I Hope I Don't Have To Tell You Why This Disgusts Me

"History will forever record Elizabeth Brooks' bat mitzvah as 'Mitzvahpalooza.'
For his daughter's coming-of-age celebration last weekend, multimillionaire Long Island defense contractor David H. Brooks booked two floors of the Rainbow Room, hauled in concert-ready equipment, built a stage, installed special carpeting, outfitted the space with Jumbotrons and arranged command performances by everyone from 50 Cent to Tom Petty to Aerosmith.
I hear it was garish display of rock 'n' roll idol worship for which the famously irascible CEO of DHB Industries, a Westbury-based manufacturer of bulletproof vests, sent his company jet to retrieve Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and Joe Perry from their Saturday gig in Pittsburgh.
I'm also told that in honor of Aerosmith (and the $2 million fee I hear he paid for their appearance), the 50-year-old Brooks changed from a black-leather, metal-studded suit - accessorized with biker-chic necklace chains and diamonds from Chrome Hearts jewelers - into a hot-pink suede version of the same lovely outfit.
The party cost an estimated $10 million, including the price of corporate jets to ferry the performers to and from. Also on the bill were The Eagles' Don Henley and Joe Walsh performing with Fleetwood Mac's Stevie Nicks; DJ AM (Nicole Richie's fiance); rap diva Ciara and, sadly perhaps (except that he received an estimated $250,000 for the job), Kenny G blowing on his soprano sax as more than 300 guests strolled and chatted into their pre-dinner cocktails."

Blame it on ironized yeast, humps and lady lumps

"Fatter rear ends are causing many drug injections to miss their mark, requiring longer needles to reach buttock muscle, researchers said on Monday.
Standard-sized needles failed to reach the buttock muscle in 23 out of 25 women whose rears were examined after what was supposed to be an intramuscular injection of a drug. "

Yeah, this is what I need

via: Bifurcated Rivets

Humps and Lumps

Mr. Nag was channel surfing last night and we hit the Grey Cup halftime show. We were both mesmerized by the Black Eyed Peas performance, especially the part with Fergie presenting her nether regions like a dog in heat and moaning about humps and lady lumps. Can't help but wonder what Bob and Edna out in Stettler thought of this. Now, if I could only get Mr. Nag to stop humming that catchy tune.

My Dream

Last night I had a dream. Nothing noble like Martin Luther King. My dream had Baby Nag winning a $6m lottery. I was worried that he wouldn't handle the win "properly" i.e. as I would handle it. Mr. Nag said to me "Kids under 18 can't claim their winnings, their parents have to." I felt a strong surge of relief until I realized that Baby Nag is 21! It was my intention to keep the win secret but somehow the news got out and all sorts of unlikely people wanted to befriend us. When I woke up I was almost convinced that Baby Nag was going to give us a $1m cut. I tried to fall back to sleep to clinch the deal.

Ruth Reichl

This link provides lots of information about Ruth Reichl. One of the first (of thousands of) cookbooks that I purchased was Reichl's MMMMMMMMM A Feastiary . It's a well loved book and sadly battered and out of print. I still use a lot of the recipes from it but have been looking for a new copy on ebay. It's high time this baby (my book, certainly not Ruth) retired.

The eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters is delighted to welcome Gourmet Magazine editor-in-chief Ruth Reichl for an eG Spotlight Conversation the week of November 28 to December 1.

After nine years as restaurant critic for the LA Times, she came to New York to review restaurants for the New York Times, in 1993, where many say she revolutionized the paper's restaurant reviewing. By seeking out and lauding ethnic restaurants, she subverted its tacit Francophilia; by addressing pretension, as in her famous double review of Le Cirque, she advanced the relationship between reviewers and their audiences. In 1999, she became editor-in-chief of Gourmet Magazine, and continues to take the magazine in new directions.

Reichl is author of three memoirs Tender at the Bone, Comfort Me with Apples, and Garlic and Sapphires and editor of The Gourmet Cookbook and the Modern Library Food Series."

This Is The Governor Of California

I can absolutely understand why Brazil is devoted to my favorite body part - the ass. Alternately cringe inducing & hilarious clip of California's national shame Arnold Schwarzenegger down in Rio in the late 70s, groping the dancers and making obscene (and obscenely awkward) passes at his co-hosts.
What a jerk! What's wrong with US voters?
via metafilter

Kahlo tequila fuels Fridamania row

"It seems likely Frida Kahlo would have approved, at least of the contents if not the packaging. The heirs of the Mexican artist are launching a tequila bearing her name for sale in the US. 'It has been an exciting adventure to develop and launch a product that would characterise my Aunt Frida - her love for Mexico, her strength and her passion for life,' said her niece, Isolda Kahlo. 'Tequila, her favourite drink, accompanied her in the greatest moments of her life. Frida Kahlo Tequila is made in Jesus Maria in the highlands of Jalisco in Mexico and comes in three varieties, retailing at $50 , $65 and $90 a bottle. Each bottle bears a picture of Kahlo and sells under the slogan 'Being original is no sin'."

Bag Balm Is Nag Balm

I swear by this stuff. Originally designed to treat irritated cow's udders, it works like a charm on any sort of abrasion. Last week I was injured while stuffing envelopes, one of the hazards of my profession. It was a deep cut and burned like crazy. I applied bag balm; it soothed the burning and the next day the cut was history. A couple of nights ago while twisting and turning in bed I inflicted a nasty gash on the sole of one foot with a toe nail on the other (I'll bet you're picturing ghastly Howard Hughes - type toenails. They really aren't that bad, just sharp and the perfect thing for fending off unwanted suitors). I applied my magic balm and, once again, no sign of a scratch the next day. A can of it lasts forever and it has such a pretty little cow picture on it. I even put it on chapped lips. There are those who find that disgusting, "You put stuff meant for cow's udders on your mouth???" These same people likely drink udder fluid in their coffee and on their cereal.

More Reasons Not To Shop At Walmart

"CASCADE TOWNSHIP, Mich. A woman was stepped on by several people after she fell when dozens of shoppers rushed into a Grand Rapids area Wal-Mart store around 5 o'clock this morning. When the rush ended, the woman and a 13-year-old girl suffered minor injuries. In nearby Grandville, two shoppers were hurt when they slipped on a wet floor as they entered a Wal-Mart. Officials say one of the injured was after a bargain notebook computer. Neither was hurt seriously. The same computer discount was the catalyst for trouble at a Wal-Mart in Orlando, Florida, where a man allegedly cut in line to buy one. He was wrestled to the ground. A Wal-Mart spokesman says the chain will continue to use early specials because they are popular with customers and went off without incident at most of Wal-Mart's 38-hundred stores nationwide."

Big Brother 2005

"Meet Deborah Davis. She's a 50 year-old mother of four who lives and works in Denver, Colorado. Her kids are all grown-up: her middle son is a soldier fighting in Iraq. She leads an ordinary, middle class life. You probably never would have heard of Deb Davis if it weren't for her belief in the U.S. Constitution. This is not America. When honest, law-abiding citizens can't commute to work on a city bus without a demand for their 'papers', something is very, very wrong. One morning in late September 2005, Deb was riding the public bus to work. She was minding her own business, reading a book and planning for work, when a security guard got on this public bus and demanded that every passenger show their ID. Deb, having done nothing wrong, declined. The guard called in federal cops, and she was arrested and charged with federal criminal misdemeanors after refusing to show ID on demand. "

Beer Goggles

"Scientists believe they have worked out a formula to calculate how 'beer goggles' affect a drinker's vision. Researchers at Manchester University say while beauty is in the eye of the beer-holder, the amount of alcohol consumed is not the only factor.Additional factors include the level of light in the pub or club, the drinker's own eyesight and the room's smokiness. The distance between two people is also a factor. "

Buy Nothing Day

"Today, millions of people around the world are not participating -- in the doomsday economy, marketing mind-games, and the frantic consumer-binge that's subsumed our culture. Today we say: enough is enough, and build a movement to rethink our unsustainable course. "
I bought nada today but Mr. Nag bought a couple of bags of booze (thank goodness). Baby Nag will have to settle for KD and meatballs as he doesn't like what we're having and I can't violate my principles (yeah right, It's just too bloody cold to walk to Valumart).

There seems to be a problem with the header for my blog when it's linked to through 40 Faces. The font colour of the blog name is very pale and so it doesn't show up. I'm told that this is because my blog shows in two variants: a front-page collecting all posts,and an archive containing "permalinks". So actually, there is no connection to FortyFaces.com and my color problems other than they link to my permalinks in the archive. I've been inserting permalink tags before and after anything to do with headers in my template but can't seem to fix it. Can anyone tell me how to solve my anemic header problem?

A Message to Paul

Can someone tell me why Bono holds so much sway in Canada?
"With a federal election looming over Ottawa, Bono appealed to the 'better nature' of what he called a 'better country' to implore their prime minister to make the commitment without further delay."
Mr. Martin, I'm all for ending world hunger, too, but if you feel you must get political advice from an entertainer make it Stomping Tom and not some foreign millionaire. Tom knows what matters to Canadians - haven't you heard The Hockey Song?

Ready Or Not Here They Come

Audio: Harper's no-confidence motion
Audio: Liberal response to motion

Chavez the Bush baiter

The tables have turned:
"Hugo Chavez knows how to wind up the US government. His latest wheeze - selling discounted home heating oil to chilly residents of Massachusetts - follows his offer to help victims of Bush administration bungling over Hurricane Katrina. But the Venezuelan president's tweaking of Washington noses extends beyond weather-related crises.
Mr Chavez, chief rainmaker of Venezuela's so-called Bolivarian revolution, was busy yesterday persuading Colombia to build a pipeline to its Pacific coast. That could increase Caracas's oil exports to China at the expense of the US, which depends on Venezuela for roughly 15% of its foreign oil. Earlier this week Mr Chavez celebrated a tractor deal with Iran. He said mischievously that he looked forward to further bilateral 'technology transfers'."

It Feels Good To Say We Told You So

"Conrad Black has asked the federal government to give him back his Canadian citizenship, four years after he called it an 'impediment' and renounced it to become a member of Britain's House of Lords."
Ahh, schadenfreude! Tubby's come full circle and his love affair with the US has come to a nasty end now that he realizes they play hard ball with white collar criminals. The future's looking pretty bleak for the big guy now that he faces a sojourn in the big house. I'd lay odds against Babs indulging him with conjugal visits in some prison trailer. Perhaps he'll apply for refugee status but he'll have to get down on his knees and say "pretty please".

Only Two Injured This Year by Rampaging Balloons

Everyone knew the Cat In The Hat balloon was prone to violent behaviour but no one suspected that the seemingly mild-mannered M & Ms had such tremendous levels of pent up anger. "The circumstances were an echo of a 1997 accident, when two people were seriously injured when 70-kilometre-an-hour winds forced a "Cat in the Hat" balloon into a metal pole on Central Park West." I understand that a group of parade watchers nearly got crushed by an enormously bloated Michael Moore balloon. Oh, wait a minute, that was Michael Moore.

There's Something Rotten at MPAC

The Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) has a tremendous amount of power. They classify and assess the value of all properties in Ontario. They look at the properties that have sold in your neighbourhood and these provide the basis for assessed values. If a house on my street sells for $1m that jacks up the value of my property. The assessed value of my property went up 38.08% this year, despite the fact that we've done nothing to improve it. Well, I got in a bit of a snit about this and decided to beard the lion in its den - an MPAC open house. The Client Services Manager listened to my arguments, checked on his computer and agreed that my property had been overassessed by $80,000! Yes, you read it correctly, $80,000. MPAC's system of calculations is, at best unstable and the repercussions of these inaccurate assessments can be devastating. So they knocked $80,000 off the assessed value of my house and I'm still looking at an increase in the 18% range. This monster was created by the Mike Harris Conservative government and, true to form, there is not a residential property owner without commercial or development ties on the MPAC Board. Remember that residential property owners pay 90% of property taxes in Ontario and that the MPAC Board is 100% funded by the property taxes of people like you and me. Unlike businesses we can't write off our property taxes. Damn right I'm pissed off (alright, I'll stop now).

Anti-war sermon alarms U.S. taxman

This story in the Toronto Star this morning nearly made me choke on my raisin toast. Will these challenges apply to the fundamentalist preachers throughout the bible belt whose rants supported the Bush administration or the Catholic priests who denounced Kerry's pro-choice position? My opinion is that churches are treading a thin line when they preach politics from the pulpit. However the IRS must maintain the highest standards of impartiality in enforcing federal tax law. Partisan bias in enforcement is absolutely unacceptable.

"Shortly before the last U.S. election, a former rector at All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, Calif., gave a fiery anti-poverty and anti-war sermon. He did not endorse a presidential candidate, but he criticized President George Bush's policies in Iraq and at home.
Now the Internal Revenue Service has challenged the church's tax-exempt status. It's important to know just how the tax police have chosen this church, and other congregations, to pursue after an election that energized churchgoers of most denominations."

World's Ugliest Dog Dies at 14

"Sam, the tiny dog whose hairless body and crooked teeth earned him a reputation as the World's Ugliest Dog, has died.
The pooch died Friday, just short of his 15th birthday, his owner said.
'I don't think there'll ever be another Sam,' Susie Lockheed said, adding: 'Some people would think that's a good thing.'"
Poor little thing. My last dog got pretty ugly toward the end - nothing like Sam though. At first I thought Sam was a joke, just some 'shopped image or something. Sounds like he had quite the life - from rescue dog to canine superstar. Perhaps someone will make a made for TV movie about him, but who could play Sam?

You May See Me Here

GM On Its Last Legs?

It looks like GM is really struggling right now and this is terrible news for our economy. For every job lost three more will be lost in the parts industry and companies that supply them; laid off workers won't have disposable income to spend and this will impact any number of small businesses in affected communities. GM's decision to eliminate 22% of its Canadian workforce should act as a wakeup call. There are all sorts of reasons why GM commands only 26% of the North American market. They don't provide people with what they want. Why are they still making huge gas guzzlers that no one can afford to drive? Why weren't they the first to develop hybrid vehicles? I've bought GM vehicles and the quality just wasn't there. They need to produce a better product. Although Uncorrected Proofs will probably never forgive me for saying this, paying unskilled workers $65.00 per hour is a huge part of the problem. If GM wants to stay in business they've got to shed their arrogance and realize they can no longer rest on their laurels. Their glory days are over. That said, if GM goes down our economy and standard of living may never recover.

R.I.P. Link Wray

Frederick Lincoln Wray Jr., the 73-year-old Shawnee Indian, a pioneer of punk and heavy metal who influenced so many of our favourite musicians has died in Copenhagen.

Radish in intensive care after murder attempt

"TOKYO (Reuters) - A giant white radish that won the hearts of a Japanese town by valiantly growing through the urban asphalt was in intensive care at a town hall in western Japan on Thursday after being slashed by an unknown assailant.
The 'daikon' radish, shaped like a giant carrot, first made the news months ago when it was noticed poking up through asphalt along a roadside in the town of Aioi, population 33,289.
This week local residents, who had nicknamed the vegetable 'Gutsy Radish,' were shocked -- and in some cases moved to tears -- when they found it had been decapitated.
TV talk shows seized on the attempted murder of the popular vegetable and a day later, the top half of the radish was found near the site where it had been growing."

Yikes! Competition

The Nag's getting nervous. There's a new blogger on the block. It's high noon in Blogtown and there's a bitch fight brewing. Luckily I have my large-breasted, antennaed gargantuan to protect me.














She-Blogger via Growabrain

'My Lobotomy': Howard Dully's Journey

This is why I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy:
"On Jan. 17, 1946, a psychiatrist named Walter Freeman launched a radical new era in the treatment of mental illness in this country. On that day, he performed the first-ever transorbital or 'ice-pick' lobotomy in his Washington, D.C., office. Freeman believed that mental illness was related to overactive emotions, and that by cutting the brain he cut away these feelings."

Sony to recall music CDs that have harmful software

"The global music giant Sony BMG plans to recall millions of CDs by at least 20 artists, from crooners Celine Dion and Neil Diamond to the country-rock act Van Zant, because they contain copy restriction software that poses risks to the computers of consumers."
Apparently the software hides itself on your computer and then communicates with Sony. I wonder what it says. Possibly something like, "Can you believe this idiot actually bought and listens to a Celine Dion/ Neil Diamond/Van Sant CD?".

Peeps, Smoking & Alcohol

I get some sort of weird kick out of Peeps being subjected to torture. A favourite was "The Passion of the Peeps" featuring Peeps being flayed, crowned with thorns and crucified. This one's good too.

"A Three-Part Study
Introduction: Physicians are continually warning the public of the risks involved in smoking and drinking. Here, we investigate whether these same health risks apply to Peeps.
Methods: To fully understand the effects of these substances, we decided to expose Peeps to each condition individually, and then in combination.
Step 1: Peeps and Alcohol
Step 2: Peeps and Cigarettes
Step 3: Peeps, Alcohol and Cigarettes "

Do you think I'm sick?

Weird Flashback

I was looking for a couple of Canadian literary links on the net. Someone I know is a great big fancy author and has accepted an invitation to come to Willowbank to do a reading. Another old acquaintance was nominated for a GG. While reading about him I saw the name of a mutual friend who had evidently become a poet. This friend was a live-in boyfriend of mine way back when. I loved him and he broke my heart. We were from different backgrounds. Mine was hardscrabble and I emerged from it cynical and a bit hard. His family was religious and a little too good for me, a very young divorcee with attitude. Imagine my surprise when I read the following letter to the editor of a US paper written by someone I thought I knew well but obviously knew not at all:

Dear Sir,
I have benefited in wonderful ways from reading Norm Lee's Parenting without Punishing newsletters. He has offered you another perspective rather than punitive spanking of children and if you do some alternate reading you will discover that Lee is not the wacko you claim him to be. You will discover in fact that you base your opinions on spanking from your experience only and perhaps support the religiously entranced folk who abuse their children in God's name. I was raised in a religious, Baptist family and we, the children, were psychologically and physically tortured as children. You must deny the truth of this because you are unable to bear this simple truth: parents who hit children do not respect them. In fact they are driven by their own pain and rejection to deal the blows. This hurts me more than it's going to hurt you, says Mr. King, as he raises his hand to his baby child. You are going to learn the lesson I learned. And then this adult man of four or five times the weight and size of that little one, smacks it into submission, controls it just as he
was abused and eventually forced to thank his parent for... You were a bad boy, weren't you Mr. King. You deserved abuse, to be struck and shamed. Well, let me tell you something... I was treated like that too and it is fundamentally wrong. The use of scripture or family legacy of hitting is criminal and one day will be done away with.... We will respect our children, value their innocence and support their feelings (all their feelings) so that they can grow into full human beings who will not be duped by abusers in sheep's garb. You, sir, can't even respect your trade sufficiently to present two sides to an issue, and you sit in self-righteous myopia while you confidently censor Norm Lee. Why can't you allow honest debate? Is your paper owned by Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson? Or are you the simplistic coward on your own? Try just a bit of truth, sir, and you and your community may benefit. Free speech indeed....

Mr. Nag and I Love This About Paris, Too

"I love the fact that a person walking their dog is not forbidden to enter buildings here, least of all restaurants. On occasion, I think ours has been treated even better than her masters; that was certainly the case at the terraced restaurant near Mouffetard, where the waiter brought a bone and dish of water over for Trixie before even asking about our aperitif. At a family restaurant in Montsegur a giant white Berger des Pyrenees strolled leisurely amongst the tables - not asking for scraps, mind you, but greeting each customer individually, making everyone feel right at home."

If Fox News Had Been Around Throughout History

Looks Like It's Open Season on American Big Box Stores Today at NOTL - Target This

This article is a response to Target's decision to let its pharmacists refuse to fill your order for emergency contraceptive pills simply because they find your prescription immoral. Bear in mind that the legal drug known as "Plan B" is emergency contraception, not abortion. EC prevents conception —just like other contraceptives.What's next?

-Check out clerks who verify how fat you are before selling you that package of potato chips?
- Pharmacists who don't want to fill prescriptions for Jewish customers who killed Christ.
- Pharmacists who don't want to help customers who worship a 'Satanic counterfeit' (read: 'The Pope,' in fundie-speak).
- Pharmacists who only dispense HIV medicine to 'innocent victims' of AIDS.
- Pharmacists who want proof that women seeking emergency contraception were really raped, and that they didn't 'deserve it.'
- Pharmacists (or cashiers) who are Christian Scientists - can they refuse to sell any medicine, even aspirin, to anyone?
- Pharmacists who won't sell birth control pills to unmarried women, condoms to unmarried men, or any birth control at all because God doesn't want people spilling their seed.
- Can fundamentalist Christian employees refuse to interact with gay people in any way, shape or form since gays are sinners, abominations, biological errors, and very likely pedophiles?

And it's not only Target that's made this decision. It's also Rite-Aid, Walgreens, Wal-Mart and Winn Dixie. Could it happen here? I hope not.

I Don't Shop At Walmart

When I was a young labour activist I was confronted everywhere I went (the grocery store, the library, etc.) by people, mostly old guys, who took exception to my "I Don't Shop at Eaton's" button. For some reason it made them foam at the mouth. Here's something else they won't like:WAL-MART: The High Price of Low Cost trailer - click the link to take a gander (I'm using this expression ironically.)

Now this is what I call an hourglass figure

This woman has a 15" waist. Doesn't she look like a wasp? She could make a Waspwoman movie and wouldn't need any special effects.
"Cathie has suffered no ill effects from wearing a corset virtually 24 hours a day since 1983. In fact, it has bolstered her spinal support. Bob Jung says: 'As for the ribs, you would be surprised by how much the chest is not impacted. Only the two lower ribs, but those are the so-called floating ribs, two on each side. Everything in the midriff is flexible. The bowels and the stomach are hollow.One concern is dry skin and keeping the corset clean. The bidet is for Cathie a real blessing in the wintertime, when you don't need to shower every day."
What a weird fetish. Footbinding is humane in comparison. What if she drops something? Can she bend over to pick it up?

Time For a Revolution

38.08% ! No that's not the amount of alcohol in a Nagtini. It's the increase in the property tax assessment on my 100-year old stucco frame, sadly unimproved house with a thirty year old furnace, no insulation, ancient wiring, etc. Our property taxes are already exhorbitant. I'm getting scared. For the amount of money we pour into the town coffers I think the least they could do is name a street after me. Good idea?

This Keeps Running Through My Head

I really enjoy the Mendoza Line's brand of low impact pop with a bit of a country influence or, in this case, country with a pop influence. The Dylanesque Catch a Collapsing Star is my new fave. I love the line "It's our limitations that make us what we are."

Maybe Pavarotti Should Show Solidarity With This Labour Action

"Opera lovers in Italy this season may notice something different about the performers. Many of them are looking distinctly svelte after going on hunger strike to protest about proposed cuts to the country's arts budget. Living on only water, fruit juice and coffee, singers' weights have shrunk."

Tories threaten to topple Liberals Tuesday

" The Conservative Party wants to introduce a non-confidence motion in Parliament on Tuesday, according a new report. Tory Leader Stephen Harper will present the idea to Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe and the NDP's Jack Layton at a meeting in Ottawa on Sunday, CTV News reports. If all three parties support the motion and it passes, the Liberal minority government will be defeated, meaning Canadians will go to the polls before Christmas."
This creates a lot of problems for the NDP which relies so heavily on volunteers. The Liberals and Conservatives can afford to have polling done professionally and to pay for postage. NDP campaigns, for the most part, can't afford mailings so 40,000 pieces of literature have to be delivered by hand (if they can afford to do another piece or get one from the central campaign this doubles or triples the amount of labour required). Phone canvassing is also done by volunteers and this is how e-day strategy is determined - it's the only way to determine where support lies. Ideally elections are held in spring or fall when the weather is nice and people are willing to drop leaflets as part of their daily walk routine. No one is going to be prepared to go door to door or make phone calls in December; everyone is already overloaded with family and social commitments. Hammering signs into the hard ground with frozen fingers sucks. Even presuming the campaign can identify support, getting these supporters to the polls will be next to impossible. This timing is a campaign manager's worst nightmare - it's got to be posturing.

Welcome to House With Bride

"WHAT IS HOUSE WITH BRIDE?
Well, not to put too fine a point on this, but I guess it's prostitution. My first thought, I'm ashamed to say, was what does this girl look like? But she's hot, has a nice place and can't find a date so she's peddling herself on the internet? Seems like a dating service might be a better solution.
The idea of "House With Bride" began while I was contemplating selling my house in Denver, Colorado. Although my company is located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, a few years ago I bought a house in Denver. My life in Albuquerque had solely revolved around my work, and I felt that I needed to make some changes to improve my social life and hopefully meet my "soul mate". "

Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day is more meaningful than ever to me. On October 26 the U.S. military confirmed the death of an Army soldier, bringing the military death toll in Iraq to 2,000 . Countless Iraqi civilians have died as a result of the American attempt to "liberate" them. As Canadians let's be thankful our sons and daughters aren't dying in some rich man's war. Let's turn our thoughts toward peace, ending the senseless war in Iraq and avoiding future wars.

Drunken elks attack old people's home

OK we've got them surrounded, now what do we do?
"A drunken party of elks surrounded an old people's home in Sweden and had to be driven away by armed police, Sweden's media reported yesterday. The elks attacked the home in the town of Ostra Goinge, near Malmo after devouring large numbers of fermented apples, the paper Dagens Nyheter said. Police with dogs had failed to scare them off, and the animals only ran away after hunters with guns arrived on the scene."

Phoney Blair defeated over terror laws

"Tony Blair says his authority is intact despite suffering his first House of Commons defeat as prime minister. He said he hoped MPs 'do not rue the day' they rejected his call to allow police to detain terror suspects for up to 90 days without charging them. "
This guy is an embarrassment to Social Democrats everywhere. 49 of his own MPP's voted against him.

Things to do when you're bored - a bumper list of pointless timewasters

"Bored? Listless? Help is at hand!
Pass away the pointless hours with our list of things to do when you're bored.

via Metafilter

Carnivorous lizard sets back toddler's toilet training.

Yet more proof (as if that huge toilet snake weren't enough) that my so called "irrational" childhood fear of things lurking in the toilet just waiting to bite my bum wasn't so irrational after all.
"Potty training is difficult enough for any toddler but one youngster has suffered a particularly dramatic experience after a carnivorous lizard emerged from the family toilet while he was using it. "

Canadian officials deny visit to former apartheid prisoner

This is an embarrassment. Of course he's no Martha Stewart, but that's a good thing.
"A hero in his own land, the former South African freedom fighter couldn't even get his foot through Canada's front door this fall as this country's immigration officials in Pretoria repeatedly blocked him from carrying out a planned Ontario speaking tour sponsored by a group of Toronto businesspeople and the Windsor-area Catholic school board."

Book-A-Minute Classics: Jane Eyre

Don't have a lot of time? Want to appear cultured? Then Book-a-Minute is for you.

(People are MEAN to Jane Eyre.)
Edward Rochester
I have a dark secret. Will you stay with me no matter what?
Jane Eyre
Yes.
Edward Rochester
My secret is that I have a lunatic wife.
Jane Eyre
Bye.
(Jane Eyre leaves. Somebody dies. Jane Eyre returns.)



THE END"

White Like Me

This is a very interesting story about a black man who lived as a white man for much of his life and truly believed that he was white.
"Every family has its secrets. There are things parents never tell children. There are lies that become family legend. There are stories that were never meant to be told.
Judith Hartmann's secret, when she married Bill Myers in 1959, was that she was pregnant by a black man."
via: A Welsh View

Panexa: Ask Your Dr. For a Reason To Take It

Wow, this sounds like just what I needed but didn't know it yet! It nails that whole "Julie's Story" drug marketing trend on the head.
"No matter what you do or where you go, you're always going to be yourself. And Panexa knows this. Your lifestyle is one of the biggest factors in choosing how to live. Why trust it to anything less? Panexa is proven to provide more medication to those who take it than any other comparable solution. Panexa is the right choice, the safe choice. The only choice."
via Metafilter

Man Kills Buck With Bare Hands in Bedroom

Just checked and, yeah, this happened in Arkansas. Why wouldn't this psycho just call animal control or leave the door open and walk away? I wish it had broken his neck. I hit a deer with my car this past spring and shattered my windshield. I went back to see if there was anything I could do for the poor animal but I guess it wasn't as damaged as my windshield and I couldn't find a trace of it. I don't know what I would have done in any event - maybe I would have wrestled with it for 40 minutes and broken its neck.
"BENTONVILLE, Ark. - It looked like a crime scene, but no charges will be filed after Wayne Goldsberry killed a buck with his bare hands in his daughter's bedroom. The engagement lasted an exhausting 40 minutes, but Goldsberry finally subdued the five-point whitetail deer that crashed through a bedroom window at his daughter's home Friday. When it was over, blood splattered the walls and the deer lay on the bedroom floor, its neck broken."

Move Over, Cockapoo - It's Puggle Time

I want one!
The NY Post puts the mug of a puggle - a mix between a pug and a beagle - on the cover, saying that this accidental breed is the hottest in the city. Metro Puppy Kennels owner Brian Incovaia says, 'Everyone is clawing for them, it's ridiculous. I get people calling left and right for them and basically you get the equivalent of breeding a Marc Jacobs bag with a Louis Vuitton.' Well, that's a problem right there, thinking that a dog is like a purse. But anyway, the dogs, which cost along the lines of a bigger Marc Jacobs bag (from $650-900), are popular because they are small enough for Manhattan apartments. And that answers the American Kennel Club's question, 'What is the purpose of a puggle?' The AKC says other cross breeds were designed to help out with herding, but clearly, these days cross breeding is all about having a tiny dog for your shoebox apartment or whichever designer dog carrier you want to buy."

Mini Aquarium

mini AQUA "

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Our cops wear dickies and toques

"Our cops wear new tops. Job action escalates to toques, dickies."
"The job action began three weeks ago with members wearing police union ties and ball caps instead of police-issue hats."
What's their next move? They plan to wear their uniforms to a rally, which could spark discipline from above. Can't the administration find some cops who are harassing racial minorities or shaking down hookers for sex and discipline them? No, they're more concerned about "uniform adjustments". It reminds me of the arguments parents have with their teenage kids. In my experience it's best to ignore harmless behaviours designed solely to get attention. Admittedly, the types of job action that police are permitted to engage in are limited. They can't strike or refuse to go on emergency calls. However they can, as they have been doing, issue warnings instead of tickets. Hitting them in the pocketbook is far more effective than wearing a dicky (the very word is ridiculous).

Alleluia I Have Seen the Light

Ex-mayor hears her calling

This is certainly good news.
"Former Toronto mayor Barbara Hall is the government's choice to lead the Ontario Human Rights Commission."