BMEWS
 
Death once had a near-Sarah Palin experience.

calendar   Tuesday - May 27, 2008

Every adult in Britain should be forced to carry ‘carbon ration cards’, say MPs

While I don’t personally think this’ll happen .....  well ..... ya never do know.  Can’t promise it won’t.  But if past experience matters at all,
Brits are pretty much law abiding in spite of the rising violent crime rate.  Huh ,,, that doesn’t look right.  But I mean they “go along” with things once in place.
So who knows.  But what interested me to begin with the mere thought of this.  Who’d dream this up?  How could it be enforced. Capital ‘F’ as in, Forced!

This small island, this “sceptered isle” (or was that, this green and sceptered isle?) is by golly gonna go gween and save the fuckin planet. Sure it will.
Anyway ... this is a hoot!

Every adult in Britain should be forced to carry ‘carbon ration cards’, say MPs
By David Derbyshire
Last updated at 1:08 AM on 27th May 2008

Every adult should be forced to use a ‘carbon ration card’ when they pay for petrol, airline tickets or household energy, MPs say.

The influential Environmental Audit Committee says a personal carbon trading scheme is the best and fairest way of cutting Britain’s CO2 emissions without penalising the poor.

Under the scheme, everyone would be given an annual carbon allowance to use when buying oil, gas, electricity and flights.

Anyone who exceeds their entitlement would have to buy top-up credits from individuals who haven’t used up their allowance. The amount paid would be driven by market forces and the deal done through a specialist company.

MPs, led by Tory Tim Yeo, say the scheme could be more effective at cutting greenhouse gas emissions than green taxes.

( Mr. Yeo, Tory. He’s a conservative folks. Brit version I guess.)

But critics say the idea is costly, bureaucratic, intrusive and unworkable.

The Government says it supports the scheme in principle, but warns it is ‘ahead of its time’.

The idea of personal carbon trading is increasingly being promoted by environmentalists. In theory it could be used to cover all purchases - from petrol to food.

For the scheme to work, the Government would need to give out 45million carbon cards - each one linked to a personal carbon account. Every year, the account would be credited with a notional amount of CO2 in kilograms.

Every time someone makes a purchase of petrol, energy or airline tickets, they would use up credits. A return flight from London to Rome would, for instance, use up 900kg of CO2 credits, while 10 litres of petrol would use up 23kg.

Enlarge MP Tim Yeo MP, says the scheme could be more effective at cutting Britain’s greenhouse gas emissions
Mr Yeo, chairman of the committee said personal carbon trading rewarded those with a low carbon footprint with cash.

‘We found that personal carbon trading has real potential to engage the population in the fight against climate change and to achieve significant emissions reductions in a progressive way,’ he said.

‘The idea is a radical one. As such it inevitably faces some significant challenges in its development. It is important to meet these challenges.

‘What we are asking the Government to do is to seize the reins on this, leading the debate and coordinating research.’

The Government is committed to cutting CO2 emissions to 20 per cent below 1990 levels by 2010.

The Climate Change Bill going through Parliament aims to cut emissions by 60 per cent by 2050. The Government has said it backs the idea in principle, but it is currently too expensive and bureaucratic.

Environment Minister Hilary Benn said: ‘It’s got potential but, in essence, it’s ahead of its time. There are a lot of practical problems to overcome.’

A Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs report into the scheme found it would cost between £700million and £2billion to set up and up to another £2billion a year to run.

Tory environment spokesman Peter Ainsworth added: ‘Although it does have potential we should proceed with care. We don’t want to alienate people and we want everyone to be on board.’

But critics say the idea is deeply flawed. The scheme would penalise those living in the countryside who were dependent on their cars, as well as the elderly or housebound who need to heat their homes in the day.

Large families would suffer, as would those working at nights when little public transport is available.

It would need to take into account the size of families, and their ages. There is huge potential for fraud.

Matthew Elliott of the Taxpayers’ Alliance said the cards would be hugely unpopular. ‘The Government has shown itself incapable of managing any huge, complex IT system.’ he said.

HOW THE SCHEME WOULD WORK

Every adult in the UK would be given an annual carbon dioxide allowance in kgs and a special carbon card.

The scheme would cover road fuel, flights and energy bills.

Every time someone paid for road fuel, flights or energy, their carbon account would be docked.

A litre of petrol would use up 2.3kg in carbon, while every 1.3 miles of airline flight would use another 1kg.

When paying for petrol, the card would need to swiped at the till. It would be a legal offence to buy petrol without using a card.

When paying online, or by direct debit, the carbon account would be debited directly.

Anyone who doesn’t use up their credits in a year can sell them to someone who wants more credits. Trading would be done through specialist companies.

http://tinyurl.com/5awdee

See More Below The Fold

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Posted by Drew458   United Kingdom  on 05/27/2008 at 08:43 AM   
Filed Under: • Miscellaneous •  
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Health and safety zealots :  HERE WE GO AGAIN.

More Health and Safety stuff .... fun things to look forward to in a Nanny state.
Good grief Charlie Brown, that’s a tiny wadding pool.

Health and safety zealots say a 2ft paddling pool needs a lifeguard

By Beth Hale
Last updated at 7:33 AM on 27th May 2008

For nearly a quarter of a century, Lourdes Maxwell has celebrated the arrival of summer by putting a paddling pool in the garden.

This year, however, her two grandchildren and the children of her neighbours may have to find another way to cool off in the heat.

Miss Maxwell’s local council has decided that the pool - which is only 2ft deep - needs a lifeguard.

The 47-year-old divorced mother of three has also been told she must have insurance before she can inflate the toy outside her house in Portsmouth.

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The health and safety edict came after she wrote to the city council asking for permission to put a bigger pool in the communal garden outside her home.

Not only was she told it was too dangerous, but the council told her to empty the existing pool.

After her MP intervened, the local authority softened its stance, saying Miss Maxwell could have a pool if she paid for insurance and ensured supervisors were on constant watch.

Residents near the communal gardens already have to obey a raft of rules governing their use.

They are even supposed to ask the council for permission before having a barbecue.

Miss Maxwell, who is a full-time carer to her son Aiden, said yesterday: “It is absolutely pathetic.

“I have had a paddling pool outside the front of my flat every summer for 24 years, ever since Aiden turned one year old.

“Neighbours’ children would come and enjoy the pool and I would give them ice lollies. It was always a very social occasion.”

She added: “Now suddenly I’m not allowed.

“I asked around for insurance and they just laughed at me. No one offers insurance for paddling pools.

“I’m always there to supervise but they’re trying to tell me I need lifeguards for a kiddies’ pool as well - it’s crazy.”

Nigel Selley, Portsmouth Council’s neighbourhood manager, defended the ruling yesterday.

He said: “We did not have sufficient assurances that the risks associated with providing such a facility would be well-managed.

“We have since spoken to Ms Maxwell and she is aware of our concerns for child safety and the risks associated with drowning.”

Steven Wylie, the councillor in charge of housing, added: “I want to encourage people to enjoy the communal gardens.

“We want to help where we can to ensure that it is a fun and safe place for everyone to use.”
http://tinyurl.com/4d296m


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Posted by Drew458   United Kingdom  on 05/27/2008 at 08:24 AM   
Filed Under: • Nanny State •  
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Schoolboys aged 12 and 13 have been arrested after brutal killing.  Yawn ,, again?

The bastards seem to get younger and younger.
A generation out of control?  Maybe not the whole generation, but a large number of feral unfrightened and murderous “youths” have made this a very unsafe place to be.

By Richard Alleyne
Last Updated: 12:09PM BST 27/05/2008

Two schoolboys aged 12 and 13 have been arrested over the death of Amar Aslam, the teenager killed in a brutal attack in the walled garden of a park.

The battered body of 17-year-old Mr Aslam was discovered by two passers-by in Crow Nest Park in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, on Sunday evening.

Officers originally arrested two boys aged 15 and a 20-year-old man in connection with the death, West Yorkshire Police said today. They remain in custody.

Today two boys aged 12 and 13 are also being questioned about the assault which is thought to have taken place amid running battles between gangs of youths.

Mr Aslam, who died from head injuries suffered in a “sustained and brutal” attack, is the 29th teenage victim of the latest surge in youth violence this year.

His local Labour MP Shalid Malik called for the authorities to get a grip on the growing “phenomenon” of youth-on-youth violence.

(how about a curb on the violence being done to everyone? how about NOT giving bail to violent creeps who kill while on bail? oh, can’t be too harsh on em or their lawyers will scream civil rights.)

The Bank Holiday weekend was marred by the murders of two teenagers; a further two were shot, two stabbed and three youths arrested for serious assaults and stabbings – all in separate incidents across the country.

Violent crime carried out by children and teenagers has gone up by a third in three years and the Conservatives have said the Government’s £3 billion plans to try to cut teenage crime were a failure.

Uanu Seshmi, a youth worker and campaigner with the From Boyhood To Manhood Foundation, said “drastic action” – such as curfews and increased stop and search powers for police – had to be taken.

“We are dealing with a monster here, but we have to look at ourselves as adults to understand what young people are faced with,” he said.

“It’s not going to be easy – but there must be zero tolerance on this.”

(zero tolerance.  right.  been hearing that phrase for many years.  do not expect to see it in my lifetime. or yours, dear reader.)

Tony McNulty, the Home Office minister, attacked comments made by Sir Al Aynsley-Green, the Children’s Commissioner, that stop and search tactics by police could further antagonise people.

“He is plumb wrong and miles away from where the public are,” he said.

http://tinyurl.com/5fa9kt


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Posted by Drew458   United Kingdom  on 05/27/2008 at 07:16 AM   
Filed Under: • Crime •  
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Global warming sceptics in an unholy row

A rational voice on the issue.

By Harry Mount
Last Updated: 12:01am BST 27/05/2008

I wonder when people last got widely and publicly ridiculed for not believing in God: probably not for several hundred years.

Nowadays, you’d get a slightly odd look for doing the opposite and expressly stating your faith. But, if you really want to know what it’s like to be a 16th-century heretic, try saying you’re a bit sceptical about man-made global warming.

Temperatures do seem to have gone up a little, even though environmentalists acknowledge that we might be in for a cool spell now. And we’ve certainly had our fair share of tsunamis, hurricanes and typhoons recently. Still, no one has convincingly proved that all this is definitely man’s fault. Try saying that in polite circles and it’s like saying you’re partial to roasted babies.


I understand people disagreeing with global warming sceptics, but not the jeering, ridiculing way they do it. I’m not sure I’m right; they’re convinced I’m wrong. They’re convinced, too, that they have the moral high ground, that all sceptics are sworn enemies of nature, flowers and puppy dogs.

Environmentalism is the new secular faith - school prayer for liberals, as an American philosopher put it. The faith is a strict one. You’re not allowed to join if you think that it’s sensible to keep an eye on the environment but don’t think that man is to blame for changes in world temperature.

You must believe in the full package. If you do, you are blessed, free from sin and allowed the pious smugness you find in the worst sort of religious believers. It’s not enough to believe in these things yourself; you must condemn others for not sharing your belief.

The latest carbon credits scheme - published in a parliamentary committee report - is squarely on the side of the believers. The idea is that everyone gets an annual carbon ration to spend on fuel and energy bills and, if you want to overspend, you buy credits from low carbon emitters.

It’s just like the medieval trade in indulgences, where remission for sins was granted by the Church once the sinner confessed and received absolution. By the late Middle Ages, the system had grown corrupt, with professional pardoners selling indulgences by the bucketload.

The medieval market in indulgences ended with the Reformation. You can imagine the outcome of this market in modern sin. Oceans of sackcloth-and-ashes piety from those who underspend their carbon credit, and badly informed abuse for people who like flying abroad on holiday.

http://tinyurl.com/47rfq9


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Posted by Drew458   United Kingdom  on 05/27/2008 at 07:01 AM   
Filed Under: • Miscellaneous •  
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calendar   Monday - May 26, 2008

Monday Nite Booze Blogging

Whichever of my English readers responded to that last martini post and said “for a proper English gin, drink Gordon’s”: well played!

I picked up a 1.75L bottle for about half the price of regular Bombay. I was expecting something edgy and vile, similar to that poison in the round green bottle. Not at all! Gordon’s is quite smooth. Not as velvet smooth as Bombay, and not as flavorful as the pricey Bombay Sapphire, but ... not bad, not bad at all. And for half the price. I think I just switched brands. Noilly Prat is still the vermouth to use though. That hasn’t changed a bit, except I took my 2 bottles of nasty old Martini & Rossi and poured them down the sink.

Rain in the forcast for tomorrow here, so that means I get the day off. Good. I need to recover from the sunburn a little. Hope your holiday weekend was fun and safe. And patriotic too. I missed the local parade today due to working, but I could hear the bands when the wind was right. Next year, I hope.




Oh poo. I’ve just heard that film director Sydney Pollack has died from cancer. He was 73.

Oh double poo. “Family Circus” cartoonist Bill Keane’s wife has died of Alzheimer’s. She was 82. Sorry for your loss Bill. Now that your inspiration has passed away, maybe you should think about retirement. Family Circus has been syndicated for 48 years.


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 05/26/2008 at 08:25 PM   
Filed Under: • Miscellaneous •  
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Memorial Day 2008

Memorial Day 2008

Send up a prayer for those who have fallen, for without their sacrifice you would not be living the life you have today. God bless them, and may their be as few more in the future as possible.



big_us_flag



My posting will continue to be light today and for the next few days. I’m out working, sweatin in the sunshine. Which means it’s time to make hay. Or money! Thanks to Christopher and Peiper for lots of new and interesting posts.



Update!!
Rancino’s comment links to the Google woulda-shoulda-coulda-but-didnt website. So screw ‘em. From the submissions, I think this one is the best. Ten hut!! Sa lute!



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On a more personal note, right now all I can smell is deck stain. I’m down 2 shirts, a ballcap, an old pair of jeans and a worn pair of shoes. Plus 2 paint rollers and a 4” brush maybe. But the decks are done, both of them. 32 hours labor. $25/hour. People, if you’re building a deck use that Trex stuff. It costs more up front, but it pays for itself because you don’t have to hire me every 4 years. And first class deck stain is $32 a gallon too. 10 1/2 gallons I went through in 4 days. Damn, I am exhausted. Two delicious Dogfish Head 90 minute IPAs (yummy yummy beer!!) and I’m ready to hit the hay. But I’ve got to get cleaned up, run 3 loads of laundry, cook dinner, run another load of dishes, and I really ought to vacuum a little. Tomorrow I’m back down there again, installing lattice. Then they want their windows done. And maybe some yard work. And the dog - my new buddy! - needs to go to the vet and they have no time. Gosh, I love working for yuppie lawyer couples like this. They have no time, but lots of money. And they’re eager to give it to my by the bagfull. Lovin it!


Updated update
I wanted to post some nice graphics for Memorial Day, but all I had were the following. But somehow, borrowing somebody else’s work just didn’t seem right, so I used what I had taken myself. This is from a trip we took last year, to a memorial so big it’s an entire national park. History buffs will recognize it instantly -

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Because it hasn’t changed much in the past 145 years, though they’ve patched the bullet holes -
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This is the gateway to the cemetary that Cemetary Ridge is named after. About 200 yards behind the building, a year after history passed through here one week in July, a very tall man once gave a short speech (sorry I didn’t take a better shot, but this plaque was not the center subject of the photo)

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A few hundred yards off to the left, and down the hill a little, an enormous group of armed men once walked a mile uphill, in parade order and subject to intense cannon and rifle fire, under command of a man named Pickett, to fight for what they believed in. Very very few of them made it to the top, as thousands of their formerly fellow citizens, who believed in something entirely different, fought them to a standstill. In the course of an hour or so, thousands were killed or wounded, and the tide of an entire war was turned forever. One more memory kept alive by a holiday like today.


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 05/26/2008 at 09:10 AM   
Filed Under: • MilitaryMiscellaneous •  
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Sex change Paratrooper wins £250,000 for ‘hurt feelings’

Hurt Feelings get ya half a million bucks?

Brit GIs don’t get that for losing limbs.  Something wrong with that I think.

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By Andy Bloxham
Last Updated: 2:08PM BST 25/05/2008

A former paratrooper who had a sex change operation has won a payout of £250,000 for hurt feelings after she was ordered to wear a man’s uniform to a medical examination.

Jan Hamilton, 43, used to be Captain Ian Hamilton and served in Bosnia and Afghanistan and was wounded by a roadside bomb in Iraq.

She then began gender reassignment surgery and claimed she made repeated requests to discuss the transition with her superiors.

However, Miss Hamilton said she was summoned to attend a compulsory medical examination in April 2007 while wearing her male uniform.

A £45,000-a-year job as the head of Army media relations in Gibraltar was then withdrawn, which she claimed was as a result of her sex change.

Miss Hamilton, who had refused to attend the medical, began legal action against the Ministry of Defence for sexual discrimination and unfair dismissal.

She said: “It would have been humiliating and demeaning for me to turn up for my medical examination dressed in a man’s uniform.”

The MoD then decided to pay her the £250,000 in an out-of-court settlement.

The size of the payout is likely to anger campaigners for better compensation for those injured in the line of duty.

According to current MoD settlements, soldiers receive £57,000 for the loss of a leg and £285,000 for the loss of both arms or legs.
Miss Hamilton said: “I’m now looking forward to a future outside the Parachute Regiment.”

A spokesman for the MoD said: “Jan Hamilton has decided to bring her service with the armed forced to an end and is pursuing other career opportunities.”

http://tinyurl.com/6ghzcj


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Posted by Drew458   United Kingdom  on 05/26/2008 at 08:58 AM   
Filed Under: • War-Stories •  
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Muslim gangs ‘taking control of British top security prison’

Tip of the iceberg folks.  Telegraph reported last week that children are being recruited for suicide missions here.

Stay Tuned ... there’s more.

By Duncan Gardham
Last Updated: 11:19AM BST 26/05/2008

Muslim gangs are threatening to take control of one of Britain’s top security prisons where inmates include al-Qa’eda terrorists, a report reveals.
Staff at Whitemoor jail, Cambs, believe a “serious incident is imminent” as several wings become dominated by Muslim prisoners.

There is an on-going theme of fear and instability among employees, says the Prison Service’s Directorate of High Security report.

“There is much talk around the establishment about ‘the Muslims’,” it says.

Some staff believe the situation has resulted in Muslim prisoners becoming more of a gang than a religious group.

“The sheer numbers, coupled with a lack of awareness among staff, appear to be engendering fear and handing control to the prisoners,” the report says.

The situation has become so bad that white prisoners are warned about the Muslim gangs by staff on arrival.

The concern about Muslim prisoners is in danger of leading to hostility and Islamophobia, the report warns.

“Staff appear reluctant to challenge inappropriate behaviour, in particular among black and ethnic minority prisoners, for fear of doing the wrong thing,” the report adds.

“This is leading to a general feeling of a lack of control and shifting the power dynamic towards prisoners.”

Just under a third of the 500 prisoners at Whitemoor are Muslim.

Although they include the shoe-bomber Saajid Badat, the majority of them have been jailed for offences unrelated to terrorism.
http://tinyurl.com/4ds85u


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Posted by Drew458   United Kingdom  on 05/26/2008 at 08:44 AM   
Filed Under: • CrimeTerroristsUK •  
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Dick Martin Wisecracking co-star of Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In …..OBIT ….

From this morning’s Telegraph.  Nothin’ to add except, He was one funny fellow.

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Dick Martin
Last Updated: 2:26AM BST 26/05/2008

Wisecracking co-star of Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In whose humour caught the zeitgeist of the late 1960s.

Dick Martin, who died on Saturday aged 86, was the zany half of the American comedy duo Rowan and Martin and co-star of Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In, which became a cult comedy fixture on both sides of the Atlantic in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Screened in Britain on BBC2, the show made stars of Goldie Hawn and Lily Tomlin and created such catchphrases as “Sock it to me!”, “Here come de judge”
and (Martin’s own gnomic rejoinder) “You bet your sweet bippy”.

After splitting with his partner Dan Rowan in the late 1970s, Martin went on to become one of American television’s busiest directors.

Laugh-In, which was launched in January 1968, was unlike any comedy-variety show before it: rather than relying on tightly scripted song-and-dance segments, it offered a kaleidoscopic, almost stream-of-consciousness series of non sequitur jokes, political satire and wacky antics from a cast of talented young actors and comedians that included Ruth Buzzi, Arte Johnson, Henry Gibson, Jo Anne Worley, the British-born Judy Carne and the ear-cupping announcer Gary Owens.

Presiding over it all were Rowan and Martin, two veteran nightclub comics who put their own distinctive spin on the show. Their stand-up banter satirising the contemporary scene seemed to catch the liberated mood of the times.

Martin played the clown to Dan Rowan who, like all straight men, provided the voice of reason, striving to correct his partner’s absurdities. Martin, meanwhile, was full of bogus, often risqué theories about life, to which he appeared to cling with unwavering certainty.

Around the sober-suited Rowan and Martin whirled a madhouse of stock characters, whose pop-up appearances and much-quoted catchphrases were redolent of the ITMA radio routines of wartime Britain.

The weekly galère included Lily Tomlin’s nasal-toned switchboard girl; Arte Johnson’s German soldier peering over a pot plant to observe: “Verrry interrrestink”; Goldie Hawn’s giggling blonde; and Ruth Buzzi’s umbrella-wielding old woman.

“We designed it so that we are two relatively normal guys wandering through a sea of madness,” Martin explained. Each week Rowan and Martin would award their Flying Fickle Finger of Fate, host a gag-laden cocktail party and close each show with the programme’s joke wall.

Richard Martin was born into a middle-class family on January 30 1922 at Battle Creek, Michigan. After leaving high school he elected to work at a Ford car assembly plant before making his way to Hollywood in 1943. While attempting to break into showbusiness, he earned his living as a bartender.

He was working in a cocktail lounge at Studio City, California, in 1952 when a mutual friend introduced him to Dan Rowan, a 30-year-old car salesman who was also trying to break into comedy. Within a fortnight they were appearing without pay at a supper club in Los Angeles with Rowan as straight man and Martin as his flippant partner.

In their first routine – which they kept in their act for years – Martin (the drunk) heckled Rowan (the Shakespearean actor) as he declaimed from Hamlet.

Once established on the American nightclub circuit, the pair signed a seven-year contract with NBC Television in 1957, only to cancel it by mutual agreement three years later after appearing regularly as hosts on the Colgate Comedy Hour.

In 1958 they starred in a feature film, Once Upon A Horse, but it flopped; and in 1962 Martin worked solo, appearing as Lucille Ball’s boyfriend in her comeback situation comedy series The Lucy Show.

After Martin had rejoined Rowan on the nightclub circuit, in late 1967 NBC cautiously allowed the pair to film a “total comedy” pilot for Laugh-In, contracting them for a weekly series the following January. By the eighth show it was top of the ratings.

Much of the programme’s success was down to the team of scriptwriters, whose jokes about gays, drugs and death were considered daring for 1968, especially by strait-laced Americans.

Martin remained unabashed at the show’s frequent references to sex, explaining that his on-air persona – that of “a kind of inept lech” – made it possible for audiences to laugh at him rather than at what he said.

When Laugh-In was cancelled in 1973, Dick Martin pursued a new career as a director of television comedy, starting with The Bob Newhart Show in 1976. Later he was chief director of the 1980s sitcom Newhart.

At the height of his fame Martin (who was by then divorced from his first wife, Peggy Connelly) pursued a sybaritic lifestyle, throwing wild parties at his apartment in the hills above Sunset Strip. This existence was quite unlike that of Rowan, a quiet family man who died in 1987.

After his failed first marriage, Dick Martin married, in 1971, Dolly Read, a former bunny girl at the Playboy Club in London. They divorced in 1975 but remarried in 1978. She survives him with two sons of his first marriage.

http://tinyurl.com/59bqx5


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Posted by Drew458   United Kingdom  on 05/26/2008 at 08:28 AM   
Filed Under: • Hollywood •  
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Murdered Harry Potter actor’s family call for end to knife crime epidemic

Young kid in his first major acting job on a major project. Another victim of the knife.
Also reported today ... teen found stabbed to death in a park.
It just goes on and on.

By Richard Edwards, Crime Correspondent
Last Updated: 11:27AM BST 26/05/2008

The family of Robert Knox, the murdered young actor, has called for an end to the knife crime epidemic as they paid tribute to a teenager they had thought was “invincible”.

His father, Colin, told how the last conversation he had with his 18-year-old son was about the danger of knives. He said: “There’s a lot of fear out there and someone has to change the way we think.”

A man has been arrested over the killing, the 28th murder of a teenager this year – half of them stabbings.

Opposition leaders accused the Government of failing to “get a grip” on the rise in knife crime.

David Davis, the shadow home secretary, said: “Tragically, these kinds of horrific incidents have become all too common. We need an overhaul, at every level, to tackle this scourge on our streets.”

Robert had only last week finished filming his part as Marcus Belby in the film Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince, which is due for release in November.

The film will be dedicated to him and Mr Knox said he hoped that would increase the focus on knife crime.

“If that serves the purpose, then hopefully Robert will have done something else exceptional in his short life,” he said.

“With knives there are no winners and only losers. If you carry a knife there’s the intention to use it, so please don’t do that for the sake of my son. Think about the consequences.”

http://tinyurl.com/4pbmce


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Posted by Drew458   United Kingdom  on 05/26/2008 at 08:06 AM   
Filed Under: • Crime •  
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On retiring breasts

I’m reading Feminist Mormon Housewives (Yes, Grasshopper, that’s a real blog) and stumble upon a discussion On Retiring the Breasts. Admittedly, I’ve never considered the possibility of women retiring their breasts. Intrigued, I read on…

If you were a window washer outside my gynecologist’s office earlier this week, you might have heard the following conversation:

Dr. D: Have you noticed any pain or tenderness in your breasts lately?

Me: no

Dr. D: Any lumps or unusual swelling?

Me: no

Dr. D: Any changes in them since I saw you last year?

Me: They’re half the size they were when you saw them last year.

Dr. D: Well, they’ve worked hard, give them a break.

Egads! They’ve worked hard? They’re half the size? What did this?

I weaned Maren about three months ago.

Okay, she’s just retiring from breastfeeding.

So now that I’ve weaned what will be, in all likelihood, our last baby (although I haven’t given up hope that he’ll give in, the whole Boston Marathon thing has put the relentless begging on hold for a few months), I keep wondering what the purpose of these old breasts of mine is for the next, well, potentially sixty years of my life. When they were young and new, they looked good, and maybe even helped me in the pursuit of a partner. Then, on and off for the last eight years, they’ve sustained four lives. But now what?

What indeed.  boobies

Articles like this make me realize how easy I have it being a man. Men don’t have to worry about when to retire various body parts.

When (if?) you read the article, don’t neglect the Comments section. The comments are a hoot. For example:

A friend told me an awesome story about how she was holding her baby boy in her arms right out of the shower and suddenly he reached over, said “ping!” and flicked her nipple. That was when she decided it was time to “retire” her breasts!

Or

I have fantastic breasts. I’m just sayin’. (Not as fantastic as Janet’s, however…which nearly goes _without_ saying…)

However, mine are surgically altered. I had reduction surgery when I was a teenager, and I have honestly never done anything to my body that has continued to be so personally worthwhile. I was miserable about them before then, as well as seriously hampered by them. Nothing worse for an on-the-go, seriously athletic tomboy than ginormous boobs. Seriously.

My surgery, however, has made it unlikely that, should I ever have children, I will be able to breastfeed them. I’m honestly not sure how I feel about that. Maybe it means I will someday wish I’d chosen otherwise, but I doubt it. It almost certainly means that I’ll never feel that a physical part of me has been “retired.” Which I can’t help but feel is a good thing.

Besides, Shelah, don’t you plan to go on enticing your mate with them far into the future? wink

I think I’ll go see if my wife wants to ‘entice’ me.  wink


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Posted by Christopher   United States  on 05/26/2008 at 07:47 AM   
Filed Under: • Fun-StuffMedical •  
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calendar   Sunday - May 25, 2008

GOP strategists mull McCain ‘blowout’ (WTF?)

According to the Politico:

It sounds crazy at first. Amid dire reports about the toxic political environment for Republican candidates and the challenges facing John McCain, many top GOP strategists believe he can defeat Barack Obama — and by a margin exceeding President Bush’s Electoral College victory in 2004.

How? McCain is campaigning as a liberal Democrat and alienating the conservative base...much as the entire Republican Party has done for the last eight years. That’s why the shellacking in ‘06. Not only is McCain campaigning as a liberal Democrat, he has a history of actually being a liberal Democrat. Remember McCain-Feingold? Or the ‘Gang of Fourteen’? Or the amnesty bill?

Some of us remember that John McCain has not once, but twice, considered jumping to the Democrat Party...just since 2000!

We return now to the Politico:

But the contours of the electoral map, combined with McCain’s unique strengths and the nature of Obama’s possible vulnerabilities, have led to a cautious and muted optimism that McCain could actually surpass Bush’s 35-electoral-vote victory in 2004. Though they expect he would finish far closer to Obama in the popular vote, the thinking is that he could win by as many 50 electoral votes.

Unique strengths? I’m well aware of the vulnerabilities of one B. Hussein Osama Obama, but I’m ignorant of any McCain strengths. Unless he’s a Democrat…

Among the 10 strategists interviewed by Politico for this story, there was near-uniform belief that had any other Republican been nominated, the party’s prospects in November would be nil.

“No disrespect to the other candidates,” said GOP pollster Glen Bolger, “but if anyone else had been nominated we’d be toast.”

Actually, toast would be a step up. As it stands, we are SO SCREWED!!!

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Posted by Christopher   United States  on 05/25/2008 at 02:58 PM   
Filed Under: • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat LeftistsPolitics •  
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A liberal tells the truth

So, ‘this liberal’ wants to take over the oil companies? At least she was honest: she identified herself as a ‘liberal’ (semantically equivalent to ‘thief’).

I issue the same challenge to Maxine Waters: if you did nationalize the oil companies, can YOU guarantee that the price would go down?


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Posted by Christopher   United States  on 05/25/2008 at 02:42 PM   
Filed Under: • CommiesDemocrats-Liberals-Moonbat LeftistsGovernmentInsanityOil, Alternative Energy, and Gas PricesStoopid-People •  
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USCCA Video of the Week

USCCA newsletter


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Posted by Christopher   United States  on 05/25/2008 at 12:25 PM   
Filed Under: • CrimeGuns and Gun ControlSelf-Defense •  
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