Friday Orchid Blogging

Blc. Fuchs Orange Nugget x Blc. Dan O'Neil



This is one I got a bit over a year ago from some dear friends in Florida who are professional growers. It's a member of the cattleya family, and its flowers stay around for a good month, and get darker and darker orange over time. They also have a citrus fragrance that I'm way allergic to, so I sniff and then run and get an allergy pill. Like all catts, it likes lots of sunlight, though you can burn it, as I found out this past August. This one is on loan to mom for now - she got upset that all I had so many orchids and wasn't sharing. Enjoy. Read the rest of this post...

Sci-Fi Friday about to begin...

Open thread Read the rest of this post...

If AARP is so liberal, then why did Bush cite them last year during the election?

Just asking... Read the rest of this post...

Raw Story interviews former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter

Raw Story Read the rest of this post...

Additional public documents about USA Next lawsuit now online

For any legal eagles who are interested, supplemental memos in support and in opposition to the TRO are now online. Read the rest of this post...

This totally creeps me out

Maybe I watch too much Sci-Fi Friday, but I'm waiting for this chick and her friends to nuke us and take over the planet.

Just a thought. Read the rest of this post...

Open Thread

Friday! Read the rest of this post...

Dear Marc

John,

Now that it appears the police have found the individual who murdered the Federal Judge's family (and it was someone who was upset that the Judge dismissed his civil complaint) will you be issuing an apology for your irresponsible comments the other day in which you implied that the "religious right" and those calling for a constrained judiciary are in someway responsible for the murders?

Marc

All it takes is one judge's family to be murdered for the rewriting of history to begin, eh Marc?

"Those calling for a constrained judiciary," you say. Uh huh. Like when your little religious right buddies said that judges want to murder disabled people AS A CLASS? Or how about this one: "by such rulings, the United States is pitting itself against God." Then there's this commentary on judges, "they are committing a CRIME!"

But, oh, while those are good, my favorite religious right quote damning judges is the following:

four tyrannical judges have taken MA -- as well as America -- hostage and their immoral ruling may change the course of history of our great country - forever. The destructive impact that "gay" marriage will have on the entire nation is unimaginable.... The Bible talks of tumultuous times past - and future - when governments directly opposes the law of God. As the apostles said, "We should obey God rather than man." We are at such a time in America.

(You can read more great quotes like that here.)

Yes, "activist" judges will be responsible for God literally destroying our country and, I guess, killing all 300 million of us. But we shouldn't worry about some nutcase taking this message seriously.

Oh, and Marc, by the way, the religious right helped kill Matthew Shepard too. Read the rest of this post...

AP Poll with Bad News for Bush on Soc. Security

The Associated Press is out with a new poll with bad news on Social Security for Bush:

As President Bush campaigns to change Social Security, he needs to win over independents, married women and Southerners - people who tend to support him on terrorism but have indicated doubts about his plans for the retirement program.

Just over a third of Americans, 37 percent, approve of Bush's handling of Social Security, an Associated Press poll found. When it comes to Bush's strong suit - handling foreign policy and terrorism - 52 percent approve of the president.

A majority of Americans, 56 percent, say they disapprove of Bush's handling of Social Security. A similar number in a recent AP poll opposed the creation of personal investment accounts, a proposal central to Bush's plans.

The war on terrorism was the principal theme of Bush's re-election campaign, but in the early days of his second term he has focused on Social Security. Some polls indicate he's been losing ground on that issue.

The White House has made Social Security the top priority this year. Yet the more Bush talks about it, the less support he gets. You know times are tough in the White House when the big guy has to take his dog and pony show on the road to convince Republican as the New York Times reported today:

When President Bush began barnstorming on behalf of his Social Security plan last month, his goal at many stops was to convince Congressional Democrats that backing his call for individual investment accounts would be good politics. He is still trying to flex his political muscle to that end, but in a sign of the trouble he faces on the issue, he is increasingly using his travels to buck up - or even win over - members of his own party.

There is a lesson here for the Democrats. It's good to act like the opposition party. This p.r. campaign by Bush will insure that he and his party are now inextricably linked to the campaign to destroy Social Security. Read the rest of this post...

USA Next plans on running more ads

Nice scoop for E&P;:

Meanwhile, in an interview with The New York Times that will appear this weekend in the Sunday magazine, Charlie Jarvis, director of USA Next, reveals that in a few weeks his group will begin running ads “that very specifically and aggressively brand AARP for what they are, the planet's largest liberal lobbying organization. When they are honest about that, we will take a large number of their members away.” AARP has 35 million members.

The ads, he said in the interview, would involve TV, radio, Web, direct mail, e-mail, and phone alerts.

He said he could not think of a single positive thing to say about AARP's goals and that “they don't really know the facts about an issue like Social Security.”

....Jarvis previously worked for Focus on Family, which has dubbed SpongeBob SquarePants a promoter of homosexuality. “I call him Sponge Robert Square Pants,” Jarvis quipped, “because I don't know him well.” He added that his two sons lean to the left and he has had “knockdown arguments” with them.

Read the rest of this post...

Another judge is shot

From AP Read the rest of this post...

Morning open thread

Anything up? Read the rest of this post...

Greenspan leaves the crowd in awe: "budget deficit is bad"

Gee, ya think so? What next piece of obvious wisdom are we going to hear from this has-been? At least he stuck with one primary message this time and didn't straddle the fence like he usually does. Read the rest of this post...