Mardi Gras Update: Pour La Joie de Vivre

Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez

Long time Dinah Lord readers know that Dinah has gotten herself invited onto a Mardi Gras float. She will be joining the Krewe of Iris in NOLA this Mardi Gras season in supporting the city and letting the good times roll.

Today, I finalized my travel/hotel arrangements and ordered my throws - which was just under the wire. (as usual) The deadline for ordering is October 8.

My Line Commander, Helen, advised that amateurs like my friend Lady G and I aren't able to throw as well as the regulars therefore we only needed 15 gross of throws to toss on the parade route. (You don't want to have any left over at the end of the route!)

Here's my order:
2 dz IRIS theme beads - metallic

6 dz long white pearls 48"

180 dz Assorted Color Beads 48"

2 dz IRIS Broadway beads

2 dz Special - Iris Long Purple & White Ceramic Beads

20 dz long beads - 12 mm green, purple, gold

2 dz feather leis - purple, green, gold.

10dz IRIS footballs

We also need to purchase a safety belt to strap ourselves on to the float.

More on the rules and regulations and THE BALL, later.

To be continued...

IT IS THE TIME...

Just a quick note before going dark for the move - especially since my laptop has well and truly taken a crap on me (this comes to you from the Lord and Master's keyboard) Everytime I open it up a siren sounds for about two minutes then it boots up normally - the keyboard is still wigging out as before, only worse with more keys involved. So it's become a problem to be addressed on the other end and that means being pc-less for at least three weeks - or more.

To make matters more, a-hem, challenging, my busted wing is back in the form of a pinched nerve with accompanying muscle spasms. This has rendered my left arm useless and me moaning and whimpering in pain. Geez. Like I don't need both arms these days.

Oh, and it just started raining....

Anyways, I wish you all well in my absence and will be joining you again from Denver in a few weeks. Best wishes - Dinah.

Busy dways aroundw the Lordw manse

Blogging will be light this week - movers arrive on Mondway and that means DWinah has got her handws full with her dway job.

To further complicate blogging matters, I'm sure you have noticedw that every time I type a 'dw' a w appears. For example: dwhimmi, dwelinquent,dwawa, dwwarf, dwiscipline, etc.

I couldw go on, but you get my dwrift.

Wish me luck on the move, possums andw keep up the goodw fight against the evil jihadww.

Forget Islamophobia, today's the day for triskaidekaphobia

triskaidekaphobia \tris-ky-dek-uh-FOH-bee-uh\, noun:


A morbid fear of the number 13 or the date Friday the 13th.

Sheik Google.

Just one more reason for me to hate Google: Modern Militant recruits himself.

According to an analysis from the Australian Federal Police counter-terrorism division, presented to a terrorism course in Sydney this week: "These extremists are previously unknown to authorities, exhibit no prior extremist tendencies publicly, do not associate with known extremists and are assimilated into the greater community. From all appearances and actions they are moderate members of society."

Their indoctrination and expertise comes from "Sheik Google" and the world wide web. "To a large extent, the internet has replaced actual training camps as a source of instruction and inspiration for militant Muslims," says the AFP analysis.

Everything they need can be found on the hundreds of extremist websites: how to make bombs, avoid surveillance, achieve physical fitness and justify violence on religious grounds
.
The internet is now "the greatest enabler of teaching, nurturing and sustenance of extremist jihadi ideology".

This was evidenced by recent terrorism raids in Australia, which recovered hundreds of "terabytes" of material - enough to fill several rooms up to the ceiling - downloaded from the internet.

It's sad but true. I hate google and yet, I use it shamelessly and boldly. Even worse - here I am on blogger! (although I've been thinking of moving onto another platform-warning techtard alert.)

Why do I hate Google? 9 times out of 10 I am unable to access Little Green Footballs when I click on an LGF link. Same with Power Line. But let a Jihadi scumbag try and hook up with say - plans for a nuclear bomb and bang! (literally) - they've got it. And I know it's because Google wants it that way.

Why do I use it shamelessly? Unfortunately, it's the only game in town.

I think there will come a time when the Crusaders (that means you and me, white man) will have to come up with an alternative. Until then, I say, Google be damned. Let's take the fight to the enemy using every tool at our disposal.)

And then there's wICKipedia. Sometimes you'll find me playing in that fever swamp.

On a personal note...

Dinah is doing Denver!

Yep. We finally sold our house. Finally.

We've found a place just south of Denver so I am in the throes of that packing thing.

Blogging might be lighter than usual over the next few days. Or I might be going at it like a gerbil on crack. You know my blog addiction is severe.

Anywho - back at it. The jihad never sleeps.

House Members: They have some nerve, don't they?

House Members decide to give themselves a raise.

They must figure their approval rating can't possibly get any lower.

Despite low approval ratings and hard feelings from last year's elections, Democrats and Republicans in the House are reaching out for an approximately $4,400 pay raise that would increase their salaries to almost $170,000.

The cost-of-living raise endorsed Wednesday evening gets lawmakers back on track for automatic pay raises after a fight between the parties last year and again in January killed the pay increase due this year. That was the first interruption of the annual congressional pay boost in seven years.

The blowup came after Democrats last year fulfilled a campaign promise to deny themselves more pay until Congress raised the minimum wage. Delays in the minimum wage bill cost every lawmaker about $3,100 this year.

On a 244-181 vote Wednesday, Democrats and Republicans alike killed a bid by Reps. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, and Lee Terry, R-Neb., to get a direct vote to block the COLA, which is automatically awarded unless lawmakers vote to block it. The Senate has not indicated when it will deal with a similar measure.

As part of an ethics bill in 1989, Congress gave up its ability to accept pay for speeches and made annual cost-of-living pay increases automatic unless the lawmakers voted otherwise.

The annual vote on the pay hike comes on an obscure procedural move - instead of a direct up-or-down vote - and Democratic and GOP leaders each delivered a majority of their members to shut off the move to block the pay hike.

This year's vote was made ticklish by last year's battle. Republicans said Democrats broke a promise not to use the pay raise issue against GOP lawmakers in campaign ads and therefore were, generally speaking, more reluctant to supply votes.

Fairness doctrine in action... Hoyer and Blunt put the arm on House members. Working through Blunt, Hoyer forced twelve (!)Republicans to switch their vote.

The COLA raise is estimated to come in at 2.7% or $4460. The only good news - Dick Cheney gets a raise, too. House leaders and the Supremes will get more $, too.

Like I said, some nerve.

Dinah's darkness...

Sorry to have gone MIA so suddenly, possums. A family emergency requiring a trip to the farm arose rather suddenly and as many of my long time readers know, blogging is difficult from there.

It was good to be away for a few days, nice to be in a place where people not only talk about the price of gas, they also dither over the price of corn. Where they worry about it raining on their hayfields, not their parade and life generally runs at a different pace. Whenever I return to the East Coast, I find I am driving too courteously and I am waaay too courteous at the checkout line.

It is a place where the concept of Islamic terror seems far away. No one there was talking about the JFK plot or the missing soldiers or the war. Must be nice to be able to put your blue state blinders on and just live your life, no? You can see where people of that mindset would be buying John Edwards disgraceful bumper sticker schtick.

Well, I'm not buying it.

Back at it.

D

Blogging will be light for a few days...

Off to the farm to pick up my special niece and her girlfriend. It's going to be a quick trip because we are turning right around and coming back to NYC to do some prom shopping.

Wish me luck and keep fighting the good fight. I will be thanking God every step of the way that we can still shop Macy's, Bloomies and L&T for strapless prom gowns in pretty colors. Not black burkas.

(I do have some posts up this morning over at Maverick.)

Cheers - D

Robo chick

A robot chick (R), Yume Hiyoko (Dream Chick), is placed next to a stuffed chick at a photo opportunity in Tokyo April 5, 2007. The electronic robot chick, launched by Sega Toys, fits in the palm, can make sounds and move its wings at the touch of human hands. The price of the toy is 2,310 Yen and it will be available in domestic the market from April.

Volcano pic

Aerial view taken, near Saint-Philippe in La Reunion island, of lava coming from the Piton de la Fournaise volcano burning vegetation and pouring into the Indian Ocean island.

Photo: Richard Bouhet/AFP/Getty Images

I've always had a thing for volcanoes.

The rumors of my demise are highly exaggerated...

Well, Dinah had an interesting day today.

She came back from the dead.

I kid you not.

I'm terrible about checking my phone messages and I hate talking on the phone so I didn't get around to checking the home phone messages that had accumulated on my machine during my latest road trip til this morning.

Imagine my surprise (and confusion) to find out I had died.

The story that my obituary had been spotted in a SF paper circulated among my old Wall Street buds like wild fire. Ovarian cancer. Shiver.

It was the weirdest thing.

So instead of blogging (or spring cleaning) I spent the morning returning calls to people I hadn't spoken to in years explaining that I was still alive and well.

It was all VERY weird.

I'm still a little weirded out by it.

Rosie, you are really starting to piss me off.

Okay, I know that the show is called The View and I'm all for free speech and all that, but really! Enough is enough.

Tehran Rosie you are becoming a menace to society with your lies and scurrilous accusations. I would bet cash money that you have NEVER EVEN BEEN TO 7 WTC and I sincerely doubt whether you ever even made it to the Twin Towers.

I have.

The company I used to work for had it's head shed at 7 WTC and I spent many an hour there. I can tell you that its close proximity to the Twin Towers made it a sitting duck. Have a couple of 110 story office towers fall down on top of you and see what happens, Rosie pie.

Read Popular Mechanics response to Rosie's ill-informed rant.

And then tell the man that really needs to know what you think about Rosie what YOU think.

robert.a.iger@disney.com

Then go over to MNM and look at a great night time shot of the Towers.

Man, I sure miss them in the skyline.
/rant off

Happy Birthday to me!

Scroll down for stories, possums.

Cheers!

Yo-yo-yo

Dinah's back from her week amongst the moonbats.

You know, I love my friends but sometimes seeing the world through their eyes is just plain frightening. How can they be so unaware of the menace that we are facing? Why do they think their fellow citizens (i.e. anyone not buying into the lib line) are the enemy and then go on to ignore our true foe, the Islamists?

Dinah spins just thinking of it. Thank goodness for being able to lite-blog. It really allowed me to maintain my sanity and my 30 plus year friendship

You know what they say:

Make new friends but keep the old. One is silver, the other gold.

Now, let's go fight some jihadis....

Oops - almost forgot. Hot car sightings while rolling in the Escalade. A vintage Morgan convertible in British racing green, complete with wicker basket strapped on the trunk. A creamy (and dreamy)beige Rolls Royce Silver Spur II. A Jeep Jeepster tucked away in the corner of a three bay gas station garage. It was cherry!

Well, I got my laptop back last night...

The people over at CompUSA barely gave me enough time to turn it on before shoving me and my computer off to the side to wait on the next customer behind me.

So you know what happened.

Got home. It turned on all right. Discovered that I have a problem with a USB device though and can't connect to my wireless network. So something is screwed there. I plugged in my Verizon wireless network card and was able to get online, albeit slowly.

Then after about 20 minutes of pounding the keyboard, the right click button on the mouse froze up. No click-ee, no cut and past-ee. (And you know Dinah lives by the cut and paste.)

To make matters worse, this CompUSA is part of 140 stores that are being closed. They expect to be open for another couple of weeks, or until their deeply-discounted stock runs out. You know they are not in the mood for customer service.

So I'm back upstairs on the slow as molasses, unsafe sex (my virus protection is expired) computer without my bookmarks. I have been posting mostly over at Maverick News Media just because my current technology sitch makes double posting too time consuming.

There's more. I just slaved over a fine follow up ROP kidnapping piece and it completely vanished into the ether...poof.

I think I'm going to take the dogs for a walk.

D.

The sippy cup solution...

Blogging is light this week because Dinah got herself into such a Friday kind of mood she dumped a flute of Veuve Cliquot into the keyboard of her laptop. Right now, she is upstairs on the pc in her office which has no bookmarks, no virus protection and is slow as molasses. Don't know when the laptop will come back from the shop. Hopefully in time for my road trip down into the heart of the south to visit my moonbat friend.

The moral of this story? Don't drink and blog.

The ever-helpful Lord and Master suggested I start drinking from a sippy cup.

Been sidetracked from the jihad by the yen carry kerfluffle and sub prime mortgage meltdown. We sure live in interesting times...