National Geographic Magazine's Top Photos of 2008

I like the picture of the people being deprogrammed from too much internet use. What are those on their heads? Kitty carriers?

Ever Have An Overpowering Need For A Sex Toy?

A $300 sex toy? What toy could possibly be worth that? An inflatable doll that walks and talks?

Hey, Gus: BP Oil Deal Influenced Lockerbie Bomber Release

Gee, I wonder if Mr. Tousis' BP station on Douglas Ave will have anything to say about this on his outdoor overhead sign? He relished taking public potshots at Mitch & Marty's Citgo station across the street from him for the Chavez connection. Think he'll be man enough to post messages that his suppllier supports terrorism and freed a convicted mass murderer?

No, that's not the way we do business in Racine, is it?

The last thing we want to deal with is the truth, right, Mr. Tousis?

Tick Tock

I go in on Tuesday early with the sun rise an get a pace maker. The procedure will NOT happen at St. Mary's Hell Hole. I'll be going to the VA hospital which may have some students fumbling the procedure itself, but the staff an care on the floors is miles above the crap at our local butcher palace. I hope to only be away for a few days as I've been told it is a pretty much two day thing and no big deal.

Who's Your Pet?

Usually, your pet is an animal. But your pet could be anyone, or anything.

Send a picture of your pet to thesheriff@jtirregulars.com and we'll post it in this blog. Be sure to include your pet's name and what name (if any) you want to use for yourself.

Below is OrbsCorbs' cat, Charlie, watching the birds:


Here's Harley, drewzepmeister's dog:


Carol S.' cat, Miss Jasmine {The Queen}:


This is Karrie's dog - Gracie:


kkdither's pet rock:


Lizardmom's lizard, Sly, climbing Anna's balnket:


From Beejay, here's Maggy, the teacup poodle:


Why Not? sent in a picture of Dusty, her pet dust bunny:


Hale-Bopp says, "Here is Hale-Bopp (the large black and white main battle cat) Alamo (the small rapid attack cat) and PC (the stealth cat) as they attempt to render harmless a new entertainment center."


DogAddicts' Minnie says,

Galileoscope Segment on KUAT

Our local pubic television station had a five minute segment on Arizona Illustrated this week. I am not on camera, but I was the "set designer" for the segments that took place at the National Optical Astronomy Observatory. If you look close, you can see my Saturn pic I took through the Galileoscope on one of the computer screens in the background. You also get a glimpse of Photon Engineering, the firm that did most of the optical design.

Unfortunately, their embedding code starts it playing automatically every time the page loads. To keep from annoying you too much, you can click here to watch it.

I'm back, let's get out of here!

Boy, have I missed you guys!!
We just got back from a wonderful
anniversary trip and I DO NOT want to go
back to work yet!!

SO... I found this cool ride and think we need
to make a run for it,
climb aboard,
it's a comfy, loaded,
chauffeur driven wonder -

LET'S ROLL!!!!!!!!!

Holy Crap!!

I just got this at JT. Clicked on the story about the brothers charged with murder........

This is what came up

When I tried to click off of it, it wouldn't let me. Then another one came up that says click ok to DL anti virus thingie. I closed the tab.

WTF?????

Jupiter Goes Solo

Jupiter is famous for its four bright Galilean Moons. These are visible through any amateur telescope. You can watch them move and change positions over the course of a few hours with even a modest telescope (such as the Galileoscope, hint, hint).

You don't always see all four Moons, however. Sometimes they pass in front Jupiter or behind it. It's fairly common for Jupiter to have three or even two visible Moons. A few times each century, however, all of the Moons either pass in front of Jupiter or behind it at the same time. Tonight is one of those times. From 12:43am EDT to 2:29am EDT (a more civilized 9:43pm PDT to 11:29 PDT) all four of Jupiter's Moons will be gone leaving a strangely naked planet. I have been observing Jupiter for decades and never seen this (I have seen it with only one Moon which was strange enough). You can check out an animation of what you will see with a telescope tonight or use Sky and Telescope's Jupiter's Moon's Utility to find out what you will see at any given moment.

Unfortunately, it looks to be cloudy here in Tucson tonight. My telescope is sitting at home on the tripod ready to go outside a moment's notice should we get abreak in the clouds. I hope others have clear skies for this rare event.

Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophysicist Blog.

Dear Madame Zoltar

Hello, my delicious caramel apples! How are you? Whatever happened to our so-called summer? A friend told me that she doesn’t need to get out her winter clothes because she never put them away from last year. It’s not hard to predict an early fall – some trees are already starting to turn color.

I apologize for the confusion concerning my whereabouts last week. Unfortunately, Mr./Ms. Sheriff got his/her facts a little tangled. I was not in the Bahamas – I was with the Obamas. We had such grand time that I simply overstayed the deadline for my blog. I am so sorry. I realize that I have an obligation to you, my dear friends, but I also felt obliged to bask in the presence of our President for as long as possible because of his historic significance as the first black President of the United States of America. Having grown up during a time of civil rights marches and murders, I am very proud of that achievement.

Which brings us to an email I received from our friend, Mr. SER, which he entitled “Differences of Opinion:”

Dear Madame Zoltar,

The Pilgrims came to America to flee from taxation without representation.

We have had a Civil War because of differences of opinion.

Gathering all your skills together, do you foresee a revolt against the government in the near or close to near future and give the government back to the people?

Dear Mr. SER, forecasting the future is a difficult art not just because the future is shrouded in mystery, but also because there is more than one future possible. Many forces and nuances affect each moment in time, which, in turn, affects the next. Given our country’s prevailing sedentary culture and our politicians’ tendency to mutate quicker than chameleons, I don’t think an uprising is likely in the near term. Of course, the economy is the biggest unknown, and if enough people take a hit to their stomachs, all bets are off. What I feel fairly safe in predicting is that our representatives will continue to represent themselves and their special interests to the best of their personal profit.

As long as we’re talking about differences of opinion and discrimination, here’s an interesting little video featuring Madonna, speaking out a week ago in Bucharest on behalf of Gypsies:



You tell them, honey.

Finally, here is a link to “Predictions of the Year 2000
from The Ladies Home Journal of December 1900:” http://www.yorktownhistory.org/homepages/1900_predictions.htm.
Two of my favorites:
“Prediction #9: Photographs will be telegraphed from any distance. If there be a battle in China a hundred years hence snapshots of its most striking events will be published in the newspapers an hour later. Even to-day photographs are being telegraphed over short distances. Photographs will reproduce all of Nature’s colors.
“Prediction #16: There will be No C, X or Q in our every-day alphabet. They will be abandoned because unnecessary. Spelling by sound will have been adopted, first by the newspapers. English will be a language of condensed words expressing condensed ideas, and will be more extensively spoken than any other. Russian will rank second.”

I predict that you will email me, without a C, X or Q, at: madamezoltar@jtirregulars.com.

Have a beauteous week, my darlings. Remember, when no one else is watching, I see you. Pantaloons!

Bad Guys Zero - Racine PD One

I do not know what the guy did so I cannot spread any good rumors. I do know the police wanted him real bad because there had to be at least 15 offices looking for him.

Cyndi Lauper - Money Changes Everything

I don't know why, but that song popped into my head today. It was shortly after I saw a guy about my age (ancient) riding on his own little John Deere tractor/mower, cutting the median on Hwy. 32 just north of KR. I don't think that had anything to do with it, though.

Unlike Huck, my head jukebox doesn't go off much first thing in the morning. During the day, though, it can kick in viciously without notice. For three days, I've been humming and singing Elvis Presley's "In the Ghetto." I did not hear it anywhere, nor was I discussing it or Presley with anyone. I do not like the damn song. Why has it been infesting my brain for three days? Please, Cyndi, save me.

If You Oppose Obama's Health Care Reform, You Are a Racist

So says an op-ed piece by Randolph D. Brandt in the Racine Post:
http://news.racinepost.com/2009/08/op-ed-health-cares-hidden-agenda-big.html

And thus end our chances for productive discussion of, well, just about anything. If you oppose something proposed by the current administration, you're a racist.

I am so sick of this shit. So sick of it. A few weeks ago, a car blasting music pulled up next to my truck. I asked the guy to please turn it down. His response was, "Fuck you, honky." When I asked what race had to do with it, he again replied, "Fuck you, honky."

I am so insulted. My very first sponsor in Alcoholics Anonymous, a man I literally asked to help me save my life, was a black man. I never once considered the color of his skin, or anyone else's, in my time of need.

It is impossible to have an intelligent conversation with someone who is paranoid. Screw you bastards for poisoning our attempts at healing our nation's wounds. It is not the color of your skin that defines you, but your filthy, black hearts.

Jumping the Shark...

The expression Jump the Shark comes from the old television series Happy Days. In that series, Fonzie literally jumped over a shark on water skis. Well, the show went downhill quickly after that and was never the same. Hence the phrase jump the shark applies to something that just isn't what is used to be.

Of course a website grew up around this concept. It was simple, but fun. You could look up old shows and read everyone's comments on when they jumped the shark. I could spend hours on the site laughing about old shows I used to watch.

I hadn't been back to the site in a LONG time. I went back tonight and was dismayed to find the site was taken over by TV Guide. The fun is gone, it is all corporate now. Jump the Shark has jumped the shark.

Where is Doyle Now...

UPDATED

We have a governor who is traveling to (I forgot where) I think it is India NO it is Israel for more trade! Is this just another "Junket Trip"?

Here we have a long established company moving out of state. You would think the unions, the company and the state could work something out.

Information courtesy of Fox6 News...

"Private fortune, public cash"

"Regulators ignored red flags while woman ran lucrative day care business"

"A Jaguar convertible sits in the driveway of Latasha Jackson's million-dollar mansion in Menomonee Falls. Built on a hill with a sprawling back deck overlooking a pond, the 7,600-square-foot home features an indoor swimming pool and indoor basketball court.

"Jackson is not an Olympic swimmer, a professional basketball player or a celebrity of any sort. She is a day care provider in the city of Milwaukee.

"She built her fortune with taxpayer funding from the Wisconsin Shares program.

"And although documents show regulators had many reasons to believe the 32-year-old mother of three was billing the state for kids not in her care, providing false information and otherwise defrauding the system for more than a decade, they continued to pay her.

"That ended Thursday, but only after the state learned the Journal Sentinel was preparing to publish a story on the case. And only when Jackson turned herself in - a day after the newspaper confronted her."

http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/watchdogreports/56121342.html


So the Journal Sentinel is now the organization that oversees how public money is squandered? How many people do they have to bust before the State of Wisconsin does something about this?

Woman Jumps from the Marriott

Didnt see this in any of our local media.



Woman Falls from Hotel Window
By Melissa McCrady
MT. PLEASANT - A 23-year-old woman suffered head injuries after falling from a third floor hotel window.

It happened at the Marriott Hotel at 7111 Washington Avenue early Sunday morning. Police say four people returned to their hotel room after a wedding. An argument broke out. Ashley Kronwall walked over the window, opened it and pulled out the screen, as if she was going to jump. A friend tried to grab her, but she slipped and fell three levels onto a metal grate on the ground.

Kronwall was found lying on a grate unconscious but breathing.

Kronwall was rushed to Wheaton Franciscan Hospital in Racine, and later transported by helicopter to St. Luke's in Milwaukee. Investigators say she is in stable condition with minor head injuries. Kronwall is from Lake Geneva.

The friend who to grab Kronwall, Jeremiah J. Jacob of Burlington, was upset about the fall and smashed a hotel window causing injuries to both his arms.