A Wookie at a Celebrity Wedding??

Chelsea Clinton is getting married soon, and purportedly in Rhinebeck, New York. The guest list obviously includes names like Oprah, the O'Bamas and other high powered personalities from the worlds of entertainment and politics. The Clinton's have always provided alot of both!
But, Han Solo's friend and cohort, Chewbacca will also be in attendance, as the mother of the bride no less!
Now, lord knows I'm no fan of the Clintons in general, or Hillary in particular, so it should come as no surprise that after viewing her in an official capacity on the TV news, I noticed her striking resemblance to Chewbacca from Star Wars.
The hair, facial features and general appearance all recall the big Wookie!

So if you're in the vicinity of Westchester County, New York in the near future, keep your eyes peeled overhead... Not just for Air Force One... But also be on the lookout for the Millenium Falcon...

From the "Ain't it the truth" Department

We're Living In Odd Times When Miss California Gets Tougher Questions Than the President

Dennis Miller

Oddly enough, the media seems to "roll over and play dead" for the new busdriver...

Nuff said!

Enjoy the weekend...

A Bumpersticker for Our Times.

I hate bumperstickers, and always have!

This one though, might just be enough to push me over the edge if I ever actually saw one.. Better throw some Valium into the glovebox!

Thanks to Maggies Farm for the inspiration..

Oprah weighs 200 pounds!!

Must have been a helluva lot of celebrating after successfully buying the Presidency of the United States..
Proof, once again that truth is stranger than fiction!


Oprah Winfrey says she weighs 200 pounds
CHICAGO, Tue Dec 09, 11:27 AM


When it comes to her weight, Oprah Winfrey has always been straightforward. The talk show queen continues the honesty, saying in the January issue of "O" magazine out Tuesday that she now weighs 200 pounds and has "fallen off the wagon" when it comes to healthy living.

"I'm mad at myself," Winfrey writes in an article provided early to The Associated Press by Harpo Productions.

"I'm embarrassed," she writes. "I can't believe that after all these years, all the things I know how to do, I'm still talking about my weight. I look at my thinner self and think, `How did I let this happen again?'"

In the piece, Winfrey, 54, details her recent struggles with an out-of-balance thyroid and how the condition made her develop "a fear of working out." She says she's added 40 pounds to her frame since she weighed 160 pounds in 2006.

"Yes, you're adding correctly; that means the dreaded 2-0-0," Winfrey writes. "I was so frustrated I started eating whatever I wanted — and that's never good."

Winfrey also writes that her goal is no longer to be thin; instead, she wants to be strong, healthy and fit. She hopes to get started with her upcoming "Best Life Week," starting Jan. 5 with an episode of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" during which she is expected to talk candidly about her weight.


Winfrey, who is chairman of Harpo Inc., famously wheeled a wagon loaded with fat onto the set of her talk show in 1988 to represent a 67-pound weight loss while wearing a pair of size 10 Calvin Klein jeans. She had lost the pounds with a liquid protein diet.

"I had literally starved myself for four months — not a morsel of food," Winfrey recalled in 2005. "Two hours after that show, I started eating to celebrate — of course, within two days those jeans no longer fit!"

Winfrey's weight has yo-yoed to the delight of the tabloid press ever since. She weighed as many as 237 pounds and by late 1990 acknowledged she had regained most of the 67 pounds, saying "I'll never diet again."

In 1994, she finished the Marine Corps Marathon and by 1996 hired personal trainer Bob Greene, saying her roller-coaster weight saga was over.

But now, 20 years since the Calvin Klein jeans episode, Winfrey finds herself tipping the scales again, telling AP Television last week that she has yet to choose a gown for President-elect Barack Obama's inaugural ball next month.

"I had a dress on the vision board, but I'm not sure that's gonna fit," Winfrey said. "So I have to work on something else."

In the latest "O" magazine article, Winfrey writes that she hit rock bottom when she wanted to skip out on an April 26 taping with Cher and Tina Turner in Las Vegas.

"I felt like a fat cow," Winfrey writes. "I wanted to disappear."

Winfrey's weight and height put her body mass index at 31.8, which is obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC says people who are obese are "at higher risk for chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol."

It seems Winfrey is aware of the health risks, inviting both Greene and Dr. Mehmet Oz to her show during the first week of January, along with spirituality experts, sex therapists and financial expert Suze Orman.

Winfrey also is expected to discuss her weight on her XM satellite radio station's "The Gayle King Show" on Jan. 5 and will host interactive live Web casts at Oprah.com the week of Jan. 12 to 16 every night at 9 p.m. EST.

Winfrey, an admitted food addict, sounds almost apologetic in her article.

"I definitely wasn't setting an example," she writes. "I was talking the talk, but I wasn't walking the walk. And that was very disappointing to me."

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And so it goes in the Land of Oz....

A Sad day for America

The liberal media and Oprah's millions have spoken!

Newspapers and TV shape people's minds in this country, because many times, they just don't think for themselves. Barry O'Bama got a free pass from them.
Obama also committed to campaign with public financing. He turned his back on his committment and accepted Oprah Winfrey's money, along with tons from others. Add to this the unknown numbers of phony voters, such as Mickey Mouse, registered by groups like ACORN, and we have a tainted election at worst, and a purchased election, at best..

I never thought I'd live to see the Presidency of the greatest country on earth decided by money, but it has happened!

And that's the last I'll say on the subject!

Now, let's see where all the promises lead... I, for one, will be looking closely!

And, check out Maggie's Farm for a great little cartoon that about says it all...

P.S. Listen to the song of the day.... "We won't get fooled again"... but we did!

Another Democrat

I try like hell to be apolitical here, but this cartoon, lifted from Maggie's Farm, was just too good to pass up...

Ain't it the truth...

Check out Maggie's Farm often for more political truths..

Please click on the picture to enlarge..

The Definition of "Bird Dog" via Politics...

From of all places, the New York Times... The last folks one would expect to have any knowledge on the subject. This, by William Safire, and published in The Times on February 24, 2008.


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Responding to a cockamamie question a few weeks ago about whether there is a secret agreement to merge the U.S., Mexico and Canada into a single continental nation (MexiCanUs?), Senator Hillary Clinton gently replied, “I’ve heard that story, and there’s not a lot of truth to it.” Not to put down her somewhat vituperative Missouri questioner, the senator added, “If I am president, if I discover there is such an agreement, it’ll be gone in a bird-dog minute.”



William Safire's On Language Column »
What sort of time period is that? Is it shorter than a New York minute? That emphatically speedy moment was coined by a Washington Post headline writer in 1927 about a speech in New York by James Rowland Angell, the president of Yale, that was sped instantly round the world by the newfangled medium of radio.

Mrs. Clinton was first reported using the canine compound adjective in March 1992, answering a question about whether she would go through a rough political campaign again. The Chicago Daily Herald quoted her saying, “I’d do it again in a bird-dog minute, as they say in Arkansas.”

Her Osage locution, unreported elsewhere by search engines, was apparently taken up by her husband, former governor of Arkansas. At a fund-raiser in 2000 for the re-election of Representative John Lewis in Atlanta, President Clinton referred to Lewis’s son, who wore his hair in dreadlocks, and said he told the congressman, “If I was 23 and I could have hair like that, I’d do it in a bird-dog minute.” (Lewis was a stalwart for Hillary in the recent Georgia Democratic primary that was carried by Barack Obama, but he has since wavered.)

A bird dog, according to David Smith of the National Bird Dog Museum, can include such breeds as the English pointer and setter, the American Brittany, the German short-haired pointer and the vizsla. These breeds, however, are known for their industriousness and ability to point and retrieve and not for their speed; an alliterative Southern expression is “busy as a bird dog,” not “fast” as one. The bird dog has been used as a metaphor for brokers, agents and talent scouts, especially in sports. The verb to bird-dog means “to search for relentlessly” or, more aptly, “doggedly,” but not “speedily.”

As a nonpartisan (not postpartisan) lexicographer, I have tried three times to reach someone in Senator Clinton’s presidential campaign staff to point to, pursue and retrieve the source of this colorful expression, which may be a New York doctrine with an Arkansas corollary. Perhaps the Clinton staff is busy with more immediate concerns or mistakenly suspects my query is some sort of rhetorical trap because my political views are congenitally conservative. Therefore, I must turn further etymology of this rare bit of Americana over to that cultural marvel at the University of Wisconsin, the Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE), whose researchers resolutely bird-dog such dialectical delights.


_____________________________________________________________


I would agree with the definition offered by David Smith, with the notable exception of the Gordon and Irish Red Setters, and the French Britts, but everyone knew that... Retrievers, regardless of breeding, while they can be useful in the uplands, are decidedly not Bird Dogs... Just ask William Safire and David Smith of the National Bird Dog Museum.

Here's the definition, courtesy Wikipedia...

A bird dog is a type of gun dog or hunting dog used to hunt or retrieve birds.

In the southern United States the term bird dog refers to dog breeds such as the English Pointer, Gordon Setter, English Setter, Brittany, and other pointing breeds

It can't happen here??

With all the misguided animal activists in this country, it could only be a matter of time before this idea takes hold here. I would be the last person to be a proponent of cruelty towards animals, but if the truth be know, an e-collar, properly used, is far less harsh than some older methods of training a dog.
Judicious, and proper use of electrical stimulation has helped many an animal, and I daresay say saved some from a dismal fate due to lack of biddability.




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Thursday 26 June 2008 headlines more >>

Wales Shock Collar Ban One Step Closer
The use of electric training aids, including shock collars, is to be banned in Wales. The Welsh Assembly Government announced yesterday that it is to produce draft detailed Regulations introducing the ban.

The announcement follows a period of consultation on the use of electric shock collars on dogs and cats, which was initiated in November last year by the Welsh Assembly Minister for Rural Affairs, Elin Jones.

The Minister said yesterday that she had assessed arguments both for and against a ban on the devices. She said:

"This has not been an easy subject to examine. There is genuinely a large degree of concern about how these devices are improperly used, in contrast to responses from people who have used them and found they have worked in stopping an animal from misbehaving.

"After giving due consideration to the arguments, I propose to introduce a ban on the use of electric shock collars in Wales. We will examine the possibility of certain restricted uses under veterinary and professional supervision and for controlled boundary fences."

Commenting yesterday, the Kennel Club's Caroline Kisko responded to the news:

"We are extremely pleased to hear of the announcement made today. Electric shock collars are a cruel, outdated and unsuitable method of training dogs and we applaud Wales for leading the way on this issue and hope others will follow."

Meanwhile the RSPCA called electric shock collars 'instruments of cruelty'. Its head of external affairs, David Bowles, said:

"This is the first major piece of legislation in Wales and England under the Animal Welfare Act, and we fully support and congratulate the minister on her commitment to improving the standards of animal welfare in Wales."

Timely thought for the day...

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch... Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote."

Benjamin Franklin

Quote of the day..

By someone I love to quote... Winston Churchill.. and pretty appropriate to the current news..

"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last."


If anyone knows anything about this subject, it was Winston Churchill... Food for thought.

For those with some time on a Sunday

First, hop over to our friends at Upland Feathers and take the "Upland Monkey" survey. It's totally anonymous (as we all worry about on the innanet these days, and may help us Uplanders in the long run.. I filled it out....

Second, check out the latest posts by Deb over on "A piece of the Purest Challenge" concerning PETA. It may be more than many of us really wanted to know! This group is scary, their agenda is based on outright lies, and most insidious is that they can win the hearts and minds of our impressionable youth..
See what Deb has to say, and take some action!

A Storm Cloud Gathering?

A recent NYS Department of Environmental Conservation press release states..

DEC has announced a new initiative to switch to "green ammo" from lead based ammunition for firearms training to help reduce the impact from lead at firing ranges.
The ammunition DEC will be using is considered "green" because it is lead free and includes non-toxic primers. This combination greatly reduces the impact of firearms training on the environment. Lead poisoning is a serious human health risk and excessive exposure to lead, primarily from ingestion, can cause increased mortality rates in cattle, sheep and waterfowl.
DEC is currently phasing in the new ammunition with the agency's 330 environmental conservation officers and 134 forest rangers. The DEC expends over 150,000 rounds of ammunition annually, including during regional in-service training exercises, as well as at the Department's 26 week residential basic training academy.

For more information about lead in bullets, go to EPA's website at:

www.epa.gov


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We've got a new DEC Commissioner in NY, Pete Grannis, appointed by our illustrious former governor, the legendary Eliot Spitzer, over the objections of Sportsmen, Environmental groups, and almost everyone else who had an interest.
Does Mr. Grannis expect DEC officers, the most powerful Peace Officer in the State, BTW, to train with one type of ammo and expect to enforce laws against possible violent offenders with another??
Pete Grannis is a political hack fresh from NYC politics. His appointment gave former Governor Spitzer another chance to flex his muscles (no, not that one) and thumb his nose at the people of the State of New York...
In any case, with Commissioner Grannis at the helm, I fully expect much more stupidity to follow..
I know this.. I'm laying in lead in 6's, 7 1/2's, and 8's even if the price is high... We're in a whole new environment with folks like Pete Grannis at the helm.