No reason. I just like the picture.
[...]What a bunch of patsies we have become.
A Des Moines bound United Airlines flight from Denver was delayed six hours Tuesday when passengers alerted flight attendants to three ticks in the plane’s cabin.
“It is an unusual situation to find ticks on the plane, and we regret any [...]
Well, one of them anyway.
I got a text from a mutual friend yesterday, all "you have to turn on the homer right now!" So I did. Since it was the radio, it took me a minute to figure it out. Especially because the blogging blonde was not blonde the last [...]

Yes, take a cool shower, wear a hat, and of course, DON'T bathe your baby in alcohol. Good to know. Good to know.
[...]How thinly veiled? This thinly veiled:
A kind, bookish only child born in the 1940s, Alice learned the virtues of politeness early on from her stolid parents and small Wisconsin hometown. But a tragic accident when she was seventeen shattered her identity and made her understand the fragility of life [...]
...trouble is, he's still confused about what his base is. From Politico:
One source familiar with the inner workings of McCain's campaign said that the move came after a sluggish ramp-up to the general and number of unforced errors had left the candidate, senior staff and elected officials unhappy with the [...]
People in the old country shur do talk funny. The BBC reports:

The Doody family hopes to raise profile of faggots.
Apparently it's a culinary delight made from pork liver and pork. Yum! Mr. Doody says:
"The great British faggot is full of flavour and a great [...]
That's per an L.A. Times/Bloomberg poll. Apparently he's relying on the old "they'll have nowhere else to go" myth. Because he sure isn't trying to appeal to the base himself. I was at a Young Republicans meeting last night, and the poor guy from the McCain campaign tried to [...]
No seriously, he really did. Here he is being interviewed by Matt Lauer on the Today show (which after this interview they should just go ahead and rename "Dumb and Dumber"):
LAUER: Do you think people can't get behind America led by John McCain?
SMITH: You know I just, there, there [...]
...it will tick off all the right people. Like the French. Byron York has lunch in Paris, and discusses it with one of them:
In the European mind, Guantanamo is one of the centers of evil in the world, a dungeon where George W. Bush commits unspeakable acts on innocent [...]
A decade ago, astronomers discovered that what is true for your car keys is not true for the galaxies. Having been impelled apart by the force of the Big Bang, the galaxies, in defiance of cosmic gravity, are picking up speed on a dash toward eternity. If [...]
Mitt Romney emails NBS with an update on the Five Brothers:
Dear [NBS]:
I'd like to update you on what's been happening since the campaign ended and to tell you about my latest venture.
First, Ann and I have some exciting news. We have three new grandchildren on the way!
That's a lot of [...]
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (AP) — Former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann spent his first day after resigning helping his wife with her business selling dishes online.Dann's attorney Mike Harshman says Dann helped his wife, Alyssa Lenhoff [...]
This time from The Kraalspace, where Dr. Mabuse's 18 year-old daughter is having chronic seizures:
We finally got in to see our GP, after 2 weeks' wait. A week later, Emma went to the General Hospital and had an EEG - it was the middle of the day, not a [...]
This time from The Kraalspace, where Dr. Mabuse's 18 year-old daughter is having chronic seizures:
We finally got in to see our GP, after 2 weeks' wait. A week later, Emma went to the General Hospital and had an EEG - it was the middle of the day, not a time [...]
Maybe the lower taxes still don't make Florida worth it? Meet Beach Bob, retired court reporter. Current occupation: Plaintiff. He's suing the Lee County Sherrif's Office. The Naples News has the background:
Beach Bob likes to sunbathe in a Speedo.
Nearly every cloudless morning for more than 10 years, he’s wheeled [...]
Ready to get depressed? The House Republicans have a new slogan that is obviously a reaction to Obama's nebulous calls for "change." The slogan is, dum dum DUM: "Change You Deserve."
Actually that drumroll should be "dumb dumb DUMB." You know they paid a consultant a ton of money to come up [...]
Well I never thought this would be an issue. Just got the quote back from the insurance man for homeowners' coverage on the new house (yes, we're finally moving, no I haven't blogged about it. Not enough hours in the day). He gave me two quotes. One for earthquake coverage, [...]
From today's Enquirer:
Kathleen Akin of Wyoming was featured in The Enquirer April 24 for her decision to be a single mother. But it was her dog that got the attention of the Hamilton County Auditor's Office.
After a photo showed Akin, 45, and her children walking with Sophie, the family's [...]
Wasn't that our state slogan at some point? It was something along those lines. Anyway, here's a story about the late Senator Metzenbaum that brought back fond memories of my grandmother. How can that be? Well, my grandmother absolutely despised Howard Metzenbaum. And this article from the Wall Street [...]
My times are bad, aren't they? Per the NYT:
As real estate prices plunge, so does the ability of homeowners to borrow against the value of their homes, crimping a major artery of spending. As banks grow tighter with their dollars in a period of uncertainty, families are running up against [...]
Why didn't someone think of this sooner? Thank you, New York Post.
I can't get the Hillary character to hit below the belt, though. It would be much more authentic if she could hit below the belt.
[...]The memories of the earthquake of 2008, Chez NBS, are not nearly so interesting. It involved both of us waking up, and me, briefly thinking something was wrong with the furnace and making it thump. But why would the furnace be kicking on? And then it was, where's Henry? Because it [...]
What's "street money"? Per the L.A. Times, it is:
"[A] long-standing Philadelphia ritual in which candidates deliver cash to the city's Democratic operatives in return for getting out the vote.
Flush with payments from well-funded campaigns, the ward leaders and Democratic Party bosses typically spread out the cash in the days [...]
Was anyone else watching last night's game on FSN Ohio? Mrs. NBS and I had it on in the background, and we both glanced up when announcer Jeff Brantley started talking about how Jesse Jackson was in attendance at the game. And then our mouths fell open when the camera [...]
But it sure sounds interesting.
In fact, I wonder who, if anyone, is going to show this film. It obviously isn't typical indie film fare. And those who like indie films aren't open-minded enough to see it. We shall see if the independent film theaters in town--the Esquire in Clifton and [...]Stabenow's husband caught in Troy prostitution sting, police report saysJennifer Chambers / The Detroit NewsTROY -- The co-founder and former CEO of the liberal-progressive Democracy Radio and husband of U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow was caught in February by a Troy police sting aimed at catching prostitutes, according to a [...]
...I wasn't really expecting how tiring it would be. Yes, Mrs. NBS and Baby NBS are both fine, after a chaotic arrival into the world, that involved everyone getting emergency surgery--including Henry, the dog (yes, really).
So sorry for the lack of posting here at NBS, and thanks to those of you [...]
Thanks to those of you who have asked. Still no signs. I was hoping for something this weekend, so I could miss work on Monday. But nothing yet.
The official due date is not until Tuesday. I keep reminding Mrs. NBS of that. "It's not like a library book," I tell her. [...]
What a thing to be an expert in. You'd think he'd try to get people to forget. So to throw yourself out there as an expert? Weird. And so from the Enquirer, we get this: "Allen Feels Sad for Spitzer,"
“I felt a sense of sadness for Gov. Spitzer and [...]
...is excellent.
Of course, I would never vote for someone because of a campaign ad. But that's just me, and a lot of people don't think that way.
How funny is it that the Democrats are calling each other names, and the McCain campaign is producing video like this?
Ann Althouse has [...]
Here she is, chirping away like a Chatty Cathy doll, on the radical left-wing cesspool that is Firedoglake. Here's her take on crossover voters:
The 2nd District has some very interesting dynamics. Congressman Bob McEwen [OH-R] called this morning to congratulate me. He said that at his dinner table last [...]
Welcome to my world.
In case it's not obvious, we're not exactly "deliver at home" kind of people. Thank God for Youtube. I'm sure I can find something on there that tells me what I'm supposed to do.
Oooooooo. Here's an idea. Maybe I can get her to shovel the driveway. [...]
And if so, to what ends?
From the Enquirer's Politics Extra:
Brunner's staff has begun to call counties to find out how many crossover voters there were and how many 10x forms were filled out by pollworkers if someone switches parties within two years.
"Once we start to gather the [...]
...the indominitable Mrs. P. gives us the whys and hows:
On a much, much happier note, Hillary Rotten Clinton died. Though I told you she had died in January. Admit it now, most of you doubted me then, some of you even questioned my sanctity and others of you went [...]
...than John McCain is among Republicans in Texas. Jean won her district with 57%. McCain won Texas by 51%. Texas!
Don't tell me John McCain doesn't still have a lot of work to do convincing Republicans to go out and vote for him.
[...]The temptation to cross party lines and vote for Hillary was very, very strong. Having her continue to battle it out with Obama is very good for the cause. But in the end, I couldn't do it. The woman in front of me did, though. And I know a lot [...]
The Politico has a look at how well it's going:
McCain was accused of having a romantic relationship with a lobbyist by The New York Times (he vehemently denied it). The DNC filed a complaint against McCain with the Federal Election Commission questioning whether he is violating the spending limits [...]
Here he chimes in on William F. Buckley. Take it away, Ray:
You certainly can argue that Buckley was an ideologue - he almost single-handedly created the modern American conservative movement - but not in the pejorative sense we've infected that word with.
"Not in the pejorative sense we've infected that [...]
John Hagee, an influential pastor in the "Christian Zionist movement." Whatever the hell that is. Senator McCain was on stage with Pastor Hagee to receive his endorsement. Has Pastor John Hagee ever said anything controversial? Anything John McCain might want to repudiate? I dunno... let's see...
Bill Donohue of the [...]
DeWine says to the Enquirer:
"I can't believe in the end that voters are going to make a decision in November based on what John McCain said about Bill Cunningham in February," DeWine said.
How quaint. He thinks the latest uproar with the base is about McCain repudiating Willie. It's not. [...]
Just how many people did the McCain campaign manage to offend when they were in town? Here we have the producer of 55KRC's morning radio show, chiming in about the treatment he received from the McCain camp. Take it away, Joe Strecker:
As you know, it's Ohio's turn to be [...]
From The New York Times (!):
Mr. Buckley’s greatest achievement was making conservatism — not just electoral Republicanism, but conservatism as a system of ideas — respectable in liberal post-World War II America.
And it is so obvious these day, isn't it? There is a big distinction between electoral Republicanism and conservatism as a [...]
The same Bill Cunningham who has worked tirelessly for Republican candidates and conservatives causes for years--usually using the same kind of rhetoric that he used today. From the Enquirer:
Cunningham came out on stage to whip up the crowd as he often does at Republican campaign events in Cincinnati. He [...]
So I was on the way to Lowe's to buy air filters because we're on a pre-baby cleaning binge, and I see right there on Marburg Avenue that there is a house with two signs out--one for Jean Schmidt and the other for Barack Obama. What the hell? I almost [...]

I can envision my ancestors eating sanitized tapeworms to help shed some pounds. That's just the kind of people we are. Practical.
Lots of cigarette ads in the bunch:
I like how the Doctor invites you to test Camels in [...]
So now, apparently, companies are going to look to their insurer when they get sued for supposedly causing global warming:
As companies face potential litigation and EPA regulation, they are turning to their insurers to address the potential liability related to climate change. There is much uncertainty and many questions that [...]
So I was at Molly Malone's for a meeting with some fellow Republicans--prominent, you'd-recognize-their-names-as-major-local-right-wingers types of people--and up comes this breathless young man. He asks: "Are you here for the Barack Obama meeting?" I looked around for the camera, thinking "Am I on Punk'd?"
But no, this guy was serious. [...]
Okay, so Mrs. NBS and I spent Saturday at Childbirth Class (more on that later) and I wanted to make sure I blogged about one of the leaflets we were given, because it was so obnoxious. And that leaflet was the list of all the fire departments in the Greater Cincinnati area where [...]
Crotch shots of teenage boys, now up on the Enquirer's main page:
I honestly don't see how that's not intentional.
UPDATE: This story has been rolled to the sports section, and the photo placed in the "photo gallery." The "Triplets' Mom" has been found not guilty, so [...]
From Politico's coverage of yesterday's endorsement:
Despite the at-times ugly exchanges between the two during the past year, today's press conference, while not full of warmth, was not especially stilted.
The difference was especially stark compared to the last GOP nomination battle in 2000. As opposed to the [...]
Even the headline's bad: "Dead Woman Had Unique Laugh."
It's like something from The Onion, but it's for real. And it gets worse. Here's the lede:
Kristina “Tina” Griffen loved cats and her life was filled with music.
Griffen, 31, was walking to her University Heights home from a Tuesday night Bogart’s [...]
Heere Bigynneth the Tale of the Asse-Hatte.An Archbishop of Canterbury Tale
1 Whan in Februar, withe hise global warmynge
2 Midst unseasonabyl rain and stormynge
3 Gaia in hyr heat encourages
4 Englande folke to goon pilgrimages.
5 Frome everiches farme and shire
6 Frome London Towne and [...]
From the Huffington Post:
I hate to be the one to break up a love affair, especially with Valentine's Day just around the corner, but I can no longer stand idly by and watch the media and independent voters continue to throw themselves at the feet of John McCain.
The John [...]
...it says a lot:
Finan, one of the first Ohio Republican party leaders to endorse Romney, said he believes many Romney supporters around the state will have a hard time voting for McCain in the fall campaign – and, he said, he is one of them.
“I might [...]
...now we don't have to hear Mike Dewine trying to get us all to vote for his former Senate colleague. Dewine was running McCain's campaign here in Ohio. And Mike Dewine basically embodies everything the base of the party doesn't like about McCain.
For the general, I'd strongly suggest to the [...]
Politico describes his two-pronged pitch:
Prong one: McCain is not really so bad, is quite conservative on spending and the Iraq war and is far better than the alternative come this fall. Prong two: The time has come to stop stewing and get on board.
Patronizing. And typically contemptuous. I'm not [...]
Last summer, the amateur music video “I Got a Crush on Obama” was a Web hit, splashing a seductive performance by a 26-year-old model named Amber Lee Ettinger across millions of screens and prompting deep thoughts about candidates and sex appeal, the YouTube generation of voters, [...]
Twenty voters at a Far North Side precinct who found their ink pens not working were told by election judges not to worry.
It's invisible ink, officials said. The scanner will count it.
But their votes weren't recorded after all.
"Part of me was thinking it does sound [...]
But this thing makes me happy.
"If you can sit, you can get fit. Hu-wah-ee Chair." I love that.

Except we're not going over the top with wallpaper and cutesy tootsie murals. But the sentiment is right. And honestly, the happy waspy '50s couple kind of looks like us.
[...]Mrs. NBS: "I just feel so.... wide."
Me: "Well! There's a wideness in God's mercy!"
Just six more weeks to go.
[...]Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was close to leaving the Republican Party in 2001, weeks before then-Sen. Jim Jeffords (Vt.) famously announced his decision to become an Independent, according to former Democratic lawmakers who say they were involved in the discussions.
In interviews with The Hill this [...]
WHY WHY WHY DID LOUISE HAVE TO DIE?
Oh, because she weighed 1,150 pounds, and was headed for I-275. I'm waiting for the uproar. Why didn't they taze her? Someone always asks that question.
Evidently, they did try a tranquilizer dart, but it didn't work.
And apparently, she was a [...]
So says an old fart quoted in this article, anyway. Mrs. NBS and I always laugh at the commercials for The Villages. It makes Florida--God's waiting room--look like a hellhole.
Sorry I can't find the commercial where they're all tap dancing. That one's a classic.
Isn't this the third time this has happened in the past few years?
COLERAIN TWP. -- Police are searching for a 1000-pound black Angus cow that escaped this morning about 8:15 from a holding pen at Stehlin's Meat Packing Co. in Colerain Township.
It appears that a holding pen gate [...]

I've already said I can't imagine putting a Huckabee sticker on the back of my car. That's mostly because it's such a hill-jack name, backed up by a hill-jack personality. Graphic designers have a problem with the aesthetics, too:
Huckabee has the most inexplicable selection of typography [...]
Evans and Rasha Khoury MED ’08, another member of Medical Students for Choice, who said she plans to become a gynecologist and expects to perform abortions, went on to describe one of the most common abortion procedures, manual vacuum aspiration, which “creates suction to evacuate pregnancy,” Evans said. The [...]
In the comments, Polite, Refined and Tall suggests that the video "Price Hill Girls" should be reason enough for me to visit the West Side. And here's what that comment reminds me of, and that's this passage from The Serene Cincinnatians, which was published in 1950 as part of the "Society [...]
Prank calls. Who doesn't love a good prank call?
Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't it be pretty easy to get Mitt's cell phone number off of this tape?
Though it is a pity Democrats would say it's child abuse to kick his ass.
The White House wants tax rebates of $800 per person, or $1,600 per couple. Democrats want rebates of $500 for individuals who make $85,000 or less, and (it sounds like) $1,000 for couples who make $110,000 or less.
$110,000 is not two times $85,000.
Details are still being worked out, of [...]
Of course, Mother Jones put these photos up because they want you to think we're ruled by monied, hypocritical, gas guzzling aristocrats, no matter which party wins. I'm putting them up because real estate is porn for married people. So let's begin!
Here's Huckabee's house. Not surprisingly, the candidate that I like [...]
Mostly Kimi Raikkonen, a Finnish Formula 1 driver.
But I'm also 67% Angela Lansbury, 66% Emma Watson, 64% Steve Fosset (dead), 62% Regis, 62% Jared Leto, 62% Rupert Murdock and 62% Chester Bennington (who?).
Strangely enough, I do actually see the similarities with each of them. Especially that sexy [...]
From a speech in Warren, Michigan on Monday night:
"[Some of my opponents] do not want to change the Constitution, but I believe it's a lot easier to change the constitution than it would be to change the word of the living God, and that's what we need to do is [...]
I can't tell you how weird it is to find such a thing. Very, very weird.
But on this topic I shall comment no further. Mind your p's and q's in the comments, too, please.
I mean seriously. What campaign aide made this shit up? Dancing with the Stars? You know she spends her nights throwing popcorn at Chris Matthews. I mean come on. You know she does.
I do see her watching Grey's Anatomy and Idol, though. They're probably the training videos she [...]
From Investment News:
Nothing worries financial advisers more than the prospect of a Democrat's being elected president in November, according to a quarterly poll by Brinker Capital Inc.
The fourth-quarter edition of the Brinker Barometer, which polled 236 advisers in December, found that 22% indicated that a "Democrat in the [...]
Someone beat me to it! One nephew, at the age of three, once pointed to beer in their refrigerator and explained "Das daddy juice." So it runs in the family.HT: The Llamas [...] The Rule: You let ladies go first when getting on an empty elevator. But when you're getting off a crowded elevator, the person who gets off first is the one closest to the door.
You do not slam yourself up against the wall so the ladies can try to stumble past [...]
Well at least it's not bird flu. A oversized cocktail epidemic? Is this really a concern? Apparently so:
"A too-large glass gives the drink more time to lose its chill and initial zest, and a half-filled glass looks unexciting, so an average-size cocktail glass of 4 1/2 ounces is the [...]
And they are such easy targets, aren't they? From the University of Michigan's course catalog:
Section 002 — How to be Gay: Male Homosexuality and Initiation.
Credits: (3; 2 in the half-term).
Instructor(s): David M Halperin (halperin@umich.edu)
Course Description:
Just because you happen to be a gay man [...]