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A Journey To The Hottest Place On Earth: Dallol Ethiopia {Gadling}
May 31st 2012 11:46PM A quick Google says that the Lut Dessert is the hottest place on earth
with recorded temps of 157 fahrenheit.
But somehow, that doesn't seem nearly as hot as the place
in this article.
Bubbling mounds of yellow goop weeping steam into the crispy
cracking ground. The hellish smell of sulphur all around.
Heat so dry and smothering you can;t even feel thirsty.
Methinks the author purposely left out a thing
as silly and artificial as a number, and opted
instead for real description of HEAT.
Now who is the marble, and who is the rapier?
Thanks for listening.
Patrick
Landlady's 'White Only' Sign Still Not OK, Commission Says {AOL Real Estate}
Jan 13th 2012 6:08PM Patrick Perotti
dworkenlaw1@aol.com
@Matt
You raise an important issue, even though you are incorrect
on most of your comment.
Free speech does not include words which violate the law.
It is unlawful to refuse to rent based on race. It has
nothing to do with speech. It is not "my property
to decide for myself", anymore than you could rent
it out to run a brothel, or operate a crack house.
Your narrowmindedness is sad. There are many people
like you still around who honestly 'don't get it'
about racism. A person's color or race should not
count for or against them. Everyone should be
treated the same.
Now, turning to the important point you
made, people validly question banning racial
racial decisionmaking, on one hand, when "affirmative action"
is practiced on the other.
Giving jobs or scholarships or any such things
to a minority, over a non-minority, solely based on
race perpetuates racial stereotypes, not
eliminates them.
Decisions should be made in this day and age
based on qualifications. Not skin color, or
race, or gender, or age, or anything else.
The sooner we stop using some other system
which gives artificial boost to one person
over another, the sooner our country will
take a giant step to actual equal treatment
and 'color blindness.'
Thanks for listening.
Patrick
HOA 'Steals' Homeowner's Virgin Mary Statue {AOL Real Estate}
Dec 13th 2011 11:44PM Let's clear up what each side legally can, and cannot, do.
First, the residents have no "free speech" or First Amendment right of freedom of religion against the HOA.
Those provisions of our constitution only apply against
GOVERNMENT action, not the acts of private parties.
The residents MAY have some rights in the context of
religious expression through a State statute banning
discrimination in the context of religion, but that
entirely depends on the wording of the state law. Further,
those laws usually ban discrimination based on religion
in the ability to rent, and terms and conditions. Here,
it does not seem like the HOA removed the statue
because it was Catholic, or because of religion at all.
I expect they would take down a statue of an elf or
LeBron James just as quickly.
Next, moving the to HOA, they have no right to impound
the statue. That is at minimum the tort of conversion.
They also are on questionable ground in unilaterally removing the item rather than first requesting the owner
do so.
Most states do not favor what is called "self help" provisions----whether in leases or other agreements.
Such clauses are disfavored since they often lead to
physical violence.
Bottom line, you do not have the right to do as you wish
when you live in a HOA governed residence. You agree to comply with the rules, whether they are wise or foolish
and whether you like them or not.
The power you have against silly or unreasonable provisions
is the power of your feet and your wallet.
There are other HOA's which are more reasonable than
this one.
Thanks for listening.
Patrick
The Pit Crew With Love-A-Bull - Changing People's Perceptions One 'Pittie' at a Time {Pawnation OLD}
Sep 10th 2011 10:03AM I am trying hard to understand both sides.
Those who defend their pit bull, or other breed specific dog,
have good experiences with their pet.
Those who ask for a ban point to instances of
horrific mauling of kids and adults.
So here are my questions.
Why are there so many reliable news stories
about attacks by that specific breed?
Some stories deal with stray dogs, or
ones in a quesionable household, but
an equal number deal with family
pets who up to the point of the attack,
were loyal and loving. Yet they did
attack and sometimes killed an
adult or child. How do we address that?
Also, not all of the reported attacks are
on strangers, or outdoors. Many
are in the family home, against
little children who live in the
family.
Perhaps those dogs do not attack
any more frequently than other breeds,
but the outcome seems to be
very different---with most attacks
being serious or fatal.
I am a lawyer and in the area
of product liability it is certainly
a good argument that the
many serious or fatal injuries
from certain KINDS of product
are the basic fault of the
user who is not careful. But
the law nevertheless imposes
restrictions on such products
since their nature is such
that they are either so powerful,
or fastmoving, or complicated,
that a user error almost always
creates serious injuries.
Those products are often banned
from sale---not because they are bad
but because of the high risk of injury
based on how powerful, etc they are.
So what do we do with this breed.
Tell me why there are SO many
instances with them and not others.
Tell me how attacks by otherwise
and previously nice dogs can be
prevented.
Maybe the law should not ban
the dog but require that it always
wear one of those muzzles, and
then they can remain a pet but
the would not be able to bite.
Help me with answers to
these very important concerns.
Thanks for listening.
Patrick
'Dance' Judge Mary Murphy Tells of More Arnold Womanizing {PopEater}
Jun 10th 2011 9:35AM Arnold's eye may have been WONDERING,
but his other parts seemed pretty certain.......
LOL.
Patrick
What not to do on your safari {Gadling}
May 3rd 2011 8:03AM This woman is not brave, she is reckless.
As an expert conservationist, she clearly knows exactly what
to expect from these wild animals.
The problem? Tragedies happen from the UNexpected.
They happen when animals.............behave like animals.
Other posters were correct in mentioning countless other
'experts' in their particular area of animal husbandry or
study who ended up dead because their animal decided
to be unpredictable, as animals always do.
Word to the wise, Marlice. Stop acting like you own
these creatures, because one day they will own you.
Thank you for reading my post.
Patrick
Hams: The Many Different Types & How to Cook Them {Holidash News}
Apr 22nd 2011 10:27AM The BEST way to cook a ham starts with boiling. Yes, you boil the............out of it.
Well, O.K. I will say the word.
You boil the.........SALT.....out of it. LOL.
Hams are cured with enormous amounts of salt. Taking any ham---a ready to eat, or a partly cooked, or a fresh ham----and sending it right to the smoker, or the oven, etc, gives you a great
tasty piece of meat.........overwhelmed with salt.
On the other hand, taking that ham and sending it into a large pot, covered with water, lid on, and boiled on a light simmer for 2 hours, removes a huge amount of salt. This "ham sauna" is the trick to a PERFECT ham every time!
Then, after you ham is relaxed and ready for cooking, sending that ham into the smoker, or the oven, etc, with a nice pineapple and brown sugar and clove glaze, gives you a great tasty piece of meat.........without the huge overload of salt.
Many readers will say, Oh but I LIKE that salty taste.
Well so do I. And I promise you will get the same salt flavor without it being overwhelmed.
People who come for this ham, and see the slices being slowly carved off the bone, ask how did we possibly make it so juicy and moist and tender.
The meat is a light pink color. It is puffy and extremely moist, not at all shrunk and grainy like sometimes a honey baked ham might be.
It will probably be the best ham you ever ate.
The only difficult part to this recipe is the large pot. It has to be a big mutha to fit a full size, bone-in ham.
But if you go to any good store selling cooking gear, they will have a 20 qt. covered stockpot. Anything smaller will not fit a full size ham. The pot will be great for this use, and for making large recipes of soup, which you can then portion out into plastic containers and freeze for use throughout the year.
Finally, DON'T throw away that water from boiling the ham. It is a wonderful stock to use for many tasty soups, like black bean and ham, split pea and ham, lentil, smoked cream of potato, cream of leek, and the list goes on. A helpful cooking tip for those: before you use the stock from the ham, add a couple packs of chicken backs and necks, along with some carrots, celery, onions and several bay leaves. Simmer for about 3 hours and then disgard what you added (or have it for a side for dinner that night.)
This wonderful ham stock will transform into incredibly rich general-use stock. Anything you make with that as a base will get rave reviews from everyone!
Thanks for reading my post.
Patrick
Debate Raging Over Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations {Slashfood}
Apr 1st 2011 9:14AM There will certainly be many posters who defend the right of farmers to 'make a living' by operating these kinds of facilities.
But what happened to the concept of responsibility? As a country, isn't our definition of individual rights limited in cases when they hurt others? Reminds me of the saying, "My individual right to swing my fist ends at your nose."
We saw in the last few years what happen when business---any kind of large business---is given the right to 'police' itself. We saw banks and mortgage companies ruin our whole economy by blocking inspections by regulators; convincing local govenment they could 'police themselves'; and focusing only on how their actions affected their own bottom line---to hell with how they affected others.
And this only deal with financial matters.
Compare that to the importance of the health of our neighborhoods and our children.
I am not a farmer. I don't know anything about CAFO's. In fact, I never even heard of them until this article.
I am also not a PETA member. I enjoy a good BLT or grilled steak just like most of us.
But it is exactly my ignorance of these issues of health, animal hygience, spread of bacteria, cleanliness of ground water, etc., which makes me extremely happy that there ARE agencies which DO know about these crucial things. Agencies which inspect, monitor and enforce laws designed to protect all of us.
It may sound 'invasive' for 'big govenment' to 'snoop around' in the business of farmers.
Until one of our kids dies from infection of swine flu, bird flu, or some other malady which
the farmers and large Agra never 'intended' to happen, but which did happen when the monitoring, inspection and regulation stopped.
To the legislators in the farm states who are 'protecting' their farmer constituents with laws like those reported in the article:
In Missouri, House Bill 209 and Senate Bill 187 would restrict compensation for damages caused by CAFOs. In Idaho, lawmakers are considering a move to shield data related to CAFOs from the public. In Iowa, lawmakers are considering a bill that would make it illegal for activists to film farm operations while undercover; while a Florida bill was introduced that would make photographing a farm a felony.
Please step back and re-read your job description and the oath you swore as an elected representative---"To uphold the laws of this state and tl act to protect the health, safety and welfare of its citizens".
Patrick
Boy Says He Has Been to Heaven, Where Everyone Has Wings {ParentDish}
Mar 21st 2011 10:45PM Morry Liebowitz died and went to Heaven. St. Peter met him at the gates and said, "Morry, you lived a good Jewish life. Welcome to your eternal reward. You will be in Room 9 but please be very quiet when you pass Room 3 and do not disturb them."
Then Mohinder Rhaswansa arrived. St. Peter said, "Mohinder, you have lived a good Vedic life. Welcome to your eternal reward. You will be in Room 7 but please be very quiet when you pass Room 3 and do not disturb them."
Next, Tonto Wildfire arrived. St. Peter said, "Tonto. Welcome to Heaven. You lived a good life following the Great Spirit. This is your eternal reward. You will be in Room 5 but please be very quiet when you pass Room 3 and do not disturb them."
As Tonto walked down the hall, he looked back and said, "Who's in Room 3?"
St. Peter replied, "Oh, that's the Evangelical Christians. They think they're the only ones up here!"
See, even God has a sense of humor. LOL
Patrick
Wyclef Shot During Haiti Visit {The Boombox}
Mar 20th 2011 1:09PM There is only one way to describe the
tenor of virtually all of the negative comments today. Comments about drugs, and 'false' headlines, and Busta being a loser, and hateful messages about rap, and about the Haitian people and their conditions, blah blah blah.
Racism is alive and well and living in the good old U. S. of A.
Patrick
