Anagram: Rested Rhino/ Other Diners

      Personal stuff today, and not much else. Well, some news, but only in the videos.   The first video is Sen. Chris Dodd talking about health care reform. 

     

      I’m sitting here, resting after a slow but happy day, basking in the glow of my computer screen, listening to the sound of a repeat of “This week in Tech” and thunder in the background, from the storms that are passing through the area.  Calm and happy and relaxed right now. Gonna be a busy day tomorrow, I have a 13 hour day at the office ahead of me tomorrow, and a 12 hour day on Tuesday, so  today is all about the rest.

     I woke up early, and for the first time in a long time went for a semi long run on back to back days.  8 miles yesterday, and 8 more today.  The times I ran were roughly equivalent, a 7:42.5 m/m pace on Saturday and a 7:41.87 today.  After I got home, I worked out just a wee bit, 80 modified squat thrusts, a few minutes of shadow boxing, and some crunches, just to add a few extra minutes of sweat to my day.  That was a bit hard though, seeing how my quads, hammies and calves are all sore.

    I watched some meet the press, where David Gregory interviewed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.  It was good stuff.  Watch some of it.

   

   I went over to my parents house and hung out, did laundry, and watched baseball with my father.  That’s always cool.  We are both Yankee fans and we both have the same taste and sense of humor about the crap that people do.  Hung out for a few hours, relaxed and had fun just vegging with dad.  That gave me a few happy relaxed hours, where I got some down time with Mom and Dad, which is always nice. 

    When I got home, I  relaxed with the wife and the cats and just had fun doing nothing.  Played guitar for a bit, watched some videos,  made some stir fry with my wife.  Played some games, on pogo.com and facebook.  Got my haircut. 

    A happy day.

Today’s Nuggets, Semi randomly put together, Via Wikiquote:   Happiness in this world, when it comes, comes incidentally. Make it the object of pursuit, and it leads us a wild-goose chase, and is never attained. Follow some other object, and very possibly we may find that we have caught happiness without dreaming of it.  Nathaniel Hawthorne

The system of life on this planet is so astoundingly complex that it was a long time before man even realized that it was a system at all and that it wasn’t something that was just there.  Douglas Adams

This country has gotten where it is in spite of politics, not by the aid of it. That we have carried as much political bunk as we have and still survived shows we are a super nation.  Will Rogers

Anagram: Hill With Teeth/ The Hell With It

      I thought “the hell with it”  looked wrong as the beginning part of the anagram, so I moved it to the second half.  I guess you could say that, by my standards, today’s anagram was reversed engineered.  Onto the news.

  The Obama Administration, and Hillary Clinton in particular set the tone for the future dialogue between the United States and North Korea with a sharp and scathing statement in response to North Korea saying it will take  “Firm military action” should United States or any of it’s allies try to further isolate the North.  The Administration will, according to Mrs. Clinton will “Vigorously enforce” the new sanctions which have recently been put into force against North Korea. 

     Vigorously enforce, among the other statements made, is not on it’s face the strongest statement one could make.  But think about this.  This statement comes after the North made the statement that any attempt to “blockade” the north would be considered an act of war, and after they said they would enrich more uranium and use plutonium for nuclear weapons.  Vigorously enforce, from that platform, sounds very much like The U.S. saying “Go Ahead, try something”  There was no conciliatory language here, no waffling in the face of a potential increasing threat from a Nuclear North Korea. 

    Sounds to me very much like the Obama Administration is ready to tackle, head on, the North Korean threat.  

       But there is something somewhat disingenuous in making waves with statements about North Korea, while saying next to nothing about an increasingly strong nuclear power in the middle east, Pakistan.  But we do have need of a strong Pakistan, to help us in the fight against Al-Qaeda, so a strong Pakistan, nuclear or otherwise, is less of a moral issue, so long as they are our ally in this fight. A similar argument could be used with Israel, being a key ally in the middle east, the worlds powder keg.  Perhaps the following video is correct on the point that maybe North Korea is doing this to get attention, and much needed money, from the United States.

      

      Onto Other things.

    Perhaps it’s good that I didn’t do picks for the Stanley cup Finals.  Because I tell you this, no only did i not see The Penguins getting to a game seven when this thing started, I didn’t see them winning, especially not in Detroit in a game 7.  I was actually thinking at the beginning that this was going to be a one sided affair.  I was thinking maybe a Red Wings sweep. 

      WRONG.  And it wasn’t because I’m a Rangers fan and the Pens are a division rival.  It was because i thought that the Red Wings, with Osgood seemingly playing excellent hockey, and the offense  and defense churning in front of him, that they would simply be unstoppable.  I didn’t think Marian Hossa would implode and be held to 0 goals against his former team.  I didn’t think that the Wings top scorer, Henrik Zetterberg, would be held to no points in the final 2 games of the season, or that there number 2 playoff scorer, Johan Franzen, would be held to just 1 point in his last 4 games Vs. the Pens.

    

    That’s about it for me.  Later! I’m gonna have some fun with the nuggets today,  Tongue Twisters!

Today’s nuggets, via wikiquote:  I am a mother pheasant plucker. I pluck mother pheasants. I am the most pleasant mother pheasant plucker who ever plucked mother pheasants.

Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager managing an imaginary menagerie.

Swedish wrist watch

The sixth sick sheik’s sixth sheep’s sick.

Anagram: Obtuse Simians/ Ambitiousness

    Nothing particularly ambitious with tonight’s blog.  Really don’t feel like saying much. so I’m just going to toss a few viddys at you.

      

   The One name that I, and I am sure that a great many of you have also heard mentioned as a possible successor to Justice Souter Is 2nd circuit court of appeal judge Sonia Sotomayor, who was nominated to her current spot by Former President Clinton.  But, at last count, there are as many as 43 different people who may be viewed as potential nominees for the seat.  Now not all of them would on their face fit, like Secretary of State Hillary Clinton or Senator Bob Menendez,  But the names mentioned most are Judge Sotomayor and 7th circuit court of appeals judge Diane Pamela Wood.

    Justice Clinton DOES have a nice ring to it though, and she does have the mind for it… but she’s got a job already, I don’t see it.  It would be nice though. How the people over at wikipedia got her name on this list I have no idea.  I could find nothing saying anything with her and the supreme court in the same sentence.  Go fig.

   

    This is from yesterday’s Rachel Maddow show.  It is about hate crime legislation currently going through congress, titled the Matthew

justice

Shepard.  At about the 2 minute mark, you hear a woman speak from the floor of the house of Representatives.  Her name is Virginia Foxx.  She states what can only be called an outrageous lie.  She claims, despite court evidence and statements to the contrary, that the person the hate crime legislation is named after was in fact attempting to commit a crime, a robbery.  The story as it happened is that he was lured by two men who pretended to be gay, then tortured and left for dead because he was gay.  He died five days after the incident.

      This is what the republican opposition is reduced to.  Flat out lies stated as fact on the floor of the congress.  And on top of that she said this with the victims mother, Judy Shepard in attendance. 

    Virginia Foxx, you win the ASSHOLE OF THE WEEK award! Congratulations, asshole! Here’s a toast to you, Rep. Foxx…let’s all hope that you lose your next election so we can have someone with heart represent your corner of North Carolina.  Too bad we have to look at your ugly mug until next election cycle. 

    I’m almost done here, except another viddy and a few quotes.

    This last viddy is of Justices Breyer and Scalia speaking on constitutional interpretation.

   

  That’s it for me.  Later!

Today’s Nuggets, via wikiquote:  Civil liberties had their origin and must find their ultimate guaranty in the faith of the people. If that faith should be lost, five or nine men in Washington could not long supply its want.   Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson

Justice and equity are neither absolutely identical nor generically different. … If they are different, either the just or the equitable is not good; if both are good, they are the same thing. … For equity, while superior to one sort of justice, is itself just … Justice and equity are therefore the same thing, and both are good, though equity is the better.
The source of the difficulty is that equity, though just, is not legal justice, but a rectification of legal justice. The reason for this is that law is always a general statement, yet there are cases which it is not possible to cover in a general statement.    Aristotle

Anagram: One Hundred Thousand Served/ Sudden Thunder Overhead, Son

         I’ll start this one out by thanking everyone who has visited this blog.  Today this blog went over 100,000 page-views.  Nice.  I think it’s a milestone. Enough about that though, onto the news.

     

        If you are the senate, and you have seen the greatest financial crisis in the last 80 years happen on your watch, I think at some point you would have to do more than just legislate us out of trouble.  You eventually have to look into why the damned thing happened in the first place.   Which is exactly what they are doing. The measure to form a commission to look into the financial crisis passed 92-4 as part of legislation to expand U.S. power to prosecute financial and mortgage fraud. The only 4 senators to vote against were Senators Bunning, Grassley, Kyl and McCain.  To me it speaks volumes that this amendment was voted for by both sides of the aisle, but there is the curious footnote that the bill this was attached to, S. 386, was actually co-sponsored by one of the men who voted against the amendment.  Chuck Grassley, a co-sponsor of the “Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009″ voted against this bill.  I am looking all over for a reason why, and frankly I can’t find one. 

     Curiously he did vote for, no lie here,  To modify the definition of the term “obligation.  The “Obligation” amendment was, incidentally put forth by, Yep, one of the other men who didn’t vote for s.386, Sen. John Kyl.

    I am sure that there is something in the second which has to do with the curious vote here.  I am missing the connection, but I will get it, and if I remember to I’ll come back here and tell everyone what the hell it was about.  Perhaps this has something to do with the cost of the additional anti-fraud measures. I did not get to watch the proceedings, so i don’t know.

    But despite the few issues I just mentioned, the Commission is now official, or will be after the president signs it into law.  I am happy about this, because i want to see who will get dragged up to the hill to testify about this debacle.  I want to know who will be held responsible, although i think i know the answer to that question, or at least who will blame who at any rate.  We all know the republicans hate taxes and government, despite being responsible in some fashion for both on a great many levels, so they will blame tax rates that are too high and government that didn’t do the job (not them mind you, just those OTHER government guys).  The Democrats will blame runaway corporations and lax regulations brought on by, you guessed it,  poor republican management.

     Frankly i think they’re both right.  Let’s just hope these people are smart enough to know that we are watching and paying attention, and that we won’t accept simple scapegoating.  Just pointing a finger and saying “TAXES” or “BUSINESS” are responsible won’t cut it.  We need to see a government panel that will be able to look at all sources and rather than find an answer that everyone wants, actually finding the right answer, I.E., exactly what decisions were the most destructive to our present, so that in future we can steer clear of the wrong that happened.

    That’s it for this subject, and this blog, except for the usual second viddy and quotes.

      I am going to go to a different subject, but stay in the legislature here for there second video, with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton talking to the house foreign affairs committee about the torture memos.

    

    That’s it for me, Later!  I Hope I’m writing here to see 1,000,000 page-views. 

Today’s Nuggets, Via wikiquote:  Unfortunately, throughout the housing crisis we’ve seen innocent homeowners who have been victims of shady mortgage lenders and unscrupulous individuals who have used a down market to line their own pockets at the expense of others. This bill is designed to send a message by revising our laws to ensure criminals are brought to justice and that law enforcement has the tools to uncover these fraudulent schemes and go after the bad actors. Criminals should be put on notice that ripping off homeowners and taxpayers won’t be tolerated.   Sen. Chuck Grassley 2-12-2009

I don’t know every answer to every question, I can’t, I couldn’t possibly, no one could. Anyone who says they do is expanding the truth. However, I know that, combined, our brains can solve any problem.  Leo Laporte

Anagram: The Alphabet/ Help Beat Hat

      A Video to start things off.   

      

     Because I’m Like that.

    Can’t help it really, now can I?

    Dreary news isn’t all that I’m about.

    Even if that’s all that there seems to be.

    For heaven’s sake, what kind of man brings nothing but bad news?

    Ghastly is a word that comes to mind.

     How about some Fun?  HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY! Ren and Stimpy, played in both fast and slow motion, for those of you who are high out of your minds. 

       

    In case you were wondering, I thought the above video was funny as hell.

    Just because I’m weird like that.

   K is for Kick Ass, that’s good enough for me.

   Let’s try something else here, for just a minute.  A little bit of serious. 

   Markets are down at this point in the day.  DJIA is down 50 points, the NASDAQ is down 15, and the S&P is down 4.

   Not the worst news there could be, but markets were up earlier in the day.

   Obama in the news: The Obama Presidential campaign received over $30,000 from Runaway banker and thief R. Allen Stanford

    Republicans and Democrats alike are railing at Roland Burris,  and asking for him to resign.  But it looks like there isn’t enough support for his ouster from the senate.  Guess he’s going to be a less than one term senator though. The senate may not toss him, but the people probably will.

   Stupid for facebook to try to take away the rights of it’s users.  That is what an irrevocable, worldwide license to use and modify anything posted on facebook is.  Good that they saw the revolt that this move spawned and immediately responded by withdrawing the offending material.  They could have lost tens of millions of users otherwise.

   Ultra Conservative Michelle Bachmann has lost her Mind.  Again.  Read the story here to see just what a nutjob she is. She says we’re running out of rich people.  She says Republicans are nice people who don’t speak up enough.  She says ACORN gets $5,000,000,000 in the Stimulus. They don’t.  She says the stimulus is part of a democratic conspiracy to funnel money away from Republicans.  Jeez.

    Very, VERY freaky little thing she is.  And freaky here is a BAD THING.

    WAR.  North Korea is ready for it.  So says an unnamed military official to  the north’s KCNA news agency prior to Hillary Clinton’s visit to South Korea.  The North has a new missile, and they want to show it off, and with it their military might.  I guess they have to prove their missiles are bigger than everyone else’s.

   Xenophobes, manic xenophobes the lot of them.   But it can’t be helped i guess. It all comes down from their leader.  Just because fearless leader is fearless does not mean he can’t have penis missile envy.

   Yelling about how you can kick everyone’s ass only shows how small you really are in your own mind.  Idiots.

    Zoo news to close things out here.   A zoo in South Carolina debuts their brand new Baby Giraffe today, who doesn’t yet have a name. Maybe we can all come up with a name for him.  How about Shorty! Works For me!

    Aaaaaaaand that’s my run through the Alphabet for today.  Hope you enjoyed.   A final video, a few quotes and I am done.

     This is Some funny stuff.  Larry Wilmore in search of a Black Jesus.  Just watch.

    

  That’s It for me.  Later!

Today’s Nuggets, Via newspeak:  Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. It is the one UN-American act that could most easily defeat us.  Justice William O. Douglas

I wish it were possible to obtain a single amendment to our Constitution. I would be willing to depend on that alone for the reduction of the administration of our government; I mean an additional article taking from the Federal Government the power of borrowing.   Thomas Jefferson