Here's a Snow-Homer with a beer resting on his belly.
Beer itself makes for a wonderful snow sculpture subject.
A beerman?
And, if you have enough snow, you can put it to good work chilling your beer.
Have a great weekend. And snow when to say when!
"Toad smoking," which is a substitute for "toad licking," is done by extracting venom from the Sonoran Desert toad of the Colorado River. The toad's venom -- which is secreted when the toad gets angry or scared -- contains a hallucinogen called bufotenine that can be dried and smoked to produce a buzz.I’ve long suspected that the problem many people have with “drugs” isn’t so much that the drugs do harm, but that some people don’t like the idea of other people enjoying themselves using drugs. Obviously some drugs are very dangerous, but others aren’t. And the objections to the relatively harmless drugs (marijuana for example) is based, I think, on this notion that getting high in itself is wrong and people should be prevented from doing so (unless it’s alcohol or nicotine of caffeine, which are culturally exempt).
In October, a Kansas City man was charged with possessing a controlled substance after Clay County authorities determined he possessed a toad with the intent to use its venom to get high.
Clay County Prosecutor Daniel White said possessing the toad is not illegal, but using it to get high off its venom is.
While smoking toad venom might sound extreme, an even more disturbing method to get high possibly includes sniffing fermented human waste. Vicky Ward, manager of prevention services at Tri-County Mental Health Services in Kansas City, said she has read e-mail warnings about a drug called jenkem.OK, I’m not really believing that one. It’s got urban legend written all over it. Banana peals anyone? Still, if you could cop a buzz that way, you can be sure someone would be doing it.
The drug is made from fermented feces and urine.
"We work with a lot of youths and we ask them whether anyone has tried it and they said no," Ward said. "They (the youths) have heard about it because of the nternet."
DUBLIN, Ireland -- Irish police were hunting for a beer bandit who stole 450 full kegs from the Guinness brewery — the largest heist ever at Ireland’s largest brewer.Shocking! Not the theft but that people in Ireland, despite having Guinness brewed right there, apparently will also drink Budweiser. I bet the thief dumped those Bud kegs along the side of the road.
National police said a lone man drove into the brewery — a Dublin landmark and top tourist attraction — on Wednesday and hitched his truck to a fully loaded trailer awaiting delivery to city pubs.
Diageo PLC, the beverage company that owns Guinness, said the brewery had never suffered such a large-scale theft before in its 248-year history.
Police said the raider took 180 kegs of Guinness stout, 180 kegs of U.S. lager Budweiser and 90 kegs of Danish beer Carlsberg. Guinness brews both of those foreign brands under license for sale in Ireland.
I know I've done this before, but really, this sort of skill can't be praised often enough.
How can they be so happy when they aren't the ones getting to drink the beer?
So as not to be sexist about this, let's recognize that guys can do it too. Guy power! (Although this guy looks a lot less graceful than the women and the beers clash with his hairy arms.)
And let us not forget one of the greatest beer servers ever...
Have a great weekend! And be sure to so the proper appreciation to those who bring you arm loads of beer.
PEORIA - The rumble of the jet's afterburner was enough to shake a metal picture frame hanging on the wall inside an airport office for several seconds.
To aircraft fans, a quick glance as the jet shot vertical was enough to identify it as an F-18 fighter, but even the novice could recognize the signature blue and gold markings.
The Blue Angels, arguably the world's most awe-inspiring pilots with the most recognizable fleet of jets, appear to be the headliner for Prairie Air Show 2008.
Air Show Director Brett Krause confirmed the sighting at the Greater Peoria Regional Airport on Wednesday, saying the No. 7 plane and its pilot were in Peoria most of the day to plan a visit here next summer.
"We're pretty jacked up about this," Krause said, hedging on announcing details, including a date for the air show so as to work around the Blue Angels' availability. Krause added the Blue Angels' 2008 schedule, including the Prairie Air Show's request, is on the desk of the commander of the Navy awaiting final approval.
Thanksgiving was OK. It beats working (you know, the same reason we went to college, etc.) but it was the same old thing. We went to [Mrs. TEH’s] parent's house and had dinner. We stuffed ourselves silly, bitched about it, and then passed out in chairs and couches and on the floor in front of the TV. I'm actually getting, well, not burned out, but bored I guess with the holidays anymore. Same shit, different year. If it weren’t for [my four year-old son], I think Christmas would just drive me crazy. I don't want anything that anyone can afford and I never know what to get anyone else. My in-laws asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I told them either an annuity that I can retire on today or a $75,000 gift certificate from SIU so I can pay for [my daughter’s] college. I don't think I'm getting either one. Even setting up our Christmas decorations is routine. This year we got it over with quickly and didn't set out all the stuff we usually do. The amount of Christmas decorating junk we have has finally reached critical mass and became untenable. I hauled half of it back to the basement utterly overwhelmed by its volume. So how are things in your house?
CNN) — Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee outlined one special plan he'd consider for NASA's exploration of space.I’m quite certain if Joe Biden or Chris Dodd had sad the same thing about Rudy Giuliani, I would not have thought it “witty” either. Better political humor, please.
"Maybe Hillary can be on the first rocket to Mars," he said, referring to the Democratic presidential frontrunner.
The Republican presidential candidate responded to a question asking if more money would be put into space exploration. His witty response about Clinton generated cheers from the St. Petersburg audience and followed his description of the earthly benefits of NASA's programs.
The coming departure of 183rd Fighter Wing aircraft and personnel from the airport was a factor in what many enthusiasts consider the air show’s premature demise.I made a big deal here about opposing the moving of the 183rd’s planes back in 2005, and I even questioned whether the move would affect AR. I guess I have my answer.
“It weighed heavily on the organizers’ decision to close the show,” [AR organizer Kim] Curry says.
This is just an example of the current craze in global warming denialism: don't literally deny that warming is happening (the actual facts make that too hard), merely mock every possible effort to fight it. International agreements? Obviously ridiculous. Federal regulation? Just an excuse for more anti-business spleen from the Birkenstock crowd. Carbon taxes? You'd like that, wouldn't you? Government spending on amelioration? Forget it. We should spend the money on, um, clean drinking water for Chad instead. Yeah. Private efforts to inspire conservation? Just a bunch of hectoring, self-righteous Hollywood elites. Al Gore? He doesn't live in a cave, so he's a hypocrite.Look, we all have to function in the world that exists today, even while we are trying to make it better (or less worse in the case of global warming) for tomorrow. That means we have to drive the cars and take the planes and use the electricity that’s available and affordable at the moment.
So that's that. Sure, global warming is real, but we shouldn't fight it with international efforts, federal efforts, local efforts, personal efforts, higher taxes, or additional spending. And if you support any of that stuff but still drive a car or use electricity yourself, then who the hell are you to pretend you're better than the rest of us?
Alternatively, we could all cut the smarmy posturing (mirrors in space!) and actually do something. Unfortunately, merely typing these words and posting them has roduced CO2, so there's no reason to listen to me, is there? I'm just another liberal hypocrite.
If I were an editor at one of these fine papers, and my reporters turned in one of these stories, I'd tell them to figure out whether Romney or Giuliani is telling the truth. You won't find it in either story. So which is it?Right! Do your fucking jobs and quit giving equal credibility to both sides of an argument that has demonstrable facts. I’m happy that blogs are around to take up the slack, but in many cases they shouldn’t have to.
My curiosity piqued, I did something crazy: I typed "Massachusetts crime statistics" into Google. And you know what I found? This! A page on the state's web site with their crime reports!
So what's the answer? Statistics aren't yet available (at least not there) for 2006, so what we have are data from 2002, the year Romney got elected (which should serve as the baseline), plus 2003 through 2005. And what do we find? In 2003, total crime declined 3.1% from the previous year, and violent crime declined 1.7%. In 2004, total crime declined by 4.5%, and violent crime declined by 3.2%. In 2005, total crime declined by 2.9%, but violent crime increased by 4.75%.
As for the murders Giuliani mentioned, in 2002, before Romney took office, there were 171 murders in Massachusetts. Then there were 139 in 2003, back up to 167 in 2004, and 175 in 2005. Without knowing what happened in 2006, it appears, then, that on the whole we can say that Mitt Romney's tenure saw some decreases in overall crime, but the murder rate was about the same when he left as when he came in.
Was that so hard?
Here's the thing: Politicians lie. The only thing that will keep them from lying is if they know they'll pay a price. And the only ones who can make them pay that price are the reporters whose job it is to tell us what's going on. Unless reporters are willing to step in when candidates are arguing over "facts" and tell you which side is being honest, there is absolutely no incentive for the politicians to tell the truth. Rudy may well now be saying, "Hell, how about next time we just say crime increased on Romney's watch by a thousand percent? Who's going to stop us?"
Lake Springfield will reopen to boating on Sunday
Boating may resume on Lake Springfield starting tomorrow at daybreak, City Water light and Power officials announced today.Because there's nothing I want to do more in 40 degree weather than go boating!
The lake had been closed to boaters as a result of clean-up efforts following the Nov. 10 explosion and fire at the Dallman facility.
Time to boycott Outback Steakhouse and Ned Kelly's (if it hasn't already left your town). Those are obvious actions. What else can we do to show our childishness, er, patriotism. You know, something along the lines of Freedom Fries. Should we now refer to "kangaroo courts" as "freedom courts"? Any ideas?SYDNEY -- Australian Prime Minister John Howard suffered a humiliating defeat in national elections Saturday, according to preliminary results, most likely ending the political career of one the Asia-Pacific region's most enduring conservative leaders and a key ally of U.S. President George W. Bush in the region.
Voters were ready to hand control of the government to Australia's opposition Labor party, headed by former diplomat Kevin Rudd, who has promised to boost relations with China, pull some troops from Iraq, and re-make Australia as a leader in the global effort to stop global warming.
Or more than one...
Gobble.
CHICAGO (AP)—Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani has won the backing of another former Illinois governor.I think I heard Giuliani say something about having personally pulled Edgar out of the 9/11 wreckage. He was going to elaborate but had to take a call from his wife.
Giuliani’s campaign says former Governor Jim Edgar is endorsing the New York Republican. Giuliani has two campaign appearances in the Chicago area this afternoon.
Augie is a seven years old toy poodle and Molly is a teacup poodle who is less than a year old. This picture was not set up. I walked into our dining room this afternoon to find them just sitting quietly together on a chair in the corner. I have no idea what possessed them to do this, but I was quick on the draw with my iPhone camera and was able to catch them in the act of...doing nothing.
I'm guessing it's all the immature swear words. 
Well, I never let facts get in the way of a good beer blogging buzz, so I am reprinting a version of the story here in all its falseness.
Socialite Paris Hilton is spearheading a campaign to stop a herd of elephants killing themselves - after bingeing on alcohol. The hotel heiress was horrified to discover 40 of the animals were electrocuted after drinking rice-beer, which is brewed by locals in north-east India. And Hilton is now urging Indian residents to lock up their booze.
She says, "There would have been more casualties if the villagers hadn't chased them away. And four elephants died in a similar way three years ago. It is just so sad. The biggest problems are in Assam and Meghalaya. The elephants get drunk all the time. It is becoming really dangerous. We need to stop making alcohol available to them."
The AP retraction goes like this:GAUHATI, India (AP) - In a Nov. 13 story, The Associated Press incorrectly reported that Paris Hilton was praised by conservationists for highlighting the problem of binge-drinking elephants in northeastern India. Lori Berk, a publicist for Hilton, said she never made any comments about helping drunken elephants in India.
Have a great weekend! And please don't feed the elephants Indian rice beer.
A federal judge today issued a preliminary injunction barring a suburban school district from implementing the state's new law mandating a moment of silence at the start of classes, calling the statute too vague and "likely unconstitutional."Look, this idea was not well thought out before it became law, and its spirit, if not the law in its entirety, is routinely being ignored by schools across the state.
...
Gettleman asked the parties in the case to return to the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse Thursday when he could consider making the injunction statewide.
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Barack Obama, who's been scolding Hillary Rodham Clinton for not hastening the release of records from her time as first lady, says he can't step up and produce his own records from his days in the Illinois state Senate. He says he hasn't got any.The article also mentions that John Edwards is now scurrying to get his "papers" released. It's "papers" arms race.
"I don't have - I don't maintain - a file of eight years of work in the state Senate because I didn't have the resources available to maintain those kinds of records," he said at a recent campaign stop in Iowa. He said he wasn't sure where any cache of records might have gone, adding, "It could have been thrown out. I haven't been in the state Senate now for quite some time."
Obama's statement that he has no papers from his time in the Illinois statehouse - he left in 2004 - stands in stark contrast to the massive Clinton file stored at the National Archives: an estimated 78 million pages of documents, plus 20 million e-mail messages, packed into 36,000 boxes. While any file from Obama's time in the state Senate would be far smaller, the idea that no papers exist at all is questioned by one historian.
"Most of those guys do keep this stuff, especially the favorable stuff. They've all got egos," said Taylor Pensoneau, a historian who has written about Illinois legislators and governors and worked with them as a lobbyist for the coal industry. "It goes in scrapbooks or maybe boxes. I don't think it's normal practice to say it's all discarded."
Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt said Wednesday that "Obama has a track record of leading the way on reform and disclosure," adding that "correspondence with state agencies and records of requests Obama made to them on behalf of his constituents are available to the public and have been accessed by our opponents and members of the news media."
Pressed for details, LaBolt said Obama did not keep any correspondence with the general public. Ditto for letters to or from state associations and lobbyists, memos on legislation and correspondence with Illinois state agencies. The campaign said Illinois agencies have copies of his requests for information or help, but accessing those records would involve contacting the agencies and asking them to comb though eight years of records to find correspondence from Obama.
...
Obama hasn't always claimed there were no papers left from his time in the state Senate. Earlier this year, campaign spokesman LaBolt asked The Associated Press to narrow a request for records on whether Obama had ever urged clemency for a convicted criminal.
"You're asking us to do an extremely exhaustive search into every record we have from the U.S. Senate and state Senate offices," LaBolt said at the time. At the news conference in Iowa last week, Obama said he didn't "have a whole bunch of records from those years," but told reporters to "let us know" if there are "particular documents that you are interested in."
The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library is seeking original material related to the 1908 Springfield race riot for use in a major exhibit scheduled to open next year.Is my thinking too narrow on the purpose of the ALPL? The 1908 riots were very relevant to the history of Springfield and perhaps even the nation, but it happened more than 40 years after Lincoln died. Or does anything that happens in Springfield automatically have a Lincoln connection. It is, after all, ironic that the Great Emancipator's home town had race riots. Does the ALPL host other exhibits not directly related to Lincoln? Just wondering.
“This anniversary marks a terrible but important part of our history,” said Presidential Library and Museum Executive Director Rick Beard. “The items we are seeking that may have been passed down by family members will be a direct link to something we should never forget.”
The library is seeking family photographs and letters; items that belonged to the victims; postcards of the riot; funeral home programs; police badges; saloon memorabilia; material from buildings damaged or destroyed in the riot; or any other items with direct connections to the riot.
This is just something I’ve noticed over the years and isn’t a big deal; I just wonder why it is. I mean, there are plenty of younger vets, and middle aged vets but somehow the old vet has become the expected icon of veteran imagery.
Bush looks like some kind of patriotic angel hovering over the photographer. Who thinks up these shots of propagandistic opportunity?“Tough.” That was Springfield Mayor Tim Davlin’s response Sunday when pressed about why it took officials two hours Saturday to release information to the public about the power plant explosions and possible dangers to the community.Wrong answer Mr. Mayor.
I picked up a six pack box of Erdinger last weekend at Friar Tuck. They had a big pile of them. For those of you who have been to the Springfield store, it was one of those stacks of beer they have in front of the refrigerated section.
The Erdinger folks have a website here. Be sure to have the sound up on their home page. Why is it German only sounds pretty when talking about beer?
And they even kindly included instructions on how to pour an Erdinger.
Have a great weekend! And drink wheat beer not WEAK beer.
Ryan was one of Thompson’s former lieutenant governors, and when Ryan was indicted on corruption charges in late 2003, Thompson, then chairman of the Winston & Strawn law firm, arranged for Ryan to have a free defense worth anI guess I never thought Thompson’s defense of Ryan, both legally and as a friend, somehow denigrated the office of governor. Nor do I think it’s hurt Thompson’s reputation. In fact, since he’s been out of office for nearly 17 years, I’m not sure he has much of a reputation as a former governor. By that I mean he wasn’t all that memorable as a governor to begin with and after nearly two decades a lot of people don’t remember much about his governorship if they are even old enough to remember him at all.
estimated $20 million.
Thompson kept a low profile during Ryan’s trial, but after Ryan was convicted in April 2006, Thompson became the main spokesman for the appeal effort, arguing in written motions and to reporters that Ryan didn’t get a fair trial and underscoring the view that the conviction was a “travesty.”
On Wednesday, then, Thompson and his wife accompanied Ryan, his wife and other family members on Ryan’s ride to the federal prison camp near Oxford, Wis., where he began serving a 6 1/2 -year sentence.
Yes, Thompson was one of Ryan’s lawyers, and lawyers should act and speak forcefully on behalf of their clients. There’s no shame in that.
And yes, Thompson is a friend and former close professional and political associate of Ryan’s, and friends should provide support in times of trouble and need. There’s no shame in that, either.
But Thompson is not an ordinary lawyer, nor is he an ordinary friend.
He’s an elder statesman. The dignity and respect of the office of governor of Illinois are both his burden and his advantage in life, no matter what positions he goes on to hold.
We’re talking about the green signs. You know the ones that sit on the edge of a town that tout the accomplishments of a particular high school athlete or team.OK, now I can wonder about something else.
…
The “high school champions” sign program has been around for about 30 years. The initial motivation was to honor IHSA state winners in the communities they hailed from. “Sometime in the ’70s, we started to develop policy on it,” said Mike Glaffey, media liaison for IDOT.
General guidelines are in place for each of the nine transportation districts in the state. Up to four signs per municipality are allowed. A request can be made for any individual or team that places from first to third in any school-sponsored statewide competition. The signs stay up for a year and are then to be taken down and given to the town they were put up in.
“We don’t have rigid statewide rules. We leave it up to each district to monitor things,” Glaffey said.
Ryan's typical work day will begin at 7:30 a.m. and include duties such as mopping floors, cleaning toilets, raking leaves, cutting grass, painting and shoveling snow, [prison spokesman Mike] Truman said.I’m not sure that’s a good idea. Not because Ryan used to be governor and such tasks are beneath him, but because he’s an old man in ill health. I’m thinking he won’t be shoveling all that much snow.
EDWARDSVILLE (AP) - Two students at Southern Illinois University in this St. Louis suburb kidnapped, paddled and burned a young man with freshly baked cookies after a drug deal went bad, prosecutors alleged.Ummm…don’t guns usually come out when drug deals go bad? But paddles and freshly baked cookies? Was Martha Stewart in on this?
Here's one thing about being a white guy: You hear a lot of "private" talk from other white guys who assume you're on the same side of the fence as they are and feel free to start spewing, especially when they've had a few drinks, or they're (ahem) "angry," and this is the kind of shit they spew.Maybe we all hope that the people we are with at any given moment think just like us. But wouldn’t you think that on a touchy subject like blatant racism one might be a little more cautious? That’s not been my experience though. There is a certain portion of the population that is very sure their hatred for Blacks or Hispanics or Arabs, or all of the above, is a widely held belief. And when I say “population”, I’m talking about white population here (including many women, I might add), because that’s the ethnic group most likely to convey their racist inner thoughts to me.
Unfortunately, the only thing I ever seem capable of expressing to them is my utter bafflement why they think I would ever be on their side. Mind you, guys like this are in the far minority, but there are more of them floating around out there than you'd think.
U.S. Rep. John Shimkus announced his intention to seek re-election to the 19th Congressional District, which includes parts of Springfield, today via a series of videos released on his Web site.I guess lying is one of those principles. Or maybe it reflects "integrity and personal responsibility".
“Faith, family, integrity and personal responsibility … those are the values I work every day to represent in Washington, D.C. And they are the reason I ask again for your trust and your support in this campaign for Congress,” Shimkus said in the videos. “To me, real leadership means standing strong for the principles that I'm convinced we share in central and southern Illinois.”
The folks at Macua have a most awesome website and it proudly boasts this about the beer:Macau is a true "Euro-Asian" beer. It is brewed using advanced Japanese brewing technology and the finest European ingredients. The Macau pale lager is respected as a refreshing, very light, subtle, yet smooth tasting pale lager with just a hint of fresh malt and citrus flavor that tastes wonderful with food or just by itself. If you want to drink a true Euro Asian Beer from China which is 100% formaldehyde free (unlike other Chinese beers) then ask for Macau the next time you're dining at your favorite Asian restaurant. You'll love it because...it's all good..
Yes, all good, made in the fine tradition of the Japanese and completely formaldehyde free! Take that you silly Germans.
Check out the logo with the, ummm, not-smiley, er, expressionless face.
And while the blog post linked to above talks of it being introduced to New York, the Macau folks have a larger plas as seen on this map.
Notice that Central Illinois appears to be part of the plan. I realize the graphic is a bit small, but the points on the map are the same expressionless non-smiley faces.
Have a great weekend! And don't get stuck on a slow beer boat to China.
I'm not sure when this trend started (after I was that age, for sure) but it seems nearly inescapable now.The sight of so many young girls looking like sex toys disturbed me. There were gaggles of slutty pirates, slutty nurses, slutty milkmaids, slutty Snow Whites, slutty schoolgirls, slutty referees. A few girls skipped costumes altogether and went straight to lacy lingerie and sheer teddies. Some shorts rose so high that fleshy rear-ends peaked out below. Some skirts fell so low on the hips that they had stopped serving their purpose as clothing.
Weren't they aware that they were standing around cold and naked just for the sake of appealing to some particularly dull looking men? After all, these are ostensibly smart co-eds. Too smart, I thought, to trick-or-treat for compliments and catcalls.
Oh My God! Shampoo bottles down! Oh the humanity!
