Meal Plan Monday

This is our last crazy holiday week so everything is still going to be crazy.

Monday: Leftover Ham, Broccoli, Bread
Tuesday: Girls' night with appetizers and desserts
Wednesday: Pork Enchiladas (out of the freezer)
Thursday: Chicken Kiev, Mashed Potatoes, Broccoli
Friday: Roast and Potatoes, Broccoli

Egyptians Fire on Palestinians

The Egyptians have sent 300 border guards to keep Palestinians on the Gaza Strip side of the border. In order to do that the Egyptian soldiers opened fire and wounded several people. Very interesting.

Viagra: The New Weapon in the War on Terror

Yes, I said Viagra. It only took 4 Viagra to bribe an Afghan chieftain. I think we are all familiar with the fact that the CIA sends in agents to find informants. And the fact those "assets" aren't giving us information out of the goodness of their hearts but due to some payoff be it money, women, or weapons. But that can have it's downside.

The usual bribes of choice -- cash and weapons -- aren't always the best options, Afghanistan veterans say. Guns too often fall into the wrong hands, they say, and showy gifts such as money, jewelry and cars tend to draw unwanted attention.

"If you give an asset $1,000, he'll go out and buy the shiniest junk he can find, and it will be apparent that he has suddenly come into a lot of money from someone," said Jamie Smith, a veteran of CIA covert operations in Afghanistan and now chief executive of SCG International, a private security and intelligence company. "Even if he doesn't get killed, he becomes ineffective as an informant because everyone knows where he got it."

The key, Smith said, is to find a way to meet the informant's personal needs in a way that keeps him firmly on your side but leaves little or no visible trace.

In this case it was a 60 year old man with 4 wives. It took 4 little sample pills and he was ours. I am cool with this because they can't shoot us with our own weapons or really do us any harm with bribes like this. And maybe they will share and the enemy will be, how do I say, otherwise engaged;)?

(HT: Neatorama)

Wordless Wednesday

And Now for a Little Holiday Spirit!

We love this group but we hadn't heard this version before.

It Seems So Wrong But Is It?

On one hand this is painful and hilarious. On the other, as NerdDad says, once Barry sings a song it is his and I like Barry.....

Convicted By an Atheist

I have to say that many times I can really find myself convicted by people who don't believe in God. I saw this video on the Anchoress.


When the Anchoress said:

The second message is as far from passive as you can get, and it comes from Jillette himself; “How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible, and not tell them that?”

Think about it. How many times have you not engaged someone - and not exclusively for the purpose of proselytizing, but on any level - because you’ve simply assumed they are ‘not the sort’ to be receptive to you, or they are ‘one of them’ - the avowed secularists? Is that a sort of passive, impersonal “hate?” When you’ve passed them by, have you stopped to think that everything a Christian says or does, how a Christian comports himself or herself, minute-by-minute, gives endless witness, and so only kindliness will do?

But another thing really hit me. He repeatedly says this is a good man. All it took for this businessman to make an impression was to be kind and sincere. I think that I can do at least that in life. But I can say that I often think it isn't enough to count as far as my witness goes. I fear that I need just the right words, opportunities or something shockingly special. Apparently you don't. Now don't get me wrong, I don't think Penn Jillette has converted but can you deny a seed. Either in him or any of the many people who watches his little video? And how many Christian lives are going to be changed? I hope at least mine.

Continuing Ed Anyone?

Apparently there are some free online courses in nanotech. Who says I need to put my kids in school to have them taught by some of the best and the brightest? With today's internet there are more and more free courses being made available. So I can teach my kids all I know and then go to those bigger and brighter to teach them more. Stanford and MIT also have all kinds of courses for free. That more is more than they can get in any public school! Heck, when I can find the time I want to take the many courses offered. Maybe even a paid college degree will soon be outdated? What do you all think?

Refrigerated Beaches?

This is just an example of people with way to much money who know even more people with even more money.

Note to Self: Experiements Not to Do

But oh so cool to watch! The lighter is in the blender!

A bunch of people with superpowers...

and a guy without any powers, who takes an injection so that he can get powers, but it might kill him. It describes a marine in last week's Heroes, and a major character from The 4400. Both of which were played by the same actor, Chad Faust. Can you get typecast as the guy who wants superpowers?

Meal Plan Monday

Yet another crazy holiday week. I love the meal planning though. With my crazy week last week (out 3 nights) we didn't have fast food for dinner once!

Monday: Hamburger Helper (Mom's Out)
Tuesday: Cube Steak, Broccoli, Cheddar Bay Biscuits
Wednesday: Appetizer and dessert dinner with the Bible Study group
Thursday: Beef Stew with Dumplings
Friday: Chicken Kiev, Mashed Potatoes, Broccoli

Pregnancy Twitter

So are you a tekkie who wants to start your baby off the right way? Well, you can get the Kickbee and twitter your pregnancy. It reads the fetal movement and then posts Twitter alerts. This is ridiculously cool.

With Kailani's recent announcement, I think I have found the perfect gadget for her!

Rethinking Conspiracies

Everyone who knows me knows that I am a hugely cynical person. I, unfortunately, am very rarely shocked by the bad behavior of politicians. But, it has happened.

The governor of Illinois brazenly put up for sale his appointment of Barack Obama’s successor in the United States Senate, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.

In recorded conversations with advisers, the governor, Rod R. Blagojevich, seemed alternately boastful, flip and spiteful about the Senate choice, which he crassly likened at one point to that of a sports agent shopping around a free agent for the steepest price, a federal affidavit showed. At times, he even weighed aloud appointing himself to the job, the prosecutors said.

Now I am not shocked that a governor was selling a Senate seat, per se, but that he was doing it so blatantly. I mean, there is the implicit bribes. You might pick someone that will pay you back someday but to open up bidding? Ugh!

But I am not the only one that was shocked. All of this has made Scott Adams (of Dilbert fame) re-examine the whole idea that conspiracy theories could be plausible.

So in the light of the whole Senate buy off attempt, what conspiracies suddenly make more sense to you?

Praise for Biden

I know, a shocking statement and yes this is still the NerdFamily Blog. Apparently Biden has realized his limitations.

The declaration results from an attention-getting article coming from the Las Vegas Sun, which is reporting Sunday in a story by Washington Bureau reporter Lisa Mascaro that the new Congress “will reassert its constitutional independence from the White House by barring the vice president from joining in internal Senate deliberations, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said in an interview with the Sun.”

Yeah, Cheney may have go and talked to a lot of people but he just talked. Obviously Biden has realized that for the future of Obama's presidency and the party's success, he should just keep his mouth shut. We call that a win/win. A win for the Democrats because they don't have to be scared of Biden's mouth and a win for American because we can forget he is the vice president;).

Meal Plan Monday: The Crazy Week!

This is a super, super crazy week but I am going to try to plan!

Monday: Shredded Pork Enchiladas
Tuesday: Pasta Carbonara Florentine
Wednesday: Pre-made pizza
Thursday: Cheeseburger Pie, Broccoli
Friday: Chicken, Rice and Broccoli

If you are here just for Meal Plan Monday make sure you drop by and enter my Queen of the Road giveaway too!

Blog Tour and Giveaway! Queen of the Road

I recently saw an opportunity to become part of a Blog Tour for a book Queen of the Road and I pondered. Then I saw the subtitle, The True Tale of 47 States, 22,000 Miles, 200 Shoes, 2 Cats, 1 Poodle, a Husband and a Bus with a Will of Its Own, and I was hooked. And that was before I found out the married couple was 2 shrinks!

This book is a hilarious look at Doreen Orion’s huge adventure but it doesn’t stop there. It shows a real relationship between a husband and wife with all its own uniqueness and compromise. In addition it seems to show Doreen’s own struggle to make sense of her husband’s desire to spend a year on a bus (she asks, “Why can’t Tim be like every other normal husband and live out his mid-life crisis by having an affair or buying a shiny new Corvette!?”). I am also touched by the vulnerability she shares with all of us in their often not-so-glamorous adventures. Even all you submissive wives (which I hope to count myself among) have to admit that we wouldn’t be real cool in the same situation.

I thought this book was funny and was an easy read. There are also interesting drink recipes that go with each chapter. I haven’t tried any, yet;). But you don’t have to take my word on this book because I have a few other opinions for you.

"A Charles Kuralt-Albert Brooks-style romp where they meet up with nudists, robbers and more. Required Reading." -The New York Post

"Eat, Pray, Love - without the depression - meets Confessions of a Shopaholic - without the ditz." - Denver Magazine.

"A charming, insightful and - most important - hilarious book that evokes the best of Bill Bryson and David Sedaris, but spotlights the unique voice of a gifted memoirist." - Jonathan Kellerman, New York Times Bestselling Novelist

In honor of Queen of the Road I have a giveaway! I am giving away the PC game Discovery: Seek & Find Adventure. It is rated E for Everyone and is for Windows only (sorry Mac users).

This is in addition to the grand prize offered to anyone who comments on any Queen of the Road Blog Tour post! That is a huge giveaway made of:
Mom Logic Tote bag, eye brightener and mouse pad from Mom Logic.
Wrist water bottle from Swiggies $13 value
Gift certificate for free flashcards from Goosie Cards $29 value
Rose Pin ($10 value)
Natural, dye-free dog tug from Purrfect Play $18 value
And there is more!

To enter:

* Just comment!
* A random winner will be selected from the comments given by Dec 13th.

This giveaway is open to addresses within the US. Please leave a way to contact you in case you win.

(FRN Review)

I Am Totally Stealing That!

My kids have always wanted to do a pinata but we don't have any trees in our yard. So we haven't. Well, NerdDad and I are laptopping it and watching 17 Kids and Counting and now we know how we are going to do pinatas. The Duggars were hanging them down over the second floor banister. We are so going to do that!

In the future, we'll all be wearing proton packs.

After you watched the above and have recited your favorite lines in your head, you can look here to see the release date of the original movie. Now that you're feeling all old and depressed, watch the trailer again and you'll be even more excited than you were before you saw the second movie.