More iris as long as they bloom.  I have had a month of them now.  The pink one did not come back this year.  Cry!

It seems like we have had 2 months of spring and summer already.  Will May be hot?

Catepillars are out in force.  EEEWWWWWWWWW!

Ticks are horrible this year.

Snakes and frogs, not so much.

103 Thoughts to “Open Thread……………………………………………………Friday, April 27”

  1. Emma

    No, actually, it’s all kind of unseemly and embarrassing, Starry.

  2. Today’s allergy levels for MANASSAS, VA:
    Wednesday – 8.9/Medium-High

    Today’s predominant pollen:
    Maple, Cedar/Juniper and Ash.

  3. Oy Vey

    The Tea Party crowd may have something new to get worked up about:
    http://manassas.patch.com/articles/gay-straight-alliance-prom-planned-for-saturday-in-manassas

    Perhaps Aveni, Greg, Doug, and the Tea drinkers can get the torchies attention directed away from their tremendous election loss, by staging a protest against this at this church. They can’t have gays in Manassas, especially high school students.

  4. Starryflights

    Mitt Romney targets female voters in Virginia
    .
    .By Holly Bailey
    Senior Political Reporter
    ..PostsEmailRSS..By Holly Bailey | The Ticket – 44 mins ago

    If anyone has doubts about Mitt Romney’s efforts to woo female voters ahead of November’s election, just look at the backdrop of his campaign event on Wednesday.

    Speaking in Chantilly, Va., at Exhibit Edge, a female-owned firm that designs trade show exhibits and displays, the presumptive Republican nominee was surrounded by women. More than a dozen female business owners and entrepreneurs were invited to sit behind Romney at the event, putting them directly in the camera shot, while dozens of other women were seated in front of him.

    While the event wasn’t advertised as being geared toward women, a Romney spokesman says the campaign “reached out to female business leaders” since the venue where Romney was speaking was owned by a woman

    Romney’s courtship of women comes as several polls have found his campaign struggling to connect with female voters. A NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released last month showed Obama leading Romney by 12 points among female voters. The gap is especially pronounced among single women, with Romney losing to Obama by 36 points among that group.

    http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/mitt-romney-targets-female-voters-virginia-164520686.html;_ylt=Am6Vad72AthtIMBYz98m4A.s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTNsaWQybWZoBG1pdANUb3BTdG9yeSBGUARwa2cDMzZlZWE0OGEtN2Y5Yy0zZjUzLWFjMmYtYTI4MDdmYjQ1MmU3BHBvcwMxBHNlYwN0b3Bfc3RvcnkEdmVyAzM2YmIxZTcwLTk0NzYtMTFlMS1hN2ViLWUzYzczMmM0ZTQ2YQ–;_ylg=X3oDMTFlamZvM2ZlBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdAMEcHQDc2VjdGlvbnM-;_ylv=3

    Romney’s getting his butt kicked among female voters.

  5. @Oy Vey

    I hear the pitchforks clanging as we speak.

    I certainly have to say I respect what BRUU is doing. Gay and Lesbian students have a tough row to hoe. Their “otherness” is often met with cruel hostility, especially in an envirnment where couples are concerned.

    I will defend those students’ right to a prom and defend BRUU for having the bravery to stand up and support these kids rather than taking cheap shots and making fun of someone else’s religion.

    I wonder what the kids do who aren’t “out” to their parents? I know 3 adults (and I don’t mean young adults either) who have never outted themselves to their parents. It is sad. Their parents would never accept gayness.

  6. Frontline: Money, Power & Wall Street

    This 4 part series is a must see about the financial crisis. Watching it once just isn’t enough.

    http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/money-power-wall-street/?autoplay

  7. Levi Johnson is going to become a father….again. His daughter will be named Breeze Berreta, after the gun. What a stud.

    I hope he is paying Ms. Palin child support–on time. If not, perhaps little Breeze could come visit him in the pokey. This is where Ms. Palin Senior’s influence could be called in.

  8. Its almost time for the annual Elena and Moon-howler dust up. Stay tuned. There’s a bad moon on the rise!!!

    What do they fight over?

  9. Elena

    Oy Vey, there is a wonderful book out written by a young man with two moms.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/01/zach-wahls-daily-show-appearance_n_1467421.html

    That would be such a huge waste of energy, and really unkind to these kids who are already struggling with finding their place in the world.

    1. That naturally brings out the question, would this book be appropriate for schools? I would say no to schools. Why bring that heap of trouble on yourself as a teacher. You know that there will be someone who has a fit over it. I would say fine for libraries. People who are strict about what their kids read should give greater oversight.

  10. Starryflights

    Amy Gehrt: GOP’s ‘war on women’ is very real

    Spin aside, however, it is hard to dispute the facts. The reality is that women’s rights are under fire, and the attempts to erode more than a century of progress carries real-world consequences that could affect millions of us. And if the “war on women” marches held around the country this past weekend are any indication, women simply aren’t buying into conservative claims to the contrary.

    In the past two years alone, there have been nearly 2,000 anti-choice provisions introduced in legislation. Among other things, Republican lawmakers have attempted to redefine rape, supported a bill that would let hospitals watch a woman die rather than perform a needed abortion and tried to take away all federal funding for Planned Parenthood. South Dakota GOP members even attempted to make it legal to murder doctors who provide abortion care.

    Republican senators also nearly derailed the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. Thirty-one of them voted against it because protection was expanded to include gays and American Indians.

    And then there is the Blunt Amendment. Introduced as an amendment to a highway spending bill, the proposal by Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., sought to give employers who provide health insurance and insurance companies the right to deny coverage for contraceptives or procedures they find morally objectionable. While it was defeated, all but one Republican voted in favor of it.

    “It’s appalling. It’s offensive. It’s out of touch. And when it comes to what’s going on out there, you’re not going to close your eyes,” President Barack Obama said during a recent campaign event. “Women across America aren’t closing their eyes. As long as I’m president, I won’t either.”

    http://www.dodgeglobe.com/2012-elections/x1018074072/Amy-Gehrt-GOP-s-war-on-women-is-very-real

    The Republicans are waging a war on women

  11. Starryflights

    ..Vigilante neo-Nazi suspected in deadly Arizona shooting
    By Jeff Stacklin | The Lookout – 2 hrs 19 mins ago….

    Arizona vigilante Jason Todd “J.T.” Ready’s final act might have been his most horrific, say police.

    Police have identified the former Marine with ties to neo-Nazi and Minutemen groups as one of the five people killed in a shooting spree Wednesday in Gilbert, Ariz., a Phoenix suburb, according to the Associated Press.

    It also appears that Ready, who was running for sheriff in Arizona’s Pinal County, killed four people, including a 15-month-old baby girl, her mother and grandmother, before he turned the gun on himself, reports the (Ariz.) Republic.

    Ready was the founder of U.S. Border Guard and a member of the Minuteman Project, both nationally prominent anti-illegal immigration organizations, the newspaper reported. He also had belonged to the National Socialist Movement, which espouses White-supremacist theories.

    http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/vigilante-neo-nazi-suspected-deadly-arizona-shooting-145937722.html

    There sure are a lot of psychos in that crazy anti immigrant movement.

  12. Emma

    There is no “anti-immigrant movement.”

  13. marinm

    Speaking about illegals…

    I found this hilarious.

    http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/02/george-zimmermans-disparaging-remarks-about-mexicans-on-myspace/

    “In the section, where he writes about leaving Manassas, he says that he missed his old friends because “no one is going to have your back like your boys who grew up with you and are as scared of your mommas as you are. You know who you are, the same ones that would come ova and have my pops tie your tie before every school dance and interview.”

    Then, in a riff about why he does not miss his hometown, outside Washington, he makes remarks about Mexicans, using slang as he seemingly discussed recent immigrants.
    I dont miss driving around scared to hit mexicans walkin on the side of the street, soft ass wanna be thugs messin with peoples cars when they aint around (what are you provin, that you can dent a car when no ones watchin) dont make you a man in my book. Workin 96 hours to get a decent pay check, gettin knifes pulled on you by every mexican you run into!”

    That there is funny.

  14. Hey guys,

    We’re having a parade for the troops down here in Richmond. Here’s the link for the details.
    http://americaforvets.org/

    click on Host cities to find Richmond.

    T-shirts are available.

  15. Is that the parade that Rachel Maddow has been supportive of? She has actively challenged the pentagon for nixing post Iraq parades.

  16. I see that is what she has been advocating also. Good. More cities need to have parades.

  17. @marinm
    So much for the guy who doesn’t make racial remarks. On the other hand, I doubt if his father read that trash.

    It would be important for me to know how old he was when he said that. Plenty of people say things at 19-20 to big-a$$. At 30 they wouldn’t say those things. As we know, the internet if forever.
    I am doing my best to stay off Zimmerman’s case now. I clammored for him to be charged with something and for the legal system to sort it out.

  18. punchak

    @Emma

    Really? Coulda fooled me.

  19. Blue

    @punchak

    Punch, do you really believe that illegals and those that went throught the front door process as legal immigrants shoudl be treated the same?

    I don’t think there is an anti-immigrant movement. The problem is establishing the consequences for Illegals, who are not immigrants, and for some it appears that sending them home is too severe.

    1. blue, we don’t say “illegals” on this blog. thanks.

  20. Steve Randolph

    One dog speaking to another:

    “I would not be opposed to a cat tax”

    (New Yorker Cartoon, May 7, 2012)

  21. Blue

    @Moon-howler

    Ok, I’ll bite, what are they; misguided wanderors? tresspassers? undocumented aliens? pre-apprehensionists? Displaced alien citizens?

    You do know that the official term the US Border Patrol uses is “illegal alien” for any person who enters the US illegally. Your preference?

  22. marinm

    @Blue

    Interestingly that in the small circle of friends and family that I have where they personally we’re illegal aliens and then got legal — call themselves and others illegal and do not see any negative connotation or offense to that word.

    This reminds me of the “n-word” and how Whoppi was bleeped for saying it. Why? Bleeping it gives is power…

  23. Steve Randolph

    http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/The-Romneys-Mexican-History.html

    Interesting story – some of Mitt Romney’s not to distant relatives
    (his father, George, was born in Mexico and came to this country
    when he was 5) identify themselves as “Mexican-Americans”.

    1. @Steve R

      Maybe they are jealous of Obama getting all the birther attention.

  24. @Steve Randolph

    If dogs are taxed, cats should be also. I expect there are far more cats in the shelter than dogs.

  25. @Blue

    Illegal immigrants, illegal aliens, undocumented immigrants,

    Thanks.

  26. @marinm

    As you know, my objection is that “illegal” is an adjective. Use it in front of a noun and I am good.

  27. marinm

    @Moon-howler

    I ain’t that good at speakin’ n ritin’ AMERICAN ’cause I refuse to call it English. Thats why I have college grads wurkin’ fur me to do muh ritin’ fur me.

    1. And if that is true, then it is a sad commentary on the United States. Historically, Americans have always taken pride in those who can write and speak English correctly. I see from TV that quality language is no longer a requirement.

      “English” is part of our heritage and it was theirs first. My great grandfather refused to say Chev-ro-LAY because he said it said ChevroLET. He knew better. He was just a stubborn old coot I suspect.

  28. Steve Randolph

    Perhaps not Black Friday in the market but bad enough to put me in
    a blah mood. Ugh.

    1. I am pretty down over it also, Steve. I would like to see an upward turn for a while. It can rest when all the stock brokers are out in the Hamptons for the summer.

  29. SlowpokeRodriguez

    There are some good ones in here!

    http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/life-of-julia-parodies

  30. Pat Herve

    yup, lets get all dumb all over, and blame Obama for every thing bad that has happened since 1960 – if only Obama had not been elected President, there would have been no recession, financial crisis, healthcare crisis or rise in unemployment. And the Iraq war is because of Obama too – I too can become brain washed into thinking anything, but not for myself.

  31. @Pat Herve
    Ok. We’ll do that. Thanks.

    Because we were only blaming him for the things going on NOW, before.

  32. clueless

    Please do not forget global warming! Obama is killing the polar bears, and I think he is giving oil companies tax credits as well but I can’t be sure. That might have been the other guy(Clinton).Thankfully Romney made Obama bail out General Motors. Go Mitt!

  33. Today’s allergy levels for MANASSAS, VA:
    Saturday – 9.5/Medium-High

    Today’s predominant pollen:
    Oak, Maple and Ash.

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