wherever you go, there you are

SunPass' new Mini stickers won't work on motorcycles!

2008-08-11T11:56:00Z

By Michael Turnbell | South Florida Sun-Sentinel

August 11, 2008

Many motorcyclists rejoiced when the $4.99 SunPass Mini windshield stickers debuted on July 1.

Finally, a no-fuss alternative to the box-shaped transponders that are tough to keep from falling off or being stolen, not to mention impossible to shield from the rain.

There's just one problem: The sticker tags don't work on motorcycles.

That's what Gregory Pius of Wellington discovered after he already paid for the tag, filled it with prepaid tolls and stuck it on the windscreen of his BMW motorcycle.

Now he says he can't remove it without damaging the screen's protective coating.

Pius, a technology manager for a local wireless company who loves gadgets, decided to buy a tag because there's no suitable spot to keep the bigger transponder on his motorcycle. Every time he passes through a toll plaza, he has to reach down to pop open his glove box so the transponder can be detected by the SunPass sensors.

Pius did his homework before he made the purchase. He read SunPass' Web site and the paperwork that comes with the tag.

Nothing mentioned motorcycle windscreens won't work.

Turnpike officials acknowledged the mistake last week and said they have taken steps to correct it.

On the SunPass Web site, in red letters under the link for the SunPass Mini, it now says the sticker tags "will only operate when affixed to glass windshields. They are not designed for use on motorcycles."

In order for the sticker tags to work, they must be mounted to a glass windshield. The glass functions as an antenna to amplify signals exchanged between an overhead device and the tag so tolls can be debited electronically.

Packaging for future tags will include a disclaimer about motorcycles. Officials also have contacted motorcycle shops and riders' clubs to help spread the word.

"We will continue to sell what's already in stores," said turnpike spokeswoman Nicole Kalil. "We're telling motorcyclists who may have purchased a Mini to go back to the store where they made the purchase for a refund and a get portable transponder. All of our retailers have been notified that customers may be returning the Minis."

Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties have about 161,000 licensed motorcyclists, according to the state Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Between July 1 and Thursday, the turnpike sold 60,476 Mini tags.

In the meantime, Pius wants the turnpike to pay to replace his windscreen. His dealership says it will cost about $400.

Kalil said SunPass customer service reps are telling people they can remove the tags with Goo Gone, a household cleaner.

But Pius said BMW calls that a bad idea, recommending that only water be used to clean the windscreen.

"There's no way I'm getting this tag off without taking the ultraviolet- and scratch-resistant coatings with it," he said. "I'm going to be left with a SunPass-sized hole on it."

Michael Turnbell can be reached at mturnbell@sun-sentinel.com, 954-356-4155 or 561-243-6550.

Olympic Opening Ceremony

2008-08-09T02:19:24Z

Holy Fucking Batshit!

That was truly awe-inspiring...

Watch out Spring - I'm about to go all right wing... :)

2008-08-07T12:37:10Z

This should be Dubya's Final Speech ...

Normally, I start these things out by saying 'My Fellow Americans.' Not doing it this time. If the polls are any indication, I don't know who more than half of you are anymore. I do know something terrible has happened, and that you're really not fellow Americans any longer.

I'll cut right to the chase here: I quit. Now before anyone gets all in a lather about me quitting to avoid impeachment, or to avoid prosecution or something, let me assure you: There's been no breaking of laws or impeachable offenses in this office.

The reason I'm quitting is simple. I'm fed up with you people. I'm fed up because you have no understanding of what's really going on in the world. Or of what's going on in this once-great nation of ours. And the majority of you are too damned lazy to do your homework and figure it out.
Let's start local. You've been sold a bill of goods by politicians and the news media. Polls show that the majority of you think the economy is in the tank. And that's despite record numbers of homeowners, including record numbers of MINORITY homeowners. And while we're mentioning minorities, I'll point out that minority business ownership is at an all-time high. Our unemployment rate is as low as it ever was during the Clinton administration. I've mentioned all those things before, but it doesn't seem to have sunk in.

Despite the shock to our economy of 9/11, the stock market has rebounded to record levels and more Americans than ever are participating in these markets. Meanwhile, all you can do is whine about gas prices, and most of you are too damn stupid to realize that gas prices are high because there's increased demand in other parts of the world, and because a small handful of noisy idiots are more worried about polar bears and beachfront property than your economic security.

We face real threats in the world. Don't give me this 'blood for oil' thing. If I were trading blood for oil I would've already seized Iraq's oil fields and let the rest of the country go to hell. And don't give me this 'Bush Lied; People Died' crap either. If I were the liar you morons take me for, I could've easily had chemical weapons planted in Iraq so they could be 'discovered.' Instead, I owned up to the fact that the intelligence was faulty.

Let me remind you that the rest of the world thought Saddam had the goods, same as me. Let me also remind you that regime change in Iraq was official US policy before I came into office. Some guy named 'Clinton' established that policy. Bet you didn't know that, did you? Now some of you morons are considering another and more evil Clinton for president !!!! Go figure that one!! She wants to take your kids away and let the 'Whole Village' raise them! i.e. governmental indoctrination .. Look this one up you dumb asses!

The rest of you morons want to be led by a junior senator with no understanding of foreign policy or economics, and this nitwit says we should attack Pakistan, a nucyular ally. And then he wants to go to Iran and make peace with a terrorist who says he's going to destroy us. While he's doing that, he wants to give Iraq to al Qaeda, Afghanistan to the Taliban, Israel to the Palestinians, and your money to the IRS so the government can give welfare to illegal aliens, who he will make into citizens, so they can vote to reelect him. He also thinks it's okay for Iran to have nucyular weapons, and we should stop our foreign aid to Israel. Did you sleep through high school?

You idiots need to understand that we face a unique enemy. Back during the cold war, there were two major competing political and economic models squaring off. We won that war, but we did so because fundamentally, the Communists wanted to survive, just as we do. We were simply able to out spend and out-tech them.

That's not the case this time. The soldiers of our new enemy don't care if they survive. In fact, they want to die. That'd be fine, as long as they weren't also committed to taking as many of you with them as they can. But they are. They want to kill you, and the bastards are all over the globe.

You should be grateful that they haven't gotten any more of us here in the United States since September 11. But you're not. That's because you've got no idea how hard a small number of intelligence, military, law enforcement, and homeland security people have worked to make sure of that. When this whole mess started, I warned you that this would be a long and difficult fight. I'm disappointed how many of you people think a long and difficult fight amounts to a single season of 'Survivor.'

Instead, you've grown impatient. You're incapable of seeing things through the long lens of history, the way our enemies do. You think that wars should last a few months, a few years, tops.

Making matters worse, you actively support those who help the enemy. Every time you buy the New York Times, every time you send a donation to a cut-and-run Democrat's political campaign, well, dang it, you might just as well FedEx a grenade launcher to a Jihadist. It amounts to the same thing.

In this day and age, it's easy enough to find the truth. It's all over the Internet. It just isn't on the pages of the New York Times, USA Today, or on NBC News. But even if it were, I doubt you'd be any smarter. Most of you would rather watch American Idol or Dancing with Stars.

I could say more about your expectations that the government will always be there to bail you out, even if you're too stupid to leave a city that's below sea level and has a hurricane approaching.

I could say more about your insane belief that government, not your own wallet, is where the money comes from. But I've come to the conclusion that were I to do so, it would sail right over your heads.

So I quit. I'm going back to Crawford. I've got an energy-efficient house down there (Al Gore could only dream) and the capability to be fully self-sufficient for years. No one ever heard of Crawford before I got elected, and as soon as I'm done here pretty much no one will ever hear of it again. Maybe I'll be lucky enough to die of old age before the last pillars of America fall.

Oh, and by the way, Cheney's quitting too. That means Pelosi is your new President. You asked for it. Watch what she does carefully, because I still have a glimmer of hope that there are just enough of you remaining who are smart enough to turn this thing around in 2008.

So that's it. God bless what's left of America.

Some of you know what I mean. The rest of you, kiss off.

PS - You might want to start learning Farsi, and buy a Koran.

DOH!

2008-07-15T19:06:41Z

An Arizona man who had just scattered his mother's ashes in the Florida Keys died while snorkeling Sunday, authorities said.

Phillip Viator, 55, of Mesa, Ariz., was found face down in the water at White Bank Dry Rocks, according to the Monroe County Sheriff's Office.

Viator and some family members were on a small fishing boat when they decided to snorkel after scattering his mother's ashes, authorities said.

Viator almost immediately began having trouble breathing, according to the Sheriff's Office. He was face down in the water when relatives reached him.

The Coast Guard took Viator to shore, where he was pronounced dead.

Just one more reason to redo FEMA

2008-07-07T21:45:27Z

BILOXI, Mississippi (CNN) -- Prisons in Mississippi got coffee makers, pillowcases and dinnerware -- all intended for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

The state's Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks took more coffee makers, cleaning supplies and other items.

Plastic containers ended up with the Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration.

Colleges, volunteer fire departments and other agencies received even more.

But the Mississippi hurricane victims who originally were intended to receive the supplies got nothing, a CNN investigation has found. Watch victims tell why they need the items »

"It's scary to know that there are supplies that they are harboring and people [are] in need right now as we speak today," said Sharon Hanshaw, director of Coastal Women for Change, a nonprofit group helping storm victims.

Last month, CNN revealed that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had stored $85 million worth of household items in warehouses for two years. Instead of giving the supplies to victims of the 2005 hurricane, FEMA declared them surplus and gave them all away to federal agencies and 16 states in February.

The state of Louisiana -- the most hard-hit by the storm -- had not asked for any of the supplies, prompting outrage in the community after the original CNN report.

CNN's investigation showed that Mississippi was one of the 16 states that took the FEMA supplies, but it did not distribute them to Katrina victims.

Jim Marler, director of Mississippi's surplus agency, failed to return repeated phone calls over several months to explain what happened.

Agency spokeswoman Kym Wiggins said, "There may be a need, but we were not notified that there was a great need for this particular property."

That doesn't sit well with most aid groups in Mississippi. "You would have to be living under a rock not to know there is still a need," said Cass Woods, the project coordinator of Coastal Women for Change.

Wiggins said that nonprofit organizations must meet federal guidelines and register with the state and that no such groups helping the needy or homeless were registered with Mississippi's surplus agency.

"There is no specific designation outside of a disaster period that says we have to have sustained properties going to the disaster area," Wiggins said.

CNN interviewed the leaders of eight nonprofits helping Katrina victims at a Biloxi, Mississippi, church used as a staging area for community groups. All said they had no idea these items were available, and most had no idea the surplus agency existed.

"We work so hard to help people in our community when the government is holding back stuff that we can use to give people," said Glenda Perryman, director of United Hearts Community Action Agency.

Roberta Avila, director of the Mississippi Coast Interfaith Disaster Task Force, said, "It's needed even more now than right after the storm."

Records show Mississippi's surplus agency received household supplies, including dinnerware sets, towels, shirts, pants, shoes and cleaning items.

Those are the kind of household items that Howard and Gloria Griffith said they could have used since the storm and still need. The Griffiths said they spent every penny to rebuild their home. But they can't afford to finish it, so they're still living in a FEMA trailer on their property in Biloxi with their teenage son.

"I've never seen none of it," said Gloria Griffith after CNN showed her photos of some of the supplies that FEMA had kept in storage.

FEMA said it was costing more than $1 million a year to store the supplies, but officials have not been able to answer why the agency didn't get the supplies to Katrina victims. Both FEMA and the General Services Administration said the items originally were purchased or donated for victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

In the wake of the CNN investigation, a FEMA official said the agency was launching an internal probe into the storage of the household supplies.

Bill Stallworth, executive director of the Hope Coordination Center in Biloxi that helps rehouse Katrina victims, said he's astounded that the supplies were given away. Stallworth and other community leaders said if they had known the FEMA items were available, they would have begged for them.
"And when I hear people stand up and just beat their chest and say we've got everything under control, that's when I just want to slap them upside the head and say, 'Get a grip, get a life,' " said Stallworth, who is also a Biloxi city councilman

The Challenge - as ganked from Spring

2008-06-28T03:35:50Z

The Challenge:

Post 3 things you've done in your lifetime that you don't think anybody else on your friends list has done.
See if anybody else responds with "I've done that." If they have, you need to add another! (2.b., 2.c., etc...)
Have your friends cut & paste this into their journal to see what unique things they've done in their life.

1. Killed a wild boar with a knife.
2. Caught a fish bigger than me.
3. SCUBA at 100'

"Shit, Piss, Fuck, Cunt, CockSucker, MotherFucker, and Tits"

2008-06-23T10:27:52Z

R.I.P. George Carlin

Wow... some liberals DO admit they're full of shit...

2008-05-30T04:32:51Z

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Nc5lHXkrdQ8

It comes courtesy of 12-term Congressman Paul Kanjorski. During a town meeting last August in his Pennsylvania district, Rep. Kanjorski made a remarkable statement about the 2006 election in which Democrats recaptured the majority. Rep. Kanjorski acknowledged that he and his fellow Democrats "sort of stretched the facts" about their intention to end the war in Iraq and bring American troops home.

"We really in this last election, and when I say we, I mean the Democrats... ...we didn't say it but we implied it, that if we won the congressional elections we could stop the war... now anybody who's a good student of government should know it wasn't true... but the temptation to wanna win back the congress, we sorta stretched the facts...

Damn...

2008-03-05T04:05:33Z

Gary Gygax died.

Happy Birthday Corsair!

2008-03-03T02:26:28Z

In truth I haven't been on in a few days and so I missed it...

BUT... I am postdating this so maybe you won't notice.

She's F***ing Matt Damon!

2008-02-02T13:53:34Z

LINKY

_ironcat_ @ 2008-01-26T19:00:00

2008-01-27T00:00:50Z

Cloverfield sucked!

2008-01-21T23:28:58Z

That is all...

Killed me a bar!

2008-01-16T13:23:33Z

Okay, I didn't... but I did scare a couple of kids. :)

Now, I have met these kids... on 3 or 4 separate occasions... they even walked around my neighborhood with me on Halloween. But the beauty of a child's blissful ignorance has never served me so well.
I was at school picking up my yongest daughter (the one who is costing me a summer trip to Disney due to her damn straight A's) the other day and waiting in the parent pick up line.
A few kids were standing there and kicking around something that looked like a hacky sack made out of a Capri Sun packet and it accidentally hit the bumper of my van.
So, I rolled down the window and said "Hey" merely to shock them into playing somewhere else but 'younger son' respectfully comes over and looks in my window.
"Yes", he asks... and I can see that he has not got a clue as to who I am.
So I say, "If you hit my van again, we're gonna have a problem... especially since I know your Mom".
He looks closer and I couldn't tell if a light dawned there or not but he quickly mumbled "sorry" and went off to play somewhere else. Case closed.
...or so I thought...
'Older son' quickly stepped up to the defense of his sibling. "You don't know his Mom", he says, quite confident that I don't know his Mom, don't know they are brothers and I am merely one of those parents bluffing through life. Unfortunately, all 3 assumptions were wrong.
"Really?" I ask, thinking surely he would recognize me NOW, he's friggin' 2 feet away from me, staring into my window. He's gotta know me.
"Okay", he says, "If you know his Mom, what's her name?"
I stare at him and calmly say "Spring".
The look on his face was priceless and he merely says "Oh" and hurries away to find his brother.

So I watched the debates...

2007-12-03T23:56:46Z

I watched part of it the other night and had to wait for the encore to TiVo it so I could finish.

My new favorite is Mitt Romney.

Second place is a tie between Huckabee and Hunter ... but I am thinking Huckabee has a slight edge.

Thompson is very closely next. So whichever one wins my second place vote will be tied with him.

Giuliani just looks like he is lying. He looks like someone trying to hide something.

McCain is a joke.

Ron Paul is a nut job whacko.

That is all.

"Some people say that there's a woman to blame... but I know... it's my own damn fault"

2007-11-30T15:28:00Z

Okay, so "Some people say that there's a woman to blame... but I know... it's my own damn fault" is actually a line from Margaritaville by Jimmy Buffet, and while I love the song, this post has nothing to do with Margaritas, or even good old Jim.

I planned this awesome canoe trip / buddy hang out day. We were all gonna go out and enjoy the Florida sunshine, and canoe down the Lozahatchee, see Florida the way it used to be. But some people couldn't make it on this day, some people couldn't go on that day, etc, etc, etc... believe me, planning anything major with my geek posse is like herding cats.

Anyway, we moved it around, and finally got a good day, when a decent amount of people could and would commit to the trip. Some people were even bringing more poeople who fell by the wayside as the day approached but even at the last minute, we still had a couple of carloads.

* Strike 1 : My Father-In-Law got sick... really really sick... so I had to do the grown up thing and bow out to handle the realities of life instead of hanging out.

* Strike 2 : Well, some of the geek posse don't always see eye to eye, and 2 of the major players in that little non eye to eyeness were among the participants... without me as a buffer, one of them bowed out. Didn't give a reason but that's what it was.

* Strike 3 : Another of our circle has been sick lately, yukky feel horrible grouchy sick, and although well on his way to recovery, he still wasn't at 100% and then his better half decided to catch whatever germs he had been tossing around. 2 more gone.

* Strike 4 : (aren't there only supposed to be 3?) So another geek gone, one of them had wrist trouble... not a good thing when you're planning on canoeing all day, so he dropped... and then his other half (who had really only been coming to hang out and not to canoe) said that she wasn't gonna come without him, so that's one more gone...

At this point there are 3 people and a possible guest still planning on going and I imagine that I will be getting their cancellation emails at any minute. Everyone had very good, very real, and very grown-up reasons for bowing out but I still feel like it's "my own damn fault".

Stolen from Slavewench

2007-11-29T03:28:48Z

I deleted the N/A questions.

1. Where were you at 3:02 AM this morning?
Asleep and hoping that the boy didn't wake up so I could continue sleeping.

2. What was the first thing you thought this morning?
I need to pee.

3. Is the person you like older or younger than you?
Younger... older... hell, I like lots of people.

4. What did you do last night?
Made dinner, took the boy outside to see some Christmas lights, went to bed early.

5. What do you hope to do this weekend?
Have a grand old time canoeing the Loxahatchee River with some friends.

6. Do you think you will be in a relationship 3 months from now?
Yes.

7. What song are you listening to?
Andreas Vollenweider - Hall of the Mosaics

8. Have you ever told someone of the preferred sex you loved them and meant it?
Yes

9. How's your heart lately?
Not bad.

10. What were you doin at 7 a.m?
Watching Teletubbies and planning my day's errands.

11. What were you doing this afternoon at 12 p.m.?
Napping.

12. Are there any previous relationships you wish could have lasted longer?
Sure, doesn't everyone?

13. What was the reason you last cried:
Baby stress

15. What was the last movie you saw in theatres?
Mr. Magorium. It was so bad it made my spleen hurt!

16. How did you meet the 3rd person on your LJ?
I haven't ... At least, I don't think I have. My 3rd person is Bunny42 who sometimes replies to Corsair2's posts. I like some of what Bunny says so I added her... I assume it's a her with a name like Bunny.

17. How old is he/she?
No idea.

18. Name the 3 bests out of your bestfriends:
Umm yeah, no. For some reason my circle of friends has gotten into the habit of using pseudonyms to talk about each other online.
I will say that I would trust my friends behind me with a loaded gun. Is that best enough?

19. Have you ever talked to someone when they were high?
Yup.

20. How many red lights have you ran?
Probably more than I have had birthdays.

21. Have you ever cried while in the shower?
Not that I remember. I am not saying it never happened, just that I don't remember it.

25. Have you ever, in anyway, been betrayed by someone you trusted?
Yes.

27. Is there anything that you are craving right now?
Yes.

28. Are you in a relationship?
Yes.

29. Do people ever make stupid mistakes when spelling or saying your name?
A comes before E in the alphabet and A comes before E in MICHAEL... idiots...

31. Do you drink tea?
Why yes, thank you for asking... hot and cold

32. When was the last time you saw a cop?
Everyday! They actually drive around my town in fancy cars wit lights on top.

33. Did you ride in someone else's car today?
No

34. Do you wet the toothbrush before the toothpaste?
Yes.

35. Does someone like you?
I hope lots of people like me... oh you mean LIKE, LIKE... ummm yes.

36. What do you like on your toast?
Dripping with butter and melted gooey peanut butter

37. Where do you like to keep your money?
Unfortunately, I am not very good at keeping money anywhere.

38. Do you watch the news daily?
No, but I do drive-bys online

39. Do you have over 150 LJ friends?
No, i probalby have like 6 or 7... want me to look? 10 people and 4 SCUBA groups

40. Do you like to press the coin return button on everything for free money?
hell yeah!

42. Do you clean when you’re upset?
Ummm... no. I barely clean when I am in a cleaning mood.

44. What day of the week did/will your birthday fall on this year?
It was a Friday the 13th

45. Are you wearing socks?
Now? No.

46. Would you ever dye your hair blonde?
Not since the late 80s.

48. Have you ever seen “Walk the Line”?
Nope.

49. Do you still get easter baskets?
Yeah, and they better have black jellybeans or the bunny gets it!

50. When was the last time it snowed?
Here? ummmm... 76 or 77 I think

51. Are puddles the best part about rain?
No I like the dirt smell when the rain is washing everything clean, and then when it's over you don't smell anything.

52. What’s the closest pink thing to you?
A stuffed elephant

53. Do you have plans for tonight?
Going to bed as soon as I finish this damn list of questions.

54. Are you wearing anything you borrowed from someone?
Nope.

55. Do you know anybody named Eric?
I know 2 Erics

57. Are sunsets romantic?
No but they are pretty.

58. Have any cool scars?
Nope, just got scar scars.

59. Do you know anyone with Alzheimer’s?
No.

60. Can you sing all the RENT songs by heart?
I can't sing ANY of the RENT songs by heart.

61. Have any gay/lesbian/bi friends?
Yes.

62. Red or green apples?
Red. Honeycrisps are the best with Braeburns a close second.

63. Do you know anyone who’s pregnant?
No.

64. Can you make brownies without having to look at the directions?
Nope.

65. Do you like Juicy Fruit gum?
I love it but she's right... the flavor goes away too fast.

66. Are crayons better than colored pencils?
Actually I like colored rapidograph pens.

67. Do you have hairspray in your hair?
Hell no. My hair is like1/2 inch long.

68. What room are you in?
The office.

69. What were you doing at 9:23 this morning?
Playing with the boy at the park.

70. Have you brushed your teeth yet today?
Yes. A couple of times.

71. When's the last time you ran?
I don't remember.

72. Do your jeans have rips, tears, and holes in them?
Nope.

73. What are you wearing?
A baggy pair of basketball shorts for sleepin'

74. Can you dance?
I like to think so.

75.Do you get the full 8 hours of sleep a night?
No. I get up several times a night. Either the boy is crying or I wake up waiting for the boy to cry.

76. Do you own a pair of Converse?
Never have, never will.

77.Could you live without a computer?
Sure, why not? Well, okay maybe... ummm, I think so.

78. Is anyone on your bad side now?
Yes.

79. What jewelry are you wearing?
A ring

80. Do you watch Grey's Anatomy?
No.

81. How many pairs of shoes do you own?
Ummm.. I don't know. Over a dozen but I only ever wear my Crocs.

82. What service is your cell phone?
ATT

83. Ever been to Georgia?
Yup.

84. Do you watch movies with your parents?
Nope.

85. Do you go online every day?
Unless the cable is down.

86. Do you enjoy your personality?
Less than I used to, but yes.

Good Eats Turkey

2007-11-16T02:21:43Z

Inspired by another LJ'er, I am posting my favorite all time turkey day turkey recipe.
Alton Brown made it on Good Eats and it looked good, so I decided to try it.
I was fortunate enough to be working in a butcher shop at the time so I had access to both A: a 38 pound turkey, and B: a walk in cooler where I could store my brining project.

The turkey was literally as big around as me and I had to buy a rubbermaid tote to brine it in. I doubled this recipe and it was friggin amazing! People that don't like turkey were eating seconds...
I added some helpful directions about the turkey tent.

1 (14 to 16 pound) frozen young turkey

For the brine:

1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 gallon vegetable stock
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1/2 tablespoon allspice berries
1/2 tablespoon candied ginger
1 gallon iced water
For the aromatics:
1 red apple, sliced
1/2 onion, sliced
1 cinnamon stick
1 cup water
4 sprigs rosemary
6 leaves sage
Canola oil

1 turkey tent
( Take a double layer of aluminum foil roughly folded to a triangle and lay it over your turkey breast, now shape and mold it to your turkey, this will be a tent later to keep the breast from drying out. )

Combine all brine ingredients, except ice water, in a stockpot, and bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve solids, then remove from heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.

Early on the day of cooking, (or late the night before) combine the brine and ice water in a clean 5-gallon bucket. Place thawed turkey breast side down in brine, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area (like a basement) for 6 hours. Turn turkey over once, half way through brining.

A few minutes before roasting, heat oven to 500 degrees. Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes.

Remove bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard brine.

Place bird on roasting rack inside wide, low pan and pat dry with paper towels. Add steeped aromatics to cavity along with rosemary and sage. Tuck back wings and coat whole bird liberally with canola (or other neutral) oil.

Roast on lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees F. for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cover breast with turkey tent, insert probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and return to oven, reducing temperature to 350 degrees F. Set thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees. A 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. Let turkey rest, loosely covered for 15 minutes before carving.

25 pictures taken at just the right time...

2007-11-10T05:36:23Z

Pretty Cool!

There are some comments on there that say some of the images are fake but it doesn't change how cool they look... they is just cool fakes!

Hey Al Gore... we want a refund!

2007-10-21T04:42:17Z

A British judge ruled on the eve of Al Gore co-winning the Nobel Peace Prize that students forced to watch "An Inconvenient Truth" must be warned of the film’s factual errors. But would there be any science at all left in Gore’s "truth" if these errors and their progeny were excised?

Minutes of non-science filler dominate the opening sequence — images of the Gore farm, Earth from space, Gore giving his slideshow and the 2000 election controversy. Gore then links Hurricane Katrina with global warming. But the judge ruled that was erroneous, so the Katrina scenes would wind up on the cutting-room floor.

Another 12 minutes of filler go by — images of Gore in his limo, more Earth photos, a Mark Twain quote, and Gore memories — until about the 16:30 minute mark, when, according to the judge, Al Gore erroneously links receding glaciers — specifically Mt. Kilimanjaro — with global warming.

The Mt. Kilimanjaro error commences an almost 10-minute stretch of problematic footage, the bulk of which contains Gore’s presentation of the crucial issue in the global warming controversy — whether increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide drive global temperatures higher. As the judge ruled that the Antarctic ice core data presented in the film "do not establish what Mr. Gore asserts," this inconvenient untruth also needs to go. [Note to readers: A video debate between Al Gore and climatologists on this point produced by me can be viewed by clicking here.]

After still more filler footage about Winston Churchill, the 2000 election, and rising insurance claims from natural disasters, Gore spends about 35 seconds on how the drying of Lake Chad is due to global warming. The judge ruled that this claim wasn’t supported by the scientific evidence.

More filler leads to a 30-second clip about how global warming is causing polar bears to drown because they have to swim greater distances to find sea ice on which to rest. The judge ruled however, that the polar bears in question had actually drowned because of a particularly violent storm.

On the heels of that error, Gore launches into a 3-minute "explanation" of how global warming will shut down the Gulf Stream and send Europe into an ice age. The judge ruled that this was an impossibility.

Two minutes of ominous footage — casting Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush, and Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) in a creepy light and expressing Gore’s frustration with getting his alarmist message out — precede a more-than-9-minute stretch that would need to be cut.

In this lengthy footage, Gore again tries to link global warming with discrete events including coral reef bleaching, the melting of Greenland, catastrophic sea level rise, Antarctic melting and more. But like Hurricane Katrina, these events also shouldn’t be linked with global warming.

Based on the judge’s ruling, the footage that ought to be excised adds up to about 25 minutes or so out of the 98-minute film. What’s left is largely Gore personal drama and cinematic fluff that has nothing to do with the science of climate change.

It should also be pointed out that Gore makes other notable factual misstatements in the film that don’t help his or his film’s credibility.

He says in the film that polio has been "cured," implying that we can cure "global warming." While a preventative polio vaccine does exist, there is no "cure" for polio.

Gore attempts to smear his critics by likening them to the tobacco industry. In spotlighting a magazine advertisement proclaiming that "more doctors smoke Camel than any other brand," he states that the ad was published after the Surgeon General’s 1964 report on smoking and lung cancer. But the ad is actually from 1947 — 17 years before the report.

Gore also says in the film that 2005 is the hottest year on record. But NASA data actually show that 1934 was the hottest year on record in the U.S. — 2005 is not even in the top 10.

Perhaps worse than the film’s errors is their origin. The BBC reported that Gore knew the film presented incorrect information but took no corrective steps because he didn’t want to spotlight any uncertainties in the scientific data that may fuel opponents of global warming alarmism.

"An Inconvenient Truth" grossed about $50 million at the box office and millions more in DVD and book sales. Gore charges as much as $175,000 for an in-person presentation of his slide show that forms the basis for the film.

Considering that a key 25 percent of "An Inconvenient Truth" is not true — and perhaps intentionally so — it seems only fair that Gore offer a refund to moviegoers, DVD/book purchasers and speaking sponsors. Where are the class action lawyers when you need them?

American Idiot

2007-10-17T18:52:40Z

An Air America talk-show host who accused "the right wing hate machine" of being responsible for an alleged attack on an on-air colleague did a fast backpedal Tuesday, apologizing for "jumping to conclusions" about a now-debunked mugging report.

Host Jon Elliott issued a written retraction of his remarkable on-air charge, saying: "I shouldn't have speculated based on hearsay that Randi Rhodes had been mugged and that it may have been an attack from a right wing hate machine. I apologize for jumping to conclusions based on an emotional reaction."

Air America also issued a statement, saying Rhodes "experienced an unfortunate incident hindering her from hosting the show. The reports of a presumed hate crime are unfounded."

Elliott's initial claim that Rhodes had been beaten "by the right wing" for her political views set the blogosphere abuzz Monday night.

Rhodes, whose program airs on Air America weekdays from 3-6 p.m. ET, allegedly informed Air America that she was struck while was walking down a street Sunday night near her Manhattan home. There even was a report on-air that she had suffered serious injuries and had lost several teeth.

FOXNews.com, however, spoke to Rhodes' lawyer Tuesday afternoon, and he quickly moved to shoot down speculation that she was the victim of a political hate crime.

"We don't know whether there was a deliberate intention aimed at her or whether it was an accident... she was pretty much, she was hurt badly when she fell and her face hit the ground," lawyer Robert Gaulin initially told FOXNews.com, adding that people on the street came to her aid. Gaulin later told the Daily News that Rhodes had fallen while out walking her dog near Park Avenue and 39th Street.

Elliott, meanwhile, went on a rant Monday night, telling listeners: "This does not appear to me to be a standard, grab-the-money-and-run mugging," and, "Is this an attempt by the right wing hate machine to silence one of our own?" Elliot also suggested that the act might have been meant to intimidate left-wing radio.

The report spread quickly Tuesday over the blogosphere, with the Google blog search showing hundreds of posts on the subject.

The New York City Police Department told FOXNews.com that they had no record of any attack in the area that Elliott mentioned — Park Avenue and 39th Street — and that Rhodes did not file a report of the incident with police.

"We have no record of her making any complaints whatsoever ... as far back as my computer goes," a police spokesman said. He said the records went back roughly 25 years.

The police spokesman, who asked not to be identified because of department policy, said that police "do not investigate things that are unreported," but encouraged Rhodes to report the incident if she would like police to investigate the matter. Police later attempted to contact Rhodes to see whether she wanted to file a report. Gaulin said Rhodes declined.

In a brief statement posted on its Web site Tuesday, Air America said replacement hosts will continue to fill in for Rhodes as she recuperates.

An Air America employee, who was not authorized to speak to the media and declined to be identified, told FOXNews.com Tuesday afternoon that Rhodes had been attacked, but said "it was not a hate crime."

The source said that Rhodes contacted several employees at Air America on Tuesday, and had told them that she was attacked but had only suffered chipped teeth, and would be seeing a dentist. Gaulin, however, said that Rhodes had been disoriented by the fall and really was not sure what had happened.

Holey Cow - Junior High!

2007-08-19T03:26:09Z

So I got to go to an open house today to get all the paperwork for my youngest daughter, entering 6th grade this year.
It was a mite hectic.

I saw another LJ'er there but both of us were too busy to say hi and then I left before I saw her again.

Hybrid with 'tude

2007-07-25T11:44:18Z

Porsche puts hybrids in the fast lane
New Cayenne SUV can cruise at 70 mph on the electric motor, far faster than existing models.

July 24 2007: 6:01 PM EDT

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Porsche said Tuesday a new prototype SUV hybrid will be capable of cruising at speeds up to 70 miles an hour on the electric engine alone, far faster than existing hybrids.

The hybrid version of the popular Cayenne SUV, expected to hit showrooms in the next two or three years, can't reach 70 miles per hour without the traditional engine, but once it gets there it can cruise at 70 without the need for gasoline.

The result is a vehicle that's 25 percent more efficient than current models and can cruise considerably faster than the current 40 mph top cruising speed of the hybrid Toyota Camry.

"If Porsche was going to do a hybrid, it makes sense to do it from a performance standpoint," said company spokesman Tony Fouladpour.

The hybrid Cayenne, Porsche's first foray into the hybrid market, uses a single transmission to power both the electric motor and gasoline motor, which is partly responsible for the increased performance, said Fouladpour.

It's expected to be in the same general price range as the basic Cayenne, which starts at $44,000

Epilogue : Nineteen Years Later

2007-07-16T11:15:00Z

I saw Harry Potter

2007-07-15T15:50:05Z

What a horrible, suckass, waste of 8 bucks.

Granted it was not the best HP book anyway, but still the movie hardly did it justice.
At least with the other Potter films they could stand alone as a decent fantasy film, not so with this one.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I give it a 3