cuz it’s smooooooooth

for two martinis:

4 parts CranRaspberryberry Juice
2 parts Raspberry Vodka [Smirnoff’s]
1 part Cointreau
1 part Chambord

...over ice in a cocktail shaker.  Shake until frosty cold.  Pour into two martini glasses.

Add a fresh raspberry or two.  ...or three.

Pour a leedle cream over the back of a spoon so it floats on the surface—about a 1/4 inch deep.

MMmmmm......

---

Next to try—throw the whole thing into a blender.

OR:  throw everything but the cream into a blender.  Whip the cream. Swirl into blended drink.

ABC News’ Z. Byron Wolf reports: The announcement Friday by Rep. William Delahunt, the long-serving Massachusetts Congressman, was just the latest departure of Democrats from the House of Representatives.

But when Delahunt leaves it will be the first departure in some time of a Democrat from “Animal House,” the surprisingly modest, extremely messy, lawmaker group house …

I actually had an expression on my face as I was reading this.

The CEO of Tennessee’s hospitality association is apologizing for sending an e-mail to a group of public figures that compares first lady Michelle Obama to a chimpanzee.

The Tennessean of Nashville reports that Tennessee Hospitality Association CEO Walt Baker’s e-mail compares the first lady to Tarzan sidekick Cheeta. At the bottom of the e-mail is a photo of Obama, caught in an awkward moment with her lips pursed, and one of a chimpanzee wearing a similar expression…

For those balancing offers of employment from the public and private sector, first, our congratulations. Beyond that, make the decision a little easier by reading the analysis of compensation for jobs that exists in both realms, reported by USA Today. Not only are salaries now over 10% higher in the federal government, but the benefits package averages more than four times the benefits offered in the competitive sector…

Here are the top 10 big winners on salary by dollar difference:

Federal clergy? Oh right, chaplains.
Sure throws a monkey wrench into the phantom “separation of church and state” “argument”.........
I hadn’t thought of that.

Poizner, picking up the endorsements of endorsements today from the one man who might have kept us from driving into our economic ditch in the first place.

Rep. Tom McClintock, the conservative standard-bearer in California and champion of Republican principles, today endorsed Steve Poizner for Governor. In making his endorsement, Rep. McClintock called Steve Poizner the “only conservative candidate” in the race and the only real reformer running for governor.

“I trust Steve to restore Republican principles to California government,” said Rep. McClintock. “Steve Poizner is the only conservative candidate in this race and is serious about implementing real reform in Sacramento. I am convinced that Meg Whitman has nothing to offer other than Arnold Schwarzenegger’s third term. That is something California cannot afford.”

“Tom McClintock is one of the most influential and respected leaders in California politics. I am honored to accept his endorsement and proud to have him on my team as we work to stop the tax-and-spend mentality that has overtaken our state,” said Poizner. “Our party does not need to rebrand itself. We need to return to our basic Republican beliefs. There is no greater example of a tried and true Republican who is unwavering in his beliefs than Tom, and I look forward to his counsel throughout this campaign.”

The vast majority of conservative leaders in California have rallied behind Steve Poizner, including former Governor George Deukmejian.

Reason No. 23 why I won’t be voting for Meg “Schwarzenegger in Pumps” Whitman.

Mar 6 2010 - 12:00pm
We are gathering to show our support for Planned Parenthood and all of the services it provides for our community. We’ll be getting down there around noon and leaving sometime in the afternoon. You can bring your own signs, or you can borrow one of ours. Also,there will be homemade cookies. Hope to see you there. Info about of Wednesday March 10th protest coming along shortly. ---Sorry about the extremely last-minute nature of this event announcement---

Cookies!

because being economically tied to the ChiComs and the WU has worked out so well...

(Reuters) - - The White House on Friday announced a “summit on entrepreneurship” to build economic ties with the Islamic world, part of President Barack Obama’s outreach to Muslims.

The White House said it has invited participants from more than 40 countries over five continents for the April 26-27 conference in Washington.

a step mile too far

John Patrick Bedell was a troubled man with a mental illness.  It was tragic that he did not get help—or restraint—before he endangered others and got himself killed.

But this endless questing for his motives —as though he were rational—is moronic.  Even more sickening is the rush to smear entire segments of the population with his acts, simply because of some of his statements, is becoming ludicrous.

The man was mentally ill.  Period.  That’s all we need to know about his “motivations.” That’s all we can know about his motivations.  Because that’s what ‘mentally ill’ means:  others cannot understand the internal logic of his thoughts, world view, or reasoning.

I heard a quote from Bedell over and over on the news, today.  Remember - they’re quoting “the internet rant” of a man who just tried to shoot up the Pentagon in the least well-thought-out, least effective “attack” in, well, ever.  The quote they chose was not some 911-Trooother rant, nothing about da gubbmint spying on his brain, but a quiet, reasonable discussion of how private property rights are the basis of freedom in this country.  What a nut bucket, eh?

Why choose that “fringe” quote?  Yeah.  You know as well as I do.

......a roman catholic elementary school test. kids were asked questions about the old and new testaments. the following statements about the bible were written by children. they have not been retouched or corrected. incorrect spelling has been left in…

PANNA COTTA

6 tablespoons cold milk
1.5 packets powdered unflavored gelatin [can use 2 full packets if you like it firm]

5 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
pinch salt
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

Optional:  1/4 C +/- 2T ScharffenBerger cocoa
and/or: any kind of berries or fruit

-

1. Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold milk in a bowl and let stand 5 to 10 minutes.

2. Heat the heavy cream, sugar and salt in a saucepan. Do NOT allow to boil.  Once the sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.  [now is the time to add the cocoa, if desired.  and whayinhell not?!?  put cocoa in cup/small bowl and add about 1/8C of warm cream mixture.  stir like mad with fork to make mixture smooooth, then add to rest of cream mixture.]

3. Pour the very warm Panna Cotta mixture over the gelatin and stir until the gelatin is completely dissolved.

Let stand until barely warm.  [now is the time to add any fruit you want mixed in.  I like it best reserved for serving over top.  This is a texture treat as well as a taste treat.]

5. Divide the Panna Cotta mixture into martini glasses/wine glasses/demitasse cups/dang near anything pretty [demitasse spoons go with perfectly], then chill them until firm, which will take at least two to four hours.

Can be made the day before.

Jay-Z bragged at a show Wednesday that he’d just come from the White House, and the website Rap Radar has a photo that appears to show the rapper—who graced Obama’s campaign iPod—and friends posing around the table at what appears, from the table and the ceiling fixtures, to be the Situation Room.

Jay-Z is in the president’s seat…

~ * ~
The pictures appear to have first made their appearance on Twitter, and the woman who posted them—then took them down—says she’s been told they “shouldn’t have been up"…

The White House Situation Room is a 5,000-square-foot conference room and intelligence management center in the basement of the West Wing of the White House. It is run by the National Security Council staff for the use of the President of the United States and his advisers (including Homeland Security and the White House Chief of Staff) to monitor and deal with crises at home and abroad and to conduct secure communications with outside (often overseas) persons. The Situation Room is equipped with secure, advanced communications equipment for the President to maintain command and control of U.S. forces around the world......

How to insure that you get your stolen computer back........

so proud… so confident...

David Miller, [Sen. Pat Wiggins’ [Dumbass] Santa Rosa] press aide, declined comment Thursday, but told the Sacramento Bee that it’s not “a secret that she (Wiggins) has a medical condition for which she’s being treated.”

Miller added that the condition “does not affect her ability to do her job as a senator. But it can make her irritable, and when she’s irritable, she lets it be known.”

...

A California state senator [Sen. Roy Ashburn [R] Bakersfield] who reportedly has voted against every gay rights measure since he took office eight years ago was charged with driving under the influence [0.14] on Wednesday, reportedly after leaving a gay nightclub [Faces] in Sacramento.

Last summer an editor heard that a Sacramento publication with a gay audience might “out” state Sen. Roy Ashburn as being gay.

So I called Ashburn and asked him flat-out: “Are you gay?”

His response: “Why would that be anyone’s business? Including The Californian’s?

“I think there are certain subjects that are simply not relevant and this is one of them. It has no bearing on the job I do.”

...

It must be tough when just about everything anybody says about you is prefaced with the words “disgraced former assemblyman.” But that’s what Mike Duvall lives with every day. ... is benefiting from being away from the non-stop Sacramento smorgasbord provided courtesy of all those lobbyists.

..."hot mike” ... “set-up” by an aide and other assemblymen ...

...

[newly appointed] Assembly Speaker John Pérez [40, a cousin of L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa] ... his years as an executive with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union ... Pérez carved a lucrative exception into state law for billionaire developer Philip Anschutz. He also introduced a bill at the request of Enterprise Car Rental that would have helped boost the company’s bottom line by stripping away a significant consumer protection…

Pérez voted to give millions in government subsidies to a giant real estate firm that contributed heavily to his union’s political fund ... one step short of payola ... “In retrospect, yeah, I would have asked questions,” Pérez said ...

Pérez said there was no connection between his votes and the contributions, adding that he didn’t “know ...

[Perez’] vote in 2005 to let CIM install “supergraphic” signs on Sunset Boulevard…

...

Assembly Speaker John Pérez [BMOC]