February 13, 2006
New Blog Showcase Carnival
The New Carnival is here! The New Carnival is here!
Yay! Welcome to the sort-of anniversary edition of the New Blog Showcase Carnival (or New Blog Carnival Showcase, if you prefer)! First, a brief history -- the New Blog Showcase Carnival (or New Blog Carnival Showcase, if you prefer) was started a long time ago. When? I don't know. It was before this here blog was born, that's for sure. It was initially started by the well-known NZ Bear. At some point in time, NZ Bear became too busy to keep the carnivals going, so Simon took it over. That was about Feb 14th, 2005. Simon kept the carnival going until around June of 2005, then realized he couldn't do the carnival justice. Since that time, yours truly has been keeping the carnival going, including a cool new design to the main Showcase site (to make it even more carnival-like!) The New Blog Showcase Carnival (or New Blog Carnival Showcase, if you prefer) is designed to highlight new blogs. That's pretty much it. Feel free to head over to that main page and read all about the carnival. Perhaps you can remember some time in the past when you started your blog. Perhaps you remember making your first post and wondering why the entire internet was not in awe, reading your blog, and writing comments that proclaimed your greatness. And then, perhaps you can remember it was because not only was no one reading your blog, no one even knew about it! The New Blog Showcase Carnival (or New Blog Carnival Showcase, if you prefer) hopes to alleviate those painful days. Each week the carnival showcases blogs that are new (less than 3 months old). Then, the carnival is promoted far and wide (you DO promote it, right?) so the new blogs can get exposure. So, if you're a new blog, be sure and read about how to submit your blog (over on the main page). If you KNOW a new blog, be sure to get it submitted as well (anyone can submit a new blog). And if you're NOT a new blog, then each week you should check the main page and visit the new blogs. It only takes a minute and you might find a really great blog to start reading every week. So, without further discussion, this week's New Blog Showcase Carnival (or New Blog Carnival Showcase, if you prefer): Living the Scientific Life. Well, that's it! No, really, no other new blogs were submitted this week. Therefore, you have NO EXCUSE not to quickly head on over there and visit. If nothing else, you can go waste some time Playing Geography games! And another entry: Big Heads, Little Helmets, and Plagiocephaly from Mom. (This carnival also linked to The Ubercarnival).Posted by: Ogre at 06:05 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Guard Our Borders
By Darnell McGavock at Independent Conservative
Contrary to popular belief, most illegals coming to the USA already had jobs in the country that they left. Also, they are seeking much higher paying jobs than some might believe. Their days of trying to just pick fruit are over! Here are some details, although it is best to read this entire article:Posted by: Ogre at 04:05 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
The Little Red Hen -- expanded
One day as the Little Red Hen was scratching in a field, she found a grain of wheat.
"This wheat should be planted," she said. "Who will plant this grain of wheat?" "Not I," said the Duck. "Not I," said the Cat. "Not I," said the Dog. "Then I will," said the Little Red Hen. And she did. Soon the wheat grew to be tall and yellow. "The wheat is ripe," said the Little Red Hen. "Who will cut the wheat?" "Not I," said the Duck. "Not I," said the Cat. "Not I," said the Dog. "Then I will," said the Little Red Hen. And she did. When the wheat was cut, the Little Red Hen said, "Who will thresh the wheat?" "Not I," said the Duck. "Not I," said the Cat. "Not I," said the Dog. "Then I will," said the Little Red Hen. And she did. When the wheat was threshed, the Little Red Hen said, "Who will take this wheat to the mill?" "Not I," said the Duck. "Not I," said the Cat. "Not I," said the Dog. "Then I will," said the Little Red Hen. And she did. She took the wheat to the mill and had it ground into flour. Then she said, "Who will make this flour into bread?" "Not I," said the Duck. "Not I," said the Cat. "Not I," said the Dog. "Then I will," said the Little Red Hen. And she did. She made and baked the bread. Then she said, "Who will eat this bread?" "Oh! I will," said the Duck. "And I will," said the Cat. "And I will," said the Dog. "No, No!" said the Little Red Hen. "I will do that." And she did. And then the Duck, the Cat, and the Dog screamed about the unfairness of the system. The Duck cried that it was unfair that the Little Red Hen got all the breaks in life. The Cat whined that the original grain of wheat belonged to all people because it was found on the earth, and therefore everyone, especially this children, were entitled to the bread. The Dog yelled that is was unfair that the Little Red Hen were able to work while others didn't have the opportunity to work, and it wasn't fair that the Little Red Hen owned property at all.Posted by: Ogre at 02:03 PM | Comments (17) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Ohio Governor 2006
If you're not in North Carolina, you might not be aware that it's against the law here to be a Libertarian. That's correct -- you can ONLY be a Democrat or a Republican, nothing else. If you don't like it, well, there's not really anything you can do about it, because you can't vote for your party, just D or R.
In Ohio, the Libertarians are trying to get some traction. Bill Pierce is attempting to run for governor. His running mate (I think), Mark Noble, stopped by this little blog to mention that they still need signatures to be permitted to run. They need 10,000 signatures to get their candidate on the ballot. If you're in Ohio, feel free to head over to the web site and find out about Bill. If you're not, but you support them, you can easily donate on the site as well!Posted by: Ogre at 12:04 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
"Surplus" in North Carolina?
So far in the NC fiscal year, the state has collected an additional $200,000,000.00 in tax receipts than they anticipated. Hold on, I'm going to go check my mailbox for my refund check for overpayment of taxes on the year.
Huh, it's not there. Instead, the NC Legislature will proceed with their current Democrat proposals to increase taxes. This is just further proof that the politicians are just plain liars. They continue to claim that the state doesn't have enough money. Now that they've collected $200 million MORE than they "absolutely needed" (for things like paying to raise oysters), they're going to increase taxes more. The only answer a Democrat has (the state of NC is run only by Democrats and nearly always has been) when asked "How much" they need in taxes is the same thing: MORE.Posted by: Ogre at 10:03 AM | Comments (7) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
February 12, 2006
A Love Song
The eastern world, it is explodin’.Violence flarin’, bullets loadin’
You’re old enough to kill, but not for votin’
You don’t believe in war, but what’s that gun you’re totin’
And even the Jordan River has bodies floatin’ But you tell me
Over and over and over again, my friend
Ah, you don’t believe
We’re on the eve of destruction. Don’t you understand what I’m tryin’ to say
Can’t you feel the fears I’m feelin’ today?
If the button is pushed, there’s no runnin’ away There’ll be no one to save, with the world in a grave
Take a look around you boy
It’s bound to scare you boy And you tell me
Over and over and over again, my friend
Ah, you don’t believe
We’re on the eve of destruction. Yeah, my blood’s so mad feels like coagulatin’
I’m sitting here just contemplatin’
You can’t twist; the truth, it knows no regulation.
Handful of senators don’t pass legislation
And marches alone can’t bring integration
When human respect is disintegratin’
This whole crazy world is just too frustratin’ And you tell me
Over and over and over again, my friend
Ah, you don’t believe
We’re on the eve of destruction. Think of all the hate there is in Red China
Then take a look around to Selma, Alabama
You may leave here for 4 days in space But when you return, it’s the same old place
The poundin’ of the drum, the pride and disgrace
You can bury your dead, but don’t leave a trace
Hate your next-door neighbor, but don’t forget to say prayers And… tell me over and over and over and over again, my friend
You don’t believe
We’re on the eve Of destruction Mm, no no, you don’t believe
We’re on the eve of destruction.
Posted by: Ogre at 08:25 PM | Comments (9) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Eliminate the Yankees?
Well, how about this? Using the ever popular "Save the Children," campaign, an evil Red Sox team is trying to eliminate the Yankees!
General manager Tim Bawmann said many children in New England are devastated when they are assigned to be on a team called the Yankees.
Is that a riot, or what?
The Class A Lowell Spinners of the New York-Penn League say that if youth baseball leagues across New England change the name of a team from the Yankees to the Spinners, Lowell would pay for new uniforms.
Now that's some fun, right there! I think that's just awesome, even if the children are more devastated when assigned to a team called the Hated Red Sox.
Posted by: Ogre at 05:01 PM | Comments (9) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
The "Fight On" Campaign
I'd like to introduce you to the "Fight On" campaign. I've mentioned it previously, but I'd like to do so again -- GM of GM's Corner has cancer. Apparently it's rather serious, though he won't admit it. As may of you might imagine, he could use some help.
Louisiana Conservative is starting a serious of Church Sermons (The First Church of Democrats). They are long posts, and really good satire. And as part of the sermons, he's passing the donation plate. Feel free to head on over and drop a dollar in the bowl. You see, when asked about the cancer, GM said it was just a minor situation. But I've never seen removal of a lung called "minor" before. GM said, before he went into the hospital, that he was going to continue to fight -- hence the "Fight On" campaign. Do what you can, please.Posted by: Ogre at 12:10 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
February 11, 2006
First USA Gold
The USA team has it's first gold of the 2006 Winter Olympics. Chad Hedrick won gold in the men's 5000m speed skating. Damn, those guys are fast. I went ice skating (in Florida -- don't ask) a few months back. I could stay on my feet without a problem, but speed was nowhere in my thoughts...
Posted by: Ogre at 11:13 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
USA vs SUI
More on the women's hockey. So far the US team really looks dominating. 12:09 into the 1st period and they're up 1-0, but they're really owning this game.
One of the reasons I do watch women's ice hockey is because these are amateurs. They are college students and the like who are playing their hearts out for a dream. They're NOT professional athletes -- I strongly believe that no professionals should be allowed anywhere near the Olympics. And "elbowing?" That's illegal? The Swiss had a penalty called on them because one of them elbowed one of the US team in the head and knocked her down. I thought that was encouraged in hockey. I wonder if that's an Olympic rule. Update: Domination by the US team, winning 6-0. VERY one-sided game. At one time, the US team had two players in the penalty box and STILL scored a goal. Very dominating.Posted by: Ogre at 05:27 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Women's Hockey?
Go ahead, call me sexist, but women playing ice hockey still seems odd to me. Don't get me wrong, they can certainly play, but it's still just not "normal."
That said, the Russian-Sweeten game is not too bad. It appears slower than the men's game, and there's certainly drastically less contact. Nice shooting by the Sweeten women, though. The Russian goalie is pretty good, but the Sweedes are really tossing that puck into the goal. It's currently 2-0, Sweden leading, in the 2nd period. Update: Sweden wins, 3-1. Not a bad game -- in the last period it got pretty competitive! Next up (12:00pm EST): USA vs. Switzerland. The US is heavy favorites, but the Olympics are full of upsets...Posted by: Ogre at 03:32 PM | Comments (10) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Opening Ceremonies
I somehow managed to stay awake for the entire opening ceremony. How, I don't know -- it was way past my bedtime, and NBC was spending more time showing commercials than show the ceremonies. The ceremony was excellent, but NBC's coverage was questionable at best. I know they have to make money, but still. The coverage was also very deceptive. At 8:00pm EST, they said the ceremony would start in 40 minutes. It was 9:00pm EST before the ceremony started. They had nice coverage of the athletes, some practices, and the stories. The ceremony was VERY long and drawn out. I was watching with a couple others, and one by one they gave up as the next commercial delay showed up. We all wanted to see the torch lit, but damn. Next time you want to run so many damn commercials, start at 5pm instead of 8pm. The delays and commercials really took away from the ceremony itself. I'm excited though, and ready to watch tons of sports by AMATEUR athletes (sorry, I don't watch the pros in the Olympics)!
Posted by: Ogre at 02:08 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Jim Black Protected By Board
Almost incredible, but I can't say unexpected. Picture this exchange at a hearing at the North Carolina State Board of Elections (D):
Board: Mr. Black, do you know anything about these checks which these individuals have already testified about? The individuals testified that they gave the checks to the optometrist's PAC signed, but with no payee. These checks were then made out to Michael Decker from your office. Can you explain that? Jim Black (D): No, I don't know anything about them. I have no idea what you're talking about, I've done nothing wrong. If I filled them out and then gave them to Mike Decker so he would switch parties and become a Democrat because I paid him, that would be wrong, and I didn't do that. Board: Mr. Black, we have the check right here. It's filled out in your handwriting. Jim Black (D): Oh, THAT check. Well, yes, I might have filled out that one so I could bribe Mike Decker to switch parties and give me control of the House. Board: Thank you. The board then suggests that the district attorney investigate Mike Decker for illegal campaign contributions and the optometrist's PAC for violating campaign finance laws. Mr. Black MAY have done something wrong, but we do not refer him to anyone else, we're going to re-convene in March to continue our own personal investigation. Yessir, that's the Democrat State Board of Elections doing their absolute best to protect their favorite person, Jim Black, even when he admits breaking the damn law. Sorry, but once again these morons in state government have shown that Jim Black is very clearly above the law. They'll throw the book at someone else, an elected official, who has done exactly the same thing, but they won't do anything to Black.Posted by: Ogre at 12:04 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
February 10, 2006
Layout Note
I think I'm going to have to make what appears to me to be a minor change, but may affect you, the good reader. Currently, this site actually appears with two completely different layouts. There is the wide, light-green, 3 column layout (triad) that has the flag on the pole, the yellow text menu on the left, and the ice border along the top.
There is also the "Drainpipe" layout -- with a dark green background for the text, the steel tile background, and a drainpipe leading from one post to the next. As the site is currently set up, you do not get to select the layout -- it is chosen for you depending on the width of your screen. If your screen is too narrow to effectively display the triad 3-column layout, you are redirected to the drainpipe layout. If you view this site with the same size browser, it's likely you've never seen the difference. However, as I make small adjustments and changes, I update the triad site, and the drainpipe layout doesn't get updated -- so I'm going to have to do something. I'm thinking of just cutting out the code that does the redirect -- but that would mean if you have a narrow browser, you're either going to have to scroll right, or the layout will be odd. I'm considering making a new layout for the narrow browsers. If I do that this time, I'm going to have to make the whole site modular so that I can display all the items I add and change on both layouts. Of course, that makes even more of a challenge, because I have to take ALL the items I want to display and figure out where to put them on both a wide layout AND a narrow layout. What this means to you, the good reader (and thank you so much for stopping by) is that over this weekend you might see some odd layouts as I experiment with different layouts and designs. Does anyone use that left menu on the wide screen layout (the Site Navigation links to the left)?Posted by: Ogre at 08:04 PM | Comments (12) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Hunting Season
It must be hunting season...although I'm not sure how many targets are going to come out of the swamp. Can you spot both cats on the prowl?
Posted by: Ogre at 06:09 PM | Comments (11) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Carolina Winter
This week's Tarheel Tavern is hosted over at Captivated by Mandie. The suggested topic is "winter." I could only think of what I think about when I think winter in Carolina:
(click to enlarge)
Posted by: Ogre at 04:06 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Start of the 2006 Winter Olympics
It's time! The opening ceremonies for The Winter Olympics is today at 2pm EST! Yes, that's 8pm Italy time (I think), but they're starting! I wonder if there's a tape-delay so I can see it when I'm not working...
Posted by: Ogre at 03:06 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
The Llama Nose
Never one to disappoint my good readers, I'd like to repond to a request. It seems that Steven of Moby Shtick wanted me to post a picture up a llama's nose. I don't really know why, but that's what I thought he posted.
I got a picture up a llama's nose, but it really just came out too dark. It seems that when I shoved the lens up there, the flash really wouldn't work too well. I even tried doing it upside-down so the light from the flash might flash into his mouth and provide some light. It didn't work too well. So, after I cleaned the llama snot off the camera, this was all that I was left with:
Posted by: Ogre at 02:04 PM | Comments (9) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Thanks much, Ogre.
New Advertiser!
Hey! I almost missed the plug for this wonderful advertiser this week! And it's a GOOD one!
Over there on the left, at the top, you should see a small box that's an ad for I am!. This is a fun blog, let me tell you! And I'm not just saying that because they're advertising here, I assure you. There's this great picture fromPosted by: Ogre at 01:01 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Confusing Liberals
This has got to really confuse liberals. They've got to be utterly dumbfounded with no clue whether to be happy or sad. South Carolina has created a new toll road to pay for another road.
Now, on one hand, the liberals will be utterly overjoyed -- INCOME! ANY time that there is increased money from people to government, Democrats and liberals are happy. The more money they can get their hands on (without actually WORKING for it), the happier they are. On the other hand, they're going to build an evil road with it! They're going to crush the environment, kill billions of animals, and polar bears will die from all the carbon released into the air from the evil cars that will drive on the road! (And irony of ironies, the road goes to the beach that won't exist because of the cars increasing the ocean levels). So what are they to do? I think overall, liberals will be happy because they're patient. They know that the road will only take so long to build, but the new income stream will last forever. They will likely use some of the money taken in by the toll road to enforce obscure, useless environmental regulations to obtain even MORE money (in fines). So they'll have more (of MY) money and more control (over everyone) -- yes, the liberals will be happy.Posted by: Ogre at 12:03 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
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