Month: September 2009

Pornographic candy

Catching up on correspondence . . . this sent in by contributor Bill:

Haribo MAOAM sour candies feature ‘fruits in pornographic poses’[*1]

A POPULAR confectionery is causing an uproar in Europe after a flood of complaints about its packaging.

Claims have been made that the fruit figures that appear on Haribo MAOAM sour candies are engaging in sex acts.

I’ll pause for a minute to let the full implications of sex between consenting (I assume) fruit to sink in.

OK?

Go ahead and click on the link to the story at Australia’s News.com. The accompanying illustration is pretty amusing.

17.1 pounds, two weeks

Fifteen days, actually. Going smoothly, even with a trip to Chicago to visit Snookums’ best bud Linda and see Steely Dan in concert.

I had real food, too–three times! Three dinners in Chicago–all some variation of whitefish (broiled preferably) and steamed broccoli, with an iceberg lettuce wedge or salad with red wine vinegar. It’s a good thing that I like whitefish and broccoli, isn’t it?

When we got home from Chicago, I had a big box of meal replacements from DietDirect.com[*1] waiting for me at our front door. Mmm, mushroom soup and a variety of new shake/pudding flavors get added into the menu.

At the Center for Nutrition[*2] today, the dietitian weighed me in at 261.9 pounds, and then took my blood pressure.

Want to know what it was?

Really?

I’m teasing, now.

102/70.

That’s below normal. Low blood pressure is good–at least as long as it doesn’t go too low, I’m told. The Mayo Clinic[*3] web site says 90/60 is considered low.

I doubt that I’ll keep losing over a pound a day, but 230 lbs by Halloween is within reach, I think. 220 would be nice, but that would be close to that pound-a-day thing. I’m not sure my joints would stand up to the amount of exercise I’d need to do to make that by Halloween. Maybe by New Year’s Day?

I’m pretty happy.

Chimp Tools

Simian-blogging comes as a welcome relief, doesn’t it?

Science News: Chimpanzees develop ‘specialized tool kits’ to catch army ants[*1] :

Chimpanzees in the Congo have developed specialised ‘tool kits’ to forage for army ants, reveals new research published today in the American Journal of Primatology. This not only provides the first direct evidence of multiple tool use in this context, but suggests that chimpanzees have developed a ‘sustainable’ way of harvesting food.

Stand up and speak out, while you still can

From Bruce McQuain at his QandO blog:

It is the point the liberal left in this country still doesn’t understand. The looters have finally been noticed by looted and the looted aren’t at all happy.

No. Not at all happy. The traditional punishment for looters is to be shot on sight. Maybe they’ll acquire a clue or two before it comes to that. I fear for my country.

McQuain continues:


The “lumpen electorate” has finally had enough. They want to keep what they earn. They want less government. But that’s an anathema to politicians who have built whole lives and careers on providing more government. It’s like an addiction – they can’t stop what they’re doing or how they’re doing it.

And, unfortunately, even though the masses seem unhappy with the size and cost of government, they too are addicted to a certain level of government. They too have an addiction to break.

The question, of course, as far as libertarians are concerned, is how these two addictions can be addressed and overcome so that government’s size and cost can be scaled back to a proper and legitimate size? And where are the leaders to do this?

Until they emerge – and there is nothing to say they will – this cycle of unrest which sees the swapping out of political parties will continue. But you have to believe that at some point, the disenchantment with the current political regime (and both parties make up that regime) will come to a flash point. What that flash point will entail – the range of possibilities is vast – is anyone’s guess.

The way out is simple: those people who are pushing for all of this government expansion must stop pushing, before the people who are being pushed begin to seriously push back. And I really, really mean the word “seriously.” This has the potential to go way beyond “politics as usual.” Our country–a large segment of it, anyway–is starting to red-line. Somebody has to step in and provide some sanity. But the only person on the national stage who’s both in a position to do so, and might be inclined to do so, God help us, is Sarah Palin.

I’m a fan of Sarah Palin–awkward speech patterns and all–but I don’t want the future of the Republic resting on her–or on anyone.

So, for now at least, we can still disagree peacefully with those we politically oppose. I intend to do that, by attending Freedom Fest 2009[*1] in Kansas City Saturday, September 5th.

UNITED WE STAND

Freedom Fest 2009

Date: Saturday, September 5, 2009

Time: 10:00 am to 2:00 pm

Location: Theis ParkIntersection of Oak and 47th Street, KC,MO.(Across from the Nelson-Atkins Art Museum, 1 Block East of the Country Club Plaza)

Combining leading voices of entrepenurship, faith, race relations and entertainment with great food and drink. You’ll hear author and radio host of the Big Black Lie, Kevin Jackson–frequent guest contributor on the Fox News Network; Director of Health Policy Studies for the CATO Institute, Michael Cannon: Host of the Christian Politician, Apostle Claver, and music from Outlaw Jim and The Whiskey Benders also featuring Melanie Owen, Angelo Mino and Beverly Gossage.

Stand up for yourself, be seen, be heard. While you still can.

No Thugs Allowed.

UPDATE: “lumpen proletariat” is a phrase first used–or at least popularized–by Karl Marx[*2] . I did not know that.

C

In the White House–a Marxist AND a “Truther”

Who? No, not Obama–at least I don’t think Obama is a Truther. It’s Van Jones, Obama’s “czar” for “green” issues.

Marxist.[*1]

Truther[*2] (somebody who believes that George W. Bush ordered the 9/11 attack.)

He’s the guy Glenn Beck has been going nuclear over for the past few weeks. Why is this crazy person in the White House as a trusted adviser to the President?

It’s Amazon.com vs. Google!

Google wants to assimilate (digitize) millions of books. Amazon thinks that idea is fantastically bad.

Reuters article[*1] :

Amazon, which scans books after getting permission from the copyright holder, said that the court should reject a settlement between Google and the Authors Guild because the deal would change copyright law by allowing Google to digitize books even if the copyright holder cannot be found, often called “orphan works.”

“The proposed settlement usurps the role of Congress in legislating solutions to the complex issues raised by the interplay between new technologies and the nation’s copyright laws,” Amazon said in its filing, which was dated Tuesday.

So, exit question: Is Google the Borg[*2] ?