A Sunset, A Sunrise, and in between, A New Year.

Happy New Years, Folks!

Peace and Quiet

Frosty Morning

Finally, some icing on the pond.

Click the pics to open a larger view

The Give Bush a Brain Game!

Check this one out:

Give Bush a Brain

Another fine email to share!

Subject: INSTALLING HUSBAND Version 1.0

Dear Tech Support:

Last year, I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and almost immediately noticed a distinct slowdown in overall system performance -particularly in the Flower and Jewelry applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0.

In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5, and then installed undesirable programs such as NFL 5.0 , MLB 3.0, NBA 4.0, NASCAR 4.2 and Golf Clubs 4.1. Conversation 8.0 no longer runs, and housecleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system.

I've tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail.

What can I do?

Signed,
Desperate

************ ********* ********* ********* *********

Dear Desperate:

First, keep in mind Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package, while Husband 1.0 is an Operating System. Please enter the command:
"http//www.I-Thought-You- Loved-Me. com"
and try to download Tears 6.2, and don't forget to install the Guilt 3.0 update.

If that application works as designed, Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewelry 2.0 and Flowers 3.5. But remember, overuse of the above application can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5, Happy Hour 7.0, or Beer 6.1. Beer 6.1 is a very bad program that will download the Snoring Loudly Beta.

Second, whatever you do, DO NOT install Mother-in-law 1.0 (it runs a >virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources). Also, do not attempt to reinstall the Boyfriend 5.0 program. This is an unsupported application and will crash Husband 1.0.

In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly. You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance. We recommend Hot Food 3.0 and Lingerie 7.7.

Signed,
Support Tech

This is not to imply that current hubby has this problem - I uninstalled husband 1.0 a long time ago because it never really ran right. Fortunately, current hubby is Hubby 2.1, has autorun gratitude 1.0 and has uninstalled nitpick 4.3.2., and his flowers 4.0 as well as dishes 2.1 run flawlessly.

He therefore has no bad habits whatsoever.

Now that THAT's established, there's this bridge not very far from here, in great condition, with an unlimited income potential that's going for a song...

Hmmm...

This river runs way in the back of my son's property. Seems like a person should be able to throw a spinner in there and get electricity. I know, the only way we make hydroelectric power is with a big dam and verticle spinners! I just can't get this picture out of my head of a small, floating platform with spinners on the bottom, tethered to the bank of the stream.

Brrrr...

Freezing overnight, with temps in the mid to high 40's until new years... That water's not frozen, folks!

From Chasing Daisy, who had a post with the funniest Irish Joke of 2006, via Peace Chick Mary via DivaJood ...

Here it is:

John O’Reilly hoisted his beer and said, “Here’s to spending the rest of me life, between the legs of me wife!”

That won him the top prize at the pub for the best toast of the night.

He went home and told his wife, Mary, “I won the prize for the Best toast of the night”.

She said, “Aye, did ye now. And what was your toast?”

John said, “Here’s to spending the rest of me life, sitting in church beside me wife.”

“Oh, that is very nice indeed, John!” Mary said.

The next day, Mary ran into one of John’s drinking buddies on the street corner. The man chuckled leeringly and said, “John won the prize the other night at the pub with a toast about you, Mary.”

She said, “Aye, he told me, and I was a bit surprised myself. You know, he’s only been there twice in the last four years. Once he fell asleep and the other time I had to pull him by the ears to make him come.”

Ah hahhahahahah!

The Book Meme

1. Grab the book closest to you.
2. Open to page 123, go down to the fifth sentence.
3. Post the text of next 3 sentences on your blog.
4. Name of the book and the author.
5. Tag three people.



She's been doing it so long. She lets 'em talk if they have a complaint. She just lets 'em talk. (Laughs)



From WORKING: People Talk About What They Do All Day And How They Feel About What They Do ~~~ By Studs Terkle

A Conversation With The President

hattip: blondesense

Weekend Dragon Blogging

Hey, I'm rootin' for the dragon!!

The Harvest Moon Ride Home: Final

This one I particularly liked. I really needed the tripod, and didn't have it with me, but made do with balancing the camera on my knee. (Didn't really work. heh )
But I liked the smearies on this one.

And a sky pic, just because it was such a fantastic night!

Moon over the Barn

Kucinich Calls For De-Funding the War

On November 7, 2006, the American public voted for a New Direction for our Iraq policy. That direction is--out. As Democrats prepare to take the majority for the first time in twelve years, Democrats now have the responsibility to act on the overwhelming mandate issued by the American public.

Will that new direction mean an exit from Iraq? Because, if not, America will be held hostage by the skyrocketing cost of the war in Iraq even as President Bush leaves office at 11:59 am on January 20, 2009. And, the voters will not forget who let them down.

I.

There is only one way in which the United States will withdraw from Iraq, prior to the end of President Bush's term: Congress must vote to cut off funds.

History and the law give a clear guide on how to end the war in Iraq.

In Campbell v. Clinton, a case in US District Court in 1999, twenty six members of Congress, including myself, sued President Clinton for continuing to prosecute the war against Serbia without a declaration of war. The Court ruled in favor of the Administration because it could find no constitutional impasse existed between the Legislative and the Executive branch requiring judicial intervention. Congress had appropriated funds for the war and therefore chose not to remove US forces. The 'Implied Consent' Theory of Presidential War Power Is Again Validated. Military Law Review, Vol. 161, No. 202, September 1999 Geoffrey S. Corn. South Texas College.

So, every vote to fund the war is a vote by our representatives to continue the war. The war cannot end until and unless either George W Bush decides to pull out, or Congress decides there is no more money in the treasury for wars to enrich Bushco's cronies. I would ask everyone to email and snail mail their representatives to let them know how important it is to end this illegal and imoral and despicably expensive war.

Hattip: Huffpo, from a three part article by Rep Dennis Kucinich on the only way that Congress can end the war.

The Harvest Moon

OMG, the moon was huge on the horizon last night. I was driving home, and had to stop about 5 times, just to get some pics.

The Laziest Congress Ever!

$165,000.00 for 100 days work, and the best benefit package ever devised outside of a corporate CEO's office: nice job if you can get it. That's what our Congress is asking us to pay them this year, for the two days a week they are getting very tired of putting in.

full story hattip: Crooks and Liars

The US and Korea enter Direct Talks

Direct US, North Korea talks give new glimmer of hope

by P. Parameswaran Sun Dec 3, 4:57 PM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) - One month after North Korea agreed to return to multilateral nuclear talks following its defiant atomic weapons test, the six-nation dialogue remains stalled. But few are complaining. This is because the United States and North Korea, the key parties of the four-year nuclear standoff, are engaged in face-to-face talks on crunch issues that some believe are more productive that the six-party process including China, South Korea, Russia and Japan. Top US negotiator Christopher Hill met his North Korean counterpart Kim Kye-Gwan in Beijing last week, their second meeting in a month, to explore how North Korea should consider disbanding its atomic weapons network in return for security, diplomatic and energy guarantees. Experts noted that their 15 hours of marathon talks brokered by China over two days were wide-ranging and tackled critical issues. "One of the things to note is that there had been extensive talks this time between the North Koreans and the United States," said Daniel Pinkston of the California-based Center for Nonproliferation Studies. "Proposals were exchanged and discussions were held and that means diplomacy is underway, and so whether or not the six-party meeting is held may be irrelevant," he said.

Is it just me? I seem to remember, Bushco and Condosleeza said that the reason Clinton had not solved the North Korea problem was that he didn't bring the other neighboring countries into the equation. One of the first things Bushco changed when he took over from Clinton was trashing the two way talks.

( Clinton was the one who actually forstalled the building of nukes by NKorea during his entire eight year administration.)

The full story is here

Sunset, on a Sunday Evening

A bird had just flitted away from the feeder, and I noticed the fire of the sunset.

* Self portrait *

Sunrise

A quick stop, scramble to open the camera, click click click. Jump back in the car, run to work. Whew!


~~~~~~~~~~~~ In other rose colored worlds....

I think I get it now.

The latest pitiable GOP plan, from what I can tell, goes something like this: To make it all so absurd, to make the remaining Bush administration proposals and doctrines and cultural stratagems so outlandish and silly and degrading and insulting to your mind and your heart and your very own beleaguered genitalia that you cannot help but take note of their existence and laugh and cringe and sit back and go, Oh my God these people have got to be kidding.

At which point (they hope) you will turn to your spouse or your significant other or your dog and say, Hey honey, check this out, did you see the latest moronic and horrible dictum from the Bush administration? We should totally try it, just for kicks!

Then the GOP will gloat and say: See? The world still loves the GOP! Yay us! And then they shall proceed to smack themselves in the face with a brick.

It is the only viable explanation. It is the only way to account for something like, say, the latest twist in the Abstinence Education Program from Bush's increasingly laughable Department of Health and Human Services, a $50 million slice of embarrassing government detritus that is now actually encouraging all states to tell their single, youngish residents that they should -- how to put this so you don't shoot coffee through your nose? -- that everyone should avoid sex entirely, until they turn 30.

See? See your reaction? You are like: No way. You are like: Is the United States government really saying that? You are like: Laughter, a smirk, maybe a shrug and a sigh and a sad shake of the head and another glass of wine because, you know, what the hell is wrong with these people?

~snip~

I wonder, if you asked them, would you hear the common refrain of those locked in miserable and joyless jobs under the Bush regime? "I have no idea how it came to this. I have no idea how I got here, doing this horrible thing in this horrible place with these miserable people and this awful boss. Every single day, my very soul is being leached through my teeth. What the hell happened to me?"

I believe this is how it must be, tenfold, in the Department of Health and Human Services, Abstinence Division. Among those who are charged with spreading the worst and most debilitating sexual propaganda BushCo has to offer: only misery. Joyless, sexless, unfortunate as the right-wing congressmen who shoved this bitter and lubeless ideology onto their daily plate.


I say: How Talibangelical!

Full story, with lots more snarky goodness here

Hattip to Blondesense