Wednesday, March 31, 2004
Military Intelligence! Jumbo Shrimp!
Claire's away, as you all no doubt know, and when last heard from was in my home state of Nevada. She foolishly gave me the keys to her blog. Heh heh heh... So...let's hear it for American entrepreneuership, as exemplified by Long John Silver's. Arrrrrh, matey! Read below! PRESS RELEASE Date Released: Wednesday, March 24, 2004 Source: Long John Silvers Long John Silver's President announces the company will give America free Giant Shrimp on May 10 to celebrate NASA's discovery of salt water on Mars Long John Silver's President Calls Discovery "One Small Step for Man, One Giant Leap for Giant Shrimp" NASA's March 23 announcement of evidence of the past presence of "a body of gently flowing saltwater" on Mars is big news for America, and giant news for seafood fans. In January, Long John Silver's offered to give America free Giant Shrimp if NASA found conclusive evidence of an ocean on Mars. To celebrate the success of NASA's Mars Rover project, the company is going to give America free Giant Shrimp on Monday, May 10. "This is the big announcement that Long John Silver's has been waiting for since January - that there is evidence of a past salty sea on Mars," said Mike Baker, Chief Marketing Officer for Long John Silver's, Inc. "We can't wait to celebrate NASA's out-of-this-world success, and there's no better way to recognize their giant accomplishments than with free Giant Shrimp for America." On Monday, May 10, between the hours of 2 p.m. and 5 p.m., customers can stop by any participating Long John Silver's restaurant and enjoy a free Giant Shrimp (one piece per customer). Long John Silver's President Steve Davis sent a personal letter to NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe, congratulating NASA on their discovery. "We've been following the Mars Exploration project since the beginning," Davis wrote, "and we've been anxiously awaiting word of evidence of an ocean on Mars. The rovers have been extremely busy since they arrived on Mars - they've had 'plenty of things on their plate.' Now, with the discovery of ocean water, America can add one more thing to its plate - free Giant Shrimp." Davis ended the letter by writing, "This is one small step for man, and one giant leap for Giant Shrimp." He also again expressed interest in Long John Silver's becoming the first seafood restaurant on Mars. Baker added that the Giant Shrimp giveaway is the perfect way to celebrate NASA's historic discovery, which has taken place at the same time Long John Silver's Giant Shrimp introduction has been one of the most successful product launches in company history. "NASA is making history on Mars and Long John Silver's is making history here on earth," added Baker. "Our faith in NASA has paid off. Their giant accomplishment calls for Giant Shrimp." The new Giant Shrimp are the largest shrimp Long John Silver's has ever served. They feature the great-tasting secret batter that has made Long John Silver's famous for fish, shrimp and chicken for 35 years. Every person in the U.S. will have an opportunity to obtain one free Giant Shrimp at participating Long John Silver's restaurants in the United States. Redemption will take place on Monday, May 10, 2004, from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m., local time, while supplies last. Customers can use the store locator at http://www.ljsilvers.com to find their nearest Long John Silver's locations. Long John Silver's, Inc. based in Louisville, Kentucky, is the world's most popular quick-service seafood chain specializing in a variety of seafood items including batter-dipped fish, chicken, shrimp and hushpuppies. Inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson's classic Treasure Island, Long John Silver's, Inc. was founded in 1969 in response to growing consumer demand for quick-service seafood. Today, there are more than 1,250 Long John Silver's, Inc. restaurants worldwide serving nearly four million customers each week. Long John Silver's, Inc. is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc., (NYSE:YUM) the world's largest restaurant company in terms of system units with more than 33,000 restaurants in more than 100 countries and territories.Saturday, March 27, 2004
Report from the West
Good morning from lovely downtown Fallon NV, where the water is awful and the steaks are fantastic !! No, I mean *really* delicious! Just like I remember from days of yore; before Prime became Choice and Choice became Utility Grade -- and supermarkets quit selling even that. /ofr* Oh, and I had a ciggie right at the table -- and no one minded !!! bwahahahahahaha How accustomed we become to the loss of our freedoms; the casino security guy came in to get pie and I had a moment of "oh no..." before "wait -- I'm in a free country where people can make choices!" kicked in. The water is another matter -- suffice to say I'm really glad we brought a coupe of cases of good ol' Aquafina. Mmmmmm-mmmmm. *glug glug glug* And our own coffee. and grinder. and coffeemaker. and thermal cups. and more water. and oranges and zester to add a little ...um, zest. Had to purloin a few of those annoying little cream cups at dinner last nite. They are so hard to open -- but inside -- real cream! Life on the road is goooooood. The sunrise was dramatic. The temp feels like shirtsleeves, even tho it reads 41°. And we're headin' deeper into The West! Yee Haw! . ofr - old fart rantFriday, March 26, 2004
ROAD-BLOGGING ! !
We made it as far as Fallon, where they grow that really good hay. And here I am. Setting this sucker up the first time was easier than the first time at home. Go Best Western! Though their "pet rooms" stink like the detergent aisle at Safeway -- Whew!! Am ignoring SondraK's advice and have the heater on and the window open to burn it out a little. Actually the scent of gently roasting mouse is far superior to the "bottle -chem" scent native to the room .. AND it's an additional $60 bucks if ya wanna light a dam ciggie to drown out the stank. This is NV fer cryin' out loud. Silly people. More in a while -- I'm gonna see what my pics look like. PS -- I know it is rude but I will be linking less on the road. I'll try to fill in later in the eve.Thursday, March 25, 2004
Hokay Youse Guys
Things have been kinda lax around here -- now they're gonna get better: 1] I'm goin' on vacaaaaation!!!!!!! ["wheeeee"] Yep -- Monument Valley, Grand Canyon -- The West, which is actually several hundred miles East of here. 2] I have invited 3 guest-bloggers to entertain eachother, and y'all, while I'm gone. I may show up, after sufficient sacrifice to the connectivity gods. I'll give it a shot, anyway. The guest-bloggers will be introducing themselves and what they'll get up to is anyone's guess. So drop by and give 'em some encouragement. Someone's bound to say something ...uh, *inerestin'.* As for me -- adios, so long, seeya, and . . .Monday, March 22, 2004
oy, Mel, bubbe -- hak already with this meshugeh farkuckt
Me ken brechenMel Gibson on his next project: "The story that's always fired my imagination is the book of Maccabees,'' he said. "It's about Antiochus, the king who set up his religion in the Temple and forced them all to deny their true God and worship at his feet and pray to false gods. "The Maccabees stood up, and they made war, they stuck by their guns, and they came out winning. It's like a western.''
Cowboys and Hassidim? The Hatfields and the Maccabees?!? The thing is . . . the wackdoodle has a point. Americans have always been suckers for the story of the underdog who stood up for principles. I think it'll get a ...uh, what's the goyem version of an Oscar?
Saturday, March 20, 2004
Surprised?
Juxtapositioned
From Sydney to Tokyo, Madrid, London, New York and San Francisco, protesters condemned U.S. policy in Iraq and said they did not believe Iraqis are better off or the world safer because of the war.
Compare and Contrast:
The following is a translation of a statement from the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigadesclaiming responsibility for the Madrid bombings. The statement was published in Arabic in the London based newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi. In the Name of God In its last statement ...2 March 2004, Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades promised that it was preparing more attacks. Here the brigade is keeping its word. The death squad (of the Abu Hafs Al-Masri Brigades) succeeded in penetrating the crusader European depths to strike one of the pillars of the crusader alliance - Spain - with a painful blow. These bomb attacks were part of settling old scores with the crusader Spain for its war against Islam. Where is America to protect you today, Aznar. Who is going to protect you, Britain, Italy, Japan and other hirelings from us? ... We, in Abu Hafs al-Masri, did not feel sad for the death of the so-called civilians. Is it lawful for them to kill our children, women, the elderly and men in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine, and Kashmir and unlawful for us to kill them back. (The statement then refers to Quranic verses saying that Muslims should retaliate with equal force if attacked). Stop targeting us, release our prisoners and leave our land and we will stop attacking you. The people of the US allied countries have to put pressure on their governments to immediately end their alliance with the US in the war against terror (Islam). If you persist we will also continue … We want to tell you the Death Smoke Squad will reach you soon, and then you will see your dead in their thousands – God willing … This is a warning … . . . Therefore, all cells are to be on alert. Action will start at (time and code given ) [but not in *this* article . . . -- C] – Do not forget to debilitate, ... We would like to announce to all Muslims in the world that 90% of the preparations of operation "Wind of Black Death" designed to be performed in America has finished and will be performed soon, God willing (at the Mujahidin's convenience). Believers will celebrate the victory of God. Warning to the nation:- Avoid being close to the civil and military installations of America and its allies. ... Signed by "Abu Hafs al-Masri/al-Qaida" and dated 11 March 2004.
So they're still pissed about the Crusades [1096 - 1300ish] And they talk as if is were the West who started this. I guess that is what seems logical when one believes that there is only one capital-T-Truth and that Truth entitles one to kill anyone and everyone who doesn't see things the same way. ptui. Get the hell away from me -- all'oya!
Hokay -- what'd I miss ?!?
First the Reuters article by Opheera McDoom ?!?!? . Now this one by Grant McCool ?!?!?!? What the hell is going on here???Psychological Warfare: Al Qaeda-style
In a Reuters article by Opheera McDoom -- Opheera McDoom ?!?!? -- a group, Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades claiming al Qaeda links said it would call a halt to its attacks on Spain and the rest of the Euro-ppeasers. This little quote oughta make the Euro-ppeasersThe statement said it supported U.S. President George W. Bush in his reelection campaign, and would prefer him to win in November rather than the Democratic candidate John Kerry, as it was not possible to find a leader "more foolish than you (Bush), who deals with matters by force rather than with wisdom."
Bwahahahahahahahahahahha *ahem* al Q-standup
In comments addressed to Bush, the group said: "Kerry will kill our nation while it sleeps because he and the Democrats have the cunning to embellish blasphemy and present it to the Arab and Muslim nation as civilisation."
Does this mean al Q is against the nanny-welfare state, too?
"Because of this we desire you (Bush) to be elected."
Well, now Bush has his "endorsement from foreign leaders," too.
Obese Police Agenda
f Tom Cruise had been accidentally decapitated in the making of the Last Samurai, he would have become one more victim of our "obesity epidemic." Sound strange? Welcome to the politics of fat, ...The first thing you need to understand is that in our twilight zone of fat hysteria, [Tom Cruise] is officially obese. That's based on the Body Mass Index (BMI), a measurement that separates us into government-approved, overweight, and obese categories by taking into consideration only our height and weight. A BMI of 30 or more makes you obese, and at 5-7, 201 pounds, Tom Cruise has a BMI of 31. ...Fatty Cruise is in good company. Thanks to the absurdities of the BMI yardstick, Sylvester Stallone (5-9, 228 pounds, BMI of 34) and Mel Gibson (5-9, 214 pounds, BMI of 32) are also "obese." So was Mark McGwire (6-5, 250 pounds, BMI of 30) the year he hit 70 home runs. And if politics is your thing, you'll be interested to know that the new governor of California (6-2, 257 pounds, BMI of 33) is obese, too. ...Here's how the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explains these counterintuitive results: "Overweight may or may not be due to increases in body fat. It may also be due to an increase in lean muscle."
OK, read that again: "Overweight may or may not be due to increases in body fat. It may also be due to an increase in lean muscle." Tell me how this is not the clearest example of Orwellian Doublespeak you've heard in a long time -- well, this week. No, really -- tell me.
39 million Americans went to sleep one night in 1998 at a government-approved weight, and woke up "overweight" the next morning, thanks to a change in the government's definition. That group includes presently "overweight" (BMI greater than or equal to 25) movie stars like Will Smith (6-2, 210 pounds, BMI of 27) Pierce Brosnan (6-2, 211 pounds, BMI of 27) Michael Jordan (6-6, 216 pounds, BMI of 25) Cal Ripken Jr. (6-4, 220 pounds, BMI of 27) President Bush (6-0, 194 pounds, BMI of 26). Moreover, the standard that we abandoned in 1998 had the virtue of distinguishing between men and women--something we now do not even attempt to do. The regularly recycled factoid that excess weight causes 300,000 deaths a year bizarrely assumes that if you die while overweight, you die because of that excess weight. As insane as it sounds, if Cruise were to kick the bucket for any reason, his death would count toward the mythical 300,000 total. ...$117 billion cost. 300,000 deaths. 61 percent overweight or obese. All wrong. Unfortunately, these bad statistics are the shaky ground on which a growing number of activist groups seek to build their nutritional utopias. The primary cheerleaders of inflated obesity figures are the self-described "food cops" at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, who advocate "sin" taxes on foods they don't want you to eat. An animal rights group called the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine uses the bad stats to force a vegetarian diet down our collective throats. And then there's the American Obesity Association, which aggressively promotes these concocted numbers in its quest to have obesity classified as a disease for the financial gain of its pharmaceutical industry clients.
This much manipulation of the stats and of the very definitions/meanings of the words is not simple carelessness or ignorance: it is purposive. What is the purpose? A: To dangle something shiny and irresistible to argue about for purposes of distraction. Distraction from . . . ? B: To continue a process of desensitization of the populace to governmental control of the most intimate areas of their lives. Your theory?
Obese Police Agenda
f Tom Cruise had been accidentally decapitated in the making of the Last Samurai, he would have become one more victim of our "obesity epidemic." Sound strange? Welcome to the politics of fat, ...The first thing you need to understand is that in our twilight zone of fat hysteria, [Tom Cruise] is officially obese. That's based on the Body Mass Index (BMI), a measurement that separates us into government-approved, overweight, and obese categories by taking into consideration only our height and weight. A BMI of 30 or more makes you obese, and at 5-7, 201 pounds, Tom Cruise has a BMI of 31. ...Fatty Cruise is in good company. Thanks to the absurdities of the BMI yardstick, Sylvester Stallone (5-9, 228 pounds, BMI of 34) and Mel Gibson (5-9, 214 pounds, BMI of 32) are also "obese." So was Mark McGwire (6-5, 250 pounds, BMI of 30) the year he hit 70 home runs. And if politics is your thing, you'll be interested to know that the new governor of California (6-2, 257 pounds, BMI of 33) is obese, too. ...Here's how the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explains these counterintuitive results: "Overweight may or may not be due to increases in body fat. It may also be due to an increase in lean muscle."
OK, read that again: "Overweight may or may not be due to increases in body fat. It may also be due to an increase in lean muscle." Tell me how this is not doublespeak. No, really -- tell me.
39 million Americans went to sleep one night in 1998 at a government-approved weight, and woke up "overweight" the next morning, thanks to a change in the government's definition. That group includes presently "overweight" (BMI greater than or equal to 25) movie stars like Will Smith (6-2, 210 pounds, BMI of 27) Pierce Brosnan (6-2, 211 pounds, BMI of 27) Michael Jordan (6-6, 216 pounds, BMI of 25) Cal Ripken Jr. (6-4, 220 pounds, BMI of 27) President Bush (6-0, 194 pounds, BMI of 26). Moreover, the standard that we abandoned in 1998 had the virtue of distinguishing between men and women--something we now do not even attempt to do. The regularly recycled factoid that excess weight causes 300,000 deaths a year bizarrely assumes that if you die while overweight, you die because of that excess weight. As insane as it sounds, if Cruise were to kick the bucket for any reason, his death would count toward the mythical 300,000 total. ...$117 billion cost. 300,000 deaths. 61 percent overweight or obese. All wrong. Unfortunately, these bad statistics are the shaky ground on which a growing number of activist groups seek to build their nutritional utopias. The primary cheerleaders of inflated obesity figures are the self-described "food cops" at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, who advocate "sin" taxes on foods they don't want you to eat. An animal rights group called the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine uses the bad stats to force a vegetarian diet down our collective throats. And then there's the American Obesity Association, which aggressively promotes these concocted numbers in its quest to have obesity classified as a disease for the financial gain of its pharmaceutical industry clients.
This much manipulation of the stats and of the very definitions/meanings of the words is not simple carelessness or ignorance: it is purposive. What is the purpose? A: To dangle something shiny and irresistible to argue about for purposes of distraction. Distraction from . . . ? B: To continue a process of desensitization of the populace to governmental control of the most intimate areas of their lives. Your theory?
Thursday, March 18, 2004
DUCK! [goose]
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A space rock will pass closer to Earth than any other recorded asteroid ever has, but there's no chance it will endanger our planet, astronomers said on Thursday. The small asteroid, discovered on Monday by the NASA-funded LINEAR survey, will get within 26,500 miles of Earth at 5:08 p.m. EST today, the scientists said. It will come so close that Earth's gravity will bend its path by about 15 degrees. Known as 2004FH, the asteroid will cross from one side of the moon's orbit to the other in 31 hours. With a diameter of about 100 feet, this asteroid is not unusual; scientists at NASA's Near Earth Object Program said in a statement that these kinds of objects pass undetected at about this distance roughly once every two years.
Question:
Do some people actually believe that since there haven't been any more Islamofascist attacks on American soil since 911 that means they haven't been trying?!?Here's something I didn't know
Australia has an anti-gun culture. A law passed in 1996 seized most guns held by citizens and made it illegal to use a legal firearm in self-defense. In the first four years after the law was passed, gun related crimes increased. The criminals could now be reasonably sure that they would not encounter an armed citizen, and began to use their illegal weapons more frequently.
Somehow I always thought of them as such a frontier nation . . .
Wednesday, March 17, 2004
William H Pickering
It was a dismal October Saturday in 1957 when the United States public learned that the Soviet Union had launched a grapefruit-sized satellite called Sputnik into orbit around the Earth, trumping U.S. efforts 10 years into the Cold War. Before that time, Pickering once said, the public had paid little attention to the nation's rudimentary space program. "The existence of the Sputnik was a great shock to the people of the United States," Pickering later recalled. "They suddenly realized that the Russians, who they thought of as peasants, had launched technology that was circling above them several times a day. That horrified people." ..."More than any other individual, Bill Pickering was responsible for America's success in exploring the planets," said former Caltech President Thomas E. Everhart. "Under his leadership and vision, the field of planetary science grew into a distinct and cohesive new discipline." ..."Dr. Pickering was one of the titans of our nation's space program," said the current JPL director, Charles Elachi. "It was his leadership that took America into space and opened up the moon and planets to the world." William H. Pickering ... died of pneumonia Monday at his home in La Cañada Flintridge.
So long and thanks for all the planets.
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{/if}
