Monthly Archives: August 2007

Drums Along The Shatt Al Arab

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One Utah » Blog Archive » Bush League War Drums Beating Louder on Iran

In short, it seems possible that Rove, who is no one’s dummy and would not want to be required to “spin” an unnecessary war on Iran, may have lost the battle with Cheney over the merits of a military strike on Iran, and only then decided – or was urged – to spend more time with his family. As for administration spokesperson Tony Snow, it seems equally possible that, before deciding he had to leave the White House to make more money, he concluded that his stomach could not withstand the challenge of conjuring up yet another Snow job to explain why Bush/Cheney needed to attack Iran. There is recent precedent for this kind of thing.

Well, yes, that’s one likelihood – we’re going to Iran next unless we can run the shot clock down and get the assclowns out of the White House and get some new ones more to our liking installed.

I wonder what the invasion route will be? Unluckily, Google Maps is nearly completely blank in the Middle East, and I had to go to Encarta to verify the name of the major waterway that serves as part of the border between Iraq and Iran.

Regarding Karl Rove’s plans, I think it’s entirely likely we’ll see him again if Brother Jeb makes a run in 2012 – remember, Teh Evul One owns property in Florida. Or, Gawdelpus, Brother Mitt decides to take Brother Jeb to the dance.

In politics, electing someone from the same family twice is a coincidence, but three times is a dynasty. And if Jenna Bush decides to keep her middle name after she marries, Grandpa Karl may still be around to give her some tips.

Paul Krugman: The GOP’s 5 Little Words

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Economist’s View: Paul Krugman: Seeking Willie Horton

And if you look at the political successes of the G.O.P. since it was taken over by movement conservatives, they had very little to do with public opposition to taxes, moral values, perceived strength on national security, or any of the other explanations usually offered. To an almost embarrassing extent, they all come down to just five words: southern whites starting voting Republican. …

This blog covers economics news, something I know nothing about, but it also gathers articles of general interest in politics and current events. And it’s written by a Duck, too.

How NPR Improves Political Discourse

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The back-and-forth between people of different political views in this country could stand some improvement, as currently it’s on the level of ad hominem “yer a wingnut/yer a moonbat” attacks. NPR’s “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me!” news quiz consistently brings the funny LOLs when discussing political figures – sometimes with those actual politcal figures’ participation! Today’s show included a short segment to follow up on an important fact that came up in the wake of Karl Rove’s departure this week – Barney, the White House Scottish terrier, is not terribly well liked by staffers, who characterized him recently as “aloof and entitled.” Karl Rove dismissed the pooch as “a lump” in one of his many farewell interviews (which were thinly disguised attempts to get a few last lumps of his own in on Hilary Clinton).

Well, WWDTM decided to get to the heart of the matter and contacted a White House press secretary to set the record state regarding Barney:

The Swamp: White House defends ‘lil Barney in Rove-attack

WAIT, WAIT, DONT TELL ME! HOST PETER SAGAL: According to the New York Times, senior White House aides feel that the Scottish terror is “aloof and entitled.” Now, we did not think this slam at the presidential pet could go unanswered. So it is our pleasure to welcome Dana Perino, Deputy White House Secretary, to our show. Dana, welcome to Wait Wait.

DANA PERINO: Hi. Remind me why I agreed to do this.

MR. SAGAL: You know, I was hoping someone would have pushed the mute button while we had you on hold, but perhaps not.

MS. PERINO: No, I heard everything.

MR. SAGAL: Alright, well. Dana, so – and we know that you, unlike Mr. Rove, are still employed at the White House – and we ask you this: Is Barney, in fact a lump.

MS. PERINO: I wouldn’t call him a lump. Of course, you’re right, Karl is on his way out the door. Look, Barney’s kind of standoffish, but he’s got personality. He’s got a little bit of sass. You know, I don’t think – he doesn’t let people get too close to him.

MR. SAGAL: What does Barney think about Rove?

MS. PERINO: Well, I did see one thing last week when we were down in Texas. In fact it was actually more Ms. Beazley. They alternated from wanting to be petted by him to growling at him. So it was maybe a love/hate relationship.

KYRIE O’CONNOR: So Karl didn’t have to, like, carry the pooper-scooper or anything?

MS. PERINO: No, that job is reserved for other people. Like me.

MR. SAGAL: Really?

MS. PERINO: Well, I do deal with – I deal with the press a lot.

MR. SAGAL: I see. Well done! Well done, Ms. Perino. Dana Perino is, at least until her bosses hear this broadcast, the Deputy Press Secretary at the White House. Dana, thank you so much for joining us today.

MS. PERINO: Thank you, I love your show.

UPDATE: I just noticed that the transcript describes Barney as “the Scottish terror.” Wait! is that like Macbeth? AUGH! “Hot potato, off his drawers, pluck to make amends! AAURGH!”

LOLcallz- If Cats Ran The Call Centers

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I struggle to hit all the right notes on the “call center guidelines” we’re supposed to follow at work – this week and next week we’ll be in a big push to improve some of the “number of calls taken” stats and the “feedback” stats. It occured to me that it might be easier to remember the more obscure points that are important to cover in order to “score” well if I translated it into another dialect I’ve recently learned. This example call would score a perfect 100 if LOLcats were running the call center.

this-meeting-is-over.jpg

Halpz U
Thxu4callz r cmpnee, mai nam Mittunz whut urs?
Howz bai u tdy Mr Mans? Gud, I r fine how I cans halpz u?
Mr Mans, I r Mittenz, I r l33t kitteh, WANT does gud job 4 u nao.

Communikshun
Tunez – purrrrrrrrrr mao mao mao mao WANT
Confidinz – I can has cheezburgr 4 u 2zday. DONE
Clartee – WANT “Your order 12986, let me tell you it” DO NOT WANT ur nbr be wun 2 nigh ate secks”
Gud langwidges – WANT ZOMGBBQ! DONUT WANT WTF

Who R Mr Mans Whut He Watns?
UR L33t / UR not l33t
Whut? U sez WANT wun kitteh, no bukkit, hold lolrus? Kthx Mr Mans. Can do 4 u.

Whut Ellis WANT/DONUT WANT friz wid dat?
WANT flies and drives and napz
DONUT want smokz n bugz n noyz
WANT mai compnee halps u get mor stuff free u r 1 l33t dude
GOTZ cheeps 4 mai peeps, u donut has a moneys 2 waist
GOTZ ur speshul snakky-snax nom nom nom
GOTZ ur speshul l33t seet
HALPZ U not happy campr? mai bad! sry sry all better nao OK? OK!
Oh hai I fixed ur prollem, in ur rekkid fixin ur data. DONE

Kthxbais
WANT mor stuff we gotz lotz? Frys widdat 2 tyme?
Whutchagotz frum us Mr Mans, let me tell you it OK? OK!
Ware U at n ur Internets tubes? Your confirmation, let me send you it.
Halpz u mor laters?
Thxu4callz mai compnee, Mr Mans hav a 2 mice day
WANT “Kthxgudbai” ORE “Kthxuverramuchgudaffernun” DONUT WANT “Kbaibai”

Controlz
Oh hai U r under mai controlz… your WANTS, you will tell me them MR MANS
I mai sendz u another fone they halpz u mor bettah ther MR MANS? Kthxwunmomenplzhld I sendz u ther.
DO NOT WANT “…[crikkits]…”
WANT “Oh hai I r muttlytaxing, can has chatz 2 u wile in ur rekkid, makin ur tikket.”
DONUT WANT “Plzhld” [clik] …0/teh grrl frm Eekameema be walkkin…0/
WANT “Mr Mans I mai holdz U OK? OK thxu wun minnits plzthx” [clik] 0/…N wen she walkkin teh peeps be talkkin, say AH…0/

[tags]LOLcats, call center[/tags]

Tutu: Our Lord Is Weeping

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tutu.jpg

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu of Cape Town, South Africa (a personal Anglican hero of mine) writes to his successor,  on the current unpleasantness:

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate’s plea came in a letter to the present Archbishop of Cape Town, Njongonkulu Ndungane, in which [Tutu] also called on all Anglican bishops to be “more welcoming and inclusive of one another.” Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town Desmond Tutu has appealed to Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams to invite all bishops to the 2008 Lambeth Conference, “even those irregularly consecrated or actively gay.” …”Our Communion has always been characterized by its comprehensiveness, its inclusiveness, its catholicity,” he said. “…we are really family, held together not so much by law as by bonds of affection. There is no family that is unanimous on every single subject.” …

“In a world where difference has led to alienation and even bloody conflict, the Church is God’s agent to demonstrate that unity in diversity is in fact the law of life,” Tutu said in his letter to Ndungane. “…We are most like God when we are welcoming and when we are as inclusive as possible, when we have broken down all middle walls of partition.” …

“Our Lord is weeping to see our Communion tearing itself apart on the issue of human sexuality when the world for which he died is ravaged by poverty, disease, war and corruption,” Tutu said. “I beg you all in our Lord’s name agree to disagree, argue, debate, disagree, but do all this as members of one family.”

Read the entire thing at Episcopal Life Online – WORLD REPORT

Eloquent, heartfelt, and beautifully written. I doubt whether his brother primate of the opposing view, ++Peter Akinola, could possibly have a response ghostwritten by Bp. Martyn Minns before Saturday.

Via Jake’s and also Inclusive Church Blog

[tags]Episcopal, Anglican, Archbishop Tutu, welcoming, inclusive[/tags]

Intra-Diluvian

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Storms rip across Chicago area — chicagotribune.com

There’s damage everywhere, and there’s still no letup in the rain.Hours after a fast-moving storm packing winds over 70 m.p.h. turned skies from day to night across the Chicago area Thursday — damaging buildings, splitting trees, causing flooding, and bringing planes and trains to a halt — the rain continued to fall.

A severe thunderstorm watch was in effect for Cook County until midnight, and a flash flood watch was in effect for the area through late Friday night.

Occasional showers and thunderstorms will continue tonight, with heavy rainfall and damaging winds possible. Lows will be in the lower 70s.More showers and thunderstorms are likely on Friday, with highs in the lower 80s.

No break in the wet conditions is forecast until Saturday.

UGH!!! This is a muggy wet mess here. Not as horrible as in some areas of the country, but it’s annoying.

We got evacuated to the basement twice today at work – and the rest of the time, I was trying to help some stranded travelers in New York among other things. Hairy day, and then when I got home we had a bit more water in the basement because of the pooling problem by the outer wall. That’ll have to get fixed right quick after the weather lets up, which won’t be real soon.

The Trib is gathering “storm photos” and so far the best of the bunch is probably this one:

roscoe83soldierfield.jpg

Taken by roscoe83, who is either incredibly lucky or knows where to set up his gear and wait for the shot. Probably the latter.

I rated it 5 stars. Unfortunately it’s buried in the Trib photo gallery or I would have linked to it directly.

Salt Creek Bridge, Higgins Road

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Flickr

Yes, well, we were stopped.  It was actually more interesting about a mile back, where floodwater was nearly up to the bottom of the undercarriage. However, I was busy driving at the time and watching waves break high enough to clear the hood of the car. Close to work, a large tree with a trunk a foot and a half thick was snapped clean in two, probably by the extremely evil black microburst-like storm that barrelled through at about 315pm, which resulted in our being evacuated to the basement.

I think this bridge might be one of several over Salt Creek that’s on the “bad bridges” list.

Via: Flickr Title: 08-23-07_1835.jpg By: GinnyRED57
Originally uploaded: 23 Aug ’07, 6.36pm CDT PST

[tags]Flickr, weather, Salt Creek[/tags]

It’s raining AGAIN

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Saturated soils, bank-full rivers render predicted thunderstorms ominous — chicagotribune.com

The metro area is waterlogged and only a downpour away from far more serious flooding than anything which has occurred to date. That’s why forecasters are concerned about the introduction of thunderstorm-aggravating heat Wednesday and Thursday. Even Friday is to remain warm enough to foster t-storm development. The atmosphere is about as muggy as it gets here, brimming with 2″ of evaporated water, as evidenced by the humid tropical rain forest-level mid to upper 70(degrees) dew points, which threaten to erupt explosively in several waves of active thunderstorms in coming days. “Quiet”, rain-free spells may transition with great speed into lightning-peppered downpours based upon dramatically elevated atmospheric energy levels, rapid vertical temperature declines and powerful jet stream winds aloft–the energy of which may be transferred to the surface as powerful wind gusts on several occasions in coming days.

Ugh, we haven’t had any more water in the basement, but last night we had another wee-hours thunderstorm, and it’s storming again now. It was horribly muggy today, too.  This is really shaping up to be a weird summer for weather.

[tags]weather[/tags]