European Tribune - Community, Politics & Progress.

Tuesday Open Thread

by In Wales
Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 10:23:03 AM EST

What are your favourite things?
Apart from ET, of course.

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens;
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens;
Brown paper packages tied up with strings;
These are a few of my favorite things.

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Tuesday Open Thread | 61 comments (61 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 1)

For no apparent reason my head is trawling through the songs from a Sound of Music. It isn't one of my favourite things although I must admit that sing-a-long-a Sound of Music at the theatre was rather good fun.

Ad astra per aspera

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 10:25:24 AM EST

Heh (none / 1)

This is my favourite... (said he who never managed to finish watching S of M)

by Nomad on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 10:47:50 AM EST
[ Parent ]

This should cure you (none / 1)

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 11:30:10 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: This should cure you (none / 0)

This is the one most likely to get stuck in my head!

Ad astra per aspera

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 11:39:00 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: This should cure you (none / 0)

Poor you.

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 11:41:14 AM EST
[ Parent ]

My Favorite "My Favorite Things" (4.00 / 3)

Try this one:

"Ce qui vient au monde pour ne rien troubler ne mérite ni égards ni patience." René Char

by Melanchthon on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 12:23:37 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Or this: (none / 1)

"Ce qui vient au monde pour ne rien troubler ne mérite ni égards ni patience." René Char

by Melanchthon on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 12:47:21 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Antidote (none / 1)

"Ce qui vient au monde pour ne rien troubler ne mérite ni égards ni patience." René Char

by Melanchthon on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 12:40:21 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0)

by nanne (zwaerdenmaecker@gmail.com) on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 03:35:07 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0)

I like beer,
andI like cheese,
but better than all of these
I like ~~to be on horseback~~ loud guitar

Electric guitar gets run over by a car on the highway
This is a crime against the state
This is the meaning of life.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 11:00:52 AM EST

pour réduire le nombre d'appels de télémarketing (none / 0)

en France...

anyone know how to get one's home phone number removed from telemarketing lists in France?

The march of civilizations is a series of defenses that man has put up against the dread of pure existence.

by marco (cowannar at gmail punkt com) on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 11:26:56 AM EST

Re: pour réduire le nombre d'appels (none / 1)

The only way is to go on the liste rouge which means you're no longer in the phone book (and you have to pay for it).

You can ask to be put on the liste orange that doesn't have those two drawbacks, but it doesn't change a thing.

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 11:33:29 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: pour réduire le nombre d'appels (none / 0)

thanks for the info.

The march of civilizations is a series of defenses that man has put up against the dread of pure existence.

by marco (cowannar at gmail punkt com) on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 11:42:57 AM EST
[ Parent ]

there is only one solution (none / 0)

filter your calls violently, especially weekdays 5-8pm and Saturday mornings. tell your friends to call you on the mobile and let the other phone ring... Why do you even have a fixed line anyway?

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes

by Jerome a Paris (etg@eurotrib.com) on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 12:18:39 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: there is only one solution (none / 1)

Some people (as in, a lot) need it for Internet. ADSL?

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 12:30:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: there is only one solution (none / 1)

remove the bell from your landline phone, and only ever answer your mobile (or even disconnect your landline phone from its socket) have it there just for emergencies.

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 01:01:49 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: there is only one solution (none / 0)

it's my mother's set-up on Orange. she does have a mobile, but i guess her mobile plan is a very limited one, mainly for emergencies. for general calls it's much cheaper to use the landline.

the problem we have is that we get lots of calls from overseas and people using Skype, so when "ID MASQUEE" or some bizarre sequence of digits shows up on caller id, it's hard to tell if it's a telemarketer or my brother in India or some random friend in Minnesota.

The march of civilizations is a series of defenses that man has put up against the dread of pure existence.

by marco (cowannar at gmail punkt com) on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 01:25:20 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: pour réduire le nombre d'appels de télémarketi (none / 1)

I'm not sure, but does France have caller id? If so, you could get this service and only pick-up the phone on recognized numbers of people you wish to speak with.

Another solution is to get an answering machine and pick up only if someone is leaving a message that you actually wish to speak to.

I'm not sure sure if these would be seen as rude in France, but these tactics are/were commonly done in the U.S.

by Magnifico on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 01:14:43 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: pour réduire le nombre d'appels de télémarketi (none / 0)

thanks, but see my response to jerome above.

The march of civilizations is a series of defenses that man has put up against the dread of pure existence.

by marco (cowannar at gmail punkt com) on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 01:26:41 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Answering machine (4.00 / 2)

Okay. I think the best approach, considering the funky numbers and the 'ID MASQUEE', is to have an answering machine where you can hear the caller leaving a message. Pick up the phone if and only if the person leaving a message is someone you wish to speak with.

In my experience, telemarketers hang up the moment they figure out they're talking to a recording.

by Magnifico on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 01:41:15 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Answering machine (none / 0)

Probably right. Plus, it's a good excuse excuse to replace the crap telephones that came with the service.

The march of civilizations is a series of defenses that man has put up against the dread of pure existence.

by marco (cowannar at gmail punkt com) on Wed Feb 10th, 2010 at 02:19:13 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: pour réduire le nombre d'appels de télémarketi (4.00 / 2)

When you open a new phone line with Orange, they start selling your number to telemarketers right off the door, unless you contact their customer service to be put on the "do not sell" list (the ironically called "liste orange").

Happened to me when I relocated to my present house about 2 years ago: I called Orange customer service immediately and (almost) haven't been bothered since. But you have to be quick or else your number will end up in all data bases in France, Andorra, Monaco and beyond...

Caller ID doesn't help much: these guys mask their number.
They are required by law to remove them from their database if you ask them, but you have to do it with each company calling...

So yeah, answering machine may be the best practical solution, short of your mom changing her phone number (and have it unlisted).

As for relatives calling from overseas, sorry, there's no cure for that :) When in California we got called every so often at 3 AM by some well intentioned cousin who got the idea that CA was 9 hours ahead or Europe...

Europeans think a hundred miles is a long way. Americans think a hundred years is a long time.

by Bernard on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 03:34:45 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: pour réduire le nombre d'appels de télémarketi (none / 0)

Bernard: When you open a new phone line with Orange, they start selling your number to telemarketers right off the door, unless you contact their customer service to be put on the "do not sell" list (the ironically called "liste orange").

Wonderful.

Bernard: Happened to me when I relocated to my present house about 2 years ago: I called Orange customer service immediately and (almost) haven't been bothered since. But you have to be quick or else your number will end up in all data bases in France, Andorra, Monaco and beyond...

I'm afraid it's too late: my mother's had this service for three years, I think.

Bernard: Caller ID doesn't help much: these guys mask their number.
They are required by law to remove them from their database if you ask them, but you have to do it with each company calling...
So yeah, answering machine may be the best practical solution, short of your mom changing her phone number (and have it unlisted).

I think that's what we're going to try. On the other hand, I had a thought this morning: maybe I can use these telemarketers as free French conversation practice. :-)

Thanks, Bernard!

The march of civilizations is a series of defenses that man has put up against the dread of pure existence.

by marco (cowannar at gmail punkt com) on Wed Feb 10th, 2010 at 02:23:37 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Eric Dolphy solo, 47 seconds in (none / 1)

by fairleft (fairleftatyahoodotcom) on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 12:57:38 PM EST

Re: Eric Dolphy solo, 47 seconds in (none / 1)

See User Guide on how to embed a video. It boils down to a macro like this:

((youtube pKDAbp9m5yw))

And here's Eric Dolphy:

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 01:05:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Eric Dolphy solo, 47 seconds in (none / 1)

Thanks!

fairleft

by fairleft (fairleftatyahoodotcom) on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 04:32:10 PM EST
[ Parent ]

S/O (none / 1)

OK, I lose. :-(

:-)

Can I request a gnome use their vast powers to delete the above comment?

No one could have predicted

by ATinNM on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 01:09:03 PM EST

Re: S/O (4.00 / 5)

Done, but it took vast power. Vast.

I am now vasted.

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 01:12:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: S/O (none / 1)

is that your piratical avast behind?

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 01:14:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Vast Power? (none / 0)

I didn't know you were a Wob Fellow Worker.

;-)

No one could have predicted

by ATinNM on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 01:40:23 PM EST
[ Parent ]

If the Obama administration did this in the U.S. (4.00 / 4)

then the right wing would go ~~crazy~~ crazier.

Guardian: France to issue citizens' handbooks to every child

French children are to be given a "citizen's handbook" to teach them to be better republicans, as part of national identity measures announced by the government today.
Schools will be ordered to fly the French flag and to have a copy of the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in every classroom.

But, then every public school classroom in the U.S. I ever have been has had a U.S. flag and the children in elementary school still recite the Pledge of Allegiance. In the 1920s, the words "of America" were added so immigrant children were clear they were pledging to the American flag. Most kids have alternative, creative words to say when reciting the pledge at least by 2nd grade.

Classrooms used to have a picture of Geo. Washington and Abe Lincoln too. Having the Bill of Rights, etc. may be good too, but only if they were explained. Personally, I think every American should commit the Bill of Rights to memory. So, if the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen is taught in the French schools, would this be bad to have a copy on hand?

The measures, announced by the French prime minister, François Fillon, are the first to emerge from the country's controversial debate on national identity.

What it means to be American, French, or any nation is always debatable. What outsiders think of French "national identity" may not be what the French see it as. Even within a nation, it is hard to agree on a "national identity". In America, for example, I doubt much consensus could be reached.

by Magnifico on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 01:37:16 PM EST

Re: If the Obama administration did this in th (4.00 / 2)

Ah, flagwaving, where I have seen this before...

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

by DoDo on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 01:50:06 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: If the Obama administration did this (none / 1)

I get the sense that "national identity" issues in France are their equivalent of "flag burning" and are really pushed only by the right.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer at eurotrib.com) on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 02:08:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: If the Obama administration did this (none / 1)

It actually is: Sarkozy campaigned on and added to the government a "Ministry of Immigration and National Identity" with the implication that the latter is a threat to the former: dog-whistling to the racist right wing of the electorate.

You'll note the irony of Sarkozy, son of an immigrant married to an Italian woman (plus Prime Minister Fillon married to an English woman).

Europeans think a hundred miles is a long way. Americans think a hundred years is a long time.

by Bernard on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 03:51:29 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: If the Obama administration did this (4.00 / 2)

Hypocrisy only matters for those left of center, at least in the USA.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer at eurotrib.com) on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 05:40:21 PM EST
[ Parent ]

If Obama did anything (4.00 / 2)

Even within a nation, it is hard to agree on a "national identity".

I guess it depends on the cultural homogeneity in the country. In the UK there is an assumption of homogeneity that breaks down savagely upon close inspection, even before we get into those who arrived in the last couple of centuries.

If we think of millennium old differences then Viking culture left a large imprint upon the north east of England and Scotland. The Celts down the west side of Britain are different again. The anglo-saxons in the south eastern parts of the country. And that's before we figure in the later stuff.

And because these differences are largely ignored, we end up with a vibrant culture but no real idea who the "English" are.

I always imagine that the rituals of belonging in the USA are attempts to create a shared national identity beyond its immigrant cultures. Unfortunately as the the intent is lost in the pomposity of obesiance the ritual becomes pointless.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 02:58:55 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: If Obama did anything (none / 0)

It hardly "breaks down savagely"; of course there are some differences between various areas in England lingering on from the past, and some living in various areas will argue that some cities in those areas, even villages, are very different from each other. However, the question is how significant these are in comparison with differences between England and other nations.

If you go to other countries you tend to suffer from culture-shock, whatever area of the UK you come from, though the severity may differ somewhat. When you meet other English people abroad you become very aware of how much you have in common - despite what might be considered big differences at home.

I recommend "Watching the English" Kate Fox, which I and others find makes us very aware of how very English we are ("Yes I do that/think like that") despite what we thought was our very individual character:

"To a foreign person English are often indecipherable, even when the language is not a firewall. This book is a very good instruction manual of the Englishnes and in addition to that it is absolutely very funny, being nevertheless scientific and correct. All my English friends have been a little bit disappointed to have been revealed so openly."

Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner - that I moved to Nice. Blog - Nice Experience

by Ted Welch (tedwelch-at-mac-dot-com) on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 06:32:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: If the Obama administration did this in the U. (4.00 / 3)

This "National Identity" was an electoral gimmick launched by Sarkozy as dog-whistling to the racist right wing electorate in view of the local elections due next month.

But they were hoisted by their own petard: the whole debate turned into a farce and maybe a useful reminder of some of the ugly racism deeply entrenched in part of the right (and even some of the left), but it mostly alienated moderates against this governmental initiative.

So it was decided to bury the embarrassing corpses, hence the flurry of half-assed proposals: flags in official building? Civic education at school? Duh, who would have thought?

This is the last stage of "declaring victory and go home".

Europeans think a hundred miles is a long way. Americans think a hundred years is a long time.

by Bernard on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 03:46:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Cool! (4.00 / 5)

Exciting astronomy news from almost two weeks ago I noticed only now (though I fear I'll have a hard time explaining why it is exciting):

UKIRT Astronomers Discover Cool Stars in Nearby Space

An international team, led by British astronomers using the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) in Hawaii, have discovered what may be the coolest sub-stellar body ever found outside our own Solar System.
This object is technically known as a brown dwarf but what has excited astronomers is its very peculiar colours, which actually make it appear either very blue or very red, depending on which part of the spectrum is used to look at it.
The object is known as SDSS1416+13B and it is in a wide orbit around a somewhat brighter and warmer brown dwarf, SDSS1416+13A. The brighter member of the pair was detected in visible light by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. By contrast, SDSS1416+13B is only seen in infrared light. The pair are located between 15 and 50 light years from the Solar System, which is quite close in astronomical terms.
"This is the fourth time in three years that UKIRT has made a record breaking discovery of the coolest known brown dwarf, with an estimated temperature not far above 200 degrees Celsius", says Dr Philip Lucas of the University of Hertfordshire's School of Physics, Astronomy and Mathematics. "We have to be a bit careful about this one because its colours are so different than anything seen before, that we don't really understand it yet. The colours are so extreme, that this object will keep a lot of physicists busy trying to explain it."

Brown dwarfs are 'failed stars': gas balls that condensed from interstellar clouds but weren't massive enough to ignite hydrogen in their cores. To be more precise: they could ignite deuterium (the rarer isotope of hydrogen with one neutron attached to the one proton in its nucleus), but burnt it off quickly, and have just cooled ever since. This deuterium-burnout can happen between 13 and 80-85 Jupiter masses.

For the naked eye, if we could fly a spaceship near them, most known brown dwarfs would appear in a faint red glow, having temperatures like molten steel or lava. However, these cool brown dwarfs discovered by the UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey would be illuminated only by starlight and polar lights, and possibly have atmospheres with bands and storms like Jupiter. "Otherwordly"...

The quote is from the press release; the abstract also says that they are 10 billion years old -- that explains how this object, estimated at 30 Jupiter masses, could cool down so much. (All brown dwarfs are roughly the same size as Jupiter, only progressively more dense, so heavier ones cool slower.)

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

by DoDo on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 01:48:35 PM EST

Monolith (none / 1)

So Jupiter could be a failed brown dwarf, which in turn is a failed star?

The astronomers didn't happen to find a black monolith circling SDSS1416+13B as well, did they?

by Magnifico on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 02:01:34 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Monolith (4.00 / 2)

:-)

Presently it appears that there is a qualitative difference between gas gas giant planets and brown dwarfs: brown dwarfs form by gas accretion in cloud condensation cores, gas giants however are seeded by dust-to-rock coalescing in discs (the same process forming rocky planets like ours and icy ones like Pluto or Halley's Comet). An evidence is that very few brown dwarfs orbit stars. I don't know if there is a hypothesis explaining the upper mass cutoff for planets; on the other hand, cloud condensation cores under 13 Jupiter masses would be possible theoretically, so there is a terminology gap.

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

by DoDo on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 02:39:04 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Cool! (none / 0)

I fear I'll have a hard time explaining why it is exciting

That is obvious: it is the coolest star yet discovered.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer at eurotrib.com) on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 02:13:30 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Cool! (none / 0)

How cool is that!

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 02:43:14 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Tangential sidetrek on 'cool' (none / 1)

From the mind of Douglas Adams:

EDDIE:
Improbability Factor at one to one. Normality is restored. We seem to be in some kind of cave guys. Do you like caves? There's something very strange about this one.
ZAPHOD:
Caves are cool. Let's get out there and relate to it.
EDDIE:
This one's very cool. And you know that gives me pause for thought, because the planet Brontitall - which is where I think we are - is meant to have a warm rich atmosphere.
FORD:
Perhaps we're on a mountain.
EDDIE:
Nope, no mountains on Brontitall.
FORD:
Well, let's get out and see. I'm hungry for a little action.
ARTHUR:
In a cave?
EDDIE:
On Brontitall? [Sharp intake of breath]
FORD:
Yeah! In a cave, wherever! You make your own action.
ZAPHOD:
Sling open the hatch computer.
EDDIE:
Er, Okay.
[The hatch opens]
EDDIE:
You go out and have a good time and I'm sure that everything will be just hunky-dory.

by Magnifico on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 02:53:34 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Cool! (none / 0)

How cool is that!

Well, it is mostly observable at IR wavelengths. Body temperature?

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer at eurotrib.com) on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 05:47:23 PM EST
[ Parent ]

More amazement (none / 1)

...from much closer: HST image of the results of an asteroid collision discovered in January. You can see the 140 m wide impacted asteroid at the end of the debris field, the end of which has a strange structure (presumably containing the biggest chunks thrown out by the collision).

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

by DoDo on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 02:50:30 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: More amazement (none / 0)

I saw that! Glad you posted it. I was too tired. Were something like that to happen to a several kilometer diameter asteroid that could be a way to get a near Earth encounter, or worse.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer at eurotrib.com) on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 05:49:57 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: More amazement (none / 0)

I'm sorry but I can't really tell what I'm looking at. Is it comet tail ? Or is it a picture of an impact crater somewhere ?

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 06:07:38 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: More amazement (none / 0)

Um...

You can see the 140 m wide impacted asteroid at the end of the debris field, the end of which has a strange structure (presumably containing the biggest chunks thrown out by the collision).

The small spot at the lower left end, which is the bright spot in the magnified inset, is the 140 m wide asteroid. The beginning of the comet-like diffuse thing is the debris kicked up, and the 'tail' is light dust, moving further with the help of solar wind, direct radiation pressure and the Yarkovsky effect (anisotropic thermal re-radiation of the absorbed sunlight).

When the object was discovered, it was indeed first thought to be a comet with a completely evaporated core, but a comet looked less likely when its orbit was found to be a regular one in the main asteroid belt. Then a ground-based large telescope discovered the small asteroid next to the tail, and Hubble revealed the X-shaped mark made up by the larger pieces of the derbis.

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

by DoDo on Wed Feb 10th, 2010 at 06:17:01 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: More amazement (none / 0)

Clearly, it's a Klingon spaceship

"Ce qui vient au monde pour ne rien troubler ne mérite ni égards ni patience." René Char

by Melanchthon on Wed Feb 10th, 2010 at 08:49:01 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Tuesday Open Thread (4.00 / 6)

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 03:14:52 PM EST

Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0)

Yeah !!!!!

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 03:33:28 PM EST
[ Parent ]

thousand words (4.00 / 2)

Rick Perry and Sarah Palin Rally Their Troops - Houston - Slideshows

The much awaited Perry-Palin rally (with extra special guest Ted Nugent) visited the Rick Berry Center in Cypress on Sunday afternoon, but made sure to wrap things up before the Big Game. Football trumps politics in Texas, of course, even if Sarah Palin comes to town. PHOTOS BY BRYAN FOTOGRAPHER.

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 03:27:25 PM EST

Re: thousand words (none / 1)

we. want. chuck. we. want. chuck...

"Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do." Jim Hightower

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 05:51:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]

hmmm (4.00 / 3)

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes

by Jerome a Paris (etg@eurotrib.com) on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 03:55:30 PM EST

Re: hmmm (none / 0)

Ha! What is he doing now anyway?

Ad astra per aspera

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 04:11:00 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: hmmm (4.00 / 4)

He practises eating pretzels.

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

by DoDo on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 04:35:47 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: hmmm (none / 1)

Entertaining his Angela Merkel blow-up doll.

"Beware of the man who does not talk, and the dog that does not bark." Cheyenne

by maracatu on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 05:12:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: hmmm (4.00 / 5)

Maybe, but my aim is improving

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Tue Feb 9th, 2010 at 04:34:30 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Frozen Mississippi (4.00 / 3)

Link

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes