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July 13, 2007
Triskaidekaphobia
triskaidekaphobia \tris-ky-dek-uh-FOH-bee-uh\,
A morbid fear of the number 13 or the date Friday the 13th.
"It's just bad luck that the 13th is so often a Friday," Electronic Telegraph, September 8, 1996
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Happy Friday the 13th, everyone! Actually, Friday lands on the 13th at least twice a year, sometimes three times. When it lands on a Friday three times, the months are February, March and November.
Naturally, I regard Friday the 13th as an auspicious occasion worth celebrating. I really have no choice, having been born on one. Yes, I'm sure I've told you that 100 times. It's an interesting conversation piece; kind of like having children 20 years apart (that definitely raises more eyebrows) or writing a book about Scott Peterson. The usual reaction when I tell someone I was born on a Friday the 13th is something snarky such as, "Oh, that explains it."
Suffice it to say, I plan to get lucky today. Do you?
Comments
I've never thought of Friday the 13th as being bad luck. If anything, it's good luck.
I've met people who are terrified of black cats, which is the silliest thing I've ever heard.
Posted by: Nadine | July 13, 2007 02:28 PM
The Knights Templar got whacked on a Friday the 13th, which is what started the whole mess.
Posted by: vero | July 13, 2007 10:13 PM
woohoo, I get lucky every day. ahem.
Posted by: moi | July 13, 2007 11:11 PM
Here is a site that describes some of the possible origins.
http://www.crystalinks.com/friday13th.html
(It also says that if you are born on a Friday the 13th, then Friday the 13th is always a lucky day for you.)
Posted by: Barbara | July 14, 2007 09:06 AM
I always thought it was a Judas supersition: the thirteenth guest at the Last Supper.
Posted by: Astrologer | July 16, 2007 02:57 AM
Good morning...!
Friday 13th? Most of them come and go without me even noticing.
I know...I'm a ditz!
Capt Joe, that incident at Glasgow airport would have been far worse if not for a few Scottish warriors attacking the bombers. I believe one of them kicked a bomber in the nuts!
That'll teach em! LOL
Posted by: Mgt | July 16, 2007 06:31 AM
Time to go home. Bye, to you all.
Posted by: Mgt | July 16, 2007 11:57 AM
Rumor that Cam Brown is going to plead to manslaughter on August 19 and may get time served.
This remains to be seen. There was a weird comment left on the Cam Brown blob.
Posted by: loretta | July 16, 2007 02:08 PM
Welcome back, Mgt! Hope you had a great vacation. What a brave thing for those Scottish heroes to do.
I worried about you when I heard about the bombing, hoping you weren't flying anywhere.
Posted by: Nadine | July 16, 2007 02:51 PM
I hope those nut-kicked raghead doctors get to spend more than a few years in a Scottish dungeon chained to a wall with someone zapping their nuts with a crank telephone every hour. I wonder how many of their patients suffered under these miscreants.
Posted by: Captain Joe | July 16, 2007 09:18 PM
Geez! Good point, Cpt Joe. They probably kept their noses clean to make sure their murderous plans stayed intact. Scary!
I had to laugh when I heard of them being attacked. Wonder if any of them got nailed with a "Glesga Kiss" (head butt)? LOL
Morning all.
Nadine, hope you are feeling a bit better. You and me, both. Same location, same complaint. Knocks you right off your feet. Take care and be aware of it every time you move.
As for my vacation...the weather has been appalling. We did get to the Theme Park, which was fun. £15 each for an all-day pass and they had approx. 30 rides each. A steal!
Morning, Loretta.
Can't believe Cam Brown is going to get away with this. Doesn't the Mother have any say? He makes my skin crawl!
Posted by: Mgt | July 17, 2007 04:15 AM
Cameron Brown should be castrated and forced to eat the parts taken off.
I'm sorry, but I have no fuzzy feelings about that guy.
Time served! Sheesh! I hope he'll be looking over his shoulder for the rest of his life!
Posted by: vero | July 17, 2007 09:41 AM
Being the second trial, the Prosecutor is probably feeling the pressure.
Hopefully, Lauren's mother will go after a civil suit, find more evidence and nail him to the wall. O course, not knowing the law, that may not be possible.
Posted by: Mgt | July 17, 2007 09:57 AM
http://ronnisrants.blogspot.com/2006/10/origins-of-friday-13th-being-unlucky.html#links
Here's an entry I did last October 13.
It was the Templars. Definitely the Templars.
Posted by: vero | July 17, 2007 10:30 AM
Interesting entry on Friday the 13th, Loretta. I've never really done a lot of research on it myself.
Mgt, I'm glad you got to do at least one fun thing on your vacation.
Thanks for the good thoughts; right back atcha! I've got a new motto for days I'm not sure how much I should attempt to do. When in doubt, sit it out.
Posted by: Nadine | July 17, 2007 02:20 PM
Hah! I had a conversation w/my nephew re writing a paper for school on this topic after we both read The Order of the Phoenix.
Harry Potter and the war on terror:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/07/17/wpotter917.xml&CMP=ILC-mostviewedbox
Posted by: Astrologer | July 17, 2007 10:02 PM
Morning all!
Better start reading those Harry Potter books, I reckon...
Astro, I found that rather interesting. Thanks for the link.
Morning, to our gorgeous, glowing hostess. Looking good!! I might add.
Posted by: Mgt | July 18, 2007 03:59 AM
Morning!
Which killer is the ugliest? Spector or Couey? Difficult, isn't it?
Both are crazy, too!
Posted by: Mgt | July 19, 2007 05:31 AM
Oh. my. God. Olbermann's latest commentary is awesome:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19859124/
Posted by: loretta | July 19, 2007 10:23 PM
Morning all!
No charges resulting from the "Cash for Honours" investigation. One £million (yeah, right! Pull the other one), 16 months and over 6 thousand documents, later, and NOTHING!
I ask you, with tears in my eyes?!
Posted by: Mgt | July 20, 2007 08:18 AM
from an article by Robert Parry:
....any leading Democrats argue that impeachment would just be an exercise in futility, because conviction in the Senate requires a two-thirds majority and because the sizable Republican minorities in Congress would stick by Bush no matter what – which may indeed be true.
Impeachment hearings in the House, however, would at least focus the public’s attention on the severity of Bush’s offenses, demonstrate the pattern of abuse, and explain how this administration has deviated so far from the course laid out by the Founders.
Impeachment also offers a definable – and constitutionally envisioned – response to leaders who threaten the survival of the Republic. The Founders put the impeachment clause in the Constitution for exactly this kind of moment.
Even if impeachment didn’t reach the ultimate goal of removing Bush and Cheney, it would put down a marker of congressional resistance to executive abuses.
The public would get the point, too.
The current Democratic strategy of fighting and losing legislative battles over symbolic resolutions of disapproval or meaningless votes of no confidence only invites the consolidation of the Bush-Cheney vision of an all-powerful presidency.
The Democratic fecklessness also alienates the only logical allies in the fight to save the Republic, millions of citizens alarmed at the Bush-Cheney power grab.
Posted by: Anonymous | July 22, 2007 11:51 AM
Even if impeachment didn’t reach the ultimate goal of removing Bush and Cheney, it would put down a marker of congressional resistance to executive abuses.
The public would get the point, too.
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Bingo!
Posted by: Nadine | July 22, 2007 01:32 PM
Morning all!
Britian is flooded. The Thames is almost bursting its banks.
For a change Scotland has had the least rain. Apparently, the drainage system is unable to cope with the capacity of water. Three months of rain in 2 days.
As for impeachment...What are they waiting for? We have all been put in danger, everywhere we go, air, land or sea. Why? Because of Bush/Cheney/Blair. Punish the B's!
Posted by: Mgt | July 23, 2007 05:24 AM
Lord save us all!
Cheney is at the wheel while the President gets Colonoscopy. Isn't he even more dangerous that Bush?
Posted by: Mgt | July 23, 2007 06:33 AM
Under the heading of Too Much Information:
Developing Story:
Doctors found no cancer in the five small growths removed from President Bush's colon, the White House said today.
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I wonder if they're going to name each one?
Posted by: Nadine | July 23, 2007 01:11 PM
Hmmm... BP, Exxon-Mobil, Chevron, Saudi Aramco and Valero.
Posted by: Jane Q. Public | July 24, 2007 01:14 AM
Morning all!
Get Bush out!
It doesn't make sense that Scotland has been baked in sunshine over the last couple of days, while England and Wales are flooded. Who would have thought?!
This island is so tiny. That's why I don't think it makes sense.
Morning, Nadine!
Posted by: Mgt | July 24, 2007 03:47 AM
Yep, Get Bush Out!
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/07/20070717-3.html
Executive Order: Blocking Property of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq
White House News
Message to the Congress of the United States Regarding International Emergency Economic Powers Act
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, as amended (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.)(IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.)(NEA), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code,
I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, find that, due to the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States posed by acts of violence threatening the peace and stability of Iraq and undermining efforts to promote economic reconstruction and political reform in Iraq and to provide humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people, it is in the interests of the United States to take additional steps with respect to the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13303 of May 22, 2003, and expanded in Executive Order 13315 of August 28, 2003, and relied upon for additional steps taken in Executive Order 13350 of July 29, 2004, and Executive Order 13364 of November 29, 2004. I hereby order:
Section 1. (a) Except to the extent provided in section 203(b)(1), (3), and (4) of IEEPA (50 U.S.C. 1702(b)(1), (3), and (4)), or in regulations, orders, directives, or licenses that may be issued pursuant to this order, and notwithstanding any contract entered into or any license or permit granted prior to the date of this order, all property and interests in property of the following persons, that are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United States, or that are or hereafter come within the possession or control of United States persons, are blocked and may not be transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in: any person determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense,
(i) to have committed, or to pose a significant risk of committing, an act or acts of violence that have the purpose or effect of:
(A) threatening the peace or stability of Iraq or the Government of Iraq; or
(B) undermining efforts to promote economic reconstruction and political reform in Iraq or to provide humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people;
(ii) to have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, logistical, or technical support for, or goods or services in support of, such an act or acts of violence or any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order; or
(iii) to be owned or controlled by, or to have acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order.
(b) The prohibitions in subsection (a) of this section include, but are not limited to, (i) the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order, and (ii) the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person.
Sec. 2. (a) Any transaction by a United States person or within the United States that evades or avoids, has the purpose of evading or avoiding, or attempts to violate any of the prohibitions set forth in this order is prohibited.
(b) Any conspiracy formed to violate any of the prohibitions set forth in this order is prohibited.
Sec. 3. For purposes of this order:
(a) the term "person" means an individual or entity;
(b) the term "entity" means a partnership, association, trust, joint venture, corporation, group, subgroup, or other organization; and
(c) the term "United States person" means any United States citizen, permanent resident alien, entity organized under the laws of the United States or any jurisdiction within the United States (including foreign branches), or any person in the United States.
Sec. 4. I hereby determine that the making of donations of the type specified in section 203(b)(2) of IEEPA (50 U.S.C. 1702(b)(2)) by, to, or for the benefit of, any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order would seriously impair my ability to deal with the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13303 and expanded in Executive Order 13315, and I hereby prohibit such donations as provided by section 1 of this order.
Sec. 5. For those persons whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order who might have a constitutional presence in the United States, I find that, because of the ability to transfer funds or other assets instantaneously, prior notice to such persons of measures to be taken pursuant to this order would render these measures ineffectual. I therefore determine that for these measures to be effective in addressing the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13303 and expanded in Executive Order 13315, there need be no prior notice of a listing or determination made pursuant to section 1(a) of this order.
Sec. 6. The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense, is hereby authorized to take such actions, including the promulgation of rules and regulations, and to employ all powers granted to the President by IEEPA as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this order. The Secretary of the Treasury may redelegate any of these functions to other officers and agencies of the United States Government, consistent with applicable law. All agencies of the United States Government are hereby directed to take all appropriate measures within their authority to carry out the provisions of this order and, where appropriate, to advise the Secretary of the Treasury in a timely manner of the measures taken.
Sec. 7. Nothing in this order is intended to affect the continued effectiveness of any rules, regulations, orders, licenses, or other forms of administrative action issued, taken, or continued in effect heretofore or hereafter under 31 C.F.R. chapter V, except as expressly terminated, modified, or suspended by or pursuant to this order.
Sec. 8. This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right, benefit, or privilege, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, instrumentalities, or entities, its officers or employees, or any other person.
GEORGE W. BUSH
THE WHITE HOUSE,
July 17, 2007.
Posted by: Deege | July 24, 2007 10:00 PM
What a legal quagmire that would become.
Yeah, good luck enforcing that POS.
Posted by: loretta | July 24, 2007 10:15 PM
Good morning!
Excuse me while I shudder...!
BTW, I have never trusted a person with no sense of humour. The man is a zombie.
Posted by: Mgt | July 25, 2007 04:31 AM
Won't be here tomorrow so I'll check in on Friday.
Ciao, everyone!
Posted by: Mgt | July 25, 2007 11:47 AM
Ditto what Mgt said.
Posted by: Nadine | July 25, 2007 01:11 PM
Here's a good Olbermann video discussing the abuses of the Bush Administration and the progress on the Impeachment movement.
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/#58007
Posted by: Nadine | July 26, 2007 02:22 PM
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=497251819335380093
Part III of "Zeitgeist" - which is a must-see to review history. For the rest of the series (and previous parts) see the sidebar at Google video.
Posted by: loretta | July 26, 2007 10:47 PM
Have a good weekend, everyone.
Ciao
Posted by: Mgt | July 27, 2007 10:39 AM
"The enormous gap between what US leaders do in the world and what Americans think their leaders are doing is one of the great propaganda accomplishments of the dominant political mythology." ~ Michael Parenti.
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"Time makes more converts than reason." ~ Thomas Paine
Posted by: loretta | July 28, 2007 10:37 AM
Morning!
Another sunny day in Glasgow. No flooding up here...yet!
Posted by: Mgt | July 30, 2007 03:53 AM
Hi, Mgt!
Glad it is sunny for you - we have had hot, muggy weather here in Virginia and thunderstorms most afternoons.
SOS actually.
Posted by: Jo Ann | July 30, 2007 11:54 AM
Morning all!
Jo Ann, in certain parts of England they have had torrential rains. Billions of Pounds in damaged homes and contents. The drainage system was unable to cope.
The Thames burst its banks in Cambridge. Three months of rain in 2 days is what they are saying.
We are used to that incessant drizzle over here, not thunder storms and torrential rains.
Things have been exceptionally bad for many people. No water for drinking or cooking. Just appalling.
Posted by: Mgt | July 31, 2007 04:21 AM
Mgt, that's horrible. So many strange weather events everywhere. Nerve wracking thinking about the future. Remember the movie, "Waterworld"?
Posted by: Nadine | July 31, 2007 01:41 PM
http://64.27.15.184/parchive/pls.php?mp3fil=6522
Above link to a radio show that was broadcast today in Southern California on KPFK.
Talks about the Warner Act and how Dubya has laid the groundwork for dictatorship. Not a conspiracy theory, a fact.
Posted by: Anonymous | July 31, 2007 09:39 PM
More rain in Texas, blub...blub.
Posted by: Anonymous | July 31, 2007 10:50 PM
Morning all!
It's raining today. Sigh!
Posted by: Mgt | August 1, 2007 06:53 AM
Thanks for the links!
More rain everywhere but here. California is hot and sticky.
Posted by: Nadine | August 1, 2007 03:10 PM
Good morning!
All these elected officials lying until they are blue in the face...How come they still are not circling the drain.
There is always something or someone to perpetuate another lie to get the away from the drain.
All I can say is, they must be making loads of dosh. Who would humiliate themselves to this extent? No, really?
I'm not a violent person, but honestly I could quite easily mow them down.....!
Posted by: Mgt | August 2, 2007 09:24 AM
I know I shouldn't do this, and I apologise.
I hear rumblings that things are not going well with Brangelina. Now, there's a surprise!
Posted by: Mgt | August 2, 2007 09:32 AM
ciao, everyone!
Posted by: Mgt | August 2, 2007 11:49 AM