Stupid bloody comment spammers are on the prowl, so comments & trackbacks are closed until at least tomorrow. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Never let it be said that the U of A wastes money on unnecessary frills.....like this:
Baseball fans filled Baum Stadium Friday for the first home game of the season, but Hog Fans will soon have a new way to dive into baseball with the Hog Spa. A hot tub will be added to the stadium next month.....The University of Arkansas will soon find out if the Hog Spa makes a splash with fans. The hot tub and private seating area will be available for rent in March for $475-$700 a game.
“It'll be about $15 per person because you can get about 40 people in an area and hot tub will hold 8 people,” Walker said.
A bargain at twice the price I'm sure.
What I'd like to know is who the hell paid for that?
Hog wallow definition/synonyms here for all you city folks. Just think of it as a mud & water filled depression in the ground in which hogs like to roll around.
Rumors are surfacing that our Rev. Gov. is contemplating a presidential run. There's certainly been indications of this. He's soon to be chairman of the National Governors Association, getting interviews with national media and such. And he's coyly refused to either confirm or deny the rumors.
May I just say that I find this to be a real knee-slapper?
Is there anyone who seriously thinks he's electable? A man who makes public statements like "I drink a different kind of Jesus juice"? A governor who supported a recent bill to extend free in-state tuition to the children of illegal aliens in Arkansas and extended free pre-natal care to illegals? Not to mention his "Healthy Arkansas" initiative and the ridiculous "No Child With a Big Behind" project. And let's not forget the Valentine's Day covenant marriage spectacle.
I seriously doubt the anti-liberal backlash has gone far enough to make our Rev. Gov. a viable presidential candidate. At least I hope it hasn't.
Not that he hasn't done some good things, like push to improve the state's delapidated highway system. Or even some great things, like the ARKids First health insurance program.
But Rev. Prez?
I don't think so.
So we were watching Alien Siege last night....pretty standard sci-fi stuff. Aliens need something in human bodies to combat some virus they picked up so they're going to destroy Earth if they don't get a zillion humans to 'process'. Or some such nonsense. And there was the obligatory scene in which the evil alien has captured the daughter of the human opposition leader. She's strapped to a table with metal bands of course, while the evil alien tells her about how he's going to put some kind of field around her so she won't be upset while her body's being 'processed'. Then he indicates that he's going to let her respond.
And I notice something.
This alien race, capable of intergalatic travel and all kinds of marvelous light-years-advanced technology & weaponry, had placed something over her mouth to keep her from talking.
Duct tape.
I guess it really is hard to improve on a good thing.....especially when you're getting close to going over budget.
We're off to go listen to the SIL's band play at George's. Drop on by if you're in town. If not, you can play "guess which one of these fine young men is our SIL".
Winner gets.....to win!
Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing. Right?
Oh yeah, they have new songs posted too.
Granny, a/k/a BitchKitty (I've started calling her Granny cuz she gets around about like I do. Slow.), has suddenly decided that my lap is her favorite place in the whole world. And she has to sleep at my feet every night. Either she's getting soft in her old age, or she does it because she knows it really pisses Sollie off.
I suspect the latter.
Looks like we're having an early spring this year. Things are starting to bloom everywhere. I've posted some photos here....just start at the top and keep scrolling. Cuz you know, I'm like, too lazy to post individual links.
Preliminary details from the investigation into the death of Herman's co-owner Benny Spears have been released.....and the mystery of the cause of his out-of-character behavior only deepens.
Too many details to excerpt, just go read the whole thing. (Registration req'd, sorry)
Very, very strange.
I discovered the site was down after I got home from class. Not that I could do anything about it, sorry. Don't forget there's a backup site if this one's toast.
That wasn't necessarily a bad thing, since I actually got some things done that I'd been putting off. Like ironing. And debugging some PHP homework....with the cat sitting on my desk with her tail twitching back & forth across the keyboard because she could see the birds at the bird feeders.
That was not helpful.
Mike & I spent the day yesterday attending a seminar on Sarbanes-Oxley & Federal sentencing guidelines. Which was much more interesting than it sounds. The morning was spent discussing whether the Supremes ruling in Booker striking down the federal sentencing guidelines for use in sentencing individuals meant that the guidelines wouldn't be used against organizations for violations of corporate regulations such as SOX. General consensus: HAHAHAHA! Lemme know how that works out for you. As in, don't count on it.
The rest of the seminar was about how enforcing a good corporate code of ethical conduct & actually following the requirements of SOX would keep a corporation and its directors & officers out of trouble. Imagine that.
It was held at JBU in Siloam Springs, just a short drive for us, which was nice. Nice too was the huge poster of Condi Rice we saw in someone's office window there, accompanied by a big sticker that said something like "Rice in 2008".
Very nice indeed.
Going to class last night after spending all day in a seminar was, OTOH, not so nice.
"Fact Obsessed" Bloggers are the subject of a Daily Show report. Heh.
(Link via The Corner)
There's been an outbreak of variants of the MyDoom & Sober viruses this morning. You might want to update your anti-virus software. There's also been some reported infections through Yahoo Messenger & MS Messenger, so you prolly should update those as well.
Kill it before it grow, mon.
Today's Demo-Zette has an interesting article about the developer v. sex offender suit I've been following. Registration is required, sorry. But this article does a fairly good job laying out the issues and disputed facts involved. It's possible that this case will be making new Arkansas case law.
Which contrary to what you've always heard, is much more interesting (and less disgusting) than watching sausage being made.
IMHO, anyways.
I've spent more than a few lunch hours at Herman's Ribhouse, so I was considerably shocked to see on the local news last night that co-owner Benny Spears had been shot & killed by police.
Police initially responded to a residential alarm at the house about 10:26 p.m., according to police dispatch information. Officers at the scene thought it might be a domestic situation when they heard yelling coming from inside the house.
A man inside the house was saying he was going to "kill" someone, according to the information.
Police say he eventually came to the door and pointed a gun at them, at which time the officers opened fire. The County Sheriff's office & the State Police are investigating the shooting.
I only knew Mr. Spears in passing, which is to say not well at all, but he's about the last person I could imagine something like this happening to.
Curiouser & curiouser.
Now here's a great idea. Our local police have started an anonymous meth tip hot line.
Investigators said that people who want to share a tip should call the hot line and give police as much information as possible -- including details about names, addresses and any details about suspicious signs of drug activity.
Callers are not required to give their names. However, officers will assign a case number that allows a caller or an investigator to check on the progress of the case.
The hot line is primarily for Washington and Madison counties. But you can still call in from other areas, and the police will pass the info along to the appropriate authorities. And it's a toll-free call.
The hotline number is 1-888-852-4908.
One of our local newspapers has a weekly columnist called "Gridlock Guru". People write in to him about traffic problems, he investigates, calls the appropriate authorities then writes about it all in his column. This week's problem is pretty funny (registration req'd).
There's a utility pole standing in the intersection of Rainbow Road & Wallis Road in Rogers.
The power company says it wasn't notified about the pole by the construction crew who widened Rainbow Road and that it would move the pole immediately.
The construction company said it repeatedly tried to get the power company to move the pole, but when it got no response, it just paved around it.
I'm wondering how in the hell that passed inspection. You'd think someone somewhere would've noticed a freaking utility pole in the street.
Sheesh.
As if the Disneyfication of Pooh and other classics weren't bad enough, now there's this, starting this fall.
Set in the year 2772, Loonatics will be an "over-the-top, high-octane action-comedy" featuring revised versions of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, the Road Runner, Lola Bunny, Tasmanian Devil and Wile E. Coyote. Using special abilities and an irreverent sense of humor, the six will battle the evils of Acmetropolis. The series will air on Saturdays at 9:00am (ET/PT).
I may cry. Just look at what they're doing to Bugs et al. That's more than wrong, that's just evil.
Say it ain't so, Tex. Say it ain't so.
After suffering through the holiday break with little to read, today I find myself with an almost embarassing surfeit of books....but no time to read them. It all started last week when I needed to order this PHP book from Amazon. Not enough to qualify for free shipping, so I also ordered this, which I've been wanting to read. Yes, I know I spent an extra $12 or so to get 'free shipping'. But I'd been looking for an excuse to buy it, and since I needed the PHP book for class....voila! Instant rationalization!
Then Mike ran across a good deal on an autographed copy of this, so he surprised me with it the other day. And yesterday, we found a copy of this that we couldn't pass up. Unfortunately, the PHP book is the only one I'll really have time to read in the near future....unless the evil Rita wins and I waste a couple of days reading them all & neglecting my schoolwork.
Confession time. I'm an obsessive-compulsive reader. Always have been. I'd rather read than just about anything else. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing....though my ex once angrily accused me of 'reading to escape from the world'.
Well, freaking duh.
I also like to read because I'm pretty curious about things and how they work, and I like to learn new things. But I accepted years ago that I have a compulsion to read, much like an alcoholic has a compulsion to drink. So having unread books about the house is much like waving a six-pack under the nose of an alcoholic 24/7.
On the other hand, if I can get my homework done in the next couple of days, I can take a day over the weekend and feed my compulsion by reading at least one of the books. A little added incentive, you might say.
Like I always say, anything can be good or bad.....just depends on what you do with it.
Reports are still sketchy, but there's apparently been a large explosion at or near Iran's nuclear reactor.
Earlier, Iranian state television initially reported that an unknown aircraft fired a missile in a desert area near the southern city of Dailam in the Bushehr province, the location of a nuclear power plant. The network later said, however, that the explosion may have been caused by a fuel tank dropping from an Iranian plane. Iranian Revolutionary Guards said there was no attack in Iran, but they also denied reports of a falling fuel tank.
One official is now denying there was an explosion of any kind. Another says it was "caused during dam construction, ." Nothing to see here, move along.
Meanwhile, Iranian officials are still ranting about reported fly-overs by US drones.
"If any of the bright objects come close, they will definitely meet our fire and will be shot down. We possess the necessary equipment to confront them," Intelligence Minister Ali Yunesi said.
Good thing to know they've got a functional "we see something shiny, we're blowing it up" defense system. Hope ol' Allah doesn't decide to drop down out of the sky for a visit.
They might blow Him up real good.
Sweet. I can't wait to see this.
(Link via Fark)
So the ganglion cyst on my left wrist has flared up, making part of my hand numb (do you have any idea how weird it feels to have a numb thumb? ok, it's not all that weird, I just like saying 'numb thumb'), so I've been wearing my wrist splint. And last night, Mike & I decided a good late night after-class snack would be Fritos & chili with cheese. Which really hit the spot until about 2 a.m. when I was awaken by some ferocious heartburn.
I was only half-awake when I was trying to get out of bed to get some antacid and....somehow I managed to sprain my wrist. My right one. Not badly, just enough to be annoying....but badly enough to need a splint.
I feel like freaking Venus de Milo in jammies over here this morning.
Well of course I took off the splints to type this. Ever try to type wearing one, let alone two?
Ok, so I had to take time for this meme I saw at David's
What’s your favorite kind of cookie? No-bake cookies....which is why I almost never make them. I have to eat the whole damn batch before I can quit.
Who is America’s most overrated actor? Pretty much any of them.
Name a guilty pleasure. Blogging when I should be doing my homework.
“Scrubs” or “Everybody Loves Raymond"? Definitely Scrubs. I hate Raymond.
Name two things you can’t live without. Nicotine, caffeine, and Mike.
Your first pet’s name + your mother’s maiden name = your porn star name. Yeah, why don't I just list my credit card information here to make it easier. Anyway a much more interesting combination is my first pet's name + my grandmother's maiden name, which makes my porn star name "Ol' Yeller Stills". Can't you just imagine what kind of movie that would make? "An Ozarks moonshiner granny shows the boys she's still full of piss 'n vinegar by...." Even if I were so inclined (and I'm not), I think I prolly shouldn't quit my day job.
What song are you listening to right now? I rarely listen to anything these days. Too many distractions.
Name your celebrity crush. Don't have one.
Favorite punchline from a joke. Hell if I could remember punchlines to jokes, I'd be much better at telling them.
Who do you want to pass this meme off to? Ummm, I pick Jim and Craig.
This being a 2-class day, I'm afraid I only have time to respond to Adam's post about young'uns with this:
WHY PARENTS DRINK
The boss of a big company needed to call one of his employees about an urgent problem with one of the main computers. He dialed the employee's home phone number and was greeted with a child's whisper.
"Hello."
"Is your daddy home?" he asked.
"Yes," whispered the small voice.
"May I talk with him?"
The child whispered, "No."
Surprised, and wanting to talk with an adult, the boss asked, "Is your Mommy there?"
"Yes."
"May I talk with her?"
Again the small voice whispered, "No."
Hoping there was somebody with whom he could leave a message, the boss asked, "Is anybody else there?"
"Yes," whispered the child, "a policeman."
Wondering what a cop would be doing at his employee's home, the boss asked,
"May I speak with the policeman?"
"No, he's busy", whispered the child.
"Busy doing what?"
"Talking to Daddy and Mommy and the Fireman," came the whispered answer.
Growing concerned and even worried as he heard what sounded like a helicopter through the earpiece on the phone the boss asked, "What is that noise?"
"A hello-copper" answered the whispering voice.
"What is going on there?" asked the boss, now truly alarmed.
In an awed whispering voice the child answered, "The search team just
landed the hello-copper."
Alarmed, concerned, and even more then just a little frustrated the boss asked, "What are they searching for?"
Still whispering, the young voice replied along with a muffled giggle:
"ME."
While we were in the store, a big display of this caught WildChild's eye: Tide ColdWater. He insisted he needed to buy some, even though he had no idea what it was because he can't read. But the box looked cool. Apparently.
I explained that it was detergent to wash clothes, and that he didn't need to wash any clothes. He still wanted it.
"I need it, Ma," he insisted. "I like icy clothes."
Somehow I don't think that was the response the Tide people were going for.
CORRECTION: I inadvertently left out an accompanying paragraph to a quote below, which is now included in bold type.
The sex offender sued by a local developer has filed a $5 million counterclaim for emotional distress. (The realtor that arranged the sale is also trying to get dismissed from the original lawsuit because she said she didn't know the guy was a sex offender until after the sale closed.)
Rogers attorney Ken Swindle filed the answer and counterclaim Friday on behalf of Carmen and Randall Collins and Shirley Colunga....According to the answer and counterclaim, neither Carmen and Randall Collins nor Colunga tried to hide Randall Collins would live in the home.
They suggested NGI Rentals should ask potential buyers who will live in a home. They denied offering to move for $250,000, but said they did tell NGI it would cost that much to buy a new home and move.
"Any allegation that this amount was an attempt by the defendants to profit from their unfortunate situation is ludicrous," the answer stated.
They also claim NGI used "outrageous methods in an attempt to intimidate, harass and coerce the defendants into selling their property."
$5 million is a lot of emotional distress, isn't it? Here's the example of the 'outrageous methods' used by the developer:
[The Collins] also claim NGI used "outrageous methods in an attempt to intimidate, harass and coerce the defendants into selling their property."
Randall Collins was told neighbors were "very upset and willing to do anything to get you out of the subdivision. They have people to sit and wait at the bus drop to protect their children from you," the suit alleged.
Well no shit. What did he expect, a parade welcoming him to the neighborhood? And how is this the developer's fault? The neighbors found out about his sex offender status when the local police notified everyone who lived around him, as required by law.
This is starting to smell more & more like a hustle.
Had to stop at the store on the way home with WildChild to pick up a few things....and made the mistake of letting him ride in the cart that looks like a car. What marketing genius thought that damn thing up? Every few feet he was yelling Stop! and bailing out because "he needed to look at something." I had managed to limit him to a couple of cheap movies & a glowstick until we went past the lamp aisle.
He bailed out and I spent a good 20 minutes convincing him we didn't need a flashing red light, or a lava lamp. I almost had him back in the cart when he spied a disco light.
"Ma look! I need that."
"What do you need that for," I asked.
"I need that so I can dance in the living room" he answered.
When I could finally stop laughing, I told him no. Absolutely not. But it was tempting just to see the show he'd put on.
John Travolta he ain't.
Since this seems to be 'pick on the arts' day, check this out.
Actually some of them are kinda funny.
Christo's latest 'art' will open in Central Park tomorrow.
Famed husband-and-wife artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude will unveil a public installation Saturday, featuring 7,500 gates draped in saffron-colored fabric, spanning 23 miles (37 kilometers) of Central Park footpaths.
That's a helluva lot of yellow bedsheets, innit?
Wolf-Dieter Voelkening, a German architect who lives in the northern city of Kiel, plans to leave Friday for a nine-day visit to New York.
He said he saw the "Wrapped Reichstag" in Berlin a decade ago. "I find Christo and Jean Claude very authentic," he said.
I find the whole "line-drying laundry as art" movement very authentic too. If by 'authentic' you mean 'patently ridiculous'. Not there's not something aesthetically pleasing about a clothesline full of freshly-washed sheets gently billowing in the breeze. A sparkling clean bathroom mirror has the same effect....but I don't think it belongs in MOMA.
Though it would probably look better than most of the 'art' I've seen there.
My goodness where has the day gone? Let's see what's been going on in the world today.....
----Kim Jong Il said today that they do so have nukes....however Alec Baldwin is still worthless.
----Mistress Camilla soon to become Mrs. Ed.
---One of our friend's cats apparently fell off the sofa. (Bob, you know I mean you.)
That's about it. Now I gots to get back to washing dishes.
A potential juror out in beautiful downtown Jay, OK, had the perfect excuse for not showing up for jury duty. He dead. If that's not enough irony for you, just wait. There's more.
A Delaware County man who prosecutors say was killed by his father-in-law was called for jury duty in his alleged killer's murder trial.
That's right. The murder victim was called as a juror in his accused murderer's trial.
I know they have terrible problems getting enough jurors to show up, I've seen judges there send deputies out to pull in the first 12 people they saw on the streets. But this seems a little harsh.
Besides, you know no one would've picked him if he'd shown up.
UPDATE: You can view a gif of the seal here (link courtesy of Mr. Bashman)
This is getting ridiculous.
The federal appeals court that ruled the Pledge of Allegiance was an unconstitutional endorsement of religion is being sued for allegedly displaying the Ten Commandments on its seal and courthouses.
An attorney who was recently granted permission to practice in the 9th Circuit appellate court filed the lawsuit. Why? He said the document that gave him permission to practice had a seal on it that contained the 10 Commandments.
Cathy Catterson, the court's clerk, said the seal highlights a woman, known as "the Majesty of the Law" who is reading a large book. At her feet is a tablet with 10 unreadable lines on it - what Donlon believes is the Ten Commandments.
Catterson said the tablet has "the same shape" of the Ten Commandments but "you can't read the text of it."
You can't read the text, but somehow he 'knows' it's the Ten Commandments? Hells bells, for all he 'knows', it could represent the court's docket sheet. In fact, if it's unreadable, it probably is a docket sheet.
Good grief.
My SIL's band has a website. You can download their 3 song demo there, or listen to clips. A complete album will be available soon.
Their next date is at George's in Fayetteville on February 22nd. If you're in town, drop by. They put on a pretty good show.
Thank you, thank you very much. [/Elvis voice]
I heard about this on NPR while driving to school this morning.
Patrol officers tried to stop the 1992 Toyota Camry about 3:50 a.m. Sunday when they saw the car moving erratically near Century Boulevard and Grand Avenue and believed the driver was drunk, said LAPD Officer Kristi Sandoval of the Media Relations Office.
"The suspect collided with a fence, the officers were behind him, attempted to make a traffic stop, and at that point an officer involved shooting occurred," LAPD Assistant Chief Jim McDonnell said.
Police said the driver ignored orders to surrender and backed the car into a police cruiser.
The driver was 13 years old. His community is in an uproar over the shooting. In the NPR interviews, the general consensus was that the police shouldn't have shot him, he wasn't doing anything wrong.
Excuse me?
Assuming the reports of his actions are accurate, he stole a car, ran from the cops, and then assaulted them with a deadly weapon (the car).
What were the police supposed to do? Stand there & let him run over them? Sheesh.
If they would start shooting more of the bad boys who start car chases to get their 15 minutes of fame instead of taping them & broadcasting them on national tv, you'd see a whole lot less of that dangerous nonsense. And I don't care if they're 13 or 30.
Change the mentality of "I'm gonna be on tv" into "I better stop or they gonna shoot my ass" would make the streets a little bit safer for everyone.
Years ago (pre-Mike) my daughter asked "Mom, I don't understand how you can eat the same old thing for breakfast every single morning?" "The same way I could stay married to your (now former) stepfather for 13 years" I replied. With the teen-age eye roll & digusted sigh she snapped "You eating the same thing for breakfast every morning has nothing to do with how you stay married!"
"It has everything to do with it," I said. "And the sooner you figure that out, the longer you'll stay married. You find something you like and you stick with it."
I believe liking and respecting your partner is a key component to a successful relationship. Commitment is another one. When you get to be my age you realize (or you should) that not only is the grass not greener on the other side of the fence, but that for the most part, all cats look black in the dark. (Cliches! It's what's for breakfast!)
With that in mind, here's a quiz to test how likely your relationship will last. Looks like a pretty good 'un so go check it out.
And be honest.
Watched most of the Super Bowl yesterday as I do every year. Once again, I amazed myself by caring even less who won this year than I did the year before. I had to ask Mike who was playing this year. All he said was that we hateses the Pats and that was all I needed to know.
It's not that I don't understand the game. I do. I even know what a blitz is. It's a slightly more refined version of what my cousins & I used to do when our moms made us let our crybaby sissy cousin play football with us. 'Kill the man with the ball' we called it.
Pro football isn't nearly as interesting.
But I like to watch the Super Bowl commercials. And since all the hootchie mamas were banned this year, the ad people actually had to be creative....a nice change. These were my favorites. I think we've all had jobs like that, haven't we?
Even the half-time show was reasonably good. I stopped watching that when it became littered with dances that, as Mike put it, would've cost you $30 in one dollar bills to watch just a few years ago. Didn't miss the absence of crotch grabbing either. I've never understood that one. Is it some kind of artistic statement, an attempt to reassure oneself that it's still there, or just the beginnings of an I-need-to-pee-pee dance?
Not that I don't understand crotch grabbing as a statement. I was sitting in the square by the Duomo in Florence in the summer of '93, people watching, when I noticed an elderly gentleman get into an argument with a middle-aged guy. I have no idea what the argument was about since I didn't speak Italian at the time, but it grew more & more heated. They kept getting louder & louder, and their hand gestures got more & more animated. Finally the elderly gentleman grabbed his crotch, turned his head & spat, yelled one more sentence and with a dismissive wave of his hand, turned and walked away.
That statement I understood perfectly.
Just got attacked by a trackback spambot. It only got 2 in before I cut 'em off at the knees.
Comments & trackbacks are temporarily closed as a result. I apologize for the inconvenience, but I refuse to advise for a magazine subscription website spammer. Or any other spammer for that matter.
I would, however, be more than happy to send them an atomic bomb ping that would irrevocably fry their system. If that were legal. Which it's not, so don't do it.
The closing trackbacks scripts worked so nicely (once I got it in the correct folder) that I'm thinking about trying the 'no-follow script' when I get time.
Has anyone else installed that one, and if so, what do you think about it?
FoxNews is running this report about a Springdale developer who is suing a sex offender.
NGI Rental filed the $2 million lawsuit Friday against Randall Dee Collins and his wife, as well as the real estate company that arranged their new home purchase.
Randall Collins, 39, was convicted of molesting young girls and is listed on the Arkansas Crime Information Center Web site. According to the lawsuit, his wife hired a real estate company to sell her old home, saying she had married a sex offender and that her home was too close to a school.
A day after the couple bought a home in a new subdivision, the police department distributed fliers detailing Collins' case.
The article goes on to state that the developer is suing because he now can't sell houses in the subdivision (he has to notify potential buyers about the sex offender) and present residents are threatening to move if the sex offender stays. It also includes the lawsuit's allegation that
Collins called the developer and offered to move for $250,000, "or he would stay there and kill their subdivision." (For reference, houses in that subdivision are currently listed for $132,900 to $172,900. They're also advertised as being "convenient" to the new elementary & jr. high schools BTW.)
Before you get your drawers in a wad about this poor mistreated pervert's constitutional right to live around little girls, here's the stuff FoxNews left out. One, Collins is rated as a Level 3 sex offender......the second-highest ranking of risk of re-offending. Which is why he isn't allowed to live within 2000 feet of any school. Two, it doesn't disclose why the realtor who handled the sale is also being sued.
After the home sold, [realtor] Rodriguez-Iarrain showed new property to the couple, with the criteria their home be at least 2,000 feet from a school, the suit stated.
When the couple decided to purchase the home on Grainger Circle, they drafted the offer so Randall Collins' name would not appear -- thus no credit report or disclosure statement would be required, the suit stated.
A third party, who co-signed the loan for the purchase, is also included in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit is primarily based on the alleged fraud of the parties in concealing the fact that a sex offender was purchasing the property. The part about the alleged financial harm is only relevant to proving damages.
A little different when you know the entire story, isn't it?
The oh-so-PC crowd are raising a stink about this:
Lt. Gen. James Mattis, a career infantry officer who is now in charge of developing better ways to train and equip Marines, made the comments Tuesday while speaking to a forum in San Diego.
According to an audio recording, he said, "Actually, it's a lot of fun to fight. You know, it's a hell of a hoot. ... It's fun to shoot some people. I'll be right up front with you, I like brawling."
He added, "You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil. You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them."
So career Marines tend to be a little......blunt. So what?
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil liberties group, called on the Pentagon to discipline Mattis for the remarks.
"We do not need generals who treat the grim business of war as a sporting event," said the council's executive director, Nihad Awad. "These disturbing remarks are indicative of an apparent indifference to the value of human life."
Pardon me, but I think that beheading people and forcing retarded kids to be suicide bombers is much more "indicative of an apparent indifference to the value of human life". But I haven't seen CAIR getting their knickers all in knot about that.
Besides, I had no idea shooting guys who slap women around is a sporting event? Sweet. Ass.
Where do I sign up?
My mom told me about this yesterday:
Arkansas State Police hoped to reopen U.S. 65 in Searcy County on Thursday night after the crash of a propane tanker on a curve of the highway forced its closure and the evacuation of nearby homes......
The 2000 Peterbilt tanker carrying 9,400 gallons of propane was driven by William J. Lane, 50, of Summit when it crashed on U.S. 65 about a mile north of Pindall, according to a state police report.
State police Cpl. Randall Dias said the stretch of highway has two northbound lanes and one southbound lane.
The accident happened when Lane moved from the left-hand lane to the right-hand lane around a right-hand curve to pass, Dias said.
A bit misleading, that. US 65 between Harrison and Pindall is primarily a narrow, crooked little 2 lane highway. The place where the wreck happened is one of two passing lanes on that stretch, and it's a fairly short one. It's also poorly signed & striped, and the third lane begins on a sharp curve at the foot of a steep hill & ends on another curve at the top of the hill. In other words, if you don't already know it's there, the likelihood of your passing another car there is almost nil. Even if you do know, you have to downshift & floor it in order to pass.
So I'm not surprised someone wrecked there....or that they had to close the highway & evacuate residents because no one could figure out how to safely empty the propane tanker.
Nor was I surprised when my mother insisted that we bring WildChild down for a visit today, and oh btw Hwy. 65 is closed so you'll have to detour out through the dirt roads around Pindall.
I don't think so Mom.
Alberto Gonzales has been confirmed as AG by the Senate, 60-36. The Dems tried for two days, but couldn't get the 40 needed to filibuster.....going out with a whimper, not a bang.
Let the whining begin.
In case you were looking for just the right way to express your feelings for your S.O. this Valentine's Day, I give you:
The Classic Redneck Love Poem
Collards is green, my dog's name is Blue
And I'm so lucky to have a sweet thang like
you.
Yore hair is like corn silk a-flapping in the
breeze.
Softer than ole Blue's and without all them
fleas.
You move like the bass, which excite me in May.
You ain't got no scales but I luv you anyway.
Yore as satisfy'n as okry jist a-fry'n in the
pan.
Yore as fragrant as "snuff" right out of the
can.
You have some'a yore teeth, for which I am
proud;
I hold my head high when we're in a crowd.
On special occasions, when you shave under yore
arms,
Well, I'm in hawg heaven, and awed by yore
charms.
Still, them fellers at work, they all want to
know,
What I did to deserve such a purdy, young doe.
Like a good roll of duct tape, yore there fer
yore man,
To patch up life's troubles and fix what you
can.
Yore as cute as a junebug a-buzzin' overhead.
You ain't mean like those far ants I found in
my bed.
Cut from the best cloth like a plaid flannel
shirt,
You spark up my life more than a fresh load of
dirt.
When you hold me real tight like a padded
gunrack,
My life is complete; Ain't nuttin' I lack.
Yore complexion, it's perfection, like the best
vinyl sidin'.
Despite all the years, yore age, it keeps
hidin'.
Me 'n' you's like a Moon Pie with a RC cold
drank,
We go together like a skunk goes with stank.
Some men, they buy chocolate for Valentine's
Day;
They git it at Walmart, it's romantic that way.
Some men git roses on that special day
From the cooler at Kroger. "That's impressive,"
I say.
Some men buy fine diamonds from a flea market
booth.
"Diamonds are forever," they explain, suave and
couth.
But for this man, honey, these won't do.
Cause yore too special, you sweet thang you.
I got you a gift, without taste nor odor,
More useful than diamonds......
IT'S A NEW TROLL'N MOTOR!!
In response to a Fayetteville property owner bulldozing some trees *gasp* on his own property, the city has designated a task force to review a more restrictive property ordinance.
The group is reviewing a draft ordinance created by a previous incarnation of the task force, which was made up of three commissioners. The draft ordinance includes the following regulations:
• No more than 40 percent of the area of a lot may be covered with impervious materials, such as driveway or building.
• A minimum of 40 percent of a lot must be left undisturbed.
• A maximum building height of three stories, or 45 feet.
• The preservation of a mini- mum of 50 percent of the tree canopy, which would also be required of the construction of a single home, which is currently exempt from the tree preservation ordinance.
In other words, let's make most of the undeveloped property in the city unusable so we can Save The TreesTM. That'll spur economic growth!
Not that I think we should allow unregulated development. But Good Lord. Could we at least use some common sense about dealing with the problem?
Unfortunately common sense ain't too common in our city government these days.
Jim Calloway has a great article in this month's Oklahoma Bar Journal asking "Was 2004 the Year of the Blog?" Go check it out. He's included several links to other Oklahoma lawyer blogs.
You might even see an old familiar link there if you look closely.
Here's some photos of this morning's beautiful snow. If it were a few degrees colder, it would be about knee-deep by now. I love it!
The USDA has reached a settlement agreement with a Sharp County Arkansas couple who were reportedly the "largest seller of animals for medical research in the country".
The Bairds didn’t admit to any wrongdoing in signing the agreement, which resolved a 108-page civil lawsuit that the USDA filed against them in March. The Bairds were accused of several violations of the Animal Welfare Act of 1966 and were to go on trial Jan. 24, with Hillson presiding in a borrowed Little Rock federal courtroom.
Besides allegations of mistreatment and neglect, the complaint accused the Bairds of buying animals from questionable sources, making it impossible for investigators to determine whether any of the animals had been stolen.
There's now about 140 cats and 89 dogs that need returned to their owners or that will be up for adoption. If you're missing a pet or would like to adopt one of the unclaimed pets, the photos of all the animals will be on websites by the end of the week.
The websites are:
We have about 3-4 inches of snow on the ground this morning. Yay! And it's still snowing! And I'm supposed to help my daughter finishing moving today!
That should be interesting.
I've been trying to install a script today to close trackback pings, and I can't get it to work. Anyone ever try to install this one? Or have a better one?
Pretty please?
UPDATE: My wonderful, smart husband figured it out. I didn't have it in the correct folder, so I didn't have the necessary permissions to run the executable.
This lady has been all over the local news lately. Her problem? The wicked power company injected a tree growth retardant on their easement across her property. (registration req'd) SWEPCO has apparently started doing this in certain areas so they can limit how often they have to trim the trees back. You know, so the branches don't take down the power lines every winter.
But this is evidently a bad thing because.....it's chemicals, man. So she had a hissy fit, called the cops, the mayor's office, and made all the local news stations last night. Because, like, the power company shouldn't be allowed to use chemicals on their easement without asking.
Besides (and here's the hoot) they are infringing on one of her constitutional rights.
Schram supported electric company’s practice of trimming limbs but considered the use of Cambistat an infringement on her right to have larger branches on her trees. [emphasis added]
Funny, I don't remember reading about that right in law school. But then, they prolly skipped over that part during my indoctrination by The Man.
I hope this crazy cow doesn't live anywhere around us. I likes my 'lectricity.
I've been hit by trackback spammers overnite, so I'll be making some changes later today. If I happen to break anything, remember to bookmark my backup site at Pro Hac Vice. I'll post there until I fix this one.
Since a multi-layer security system is best, I'm considering upgrading & installing TypeKey, along with a few other things. Would anyone have serious objections if I required comment registration? I would also allow unregistered comments, but they'd be placed in a queue for my approval. I really hate to do that, but I figure now that the spammers have discovered my little part of the world, they'll be back.
And I plan to meet them at the door with the 12 gauge full loaded for bear.
