I'm pretty disappointed in our GOP candidates after last night's debate. They were each given a chance to discuss what we should do about our national oil crisis (and let me tell you, having to spend over sixty bucks to fill up my gas-guzzling SUV is a crisis!). Not one of them did what I was hoping for, which was to sit up, look straight into the camera, and say with conviction, "Invade Venezuela!"
Although I suppose the only one crazy enough to spout off something so offensive before making it into office is Ron Paul, and that kind of goes against his foreign policy.
I have to disagree with Jack M's assessment that Hillary bringing up S-CHIP is going to cost her the nomination, and I didn't think the got TOO shrewish there compared to some of the other times she lost her cool. Remember, the people who are most likely to show up to the New Hampshire primaries are those who are die-hard Democrats, and they're all for putting each and every one of our children on welfare.
I'd comment more on the Dem debate, but I fell asleep. Blah blah blah blah tends to do that to me.
06 January 2008
Here's some lousy Photoshop for you
Dave in Texas noted Barack Obama's strong resemblance to Richard Nixon in this picture:
I see a stronger resemblance to some of our childhood icons:
I see a stronger resemblance to some of our childhood icons:
Best hot sauce ever
Original Juan makes what I consider the best hot sauce ever. I'm in a little bit of a panic that they're temporarily out of stock, because we're down to three bottles and that won't last us through three weeks of playoffs.
A couple of uses:
Carefully strain out the chunks and pour the strained liquid into a spray container of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter (or your favorite spray butter substitute). It only takes a couple of tablespoons of liquid to flavor an entire an entire bottle. This is fantastic popcorn topping. Unfortunately, the popcorn sold by Original Juan isn't that tasty, so this is a great way to bring garlic heat to your popcorn.
But what to do with the chunks? Hot wings!
Take a big batch of wings cut like you'd cut them for buffalo wings. Coat in flour mixed with some spices - this weekend I used cayenne pepper, paprika, a bit of salt, and black and red pepper. Let the wings sit for an hour, then coat them again. Heat canola or peanut oil to 350 degrees, and fry up those wings, it usually takes about 13 minutes to cook them through.
Take the bottle of hot sauce you just opened to make your popcorn topping, and pour it into a small heavy saucepan. Don't forget the chunks you strained out for the popcorn topping. Add a stick of butter, warm over low heat until the butter is melted, and take a taste to check the heat. (I can promise, a stick of butter to a full-size bottle of this sauce is plenty hot for all but the most nuclear hot wings.) If it's too hot, add more butter. If you have to cut it with butter too much for your poor innocent tastebuds, you might want to add a little bit of garlic powder or minced garlic to bring back some flavor.
Toss the wings in the hot sauce, a few at a time, coating completely. One batch of hot sauce will cover anywhere from 50 to 100 wings, depending on how much butter was added. These wings are actually tastier the second day, after the sauce has really had a chance to soak in, so don't hesitate to make them the night before you are watching football and then chow down during the game.
A couple of uses:
Carefully strain out the chunks and pour the strained liquid into a spray container of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter (or your favorite spray butter substitute). It only takes a couple of tablespoons of liquid to flavor an entire an entire bottle. This is fantastic popcorn topping. Unfortunately, the popcorn sold by Original Juan isn't that tasty, so this is a great way to bring garlic heat to your popcorn.
But what to do with the chunks? Hot wings!
Take a big batch of wings cut like you'd cut them for buffalo wings. Coat in flour mixed with some spices - this weekend I used cayenne pepper, paprika, a bit of salt, and black and red pepper. Let the wings sit for an hour, then coat them again. Heat canola or peanut oil to 350 degrees, and fry up those wings, it usually takes about 13 minutes to cook them through.
Take the bottle of hot sauce you just opened to make your popcorn topping, and pour it into a small heavy saucepan. Don't forget the chunks you strained out for the popcorn topping. Add a stick of butter, warm over low heat until the butter is melted, and take a taste to check the heat. (I can promise, a stick of butter to a full-size bottle of this sauce is plenty hot for all but the most nuclear hot wings.) If it's too hot, add more butter. If you have to cut it with butter too much for your poor innocent tastebuds, you might want to add a little bit of garlic powder or minced garlic to bring back some flavor.
Toss the wings in the hot sauce, a few at a time, coating completely. One batch of hot sauce will cover anywhere from 50 to 100 wings, depending on how much butter was added. These wings are actually tastier the second day, after the sauce has really had a chance to soak in, so don't hesitate to make them the night before you are watching football and then chow down during the game.
Blogging has been light...
Blogging has been light, due to holidays and due to Geiger repeatedly being sick. My husband's been absolutely fantastic about doing the all-nights, but he's wrapped up his Christmas vacation so I'm anticipating not much sleep.
10 December 2007
Awesome Toffee
I thought I'd share my awesome toffee recipe in time to make it for the holidays. My mom's ex taught it to me about 20 years ago, but since she had to email me recently to get a copy of it (and I didn't even get a 'thanks for taking the time to write it down for me') and I have made it so many times that I can now make it from memory, I'll call it my own.
A pound of butter
Three cups of sugar
24 ounces of *good* chocolate - Ghirardelli at minimum. If you use Nestle or Hershey crap on this recipe, you will be wasting your time.
A bag of walnuts
Cut a piece of the butter off and use it to grease a cake pan or cookie sheet - something with walls high enough to hold the toffee. An 18x11 inch pan is a good size.
Melt the butter in a heavy pan. When it has melted, as it starts browning, add the sugar, stirring to mix. Continue gently stirring over medium to medium-high heat until the toffee has cooked to a dark brown. If there is a puddle of butter on the top, use a paper towel to soak as much of it as possible up. Pour the toffee into the cake pan. Sometimes at this point I add the walnuts so the walnuts help hold the chocolate and toffee together, sometimes I just add it to the chocolate.
Wait for the toffee to cool and harden, then rub the top with paper towels until any excess oil from the butter is gone. (If you added enough sugar in the above steps, there won't be any to mop up.) Melt the chocolate in a double boiler (or in the microwave, but be careful not to burn it). Spread over the top of the toffee. Cool until the chocolate hardens. It may have to be refrigerated.
01 December 2007
Chicken or the egg?
On the front page of Fox News. Unsurprisingly, CNN is not leading with this either.
The question is, does this mean that insanity leads a person to liberalism, or does liberalism lead to mental illness?
From my personal experience, my mental health improved greatly when I started taking personal responsibility in my life - sure, bad things had happened to me, but that didn't mean it had to continue to affect me and my behavior. With that realization came a movement toward conservative thought, i.e. the government wasn't responsible for taking care of me and the government wasn't responsible for legislating my behavior. Those two principles go hand in hand more than I think most libs realize; if one expects the government to not tell them what to do, one must show that one is responsible enough to not be told what to do. I think most people learn this in their teenage years, I'll admit it took me a few years longer.
A roundup of Gallup health polls over the past four years finds that Republicans are far more likely than Democrats to report having excellent mental health.
The survey found that 58 percent of Republicans polled reported having excellent mental health. Only 38 percent of Democrats and 43 percent of Independents reported the same.
The question is, does this mean that insanity leads a person to liberalism, or does liberalism lead to mental illness?
From my personal experience, my mental health improved greatly when I started taking personal responsibility in my life - sure, bad things had happened to me, but that didn't mean it had to continue to affect me and my behavior. With that realization came a movement toward conservative thought, i.e. the government wasn't responsible for taking care of me and the government wasn't responsible for legislating my behavior. Those two principles go hand in hand more than I think most libs realize; if one expects the government to not tell them what to do, one must show that one is responsible enough to not be told what to do. I think most people learn this in their teenage years, I'll admit it took me a few years longer.
Can we please invade Venezuela now?
From CNN, I don't know why this isn't the lead story:
If the economy is so vital to our security, and Hugo Chavez is threatening our economy, wouldn't it just make sense to get rid of Chavez now? It's certainly more politically correct than invading Brazil for its new-found oilfields, not to mention Venezuela is closer and smaller.
President Hugo Chavez on Friday wrapped up his campaign to push through broad constitutional changes with a broadside attack against adversaries at home and abroad -- including a threat to cut off oil exports to the United States.
If the economy is so vital to our security, and Hugo Chavez is threatening our economy, wouldn't it just make sense to get rid of Chavez now? It's certainly more politically correct than invading Brazil for its new-found oilfields, not to mention Venezuela is closer and smaller.
18 November 2007
Plants in the Democratic Debate
No one's coming up smelling like roses here.
Jenny Bea has done an amazing job rounding up the identities of some of the questioners at the Democratic debate earlier this week. This one's a must-read.
Doug Ross also has a very interesting write-up. Including the fact that one of the 'undecided Democratic voters' may not even be a U.S. citizen, and therefore would be INELIGIBLE TO VOTE. Yep, that's me screaming there.
(h/t AoSHQ, where both of these stories were linked.)
Jenny Bea has done an amazing job rounding up the identities of some of the questioners at the Democratic debate earlier this week. This one's a must-read.
Doug Ross also has a very interesting write-up. Including the fact that one of the 'undecided Democratic voters' may not even be a U.S. citizen, and therefore would be INELIGIBLE TO VOTE. Yep, that's me screaming there.
(h/t AoSHQ, where both of these stories were linked.)
The Font Thing
The Font Thing is a piece of software that doesn't suck. Really, it's pretty indispensable. The Font Thing is a tool for viewing fonts, and runs on Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP. No word on whether it will be updated for Vista, or even whether it needs updated - it appears the developer (Sue Fisher) hasn't updated her website in several years.
I end up using this just about any time I need to choose a font for a project. It's got a fairly easy to understand interface, and allows viewing of multiple fonts with whatever sample text you choose, so if I'm trying to match a font on a graphic a client has provided and the graphic is too trashed to actually used, I can easily scroll through all the fonts on my system to choose the closest match.
The font info is also accessible through the app, so I can get information ranging from who owns the copyright on the font to the metrics, such as the smallest readable size and the average character width.
And the absolute bestest part of it? It's FREE. Not shareware or spyware or adware, it's FREE. And there's not even anyplace on the developer's website to indicate where to throw a few bucks in gratitude. Really odd.
I end up using this just about any time I need to choose a font for a project. It's got a fairly easy to understand interface, and allows viewing of multiple fonts with whatever sample text you choose, so if I'm trying to match a font on a graphic a client has provided and the graphic is too trashed to actually used, I can easily scroll through all the fonts on my system to choose the closest match.
The font info is also accessible through the app, so I can get information ranging from who owns the copyright on the font to the metrics, such as the smallest readable size and the average character width.
And the absolute bestest part of it? It's FREE. Not shareware or spyware or adware, it's FREE. And there's not even anyplace on the developer's website to indicate where to throw a few bucks in gratitude. Really odd.
15 November 2007
Non-sarcastic PSA
Bonfils Blood Center is teaming up with the Food Bank of the Rockies and Community Food Share to help save lives multiple ways at once.
Bonfils is waiving the fee to register with the National Marrow Donor Program for bone marrow donation (normally $30) if you bring in a can of food when you come in to donate. The food banks will be helping families in need through the holidays with the canned food, and I'm sure all two of my regular readers have been eagerly waiting for the opportunity to donate bone marrow. A list of Bonfils donation locations are here. Most, if not all, of the donation centers have evening and/or weekend hours, and the staff has always been fantastically super-nice and very competent - I've only had one painful needle stick in three gallons of donation with Bonfils.
Bone marrow transplant is an essential part of treatment for lymphoma, leukemia, and other blood and bone marrow cancers. Only about 30 percent of patients needing a marrow transplant can find a suitable donor within their family; the other 70 percent are left to the whims of who has registered with the NMDP. Since a match will most likely be found in someone with the same genetic background as the patient, it can be especially hard for minorities to find a suitable donor. This is why it's especially crucial for as many people as possible to register.
Bonfils is waiving the fee to register with the National Marrow Donor Program for bone marrow donation (normally $30) if you bring in a can of food when you come in to donate. The food banks will be helping families in need through the holidays with the canned food, and I'm sure all two of my regular readers have been eagerly waiting for the opportunity to donate bone marrow. A list of Bonfils donation locations are here. Most, if not all, of the donation centers have evening and/or weekend hours, and the staff has always been fantastically super-nice and very competent - I've only had one painful needle stick in three gallons of donation with Bonfils.
Bone marrow transplant is an essential part of treatment for lymphoma, leukemia, and other blood and bone marrow cancers. Only about 30 percent of patients needing a marrow transplant can find a suitable donor within their family; the other 70 percent are left to the whims of who has registered with the NMDP. Since a match will most likely be found in someone with the same genetic background as the patient, it can be especially hard for minorities to find a suitable donor. This is why it's especially crucial for as many people as possible to register.
14 November 2007
Time to invade Venezuela
Hugo Chavez is apparently still smarting from being told to shut up by King Juan Carlos of Spain. He's now threatening to nationalize Spanish banks in Venezuela.
I hope he goes through with it, and I hope Spain invades as a result. And I hope the US is asked to participate. I think we're long overdue a war for oil, and it would be really nice if I could fill up my gas-guzzling SUV, with its 16 mpg in the city and 19 on the highway, for less than $60.
So please, Hugo Chavez, keep rattling sabers. You think you can call our president the devil with no repercussions, but can nationalize another country's banks for being told to shut up? We'll be smiling when businesses no longer invest in Venezuela due to your threats.
(h/t AoSHQ)
I hope he goes through with it, and I hope Spain invades as a result. And I hope the US is asked to participate. I think we're long overdue a war for oil, and it would be really nice if I could fill up my gas-guzzling SUV, with its 16 mpg in the city and 19 on the highway, for less than $60.
So please, Hugo Chavez, keep rattling sabers. You think you can call our president the devil with no repercussions, but can nationalize another country's banks for being told to shut up? We'll be smiling when businesses no longer invest in Venezuela due to your threats.
(h/t AoSHQ)
12 November 2007
Lefties don't have a sense of what's appropriate
There are appropriate times and situations to express your views, and there are times that are not.
It is not appropriate to use your children to further your political point of view. Brainwashing your child that the President and the troops and America are evil is not teaching your child to be a free thinker. Teaching your child to be deceitful to further a political point is not teaching your child to be moral and honest. Using your child as a pity story to increase your free government handout teaches your child that he/she is a tool, not a person that you as a parent cherish and protect.
There's a corollary to this - it's not appropriate to drag someone's kid into an unrelated debate. It's especially not appropriate to make sexual comments about someone's kid. It amazes me that I repeatedly see supposedly educated, smart moonbats targeting a kid with sexual comments, and then trying to blow it off as a joke. It's creepy and weird.
Parades and services to honor someone or a group of people are not times to express your political opinion. Specifically, acting out at a Veterans Day parade is inappropriate. Yes, we understand that you are veterans too. This does not give you the right to disrespect other veterans, or our country, during a parade to honor veterans. You got outraged when the Westboro Baptist Church picketed funerals of gays, you should understand that there's a corollary here.
So next time, lefty, before you go screaming your political views in whatever forum you can find, using whatever mercenary means you can dream up, ask yourself: is this really someplace where I'm being asked to air my ideas, or is my lack of judgment by spouting off wherever I feel like it going to turn people away from my ideas, whether they're valid or not? Are my children going to hate me later in life when they realize that I used them instead of protecting them? Am I creating hate for my political position by inserting my ideas at a time when I shouldn't be in people's faces?
It is not appropriate to use your children to further your political point of view. Brainwashing your child that the President and the troops and America are evil is not teaching your child to be a free thinker. Teaching your child to be deceitful to further a political point is not teaching your child to be moral and honest. Using your child as a pity story to increase your free government handout teaches your child that he/she is a tool, not a person that you as a parent cherish and protect.
There's a corollary to this - it's not appropriate to drag someone's kid into an unrelated debate. It's especially not appropriate to make sexual comments about someone's kid. It amazes me that I repeatedly see supposedly educated, smart moonbats targeting a kid with sexual comments, and then trying to blow it off as a joke. It's creepy and weird.
Parades and services to honor someone or a group of people are not times to express your political opinion. Specifically, acting out at a Veterans Day parade is inappropriate. Yes, we understand that you are veterans too. This does not give you the right to disrespect other veterans, or our country, during a parade to honor veterans. You got outraged when the Westboro Baptist Church picketed funerals of gays, you should understand that there's a corollary here.
So next time, lefty, before you go screaming your political views in whatever forum you can find, using whatever mercenary means you can dream up, ask yourself: is this really someplace where I'm being asked to air my ideas, or is my lack of judgment by spouting off wherever I feel like it going to turn people away from my ideas, whether they're valid or not? Are my children going to hate me later in life when they realize that I used them instead of protecting them? Am I creating hate for my political position by inserting my ideas at a time when I shouldn't be in people's faces?
08 November 2007
Twelve becomes eleven
If you haven't heard about the Aqua Dots recall, get out of your cave.
The Aqua Dots Super Studio was named one of the twelve best toys of 2007 by Toy Wishes magazine in their holiday issue. More information about the recall can be found at the official Aqua Dots Recall website.
Part of me is wondering if there's any profit to be made by getting a list of all toys made in China, buying "xxxxxtoyrecall.com", and offering to sell it to the toy distributor so they'll have it ready for when their toy faces a recall. Yes, when, not if. Is there any doubt in anyone's mind that China's doing at least some of this stuff on purpose? How often can accidental injuries occur before someone starts recognizing the pattern?
Millions of Chinese-made toys have been pulled from shelves in North America and Australia after scientists found they contain a chemical that converts into a powerful date rape drug when ingested. Two children in the United States and three in Australia were hospitalized after swallowing the beads.
The Aqua Dots Super Studio was named one of the twelve best toys of 2007 by Toy Wishes magazine in their holiday issue. More information about the recall can be found at the official Aqua Dots Recall website.
Part of me is wondering if there's any profit to be made by getting a list of all toys made in China, buying "xxxxxtoyrecall.com", and offering to sell it to the toy distributor so they'll have it ready for when their toy faces a recall. Yes, when, not if. Is there any doubt in anyone's mind that China's doing at least some of this stuff on purpose? How often can accidental injuries occur before someone starts recognizing the pattern?
Boycott Lego (?)
I never thought those words would be coming out of my keyboard. Lego is a staple in our house, and has been since before the kids were born.
From NRO's The Corner:
I hate to quote someone's post in entirety, but there's no succincter way to put it than how James Robbins did. There is some question as to whether Brett Kimberlin's claims to have sold marijuana to Dan Quayle were true or just an attempt by Kimberlin to harm Dan Quayle's political career. And just how much do we want to reward someone who put a bomb in a high school parking lot? Of course, Lego is too cowardly to outright admit that they hate our president and our soldiers - they couch their anti-USA sentiment thusly:
They're too cowardly to even mention the full title in their press release. Frankly, after having skimmed through the video, I don't see any indication that a child had much of anything to do with the production of it. It looks to me like the entire video is a vehicle for giving the Speedway Bomber recognition and money.
(h/t Discarded Lies)
Update Nov 12: Lego sent me an email claiming they had no idea of the content of the video. Apparently they decided that they were going to judge the essays as a standalone effort, and "made the decision to not regard, consider or otherwise evaluate any ancillary materials, including pictures, collages, paintings, songs or online videos". Whether this decision was made prior to someone at Lego seeing the video is unclear, but they claim they had no knowledge of the video.
Leave it to someone on the left, and a terrorist to boot, to exploit their child and deceive or collaborate, depending on how involved you believe Lego is, for personal gain and to push a message on to a toy company that now claims they take no political positions.
Full text of the two emails below. I forwarded the first one to James Robbins, but did not receive a reply, although he posted the text of the email on NRO. I'm still waiting to hear if Lego has provided kits for therapy for the soldiers at Walter Reed. (Which is NOT a political move, leftwing moonbats - keep in mind that claiming you support the troops but oppose the war actually means supporting the troops, whether you agree with their ideology or how they ended up in Walter Reed.)
From NRO's The Corner:
A few days ago I posted a bleg asking for ways to reach out to Lego Systems, Inc. to see if they would donate Lego sets to wounded warriors at Walter Reed who use the sets for therapy. Quick response from Lego — forget it. Now we learn that Lego has awarded $5000.00 to eight year old Kelsie Kimberlin, as part of their first annual Creativity Awards. Her entry — a 5 minute anti-Bush video set to an altered John Lennon tune ("Happy Springtime/Bush is Over").
Problem: the video was actually produced by her father, Brett, who runs Justice Through Music, a civic engagement nonprofit. Brett is also noteworthy for being a convicted bomber (aka terrorist), and for having claimed to have sold pot to Dan Quayle in 1988. Just the kind of person you want associated with your child's favorite toy. Some free advice to Lego — want to fix this PR nightmare? Do the right thing and help the wounded warriors already.
I hate to quote someone's post in entirety, but there's no succincter way to put it than how James Robbins did. There is some question as to whether Brett Kimberlin's claims to have sold marijuana to Dan Quayle were true or just an attempt by Kimberlin to harm Dan Quayle's political career. And just how much do we want to reward someone who put a bomb in a high school parking lot? Of course, Lego is too cowardly to outright admit that they hate our president and our soldiers - they couch their anti-USA sentiment thusly:
Kelsie encourages other kids to sing about peace and her choir sang a re-make of John Lennon's song, 'Happy Xmas, War is Over.' The video of 'Happy Springtime' has been viewed on YouTube almost 50,000 times and the song has played on MySpace almost 200,000 times.
They're too cowardly to even mention the full title in their press release. Frankly, after having skimmed through the video, I don't see any indication that a child had much of anything to do with the production of it. It looks to me like the entire video is a vehicle for giving the Speedway Bomber recognition and money.
(h/t Discarded Lies)
Update Nov 12: Lego sent me an email claiming they had no idea of the content of the video. Apparently they decided that they were going to judge the essays as a standalone effort, and "made the decision to not regard, consider or otherwise evaluate any ancillary materials, including pictures, collages, paintings, songs or online videos". Whether this decision was made prior to someone at Lego seeing the video is unclear, but they claim they had no knowledge of the video.
Leave it to someone on the left, and a terrorist to boot, to exploit their child and deceive or collaborate, depending on how involved you believe Lego is, for personal gain and to push a message on to a toy company that now claims they take no political positions.
Full text of the two emails below. I forwarded the first one to James Robbins, but did not receive a reply, although he posted the text of the email on NRO. I'm still waiting to hear if Lego has provided kits for therapy for the soldiers at Walter Reed. (Which is NOT a political move, leftwing moonbats - keep in mind that claiming you support the troops but oppose the war actually means supporting the troops, whether you agree with their ideology or how they ended up in Walter Reed.)
Thank you for your interest in LEGO® brand toys. We are always delighted to hear from a loyal LEGO enthusiast.
A blogger at the National Review incorrectly wrote that LEGO Systems had denied a donation request from Walter Reed Hospital to support troops and their families. The company’s community relations department responded favorably to the request via voicemail, and details have yet to be finalized on that donation request; however, it was not denied. In fact, the company has historically contributed to several organizations that support the families of men and women who serve the country, and continues to do so. For many years, LEGO Systems has taken great pride in making contributions to such programs as the United States Marine Corp’s Toys for Tots program and Operation Gratitude, which sends care packages to U.S Troops.
LEGO Systems does not endorse one political perspective over another. In its November 8, 2007 issue, The Washington Post ran a story implicating LEGO Systems’ recognition of an 8-year old girl’s creativity through an essay contest as endorsement of a political agenda.
LEGO Systems sponsored a contest to identify and honor 10 children’s creativity. One of the winning entries told of a girl’s endeavors to “sing for peace” by rallying her choral group to sing a peace song. She indicated she would use the money to “spread the word of peace and music and get more kids involved in saving the planet,” which the company finds compelling and commendable. Because the contest was essay-based, LEGO Systems did not regard, consider or otherwise evaluate any ancillary materials, including pictures, collages, paintings and online videos, and as such, was not aware of the specific content of the song.
While LEGO Systems does not ever endorse any extreme messages, it does always endeavor to encourage creativity among children. The intent of the contest was to highlight and celebrate children’s creativity, and LEGO Systems regrets any confusion the Washington Post article causes.
Alice, thank you again for contacting us. We wish your family many happy hours of creative building with LEGO brand toys in the years to come.
Thank you for your follow up email.
The girl mentioned in her entry that her song was shared on MySpace and YouTube, which supports her claim that the prize money would be used to “spread the word of peace and music and get more kids involved in saving the planet.” As previously mentioned, because the contest was essay-based, LEGO Systems made the decision to not regard, consider or otherwise evaluate any ancillary materials, including pictures, collages, paintings, songs or online videos, and as such, we were not aware of the specific content of the song or the video. That decision, intended to promote equity among all entrants, some of whom had not submitted ancillary materials, is being re-evaluated for future programs.
As a toy company, LEGO Systems does not take political positions. We are disappointed and deeply regret that our good intentions of rewarding children’s creativity has been used by others for political purpose. This certainly was not the intention of the contest, nor should this situation be perceived as a corporate position on politics. LEGO Systems does not endorse any political or extreme messages. It does always endeavor to encourage creativity among children. The intent of the contest was to highlight and celebrate children’s creativity, and LEGO Systems regrets any confusion or unintended sentiment that this situation causes.
Please do not hesitate to contact us again if we can be of additional assistance to you.
07 November 2007
Please help Weber Elementary
This slipped under my radar until a fundraiser at my son's school this week.
I kited this pic from the school's website, but I'm hoping they won't mind.
Weber Elementary School in Arvada, CO sustained an estimated $3 million in damage due to an arsonist last June. Most of the damage was in the library. I have been told by a Scholastic Books representative that their library has no books. Parents were being asked to donate a dollar at my son's school's book fair to help purchase books for Weber.
I know how much I enjoyed the library at my elementary school growing up, and how much I hated it when we moved to a school that had a poor library. And I've seen how much MadLibs loves checking out and bringing home books from the library at his school. It almost makes me want to cry to think there's an entire school of kids that are missing that opportunity this year.
So if you've got some spare pocket change, or some gently used books that are lying around, please help Weber rebuild their library.
The mailing address for the school is:
Weber Elementary
8725 West 81st Place
Arvada, CO 80005
I kited this pic from the school's website, but I'm hoping they won't mind.
Weber Elementary School in Arvada, CO sustained an estimated $3 million in damage due to an arsonist last June. Most of the damage was in the library. I have been told by a Scholastic Books representative that their library has no books. Parents were being asked to donate a dollar at my son's school's book fair to help purchase books for Weber.
I know how much I enjoyed the library at my elementary school growing up, and how much I hated it when we moved to a school that had a poor library. And I've seen how much MadLibs loves checking out and bringing home books from the library at his school. It almost makes me want to cry to think there's an entire school of kids that are missing that opportunity this year.
So if you've got some spare pocket change, or some gently used books that are lying around, please help Weber rebuild their library.
The mailing address for the school is:
Weber Elementary
8725 West 81st Place
Arvada, CO 80005
Flippity flippity flop flop flop...
...kinda like a dying fish.
I think John Edwards has just removed himself from Hillary's VP list. This video is from the Edwards campaign. It may be the ballsiest thing John Edwards has ever done.
(h/t AoSHQ)
I think John Edwards has just removed himself from Hillary's VP list. This video is from the Edwards campaign. It may be the ballsiest thing John Edwards has ever done.
(h/t AoSHQ)
02 November 2007
How to solve the China problem
Why doesn't America just make it a rule that we only import things from China that should actually contain lead? It seems like they have a surplus of it, since it's ending up in everything else. For instance, we could make sure we have plenty of kryptonite shielding. And bullets. I'm certain China could make some bullets that contain lead.
31 October 2007
Hillary's the scariest
But I'm going to bet most of the twelve regular readers here knew that already.
An AP Survey revealed that Hillary Clinton is the strong front-runner for scariest political Halloween costume. She beats the next politician, Rudy Giuliani, by two and a half fold.
Yesterday, I almost bought the mask they show in the link for Halloween, but MadLibs told me it was too scary to wear to his school. No joke. He thinks my flaming skull mask is less scary. I'm truly amazed at what a smart kid he is.
28 October 2007
It's like he could see the future
Two years ago, Bill Whittle wrote an excellent essay called Tribes, part of which discussed the events that happened at the Superdome in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. I'm sure some people read his essay and were enraged; after all, how in the world could anyone predict what would happen if ten thousand people were shoved into a situation like that?
Well, it's happened again. Ten thousand people were shoved into Qualcomm Stadium as refugees from the fires in southern California. Sure, it's not quite the same situation - there's a road in and out, so people can bring supplies, but from the sound of it Qualcomm Stadium has turned into a place of hope, caring, and mutual support, while the Superdome was described as hell.
As much as I like to slam California, I'll be surprised if we hear reports of residents shooting at police officers or Guardsmen who come to keep order in the aftermath of the fires. And I'll be surprised if we hear too many reports of people using their aid money for strip clubs and tattoos, and I'm guessing that people who double-dip by claiming their house burned twice, or accepting payments for rentals while they're living in free housing, will be the widely-publicized exception to the rule rather than what seems to be the norm in Louisiana. But what do I know, I can't tell the future. Maybe we should ask Bill Whittle, he seems to have a good handle on it.
Well, it's happened again. Ten thousand people were shoved into Qualcomm Stadium as refugees from the fires in southern California. Sure, it's not quite the same situation - there's a road in and out, so people can bring supplies, but from the sound of it Qualcomm Stadium has turned into a place of hope, caring, and mutual support, while the Superdome was described as hell.
As much as I like to slam California, I'll be surprised if we hear reports of residents shooting at police officers or Guardsmen who come to keep order in the aftermath of the fires. And I'll be surprised if we hear too many reports of people using their aid money for strip clubs and tattoos, and I'm guessing that people who double-dip by claiming their house burned twice, or accepting payments for rentals while they're living in free housing, will be the widely-publicized exception to the rule rather than what seems to be the norm in Louisiana. But what do I know, I can't tell the future. Maybe we should ask Bill Whittle, he seems to have a good handle on it.
23 October 2007
Go Fred Go!
Fred's plans for border security and illegal immigration reform have been posted at Fred08.com.
Mark Krikorian does a great job of penning the Cliff's Notes for it, if you're not inclined to read the whole thing. I agree with Krikorian, Fred's going to do a bang-up job of attrition through enforcement if he sticks with this plan.
I was hoping something like this would be coming out of Fred's campaign. And I'm hoping this prompts some of the people who un-registered as Republicans to re-register so they can vote in the primaries, because it'd be a shame to have a candidate who's got any less than Fred's plan for immigration reform running as the Republican candidate.
(h/t Ace of Spades - I hadn't gotten around to reading my the weekly update in my email yet, and didn't realize this had been posted. I'll be hopping on those things in the future.
Mark Krikorian does a great job of penning the Cliff's Notes for it, if you're not inclined to read the whole thing. I agree with Krikorian, Fred's going to do a bang-up job of attrition through enforcement if he sticks with this plan.
I was hoping something like this would be coming out of Fred's campaign. And I'm hoping this prompts some of the people who un-registered as Republicans to re-register so they can vote in the primaries, because it'd be a shame to have a candidate who's got any less than Fred's plan for immigration reform running as the Republican candidate.
(h/t Ace of Spades - I hadn't gotten around to reading my the weekly update in my email yet, and didn't realize this had been posted. I'll be hopping on those things in the future.
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