Tuesday's Word

meniscus* (men-is'kus) [Gr. meniskos, crescent]. (pl. menisci) 1. Concavoconvex lens. 2. Interarticular fibrocartilage of crescent shape, found in certain joints, esp. the lateral and medial menisci (semilunar cartilages) of the knee joint. 3. The curved upper surface of a liquid in a container. The surface is convex if the liquid does not wet the container and concave if it does.

This week's Word comes by way of aquaintances' suggestions.

*Taber's CYCLOPEDIC MEDICAL DICTIONARY

China's Great Wall

Mentioned today was the wish to see the Great Wall of China and the Forbidden City. That's a great idea! More later...

Tuesday's Word

fortuitous* \for - 't(y)u-et-es, fer - \ adj [L fortuitus; akin to L fort-fors] 1 : occurring by chance 2 : FORTUNATE, LUCKY syn see ACCIDENTAL -- for-tu-itous-ly adv -- for-tu-itous-ness n

In conversation: It is ~ that the lovely Sarah Jackson suggested today's Word. Or, it was ~ that my brother called today. Or, perhaps, ~ we are for family and friends.

*Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary

The Worst Governors in America

Republican Bob Taft of Ohio has been chosen as the Worst Governor in America

The only thing more stunning than the spectacle of a quivering, hangdog Ohio Governor pleading no contest in August to criminal charges is the fact that he is still in office. Bob Taft, the Republican great-grandson of a U.S. President and son of a Senator, could have received a two-year jail term for failing to report, as state law requires, 47 golf outings paid for by others, but a municipal-court judge let him walk after slapping him with a $4,000 fine. Taft has since ignored thunderous demands for his resignation, even from many onetime allies.

The Governor was widely considered an inept, ineffective leader even before he ran afoul of the law. As Ohio's manufacturing economy shriveled, his most identifiable initiative was a minuscule literacy campaign. The worst may lie ahead for Taft, who has 14 months remaining in his term. He faces a lawsuit alleging that he and other state G.O.P. officeholders awarded generous public contracts to campaign contributors.

Republicans...business as usual.

see time.com

Ban Country Music

Woman to marry man who shot her

Boyfriend sentenced to 20 years in prison

San Bernardino, California (AP) -- A woman says she still plans to marry the man who shot her in the groin and then held her hostage in his family's garage for six days.

Tina Marie Stebbins revealed her intentions in a letter released Monday as her boyfriend, Christian Leroy Lindblad, 37, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for shooting her in June 2002.

"I love Christian today as deeply as I loved him before this awful thing happened to us," Stebbins wrote in a victim impact statement. "We are soul mates."

She added: "I want to tell you all that I have forgiven Christian. And I pray that Christian has forgiven me for failing him when he needed me most."

Lindblad and his parents tried to cover up the shooting by treating Stebbins with home remedies, according to a San Bernardino County Sheriff's report. They also threatened her young sons and her family, the report said.

Critically wounded, Stebbins was airlifted to a hospital after Lindblad mentioned the incident to a family friend who was a firefighter.

Lindblad pleaded guilty to a charge of attempted murder as his trial was about to begin in early October. He has said the shooting was an accident.

His father, Robert Leroy Lindblad, 72, pleaded guilty in 2003 to being an accessory and was sentenced to three years in prison.

His mother, Shirley Royann Lindblad, 62, was sentenced to three years probation after pleading guilty to the same charge.

Find this article at:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/11/16/shot.marriage.ap/index.html

Happy Blog-i-versary, Alicia!

Today's post wishes Happy One Year Old Blog-i-versary to Alicia Morgan's

Last Left Turn Before Hooterville

For a refreshing look at life and to keep up with the Chimperor see her exceptional blog!

http://lastleftb4hooterville.blogspot.com

Didn't the chickens vote for Col. Sanders in Ohio?

Those who prefer the creativity of award winning comics will enjoy Capital Punishment!

Tuesday's Word

approve* \a-apruv\ vb ap-proved; ap-prov-ing [ME approven, fr. OF aprover, fr. ad- + probare to prove-more at PROVE] vt 1 obs : PROVE, ATTEST 2 : to have or express a favorable opinion of 3 a : to accept as satisfactory b : to give formal or official sanction to : ratify approved the proposed budget> ~ vi : to take a favorable view - ap-prov-ing-ly \-`pru-vin-le\ adv
syn APPROVE, ENDORSE, SANCTION, ACCREDIT, CERTIFY shared meaning element : to hold or express a favorable opinion ant disapprove

Poll: Bush approval mark at all-time low

(CNN)-Beset with an unpopular war and an American public increasingly less trusting, President Bush faces the lowest approval rating of his presidency, according to a national poll released Monday.

Bush also received his all-time worst marks in three other categories in the CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll. The categories were terrorism, Bush's trustworthiness and whether the Iraq war was worthwhile.

Bush's 37 percent overall approval rating was two percentage points below his ranking in an October survey. Both polls had a sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.

We could go on, but read it for yourself. Don't like the numbers? Why not try the GOP approach and question this blog's patriotism? There you go! Why not quiz the Iraqis and their newly afforded freedoms? Why not...grow a pair and admit you lied.

*Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary

Tagged by Alicia!

A great honor was bestowed upon Yoga Korunta by the lovely Alicia Morgan, talented author of Last Left Turn Before Hooterville.

This meme is as follows: Find the fifth sentence of your blog's twenty-third post to see how relevant it has stayed. No better a meme format could have been picked! Bloggers, before further comment, you should know that both Alicia's and this blog are dedicated to saving the Republic from Chimperor's Reign of Terror.

From 12 AUG 2005:
If inbred voters wish to embarrass themselves, polite society should hope they begin competing for Darwin Awards.

Makes this blogger awfully proud to be a forty niner!

Continuing in the spirit of Meme, five bloggers will be tagged next Saturday.

http://lastleftb4hooterville.blogspot.com/

Construction Tales

This is truly a heartwarming story about the bond formed between a little girl named Misty and some construction workers. This makes you want to believe in the goodness of people and that there is hope for the human race.

A young family moved into a house next door to a vacant lot. One day a construction crew turned up to start building a house on the empty lot. The young family's 5-year old daughter, Misty, naturally took an interest in all the activity going on next door and started talking with the workers. She hung around and eventually the construction crew, all of them gems-in-the-rough, more of less adopted her as a kind of project manager.

They chatted with her, let her sit with them while they had coffee and lunch breaks, and gave her little jobs to do here and there to make her feel important. At the end of the first week they even presented her with pay envelope containing five dollars.

Misty took this home to her mother who said all the appropriate words of admiration and suggested that they take the money she had received to the bank the next day to start a savings account. When they got to the bank the teller was equally impressed with the story and asked the little girl how she had come by her own pay at such a young age.

Misty proudly replied, "I worked all last week with a crew building a house."

"My goodness gracious," said the teller, "and will you be working on the house again this week, too?"

Misty replied, "I will if those useless bastards at the lumberyard deliver the fucking drywall."

For more on what became of our sweet little Misty see: http://www.thescanlons.net/weblog/

Her own little girl, Kaiden, avoids construction sites!

Tuesday's Word

innuendo \in-ye-'wen-do\ n, [L, by hinting, fr. innuere to hint, fr. in + nure to nod--more at NUMEN] 1 : an oblique allusion : HINT, INSINUATION; esp : a veiled or equivocal reflection on character or reputation 2 : a parenthetical explanation explanation introduced into the text of a legal document

For more on this week's word see Miss Suzanne Suave, attorney at law.

*Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary

More Cabin Construction

Work is continuing on the cabin. Yesterday we fastened the gypsum wallboard, (drywall), to the hickory studs with ringed nails. The walls had been insulated and were ready to be covered. One would normally use screws, but as this was locally harvested free lumber, we used nails which works in hardwood. Pine, which is soft, is the usual choice for studs and joists. In less than six hours the 12' x 16' room was ready for the drywall joints to be taped.

Yesterday the weather was beautiful and seemed to bring out the ladybugs and wasps. The ladybugs are cute though mildly annoying, rather like the owners' three year old daughter who was constantly in the way as we worked. Otherwise she is absolutely adorable! We fear she may be hurt by being too close to sharp tools or falling lumber. The wasps were slow enough that they were easily swatted and did not sting anyone. The sky was clear last night but today it was windy and we had rain. A tornado was spotted nearby, but we had no weather trouble.

Tuesday's Word

indictment (in-dIt-ment), n. 1. The formal written accusation of a crime, made by a grand jury and presented to a court for prosecution against the accused person. 2. The act or process of preparing or bringing forward such a formal written accusation. Cf. INFORMATION; PRESENTMENT (2).*

Open letter to the Dark Side: "B*sh is the weakest fraud of a commander in chief in the history of the republic."**

This blog wishes to recognize and thank ae of arse poetica for setting a standard to which we may aspire.

Special steps were taken to obtain the reference for this week's Word as my favorite lawyer babe did not provide said book.

* Black's Law Dictionary, Seventh Edition
** http://arsepoetica.typepad.com