tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92145625699124973762024-03-13T22:56:51.416-07:00Twelve PoundsA.G. Cliftonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00591941755980787453noreply@blogger.comBlogger93125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9214562569912497376.post-47299729308538581602009-12-29T20:54:00.000-08:002009-12-29T21:03:26.226-08:00Another Mystery SolvedHe's got bodyguards, cutting-edge healthcare, the best PR machine in the world, people are just raining money on him and he doesn't have to fly commercial...<br /><br />You know, I think Obama ran for President just so he could be sure nothing would happen to <span style="font-style: italic;">him</span>.A.G. Cliftonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00591941755980787453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9214562569912497376.post-27196180302365191642009-12-15T07:25:00.000-08:002009-12-15T08:24:52.390-08:00Such Symmetry in NatureI am a hobby sociologist. People crack me up. I was listening to a chatter show the other day, talking about social media. The conversation turned to how it's decided to change a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">facebook</span> status from "single" to "dating." After the first date? After the first couple weeks? After a series of tense negotiations, mediated on both sides by retired Federal judges? A young lady of college age called in. Perfect. Someone of the appropriate age to care about this crap. She said women used to care if their men friends changed their status to "dating," but not so much anymore. It's a sign of being needy and manipulative to insist the fellow acknowledge the relationship. Besides, most guys didn't even know how to change that bit on their pages.<br /><br />No, really, she said that out loud like it made sense or something. I cried laughing. Also, I cheered a little. A guy can figure out how to get on line, set up a page, download pictures, embed video and music, but can't noodle through how to do that personal status thingy.<br /><br />Years of building the self-esteem of little girls has lead to this point. All that empowerment garbage has filtered through the feminine psyche and expressed itself as: Men are stupid. They are barely able to stand upright. They are no damn good at everything. We can't expect them to function like <span style="font-style: italic;">people</span>, certainly not without supervision. This is the exact reverse of the attitude of about fifty years ago or so. The women back then whined and protested and set fire to their underwear (what was <span style="font-style: italic;">that </span>about?) and generally made a nuisance of themselves until we've gotten to the point where we are now, where men expect us to change our own oil, put out forest fires and sweep for mines. When confronted with the same exact attitude, the men say, Yeah, whatever. We're idiots. Don't bother us with anything difficult. <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />This</span> is why men are smarter.A.G. Cliftonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00591941755980787453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9214562569912497376.post-14448045653781145632009-12-12T10:05:00.000-08:002009-12-12T10:07:21.843-08:00This Guy<a href="http://sbinvestigator.blogspot.com/">My new Short-Duration Personal Hero.</a>A.G. Cliftonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00591941755980787453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9214562569912497376.post-71679011264928633752009-12-11T13:48:00.000-08:002009-12-11T14:56:02.855-08:00Who knew Canadians were so brave?<a href="http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=2314438">Diane Francis</a> espouses a world one-child policy in the Canadian Financial Post, from the home in America she shares with her spouse and their two children. Her own parents didn't feel that way; Diane has a sister. What do you want to bet Diane's the older sister?A.G. Cliftonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00591941755980787453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9214562569912497376.post-14222181561304829072009-11-10T07:08:00.000-08:002009-11-10T07:54:59.639-08:00Oh, Really?http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/11/09/taking_liberties/entry5595506.shtml?tag=mncol;txt<br /><br />Justice Dept. Asked For News Site's Visitor Lists<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">..."the U.S. Department of Justice sent a formal request to an independent news site ordering it to provide details of all reader visits on a certain day..." </span><br /><br />Here are some of the headlines for that day, just to refresh the memory: <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2008/6/25/headlines">Link1</a> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPljokDWERg">Link2</a> <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/25/thinkfast-june-25-2008/">Link3</a><br /><br />This administration's Justice Department issued a grand jury subpoena to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Indymedia</span>.us. The <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">DOJ</span> also said not to tell anyone about the subpoena without their permission. Not how it works. The <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">DOJ</span> can't subpoena a journalist without express permission of the Attorney General. At the time the subpoena was issued -- 1/23/09 -- there wasn't any Attorney General. They asked for every piece if information <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Indymedia</span> had about every computer user who logged on to the site on 6/25/2008, from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">ISP</span> number to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">SSN</span> to shoe size. The <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">DOJ</span> is only allowed to ask for information that directly pertains to an investigation. The person who had the records was informed of the subpoena by <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Indymedia</span>. She should have gotten served personally. That means a knock on her door like in the movies (or maybe your personal life, sorry) and a guy leaving a copy of the papers with her. This is something you learn the first minute of the first day of law school, and when <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Indymedia</span> promptly squawked, the subpoena was withdrawn.<br /><br />This isn't a case of bad <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">lawyering</span>. This isn't amateur transition-team behavior. This is how an oppressive government operates. We're going to stomp all over your civil rights and don't you tell anybody about it unless you want something worse to happen to you. We won't tell you what that is, but trust us, it <span style="font-style: italic;">will</span> be worse.<br /><br />Impotent bullies.A.G. Cliftonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00591941755980787453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9214562569912497376.post-4183876385143690172009-10-09T18:49:00.000-07:002009-10-09T18:50:25.284-07:00Somewhere in an underwater grotto......a fig-eating ape is rolling on the ground, laughing.A.G. Cliftonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00591941755980787453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9214562569912497376.post-24767862389798670582009-10-06T07:40:00.000-07:002009-10-06T08:20:09.144-07:00Classy, Classy CBSImagine spending heaps and piles of your parents' money to get a degree in communications from some ivy-swathed institution Back East. Through family connections or dumb luck, or even through working at it really hard you land what you're told is a coveted intern position at CBS. The future looks bright. Then Dave happens.<br /><br />If you are a female person, your phone, computer, facebook, etc. are clogged with strangers asking you if you're doing Dave. I'm sure it doesn't even matter whether or not you intern for his show; it's enough to work in the same building as his staff. If you're a male person speculation trends more toward the sinister. If the Tiffany Network is cool both with David Letterman and a news producer diddling the help, every male employee of the network must be considered a potential episode of "Mad Men."<br /><br />I don't think the ladies involved will sue for sexual harassment. Dave's main main squeeze got her law school paid for. Picture phones are handy. What I want to know is, what's the redress for everyone whose resume is now a dirty joke because they work for CBS?A.G. Cliftonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00591941755980787453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9214562569912497376.post-90111153352544177222009-10-05T07:51:00.000-07:002009-10-06T08:15:24.237-07:00Thanks, Al! Kisses, Sonia.I was reading this article on <a href="http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/10/half_a_president_1.html">American Thinker </a>about how Obama only wants to do the fun parts of his job. That got me thinking about Al Franken, who only wanted to be a Senator for the stationery. Franken reminds me of the cute puny girl from "Survivor," the one they keep on until the final four because she's no physical threat and she'll go along to get along. Al's a jerk, though, but instructional. Remember during Justice Sotomayor's hearings when he asked her a question about Perry Mason. Oh, Al, you big silly. Here's why he did that. It wasn't to mock the proceedings, or to highlight the folly of Minnesota voters. It was more infuriating than that, even. It was just so Al Franken would have remarks recorded in the Congressional Record.<br /><br />Franken is a cruder, low-rent version of Obama. Which must mean Obama's also the puny girl. Al dances with them that brung him. Franken's committee assignments are the Judiciary, Health, and Aging, which are a big deal, as well as Indian Affairs, which is not so much. Sorry, Indians. Y'all might make youtube, though, when Miss Franken asks during a hearing if you'd mind troubleshooting his email. Bet me. He's a seatwarmer. He could be replaced by a paperweight and he knows it. What's more, he doesn't care. He'll be their reliable swing vote as long as he gets perceived benefit, which for him consists mainly of the job title. The ladies at 14th and O have more self-respect.<br /><br />But we know who's running Al.A.G. Cliftonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00591941755980787453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9214562569912497376.post-34278599606723348132009-09-30T08:42:00.000-07:002009-10-01T07:31:28.237-07:00Rape rapeMy first ex-husband was a connoisseur of barbecue, and he had a theory. The best BBQ joints were the ones that had a cartoon pig on the signage. Little race-traitor cartoon pigs waving, smiling, welcoming you in; "Come on and eat me! I'm tasty!" He was right more often than not. I find myself thinking of that when I hear that Debra Winger thinks Roman Polanski shouldn't have to serve his sentence for raping a 13-year-old little girl because he's such a genius and the crime would be to rob humanity of his work. Debra Winger is still alive. Who knew? I thought <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Whoopi</span> Goldberg had a regular gig on one of those daytime chat shows that are the reason why men think women are stupid. Her daughter had a kid at 15, so I can see why Mama's cool with statutory rape. Oh, and Woody Allen? You are so not helping.<br /><br />Duane Chapman made his career when he snagged Andrew Luster in Mexico. Luster's from a movie family, like Polanski, and both are very wealthy. He was convicted of the same thing Polanski was, too: drugging and raping young females. Luster even filmed these encounters, just like Polanski did. Luster fled the country rather than serve his sentence, like Polanski. The difference is that it was proven that Luster did this multiple times while Polanski only incriminated himself once. Unless you count <span id="icePage_SearchResults_ResultsRepeaterByRelevance_ResultRepeaterWeb_ctl03_WebResult_ListingDescription">Nastassja <strong style="font-weight: normal;">Kinski</strong></span>, and why wouldn't you, she was 15. And Luster went after grown women while Polanski savaged a little girl. So why is it that Luster gets all the bad press and Polanski gets all the fawning? Luster can't hand out work for dried-up old husks like Debra and Whoopi.<br /><br />If this wasn't Roman Polanski, artiste, with champagne and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Quaaludes</span>, but instead Roman Polanski, diesel mechanic, with hard lemonade and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">GHB</span> would there be any question about wanting the guy buried under the jail? Even though the poor woman whose life he altered thirty years ago 'forgives' him? Forgives him. Right. Five hundred paparazzi in your front yard and the phone ringing off the hook with everyone you've ever seen on TV wanting to know why you want to torment poor Roman. <span style="font-style: italic;">For God's sake, the man won an Oscar! What have </span>you<span style="font-style: italic;"> done? </span>Nope, no coercion there. Again.<br /><br />Someone I work with said it would be funny if Polanski ended up in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Corcoran</span> State with Charlie Manson. I think it would be funnier if Phil <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Garrido</span> was his <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">celly</span>.A.G. Cliftonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00591941755980787453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9214562569912497376.post-30254364594999433062009-09-25T15:49:00.000-07:002009-09-25T16:42:32.822-07:00Life's Enduring MysteriesI'm a woman, have been for years. Thank you. I care about clothes. Not what I'm wearing, mind you; I'll wear stuff I found in the street. Other people's clothes. The second most poorly-dressed woman in public life is the hostess of The Biggest Loser. That blue number she wore for the season opener? Just because the poor thing is blond is no reason to dress her like <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">CBGB's</span>-era Debbie Harry, OK? That's just wrong and she should renegotiate her contract. And speaking of people who are clearly dressed by angry, colorblind drag queens, I may have figured out what the deal is with Michelle Obama.<br /><br />The First Lady dresses terribly. Everything fits poorly, is inappropriate for the occasion, or just plain bizarre. I don't think at this point she picks out her own clothes, because she has to have seen pictures of herself. I think people around her are afraid to tell her anything negative. I also think Mrs. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Obama's</span> a pretty smart cookie. Every time she goes out the door the media go wild praising her fashion sense and the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">internet</span> goes wild coming up with new, even more unflattering adjectives with which to describe her... attributes.<br /><br />So when <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Ahmadinejad</span> lets slip that Iran is building another nuclear reactor and that "it would definitively be a mistake" for Obama to say anything about it, it's time for Ms. Michelle to slip into something ridiculous and close the streets during rush hour to pick up some produce. Everyone will spend the next news cycle yapping. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">OMG</span>! Her shoes, her weave, her expression, her butt. Can you believe she went <span style="font-style: italic;">outside</span> like that? <span style="font-style: italic;">How</span> much was that bag? Oh, yeah. We were talking about something else, weren't we? Right? Who can remember?<br /><br />Michelle is a helpmate, a team player, a nice, old-fashioned girl and a good little <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">wifey</span>. She's the magician's assistant.A.G. Cliftonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00591941755980787453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9214562569912497376.post-76327628005334951692009-03-13T14:04:00.000-07:002009-03-13T14:31:28.667-07:00Showtime at the ApolloBefore he arose from the waves on a clam shell to do us all a big ol' favor by becoming our leader, Obama told us rubes he'd put all non-emergency legislation on the White House website so we could take a gander at it and have someone explain the gist of it to us if necessary. I can think of a great reason he should revisit that specific lie. <a href="http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=44943">He doesn't read what he's signing.</a> That's right. His approach to legislation that affects millions of Americans yet unborn is the same one I've personally applied to leases, tax returns and divorce settlements.<br /><br />The press and other unreconstructed partisans ( the wage slaves who don't have anything saved up to lose) have a keen interest in helping Obama look less like an ass. They'd soil themselves at the opportunity to read Big Man's paperwork. If there was anything hinky -- like language that cancels out any recently lifted Executive Orders, say -- they'd let him know. During business hours, of course, not on weekends, holidays, or Wednesday nights. They can leave a voicemail at Treasury or something.<br /><br />Or maybe someone could sneak Obama's resignation into a farm bill or a bill designating the week of June 21st as Mildew Awareness Week. Think of it. We could have him out by Labor Day.A.G. Cliftonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00591941755980787453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9214562569912497376.post-56613689408685859192009-02-27T13:46:00.000-08:002009-02-28T19:56:41.107-08:00Miss Clifton Wades InToday there is much rejoicing. Our Federal Government, the one that dictates how fast we can drive, what light bulbs we use and how much water we need to flush the damn toilet, is ceding to the states the right to <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2009/02/27/MN2016651R.DTL">legalize weed</a>. And of course, the Bay Aryans are all a-dither in their adulation of the extremely clever and humane administration of our only president. I swiped that last bit from Molly Ivins. She won't care. She's dead from cancer or drinking or an ugly disposition. Something. Anyway, back to the potheads.<br /><br />I have a series of questions for you, ahem, smokers out there. If you read the comments you get the same old blather about Prohibition and lost tax revenue, yada yada. OK. If marijuana is harmless, why were we subjected to The Grateful Dead for freaking <span style="font-style: italic;">decades</span>? They only made two good albums! <span style="font-style: italic;">Only TWO!!!</span> Why hasn't anybody come up with a more evolved, compelling comparison than Prohibition? Why is this the only time stoners care about something dull like tax revenue? Why is this the singular instance of their noodling out the math? That and mentally doing metric weight conversions. And you know what, Ben and Jerry's isn't exactly good for you.<br /><br />Oh, not <span style="font-style: italic;">you</span>, of course. You're a productive citizen. Never broke any other laws, always held a job, paid your own way, the whole nine yards. That may be. But you have to know, in your more lucid moments (like the day before payday when you've been smoking resin since Tuesday) how much more productive you could be if you didn't have to spend all that time finding your keys. But today's payday and you have your mind on other things, like working groceries and rent <span style="font-style: italic;">and</span> dope. So I'll tell you why this is a crappy-ass idea from a government that doesn't give a <span style="font-style: italic;">damn</span> about you, that uses you like a punk every two years when it's time to vote for them to continue living off you. Think of it as my public service. I'm a giver.<br /><br />Legal dope means more people can get it cheaper. Woo Hoo!! I hear you. But think on this: You know how you'd rather not be bothered with certain details when you're high? Or you hear stuff and then forget about it? Or you hear stuff, period? Or you get these big ambitious ideas you never follow through on? Yeah. That's what they're counting on. You like conspiracy theories? Almost as much as you like Sunchips? Mmmm, French Onion... where was I? Oh, yeah. Our government is kind of saying that they'd really dig it if they could keep you... well, suggestible. That it'd be the path of least resistance to just do as you're told, and since you won't remember what you're told that could be a new thing every week. "Giving" your state this "right" is a means by which to buy loyalty through the indenture of your addiction. Because this isn't about sick people. Sick people take Marinol or <span style="font-style: italic;">eat</span> weed; addicts smoke, and you know it as well as I do.<br /><br />Every worker works because they have a lifestyle to maintain. Nobody has any incentive to earn more than they absolutely need when they know any surplus will be confiscated. Children provide a pretty good incentive. So does a drug habit.<br /><br />This isn't giving you "the right" to anything. This is cynically preying on people's weaknesses. It's what the British did to the Chinese with opium, to make them malleable and less able to resist The Crown's predation. Read up on the Boxer Rebellion. And you'd celebrate the guy <span style="font-style: italic;">you voted for</span> doing the same to you? You must be on drugs.A.G. Cliftonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00591941755980787453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9214562569912497376.post-72397539427294818222009-02-17T07:53:00.000-08:002009-02-17T22:09:59.976-08:00Curiouser and CuriouserPerhaps you've heard of the recent natural gas shortages in Europe caused by Russia's decision to cut the supply. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Gazprom</span> is the leading gas utility and through various bailouts and sweetheart deals is a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">defacto</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">entity</span> of the Russian government. Like General Motors over here. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Gazprom's</span> reasoning behind turning off the taps was that the Ukraine owed them money so they weren't going to send their gas through Ukraine's pipelines until they were paid. Gas to most of the rest of Europe also flows through those pipelines, so reducing the pressure in the lines reduces the amount of heat everyone down the line gets. People are freezing. If this ever gets <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">resolved</span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Gazprom</span> turns the gas back on, my money's on them doing it all at once so it blows out the lines. It would be <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">exquisitely</span> Russian. Of course the real purpose behind all this is to show Europe the extent of Russia's reach. We have the power to freeze you and starve you. Do things our way, '<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">kay</span>?<br /><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Ok</span>, that's worrying, but it's Europe's problem. We have troubles enough over here, right? Not yet, apparently. The model Russia perfected with natural gas is now being applied to the steel industry. As in, <a href="http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2009/02/will_kremlin_bail_out_an_orego.html">our steel industry</a>. Roman <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Abramovich</span> is one of those <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Russian</span> 'oligarchs' -- really rich young dudes with no past who seem to have risen from the waves on a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">clamshell</span>. Amongst other holdings, he is one of two primary shareholders in the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Evraz</span> Group. They own steel mills. American steel mills. They've already renegotiated the existing sales contracts through the established business practice of tearing up the old ones and dictating new terms. So now every construction project that requires steel (that would be all of them) faces the prospect of paying the Russian government, since they've provided <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Abramovich</span> with <span style="font-style: italic;">unsecured</span> bailout funds to keep <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Evraz</span> afloat. He's in a bit of a pinch right now, since <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Evraz</span> is also trying to buy <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Delong</span> Holdings Ltd., a Chinese steel maker.<br /><br />A couple of other guys, Vladimir <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">Potanin</span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">Oleg</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">Deripaska</span>, plan to merge their mining company with <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">Evraz</span>, as well as with another couple mining companies and a producer of coal and steel. Russia's government would receive a quarter of the new company in exchange for paying off their debts.<br /><br />They're going to take us without firing a shot. You could almost admire the efficiency of it.A.G. Cliftonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00591941755980787453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9214562569912497376.post-28627928879589208442009-01-13T07:15:00.000-08:002009-01-13T07:32:42.163-08:00CSPAN JunkieOne huge upside of our peaceful transfer of power is the Democrats have way more televised hearings than the Republicans. Sometimes it's in spite of themselves, like the impeachment. Every time it's a festival of body language, a confluence of personalities so borderline, egos so unbounded they <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">cannnot</span> be contained within a single human body. A good congressional hearing emits tsunomic waves of perfumed self-importance that can be sensed right through the TV screen three timezones away. It is an art form as subtle as <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Noh</span>, a sport as brutal as <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Muy</span> Thai. And they are playing for all the marbles.<br /><br />I'm watching Mrs. Clinton's confirmation hearing. Chelsea's there, sitting in the row behind her mom. John Kerry made a point of acknowledging her. Miss Clinton got a polite and loyal round of applause, which Sen. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Schumer</span> immediately tried to claim as his own. Now, Mom is wearing a sensible brown suit. Miss Chelsea's got on a purple sleeveless number, in DC in January. Her hair is worn loose and she upstages the hell out of her mother. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Delish</span>.<br /><br />Sen. Kerry said since <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Chel's</span> dad served as an intern on the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">FRC</span>, they would be happy to make Chelsea an 'intern for a day' and he personally invited her up on the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">dias</span> after the hearing so she could sit in the chairs and take in the view. Because our government is their toy.A.G. Cliftonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00591941755980787453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9214562569912497376.post-21720998237164997172008-12-09T22:29:00.000-08:002008-12-09T22:59:52.642-08:00Thanks Ever So<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_4uWe-foyUqk/ST9i5MZjt8I/AAAAAAAAAC8/ARho8IA16fw/s1600-h/obamatime.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 302px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_4uWe-foyUqk/ST9i5MZjt8I/AAAAAAAAAC8/ARho8IA16fw/s400/obamatime.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5278046023022000066" border="0" /></a><br />Remember the picture of Ann <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Coulter</span> Time mag put on their cover, the one that made her look like she was about eight, sitting in Daddy's chair and playing dress-up in Mommy's shoes? The same photographer, it seems, has worked his magic upon Obama. This is not the magazine I saw this morning in the grocery store, but the photograph is very similar. The one in the store was even more pronounced. Shooting him from below, at a child's perspective, is intended to evoke the Lincoln Memorial, I suppose. I'm getting the Stalin vibe, too. that may be unintentional. And since it's in Time it will become part of the secular iconography of the left. We'll be seeing this shot angle over and over again, which suits me fine. I didn't see 'monumental' or 'heroic' in that photo. The angle is so pronounced it makes his body look <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">disproportionately</span> large. They tried so hard to make him look like Our Hero they ended up with Zippy the President. There's your metaphor.A.G. Cliftonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00591941755980787453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9214562569912497376.post-67794447879175713362008-11-20T07:56:00.000-08:002008-11-21T19:35:24.462-08:00YarMuslim thugs, primarily from Somalia, have captured and are holding 17 ships for ransom, including a shipment of munitions and an oil tanker. Ninety ships have been attacked just this year. The reaction by the world community has been to bravely run away, sending cargo around the Cape of Good Hope so as to avoid the Suez Canal and the Gulf of Aden. Me, I would have scuttled every captured ship, taken the write-off and sent the families a ham. That's probably why I'm not in charge of anything important. You'd really only have to do it once or twice, though. Just saying. Oh, and can we stop minimizing the threat by calling them "pirates?" Brings to mind little boys playing pretend. Some of them may well <span style="font-style: italic;">be</span> little boys, but they aren't playing. It's only a matter of time before they figure out a cruise ship warrants a much larger, more expedient payday.<br /><br />The Russians have taken a different approach. <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/11/20/russia.pirates.navy.somalia/index.html?iref=mpstoryview">They are sending warships</a> down to the Horn to protect their interests. Interests that will undoubtedly include monitoring ship traffic. It's the only way to find those nasty pirates, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">doncha</span> know. So when they find a ship with something really bad on it -- or something really good -- they have a responsibility to detain that vessel until they neutralize the threat. Or get paid. After all, who's to stop them? We're swapping one set of thugs for a more organized, better-armed set, one prone to, um, accidents. Even if they get paid. And nobody's going to do anything about it.A.G. Cliftonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00591941755980787453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9214562569912497376.post-37836702347752627332008-11-19T07:38:00.000-08:002008-11-19T07:58:58.689-08:00A Sudden Rush of Brains to the HeadWhen the Russians start in on us about the lack of trust between our two nations, that means they have a blackmail file. Allow me to formulate a theory:<br /><br />OK. Brace yourself.<br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Medvedev</span>/Putin is 'optimistic' about having favorable (to them) relations with the Obama administration because...<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">drumroll</span>...<br />They have a certified copy, <i>or the original</i>, of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Obama's</span> birth certificate.<br />And it doesn't say 'Hawaii' on it.<br />It might not say 'Obama' on it, either. Awkward. But that's a stretch. I figure it's something very disqualifying (But Mrs. Clinton would have ripped his throat out, so to speak, and she didn't) or it's something intensely personally embarrassing, which would be not actually being an <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">African</span> prince but the son of some anonymous Leroy.<br /><br />Hawaii has sealed the records so no one stateside can go look, but the campaign's been going on since the Battle of Hastings. Two years is plenty of time for a determined intelligence-gathering operation to work up a dossier on anyone, and I don't think even Mr. Obama saw himself as the nominee back then, much less The Office of the President Elect. So the true document is loosed into the wild and it's only a matter of time before it is produced. The only suspense is under which circumstances.A.G. Cliftonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00591941755980787453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9214562569912497376.post-91064617154710616272008-11-17T06:40:00.000-08:002008-11-17T08:02:01.474-08:00Six Degrees of Barack ObamaBarack Obama is friends with Bill <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Ayres</span>. Bill says so.<br /><br />Bill is friendly with Hugo Chavez. He went to Venezuela in 2006 to speak at an education conference, where he expressed his admiration for Chavez.<br /><br />Hugo Chavez is friendly (like the snake is friendly with the mongoose) with Dimitry <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Medvedev</span> and by extension Vladimir Putin, the hand up <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Medvedev's</span> back. He probably likes Putin better, actually. How could a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">kung</span>-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">fu</span> fighting pet tiger owner <span style="font-style: italic;">not</span> appeal to the Napoleon Dynamite of world politics?<br /><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Medvedev</span> is planning a sit-down with Mr. Obama to discuss Russian-American relations. He says he's optimistic. I bet. Even if The Office of the President Elect saw fit to ask for advice, who'd he consult? <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Ayres</span>, his bomb-throwing surrogate daddy, would welcome taking it all down, man, so long as he gets a dacha on Lake Michigan. His cabinet will be resuscitated Clinton staffers so we (and people we negotiate with) can mostly predict what they'll say. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Biden</span> can only be counted upon to say something stupid and unhelpful. Probably a recipe for glazed ham he swiped out of the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. If McCain's age was a liability, why'd we elect Grandpa Simpson as VP?<br /><br />Russia sees Obama as an insecure lightweight, a grasping, overcompensating punk. They'd have to. <span style="font-style: italic;">Chavez</span> thinks the guy is no big deal. I can't decide whether that's hilarious or insulting. And the people who elected him will be too busy trying to keep ahead of the bills to care if Obama sells out the home world.<br /><br />I must say it makes me uneasy when <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaBSr-KV47E">life imitates punk.</a><br /><br />An interesting footnote: I was looking for the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">NYT</span> article I saw where <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Ayres</span> came out after the election and said he was in fact all buddy-buddy with Obama. Can't find it, on two different search engines. It must never have existed...A.G. Cliftonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00591941755980787453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9214562569912497376.post-78036152953702768912008-10-25T12:18:00.000-07:002008-10-25T13:40:02.483-07:00Want Change, Do You?I didn't talk about Joe, the plumber from Ohio because I thought he'd been done to death, poor thing. That was before I found out about <a href="http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/10/24/joe.html?sid=101">this.</a> It seems some bureaucrat at the State of Ohio has been looking Joe up on the Government databases and leaking that information to the press.<br /><br />This man is not a criminal. He is not a terrorist. He poses no threat to the candidate Obama. Obama does just fine threatening himself, thank you. All he did was take advantage of a moment where he and Obama were in the same vicinity to ask the guy a question. Joe wants to buy the company he works for from his boss. The company makes more than <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Obama's</span> caste demarcation line of $250k a year, so Joe as the owner would have to pay so much in taxes -- being rich and selfish now -- that it wouldn't make economic sense to buy the business. Joe the private citizen asked Obama the famous presidential candidate why this should be. Idiot Boy responds with some tired socialist exhalation about spreading the wealth, at which point every small business owner in America actually felt their intestines knot up.<br /><br />So, how to salvage this situation. I know, let's investigate the crap out of this Joe guy. There's bound to be something embarrassing about him we can use to take attention off that <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">lightweight</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">doofus</span> we're running for president. Look, he's not a licensed plumber. Maybe when his <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">livelihood</span> is wrecked he'll have less time to think of questions. And he owes back taxes. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Hmm</span>. Maybe a good foreclosure is what's needed to bring <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">ol</span>' Joe current with the great State of Ohio. You know he's divorced, right? The ex-wife is usually a font of salacious detail, especially if we camp out by the kids' school at pick-up time. They <span style="font-style: italic;">hate</span> that. Let's see if he's behind on child support. They can yank your drivers license for that, you know. And while we're in there we can check to see if he owes for tickets or has any points against him. Please, <span style="font-style: italic;">please</span> let him have a DUI so we can ask him if he was drunk when he asked that question.<br /><br />It almost goes without saying that if a Republican presidential candidate had pulled these kinds of dirty tricks against a private citizen who had committed no crime the opposing party would be demanding he quit the campaign. But for some reason everybody's cool with the idea of investigating Average Dude as punishment for making a candidate embarrass himself by stating what he truly believes. Obama didn't think there was anything wrong with what he said until it was picked up by the news. This is all spite, all ego, and it's calculated to destroy a man's life. What if he had had an outstanding warrant? That's what they were hoping for, a chance to imprison a citizen who disagreed with their candidate. Why else check the Motor Vehicle records? What if it was a candidate you disagreed with trying that crap? What if it was you they were investigating? To quote a young lady in a conversation I recently overheard, "And he's not even President yet."<br /><br /><br />Oh, yeah. Silly me. Nixon resigned. In retrospect, he showed a lot of class that way.A.G. Cliftonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00591941755980787453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9214562569912497376.post-63506301668079304182008-10-23T20:53:00.000-07:002008-10-23T20:59:12.091-07:00I'm BaffledThe democrat party is supposed to be the one with the new ideas and all. Progressive. Whatever. So why is it that ever since I've been paying attention (I was for Ford against Carter when I was six) the democrat candidate is always portrayed as the smartest guy ever and their women are <span style="font-style: italic;">such</span> noble creatures while the Republican is always dumb as a stump and their women are spendthrift kook control freaks?A.G. Cliftonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00591941755980787453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9214562569912497376.post-4786781688405714172008-10-22T07:36:00.000-07:002008-10-22T08:21:38.692-07:00Girlfriend, look out.I don't know an awful lot, but I know we're being set up.<br /><br />When the person you are dating drops their company manners it can be seen as a sign the relationship is developing. As you become more secure in the affections of your sweetheart, more of your real personalities come through. You begin to notice things about each other, things that cross the line between 'quirky' and 'obnoxious;' his secret love of Air Supply, her shopping issues, etc. You must decide which foible is a dealbreaker, and if you go on with the relationship you may hear, during the course of an argument, "You knew I was like that before...." See, it's <span style="font-style: italic;">your</span> fault. <span style="font-style: italic;">They</span> were <span style="font-style: italic;">honest</span> about who they were. <span style="font-style: italic;">They</span> don't have to change. <span style="font-style: italic;">You</span> have to <span style="font-style: italic;">accept</span> them. Be <span style="font-style: italic;">supportive</span>. Or else you're a heartless jerk.<br /><br />We have reached that point in our relationship with Misters Obama and Biden. Perhaps it is a good thing that the campaign has been going on since the Bronze Age; it's taken this long for the new to wear off. Obama's tacit approval of the hounding and investigation of a private citizen tells us what will happen to those who help Obama look bad. Remember, it wasn't that guy's question that was the problem. And now Biden has said in so many words we will face some kind of crisis in the first six months of Obama's administration, one that won't be handled appropriately, and we should all just suck it up and support the guy anyway.<br /><br />Pass.<br /><br />As a woman and a cynic, I respectfully decline. This relationship will turn out like so many others have. He won't improve; in fact, as he discovers our tolerance for bad behavior, he will only get worse, more unreasonable, more erratic. And it will always be our fault. We never beleived in him. We always stood in the way of his dreams. We were just so damn <span style="font-style: italic;">negative</span> all the time.<br /><br />I can totally see why Oprah digs him. Personally, I'd feel better with grown people in charge.A.G. Cliftonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00591941755980787453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9214562569912497376.post-8185229824093885092008-10-10T20:08:00.000-07:002008-10-10T21:05:52.906-07:00More Projection Than SundanceJames Carville is an ass. There, I said it. I feel cleansed. There have been simperings in the media before this, but leave it to Mr. Matalin to reinforce the stereotype of the unreconstucted ignorant bigot cracker. But first, allow me to address <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-me-evangelical1-2008oct01,0,7847248.story">the dolts at the L.A. Times</a>, since their story came first.<br /><br />This started a few days ago, the murmurings that Gov. Palin might not be following the literal word of the Bible by being submissive to her husband, as if this made her somehow less than Christian. First of all, I should like to congratulate the author of the article, Teresa Watanabe, for reading a biblical passage without vaporizing or whatever. Second of all, if she were possessed of shame, she should feel it for blithely assuming that telling those backward fundies that Miss Sarah wasn't toeing Watanabe's interpretation of some obscure New Testament sentence fragment would be all it took to send them for the tar and feathers. Or perhaps she had a good old- fashioned stoning in mind. At least it's plausible to the layman that Gov. Palin practices some sort of faith. Unlike some people. Anyway, it's not like Christians-- other than my ex-inlaws-- keep score about who's the most observant. Sort of not what it's about. The whole brouhaha was concocted in the fevered imaginations of the godless, who arrogantly assume <span style="font-style: italic;">they</span> are the clever ones. I thought ignorance was supposed to be bliss. These people seem awfully chapped.<br /><br />Speaking of suppurating pustules, James Carville achieved the dubious distinction of making a statement of incredible racism against both blacks and whites simultaneously. I didn't think I'd live to see it.<span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: normal; font-style: italic;">Now let me be clear here, if Obama goes in this race with a 5- point lead and losing this election, the consequences are -- bull, man. I mean I don't think that's going to happen, but I think David it's a point to bring up. But you stop and contemplate this country if Obama goes in and he has a consistent five point lead and loses the election, it would be very, very, very dramatic out there."</span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; font-style: italic;"></span></div><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br />Al Gore was 11 points ahead at this time in 2000, by the way.<br /><br />T</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">he consensus</span><span style="font-weight: normal; font-style: italic;"> </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">has been that Carville meant riots. So he must think of black folks as unreasoning beasts that can be called out<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;">like dogs to ravage the countryside if whitey wills it. At the same time, he seems to think that the specter of angry blacks breaking windows resonates on a visceral level with the white and uptight. In short, blacks are animalistic and whites are supposed to fear them. Now, I like antiques, but honestly. Step out of the wayback machine, will ya?<br /><br />These are the people who want to lead us into the future? These unevolved cro-magnons who think everybody is as heart-rendingly, teeth-grindingly, head-poundingly stupid as them? You know what? Get out of the damn way, and be grateful that some people think all life has value, even as a bad example to to others.<br /></span><span style="font-weight: normal; font-style: italic;"><br /><br /></span><p style="font-weight: bold;"> </p>A.G. Cliftonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00591941755980787453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9214562569912497376.post-23355934860686421432008-09-10T07:57:00.001-07:002008-09-10T08:27:24.548-07:00The Days of Swine and PosesIsn't it interesting that <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Obama</span> seems to have forgotten his opponent is McCain? Maybe it's because he understands <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Palin</span> could get the big job. Not because McCain might keel over in office; they said that about Reagan, too. Stay Classy, people. On the slim chance <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Obama</span> wins the election he could be running against <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Palin</span> four years from now.<br /><br />For some reason it's particularly galling for a man to be bested by a woman. I don't get it -- I can't even make myself think like that -- but I understand the opinion exists here on this planet and I'll play along. There is, though, something unbecoming about descending into grade-school epithets in place of actual reasoned debate. While <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Palin</span> can discuss McCain's platform at <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">length</span> in terms that resonate with the other average people, I don't think she will respond to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Obama</span> they way they must do it at Harvard, by thumbing her nose and saying, "I know you are, but what am I?"<br /><br />The Democrat line is that, among other reasons, Mrs. Palin is a poor choice for VP because she has no foreign policy experience. We hardly ever trot the VP out to do the heavy lifting on foreign policy. In fact, sending the Veep is our way of telling you, foreign leader, we don't think you rate. It must be part of the whole 'rooting-for-McCain-to-die' thing. Lovely. Mr. Obama has said his foreign policy would mainly consist of sitting down with other leaders and talking things out. Now I <span style="font-style: italic;">really</span> wonder how that's going to go. Boy, I sure hope they all agree with him.A.G. Cliftonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00591941755980787453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9214562569912497376.post-50576419687844434922008-09-05T07:49:00.000-07:002008-09-05T11:04:54.233-07:00Nobody Asked Me...OK, so I'm a little late to the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Palin</span> party. I wanted to see how things were shaking out. So far I've got: She's unqualified, inexperienced, too religious, frumpy, and a bad mother. Also, she's evil. She purposefully afflicted an innocent baby -- <span style="font-style: italic;">her own baby</span> --with a genetic disease. <span style="font-style: italic;">Your</span> baby could be next.<br /><br />Of course none of this is true. Alaska's pretty big and it borders on two foreign countries, one of whom hates us while the other merely tolerates us. You pick which one's which. People in the lower 48 ( No, really, Mr. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Obama</span>. 48. ) tend to forget about <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Alaska</span>, all tucked away up there like that. It's got military installations, some that are en <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">clair</span> and some that aren't. I suspect she already has a working relationship with the top brass. They produce and export energy, although I don't think they have refining facilities up there, so they pay the most for the petroleum and propane they consume. More than Hawaii, even. Sucks. Because Alaska's so big it's a logistical challenge to get anything civic done statewide, like law enforcement. Mrs. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Palin</span> has to coordinate the activities of state and local authorities with the Feds, who are run from DC, the opposite of Alaska. She's had as much experience running a government as Harry Truman did when he became President. He managed.<br /><br />So she's got to be on the ball to do all this and coordinate the activities of all those kids. And don't start on the pregnant daughter. The same thing happened to my son, his cousin on dad's side, my oldest uncle on mom's side, Mr. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Obama</span>, and several members of your own family whether you know about it or not. The dinosaurs of feminism, Quinn and Steinem, for whom Sarah Palin represents everything they claim to admire, say she has too many children and she can't look after them properly and work outside the home. Nobody said that to Al Gore, who has four kids, or Grammaw Pelosi, who rounded up every child in a five-mile radius and a couple of short adults for her swearing-in photo, or JFK, who had his kids in his office with him while he was President. Maybe men are better at thinking about more than one thing at a time.<br /><br />I think I know what the problem actually is. I ran into this attitude <span style="font-style: italic;">a lot</span> when I was working construction. The idea of me appealed to the "hear me roar" crowd. You know, single mommy gets herself off welfare, works in a nontraditional field, competing with the menfolk on their level, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">yada</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">yada</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">yada</span>. The most patronizing and obnoxious people, the ones who took the most care to remind me that I was there because of affirmative action and not because I worked damn hard, the ones who expected me to be grateful to them specifically, were my union reps, every man Jack a good liberal. When I made it clear that I not only did not feel beholden, but that I thought <span style="font-style: italic;">they</span> should thank <span style="font-style: italic;">me</span> for making it so they could work indoors swinging a pencil was when they started in with the "stupid girl" crap. Like in that movie -- "Full Metal Jacket," I think it was-- where the soldier slaps the Vietnamese guy upside the head and says "We're doing you gooks a favor, here!"<br /><br />Sarah <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Palin's</span> problem is that she's uppity and she doesn't know her place.A.G. Cliftonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00591941755980787453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9214562569912497376.post-39692997447018781772008-08-07T08:24:00.000-07:002008-08-07T08:35:17.160-07:00This has me wondrering.<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2008/08/06/3_million_bees_found_in_Miami_home/UPI-74321218062627/">Three Million Bees Found in Miami Home</a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Who counts them? Is it the new guy? The allergic guy? He'd do a thorough job.The guy who didn't find air traffic control enough of a challenge? How do they count them? Do they take a picture? Do they mark them some way? I'm getting a visual of the guy who paints the "m" on the candy. Do they have a one-bee-at-a-time vacuum cleaner <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">attachment</span> and count them as they go through?<br /><br />Maybe they just guess. I'd just guess, through binoculars. Sealed up in a car a half mile away. With the engine running.<br /></div></div>A.G. Cliftonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00591941755980787453noreply@blogger.com