A nod to the President from Jack Bauer

So I'm treadmilling in the basement watching "24" from Monday night when it hits me; Jack Bauer says "New'-Cue-Ler" just like President George W. Bush does, as opposed to 99.999999999999999% of the rest of the world who pronounce it "New'-Clee-Ur." You'll hear it at the end of this clip.








Maybe it's an edict from the West Wing, um...Fox network that everyone on the show pronounce it that way? Nope. From President Wayne Palmer, to the Islamic terrorists, down to Chloe's tortured hubby, Miles O'Brien, it's "New'-Clee-Ur" "New'-Clee-Ur." "New'-Clee-Ur."

The show is a 'neo-con' favorite, with Rush Limbaugh it's number one fan, so a nod to 'W' wouldn't be out of the question. They like the way Jack, played by Kiefer Sutherland, wields a take-no-prisoners approach to combating terrorism, complete with remorseless killings and torture. Heck, they even have one of their own, former anchor Tony Snow, in the White House.

Perhaps it's a nod to the first president to say "New'-Cue-Ler," Jimmy Carter?









Nah, even Jack Bauer, after 2 years in a Chinese prison, wouldn't go that liberal.

Support our troops! (Vote)

10 Mourning Doves (Zenaida macroura) on the wire in the LipsYard.

If they were registered voters, only 1 would participate in today's primary (let's hope it's the blue dove.)

Lot's of American's "support our troops." I support the troops by paying taxes. I control our troops, and our democracy (it's really a republic) by voting. Only when a majority of Americans vote, will the true wishes of our nation be done. A true majority didn't elect our current Decider in Chief, and probably won't elect the next one either.

On a more local level, school board elections and referenda will determine what kind of country we have in the future, determined by what kind of education we provide today.

Be the dove that votes.

Happy Presidents Day

Presidents Day is the common name for the holiday officially designated as Washington's Birthday. It is celebrated on the third Monday of February.

Originally implemented by the federal government in 1880 as the first federal holiday to honor an American citizen, it was celebrated on Washington's actual birthday, February 22. In 1971 it was shifted to the third Monday in February.

In the late 1980s, with a push from advertisers, the term Presidents Day began its public appearance. The theme has expanded the focus of the holiday to honor another February President, Abraham Lincoln, and other Presidents of the United States, including:



The 43rd President, George W. Bush

Here Mr. Bush looks for the "Way Forward" in Iraq (those lens caps aren't helping.)

LipsYard goes daily Monday, February 19

Blog Blog Blog Blog Blog

It's all you hear everywhere you go. "Read this blog," "the blogosphere is humming with this," "find out more in my blog."


Not that my opinion matters any more than yours (get your own blog for heaven's sake,) but the people have spoken and are demanding more blogging!


Starting Monday, February 19, 2007, check LipsYard every day for new photos, links, and the occasional rant on the right. (OK, everyday.) There's a lot buried under the surface that is ready to spew!

State of the Union

Early January, and while fresh snow blankets the LipsYard, inside, we're working up a household budget plan for 2007.

Meanwhile, in our nations capitol, President George W. Bush labors over his "State of the Union" Address.

Not quite what it appears to be

Above is what Winter should look like in the LipsYard...
...but it really looks like this. When President Bush signed legislation that overhauls some postal regulations protecting our privacy, it looked like a good thing, but then he issued a "signing statement" that declared his right to open mail under emergency conditions, contrary to existing law and contradicting the bill he had just signed.
This isn't the first time he's done that. Since taking office in 2001, President Bush has issued signing statements on more than 750 new laws, declaring that he has the power to set aside the laws when they conflict with his legal interpretation of the Constitution. The federal government is instructed to follow the statements when it enforces the laws. Here are some other examples:

The law: Justice Department officials must give reports to Congress by certain dates on how the FBI is using the USA Patriot Act to search homes and secretly seize papers.
Bush's signing statement: The president can order Justice Department officials to withhold any information from Congress if he decides it could impair national security or executive branch operations.

The law: US interrogators cannot torture prisoners or otherwise subject them to cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment.
Bush's signing statement: The president, as commander in chief, can waive the torture ban if he decides that harsh interrogation techniques will assist in preventing terrorist attacks.

The law: When requested, scientific information ''prepared by government researchers and scientists shall be transmitted [to Congress] uncensored and without delay."
Bush's signing statement: The president can tell researchers to withhold any information from Congress if he decides its disclosure could impair foreign relations, national security, or the workings of the executive branch.

The law: The military cannot add to its files any illegally gathered intelligence, including information obtained about Americans in violation of the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches.
Bush's signing statement: Only the president, as commander in chief, can tell the military whether or not it can use any specific piece of intelligence.

But don't all Presidents issue signing statements? Ronald Reagan issued 71 and Bill Clinton issued 105.

Fertilizer Spreader

The Scott's PF-2 drop-spreader makes short work of applying fertilizer, crabgrass preventer, and weed killer to the 12,000 square feet of the LipsYard. We do this 3 or 4 times a year to ensure a beautiful deep green, weed-free carpet of grass. Our most recent use was mid-November to put down a winterizer/weed preventer.

The White House has a fertilizer spreader, too. Former Fox News ('We report, You decide') anchor Tony Snow distributes the President's positions over the media. Unlike our spreader, Tony get's a workout on a daily basis.

Snow Job

December started in a big way, over a foot of snow!
Here at LipsYard we deal with the white stuff by wheeling out the Snapper 8 horse 2 stage 5 speed forward 2 reverse snowblower.

Cleaning out for the birds is still done the old fashioned way, with a snow shovel. Meanwhile, in Washington, DC. a snowjob of a different kind continues.

It's not a 'civil war,' it's 'sectarian violence.'

Turning things over

Now that we've spread all the compost out on the garden, just as President George W. Bush has spread his compost of fear all over America, it's time to turn it into the soil. Ta Da! The Troy-bilt 'Pony' Roto tiller-power composter.

This bad boy 'rear-tiller' (as opposed to those wimpy 'front-tiller' models you rent) makes short work of things. It's self-propelled, both forward and reverse, and really prepares the ground for next spring. In Washington, DC, they'll be ready to go in January!

Do I even need to point out that in LipsYard, we've nicknamed our Troy-bilt "the Democratic party?" (Maybe I should consider painting it Blue)

Spreading compost

Here in the yard on the left, we use a 6 tine pitch fork to spread compost on the garden.

The compost is made up of leaves, grass clippings, and plant trimmings. Soon we'll turn it into the ground to fortify the soil for next season.

On the campaign trail, the Republicans use President George W. Bush to spread the compost of fear; “However they put it, the Democrat approach in Iraq comes down to this: The terrorists win and America loses.” (Oct. 30 in a speech in Statesboro, Georgia)

Vote on November 7 and give America back to the people!

"Stay the course!"

Back in July, the garden was going great guns, headed for a great bloom. "Stay the course!" and keep these plants blooming and producing forever.

Then the daylight hours began to shrink, the temperature drop, and alas, the plants died.

"'Stay the course' means keep doing what you're doing. My attitude is, don't do what you're doing if it's not working: change." (10/25/2006 - President George W. Bush)

"Stay the course?" No, we're going to turn everything under and "cut and run" into the warmth and security of our house until next spring when we'll try again. If I were John Kerry (or any Democrat for that matter) you'd call this a 'flip-flop' and have some 'Swift-garden rototillers for truth' lining up to smear my good name and reputation.

Our date with destiny is coming November 7, 2006.

Winter is a comin' soon

An early cold spell in LipsYard made for some spectacular pictures. Here the steam rises off the Burning bush (Euonymus alata) and the Sand Cherry (Prunus x cistena.)

















Our feathered friends had a heck of a time getting a drink or taking a dip in the ice covered bird bath nestled among the Evergreen Bittersweet (Euonymus Vegetus) and Flowering tobacco (Nicotiana.) You can even see the frost on the lawn (Festuca glauca.) A precursor to the Winter ahead, just as the bomb test in North Korea could be a precursor to Nuclear (not noo' cue ler!) Winter that could be facing our little planet. Keep sabre rattling and posturing instead of sitting down and talking and a sore beak and a slippery slide on the butt will be the least of our (and the bird's) worries.

Here's the beginning of a disturbing article to be published in the October 15, 2006 New York Times by David Sanger and William J. Broad.

The declaration last Monday by North Korea that it had conducted a successful atomic test brought to nine the number of nations believed to have nuclear arms. But atomic officials estimate that as many as 40 more countries have the technical skill, and in some cases the required material, to build a bomb.

That ability, coupled with new nuclear threats in Asia and the Middle East, risks a second nuclear age, officials and arms control specialists say, in which nations are more likely to abandon the old restraints against atomic weapons.

The spread of nuclear technology is expected to accelerate as nations redouble their reliance on atomic power. That will give more countries the ability to make reactor fuel, or, with the same equipment and a little more effort, bomb fuel — the hardest part of the arms equation.

Signs of activity abound. Hundreds of companies are now prospecting for uranium where dozens did a few years ago. Argentina, Australia and South Africa are drawing up plans to begin enriching uranium, and other countries are considering doing the same. Egypt is reviving its program to develop nuclear power.

Concern about the situation led the International Atomic Energy Agency to summon hundreds of government officials and experts from around the world to Vienna in September to discuss tightening restrictions on who can produce nuclear fuel.

“These dangers are urgent,” Sam Nunn, an expert on nuclear proliferation and a former Democratic senator, told the group. “We are in a race between cooperation and catastrophe and, at this moment, the outcome is unclear.”

link to article

I see your True colors

As the growing and blooming season comes to a close, we are really starting to see the 'True Colors" coming through, like this Burning bush (Euonymus alata.)

The Autumn Joy (Sedum) is in it's full glory, and the heads on the ornamental fountain grass (Pennisetum villosum) sway in the cool fall breeze.

The Snowdrift Crabapple (Malus 'Snowdrift') is heavy with fruit, being eaten with delight by the flocks of Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum.) How many can you spot in the picture?

Here in the LipsYard on the Left, the True Colors represent the consequences of a Republican agenda, without oversight, coming to light; especially the little crabapples, each portraying it's own scandal; 'Iraq,' 'Rep. Foley,' 'Speaker Hastert,' 'global warming,' 'skyrocketing National debt,' 'Abramoff,' 'tax cuts for the rich,' 'Gitmo,' etc... and the Cedar Waxwings? They're American's, hungry for a change in November.

Welcome Mr. Vice President

Vice President Dick Cheney's undisclosed location moves to Milwaukee on Monday, September 25, 2006 to the Pfister Hotel. He'll give a noontime address at a fundraiser for Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Green and other GOP candidates.The cost to attend the luncheon is $1,000 per person or $5,000 for two tickets and a photo with Cheney. No word on the cost involved to go hunting.

He is scheduled to leave the state immediately after the luncheon, destination: "Classified."

Fungus amungus

While mowing the lawn, I noticed between the Arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis) a large purple fungus

Turns out is was an outbreak of Wood Blewit (Clitocybe nuda)

This all got me to thinking, maybe our president, George W. Bush, who used to be a fun-gi (guy) in college, has had some kind of mushrooms affecting his brain, allowing him to even consider "clarifying" our interpretation of the Geneva Conventions to allow for secret CIA interogations (torture.)
Can 01-20-2009 get here soon enough?

A Whale of a Time off Old Cape Cod

Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae)

Once again we saw these giants of the sea on our annual end-of-summer outing to the liberal Massachusetts coast. Here we see a mother, her calf, and an 'escort' who watches the child while mom dives for food. Entanglements in fishing nets have long been a hazard for the Humpbacks, and Japan, Norway, and Iceland actually continue to hunt these endangered behemoths. New the list of shame, the United States Navy, George W. Bush commander in chief, who are causing untold damage on whales, dolphins, and other marine life with new high-intensity sonar. Beached whales have been found bleeding from the eyes and ears, and lesions the size of golf balls in their organ tissue. Eventually, 80 percent of the ocean will be under the sonic bombardment of the new system.

Cheers!

Forbes.com reports that Milwaukee is America's Drunkest City. I'm no cultural psychologist, but I'm the only person quoted in the article, challenging the title, and the means used to determine it. It's a bum rap for the city I love.

Now if you're buying, I'll take a Captain and Diet.

TSA flight safety tip #7

Because of the current 'threat level,' you would do well to follow the example of the Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) and tank up on fluids before you fly. Extra points for not wearing shoes at all!
hint: Don't permanently discard your liquid or gel toiletries, they'll be allowed again after the November elections.

Forget your troubles, c'mon get Happy

(Guernsey bos taurus)

The Middle-East, high gas prices, hot-button legislation, NSA domestic spying, are all put on the back burner for Dairy Day at Wisconsin State Fair. Milk as much as you can in 30 seconds. Lips gives it a go.

Fairest of the Fairs is next.

"These are bigger than bees'!" exclaims the Honey Queen.

Alice in Dairyland takes us all to school.

Earlier on Dairy Day, Alice didn't fare as well (neither did Lips) in the Creampuff eating contest.