ok, so......let the tour begin....... 

deja vu all over again......

ok, so...the tour de france starts tomorrow under a larger cloud than the one the year that the festiva team was banned for doping....sadly, the potential for glory seemed worth the risk to so many riders....we are waiting for the dust to settle before we revisit the official tour web page.....just days ago we printed out the team rosters, along with color picutres of the team jerseys...just to get us psyched.....at some point we'll have to break out the black marker to strike the names of the disqualified....one has to give credit to the tour organizers for taking such drastic measures...anything less would have tainted the sport.......but.......but.....the notion that folks that have waited patiently for lance to retire cannot compete is just too tragic to be real......yes, i'll watch my mother's taped stages.....as i do every year....but i cannot imagine that a day will go by without at least one of the commentators lamneting on the 2006 race that should have been........

all good things come to an end.....

ok, so i have been listening as much as practical to a nelly furtado duet with chris martin that did not make it on her newest cd.......all good things come to an end........very acoustic and sweet.....considering the subject.......givne that i already have fond feelings for her crazy......also from her new cd.......i might just have to buy this cd.......her strumming makes me happy.......i spent the evening weeding my walk......an annoying if necessary task......it is time to remove the crumbling mortar and repave.......if done in short spans if could be done before the return of the native......a reasonable carrot before my cart, is suppose....along with daily 60 minute walks in prep for our big hike....getting close to the 30 day mark......may have to work up to 120 minute walks on the treadmill.......twice a day?.........believe it or not....none of the afore mentioned topics prompted this blog.......it was the sight of the butterfly on the geranium as i was watering the plants with yet another cheap nozzle for the hose......a bright yellow and black insect.....that i immediately took for a monarch...my daughter thinsk it was a monarch wanna-be....and since we have no camera at home these days.......everybody else has either one of our digitals...or their own that they won't lend out........go figure.......we are hesitant to buy another until we see just how good the newest purchase (the middle child took a 7 pixal to russia) turned out.....if his pictures are good we'll just buy another just like it.....but for now.......not even a camera phone on the premises to prove the butterfly theory......no matter....seeing the brilliant creature stopped time for me ever-so-briefly.....and such moments are priceless........and are above tangible evidence......

the supremes put bush in his place......

ok, so...this is the succinct version of the supreme court decision re: bush's war crimes tribunals....The Court’s conclusion ultimately rests upon a single ground: Congress has not issued the Executive a “blank check.” . . . Nothing prevents the President from returning to Congress to seek the authority he believes necessary. Where, as here, no emergency prevents consultation with Congress, judicial insistence upon that consultation does not weaken our Nation’s ability to deal with danger. To the contrary, that insistence strengthens the Nation’s ability to determine — through democratic means — how best to do so. The Constitution places its faith in those democratic means. Our Court today simply does the same.....which basically means that bush was elected president...and not king......

breasts......

ok, so.....my spouse revealed this evening that a couple we know....know, but not know well have been embroiled in loud discussions of late about whether it follows that if one spouse has an expensive bike the other deserves breast augmentation........omg......what a feable reason to inflate one's body beyond reason.....no woman who has large breasts would wish for anything but a reduced bra size......we women who fit this description dream of the day when we can afford to have that reduction surgury...and be able to comfortably sleep without figuring out where to put those pesky mammaries.......this revelation is almost too much information for me.....because now i will pay way too much attention to the goods in question...and wonder whether they are real or pretend........

easily amused........

ok, so.......i admit that it doesn't take much to make me laugh out loud...but the npr mention of rush limbaugh getting stopped at a fla airport for possessing viagra in a vial not his own was just too funny........on so many levels......i am still giggling......cannot possibly blog the notions going through my brain.......oh lord, make these horrid visions stop...............

ok, so......... 

ok, so this from the washington post.....Marla Olmstead, 6, at the opening of her first show on the West Coast. One of her abstract works is priced at $25,000. .......i am embarassed to say that i like her work........ 

ok, so.....i may never get around to buying this book...given the ages of my children.....but i will sleep sounder at night knowing that it is out there....... 

speaking of crazy republicans......

ok, so i almost choked on my bottled water this afternoon coming home from work....on the news that the senator from our fair state, mitch mcconnell......is opposed to a consitutional ban on flag-burning and has teamed up with a democratic senator to quash the movement in this session of congress.......wow...this is huge...me and mitch on the same page.......not that i have any plans to burn flags......i simply oppose any restrictions on free speech......here's how thomas jefferson himself out it....'I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.'......sounds like mitch has an ulterior motive....is he thinking about a white house run....as a moderate?........lightening is soon to strike.....i'd best move on................

the result could have been predicted.......

ok, so gov ernie had numerous websites blocked today to increase the efficiency of the 34,000 state and otherwise public employees.....and as always happens when censorship is invoked......readership goes up from the attention paid......without ernie's decree, i would nevber have known about this site....the only one i bothered to look up......curiously, e.f. also banned a bible-study website......i guess there are those who catch up on their sunday school lessons at work.......

the color of cows.....

ok, so last evening i made a fast trip to lexington..........up and back in under 2 hours.......for 3 really good hugs......yeah, i did unlock my eldest's car door sp he could get into his house....but i'd have driven all that way just for the hugs........the sun was setting at just the angle to make the cows in the fields almost glow.......and just what color were those etherial beasts?.....roan, terracotta......brick?.......none of these shades sound quite right......flat rather than glossy.......i cannot recall seing so many cows of any color until that drive....it was as if the horses had been sequestered in alternative fields so that the cows were on display for the length of 68 and 33..pastoral......like a continuous turner landscape......world cafe was on for the return trip.....good songs, pleasant scenery,...driving such a distance is what one does for one's loved ones......and the pleasure of a midsummer drive in twilight was priceless.......

ok, so this from the wires...... A dazzling gold-flecked 1907 portrait by Gustav Klimt has been purchased for the Neue Galerie in Manhattan by the cosmetics magnate Ronald S. Lauder for $135 million, the highest sum ever paid for a painting.

The portrait, of Adele Bloch-Bauer, the wife of a Jewish sugar industrialist and the hostess of a prominent Vienna salon, is considered one of the artist's masterpieces. For years, it was the focus of a restitution battle between the Austrian government and a niece of Mrs. Bloch-Bauer who argued that it was seized along with four other Klimt paintings by the Nazis during World War II. In January all five paintings were awarded to the niece, Maria Altmann, now 90, who lives in Los Angeles, and other family members. ....meanmamma notes: i hope that mr lauder displays this picture at his neue gallery in manhattan.....it is on my list of things to see when i can manage to visit the east again....... 

better blog this one from home.....

ok, so.....the lexington herald leader reported this morning that gov e.f. rides in a security-driven town car to and from work every morning....despite the distance between the two being measurable in hundreds...rather than thousands...of feet......at best a walk of less than 10 minutes, even for the out-of-shape.....the gov has blamed security for this, as if his safety for such a distance can justify the waste of so many gallons of gas for his 'commute'......heck, the security driver could escort him, armed with an ak-47 if need be.....couldn't he?.......and the first lady could provide double-cover by sitting on the front porch with her own automatic weapon.....the walk is withing full view of both the office he is leaving and the gov mansion he calls home.......frankly, in this day of suicide car bombers.....i would worry just as much about old e.f. getting into a car than i would about him walking.....and snipers could pick him off regardless of his mode of transport.....not that i have such plans......i am just saying that he should be ashamed to ride rather than walk next door.......

out for a movie.....

ok, so the three of us still at home went out for a movie last evening.....to see pixar/disney's cars....one expects a lot of both moviemakers......and pixar certainly didn't disappoint.....wow......the level of animation acheived is beyond words...especially compared to the previews for less technologically advanced animated flicks......i have not read reviews of this newish release.......only that it has done decent box office......but i cannot imagine that there could be many detractors.......cars is a film that works on many levels.....especially in the nascar-crazy south......and if one happens to be a paul newman fan......his voicing of the 50's era hudson was a double-bonus.......the curious downside of the outing was the interruptions.....my daughter must have gotten up 4 times to do something of immediate importance....from buying herself a soda...to throwing away the paper cover from the straw....to 2 separate bathroom breaks.....i suppose at 13 the lure of who might be in the lobby was more powerful a draw than the movie she had come to see.........which seemed in her mind to be negotiable even after the tickets had been purchased.......'couldn't we just go to see garfield, instead?......'...or the 'flying jack wrestler movie?......'........not a chance....the next movie that could possibly lure me away from my cozy abode is the pirates of the carribean installment, due out in july.......i could even be persuaded to wait in line of tickets to see johnny depp dress up as jack sparrow one more time.......

no blogging on the job.....

ok, so...i read in the lex herald leader that gov e.f. was so upset about the bloggers going after his legal troubles that he has authorized the state computer support people to make it so no one can access blogs while at work.....i am not sure how this will work....and i am not sure that this really affects me.....i have refrained from blogging on my lunch hour or before/after work just because i didn't want to have a cybertrail to my on-line journal.....not that i have blogged about work to any extent.....but just on general principle......and it seems that i was right to be cautious...now that big brother e.f. may be reading in......mostly my desktop is set to google.....and at lunch i read the advocate online......or i will until e.f.deems that paper too liberal for his taste.......

conditioning......

ok, so i need to clarify that i am, in fact, working on physical conditioning in preparation of this 13 mile hike.......short walks on work breaks.....nightly treadmill walks......cutting back on extras like that 3rd glass of wine......i will not be the one who cannot manage to finish this walk.......good thing i have 40 days to get ready.....

ok, so this is the cabin we are renting near roan mountain, tn for our 13 mile A.T. hike in early august......it is just darling.......not near our friends, but the next best thing....... 

sweet peas.....

ok, so i am easily amused.......and i will admit to being downright giddy to discover that at least 1 clump of sweetpeas that i planted early in the spring has sprung forth with blooms.....on the pyramidal garden feature....next to the clematis that did not bloom...go figure......the sweet peas in question are cherry red....and so very quaint......the garden has morphed from the creams and pinks of rose season to the oranges and yellows of daylilies, coreopsis, and rubdekia.......the daisies i grew from seeds (heirloom seeds dating back to the lewis and clark expedition as purchased at monticello) are still blooming, but they became so tall they drooped under their own weight.....and are now somewhat deformed and difficult to display in a vase......oy......not that the roses are completely gone...frau karl druschki is just beginning to bloom.....i bought this lovely hybrid perpetual at the aldi's for $3.99...no fragrance...just lovely and large creamy blooms.....i must baby it in hopes of getting an actual rebloom....as promised by the descriptive....perpetual.......and the 4 musk roses.....robin hood (3) and belinda (1) at the corners of the house are still going strong.......curious that we have had no beetles....knock on wood for luck.......all this garden banter is preferable to a recollection of my day at work.......the highlight....hmm.....none, rather a series of lowpoints......such as the woman who just had her 4th baby......and brought him home in time for her spouse to leave her for a 16-year-old.......she had a hormone patch over his name that was tatooed on her arm......a curious juxtaposition.......for the words ortho evra to partially obliterate the name james........surrounded by....roses in pastel pinks......just too sad........

in world cup tie is the new win.....

ok, so this piece was on npr on my drive home......treat yourself to a listen if you missed it.......

today is another day.......

ok, so......i walked 2 miles this evening....and then another mile later just for good measure..the day after walking three at once......trying to get in shape for our (still hopeful) 13 mile appalachian trail hike in august.....i work better with solid goals like that......a reason to walk is better than just minutes passing by on the treadmill.......

this from the daily kos....

ok, so....mm is just too old and tired after her heated walk for original thoughts this morning........Lurking just over the horizon are liabilities for three Republicans who have topped several national, independent polls for the GOP's favorite 2008 nominee: Sen. John McCain (affair, divorce), former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (affair, divorce, affair, divorce), and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani (divorce, affair, nasty divorce). Together, they form the most maritally challenged crop of presidential hopefuls in American political history [...]

Just a few years after infidelity was considered a dealbreaker for a presidential candidate, the party that presents itself as the arbiter of virtue may field an unprecedented two-timing trifecta.

from the onion....

ok, so i needed this belly-laugh-producing piece this morning...

Fan-Favorite First Season Of Bush Administration Released On DVD

June 20, 2006 | Issue 42•25

WASHINGTON, DC—Responding to growing demand, the Bush Administration has announced that their popular and critically acclaimed first season will be made available as a 12-DVD set later this summer. "We're including everything we experienced as it was meant to be seen, from the magnificent inauguration to the dark days of the World Trade Center attack," according to a statement released by the administration. "See the classic cast of characters you loved—Rove, Ashcroft, Laura, and even the president himself—in the roles that made you love them." Viewers have criticized the Bush Administration's recent seasons for uninspired cast changes and convoluted plots, but most say they are still eagerly awaiting the scheduled 2008 finale.

too old.......

ok, so i walked 3 miles in 90+ degree heat......at the running community's annual twinkie event.......twinkies are given as prizes.....i believe the concept used to run deeper at some point, but that lore has been lost over these past 20 years....the potluck after is always the best part..especially if someone brings deviled eggs......you would think that i would take the time to make these delicacies, as much as i adore them....but then i am old and lazy......and now that i am home....i am tired, my feet hurt, and i am going to bed

gov's troubles threaten gop in ky

ok, so this headline and article was today's nytimes......there was much more if you cannot stand but to read all written about fletch's demise.......FRANKFORT, Ky. — The real risk in noodling, which involves sticking your arm into a catfish nesting hole and yanking out whatever swallows your fist, is not in getting caught doing it out of season, but in reaching too far into the hole and getting snagged by spiny fins.

Just consider the case of Gov. Ernie Fletcher of Kentucky.

A year ago, after being accused of illegally forcing Democrats out of state Civil Service jobs and giving the jobs to political loyalists, Mr. Fletcher, a Republican, dismissed the charges as little worse than noodling in March. (Noodling is legal only from June 1 to Aug. 31.)

But 15 indictments later, Mr. Fletcher's administration — including his self-titled Disciples, accused of being the ringleaders of the patronage scheme — is still feeling the sting as his approval ratings drop below 30 percent.

Most of his former backers, including his mentor, Senator Mitch McConnell, have distanced themselves from him, and Democrats point to the case as another example of Republican corruption and overreach. Mr. Fletcher was indicted on three misdemeanor charges; while on vacation in Florida in early June, he had his lawyer enter a plea of not guilty.

dorothy parker

ok, so...i bought myself a birthday present a while back.....in february....and i am just now getting around to enjoying it.....a collection of dorothy parker stories and critical reviews she wrote while at the new yorker.....read by folks like christine baranski, cynthia nixon, alfre woodard and shirley booth........and it is beyond my expectations.....dorothy is my idol for cutting satire and pleasing sarcasm.......such a witty woman has rarely been on the radar since.......some examples.......'That would be a good thing for them to cut on my tombstone: Wherever she went, including here, it was against her better judgment'......and 'if all the girls that attended the yale prom were laid on the ground end to end....it would not surprise me a bit'.......and 'take care of the luxuries and the necessities will take care of themselves'......and my favorite....'I don't care what is written about me so long as it isn't true'.......gotta love a woman like that....her short stories are particularly poignant.....she was a hard-boiled broad who wrote about hard-boiled broads...the cd's started out with big blonde.....which is her most famous, yet fairly long to be called a short story......i like dusk before fireworks....for its brevity if not for it's concise depiction of the sort of 'beautiful young man' that surely were numerous in parker's aquaintance........i am not half-way through.....and have not listened to npr in days now that these cd's play while i drive......an amusing diversion........

freak storm.....

ok, we had a torrential downpour last night, just about the time when we were planning to go for a bike ride......with a wind shear that tore off one of the branches of the forest pansy redbud tree......ironic, in that the tree in question is newish and presumably more resilient than the ancient and knarled redbud just yards away.......it escaped unscathed...go figure.......yet i cannot feel too badly about the damage sustained......these episodes work in the long run to create a visually-pleasing redbud.........unlike damage to the infamous bradford pear types that simply destroys the tree completely......i should have known it would rain, as i took the trouble to water my perennials............

freak storm.....

ok, we had a torrential downpour last night, just about the time when we were planning to go for a bike ride......with a wind shear that tore off one of the branches of the forest pansy redbud tree......ironic, in that the tree in question is newish and presumably more resilient than the ancient and knarled redbud just yards away.......it escaped unscathed...go figure.......yet i cannot feel too badly about the damage sustained......these episodes work in the long run to create a visually-pleasing redbud.........unlike damage to the infamous bradford pear types that simply destroys the tree completely......i should have known it would rain, as i took the trouble to water my perennials............

world cup.....

ok, so.....i will admit to watching more than my share of soccer matches this weekend......the usa/italy game of course......but i turned around today and watched brazil against australia....and france against korea......and was disappointed to learn that their were no more matches today.......the time being 6 hours ahead in germany........watching the pros play is ever so different from watching one's
children play.......even at the high school level...when one marveled how far their skills had come since the under 6 years.....but i digress......france was schnookered out of a goal in the first half.....they sould have won 2-1, but they tied instead......and could still manage to advance if the soccer gods prevail......my spouse was surprised that i wasn't rooting for the koreans.....hmmm......i have traveled to france 12 times....their cheeses alone should clinch my soccer loyalties........

book club...

ok, so book club at dick and leslie's was out on the veranda.....a huge brick-floored covered porch with an eclectic mix of wicker and iron chairs and lounges....the evening air was refreshing rather than chilling.....champagne toasts to each other.....as these are folks that have known each other for 20+ years....in some fashion...i did get distracted a bit with the two immense specimens of the fairy.. a re-blooming polyantha rose that has sweet smelling single pink flowers......leslie and dick are talking about cutting them out, as they have grown unruly and cause difficulty in mowing.....i volunteered to cut them back in the fall to a more managable size...rather than see them face destruction......we car-pooled with our friends rick and sarah.....and became fascinated with their new gps screen on the dashboard......especially with our drive down us 27 through nicholasville deemed uncharted territory.....go figure.....there is talk of doing a 13 mile walk along the AT near the north coarliona/tennessee border the first weekend of august.......maybe we could convince our entire family to do this, as other 5-member families of our aquaintance are already signed on.....might be a stretch for the child just returning from abroad, but then again....with jet lag he may be up early every day anyway......just a thought.......

change of plans.....

ok, so my after work plan to catch up with my friend lee over wine and cheese has fallen through...she is still in lexington waiting while her spouse's car gets fixed........which i suppose is better than me waiting to get my spouse's car fixed....the one that backed itself into the ditch.......thankfully there was no damage from that fiasco....and so i am home alone until time to go to lexington for book club.......bookclub is only in lex once a season......and the hosts in question make it worth our while in terms of good eats and fine wines......the book....crossing to safety by wallace stegner.....was about 2 couples over a long length of time.....lots of angst, doubt....tragedy......and it is not as good as his book that won a pulitzer.......angle of repose.....i am reading it between paragraphs of maigret a new york......this book is also baout relationships over a long length of time.....but the angst is much more interesting angst.......non-threatening angst......speaking of angst...i arrived home to find the dog wandering about, the garage lights on....and a pile of rotted wood on the trash cans......the anxiety lasted only a few moments until i figured out that our favorite carpenter has been here to fix the rot in the basement......looks good......hopefully the bill will look as good......

flip flops......

ok, so i got nuttin against women who have jobs so carefree that flipflops are allowable worktime footwear.....it is only the sound of flipflops....flopping....against poorly padded concrete that really gets my goat.......the sound reverbs.....and elevates the descriptive...annoying...to a new level.......and so it i was greatly amused when i dropped my thursday health department mail off at the post office....and there was a soccer-mommish kind of person...wearing flipflops.....in a heated discourse with the postmaster.....about why she could not mail party invites handprinted on.....flipflops........she had gone to a great deal fo trouble to letter the particulars on the tops....and the addresses on the bottoms.......that was clearly visible from where i stood.......but the postmaster was not to be moved by either the cleverness of the concept....nor the precision of the printing......and i wondered why the woman didn't just drive around the county and deposit said shoes personally in the desired mailboxes........and save herself from the spectacle she was creating....at closing time in any post office there is always a line....and this one was enthralled with the goings-on..........

ok, so Vice President Dick Cheney, loving father of a lesbian, is flying to Minnesota to help Michele Bachmann, the highly outspoken enemy to gay marriage and gay civil rights, raise money for her bid for the U.S. Congress 

marie claire

ok, so i sat and read the june issue of marie claire had an article (not availabvle on-line.....curiously) that dealt with timeframes for obtaining services/information/necessities......for example.....the authoress was able to score a gun several days before she was able to obtain a legal restraining order....and she was able to score heroin within the hour, but required 72 hours to find a nyc pharmacy that carried plan b.........well beyond the 48 hour cutoff.......for the record, every pharmacy that failed to stock plan b did have viagra in stock.......the authoress also found a recipe for a bomb on google in less than 2 seconds.....but failed to find the recipe for a big mac.....go figure.......again...for the record....my place of employment carries plan b........

ok, so this from wonkette...yet another installment of the ineptness of our president....A visibly tired President Bush, back from his surprise visit to Iraq, just concluded an hour-long press conference. It took place in the Rose Garden, and most of the questions focused on Iraq.

It had a relaxed feel. Bush engaged in joking banter about jet lag with Jake Tapper, whom he complimented on his question. The president also praised David Gregory?s stylish neckwear.

The best exchange of the morning took place between Bush and Peter Wallsten. Wallsten approached the microphone wearing sunglasses. An exchange along these lines ensued:

Bush: You gonna ask your question with shades on? Wallsten: Yes?
Bush: But there's no sun out here.
Wallsten: It depends on your perspective.
Bush: touche

need i mention that the reporter in question is legally blind....and is a regular at press conferences........ 

the one where mm's car went into the ditch..

ok, so.....you know that things aren't good when a workmate comes to get you by saying...."i think you need to go back out to the parking lot...'......upon arriving at work i had forgotten to securely engage the car's emergency brake.....and it slowly backed out of my spot...across the lot...and into the drainage ditch.....on-lookers thought i was in the car at the time......no harm, no foul....nothing other than my pride was damaged.....but now i am at the top of the list for dottiness....way past the woman with the moldy soup beans.......

happy anniversary......

ok, so....the meanmamma and the meandaddy have been wed....25 years this day.........wow....

for the l.o.

ok, so this from mark twain......In India, "cold weather" is merely a conventional phrase and has come into use through the necessity of having some way to distinguish between weather which will melt a brass door-knob and weather which will only make it mushy..........any truth to twain's wit?.......of course, this was not the quote i was looking for......but that is the nice thing about looking for something....one tends to find that which one didn't know one needed until it was discovered......

ok, so look carefully at this bear in a tree.......and the cat below......WEST MILFORD, N.J. - A black bear picked the wrong New Jersey yard for a jaunt earlier this week, running into a territorial tabby who ran the furry beast up a tree ? twice.

Jack, a 15-pound orange-and-white cat, keeps a close vigil on his property, chasing small animals when he can, but his owners and neighbors say his latest escapade was surprising.

"We used to joke, 'Jack's on duty,' never knowing he'd go after a bear," cat owner Donna Dickey told The Star-Ledger of Newark for Friday's newspapers. 

from the rude pundit......

ok, so this piece is perfect....about how ann coulter doesn't even have the balls to write her own bull.....

Because Some Things Are More Profane Than Profanity - Ann Coulter's Possible Plagiarism:
Here's the segment of yesterday's post on Ann Coulter that deserves more attention. If you want the full double-barrel of anti-Coulter rudeness, you can still check it out. But for those with delicate constitutions who want to take Coulter down, here ya go:

Ann Coulter has a bad habit. And that habit, as mentioned before by the Rude Pundit (followed up by Raw Story), is that she appears to like to copy whole sentences from other sources without putting them in as quotes or even citing where she might have "paraphrased" from. You judge for yourself:

Here's Coulter from Chapter 1 of Godless: The massive Dickey-Lincoln Dam, a $227 million hydroelectric project proposed on upper St. John River in Maine, was halted by the discovery of the Furbish lousewort, a plant previously believed to be extinct.

Here's the Portland Press Herald, from the year 2000, in its list of the "Maine Stories of the Century": The massive Dickey-Lincoln Dam, a $227 million hydroelectric project proposed on upper St. John River, is halted by the discovery of the Furbish lousewort, a plant believed to be extinct.

Strangely similar, no? By the way, that's a story from 1976. Coulter doesn't tell you that little tidbit, making you think it happened last week. The next one's from 1977:

Here's Coulter writing about an attack on the Alaska pipeline: A few years after oil drilling began in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, a saboteur set off an explosion blowing a hole in the pipeline and releasing an estimated 550,000 gallons of oil.

Here's something from the History Channel: The only major oil spill on land occurred when an unknown saboteur blew a hole in the pipe near Fairbanks, and 550,000 gallons of oil spilled onto the ground.

Why, in this age of the "terrorist," would Coulter use "saboteur," a quaint term, to be sure? Could it be a cut and paste job with a couple of words changed, like a good college freshman?

So you judge. Sure, it's just two incidents in a single chapter. But does it speak to other potential strange similarities throughout the book? Is it plagiarism? The Rude Pundit's not saying it is plagiarism, but he's not saying it's not. How harshly would Coulter judge a liberal writer for doing the same? Or would she have to be silent?

// posted by Rude One @ 9:16 AM

eating (moldy) crow......

ok, so.....i work with people who are generally mild-mannered....and so it was a great surprise a few weeks back when the mildest-mannered of them all got up at a staff meeting and told us all that it pained her to know that a thief worked amongst us....that someone had stolen her lunch of soup beans and canned peaches out of the refrigerator.....and at the very least said thief should return her tupperware (the word anonymously was implied but she struggled with this word as i recall.....)and there followed dialogue about whether or not we needed surveillance cameras and all other manner of reactionary concern for 'stolen' soup beans......and so it came to pass this morning.....that a nurse cleaning out a cupboard that is situated right beside the refrigerator of the stolen soup beans...came up with a completely moldy and swollen tupperare of beans....and an equally nasty tupperware of diced peaches........and it was oh-so-clear that the beans were simply miss-placed.....and not stolen at all.....and the person in question just stood and laughed...and told us all about how at christmas she found a baggie of country ham her mother had sent home in her silverware drawer.....which was right next to her refrigerator.......and i will admit to feeling sorry for this person....to be found out as dotty rather than a victim of crime.......which brings me to my point......that we may all be too quick to accuse our family and friends of all manner of heinous crimes.....and that we (mostly me) need to take a few moments to be sure that it wasn't us (mostly me) that is to blame.......for the record....soup beans that have languished unrefrigerated for several weeks are especially vulgar to behold.......

band festival......

ok, so another band festival has come and gone.....we went to the picnic last night....bringing our own food.....curious to discover that our friends ordered carryout from the hub rather than packing their own....and curious to discover that foods that we eat frequently are viewed as unusual......bean salad, beet salad, stuffed grape leaves......go figure........thin ham on baguette with blue cheese spread and cucumbers......now that was really tasty.......we left before the thunderstorm passed through....back again for the community church service this morning....we got home in time to watch most of the french open......whereupon we watched nadal win in his white capri pants......strange choice for tennis wear, but he won wearing them so i suppose he knows best......the finale was, of course, the sunday afternoon nap.....which i consider one of life's greatest pleasures......writing it all down confirms that my life is a tad boring.....ah well.....

wow!

ok, so a certificate arrived in the mail today......Outstanding Freshman Award in Creative Writing.....from the Princeton University Program in Creative Writing........i am on a no-names basis with blogs about my dearest family.....so that is all i will divulge in terms of details.......

ok, so this is what i had in mind.....for those reading this blog from a place where amber beads can be purchased...remember, real amber is heavier and harder than fake.......real amber should weigh heavy around the neck...not be floaty......... 

ok, so this from the dailykos.....Imagine: you are a foot soldier in a paramilitary group whose purpose is to remake America as a Christian theocracy, and establish its worldly vision of the dominion of Christ over all aspects of life. You are issued high-tech military weaponry, and instructed to engage the infidel on the streets of New York City. You are on a mission - both a religious mission and a military mission -- to convert or kill Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, gays, and anyone who advocates the separation of church and state - especially moderate, mainstream Christians. Your mission is "to conduct physical and spiritual warfare"; all who resist must be taken out with extreme prejudice. You have never felt so powerful, so driven by a purpose: you are 13 years old. You are playing a real-time strategy video game whose creators are linked to the empire of mega-church pastor Rick Warren, best selling author of The Purpose Driven Life.

The game, slated for release by October 2006 in advance of the Christmas shopping rush, has been previewed at video game exhibitions, and reviewed by major newspapers and magazines. But until now, no fan or critic has pointed out the controversial game's connection to Mr. Warren or his dominionist agenda.............

meanmamma's notes: this game is almost surreal in its offensiveness.......yet millions of born-agains will doubtless buy it for their little christian soldiers......how very sad......for a religion based originally on tolerance and non-violence 

more about the hpv vaccine....

ok, so this from salon.com....

The good news, as we reported yesterday, is that the FDA has approved a vaccine for HPV. Yet, as Feministing notes, the FDA approval is just the first step in getting girls vaccinated against the STD that impacts 80 percent of American women by age 50, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The next step: in a few weeks the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) will issue recommendations for how the vaccine should be administered. "While the ACIP decisions are non-binding, its recommendations set the standard by which states decide if they will mandate vaccination, insurance companies choose to cover the cost, and doctors decide how to advise their patients," writes Feministing.

Unfortunately, we already know what one member of the 15-person ACIP panel thinks about the vaccine. Dr. Reginald Finger, who is tightly linked to Focus on the Family, has already stated his opposition to making the vaccine routinely available to girls, fearing it will undermine abstinence-only sex ed.

The committee meets on June 29th, so there's still time to influence the other 14 members of the committee. (Yes, Dr. Finger sounds like a lost cause.) It's not worth exposing millions of girls and women to the risk of cervical cancer to preserve the religious-right's fantasy that abstinence-only sex ed can stop the spread of HPV. Tell the committee to do everything they can to spread this vaccine by writing to:

Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

1600 Clifton Road, NE MS E-05

Atlanta, Georgia 30333

christian right find that cannot have it both ways.....

ok, so this from the washington post.....Evangelical Christians are on the front lines in the battle over indecency on cable television, calling for a pick-and-choose pricing plan that would allow viewers to keep certain channels out of their homes.

But on the opposite end of the battlefield is an opponent familiar to and even respected by evangelicals: Christian cable stations.

The fear among Christian broadcasters is that a proposal to allow consumers to reject MTV or Comedy Central would also allow them to drop the Trinity Broadcasting Network or Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network. Cutting off that access could hurt religious broadcasters.

"We do not believe that 'a la carte' is the cure for the disease," said Colby May, attorney for the Faith and Family Broadcasting Coalition, which represents Trinity and CBN, in addition to other stations. "In fact, it is a cure that may very well kill the patient."

and they say engineers have no sense of humor.....

ok, so this also from wonkette, an actual aerial photo of the des moines detention basin......... 

ok, so i saw this on wonkette......just too funny....... 

garrison keillor's finest piece yet.......

ok, so i have been trying to publish this piece by g. keillor for days now.......it may be his finest truth yet.....and the bit about the ipod and Baptists from Waco may be the best known channeling of both Mark Twain and Alice Roosevelt.......please read it through....

San Franciscophobia
We're stuck with a terrible war and a worse president, and all the GOP can do is scream, "Pelosi and her Nancy boys are coming"? This is pathetic.

By Garrison Keillor

Jun. 07, 2006 | People who live in mud huts should not throw mud, especially if it comes from their own roofs. As Scripture says, don't point to the speck in your neighbor's eye when you have a piece of kindling in your own.

I see by the papers that the Republicans want to make an issue of Nancy Pelosi in the congressional races this fall: Would you want a San Francisco woman to be Speaker of the House? Will the podium be repainted in lavender stripes with a disco ball overhead? Will she be borne into the chamber by male dancers with glistening torsos and wearing pink tutus? After all, in the unique worldview of old elephants, San Francisco is a code word for g-a-y, and after assembling a record of government lies, incompetence and disaster, the party in power hopes that the fear of g-a-y-s will pull it through in November.

Running against Nancy Pelosi, a woman who comes from a district where there are known gay persons, is a nice trick, but it does draw attention to the large shambling galoot who is speaker now, Tom DeLay's enabler for years, a man who, judging by his public mutterances, is about as smart as most high school wrestling coaches. For the past year, Dennis Hastert has been two heartbeats from the presidency. He is a man who seems content just to have a car and driver and three square meals a day. He has no apparent vision beyond the urge to hang onto power. He has succeeded in turning Congress into a branch of the executive branch. If Mr. Hastert becomes the poster boy for the Republican Party, this does not speak well for them as the Party of Ideas.

People who want to take a swing at San Francisco should think twice. Yes, the Irish coffee at Fisherman's Wharf is overpriced, and the bus tour of Haight-Ashbury is disappointing (where are the hippies?), but the Bay Area is the cradle of the computer and software industry, which continues to create jobs for our children. The iPod was not developed by Baptists in Waco, Texas. There may be a reason for this. Creative people thrive in a climate of openness and tolerance, since some great ideas start out sounding ridiculous. Creativity is a key to economic progress. Authoritarianism is stifling. I don't believe that Mr. Hewlett and Mr. Packard were gay, but what's important is: In San Francisco, it doesn't matter so much. When the cultural Sturmbannfuhrers try to marshal everyone into straight lines, it has consequences for the economic future of this country.

Meanwhile, the Current Occupant goes on impersonating a president. Somewhere in the quiet leafy recesses of the Bush family, somebody is thinking, "Wrong son. Should've tried the smart one." This one's eyes don't quite focus. Five years in office and he doesn't have a grip on it yet. You stand him up next to Tony Blair at a press conference and the comparison is not kind to Our Guy. Historians are starting to place him at or near the bottom of the list. And one of the basic assumptions of American culture is falling apart: the competence of Republicans.

You might not have always liked Republicans, but you could count on them to manage the bank. They might be lousy tippers, act snooty, talk through their noses, wear spats and splash mud on you as they race their Pierce-Arrows through the village, but you knew they could do the math. To see them produce a ninny and then follow him loyally into the swamp for five years is disconcerting, like seeing the Rolling Stones take up lite jazz. So here we are at an uneasy point in our history, mired in a costly war and getting nowhere, a supine Congress granting absolute power to a president who seems to get smaller and dimmer, and the best the Republicans can offer is San Franciscophobia? This is beyond pitiful. This is violently stupid.

It is painful to look at your father and realize the old man should not be allowed to manage his own money anymore. This is the discovery the country has made about the party in power. They are inept. The checkbook needs to be taken away. They will rant, they will screech, they will wave their canes at you and call you all sorts of names, but you have to do what you have to do.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

(Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion" can be heard Saturday nights on public radio stations across the country.)

(c) 2006 by Garrison Keillor. All rights reserved. Distributed by Tribune Media Services, INC.

i wish i'd said this......

ok so this is from harpers.......

toss-up.....

ok, so the day was filled with right-wingers behaving badly....and i don't think that i can pick a clear front-runner.....for starts...there is mitch mcconnell (senator-ky/R)....who i cannot even call homegrown....as he was born in alabama.......mitch had the audacity to stand up for the sanctity of male/female marriage......as a previously divorced man one would think that he didn't think enough about the sanctity of marriage at some point in the past to preserve his own......i mention this now only because so many of these holy-rollers invoke the bible whenever possible....jesus never mentioned a stance on gay marriage.....but he was quite clear that he was against divorce.....and went so far to say that people who divorce and remarry are adulterers.....so in the eyes of jesus...ole mitch is an adulterer...........in addition to being a jerk......but i digress from a badly behaving katherine harris (rep-fla/R) who wen tto great lengths to be photographed with the pro-marriage folks on capitol hill......ole kate is crazy......not only has she announced that her father came to her in a dream and told her to spend her entire inheritance on her senate run...but also that if elected she will travel everywhere with a guide dog.....wtf?.....this woman isn't blind.......her fellow fla republicans have declined to endorce her candidacy......when asked about her support of a male-female marriage amendment....she cited her fear of chaos if such a measure were not passed....chaos?......like riots in the streets?......savvy bloggers have made much of her obvious breast augmentation.......maybe her dad also told her in a dream that he wanted her to have swollen-like-ticks mammaries.......last but not least is ann coulter......who released her new liberal-bashing book godless on 6/6/06......and took her 15 seconds of fame on the morning tv curcuit to accuse 9-11 new yorker widows of profitting from their loss......like they have all have unearned millions thanks to whoring their sad tales........yep....ms coulter would know all about whoring sad tales.........ok, so.....mean mamma has had her say......and now she can go back to trying to read mystery movels in french.......

ok, so this from my hometown paper.....LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Tuesday night was special for Roger Clemens, who shared a dugout with his son Koby and took his first step toward returning to the Astros.

Clemens tossed three innings for the Lexington Legends, the Astros' Class A affiliate, before a standing-room only crowd of 9,222 at Applebee's Park.

The 43-year old right-hander threw 62 pitches, 41 for strikes, and earned the victory in the Legends' 7-4 win over Lake County, the Class A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians.

He allowed one run on three hits, including a home run, did not walk a batter and had six strikeouts.

"I felt great," Clemens said. "It was a circus atmosphere here. It took some time for me to get locked in. I thank the Lexington fans for coming out. It was a beautiful night. We had a good time with it." 

better send back the gifts.....

ok, so...this was actually in my little hometown paper this evening....ASPEN, Colo. Jun 5, 2006 (AP)— This couple didn't even make it to the altar before police made them part.

Ali Aghili, 37, and Marney Hurst, 33, both of Boulder, were to be married Saturday night at the posh Little Nell Hotel.

Instead, they got into a fight the night before and police arrested them because both allegedly threw punches, said police Sgt. Steve Smith.

The wedding had to be called off because their $250 bond conditions required them to stay away from each other, Smith said. He said it took police three hours to sort out the incident.

ok, so this illicit photo of a famous baby born in africa was downloaded off the web from a blog that has already been contacted by time, inc lawyers....cute as a button, eh?.....and so far tatoo-free.....and yes, new parents do just lay there and gaze at their creation........ 

up and running......

ok, so the refrigerator is again up and chilling.....now that it has been cleansed of every old and dicey jar and bottle........as has the downstairs chest freezer...for good measure.......i am afraid to see if the last saved bottle of frozen breastmilk is still there....i couldn't bear to throw it away...and though it is well past its use-by date.....there is still some sentimental value.......but i digress from the point of this blog.....through a series of natural disasters we have just about cleared our home of almost everything superfluous.....starting with the fire.....and then the flooded storage room, and now the refrigerators/freezers........add that to our one feeble attempt at a yardsale last summer when we cleared out the cabin and the attic of the garage...and ended up carting 2 van-loads to the goodwill.......there are few places in our home that are un-considered when it comes to stay or go........and yet it still feels like we have too much stuff........maybe it is the plethora of books...which are not negotiable unless it is my idea to pitch them.....i did send several boxes of cookbooks to the goodwill last summer......and yet there are still dozens that i never peruse......what remains eternal is the notion that i might just use each and every one of those left-behind books for something important.......and novels........i did dispose of the grishams.....but there are so, so many more that i cannot part with....like simenon in english rather than french......i might want to reread those as soon as i plow through my meagre translation.....oy.......piles and piles of books....in every room, bathroom, closet.......my eldest emailed asking for books in honor of his 22nd birthday next week (the day after our 25th).....and i said yes, of course.......one can never have enough books...............

from wonkette.....

ok, so i had heard these rumors.......and they are just too delicious....

The rumors appear to have originated with a June 1 posting at the Wayne Madsen Report:

Rocky shoals for Bush marriage? Informed sources Inside the Beltway report that First Lady Laura Bush has established temporary residence in the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC as a result of a tiff with President Bush over an extramarital relationship involving her husband. Mr. Bush’s tryst is said to involve Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. It is not known how long Mrs. Bush plans to remain at the Mayflower, however, her security detail has been present at the hotel during hours when the First Lady would normally be residing in the White House.

While she was National Security Adviser, Rice, who has never been married, referred to George W. Bush as “my husband” before she corrected herself and said, “President. Bush” Rice was speaking at a dinner hosted by New York Times bureau chief Philip Taubman when she made her “husband” remarks.

Now, we’re more than willing to believe parts of this rumor. Laura moving to a hotel? Sure! Perhaps they got into a big fight, maybe over W. drinking again?

The Condi bit, however, just reeks of the made-up. Are we talking about the same Condoleezza Rice — the perpetually polished, prim, and proper Secretary of State? The rumor borders on the laughable. In fact, when we (sheepishly) floated this rumor to one State Department official who has worked closely with Rice, laughter was the result.

Aside from being out of character for the uber-professional, super-dutiful Secretary Rice, we doubt that an affair with Bush would float her boat. Pravda seems to think Condi’s a lesbian; we lean towards a finding of asexuality. Either way, the notion of her having an affair with the boss, who also happens to be the leader of the free world, strikes us as highly dubious.

Of course, none of this has stopped the rumor from sprouting legs and running. On June 2, the Wayne Madsen Report expanded on its earlier coverage:

[T]wo mainstream media sources have confirmed that their sources also have reported an ongoing affair between Mr. Bush and Rice.

The mainstream media is hamstrung in reporting stories about Bush’s personal life. For example, in 2001, the media highlighted Bush’s comments about his passing out from choking on a pretzel while watching a football game in the White House. In reality, Bush, who claims he gave up drinking years ago, passed out from being inebriated. Washington’s movers and shakers knew the story about Bush’s drinking but the media studiously avoided it.

And then, on June 3, this report:

WMR can report that a Mayflower Hotel staffer has confirmed that First Lady Laura Bush spent at least one night this past week at the hotel, which is four blocks north of the White House. Mrs. Bush reportedly moved out of the White House after a confrontation with President Bush over his on-going affair with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The Mayflower’s official position on the story is that they can “neither confirm nor deny” the identities of their guests. Because it’s penchant for security and secrecy is well known to the Secret Service, the Mayflower has become a reliable hotel for U.S. and international VIPs.

Some Washington observers believe that the recent flare up between Laura Bush and the president stems from the fact that her poll numbers are twice as favorable as her husband’s (60 percent to 29 percent). Laura Bush’s recent solo missions to New Orleans, Colorado, and an AIDS conference at the United Nations represent a virtual declaration of independence from the most unpopular president in U.S. history.

from reasononline......

ok, so this from dave wiegel's reasononline.....regarding the pitiable busg attempt to distract america from real issues by waving his i'm against gay marriage flag toward the conservative right

If Republicans convince themselves that social conservative "free votes" are going to save their majority, they should remember the last time they went to this particular gift shop. Last year a red-hot media frenzy over the "culture of life" gave the GOP majority a chance to box in the Democrats on another moral issue. The party interrupted its legislative calendar to force a lopsided "yes" vote on what one senator's aide called "a great political issue" that would excite "the pro-life base." And on March 20 last year, the House and Senate voted to transfer jurisdiction of Terri Schiavo's case from Florida to the federal courts. Approval of the GOP and the president took a quick nosedive. They haven't yet recovered their pre-Schiavo political strength.

at sunday school, the widow of an emeritus pastor was passing out james dobson's phone number, in case we/i wanted to call and sign a petition supporting the marriage amendment........this woman is an otherwise dear person, yet i was tempted to ask her if she really thought that jesus himself would do something so cruel to alternative lifestyle children of god who wanted to raise families...just like everybody else.........i think not........as i recall jesus had many things to say about divorce......not about marriage........and i would challenge those on the hill who would vote on such an issue to think twice about this vote as a visible show of their piety if they have a divorce on their permenent record........

working late.....

ok, so i only work late the first monday of every month...or thereabouts......arriving home a little after 9:00 pm....to a house settling in for the night....but not last night.......no......sometime during dinner my spouse had decided that he heard the refrigerator quit running....and so as i walked in the door he was tossing nearly empty condiment jars into the trash can.....and ljning up savable jars on a tray to be taken to the downstairs fridge.......now that there are only the barest bones left in the side-by-side this morning.......bagels, mustards, jellies, and syrups that can handle a bit of not-so-cold temps.....the appliance looks so very bare.....and meager........and while i should have taken the iniative to go through all that had been tossed....if for no other reason than to recycle all of those jars.......i was much too tired from an 11 hour work day........and so i sat down at the computer to check in on the redsox vs nyy game.....only to find that new york was up 10-3 at that point.....omg.......might as well just go on to bed.......

plus de mots francaise......

ok, so...here is the entire line....Quelques-uns s'etaient vaguement reveilles en entendant la vacarme l'ancre, mais bien peu d'entre eux, malgre les promesses qu'ils s'etaient faites, avaient eu le courage de monter sur le pont pour contempler les lumieres de News-York. ...many thanks to setthingsonfire.......aka.........l.o. for trying to teach me the intricacies of s'etaient......in my haste to make sense of this line i read it as.....the anchor made a shit-load of noise while those on the bridge were watching the lights of new york......close?.........

big al....stranded on tour

ok, so...my spouse's little sister's middle child is in an indie rock band.....now on tour after graduation.....and stranded in oklahoma now that their tour bus burned to the ground......check out their song and their fire photos....www.myspace.com/landenfalls

ok, so this came my way today.....a sign of the times........ 

les livres.....

ok, so....in searching for a book to read.....i surveyed the downstairs bedroom collection.....offlimits under most circumstances, but the owner is unavailable for the next 8 weeks and i need something to read......and the only book i was vaguely interested in picking up was maigret a new york, by georges simenon...en francais....a book that i bought for him, mostly because i found it interesting rather than because he was keen to read my favorite detective novels in the language in which the series had been published...i cannot read french, yet there was a dictionary on the shelf near the book in question....surely a sign? right?.......the dictionary is circa 1962....which means it is so undesirable a reference volume as to still be on the shelf.......but i am making do....with a bit of help from babelfish......some terms are still not clear....such as s'etaient........babelfish explains it by repeating the term..as if it is self-explanatory....zut alors......so far i am on page 2....an maigret, the detective, is arriving on a ship at the port of new york...it is his first sea voyage, and he is either drunk or seasick or both.....as he has guzzled a bottle (or part of a bottle) of marc his wife sent along in his luggage....and he was smoking his pipe on the deck in his pajamas underneath his overcoat when he almost runs into a colleague named jean.......and it is in the middle of the night....and it is either raining or drizzling.......i say so far so good.........

the eagle has landed........

ok, so we have received confirmation that our boy has safely arrived in St Petersburg....that his host family speaks decent English....and that he has already visited the Hermitage.......classes begin tomorrow.....

another version of the low and slow......

ok, so this from...john wayne.....

Talk low, talk slow, and don't talk too much.
- John Wayne

nelly furtado......

ok, so i am enjoying a download of nelly furtado singing crazy.........and though i also downloaded paris hilton's single.....i haven't the stomach to listen to it twice........does that make me a mean person?.........or crazy?......

the time is now......6:00 pm.....

ok, so it isn't 6:00 here in ky, it is 6:00 pm in...st petersburg.....and we are eagerly awaiting confirmation that our dear one has 1)landed 2)settled in with his host family 3)brought his spare pair of glasses along (his dad found the newest pair in the downstairs bathroom........parents worry about so many details with regards to the health and happiness of their offspring.....and now that we have added failure to see clearly to our little list.....omg......i swear that i saw my boy wearing glasses whilst he read in the car on the way to cincinnati......but given my feeble memory these days i could very well be wrong.......

more fla voting fraud?.......

ok, so this from crooks and liars...even i'd buy an ann coulter doll if she was wearing her orange prison jumpsuit.....

Conservative pundit and best-selling political writer Ann Coulter has hired a white-glove, White House-connected law firm to fight allegations she voted illegally in February's Town of Palm Beach election.

And the attorney from the Miami-based Kenny Nachwalter firm is no stranger to Palm Beach voting. Marcos Jimenez — who was, along with the more famous Olson, one of the lead attorneys who fought for George W. Bush's side in the 2000 presidential election snafu here — was assigned to Coulter.

Jimenez, by the way, also knows a thing or two about criminals. Appointed by Bush as U.S. attorney for the southern district of Florida in 2002, Jimenez was charged with going after terrorists, drug dealers and wayward union bosses.

Jimenez returned to private practice last year.

"Mr. Jimenez asked us to send him all the correspondence we sent Ms. Coulter," deputy dlections chief Charmaine Kelly said.

A poll worker reported to his supervisors that he saw Coulter try to vote in the precinct closest to her Palm Beach home. But when she was told the address on her voter's registration was elsewhere, Coulter ran out instead of correcting it and ended up voting in a precinct that wasn't hers. Knowingly voting in the wrong precinct in Florida is a felony.

Elections Supervisor Arthur Anderson gave Coulter until April 30 to explain what happened, but she has yet to answer his registered letters. Now with Jimenez, Kelly said, officials will wait "a few more weeks" before starting a procedure that could strip Coulter of her right to vote here and refer the case to State Attorney Barry Krischer for possible prosecution.

Coulter couldn't be reached and Jimenez didn't return calls.

and their little dog, too....

ok, so this from cnn.com....so much for family ties......

TAVARES, Florida (AP) -- A couple tried to hire a hit man to kill their three grandchildren and daughter-in-law to stop them from testifying against their son in his rape trial, authorities said.

The couple, ages 60 and 59, were charged with four counts each of criminal conspiracy to commit murder. They were being held without bond.

Police said the pair initially offered $100 to an undercover sheriff's deputy to kill their son's wife, their 10-year-old granddaughter, two step-grandchildren, ages 14 and 16, and the family dog.

More money was promised after the killings, said Lake County sheriff's Sgt. Christie Mysinger.

The couple's 31-year-old son has been jailed since November on 22 charges of sexual battery on a child, lewd and lascivious molestation and showing obscene material to a minor, court records revealed.

from the daily kos....

ok, so it is always amusing to read about the homestate on a national blog.....here from today's daily kos......

A couple of high-level sources have filled in some back story on indicted Governor Fletcher's (R) political Armageddon. There are plenty of holes, but here's some of what I'm piecing together.

Senator McConnell (R) recently held a meeting with the Kentucky's Republican federal delegation in his Capitol hide-away office to discuss the Fletcher situation and believes that Fletcher must remove himself from re-election consideration before the June 7th arraignment. Otherwise, McConnell is gravely concern about holding on to the state Senate as well as Rep. Geoff Davis' (R) congressional seat [...]

I'm told that McConnell is prepared to concede the 2007 race to Rep. Ben Chandler (D) provided he can hold on to the state senate, which is the main source of fundraising for the Kentucky Republican Party.

bon voyage......

ok, so....i just got back from driving my middle child to the airport.....for his st petersburg by way of paris trip........yeh, well....paris is only to change planes......but i'd give my eye teeth to be that close.......the rain followed me and my little black car for 5 straight hours.......and so i was thrilled to find the last of the humboldt fog chevre in the fridge.....all for me.......i fully intend to make sure that we are fully stocked with luscious cheeses to celebrate his return in 8 weeks........and for the record i will not repeat the local wineries tasting theme for the welcome home gathering.......for the record....gewurztraminer is not supposed to taste like roses.......omg......that one was the worst.......the middle child has promised to write at least once a week to let us know more than that he is thriving abroad.......in the meantime......i have a stack of cd's belonging to the frank-notsoyoungster.....i hope to listen to at least the mountain goats before i arrange to get them back to ya.....let me know when you will be coming back this way...ok?

precious prose.....

ok, so the book that i bought at one of the lex goodwills on wednesday...feather crowns by bobbie ann mason.....sparked a discussion last evening about my bookclub.....when asked if he had read the book (bobbie ann mason is associated with u of k's writing program....and andrew introduced me to her last year), andrew replied that her books are too precious, and that he prefers edgier stuff.....and intends to write edgier stuff........which led to a discussion of books that bookclub had chosen over the years......and the descriptive precious kept popping up........hmmm......i suppose i do prefer precious over edgy......when given my druthers.......and the last stack of books that i started and/or finished could all fall into that category........i suppose that i do not even get around to starting edgy prose.......there is plenty to be had...downstairs in the room whereupon we must be careful not to crease any pages should we presume to pick up one of those volumes......and maybe when i have nothing left to pick up i may just read chuck pahlanik (sp) .....but there are so many precious books to be savored before that day comes........and of course......all of jane austen to be re-read.......

macaroni salad....

ok, so i am enjoying a bowl of leftover macaroni salad for breakfast......which is an absolutley foolish choice.......not so much because there are more nutritious options in my cupboard..mostly because i was kept awake with the unsavory side-effects of the onions in this recipe........gentle readers....do not mistake my use of the term macaroni salad for pasta salad.....the salad in question uses marzetti's boiled slaw dressing, and requires chopped onion, chopped celery, frozen peas, chopped salad olives and mustard seeds.......and elbow macaroni....for which i substituted a curly tube pasta.......but the result was much like the macaroni salads of my youth........i do not recall this combination every bothering me before.........and i might have slept through it had it not been for the nightowl packing for his trip.......we are so unused to anybody being up and about after 10:30 pm or so that any noise, thump, or creek prompts an adrenilin response.......and for the next 8 weeks we will again settle a threesome that keeps no late hours.......and looking forward to the return of the nightowl........

weather report....

ok, so...saturday's forecast for st petersburg, russia is....... 68° F | 48° F
20° C | 9° C and clear.........

ok, so reuter's photo of the president speaking to the chamber of commerce in d.c. was very appropriate......none of us really wants to look at him...... 

dixie chicks album at #1 without country radio....

ok, so frim billboard.com......or the third time in their career, the Dixie Chicks roost on the top of The Billboard 200. The Columbia album "Taking the Long Way" tallied 526,000 copies in its first week of U.S. sales, according to Nielsen SoundScan, the trio's best-selling week since 2002's "Home" debuted with 780,000.

And while country radio has remained cool to the group in the wake of a 2003 boycott following comments group member Natalie Maines made about President Bush, "Taking the Long Way" also nabs the No. 1 spot on the Country Albums chart, bumping Rascal Flatts' "Me and My Gang" (Lyric Street/Hollywood) down to No. 2 after seven weeks at the top.

meanmamma notes:.....there are many good songs on this album...but of course i am especially fond of 'not ready to make nice'.....which country stations refused to play....for the dixie chicks to have a number 1 album without country radio may mean that country radio no longer has the cachet it once did when compared to other medias, especially the internet.....i saw the link to the youtube video on a blog.......and immediately -pre-ordered the album to show my support......i suspect other liberals did the same thing.......

so very old......

ok, so i am due at 8:30 am for a bone scan......one of those things one does when one reaches a certain age and/or starts shrinking.......on that count i am 2 for 2.......my family has a history of shrinking to the point of doubling over.....my dad and my dad's mother....which seemed to progress along with Alzheimer's......this is a combo that i am determined not to perpetuate.......but i cannot think about that now...because i woke up this morning feeling so very, very old.......