Sneakeasy's Joint

Official BookCrossing Zone Opens in Orange, CA.

Bookcrossing.

As the site says: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single release."

In April 2001 Ron Hornbaker launched a website to share his love of a good book.

The idea is a simple one: Read a book, then instead of tossing it in the trash, giving it to the library, or to a friend, or relative, pass it on to a total stranger!

Do this by leaving it on a park bench ( See picture below: You can't see it but I left a book in a bag, on the bench in the backround, the morining of the 26th. ), in the breakroom at work, on a bus, or train seat, in an office waiting room, a public restroom, or in any number of other public places where the little, or not so little, darling will be found.

Outfitted with a special bookplate, tracking number, and a note explaining the concept so the next person will know what to do if so inclined, the book can be tracked as it randomly travels from city to city, and even nation to nation, around the world.

Over 550,000 people have "released" over 3 million books "into the wild", and the term "bookcrossing" has its own category in the Google Directory, and is listed in the Concise Oxford English Dictionary.

There are over 32,000 members in CA., and 118 in Orange alone! ;-D

When a book is "Caught" the finder follows notification instructions, and can leave a journal entry, and the person who released the book can get notified by e-mail about the books latest encounter.

The best way to get a feel for what I am talking about is to visit MY BOOKSHELF, and explore the entries for Books that are "Travelling", and the website itself.

One of the many fun aspects is that you can be a "Hunter".

There have been over 1800 books "Released into the Wild" in CA., with 69 in Orange, in the last 30 days, including a few in the last 3 days.

There is a list of countries with books "in the wild." After registering and releasing a book, members have the option of making Release Notes, specifying where exactly (or approximately) they left a book.

People leave books in public, and even not so public spots.

There are actually people traipsing around looking for a particular book! ;-D

Some people have set up what we call Official BookCrossing Zones....

And that has what has finally arrived in Orange County with the 1st such location having opened April 26th during the soft opening of the new Chapman Coffee House just north of Old Towne.

Sheryl Crow Hates Toilet Paper!

A Report of The Fighting W.a.c.k.i.e. All-over Project ( FWAP!! )  ( Yes, for any newcommers, I'm a former Liberal, hee, hee! ) and, apologies to one, and all, my 1st such report of 2007 ( Catch up here! ):

Sheryl Crow speaks!

Singer Sheryl Crow has said a ban on using too much toilet paper should be introduced to help the environment.
Crow has suggested using "only one square per restroom visit, except, of course, on those pesky occasions where two to three could be required".

BBC NEWS: Crow calls for limit on loo paper.

Well Slap my Ass, and Squeeze the Charmin!

What a Maroon!

Nowhere does she explain how many Ply, or even what color, so how in the Sam Hill are we to be expected to take her ser...

Oh, wait, what am I saying?

Take her seriously?

Anyone who does is Fruitier than a Nutcake!

1st time she gets a serious case of the runs she will change her tune quick, I guarandamntee you! ;-D

Another Moonbat DOO Gooder ASSaulting the rest of our intelligence with ideas that should rightfully be flushed down the toilet. ;-D

As Don Surber says: "You will take my TP when you pry it from my cold, brown fingas!" ;-D

Check out his round-up. ;-D

Instapundit adds:

I think this is an example of “negative branding.” As I drove home, I heard a local DJ saying that no one will ever be able to listen to her music without thinking of butt-wiping …”

Comedians should bow down and, worship her, for giving them enough material for the rest of their careers. ;-D

What is in a Name?

1. YOUR REAL NAME: Kiril

2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: ( first 3 letters of real name plus izzle. ): Kirizzle  ( Roll that R, baby! )

3. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: ( fav color and fav animal .): Green Cat  ( Cool! )

4. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: ( your middle name and the street you live on ): George Bristol  ( Kinda Sexy, ya think? )

5. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: ( first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first ):
Kunki  ( Ok... But what sort of Alien am I  ? )

6. YOUR SUPERHERO NAME: (Your 2nd favorite color, and favorite drink): Blue Smoothie ( Very Cool! But what's my power? )

7. YOUR IRAQI NAME: (2nd letter of your first name, 3rd letter of your last name, any letter of your middle name, 2nd letter of your moms maiden name, 3rd letter of you dads middle name, 1st letter of a siblings first name, and last letter of your moms middle name):

Inre   Ve ( Huh?  I end up with a 1st and last name by inserting a spance because dear ol' dad had no middle name, hee, hee!  ).

8. YOUR WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: ( parents middle names ):
Alice Nada ( Best not go there, ok.  Hee, hee! )

9. YOUR GOTH NAME: ( black, and the name of one of your pets ):
Black Nikita  ( Very Cool! )

A Tip of the Hat to fellow BookCrosser, Toxicgrin, who had her own version of this on her MySpace page! ;-D

McCain Sings, Looney Left Freaks Out

John McCain cracks joke, sings song.... ;-D

MoveOn.org folds tent in 2008 election:

"The liberal group MoveOn.org is launching an ad against The Democratic Field for 2008, arguing that the nation "can't afford another reckless president," according to a report in the Associated Press. "The group plans to spend about $100,000 to air a commercial on network and some cable television stations in Iowa and New Hampshire, states that hold early contests in the presidential nomination process, spokesman Alex Howe said Friday."

See details here.

Oh, and after his little Song, McCain made this point:

"Iran is dedicated to the destruction of Israel. That alone should concern us but now they are trying for nuclear capabilities. I totally support the President when he says we will not allow Iran to destroy Israel."

A Jihad Grows in Brooklyn

This doesn't seem so bad....

A new public secondary school that is to include Middle Eastern studies in its curriculum will focus on culture, not the region's political conflicts, Department of Education officials said yesterday. "The school will not be a vehicle for political ideology," a Department of Education spokesman, David Cantor, said of the Khalil Gibran International Academy, due to open this September in Brooklyn.

As for the sorts of topics the school will cover, the CEO of the Office of New Schools, Garth Harries, gave as an example a math lesson plan that would mention that an Arabic mathematician invented the concept of zero. "It's going to follow Department of Education regulations," the director of the Arab-American Family Support Center, Lena Alhusseini, who helped design the school, said. "It's going to be exactly like all the schools in the city, the same curriculum."

Sarah Garland reports, in March, in the New York Sun, about Brooklyn's soon-to-be-established Khalil Gibran International Academy.

Beginning on March 7th, and continually updated since ( The last update was April 16th. ), Daniel Pipes has been busily exposing the real agenda, and who is behind it, with links, and analysis, in abundance:

My take on the school: In principle it is a great idea – the United States needs more Arabic-speakers. In practice, however, Arabic instruction is heavy with Islamist and Arabist overtones and demands....

some Muslims believe "Knowledge of Arabic can then help the Western countries recover from the present moral decay." (This is not as surprising as it sounds, for Muslims commonly assume that a non-Muslim who learns Arabic is en route to conversion to Islam; I experienced this many times during my Cairo years.)...

For all these reason, an Arabic-language school in New York needs to be held under special scrutiny.

But political correctness will make such scrutiny impossible. One can see the kernel of this denial in the statement by John Ali-Habib, vice chairman of Brooklyn's Republican Party and a member of the school's planning committee: "There's an Asian school opening in Flushing. It's the same thing." But it's precisely not the same thing.

Therefore, unless such controls are clearly put in place, I am opposed to the opening of this school.

Read the whole thing, and the comments:

On New York's "Khalil Gibran International Academy".

This is insane!

A taxpayer-funded Madrassah?

With 80% of American Mosques possibly infiltrated by Radical Islamists, to start allowing Public School Programs like this is a mistake of monumental proportions.

Isn't anyone paying attention?

Doesn't anyone read anymore?

This essay gives many examples of Islam encroaching on education in the U.S.

It also includes a truly scary look at how far this has progressed in England.

If you care about the threat to Western Civilization that is Radical Islam, I have a list of books to very strongly recommend that you read.

Other stories that cover this in detail, and expose the truth behind this very bad idea, and express outraged opinion:

NYC Scheduled To Open Arabic Language And Culture PUBLIC SCHOOL! - Political Dishonesty - Feb. 14th.

New York set to open Khalil Gibran 'Jihad' School - connected to Saudi funded ADC -principal won CAIR award - MilitantIslamMonitor.org - March 10th.

Khalil Gibran International aka Islamist Academy - Taxpayer funded NYC madrassah promotes Arab/ Muslim 9/11 victimhood hoax - MilitantIslamMonitor.org - April 2nd.

A Muslim Magnet School? -Commentary Magazine - March 25th.

Out of Many, One by Andrew Wolf in the NY Sun -March 16th.

Comments on the Wolf Commentary.

282Parents Blog Responds to Wolf Commentary - March 18th.

A Tip of the Hat to Barry Popik, of Room Eight NY Politics Blog, for spreading the word about this short list of stories!

Squeeze in these Short Hikes in the OC

I have a new excuse to re-visit Holy Jim Falls!

With my Digital Camera I can take photos to spruce up that old story. ;-D

What gave me this idea?

An excellent article in the latest SqueezeOC recommends 3 short hikes, including the one to Holy Jim Falls.

The Website also has a nice page of recommended Hikes in Orange County.

My Santa Ana: Am I the Only English Speaker?

The short answer, of course, is no, of course not!

It just seems that way sometime. ;-D

In the summer of 2005 I moved from Costa Mesa to Santa Ana, Ca..

It has the advantage of being centrally located in the part of the county, north of Newport Beach, and is the County Seat for Orange County, has 2 very popular Malls, several popular museums, a well respected Community College, and equally well-respected Private High School, an Amtrak Station, my choice of 3 Target Stores to choose from, several popular Parks, and Bike Trails, and more, to recommend it.

It also prides itself in its motto of "Education First!"

Born in 1886 the city with the #1 Neighborhood in the Nation, has seen a lot of change, and just as the Water Tower is finally going to get a makeover, so the city itself has gone thru a change that has altered not just the ethnic make-up of the city, and its new All-Latino City Council, but the county as a whole, over the past 25 years.

In recent years, however, the motto, like the weatherbeaten tower is adorns, has taken a beating, and in recent weeks that beating has become very severe.

An ongoing audit of the State's 5th largest School District's class-size-reduction program will expand into ninth-grade English and math classes.

At least 1 local Blogger is closely following this story.

This coming on top of continuing bad news with regards to Student Test Scores, and massive budget deficits, as a new leader takes the helm, and tries to deal with all this ( Read Editorial, here. ).

It is no secret that this city of over 350,000 people ( Far more when Illegal immigrants are considered. ) has a population that is 76% Hispanic, 11% Asian, and 11% White, and that over 300,000 of the Hispanics, and Asians, speak a language other than English at home.

All over Southern California, from East LA, San Diego, the OC, and Pomona ( Where I grew up. ), and the Inland Empire, the numbers have been increasing for 20 years.

You can not walk the street, ride the bus, or go to a shopping mall, without finding yourself surrounded by people speaking Spanish.

I have written about the Illegal Immigration issue, and about life in Santa Ana, both serious, and humorous, and linked to others who have as well.

If you are interested you can check 2 of my archives for those Blog Entries ( Just scroll up, and down thru the achives. ):

IC, UC, We All C the OC .

California Issues.

Now there is an Innitiative being planned, by the Chamber of Commerce, that recognizes that the city has a huge problem that is affecting its economy, among other things, and will attempt to change things for the better.

Bees Brought to Knees?

Quick! Someone tell Algore!

A mysterious decimation of bee populations has German beekeepers worried, while a similar phenomenon in the United States is gradually assuming catastrophic proportions. The consequences for agriculture and the economy could be enormous.

Maybe the guy behind the recent Oscar Winning Documisinformation can figure this one out, too! ;-D

Check out the full story at Spiegel Online: Are GM Crops Killing Bees?

A Feminist Gets an Islamic Education

La Shawn Barber has been one of my favorite Bloggers for years, and one of her latest entries makes it clear, yet again, why:

A western feminist stepped down from her Ivory Tower and moved to a Muslim country with her Muslim husband and received the kind of education she never would have received in any left-leaning western university.

La Shawn Barber is a priceless treasure!

Her bold commentary is a response to the ignorance, blindness, and appeasement of far too many in the West, and is a brilliantly refreshing wake up call to everyone who opens their eyes, hearts, and minds, to what she writes, and reports.

I am honored to be a long time presense in her Blogroll ( As she is in my own. )

2 statements she makes in the course of this story speak for me, and many people like me:

1. Though some Muslim countries may not be as brutal and backward, there is no such thing as "women's rights" in Islam or even "individual rights." This is why people say that Islam is incompatible with western societies. The suppression of individual rights is an integral part of living under Sharia, and it is not racist or bigotry to say so.

My problem isn't with "radical" Islam. I have a problem with the entire religion, especially the desire of its followers to live under religious law and to have that law imposed on westerners. In western countries. Every time I blog about my issues with Islam, somebody somewhere calls me a religious bigot. Whatever. Sticks and stones, you know?

2. Islamophobe. What a stupid word. If that label describes anyone who thinks the West is far superior to the Middle East and that an Islamic state is a less than ideal place to live, Islamo-lovers can call me whatever they like. The irony is totally lost on them. Only in a western country, particularly the U.S., do individuals even have the freedom to broadcast their bloody opinions about us Islamophobes in the first place! Dolts.

Amen Sistah!!!!! ;-D

Read the full story here.

Explore her Blog at your leisure, here.

Why do those words speak for me?

Because, recently, the Moonbats have begun to come out of the woodwork, and call me an Islamophobe.

They have not come here to do it, yet, but because of my frequent Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down, recommendations, for, and against, websites, stories, and videos, related to the Liberation of Iraq, and Afghanistan, The War Against Terror, Iran, Islam, Muslims, Islamofascism, supporting the US Military, and Liberal, Anti-war, Appeasement, on my Stumble Upon Site, where I've built a small following.

To understand what I, and all people like me, are facing, and why I call myself an ISLAMISTphobe read this recent post where I detail the hate, my responses, and more:

ISLAMISTphobic, not ISLAMOphobic.

In the past few years I have been doing some extensive reading, and have built quite a collection of important books discussing the peril we all face, and am always adding to it ( 17 and Counting! ):

Books on the Threat of Islam to Western Civilization that Everyone Should Read.

You see the collection of links in my Right Sidebar? The Group with all the links related to the threat of Islam?

THOSE folks are the ones on the frontlines of sharing knowledge about the threat, not insignificant Bloggers like me, with a daily hit count of 60.

Bloggers, like La Shawn, with huge readerships, are the ones thru whose links, and opinions, ordinary citizens, by the  hundreds, or thousands, read, and learn, daily, about the threat to Western Civilization, among the many other subjects they write about, and I hope they are sufficiently inspired to do the searches I have done to find the same sites I have found, in the quest to become even more informed as we head toward the election of 2008, and beyond.

Decades, and centuries, from now, Historians will be debating the impact that the Internet had on the fate of the world, and I hope they are folks like me, and not a bunch of Radical Islamists.

MRPPT 13: Presence of Melamine Identified in Contaminated Food

Hello...

Nikita here...

Welcome to Meowsings of a Right Paw Puttie Tat!

Man, oh man, the Pet Food Crisis just keeps getting worse.

The FDA has found the out something new about the toxin in the food, primarily that it wasn't Rat Poison.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals released the following to the Press on Friday:

Three days ago, the ASPCA ( The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals ) cautioned that aminopterin was an unlikely suspect in the illnesses and deaths of animals that ingested the recently-recalled contaminated foods—a suspicion that was today confirmed by the U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

In a news conference held today, the FDA announced that further laboratory testing identified the presence of melamine in food samples from the recalled lots. Melamine, which is not highly toxic in general, is used to make durable plastic household products; cleaning products; hard, stain-resistant laminates; flame-retardant foam and in soundproofing.

“Melamine at high doses causes a pronounced diuretic affect in dogs and rats, as well as the development of crystals in their urine,” said Dr. Steven Hansen, veterinary toxicologist and senior vice president with the ASPCA, who manages the ASPCA’s Midwest Office, including its Animal Poison Control Center (APCC). “The twist in the tale is that melamine itself has a very high safety margin, especially when compared with a toxin such as aminopterin.

“Cats, however, are a very sensitive species, and can react adversely to many chemicals and drugs,” continued Dr. Hansen. “Because of their unique physiology, we suspect that they may also be more sensitive to the adverse effects of melamine.

“Further, crystals in urine have been reported by veterinary diagnosticians and clinicians in some of the pets affected by the contaminated foods. However, the direct connection between melamine and renal failure, especially in cats, is not clear and requires additional investigation.”

The ASPCA recommends that the treatment of pets for kidney failure, which has been directly linked to ingestion of the contaminated food, should continue. “It is imperative to stay in close contact with your veterinarian and follow their direction,” said Dr. Hansen. “In addition, if you have any suspicion that your pet is displaying signs other than those previously noted, and believe these are directly linked to ingestion of the contaminated food, you should notify the FDA immediately.”

Adverse effects or deaths of pets conclusively linked to eating the contaminated foods should be reported to the FDA. The FDA has also posted answers to frequently asked questions about the recall here. Additionally, the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) has a wealth of resources here.

More and more foods are being re-called every day, now including dry food.

What's a poor Cat, or Dog to do?

Some of our Human Companions are even wondering what non-pet foods are good for their pets, as an alternative, for the duration, but, in my view, that's a sign of panic that is not called for at this time.