From Pine View Farm

October, 2009 archive

All Hallows’ Eve 0

Hallowe’en in a Suburb

by H. P. Lovecraft

The steeples are white in the wild moonlight,
And the trees have a silver glare;
Past the chimneys high see the vampires fly,
And the harpies of upper air,
That flutter and laugh and stare.

For the village dead to the moon outspread
Never shone in the sunset’s gleam,
But grew out of the deep that the dead years keep
Where the rivers of madness stream
Down the gulfs to a pit of dream.

A chill wind blows through the rows of sheaves
In the meadows that shimmer pale,
And comes to twine where the headstones shine
And the ghouls of the churchyard wail
For harvests that fly and fail.

Not a breath of the strange grey gods of change
That tore from the past its own
Can quicken this hour, when a spectral power
Spreads sleep o’er the cosmic throne,
And looses the vast unknown.

So here again stretch the vale and plain
That moons long-forgotten saw,
And the dead leap gay in the pallid ray,
Sprung out of the tomb’s black maw
To shake all the world with awe.

And all that the morn shall greet forlorn,
The ugliness and the pest
Of rows where thick rise the stones and brick,
Shall some day be with the rest,
And brood with the shades unblest.

Then wild in the dark let the lemurs bark,
And the leprous spires ascend;
For new and old alike in the fold
Of horror and death are penned,
For the hounds of Time to rend.

Via Dragonbytes.

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This Makes Too Much Sense To Ever Happen 0

A windfall tax on the banksters’ obscene bonus “pay for attendance” culture:

Government must take on a new strategic authority to build the economy of the future. Its first step must be to end the power of the banking oligarchy and reassure the public that its capture of the political elite is over. The Compass campaign for a windfall tax on bankers’ bonuses is an essential first step in reasserting democracy and bringing the business elite to account. A windfall tax would mark the start of the longer term transformation of the banking sector which will be necessary to meet the challenges of future economic development.

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Jersey Devil 0

No, not the guy behind you on the Turnpike.

The real thing.

Rumored to inhabit remote regions of the Pine Barrens, the Jersey Devil is said to resemble a gruesome cross between a bat, a horse, and a kangaroo. Possibly the best description comes from Bruce Springsteen’s epic song “A Night with the Jersey Devil”: “Ram’s head, forked tail, clove hoof, love’s my trail.” Local folklore traces the devil’s origins to a woman known only as Mrs. Leeds, who cursed her unwanted 13th child on a fateful night in 1735 near Burlington.

Follow the link and read all about it.

I’ve been to the Pine Barrens. They are indeed kind of spooky. And within them is a huge tract of miniature pine forest, fully grown and formed and three feet tall.

That’s even spookier.

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“This Way In” (Updated) 0

Non Sequitur

More here.

(Click for a larger image.)

Addendum:

I was on the road all day and behind in my reading.

This post and its comments fit with the cartoon above.

Faith is not about jots and tittles in books, nor about men’s and women’s judging and condemning other men and women, though many seem to build their faith on the condemning of others.

It is not about living narrowly, emptily seeking justification in contrasting one’s own virtue with the unspeakable failure of the [insert condemned group here].

It is about oneself, not about others.

It is about living charitably and justly.

To the extent that one’s faith is contingent on the disparagement of others, one has not faith.

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Food for Thought 0

Andy Lubershane (click for larger image):

Women's Rights

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If You Have a Stolen Car 0

It’s probably a good idea not to try to sell it in a public forum:

An 18-year-old Maryland teen was arrested this week for allegedly stealing a University of Delaware student’s car and listing it for sale on Craigslist.

Craig Cunha, of the first block of Peach Road in Elkton, was charged Tuesday with one count of felony theft and conspiracy, said Newark police spokesman Lt. Brian Henry.

Then, again, maybe he thought it was his own list.

As I write this, I wonder about the “conspiracy” charge. Can one be charged with conspiring with oneself?

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Dustbiters 0

They all bit the dust after I retired for the evening. Quite a body count.

Ahh, the geniuses of the fee hand of the market.

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Nucking Futs 0

Any fool can file a lawsuit.

It is a one of the glories of American jurisprudence.

Fortunately, the law does not take kindly to fools.

A federal judge today (October 29) dismissed a lawsuit brought by individuals claiming that Barack Obama was born in Kenya and, as a result, does not meet the qualifications to be president. Along with bouncing the lawsuit, U.S. District Court Judge David Carter eviscerated the controversial lawyer representing the “birthers” who sued Obama. In a 30-page order filed today, Carter stated that he was “deeply concerned” that attorney Orly Taitz “may have suborned perjury through witnesses she intended to bring before this court.”

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Deer Me 0

Wilmington Hospital employees taking a break eating lunch got a big surprise today when a deer wandered into the cafeteria at noontime . . . .

Wilmington Hospital is in the heart of downtown Wilmington, adjacent to Brandywine Park, shown here under water.

You know the deer are desperate if they want to eat in the hospital cafeteria.

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Trickle-Down Economics 0

Republican Economic Theory at work:

Defaults by small and medium-sized U.S. businesses on the loans, leases and lines of credit they use to finance capital equipment investment rose in September as lenders remained reluctant to extend fresh financing, PayNet Inc reported on Friday.

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Whirlybirds (Updated) (Updated Again) 0

There about three helicopters buzzing around over the Delaware River this morning. The last time I woke up to this, some fool had driven off the interstate onto the Amtrak railroad line, ruining a lot of commutes.

Updates when the sun comes up.

Addendum:

This may be it.

Why they need three choppers to look at a collision I don’t know.

Addendum-de-dum-dum:

My brother sent me a text saying there is a missing boater on the river.

Addendum-de-la-la:

It was probably the boater. The boat was found just down the hill about a mile upriver from me.

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Honoring the Fallen 1

Mithras reports that President Obama went to Dover to salute the fallen and points out that Bush never went to Dover.

Bushes, in fact, tried to hide Dover.

Read more »

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“Too Privileged To Prosecute” 0

Holy ten to twenty, Batman, we can’t hold them accountable because they are “too privileged to prosecute“!

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QOTD 0

H. L. Mencken:

The men the American people admire most extravagantly are the most daring liars; the men they detest most violently are those who try to tell them the truth.

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Nothing To Do, Nowhere To Go 0

The number of people receiving jobless benefits declined by 148,000 to 5.8 million in the week ended Oct. 17, the lowest since March 21 and biggest weekly drop since July, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. Initial jobless claims fell by 1,000 to 530,000 in the week ended Oct. 24, from 531,000 the prior week.

Atrios finds a glimmer of hope.

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I Missed the Game . . . 0

. . . But I like the results:

. . . the Phils defeated the New York Yankees in Game 1 of the 105th World Series, 6-1.

Aside: I have a friend in the western, that is, the Yankee side of Connecticut. She text messaged that she’s wearing red to the office today to irritate the Yankees fans.

I’m not a big one for rubbing it in, but, since Yankees fans are at least as irritating as (and much more smug than) Phillies fans, I said, “Go for it.”

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Stray Thought 0

Parts of a house get awfully dirty in 24 years.

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Rated “R” for “Republican” 0

More news from the Sanfordized state:

Corning, who is a former state legislator, left his job with the (South Carolina) attorney general’s office after he was pulled over Monday on suspicion of illegal activity. When he was pulled over, Corning identified himself as an employee with the attorney general’s office and was not charged with a crime.

He had an 18 year-old-girlwoman, one of those drugs you keep getting spam about, and at least one BOB.*

He did not reportedly have any hiking shoes or a compass for his Appalachian Trail.

Aside: This wouldn’t be news except for all the Republican “family values” hypocrisy.

Via Mithras.

______________

*Battery Operated Boyfriend.

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Sermon in the Valley? 2

To Bishop E. W. Jackson Sr., homosexuality is sin, and he needs to preach about it. That’s why he fears new legislation that puts sexual orientation under hate crimes protection.

“We could find ourselves in a situation where we’re accused of inciting someone,” Jackson said of pastors who oppose homosexuality. “I am categorically opposed to the hate crimes bill.”

Just what type of sermons does he preach that he thinks will incite listeners to violence? Don’t sound like a rather well-know sermon that was given on a mount.

Inquisitorial minds want to know.

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Twits on Twitter 1

Never has one of my posts’ titles been so appropriate.

Twitter, Inc., shut down 33 fake Twitter accounts created by Republicans using the names of Democratic (Connecticut) state representatives. The Republican scheme was to send out posts under the Democrats’ names mocking the liberal tax-and-spend bastards.

(snip)

According to Twitter, Inc., the fake posts violated the immensely popular social networking system’s anti-impersonation policy.

Via Andrew Sullivan.

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