Tom McMahon

Mugs-A-Plenty: Hard Republican Cafe

Hard Republican Cafe Mug

As Mae West said, "A Good Man is Hard to Find". I think.

Responsibility

From Andrew Stuttaford:

The notion that Americans are incapable of taking responsibility for themselves is a key part of the bloated and overblown ‘war on obesity’. How then to explain yesterday’s announcement by Krispy Kreme that the company was cutting its earnings guidance by ten percent due to the increasing popularity of low-carb dieting?

If Americans can turn away from God’s doughnuts, there is no need to worry about this nation’s collective willpower.

The New Iraqi Flag

The New Iraqi Flag

A Collection of Religious Jokes From An Unlikely Source

From of all places, The Salt Lake Tribune . Here are a couple:

• Q. What happens when you cross a Jehovah's Witness with an Episcopalian?
  A. You get someone who goes around ringing doorbells and then doesn't know what to say.
  


• Q. What's the difference between LSD and LDS?
  A. One you take with a grain of sugar; the other you take with a grain of salt.

The Wisconsin State Quarter

The Wisconsin State Quarter

We could only fit three stereotypes on it, so alas there's no Lavergne, Shirley, Fonz, Lombardi, beer, or bratwurst on it.

UPDATE: As you may know, the Wisconsin state quarter made news because of a couple of errors at the mint during production. Here are the pictures of those errors:

• 2004 D Wisconsin State Quarter Extra Leaf High Error
• 2004 D Wisconsin State Quarter Extra Leaf Low Error

Really, We Should Have Guessed . . .

In response to these remarks by Senator Inhofe, left-wing blogger Patrick Nielsen Hayden goes non-linear:

Not to put too fine a point on it, Senator Inhofe is a disgrace to the Senate, to his party, and to the United States of America.

No outrage over Senator Kerry using the issue for a money-raising pitch. And no outrage on the beheading of Nick Berg either. Why this highly selective outrage? Thankfully, he gives us a possible clue in his next post:

As some of you are aware, I have basically no educational credentials.

Timing is everything, eh?

The Good, The Bad, The Media

The Good, The Bad, The Media

Turbo Cooker Recipes

A very long list. Now go get yours out of the cupboard and get going!

UPDATE: There's also a very active Turbo Cooker Group on Yahoo.

UPDATE II: There are also some nice looking recipe cards for sale at the Chef Randall site under RECIPES & ACCESSORIES.

Celebrate The Sixties With Stamps

   
Celebrate The Sixties With Stamps

The Most Decisive Draw: Monitor And Virginia At Hampton Roads, 1862

From eHistory.com:

The battle between USS Monitor and CSS Virginia around Hampton Roads in March of 1862, though tactically indecisive, had positive results for both sides, making it one of the most decisive draws in history. For the North, Monitor proved that the United States could build warships more powerful than nearly any other then afloat in a very short time, and could defend Northern interests against any interference by Europe into American affairs. For the South, Virginia represented sound and powerful harbor defense warship design that was at least equal to anything the Union could float, and that compelled the Union to take the threat of other, similar ships seriously. Further, her short career may have saved the Confederate capitol and lengthened the war by two years.

By March of 1862 the fortunes of the Confederacy were in decline. In Tennessee the Federals had taken Forts Henry and Donelson that January, forcing the evacuation of Nashville. In February an audacious naval operation had secured New Orleans. Surprising Army/Navy operations had secured Roanoke Island in Virginia and Port Royal in South Carolina, providing important bases for blockading ships.

The hopes of the Confederacy, a nation without a navy, rested in part on a new ship that then was being finished in Norfolk. The hull of USS Merrimac, one of the prewar US Navy's largest and most powerful steam cruisers, had been salvaged after she was burned at her moorings during the Union's hurried evacuation of the Gosport naval yards. The hull below the berth deck was practically intact, and her power plant was salvageable. Confederate authorities had approved the plans for the ship that would be dubbed Virginia.