(closed until Jan. 02, 08) : )

Y'all have a safe and merry time. And iffen you get too hammered away from home- for Gawd's sakes get a cab!! As for myself, I'm having a glass of sparkling grape juice with the younguns , all cozy and warm at home when the clock strikes twelve, CST.
I'm taking tomarrow off...you kids have fun now.

Peace, Out
WTR

Fred! Addresses the "fire in the belly" Question

Straight from the horse's mouth, from the campaign website.

"Every once in a while I am more thankful than ever for today’s technology which allows me to talk to you directly instead of having to go through the filter of the main stream media.

Some of them are intent on making the outcome of the campaign dependent upon their pre-conceived notions. Every once in a while their incomplete and slanted coverage makes this clear.

Today I had this story written about me regarding what I said at a Town Hall event in Burlington, Iowa by a reporter who wasn’t even at the event. Incidentally, I declined to be interviewed by this particular reporter yesterday for reasons which will soon be apparent.

In referring to me, she reported “he doesn’t like modern campaigning, isn’t interested in running for President, and will not be devastated” if he doesn’t win.

The following is a transcript of what I actually said in response to a question by a local Burlington resident which was the basis of the reporter’s story:

[THIS IS A BEST-EFFORT TRANSCRIPT OF THE SPECIFIC QUESTION AND ANSWER]
Q: My only problem with you and why I haven’t thrown all my support behind you is that I don’t know if you have the desire to be President. If I caucus for you next week, are you still going to be there two months from now?

…In the first place I got in the race about the time people normally get into it historically. The fact of the matter is that others started the process a lot earlier this time than they normally do. I think it was for some of them when they were juniors in high school.

APPLAUSE

That is a very good question, not because it’s difficult to answer, because, but I’m gonna answer it in a little different way than what you might expect.

In the first place, I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t. I wouldn’t be doing this if i didn’t. I grew up very modest circumstances. I left government, I and my family have made sacrifices for me to be sitting here today. I haven’t had any income for a long time because I’m doing this. I figure that to be clean you’ve got to cut everything off. And I was doing speaking engagements and I had a contract to do a tv show, I had a contract with abc radio like I was talking about earlier and so forth. I guess a man would have to be a total fool to do all those things and to be leaving his family which is not a joyful thing at all if he didn’t want to do it.

But I am not consumed by personal ambition. I will not be devastated if I don’t do it. I want the people to have the best president that they can have.

When this talk first started, it didn’t originate with me. There were a lot of people around the country both directly and through polls, liked the idea of me stepping up. And of course, you always look better at a distance, I guess.

But most of those people are still there and think its a good idea. But I approached it from the standpoint of a deal. A kind of a marriage. If one side of a marriage has to be really talked into the marriage, it probably ain’t going to be a very good deal for either one of them. But if you mutually think that this is a good thing. In this case, if you think this is a good thing for the country, then you have an opportunity to do some wonderful things together.

I’m offering myself up. I’m saying that I have the background, the capability, and the concern to do this and I’m doing it for the right reasons. But I’m not particularly interested in running for president, but I think I’d make a good president.

Nowadays, the process has become much more important than it used to be.

I don’t know that they ever asked George Washington a question like this. I don’t know that they ever asked Dwight D. Eisenhower a question like this. But nowadays, it’s all about fire in the belly. I’m not sure in the world we live in today it’s a terribly good thing if a president has too much fire in the belly. I approach life differently than a lot of people. People, I guess, wonder how I’ve been as successful as I’ve been in everything I’ve done. I won two races in TN by 20 point margins, a state that Bill Clinton carried twice. I’d never run for office before. I’ve never had an acting lesson and I guess that’s obvious by people who’ve watched me. But when they made a movie about a case that I had when I took on a corrupt state administration as a lawyer and beat them before a jury. They made a movie about it and I wound up playing myself in the movie and yeah I can do that.

And when I did it, I did it. Wasn’t just a lark. Anything that’s worth doing is worth doing well. But I’ve always been a little bit more laid back than most. I like to say that I’m only consumed by very, very few things and politics is not one of them. The welfare of our country and our kids and grandkids is one of them.

If people really want in their president a super type-a personality, someone who has gotten up every morning and gone to bed every night and been thinking about for years how they could achieve the Presidency of the United States, someone who can look you straight in the eye and say they enjoy every minute of campaigning, I ain’t that guy. So I hope I’ve discussed that and hope I haven’t talked you out of anything. I honestly want - I can’t imagine a worse set of circumstances than achieving the presidency under false pretenses. I go out of my way to be myself because I don’t want anybody to think they are getting something they are not getting. I’m not consumed by this process I’m not consumed with the notion of being President. I’m simply saying I’m willing to do what’s necessary to achieve it if I’m in sync with the people and if the people want me or somebody like me. I’ll do what I’ve always done in the rest of my life and I will take it on and do a good job and you’ll have the disadvantage of having someone who probably can’t jump up and click their heels three times but will tell you the truth and you’ll know where the President stands at all times.

It is clear that there are those in the media who will exact a high price for candor and from those whom they consider to be insufficiently ambitious. But it is with increasing amazement that we see that those who are willing to slant or leave out important parts of a story to make their point.

If a candidate succumbs to this he will be reduced to nothing more than a sound bite machine.

As for me I am going to continue to say exactly what is in my heart and is on my mind and give straight and honest answers to those who ask straight and honest questions.

Incidentally, the audience in Burlington broke into applause in the middle of my answer. The reporter wouldn’t know that because she wasn’t even there."

Full of Hot Air? (Fartiology 101)

Compliments of the Ottawa Sun. A Canadian paper has to go to an AMERICAN scientist for the straight poop on gas. Damn right! Toot it loud, toot it proud!
The funniest part about this story, to me anyway, is how the scientists collect, uh, the samples to study. Mylar pantaloons?? Oh mercy!
Hey, somebody's gotta do it, right?
More information here on gas than you ever thought you'd need in a lifetime. Enjoy!


Pass the Gas and Don't be Embarrassed

TORONTO -- So you think your husband's a little too adept at playing the colonic calliope? Wish your sleep wasn't interrupted by a fusillade of flatulence?

Well, if you think you've taken up residence in Beantown but he insists his output is normal, you can both take heart that debates like yours are raging all over.

You both should know this as well: Whether it takes the form of stealth bombers or noisy bottom burps, flatulence is a normal byproduct of the human body. Everybody farts, multiple times throughout the day and night.

But the whens and the hows can turn a basic bodily function into an inconvenient, unpleasant or downright embarrassing occurrence. And that leads some people to question what is normal and whether there is any way to turn down the tap, as it were, on the frequency, noise or odour quotients.

The fact of the matter is that while humankind has learned how to split the atom, manipulate genes and travel to the moon, it doesn't know all that much about how to reduce the production of natural gas.

"I know a lot about gas," says Dr. Michael Levitt, the American gastroenterologist who has unravelled much of what is known about human flatulence.

Levitt is a veritable gas guru, a leading expert on the underappreciated field of flatus -- intestinal gas that escapes via the southern route.

Levitt has gone to extraordinary lengths to explore the mysteries of flatulence. He has captured farts in specially made Mylar pantaloons, measured the cocktail of gases they contain, even conducted a study devised to get to the bottom of what might be the most contentious question in the field: Which gender emits the smelliest farts?

So what have he and others learned about the fine art of flatulating?

It's a pretty common occurrence. Studies in which volunteers tracked their gas passage suggest people fart 10 to 20 times a day, with some hitting the 30, 40, even 50 mark, says Levitt, who is with the VA Medical Center in Minneapolis, Minn.

An Australian study that followed a group of men and women for a couple of months concluded men let rip on average 10 times a day, while women lag with eight emissions.

But producing less gas might create another problem for women -- and the people around them. Levitt's research suggests women's flatulence is more ... aromatic.

The study was the first ever attempt to provide an objective evaluation of the odour of flatus, Levitt explains. Volunteer judges, blinded to the identity of the generating gender, were asked to rank the potency of the end product.

Volunteer producers -- primed by a diet of pinto beans -- farted into aluminum bags via a rectal tube. Syringes full of gas were withdrawn from the bags and wafted by the nostrils of the unfortunate judges.

---

TOOTING 101:

Factoids about farting:

- Blue angels: Only certain people have bacteria in the gastric systems that produce methane, Dr. Levitt says. And only methane-producers can perform the time-honoured frat house trick of igniting a blue flame when they hold a match to an escaping fart.

- Musical toots: In the 1800s Frenchman Joseph Pujol apparently became so adept at controlling his flatulence flow he could sound musical notes. Called "le Petomane" -- the fartiste -- he was reputedly the highest paid performer in France at his prime.

- Colonic explosions: In the early days of colonoscopies, attempts to burn off polyps in the colon ignited explosive hydrogen gas in the colon of several unlucky people, sometimes with tragic results. The colon-cleansing preparations people now take the night before a colonoscopy have solved the problem. Says Levitt: "Until they used these prep solutions, there was a problem with explosions."

Well, there's your problem!

The do-no-evil folks at Google have marked the American Spectator website as EVIL.

I shitteth thou not. Try it yourself and see.

Google American Spectator, or spectator.org and see what comes up.
Then try 'daily kos', 'huffington post' or 'salon.com'-just for fun and comparison.

Gee, no bells and whistles or ominous warnings for those sites...what gives?

A little further digging on Goog's help page about malware infected sites gives you this:

This identification is based in part on guidelines set by StopBadware.org. However, Google uses its own criteria, procedures, and tools to identify sites that host or distribute badware. If you feel your site has been mistakenly identified, or if you make changes to your site so that it no longer hosts or distributes malicious software and you secure your site so that it is no longer vulnerable to the insertion of badware, you can request that your site be reviewed.

Huh! Their own criteria...ahhhh, ain't that cute?! Just like they have their own criteria for spying on you during every minute you're online and selling the dirt to highest bidder. Do no evil, my ass.

This could very well explain why my pc is forever making right turns on the innernettubes! I've got some sort of evilbushhitlercheneyfacistwarmongergreedybastardrethuglican malware embedded on my hard drive!!
OHNOES!!!1!

Although I'm not over there frequently, I do visit a few times a month to read articles. I'm not aware of any pop-ups or other annoyances there and the side ads all seem to be the usual ones you'd see on any conservative site, so I don't know what gives here. I've never had to clear any malicious 'cookies' from my visits there and my (to the point of near paranoia) frequent malware scans never turn anything up from A.S. But then again, I use Firefox almost exclusively as my browser of choice-don't know if that has anything to do with it and as a rule I never-never click any sidebar ads, no matter where I'm at. If it looks interesting I just right click to find the url and go directly to the site, by passing the google-ad mojo codes worked into the link.

Tin foil hysteria, just simply false positives or evil lefty agenda? (afterall, we ARE talking about a corporation that narc'd on Chinese free-speech activists gladly to their satanic asian overlords.)
You decide.
Me? I ain't too worried about it, but it is weird.


HT: Freep

And speaking of evil...I reckon I better check with the Gematriculator, I'm overdue:



Oh crap! Slipping into darkness...

"The bullet hurtles onward."

Scott Ott, normally a devastatingly funny guy on his blog Scrappleface, puts on his dead serious hat in a column over at Townhall.com. It's so good, I'm gypping the whole dang thing.


Bhutto Killing Puts EuroLeaders On Notice: Time to Choose
Friday, December 28, 2007 10:05 AM
by Scott Ott

The assassination of Benazir Bhutto has put on notice the leaders of every European nation.

Your secularism, your democracy will not stand. The growing Muslim populations in your own lands that you have done so much to tolerate, protect and celebrate, will soon rise up against you. Sharia law shall become your law. The Caliph shall rule you.

It remains only for you to choose submission or assassination.

This bullet to the neck of democracy in Pakistan should cause a twinge in the carotid artery of each leader in France, Britain, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Greece...name them all.

The assassin, strapped with bombs and carrying a firearm, stood amidst a cheering throng and took aim at the only major symbol of liberalism and democratic reform in the Islamic world. As the mortally-wounded woman slumped through the sunroof, the happy hunter detonated himself to send a clear message that no security cordon can protect those who rise to oppose jihad.

Cling, if you will, to your professors who drone on about the legitimate grievances of oppressed peoples who wish only to be left alone. Your cartridge clicks into the chamber.

Sing yourself to sleep each night with an ode to peaceful co-existence. The crosshairs find your throat.

Cup your hands over your ears to muffle the unthinkable warnings. The finger squeezes the trigger.

As you mount the rostrum to decry the slaying and call for calm in Pakistan, do you wonder whether your security detail could stop him?

As you send your condolences to the grieving widower, the shattered supporters and the tottering Pakistani president, himself a target of previous assassination attempts, do you have a strategy for negotiating with those who embrace murderous martyrdom?

Which will you choose -- submission or assassination?

Take your time deciding, but know this: The bullet hurtles onward.


Disclaimer: Scott Ott decided not to add a disclaimer to this column stating that he's an America-loving conservative Christian who deplores the jihad ideology, because he didn't want to soften the impact of these words.

Shrapnel, Not Bullets Killed Bhutto

"...Pakistan's Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz on Friday said that Bhutto did not die of bullet wounds.

Nawaz said that Bhutto died from a head injury. At least seven doctors from the Rawalpindi General Hospital – where the leader was rushed immediately after the attack – say there were no bullet marks on Bhutto's body..."
***********
“The report says she had head injuries – an irregular patch – and the X-ray doesn’t show any bullet in the head. So it was probably the shrapnel or any other thing has struck her in her said. That damaged her brain, causing it to ooze and her death. The report categorically ssyas there’s no wound other than that,” Nawaz told a Pakistani news channel."

More at Yahoonews

But is it really truly important the manner of death? Dead's dead. But to her supporters it is important- to disprove or confirm military involvement or any other conspiratorial workings. The Paki Kennedy assasination, one might say.
And the stuff that civil wars that escalate are made of.

Bhutto Assasinated!

The situation is still very fluid and her supporters are already accusing Musharraf of having his hand in this. Maybe/maybe not. Could be the AQ factions are trying to steer it that way.
No matter what this bodes not well for Pakistan, India, and eventually us. Just how many nukes does Pakistan have, anyway?

Dammit, I really didn't want to wake up to this news!! I know the gal was pushing her luck, especially with that near miss just a couple of months ago. But I did admire her moxie-even if it seemed foolish. I'm just stunned and saddened.
Rest in Peace, Benazir. At least you tried to make a difference.



Shit fixing to hit the fan in 8...7...6...5........

UPDATE: AQ is now claiming the deed.“We terminated the most precious American asset which vowed to defeat [the] mujahadeen,”


(This just in from the part of my brain that really shouldn't even be on during these times because it generates scarey thoughts: Al Qada assassinated Massoud 3 days before 9/11 as a signal. Could this be a signal for some serious bad craziness to be unleashed for New Years?
OK, unwrapping the tin foil now...I best be shutting up for now.)

Quaint Holy-Day Traditions

'Round these parts, it's mistletoe, fruitcake and mulled cider this time of year.
On the other side of the world...

Beat and disfigure your spouse for Eid.
(caution: disturbing images)
Gotta just love them whacky adherents to the religion of peace!

Me? I'd still prefer getting kissed under the mistletoe-call me just an old white trash religious bigot.


(God help this woman-and so many others like her!)

Because we need a little Christmas...

The Christmas "Tag"

Cookie tagged me, so even tho I'm a little late, here's my answers.


1. Wrapping or gift bags?
Wrapped, of course! That's the one part I really like...wrapping gifts.

2. Real or artificial tree?
We used to always cut down a cedar. But we've had a fake tree for 6 years now...and guess what? They drop their 'needles' too!

3. When do you put up the tree?
I'm damn lucky to get the tree up by Christmas Eve! Usually the weekend before Christmas. Hey, why rush things?

4. When do you take the tree down?
Now that I'm punctual about! On New's Years Day, usually while watching the Rose Parade.

5. Do you like egg nog?
Adore it! But I have to cut it with some 2% milk and add a good glog of Kaluha.

6. Favorite gift received as a child?
Wow, that's a tough one. I did get a lot of mileage out of my Mattel "Incredible Edibles" kit. (Mmmmm, butterscotch spiders! I can still taste them.) Chatty Cathy is a good runner-up as was the Irish Mail-I could really haul butt up and down the block in that baby.

7. Do you have a nativity scene?
Yes. But for some reason Joseph and the Wise Guys are outside the stable checking out a little model custom Harley chopper.

8. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
Oh, my dear friends, there are so many! Probably the electric can opener. Oh! No wait-the "Welcome Back, Kotter"/ Horshack T-shirt my uncle sent me when I was 15. I was aghast. Sick, almost.

9. Mail or e-mail Christmas cards?
Both, I maybe a hilljack, but this IS the 21st century, after all.

10. Favorite Christmas movie?
"It's a Wonderful Life" 'nuff said.

11. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
Just before I get the tree up. Maybe about 2 weeks before, if I think about it.

12. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
Mexican wedding cookies.

13. Clear lights or colored on the tree?
Clear. I'm funny that way.

14. Favorite Christmas song?
It ain't Christmas until I blast the Ronettes version of "Sleigh Ride" on the stereo. That gets me in the spirit every time.

I'm taggin' Lem , Patrick and Walker
(and it's ok if your answers are late, kids.)

Merry...uh, uh...whatever

HAPPY SOLSTICE, HAPPY HANUKKAH, MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY KWANZA

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral, celebration of the winter solstice holiday(tm), practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all . . . and a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2008, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great, (not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country or is the only “AMERICA” in the western hemisphere), and without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith, choice of computer platform, or sexual orientation of the wishee.

By accepting this greeting,
you are accepting these terms:

This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her/himself or others, and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year, or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher. Some wishes are issued under optimum conditions; your mileage may vary. Wishes are void in Montana, New Jersey, Guam, Puerto Rico, Pennsylvania, Virgin Islands, and parts of Washington state.

It's That Time Again- NORAD Tracks Santa!

Just a reminder to all of you who still have lil' ones at home or have the grand babies over for Christmas,
The NORAD Santa site is up!

This is still a favorite at our home every Christmas Eve.

It appears that they gone a bit more hi-tech this season- I'm actually having to wait for a load bar to finish on the homepage.
That's new.
That's gonna suck the fun out of it for us neanderthals in the hinterlands still on dial-up.
But, it'll still be worth it for the kiddies, I hope.

The Official Tracking Site

The Iowa Fire Chief :'No offense takened!'

Just as I suspected...

Fire chief: The hat incident didn’t happen the way Politico said

"Two for the price of one."

Scott Ott of Scrappleface writes all in fun, but seriously- this is exactly what I've been wondering about since she announced she was running!
A little Saturday funny for ya. (and wishful thinking, perhaps...?)

FEC Disqualifies Hillary Due to Presidential Term Limit

Algore Weeps, the Sequel

U.S. Senate Report: Over 400 Prominent Scientists Disputed Man-Made Global Warming Claims in 2007

"Over 400 prominent scientists from more than two dozen countries recently voiced significant objections to major aspects of the so-called "consensus" on man-made global warming. These scientists, many of whom are current and former participants in the UN IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), criticized the climate claims made by the UN IPCC and former Vice President Al Gore."

It's a pretty hefty read, but if you'd like to check it out, go here.

Local School Makes U.S. News & World Report's "Best" List

I guess there's something to be said about rural schools with small class sizes, good teacher/student ratios and minimal government interference.

U.S. News and World Report has come out with their first ever Best High Schools list and our little po'dunk school made the cut for the state of Missouri! Previously USN&WR would rate colleges in their annual lists but this year decided to give the nation's high schools awards as well. Interesting that a lot of the schools listed for Missouri are indeed smaller schools from rural districts... and in some cases, what they would consider poor regions-as in poverty. A detail of our rank with the stats here.

But don't be popping the champagne just yet, you see, we only garnered a Bronze Award.

That's 3rd place. And there's a gob of schools who met that criteria. So, I guess on one hand it's good and on the other-eh, we're no better or worse than most. One of those glass half full/ half empty kinda things.

But hey, to even get that rank first time out of the gate is purty good by my reckoning. The main reason we didn't rank higher was primarily because of our lack of college readiness type curriculum.
The criteria must have been very strict, because no school got the Gold award in the state, and only 2 were awarded Silver.

Betcha this might be the sharp stick that pokes the school board into upgrading the curriculum a dab.

If you'd like to see what USN&WR considered the El Supremo Mucho schools in the nation, the page is here.

( I can't help but be amused that the high school in the county above us, which touts all kinds of athletic programs, raves about excellence in education and has a much larger tax base didn't even make the list. Less is more in this case, I reckon.)

So What? Neo-Nazis and candidates pose for pics with all kinds of people, all the time, right?-It don't mean nuthin'!

Ah, but when said neo-nazi slips the candidate that he posed with some 'walking around money' it does mean something!

First the photo, taken this past September in Florida, that's Don Black in the center, his son to the right and Ronpaulio to the left:

(LGF)

Then, the story:

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul has received a $500 campaign donation from a white supremacist, and the Texas congressman doesn't plan to return it, an aide said Wednesday.

Don Black, of West Palm Beach, recently made the donation, according to campaign filings. He runs a Web site called Stormfront with the motto, "White Pride World Wide." The site welcomes postings to the "Stormfront White Nationalist Community." (more here.)

No big deal? Or just yet another of a series of flakey associations?

Tanc Bails, Now a Mitt-man

All I can say is:

WTF????!!!!!

I'm still trying to get my head around this.

Can anyone explain this in a way a dumb ol' hillbilly like me can understand, other than Tanc figured Mitt has the best chance to win and therefore he hopes to be rewarded with a gig at Homeland Security?

Mitt? What the hell...??!!!

I think I'll have some ice cream...

I was just about to post one of my typical Bah Humbug Christmas rants-one that was especially depressing- when this little email meme plopped into my Inbox.

Talk about timing, eh?

I'm posting this instead.

Last week, I took my children to a restaurant.

My six-year-old son asked if he could say grace.

As we bowed our heads he said, 'God is good, God is great. Thank you for the food, and I would even thank you more if Mom gets us ice cream for dessert. And Liberty and justice for all! Amen!'

Along with the laughter from the other customers nearby, I heard a woman
remark, 'That's what's wrong with this country. Kids today don't even know how to pray. Asking God for ice cream! Why, I never!'

Hearing this, my son burst into tears and asked me, 'Did I do it wrong? Is
God mad at me?'

As I held him and assured him that he had done a terrific job, and God was certainly not mad at him, an elderly gentleman approached the table.

He winked at my son and said, 'I happen to know that God thought that was a great prayer.'

'Really?' my son asked.

'Cross my heart,' the man replied.

Then, in a theatrical whisper, he added (indicating the woman whose remark had started this whole thing), 'Too bad she never asks God for ice cream. A little ice cream is good for the soul sometimes.'

Naturally, I bought my kids ice cream at the end of the meal. My son stared at his for a moment, and then did something I will remember the rest of my life.

He picked up his sundae and, without a word, walked over and placed it in front of the woman. With a big smile he told her, 'Here, this is for you. Ice cream is good for the soul sometimes; and my soul is good already.'

A lot of us could use some ice cream right about now...I know I do!

Thank You congress, Thank You Pres. Bush

My retirement can now be funded!

Incandescent light bulbs are to be phased out in 10 years.

I've just bought a case of 60w's. More to follow.

My goal is to corner the market in south central Missouri for illicit electrical lighting. I have plenty of room for storage and cases of bulbs are fairly cheap wholesale (for now anyway.) And they have an infinite shelf life. By 2018, if you want regular ol' bulbs around these parts-you'll have to go through me. BWAAAHAHAHAHA!

10 years? Yeah, the timing couldn't be better!

I'll be ready.

This could be more lucrative than carbon credits!

Algore Weeps

From FoxNews:

Russian President Vladimir Putin was named the Time magazine "Person of the Year."

Richard Stengel, Time's managing editor, said the 2007 honor went to the Russian leader "for an extraordinary feat of leadership in taking a country that was in chaos and bringing it stability."

Man, that quote sounds so familiar! Hasn't that been said initially about any commie/socialist/fascist leadership, in any country they have taken over?

Man on the Street Responses to Ronpaulio's Remark Today

Ronpaulio, professional hand-wringer extrordinare, quoted Sinclair Lewis on Fox 'n' Friends this morning.
"When fascism comes it will be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross. "

I reckon that was meant to be a jab at Huckananny.
The response has been a great opportunity at comedy about the campaigns in general. Here's some of the better ones I've read so far-

When fascism comes, it will be wearing a pantsuit.

When fascism came, it came wrapped in environmentalism and carrying carbon credits.

It'll come wrapped in tinfoil and carrying a grudge.

And the winner of the moment...

When insanity comes, it’ll be towing a blimp and asking for money.

"She did not threatened anyone with it."

Household cutlery = weapon of unusual lethality.

Via FoxNews

"A 10-year-old Florida girl faces felony weapons charges after bringing a small steak knife to school to cut up her lunch, according to a report on WFTV.com.

School officials say the Ocala 5th grader had brought a piece of steak for her lunch, and had brought a steak knife. According to the report, a couple of teachers took the utensil and called authorities, who arrested the girl and took her to the county’s juvenile assessment center.

"She did not use it inappropriately. She did not threaten anyone with it. She didn't pull it out and brandish it. Nothing of that nature," explained Marion County School Spokesman Kevin Christian, who added that it made no difference what the knife was being used for, they had no choice but to call police.

"Anytime there's a weapon on campus, yes, we have to report it and we aggressively report it because we don't want to take any chances, regardless," Christian said.

The girl now faces a felony charge for possessing a weapon on school property and has been suspended from school for 10 days. The parents of the girl could not be reached for comment, WFTV.com reported."

Behold what our Nerf-World culture hath wrought!

I can just see the scene, can't you? The little girl sits down with her friends in the school cafeteria with her lunchpail, they're all just yakking away, like little 10 year old girls do. She begins to unpack her lunch, as do her pals-just another day, just another lunchtime. One of them is whining about what mom packed for her, or is complaining about the school's fare that day. Our lil' innocent (now suspected felon) pulls out the tupperware plate, pops the lid off and pulls out the cutlery from home, wrapped in a papertowel along with the fork so's not to damage her lunchsack or whatever she toted it in. Maybe one of her pals says "You got steak?! Lucky..."
Ymmm! Good steak-even cold-is good eats! She proceeds to dig in, her friends take no notice. Why should they? You cut a steak with a steak knife right? Duh.

And then...all hell breaks loose. Betcha she never even got a bite of that leftover steak and got hauled to the pokey hungry.

"They had no choice but to call the police"---my ass!!!!

Laws, if not tempered with WISDOM, is not justice whatsoever.
This could have been handled quietly and discreetly within the school, the cops did not need to be notified! Big city public schools have gone mad. I hope to hell her folks have some good lawyers. Maybe some sense can be knocked into this "zero-tolerance" bullshit.
(not holding my breath, though.)

Iffin it was my little girl-you can bet your ass that "suspension" would be permanent. My kid would NEVER set foot in that place again.

Handy Tips for Iowans

HT: Boing-Boing

Added to my quirky venacular: Weapons of Unusual Lethality

If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit.
Romney has introduced what will soon be the punchline for every comedian out there. It may even surpass "weapons of mass destruction".
This is from his appearance on "Meet the Press" yesterday, topic-gun control:

"...But my position is we should check on the backgrounds of people who are trying to purchase guns. We also should keep weapons of unusual lethality from being on the street..."

Wow, just kinda rolls off the tongue, don't it? (lethality, lethality, lethality...oy! Christ! Is that even a word?!)
I have not a clue just what the heck he was really hinting to but these things came quickly to mind when I read that-

Yeah...I wouldn't want all those in the hands of a bunch of amateurs either, Mittski baby.
No word yet on just where he stands on the issue of 'tater cannons and rocks bigger than your head.

"Your call cannot be completed as dialed, please hang up and try again..."

Just another reason why I love the innernettubes.

Someone has archived a plethora of phone company pre-recorded messages.
It's all here. Classics such as "The number you have reached is no longer in service..." and the old favorite from Mother's Day and Christmas past, "We're sorry, all long distance circuits are busy at this time...."

Ahhhhh, memories!

They even have some ancient GTE recordings that us folks can recall from the party line days. (Which for me was pretty recent, actually.)

The mischief bone in me is begging to substitute one of these recordings for my answering machine message! Ha!!

The Phone Recording Archive

HT: Boing-Boing

Freudian Slip?

This is too rich!

HT: Hot Air

Waiting for The Blue Fairy

In the Disney version of "Pinnochio" the Blue Fairy is a lovely, shimmering dame who bestows the gift of life upon the wooden marionette with the promise of making him a 'real live boy' only after he proves himself worthy. In our house, we use that mythology as an inside joke towards one of our dogs, Hannah, the Timid. We've always had a laugh at her expense about how some day the Blue Fairy would come and make her a real live dog.

Well, today is the day. Racked with cancer, that is invading all her organs at an alarming pace, I've had to make that decision to summon the Blue Fairy.

We didn't know much about her when she was deceptively foisted upon us and in one of my rare moments of weakness I gave in to my kids' pleas that we take her. A friend of a friend had been caring for her. Hannah was said to have been a "rescue" dog. A former inmate at a local puppymill, but when cysts began to form on her ovaries and she had to be spayed, she was now no longer profitable to the operators, so she was given away down the line 'til we came along.
The dog ain't right, was my first thought. In humans, we'd call it "institutionalized". She was shy, timid, content with close, tight places. Didn't interact with others whether they be canine or human. She seemed frightened by children.
Nevertheless, we ended up taking her home. Honest to God, I don't know why.
As soon as we let her out into our yard at home she immediately fled to the small doghouse...and there she stayed for 4 months! She would only venture out after dark. I would leave a bucket of water and a bowl of feed nearby. I never saw her come out during the day, but I did catch her one evening slowly creeping out and discreetly sniffing about for a suitable spot to pee and defecate. Then she ran back to the safety and security of the doghouse. No amount of coaxing, kind words or cajoling would make her leave the dark cozy and slightly cramped quarters of the doghouse.

Yeah...this one ain't right in the head!

Her teeth were a mess. Broken canines from chewing on chain link, I suspect, and from old age- we really had no idea how old she was. At least over 5 years, but who knows?
Judging by her behavior and appearance she had had a rough life. Slowly we began to try and make it better for her and maybe rehabilitate her as much as we could. I had worked with abused dogs during my stint at the Humane Society back in California, so I knew what I was up against. Time and earning trust would be the only things that would work and it would take a long time!

Once she felt safe enough to emerge from her self imposed exile in the doghouse, we worked on being a house-dog. Much to my shock I found she was house broken, so there's a major obstacle tackled. But once again, she sought the safety of an out of the way spot-in this case, my bedroom. She was content just to lay there by my bed all day long, only venturing out to go outside briefly, do her business and flee (yes,flee- as in run.) back to the bedroom.
She rarely interacted with my other dogs. Never jumped or frolicked with them. She would always stay close to my side, cautiously, whenever I was out with them as a group. She had by now totally bonded to me and me alone. My kids frightened her.

We heard her bark...once. And that led to the Blue Fairy joke. It was a couple of years ago. She was out in the yard with the other dogs when a noisy truck came down the road. As usual, the other dogs began to go ballistic, barking and jumping at the fence, frantically racing to and fro. Hannah stood off to the side, but then, suddenly, her tail went up, she made a half hearted jump and BARKED! Once. Even she seemed surprized that she had allowed herself to let her guard down and let go.

We all witnessed it and all were amazed.
"Hannah!" my youngest yelled, "You're almost a real dog!"
And then I said "Yeah, one day if she's really good, the Blue Fairy will come and make her a real, live dog."
We all had a good laugh at that at her expense. And a story for this freaky, strange animal in our charge was born. The Blue Fairy became her religion. Her hope. And we tried our best to encourage this hope. I have no idea what kind of doggy hell this beast had endured in the past, but I made it my mission to make her stay with us better than what she had had. Long walks untethered by a lease in the woods and fields, indulgences in table scraps, occasional pats on the head which she seemed to not like, no matter how gentle. I tried to treat her as one of my own as much as she would allow it. But there was always a wall there. Some secret hell we could never break through to. But over time she did at least appear happier.

Then a few months ago, during a vet visit, we found out she had breast cancer. I felt responsible. I mean, how was I to know you had to do breast exams on a dog!? I had always had males. Hannah was my first female dog. I had dropped the ball out of ignorance.
The cancer was especially fast and invasive. Even a total mastectomy wouldn't help-which is quite an ordeal for a dog...her entire underside had been removed and stitched back together. The stress was too much. The cancer now began to spread like a wildfire. The vet prescribed prednisone just to keep her comfortable, but there really wasn't any hope now. It would be my call.

Today was the last pred pill and with a bad winter storm on tap for this weekend that threatens to keep us housebound for days, her condition only getting worse...all this has made my mind up.
It's time to make the call. So I did. Tearfully, I might add. I never thought I'd get so torn up over a dog who never really returned any affection and was just a doorstop around here, but I am.

So, if you'll excuse me for now-Hannah and I have one last walk to take on this chilly December morning, the Blue Fairy is waiting.

Glowing Hellfire Demon Kitties Created in S. Korean Lab

First the glow-in-the-dark pigs, now this!
What is with the Asian obsession with creatures that can glow?

"South Korean scientists have cloned cats by manipulating a fluorescent protein gene, a procedure which could help develop treatments for human genetic diseases, officials said Wednesday. In a side-effect, the cloned cats glow in the dark when exposed to ultraviolet beams.

A team of scientists led by Kong Il-keun, a cloning expert at Gyeongsang National University, produced three cats possessing altered fluorescence protein (RFP) genes, the Ministry of Science and Technology said.
*****
"This technology can be applied to clone animals suffering from the same diseases as humans," the leading scientist, Kong, told AFP.

"It will also help develop stemcell treatments," he said, noting that cats have some 250 kinds of genetic diseases that affect humans, too.

The technology can also help clone endangered animals like tigers, leopards and wildcats, Kong said."

(Yeah right...admit it, you guys just dig the fact they GLOW!)

These things are just too damn creepy!



And in a related story of Asian scientists goofing around with nature, just because they can:
Scientists in Japan have succeeded in creating mutant mice with no fear of cats!!

Now this would have some interesting applications in humans...

Homey Don't Play Dat Game-The Iowa smackdown

Crazy Sexy Fred!
That's all I gotta say about that.

Oh and did anyone else notice that the mod had the most peculiar pantyline-ever? I was watching on a small screen, but I swear, she really looked WEIRD from behind. If it was her undies doing that, she needs to shop somewhere else.

Fred was in fine form today.
But you'll never hear that anywhere else but on the innernettubes.

Does Keyes show up just as balance to Ronpaulio?

And so the spin begins... Police are now casting doubt about Assam's bravery

Ahhhhh, jeez.
Goodness sakes, we can't possibly have a young, confident and capable woman in this story, they must be thinking. That would be bad. Doesn't fit the "victim culture" mentality the media has for so long been cultivating, even if she's good looking AND single. I've highlighted the weasely passage of this AP story.

December 10, 2007 -- Col. Jeanne Assam said her hands were steady as she aimed her gun at a young man firing a high-powered rifle in the crowded foyer of the New Life Church.

And she prayed for divine guidance.

I was given the assignment to end this before it got too much worse, the volunteer security guard said yesterday, a day after police say the same man killed four people at the church and a missionary training school in a nearby city.

I just said, Holy Spirit, be with me, Assam said. My hands werent even shaking.

Police say Matthew Murray, 24, may have died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound instead of any shots fired by Assam. Its not clear if her bullets hit him.

Still, police and church leaders credited her bravery with averting a greater tragedy.

Five additional people were wounded at New Life and at the mission 65 miles away in the Denver suburb of Arvada. Police blamed Murray for both incidents.

Murray had been thrown out of Youth With a Mission, in Arvada, a few years ago and had been sending it hate mail, police said in court papers.

Youth With a Mission maintains an office at the 10,000-member church in Colorado Springs.

Police said the mission was the common denominator in both shootings.

In a statement, the mission said health problems kept Murray from finishing its program. It did not elaborate.

The program directors felt that issues with his health made it inappropriate for him to finish, it said.

AP

Look for more of this to be spouted in the next few days. An armed citizen (who just happens to be a woman!) in a public place, taking down a whacko just isn't in the agenda. Tsk tsk. How dare she have some brass ones!..and even attribute God for giving her the nerve to do what had to be done!
And note too, the "Col." before her name in the article, that's a new twist-I have read that she had been a cop in Minnsota before moving to Colorado-so are they trying to imply that she just wasn't an average ordinary gal, just volunteering to watch the congregations back since she had experience with firearms- that she was, indeed a trained "professional", because in their world those are the only ones "allowed" guns? More tweaking of the story, I suspect.
I've even read on blogs and forums comments that go so far as to question whether or not she is even female!! Insinuations of transgenderism.
What?!
Apparently there are quite a few beta males that are really threatened by a strong, solid chick, but accuse them of being a gender bender, and that makes all their worries go away. That's disgusting.

Until I see untampered, absolute forensics proving that this pathetic lost soul did off himself, I will continue to be overwhelmingly proud of this fine example of my gender.
Hillbeast had just about made me ashamed that I have boobs and internal plumbing-this gal just redeemed all us womenfolk.

Ice, Ice Baby

Once again our area managed by some fluke of nature and topography to dodge the ice storm bullet. Once again the 'freeze line' was only a mere 20 miles to the north of us.
All we've got the past 2 days has been lots of cold, almost freezing rain. Which is icky enough and makes one just want to pull the covers up and stay in bed.

But I feel for my neighbors to the north, they all are getting hit again with a thick layer of ice, wreaking havoc on the infrastructure that had barely recovered from the last major ice storm only 11 months ago.

Hmm, 2 big ice storms in a year-the first in January this one in December...I blame Algore.

(photo credit: Bruce James. If you'd like to see more local photos of the ice storm -including some nice "ice fog" photos by a friend of mine, Lindsay- go here.)

Wow...Just Wow

Woman enlists to take wounded hubby's place.

“I made him a promise that I would finish what he started.”

A gal's gotta do what a gal's gotta do.

The 1st Church of Gorebalism Followers Propose Sin Tax on Kids

We knew this was coming.

SYDNEY (AFP) - Parents who have more than two children should be charged a lifelong climate change tax to offset the effect of their extra greenhouse gas emissions, an Australian medical expert has proposed.

They should pay 5,000 dollars (4,400 US) a head for each extra child and up to 800 dollars every year thereafter, according to the plan published in the Medical Journal of Australia.

In contrast, contraceptives and sterilisation procedures would be eligible for carbon credits, suggested Professor Barry Walters at the King Edward Memorial Hospital in Perth.
"Every family choosing to have more than a defined number of children should be charged a carbon tax that would fund the planting of enough trees to offset the carbon cost generated by a new human being," he wrote.

Walters, an obstetrician, made his proposal in a letter in which he criticised the government's payment of a 4,000 dollar "baby bonus" in a bid to boost the birth rate in this sparsely-populated country of 21 million people.

Paying parents extra for every baby fuelled more emissions and contributed to global warming, he said, adding that the bonus should be replaced with a "baby levy" in line with the "polluter pays" principle.

And Professor Garry Egger, director of the New South Wales Centre for Health Promotion and Research, agreed.

"Population remains crucial to all environmental considerations," he wrote. "The debate (around population control) needs to be reopened as part of a second ecological revolution."

Via Yahoo News

Good thing the Osmonds don't live in Australia.

Ok, so now we can't drive, can't eat meat, can't drill for oil, can't observe Hanukkah in the traditional manner, or burn candles for any reason, can't mow our lawns, can't burn wood in fireplaces or outside, can't smoke cigarettes, can't travel by air, can't use regular incandescent light bulbs, can't have a real Christmas tree, can't breathe to excess, can't heat our homes, can't question the awesome wisdom of gorebal warming, can't buy items that might use excessive amounts of energy to produce, can't cut down trees to produce lumber which will be used in turn to create homes that are not energy efficient, can't use plastic products because they encourage the evil big oil conglomerates, can't farm in the usual very efficient methods, can't use the innernet because of wasted electricity, can't build nukes, can't burn coal, can't live in your own home because it's an energy gobbler-in short, just about everything that makes life comfortable and bearable is trying to be outlawed or "taxed" to discourage the activity and now this brainiac is proposing to end the only fun thing left-that of the act of reproduction and the subsequent result of that earth killing activity.

Didn't China try to do the same thing? Limiting the number of children you could have?
Yeah, that's working out real good for that country as I understand.

To these sanctimonious pinheads who think this is a good idea... Put your money where your mouth is-kill yourselves first. For the good of the earth, of course. This is where your religion is heading to, anyway, right? The annihilation of human activity for the sake of Gaia.
Then we might take your complaints seriously...once we're done laughing our asses off at your stupidity.

12/7/41

Our world was so different then.
Could we ever be so united and dedicated to a one single cause-that of the defeat of earthly evil-ever again?

Don't answer.

Just take a moment today to remember the fallen.

Wish Fullfillment via Scrappleface

Scott Ott speculates what could have happened in Omaha, if only...

"As he ascended to the upper deck, Mr. Hawkins could almost hear the screams of the shoppers as they tried to flee the sound of his shots, but due to the echo couldn’t discern the shooter’s position. He pictured the confused mall security guards talking over each other on the two-way radios. He rehearsed in his mind the final trigger pull that would end his mortal pain, and imagined the silence that would follow, punctuated only by the groaning of his dying victims.

That was the plan — careful, premeditated and nearly perfect.

There was only one problem: some people don’t read signs, and others ignore them..."

Now that's how it should have went down!

God is a Sith Lord (Who Knew?)

Some people have just way too much time on their hands!

Did Da Vinci hide God's face in painting?

By Aislinn Simpson
The U.K. Telegraph

A new storm is brewing in the world of Da Vinci theorists after a mysterious group claimed it has used mirrors to uncover hidden biblical images in some of the great master’s most famous works.

The Mirror of the Sacred Scriptures and Paintings In recent years, art history scholars have unveiled Templar knights, Mary Magdalene, a child and a musical script hidden in the Italian’s paintings.

It is well-documented that Da Vinci, who lived between 1452 and 1519, often wrote in mirror writing, either in an attempt to stop his rivals stealing his ideas or in a bid to hide his scientific theories, often deemed as subversive, from the powerful Roman Catholic Church.

But now a group known as The Mirror of the Sacred Scriptures and Paintings World Foundation believes that he applied the same technique to some of his best-known creations, including the Mona Lisa and the Last Supper, to conceal mysterious faces and religious symbols.

When applied to the sketch The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and Saint John the Baptist, which hangs in London’s National Gallery, the authors say the mirror image reveals the ancient Old Testament god Jahveh, who "protects the soul of the body’s vices" and wears the Vatican’s crown. (And is well skilled in the dark side of the Force, too, I bet!)

(More of the smoke & mirrors, here)

Above left is the sketch as the world knows it and the right is an image you get when you hold up a mirror to the right arm and elbow crook of Mother Mary.

Dude! God is a really old and pissed off Darth Vader!!!

Wow...that explains everything now.

We are so screwed.

Yummmmmmmm, Latkes!

I know applesauce is the traditional accompaniment, (and it IS tasty that way!) but the gentile, ig'nert white trash, ugly American in me can't help but have 'em with a dab of ketchup. So sue me.

On behalf of all the denizens here of the White Trash Republic and the Hillbilly Ecosystem, we wish all y'all a Happy and Peaceful Hanukkah!

And I know I should leave politics outta this greeting, but honestly, I was totally gobsmacked when I heard about this!

This is what happens when the religion of Gorebal Worming begins to hijack other religions.
OY VEY, Y'all!

It's enough to make me wanna light every friggin' candle in my house just in pure unfettered defiance of this idiocy. (and being a rural inhabitant, I have a buttload of 'em!)

Just let 'em try and go after my Advent Wreath!
Morons.

Ahhh, We was just kiddin', Y'all!!

Why is it whenever the left gets busted dead to rights
(which is a turn of phrase that may some day have no relevance if they have their way ) over something they may have said it suddenly becomes a "joke"? Time and time again they trot that excuse out. What a curious sense of humor these people have!

I was raised on the humor of the Marx Brothers, Firesign Theater, Bill Cosby, George Carlin, Monty Python, Richard Pryor (when I was older, of course!) Second City and just about any comedian and or comedy troupe of any significance or note in the latter part of the 20th century. I would have thought I knew just about any kind of humor and its' many nuances. I would like to think that I do indeed have a good sense of humor. I would like to think that I have in my possession a good knowledge of what's funny and what's not. But apparently not.
I guess I R jest dumb.
And it's up to the brilliant comedic talents of the left to enlightened me. And at the same time question my intelligence in doing so.

Maybe it's just me, but I always thought that if you had to explain a "joke" it either was A) Wasn't funny to begin with or B) Poorly told and/or executed from the start. (And hence, not truly funny. Unless, of course, the botched and fumbling explanation is indeed part of the joke, in which case, that is a whole 'nuther sub-species of humor and best left to the pros.)

So which is it with this latest folly coming from the Hillbeast's camp about dredging into Obama's kindergarten aspirations? A or B?
I found this crawfishin' explanation from Mark Penn, Hillbeast's top campaign strategist over at Newsbusters, it's from a recent "Morning Joe" show which is on MSNBC, and hosted by Joe Scarborough.

JOE SCARBOROUGH: Why bring up his kindergarten teacher?

MARK PENN: Oh, that is so silly. You know, I have to say that I really wonder at the end of the day -- he put out an attack on her, trying to say that she had some 20 year plan, and at the end of a long thing as a joke, the campaign put out that he always wanted to run from kindergarten. It was a joke! And the spin machines here are so hyped up here about Senator Clinton and her campaign, that -- that someone would pick up on a joke like that and treat it as though it were serious. The serious part was Barack Obama did not serve really much time in the U.S. Senate before running for president. I mean, he touts his foreign policy experience, the subcommittee he chaired never even met. The serious part of this is he has no practical national or international experience, not the joke at the end of a very long and serious release. Gosh, you guys are so spinnable.


Wow.
Just pat us on the head, tell us we're being silly, and send us on our way. How could you not recognize the blatant humor of that part of the release? Jeez, do we have to explain everything to you, you ig'nert unwashed masses?! How dare you question the blinding, side splitting comedy talent of she who would be Queen? (and the talent of that room full of chimps randomly typing away, writing her material.)

It was a joke! (and if you, too, want to be in on "the joke", you can read it here.)

Yeah...Oh! I get it now! Duh! They mean a joke like all those poor stupid troops stuck in Iraq type of funny! Shit, I didn't know Kerry was giggin' for Hillbeast as a writer. He must not be union. Bet the monkeys are pissed.


Oh and just for the record, in case I ever go terminally insane and decide to run for any kind of local office in the near future-
When I was 4, I wanted to grow up to be a raccoon.
But since my parents and my nursery school teacher are deceased, you'll just have to take my word on that.

Pooty Succeeds Where OooGo Fails

Via the AP:
" MOSCOW - European election monitors said Monday that Russia's parliamentary ballot was unfair, hours after President Vladimir Putin's party swept 70 percent of the seats in the new legislature.

The victory paves the way for Putin to remain Russia's de facto leader even after he leaves office next spring. On Monday, Putin described the weekend's election as a vote of confidence in him."

Cue the Darth Vader music!
(Wow, maybe Pagan was right about all that Bircher stuff...)

Hugo Smells Sulphur, Promises to Keep Running That Play 'Til He Gets It Right

To quote a commenter over on Hot Air: "It ain't over 'til the fat man bleeds!"

The Venezuela referendum vote was a squeaker and the final results dragged into the wee hours, but when it was all said and done common sense barely prevailed in that country.

Chubby Psycho-boy finally gave a rambling concession speech, promising that "we" won't give up on the push to make the country's constitution null and void. Just that this wasn't the time yet-that the people weren't ready for the bold and progressive idea. But "they" would keep trying.
A commenter at Free Republic, "Tears of a Clown" was translating Hugo's speech in real time on one of their election threads and posted his words:
"We were so closing to winning, so close.
All the lies that were circulating, the fears, despite all that we got 49.7, this is still a great political leap.
We will repeat this request, in a better age when these ideas are accepted..."

So-It wasn't a defeat...just bad timing, according to El Gordo. He still has 'til 2012, I believe, to totally screw up his country beyond all recognition. Plenty of time yet to completely beat the citizenry into submission...and you know that he will! Just gotta get their minds right, y'know. (I haven't seen that quote mentioned anywhere yet in the coverage of the election.)

Chavez doesn't give up THAT easily. Dawn will bring some anxious weirdness to Caracas I'm betting. Look for some sort of "national emergency" in the near future.
We can only hope that this election may emboldened the people of Venuezula and they take back their country in short order.

If the brain syphilis doesn't do him in any time soon, nothing would please me more than to see some locals re-enact the infamous Mussolini Pinata scene in the coming months. Ahhh, well, we can dream, can't we?

One more thing- just how loyal is the military there to Chavez?
Just askin'...

World AIDS Day? (Pffffffft!)

To commemorate the day, let's take a look at some statistics, shall we?

Proof that the squeaky wheel always gets the grease!

HCV STATISTICS vs. AIDS STATISTICS

Numbers of People Infected:
3.5 million persons in the United States suffer from HCV (Hepatis C Virus)
700,000 persons in the United States infected with HIV
400 million worldwide with HCV
20 million worldwide with HIV
1 in every 15 people in the world suffers from HCV

Numbers of New Cases Each Year
150,000 new cases of HCV in the US
40,000 new cases of HIV

Numbers of People who will Die
80 million worldwide from HCV
20 million worldwide from AIDS
4 times as many deaths worldwide from HCV as from AIDS!


NIH Funding for Research for HCV vs. AIDS
$1.15 billion per year on AIDS from 1991-1995
$4.5 million per year on HCV
$.5 billion per year on treatment/support for AIDS (Ryan White Act)
$0 funding for treatment/support for HCV
$1.65 billion yearly on AIDS< $4.5 million per year on HCV
366 times more on AIDS than HCV!

(source: hepatitis-C.de All I did was change the acronym to HCV from CHC, which is the european designation, I suppose. It stands for 'chronic hepatitis c', same thing.)

Everyday in the U.S. it is estimated that 72 people die of HCV. Most are on liver transplant waiting lists. (as was my husband at the time of his death)

My husband died of complications from HCV. I can't help but think that if Hepatitis C got even a half of the research funding that AIDS/HIV gets, he very well might still be alive today. His kids miss him. He'll never see them graduate, he won't get to walk them down the aisle. He'll never see his grandkids.

These stats just plain piss me off!! Damn right, I'm bitter. Just because my husband and scores of others like him weren't the right demographic, weren't the right victim group politically, didn't advance any agenda for any activist group because of their disease-no one pays any attention. He wasn't queer enough, he wasn't black enough, he wasn't poor enough, he wasn't living in a third world country.
He was just some average American straight white guy, working his ass off to provide for his family and try to enjoy some of the goodness this country had to offer.
In short, he wasn't politically correct enough.

HCV is not just a disease of whores and junkies, which seems to be the prevalent myth. Like AIDS, it is a blood borne disease, but unlike AIDS it is not sexually transmitted. (There is some controversy there, let's just say one would have to work damn hard and vigorously to the point of abrasions internally and drawing blood to do that-most regular folks don't do that.) My husband got HCV from a bad tattoo, back in the days when tattooists weren't so picky about sanitation. Ink cups were used from one customer to the next and gun needles were cleaned whenever or when they got dulled. My husband foolish attempt to be a badass at 18 cost him his life 25 years later. And that's what's so evil about this virus- it bides it's time, turning your liver to concrete slowly. By the time you show any symptoms, it's too late. Often that time span between contracting it and showing symptoms can be as long as 30 years! Most times it's 15 to 20.

"I question the timing..."

On the very same day Gallup released this poll, we had this drama unfolding all afternoon long in Rochester, New Hampshire.

Heh-heh-heh.