Froth Slosh B'Gosh

How's That Amendment Working Out For You?

First off, its terrible that a man lost his life to violence.

Secondly, the man was surrounded by firearms, and was unable to defend himself.

Being armed isn't a deterrent to violence when the bad guy gets the drop on you.

 

Tolerance!

Ahhh, Christian "love."

Froth Goes To Mia Madre

The Frothling was staying with her Aunt Friday night, and so Mrs. Froth and I went to Mia Madre's, a little Italian restaurant just up the road from us in Avalon.  Its been there a number of years, and we've been meaning to go, however a $50.00 gift certificate sealed the deal.

We made reservations for six PM, and it was good thing we did because the little place was packed!  We were seated at a hightop table in the bar area, which was slightly annoying, because I don't like sitting near the bar (too much waitstaff traffic) but given the size of the place, what other options were there?

Our server bartender, Alex, is the son of the owners.  Friendly and funny, he was able to attend to us despite the demands of tending bar and handling the service bar as well.

Mrs. Froth and I split the calamari appetizer.  This was thankfully a sauteed calamari, rather than breaded and fried, and served in tomato sauce with peppers and onions.  There was a lot of it as well, the dish could easily be dinner for one. 

We each had the Caesar salad, which was standard, but not drenched in dressing, a welcome change.  Homemade breadsticks with a white bean dip followed.  The dip reminded me of foule, but made with white beans (obviously) instead of favas.

For the entree, I had linguini and clams in a white sauce, while Mrs. Froth had the Mediteranean Pasta.  Both were outstanding!  There was a huge amount of food, and we both wound up taking about half home for lunch Saturday.

I generally don't do dessert, but Mrs. Froth had the cannoli.  The shell was the "normal" size, but the filling overflowed the ends, it was drizzled in chocolate sauce, and studded with mini chocolate morsels.  Mrs. Froth was most pleased.

All this, including 2 glasses of wine for just $70.00!  We'll be back!

Some notes, this is a CASH ONLY business.  There is an ATM on site.  The website can be a bit confusing, as it implies that the venue is BYOB, but that's not true.  They have a full service bar (no beer) and a small wine list.  You can bring your own bottle though, but only wine, for a corkage of $3.50 per person.

 

Because...Free Market! Because...?

Pierce:

Given what has happened to Target, and following the rhetorical precedents set by opponents of the Affordable Care Act,  I don't believe we have any choice but to close every big box retailer in America, starting with Target, until every one of these systems is made error-free and impregnable, which of course the private sector can do because it does everything better than the public sector...until you discover that somebody in Kiev has bought $70,000 worth of herring and kutia on your MasterCard. Then it's the government's fault because freedom....

Again following the rhetorical precedents set in the debate over the Affordable Care Act, I think both FedEx and UPS should be shut down immediately because their systems were overwhelmed by a sudden demand. This was due to inexplicable "bad weather" in a season we like to call "winter" and due to an "extraordinary event."

Called "Christmas."

Which is so extraordinary that it has occurred on the very same day since at least 336 A.D.

 Also too:

Massachusetts officials are reviewing legal options against CGI Group, a Montreal-based information technology company, and will make recommendations on how to seek financial redress at a Jan. 9 meeting.

So far, the state has paid $11 million of its $69 million contract with CGI. It will not pay a penny more until a functioning website has been delivered, said Jason Lefferts, spokesman for the Commonwealth Health Connector, the state’s insurance marketplace.

“CGI has consistently underperformed, which is frustrating and a serious concern,” Lefferts said. “We are holding the vendor accountable for its underperformance and will continue to apply nonstop pressure to work to fix defects and improve performance.”

Flashback!

Amazed that my local radio station is playing Camper Van Beethoven's Take the Skinheads Bowling!

Merry Christmas!

Court Strikes Down Parts Of Pennsylvania's Drilling Law

I've been very busy with holiday related stuff at home and work related stuff at work, but I did want to remark on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court striking down parts of Corbett's Crony drilling laws.

In the rush to develop shale gas here in the Commonwealth, the Republican controlled house and senate, backed by Governor Bought-and-Paid for, passed regulations very favorable to the drilling industry.  Part of the law stripped local governments of their right to zone property.

So if a driller bought land in a residential neighborhood, you could not stop them from drilling a well, putting up storage facilities, regulate truck traffic, etc.  Several muncipalities sued, claiming that they had the right to zone land for industrial, commercial, residential and agricultural use, and thus had a right to limit industrial activities in residential areas. 

This crazy law also prevented doctors from advising their patients about the potential hazards posed by the chemicals used in hydrolic fracking.  I guess the legislature and the governor were unfamiliar with the First Amendmanet?

In any case, its nice to see the Court issue a ruling that benefits the little guy.

I'm Shocked! Shocked I Say!

Police raid Irish Centre, confiscate liqour.

Happy Festivus!

No Satanic Display In Florida

Here comes the lawsuit?

 A Satanic display will not be joining a Festivus pole made from beer cans, an office desk chair representing the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and a nativity scene at the Florida State Capitol building.

The Florida Department of Management Services on Wednesday rejected an application to give floor space at the Capitol building to the New York-based Satanic Temple.

“The department’s position is that your proposed display is grossly offensive during the holiday season,” DMS Administrative Assistant Sherrie K. Routt told the group...

The 5-foot-by-5-foot poster the Satanists hoped to display showed an angel falling into hell along with a message reading, “Happy holidays from the Satanic Temple.”

This is a perfect example of why the government shouldn't allow any sort of religious displays on public property, because once you open that space to one point of view, you open it to all points of view, be they "joke" religions like Pastafarianism, holidays like Festivus, or beliefs like Satanism. 

If for example, a government body allowed a Wiccan group to erect a display on public property for Beltane, then they couldn't stop a Christian, or any other group from also putting up a display.  I can't think of anything that's more of a "counterpoint" to a Nativity scene than a display from a Satanist group.

If they choose to sue, I'm pretty sure they'd win.