I say yes, you say no, OR People are Strange

ritaz

Man oh man, the stuff I learn on these forums:  Neem Oil?  I have those stoopid japanese beetles making a picnic of my hibiscus - last year the leaves looked like lace they had eaten thru them so badly...Didn't stop the blossums, just looked weird...Put out one of those Japanese beetle traps - but they stink...Gonna go get me some Neem oil and give that a shot too...Thanks Linda

Sadly enough, I am allergic to basil - isn't that a terrible allergy?  It smells and tastes just so heavenly...sigh...have some for me girls... 8-)

1Athena1

Good morning, everyone.

Happy to rise to news that there is one more nail in the coffin of the Empire of Sleaze - Rebekah Brooks has resigned as CEO of the News Corporation.

How I'd love to see those upstart Murdochs making licence plates, after all the lives they have destroyed and all the minds they have cheapened through lies, scandal manufacturing and lowbrow politics. They have held British public discourse hostage for decades now.

Did you know that The News of the World, one of the News Corp's tabloids, hacked the cell phone of a 13 year old girl after she was abducted and actually remotely erased messages of love that her parents sent on the phone to see if they could open up room in the mailbox for more messages to hack? I believe Brooks was the paper's edictor at the time. The girl was killed.

In the US and in England (here's were I get clobbered), the Murdochs have coddled up to government for conservative causes, although the Clintons (speaking of upstarts) also gained from their patronage. They have tried to tarnish US journalism standards too via Fox News.

Here is the latest:

From The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/16/world/europe/16hacking.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=print 

LONDON - After days of mounting pressure from politicians and shareholders, Rebekah Brooks, the embattled chief executive of Rupert Murdoch's British newspaper operations, announced on Friday that she had resigned in what seemed a further blow to Mr. Murdoch's once all-powerful empire in this country.

Her resignation came a day after Mr. Murdoch himself, the chairman of News Corporation, and his son James reversed themselves on Thursday and said they would testify before a parliamentary panel probing the cascading scandal over phone hacking that started with The News of the World and forced Mr. Murdoch to withdraw a $12 billion bid to assume full control of Britain's biggest satellite broadcaster.

 ------------------------------------------

Note: there are now bipartisan calls here in the US for an investigation into whether the phones of 911 victims were wiretapped. Rupert Murdoch became a US citizen and the News Corp is based here. There are also allegations of payoffs in Britan, which would violate US laws against foreign corruption.

suzieq60

Murdoch is an Aussie - not one I'm proud of even though I'm really a Kiwi

Further to the fruit bat thing - big news story about a small town out west where a colony of over 130,000 bats has nested along the river. The people in the town can't go outside - there is constant noise and smell. Really bad situation, where hopefully the state government will remove them to a distant location. I don't mind the few that fly around our yard at night, but I would hate it if we had a big colony nearby. Just noticed a few areas where they have pooped on my paving - it's really hard to remove and when they poop on our back deck - it actually ruins the paint on the floorboards.

Dinner tonight was porterhouse steak with Diane sauce, chips and veg and a whole bottle of a decent Shiraz. DH did the outside cooking (BBQ), I do the inside cooking. We then had a banana choc chip icecream each.

Sue

motheroffoursons

I'd like to be a Kiwi.  It is a neat sounding name.  I am stuck with Norwegian American

suzieq60

I've lived in Australia for 48 years but still remain a NZ citizen

IronJawedBCAngel

Jancie,

I had a beautiful garden in Calgary, and we had a very short growing season.  If you are a gardening newbie, try a small deep bed garden with some cold frames.  It is amazing how much you can plant in them.  We just had a regular garden in Calgary and were growing all kinds of veggies, so if you keep at it, you will be successful.

For the first time in my life, I am not living on a farm, and miss the space to have a big garden.  We just have the tomatoes and herbs in our tiny yard, but we enjoy what we have.  

Personally, I hope Mr. Murdock rots in the hell that Karma should bring him.

AnneW

susieq, I LOVE New Zealand!! Spent a mere 3 weeks on the South Island a few years ago, and fell in love. I have a friend who lives in Perth, and she owns a "farm" in Murchison. I go live there in a heartbeat. My next bucket list trip (after we do Peru next month) is Australia. So huge, but I want to see Adelaide, the Barossa Valley (I"m a wino) and then over to Perth.

Anonymous

Oh, ((blue))), I forgot you mentioned the dentist.  I get such shivers just reading the words, I don't think the info made it even near the memory center of the Gray Matter.  Only thing I know about the d-youknowwhat is how Righteous I feel after.  And I collapse with relief.

Ritaz - most of the folks here in the hilltowns of MA use hoop frames - all sizes, and so can grow almost year round.  I spent a summer, in other "hilltowns" near Old Snowmass CO, with a group of people who used a Bucky Fuller Style Biodesic Dome Greenhouse - with two pools for tilapia on first floor, two floors of raised beds which were operative 364 days a year ( 1 for cleaning!) in CO.  That was in 1987, a lifetime ago.

Athena- The News of the Screws finanally gets, well.  Off to read more.  Just checking in, also to see if there were any "drivebys" in another thread.  Seems the ppp(perpetualpictureposter) has managed to slightly control pppppposting.  I know about ignore button, but then I'm miss important information like being told to paintmytoenailsthemindboggles  

Enjoyful

I broke a tooth/lost a filling exactly one week after I started Zometa.  Thankfully, I only need a crown to fix things up.  He's going to give me laughing gas when I go for that....dentists are my own personal hell in this life so I need something to make it more palatable. 

Murdoch....sad, sad, sad.  But when money's involved people will do almost anything. 

susieq - My daughter and I spent 10 days on the North Island two years ago.  We love NZ!  Whyever would you leave harmless, beautiful, kind NZ for the wilds of Australia?  Seems like everything is poisonous or venomous in Australia.  Even the flowers.  And probably the dirt.  *shudder*

C-S  I guess everyone deals with cancer their own way.  Some hide in bed with the covers pulled over their head (not that I've done that or anything...HA!), some post pictures that make them feel better.  To each, his own, even if I don't agree with the "own" they choose.

Speaking of "owns," has anyone seen New Orleans's version of "The Running of the Bulls?"  Instead of bulls, a women's roller derby team on skates chases the mean, beating them with clubs.  I laughed myself sick!

Okay, now I'm laughing again.

Anonymous

enjoyful

Happy laughing It is SO good for us. The jokes on this thread still make me giggle, even tho it took me a very long time to 'get' the flies in a lightbulb!!!

I was amazed when I saw the headline this am that Brooks had resigned. Off to try to find those bulls running...

Enjoyful

Hey, it took me a while to get the flies/lightbulb joke, too. 

I figured Brooks was the favorite child and they'd protect her as long as they could.  I guess her time ran out.  What a huge pile of yuck.

bluedahlia

E, I'm thinking you meant men.  I'm ROFLMAO now too!

1Athena1

Susiq - Murdoch is an Aussie by birth and maybe still by documentation but he is also an American citizen, as is his son. I was surprised to learn that.

Enjoyful

HAHAHAHA blue!  I think I did mean men.  *snort*

apple

Brook has beautiful hair _ I love it. not murdock tho... altho it does look a bit dyed.

and 'asthenia' is a pretty cool word.

duckyb1

BinVa ................I didn't take any (don't own a camera, and forgot about my cell phone), but my grandaughter did, and she has them in her phone, and possibly in her mother's digital camera.  They were adorable, but oh my were they noisy...haha

Anonymous

men!  Now I get it - laughing too......

Bren-2007

Enjoyful .. took me awhile to get the flies joke too! I knew you meant men .. what a sight that would be seeing all those women in skates chasing all those men.

Ducky .. yep, I know how noisy they can get, as I had a birds nest outside my back door and the little babies were always hungry for more!

IronJaw .. you were talking about snakes before .. I have snakes here, which scare me, and I would prefer they not be so close to the house.  The copperheads are down in the woods, thank god for that.  I have little green ones and big black ones that come up to my flower beds.

Happy Friday Everyone!

Bren

IronJawedBCAngel

I'm not crazy about snakes either, too many close encounters with rattlers as a small child in Michigan, but I understand that they too do a job by ridding us of lots of rodents.  I shared my space in my barn with them, there was usually a black snake or two hanging around.  I had a six foot black snake that frequented my backyard and almost had a heart attack one day when I reached for the hose in the daylily bed, and grabbed hold of the snake that looked exactly like the hose.  The black snakes should keep your copperheads away from your house.

Anyone see the photo on yahoo yesterday of the two headed white snake in Russia?  A one headed snake is creepy enough!

Anonymous

bren

the little green ones, and the big black ones - sound like grass and garter snakes.  But I wouldn't go down to the woods at your house.  A good friend in GA was bitten by a "baby" copperhead - she is fine, but it was a VERY frightening experience. Several days in hospital.  I never realized they came so close to houses, this one was right near her front door. brrrrrr... please wear VERY big heavy boots if you go walking in those woods. VERY VERY big high boots....

edited: just googled the snake-it's in a zoo, shows a video of someone holding it....creepy, chills creepy.  Bren, I forgot about Black snakes, the ones here get very, very big....if I was the one who grabbed one in my garden  - I'd faint, the REAL vapors

Bren-2007

Yep .. the black snakes are harmless .. but they're so big and take me by surprise when I stumble upon one.  The little green ones are cute and harmless too.  Good to know the black ones keep the copperheads away.  Those things REALLY scare me.

Bren

EDITED:  Sunflower .. I don't walk through the woods .. no way!  I do have paths that I created that take you around my fields and through my property.  I'll post a picture.

Anonymous

Good, Bren, when I talked to m friend a few weeks ago, I was still shaking for days after.  It was RIGHT outside her front door, a "baby" only about 15 inches long - but she said the pain, well, I won't go into detail.  Just don't think of snakes being dangerous unless they rattle.

Enjoyful

Just read that there's a 50% chance S&P will lower the US's credit rating within the next 90 days if the gov't can't produce a credible solution to the debt problem.  Thank you, Republicans.  *slow, ironic clap*

bluedahlia

Yes, I've read a couple articles about that E.  Crazy!

Enjoyful

So the dollar's dropping, and if our bonds are downgraded guess what?  We have to pay a higher interest rate.  Sounds like wasteful government spending to me.

Enjoyful

Okay, just wrote a long rant and deleted it.

I'm going to stick my head in a bucket of ice cubes.  See you all later!

bluedahlia

I feel sorry for Obama....looks like he has aged quite a bit.  Roadblocks everywhere he looks.

1Athena1

The republicans just want to pretend that they are still ideologically relevant and have ideas. For their pains, the US credit suffers. And so they can go on the campaign trail and blame it all on Obama.

bluedahlia

I couldn't believe the Canadian Dollar is at $1.04 U.S.

IronJawedBCAngel

Well, as Eric the Evil stands to make big bucks if we default, what is his incentive to cooperate and make concessions? His statement the other day that he would make concessions if they killed the health care reform bill was ridiculous. Now another ploy by adding the constitutional amendment, which they would have been successful passing in 1995 if they hadn't tried to attack Social Security at that time.  Destroying Social Security seems to be a common theme.  Grrrrr.