I hope this ends the Webkinz craze; I’ve berated her for doting on new Webkinz when the others languish, unloved, starved. She rolls her eyes and tells me that she put them to sleep. Not in the euthanasia sense, of course; kids games haven’t incorporated Soylent-Green type scenarios yet. Your Webkin doesn’t lose health or become sad if you put it to bed. So eventually she will stop playing with them, as will all the kids when the craze ends and they move along. I am haunted by the thought of hundreds of thousands of Webkinz in suspended animation, sleeping their dreamless sleep, never to wake again.Oh! How my heart aches for poor Pink Pony, poor darling Foofa - lost and alone in the ether!
Obama, Joe the plumber, and the gospel of envy | csmonitor.com.
When Barack Obama responded to the Ohio plumber who didn't want his taxes raised by saying that he wanted to "spread the wealth around," I wanted to tell the Illinois senator to spread his own wealth around.
Senator Obama, in a rare moment of candor, all but told "Joe the plumber" that his wealth should be seized in the name of equity. Their personal encounter this past Sunday played out one of the old themes of democratic politics: the appeal to the many to take from the few. It's traditionally an easy sell in democratic regimes.
I tend to go on empirical evidence. Show me some evidence that socialism or any redistributive system that punishes the productive to the benefit of the lazy works. There is none in human history thus far.
Our Founding Fathers knew their history, and they understood human nature. That is why the protection of private property and the consistently applied rule of law were central to their American Experiment.
Can we still swing back, and rediscover the wisdom of America's founders? Or have we gone too far and become too soft? Sometimes a pendulum swings too far; it becomes tangled at the extreme, and simply stops swinging. The mechanism breaks.
After a 14 month tour in Iraq. Do you think they missed him?
Is it the Democrats fault? The Republicans?
Does it even matter? They both suck.
Individual people bit off more than they could chew. They took out loans that were too big or too frequent. That is how we got here.
The main enabling force was the real estate industry. From the mortgage brokers to the "independent" inspectors to the selling agents, they were all working towards getting home valuations as high as they possibly could. The builders kept building and building, and kept buying up and bidding up land, even when they knew they were facing bankruptcy (actually, many builders are still doing this). It's what builders do. The incentives for mortgage brokers and RE agents were clear. they got a percentage - the higher the selling price, the higher their take. Simple as that.
And the homeowners - they were happy too with higher valuations, because that meant they could take out more "home equity" money to pay for cars, vacations, remodels, furniture . . . oh, and private school tuition.
The blame is on the RE industry and the American (greedy) consumer, who wanted it ALL. The banks were stupid to give it to them, but they figured in the end, they'd get bailed out (and lookie! they were right).
Here's what I want to see happen:
Banks used to just make the mortgages. They held the paper. They made sure the borrower could pay, and that the asset was worth the paper. That worked for many, many, MANY years, and it will work again.
I will always be the person with as little debt as possible, with paid off vehicles, who uses the things I have to death, and I honestly don't care if I embarrass my children by being "cheap."
And as for the "new newer newest" culture - things are gonna change. Unless you've actually GOT $50K for a down payment, you're not getting that $400K house. Unless you can actually pay 8 percent for a 5-year car loan, you're not getting that new car. Poor you!
Biden's Son, Brother Named in Two Suits - washingtonpost.com:
A lawsuit filed by their former partner Anthony Lotito Jr. asserts in court papers that the deal was crafted to get Hunter Biden out of lobbying because his father was concerned about the impact it would have on his bid for the White House. Biden was running for the Democratic nomination at the time the suit was filed.
Hunter Biden was made president with an annual salary of $1.2 million, despite his inexperience in the hedge fund industry, the lawsuit said.
Ahem. Having had (thankfully limited) interaction with Hunt way back when when he went to Archmere let me just say - this news surprises me not at all. How funny it would be if Joe Biden's egomaniacal dimwit of a son screws things over for the Obama/Biden ticket! It would certainly amuse me.
This is more than a little bit creepy, no? Her body is still "live" by the way - but in the entire clip (except the very end), her face is CGI. Progress continues apace!
Apparently this ad, featuring the subtle thespian talents of one Mr. T, offends some with delicate sensibilities. So, sorry US consumers! You won't see it here. It was fine to show in Britain, but not here.
Or . . . it's just a viral ad and I'm a big sucker.
Too cute for too much of an intro:
Wow, the "new" Justice League is awesome! Been watching the reruns with the kids. It's so nice to finally be able to watch stuff with them that we all like! It's pretty adult, sometimes. A surprising amount of superhero nookie.
Speaking of surprising superheroes - listen to the MOUTH on Wonder Woman here (language warning!!!!):
Back to Justice League - why did this show get cancelled? And Krypto the Superdog? These are both excellent shows. Everything else on Cartoon Network is total dreck, and yet they cancelled these? It makes no sense!
I think I need to go ask The Question - it must be a conspiracy - I mean "THE conspiracy" of course! (Since there's only one.)
Saving Michael Vick's Dogs - washingtonpost.com:
When football superstar Michael Vick pleaded guilty last year to conspiring to run a dogfighting operation, we knew he had kept about 50 pit bulls on his 15-acre property in rural Surry County, Va., on a road named Moonlight. We knew the dogs were chained to car axles near wooden hovels for shelter. And we knew the dogs that didn't fight were beaten, shot, hanged, electrocuted or drowned.
But we didn't know their names. Headlines described the nameless dogs as "menacing." Some animal rights groups called for the "ticking time bombs" to be euthanized as soon as Vick's case was closed and they were no longer valuable as evidence.That's what typically happens after a dogfighting bust.
Instead, the court gave Vick's dogs a second chance. U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson ordered each dog to be evaluated individually, not judged by the stereotype of the breed. And he ordered Vick to pony up close to $1 million to pay for the lifelong care of those that could be saved.
This story is so surprising, and so beautiful. I never, ever would have expected those pits to be given a chance at life. Congrats to Judge Hudson. What a wise ruling!
And they're doing wonderfully, considering the complete lack of socialization they were given. That is a tribute to the heart of the American Staffordshire Terrier.
This gentleman, Tim Racer of the Bay Area Doglovers Responsible About Pit Bulls club (BAD RAP, eh, clever) knows a lot about dogs:
Racer said it is not surprising that many of the dogs get along so well with other dogs. Just as the urge to fight is in their blood, so, too, is the need to get along. "You have 150 years of man trying to produce an aggressive dog. But you have tens of thousands of years of Mother Nature preceding that."
As someone who dearly loves her Chow Chow, another very misunderstood and, sadly, feared breed of dog . . . well let's just say I'm so glad there are people like Judge Hudson out there still. Dog people. Real dog people, not the little toy-fanciers who think they love dogs but just anthropomorphize them and/or use them as an ego-extension. I've never, ever, met a dog with as much heart as a pit bull terrier. Glad these guys got a second chance at life.
Jeez, maybe not — but damn it's pretty funny! She looooooves unicorns. Even Charlie.
Police said two masked gunmen forced their way into the bank shortly after 7 a.m. and ordered two female employees to open the bank vault. But both women said they had no idea how to open the vault, and as telephones inside the bank began ringing with calls from customers, the two men became nervous and fled without taking any cash.
Before leaving, the intruders tied up the two women with wire fasteners after forcing them at gunpoint to lie on the floor. Neither woman was hurt.
While they were tied up, the tellers said, they noticed mulch that should not have been on the bank's floor.
Police believe the gunmen were hiding in the shrubbery outside the bank before entering and had mulch on their shoes. When the three suspects were stopped on Route 202 after the robbery, police found mulch chips inside their vehicle.
Liddick, the forensic expert, testified that he compared five mulch samples given to him by investigators with his unaided eyes, a microscope and other scientific instruments. He said they all are the same color, size and texture and contain similar flecks of aluminum and zinc.
"They were all consistent," Liddick said.
Late last night I was awakened by the terrifying sound of breaking "glass" — and since my husband wasn't waking up, I ventured out, turning on all the lights as I went, trying to find out what it was.
But it was just a fallen flowerpot! Whew!
So I cleaned it up and went back up to bed, trying to calm myself down again. I checked on Lilith — asleep. Then I checked on Jake — asleep with his head on his pillow, his body on his toddler bed, and his feet on the floor! So I fixed that situation.
This morning (BRIGHT AND EARLY OF COURSE!) Lilith comes in my room to awaken me, and I tell her the story.
Have any of you played the game Jardinains? Here's a link, we're completely addicted to it:
It's like a Breakout type game but these little garden gnomes pop up and drop flowerpots on you. So Lilith immediately says "Mom! We have a gnome in the house! HE dropped the flowerpot!"
She's been searching for him all day! But I told her they only come out at night. Yeah, let's just SEE her sleep tonight! heh heh heh.
Dog Plucks Boy From Platte - Family News Story - KETV Omaha.
Diane Bailey said Jake isn't usually the smartest dog.
"He doesn't listen. He doesn't mind," she said.
"Sometimes he can act real hyper and weird," said Tony. "He'll pick up rocks and think they're balls and wants you to throw them to him."
"Sometimes he can act real hyper and weird," said Tony. "He'll pick up rocks and think they're balls and wants you to throw them to him."
I wanted to quickly update about my sad post from yesterday. Apparently Mr. Zabel was killed on Saturday night (Sunday early AM), not Sunday night (Monday early AM) like I thought. Which actually makes it worse! I can really picture this happening on a Sunday night -- Philadelphia is traditionally iffy on Sunday nights. It used to be that nearly everything was closed all day Sunday (blue laws); now most things are open Sunday, but close early.
We used to live in Center City Philadelphia. After over a decade of living there, incident-free, we had a rash of things happen to us personally. It was like a sign from God - time to leave.
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