It’s been a hard week so far. We have worked and slaved…what do you mean it’s only Monday? Huh-oh. In that case, I declare it to be time for some fun. Help us out here with some funny pictures or videos. Cheer a Treeper up.
The fear of Friday the 13th is called friggatriskaidekaphobia (Frigga being the name of the Norse goddess for whom “Friday” is named andtriskaidekaphobia meaning fear of the number thirteen), or paraskevidekatriaphobia[1][2] a concatenation of the Greek words Paraskeví(Παρασκευή, meaning “Friday”), and dekatreís (δεκατρείς, meaning “thirteen”) attached to phobía (φοβία, from phóbos, φόβος, meaning “fear”). The latter word was derived in 1911[citation needed] and first appeared in a mainstream source in 1953.
Copied that right out of Wikipedia, lest you be impressed with the title. Any month’s 13th day will fall on Friday if the month starts on Sunday. (more…)
Police officers were informed of the baby’s plight after protesters at the McPherson Square camp heard her crying at 10am yesterday.
Demonstrator Mark Scott found the girl alone in a tent and, with the help of other Occupy DC protesters, wrapped her up in a blanket and called police. (more…)
 I get tired of all the mail stating the President hasn’t accomplished anything.An impressive list of accomplishments! · First President to apply for college aid as a foreign student, then deny he was a foreigner. · First President to have a social security number from a state he has never lived in. · First President to preside over a cut to the credit-rating of the United States · First President to violate the War Powers Act. . · First President to be held in contempt of court for illegally obstructing oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico . · First President to defy a Federal Judge’s court order to cease implementing the Health Care Reform Law. · First President to require all Americans to purchase a product from a third party. · First President to spend a trillion dollars on ‘shovel-ready’ jobs when there was no such thing as ‘shovel-ready’ jobs. · First President to abrogate bankruptcy law to turn over control of companies to his union supporters. · First President to by-pass Congress and implement the Dream Act through executive fiat. . · First President to order a secret amnesty program that stopped the deportation of illegal immigrants across the U.S. , including those with criminal convictions. · First President to demand a company hand-over $20 billion to one of his political appointees. · First President to terminate America ’s ability to put a man in space. · First President to have a law signed by an auto-pen without being present. · First President to arbitrarily declare an existing law unconstitutional and refuse to enforce it. · First President to threaten insurance companies if they publicly spoke-out on the reasons for their rate increases. · First President to tell a major manufacturing company in which state it is allowed to locate a factory. · First President to file lawsuits against the states he swore an oath to protect (AZ, WI, OH, IN). · First President to withdraw an existing coal permit that had been properly issued years ago. · First President to fire an inspector general of Ameri-corps for catching one of his friends in a corruption case. · First President to appoint 45 czars to replace elected officials in his office. . · First President to golf 73 separate times in his first two and a half years in office, 90 to date. · First President to hide his medical, educational and travel records. · First President to win a Nobel Peace Prize for doing NOTHING to earn it. · First President to go on multiple global ‘apology tours’. · First President to go on 17 lavish vacations, including date nights and Wednesday evening White House parties for his friends; paid for by the taxpayer. · First President to have 22 personal servants (taxpayer funded) for his wife. · First President to keep a dog trainer on retainer for $102,000 a year at taxpayer expense. · First President to repeat the Holy Qur’an tells us the early morning call of the Azan (Islamic call to worship) is the most beautiful sound on earth. · First President to take a 17 day vacation. So how is this hope and change working out for you? |
Michelle Hart just posted this comment on the Bumper Sticker thread, and I thought it was worthy of it’s own thread, so here you go, with thanks to Michelle.
Checking out at the supermarket recently, the young cashier suggested I should bring my own bags because plastic bags weren’t good for the environment. I apologised and explained, “We didn’t have this green thing back in my earlier days”. the cashier responded, “That’s our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to… save our environment for future generations”.
She was right about one thing–our generation didn’t have the green thing in “Our” day. So what did we have back then? After some reflection and soul-searching on “Our” day here’s what I remembered we did have…. (more…)
Here is a story from my old hometown, Chattanooga, TN about a church downtown and the battles between the church, it’s pastor, and the city government. The church operates Club Fathom, a youth outreach program. Many in the city view it as a club and not an outreach program at all. There is a history of violence there dating back to at least 2006. Many feel that the church is a nuisance, but others feel that it is not easy for the young to escape gangs, that unless they receive the help they need, in spite of repercussions from active gang members, they cannot be saved, that the church and pastor are courageously attempting to offer a hand up to youth in need. As the article states, “The establishment’s history includes fights, shootings, and stabbings.” Nine people were shot here Christmas morning. The church is moving out of the building they occupy and it is unclear whether services will continue in another location. Complicating the issue further, this is taking part in an area of Chattanooga undergoing so-called “gentrification” so some people feel this is an attempt to keep these people out of an area based on racial and social concerns.
From The Times Free Press. A Christmas morning shooting that injured nine people is further evidence that the downtown club where the brawl began is a public nuisance that should be dealt with quickly, city officials said Monday.
Club Fathom has a long history of teen violence dating back to at least 2006 and has faced city ire in the past.
“This place has consistently been a problem and the owners are not addressing the problem,” city spokesman Richard Beeland said. “We are talking to the city attorney to see what our options are.” (more…)
From The New York Times. Thirteen Iranians whose fishing vessel had been seized by pirates in November were rescued by the United States Navy in the North Arabian Sea,the Pentagon announced on Friday. The pirates, who surrendered without a fight, were detained aboard the aircraft carrier John C. Stennis, the military said, adding that the Iranians were on their way home. (more…)
We had lots of fun yesterday with the English language (and a little French, Italian, and German thrown in to boot). Several of you brought up some unusual town names. Being the victim of boredom that I am, this interested me, because I had been thinking of a little area not too far away called Scratch Ankle Hollow. If this were yesterday’s thread, I would make note to all of you that hollow is correctly pronounced holler. Everybody around these parts knows that, the rest of you, maybe not so much. Anyhow, back to the topic. I have spent a little time checking out some unique names. I will list a few of my favorites here, and hope you will all join in. Let’s not restrict it to just a town, you need to include the hollers as well. More fun that way. (more…)
We Treepeers seem to have a thing for vocabulary, proper word usage, and etymology, from Pat’s pet peeves about homonyms (try saying that 3 times), to the etymology expertise (amateur he says) from the famed Chupacabra Language Institute & Highway 80 Sportsbar. Here is an offering from a post by Mr. Chupacabra from yesterday. Oh, dear, I am not sure if that should be Dr. Chupacabra, or perhaps E. Chupacabra, Esq.
Factoid from the Chupacabra Language Institute & Hiway-80 Sports Bar: The term “bedlam” came to us from London, via the Old Bedlam Insane Asylum. Back in the 1800s, the poor folks would give the keeper a few pennies, and they would stir up the poor mental patients for the amusement of the onlookers. The noise soon came into London households in the form of a mother’s reproach to noisy children. She’d say to children, “Quite! It sounds like Bedlam in here!” The Old Bedlam is still with us in the London district of Lambeth. It now houses the main building of the Imperial War Museum. If you doubt me, there’s an informational plaque just outside the entrance. 
Since we all seemed to enjoy and learn from each other, as always, I thought we could use a new post to keep it going. Consider this a virtual bar stool at the Chupacabra Bar. Thanks to Elvis for the inspiration, and of course the education and humor.