One of life's simple pleasures . . .

Carman's, a family ice cream business in a very small town in Southern PA, has been making ice cream since the early 1950's. A seasonal treat is the flavor of teaberry! There is ice cream, and then there is Carman's teaberry . . . one of life's most excellent and simple pleasures!

Duh . . .

Mars is being hit by rapid climate change and it is happening so fast that the red planet could lose its southern ice cap, writes Jonathan Leake.

Scientists from NASA say that Mars has warmed by about 0.5C since the 1970s. This is similar to the warming experienced on Earth over approximately the same period.
Since there is no known life on Mars it suggests rapid changes in planetary climates could be natural phenomena.

The mechanism at work on Mars appears, however, to be different from that on Earth. One of the researchers, Lori Fenton, believes variations in radiation and temperature across the surface of the Red Planet are generating strong winds.

In a paper published in the journal Nature, she suggests that such winds can stir up giant dust storms, trapping heat and raising the planet’s temperature.

Fenton’s team unearthed heat maps of the Martian surface from NASA’s Viking mission in the 1970s and compared them with maps gathered more than two decades later by Mars Global Surveyor.

They found there had been widespread changes, with some areas becoming darker.
When a surface darkens it absorbs more heat, eventually radiating that heat back to warm the thin Martian atmosphere: lighter surfaces have the opposite effect.

The temperature differences between the two are thought to be stirring up more winds, and dust, creating a cycle that is warming the planet.

DD Note: Scientific evidence that runs contary to pop culture alarmists ca really be an inconvenient truth . . . gotta love it!!!

Invested in defeat, they'll try anything!

Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) said Sunday that Democrats in Congress could consider impeachment as a way to pressure President Bush on his handling of the war in Iraq.

“What I’m saying, there’s four ways to influence a president. And one of them’s impeachment,” Murtha, chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

Murtha has been one of the most outspoken members of Congress on the administration's handling of the war in Iraq; others who have strongly criticized Bush have stopped short of calling for impeachment.

Murtha also expressed doubt that Congress and the Bush administration would be able to work out a compromise soon in negotiations on the $124 billion war spending bill. Congress' emergency funding measure contains a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq.

“They say we’re willing to compromise, and then we don’t get any compromise,” said Murtha. “We’ve already compromised. And we need to make this president understand, Mr. President, the public has spoken.”

Murtha said the Democratic-controlled Congress will pass another war funding bill with similar benchmarks for progress in Iraq after President Bush vetoes the legislation, as he has vowed to do.

“If he vetoes this bill, he’s cut off the money. But obviously, we’re going to pass another bill,” Murtha said. “It’s going to have some stringent requirements. ... I'd like to look at this again in two months.”

Sad days at Happy Valley

I've just learned that 6 Penn State players have been charged following an off-campus fight. This can't be good a good thing for the players, program, or the season. Normally, the Nits walk on much higher ground than most other programs . . . this is is so uncharacteristic of traditional team member behaviors. I don't have all the details peiced together yet, Scirotto and King looks to be the 2 "impact players on defense" whose talents will be missed for some of the games, or the season. It's a sad day . . .

Bananas and Intelligent Design

I shamelessly lifted this from another blog . . . the author set out to prove that bananas are perfectly compatible with human anatomy, thus proving intelligent design. Here are two photos that he used to offer proof . . . this is great!

A message to congressional Democrats . . .

Too invested in defeat to support the Armed Forces of the United States, ole Melvin's shares my sentiments: "Argo" (ah go fuck yourselves)!

Sign on a voting machine . . .

Mister Bub

Abbey

Great sign

Rosie is Flushed

And . . . good news Sheryl, no toilet paper used in the process as The View flushed her away . . .

Flattering thank you, but I don't think so . . .

It's flattering to be contacted by a corporate head hunter. Quite an offer and opportunity, but money isn't everything . . . thank you very much.

Invested In Defeat

Crow's Mouth and Rosie's Ass

The answer, presumably, is no -- but Rosie made her point, pooh-poohing Sheryl Crow for suggesting that we all use just one square of toilet paper per trip to the loo.

Crow made her comments on her blog last week, and Rosie took a moment on this morning's "The View" to express her incredulity at the supposedly enviro-friendly suggestion.

"Have you seen my ass?!" bellowed Rosie, and Barbara Walters was good enough to warn viewers not to use their sleeves, another of Crow's helpful suggestions.

That's just about enough scatology and wipe-tech for one morning on that zany kaffeeklatsch.

DD Note: Shit Sheryl, why not just use your bare hand?!? Shit Rosie, your ass is the last thing on earth anyone wants to see or hear about. To be this starved for press exposure is sick, sad, and just plain shitty!

Tough Tour of Duty

Company business tkaes me away from Pennsylvania and lands me at a golf resort in Phoenix, AZ . . . that's tough to take! Talk about a cure for cabin fever after a nasty Winter of 2007. I don't play golf (too much of a contact sport, LOL) . . . but the beer is just as cold here as in PA . . . nice view, plenty of pretty skirts, and a great conference!

Student Section Pays Tribute Today

Great bumper sticker!

Come on Dad, I wanna play!

Abbey and her purple tennis ball . . .

Mister Bub awaits his Dad's return from work!

Blue and White Gameday!

The unofficial kickoff to the 2007 season!!!

Let's put politicians on a timetable!

Original Jaguar by Yardley

After a successful bid war on eBay . . . I obtained the first 4 ounce bottle of this rare cologne since the 1960's. For a product that is about 40 years old, I was amazed at how well the cologne has kept it's unmistakable original scent. At 25 bucks an ounce, and given the difficulty of locating this stuff, it's gonna have to last for quite a while. I previously purchased a partially filled 2/3 ounce bottle on eBay, only to be disappointed that the scent oils had lost their strength over time. This 4 ounce bottle is perfect. No chance Yardley will ever re-introduce this product, a real shame - of all of the colognes of the baby boomer era, this one was the best!

OTR Morning Drive Nightmare

Last week was a particularly difficult one for me. While on a short tour of duty in P.G. County (near Washington D.C.), my mission was put on hold as my team was called to the site of a serious traffic accident. The fatal crash, which resulted in the death of one our employees, occurred when a chemically-impaired driver T-boned one of our vehicles at an intersection. Having spent nearly 4 hours conducting and investigation and reconstruction of the occurrence, I had the opportunity to interact with several local authorities. As you can imagine, fatal accidents draw a large response at the scene. I left P.G. County with a heavy heart. The deceased employee was a co-worker and friend of mine.

I returned to P.G. yesterday to complete last week's unfinished mission. Folks think I'm nuts, but I leave Southern PA very early on the morning commutes that take me anywhere near D.C. The goal is to be on I-95 or I-495 well ahead of rush hour crazies! After my experience on I-95, after entering P.G. county, I may have to re-think my travel tactics.

Picture a 5-lane Interstate, maybe 20 minutes before first light of day, moderate traffic, and you're my passenger. We are in "lane 2" (lane one = the right-most travel lane). There's traffic around us but I'm maintaining good space cushions to the sides and front. There's a tri-axle dump truck in front of us on lane 3, it's tailgating several vehicles ahead of it. Lanes 4 and 5 are moderately populated with "zoomers" - you know the type, if the posted speed limit is 65 mph, these assholes do 80+. We about 3 miles from our exit.

On our right (lane 1) we are overtaken by 2 P.G. County Police cruisers travelling in "tight formation" (nice way of saying kissing bumpers). I'm doing about 60 mph, keeping back from the dump truck. The 2 police cars merge into my lane and begin overtaking the dump truck. No turn signals mind you . . . no sirens or light bars . . . these guys are just motoring along.

Crusier # 1 cuts into lane 3 filling a small space between the truck and the vehicles ahead of it, then continues to merge into lane 4 to join the zoomers. Cruiser #2, "what the fuck is this guy thinking?", tries the same move. I have no idea what event up ahead changed the choreography of the traffic flow, but suddenly Crusier #2 hits his brakes, comes back into my lane, re-sets his mark, and goes for the lane change in front of the dump truck again! Don't worry rider, I've already dropped our speed to adjust . . . thank God, the dump truck panic brakes and goes sideways straddling lanes 3 and 4. Cruiser #2 completes his lane changes and if off to catch his buddy in Cruiser #1. Fucking morons, impervious to situation they caused and left behind them.

By this time, my SUV is swallowed up in a cloud of smoking rubber. I glance over to left, see that I'm past the dump truck, unscathed. Vehicles in lanes 3, 4, and 5 . . . no so lucky. I heard 2 impacts. The first I believe was the truck taking out a vehicle to his left, and the second was either that vehicle going into the median guardrail or another vehicle.

I don't know what possessed me, but after a short talk with my guard angel and word of thanks to my Maker, my first thought was getting the license plate # of one of the cruisers. By the time I talked myself out of it, I too far past the scene to be of any assistance.

I've developed a distaste for Prince George's County, their highway users, and I'm thinking some of their police officers need a huge wake up call when it comes to defensive driving.

Hero

Virginia Tech University Prof. Liviu Librescu, described as a family man who once did research for NASA, sacrificed his life to save his students in the shooting rampage yesterday.
"When he heard the gunfire, he blocked the entrance and got shot through the door," his daughter-in-law Ayala Schmulevich said.

"He realized he had to save the students," she said. "That was the kind of man he was."
The hero educator was beginning a class on solid mechanics when all hell broke loose on the second floor of Norris Hall.

First came the terrifying gunshots from a classroom next door.

"It wasn't like an automatic weapon, but it was a steady 'pow,' 'pow,' 'pow,' 'pow,'" student Richard Mallalieu, 23, told The Washington Post. "We didn't know what to do at first."

The students in the class dropped to the floor and started overturning desks to hide behind as about a dozen shots rang out, he said.

Then the gunfire started coming closer. Librescu, 77, fearlessly braced himself against the door, holding it shut against the gunman in the hall, while students darted to the windows of the second-floor classroom to escape the slaughter, survivors said.

Mallalieu and most of his classmates hung out of the windows and dropped about 10 feet to bushes and grass below - but Librescu stayed behind to hold off the crazed gunman.

DD Note: He was a Holocaust survivor and a genuine American hero!

Conservative Imposters

Four conservatives and one liberal - can you spot the imposter?

Tired of this sky is falling mentality . . .

For millions of years, the earth has warmed and cooled . . . no doubt as a reaction to the effects of solar energy reaching our atmosphere. For hundreds of years, we measured andrecorded "the weather" . . . some folks even make a living trying to predict it. For the 60 years I've been blessed with the opportunity to experience life on earth . . . it's rained, snowed, and changed temperatures every year. Call me stupid, but we mortals have ZERO control over Mother Nature. Now don't get me wrong, I hate to read about anyone hurt by severe weather in any way shape or form. God knows, I suffered property loss to Agnes a few years back. But you know something - hurricane, tornado, and tidal waves are what they are . . . acts of nature, totally beyond the control of man. Try to stop one!

For the past few years, this glo-bull warming thing is driving common sense folks absolutely nuts! It seems like every weather event is elevated to the high plains of sensationalism. This weekends "worst storm in 25 years" . . . " a storm of historic impact" . . . "airports close in anticipation of . . ." holy shit . . . the sky is falling!!! It just a fucking storm . . . like any other severe storm . . . in any other decade . . . or century since man's been around to observe the effects of nature. But, it makes for a good news story . . . in this 24-7 news feed world of ours . . . and the wackos take advantae of yet another opportunity to blame it on Mr. Bush or advance the glo-bull warming agenda. Give me a break!

One sick fucknut . . .

Michael Moore's production company took ailing Ground Zero responders to Cuba in a stunt aimed at showing that the U.S. health-care system is inferior to Fidel Castro's socialized medicine, according to several sources with knowledge of the trip.

The trip was to be filmed as part of the controversial director's latest documentary, "Sicko," an attack on American drug companies and HMOs that Moore hopes to debut at the Cannes Film Festival next month.

Two years in the making, the flick also takes aim at the medical care being provided to people who worked on the toxic World Trade Center debris pile, according to several 9/11 workers approached by Moore's producers.

But the sick sojourn, which some say uses ill 9/11 workers as pawns, has angered many in the responder community.

"He's using people that are in a bad situation and that's wrong, that's morally wrong," railed Jeff Endean, a former SWAT commander from Morris County, N.J., who spent a month at Ground Zero and suffers from respiratory problems.

A spokeswoman for the Weinstein Co., the film's distributor, would not say when the director's latest expose would hit cinemas or provide details about the film or the trip.

DD Note: If Webster's Dictionary or Wikepedia want to update their photos of a maggot - MM would be a perfect illustration.

Snoop Rev Doggie Do

(CBS/AP) NEW YORK After calling for Don Imus to be fired, Rev. Al Sharpton said he's now turning his attention to the music industry, specifically the hip hop music that often uses lyrics that are racist and demeaning to women.

Sharpton says he wants to meet with some performers in the industry about offensive lyrics. Whether he demands they stop using such lyrics remains to be seen. The civil rights activist has stepped up his security detail after he received threats in response to his campaign to have radio shock jock Don Imus fired for making racist and sexist remarks.

"We have received several threats that we consider serious," Sharpton told the Daily News in Sunday's edition. "I have been stabbed once, so we don't take anything too lightly."

Maybe the best ribs yet . . .

Prep - remove the membrane from the underside of each rack. Loosen it on the edge with a blade to get a small "tab" - then pinch the tab with a paper towel to get a good grip - then peal off the membrane. Apply dry rub (see my latest blends below) and piggy back (no pun intended) up to 3 racks together and wrap them in heavy duty foil.

Place the foil pack(s) in the kitchen oven at 185 degrees for a minimum of 6 hours. You can do this on a grill or smoker too, but I like the convenience and temperature control the oven offers. The real secret to ribs isn't the smoking and sauces so much as it is ensuring they will be "fall off the bones tender" for your guests to rave about!

Peek inside the foil during the last 2 hours - the meat should begin to recede back from the ends of the rib bones a little bit as a sign they are ready to transfer to the smoker. Somewhere in that 5th to 6th hour . . . but definately wait them out before making the transfer.

I use a CharGrill Pro Smoker with a warm up rack. Build a hickory chunk fire in the side fire box and let it become a coal bed between hour 5 and 6. This pre-heats the main cooking chamber to about 150 degrees. After transfer, adding additional chucks or chips to maintain the heat level and to produce heavy smoke volume. Remember - smoke is a "spice" or flavoring. I'm convinced this is another "secret of success" most novice BBQ enthusiasts don't understand the first season or two they devote to the quest for perfect ribs. Having said that, I modified my smoking regimen to ensure heavy smoke for about an hour without paying too much attention to maintaining main chamber temps (125 to 175 degrees yesterday). I baste the racks every 20 minutes with a "mopping sauce". The "test" - meat receded back from the edge of the bones and a beautiful shade of red-brown on the racks.

Last step - re-wrap the racks in foil (baste freely with remaining mopping sauce) and put them back in the kitchen oven at 325 degrees for 40 minutes. This step carmelizes the mopping sauce and heats up the racks to make them steam as you present them to your guests.

Dry rub blend (equal parts of each) combine:

Stubb's BBQ Spice Rub for Pork
McCormack's Grill Mates Rub for Pork
McCormack's Pulled Pork Spice for Slow Cooker

Any of the above dry rubs are good by themselves, but this combination is the best I've found so far.

Mopping sauce: (mix in a large bowl)

2 cups Apple Juice
1/4 cup Molasses (full flavored)
1/4 cup Red Wine Vinegar
1/4 cup Honey
1 Bottle Kraft Honey BBQ sauce
To taste Hot pepper sauce

Serve ribs with slaw and french fries. Enjoy!

Baby Back Rib Saturday!!!

This is the 3rd BBQ of the 2007 season . . . baby back ribs on the smoker! Gotta make a beer run and also pick up some apple juice for the rib finishing spritz.

Amazing . . .

April 12, 2007 -- HER name is Crystal Gail Mangum.

She is the woman who falsely accused three Duke University students of rape. Yesterday, the attorney general of North Carolina came forward and flatly declared the three young men "innocent of these charges."

That means their accuser is a liar.

Her name is Crystal Gail Mangum.

It is the policy of the news media not to publish the names of rape accusers on the grounds that they should not have to fear public shame for coming forward with word of a horrifying personal violation.

That is a noble policy. But it needs a codicil. The codicil is that if a rape accuser is revealed as a liar, her name should be spoken loudly and often - as loudly and often as the names of those whom she falsely accused have been over the past year.

Her name is Crystal Gail Mangum.

She must be denied anonymity because she makes a mockery of the very policy of granting anonymity to rape accusers. We do not publish their names so that they will not fear public exposure. But people who are tempted to do the monstrous thing Mangum did should fear public exposure.

They should be terrified of it.

They should have nightmares about it.

They should be given no encouragement whatsoever to believe they can launch a nuclear weapon at someone's reputation and escape unscathed.

Her name is Crystal Gail Mangum, and she should not escape the world's scorn because she is poor, or because she is black, or because her life circumstances led her to work as a "stripper."

Her name is Crystal Gail Mangum, and she does not deserve to lick the underside of the shoes of hardworking and honest people of color and modest means who somehow manage to get through life without attempting to destroy and defile the lives of others.

At his press conference yesterday, Attorney General Roy Cooper said something odd about the liar Crystal Gail Mangum. He said she would face no charges for her false accusation.

Finally, an AOL poll I agree with!

What are the motives of Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rev. Al Sharpton?

Help themselves
91%

Help resolve situation
9%

Total Votes: 4,074

Note on Poll Results

The Imus-Sharpton "Hos Mess"

NEW YORK (AP) - Unimpressed by his on-air apology or corporate promises of a tighter leash, angry critics of nationally syndicated radio host Don Imus called Saturday for his dismissal over his racially charged comments about the mostly black Rutgers women's basketball team.

"I accept his apology, just as I want his bosses to accept his resignation," said the Rev. Al Sharpton. He promised to picket Imus' New York radio home, WFAN-AM, unless the veteran of nearly 40 years of anything-goes broadcasting is gone within a week.

Sharpton was not alone in his anger over Imus' description of the Rutgers' women as "nappy headed hos" during a Wednesday morning segment of his show, which airs for millions of listeners on more than 70 stations and the MSNBC television network.

On Friday, after Imus delivered an on-air apology, both WFAN and MSNBC condemned his remarks. WFAN issued a statement promising to "monitor the program's content" but Imus, a member of the National Broadcasters Hall of Fame, was not publicly disciplined.

The National Association of Black Journalists, the editor-in-chief of Essence magazine and a New York sports columnist joined the chorus against Imus.

"What he has said has deeply hurt too many people - black and white, male and female," said NABJ President Bryan Monroe. "His so-called apology comes two days after the fact, and it is too little, too late."

Angela Burt Murray, of Essence magazine, called on Imus' bosses to take a harder stance over his "unacceptable" remarks. "It needs to be made clear that this type of behavior is offensive and will not be tolerated without severe consequences," Murray said.

Columnist Filip Bondy of the Daily News, in a column headlined "Imus spews hate, should be fired," said the radio star "should be axed for one of the most despicable comments ever uttered on the air."

The Rutgers team, which includes eight black women, lost the NCAA women's championship game Tuesday, and Imus was discussing the game with producer Bernard McGuirk.
"That's some rough girls from Rutgers," Imus said. "Man, they got tattoos ..."

"Some hardcore hos," said McGuirk.

"That's some nappy headed hos there, I'm going to tell you that," Imus said.

Karen Mateo, a spokeswoman for WFAN's parent company CBS Radio, said Saturday there was no additional comment on the Imus situation.

Imus' success has often been a a result of his on-air barbs.

"That Imus is in trouble for being politically incorrect is certainly not new," said Tom Taylor, editor of the trade publication Inside Radio. "He's lived his life in and out of trouble ... This is something CBS will be watching very carefully."

Recent controversies involving Imus focused on a member of his morning team, Sid Rosenberg, who was fired two years ago after a particularly vile crack about cancer-stricken singer Kylie Minogue. Before that, a racially tinged comment by Rosenberg about Venus and Serena Williams stirred another controversy.

The NABJ cited two other incidents in which Imus himself insulted two black journalists. Imus has called PBS' Gwen Ifill a "cleaning lady" and described William Rhoden of The New York Times as "a quota hire," the group said.

Sharpton said he was writing to the Federal Communications Commission about Imus' remarks.
"This is not some unemployed comic like Michael Richards," Sharpton said, referring to the "Seinfeld" actor who used the N-word and referred to lynching in a rant last year. "This is an established figure, allowed to use the airwaves for sexist and racist remarks."

DD Notes: My total life time veiwing of the Don Imus program is measureable in seconds, not minutes - increments of seconds it takes to push the next channel selector on a remote to be exact. He may be a broadcast "hall of famer" but candidly, I don't know how or why. Maybe it was his cowboy get up he wears, or the death bed-like mumbling way he talks. Anyhow, some folks must think he's good and that's OK with me . . . I control my TV remote . . . and you control yours. Don-De-Don-Don, your attempt at humor, at the expense of the Rutger's team, pissed off Al Sharpton, naughty boy, Mister Imus, naughty boy.

My total life time veiwing, reading, or listening to Al Sharpton's babble equates to less time than that of Imus. IMHO, most causes that Al has embraced over the years made him look more like ambulance chasing lawyer than the civil rights icon he's like to be.

Bottom line . . . Rutger girls didn't deserve the demeaning comment, Imus proved he's an asshole, and Sharpton is waiting on the street corner for the next chase to find his legacy. It is kind of funny to watch 2 liberals have at it for a change!

Democrats "Invested In Defeat"

The Origin of Easter Eggs

Jabba The Hut . . . Rosie The Butt

Funny . . .

Damacus Nancy

This one ain't bad . . .

Best Easter Wish Email I Received . . .

Marshmellow bunnies anyone?

Goes around and comes around . . .

Hanoi Jane and now, Damascus Nancy . . . it's a sad day!