As a Royals fan, I really appreciate the Tampa Bay Devilrays.

If you squint, Teppy, you can pretend it's a cat in a Bishop's mitre: [link]

Ahahahaha!!!!

Hockey was gone for a year.

Huh. Really? Where did it go?

sarameg! Ma Petite Shoe's big summer shoe sale (the one where I got 1/2 price Fleuvog's last year) starts tomorrow! Also for anyone else who likes the pretty shoes, they do online ordering now although I'm pretty sure the site hasn't been updated with the sale prices for shoes.

[link]

OOOH!

Will have to see if they have something I like.

The hockey lockout was basically one long tarantella danced on the head of the players' union, it seemed to me. I kept hearing the terms for the players going down, down, down, and thought, the baseball players' assn. would kick their asses.

Of course, I'm one of those people who heartily awaits the day that players get a percentage of the stadium gross as their pay. I think that's 4 or 5 strikes from now, though.

Italy is a world leader in animal rights law. Since 1991 it has been illegal to kill healthy dogs and cats living in shelters.

I did not know this. This makes me happy.

I'm also happy that hockey is back, esp. now that I am living in St. Louis again. Going to Blues games was a big treat during my high-school years.

NHL, NHLPA reach tentative deal

FFS. At long last. Stoopid players' association couldn't see how doomed doomed doomed they were from the start.

Teppy's reaction kinda sums up exactly how stupid this whole thing was. Start again from scratch on the whole penetrating the american market thing, boys. Trampoline basketball is ahead of you again.

Hey another guy who thinks Rove should get a medal.

From "Scarborough Country"

Full Transcript: [link]

(Funny and crazy Harry Potter stuff before the crazy Rove stuff)

SCARBOROUGH: Now to the storm over the president's top adviser, Karl Rove. Did he leak classified information to a reporter, and should he be bounced from the White House?

With me now to talk about that is Congressman Peter King.

Thank you so much for being with us, Congressman.

It's a fascinating case. And I just got to start by saying, you and I served together during the Clinton administration. We attacked the Clinton administration for not taking national security more seriously. I got to just tell you, I mean, bottom line is, if Clinton's chief of staff or top adviser had leaked the identity of a CIA agent, you and I would be up in arms and say, Clinton had to fire that person immediately.

Should Karl Rove be treated at the same standard?

REP. PETER KING ®, NEW YORK: No, in fact, I think Karl Rove should get a medal, Joe. I really mean that.

I think this is much do about nothing, because let's look at the facts very clearly.

SCARBOROUGH: For revealing a CIA agent's identity?

KING: First of all, it's only a crime if she was undercover, if he knew she was undercover, and he did it deliberately.

I think, Joe, this thing was such a hoax. Joe Wilson was a shameless self-promoter. Everything about his story was either a lie or a hoax or he was incompetent. And when Karl Rove—even just looking at the e-mail. If you are talking to a reporter and you have someone like Joe Wilson, who was totally discrediting the president of the United States, unfairly and untruthfully, and you say, how come this guy was sent over to do this?

And to say, you know, looking at the fact that he is—was sent over

by his wife, who was in the CIA.

SCARBOROUGH: All right, Congressman. Hold on. Let me just stop you right there, Congressman King.

KING: Yes.

SCARBOROUGH: I agree with you. Joe Wilson is a joke. He lied about who sent him over there. He lied about what he found over there. And when he came back home...

KING: Also about the conclusions, exactly.

SCARBOROUGH: Hold it a second. When he came back home, he lied and wrote a book that, ironically, was called “The Politics of Truth.”

KING: Right. Right.

SCARBOROUGH: That still doesn't justify Karl Rove or anybody—and we don't know if Rove did it for sure—but justify the outing of CIA agent, does it?

KING: It's only wrong if he knew that she was undercover and that the CIA was making every attempt to keep her undercover. He didn't give her name. He didn't know she was undercover.

If you are talking to a reporter and you have someone like Joe Wilson, who was totally discrediting the president of the United States, unfairly and untruthfully, and you say, how come this guy was sent over to do this?

And to say, you know, looking at the fact that he is—was sent over

by his wife, who was in the CIA.

SCARBOROUGH: All right, Congressman. Hold on. Let me just stop you right there, Congressman King.

KING: Yes.

SCARBOROUGH: I agree with you. Joe Wilson is a joke. He lied about who sent him over there. He lied about what he found over there. And when he came back home...

KING: Also about the conclusions, exactly.

Discredited the president unfairly and lied about what he found over there? So the WMD are where then, exactly?

I mean really, this crap's pretty funny. Well, their reactions are, not so much the outing of a CIA agent for political payback.

Trudy! In the kitchen at work, there's a box of Jersey Shore saltwater taffy! My co-worker who went on vacation last week did NOT, apparently, go to North Carolina, like I assumed -- she went to Ocean City. The taffy is all soft and perfect. Yum.

And its VEGAN!