March 16, 2011 archive

Gha! (updated*)





Photo: Associated Press

Japan tsunami survivor Hiromitsu Shinkawa found 10 miles out at sea



Photo: REUTERS/Yomiuri Shimbun

*Miracles in Japan: Four-Month Old Baby, 70-Year Old Woman Found Alive

My Little Town 20110315: Elwood Brockman

Those of you that read this irregular series know that I am from Hackett, Arkansas, just a mile of so from the Oklahoma border, and just about 10 miles south of the Arkansas River.  It was a redneck sort of place, and just zoom onto my previous posts to understand a bit about it.

I never write about living people except with their express permission, so this installment is about a long dead denizen of Hackett.  This time it is about a teacher of mine, Elwood Brockman.

Mr. Brockman taught high school maths, and was also the grade school principal.  Since the entire school system from grades 1 to 12 (no K at the time), double duty was the norm.

Some Days, I Read The News

Some days, I have no idea what to say.

Some days, it looks like the….

Highway To Hell

Under the Radar: Besides an Imminent Nuclear Disaster

Cross posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette

With the evolving nuclear disaster in Japan taking much of the front page attention, there are still some other news events that are noteworthy.

The Human-Hydrid Turtle is holding the government hostage

  • Republicans Escalate Debt Ceiling Fight

    Senate Republican leaders in recent days have escalated a showdown that has been lurking in the background of the more immediate fight over funding the federal government through September. While the funding issue remains unresolved, Congress will soon have to turn its attention to the need to raise the national debt limit, or the country will default in just a few weeks.

    “There are 53 Democrats and 47 Republicans. My prediction is not a single one of the 47 Republicans will vote to raise the debt ceiling unless it includes with it some credible effort to do something about our debt,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Fox News Sunday. “I think to get any of the 47 Republicans, you’ve got to do something credible, that the markets believe is credible, that the American people believe is credible, that foreign countries believe is credible . . .  in addition to raising the debt ceiling.”

  • GOP Senators Blocking New Commerce Secretary Until Trade Deals Go Through

    Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) took a break from budget negotiations this week to get back to one of the Senate GOP’s most popular pastimes: blocking presidential nominees. McConnell, along with Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT), pledged in a letter on Monday to hold up any White House nominee to replace departing Commerce Secretary Gary Locke as well as nominees for any other trade-related posts until trade agreements with Colombia and Panama clear the Senate.

    “My fear is in trying to appease their union allies the administration is willing to let these two agreements wither on the vine,” Hatch said at a press conference Monday announcing the move. “We are here today to make clear that we will not allow that to happen.”

You cannot make this up, ever. ROTFLMAO

  • WI Repub lives outside district with mistress, says wife

    Protesters who marched at the home of Wisconsin state senator Randy Hopper (R-Fond du Lac) were met with something of a surprise on Saturday. Mrs. Hopper appeared at the door and informed them that Sen. Hopper was no longer in residence at this address, but now lives in Madison, WI with his 25-year-old mistress.

    snip

    Blogging Blue also reports that Mrs. Hopper intends to sign the recall petition against her husband. The petition has already been signed by the family’s maid.

    Just how constitutional is this?

    • Wis. GOPer Scott Fitzgerald: Dems In Contempt, Not Allowed To Vote In Committees

      The saga of the “Wisconsin 14” — the state Senate Democrats who fled the state in an attempt to block the three-fifths budget quorum on Gov. Scott Walker’s anti-public employee union proposals — isn’t over just because Republicans used a parliamentary end run to pass the bill with a simple majority quorum last week, and the Dems have since come home.

      As WisPolitics reports, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R) sent a letter to his fellow Republicans, reminding them that they had previously found the Democrats to be in contempt of the chamber — and as such, they are not to be allowed to vote on committees.

My Man, My Son, My Life

Someone pointed him out to me across the bar on a 4th of July afternoon bender after a day at the Lake and a night prior of coking and joking, “That guy over there is Michael, he could give you guitar lessons.” I was 21. It was 1984.

I took one look, and as God as my witness gasped and said, “Oh my God, that man is going to be my best friend or worst enemy.” He had presence, in a way most people cannot even fathom unless you met him. Intensity, intelligence, awareness, all with a touch of dangerousness that kept many at a distance.

I had someone introduce us. He took me home that night, and played a bit of guitar for me. We talked like I’d never been able to talk to anyone in my entire life until sleep took us. He was a gentleman, and I was a Catholic girl. The second night? I molested him, unable to refrain from his lure. He didn’t object a bit. I have been with him ever since.

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