A Case of the Flu Here in North Mississippi

My friend and co-worker Dale has the flu. I do not know if it is of the swine. He called me Monday morning and told me he thought his sinus' were attacking him. Then he told me that his chest hurt and it was hard to breath. I said that it sounds like the flu. He went to the doctor and reported back to me that I was right.

I have quarantined his office.

Hoo Wee!

This is going to be fun:

Longtime GOP Sen. Arlen Specter becomes Democrat

The Tea Party of the Damned

Tomorrow's planned tax protests funded by the rich and sponsored by Fox News will be...well, I don't know.

I will let the Rude One tell it:

"Somewhere, Karl Marx is laughing his bearded ass off. Because what is this but classic exploitation of the proletariat by the bourgeoisie? It's a bunch of rich fucks, beginning with that tool Rick Santelli on CNBC and ending with the slavering profitmongers at Fox "news," making the poor idiots, who are desperate from fear of or actual job loss and heath insurance loss and home loss, do their bidding. Look at the people attending. Bedraggled Joe the Plumber and Sarah Palin wannabes, clinging to the image of those who create the illusion of the working class without the work or the class. Ignorance is such bliss, man.

This movement's gonna die a horribly gruesome death. It really is just the last hideous gasps of a kind of right wing populism that's got nothing to do with actual populism and everything to do with a desperate scrabbling to preserve the status quo for the wealthy. It's ideological endgame, motherfuckers, and the checkmate ain't gonna be pretty."

Well Done John

John Cole addresses the crazy wing of what is left of the Republican Party.

15 Minute Lunch

I have to link to a blog I read often. Virgil really cracks me up. I think you will find this old post of his quite nostalgic and hilarious.

I Love This Record

I wish I could find a copy of it. I must have listened to it a million times. Mine got stolen along with the rest of my record collection in 1975.

I Think We Should Take A Step Back

The progressives are in a snit today because Obama's DOJ is keeping the domestic wire tapping that the last administration used in place.

But with "Nuts With Megaphones" like Beck, Hannity, O'Riley and Limbaugh telling their listeners that Obama is going to take away their guns, outlaw Christianity, kill every baby he sees, then give the country to the Muslims, I don't think I would give up the wire tapping either. Domestic terrorists are being indoctrinated every day.

Rush Limbaugh, The Leader Of The Anti-Obama Crowd

Media Matters has a run down of all the rhetoric coming out of the golden microphone of el' Rushbo.

The Anti-Gun Meme Trotted Out Once Again

Crooks and Liars has a good post on the right-wing's rush to claim that the Obama administration is coming after our guns. Like that last Democrat President Clinton in the 90s. Never mind that there is absolutely no basis in fact of this.

I agree with everything in the post, but they left out one thing: You have to believe gun manufacturers and sellers have perpetuated this meme in order to sell more guns. You can argue over ideology all you want, money fuels all. They are in the business of selling guns. They create or perpetuate the lie in order to create more demand, sell more guns. When we hear the likes of Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh ranting about "librals taking away our guns", the gun lobby gets a full blown boner thinking of all the money they are going to make.

Now, I am no "anti-gun" person. I believe everyone has the right to defend themselves and to protect their propery. I got no problem with that. But if someone has an armory in their house stocked with enough fire power to start a coup-de-tat then there is a problem.

My Busy Weekend

I have been using an electrical extension cord to run my fish pond's pump for years now. I decided to run an underground circuit from the house to the pond. I dug a 1 foot deep ditch 60 feet long being careful to move the top layer off to one side of the ditch ( just cut the width with a spade and flipped it over). Then I dug out the remainder of the soil putting it on the other side of the ditch. After the wire was run, the loose soil went back in first, then the top layer was put back on top. Looks almost as good as new. Now I don't have to gather up the cord every time I want to mow.

At the same time all of this is going on, my neighbor was installing an underground wire on his property for his new dog's "invisible fence". So I had to help him off and on during the afternoon. I didn't mind, I like helping my neighbors. I makes me feel good that people find me "handy".

I did a lot of cooking this weekend. I marinated some chicken and grilled it Saturday evening. I tried my luck at making homemade marshmallows. It was a success! I can't wait for my grandchildren to try them.

Yesterday, I made a pot roast. I took a large cast iron dutch oven and browned the meat. Then I took it out and made gravy with the drippings. I placed the roast back into the pot, covered and put it into a 250 degree oven until it was just done. I cut up some potatoes and carrots and added to the pot for another 30 minutes of cooking. Yum, yum, good!

Wolcott

James Wolcott at Vanity Fair on the subject I have been thinking about since the election:

Why are the bastards that have been wrong for so long still called upon during cable news shows for their opinions?

Read the whole thing.

I've Been Ubuntu'ed

Installed Ubuntu Linux on a spare laptop harddrive. So far, so good. This OS is being used a lot by folks who are buying the new Netbook computers. I've been thinking about buying a Netbook but I think I'll wait a few more months.