Capitol Hill Blue Forums Hot Topics & Breaking News The RoundTable Round Table for Sunday, February 22, 2009

Beautiful opener Steve! I think it's the tallest skinniest one I ever saw.

COINCIDENCE? I THINK NOT!



(Jefferson Finis Davis (1808 –1889) served as President of the Confederate States of America from 1861 to 1865 during our Civil War)

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FROM THE CHURCH OF INEFFABLE STUPIDITY:

a) 4,000,000 lose jobs, 4,000,000 lose healthcare since beginning of 2008.
The GOP response? Cut capital gains taxes, even though there no longer are any "capitals" that have gained.
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b) US Torture Victim Returns to England

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/feb/22/binyam-mohamed-injuries

In unrelated news, the DOD investigated "rumors, unsubstantiated rumors" that people were tortured in Gitmo. Friday, the DOD concluded that Gitmo is run in accordance with all treaties and US law.

Well, of course, it did. It also concluded that it did not fire on innocents attending weddings in Iraq, that it did not have its soldiers rape and kill in Baghdad, that it did not use illegal propaganda methods on Americans over the course of our occupation, and that it did not illegally hire retired generals to appear on cable news as "independent" witnesses, covering up torture and worse in Abu Grhaib and Gitmo.

If there is one group we can always trust to be 100% accurate, that would be our DOD. Yessiree! You betcha.

In more unrelated news, the DOD admitted that its proud announcement of last week was in error. The perfectly targeted Predator strike in Afghanistan which killed 13 turned out to have killed 13 innocent people.

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c) Klatu Barada Nikto.

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d) NRA applauds aim of 11 yr old boy.
The National Rifle Association considers making 11 year old, who shot and killed his father's pregnant fiance in a fit of jealousy, its poster child for awesome gun skills.

"You know our motto? 'Guns don't kill, people kill?' Well, Jordan Brown is proof positive that it is never too soon to learn how to use a gun properly."

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e) Bobby Jindal (R-LA) - the hero of the poor, unemployed

Gov. Bobby Jindal has announced that he is refusing $98 million in stimulus money, meant for unemployment benefits, out of an estimated $7.68 billion that the state is receiving.

http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/02/jindal_rejects_32_million_in_s.html

Hey, Steve - I just realized what your opener reminds me of - a sort of Advent calendar of the mind! Instead of chocolate, each window holds a paragraph or two of knowledge.

And thanks for the reminder that I need to watch some Bunuel movies.

Happy Sunday, everyone, it's a bright, shiny, sunny 18 degrees today and I'm heading out on a road trip here in the next hour or so.

Good morning, and good thoughts everyone!

Mellow, I enjoyed our little shopping trip yesterday (hic!), especially the part where we sat on the stoop and drank the Peter Zwack right out of the bottle.

I'm going on my own little trip today (real clothes though, not jammies like yesterday). Gotta pay the lectric bill and buy milk, since Joe doesn't seem to want to trade me any for my pine cones.

See ya!

EmmaG

Tis a cloudy gloomy day in Oscar town today. They say some showers might dampen the Red Carpet tonight as the movie folk try to project glamor without extravagance. Such are the perils facing those who seek to entertain.

Man, life can be tough.

time for the SILLY SUNDAY SCIENCE QUIZ!

1. Frozen water takes up more room than an identical amount of liquid water. This is because:
a) When water molecules are liquid, they start to dance, pairing up real close, taking up less room
b) At 0 C. the H2O molecules form up in a frozen crystal lattice, an open hexagonal (six-sided) shape. Unlike in liquid water, the molecules in ice are held rigidly apart. That means more empty space between molecules, so frozen water occupies more room.
c) Only heathens and devil worshipers delve into such questions. Tasting the apple of knowledge only leads to more sin, YOU PAGAN!
d) The reason Ice floats on scotch is because of the natural repellant factor between water and scotch. The only good scotch is a neat scotch!

2. Humming birds, jays, and robins do their winter nesting 40 to 400 miles further north than in previous years. This is due to:
a) Global warming
b) better WiFi reception in northern states
c) God ordered the birds north, as further proof of his omnipotent power
d) lower capital gains taxes in the northern states

3. Recent Peanut and peanut butter recalls occurred because:
a) God is testing the strength and the beliefs of all peanut eaters. Either you believe, or you do not. Nonbelievers will get sick and die.
b) Bushista cuts and attacks on our food inspection programs and his politicization of the FDA have destroyed the safety programs we used to rely on.
c) Hey, quit picking on Stewart Parnell, the owner of Peanut Corp. of America! He's a good god fearin, christian man, who puts profits first, like every GOPer.
d) unsalted, unshelled peanuts are the devil's tool. They should all be recalled.

4. 75% of former Bush employees remain unemployed. The scientific rationale for this situation is:
a) God has a funny sense of humor.
b) it's not god, it's Karma!
c) After spending 8 years destroying science, science is returning the favor.
d) Only morons would believe the crap that Bush was peddling for 8 years. All jobs hiring morons have already been filled.
e) E = MC squared, where E is the coefficient of entropy caused by trillion dollar deficit spending, M signifies the moronic policies followed by Bush and his cohorts, and C represents the standard farewell heard by Bush cronies, as in "C U Later, don't call us, we'll call you."

5. Hurricanes are caused by:
a) stationary fronts
b) warm air rising rapidly
c) cooling currents like the gulf stream
d) God's anger at faithless heathens partying during Mardi Gras
e) Soviet era weather satellites

6. Which organ digests eaten food and places it into the blood stream of humans?
a) the Pancreas
b) Only devil worshipers would question god's intelligent design like this
c) the intestines
d) the soul
e) the liver

"9 to 5" is still one of my favorite comedies. Hey, did you know that if you click on the photos that by the magic of the internet you'll be transported somewhere that gives you more info on the aforementioned clicked photos? Cool!
Joe

Ah yes, the incomparable Oregon Coast. By the way Steve, that pic of Captain Cook Point is taken just south of the town of Yachats (from Cape Perpetua lookout) I have written about in posts long past. And as you probably know, Cook also played a big part in Hawaii’s history, where he ultimately met his demise.

The Oregon Coast is indeed a gem. Thanks for posting on it.

EmmaG,
I'd be delighted to trade my oyster shells for your pine cones, but I don't believe that you'd have any more success with them at the utility company or grocery store than with your pine cones (something about the legal tender- talk about free markets!). I tried to respond to your offer immediately, but I kept getting some error message that you can't post within a second or something. It was like a couple of minutes, so I waited and tried again and then again latter, finally signing out and back in, and getting the same message. I had the same glitch with other threads, as well, so I figured that I'd reply after lunch.
Joe