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The Problem With Penguins

Who says the TSA isn’t profiling potential problem passengers?
 
The Thousands Standing Around  as theater of the absurd:
 
 
Yep.  Really. I guess the Thousands Standing Around crew at Denver feared the penguins might’ve hijacked the plane or something (“Book two to Bogota!”)… (tip from a reader of Jerry Pournelle’s Chaos Manor)
 
Oh, and apparently, one TSA goon in San Jose, CA, thinks that the Thousands Standing Around ban on more than 2 matchbooks means any kind of book. (This is the only report I know of.  But it certainly fits the profile for Thousands Standing Around employees… ::heh::)
 
They seem get these guys by weeding out anyone with an IQ over 80.  And the normative curve for Thousands Standing Around goons seems (by evidence of reported behavior) to cluster around the average intelligence of yeast.
 
But they are only doing their duty (as the stupid man claims whenever he finally understands that what he is doing is stupid… ).
 
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“Fairy tales can come true, it can happen to you… “

Yeh, you wish… well, at least I do
 
If only.  Scrappleface has penned a piece of comic “news” that actually posits one of the most significant steps that could be taken to fix public education.  That it would have a salutory effect on public education is, of course, the primary reason politicians will NOT do it… Sample:
 
“The ‘No Bureaucrat Left Behind’ reforms will completely shut down the federal Department of Education, however, all former employees are expected to find jobs with education lobbyist firms which will soon have to sell their ideas to thousands of school boards nationwide, instead of just a handful of Congressmen.”
 
 
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Politicians, Lawyers and Creeps, Oh my!

But I repeat myself…
 
I promise myself, every time I see a particular road sign to write a post about it.  But before I do, a side trip down an apparent rabbit trail.
 
I once knew a lawyer who had descended beyond scoundrelry and rascelry into downright disgusting. One of his shady—though completely legal—deals was the management of a trust he’d devised for the bequests of a client, a very foolish, trusting client.  (Hereafter, instead of citing this lawyer’s name, in its place, I’ll simply use the name “Damned Lawyer”) When the client died, the lawyer had full control of managing the donations from this trust to various charities and non-profit groups.  In each and every case, the lawyer’s name was attched in some way, such as the Damned Lawyer Memorial Methodist Church (the lawyer was still alive, but he stipulated that the church be named after him in that way when he gave the church money from his client’s funds to build a new building).  And every road leading into the little town where that church was had a huge billboard proclaiming the Damned Lawyer Memorial Church.
 
He used someone else’s money to proclaim himself benevolent.
 
Every time I saw those signs, I felt the disgust I feel now when I see a similar sign proclaiming the G. Damned Congressman Highway.  Now, don’t get me wrong.  I do not see the idea of naming a portion of a highway after a public servant, as is done around here in naming portions of roads after state troopers who are killed on duty, as a bad thing.  Indeed, naming public works after public servants (such as the slain state troopers) is a good thing.  But naming public works after a politician, someone whose “benevolence” is all taking money from someone else to spend it on something the politician can claim “credit” for is beyond distasteful and into downright disgusting.
 
The only monuments, IMO, that ought to bear the names of politicians are their headstones.
 
 

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Hide n Seek

revealing at last the secret location of America’s Third World Countyâ„¢


Best resolution available to me of satellite image of America’s Third World Countyâ„¢. Now you know where I am. Posted by Hello

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It’s a difference of priorities

It’s not that Loony Left Moonbats and Mass Media Podpeople don’t care that the country’s going to hell in a handbasket…
 
…It’s just that they prioritize things a little differently to real reality-based folks. Jerry Pournelle notes (scroll below after the security warning) a comment from a discussion group he participates in…
 
“Though only to be fair, it must be admitted that most media/activist/elected Democrats are instead focusing their attention and energy on other extremely important matters, such as the burning issue of whether spousal benefits must necessarily be extended to Wiccans who marry oak trees.”
Yep.  It’s just a difference in priorities.
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Stovetop Taco Pie

Food just like I like it: tasty, nutritious and easily-prepared
 
This recipe is one of my fav ways to use “leftover” chili (when I have any left over, that is… ).
 
Stovetop Taco Pie
 
4 C chili (see below)
Large bag of your fav tortilla chips
2 C shredded cheese (your fav: I prefer a mix of cheddar and monterey jack)
2 C Quick Salsa
 1 regular-sized can of whole-kernel corn
 
Layer: chili, chips, salsa, corn, cheese, chili, chips, salsa… and end with a layer of chips and cheese.
 
Add some sliced jalapenos or seranos for extra kick if you want (or have them available to add later to taste).
 
Cover and heat in skillet on medium heat until cheese just melts, then turn heat to LOW and cook for another 10 minutes or so.
 
Serve with sides of guacamole, rice or refried beans (prep for both here) and lotsa shredded letuce and chopped onions, peppers, sour cream and more salsa available for garnish.
 
Oh, did I say sliced ripe olives? No, I see I didn’t.  Shame on me.  Nice additional garnish.  But don’t limit yourself to garnishes/addenda I mention.  Let me know what you try out and like that I haven’t mentioned.
 
Chili: For some reason, I can’t seem to find my post of my chili recipe.  I know I had to have posted it sometime or another, but it’s slipped into the ether… So, here goes.  It’s one of those “more of a process than a recipe” recipes.
 
1.) About a pound of roast beef, shredded, preferably leftovers.
2.) 3-4 cups of beans, cooked.  See here for the process. *heh*  Pinto beans, only, please.  🙂
3.) A whole, large yellow (sweet) onion, chopped.
4.) A couple of cups of garlic, minced.
5.) About 1/2 to one cup of Red Sauce.  Use the recipe for red enchilada sauce, here. If you have no sense of taste, just use the packaged chili powder junk.  (Blech!)
6.) At least two tablespoonsful of freshly ground cumin. I use more.
7.) A few leaves of dried oregano, crushed between your hands and dusted off into the pan…
8.) A sparse dash or two of chinese five-spice.  Yeh, it’ll work.  Just trust me on this one.
9.) A can of chopped tomatoes or some of your fav spaghetti sauce (can cut the earlier oregano if you choose this route).
 
Get the onions and garlic started clarifying in a medium-heat skillet with some olive or corn oil (diff flavors, your taste). Add the beef (already cooked, preferably “leftover” roast).  Add the herbs and spices and cook, covered at lower heat, until the beef’s done (you’re way ahead if you went with leftovers!).  Add the red sauce, tomatoes and beans and simmer for an hour or so, checking to see if any added water’s needed from time to time.
 
It’s chili. 
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NEA vs. NCLB

Granted, they’re squealing like stuck pigs cos the pressure’s on teachers, but the NEA proves that even a stuck clock is right twice a day… even if it’s for the wrong reason
 
Kris, over at Anywhere But Here (and I’ve fixed the blogroll link to her blog), has a good lining out of some of the major reasons why NCLB is a stupid idea.  Strangely, the NEA thinks it’s a dumb idea, too is suing the gummint over NCLB… though for the wrong reasons, as Kris points out.
 
It occurred to me, as I was posting a comment at Kris’ site, that I ought to include the links I posted there, here.  Here are two of them, to two mini-essays by Jerry Pournelle:
 
 
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MMPA Maverick

Fifth columnist in the Mass Media Podpeople’s Army, John Stossel, says “Give me a break”
 
I read his stuff now and then, but nothing he’s written recently is more on-target than his recent column “Soldiers Fighting for right to Smoke?” A sample:
 
“Freedom includes the right to quit your job, but freedom also includes the right not to employ someone you don’t want to employ.”
 
Tell that to the Mass Media Podpeople’s Army, the Loony Left Moonbat Brigade and the ever-growing nanny state those groups love so much.
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Drive-by post on congresscritters

Nailed by Tony Blankley
 
“Question: What is the difference between squirrels and members of Congress? Answer: Squirrels make provisions for the future.”
Reminds me of Twain.
 
“Suppose you were an idiot. Suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.”—Mark Twain
 
Update: doggone if I hadn’t forgotten about this.  Now, that’d make of our congresscritters something more sensible than they now are. (Warning: it’s an mp3 featuring Ray Stephens.  Be prepared to laugh your socks off. Or at least enjoy the picture of such an event translated to a group of our illustrious congresscritters.)
 
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Comment surfacing for air

So, what do YOU think of “Kipling Tuesdays”?
 
 “Lord how I love Kipling. One of the truly Great Poets.” —David Holtz

Glad to hear it.  I plan on one a week, on Tuesdays. At other times, an occasional Stephenson, Burns, Tennyson or other—maybe a Poe poem *heh* every now and then**—but Kipling Tuesdays will continue for at least a while.

I can’t recount the number of times that “General Summary” has popped into my head (and sometimes onto my lips) when I hear the latest shennanigans our congresscritters are up to…

“…As it was in the beginning/Is today official sinning/And shall be for evermore.”

Kipling is often viewed with disfavor among academics.  Probably because most of academia takes the presciption Holly Lisle gives for “How to Write Suckitudinous Fiction” to be a prescription for writing “great literature.”  Kipling was a craftsman.  But a craftsman with a vision.

And his view of critics is in congruance with mine on a 1 to 1 basis in “The Conundrum of the Workshops” (to be featured in an upcoming “Kipling Tuesday” *s* ‘S’all right. Most folks will have forgotten it by then, and faithful readers of “Kipling Tuesdays” will appreciate re-reading it.)

 
**Speaking of Poe. Here’s my impression of Edgar Allen Poe on Prozac:
 
“Pretty bird… ” (You imagine the inflection.  Got it in one.)