Call Off The Corndogs

The Cornhusker Kickback that bought Senator Ben Nelson's 60th vote on health care is in the news and causing confusion.  From Politico:

Under the terms of a deal Nelson cut with Senate leaders to secure his crucial vote for the health care package, Nebraska would be exempted from having to pay for the coverage of its new Medicaid enrollees—leaving the federal government to pick up the tab. The deal is expected to cost the federal government $100 million over the next 10 years.

...

“Senator Nelson insisted that he had not asked for the Cornhusker Kickback to be placed in the U.S. Senate version of the health care bill to secure his vote. Senator Nelson told the attorney general that it was simply a ‘marker’ placed in the U.S. Senate version of the bill and assured the attorney general that it would be ‘fixed,’ says the memo.

The document goes on to say: “Senator Nelson said it would be ‘fixed’ by extending the Cornhusker Kickback (100% federal payment) on Medicaid to every state.”

That seems to be consistent with what Nelson said on the Senate floor and in a chat with Michael Gerson of the WaPo.  However, as noted by Scott Johnson of Powerine, if the real intention is that every state can opt out of the Medicaid mandate, then the CBO score for the bill is even more wildly optimistic than we imagined.

As an alternative reality check, here is the Times description of the Cornhusker Kickback from Dec 22:

The health care bill greatly expands Medicaid, and states would have to pick up some of the cost starting in 2017.

However, under a late change, Nebraska would be exempted, and the federal government would pick up the entire cost for certain people who become eligible for Medicaid there.

Republicans have criticized the Nebraska provision as the “Cornhusker kickback,” but Mr. Nelson pushed back.

“It’s not a special deal,” Mr. Nelson said. “It’s a fair deal. Some people said I was getting money for Nebraska. That’s wrong. I was just getting rid of an underfunded federal mandate. There’s nothing sleazy about it. I cracked the door open for other states.”

"Cracked the door open"?  Either other states are exempted in the bill or they are not.  Here is the Times from Dec 20:

Nebraska, with help from Mr. Nelson, won a particularly generous arrangement under which the federal government would indefinitely pay the full cost of covering certain low-income people added to the Medicaid rolls under the bill.

Republicans derided this provision as the “Cornhusker kickback.” And they said it was typical of the favors Democrats had given to Mr. Nelson and a handful of other senators.

“You’ve got to compliment Ben Nelson for playing ‘The Price is Right,’ ” said Senator Richard M. Burr, Republican of North Carolina. “He negotiated a Medicaid agreement for Nebraska that puts the federal government on the hook forever. Not for six years, not for 10 years. This isn’t the Louisiana Purchase; this is the Nebraska windfall.”

What, other Senators don't understand the bill either, and have failed to realize this is a windfall for all?  Please.  Either the CBO score is awry and this bill will blow up the deficit or Nelson is offering Reid a refund.  Either way I bet the voters of Nebraska won't be happy.

Comments

[Semanticleo]

Are those corndogs made with cornfed pork and chicken?

[LTC John]

I suspect that when Sen. Nelson becomes "former Senator Nelson" he won't be too pleased with this either...

[Clarice]

The all for one argument grows louder as 13 States attorneys threaten suit, doesn't it?
Nelson blew it and I don't see there's any politically viable exit for him .

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Bullshit.

[Jane]

He's also 71 I think, or will be when he comes up for office.

Let's put him in the clink.

[Jane]

Comes up for REELECTION that should have said.

[Mike Mahoney]

Somebody please evaluate Nelson's vote for cloture now. Was he bribed with a poison pill? Was he aware? His vote must still be legit but stinky, stinky. Will he turncoat the dems? He should be recalled by the Nebraska state legislature now for this miscreant behavior.

[narciso]

He took the blue pill I think, and ended up with the Cloud City bargain, praying they don't change the terms of the agreement

[tollhouse]

This would explain Schumer's position that every state got something in this bill.

Perhaps there is some implicit agreement that the Dems have running under the radar.

[Danube of Thought]

Jane, have you seen any local polling on the Mass. Senate election?

[sbw]

I thought Aristotle determined that politics correctly practiced was a process that led to clarity, understanding, and sound governance.

[PaulV]

Local polling in Mass. is likely inaccurate. turnout is key and we do not want Ds motivated anyway. Obamacare is bad for them.

[Jane]

Jane, have you seen any local polling on the Mass. Senate election?

I don't think we have such a thing.

But I'm telling you, I was shocked by all the Brown signs I saw this weekend. Absolutely shocked. I have yet to see a sign for Martha Coakley.

Coakley will take Boston, so Brown has to take the rest of the state. If the current momentum continues I think he has a shot.

[Neo]

Thirteen Republican state attorneys general are threatening to file a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Senate health care bill.

In a letter sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Wednesday, South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster said he had “grave concerns” about the deal Senate leaders cut with Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) to secure his crucial vote for the health care package.

“The current iteration of the bill contains a provision that affords special treatment to the state of Nebraska under the federal Medicaid program,” writes McMaster. “We believe this provision is constitutionally flawed. As chief legal officers of our states we are contemplating a legal challenge to this provision and we ask you to take action to render this challenge unnecessary by striking that provision.”

[Janet]

Proud to say Virginia's new AG is one of the 13.

political signs - This last election was very telling with the political signs. There were a lot of signs for the Rep., and they were in people's yards. There were also a lot of signs for the Dem., but they were all in the road medians.

[Clarice]

Jane, there have been several news reports that he's been getting a great deal more money and support all of a sudden.

Turn out will mean a lot and he should emphasis the health care bill because you apparently are not the only Mass resident who hates your state's program and see where the federal one will head.

Also that magazine spread--(*bad,bad,bad*)

[Clarice]

*emphasIZE**

[Janet]

LUN ""Youths" Torch 1137 cars in France..."

I'm reminded of a great line from a Freeper calling the Dennis Miller show..."You are brighter than 300 burning Renaults on a cool Paris night."

[centralcal]

Jane: Gerraghty has a piece up about Brown.

LUN

[Danube of Thought]

Try to imagine Brown winning, and Obamacare going down 59-41 on a cloture vote. I simply can't allow myself to dream about it.

[centralcal]

Completely unrelated to anything being discussed today:

Former Washington Post ombudsman and seminal journalist Deborah Howell was killed after being struck by a car in New Zealand, according to a report in the Minneapolis-St.Paul Star Tribune. She was 68.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Oh, now that's really a shame. Deborah and I had several actually polite conversations and she even quoted me once.

[pagar]

Amazing, we can find how many cars were burnt in France on New Years, and yet we have no clue how many people died in auto accidents in the US in the same period. No clue how many died in auto accidents over the Christmas holidays. No clue that I can find how many died in Auto accidents in the US in 2009. WHY?
How long does it take to consolidate the highway Patrol reports for a state, turn them into a consolidated national report? The figures for each day ought to be available to every one early the next day.

[Janet]

centralcal, I found that very sad. I think she had some light bulb moments about bias when she became ombudsman.

[Captain Hate]

Deborah Howell was killed after being struck by a car in New Zealand

Do people drive on the left in NZ?

[anduril]

Here's the most sensible article I've seen in a long time re The War We're In: "Losing" Our Way to Victory. The author, refreshingly, not only properly identifies The War We're In but also offers recommendations geared specifically toward winning that war--not some other WAS (Wild Ass Scheme) dreamed up by the usual Washington "thinkers".

Today's column is for all hawkish Americans currently wrestling with looming doubts about the pointlessness of the U.S. mission in Afghanistan and clubbing those doubts down with the much-mentioned perils of leaving Afghanistan to "the terrorists." In short, it's about how to "lose" Afghanistan and win the war.

And what war would that be? Since 9/11, the answer to this question has eluded our leaders, civilian and military, but it remains the missing link to a cogent U.S. foreign policy.

It is not, as our presidents vaguely invoke, a war against "terrorism," "radicalism" or "extremism"; and it is not, as the current hearts-and-minds-obsessed Afghanistan commander calls it, "a struggle to gain the support of the (Afghan) people." It is something more specific than presidents describe, and it is something larger than the outlines of Iraq or Afghanistan. The war that has fallen to our generation is to halt the spread of Islamic law (Sharia) in the West, whether driven by the explosive belts of violent jihad, the morality-laundering of petro-dollars or decisive demographic shifts.

This mission demands a new line of battle around the West itself, one supported by a multilevel strategy in which the purpose of military action is not to nation-build in the Islamic world, but to nation-save in the Western one. Secure the borders, for starters, something "war president" George W. Bush should have done but never did. Eliminate the nuclear capabilities of jihadist nations such as Iran, another thing George W. Bush should have done but never did -- Pakistan's, too. Destroy jihadist actors, camps and havens wherever and whenever needed (the strategy in place and never executed by Bill Clinton in the run-up to 9/11). But not by basing, supplying and supporting a military colossus in Islamic, landlocked Central Asia. It is time, as Maj. Gen. Paul Vallely (USA ret.) first told me last April, to "let Afghanistan go." It is not in our interests to civilize it.

But we would "lose face" in leaving Afghanistan, supporters say. News flash: We lose face every day in Afghanistan executing a costly, impotent policy based on massive state bribery, the public devaluation of American life ("population protection" trumps "force protection"), and deference to Islamic custom, as when women Marines are ordered to wind head scarves under their helmets for missions. And the point of this mass American supplication? To win a local popularity contest in which the only competition is the Taliban. Earth to military geniuses: The people are already with you, or they're against you.

...

Such a war -- to block Sharia in the West -- requires more than military solutions. For starters, it requires an unflinching assessment of Sharia's incompatibility with the U.S. Constitution, and legal bars to Sharia-compliant petro-dollars now flowing into banking and business centers, into universities and media. It absolutely requires weaning ourselves from Islamic oil -- what a concept -- and drilling far and widely for our own.

Halting the spread of Islamic law in the democratic West requires halting Islamic immigration, something I've written before. But there's another aspect to consider. On examining a photo of armed Taliban on an Afghan hill, it occurred to me that these men and others like them can't hurt us from their hilltops. That is, what happens in Afghanistan stays in Afghanistan -- or Pakistan or Saudi Arabia -- if we (duh) impose wartime restrictions on travel from and to Sharia states.

But that cramps our freedom, critics will say. Well, so does standing in line to de-clothe and show our toothpaste because Hani Hanjour might be on the plane. Funny kind of "freedom" we're now used to. And funny kind of war we now fight to protect it -- a war for Sharia states abroad while a growing state of Sharia shrinks freedom at home.

The faster we extricate our military from the Islamic world, the faster we can figure out how to fight the real war, the Sharia war on the West.

Note the sentence that I DIDN'T bold:

Eliminate the nuclear capabilities of jihadist nations such as Iran, another thing George W. Bush should have done but never did -- Pakistan's, too.

If the author were right, I'd have no problem at all with the idea. However, whatever else Iran may be, it's not a "jihadist nation," as our "ally" Pakistan very arguably is. IMO, Iran will probably never be able to be an "ally," but in the not too distant future could prove to be a valuable asset in our war against the spread of Islam--if we have eyes to see.

[Clarice]

There are reports that the absentee voting in Mass are up in an unprecedented way.

handful of residents signed up to vote in towns across Cape Cod this week, as the registration deadline passed to be eligible to vote in this month's U.S. Senate election.

From Barnstable to Chatham to Falmouth, most towns across the Cape saw fewer than 10 voters register Wednesday, the final day to register and be eligible to vote in the Jan. 19 special election between state Attorney General Martha Coakley, a Medford Democrat, and state Sen. Scott Brown, R-Wrentham. The pair are vying to fill the U.S. Senate seat held by Edward M. Kennedy until his death in August.

Low numbers are typical, several local town clerks said. Less typical is the number of votes already received. In towns across the Cape, hundreds of residents have already cast absentee ballots — a sharp increase over past years, town clerks said. In Barnstable, the town clerk's office has already received 485 ballots — about double the usual count two weeks before an election, according to Town Clerk Linda Hutchenrider.

The spike is likely due to the timing of the election in January, when many Cape residents are spending the winter in warmer climates.

"It seems like people are a little more aware and a little more excited about voting this time," said Theresa Bunce, town clerk in Dennis. "Even if they're not here to do it."

capecodonline.com ...

[narciso]

Because it's easier to spot jihadists stateside, I don't see that point of the argument. What would be the constitutional argument, would it be institutionalizing the points in Hassan's powerpoint presentation

[Rick Ballard]

TM should be pleased - the biofuel subsidy (which included the paper industry 'black liquor' loophole) was allowed to expire. It may undergo resurrection (watch for mill closings) but Climategate might force some members of the Congressional Clown Corps to disavow belief in the CO2 Monster.

[Jane]

"It seems like people are a little more aware and a little more excited about voting this time," said Theresa Bunce, town clerk in Dennis.

I don't consume any local news for the most part but I think the buzz is not in the media but in the grocery store.

The primary was virtually ignored. For a long time if the press did talk about the race, it was to talk about Coakley. I can't tell you how often I heard "the primary is the election because the democrat will win."

I don't think the democrats have any idea how mad people are. Deval Patrick is openly loathed, even by the left. Coakley is uncharasmatic and more of the same. And while Brown has gone viral I'm not convinced that the local press has caught up. I'll have to try and catch some.

At any rate, it certainly is getting exciting.

[glenda]

Jane..I am praying for history to be made in MA with a Brown win..it would be the first of many dominoes falling in the "right" direction

clarice...just read your blog post at AT re:
what and when did Obama know about Christmas terror attack---if stuff is being leaked to Newsweek, there has to be a lot of worry among rank and file intelligence--I'm just surprised any liberal media outlet reported on it. And that idiot, Holder, was there, ignoring national security. They have guards and access to info...but what about their sworn duty to defend and protect??? Axe Napolitano, Holder, Brennan--all of them, I say! I miss GW and Cheney so much.

[narciso]

It just gets worse and worse, from this other AT piece by Moran, re another Newsweek piece, in the LUN. Ths subject of the butt bomber, for lack of a more discrete term, briefed Brennan,

[Danube of Thought]

Just heard a Rush replay in which he played the tape of Obama saying he'd always been a bit leery of the word "victory" because it "evokes images of Emperor Hirohito coming down to the USS Missouri to sign the surrender documents."

How can Obama believe that such an event occurred?

[pagar]

How could Americans have been so dumb as to vote for a person who believed that such an event occurred?

[Rick Ballard]

Pagar,

The vast majority of Americans believe[d] that taxing air will drive away the CO2 Monster. Vast fortunes have been and are still being made on the credulity of the gullible. It's not as if there was a widely available source of reliable information concerning the Unicorn Rider.

[Jack is Back!]

He not only believed such an event occurred but bowed deeply to Hirohito's son to recognize his own supplication.

[Jane]

I don't know if this will help or hurt"

Scott Brown files ethics complaint in Senate race

BOSTON - Republican Senate hopeful Scott Brown has filed a complaint with the State Ethics Commission after a report that a union backing rival Martha Coakley used state resources to urge workers to volunteer for Coakley's campaign.

The report by FOX25 said the Service Employees International Union used state computers and e-mail addresses to direct state employees to volunteer for Coakley, the Democratic state attorney general.

Coakley's campaign referred questions to the attorney general's office. A spokeswoman said the attorney general's office has received the letter from Brown's attorney and will review it before commenting.

The SEIU did not immediately return a call for comment.

~~~

Coakley is of course, the AG.

[MayBee]

I'm reading Newsweek's article about the undie bomber, and I've come across this line:
He also worried about girls. "Lowering his gaze" like a proper Islamic boy when a girl passed by didn't seem to help, nor did fasting, he complained.

And it's really neither here nor there but I still find it odd that Obama used to fast every Sunday.

[Jane]

I never knew that MayBee.

[MayBee]

Jane:
From Dreams From My Father (Page 120):

When Sadik lost his own lease, we moved in together. And after a few months of closer scrutiny, he began to realize that the city had indeed had an effect on me, although not the one he'd expected. I stopped getting high. I ran three miles a day and fasted on Sundays. For the first time in years, I applied myself to my studies and started keeping a journal of daily reflections and very bad poetry. Whenever Sadik tried to talk me into hitting a bar, I'd beg off with some tepid excuse, too much work or not enough cash.

[Dave (in MA)]

very bad poetry

Under water grottos, caverns
Filled with apes
That eat figs.
Stepping on the figs
That the apes
Eat, they crunch.
The apes howl, bare
Their fangs, dance,
Tumble in the
Rushing water,
Musty, wet pelts
Glistening in the blue.

Yep.

[Gmax]

That still beats Al Gore's global warming poetry. I thought Hugh Hewitt was going to bust a gut laughing at Al artistry right before Christmas.

[Neo]

it was simply a ‘marker’ placed in the U.S. Senate version of the bill and assured the attorney general that it would be ‘fixed,’

Didn't Nelson say at the time the 'marker" was added that he wouldn't vote for the final bill if the House changed the Senate bill ? ... so how does it get 'fixed' ?

[clarice]

I seem to have some comuter virus we are trying to correct so I will not be sending or responding to emails until we have this resolved.
Carry on

[clarice]

*comPuter vius* (Damnit)

[clarice]

*viRus* (Double damnit)

[Rob Crawford]

Perhaps there is some implicit agreement that the Dems have running under the radar.

There sure is: "Let's screw 'em all while we can; once we control who lives and dies, they won't dare boot us out of office!"

[Rob Crawford]

There are reports that the absentee voting in Mass are up in an unprecedented way.

Well, we know ACORN is getting its voice heard.

[anduril]

Interesting question: What Lies at the Heart of "Avatar"? And good news comes with the answer--we can all have some of that good stuff, free!

[DebinNC]

Didn't Nelson say at the time the 'marker" was added that he wouldn't vote for the final bill if the House changed the Senate bill ? ... so how does it get 'fixed'?

I took Nelson's memo to mean the "fix" would be for all the states to get the same Medicaid sweetheart deal NE got. That's certainly what Tom Harkin thinks will happen. And I took Nelson's warning about the House changing the Senate bill to be mainly about the abortion funding faux-solution he took credit for.

[Jane]

I took Nelson's memo to mean the "fix" would be for all the states to get the same Medicaid sweetheart deal NE got.

Isn't that just stupid? So the feds will tax us more rather than the states taxing us more. Nelson isn't telling the truth methinks.

[Jane]

Clarice,

Try malwarebytes. It did wonders for me.

[matt]

it's all about plausible deniability with these clowns. The fix is in with almost all of them these days.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

I thought Aristotle determined that politics correctly practiced was a process that led to clarity, understanding, and sound governance.

Well, Aristotle also thought heavy objects fell faster than light ones. But just to be fair, he probably has an out on "correctly practiced.."

[Extraneus]

Doesn't Nelson still have to vote for the bill, even if the Cornhusker Kickback is removed or struck down, just to save face?

[Charlie (Colorado)]

No clue that I can find how many died in Auto accidents in the US in 2009. WHY?

(1) France is smaller.
(2) France is one country with a bureaucracy that dates back to Napoleon, instead of 50.
(3) France is reporting the count by the news bureaus rather than formal statistics.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Do people drive on the left in NZ?

Yes, and I've been scared a couple times that way myself.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

How can Obama believe that such an event occurred?

because all little Japanese guys in morning coats look alike to him.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Blocked, I see.

[Janet]

Jane, is this you?...via Instapundit

A READER SENDS THIS PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION:

Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United States that does not apply equally to the Senators and/or Representatives, and Congress shall make no law that applies to the Senators and/or Representatives that does not apply equally to the citizens of the United States .

[BobS]

If Nelson's assertion to the SC AG is essentially a mea culpa/confession then the Dems intend to back channel a public option via Medicaid. Easy to fund. easy to demagogue the GOP. Brillaint actually. Gotta hand it to those safe seat Dems that conjured this one up. Socialized medicine by bait and switch.

[Melinda Romanoff]

That was the plan from the get-go, BobS. Always has been. Remember this little clip at the LUN?

[Danube of Thought]

I think Aristotle also believed that men had more teeth than women. It has always struck me as odd that he didn't check that one out for himself, although maybe he did with a sample size of one from each gender and drew an outlier.

[Jim Rhoads a/k/a vjnjagvet]

DOT:

I wonder if women had any wisdom teeth then;>)

[Jim Rhoads a/k/a vjnjagvet]

I'm ducking, I'm ducking.

[anduril]

Michael Horowitz at Defensive Computing discusses:

Why every Windows user should have a Linux Live CD,

and why

Every Windows XP user should drop their rights. That refers to a free security program for XP called DropMyRights.

[Rob Crawford]

Wasn't "Call of the Corndogs" an H.P. Lovecraft story?

[Danube of Thought]

A cursory Google yielded this:

"There may be no accounting for Aristotle's claim that men have more teeth than women, since on average they are the same. On the other hand, with the variation in third molar [wisdom teeth] eruption it is quite possible that the women available for Aristotle to examine might have -- by chance -- had fewer teeth."

[clarice]

Jane, because my husband sometimes uses my computer for business reasons we have a corporate version of Symantec on my computer. It needs to be compatible with the firm system. It;s the weekend and his IT guy seems engaged. He'll be able to resolve this quickly I think. Symantec scanned my stuff and says everything's disables or quarantined but some other companies to which I do not subscribe seem to keep popping up warning me of a virus and preventing me from using the computer.

[DebinNC]

WSJ on how Porkulus will prevent states that took the money from remaining solvent, unlike Indiana and Texas whose governors refused the money. The new Medicaid expansion is a ticking timebomb.

[Mary]

Clarice,

We had the same problem on one of my husband's machines. We also use Symantec software.

Malabytes does work with Norton and is a good program to use on this virus. Try scanning with Malabytes and then do a norton boot scan. Once you are rid of the virus turn the firewall setting up. It is a pain but less painfull then the virus.

[ben]

A graph is worth a thousand words....

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/assets_c/2010/01/monthly_approval_index_december_2009.php

[clarice]

Thanks, Mary..I am able to use my husband's laptop and when I speak to the IT guy, I'll suggest that. As we are hooked into their system I donn't want to do any accidental infecting.

[Jane]

Janet,

No and I can't find who it is. I actually asked to have it embedded in YOU TOO this AM. I've been searching for the author for awhile.

It's great isn't it?

[Jane]

I have Symantec as well Clarice. You can use malwarebytes with it.

[clarice]

Thanks..Jane.

[JM Hanes]

The only sensible observation in Diana West's column is that the idea of mounting a battle against creeping sharia has barely crossed the Western radar and that we neglect the fierce urgency of that now to our peril. Too bad she didn't have anything other than strawmen, counterfactual assertions, false choices and non sequitors in her quiver. Just for starters, someone should tell her that the folks balking at stringent visa requirements, securing our borders and drilling for our own oil, are not the hawks. Outside of perfectly reasonable philosophic qualms, West might have more luck selling the idea of halting Islamic immigration altogether, if the idea weren't so frequently rooted in other purist agendas, and if "wartime restrictions" weren't a fatuous substitute for "bureaucratic nightmares."

If only our policy makers would spend a little time "examining a photo of armed Taliban on an Afghan hill," eh? They too might be inspired to eliminate Iran's nuclear capabilities, "destroy jihadist actors, camps and havens wherever and whenever needed," by extricating our troops from the Islamic world (Murtha lives!) ASAP and then "shore up liberty in the West," with a new, improved, Great Western Wall of China.

Emphasizing that you didn't bold the Bush whacking swipe was nice touch, anduril! It might have won you some points for restraint, if you weren't such an apologist for Iran.

[JM Hanes]

Jane:

Here's a link to the item at Instapundit with the proposed amendment quote from "a reader." You might try emailing Glenn Reynolds to ask about crediting the source. Wouldn't hurt to include a link to YOU TOO -- just to provide the appropriate context, of course! :-)

[Porchlight]

How can Obama believe that such an event occurred?

And even if the totally implausible did occur, how could he not believe in using the word victory anyway? I mean, even if Hirohito had signed the surrender, what difference would it make? It's victory, damnit. It is a desirable thing to triumph over a worldwide menace. Unless you're a freaking pacifist, that is.

Really, that one remark tells you everything you need to know about Obama's foreign policy views, past present and future.

[narciso]

Yes that is too broadbrush an indictment, Iran has a proWestern population, but the Council of Guardians practice velayat al fagih, 'rule by clerics' Pakistan has the ISI
and the madrassa network, but Sharia isn't the law of the land, yet

[matt]

except in the tribal areas, narciso......which keep on expanding....

[narciso]

That is the problem, Matt, which FOB Chapman was trying to deal with, which seems to have heen dealt a fatal blow.

it seems of all the locations, Yemen seems to be the worst possible theatre of operations, a corrupt oppressive anti democratic regime

[daddy]

Good morning JOMer's,

Everybody talks about a Happy New Year but nobody does anything about it.

Well I'm here to change that, so somewhat like the Tibetan Monks in Arthur C Clarke's famous short story, "The 9 Billion Names of God", (intent on compiling those names on a supercomputer and not leaving one out) I've decided to go around the planet this year doing an offering to the various dieties for a Happy New Year.

This morning will be ">http://www.panoramio.com/photo/717170"> The Hindu's, here at the Sri Mariamman Temple in Singapore. (some nice photo's at the link). A banana I think should do it.
Rest assured I've already done a Chinese Temple, but will do another later today on Temple Street, plus a Mosque, an Armenian Church, and a very pretty ">http://sg.pagenation.com/sin/Thai%20Buddhist%20Temple_103.829_1.2784_1965.pix"> Thai Buddhist Temple.

The Japanese and Korean dieties will be well taken care of by trips end, and back home I'll be able to hit the Russian Orhodox, as we've got a few small onion domed churches in town. So that's a pretty good start I think.

And I should be able to pacify the Babylonian and Egyptian dieties on my visit to their exhibits at the Loeuvre next week, and the Hawaiian and South Pacific gods should be doable if I can wangle a Sydney trip anytime soon and pacify the DreamTimer's in a walkabout.

So this pretty much hits the bunch of them, with the exception of the Central and South American dieties. I'm not hugely concerned with the Aztec's Xipetotec, nor the Incan's Sun God's though they would be nice to propitiate if anybody's visiting south of the border, but what we really need is for some JOMer to please pull a Cancun trip, and do the honors to the Mayan's Quetzalcoatl at Chichen-Itza, before he ends the world in 2012, a couple of months ahead of when Gordon Browne's Climate Catastrophe does the same thing. Any volunteers?

[clarice]

daddy, we need to put a gps chip in you.

[Melinda Romanoff]

clarice-

I think there is a beer drainage app you can load into Google Earth that might help.

I'm curious if he flies over the "Ghost" fleets, aka the container/freighter/tanker fleets that have been "at anchor" for close to a year. Economic schemers want to know.

[Melinda Romanoff]

and I hope it wasn't my mail that launched you into blue screen of deathdom.

No attachments from me in that one.

I hope it cleans up well.

[clarice]

I'm sure it wasn't, mel. It appeared yesterday but I believe Symantec contained or quarantined it and then it struck again early today and I can't get it off.. haven't tried the malwarebyte solutin though I mentioned it to the IT guy who's working on a solution.

[glenda]

ooh, daddy..
if you're home by the 7th, definitely go to the Russian Orthodox--it's the day the orthodox celebrate Christmas. It starts with a beautiful midnight mass, marches around the church, candles, incense, beautiful chanting. We stand throughout, in worship for the Christ child. It is quite stirring, actually.

[daddy]

Melinda,

Meant to comment on that. Arrived about 7:00 AM yesterday from the NorthEast. Sun wasn't up full yet, but visibility was very good, and hundreds of large vessels were dotted all over the straits and all over the coastlines.

It's always very cluttered here ship traffic wise, but it appeared more clobbered than normal to me. Not enough vis though to tell if these were mainly empty, so riding high in the water. That I couldn't tell.

Weather is gorgeous and garlic prawns are killer. Another full day and night awaits of being absolutely useless. Wish you were here.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Oooh, clarice, that reminds me, the spouse's computer choked on a bunch "O'Business" and I had to clean up a bunch of things, yesterday, Jan. 1, 2010.

Obviously, there were "time bombs" out there. I blame hit, because he's not here, and working,. Fitting , I think. Like the "spaghetti test".

Problems here, The Beeb is broadcasting the end of David Tennant as "The Doctor", of Doctor Who, of course.

G'night all.

[Melinda Romanoff]

daddy-

Was the fleet larger, or the same, as the last time through?

I'll answer later, the alarm jumps early tomorrow.

Now it's really G'night.

[daddy]

Sorry Mel, can't be more specific. I just know that as we were ariving from a 100 miles out or so you could see lights on the ships in the staits which made them very noticeable. Then as we got closer and dawn started breaking, the ship-lights dimmed and you could simply see hundreds of large ships in all directions. Remembering you and Rick's comments about mothballed tankers I brought up the topic with my partner and we scanned left and right as well as possible and there were hundreds, but I don 't want to go overboard, and would simply say that anecdotally it appeared there were as many or more than I've ever remembered seeing.

If I was able to view traffic in Subic Bay Philippines I'd be more help because I'm much more familiar with what regular ship traffic there looks like, and as I understand it that's another current holding pattern for empty cargo ships.

[JM Hanes]

Check.

[Elliott]

Good morning, JMH. What do you make of yesterday's remarkable coincidence of palindromic and Palindrama?

[JM Hanes]

Good morning, Elliott! Afraid Quassandra's slate has pulled a blank. Are you enjoying your New Year?

[daddy]

Good morning JMH and Elliott,

Off to the pool now for sun-tanning, but my guess JMH is that that is one of the smaller pyramids of Tikal. Visted the place for 1 week in 1976 when it took a week by bus almost from Guatemala City, and Cancun and Cozumel didn't yet exist. Was still way off in the sticks and adventurous and beautiful. Did I guess right?

[glasater]

Had an image much like this from when tramping around Lamani in Belize but dang if I can find it.

[AL]

Clarice:

Decent sour cherry canned in glass jars could be obtained all year-round in Russian food shops. It is good enough for pies and Ukrainian cherry varenics.

Be sure also to buy Georgian Adjica and Khmeli-Suneli, along with fiery Russian mustard.

U-pick seasonal black currant could be frozen for whole winter. It holds the aroma quite well.

And try this: gently heat regular buttermilk, and filter over cheesecloth to get superb cottage cheese. Do not overheat, or it will be dry. Add some fatty sour cream, frozen black currant, and homemade raspberry preserve (fresh raspberry grinded with bit of sugar; it holds in fridge fresh for month or two).

[clarice]

sounds wonderful. We have many ethnic grocery stores here but I don't recall any Russian ones. Maybe when I travel to Pennsylvania sometime or Ohio.

[AL]

O-y, Clarice, specialty Russian food stores are everywhere in N. America. They carry a ot of unusual foodstuff, from Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Poland, etc. Just Google “Russian food store Boston” or any other location.