October 12, 2009 archive

WH throws everyone under bus?

Just finished my blog reading and found this over at AMERICAblog News:

NBC just did a piece about today’s gay rights march in Washington. For the political context of the gay community’s ire, NBC went to Chief Washington Correspondent John Harwood. Harwood was asked if the White House was worried about “the left as a whole,” and concerns they have that the White House isn’t doing things that “the left” expected them to do. Harwood said the following:

   Barack Obama is doing well with 90% or more of Democrats so the White House views this opposition as really part of the Internet left fringe.

Harwood then went on to say:

   For a sign of how seriously the White House does or doesn’t take this opposition, one adviser told me those bloggers need to take off the pajamas, get dressed, and realize that governing a closely divided country is complicated and difficult.

So the gay community, and its concerns about President Obama’s inaction, and backtracking, on DADT and DOMA, are now, according to President Obama’s White House, part of a larger “fringe” that acts like small children who play in their pajamas and need to grow up. (And a note to our readers: The White House just included all of you in that loony “left fringe.“)

Now, I’m not one to cry wolf.  The actual quote came from NBC’s Chief White House Correspondent, John Harwood.  However, note that Harwood cites that he spoke with a WH advisor who slammed us “internet people”.

So, let’s start there…

Overnight Caption Contest

The Sad and Sorry State of Justice in America

Previously posted elsewhere.

It’s been pointed out to me that I haven’t written a diary in a long while advocating for reform of the criminal justice system. The reasons for that are many. I don’t believe we will see meaningful reform of prisons or the Criminal Justice system until we first reform government and society. If our politicians are overwhelmingly corrupt, and they are, and if you can’t get people to care about bombing innocent people for no good reason or torturing people who may or may not have done anything wrong, and apparently you can’t, what are the chances of getting them to care about the systematic mistreatment of ‘criminals’? I have considerable experience in this matter and I can tell you the chances are slim. I guess I am guilty of feeling a certain amount of despair over the issue. Nevertheless, it is worth a try, and it is fair to say that I am remiss in not having done more to advocate for reform of what is a horrendously screwed up system.

exercise-yard-holman-prison

Pique the Geek 20091011. The Things we Eat: Preserving Food I – Overview

Food preservation is as old as humankind, and actually predates us.  Animals are known to preserve food in a crude fashion, from dogs burying bones to squirrels stashing away nuts and acorns for later consumption.  Strictly speaking, that is not really food preservation but rather food stockpiling, but the two are extensively connected.

Our hunter/gatherer ancestors began to preserve food with the discovery and taming of fire.  The mere act of cooking meat has a preservative effect, especially when the meat is cooked to near dryness.  Drying food in the sun was also certainly practiced in warmer climates, and freezing food for later use was and still is done by nomads in the Arctic regions.

With the advent of agriculture the need for preservation of food on a large scale became essential to provide sustenance during times of crop failure, especially for grain crops.  Grains are fairly easy to preserve since they are dry, so keeping them dry and vermin out of them are the keys.  It is thought that the cat became domesticated around this time.

This series will examine various food preservation methods from the ancient to the modern, including an extensive installment on chemical preservatives.  Some of these have gotten bad press undeservedly, and some are not as safe as commonly thought.

NWO News

Iran Strike by December

http://politicaltheatrics.org/…

Pigs definitely do not fly.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/blo…

No health insurance for gun owners.

http://gunowners.org/a100909.htm

Buy hair care products?  Watch out for the FBI!

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Blot…

Excellent video from a Russian KGB defector on how to demoralize people.  He should know and it sounds just like America today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…

China admits messing with the weather

http://in.reuters.com/article/…

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