Reason #1 for why I hate Lobbyists–they’ll work for the devil if the price is right!

Alarmed by lawmakers' demands to cut off billions of dollars of U.S. aid after bin Laden was found living in a Pakistani safe house for six years, President Asif Ali Zardari has ordered a full-court press to quell mounting accusations that it helped the al Qaida leader avoid capture.

So Pakistan is paying some unscrupulous US lobbyists to deny it helped bin Laden! It’s enough to make me puke. We’ve been poring billions into Pakistan with the understanding that they were our allies in the search for bin Laden. Pakistan chumped us once, and now they’re going for number two hoping that GREED will pave the way to our lawmaker’s hearts and all will be forgiven.

What gall! Leading this travesty is Mark Siegel, a partner in the Washington lobbying firm of Locke Lord Strategies — which is paid $75,000 a month by the Pakistani government to lie,cheat, or whatever they require. It’ll be interesting to see which senator suddenly sees the light and sides with the Pakistan Dream Team of Locke Lord Strategies, and goes along with the claims that they didn’t know what was happening in their own back yard.

Don’t hesitate to add this lowlife law firm to your shit list of lobbyists without scruples or morals.

Cartoon Via SodaHead

Oh look honey! A dead racoon on the road, we eat tonight!

Freegans" and Others Eating More Roadkill

You didn't read the title wrong. It may or may not come as a surprise to you, but people are eating road kill. More road kill. And many of them are doing it partly as an act of conservationism. Many road kill connoisseurs are part of an underground food/consumption movement, known as "freegans," which has been around for a while. Their practices and rules are surprisingly well-established, and in many states regulated by law.

From Food Safety News:

The practice of eating road kill is part of a waste-not, want-not philosophy that drives other people, some of them previously vegans, to scavenge meat ...

People who eat road kill might be hunters who know their way around a dead animal, or people who call themselves freegans, and are used to eating from unregulated sources, like Dumpsters. Some practitioners have written how-to guides, such as the zine quoted in Sandor Ellix Katz's book The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved: Inside America's Underground Food Movements

Story Here

Gloom and doom….my Lakers lose again…series is in doubt

It’s hard to watch as a devoted Laker fan, but I’m afraid there’s a changing of the guard going on in the Western Conference.The #1 Seed Spurs got booted out in the first round, and Dallas has taken the Laker home court advantage away in dramatic fashion tonight.

I’m really not sure the Lakers have what it takes to return the favor when the series shifts back to Dallas Friday night. The Dallas little men were the story with the shortest guy on the court torching the Lakers in the 4th period. I won’t even mention the little twirps name. He comes off the bench for Dallas though and just had a career night.

The hope of winning 3 championships in a row again are fading. Darkness sets in with long odds like shadows. Can the Lakers foil fate? Can they turn back their grim play and re-emerge as the Once and Future Champion! As a fan I say…anything is possible in the NBA Playoffs! Go Lakers!

image source

As It Stands Reader Profiles: Rick St. Charles, actor and more

I’ve been meaning to profile readers for some time now. When Rick stopped by and liked what he saw here the other day I thought it would be nice to share his blog with you.

After checking out Rick's Acting Demo, please visit REMOTE CONTROL GRANDPA to see pictures, trailers, cast & crew, synopsis and more on this award-wining mirth-filled movie starring Rick St. Charles.

Some readers may recognize Rick from his films, commercials, voice overs for TV and radio projects, and live theatre performances. 

Wacky Wednesday Redue: treat your eyes to some visual candy

   

GO HERE TO SEE THE ABOVE IN FLASH VISUALS – You can manipulate them (some designs shown above) by clicking on the image and using your cursor to have all kinds of fun while they continually move..and move…and…

World War II bomb found in backyard of Riverside home

I don’t know if it’s just me or what, but this photo appears to be upside down, or the photographer stood on his head while taking the shot.

Workers cleaning the backyard of an empty house Tuesday in Riverside made an unlikely discovery: a World War II-era aerial bomb.

The rusty bomb was found in the 5600 block of Magnolia Avenue, prompting bomb squad officers to seal the area while they inspected the device, according to the Riverside Police Department.

Police described the bomb as "inert" and said it was unclear how long it had been abandoned at the residence or how it got there.

Anyone with information is asked to call Det. James Dana at (951) 351-6024. Story source

Photo: Bomb found in backyard. Credit: Riverside Police Department

Just another wacky Wednesday…

Slurping that first cup of Java in the morning is a pleasure while I scan the news headlines:

Here’s one story that isn’t a breaking headline but I thought it was amusing :German mayor rescues man trapped in women's prison.

Cuban, breaking own record, rolls longest cigar

A Cuban cigar roller broke his own record on Tuesday by rolling the world's longest cigar, a monster smoke that stretched 268 feet 4 inches (81.8 metres), or most of the length of a football field.

An Austrian deacon is making a special offer at his local supermarkets -- free spiritual guidance and counseling when you pick up your groceries

Deacon offers holy guidance at supermarket

A New Zealand man struggling with depression cut off his own finger, cooked it with vegetables and ate it, doctors reported in the latest issue of medical journal Australasian Psychiatry. It’s only the eighth identified case of self-cannibalization, and is particularly rare because of the patient’s lack of severe psychosis, the article abstract says.

Talking dog doesn't get any bacon

If I were this dog I’d bite my tormentors!

Speaking of bacon, I’m getting hungry. I think it’s time for breakfast.

See ya down the road…

Me and my dirty mind…bad Dave!

I know my grandchildren all love the magical powers of the anthropomorphic carrots and cauliflowers in Veggie Tales. Imagine my surprise when I ran across this cookie cutter and it looked like…well, you know what it bears a striking resemblance to. Something my grandchildren probably shouldn’t be playing with. Then again, maybe it’s just me and my dirty mind!

Luise Valdes: Glass houses are out – ‘casa de karton’s are in

Artist Luise Valdes collected a lot of unwanted cardboard boxes for his latest installation ‘casa de karton’
or cardboard house. The project is a life-size recreation of Valdes’ apartment using cardboard tape and
lots of white paint. all the objects in the apartment are made from old boxes that have been cut-out and
assembled into the form with a sketch-like outline for smaller details. all the boxes are whitewashed to
give the space a surreal quality of a drawing that has come to life. Take a tour of the rest of his cardboard creations here.

Partisan political hacks take on bin Laden’s death…

 You didn’t think the wack jobs in America were going to give President Obama his due for the operation that took out America’s #1 enemy did you?

Sarah Palin, in another paid speaking engagement, thanked President Bush for catching Osama bin Laden! And get this; the audience actually applauded! No mention of President Obama’s role in the operation was made.

Bush was totally unaware of what was happening (just like when he was president) and Palin gives him the credit! Really? He had 8 years and couldn’t do the job.

Wow! If that’s not scary, I don’t know what is. Apparently everyone in that building that clapped, live in the same Greed Only Party (GOP) fantasy and believe Bush should be canonized as a Conservative saint. How he killed Osama would be his first miracle on the way to sainthood!

Palin may be leading the charge for the stupid and uniformed, but there’s other’s out there doing their best to ignore facts and realities that don’t fit into their narrow world views.

Alex Jones, a radio personality out of Austin, who gives voice to the 9/11 Truth Movement and runs the Web site Infowars.com, sent out a Web headline that screamed, “Red Alert. Inside Sources: Bin Laden Corpse Has Been on Ice for Nearly a Decade” I wish someone besides Jones could be the voice of the 9/11 Truthers, because I can’t simply write them off. Jones as a front man discredits their real concerns.

Take this this claim about bin Laden’s frozen corpse; doesn’t that sound just a little silly to you? What would be the benefit of freezing bin Laden’s body? Perhaps someone could explain that one to me.

And let’s not forget Cindy Sheehan. Her response to bin Ladens death:

“I am sorry, but if you believe the newest death of OBL, you’re stupid,” Sheehan wrote. “Just think to yourself — they paraded Saddam’s dead sons around to prove they were dead — why do you suppose they hastily buried this version of OBL at sea? This lying, murderous Empire can only exist with your brainwashed consent — just put your flags away and THINK!”

There’s one mad lady who never got over her son’s death. I hope she finds peace some day.

If you want to find Bin Laden death conspiracy theories – and apparently they’re already hatching–it seems to me the pertinent question to ask is, who has a deep emotional motivation to question the fact that Bin Laden is actually dead? So I would tend to look first to Al Qaeda supporters, etc, instead of birthers. Their too busy trying to regroup after their lies have been exposed on national TV by the President. This will be interesting to watch and I’m interested in what others think.

I will also add that I don’t know enough about 9/11 Truthers to guess what they will do in this situation. I have to admit that they’ve poised one question that I (as a former combat engineer in  the Nam) think is worth discussing: how the twin towers really came down. Days after it happened, and after I saw the films, I told everyone who would listen that it was a “controlled demolition” and I knew exactly what it took to do it. Not everyone who believes in unpopular theories is crazy.

Frankly, I expect Obama’s enemies in the Senate and House are hunkering down right now and working on a plan to negate Obama’s coup against Al Qaeda, and somehow turn things around in a negative way. Anyone who thinks they will be cooperative now and compromise on issues – out of a renewed source of patriotism – is dreaming. When it comes down to politics in this country, we’ve set the bar for a broken political system struggling to survive in the 21st century.   

As It Stands, now that the “Big bad wolf” is dead, it’s time for all of our political piggy’s to pull their snouts out of their partisan troughs and pay attention to stabilizing our economy.  

Photo source

Morning musings: bin Laden’s death may trigger PTSD for some, Lakers lose close game 1, and the ultimate pay toilet

My Lakers couldn’t hold 16-point lead, couldn’t hang onto the ball late in game, and gave away home-court advantage for the second straight series with an opening loss. Kobe Bryant scores 36 but misses final shot

Bin Laden's death may reignite PTSD for some- Some may feel a sense of relief, while for others it can trigger old feelings of fear, anxiety, experts say. It also appears the Obama Administration has suspected the Pakistani regime of lying about Osama’s whereabouts for some time now. The question is, are we going to stop pumping millions of dollars into Pakistan now that we have proof they were playing us for chumps? Just to wrap this morning’s musings I found the ultimate pay toilet…

A new standard for toilets is coming out, but can people afford them?

Kitchen and bath company Kohler has come out with a new toilet that it touts will set "a new standard of excellence in the bathroom." (Because that's what we're all striving for in the bathroom, right?)

The "Numi" has a luxury car-worthy list of amenities, among them: a motion-activated lid and seat, deodorizer, feet warming, music and "advanced bidet functionality." (Don't ask.) Oh, and if you forget to flush before you leave the bathroom, there's a REMOTE CONTROL.

Not included: The engineering team required to fix it when it breaks. Source