DougM (commissarophobe) 
A top-of-the-range Daimler formerly owned by Queen Elizabeth II is up for sale, with unique features including a handbag holder and corgi-friendly fittings.
The Daimler Majestic V8 Jaguar, which the monarch used from 2001-2004, has only 14,000 miles on the clock and is on offer to the highest bidder.
“It’s a truly unique vehicle,” Peter Ratcliffe, a specialist dealer who bought the car from Jaguar, told The Independent newspaper.
“There is nothing else out there, or ever going to be out there, that you can buy and say this was the personal car of the Queen of England, specially built for her,” he added.
The car, used to drive the queen from her Buckingham Palace residence to her Windsor Castle estate, originally included secure telephone lines to Downing Street and the Home Office.
Uniquely royal features include a redesigned armrest to accommodate Queen Elizabeth’s handbag and a hidden panel of security lighting including blue flashing strobe lamps for use when the car was in a police convoy.
In addition Jaguar provided special covers for the magazine holders next to the seats, to prevent her pet corgis from slipping off the calf-skin seat covers and falling into them, The Independent reported.
Extra window switches were also provided for full air flow control. “She was very clear about her requirements. She had an extra switch installed on each of the rear doors to control the windows on the opposite side,” said Ratcliffe.
“Apparently she doesn’t like to have the wind blowing directly into her face,” he added…
SondraK, Lympian Slayer 
baby dolls made from upcycled plastic bags, stuffed with reused bubble wrap and held together with ordinary clear tape. variety of sizes and poses, no two exactly alike!
They’re heeeeere
Look! TWO kaffiya!
“ other”...ewwwwwwww
original photos ThomasM
So much for momentum from the CBO report this morning. New York Democrat Michael Arcuri announced earlier today to his colleagues that he would not vote for the House reconciliation package on ObamaCare, essentially negating the flip from Dennis Kucinich yesterday.............Arcuri becomes the first Democrat on the Rules committee to push back against the Slaughter strategy…
President Obama has postponed his trip to Asia until June so he can work on health care reform and guide the bill toward a possible vote Sunday.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Thursday that Obama, who already postponed his trip to Indonesia and Australia once and was expected to leave Sunday, called up the leaders of those countries to inform them of the change in plans…
According to a study, when people feel they have been morally virtuous by saving the planet through their purchases of organic baby food, for example, it leads to the “licensing [of] selfish and morally questionable behaviour”, otherwise known as “moral balancing” or “compensatory ethics”.
President Obama said tonight that he agreed with “The Louisiana Purchase” in Obamacare because it also covered the earthquake in Hawaii…
Water in California is as valuable as gold. Since there isn’t enough to go around, it has been rationed and supplied only to those whom the government believes need it the most. Unfortunately, the people who live in California’s San Joaquin Valley have had their water turned off in order to protect a tiny fish called the delta smelt. As a result farm land that used to be prime agricultural land are now dust bowls. It devastated the economy as well, driving up the the unemployment rate in some areas to as high as 41 percent. Yet for months on end, President Obama said and did nothing to help the people in the Central Valley.
But now the president’s health care reforms are on the ropes and the San Joaquin Valley’s two blue-dog Democratic congressmen Dennis Cardoza and Jim Costa have been reluctant to support the president’s reforms. So imagine everyone’s surprise when the Department of the Interior announced yesterday that it is dramatically increasing the water supply to the valley’s parched lands. And what a coincidence, now the two California congressmen who were once “undecided” are being moved over into the “yes” column.…
President Obama will head to California next month to campaign for Sen. Barbara Boxer...........
Effective April 16, Walgreens drugstores across the state won’t take any new Medicaid patients, saying that filling their prescriptions is a money-losing proposition — the latest development in an ongoing dispute over Medicaid reimbursement.
The company, which operates 121 stores in the state, will continue filling Medicaid prescriptions for current patients.
In a news release, Walgreens said its decision to not take new Medicaid patients stemmed from a “continued reduction in reimbursement” under the state’s Medicaid program, which reimburses it at less than the break-even point for 95 percent of brand-name medications dispensed to Medicaid patents.
Walgreens follows Bartell Drugs, which stopped taking new Medicaid patients last month at all 57 of its stores in Washington, though it still fills Medicaid prescriptions for existing customers at all but 15 of those stores.........
Melissy in comments
Troops aboard the Dutch warship HNLMS Tromp fired warning shots Wednesday off the coast of East Africa as suspected Somali pirates in two small skiffs raced toward their warship, the EU Naval Force said.
After the pirates realized they had made what spokesman Cmdr. John Harbour called a ”rather silly mistake,” they turned around and fled…
The Ugly American 
