Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Byrd's evolution on matters of race mirrors a nation maturing
The life of Senator Robert Byrd is a testament to how much we can all change in our lifetimes. Once a Ku Klux Klansman, Byrd spent more time apologizing for that episode of his life than he ever actually spent with the Klan.
Like many young white men of his generation in the 1940s he grew up when the Klan actually meant something. In small towns across the nation, and not just in the South, all the local political elite were members of the Klan. If you wanted to be something, you joined in. Even noted Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black was in the Klan in his native Alabama. That’s not to defend Byrd’s decision to join. The Klan was a hateful organization to its core, but in some places it was the only game in town.
Read the rest at The Loop.
Like many young white men of his generation in the 1940s he grew up when the Klan actually meant something. In small towns across the nation, and not just in the South, all the local political elite were members of the Klan. If you wanted to be something, you joined in. Even noted Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black was in the Klan in his native Alabama. That’s not to defend Byrd’s decision to join. The Klan was a hateful organization to its core, but in some places it was the only game in town.
Read the rest at The Loop.
8 Funny Posts 4 A Grin From Dennys Blogs - 30 June 2010
*** When times are tough what do you do? Laughter is the best stress reliever! Here are 8 posts from this week's posts at Denny's blogs for you to enjoy.
Cup of coffee from Brazil by il Quoquo @ flickr
From Denny: Between Colbert and Stewart, well, let's just say they have BP's shenanigans covered. Nothing gets past them!
In my ongoing effort to provide stress relief when the national conversation is so depressing - because of the BP Gulf Coast oil spill, a fragile economy and politicians who continually refuse to do right by the American people - we all need to keep laughing our way through these times until they get better. Trust that times will get better and they will. Until then, while we are in transition, we must develop coping skills for managing daily stress like making sure we are laughing often.
This is one of those times when it is true that "the pen is mightier than the sword" for the right kind of writing can bring relief to thousands in one moment over the internet. Pretty cool when you think about it. How many people can accomplish so much out of thin air? :)
Funny Smile Quotes - Cheeky Quote Day - 30 June 2010
Roundup of Late Night Funnies: BP Oil Spill, McChrystal Firing - 28 June 2010
Funny Video: Colbert Says McChrystal Had To Have Been High
Funny Video: Stewart Nails Republicans As Flip-Floppers On BP Escrow Fund
Funny Video: Colbert Lampoons Barton's BP Apology
Funny Video: Stewart Lampoons McChrystal's Balls For An Honorable Discharge
5 Funny Shorts: What Kids Think About Love and Life
Funny Video: Surfing Group Known as The Radical Rodents
*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!
*** Come by for a visit and check out my other blogs:
The Social Poets
Dennys Global Politics
The Soul Calendar
Visual Insights
Beautiful Illustrated Quotations
Poems From A Spiritual Heart
The Healing Waters
Dennys Art Sanctuary
Romancing The Chocolate
Comfort Food From Louisiana
Unusual 2 Tasty
Dennys Blog Feeds
Dennys Funny Quotes
Ouch Outrageous Obnoxious And Odd
Cup of coffee from Brazil by il Quoquo @ flickr
From Denny: Between Colbert and Stewart, well, let's just say they have BP's shenanigans covered. Nothing gets past them!
In my ongoing effort to provide stress relief when the national conversation is so depressing - because of the BP Gulf Coast oil spill, a fragile economy and politicians who continually refuse to do right by the American people - we all need to keep laughing our way through these times until they get better. Trust that times will get better and they will. Until then, while we are in transition, we must develop coping skills for managing daily stress like making sure we are laughing often.
This is one of those times when it is true that "the pen is mightier than the sword" for the right kind of writing can bring relief to thousands in one moment over the internet. Pretty cool when you think about it. How many people can accomplish so much out of thin air? :)
Funny Smile Quotes - Cheeky Quote Day - 30 June 2010
Roundup of Late Night Funnies: BP Oil Spill, McChrystal Firing - 28 June 2010
Funny Video: Colbert Says McChrystal Had To Have Been High
Funny Video: Stewart Nails Republicans As Flip-Floppers On BP Escrow Fund
Funny Video: Colbert Lampoons Barton's BP Apology
Funny Video: Stewart Lampoons McChrystal's Balls For An Honorable Discharge
5 Funny Shorts: What Kids Think About Love and Life
Funny Video: Surfing Group Known as The Radical Rodents
*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!
*** Come by for a visit and check out my other blogs:
The Social Poets
Dennys Global Politics
The Soul Calendar
Visual Insights
Beautiful Illustrated Quotations
Poems From A Spiritual Heart
The Healing Waters
Dennys Art Sanctuary
Romancing The Chocolate
Comfort Food From Louisiana
Unusual 2 Tasty
Dennys Blog Feeds
Dennys Funny Quotes
Ouch Outrageous Obnoxious And Odd
Death, Blood, Sex, Corruption
For too long, I've even been a part of the problem in some ways. This little blog of mine has talked politics, society, religion, education, philosophy and other topics in the news or of general interest, and has often taken on it's own cynical or negative tones. Hell, it's right there in the first paragraph. Go back and re-read in case you missed it.
Well, it's over. I's done had me all's I can take, and I can't takes me no more. This whining and bitching and moaning and crying over negativity and the disturbing, disgusting, revolting, lying hate-mongers that push it constantly is over and done with as of the end of this article.
From now on, this blog is going to be all sunshine and light and happiness. That's right, and if you can't stand it, go turn on your TV and tune in to CNN, or surf your web browser out to Huffington's Post, or Google a speech by Al Gore or Obama, or buy a copy of the New York Times. Plenty of places for you to find bad news and get your fix.
But this blog of mine is changing it's tone and tenor, knowingly, willingly and intentionally. From now on, you can turn here when all the rest of the crap is just too much. When the market is down, the pols are lying to you, the pseudo-stars are self-destructing, wars are raging, crime is running rampant, the blood is spilling, and the talking heads are blah-blah-blahing about it all, and you need a refuge, this is where to turn.
After this entry, I am going to begin regularly posting stories of a generally positive nature. There will be human interest. There will be comedy. There will be food, fun and frivolity. There will be heroism and simple neighborliness. And most of all, there will be the two things without which there is no reason to live: family and faith.
There will still be the occasional political commentary when that is most appropriate, right around election times. But that commentary will be to the positive regarding individuals and ideas that I feel are important and uplifting, and will be presented in that light. No attacking, no mocking, no sabre-rattling here any longer. Just real ideas and real opinions and honest evaluation presented for the hoped-for betterment of our neighborhoods, our town, our nation.
The stories that I present here at the blog will not always be my own. Whenever I find something of interest out on the web and it fits the new theme of positivity, then I will share it as much in it's entirety as fits comfortably on this blog, with a link to any continuation at the original site, and with an appropriate acknowledgement of the original writer.
If there is anyone out there who decides to write something of their own that fits this positive, uplifting spirit, something involving family or faith or culture or humor or life, and who wishes to share it with others, feel free to submit the item to me here at the blog, and I will consider it for print. If anyone wishes to contribute regularly, let me know that too. My work and family time don't always enable me to come up with original postings as regularly as I would like.
Don't worry about murders, rapes, assaults, drug overdoses, celebrity misbehavior, political scandal, divorce, disaster, destruction, and death. They'll still be going on, and everyone from the local news to Entertainment Tonight will keep you informed if that is what you are looking for at any point.
But when you want to smile, to laugh, to learn, to be uplifted, come here to this blog and replenish your soul and your spirit. We need a place like that, a place that guarantees it on a daily basis. Hell, I need it, and so I am going to provide it to myself, for myself, and for anyone else who feels the same and who could use something good in their lives.
As I type this, the sun is shining. It's one of the most beautiful days around here in the past few weeks. Temperatures are moderate for early summer, humidity is low, a light breeze floats through the air. There is a sense of peace and serenity around me at this particular moment, and of refreshment and renewal. A lightness of being and a song in my heart. All that, and God is in His heaven. And that's just how we're going to keep it, at least around here.
Can I get an 'Amen'?
Book Review : Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
Product Details
Prince Aleksander, would-be heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, is on the run. His own people have turned on him. His title is worthless. All he has is a battletorn war machine and a loyal crew of men.
Deryn Sharp is a commoner, disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. She's a brilliant airman. But her secret is in constant danger of being discovered.
With World War I brewing, Alek and Deryn's paths cross in the most unexpected way…taking them on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure that will change both their lives forever.
Leviathan is a young adult fiction set in an alternate history World War I with Steampunk elements, wherein the Clankers are characterized by their use of mechanized war machines, while the Darwinists are characterized by their use of living creatures evolved specifically for war. The main characters in this story are the teenage son of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Prince Aleksander of Hohenburg and Deryn Sharp, a girl disguised as a boy in the British Air Service.
The story is written from two different perspectives --- Alek and Deryn's. Both of them really are great characters. Alek learns the way of survival the hard way when both his parents are assassinated and he must flee Austria or he too risks being murdered. Deryn is a spunky, intelligent and brilliant airman. However, her secret of being a girl is in constant danger of being discovered.
I think Scott Westerfeld has done a good job in presenting the characters in this story, and his rich description of the mechanical robots, fabricated animals and the "gigantic flying whale" --- Leviathan, which is actually made up of lots of different living creatures really captivates me. The story itself is full of adventures, twists and turns, political intrigues and various scientific creations. However, I think the ending of the story seems a little abrupt, with Dr. Barlow (Darwin's granddaughter) fostering three mysterious eggs, although I know that the author probably intends to explain more about that in the sequel.
The illustrations by Keith Thompson are plain gorgeous! I love them! His drawings fit the story perfectly.
I'd recommend this book to those who enjoy steampunk and science fiction, although I have a feeling that it is mainly oriented towards teenagers (both the main characters are 15 years old). Overall, Leviathan is an entertaining read and I look forward to reading the next book in the series!
Rating:
My deepest gratitude to Kathryn from Simon & Schuster UK Ltd for sending me a review copy of Leviathan! Thank you, Kathryn! :)
Simon & Schuster UK / Amazon / Barnes & Noble
Scott Westerfeld was born in Texas, and received a BA in philosophy from Vassar in 1985. He splits his time between New York City and Sydney, Australia. He is the author of Midnighters, Uglies, So Yesterday and Peeps. You can visit Scott Westerfeld's website to know more about him.
Watch the book trailer:
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
- Paperback: 448 pages
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1847386741
- ISBN-13: 978-1847386748
Deryn Sharp is a commoner, disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. She's a brilliant airman. But her secret is in constant danger of being discovered.
With World War I brewing, Alek and Deryn's paths cross in the most unexpected way…taking them on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure that will change both their lives forever.
Leviathan is a young adult fiction set in an alternate history World War I with Steampunk elements, wherein the Clankers are characterized by their use of mechanized war machines, while the Darwinists are characterized by their use of living creatures evolved specifically for war. The main characters in this story are the teenage son of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Prince Aleksander of Hohenburg and Deryn Sharp, a girl disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. The story is written from two different perspectives --- Alek and Deryn's. Both of them really are great characters. Alek learns the way of survival the hard way when both his parents are assassinated and he must flee Austria or he too risks being murdered. Deryn is a spunky, intelligent and brilliant airman. However, her secret of being a girl is in constant danger of being discovered.
I think Scott Westerfeld has done a good job in presenting the characters in this story, and his rich description of the mechanical robots, fabricated animals and the "gigantic flying whale" --- Leviathan, which is actually made up of lots of different living creatures really captivates me. The story itself is full of adventures, twists and turns, political intrigues and various scientific creations. However, I think the ending of the story seems a little abrupt, with Dr. Barlow (Darwin's granddaughter) fostering three mysterious eggs, although I know that the author probably intends to explain more about that in the sequel.
The illustrations by Keith Thompson are plain gorgeous! I love them! His drawings fit the story perfectly.
I'd recommend this book to those who enjoy steampunk and science fiction, although I have a feeling that it is mainly oriented towards teenagers (both the main characters are 15 years old). Overall, Leviathan is an entertaining read and I look forward to reading the next book in the series!
Rating:
My deepest gratitude to Kathryn from Simon & Schuster UK Ltd for sending me a review copy of Leviathan! Thank you, Kathryn! :)
Other versions:
Simon & Schuster UK / Amazon / Barnes & Noble
Watch the book trailer:
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Spies Among Us, Scumbag Congress Denies Food to Children of Unemployed - News Headlines 29 June 2010
*** Spies play games in America and scumbag Congress denies extension of unemployment benefits to desperate jobless in America.
Lucky Gen. McChrystal
From Denny: Gen. McChrystal is toast and was forced to retire. Lucky him that the President is such a decent guy. McChrystal would not have done the same for him if their roles had been reversed. Let's hope the general gets it and appreciates it over the years, not mistaking kindness for weakness.
The President made it possible to override Army regulations and helped McChrystal retire at four star status. Technically, he did not have enough time on the job to quality for retiring at the four star level. The four star level pension sure pays out a helluva lot better than the three star level. He should take this huge gift, shut up and disappear as quickly as he can before the President changes his mind.
Russian spies finally hauled in after FBI watches them for decade
Since I grew up in the American intelligence community I always get a good laugh when "the other side's" spies are found to be operating in our midst. Just like now, usually the FBI and the CIA have had tabs on them for some time. In this case, it's been over a decade of watching these bumbling Russian spies.
The media keeps asking the obvious questions like "They had no direct access to any high level information. What did Russia hope to gain? After all, they could find out all the information they wanted about President Obama's trips by Google search on the internet."
Of course, what the American media is missing is duh, the obvious. The Russian media is state owned and state run propaganda. In a word, the Russian intelligence community does not believe the media to be telling the truth. So, their inept old school handlers wanted these family spies to verify the American media information as truthful or not. The Russian handlers figured if their spies lived in America they would come to relate to and understand the American mindset and know if information was true as told.
This pathetic former Cold War spy ring really comes across as the last gasp of the Old Russia that just couldn't let go of their paranoid ways. These guys always were the ultimate control freaks so none of this surprises me. In the end, it all comes down to trust, of which the Russians have none. That's how their society has worked for decades, on fear and mistrust. In their minds, surely nothing could be as simple as doing a Google search. Earth to Russia: yes, it is.
OK, I've laughed enough at this one, moving along...
BP oil spill disaster and scummy corporate deeds
Oh, goodie, BP is now taking money out of the claims fund to funnel to their BP gas station owners because of the boycotts against BP. So now BP gas station owners are victims? You have got to be kidding me. BP should be paying them out of another fund and not the one for the fishermen and other business owners. Yet more scummy doings from the BP crowd.
As it is, they play games with the claims process even after Ken Feinberg got involved. Everything they do is arbitrary and delay, delay, delay for as long as they can until they get caught and profiled on some news story. Then they go into public relations over drive and churn out the glossy expensive New York ads to the tune of "me thinks thou dost protest too much."
Car sales plummet do to job loss
GM auto sales nosedived by 13 percent from last year when they were in the tubes. That is what happens when you take taxpayer stimulus money, claim to pay it back but actually just took another form of a taxpayer loan from the Federal Reserve, and then had the audacity to fire 5,000 employees. They sent those jobs overseas so obviously they still needed the work to be done. They were just too cheap to pay American workers. And these guys still think American's owe them brand loyalty? What drugs are they smoking?
Unemployment benefits denied by Congress who goes on holiday
The biggest shocker this week was Congress refusing to extend unemployment benefits to the millions of desperate people out there. Bankruptcies are way up as are home foreclosures. You can't keep squeezing people and the politicians think they will not pay some kind of price for their cruelty.
The American public is in an ugly mood and no longer mollified by inspiring words of hope or empty words about how this denial is good for the deficit. Try telling that to a hungry three year old crying because she can only eat one meal a day. Yeah, this is the same Congress that took away breakfast and lunch at America's public schools. Talk about people who will be burning in hell for eternity for such depraved indifference to the suffering of little children.
Financial Reform Deal in Doubt
House Rejects Unemployment Benefits Extension
Amid GOP Concerns About Debt and Deficit, House Vote on Extending Unemployment Benefits Fails; Another Vote Expected
Drilling Moratorium Costing Gulf Docks Business
BP Compensation Fund Not Likely to Cover Costs of Expected Losses if Obama Deepwater Moratorium Becomes Permanent
BP Meets U.S. Deadline for Oil Spill Payments
Oil Company Has Paid Gov't About $71 Million for Costs Associated With Cleanup
BP Tosses Lifeline to Gas Stations, Group Says
Energy Giant to Give up to $70M Local Stations, Suppliers Struggling Due to Boycotts, According to Industry Group
Moscow: Suspected Spies Include Russian Citizens
But Russia Urges Restraint, Insists Alleged Spies Did Nothing to Hurt U.S. Interests; State Department Plays Down Fallout
U.S. Officials Play Down U.S.-Russia Spy Fallout
White House, Pentagon Play Down Political Ramifications of Spy Ring Arrests; Obama Declines to Comment
Ex-KGB: Russia May Have 50 Spy Couples in U.S.
Cold War Defector Oleg Gordievsky Says Alleged Spy Ring May Extend Well Beyond Those Arrested
White House: McChrystal to Retire with 4 Stars
Ousted General Will Be Allowed to Retire as a Four Star General Despite Serving in that Position for Less Than a Year
A Good General Is Not Enough
Thomas Joscelyn: Winning in Afghanistan Will also Require Pressure on Pakistan.
Kagan Calm, Poised at Hearings - but Questions Linger
Cynicism in the Supreme Court Hearings
Ari Melber: Knocking Kagan’s Experience, the Republican Attack May Backfire
Auto Sales Slowing as Americans Doubt Recovery
Automakers Expected to Report Sales Decline Between 9.5 Percent, 12 Percent from May to June Later This Week
*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!
*** Come by for a visit and check out my other blogs:
The Social Poets
Dennys Global Politics
The Soul Calendar
Visual Insights
Beautiful Illustrated Quotations
Poems From A Spiritual Heart
The Healing Waters
Dennys Art Sanctuary
Romancing The Chocolate
Comfort Food From Louisiana
Unusual 2 Tasty
Dennys Blog Feeds
Dennys Funny Quotes
Ouch Outrageous Obnoxious And Odd
Lucky Gen. McChrystal
From Denny: Gen. McChrystal is toast and was forced to retire. Lucky him that the President is such a decent guy. McChrystal would not have done the same for him if their roles had been reversed. Let's hope the general gets it and appreciates it over the years, not mistaking kindness for weakness.
The President made it possible to override Army regulations and helped McChrystal retire at four star status. Technically, he did not have enough time on the job to quality for retiring at the four star level. The four star level pension sure pays out a helluva lot better than the three star level. He should take this huge gift, shut up and disappear as quickly as he can before the President changes his mind.
Russian spies finally hauled in after FBI watches them for decade
Since I grew up in the American intelligence community I always get a good laugh when "the other side's" spies are found to be operating in our midst. Just like now, usually the FBI and the CIA have had tabs on them for some time. In this case, it's been over a decade of watching these bumbling Russian spies.
The media keeps asking the obvious questions like "They had no direct access to any high level information. What did Russia hope to gain? After all, they could find out all the information they wanted about President Obama's trips by Google search on the internet."
Of course, what the American media is missing is duh, the obvious. The Russian media is state owned and state run propaganda. In a word, the Russian intelligence community does not believe the media to be telling the truth. So, their inept old school handlers wanted these family spies to verify the American media information as truthful or not. The Russian handlers figured if their spies lived in America they would come to relate to and understand the American mindset and know if information was true as told.
This pathetic former Cold War spy ring really comes across as the last gasp of the Old Russia that just couldn't let go of their paranoid ways. These guys always were the ultimate control freaks so none of this surprises me. In the end, it all comes down to trust, of which the Russians have none. That's how their society has worked for decades, on fear and mistrust. In their minds, surely nothing could be as simple as doing a Google search. Earth to Russia: yes, it is.
OK, I've laughed enough at this one, moving along...
BP oil spill disaster and scummy corporate deeds
Oh, goodie, BP is now taking money out of the claims fund to funnel to their BP gas station owners because of the boycotts against BP. So now BP gas station owners are victims? You have got to be kidding me. BP should be paying them out of another fund and not the one for the fishermen and other business owners. Yet more scummy doings from the BP crowd.
As it is, they play games with the claims process even after Ken Feinberg got involved. Everything they do is arbitrary and delay, delay, delay for as long as they can until they get caught and profiled on some news story. Then they go into public relations over drive and churn out the glossy expensive New York ads to the tune of "me thinks thou dost protest too much."
Car sales plummet do to job loss
GM auto sales nosedived by 13 percent from last year when they were in the tubes. That is what happens when you take taxpayer stimulus money, claim to pay it back but actually just took another form of a taxpayer loan from the Federal Reserve, and then had the audacity to fire 5,000 employees. They sent those jobs overseas so obviously they still needed the work to be done. They were just too cheap to pay American workers. And these guys still think American's owe them brand loyalty? What drugs are they smoking?
Unemployment benefits denied by Congress who goes on holiday
The biggest shocker this week was Congress refusing to extend unemployment benefits to the millions of desperate people out there. Bankruptcies are way up as are home foreclosures. You can't keep squeezing people and the politicians think they will not pay some kind of price for their cruelty.
The American public is in an ugly mood and no longer mollified by inspiring words of hope or empty words about how this denial is good for the deficit. Try telling that to a hungry three year old crying because she can only eat one meal a day. Yeah, this is the same Congress that took away breakfast and lunch at America's public schools. Talk about people who will be burning in hell for eternity for such depraved indifference to the suffering of little children.
Financial Reform Deal in Doubt
House Rejects Unemployment Benefits Extension
Amid GOP Concerns About Debt and Deficit, House Vote on Extending Unemployment Benefits Fails; Another Vote Expected
Drilling Moratorium Costing Gulf Docks Business
BP Compensation Fund Not Likely to Cover Costs of Expected Losses if Obama Deepwater Moratorium Becomes Permanent
BP Meets U.S. Deadline for Oil Spill Payments
Oil Company Has Paid Gov't About $71 Million for Costs Associated With Cleanup
BP Tosses Lifeline to Gas Stations, Group Says
Energy Giant to Give up to $70M Local Stations, Suppliers Struggling Due to Boycotts, According to Industry Group
Moscow: Suspected Spies Include Russian Citizens
But Russia Urges Restraint, Insists Alleged Spies Did Nothing to Hurt U.S. Interests; State Department Plays Down Fallout
U.S. Officials Play Down U.S.-Russia Spy Fallout
White House, Pentagon Play Down Political Ramifications of Spy Ring Arrests; Obama Declines to Comment
Ex-KGB: Russia May Have 50 Spy Couples in U.S.
Cold War Defector Oleg Gordievsky Says Alleged Spy Ring May Extend Well Beyond Those Arrested
White House: McChrystal to Retire with 4 Stars
Ousted General Will Be Allowed to Retire as a Four Star General Despite Serving in that Position for Less Than a Year
A Good General Is Not Enough
Thomas Joscelyn: Winning in Afghanistan Will also Require Pressure on Pakistan.
Kagan Calm, Poised at Hearings - but Questions Linger
Cynicism in the Supreme Court Hearings
Ari Melber: Knocking Kagan’s Experience, the Republican Attack May Backfire
Auto Sales Slowing as Americans Doubt Recovery
Automakers Expected to Report Sales Decline Between 9.5 Percent, 12 Percent from May to June Later This Week
*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!
*** Come by for a visit and check out my other blogs:
The Social Poets
Dennys Global Politics
The Soul Calendar
Visual Insights
Beautiful Illustrated Quotations
Poems From A Spiritual Heart
The Healing Waters
Dennys Art Sanctuary
Romancing The Chocolate
Comfort Food From Louisiana
Unusual 2 Tasty
Dennys Blog Feeds
Dennys Funny Quotes
Ouch Outrageous Obnoxious And Odd
Monday, June 28, 2010
Miley Cyrus Exclusive: No Underwear Pics and Photos
Here on Future Twits, we have an exclusive: NO UNDERWEAR PHOTOS AND PICS of Miley Cyrus !!!
Some of these were pulled straight from blogs like the Perez Hilton blog.
Scroll down and enjoy!!!
Yep, that's right folks, there are no pics of Miley Cyrus in her underwear here!!!
What kind of person are you, trying to look at a 17 year old girl in her underwear???
Teeth and omelets
When I was a baby, the pediatrician told my mother to feed me an egg every day. She tried. She cooked me an egg each day for years, but I refused to eat it. I hated the look, the smell, the texture and the taste. She never tried to force me — I think she just believed that one day I'd eat the egg, and all her efforts would pay off.
As an adult I came to like eggs. There were so many things you could with them. They were handy in baked goods and puddings. They could be whipped into meringues and cool frostings, dyed and decorated, or stirred into soup or fried rice. Or, they could just be cooked and eaten. Eggs could be a simple dish or a complex omelet or soufflé. Whenever I couldn't think of something to cook, I could always make an egg in one form or another. After I became a vegan I found ways to cook and bake without eggs, and really didn't miss them too much.
When tofu omelets started appearing all over the place, I was mildly intrigued, but I never got around to actually trying one — until today. My motivation wasn't to find a great egg substitute, it was to find a different soft food from the ones I'd been consuming all week. Please, no more cannelini beans and overcooked rice. No more frozen peas and spinach. No more mashed cauliflower. No more yogurt and bananas. You see, I had a back molar removed and was directed to eat soft foods. I've been in dental hell the past week after having my bad molar pried from my jaw. The root was fused to the bone and it took about an hour to get it out — in three pieces. (I was contemplating murdering the oral surgeon but he had all the sharp tools.) The dentist said my jaw would be sore for a couple of weeks. Of course I didn't believe him but here it is a week later and my jaw still aches. This seemed as good a time as any to try the tofu omelet from Vegan Brunch.
As I prepared my omelet, I started to really hope it would taste like an egg. It cooked perfectly, and I couldn't believe how much it looked like an actual omelet. In fact, it looked pretty much exactly like an omelet, and I had used black salt in the batter so the kitchen smelled like someone had been frying eggs. I really wanted to be able to gush about how it tasted just like an omelet, but it didn't. I admit I'm a little cranky and all, and maybe my opinion is a little rough at the moment, and maybe my expectations were too high given the amazing appearance and smell, but I thought the taste was kind of bland. Though I didn't think it tasted like egg, maybe with a little cheese melted inside, more salt sprinkled on top and a flavorful sauce, I'll change my mind. I will try again! (And I didn't not like it. It just wasn't what I was expecting.)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Odds and ends
Before the tooth extraction, while my husband was out of town, I threw together a few quick 'n dirty meals for my singular eating. Here are a couple that I photographed.
Potato, asparagus and soy curls
Grilled tofu on homemade sourdough toast with lettuce, tomato and avocado
This sandwich was so packed and unstable I had to hold it in order to take its picture.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Testing recipes
I've been kind of slacking in my recipe testing but here are two I've managed to try.
Jalapeños and friends pickling in a bowl
The finished jalapeños packed into a jar.
Baked doughnut holes
I've got a stash of the doughnut holes in the freezer, and I think I'll excuse myself now and go get one.
The Arc of a Man's Life - Senator Robert Byrd Passes Away at 92
West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd dead at 92
By ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press Writer Andrew Taylor, Associated Press Writer – Mon Jun 28, 6:02 am ET
WASHINGTON – Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia, a fiery orator versed in the classics and a hard-charging power broker who steered billions of federal dollars to the state of his Depression-era upbringing, died Monday. He was 92.
A spokesman for the family, Jesse Jacobs, said Byrd died peacefully at about 3 a.m. at Inova Hospital in Fairfax, Va. He had been in the hospital since late last week.
At first Byrd was believed to be suffering from heat exhaustion and severe dehydration, but other medical conditions developed. He had been in frail health for several years.
Byrd, a Democrat, was the longest-serving senator in history, holding his seat for more than 50 years. He was the Senate's majority leader for six of those years and was third in the line of succession to the presidency, behind House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Sen. Jay Rockefeller, a fellow West Virginian in the Senate, said it was his "greatest privilege" to serve with Byrd.
"I looked up to him, I fought next to him, and I am deeply saddened that he is gone," Rockefeller said.
In comportment and style, Byrd often seemed a Senate throwback to a courtlier 19th century. He could recite poetry, quote the Bible, discuss the Constitutional Convention and detail the Peloponnesian Wars — and frequently did in Senate debates.
Yet there was nothing particularly courtly about Byrd's pursuit or exercise of power.
Byrd was a master of the Senate's bewildering rules and longtime chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, which controls a third of the $3 trillion federal budget. He was willing to use both to reward friends and punish those he viewed as having slighted him.
"Bob is a living encyclopedia, and legislative graveyards are filled with the bones of those who underestimated him," former House Speaker Jim Wright, D-Texas, once said in remarks Byrd later displayed in his office.
Rest of obituary at link above.
The President Comments on Byrd:
President Barack Obama says the country has lost a voice of principle and reason with the passing of Sen. Robert C. Byrd.
In a statement, Obama says Byrd had a profound passion for the Senate, and held the deepest respect for members of both parties. Obama says that as a young senator, he appreciated Byrd’s generosity with his time and advice.
He said that Byrd, in his words, was “as much a part of the Senate as the marble busts that line its chambers and corridors.”
Speaking earlier in the day at an event in Louisville, Ky., Vice President Joe Biden remembered Byrd as a tough, compassionate leader and said the Senate “is a lesser place for his going.”
The President wrote about Byrd in Audacity of Hope:
That said, Obama was well aware of how compelling it was to work alongside someone who, just a few decades earlier, had vigorously fought the very notion that an African-American should share the same rights as his white colleagues. In his book "Audacity of Hope", he wrote -- with wonder more than reverence -- of his first meeting with Byrd:
Listening to Senator Byrd I felt with full force all the essential contradictions of me in this new place, with its marble busts, its arcane traditions, its memories and its ghosts. I pondered the fact that, according to his own autobiography, Senator Byrd had received his first taste of leadership in his early twenties, as a member of the Raleigh County Ku Klux Klan, an association that he had long disavowed, an error he attributed -- no doubt correctly -- to the time and place in which he'd been raised, but which continued to surface as an issue throughout his career. I thought about how he had joined other giants of the Senate, like J. William Fulbright of Arkansas and Richard Russell of Georgia, in Southern resistance to civil rights legislation. I wondered if this would matter to the liberals who now lionized Senator Byrd for his principled opposition to the Iraq War resolution -- the MoveOn.org crowd, the heirs of the political counterculture the senator had spent much of his career disdaining.
I wondered if it should matter. Senator Byrd's life -- like most of ours -- has been the struggle of warring impulses, a twining of darkness and light. And in that sense I realized that he really was a proper emblem for the Senate, whose rules and design reflect the grand compromise of America's founding: the bargain between Northern states and Southern states, the Senate's role as a guardian against the passions of the moment, a defender of minority rights and state sovereignty, but also a tool to protect the wealthy from the rabble, and assure slaveholders of noninterference with their peculiar institution. Stamped into the very fiber of the Senate, within its genetic code, was the same contest between power and principle that characterized America as a whole, a lasting expression of that great debate among a few brilliant, flawed men that had concluded with the creation of a form of government unique in its genius--yet blind to the whip and the chain.
Those who always bring up Byrd's membership in the KKK, yes, it gives me pause. But, the man lived a long enough life to show the arc of it. Unlike a Jesse Helms, who, til the bitter end, acted like he longed for the America of slavery and Jim Crow, Robert Byrd had a long enough legislative life for me to believe that he had evolved. That he had gained wisdom for his previous choices, and to believe that he had come to regret those earlier choices.
RIP, Senator Byrd. You served West Virginia well.
The Supreme Court Says the 2nd Amendment Applies to All Citizens
High Court Rules in Favor of Gun Rights
By NATHAN KOPPEL
WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court ruled for the first time that gun possession is fundamental to American freedom, giving federal judges power to strike down state and local weapons laws for violating the Second Amendment.
In a 5-4 ruling, the court held that the Second Amendment's right to keep and bear arms is a fundamental right that binds states.
"Self defense is a basic right, recognized by many legal systems from ancient times to the present day," wrote Justice Samuel Alito. He was joined in reaching the result by Chief Justice John Roberts and justices Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.
The legal question before the court had much to do with questions of constitutional history. Before the Civil War, courts held that the Bill of Rights applied only to the federal government. After the Union victory, the Reconstruction amendments were adopted to elevate individual rights over state powers and cement the federal role in enforcing them.
I think I'm to the right of the rest of the bloggers here on this issue, but I agree with this ruling completely.
The only people in America, that cannot legally obtain firearms, are law abiding urban dwellers like me.
Suburban folks have them.
Rural folks have them.
The criminals that run rampant in urban areas CERTAINLY have them - the gun restriction laws have never slowed THEM down.
I'm not saying that I will run out and purchase a gun. The point for me was, if I wanted to, I should be able to, as a law abiding citizen of this country.
Coming to an urban area near you: the Crispus Attucks Gun Club.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Posts Roundup of Dennys 14 Blogs - 27 June 2010
*** Check out news, political opinion - serious and funny cartoons, recipes, science and health news, poetry, funny posts, photography, spiritual thoughts and great quotes.
Cup of coffee from Brazil by il Quoquo @ flickr
The Social Poets:
Dark Humor: BP Oil Spill Cartoons - 26 June 2010
Fourth of July When Life is Simple poem - Libations Friday 25 June 2010
Pentagon Junkyard Dogs Bow to Obama Pressure
Funny Lawyer Quotes and Jokes - Cheeky Quote Day 23 June 2010
Gen. McChrystal Out For Crudely Dissing The President
Roundup of Late Night Funnies - 21 June 2010
Funny Video: Colberts The Word, Stay the Course
Funny Video: Colberts Simplified Version of Obama's BP Oil Spill Speech
Funny Video: Colbert Examines America's Strained Relationship With England
Funny Video: Stewarts Take On America's Oil Dependence
Funny Video: Stewart Calls Joe Barton A 'Disdainful A--hole'
Posts Roundup at Dennys 14 Blogs - 20 June 2010
Dennys Global Politics:
American and World Politics Cartoons - 26 June 2010
Unemployed Americans Screwed by the Republicans Again - News Headlines 24 June 2010
McChrystal as Dems Political Disaster - News Headlines - 22 June 2010
The Healing Waters:
Living Art Exhibit: Public Play at NY Times Square Pianos
Exploding Number of Young Widows in the World
Good News: Kids Sell Lemon Aid 4 Pelicans Hurt in the Gulf
Poems From A Spiritual Heart:
An Audience of One
10 Funny Posts For a Laugh - 23 June 2010
Life is About Everything
Stepping Through Life
Hope Transforms
Jazz Music
The Soul Calendar:
Big Oil Nixs Competing Aviation BioFuel: NASAs Project OMEGA
Romancing The Chocolate:
Cake Tuesday: Coffee Toffee Fudge Cake, Tunnel of Fudge Cake
Muffin Monday: Pina Colada Muffins
Unusual 2 Tasty:
Muffin Monday: Polynesian Bread or Muffins, Gluten Free Pineapple Muffin
Muffin Monday: Savory Feta, Roasted Pepper Basil Muffins From Sur La Table
Comfort Food From Louisiana:
Cake Tuesday: Fresh Peach Coffee Cake
Muffin Monday: Banana Praline Muffins, White Chocolate Banana Bread
Ouch Outrageous Obnoxious And Odd:
Funny Legal News Story: The Case of a Contraceptives Misstaken Use
Funny Cartoon: What to Wear For Employee Review
Dennys Funny Quotes:
Funny General McChrystal Cartoons - 26 June 2010
10 Funny Signs and 10 Funny Short Jokes
Visual Insights:
Dennys Photo Gallery: Fourth of July Watermelon
*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!
*** Come by for a visit and check out my other blogs:
The Social Poets
Dennys Global Politics
The Soul Calendar
Visual Insights
Beautiful Illustrated Quotations
Poems From A Spiritual Heart
The Healing Waters
Dennys Art Sanctuary
Romancing The Chocolate
Comfort Food From Louisiana
Unusual 2 Tasty
Dennys Blog Feeds
Dennys Funny Quotes
Ouch Outrageous Obnoxious And Odd
Cup of coffee from Brazil by il Quoquo @ flickr
The Social Poets:
Dark Humor: BP Oil Spill Cartoons - 26 June 2010
Fourth of July When Life is Simple poem - Libations Friday 25 June 2010
Pentagon Junkyard Dogs Bow to Obama Pressure
Funny Lawyer Quotes and Jokes - Cheeky Quote Day 23 June 2010
Gen. McChrystal Out For Crudely Dissing The President
Roundup of Late Night Funnies - 21 June 2010
Funny Video: Colberts The Word, Stay the Course
Funny Video: Colberts Simplified Version of Obama's BP Oil Spill Speech
Funny Video: Colbert Examines America's Strained Relationship With England
Funny Video: Stewarts Take On America's Oil Dependence
Funny Video: Stewart Calls Joe Barton A 'Disdainful A--hole'
Posts Roundup at Dennys 14 Blogs - 20 June 2010
Dennys Global Politics:
American and World Politics Cartoons - 26 June 2010
Unemployed Americans Screwed by the Republicans Again - News Headlines 24 June 2010
McChrystal as Dems Political Disaster - News Headlines - 22 June 2010
The Healing Waters:
Living Art Exhibit: Public Play at NY Times Square Pianos
Exploding Number of Young Widows in the World
Good News: Kids Sell Lemon Aid 4 Pelicans Hurt in the Gulf
Poems From A Spiritual Heart:
An Audience of One
10 Funny Posts For a Laugh - 23 June 2010
Life is About Everything
Stepping Through Life
Hope Transforms
Jazz Music
The Soul Calendar:
Big Oil Nixs Competing Aviation BioFuel: NASAs Project OMEGA
Romancing The Chocolate:
Cake Tuesday: Coffee Toffee Fudge Cake, Tunnel of Fudge Cake
Muffin Monday: Pina Colada Muffins
Unusual 2 Tasty:
Muffin Monday: Polynesian Bread or Muffins, Gluten Free Pineapple Muffin
Muffin Monday: Savory Feta, Roasted Pepper Basil Muffins From Sur La Table
Comfort Food From Louisiana:
Cake Tuesday: Fresh Peach Coffee Cake
Muffin Monday: Banana Praline Muffins, White Chocolate Banana Bread
Ouch Outrageous Obnoxious And Odd:
Funny Legal News Story: The Case of a Contraceptives Misstaken Use
Funny Cartoon: What to Wear For Employee Review
Dennys Funny Quotes:
Funny General McChrystal Cartoons - 26 June 2010
10 Funny Signs and 10 Funny Short Jokes
Visual Insights:
Dennys Photo Gallery: Fourth of July Watermelon
*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!
*** Come by for a visit and check out my other blogs:
The Social Poets
Dennys Global Politics
The Soul Calendar
Visual Insights
Beautiful Illustrated Quotations
Poems From A Spiritual Heart
The Healing Waters
Dennys Art Sanctuary
Romancing The Chocolate
Comfort Food From Louisiana
Unusual 2 Tasty
Dennys Blog Feeds
Dennys Funny Quotes
Ouch Outrageous Obnoxious And Odd
Saturday, June 26, 2010
American and World Politics Cartoons - 26 June 2010
*** More Bozo Sapien Awards given out to world politicians and Big Business CEOs in their never-ending journey of how to embarrass themselves and their countries.
From Denny: BP's CEO Tony Hayward and all of Britain is deliriously happy that General McChrystal's idiot two-month long interview with The Rolling Stone Magazine got them off the front pages of the news - for now. Leave it to Hayward to do and say something else as heartless and insensitive as last week. Give him time; he will do it again - and again. The guy can't help himself as his ego is that bloated with self-importance and arrogance.
He's the one giving Britain a bad name. Not even the quality people like former First Lady Cherie Blair, of The Loomba Foundation, can be in the news enough to counter the bad taste in the mouth for Americans on the Gulf Coast of Britain's rush to take care of themselves first and always.
By the way, Cherie Blair's foundation is concerned about the plight of young widows with children all over the world, numbering in the millions. See this post at The Healing Waters blog: Exploding Number of Young Widows in the World This Brit is a class act. She exemplifies what is the best from the United Kingdom juxtaposed to Hayward's worst example of low character depravity.
Back to politicians and leaders embarrassing themselves in the news... The latest insult is to claim that Afghanistan has over $1 trillion in unmined mineral deposits just to justify to war weary regular Americans to stay in the war longer. Remember that same Pentagon argument for the Iraq War? They promised the oil fields of Iraq would defray the cost and even completely pay for the Iraq War if only America would invade Iraq.
Now, years later, at the cost of $9 billion a month we are still bleeding money from the national treasury and spilling the blood of our soldiers in this stupid war. Now the Pentagon and Big Business came up with another lunatic ad promotion to sell the public on staying in Afghanistan because we will all get rich as we send our Big Business mine owners over there to mine for America. Is there truly anyone left in America stupid and gullible enough to believe these stink-to-High-Heaven lies?
See Cartoons by Cartoon by Patrick Chappatte - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon
See Cartoons by Cartoon by David Fitzsimmons - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon
See Cartoons by Cartoon by David Fitzsimmons - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon
Media:
See Cartoons by Cartoon by David Fitzsimmons - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon
The BP Oil Spill has taught us all over the world it's time to get serious about moving into alternative cleaner energy and away from fossil fuels. It's also time for every person on this planet to scream and protest all their leaders until their governments take up the charge into the future.
And the biggest loser this week? America's unemployed because the Greed Over Principle Republicans spit on every unemployed American desperate to put a roof over their heads and put food on the table. There should be a wall of shame publicly displayed of all the unpatriotic Americans who voted not to extend unemployment benefits to fellow Americans in need.
*** See Also more cartoons of the day: Dark Humor: BP Oil Spill Cartoons - 26 June 2010
*** See Also more cartoons of the day: Funny General McChrystal Cartoons - 26 June 2010
*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!
*** Come by for a visit and check out my other blogs:
The Social Poets
Dennys Global Politics
The Soul Calendar
Visual Insights
Beautiful Illustrated Quotations
Poems From A Spiritual Heart
The Healing Waters
Dennys Art Sanctuary
Romancing The Chocolate
Comfort Food From Louisiana
Unusual 2 Tasty
Dennys Blog Feeds
Dennys Funny Quotes
Ouch Outrageous Obnoxious And Odd
From Denny: BP's CEO Tony Hayward and all of Britain is deliriously happy that General McChrystal's idiot two-month long interview with The Rolling Stone Magazine got them off the front pages of the news - for now. Leave it to Hayward to do and say something else as heartless and insensitive as last week. Give him time; he will do it again - and again. The guy can't help himself as his ego is that bloated with self-importance and arrogance.
He's the one giving Britain a bad name. Not even the quality people like former First Lady Cherie Blair, of The Loomba Foundation, can be in the news enough to counter the bad taste in the mouth for Americans on the Gulf Coast of Britain's rush to take care of themselves first and always.
By the way, Cherie Blair's foundation is concerned about the plight of young widows with children all over the world, numbering in the millions. See this post at The Healing Waters blog: Exploding Number of Young Widows in the World This Brit is a class act. She exemplifies what is the best from the United Kingdom juxtaposed to Hayward's worst example of low character depravity.
Back to politicians and leaders embarrassing themselves in the news... The latest insult is to claim that Afghanistan has over $1 trillion in unmined mineral deposits just to justify to war weary regular Americans to stay in the war longer. Remember that same Pentagon argument for the Iraq War? They promised the oil fields of Iraq would defray the cost and even completely pay for the Iraq War if only America would invade Iraq.
Now, years later, at the cost of $9 billion a month we are still bleeding money from the national treasury and spilling the blood of our soldiers in this stupid war. Now the Pentagon and Big Business came up with another lunatic ad promotion to sell the public on staying in Afghanistan because we will all get rich as we send our Big Business mine owners over there to mine for America. Is there truly anyone left in America stupid and gullible enough to believe these stink-to-High-Heaven lies?
See Cartoons by Cartoon by Patrick Chappatte - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon
See Cartoons by Cartoon by David Fitzsimmons - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon
See Cartoons by Cartoon by David Fitzsimmons - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon
Media:
See Cartoons by Cartoon by David Fitzsimmons - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon
The BP Oil Spill has taught us all over the world it's time to get serious about moving into alternative cleaner energy and away from fossil fuels. It's also time for every person on this planet to scream and protest all their leaders until their governments take up the charge into the future.
And the biggest loser this week? America's unemployed because the Greed Over Principle Republicans spit on every unemployed American desperate to put a roof over their heads and put food on the table. There should be a wall of shame publicly displayed of all the unpatriotic Americans who voted not to extend unemployment benefits to fellow Americans in need.
*** See Also more cartoons of the day: Dark Humor: BP Oil Spill Cartoons - 26 June 2010
*** See Also more cartoons of the day: Funny General McChrystal Cartoons - 26 June 2010
*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!
*** Come by for a visit and check out my other blogs:
The Social Poets
Dennys Global Politics
The Soul Calendar
Visual Insights
Beautiful Illustrated Quotations
Poems From A Spiritual Heart
The Healing Waters
Dennys Art Sanctuary
Romancing The Chocolate
Comfort Food From Louisiana
Unusual 2 Tasty
Dennys Blog Feeds
Dennys Funny Quotes
Ouch Outrageous Obnoxious And Odd
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)