Bush Celebrates the End of Another February in Office

Get well soon, Gilly!

Steve Gilliard is in the hospital and can use your good thoughts and wishes for a speedy recovery.

Saturday Morning Nature Blogging

Chimps observed making spears:

Chimpanzees living on the West African savanna have been observed fashioning spears from sticks and using them to hunt small mammals — the first routine production of deadly weapons observed in animals other than humans.

The chimps were repeatedly seen using their hands and teeth to tear the side branches off long straight sticks and peeling back the bark and sharpening one end of the sticks with their teeth, the researchers report in Thursday's online issue of the journal Current Biology. Then, grasping the weapon in a "power grip," they jabbed into tree-branch hollows where bush babies — small monkey-like mammals — sleep during the day.

Hunting chimps may change view of human evolution:

Chimpanzees have been seen using spears to hunt bush babies, U.S. researchers said Thursday in a study that demonstrates a whole new level of tool use and planning by our closest living relatives.

Perhaps even more intriguing, it was only the females who fashioned and used the wooden spears, Jill Pruetz and Paco Bertolani of Iowa State University reported.

(NOTE: Fox News attempts to promote fear of course!)
Killer Chimps Make Spears, Hunt Bushbabies:

After their attacks, the chimps sniffed or licked their weapons, as if to see whether or not they shed blood.

"I was flabbergasted," Pruetz said.

Friday Night Jazz Blogging

Jimmy Smith: Who's Afraid Of Virginia Wolf

Bush Being Prepped for a Speech

Prior to Bush's escalation speech and his State of the Union Address there were many news stories regarding his preparations and rehearsing including extended stays at his Crawford ranch and Camp David. The only thing Bush ever does is give speeches. So, I was wondering just what sort of preparation he requires and this is what I discovered.

(cross posted at Daily Kos)

Saturday Morning Nature Blogging

Many years ago, long before the Birch Aquarium, I worked for the Scripps Aquarium at Scripps Institute of Oceanography, UCSD. One day, I had to transfer a giant octopus from one tank to another. This involved lowering the water level in the first tank allowing easier access to collect the octopus by reducing the free area for it to move around and simplify prying its tentacles off of anything it would grasp to resist capture, including the walls and glass of the tank. Did I forget to mention this was done barehanded? I would have been much more concerned about this task if I knew it could do this:

Friday Night Jazz Blogging

Quincy Jones: Secret Garden

Featuring El DeBarge, Barry White, Al B Sure, and James Ingram

"What did you learn in the war, DinStL?" (meta)

Someone asked me about last week, "Hey DinStL, do you know about the meta war? What was it all about?"

So, here is what I told them I had learned in the war.

Markos




is a benevolent,




blog dictator












who works for the CIA






where he met Anna Nicole Smith










and became the father of her daughter.














MSOC



is the holy blog mother



of the suffragettes,












who is now dating John Gibson, but once



she and Markos had a kid in Oakland.












Markos, Atrios, Aravosis, and Bowers



became the Big Boys who now






guard the gates to the Internet tubes,












hold the A, B, C, D and E passes






to the the Wonderful World of Blogging,










and they all are father to Anna Nicole Smith's daughter.



Their complete story is told in the box office hit documentary:







And that's what I learned during the meta war.

(Cross posted at Daily Kos)

Happy Birthday, Charlie!

Celebrate Charles Darwin's birthday by visiting the The Friends of Charles Darwin.

Charlie Is My Darwin
by Torn Rubbers

'Twas in the year of 'fifty-nine
That Charlie told it clear:
'Tis nought but chance selection, boys,
The reason we are here, oh

Chorus:
Charlie is my Darwin, my Darwin, my Darwin,
Charlie is my Darwin,
Our one great pioneer.

He sailed the oceans of the Earth
To countries far and near,
He spent his youth in search of truth
A-followin' his idea, oh

(Charlie is my Darwin etc.)

Although he'd borne the church's scorn,
He faced 'em without fear.
He spent his wealth and risked his health
To share his Big Idea, oh

(Charlie is my Darwin etc.)

And poor old Bishop Wilberforce
So foolish did appear:
With Huxley's guile and Hooker's smile
They raised a mighty cheer, oh

(Charlie is my Darwin etc.)

There's poor Lamarck, way off the mark,
And Wallace went astray,
Then Mendel's beans and talk of genes
Saw Charlie win the day, oh

(Charlie is my Darwin etc.)

There's Dawkins, Gould and Lewontin
Still arguing the toss,
But none of them would yet deny
That Charlie's still the boss, oh

(Charlie is my Darwin etc.)

White House Interferes with Historical Time Line Once Too Many

The Bush Administration has repeatedly attempted to rewrite history through White House obfuscation, spin and outright lies. This is having an accumalative effect on the historical time line, which if it continues without correction will have cataclysmic results (Yes, even worse than now).

Follow me through the documented evidence presented of White House interference, the historical record and how to correct the dilemma.

NOTE: All images are either public domain, most having been released by the White House, or qualify for fair parody use. They are work and child safe as long as you consider viewing images of Bush Administration officials 'safe'. All pictures link to transcripts, news articles with quotes or videos.

Part One - The Course

Interference:


History:




Part Two - The Relationship

Interference:


History:




Part Three - The Confirmation

Interference:



History:




Part 4 - The Threat

Interference:



History:



Interference:



History:




Part 5 - The Connection

Interference:



History:




Part 6 - Don't Think

Interference:



History:



Interference:



History:




Part 7 - Thanking God

Interference:



History:




Part 8 - No Plans

Interference:


History:





Conclusion - Correcting the Time Line

Interference?



Correction:



Sign the petition to Draft Gore!
Sign the petition to Draft Gore!
Sign the petition to Draft Gore!
Sign the petition to Draft Gore!

(Cross posted at Daily Kos)

Post 1/31 (ATHF) - DHS Advisory System

Friday Night Jazz Blogging

John Coltrane: My Favourite Things

Dirty Mouth?

Matthews drops the F-bomb.

Tweety needs some

Badges?

Badges? We ain't got no badges! We don't need no badges! I don't have to show you any stinking badges!

(Something created for a diary comment/request at Daily Kos)

The Continuing Saga of Bush/Cheney Lies in the March to War

U.S. can't prove Iran link to Iraq strife (LA Times):

Bush administration officials acknowledged Friday that they had yet to compile evidence strong enough to back up publicly their claims that Iran is fomenting violence against U.S. troops in Iraq.

Administration officials have long complained that Iran was supplying Shiite Muslim militants with lethal explosives and other materiel used to kill U.S. military personnel. But despite several pledges to make the evidence public, the administration has twice postponed the release — most recently, a briefing by military officials scheduled for last Tuesday in Baghdad.
...
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates seemed to concede Friday that U.S. officials can't say for sure whether the Iranian government is involved in assisting the attacks on U.S. personnel in Iraq.

"I don't know that we know the answer to that question," Gates said.
...
Hadley also said that the administration sought to delay the release of evidence until after a key intelligence report on Iraq was unveiled, so that Americans could place the evidence in the context of the broader conflict.

That report, called a National Intelligence Estimate, was issued Friday, concluding that Iraq was deteriorating and faces a bleak future that U.S. efforts may do little to avert.

However, the report tends to downplay the role of Iran and Syria, another target of U.S. criticism, in fomenting sectarian violence, while acknowledging that Iranian involvement "intensifies" the conflict.

"The involvement of these outside actors is not likely to be a major driver of violence or the prospects for stability because of the self-sustaining character of Iraq's internal sectarian dynamics," says the report, compiled by experts from the nation's 16 intelligence agencies.
...
So far, the U.S. government has provided scant evidence that the government of Iran is directly supporting militant Shiite groups.
...
In a major speech on Iraq last month, Bush accused Iran of "providing material support for attacks on American troops" and vowed to "seek out and destroy" weapon transport networks.

Since then, Air Force officials have said they are planning new missions that could include flights along the Iran-Iraq border aimed at disrupting weapons shipments.

Iranian officials challenged the Americans to produce evidence of their charges, and Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, pledged last week to do so.

Pnw3d by ATHF