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"Scared the first time I had sex? Of course I was scared -- I was all alone!" Rodney Dangerfield

Getting the whole 4th Estate this riled up at you would seem to be a strategy not pursued with such success since Nixon... Obama Administration's Media Surveillance Unleashes Wave Of Condemnation The Huffington Post | By Rebecca Shapiro and Jack Mirkinson Posted: 05/22/2013 9:05 am EDT | Updated: 05/23/2013 10:20 am EDT The Justice Department's investigation and surveillance of the Associated Press and Fox News have led to perhaps the most sustained wave of criticism for the Obama administration's media policies since the president took office. On Wednesday, the New York Times became one of the more influential voices to say what many others have been saying: that the administration's methods are an attack on press freedom. In a scathing editorial, the Times wrote that, "With the decision to label a Fox News television reporter a possible 'co-conspirator' in a criminal investigation of a news leak, the Obama administration has moved beyond protecting government secrets to threatening fundamental freedoms of the press to gather news." The Times editorial described the Obama administration as going "overboard" with its investigations into leaks and threatening press freedom. The board added: Obama administration officials often talk about the balance between protecting secrets and protecting the constitutional rights of a free press. Accusing a reporter of being a 'co-conspirator,' on top of other zealous and secretive investigations, shows a heavy tilt toward secrecy and insufficient concern about a free press. The Times editorial was just one in a chorus of hard-hitting attacks on Obama's media policy that have surfaced in the wake of the Justice Department investigations. Journalists were outraged by the inquiries into the AP and Fox News reporter James Rosen. In particular, members of the media took issue with the Justice Department labeling Rosen a possible "co-conspirator" in a leak case for the crime of trying to get a source to give up information. The New Yorker reported on Tuesday that the investigation into Rosen was even broader than previously suspected, as the DOJ seized records from at least five different numbers used by Fox News and two different White House lines. That followed the Associated Press' revelation that the DOJ had secretly obtained months of phone records for at least seven individual journalists across 20 phone lines while searching for the government official responsible for leaking information about a CIA-thwarted terror plot. Obama's hyper-aggressive leak policy—and his administration's potential equation of routine journalistic interaction with criminality—is nothing new. But the fury in the pages and on the websites of elite outlets about these positions certainly is. The Times' criticism echoed that of many other journalists and press freedom groups. On Tuesday, the board of the Committee to Protect Journalists sent an outraged letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, in which it warned that the DOJ's secret subpoenas for over 20 AP phone lines "represent a damaging setback for press freedom in the United States." This came on the heels of a letter signed by over 50 media outlets which made similar arguments. Wednesday also saw Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank lash out at Obama: The Rosen affair is as flagrant an assault on civil liberties as anything done by George W. Bush’s administration, and it uses technology to silence critics in a way Richard Nixon could only have dreamed of. To treat a reporter as a criminal for doing his job — seeking out information the government doesn’t want made public — deprives Americans of the First Amendment freedom on which all other constitutional rights are based. Guns? Privacy? Due process? Equal protection? If you can’t speak out, you can’t defend those rights, either. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/22/nytimes-obama-white-house-doj-investigations_n_3318748.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

Best & Worst Airlines Virgin America makes its debut at the top of our list By Consumer Reports magazine | Consumer Reports Getty Images/Getty Images - LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 04: Sir Richard Branson (L) and attends the Launch of Virgin America's First Flight from Los Angeles to Philadelphia Los Angeles International Airport on April 4, 2012 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images) If you’re tired of airline flights that leave you too frazzled to enjoy your trip, we have a new recommendation for you. Virgin America, a newcomer to our Ratings, got a clear thumbs-up from readers in our latest survey, with some of the highest scores we’ve seen in years. At the other end of the runway was Spirit Airlines. It was at the bottom of our list, with poor scores across the board for check-in, cabin service, and more. In an era of airlines changing, merging, and inventing new fees, getting the best deal hasn’t gotten any easier. But we’ll tell you how to search for the best fares and what you’ll pay in fees from the major carriers. We also have insights from more than 16,000 readers who told us about a total of 31,732 domestic flights in our survey, conducted in February by the Consumer Reports National Research Center. [More from Consumer Reports: Don't let frequent flyer miles depart without you] One of the things they told us was that they really liked flying on Virgin America. “The leather seat cushions are so nice in coach, there’s no reason to fly first class,” says Janice Dunn, who answered the survey and lives in Palm Desert, Calif. The airline, which started in 2007, has recently expanded the number of cities it serves to 21. Its main hub is in San Francisco. It flies to most major American cities, as well as certain vacation destinations in Mexico. And it plans to add Anchorage, Alaska, and Austin, Texas, this spring. Virgin America says it emphasizes “top-notch services and a host of innovative amenities.” Cabins feature mood lighting (magenta strips of lights along the sides and violet along the middle of the ceiling), Wi-Fi throughout the planes, and seatback entertainment systems that allow you to order food and beverages, watch free movies and television, play games, and listen to more than 4,000 songs. Our readers gave those cabin services and in-flight entertainment top scores. Although Virgin America charges $25 each for the first and second checked bags, it was the only airline to get the top score for baggage handling. Free baggage Two other highly rated airlines, JetBlue and Southwest, receive high marks for baggage handling. But even more important, they’re the only carriers on our list that let you check one (JetBlue) or two (Southwest) bags free on domestic flights. The free bags help explain why they’re among the top airlines we rated. Check-in was a breeze on Southwest, and readers enjoyed the staff’s onboard service. But it was dinged on in-flight entertainment, an area where Virgin America and JetBlue (which also offers programming on seatback screens) shined. Southwest offers wireless entertainment on your device. JetBlue outscored Southwest on cabin cleanliness and seating comfort; it gives all passengers a couple of extra inches of leg room compared with most other airlines. Hawaiian Airlines received high marks for check-in ease, cabin service, and cleanliness. And readers liked the way it handled their bags. Not-so-hot: Hawaiian’s in-flight entertainment. On the other end of the spectrum, bottom-­ranked Spirit Airlines received one of the lowest overall scores for any company we’ve ever rated. “Spirit is the only no-frills airline left with fares that can be 90 percent less than other carriers’,” says George Hobica, founder and editor of Airfarewatchdog, which tracks airline deals. But it also charges a wide array of fees, including $10 to $19 to book a flight; $3 for a soda, a juice, or a bag of M&Ms; and $35 to $100 per carry-on bag. Readers were also sore about Spirit’s seats; it has the tightest seating space in the industry. “I’m 6 feet 1 inch, and Spirit is the only airline I’ve flown where my knees hit the seat in front of me when it was upright, not just reclined,” says survey respondent Paul Barrett, a retired airline pilot who lives in Orinda, Calif. Consumers told us about other airlines’ strengths and weaknesses. Passengers were very happy with Alaska’s check-in, and they liked its cabin staff and baggage handling. But they weren’t so happy with the airline’s seats and entertainment options. Delta and Frontier were awarded very good marks for check-in ease, but otherwise things were mostly middling. Low marks for seating comfort hurt Delta. Lower-­rated carriers, such as American, United, and US Airways, all received the lowest rating possible for cabin cleanliness, seating comfort, and in-flight entertainment. [More from Consumer Reports: Avoid money changing fees when traveling abroad] Airlines’ fees are now coming in packages, whether or not you want all of the services. At American, one itinerary example put Choice Essential at $68, allowing a free flight change, one free checked bag, and early boarding. The Choice Plus bundle, for $88, would provide bonus frequent-­flyer miles, free same-day standby and flight-change options, and a “premium” beverage. Exact costs vary by itinerary. So expect more turbulence ahead given that according to our survey, unexpected fees are a leading cause of dissatisfaction with an airline. Track down the best fare You’ll have to shop around a bit to get a good ticket price. As you may have noticed if you’ve flown in the past year, fares are up, rising seven times in 2012 according to FareCompare, a travel-planning website. Rick Seaney, co-founder and CEO of the site, predicts that the trend will continue through 2013. Work the Web. Almost all of the respondents (94 percent) who booked their own flights did so online. Of those respondents, 59 percent compared fees on other websites before they chose an airline. To uncover the best deal, we suggest you cast that wider net. Check prices on third-party sites. Expedia, Kayak, and Travelocity may list identical prices for flights, but they have different electronic reservation systems and add and remove fares at different times. Be sure to check airline sites, too, because sometimes they have sales that they don’t share with third-party sites. If you don’t have to book immediately, the airlines and price-comparison sites (add Airfarewatchdog, Hotwire, and Priceline to those above) might let you set price alerts; you’ll get an e-mail or text when prices drop. Dodge the fees. Try to travel light or fly a low-fee airline, such as JetBlue or Southwest. If you need to check a bag or pay for a carry-on, see whether there’s a discount for prepaying on the airline’s website. Check your airline’s weight limits. For example, United charges $100 to $200 (depending on your destination) for a checked bag weighing from more than 50 pounds to less than 100. Overweight fees kick in at more than 40 pounds on Spirit. You might avoid certain fees if you charge your travel to the airline’s credit card. The cards often carry annual fees of $40 to $100, but the perks they usually offer—priority boarding, free checked luggage, and access to airport lounges—can more than make up for the charge. Be flexible. Shifting your travel dates by a day or two will often allow you to nab a much lower price. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday are generally the cheapest days to fly, Seaney says. Check prices at 3 p.m. EST on a Tuesday, he adds; it’s when the greatest number of cheap seats are available. But bargains can appear at any time, so keep searching and set up those alerts, Hobica stresses. Check other airports. When you use price-comparison sites, specify the city you want to depart from, not the airport. Most sites will then show you the flight options for any of that area’s airports. Put it on hold. Thanks to regulations that went into effect last year, you can hold a reservation for 24 hours without paying for it (as long as it’s at least a week from the scheduled departure date) while you check around for a lower fare. Airlines are feasting on fees The airlines call them ancillary revenue. You probably call them annoying. One thing is certain—it’s getting harder to purchase an airline ticket without paying for extras. (See the table below for more details.) Since Spirit Airlines became an “Ultra Low Cost Carrier” in 2007 and most domestic carriers followed by charging for checked bags, there has been no turning back from the nickel-and-diming. There isn’t much good news for passengers. But when it comes to fees, the most consumer-friendly airline is Southwest, the only U.S. carrier that allows your first and second bags to be checked gratis. JetBlue allows only the first bag free; most airlines charge $25. Low-cost Southwest also stands alone in not imposing ticket-change fees. (Many airlines give 24 hours to change a flight free.) And along with Frontier, it does not charge for telephoning reservations. But you shouldn’t automatically equate low fares with a lack of fees. Some of the biggest charges are levied by two low-cost carriers, Allegiant and Spirit. Their business models are based on à la carte pricing, with a charge for carry-on bags (in Spirit’s case, up to $100). Frontier starts charging for carry on bags when the flight is booked through a third party. Spirit even charges for booking online, and it imposes an “Unintended Consequences of DOT Regulations Fee.” [More from Consumer Reports: Traveling? What's the best kind of camera for you] Do Allegiant and Spirit offer low fares? Absolutely. But obtaining a true apples-to-apples comparison among multiple airlines on your bottom-line ticket price can require a lot of time and work these days. Hard-to-find fee info Be warned: If you’re searching for fees on an airline’s site, it’s often a cumbersome process. Southwest and Virgin America provide easy access to complete fee information, we found. Many other carriers offer detailed online guides to fees, but they include unhelpful points such as charges of “from $4 to $99” for preferred seats. United doesn’t even provide a range of prices for two critical fees: checking your first and second bags. Charges are doled out on a flight-by-flight basis only after you enter your itinerary. We obtained United’s fee information by contacting its media relations department, an option not available to the average passenger. For most travelers, it’s difficult to avoid the fees in our chart, and we didn’t even include categories such as the cost of oversized or overweight luggage, additional bags, paper tickets, and for amenities and extras such as drinks, snacks, meals, larger seats, and headsets or entertainment. Unaccompanied minors and pets also incur fees, as do many frequent-flyer-program transactions. And to think that when we reported on airfares in 1964, we said, “Unless something is done to uncomplicate the situation, the day may soon arrive when only a computer will be able to match the traveler’s need to the most suitable flight and fare.” How about a supercomputer? Courtesy: Consumer Reports Pagination See the original article at: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/best---worst-airlines-213751145.html

A Blowjob and a herd of Cattle !

The next time I am in the area where you guys live I will contact AS who can contact you and we all three will have a "memorable" meal together. Looking forward to it. Best regards, RA1

I thought the Deal was a barter system. You donate Money and you get a good REVIEW on his site ???? It HAS to be a 2-way street for me. My charitable nature left me decades ago .

Dept. of No-Joke...

At first glance I thought this thread was titled Top Secret Massage which also piqued my interest. Best regards, RA1

IHPGUY- Thanks for sending pix of your "family". Very nice, although I never saw exactly 3 in any photo. Fish: I have had reasonable luck simply broiling most filets of fish covered with butter, lemon juice and garlic powder. Quick and easy but you do have to watch to prevent burning. Not too much garlic. I am not a chef but a home cook. Best regards, RA1

Fish are so enjoyable to cook once you get the hang of handling them. Also good for those of us without much patience. An easy and quick way to treat nice cod or haddock fillets for example is to season as you like (maybe a little pepper, salt and an herb like rosemary on top), sprinkle a little oil in a hot skillet, drop in your fish (skin side down if they have skin), saute a couple of minutes, then stick under a hot broiler for another 4-6 minutes. With some fast-cooking couscous and a green salad, dinner fit for company is ready inside 10 minutes. The quicker to get to the post-prandial activities!

Few things would seem simpler than baked salmon, but I've been served the most mangled versions. How people manage to beat up this poor fish by overcooking, drying out, or the cardinal sin of buying old fish or letting it get old in the fridge before cooking. High oil content makes it go off faster than many other fish. Assuming a nice fresh cut, some ways to keep it moist when cooking... (1) Season as you like, wrap loosely in a tightly sealed foil tent and bake. Or (2) bake uncovered 400 deg about 30 min, after coating with this mixture (this is enough for a single-serving 1/4-lb fillet): 1/4 cup bread crumbs (use panko; the regular ones will come out a soggy mess rather than crisp and crusted) 1/4 cut mayo 2 tablespoons parmesan Makes a nice crust that keeps the fish moist while baking. Or (3) poach it. I was intimidated by the word until I did it the first time. Idiotically simple, and scrumptious. Greatly helps that Whole Foods etc. now sell decent-quality fish broth in cartons, in place of the old bottled "clam juice" that used to be the only choice other than making your own. I wonder what was really in that bottled stuff, which made me think of the life-essence fluid in "Re-Animator." ...It occurs that lurker being a professional chef will be stifling his chortles at these amateur cooking posts. But then his shortcuts would be our long-way-arounds. First time I glanced into Escoffier I noticed that what at first looks like a short recipe is liable to take all day, due to his professional compression of an hours-long prep step into a one-word command. Alas my scullery maid ran off with the footman.

hito, listen to ME... Memories are not made in a home Made dress, and chicken fingers on a buffet table... Come on girl, get with it. A brides wedding should be OVER THE TOP FABULOUS, no cut corners. even if you have to sell a few pairs of shoes to Pay for it, its Worth it. And you better damn wear a Big, poofy Priness dress with at least a 20 foot Train.... Since we all know that these days, MOST marriages END in divorce, you might as well have a GREAT BIG party and look Awesome so the experience wont have been in vain. LISTEN TO ME hon !

Even the starters, being no worse than abysmal, flattered to deceive. "Crisp" calamari were soggy, the squid in both texture and taste bringing to mind a condom fitted over an unwashed garlic press the day timetable confusion forced the cookery teacher to take sex education at short notice. – Matthew Norman on Colony in London Maybe Lady Gaga’s parents are forsaking their famous daughter. How else to explain Joanne Trattoria, Joe and Cynthia Germanotta’s incomprehensible upper West Side eatery? ... I came with an open mind, despite the fact that most of my colleagues have portrayed Joanne as the worst thing since herpes. – Michael Kaminer on Joanne Trattoria An American offshoot of a restaurant in Tokyo, Ninja intends to evoke a Japanese mountain village inhabited by ninjas, a special breed of stealthy warriors. In this case they come armed not only with swords and sorcery but also with recipes, which may be their most dangerous weapons of all. – Frank Bruno on Ninja in New York City Beef carpaccio, the chilly maroon flesh stretched out below a scattershot application of radish and celery slices that had started to curl, tasted of refrigeration and surrender. – Pete Wells on Le Cirque in New York City I sat numb, experiencing the kind of paralysis a person feels when he picks up the phone and learns of a ghastly accident or a horrific illness. I was being accused of sexually harassing a member of a restaurant staff. ... There is a reason why serious restaurants train people working for them to be polite and attentive. After my three dinners at M. Wells, I am reasonably certain that thorough schooling has never taken place there. – Alan Richman on M. Wells in New York City

Hito, are you registered at PAYLESS ?????

Its Hard to choose without seeing WHAT is REALLY important

There are three of them and only one of me. They inhale pretty much everything except olives and certain veggies. Along with lots and lots of tasty horseshit. They like smoked cow bones. Shavings from horse hooves. Not so much fish carcass.

I voted for Chord, but Blake is a very close second.

No worries. Everything is a metaphor for everything.

Who Cut the Cheese?: A Cultural History of the Fart (Google eBook) Jim Dawson Random House Digital, Inc., Jan 26, 2011 - Humor - 192 pages We've told you HOW TO SHIT IN THE WOODS. We've taken you UP SHIT CREEK. Now, we dare to ask the eternal question...WHO CUT THE CHEESE? Which is to say, what exactly is a fart? Why do we do it? Why do we hide it when we do it? And why do we find farts so darn funny? A cut above anything else on the subject, this book really lets go and tells all, getting to the bottom of these mysteries. Author Jim sniffs out a load of historical and scientific fart tales, then offers the kind of fun facts you'll be dying to let slip at social occasions, in chapters like "Fart Facts That Aren't Just Hot Air," "Gone with the Wind" (on famous movie farts), and "Le Petomane & the Art of the Fart" (on the most famous windbag in history). From fact to fiction to frivolous flatulence, this book is unquestionably a ripping good read. http://books.google.com/books?id=dzXo09e488kC&dq

Another article, unrelated except likewise illustrative of who and what the man is, including again his fierce Jesuitical honesty... Pope Francis Insists Church Must Help Poor, Not 'Speak Of Theology'Reuters | Posted: 05/18/2013 5:14 pm EDT By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY, May 18 (Reuters) - Pope Francis shared personal moments with 200,000 people on Saturday, telling them he sometimes nods off while praying at the end of a long day and that it "breaks my heart" that the death of a homeless person is not news. Francis, who has made straight talk and simplicity a hallmark of his papacy, made his unscripted comments in answers to questions by four people at a huge international gathering of Catholic associations in St. Peter's Square. But he outdid himself in passionately discussing everything from the memory of his grandmother to his decision to become a priest, from political corruption to his worries about a Church that too often closes in on itself instead of looking outward. "If we step outside of ourselves, we will find poverty," he said, repeating his call for Catholics to do more to seek out those on the fringes of society who need help the most," he said from the steps of St. Peter's Basilica "Today, and it breaks my heart to say it, finding a homeless person who has died of cold, is not news. Today, the news is scandals, that is news, but the many children who don't have food - that's not news. This is grave. We can't rest easy while things are this way." The crowd, most of whom are already involved in charity work, interrupted him often with applause. "We cannot become starched Christians, too polite, who speak of theology calmly over tea. We have to become courageous Christians and seek out those (who need help most)," he said. To laughter from the crowd, he described how he prays each day before an altar before going to bed. "Sometimes I doze off, the fatigue of the day makes you fall asleep, but he (God) understands," he said. CRISIS OF VALUES Francis, the former Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, said the world was going through not just an economic crisis but a crisis of values. "This is happening today. If investments in banks fall, it is a tragedy and people say 'what are we going to do?' but if people die of hunger, have nothing to eat or suffer from poor health, that's nothing. This is our crisis today. A Church that is poor and for the poor has to fight this mentality," he said. Many in the crowd planned to stay in the square overnight to pray and prepare for Francis' Mass on Sunday, when the Catholic Church marks Pentecost, the day it teaches that the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles. On Saturday morning, Francis met German Chancellor Angela Merkel and discussed Europe's economic crisis. Apparently responding to his criticism of a heartless "dictatorship of the economy" earlier in the week, Merkel, who is up for re-election in September, later called for stronger regulation of financial markets. On Thursday, Francis appealed in a speech for world financial reform, saying the global economic crisis had made life worse for millions in rich and poor countries. (Editing by Robin Pomeroy) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/18/pope-church-must-help-the-poor_n_3299764.html?utm_hp_ref=pope-francis