Batman and Barbie Recalled August 15, 2007
Posted by Retired Geezer in Heroes.comments closed
Check your kid’s toybox.
Toy-making giant Mattel Inc. issued recalls Tuesday for about 9 million Chinese-made toys that contain magnets children can swallow or which could have lead paint.
The recall includes 7.3 million play sets, including Polly Pocket dolls and Batman action figures, and 253,000 die cast cars that contain lead paint.
Nancy A. Nord, acting Consumer Product Safety Commission chairman, told a news conference no injuries had been reported with any of the products involved in the new recall.
Mattel recalls 9 million toys, including Barbie, Batman figures
Asinine Headline of the Day (local edition) August 14, 2007
Posted by skinbad in Politics, Terrorist Hemorrhoids.comments closed
Still suffering Iraq war’s horrors, ex-Marine admits drowning girlfriend in Tooele
Bush and Cheney are as culpable as the murderer.
The Future of the Court August 14, 2007
Posted by Sobek in Law.comments closed
When the Supreme Court ended its latest term, we were treated (read: subjected to) numerous articles and talking heads decrying the Court’s shift to the right, and how none of us will have any rights within five years, and etc. etc. our nation is going down the crapper and the Constitution is getting shredded.
Whatever. Granted, I sure hope the Court turns hard-core conservative and rules us with the sweet iron fist of unabashed tyranny, but alas we’re not there yet.
I’m reading The Brethren, by Woodward and Armstrong, which is in insider look at the Warren Burger Supreme Court from 1969 to 1975. The book starts with the nomination of Warren Burger by recently-elected Richard Nixon, and liberal Abe Fortas’ resignation in disgrace. Nixon got a stellar four nominations for the Supremes, and he filled those slots with Burger, Harry Blackmun, Lewis Powell and William Rehnquist. Two years into the Burger era, I find the following:
“…[Thurgood Marshall] returned to his chambers that day a beaten man. For the first time, his clerks saw him truly depressed about the future of the Court. Powell and Rehnquist were going to make a big difference. It was not just a close vote in one case. It was the first wave of full-scale revisionism. The work of the Warren Court would be destroyed.” (P. 179).
Again, by this time, Nixon had picked four of the nine justices.
But Marshall was wrong, as we know. This passage describes events merely one year before Roe v. Wade was decided. Three of Nixon’s four justices voted to invent a right to an abortion.
Since 1972, Ford appointed John Paul Stevens, Reagan appointed Antonin Scalia, Sandra Day O’Connor and Anthony Kennedy, Bush I appointed David Souter and Clarence Thomas, and Clinton appointed Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer. In all, six justices appointed by Republicans, compared to two justices appointed by a Democrat (Carter got no appointments — proof that there is a just and merciful God in heaven). Consider that between 1969, when Burger was appointed, ten justices were Republican appointees, and only two were Democrat appointees. And yet, contrary to Thurgood Marshall’s premonition in 1972, his prediction has never yet come true. We have not had a truly “conservative” court at any time in that thirty year period (thanks in no small part to the fact that Reagan, for all his greatness, truly sucked at picking judges, and Nixon was worse).
Bush II picked Roberts and Alito, who everyone is assuming are and will remain conservatives for the long haul. They replaced a Nixon-appointee and a Reagan appointee, respectively, both Republicans.
Long experience has me convinced that liberals panicking that the judicial sky is falling, and that our great republic is on the verge of utter destruction, are no more grounded in reality than their rampantly activist [obtuse] legal opinions.
Nose Jobs Turn Females Into Sex Machines August 13, 2007
Posted by Retired Geezer in Gardening.comments closed
Female Mice, that is.
This is the kind of link that Dave @ Garfield Ridge would have jumped all over, even though it isn’t about monkeys.
Female mice apparently become as randy as males after their senses of smell are tampered with, ending up aggressively trying to mount any mouse that moves, research now reveals.
These findings open the question as to whether circuits for male behavior exist in a dormant state in females, and vice versa, in other species — including in humans.
In many animals, the vomeronasal organ often helps detect scents.
New York Socialite Brooke Astor Dies At 105 August 13, 2007
Posted by Michael in News.comments closed
NEW YORK – Brooke Astor, the civic leader, philanthropist and high society fixture who gave away nearly $200 million to support New York City’s great cultural institutions and a host of humbler projects, died Monday. She was 105.Astor, who recently was the center of a highly publicized legal dispute over her care, died of pneumonia at Holly Hill, her Westchester County estate in Briarcliff Manor, family lawyer Kenneth Warner said.
“Brooke was truly a remarkable woman and an irreplaceable friend,” longtime family friend David Rockefeller said. “She was the leading lady of New York in every sense of the word.”
Ms. Astor deserves the title of “leading lady of New York,” no doubt, for her exemplary generosity.
Although a legendary figure in New York City and feted with a famous gala on her 100th birthday in March 2002, Astor was mostly interested in putting the fortune that husband Vincent Astor left to use helping others.
Her efforts won her a Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, in 1998.
Hmmm.
According to Executive Order 11085, the Medal of Freedom is supposed to be for “especially meritorious contribution to (1) the security or national interests of the United States, or (2) world peace, or (3) cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.”
Serious question: does giving away inherited wealth that one does not need meet this standard?
Merv Griffin dead at 82 August 12, 2007
Posted by daveintexas in News.comments closed
Especially when he was dicking with Donald Trump in the casino hotel stuff. It was just funny.
Movie Review: “Crossroads” August 11, 2007
Posted by Michael in Movies.comments closed
I just finished watching Crossroads with Mrs. Michael. It has a religious theme, but that’s not the main thing about it.
It’s the greatest Magic Negro Movie ever (as discussed at AOSHQ). No shit, this is a fabulous Magic Negro film.
Best line: “I’m givin’ you all the magic I got.”
That moment happens right before the climactic guitar battle, when the Magic Negro gives the white boy guitar player his Louisiana jou-jou.
The guitar battle is fought with Satan’s envoy, and it is fought with a soul at stake. It is one of the most electrifying movie sequences ever filmed. The music is unbelievable. (SPOILER ALERT) The white boy wins because he reverts to his classical training, and thereby saves his soul.
If you haven’t watched Crossroads, you have missed a classic.
Who am I? Whom shall I fear? August 11, 2007
Posted by daveintexas in Law.comments closed
Psalm 27: 1
The LORD is my light and my salvation—
whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life—
of whom shall I be afraid?
I Chronicles 17:16
Then King David went in and sat before the LORD, and he said:
“Who am I, O LORD God, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?”
There’s Nothing Like Golf – Updated August 11, 2007
Posted by Michael in Man Laws, Sports.comments closed
Really, there is no other sport like it. I’m not actually a golf fan, but I find it interesting, and regularly attend the major tournament (The Memorial — a/k/a Jack’s Tournament) that happens within walking distance of my home.
Professional golf is interesting because it is the only major sport that is welded with iron bonds to ancient concepts of honor, sportsmanship, courtesy, and personal responsibility.
That was bad news today for Sergio Garcia at the PGA.
TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Another bad break for Sergio Garcia: This one got him disqualified from the PGA Championship.Garcia got the boot Saturday for signing an incorrect scorecard after the third round. In tournament golf, players keep each other’s scores. Garcia’s playing partner, Boo Weekley, put down a 4 for Garcia on the 17th hole when the Spaniard actually made a 5.
It’s the player’s responsibility to ensure his scorecard is accurate before he signs it. Garcia didn’t. And when the mistake was noticed in the scoring tent, Garcia had already left.
“He just took off,” Weekley said. “I called him back down and tried to get him before he got all the way up the stairs.”
Garcia did, in fact, return to the scoring area, but only to be told he had been disqualified. Once he left what PGA officials call the “scoring area perimeter,” his scorecard was considered turned in and not able to be changed.
Bad Number: Garcia Signs Incorrect Card
The article does not mention the hidden default here. PGA pros hire professionals to make sure this kind of thing does not happen. They’re called caddys. A PGA caddy is a highly compensated professional. He is not just there to carry the bag, rake the sand traps, and pick the club.
A caddy on the pro tour is a psychologist. Golf is the most mental professional game in existence. It’s mostly a head game, requiring intense concentration at super-stressful moments where enormous amounts of money are at stake. Great golfers can be fat (John Daly) or super-fit (Tiger) — the most important difference is where their head is at and their confidence level. A caddy is there to make sure the pro stays focused on the game. And the game includes signing the score card.
From Wikipedia:
A duty of a good caddy often overlooked is the ability to keep their golfer focused and not waiver psychologically from the task at hand. This is clearly the toughest of all caddy skills to learn and it requires a great deal of experience and understanding of the game of golf. A caddy that can positively impact the psyche of their golfer, especially if the golfer is not consciously aware of what the caddy is trying to do, can be extremely valuable. Golf arguably relies on mental aspects of the body more than any other sport in today’s world and if the mind is not comfortable, calm, and focused, disaster is likely to occur. A crucial factor in performing the psychological duties of a caddy is that to be as effective as possible, the caddy must know the golfer very well. This is typically only possible if the caddy is on the pro tour, a family member/friend, or works regularly for the same member at a country club.
UPDATED below the break
A Pleasant Suprise August 11, 2007
Posted by BrewFan in History.comments closed
I got a phone call late last night from an old friend. Fred and I met at the Defense Language Institute in 1973. When we first met we were slick-sleeve privates fresh out of Basic Combat Training; mine at Fort Jackson, S.C. and his at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.. We were both assigned to the 47 week Vietnamese Language (North) Course and from there we would both attend the School of Applied Cryptologic Sciences at Goodfellow AFB. When we were done with school we were both assigned to the National Security Agency at Fort Meade, Md.. I chose to leave the Army when my enlistment was up but Fred stayed in and would serve our country until this year. 1976 was the last time I actually laid eyes on Fred although we spoke once on the phone in the interim. We had breakfast this morning and reminisced about the past and that was sweet. Our squad at the DLI was a group of people that really clicked and we created somewhat of a reputation that would later come back to haunt Fred a little at a promotion board. lol! I won’t get into detail but suffice it to say that our part of the barracks was known as Skid Row. I can’t tell you much about what Fred has been doing the last several years because he couldn’t tell me. Hes been involved with the Special Operations folks and spent his entire career in MI. What I could gather is that lately he had been spending a lot of time in Cuba, having ‘conversations’ with people from far away places.
Anyhoo, the point of this post is to let you know that the U.S. Army is a little worse off then it was a year ago, but I think it is safe to say that there are many men and women of the same ‘stuff’ as Fred manning the walls. I also want you to know how blessed I am to have friends like Fred.
Update: The picture was taken at Toro Regional Park between Monterey and Salinas and was our ‘class’ picnic which we had right before we graduated. Drinking was involved. Ba Thai (our instructor) was a saint for putting up with us.
Bumbo II – Return of the Pomeranian August 11, 2007
Posted by Pupster in Crime, Ducks, History, Movies, Women Ranting.Tags: Taking a joke waaay too far
comments closed
I linked part 1, so I’m kind of obligated. Sorry.
Compromise August 10, 2007
Posted by skinbad in Crime, Heroes, Man Laws, Travel, Women Ranting.comments closed
Possible submission for the About tab.
Innocent Bystanders 
