A Nother Neo-Con Ostensibly Uses Logic To Expound "Righteousness"
There isn't much more to say about Ann Coulter except to wish that her charisma and obvious literary and oratory skills could be used to really help people instead of just helping her to become a latter-day William F. Buckley Jr. in a miniskirt.
Crocodiles have been around since the time of the dinosaurs and in fact are direct descendants of them. Since they are so tough-mouthed it's almost impossible to have a reasoned debate with one especially when it's hungry for attention and smells blood. They might usually look a bit slow and lumbering but watch that National Geographic special again, the one about the wildebeest migration and the rest stop at the ole watering hole. You just can't trust anything or anyone with that many white teeth. What else is there to say?
"April is the cruelest month," T.S. Eliot wrote in his 1922 poem, The Wasteland. Eliot did not know about global warming so it is only possible to speculate what he may have thought of, "March is the cruelest month." Whatever the month surely its cruelty is in what it seems to promise, a warm sunny Spring but then rips away just as we begin to savour it.
The snowdrops are just about open at the base of the red maple. The silver maples have that reddish haze over their crowns. Crocus and daffodils near the south end of thee house reach for the warmth that is both collected and reflected by the stones of the foundation. Robins are finding worms slowly creeping out of their thawing tunnels.Boots and parka have been moved to the hall closet and have been replaced with leather shoes on the mat and a windbreaker on the coat rack by the door. The windshield scraper is in the trunk along with the empty container of windshield washer fluid. All these and temperatures in the mid-to-high teens are sure and certain signs of spring that have been with us for at least four or five days now. And the snow is virtually gone! The thermostat has even been turned back a few degrees.
Then you wake and feel chilled. It's dark still since Daylight Savings Time just started a few days ago. But looking at the window blind there seems to be more light coming in around the edges than there should be. If you don't look it could be that the 10 centimeters of snow aren't really there. You don't need more than slippers and a windbreaker to go out to get the scraper and washer fluid. That snow is really cold on the feet as you try to get to the car so it can warm up a bit. The robins are at the bird feeder making do with sunflower seeds and millet. All the would-bloom flowers are covered in that white blanket.
It was just one of Nature's cruelties, False Spring, those five days of hope. It doesn't matter what month it strikes, March or April. At least each False Spring brings us that much closer to the real thing
"OK you guys pay attention. Where are we going? I Don't know. Let's vote on it. No way, we might win!
Speaking of the Conservatives, it seems they have manipulated the media into thinking the Afghan Detainees issue is about public . disclosure of the documents. Not so. The Government is in contempt of Parliament because it refuses to hand over the documents requested by the Parliamentary Committee on Afghanistan to that Committee. There are no National Security issues in that case. No one on the Opposition side has said it wants public disclosure. The Opposition wants the Committee to see the relevant documents. It will then be up to the Committee to decide on the degree of disclosure to the public.
Frustration just continues to build as the Opposition parties try to convince the Canadian public that they really are OPPOSED but they do not have the political courage to actually do something about it. There must be some issue over which the Opposition would fight an election. What do you suppose it is? It';s not prorogation. It's not the Throne Speech or the ensuing Budget. Fans of "A Christmas Story" may like to see a "Triple Dog Dare" laid at the feet of one of the Leaders. Surely they would have to act on that. You can't back down from a "Triple Dog Dare" and still hold your head up on The Hill.
LOON: Lord Of Our North LOONIE: Lording Over Our National Interest; Exchange
What happened? When did it happen? I don't remember being away anywhere. Why didn't someone tell me? Oh, it might have been in the middle of that unfortunately timed Alien abduction thing. My right armpit was quite sore for a time and that can redirect anyone's attention. The point is, when did THEY put an imitation of Daffy Duck on our one dollar coin? The date on the first one I received was 2008 but I first got one this month. That bird is positively deranged. Loons will flap their wings when sitting on the water. They might even splash a bit when they do so but they do not grin about it. They do not make spectacles of themselves. They are Canadian and they show decorum. What was wrong with the noble loon on our first one dollar coin, the namesake of The Loonie? This new thing does not even strike one as being finished.. It looks like it should be struck again and again and again.
If all this bothers you as much as it does me, do NOT, I repeat, DO NOT look at the portrait on the obverse side. I said NOT!!! Our monarch is Her Royal Majesty Elizabeth II, I thought. But look! I know I said not to. Why are we looking at Charlton Heston with a big hairpiece as the young Moses in the court of the Pharaoh?
Our furry friend shown here is cousin to two newly-famous-again lapins, the White Rabbit and the March Hare of Tim Burton's version of Alice in/through Wonderland/(Underland)/the Looking Glass.
Our snowshoe hare looks much less dithery than either of the cousins.He's dignified and wise looking. and even though his coat is glossy and clean you just know he's seen more than a few moults. He's the kind of hare you'd want as leader in a crisis. In spite of his years you get the feeling he'd stand up to a crafty weasel or even a slobbering dumb-as-a-post hound. A rabbit is a rabbit but a good hare is a potential PM.
As for the movie; it's complicated. But in spite of the complications we are utterly transported to Underland and Through the Looking Glass, led and followed by a spectacular cast of actors and voice-actors.There could have been more of the flamingo-head croquet by some people's reckoning. You just want to hug Tweedledum and Tweedledee before you give them a good smack. The Mad Hatter is just that and delightfully so, in the spirit of Captain Jack, in "Pirates..." and Roux in "Chocolat." Helena Bonham Carter is deliciously evil and spiteful as the Red Queen.Alan Rickman would be a truly authentic hookah-smoking caterpillar of any colour and Stephen Fry was born to smile without a face.
It's difficult not to make comparisons with Avatar but how detailed does a completely fictionalized world have to be before it seems "unrealistic?" That term has been used in reviewing movies in our household ever since one of our children dubbed the all-rolled-up-into-a-ball black little boy who was one of Peter Pan's "Lost Boys" in "Hook" as "unrealistic!" So, you forget about the meticulously rendered fictionalized plants and insects and you think about the story. Alice has the better story - hands down. Alice has more believable characters. Avatar Avarice far outweighs any Alice Avarice. No one should be sorry that Alice beat Avatar last weekend at the box office, least of all James Cameron. It's so unseemly for a Canadian to be so greedy.
Toyota Tim - It may just be a typo or a slip of the old clutch but I thought I saw that the new Roll up the RIM contest features 31 000 000 Toyotas as prizes. That solves a few problems all at once.
Avatarest? - Say it ain't so Jim. Say it ain't so. You are not really going to re-release Avatar in an extended version in summer 2010, are you? If you do it will just have to be Avatar Avarice. There's no other name for it.
EDT - We in North America have been living with early Daylight Time for a few years now and I must say it's improved my life immeasurably
I have an extra hour to get the car out of the mud hole that once was a driveway.
I have an extra hour to really perfect my slice at the driving range.
I have an extra hour to work on my roll cast to use at the creek on opening day
I have an extra hour at the Mall because I don't like driving in the dark.
I have an extra hour to use those low energy compact light bulbs.
LCBO for SALE? It appears that Ontario's Liberal government is seriously considering the (at least) partial sale of the LCBO., which might soon stand forLavish Corporate Bonuses Often. Put your hand up if you think this move will bring the price of booze down? Wave if you think this will lead to business decisions that will promote domestic wine and spirits over imports which are flooding our markets currently. Honk if you think that Ontario taxpayers and consumers will actually be better off after the sale just like users of the 407 are better off after Mike Harris' yard sale.
Consider this a continuation of yesterday's post since it is going to be about a puzzle too. Let's have a look at another one of those number puzzles I mentioned earlier. The last attempt at an explanation wasn't really very good so, here goes again!
Here's a sample puzzle with four given numbers and all the totals of rows, columns and diagonals. We want to find a row or column which can only accommodate two ones or two nines. Look at the second column. A total of 6 must be added in 3 digits. These digits could be 4,1 and 1. Place the 4 above the 7 and the ones in the last two spaces of the column.
Now check out the second row from the top. It contains two fours, leaving 26 - 8 or 18 tto fill into 2 spaces. Two nines are the only possibility. We see that the placement of the 9's and ones confirms the four placed in the second column. If that 4 were a five, one of the ones would have to be zero but that's impossible. If the four were a three one of the nines must go up to ten, also impossible.
Search for other similar situations with the remaining numbers and blanks.
The third column needs a total of 6 to complete so try a five and a one with the five in the top row. Now a nine is needed in the top
