Cheap Oil

Oil prices slipped to below $50 per barrel briefly today.

So why am I still paying the same $2.599 for gas as I was when it was $65/barrel?

F*ckers.

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It's another Boy!

Congratulations to the Smallholder and Mrs. Smallholder on the birth of the latest Jr. Smallholder, who weighed in at 8lbs, 6 oz, and is reported to have lots of red hair!

h/t YML

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I am ashamed of my church and you should be too!

This is just wrong on so many levels:

A group of Methodist ministers from across the nation launched an online petition drive Thursday urging Southern Methodist University to stop trying to land George W. Bush's presidential library.

The petition, on a newly created Web site, http://www.protectsmu.org, says that "as United Methodists, we believe that the linking of his presidency with a university bearing the Methodist name is utterly inappropriate." [emphasis mine -Ed.]

What the F*ck happened to "Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors", huh?

I guess it only applies to liberals.  F*cking hypocrites.

I am done with the United Methodist church.  DONE.  Period.

See, I grew up in the UM church.  My Dad is a lay minister in the church.  We were married in a UM church.  But no more.  I stopped going to church a long time ago, for a variety of reasons, but I always loved the UM church for its very laissez faire approach.  Gay?  No problem.  Divorced?  No problem.  Female?  Who cares?

I would agree with these "pastors" if they were excluding him on the grounds that he had done something famously immoral.  A church (or church-sponsored school) shouldn't associate itself with someone immoral.  But because you don't like his politics?

Give me a f*cking break.

It's a church, people.  CHURCH.  Politics stops at the f*cking door.  Not to mention that it is located in central Texas, Mrs. Bush went there, and the Bushes are IN FACT Methodists.

You never would have heard a PEEP from them if it was Clinton's library.  And we all know the things HE did that ministers are supposed to frown upon.....

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Unexpected in January

The Newhall Pass over the infamous Grapevine into Southern California is closed due to blizzard conditions.

The storm struck shortly before 9 a.m.

"It was a cell that hit us. We had no idea that it was coming, it just hit us all at once," [CHP Officer Dave] Pokorny said.

Stranded motorist Ernest Eckhardt he thought he could make it through the blizzard.

"It was kind of raining and it turned to sleet and I thought, 'Well, the rest I can go,' but then it turned bad quickly," he said. "It just dropped so much snow and the water on the road froze and the snow on top of it was just too slick."

Needless to say the storm was NOT in the forecast and it's pretty damn cold, although Pasadena seems to have missed the majority of the precipitation....

Posted by: caltechgirl at 02:04 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Jack Bauer's Life Lessons

What Jack Bauer has learned from life, as told to two writers from 24:

F**k diplomacy.
Actions speak louder than words. Though shouting can also be effective.
If you shoot a man's wife in the knee and he still doesn't give you the information, he's bad.
Revenge is the cruelest trick. I've seen it taken out on others, I've been victim to it, I've even done it myself. But it doesn't change anything, and it doesn't bring comfort.
Trust is the key to survival. And by trust, I mean getting out of the way and letting me do what I need to do

There's a lot more. Read the rest here.

h/t The Jawas

Posted by: caltechgirl at 05:37 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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This'll warm you up

If you don't at least groove to this a little, you must be dead.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the South's favorite band:

h/t that crazy f*cker yabu, who's always good for a story

Posted by: caltechgirl at 04:45 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Happy Birth-day

Jesse "Speaks" arrived safely into the world via C-section at 3 am Tuesday January 16, 2007

7lbs 5oz, 20 1/4 in long, dark brown hair

Mom, Dad, and Baby are all doing well!

Jesse is really adorable.  Drop by Jen's page to see baby's first photos and leave them your best!

And many thanks to Aunt Jaynee for springing the news!

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cagastro update: the doctors come up with a plausible excuse

After the Spanish specialist made them look silly (or was paid to say that it wasn't intestinal cancer) the Cuban doctors treating el barbudo have finally come up with a suitable explanation for his condition without mentioning the C word:

"Cuban leader Fidel Castro is in serious condition after a series of three failed operations on his large intestine for diverticulitis complicated by infection, the Spanish newspaper El Pais reported on Monday.

Castro, 80, suffered a serious infection that worsened to peritonitis, the newspaper's Tuesday edition said, citing two medical sources at the Madrid hospital where a surgeon who visited Castro in December works. The report was posted on the newspaper's Web site on Monday.

Castro's prognosis is "very serious" and he is being fed intravenously, the paper said."

Either way, he ain't long for this world.

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I *heart* Chris Muir

Click.  Click now.

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Karma

This blog has often looked at the subject of Karma, perhaps a funny thing for me to believe in, but time and time again it has proved to be exactly how things work.

Today, two examples of Karma, one good, and one bad.

First, good karma in the story of Shawn Hornbeck.  When their son disappeared 4 and a half years ago, Pam and Craig Akers took a proactive role.  They never lost hope, they learned what they would need to do to bring Shawn home, and they formed a foundation to bring information and hope to families in the same situation.  The Shawn Hornbeck foundation has helped many people in the last 4 and a half years.  And today, Shawn is home, thanks to another kid and a pair of alert policemen.  Karma.

Second, bad karma.  You know how every time you call a repairman or have something installed you have to wait for them?  In our case it's a new dishwasher that should have been installed a week ago.  For some reason it had to be installed today instead of last week.

The instructions were that the dude was supposed to call before he arrived so that we could call the landlord, since he had to approve any extra installation expenses.

Well, as you can imagine, he didn't call, and so we had to call the landlord after he arrived.

Which means he had to wait for us. He was not happy. And then when he found out that the landlord doesn't live in our complex he walked out in a huff.

It was all I could do not to laugh.

Karma.  What can I say.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 10:22 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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For the NaNoWriMo Crowd..

Here's a contest for those of you aspiring to be famous authors....

A major U.S. book publisher is hoping its new Web-based writing contest can tap into the popularity of interactive competitions like hit television show "American Idol."

As part of the "First Chapters" contest, aspiring first-time authors and members of www.gather.com can post manuscripts on that social-networking Web site, organizers from publisher Touchstone Fireside and gather.com said on Thursday.

The details are here.

Looks interesting!

Posted by: caltechgirl at 03:12 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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That stench in NYC the other day?

It was emanating from the NJ statehouse...

"For World War II veteran Sam Stia, a legislative proposal that would cease requiring New Jersey schools to teach about Veterans Day and Memorial Day can be summed up in two words.

"That's wrong," Stia, 83, said Thursday from his Hamilton home, where he flies an American flag at half-staff to honor fallen soldiers. "We're just giving our flag away and our patriotism away."

Stia and other veterans are steamed about the proposal, which the state lawmakers unanimously passed last month and now awaits action by the governor. It was included as part of a larger measure designed to help control property taxes, mostly by abolishing some laws on school purchasing and public hearings.

Other holidays about which schools no longer would be required to teach include Columbus Day, Thanksgiving, Arbor Day and Commodore Barry Day, which commemorates Revolutionary War hero John Barry.

New Jersey schools must observe the holidays under a 1967 law designed to promote "the development of a higher spirit of patriotism." Florida, Nebraska and Washington are among states with similar laws."

Observe the holiday without understanding why, eh?

If you're a Jersey taxpayer (Jimbo, Kate, et. al.) maybe you should let your reps know how unacceptable this is.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 02:31 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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A Math Geek's revenge

Have you ever gotten a bill where the postage to send it cost the company more than just writing it off?  Yeah, me too.

But I suppose it happened one too many times to this guy.....



Click the check to see the whole thing if your screen is small.

Answer to the total and an explanation for the non math geeks below the fold.
Hint: the equation is "0.002 + e^i∏ + (the sum from n=1 to ∞of 1/2^n)"

I doubt this was credited to his account, sadly enough.

h/t Lisa W
more...

Posted by: caltechgirl at 12:43 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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Goodnight Ralph

2007 has been a rotten year for the Georgia Aquarium so far. First they lost Gasper, a male beluga whale, when he had to be euthanized because of a long illness with osteomyelitis.  Yesterday they lost another of their stars, a young adult male Whale Shark named Ralph.  No one knows yet what caused his rapid deterioration.

Here's Ralph happily swimming along in October, when I visited:

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For Eric

Who so LOVES Zombies.....

h/t Little Miss Attila

Posted by: caltechgirl at 07:53 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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So which is it, Senator?

Barbara Boxer and her ilk have gotten where they are by pushing a simple mantra:  Women are Equal to men.  Women should push through the glass ceiling.  Women have the right to have a successful career.

Evidently this is no longer good enough: in attacking Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice yesterday, Senator Boxer said,

"Who pays the price?" Boxer repeatedly demanded. "You're not going to pay a particular price, as I understand it, with an immediate family."

Yeah, so because Condi focused her life on a remarkable career and chose to make that a priority over marrying and having children she has no right to ask other people's children to sacrifice themselves for our country?  Give me a fucking break.

No wonder American women are conflicted.  We now MUST be superwoman.  We can't be an important part of the political discourse of this country unless we're wives and mothers, evidently.

Ironic turn of events, no?  100 years ago wives and mothers were thought to be the least fit to have a political opinion.  Now, according to Mrs. Boxer, the only women fit to make political decisions are wives and mothers.

And I guess this distinction even includes lesbians, since the democrat agenda is for them to be able to marry legally, and science makes it possible for any woman to have a baby without a man in the picture.

I am disgusted, frankly.  Could you tell?

More on this, and far more eloquently from Darleen and Beth MVRWC

Posted by: caltechgirl at 07:37 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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I've always wanted to sit in the Pavilion...

And now they make half of it include all you can eat Dodger Dogs.  Yum!

Posted by: caltechgirl at 09:55 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Everything you ever wanted to know about The Surge*

* but were afraid to ask...
Dean Barnett has a great FAQ about the new Iraq strategy posted at Hugh Hewitt.

Here's a brief sample:

1) How in the hell are an additional 20,000 troops going to make such a big difference when we already have about 140,000 troops in Iraq? It makes no sense! Cut and run!!

First, calm down. We're going to walk through this analytically, not sprint through it hysterically. The current troop level in Baghdad is only 13,000. Most of the 20,000 new troops are going to be headed to Baghdad. That means we're going to increase our troop complement in Baghdad by roughly 150%. In other words, as regards the Battle of Baghdad, this is an enormous tactical adjustment, not a symbolic gesture.

Now go read the rest!

Posted by: caltechgirl at 01:17 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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I think the bunny got to him, finally.....

14 members of the Carter Center Board of Councilors resigned today in protest of Jimmy Carter's recent views on Israel.  In response to Carter's book, "Palestine: Peace not Apartheid.", the 14 councilors wrote:

"We can no longer endorse your strident and uncompromising position," the letter to Carter said. "This is not the Carter Center or the Jimmy Carter we came to respect and support."

and

"We are deeply troubled by the president's comments and writings and are submitting the following letter of resignation to the Carter Center,"

Perhaps most telling, however, is their indictment of Carter for,

"[abandoning his] historic role of broker in favor of becoming an advocate for one side." and "[confusing] opinion with fact, subjectivity with objectivity and force for change with partisan advocacy,"

Yeeeouch.

Kenneth Stein, the first Executive Director of the Carter Center resigned a month ago over this same book.

Perhaps Mr. Carter should re-think his strategy here.  Continuing to be "relevant" will do far less for his legacy than returning to his roots in fair-dealing. 

Or maybe he's tired of hiding his true colors.

Update: This brings to 16 the number of advisors that Carter's book has alienated. Professsor Melvin Konner declined the honor even before joining the committee, saying in part:

"I am now carefully rereading parts of this very puzzling and problematic book, having read it through once quickly. I am not going to point out again here all the mistakes and misrepresentations pointed out by others (to take just one example, his flat contradiction of the accounts by President Clinton and Dennis Ross of events at Camp David at which they were present and he was not)˜none of which he has answered—nor explain the grotesque distortion caused by his almost completely ignoring Jewish history between ancient times and 1947 (he devotes five lines on page 64 to that millennial tragic story and mentions the Holocaust twice; his "Historical Chronology" at the outset contains nothing˜nothing˜between 1939 and 1947). However, I will call your attention to a sentence on p. 213 that had not stood out for me the first time I read it: "It is imperative that the general Arab community and all significant Palestinian groups make it clear that they will end the suicide bombings and other acts of terrorism when international laws and the ultimate goals of the Roadmap for Peace are accepted by Israel."

As someone who has lived his life as a professional reader and writer, I cannot find any way to read this sentence that does not condone the murder of Jews until such time as Israel unilaterally follows President Carter's prescription for peace. This sentence, simply put, makes President Carter an apologist for terrorists and places my children, along with all Jews everywhere, in greater danger. "-- Emphasis mine, Ed.

Give it up Jimmah. It's time to go.
h/t Fausta

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Barry Bonds: Druggie

Reports surfaced today that Barry Bonds failed a random drug test sometime during the last baseball season.  However, because he tested positive for amphetamines, and not steroids, he faces no play restriction for a first offense.

Of course, Barry and his people have no comment.

What kind of BS is that?  Use of amphetamines without a valid prescription is illegal.  And in baseball, evidently it only merits a warning.  A first positive steroid test is 50 games.

I guess we know what Baseball's priority is:  CYA rather than player health.

And then, because Barry is such a nice guy, he blames a teammate, Mark Sweeney, claiming that he took a pill out of Sweeney's locker (whether Sweeney gave it to him or not is not clear in his story) and THAT pill turned out to be amphetamine.

Sweeney says he NEVER gave Bonds anything, never had amphetamine in his possesion anywhere, and most importantly, has NEVER tested positive for any banned substance.

Funny that.

And what kind of idiot takes pills out of someone else's locker without knowing what they are?

A drug seeking addict, that's who.

Barry, just go home.  Now.  Really.  It's becoming painful to watch you flush your life down the toilet.

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