peacefuljeffrey

I've always loved broccoli. A woman at work, who is from Thailand, brings in interesting (and sometimes disgusting) stuff for dinner and she and I share food a lot since I also cook good stuff for dinner. Recently she started bringing in rapini, or broccoli rabe. This is sort of "scrawny-looking broccoli." It does have some sparse "florets," but it is more stalky and thin, and leafy than regular broccoli. It is also rather bitter. Sauteed up in olive oil and/or soy sauce, it's pretty good, though. I've had it a few times when she brought it to work and shared it, but I just went and bought it for the first time recently, and I'm having some right now. I don't think of myself as liking bitter foods, much (I find bitter to be the worst of the tastes we can perceive), lately I've been enjoying stuff like rapini, tahini (a bitter sesame paste used on mediterranean food), and some others. Have you ever had broccoli rabe (rapini)? What do you think of it? Do you like bitter food? -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

I remember seeing somewhere that in every session of congress, someone proposes a bill to repeal the Second Amendment to the Constitution. Fortunately, it never goes anywhere, but it does prove, as does the proposed flag amendment, that there are people on both sides who absolutely do not deserve to be serving as legislators on behalf of the people of the United States of America. -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Also is less likely to turn sour by the time I get to the bottom of it. I guess maybe they should start selling me 3/4 lb. of cold cuts for the price that they put in the window of the meat counter (you know, the price we all take to mean "per pound.") That way I won't have as much roast beef getting dried up in the package because I didn't get around to eating it. I never realized how much hassle and waste they were saving me by giving me a smaller quantity for the same price I used to pay for the larger quantity! I better get crackin' on a thank-you letter to these companies! Folks, my point -- for those having a hard time catching it -- is that it is clear that they are cynically taking advantage of the fact that we are conditioned to think that a given "look" to a package implies a quantity or amount that we are used to getting. It's a "switcheroo." Of course a consumer can check every time, but is that really what kind of shopping reality we should suffer through?: check the quantity every time you buy, just in case they left the price where it was but cut the quantity?! No, sorry, that's bullshit. -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Oh, he's accomplished more than that in the senate, folks! - He canceled presidential campain appearances to return to DC to help defeat S.1805, legislation that would have protected the legal gun industry from predatory lawsuits based on specious legal claims and intended to bankrupt the firearms industry - He voted for Ted Kennedy's outrageous amendment that would have banned virtually all centerfire hunting ammunition (but Kerry's a "hunter," right?!) - He received a solid "F" rating from the NRA for his attacks on gun rights, and a solid "A" rating from Handgun Control Inc., which seeks to ban handguns outright - He's a prime co-sponsor of S.1431 which would give any future Attorney General the power to ban any firearm based on any design used by the military. That means any shotgun, any rifle or any handgun ever purchased by the U.S. military or a federal law enforcement agency could be banned by one unelected official with the stroke of a pen. He's accomplished stuff, sure. It's just that most of the stuff he's accomplished is either stupid and meaningless, or harmful to our rights. -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Thanks for the reminder. I really do need to get back into a regular exercise thing.

"...and that's not to mention the aerial photography..." Doug, don't know you but glad things turned out "okayish."

It's A Wonderful Life. What? -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

No JOKE!! Total bullshit. I don't believe it for even a moment! A person is supposedly "asleep," yet she gets out of bed, goes out of the house, meets up with people, presumably converses some -- enough to establish that they're gonna fuck, and where -- and then gets back home, goes to bed, and wakes up to be surprised with the news that she's BEEN A FUCKIN' WHORE ALL NIGHT LONG?! Uh, I don't think so. How is she supposed to have had sex without waking up? Were her eyes open? How is it "asleep" if you're doing everything you would do when conscious? Seeing, talking, walking, fucking... If that can all be done when "asleep," what's the difference between asleep and awake?! To me, this is just a bullshit excuse for being a slut. It's of the "honey-you-know-I-realize-how-hard-this-is-to-believe-and-that's-how-you-know-it's-true-because-I-would-never-make-up-something-so-ridiculous" variety. -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

That is so sad! I almost broke down when you said he fell over into a puddle! I hope Sam gets better. Go, kitty! And, um, next time you're in my neighborhood you can bet I'm gonna put a dazed look on my face and lean up against the nearest rose bush. -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Don't give me that shit. You know what they were pulling, and I know what they were pulling, and more to the point, they know what they were pulling. Granted, it'll only happen once for me -- I'll be watching in the future -- but the whole fuckin' scam is that they know that we are used to thinking we get X quantity for Y dollars, and now they're giving X-.25 for the same Y dollars! Why? Because they know people will be so zoned-out that they won't notice the switch! I'm a perfect example. I was looking at the price, saw the carton looked like it always had, and then said, "Oh, okay, that's a decent price, I'll take it." They are quietly trying to pretend that there's nothing different. We know that obviously they don't do stuff like this except to milk more money/profits out of the sales. And they sure as hell wouldn't want to publicize, "Hey, we're charging the same money and giving you less!" Of course it comes down to my not having seen/looked at the quantity. Of course it's not hidden -- the package still shows the quantity. But the cynical, scumbag manipulation factor comes in when you realize that people get used to a package looking a certain way and then (fairly) take for granted that they will get the same amount the next time. I'm going to be writing to Breyer's soon, and tell them where they can put their ice cream. Who knows, they may find my suggestion soothing. -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

That's the strategy of liberals/democrats: Throw out a flurry of lies, and by the time the truth reaches people they'll have already voted. Who gives a shit if the lies get countered and corrected later on? Leftists have made the realization that if they lie and make themselves look better than they are, it is very hard for the opposition to track down the lies and re-inform people with the truth. Look at how many people STILL believe that Glocks are all plastic and can go through metal detectors! Look at how many people STILL believe that the death of the "assault weapons ban" is a bad thing because "machine guns will be back on the streets." These were calculated lies by the left, and they've done the job they were created to do. They've misinformed people into supporting bullshit causes that they would not ordinarily have supported. -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

That's exactly why I think he might have had a decent shot. The libs would have played up the so-called "raw deal" he got, all that bullshit about how the Supreme Court "appointed him," ad nauseum. Couple that with the fact that anyone voting democrat this election seems to be doing so because they hate Bush and "how poorly Bush has done," and I can't see why Gore would not have pulled everyone who voted for him last time (close call, right?) plus those who have hopped the fence. But I still think it is telling that they screamed up and down how much better their choice would have been, but now nothing, not a peep about the very guy they went to court to try to get elected. -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Have you noticed this? Ever since "campaign time" hit, we've heard the left talk up (er, try to talk up) how Kerry is a better, smarter, man, and who if elected, would do so much better at everything from the war with Iraq to the war on terror to the economy to education... But for all the hue and cry and bitching about a stolen election in 2000, NO ONE HAS BEEN TALKING ABOUT HOW MUCH BETTER GORE WOULD HAVE BEEN DOING IN THESE SAME CIRCUMSTANCES. In fact, it's as if Gore had never existed. I find that extremely telling. What the hell was all the bitching about, if they aren't even right now telling us that had Bush not "stolen the election," we wouldn't be in this mess? I don't find that there is much, if any at all, discussion about how much better everything would be if Gore had won the presidency. Right now it's, "Boy, if we had Kerry in there!..." but not a whisper of, "Boy, if only we'd had Gore in there!" -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

I've got my "Whacking Stick." I'll beat ya every time. "So Marge, should I whack fast, or slow?" -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Wow! That is messed up! I guess it's hard to imagine a person being that whacked-out when one is not that whacked-out himself. (I can't fathom it!) But really, this person is truly sick and warped. How else to describe a person so imbalanced that they can hold a bizarro grudge like that for more than a decade?! I'll bet that if you saved them over the years and could verify, somehow, that they were bought and run by her, you could get a judge to order a psychiatric evaluation of this psychobitch. And if she's mailing these "veiled threats" interstate, it becomes a whole different ballgame, right? All you'd need is a court order to force the paper to show who ordered and paid for the ads (which is what these obituaries typically are). Whatever you do, watch your back! P.S. Was the nookie any good? Was it worth it? Maybe there's an object lesson in here somewhere... -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

I bought a simple one called, "Music Theory Made Easy" by David Harp. He puts things in very simple terms, easily explains scales of major, minor, blues and country varieties, and provides a template for being able to easily find the notes of any given scale.

Ah, Frost. The Road Not Taken (from memory) Two roads diverged in a yellow wood and sorry I could not travel both and be one traveler, long I stood and looked down one as far as I could to where it bent in the undergrowth Then took the other, as just as fair and having perhaps the better claim because it was grassy and wanted wear; though as for that, the passing there had worn them both about the same And both that morning equally lay in leaves no step had trodden black Oh I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way I doubted if I should ever come back I shall be telling this with a sigh somewhere ages and ages hence Two roads diverged in a wood and I, I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference. -Robert Frost It's not hard to figure why I bothered to memorize that one, is it?

I am not up on Root Beer enough to be able to taste a difference between brands (I drink root beer pretty infrequently despite liking it okay), but I know enough about different cola tastes to be able to say that I'll take your word for it. There is a huge difference between Coke and Pepsi, so I believe there could be similar differences between A&W, Barq's, et al. -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

LOL! So much for your opinion about it! Poll just said 64% love it, 21% hate it! (The rest don't count for shit, as far as I'm concerned Decide or die!!) What about "Ginger Ale"? How do you like it? It's not really "ale," either... -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Heh, only liberals would think it's bad to not watch CBS "news"! -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Or PIN number, HIV virus... ad nauseum. -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

A high-school one. Maybe even junior high. Either way, one not destined for longevity. -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

Okay, I just opened a container of Breyer's ice cream that I bought last night at the local super walmart. I thought I had bought a half-gallon -- and more to the point, I thought I had paid a fair price for a half gallon. It was like $3 and change. Just now when I opened it, I realized that this package does not contain a half gallon, but 1.75 quarts!! And I call "FUCKING RIPOFF!" This is bullshit, and it's happening with more and more products. Mine is the perfect example of this kind of subterfuge surreptitiously taking advantage of the consumer. The package, sitting on the shelf, is designed to look like every other full half gallon container I'd seen in the past. I paid a price that seemed fair for a half gallon, but MORE than what I would have been willing to pay for the diminished amount. I've seen this with orange juice lately too. To me, $2 - $2.50 is an okay price for a half gallon of orange juice. (I usually catch it on sale for $2 and avoid paying $2.50 if I can.) So naturally I feel that a gallon of orange juice should cost $4-5. Well, now I see them selling a container of orange juice that LOOKS like a gallon, but really is 96 ounces instead of 128 ounces -- for the price I'd expect a full gallon to cost! We are being conditioned to pay the same price and get less. It's making me angry to be taken advantage of by marketing scumbags this way. And remember how the bigger, "economy sized" packages used to cost less per ounce, usually regardless of what it was? They are reversing that, almost across the board, it seems. Watch carefully. Sometimes it costs less to get two 10 oz. packages than it does to get one 20 oz. package of something! It's fucked up, and there is absolutely zero chance that it is not being done deliberately. -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

I keep hearing and reading people saying, "It's our 10 year anniversary," or things like that. What the hell is the need for saying the word "year" there?! The whole point of saying the word "anniversary" is to convey that this is a commemoration of X number of years (spent married, in business, in a career, in a sport, etc.)! It's almost as bad as people saying, "My boyfriend and I are going out to celebrate our 'four-month anniversary'"!! WTF is a "four-month anniversary"?! -Jeffrey -Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"