Big, White Polar Bears

Polar Bears. Cool animals. Big animals. Go here to help them out, just don't feed the bears, please, I can not be responsible for any Captain Hooks, OK?

& now the really cute, no walrus YouTube.

Just Excellent

Pres. Obama sure picked a great bill to be the first one he signed.

Mr. Obama was surrounded by a group of beaming lawmakers, most but not all of them Democrats, in the East Room of the White House as he affixed his signature to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, a law named for an Alabama woman who at the end of a 19-year career as a supervisor in a tire factory complained that she had been paid less than men.

After a Supreme Court ruling against her, Congress approved the legislation that expands workers’ rights to sue in this kind of case, relaxing the statute of limitations.

“It is fitting that with the very first bill I sign — the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act — we are upholding one of this nation’s first principles: that we are all created equal and each deserve a chance to pursue our own version of happiness,” the president said.

He said was signing the bill not only in honor of Ms. Ledbetter — who stood behind him, shaking her head and clasping her hands in seeming disbelief — but in honor of his own grandmother, “who worked in a bank all her life, and even after she hit that glass ceiling, kept getting up again” and for his daughters, “because I want them to grow up in a nation that values their contributions, where there are no limits to their dreams.”

& this is also good news. The next step, of course, is to bring these war criminals to justice, Iraqi or American? It just doesn't matter, as long as the thugs who murdered 17 people are held accountable for their actions, as long as the consequences do not include the barbarous death-penalty.

US security contractor Blackwater was unprovoked when it opened fire on civilians in Baghdad three weeks ago, killing 17 people and wounding 22, an Iraqi probe into the shooting has found.

My emphasis.

NOTE: I know, loyal four readers, that there has been a dearth, in fact, a lot of dearth, in the blogging from coldH2Oville this week. Part of the problem is that I have been obsessing on firewood. We will not have enough for this winter, so I need to decide whether to dig the last of the oak out of the snow & bring it on down to the house, or, pay an exorbitant price for a face* cord or two of dry, split wood. & these, dear readers, are the only options we/I have.

*This link tells you all you about the measuring of wood, & how to not get ripped off.

You may also see wood advertised by a "face cord" with the length of the pieces. A 24 inch face cord is 24 inches wide by four feet high by eight feet long.

There have been other probs, to be sure, but the firewood thing is the best excuse, far better than, say, getting my blood pressure to go up!

Here's Some Legacy I Can Believe In

From one of my MySpace friends, Mem Shannon. Enjoy.

This Must Be The Result Of Bu$hCo's Freedom Agenda

Off to jail with you, you, you blogger.

Here's A cup Of Good News

Finally.

After controlling for numerous socioeconomic and health factors, including high cholesterol and high blood pressure, the scientists found that the subjects who had reported drinking three to five cups of coffee daily were 65 percent less likely to have developed dementia, compared with those who drank two cups or less. People who drank more than five cups a day also were at reduced risk of dementia, the researchers said, but there were not enough people in this group to draw statistically significant conclusions.

This information does, of course, run a bit counter to my cardiologist's desires. I've come to limit myself to one double Americana in a medium to go cup per day. Once in a while I'll have a Depth Charge, instead of hot water to fill the cup up after the shots, I fill it up with caffeinated coffee.

B.J. Van Hollen, Er, J.B. Van Hollen Claims To Have Known Drunken Drivers Personally

Who knew? However, with legal thinking like this, wouldn't all crimes be considered a mistake & therefore a first offender would not be subject for jail or prison? J.B. Van Hollen, the best friend a drunk with a car ever had.

(NOTE:  I know I'm late on this, but....., forgive me, sue me, decide to undo me.)

An Excellent Punch In The Gonads Of Roberts, Alito, Kennedy, Thomas, & The Fat, Loudmouth In The Duck Blind

Lily win big one. As soon as President Obama signs this bill, it'll be a little bit easier to breathe, no thanks to Bu$hCo & his & his Yes-Sir Supreme Court.

Fat Loudmouth In The Duck Blind

For That Special Someone

Who keeps bringing this up at inappropriate times. I want spring for the fish, some apparently want spring for the balls.

"We'll know his salary for the next two years," Melvin said. "We'll still have him the following year, when he goes back into the arbitration pool."

& More

Remember, it's the beginning of the Bu$hCo legacy.

Harley-Davidson Inc. will close its Capitol Drive plant in 2010, eliminating several hundred jobs, as part of a restructuring that includes the loss of 1,100 jobs over the next two years.

OK, People, Back To Reality

I would like to imagine that one of my loyal four readers is from the Pacific Northwest, & if so, sorry about this.

The higher mortality rates held regardless of tree size or type or elevation at which it grew. The fact that birth rates remained unchanged among the nearly 60,000 pines, firs, hemlocks and other trees in the study indicates that forests are losing trees faster than they are replacing them, the authors noted.

Predictable From The ReThugs

Boo-fucking-hoo!

A Good Thing

The new President did this. I hope Bu$hCo feels his pain. If you read the story, however, there are a few caveats, so it's not quite the freedom story one could have hoped for. But, so I don't bring down any of my four loyal readers, I think it's a good start.

Saying that “our ideals give us the strength and moral high ground” to combat terrorism, President Obama signed executive orders Thursday ending the Central Intelligence Agency’s secret overseas prisons, banning coercive interrogation methods and closing the Guantánamo Bay detention camp within a year.

My emphasis. I also wish he would have closed Guantánamo yesterday.

Oh, Oh

Looks like the excitement was too much for Sens. Kennedy & Byrd. Sen. Kennedy is suffering from a brain tumor. Sen. Byrd, apparently became quite upset as they took Sen. Kennedy out on a gurny, so upset that he, too, had to be taken out of the room. It looks like both will be as fine as men in their condition can be. Via Crooks & Liars.

& I Want A Lot More Ice Behind The Net

There is no way this poor kid should have died. Hockey is, IMHO, the best of sports, but with this stupid cleaving to fighting as a fundamental aspect of hockey, it is diminished. Diminished to the point of irrelevancy. Taking your helmet off before fighting ought not be the reason for a suspension, the act of fighting itself should be the catalyst for the suspension. & if the player fights within a week of getting back on the ice, it's a 3 game suspension, & on & on. I want to watch hockey like I did back in the day at the Coliseum in Madison, WI, college hockey games that rarely had a fight, but had lots of great hockey.

Well, It's Done

Obama is President!