AdamSmith

Getting the whole 4th Estate this riled up at you would seem to be a strategy not pursued with such success since Nixon... Obama Administration's Media Surveillance Unleashes Wave Of Condemnation The Huffington Post | By Rebecca Shapiro and Jack Mirkinson Posted: 05/22/2013 9:05 am EDT | Updated: 05/23/2013 10:20 am EDT The Justice Department's investigation and surveillance of the Associated Press and Fox News have led to perhaps the most sustained wave of criticism for the Obama administration's media policies since the president took office. On Wednesday, the New York Times became one of the more influential voices to say what many others have been saying: that the administration's methods are an attack on press freedom. In a scathing editorial, the Times wrote that, "With the decision to label a Fox News television reporter a possible 'co-conspirator' in a criminal investigation of a news leak, the Obama administration has moved beyond protecting government secrets to threatening fundamental freedoms of the press to gather news." The Times editorial described the Obama administration as going "overboard" with its investigations into leaks and threatening press freedom. The board added: Obama administration officials often talk about the balance between protecting secrets and protecting the constitutional rights of a free press. Accusing a reporter of being a 'co-conspirator,' on top of other zealous and secretive investigations, shows a heavy tilt toward secrecy and insufficient concern about a free press. The Times editorial was just one in a chorus of hard-hitting attacks on Obama's media policy that have surfaced in the wake of the Justice Department investigations. Journalists were outraged by the inquiries into the AP and Fox News reporter James Rosen. In particular, members of the media took issue with the Justice Department labeling Rosen a possible "co-conspirator" in a leak case for the crime of trying to get a source to give up information. The New Yorker reported on Tuesday that the investigation into Rosen was even broader than previously suspected, as the DOJ seized records from at least five different numbers used by Fox News and two different White House lines. That followed the Associated Press' revelation that the DOJ had secretly obtained months of phone records for at least seven individual journalists across 20 phone lines while searching for the government official responsible for leaking information about a CIA-thwarted terror plot. Obama's hyper-aggressive leak policy—and his administration's potential equation of routine journalistic interaction with criminality—is nothing new. But the fury in the pages and on the websites of elite outlets about these positions certainly is. The Times' criticism echoed that of many other journalists and press freedom groups. On Tuesday, the board of the Committee to Protect Journalists sent an outraged letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, in which it warned that the DOJ's secret subpoenas for over 20 AP phone lines "represent a damaging setback for press freedom in the United States." This came on the heels of a letter signed by over 50 media outlets which made similar arguments. Wednesday also saw Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank lash out at Obama: The Rosen affair is as flagrant an assault on civil liberties as anything done by George W. Bush’s administration, and it uses technology to silence critics in a way Richard Nixon could only have dreamed of. To treat a reporter as a criminal for doing his job — seeking out information the government doesn’t want made public — deprives Americans of the First Amendment freedom on which all other constitutional rights are based. Guns? Privacy? Due process? Equal protection? If you can’t speak out, you can’t defend those rights, either. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/22/nytimes-obama-white-house-doj-investigations_n_3318748.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

I didn't know this.

No, the average time of passage is about 24 hours, I think. With some exceptions...

...and an apparently bottomless resource... Fart Sounds The Childbirth Dump This is a dump that is simply too big to go through the aperture provided by nature for the purpose. You sit there, thinking over your dilemma. First it hurts, and it isn't going to get any better. You wonder if you'll ever see your loved ones again. You imagine the newspaper headlines screaming "Man dies trying to hatch monster loaf". You realize you'll have to resolve the crisis before you can leave the bathroom. Basically there are only three things you can do: 1. Scream 2. Call an Obstetrician 3. Hope like hell have enough Vaseline to get you through it. The Houdini Dump You go, then you stand up to flush, and the darn thing has disappeared. Where'd it go? Did it creep down the pipe? Did you dream the whole thing? Is it lurking out of sight? Should you wipe? Maybe you should just to make sure you went. Should you flush? You'd better, because if you don't, you know it will reappear and smile at the next person who comes in. The Alfresco Dump Everyone has had to go outdoors from time totime. This can be a rather pleasant experience really. The open air, the nature, and a good bush all contribute to the peaceful ambiance that our primitive forefathers must have enjoyed. What can screw up this harmonious interlude is a troop of brownies or a patch of poison ivy. The Sound Effect Dump You feel a noisy one coming on. Relatives, friends or work mates are within earshot, so you must employ some clever techniques to cover the disgusting sounds you are about to emit. Timing is obviously very important here. At the precise moment of release, try the following sound effects: 1. Flush the toilet 2. Sing the first two stanzas of your national anthem 3. Drop a handful of quarters on the floor The Porta-Pottie Dump Construction workers and outdoor concertgoers will tell you about going in a portable toilet. My best description would be, "Its like taking a sh-t in an upright coffin". Its claustrophobic and it smells bad...best advice...go in a paper cup. The Splash Back Dump You send the dump on its way, it drops like a depth charge into the bowl creating a column of cold bowl water that washes your bottom with a startlingly unpleasant shock.Now you're wet and embarrassed. Tip: Blot instead of wiping. The Whole Roll Dump No matter how much you wipe, it doesn't seem to be enough. You blow the whole roll and you have to flush 25 times too. The whole episode is consumer waste. The Proctologist Dump In the beginning, the lord created the earth, the sky and the firmament, but I hope he didn't create this dump because there is nothing biblical about it...you run out of gas. That's right, you run out of propulsion. The dump is right there at the end of your barrel and refuses to go any further. You grunt, you squeeze, you wriggle but it just stays there like a lump of lead. You've only got two choices here. One is to squeeze the damn thing back up your intestine and wait until next time. The other is to pretend you're a proctologist and go after it yourself. Not a pretty picture is it The Graffiti Dump You flush the dump and the swirling motion of the receding bowl water forces the dump to the porcelain sides, scraping a creative squiggle on its way down. You flush again but the curlicue hangs there...love it or leave it. Its your choice. The Encore Dump Ahhhh, you're done, so you wipe, put yourself together, wash your hands and are about to vacate the bathroom when you feel another dump coming. You have to return for a curtain call. The world's record is seven encores.

Who Cut the Cheese?: A Cultural History of the Fart (Google eBook) Jim Dawson Random House Digital, Inc., Jan 26, 2011 - Humor - 192 pages We've told you HOW TO SHIT IN THE WOODS. We've taken you UP SHIT CREEK. Now, we dare to ask the eternal question...WHO CUT THE CHEESE? Which is to say, what exactly is a fart? Why do we do it? Why do we hide it when we do it? And why do we find farts so darn funny? A cut above anything else on the subject, this book really lets go and tells all, getting to the bottom of these mysteries. Author Jim sniffs out a load of historical and scientific fart tales, then offers the kind of fun facts you'll be dying to let slip at social occasions, in chapters like "Fart Facts That Aren't Just Hot Air," "Gone with the Wind" (on famous movie farts), and "Le Petomane & the Art of the Fart" (on the most famous windbag in history). From fact to fiction to frivolous flatulence, this book is unquestionably a ripping good read. http://books.google.com/books?id=dzXo09e488kC&dq

WTF??? Who is this goon? Alex Jones Claims Tornado Weather Weapon Could Have Been Used In Oklahoma On Tuesday, Alex Jones suggested on his show the possibility that the Government possibly used weather weapons to create the tornado that ripped through Oklahoma. Claiming that ski resorts use weather planes to create clouds that create snow, Jones posits that the weaponized version of a weather manipulation system could be the one responsible for the Oklahoma weather disaster. “Of course there’s weather weapons stuff going on.” Said Jones. “But, who knows if they did?” Added Jones. “You know, that’s the thing. We don’t know.” http://voice4america.com/masadluffy/2013/05/23/alex-jones-claims-tornado-weather-weapon-could-have-been-used-in-oklahoma.html#axzz2U83iGPAP

Another article, unrelated except likewise illustrative of who and what the man is, including again his fierce Jesuitical honesty... Pope Francis Insists Church Must Help Poor, Not 'Speak Of Theology'Reuters | Posted: 05/18/2013 5:14 pm EDT By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY, May 18 (Reuters) - Pope Francis shared personal moments with 200,000 people on Saturday, telling them he sometimes nods off while praying at the end of a long day and that it "breaks my heart" that the death of a homeless person is not news. Francis, who has made straight talk and simplicity a hallmark of his papacy, made his unscripted comments in answers to questions by four people at a huge international gathering of Catholic associations in St. Peter's Square. But he outdid himself in passionately discussing everything from the memory of his grandmother to his decision to become a priest, from political corruption to his worries about a Church that too often closes in on itself instead of looking outward. "If we step outside of ourselves, we will find poverty," he said, repeating his call for Catholics to do more to seek out those on the fringes of society who need help the most," he said from the steps of St. Peter's Basilica "Today, and it breaks my heart to say it, finding a homeless person who has died of cold, is not news. Today, the news is scandals, that is news, but the many children who don't have food - that's not news. This is grave. We can't rest easy while things are this way." The crowd, most of whom are already involved in charity work, interrupted him often with applause. "We cannot become starched Christians, too polite, who speak of theology calmly over tea. We have to become courageous Christians and seek out those (who need help most)," he said. To laughter from the crowd, he described how he prays each day before an altar before going to bed. "Sometimes I doze off, the fatigue of the day makes you fall asleep, but he (God) understands," he said. CRISIS OF VALUES Francis, the former Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, said the world was going through not just an economic crisis but a crisis of values. "This is happening today. If investments in banks fall, it is a tragedy and people say 'what are we going to do?' but if people die of hunger, have nothing to eat or suffer from poor health, that's nothing. This is our crisis today. A Church that is poor and for the poor has to fight this mentality," he said. Many in the crowd planned to stay in the square overnight to pray and prepare for Francis' Mass on Sunday, when the Catholic Church marks Pentecost, the day it teaches that the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles. On Saturday morning, Francis met German Chancellor Angela Merkel and discussed Europe's economic crisis. Apparently responding to his criticism of a heartless "dictatorship of the economy" earlier in the week, Merkel, who is up for re-election in September, later called for stronger regulation of financial markets. On Thursday, Francis appealed in a speech for world financial reform, saying the global economic crisis had made life worse for millions in rich and poor countries. (Editing by Robin Pomeroy) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/18/pope-church-must-help-the-poor_n_3299764.html?utm_hp_ref=pope-francis

Little bit better article on this from HuffPo: Pope Francis Says Atheists Who Do Good Are Redeemed, Not Just Catholics Posted: 05/22/2013 2:25 pm EDT | Updated: 05/23/2013 2:33 am EDT Pope Francis rocked some religious and atheist minds today when he declared that everyone was redeemed through Jesus, including atheists. During his homily at Wednesday Mass in Rome, Francis emphasized the importance of "doing good" as a principle that unites all humanity, and a "culture of encounter" to support peace. Using scripture from the Gospel of Mark, Francis explained how upset Jesus' disciples were that someone outside their group was doing good, according to a report from Vatican Radio. “They complain,” the Pope said in his homily, because they say, “If he is not one of us, he cannot do good. If he is not of our party, he cannot do good.” And Jesus corrects them: “Do not hinder him, he says, let him do good.” The disciples, Pope Francis explains, “were a little intolerant,” closed off by the idea of ​​possessing the truth, convinced that “those who do not have the truth, cannot do good.” “This was wrong . . . Jesus broadens the horizon.” Pope Francis said, “The root of this possibility of doing good – that we all have – is in creation” Pope Francis went further in his sermon to say: "The Lord created us in His image and likeness, and we are the image of the Lord, and He does good and all of us have this commandment at heart: do good and do not do evil. All of us. ‘But, Father, this is not Catholic! He cannot do good.’ Yes, he can... "The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone! ‘Father, the atheists?’ Even the atheists. Everyone!".. We must meet one another doing good. ‘But I don’t believe, Father, I am an atheist!’ But do good: we will meet one another there.” Responding to the leader of the Roman Catholic church's homily, Father James Martin, S.J. wrote in an email to The Huffington Post: "Pope Francis is saying, more clearly than ever before, that Christ offered himself as a sacrifice for everyone. That's always been a Christian belief. You can find St. Paul saying in the First Letter to Timothy that Jesus gave himself as a "ransom for all." But rarely do you hear it said by Catholics so forcefully, and with such evident joy. And in this era of religious controversies, it's a timely reminder that God cannot be confined to our narrow categories." Of course, not all Christians believe that those who don't believe will be redeemed, and the Pope's words may spark memories of the deep divisions from the Protestant reformation over the belief in redemption through grace versus redemption through works. The pope's comment has also struck a chord on Reddit, where it is the second most-shared piece. More from Reuters: Atheists should be seen as good people if they do good, Pope Francis said on Wednesday in his latest urging that people of all religions - or no religion - work together. The leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics made his comments in the homily of his morning Mass in his residence, a daily event where he speaks without prepared comments. He told the story of a Catholic who asked a priest if even atheists had been redeemed by Jesus. "Even them, everyone," the pope answered, according to Vatican Radio. "We all have the duty to do good," he said. "Just do good and we'll find a meeting point," the pope said in a hypothetical conversation in which someone told a priest: "But I don't believe. I'm an atheist." Francis's reaching out to atheists and people who belong to no religion is a marked contrast to the attitude of former Pope Benedict, who sometimes left non-Catholics feeling that he saw them as second-class believers. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/22/pope-francis-good-atheists_n_3320757.html?utm_hp_ref=religion

Simple way to make steak cooked on the stovetop come out close to charcoal-grilled: Use a cast-iron skillet. Sprinkle the bottom with coarse sea salt or kosher salt. Heat very hot on high flame, then throw in your steak(s). Keeping flame on high, cook 5 minutes one side, turn and cook 5 minutes on other side, lowering flame slightly if needed to prevent burning. Steak should come out not burnt but with scorched surface similar to grilled. 5 min/5 min gives medium-rare center. Ribeyes are a good cut for this treatment thanks to their high fat content which helps yield a nice crunchy crust but not burnt or dried-out.

Think that would be: Have you had a Will?

Another -- rare! -- funny one from the right...

Exactly so. Another strong Jesuit principle & practice is to live & act in the public community, not cloistered away. Their -- Francis's -- practical engagement with social justice is so welcome.

That was what I meant. Of what he is, he seems thus far much the best example we could have hoped for. ...Has he in practice already convened Vatican III, without even saying so?

Powered of course by the Zeppelin tube, brazenly stolen from under the nose of the Giant Rat of Sumatra, Watcher over the Tube in the legendary Temple of Ampere-Watt... http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1974/3/29/rats-pbabny-audience-that-can-swallow/

LOL Where there's a will there's a won't!

Did I say anything? I agree with you more than I let on. I very much like your last sentence.

...You could have -- for enough ca$h... Luke Skywalker's Star Wars Levi's auctionedStone-coloured trousers worn by Mark Hamill throughout 1977 film have gone under the hammer in a US online auction Ben Child guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 22 May 2013 11.41 ET Trew love … Mark Hamill in Star Wars, 1977. Photograph: Allstar/Lucasfilm/Sportsphoto Ltd/Allstar Who knew Levi's had an outlet on Tatooine? The iconic pair of jeans worn by Luke Skywalker throughout most of 1977's Star Wars film have gone under the hammer. The "cotton-drill" distressed trousers, which measure a slim 29 inches around the waist, with a leg measurement of 37in, and have two 6in slits up the side, were auctioned online by US Hollywood memorabilia specialists Nate D Sanders. They have a UK origin, having been specially customised by famous London costumier Bermans & Nathans, whose 40 Camden Street address remains on a clothing tag. "Mark Hamill / 10490 Luke / Star Wars" is printed beneath it. The jeans are described online as: "Screen-worn 'hero' costume pants worn by Mark Hamill in his career-defining role as Luke Skywalker in the 1977 epic film Star Wars, the first in the groundbreaking trilogy. As one of the top-grossing films of all time, George Lucas's first film in the successful series won six Oscars, among many other awards. In a galaxy far, far away, Hamill donned these iconic pants as the Jedi knight of all Jedi knights, wearing the costume throughout much of the film." Star Wars and its two sequels were filmed largely at British studios such as Elstree, Shepperton, Leavesden, Ealing and Pinewood. Producers of the highly anticipated next instalment, JJ Abrams' Episode VII, have confirmed it will also be shot partly in the UK. Bidding for Skywalker's trousers, which have been on sale at least twice before via Sotheby's and Christie's auction houses, ended on 21 May at 5pm, with buyers expected to have parted with between $70,000 and $100,000 (between £46,000 and £66,000). An exact sale figure has not yet been made public. http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2013/may/22/luke-skywalker-star-wars-levis-auctioned?guni=Network%20front:network-front%20main-4%20Pixies:Pixies:Position1

LOL You have a point: fishy (wrong class, sorry. Order? Family?) that there is no long shot to prove the elephant is acting unaided.

One could come around to liking this pope despite oneself... Pope Francis says atheists can be goodJust do good, and we'll find a meeting point, says Francis in marked departure from Benedict's line on non-Catholics Reuters The Guardian, Wednesday 22 May 2013 14.50 EDT Pope Francis at his general audience in St Peter's Square at the Vatican. Photograph: Alessandra Benedetti/Alessandra Benedetti/Corbis Atheists should be seen as good people if they do good, Pope Francis has said in his latest urging that people of all religions, and none, work together. The leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics made his comments in the homily of his morning mass at his residence, a daily event at which he speaks without prepared comments. He told the story of a Catholic who asked a priest if even atheists had been redeemed by Jesus. "Even them, everyone," the pope answered, according to Vatican Radio. "We all have the duty to do good," he said. "Just do good, and we'll find a meeting point," the pope said in a hypothetical reply to the hypothetical comment: "But I don't believe. I'm an atheist." Francis's reaching out to atheists and people who belong to no religion is in marked contrast to the attitude of his predecessor, Benedict, who sometimes prompted complaints from non-Catholics that he seemed to see them as second-class believers. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/22/pope-francis-atheists-can-be-good?guni=Network%20front:network-front%20main-3%20Main%20trailblock:Network%20front%20-%20main%20trailblock:Position13

And imagine linking it to that cellphone scent gizmo that 4Aces posted about recently.

My day is complete now.

Beyond words... http://www.wimp.com/elephantpaints/

All roads seem to lead to...