My New Years resolution is to try to be less disrespectful (stop laughing and play along). So with this last post of 2006, I've decided to go out on a high note.

Enjoy, and have a great New Years!

Hey Mr. Pugnacious-Pants ! Could you BE any more transparent?

Cheney praises pardon of Nixon at funeral

Old colleagues, today's leaders and ordinary Americans remembered him as a man called to heal the country from the wounds of Watergate, the scandal that shattered Richard Nixon's presidency in 1974 and brought the even-keeled Ford to the Oval Office.

Ford's decision to pardon Nixon, so divisive at the time that it probably cost him the 1976 election, was dealt with squarely in his funeral services by his old chief of staff, Vice President Dick Cheney.

"It was this man, Gerald R. Ford, who led our republic safely though a crisis that could have turned to catastrophe," said Cheney, speaking in the Capitol Rotunda where Ford's body rested in a flag-draped casket. "Gerald Ford was almost alone in understanding that there can be no healing without pardon."

Moron #1: Gee, ya think he’s trying to soften up the country to the idea of a presidential pardon?

Moron #2: Duh, I dunno, that thar statement’s pretty cryptic.

Ok, so I know a moron would never use the word “cryptic”.

And just out of curiosity, exactly what “catastrophe” was this country headed for had there not been a pardon? If by country, Mr. P-Pants means the Republican Party, well then ok. A presidential trial certainly would have been a total bummer...for them. But I think the rest of us who were not directly involved in felonious burglary really wanted justice to be served.

The simple fact that Ford couldn’t get elected DOG CATCHER after the pardon pretty much supports this opinion.

Trust me, this will not be the last time we hear the gooey phrase “There can be no healing without pardon”. It would bode well for the next president to keep Ford’s short-lived political career in mind...

PS. Bush didn't attend. Still diddling fiddling at the ranch. Isn’t that considered extremely rude? Especially since he’s on vacation, I mean it’s not like he’s doing anything else of any importance.


Read on here and here

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

Even the weather hates him.

Bush Sheltered During Tornado Alert

President Bush and Laura were moved to an armored vehicle on their ranch Friday when a tornado warning was issued in central Texas, the White House said.

The vehicle was driven to a tornado shelter on the ranch at 1:30 p.m. CST, and the president, Mrs. Bush and their two Scottish terriers, Barney and Miss Beazley, sat inside until the weather cleared, deputy White House press secretary Scott Stanzel said. They were never moved into the shelter, he said. The shelter is a few hundred yards away from the president's house on the ranch.

"He was in the vehicle for about 10 minutes and then he went back to the house," Stanzel said, adding that other members of the staff at the ranch were sheltered as well.

The rush to the tornado shelter interrupted Bush's day at the ranch where he cleared some cedar and was kept abreast of plans to execute Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

Bush also spent time contemplating the new plan for U.S. policy in Iraq that he plans to announce in the new year.

My, my, what a busy morning our president has had. He’s cleared a little brush, talked about Sa-ddam, and contemplated Iraq, all in the same day!

With such a productive morning, he's barely had time to fiddle at all...



Read on...

You knew it was inevitable...

VIDEO of the Boogieman's execution.

Curiously, the video stops just before he drops. But you know, the planet won’t be satisfied until we see it for ourselves.

Don't let the door hit ya!

Saddam is to be executed in an hour, 10pm Eastern, 9pm Central time. Won't he be surprised when he reaches his destination?

BUH-BYE CRAZY MAN!

Adieu, Mr. Ford, but lest we forget...

Yeah, yeah, I know, he was a president, he deserves respect, blahblahblah. Regardless of how the news wonks would like to rewrite history, the bottom line is, Ford was ineffectual.

He pardoned the highest-ranking criminal in American history.

He spawned the evil twins, Cheney and Rumsfeld.

And being in office at the same time the Vietnam War ended doesn’t mean he should be credited with ending it. America had already begun withdrawing from Vietnam in 1973, the same year he became Vice President. Ford just happened to be in office when Saigon fell in 1974, which is what most people consider the end of the war to be. It actually ended the previous year.

He was appointed Vice President when Spiro Agnew resigned in disgrace; he was appointed President less than a year later when Nixon resigned in disgrace. Nobody ever voted for him.

I don’t believe Gerald Ford to be a bad man, just an unproductive one. His wife actually did more good for the country than he did. Granted, to be thrown into office at one of the most tumultuous time in American History could not have been easy. But the best thing I can say about Ford is, in his two short years as president, he didn’t make matters any worse.

Kinda makes for a short eulogy.

His interview with Bob Woodward in 2004/05 is very interesting. In it, he disagrees with the Iraq war, and the Bush White House. "Well, I can understand the theory of wanting to free people”, Ford said. “But I just don't think we should go hellfire damnation around the globe freeing people, unless it is directly related to our own national security."

He also calls Dick Cheney “pugnacious”.

pug·na·cious:

1. Tough and callous.
2. Combative in nature; belligerent.
3. Ready and able to resort to force or violence.

And that’s all just dandy. Except for the fact that during his presidency, Cheney became Assistant to the President and then the youngest White House Chief of Staff in history, where it is possible that both he and Donald Rumsfeld began consolidating political power. An article in Rolling Stone said, "Having turned Ford into their instrument, Rumsfeld and Cheney staged a palace coup. They pushed Ford to fire Defense Secretary James Schlesinger, tell Vice President Nelson Rockefeller to look for another job and remove Henry Kissinger from his post as national security adviser. Rumsfeld was named secretary of defense, and Cheney became chief of staff to the president.”

(Yes, that's Rumsfeld and Cheney with Ford. Click to enlarge.)

Ford, of course, remembers these as his ideas. We will never know. But what is a fact is that Ford is personally responsible for spawning these two evil geniuses. That, coupled with the act of pardoning Nixon, is enough to keep me from getting too teary-eyed this week...

"The right picture can win or lose the damn war..."

I just watched “Flags of Our Fathers”, the new Clint Eastwood movie, which is a true-life account of the impact, fallout, and controversy surrounding that famous photo of the raising of the American flag on top of Mount Suribachi on the island of Iwo Jima during WWII.

The movie was excellent, as is anything Clint Eastwood is involved in. The gist of the story is this, in the simplest of terms:

On the fifth day of the Battle of Iwo Jima, which raged on for 40 days, a small platoon of soldiers planted the flag atop a hard-won Mount Suribachi. Photographers Lou Lowery and Bob Campbell accompanied them but took no photos of the actual raising of the original flag. A visiting secretary of the Navy whimsically demanded the first flag as a personal war souvenir. Thus, a second platoon was sent of the mountain to trade the original flag with a new, much larger one.


Original flag raising (Lowery)
<------------- Flag exchange (Campbell) ------------>


The photographer with the second platoon was Joe Rosenthal, his staged photo is the infamous one at the top of the post. This historic photograph was posed, and by the time it was sent around the world, many of the men involved were already dead. Those who survived were shipped home for some useful flag waving and morale boosting and, as seems to be the case with heroes of war, treated ultimately appallingly.

The war back home wasn’t going too well. Support for the war was almost nil, as was the money needed to continue it (sound familiar?). When Rosenthal’s staged photo was sent back to the states, it graced every front page and magazine cover. Editors of US Camera Magazine said, "In that moment, Rosenthal's camera recorded the soul of a nation." Except that it had recorded a lie.

The powers that be saw this as a fantastic opportunity to use the three surviving soldiers in a propaganda tour to raise money for war bonds. None felt much like a hero, and all regarded the flag-raising incident, which had made them famous, as little more than a farce.

Back home, the three survivors were expected to reproduce the scene again and again in increasingly ludicrous ways, all in a drive to sell war bonds and prevent a US retreat from the Pacific region.

It would almost suggest that the packaging of a war is half the battle. And that is the point of this post. Propaganda and packaging, sometimes subtle, sometimes so obvious you think they have to be kidding.



Look familiar? I realize this photo wasn't staged, but it has certainly been used enough to stir up American emotions. Funny, the people who have used this photo are the same people who now have nothing but contempt for these men.
















Barely one month into the war and George declares victory. That was 3 ½ years ago. But damn, didn't we feel superior!










How about these photos? Bush banned news coverage and photography of dead soldiers' homecomings on all military bases, something about their military actions losing support once the public glimpsed the remains of U.S. soldiers arriving at air bases in flag-draped caskets. The woman who took these pictures, Tami Silcio, was fired shortly after they hit the mainstream media.







Anyone remember Jessica Lynch? She was the little American Darling of the war, who was captured, tortured, stabbed, and shot before she was heroically rescued. Only problem was, she wasn’t tortured, stabbed, shot, OR heroically rescued. You can refresh your memory of this poorly written piece of propaganda here.






And then there’s Pat Tillman, the Arizona State lineman, “who died heroically in a fierce battle in Iraq”. Tillman’s death came at a sensitive time for the Bush administration, just a week before the Army’s abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib in Iraq became public and sparked a huge scandal. The Pentagon immediately announced that Tillman had died heroically in combat with the enemy, and President Bush hailed him as “an inspiration on and off the football field, as with all who made the ultimate sacrifice in the war on terror.”

The Whitehouse waved Tillman’s corpse around like it was the American flag itself, right up until the time it was discovered that Tillman was killed by his own platoon in a fit of “misidentification”. Not until five weeks later, as Tillman’s battalion was returning home, did officials inform the public and the Tillman family that he had been killed by his fellow soldiers. His mother, Mary Tillman, is still trying to get the truth from the Pentagon concerning the circumstances of her son's death. And they are still stonewalling.

And then there’s Abu Ghraib itself, perhaps the biggest cause of the public’s change of heart towards the war. I needn’t bother posting pictures of the torturing of Iraqi prisoners; we’ve all seen them a million times. It was shortly after those photos became public that America began to lose its taste for this war.

Maybe there is a bit of truth to the saying. Perhaps the right picture can win or lose the damn war...

So question every photograph. Not only the content of the picture, but the reason behind the use of it. There is always an ulterior motive, which is to stir your emotions and sway your opinions.

And if you ever find yourself running low on political propaganda, you can always check out Bag News Notes. No one can disassemble a photograph quite like Dr. Shaw. His visual interpretation of political images is amazing.

A flamboyant goodbye…

Not quite sure what I could add to this, except to say I’m loving the giant Apollo phallic symbol. It would appear he really did feel good!

Reality TV puts disabled women in beauty show

It is a beauty contest complete with a swimsuit round. But all the contestants in the latest reality format to sweep ratings-hungry broadcasters have a disability.

Contestants must display a “handicap visible to the eye” in Miss Ability, a Dutch show that became the surprise hit of 2006 in the Netherlands.



Twelve women, including amputees and wheelchair-bound contestants, parade in nightgowns and bathing suits.

They star in short films demonstrating how they have overcome severe disabilities before submitting to a viewer vote.

The Netherlands was the breeding ground for Big Brother. Now the rights to remake Miss Ability have been snapped up in Britain, France, Germany and the US.

Absolutely Independent, the Dutch producers, insist that the show does not patronise disabled people. But the prospectus does not suggest sensitivity. It reads: “Ever whistled at a woman in a wheelchair? Checked out the boobs of a blind babe? If the answer’s ‘no’, this barrier-breaking show will put an end to that.”

DLT Entertainment, the company behind My Family, the hit BBC One comedy, is making the show in Britain. The producers are promising that contestants will be empowered. Heather Mills, the estranged wife of Sir Paul McCartney, is being approached to be the presenter.

British broadcasters will bid for the show in the new year. But there are fears that the trend for extreme reality shows could produce tasteless television. A recent Disney format invited patients needing brain or spinal tumour treatment and other life-threatening diseases to become guinea-pigs for pioneering surgery.


Outrageous! Simply outrageous! What is wrong with people??? Is America so starved for entertainment that contemptible producers of the atrocious just can’t devise new freak shows fast enough to fill the void? I don’t know who is more at fault, the people who produce this disgraceful drivel, the freaks who need attention so badly that they’re willing to sign away their self-respect for a few minutes in front of the camera, or the audience who just can’t seem to get enough. After all, if there were no audience, then the first two groups of offenders would be non-existent.

In order to shame us all, I was going to make a list of reality shows, at least the ones I could remember (which was only about six). I decided to do an Internet search because I knew there were many I'd forgotten. What I got was a list so long that I am now ashamed to even own a television. The list is far too vast to reproduce here.

This is the list.

Now I will admit, reluctantly, that I’ve watched the first and last season of American Idol. This happens when I tune in to see all the hilariously bad singers. Somehow I get sucked in. But even this show is repugnant. American Idol will never produce a Stevie Wonder, a Stevie Ray Vaughan, or a Steven Tyler. What this show DOES produce is a huge bank account for the producers. I read that more people voted in the finale of American Idol this year than voted for president in the last election. And these people are taking up space on our planet…

What Americans (and people of other countries) don’t seem to realize is, these call-in reality shows are simply a brilliant, moneymaking commercial that last for weeks. American Idol is one big commercial for Chevy, Ford, Pepsi, and whatever phone company is raking in the dough by taking your votes.

And while we’re on the subject of your votes, does it strike anybody as odd that Americans now think their opinions are so important that they will actually PAY to voice them? What an excellent racket! In essence, you are willing to give your hard-earned money so that someone else can become rich. You happily become poorer so that someone else can become richer, all so that your tiny voice may be heard.

A fool and his money really ARE soon parted…

I am truly sorry that women in wheelchairs are not getting catcalls and whistles, because those of us not in wheelchairs really LOVE that sort of attention. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve given my phone number and the invitation to father my children to some schmuck who yelled crude comments in my direction. We love having our self-worth measured by the size of our body parts. Truly we do. And now, thanks to reality TV, handicapped women will have the same opportunity.

Way to go, America!

John Edwards Kicks Off His Campaign Tour?

John Edwards, the former North Carolina Senator, will likely make a White House run and the announcement is expected to come in just two days.

Edwards is scheduled to travel to New Orleans to make the announcement. He will appear in the Katrina ravaged ninth ward where recovery efforts continue more than a year later.

Edwards has been rumored as a candidate since 2004 when he made his first White House attempt. He is considered one of the top democratic candidates along with New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The campaign kickoff tour will continue through the weekend and Edwards has rallies planned in Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

Ask not for whom the bell tolls…

Bush bracing for new scrutiny

White House hiring lawyers in expectation of Democratic probes


President Bush is bracing for what could be an onslaught of investigations by the new Democratic-led Congress by hiring lawyers to fill key White House posts and preparing to play defense on countless document requests and possible subpoenas.

Bush is moving quickly to fill vacancies within his stable of lawyers, though White House officials say there are no plans to drastically expand the legal staff to deal with a flood of oversight.

Republicans close to Bush say any such moves would not come until the White House sees how aggressive Democrats are in trying to pry the lid off the inner workings of the administration.

"It's certainly not lost on them that there will be more investigative requests and more things for them to respond to, but I don't think that you're going to see any dramatic changes," said Reginald Brown, a former associate in Bush's White House counsel's office who is now in private practice.

Democrats' stated intention to conduct more rigorous oversight of the Bush administration "simply will mean that [White House officials] need a few more people to manage the paper flow," Brown said.

"Like any White House that has to deal with a Congress run by the other party, this White House has to bulk up its staff to deal with the inevitable flood of subpoenas. They're also going to have to coordinate with lots of friends and supporters," said Mark Corallo, a former top Republican aide to the House committee that issued more than 1,000 subpoenas to the Clinton camp.


You know what they say; the best offense is a good legal defense...

Read on...

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas!

I hope everyone has a fantastic Christmas eve/day, full of friends, family, food and fun!


MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!


(Click here to play)

"I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas"
(takes a minute to load, but the white reindeer's solo is well worth the wait!)

Created by Joshua Held, sung by The Drifters.

My baby girl...

I still remember the day you discovered that blue cotton candy was to die for...







It was a crisp September Saturday, this was your first state fair, and cotton candy just the best discovery you’d made so far in your short life. It was decidedly better than the cricket you ate several months later. However, I dare say you had the same look of satisfaction on your face when you were finished.

Where did my little girl go...



You are still the best thing I ever did.

Happy Birthday Mel!
December 23, 1983, 1:14am

Cuz nothing says Christmas like a little roasted beagle butt!

It's Christmas! Have some more flocking bat meat, or rat meat or pig soaked in blood!

Christmas Day is seen as a foreign, Western festival in many countries in Asia but that doesn't stop millions of people from cooking up banquets of local food unheard of in the West.

In Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country which also has a substantial Christian community, Christmas feasts include delicacies such as pork soaked in blood and dog meat.

In the eastern island of Sulawesi, some Manado Christians swear by kawok, or garden rats, cooked with chilies and garlic, and paniki, or bats, cooked in coconut milk.

"Bat meat tastes almost the same as garden rat but it has more muscles," said Manadonese Stephen Lapian. "But if you cut the arm pit in a wrong way, it will be very stinky."

Mmmmm, decisions, decisions. Do I want dog butt or bat armpit? No wonder KFC is such a hit in Japan!

Read on if you've already eaten...

And the stockings were hung by the chimney with cheer, in hopes that Fox News would soon fill them with fear…

Holiday to do list:

Buy presents, check.

Make Eggnog, check.

Release a report pointing out how easy it would be to kill a lot of holiday travelers just before Christmas, check.

You better watch out, you better not cry...

The 10 most dangerous toys of all time


In the spirit of the holidays, Radar presents the 10 most dangerous toys of all time, those treasured playthings that drew blood, chewed digits, took out eyes, and, in one case, actually irradiated. To keep things interesting, we excluded BB guns, slingshots, throwing stars, and anything else actually intended to inflict harm. Check out the toy box from hell.


Yeah, yeah. While you were pinning the neighbor’s cat to the sundeck with yard darts, all the cool kids were recreating Nagasaki in the backyard. Sissy...

Read on...

Because I'm in a "yuley" place...

From now until after Christmas, I deem this a Bush-free zone (insert your own joke here).








No screaming war mongers



No barking moon bats (well ok, one barking moon bat)









We will not be snarky (much)



We will not make fun






We will not point out his shortcomings











Or point and laugh





Or just point






From now until at least December 26th, short of Bush doing something totally stupid (er), I declare this a politics-free zone. It’s time for fun, and silliness and cheer. But just so I'm sure it's out of my system...

(click to enlarge)

"Me first! I'M the president!"







"He was just here..."


















Elvis lives...





















"Dammit! How can they expect me to salute and hold Barney at the same time?

I'm not ambi...um, ambi...I'm not both-handed!"














"I sure hope that's a girl turkey, heh, heh, heh..."










"I sure hope someone catches me! Heh, heh, heh!"







"I sure hope you're my tailor, heh, heh...um...."











And last but certainly not least...(I think this is my favorite)


President Rain Man...


Ok, I believe I'm good to go til after the holidays!