Raw Story
Note to Russ: Best wishes for you in this endeavor. Let us know how this 'free and independent' shit works out. Might start a trend...
A delegation of Lakota leaders delivered a message to the State Department on Monday, announcing they were unilaterally withdrawing from treaties they signed with the federal government of the United States, some of them more than 150 years old.
The new country would issue its own passports and driving licences, and living there would be tax-free -- provided residents renounce their US citizenship, Means said.
The treaties signed with the United States are merely "worthless words on worthless paper," the Lakota freedom activists say on their website (Be patient - no bandwidth, lotta traffic - G).
The treaties have been "repeatedly violated in order to steal our culture, our land and our ability to maintain our way of life," the reborn freedom movement says.
Withdrawing from the treaties was entirely legal, Means said.
"This is according to the laws of the United States, specifically article six of the constitution," which states that treaties are the supreme law of the land, he said.
"It is also within the laws on treaties passed at the Vienna Convention and put into effect by the US and the rest of the international community in 1980. We are legally within our rights to be free and independent," said Means.
Note to Russ: Best wishes for you in this endeavor. Let us know how this 'free and independent' shit works out. Might start a trend...
Huckabee Gets Endorsement From Talk Show Host
"Now I understand Mitt Romney's a Mormon - well, isn't that special? Don't Mormons claim that Jesus is the brother of. . .SATAN?"
A tip o' the Brain to Don
Quote of the Day Zwei
BuzzFlash, in response to "Commander: Al-Qaida still able to attack."
Of course, in those days, war profiteering was merely a side effect of the war, not the main reason for it.
America Under FDR was able to defeat the Nazis, Imperial Japan, and Mussolini in less time, but then he wasn't an imbecile like junior and a megalo-maniac like Cheney, both chickenhawks to boot.
Of course, in those days, war profiteering was merely a side effect of the war, not the main reason for it.
The Army's Other Crisis
Andrew Tilghman in Washington Monthly. Lengthy, but worth a read if you give a shit about what has been done to our military and how and why mid-level officers and NCOs are making career choices with their feet.
Scary. Imagine an Army run by unqualified officers, not that there's ever been any lack of those, just like the present Commander-in-Chief...
Why the best and brightest young officers are leaving
But the greatest concern is how the exodus of the best and brightest will affect the Army's long-term capacity to win wars, counter threats, and keep the peace. Today's lieutenants and captains are the pool from which three- and four-star generals will be chosen twenty years from now. If the sharpest minds aren't in that pool, we could wind up — to put it bluntly — with a senior leadership of dimwits.
Scary. Imagine an Army run by unqualified officers, not that there's ever been any lack of those, just like the present Commander-in-Chief...
Quote (and Quandary) of the Day
Wendy Rochman:
Much more.
I feel for this lady and others like her. I'm damn glad I'm not in her position. I've been fired for telling the truth and was damn glad to be out of a place where that could happen, but there was always another gig down the road a ways.
The truth has a liberal bias, and is therefore not to be taught to the impressionable children who will be paying for this administration's lies for the rest of their lives.
What’s a Teacher to Do? 'No teacher wants to tell her students that their president is a liar and a criminal. And yet, our president is a liar and a criminal. As a teacher, should I tell children the truth, and act to uphold our Constitution and Bill of Rights? I am charged to do just that through the legally binding state and local professional educator standard, requiring me to model the democratic ideal. My failure to do so could be grounds for my dismissal. But here’s the catch: doing so could also be grounds for my dismissal!'
Much more.
I feel for this lady and others like her. I'm damn glad I'm not in her position. I've been fired for telling the truth and was damn glad to be out of a place where that could happen, but there was always another gig down the road a ways.
The truth has a liberal bias, and is therefore not to be taught to the impressionable children who will be paying for this administration's lies for the rest of their lives.
"...keeping the nation hooked on its unbelievably destructive brand of heroin."
Today's 'must read' by Mark Morford:
Please read the rest.
As part of my ongoing effort to save my own soul and avoid repeatedly stabbing myself in the eye with a fork in screaming frustration, and also because it's Beltway politics and watching it too closely is akin to having your cerebral cortex raped by encephalitic trolls, I've only paid cursory attention to the massive, landmark energy bill that's right now passing like a painful gallstone through Congress and getting snagged here and gutted there and stripped of key provisions over here, all so Dubya won't veto it, given how it might be just too mean to his fat, piggish pals in Big Energy.
Besides, it's an energy bill. It's Congress. It's like saying "altar boys" and "the Vatican." What are the odds of something good coming of it?
It's so brutally hypocritical as to be actually rather insane: We're on track to spend $2 trillion on a failed Iraq war that's tied directly to our appalling oil dependency, and yet we can't even allocate the governmental equivalent of pocket change toward encouraging people to install a solar panel on the condo? What kind of nation are we, really?
Well, the Dems tried. And they failed. They failed because they're not smart enough and they don't play dirty enough and they're completely terrified of Dubya's shiny newfound veto pen, which he apparently just found under his box of Osama finger puppets and private stash of gay stem cells. They failed because, despite their hairbreadth control of Congress, the oil-sucking GOP henchmen are still deeply entrenched and are clinging to their corporate cronyism like a Kentucky teen clings to his meth pipe. Hence, one of the most impressive pieces of legislation in 10 years gets choked to death like a pit bull at Michael Vick's house. What, too harsh? Not even close.
Please read the rest.
Pennies behind the fuses?*
Mrs. G came up with the reason for the fire yesterday in the Cheney area of the Eisenhower office building - all the extra shredding in the effort to keep some of the higher-ups out of jail overloaded the electrical circuits.
*If you don't get that reference, ask your grandparents.
*If you don't get that reference, ask your grandparents.
Perspectives ...
Or, What a difference a half-century makes.
I was out early, having my morning cigarette (have I mentioned it's fucking cold here?), watching the dawn break, when Mrs. F joined me. She commented how beautiful it was in this valley. I said that I always expect to hear Grieg's Morning playing whenever I step outside.
That thought brought me back to a story my mother used to tell me.
It was near the end of WW2, late '44 or early '45, and my mother was home for a bit of leave before going back to the field hospital where she was a nurse. The Americans had an artillery battery set up a few miles away on the other side of this mountain.
She said they would lob shells into the town on a regular basis, forcing the residents to seek shelter in their basements. A few miles away, on the other side of town, there was a German anti-air battery set up.
One day, an American fighter plane came in low, from this direction. She thought he was either looking for German supply convoys or was going to line up to do a ground assault on the local train station.
As she watched (from the spot I took these pics), she heard the German AAA open up and they caught him, the plane crashing in a fireball on the mountain in the first pic. Being a nurse, mom didn't think twice, stuffing a bag with supplies and running to the scene. All she found when she got there were the scorched remains of a fighter plane and the pilot's right hand with a wedding ring on the finger.
60 years later, it's almost impossible to believe this place was once a war zone. As I stand here in disbelief, trying to comprehend the inhumanity that took place here, I think of the people in Iraq, also once at peace and, through no doing of their own, are now feeling the effects of the horror we've wrought upon them. This little town, this little slice of heaven on God's Front Porch, knew only horror and death for years thanks to a man named Hitler. The Iraqis know the same horror and death (for it's all the same to the innocent) thanks to a man named Bush.
Hopefully the Iraqis can move on from what we've done to them but I don't think it will happen anytime soon. It is imperative we right the wrongs we've done, just as the Germans did so many years ago. The Iraqis must have their Morning and it's up to us to give it to them.
As always, click on the pics to embiggen. I'm going upstairs to breakfast now, but after thinking about this and my mother's war, I don't think I have an appetite.
I was out early, having my morning cigarette (have I mentioned it's fucking cold here?), watching the dawn break, when Mrs. F joined me. She commented how beautiful it was in this valley. I said that I always expect to hear Grieg's Morning playing whenever I step outside.
That thought brought me back to a story my mother used to tell me.
It was near the end of WW2, late '44 or early '45, and my mother was home for a bit of leave before going back to the field hospital where she was a nurse. The Americans had an artillery battery set up a few miles away on the other side of this mountain.
She said they would lob shells into the town on a regular basis, forcing the residents to seek shelter in their basements. A few miles away, on the other side of town, there was a German anti-air battery set up.
One day, an American fighter plane came in low, from this direction. She thought he was either looking for German supply convoys or was going to line up to do a ground assault on the local train station.
As she watched (from the spot I took these pics), she heard the German AAA open up and they caught him, the plane crashing in a fireball on the mountain in the first pic. Being a nurse, mom didn't think twice, stuffing a bag with supplies and running to the scene. All she found when she got there were the scorched remains of a fighter plane and the pilot's right hand with a wedding ring on the finger.
60 years later, it's almost impossible to believe this place was once a war zone. As I stand here in disbelief, trying to comprehend the inhumanity that took place here, I think of the people in Iraq, also once at peace and, through no doing of their own, are now feeling the effects of the horror we've wrought upon them. This little town, this little slice of heaven on God's Front Porch, knew only horror and death for years thanks to a man named Hitler. The Iraqis know the same horror and death (for it's all the same to the innocent) thanks to a man named Bush.
Hopefully the Iraqis can move on from what we've done to them but I don't think it will happen anytime soon. It is imperative we right the wrongs we've done, just as the Germans did so many years ago. The Iraqis must have their Morning and it's up to us to give it to them.
As always, click on the pics to embiggen. I'm going upstairs to breakfast now, but after thinking about this and my mother's war, I don't think I have an appetite.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Ex-Mormon Cartoonist Says Romney Not Telling Truth
Heh. I well understand the feeling Mr. Benson must have about being described as an "Ex-Mormon Cartoonist". I myself have been described in newspaper articles as an "Unemployed Motorcyclist". Praise of the highest order! But I digress...
E & P
An informed member of the media with 'cojones'? Fat chance, white boy.
I got a sneakin' hunch that the Repug candidate is gonna be None Of The Above, but one thing's fer sure - we damn sure don't need any more Jesus freaks, Godsquadders, or weird racist cultists such as Saints and neocons, in the White House. We got a pretty representative combo of all that right now and it's like to wrecked the joint
E & P
As an ex-Mormon, Arizona Republic editorial cartoonist Steve Benson has strong opinions about current Mormon Mitt Romney. He said the Republican candidate's recent speech on religion should not be trusted by media people and other Americans.
He told E&P that, in his view, a Mormon believer is required by church doctrine (as dictated by the church's "living prophet") to "obey God's commands" over anything else. He said "Romney, like all 'temple Mormons,' made his secret vows using Masonic-derived handshakes, passwords, and symbolic death oaths that he promised in the temple never to reveal to the outside world" -- and that Romney also secretly vowed to devote his "time, talents" and more "to the building of the Mormon religion on earth."
"When Mitt says he belongs to a church that doesn't tell him what to do, that's false; it's a 24/7, do-what-you're-told-to-do church," asserted Benson, who won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning in 1993.
That was the year Benson left what he calls the "Mormon cult." [...]
Romney "needs to face an informed member of the media with 'cojones' who has a working and perhaps personal experience with Mormonism," said Benson. "It would be harder for Romney to do his well-practiced duck and dodge."
An informed member of the media with 'cojones'? Fat chance, white boy.
Benson predicted that Romney will not win the Republican presidential nomination. If Romney is nominated, added the cartoonist, he will not defeat his Democratic opponent.
Voters, said Benson, "are not ready for someone in the Oval Office who has committed to absolute obedience to a religion they feel is extremely odd and not in the American mainstream. I trust the rational U.S. electorate, not the weird Mormon God."
I got a sneakin' hunch that the Repug candidate is gonna be None Of The Above, but one thing's fer sure - we damn sure don't need any more Jesus freaks, Godsquadders, or weird racist cultists such as Saints and neocons, in the White House. We got a pretty representative combo of all that right now and it's like to wrecked the joint
House passes Veterans Guaranteed Bonus Act
Think Progress
Thank you, Congressman, but if it gets through the Senate, Bush will probably veto it as being too expensive under his "no pull trigger, no get food" policy for Veterans.
Last month, Iraq war vet Jordan Fox revealed that some wounded soldiers were being asked by the Pentagon to return part of their enlistment bonuses. Today, the House passed the Veterans Guaranteed Bonus Act to ensure that future soldiers aren’t treated like Fox. The legislation will ensure that members of the armed services who are discharged as a result of combat-related wounds receive the full compensation to which they are entitled by the Department of Defense. Rep. Jason Altmire (D-PA), one of the bill’s primary sponsors, spoke on the floor this morning. Watch it:
Thank you, Congressman, but if it gets through the Senate, Bush will probably veto it as being too expensive under his "no pull trigger, no get food" policy for Veterans.
Time drops Kristol, Krauthammer
The New York Observer via Think Progress
Gee, ya don't think it could possibly be because these two warmongering neocon bastards are high-profile backers of the criminal Iraq war, do ya?
Lemme tell ya what 'mutual' means from my experience over five decades of being a mechanic - it means "You're fired", "Fuck you. You can't fire me! I quit!". Mutual. It's the reason toolboxes have wheels.
It took me years to figure out to just let 'em fire me without saying "I quit" so I could get unemployment insurance...
Note to Time: Canning those assholes is a step in the right direction, but that guy Ponuunuunnuuu or whatever that you're considering sounds like you're just replacing two neocon extremists with a garden variety right wing extremist. Watch it.
Two conservative Time magazine columnists are on their way out the door: Neither William Kristol nor longtime contributor Charles Krauthammer will be on contract with the magazine starting next month. [...]
The exact reasons for the departures of Mr. Krauthammer and Mr. Kristol, both high-profile backers of the Iraq war, are not entirely clear.
Gee, ya don't think it could possibly be because these two warmongering neocon bastards are high-profile backers of the criminal Iraq war, do ya?
The Time spokeswoman would not detail the reasons for ending the contract of Mr. Kristol, the editor of The Weekly Standard, but said that the decision was mutual. Mr. Kristol did not return a call for comment.
Lemme tell ya what 'mutual' means from my experience over five decades of being a mechanic - it means "You're fired", "Fuck you. You can't fire me! I quit!". Mutual. It's the reason toolboxes have wheels.
It took me years to figure out to just let 'em fire me without saying "I quit" so I could get unemployment insurance...
Note to Time: Canning those assholes is a step in the right direction, but that guy Ponuunuunnuuu or whatever that you're considering sounds like you're just replacing two neocon extremists with a garden variety right wing extremist. Watch it.
Huckenfreude
MFBTGR* has a 'must read' post that will bring a smile to your face.
Please, please, please go read the rest!
Perhaps it's not Hucklomatic to admit to great Huckenfreude watching the Repugs commit Huckocide, but hey, just Huckin' Huck 'em.
So why is the Republican establishment suddenly in a state of near-apoplexy about Mike Huckabee? Shouldn't they be happy? They've been cultivating evangelicals and fundamentalists for 30 years. Now they finally have a candidate who's truly part of the movement. So what's the problem?
Actually, that is the problem. The evangelical crowd was fine when it was just a resource to be cynically exploited every few years in demagogic anti-gay get-out-the-vote campaigns. But now the holy-rolling monster the GOP's Dr. Frankensteins have created has thrown off the shackles, fled the lab, and is currently leading in Iowa. And the party doesn't know what to do.
It's actually fun to watch the consternation. Ross Douthat has dubbed this feeling "Huckenfreude," which he defines as "pleasure derived from the outrage of prominent conservative pundits over the rising poll numbers of Mike Huckabee."
Please, please, please go read the rest!
Perhaps it's not Hucklomatic to admit to great Huckenfreude watching the Repugs commit Huckocide, but hey, just Huckin' Huck 'em.
*My Favorite Big-Titted Greek Redhead
Tech note
Just so you all know, I found I can't send email here. I'm looking into it but I'll be coming home in 10 days so it isn't a great priority. So to all those folks who've written (I can receive fine), I'm not ignoring you and I'll respond as soon as I get back Stateside.
That is all.
That is all.
Dodd!
[As always, a big Brain welcome to Sideshow readers and great thanks to the wonderful Avedon for the linkage.]
C & L has the goods but I loved this line:
By the way, thanks to Bush, there are a lot of pissed off Germans here and people aren't shy about telling me what a buncha assholes we've become.
Update:
And let me just add, these are people I've known for more than 40 years. People who thought Jack Kennedy was the greatest thing since sliced bread and whose dream it was to come to America. People who used to ask me to send them anything (t-shirts, stuffed animals, posters) with an American flag on it. As far as they're concerned now, we can shove it all up our collective ass. Being they have experience and all ...
C & L has the goods but I loved this line:
“I’ve been asked, what’s the first thing I’d do as president in the year 2009, and January 20th. And I’m going to give you back your Constitution, because this administration has gone out of it’s way to do just the opposite and the Constitution does not belong to a political party or a candidate and they’ve been trampling all over it.”
By the way, thanks to Bush, there are a lot of pissed off Germans here and people aren't shy about telling me what a buncha assholes we've become.
Update:
And let me just add, these are people I've known for more than 40 years. People who thought Jack Kennedy was the greatest thing since sliced bread and whose dream it was to come to America. People who used to ask me to send them anything (t-shirts, stuffed animals, posters) with an American flag on it. As far as they're concerned now, we can shove it all up our collective ass. Being they have experience and all ...
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Now, if I could remember my favorite things...
I got this via e-mail from my friend Bev:
[It wouldn't be funny if it wasn't so true!! Julie Andrews turned 69. To commemorate her 69th birthday, the famous actress/vocalist made a special appearance at Manhattan 's Radio City Music Hall for the benefit of the AARP. One of the musical numbers she performed was "My Favorite Things" from the legendary movie
"The Sound Of Music." with a few minor changes to the lyrics....
Here are the actual lyrics she used:
Maalox and nose drops and needles for knitting,
Walkers and handrails and new dental fittings,
Bundles of magazines tied up in string,
These are a few of my favorite things.
Cadillacs and cataracts, and hearing aids andglasses,
Polident and Fixodent and false teeth in glasses;
Pacemakers, golf carts and porches with swings. These are a few of my favorite things.
When the pipes leak, When the bones creak,
When the knees go bad, I simply remember my favorite things,
And then I don't feel so bad.
Hot tea and crumpets and corn pads for bunions,
No spicy hot food or food cooked with onions,
Bathrobes and heating pads and hot meals they bring,
These are a few of my favorite things.
Back pains, confused brains, and no need forsinnin',
Thin bones and fractures and hair that is thinnin',
And we won't mention our short, shrunken frames,
When we remember our favorite things.
When the joints ache, When the hips break,
When the eyes grow dim, Then I remember the great life I've had,
And then I don't feel so bad.
(Ms. Andrews received a standing ovation from the crowd that lasted over four minutes and repeated encores.) Please share Ms. Andrews' clever wit and humor with others who would appreciate it.]
Update:
I passed this on, as directed, to some of my over-60 crowd. Alert as ever, my pal Barb got back to me almost instantly. Turns out it apparently ain't true. It's funny anyway.
[It wouldn't be funny if it wasn't so true!! Julie Andrews turned 69. To commemorate her 69th birthday, the famous actress/vocalist made a special appearance at Manhattan 's Radio City Music Hall for the benefit of the AARP. One of the musical numbers she performed was "My Favorite Things" from the legendary movie
"The Sound Of Music." with a few minor changes to the lyrics....
Here are the actual lyrics she used:
Maalox and nose drops and needles for knitting,
Walkers and handrails and new dental fittings,
Bundles of magazines tied up in string,
These are a few of my favorite things.
Cadillacs and cataracts, and hearing aids andglasses,
Polident and Fixodent and false teeth in glasses;
Pacemakers, golf carts and porches with swings. These are a few of my favorite things.
When the pipes leak, When the bones creak,
When the knees go bad, I simply remember my favorite things,
And then I don't feel so bad.
Hot tea and crumpets and corn pads for bunions,
No spicy hot food or food cooked with onions,
Bathrobes and heating pads and hot meals they bring,
These are a few of my favorite things.
Back pains, confused brains, and no need forsinnin',
Thin bones and fractures and hair that is thinnin',
And we won't mention our short, shrunken frames,
When we remember our favorite things.
When the joints ache, When the hips break,
When the eyes grow dim, Then I remember the great life I've had,
And then I don't feel so bad.
(Ms. Andrews received a standing ovation from the crowd that lasted over four minutes and repeated encores.) Please share Ms. Andrews' clever wit and humor with others who would appreciate it.]
Update:
I passed this on, as directed, to some of my over-60 crowd. Alert as ever, my pal Barb got back to me almost instantly. Turns out it apparently ain't true. It's funny anyway.
Soufflenheim and Betschdorf
As promised, we took a trip across the border into the Alsace. First to the town of Betschdorf and then on to Soufflenheim. I posted a few pics from Betschdorf (here) and more from Soufflenheim (here and here).
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