Happy New Year!

The Adriana Lima Cafe

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The world's greatest interviewer

Guy LeDouche!

The Great Equalizer

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP)

Farmers, many of them black Zimbabweans resettled on formerly white-owned properties, have so far plowed and prepared only one fourth of the land available for planting for next year's food harvests, the state media reported Thursday.

Local Government Minister Ignatious Chombo, head of a panel state officials reviewing land preparations, said slightly less than 2.4 million acres out of an estimated 9.6 million acres have been tilled during current seasonal rains.

He blamed the slow pace of preparation on shortages of fertilizer, other inputs, tractors and mechanical equipment and urged farmers to set up tillage cooperatives to utilize more manual labor and animal-drawn plows, the state Herald reported.

The newspaper quoted Shadreck Mlambo, head of research and extension services in the agriculture ministry, saying tillage lagged far behind its targets for the time of year.

"And time is fast running out," he said.

The government has acknowledged that a fleet of state-owned tractors used to help impoverished farmers has been hit by continuous breakdowns and shortages of spare parts.

Of 700 tractors deployed by one government agency, only 304 were still operating.

Farmers have also suffered acute shortages of gasoline.

Zimbabwe, once a regional breadbasket, was plunged into its worst political and economic crisis after President Robert Mugabe's government began seizing more than 5,000 of white-owned commercial farms for redistribution to blacks and ruling party officials in 2000.

The often-violent land reform program, combined with erratic rains, have crippled the nation's agriculture-based economy.

Inflation is running at 149 percent, the highest in the world.

The government argues redistribution of land was needed to correct colonial-era injustices in land ownership by the descendants of mostly British settlers.

Ohio

Holy Shit, that was the worst road trip I ever took!
It rained from Babylon to Wheeling. Then the rain turned to snow. At the rate we were going, the 8 hour trip was turning into an 11 hour trip, but that happens. When we reached Springfield, we found that I-70 had not been plowed. the major thoroughfare for the state was impassable. i couldn't believe it! it took another 4 hours to go less than 10 miles.

Once we got to Fairborn things were fine. We had a good time. Then Sunday, the trip home. After three days, I-70 was STILL not completely clear. The jagged pack iced ripped the shit out of my tires. We hit ice around Harrisburg that turned into snow around Allentown. All that combined with a major jam at the Holland tunnel made the return trip 12 hours in all.

I have no cruise control in my car, so my right leg, my knee in particular is killing me.

Christmas this year

Well, we're off to Ohio.

More Yeti Sports

Yeah, that's right, MORE Yeti sports. I can't be stopped!

Toboggan Death Game

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XM Radio

Well, I just got a XM radio reciever for Christmas, thanks Jess! I got the SkyFi1.



I think I got tricked. I wanted a unit that had FM Modulation, this unit doesn't. I think the Punk at Best Buy was just trying to move the SkyFi1's. So now I have to go back and get a seperate adaptor. no big deal, the cost will end up being about the same.
First impressions are positive. I like the selections. I'm a big talk and news guy. The music'll be a bonus, but I think i'll be hanging around the lower end of the dial.
The best part is that I can now Listen to the Opie & Anthony show for the first time on over 2 years. They're the main reason for me getting the system. I can just hope that Ron and Fez get onto XM so that I can hear them as well.

Who would win in a fight? Part III

PETA or ELF?

Yeti Olympics

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Grayson

Another independant DC film.
Why can't Hollywood get it right? They should give this kid a three picture deal.

Reasons Why you shouldn't post your picture on the internet

this has been around the net quite a bit, but still funny, and some new pictures.

I hate Wal-mart, K-mart, and Target

The reason why God made robots

This made me giggle

P.E.T.A.B.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Alec Baldwin

The disappearing dollar

How long can it remain the world's most important reserve currency?



THE dollar has been the leading international currency for as long as most people can remember. But its dominant role can no longer be taken for granted. If America keeps on spending and borrowing at its present pace, the dollar will eventually lose its mighty status in international finance. And that would hurt: the privilege of being able to print the world's reserve currency, a privilege which is now at risk, allows America to borrow cheaply, and thus to spend much more than it earns, on far better terms than are available to others. Imagine you could write cheques that were accepted as payment but never cashed. That is what it amounts to. If you had been granted that ability, you might take care to hang on to it. America is taking no such care, and may come to regret it..............click for rest of article


I'm sorry but they're right. Bush is spending too much money. I understand we're in a war, but when in a war, the government is supposed to issue bonds or raise taxes (which none of us want) in order to pay for the war. I haven't seen spending like this since LBJ, who spent and spent on vietnam, never prepared and plunged us into a deep recession. the same is coming.

Look, Bush just raised the federal spending limit by $800 billion. not to$800 billion, by as in $800 billion more than last year. this is also the third increase in as many years.


$800 billion is such a large number it's almost meaningless.
How big is a million, and a billion? A way to compare:

1,000,000 seconds. Thats somehing we can grasp. Fine how long is 1 million seconds? About 11 days. No problem; thats a million. In 11 days, you got a million seconds to play around.

Now a billion. A lot more, yes? How long is a Billion seconds?

Over 30 Years.

Shows quite a difference, yes? Well, 800 billion approaches a Trillion, which in seconds?

Over 30,000 Years.

and again, this is on top of the previous increases and overspending of previous administrations.

Bush is not a conservative, certainly not a fiscal conservative. Did Reagan spend money, sure he did. but he also cut spending in other ways to support the programs he wanted. I work for DHS, I see the wastefull directionless spending and it makes me worried and sick.

But there's still time to turn it around.


Oh, and it's December 7th, Remember Pearl Harbor!

The Scream

Did they ever find this thing, by the way?

Earthshine

Godsmack drum battle includes YYZ & Tom Sawyer

I've heard of guitar battles, but not drum battles. All in all, I'm not a huge fan of Godsmack, but I can appreciate the nod to Rush.

Packing Plant Fire Sends Melted, Butter Flowing Out Of Facility

NEW ULM, Minn. -- Too bad firefighters didn't have a pile of popcorn handy -- or better yet, loads of lobster tails.

An intense fire consumed half of the roof of the Associated Milk Producers Inc. butter packaging plant, sending melted butter flowing out of the facility.

There were no immediate reports of injuries, but officials worried that the melted butter would interfere with the railroad tracks bordering the plant's east end.

The plant was holding an estimated 3 million pounds of butter at the time of the fire Wednesday.

A plant employee discovered the fire in a utility area, and the 30 workers in the butter packaging plant were evacuated and sent home.

Officials were investigating the cause of the buttery blaze.

http://www.wftv.com/news/3964316/detail.html

I want Candy

ATHF rocks!