Saturday evening lion kitty

Who is that handsome kitty?

The Gift of the Nile

Just when I had begun to fear that Billmon had been devoured by an evil mummy, his bloody remains strewn about some dark tomb, he returns with a luminous account of his train trip up the Nile to Luxor.

Go read: The Gift of the Nile

I can hardly wait for the next installment.

Flight Fight

Bence Máté/National Geographic

"Two herons fight over a fish snatched from a hole in an ice-covered lake in Pusztaszer, Hungary. Neither bird won. During the quarrel the fish fell to the ice, and another hungry heron snagged the catch."

Beautiful.

Everyone loves Plush

I saw this on my way to lunch downtown today. Now we know where lion kitty Maxx has been disappearing to.

That scamp!

No Monuments, eh?

I'm still a little stunned by the story that DHS slashed security grants to New York City and Washington, DC. This is really ridiculous:

New York has no national monuments or icons, according to the Department of Homeland Security form obtained by ABC News. That was a key factor used to determine that New York City should have its anti-terror funds slashed by 40 percent--from $207.5 million in 2005 to $124.4 million in 2006.

"All I can tell you is if you look at their worksheets, and it says that New York City doesn't have any high visibility national icons ... I mean, I don't have to list the Brooklyn Bridge, the United Nations, Rockefeller Center, the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building and the Stock Exchange," New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in response to ABC News' questions.

The formula did not consider as landmarks or icons: The Empire State Building, The United Nations, The Statue of Liberty and others found on several terror target hit lists. It also left off notable landmarks, such as the New York Public Library, Times Square, City Hall and at least three of the nation's most renowned museums: The Guggenheim, The Metropolitan and The Museum of Natural History.

Tonight's NYTimes article, US Faults New York's Anti-Terrorism Plan, has more details.

The federal agency distributing $711 million in antiterrorism money to cities around the nation found numerous flaws in New York City's application and gave poor grades to many of its proposals.

Its criticism extended to some of the city's most highly publicized counterterrorism measures.

In a report that outlines why it cut back New York City's share of antiterrorism funds by roughly 40 percent, the Department of Homeland Security was so critical of some highly viewed local measures — like Operation Atlas, in which hundreds of extra police officers carry out counterterrorism duties around the city each day — that the Police Department and other city agencies must now seek further federal approval before drawing on the money they were given to pay for those programs.

Okay, right. The federal agency that twiddled their fingers while New Orleans drowned is criticizing NYC?? And we learn this:

The city's application was evaluated by so-called peer-review panels of five to seven people with varying backgrounds from 47 states and affirmed by government analysts at the Department of Homeland Security.

Angry officials in New York zeroed in on the peer review process yesterday, trying to determine who evaluated the programs and whether their judgments were clouded by a desire to steer security money to their own areas. City officials questioned whether the reviewers had expertise in antiterrorism efforts.

I'll tell you what their judgements were clouded by. It's called "head-up-your-ass syndrome" complicated by a desire to help republican congressmen in trouble.

The Holy Tomato

Richard Perry/NYTimes

This photo was running on the NYTimes.com homepage with the caption "Faith Nights, a spiritual twist on Frisbee Nights and Bat Days, are becoming popular ballpark promotions."

I didn't know that tomatoes and pickles were divinities. The things you can learn on these here internets.

Congratulation Plushy

Lion kitty Maxx would like to congratulate Sallyh on her Golden Apple Award for excellence in teaching and NYMary on landing her job.

He sends many purrrrrs.

Enough already

Tweety just now on Hard-on-for-Hillaryball: "I wish everyone could see this article in the NYTimes about the Clintons. We should link to it! I should send it to everyone!!" He goes on to blather about how the entire democratic establishment "....is a-buzz" about the article.

No Chris, just you and your panty-sniffing buddy Broder are a-buzz about it. The rest of the country doesn't give a fuck.

Tweety is positively giddy that "the liberal NY Times printed the story." "The floodgates are open!" he cries "It's a legitimate story!!" I'm surprised he didn't have an orgasm on the air.

Egad, how disgusting.

Hey Tweety, put your tongue back in your mouth and put your little micro-dick back in your pants before you rub it right off.

At last, some plush

Found him. Little stinker, hanging out on the porch.

Daily Life if Iraq

Reuters/Helmiy Al-Azawi

Tell me again about the progress we're making? I can't quite see it.

Beg, beg, beg

Go give that major league whiner, Ntodd, some hits for his blog-a-thon before he begins sobbing again.

Then come back and participate in the Plush-Life 10 BEEELLION Hit blog-a-thon!!

sleepy

Lion kitty Maxx is sleepy and so am I.

Rapture??

AFP/Gali Tibbon

Has the rapture started?? I call dibs on a wingnut's house!


(Jerusalem fireworks : Fireworks light up the sky over the golden Dome of the Rock Mosque at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem's old city, a day before the official celebrations to mark 39 years for the unification of Jerusalem since Israel wrested east Jerusalem from Jordanian control during the Arab-Israeli war on June 7, 1967.)

Just for Vicki

Lion kitty Maxx would like to hug you cause he's worried about your high blood pressure.

Memorial Day plush

Maxx thinks we should honor the soldiers by bringing them home. He'd also like me to quit flashy-thinging him.

We own it

AP/Khalid Mohammed

Kevin Drum weighs in on the Haditha massacre.

What an appalling and tragic story. It is, I suppose, only a tiny blot compared to the carnage that Iraqi militants inflict on each other every single day in this endless and brutal war, but this one is our blot.

Dear Kevin, it's nice that you recognize that Haditha is a terrible thing, but it would be nice if you could remember that none of the carnage would be happening if we hadn't embarked on our ill-advised war. We broke the country, and we're responsible for everything that has happened since.

A "tiny blot" you suppose? Don't be such a wanker. The whole endless, bloody mess is our blot.

La Joconde

Behold!! Michelangelo's greatest work!

The things one learns on the internets. Amazing!

Sunday night plushy

This is a picture from a couple of months ago. Lion kitty is out prowling, and I haven't felt like taking pictures today.

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