What can I say? Another week, another new safe house fit for a leprechaun. Here’s a view of the side you can’t see:

As you can see, I’m roughing it to achieve my safety. No coffee maker, Guinness tap or whiskey cellar anywhere in that photo!

Oh all you Dragon Fangirls quit yer whining already!  Impish got another one of my cast offs. In fact its actually one I didn’t want to let go but he’s been a pain in me arse about begging for it. Since he went triple market value and he’s used it 4 times bringing no small amount of attention to himself while doing so I finally gave in if for nothing more than my peace.

Top left of the beach area you can just make out the hidden entrance to the cave complex under those cliffs. I see he’s wasted no time in installing a support staff. Personally I expect to see 007 pulling up to the beach in a sea plane any moment. Since Herve Villechaize has already kicked it, I wonder if I could get Verne Troyer to stand in as Nick Nack and show up with the silver tray and Champagne service for one?

Well I have a big video conference this morning so I’d best be off to dress properly for it, shaved fresh polo shirt w/ Company logo, my Notre Dame lounge pants and river sandals. What not like they are going to see more of me than from the shoulders up any way!

It’s been my experience most but not all of those days tend to start with an ‘M’.

Thought I’d show you all the card I sent my Mother for Mother’s Day:

A Muslim dies and finds himself before the pearly Gates. He is very excited, as all his life he has longed to meet the Prophet Mohammed. Having arrived at the Gates of Heaven, he meets a man with a beard.

‘Are you Mohammed?’, he asks. ‘No, my son. I am Peter. Mohammed is higher up.’ And he points to a ladder that rises into the clouds.

Delighted that Mohammed should be higher than Peter, he climbs the ladder in great strides, climbs through the clouds coming to a room where he meets another bearded man.

He asks again, ‘Are you Mohammed? ‘No, I am Moses. Mohammed is higher still.

Exhausted, but with a heart full of joy, he continues to climb the ladder and, yet again, he discovers an even larger room where he meets another man with a beard.

Full of hope, he asks again, ‘Are you Mohammed?’ ‘No, I am Jesus…You will find Mohammed higher up.’

Mohammed higher than Jesus! The poor man can hardly contain his delight and climbs and climbs, ever higher once again, he reaches a larger room where he meets a man with a beard and repeats his question:

‘Are you Mohammed?’ he gasps, as he is by now, totally out of breath from all his climbing. ‘No, my son. I am God. But you look exhausted. Would you like a coffee?’

‘Yes, please, my Lord’

God looks behind him, claps his hands and calls out: ‘ Hey, Mohammed, two coffees!’

This Virus can potentially destroy your PC!

There’s dangerous new malware out there called Rombertik that could steal your personal information and destroy your PC. If you try to get rid of it, the malware could trap your computer in an endless reboot cycle.

Rombertik usually infects computers using a malicious file attached to a phishing email. In some cases, this email is designed to look like a message from Microsoft. The malware can steal login credentials and other information you enter into websites.

Rombertik also checks to see if it’s being analyzed or if other programs are trying to delete it. If it detects this kind of activity, it will try to delete a file called the Master Boot Record (MBR). This can cause your computer to go into an endless restart cycle when it is turned off and turned back on. The malware also has some other tricks up its sleeve.

One involves writing a byte of data to memory 960 million times to overwhelm analysis tools that try to spot malware by logging system activity.

Since it’s extremely difficult to get rid of, the best way to protect yourself from Rombertik is to avoid it altogether.

And, remember, never open an email attachment from a sender you don’t know. It’s most likely filled with malicious software that can harm your computer.

If you’re computer is infected by Rombertik, you’ll likely lose valuable data. If the malware successfully deletes the MBR file on your computer, you will have to reinstall the Windows operating system.

Britain UFO Mystery Solved — After 53 Years?

Bizarre 1962 Discovery Gets Strange Explanation

A 53-year-old UFO mystery, sometimes called “Britain’s Roswell,” has been solved — maybe. But if so, the explanation is in some ways as strange as the original story of a crashed alien spacecraft, reaching back into the deepest secrets of the Cold War.

The mystery began in 1962 when a Scottish shepherd named Donald McKenzie was tending to his flock on a rural hillside. He came across a strange, box-like object just lying on the ground — an object that clearly came from somewhere very far away.

McKenzie reported his finding to the authorities, but the Royal Air Force was in no hurry to check it out. But check it out they did, about three months later.

The RAF investigators were stunned and baffled by the finding — a vessel that appeared large enough to hold a grown man. Strange containers of a clear liquid littered the ground around the object, which had an opening that seemed to be just big enough for a camera.

But there was no camera inside. In fact, the investigators had the strong impression that someone had beaten them to the discovery and tampered with it. But who?

For more than a half a century, the questions surrounding the mysterious discovery had no apparent answer. A legend grew around the find — the object, perhaps, was the remnant of crashed UFO, much like whatever had crashed in Roswell, New Mexico, 15 years earlier.

Even weirder, when the RAF squadron leader in charge of the investigation, James Sims, called the British Air Ministry to report his findings, he got back the message that the whole thing was none of his business.

Whatever the object was, it was on a need-to-know basis — and Sims had no need to know. Then the Ministry went a step further. The officials in London told him to leave out all mention of the weird finding in his report.

What in the world — or any world — was going on?

Now, a researcher and author of a new book, How UFOs Conquered the World: The History of a Modern Myth, believes he’s solved the puzzle.

David Clarke says that he combed through previously secret British government documents and found out exactly what crashed in the Scottish hills. The object, he says, was created by the United States Central Intelligence Agency.

The CIA, in the midst of the Cold War, came up with a program code-named Moby Dick. The idea was to send high-flying balloons, floating at about 60,000 feet, to spy on the Soviet Union, taking pictures of military and nuclear facilities.

The program was ended in the mid-1950s, but the strange UFO found in Scotland had been lying there for at least six years after it broke from its balloon, which had floated thousands of miles off course

Stop Watching Us

StopWatching.us is a coalition of more than 100 public advocacy organizations and companies from across the political spectrum. Join the movement at https://rally.stopwatching.us. This video harnesses the voices of celebrities, activists, legal experts, and other prominent figures in speaking out against mass surveillance by the NSA. Please share widely to help us spread the message that we will not stand for the dragnet surveillance of our communications.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is a nonprofit civil liberties law and advocacy center that has been fighting the NSA’s unconstitutional spying for years. Learn more at https://eff.org.

NSA spying concern you? Read this!

When documents leaked by Edward Snowden revealed details about the NSA’s bulk collection of phone records, many people were understandably outraged. But, the federal government has argued that the program is legal under the Patriot Act. Now, a federal appeals court has shot down that argument and ruled in favor of privacy.

[Judge Gerard E.] Lynch wrote that the text of the Patriot Act “cannot bear the weight the government asks us to assign to it, and that it does not authorize the telephone metadata program.”

Under the program, the NSA collected metadata like the length of the call and the telephone numbers on either end. It then analyzed the data based on phone numbers associated with terrorist organizations. The court ruled that the program was not legal under the Patriot Act, but did not rule on the constitutionality of the bulk collection of metadata.

The NSA and government officials have used Section 215 of the Patriot Act to justify the bulk collection of metadata. That section is set to expire in June. Congress is currently debating whether or not to renew it.

“This is a landmark ruling and a critically important decision, ” said Stephen I. Vladeck, Professor of Law American University, Washington College of Law and an analyst for CNN. “What it means going forward depends entirely on Congress, because this provision was set to expire June 1st anyway, ” he said.

This case a huge victory for privacy advocates, but not everyone is happy about it. Senator Marco Rubio defended the NSA program, stating that many people misunderstand it.

“A perception has been created, including by political figures who serve in this chamber, that the United States government is listening to your phone calls or going through your bills as a matter of course,” said Rubio. “That is absolutely and categorically false.”

See the yellow highlighted section above? If/when Rubio throws his hat in the Republican Presidential Candidate Ring remember this!

IT’S WE THE PEOPLE not We the Spied Upon and Monitored Sheeple!

May is National Hamburger Month

May is National Hamburger Month and celebrated each and every year by a huge amount of people!  National BBQ Month is also celebrated this month of May so extremely large amounts of hamburger is cooked on grills in honor of this holiday [as well as for Memorial Day which is seen as the beginning of the summer picnic season- L.L.]

What is a Hamburger?

“A hamburger (or simply burger) is a sandwich (National Sandwich Month is August) that consists of a cooked patty of ground meat and is generally served with various garnish or condiments like ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, onion, relish, pickles and cheese toppings, placed inside a sliced bun, often baked specially for this purpose, or pieces of bread or toast. The meat patty is beef, unless otherwise noted.”

“Hamburger also refers to the cooked patty of ground meat by itself. The patty alone is also known as a beefburger, or burger. Adding cheese makes it a cheeseburger. Hamburger is actually a distinct product from ground round and other types of ground meat. However, ground beef of any form is often commonly referred to as “hamburger.” A recipe calling for ‘hamburger’ (the non-countable noun) would require ground beef or beef substitute- not a whole sandwich. The word hamburger comes from Hamburg steak, which originated in the German city of Hamburg. Contrary to what folk etymology might lead one to believe, there is no actual ‘ham’ in a hamburger.”

    The definition of ground beef is chopped fresh and/or frozen beef from primal cuts and trimmings. The maximum fat content in any ground beef is 30 percent (70 percent lean) by law. No water, phosphates, binders, or other meat sources may be added and still be labeled as ground beef. If a ground beef label has an added label identifier such as ground round, sirloin or chuck, the lean and fat used in the product can come from only the primal included in the name.

    There are two things to remember when choosing the ground beef at the store.   Choose the cut you prefer such as ground round or chuck.  If the label does not indicate the cut of beef it might be any portion or a combination of several parts of the animal.  The other thing to look at is the percent of lean.  It will say 70, 85, or even 93 percent. The higher the percent of lean the less the amount of fat, but you might have to adapt the cooking method to insure a quality product.

“According to the American Heritage Dictionary, the term “hamburger” comes from Hamburg steak, which was first recorded in English in 1884 but was probably used much earlier. A form of pounded beef called “Hamburg Steak” was common in Hamburg in the middle of the 19th century. The recipe was brought to North America by the large numbers of people immigrating from Germany at the time, many of whom passed through the port of Hamburg. There is indirect evidence for its use on an American menu in 1836. The form hamburger steak first appeared in a Washington state newspaper in 1889. The first recipe close to the current idea of a hamburger, using ground beef mixed with onion and pepper dates from 1902. The Oxford English Dictionary of 1802, on the other hand, defines “Hamburg Steak” simply as cured beef. In a time without refrigerators, when it took weeks to travel from Europe to the USA, cured meat was a standard food for poor US immigrants, who often started from Hamburg (which was and is the biggest German seaport and one of the biggest in the world). In a tween deck, where cooking is nearly impossible, cutting tough cured beef into pieces and putting it between slices of bread may suggest itself.”

Burger fun facts

• Americans consume 14 billion a year and buy 5 billion (fast food) hamburgers
• Speedy was the original mascot for McDonald’s.
• McDonald’s is the most popular hamburger restaurant in the U.S.
• According to McDonald’s, the chain sells 75 burgers every single second of every minute of every hour of every single day.
  
• White Castle is the oldest continuous running hamburger chain.
• The most popular burger topping is still ketchup.

Some of Molly’s family stopped on their annual pilgrimage North to Indiana (where someone else I know lives though not sure who exactly) so we went out for BBQ to do something different from the norm and since I had several busy day with no chance to cook for them. (Conveniently according to Molly those busy days meant I had a little extra money so I could pay for the BBQ- amazing how that just works out isn’t it?)

Molly’s Grandfather Uncle and I split that tray, 3 sides, a few slices each of a still hot from the oven loaf of Jalapeno Cheddar bread and a 6 pack of Shiner. The 3 ladies ate from a similarly laden tray of pulled pork, smoked chicken & turkey plus 3 other sides and drank wine. Not counting the beer and wine (which we brought with us) Dinner for 6 came to $60 with a $5 tip, which when you consider all the girl did was bring 3 plastic cups and 2 meat trays to the table as you order at isn’t bad at all (You order at the counter and grab your side right there and pay before sitting any waiting for your meat to be sliced to order right off the pit)

<Lethal pauses and stares at several of you for a minute before he presses several things on his tablet and suddenly you can hear a PA Announcement from down the hall> “ Porters report to Main Conference Room for excessive drooling. Mops, buckets, speedi-dry and face towels are required”

ANYWAY- Bet you thought I’d be talking burgers today right? WRONG! Burgers are a very personal thing and one man’s pinnacle of the burger mountain often isn’t fit for another mans dog in the dog owners opinion (the dog don’t care he’ll eat anybody’s burger he can beg or swipe). Politics and Religion are by comparison almost safer topics of discussion.

No today we have 3 rather unique (and one even healthy) recipes I’ll bet have not crossed your path before.

Creamy Avocado Tuna Salad

Alright your seeing history in the making boys and girls so pay attention. Avocado is something I can take (in small limited quantities) or leave. If I have my druthers I leave it when and where ever possible. As a result you’ll hardly ever see recipes where Avocados are a main/essential ingredient from me. However in this case it works well and I enjoy the end result, plus its better for me.

This tuna salad replaces most of the mayo with avocado. Is it tuna salad, or guacamole? Out with the bad fats, in with the good!

Theoretically this should work with Egg Salad too, though I am extremely fussy and particular about my egg salad when it comes to sandwiches. Also I’ll probably try a very small scale batch of egg & potato salad with avocado taking the place of the bulk of the mayo at some point before summer as it would seem to keep better when its warm as opposed to the dripping with Mayo stuff not to mention the whole health aspect

Prep Time 15 min – Total Time 15 min – Servings 5

Ingredients

2 (7 ounce) cans Tuna
2 avocados
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1/2 red onion
2 carrots
2 celery stalks
1 clove garlic
1 lemon

Directions

Dice the celery, carrots, and onion. Grate the garlic with a microplane. Strain the tuna. Remove the avocado from the skin and mash. Salt and add lemon juice right away to prevent browning. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix. Serve on a sandwich or in a salad. I like it with balsamic, cucumber, and tomatoes. If saving some, be sure to push plastic wrap directly on the surface of the tuna to prevent browning.

OK that 5 servings thing is for salad plates other wise this makes 4 nice sandwiches or about 6 good wraps/pita pockets with Lettuce, Tomato and Cucumber.

As for storage of left overs I place mine in the center of a piece of plastic wrap and then  bring the corners into the center and twist. I do this with serving size portions placing those in Tupperware of a large Ziploc all together. Then come time to use you just slash the plastic wrap and squeeze it all out onto the salad or bread.

Oh… microplane the garlic? Not this Irishman! I like my finger tips right where they are – on the ends of my unbloodied fingers! I use a little of the minced from a jar with a pinch of salt on it pile on my cutting board and the side of my knife to mash it. If I have garlic in the tube I’ll use that or if I’m feeling exceptionally lazy Garlic powder.

Muffuletta Quiche Cups

Individual Italian-inspired quiche cups are surrounded by a flaky crust made easily with Pillsbury® crescent rounds. Handy for parties, brunches and lunches. A great center piece to a lunch salad.

Prep Time 20 min | Total Time 45 min | Servings 8

Ingredients

1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury™ Place ’N Bake® refrigerated crescent rounds (8 rounds) or 1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury™ refrigerated crescent dinner rolls

3 tablespoons finely diced ham

3 tablespoons finely diced salami

2 tablespoons finely chopped pimiento-stuffed green olives

1/2 teaspoon oregano leaves

2 eggs

2 tablespoons half-and-half

1/8 teaspoon red pepper sauce

1 cup shredded provolone cheese (4 oz)

2 teaspoons chopped fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley

Directions

Heat oven to 375°F. Spray 8 regular-size muffin cups (2 3/4×1 1/4 inches) with Crisco® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray. If using crescent rounds, remove from package, separate into 8 rounds. If using crescent rolls, remove from package, but do not unroll. Using serrated knife, cut roll into 8 rounds; carefully separate rounds. Press 1 round on bottom and completely up side of each muffin cup. In small bowl, mix ham, salami, olives and oregano. In another small bowl, beat eggs, half-and-half and pepper sauce with fork until well blended. Spoon about 1 tablespoon cheese into each muffin cup. Top each with about 1 rounded tablespoon ham mixture. Divide egg mixture evenly among muffin cups (about 1 tablespoon each). Top with remaining cheese. Bake 12 to 16 minutes or until filling is set and edges of rolls are golden brown. Cool in pan 5 minutes. Run knife around edge of each quiche to loosen; remove to cooling rack. Garnish with parsley. Serve warm.

OK EVERYBODY STAND CLEAR OF IMPISH AND GINNY! DEPLOY THOSE CUSHION ALL AROUND GINNY! GET THOSE DROOL CONTROL BOOMS IN PLACE AROUND IMPISH FOR WHEN THE DIABETIC COMA DROOLING STARTS!

Toll House Chocolate Chip Pie

This Toll House Chocolate Chip Pie is incredible! It has the classic flavors – a sweet, buttery batter with chocolate chips and walnuts – but in pie form!

As this Toll House Chocolate Chip Pie bakes, it forms almost a crackly top – and when you bite into your slice it’s dense and soft and fudgy with crunch from the chopped walnuts.

Serves: 8 servings Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 55 mins

Total time: 1 hour 10 mins

Ingredients

• 1 unbaked 9-inch deep-dish pie shell
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup packed brown sugar
• ¾ cup (1½ sticks) butter, softened to room temperature
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• Vanilla ice cream (optional but highly recommended, for serving)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a deep dish pie plate with the unbaked pie crust, crimping the edges. Set aside.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs on high speed until light and foamy. Add the flour and both sugars to the bowl and mix again until combined. Then add the softened butter and mix one more time until completely mixed.
3. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts and mix until the chocolate and nuts are evenly mixed throughout the batter. Spoon the batter into the prepared pie crust.
4. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a sharp knife inserted halfway between the edge and the center of the pie comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for about 30 minutes.
5. Serve warm with vanilla ice.

Now since we’re obviously going right completely over the top and down the falls sans even a barrel I really see no point in limiting the Ice Cream to mundane old Vanilla here. I’ve seem Molly ply here with both Pecan Praline and Maple Walnut. I’ve gone with Rocky Road and a Coffee Gelato flecked with bits of dark chocolate and espresso beans.

Woman sues all of world’s gays

Woman claims herself ambassador to ‘Jesus Christ’

Published On: May 06 2015 10:39:07 AM CDT

NBC- A Nebraska woman is suing all of the world’s homosexuals for breaking “religious and moral laws,” reports NBC News.

Sylvia Ann Driskell, 66, identified herself as an “ambassador” for plaintiffs “God and His Son, Jesus Christ,” the NBC story said.

The suit doesn’t cite legal precedent or case law, and has already been lampooned by gay writers and activists, including advice columnist Dan Savage, who said “Man, I hope I get deposed!”

Florida hostage uses pizza order to ask for help

Mother, children held hostage by boyfriend for most of the day

Author: By Faith Karimi and Sam Stringer CNN Published On: May 06 2015 04:49:12 AM CDT Updated On: May 06 2015 11:05:38 AM CDT

(CNN) – A woman being held hostage in Florida ordered a pizza with a special request — to send help — potentially saving her life and the lives of her children.

Cheryl Treadway was held by her boyfriend at knifepoint Monday afternoon, along with her three children, authorities said.

She persuaded him to let her use a cell phone to order a pepperoni pizza online from Pizza Hut, according to authorities.

“Under the comments section, there was a message asking them to send help and call 911 as they were being held hostage,” the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

‘We’ve never seen that before’

When Treadway’s order came in, Pizza Hut employees knew who she was because she is a frequent customer. And her message raised an alarm.

“We’ve never seen that before,” restaurant manager Candy Hamilton told CNN affiliate WFLA. “I’ve been here 28 years and never, never seen nothing like that come through.”

Read the rest of the article here

Snappy trap, bad. Fire, bad. Vampire paper, not available. Hiring dwarves with wooden stakes. An oldie but a goodie.

Even better idea! Pointy face horse! Comes with own built in stake! Also, owes me a favor.

Pointy face horse says it would be DELIGHTED to help with the vampires. Cat still fluffy. A little worried now.

Now pointy-face horse is cackling. Sounds like a whinny run through a blender. A little creeped out actually. Horses shouldn’t cackle.

OK, this is getting weird. Pointy-face horse is sitting outside the vampire tunnel making “ak-ak-ak” noises and wiggling its butt like cat does going after a bird.

It’s been three hours and no sign of the vampires yet. Pointy face horse is still akakaking and butt wiggling away. Getting tired just watching.

DAMN! First vampire came out, the male, and pointy-face horse jumped eight feet straight up and speared it through the chest.

Still stunned at how the fast pointy face horse moved when that vampire came out. Pointy face is cleaning horn now and waiting for the next one.

The vampire that the pointy-face horse spiked has started to smoke and steam. Pink smoke and green steam… A little worried actually.

…and that’s two vampires down. Now the pointy-face horse is doing a little dance. Didn’t know you could moonwalk with hooves.

Both spiked vampires leaking multicolored smoke and steam now. Stupid pointy-face horse still moonwalking. Cat still fluffy. Starting to regret whole thing.

The vampires are melting now…into little rainbow puddles of goo. How am I ever going to get this out of my carpets?

Melty vampires are unmelting now! Something is rising from the puddle of rainbow goo and turning into…damn you pointy-face! Apparently, vampires spiked by pointy-face horse turn into little pointy-faces. Argh!

Stupid little pointy-face horses bolted into cat’s nest. Now what do I do? So much worse than vampires.

Banging head on rock now. Cat thinks stupid little pointy-faces are cute, wants to keep them.

Cat has adopted the stupid pointy face ponies. Am consoling myself with 2,000lb sponge cake soaked in rum. Sparkly Holidays! Also, thanks to Aunt Kayeth.

Holy cthulhu, but that was a good rum cake! Is it really Sunday?

A little concerned about cat and the little pointy-face ponies. Think they’re learning to purr, and I doubt they’ll use the power for good.

Woke up to find baby pointy-face horse curled up against me purring. Cute overwhelming will to live. Going to go burn a village as antidote. Kill the cute with fire!

Feels so good to get back to the dragon classics. The village was delicious.

Whole troop of knights have shown up to avenge the village. I love it when that happens. Knight baked in the shell is one of my favorites. Let me just get the old flame ready to go…

Decided to roll some of the knights in tar then dip them in salt before slow roasting. Really seals in the flavor!

Need to find more knights, mounted this time, Aunt Kayath sent me a recipe for pit-roasted charger in full barding.

Was on the way back to the cave when I spied a dwarf mound. Dwarves = treasure, and the hoard’s looking a little tatty, so it’s time to do some digging. Sparkly! Sparkly! Sparkly!