Workers shape a snowman in preparation for a snowman demonstration against climate change at the “Schlossplatz” in Berlin, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2010. The demonstration will take place from Jan. 22 to Jan. 24 and people are invited to build their own snowman with a message against climate change.

And now to the left coast.  Here’s Senate Candidate Tom Campbell, who’s seeking the Republican nomination in 2010 to run against Babs Boxer.

America’s national debt is an economic burden, a moral failing, and a foreign policy vulnerability. It’s the single most important problem we face, and that’s why I’m running for the US Senate.

I’m not 100% sold on the idea that it’s the “most important” problem we face, but he goes on to make a good case for it:

Every child born in our country inherits a $40,000 obligation to pay back money her or his parents borrowed. That’s the moral issue. Parents should save to give something to their children. The federal government, however, has done the opposite. It has borrowed from our children, to buy favor with current voters. That’s immoral.

And this:

When a foreign country holds a lot of the US national debt, it has diplomatic leverage over us because it can threaten to dump those bonds on the market all at once, causing US interest rates to shoot through the roof.

The usual response to that concern is that a foreign country would lose money by selling all its US government bonds at once. Any good dumped on the market in large amounts will depress the price.  That’s certainly true. But it’s not true that countries put immediate economic concerns ahead of other national objectives. If, for instance, Taiwan were to declare its independence, and the US proposed to recognize a separate country of Taiwan, I don’t doubt for a moment that China would use this economic weapon on us, whatever the cost to China’s balance sheet. We gave this weapon to China; we should not be surprised if they use it.

So far, I like the cut of this man’s jib.  Worth keeping an eye on, if his record suggests he walks the walk.

President Barack Obama has pledged to donate the proceeds from his Nobel Prize for Peace to charitable causes.
But the president hasn’t decided yet what to do with the money.

~ * ~
“He hasn’t received any money yet,’’ White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said today.

“… [ Obama is ]...… in charge of all 3 branches of government”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So Saturday...I’m unloading some groceries from my rig and an SUV pulls up to the driveway. A strange man gets out poking around on a Blackberry thing and my hinkies go up....

Uh, hellooooooo…

I’m SSG #######, ma’am. I was sent to deliver something for you from Captain K....

OMG!!!!!!

This guy was sent to drop off those tokens for US that I mentioned way back when from the 504th MPs for our contributions for the Beer of the Ball.
These guys are in full deployment mode and they thought so highly of US that they sent someone in person to deliver these to me to MAKE SURE that we know how thankful they are. I’m beside myself.

And now I need all of your names and addresses again. Please forgive me, it’s nearly impossible for me to go back and sort through 3948856735432 e-mails to find them.
If you contributed to the Beer of the Ball endeavor last Sept/Oct, please send me your name and address to my gmail account so I can get these out to you asap!
HEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!

weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee*breath*eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

tate Sen. Scott Brown won a stunning victory over Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley Tuesday night ... Brown addressed a cheering crowd in Boston around 10:30 p.m., telling his exultant backers: “They can hear this cheering all the way in Washington, D.C.”

...Telling the crowd he received a phone call from President Obama, Brown alluded to his campaign ads featuring his pickup truck *cough*, which the president mocked in a campaign stop Sunday.

“When I spoke to the president, the first thing I said was, would you like me to drive the truck down to Washington so you can see it?” Brown said.

Who said D’s have no humor?

Coakley said. “I will not forget the fierce determination with which we approached this.”

So what if it’s unintentional…

I’m off to the gym for a class....I’ll leave you with this…

Desert… Rain… Clouds… *aaaah*

Yep.  We bring rain to the desert—downpours.  Those are “Teddy Bear” Cactus.  [desert humor, that name—dang things will near leap out to stick into ya.  Get ‘em out with pliers.  Maybe.] Sure are purdy, tho.

Rocks make the most interesting shapes…

*sigh* Desert.  ...and rain.

Close the book.

‘tain’t good

Depending on your perspective… I saw many many many signs like this along I5 though the San Joaquin Valley; yanno—the place that can feed the world.

It says:  CONGRESS CREATED DUST BOWL

I’m sure it was more effective before the rains started, when there was nothing growing and the dust was blowing.  See, these farmers got 40% of their water rights allotment this year—again.  Cuz to give them any more would ...maybe ...perhaps… discomfit the Delta Smelt, a little 2” non-native, trash fish that has been hanging out in the delta for a few decades.

uh huh.  CA politicks as usual.

The good nooz is that the farmers are getting more than honked off.  And what with the 40% unemployment rate [yes, I said 40%—heaven only knows what the number is on the schedule 6 [which includes folks who have taken part-time or have just given up altogether] ] in farm-dependent towns like Modesto, lots of other folks are getting kinda honked off as well.  Time for a tractor parade to Sacramento, what say?

Like anyone needed a good excuse to quit riding the spike.

The French health ministry issued a warning on Tuesday after eight people died and seven fell sick in two European countries from using heroin contaminated by anthrax.

“Since December 6, there have been 15 confirmed cases of anthrax among heroin users, 14 in Scotland and one in Germany,” the ministry’s General Directorate for Health (DGS) said in a statement.

I’m going to avoid the self-righteous “well, that’s just efficiency, they’re killing themselves anyway” path.  Addiction is a motherf***er, and I’ve got the nicotine-stained fingers to prove it, and I’m not going to pretend my choice of drug is somehow healthier or less destructive than theirs.

What I’m trying to figure out here is why.  Nobody in the production or distribution chain for the product would have an incentive to do this.  It’d be the most bonehead terrorist scheme ever, and in a world of explosive tighty-whities that’s saying a lot.