io9

has some WONDERFUL snow sculptures for you to see

why does the rnc HATE christmas?

hmmmmmmmmm
john at americablog points us to this

RNC Christmas greeting omits word "Christmas"

i believe in angels

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awwwwwwwwww

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if you've not gotten me my christmas gift yet.........

after all, it's a SPLENDID christmas gift!


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NO figgy puddin' for me thank you

i'm TOO scared!

Bistro: You can’t have any pudding until you sign our waiver

By Agence France-Presse

LONDON (AFP) – A London restaurant has asked diners to sign a legal waiver before tucking in to their traditional Christmas pudding in case they hurt themselves on the silver charms inside, it emerged Thursday.

The owners of High Timber, located on the River Thames in the City of London financial district, said they were advised to draw up the indemnity form by lawyers who regularly dine there.

"It has created a bit of a stir in the restaurant and people looked at it disbelieving at first," said co-owner Neleen Strauss.

"I thought it was going to be a pain but decided to do it to cover my backside.............

these ARE good

or bad depending on your reference point

it's NOT my favorite (it's just way too hard to choose) but here is ONE

The 50 Funniest Celebrity Quotes Of The 2000s

19. Coldplay's Chris Martin, on charity work (2006)

“Can we got on with this? I've got to do AIDS and Alzheimer's and land mines this afternoon, and I want to get back for Deal or No Deal. Plus, Gwyneth's making drumsticks.”

merry christmas (eve that is)!!!

NO video, but click the link for a VERY good christmas song: with special commentary

amen

they FOUND it (not that it was really lost)

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

C-SPAN helps MSNBC show and prove hypocrisy by McCain

By David Edwards and Daniel Tencer
The missing C-SPAN footage showing Sen. John McCain preventing a Democratic senator from getting an extra 30 seconds to finish a speech has been found.

The Republican senator from Arizona was outraged last week when Sen. Al Franken (D-MN), who was presiding over the Senate, prevented Sen. Joe Lieberman from getting extra time to finish his comments on the Senate floor.

"I've been around here twenty-some years, first time I've seen a member denied a minute or two to finish his remarks," McCain said. "And I must say that I don't know what's happening here in this body, but I think it's wrong."

Political observers quickly pointed out that, in October 2002, McCain himself prevented Sen. Mark Dayton (D-MN) from finishing a speech opposing the Iraq war and Congress' move to authorize President Bush to launch military action against Iraq.

But when MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Show went to find footage of that incident in the C-SPAN archives, producers found the relevant part of the video mysteriously blacked out.......

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well at least NO courts martial

which is rather a relief. still DISCIPLINARY action will be taken (and has already been taken in seven cases). as i said, i UNDERSTAND the reasons why someone should NOT get pregnant in a war zone. i don't understand PUNISHMENT for it

US general defends ‘no pregnancy’ policy; vows no court martial for violation

By Agence France-Presse

A US general based in northern Iraq defended Tuesday his tough punishments for soldiers who get pregnant or impregnate a fellow soldier and said fears the new rules could result in courts-martial were unwarranted.

"I see absolutely no circumstance where I would punish a female soldier by court martial for a violation... none," Major General Anthony Cucolo told ABC News. "I fully intend to handle these cases through lesser disciplinary action."

The Stars and Stripes military newspaper reported that seven US soldiers, including three men, have already been punished under Cucolo's November 4 policy statement. They received letters of reprimand that will not remain in their permanent military file.

Under his new rules, which have unleashed a fiery debate, violators are threatened with criminal charges or even a court-martial. They apply both to women who get pregnant and men who get female soldiers pregnant, even if the couple is married.............

Technorati Tags:women in the military, pregnancy in the military, major general anthony cucolo
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THEY have no qualms about taking the money

they just don't want anyone ELSE (including those who REALLY REALLY REALLY need it) to take it

NOTE: her name is michele not michelle (i don't point that out because i'm concerned about bachmann's feelings. i'm not. i have my reasons)

Study reveals Bachmann to be ’something of a welfare queen’

By Stephen C. Webster

Outspoken Minnesota Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann likes to make herself out to be a bastion of American conservatism, standing true as a bulwark against alleged socialism.

But that image is about to come crashing down around her.

Bachmann and her family were the recipients of over a quarter of a million dollars in "corrupt" farm subsidies in the nine years leading up to 2006, according to a new report by Yasha Levine, writing for Truth Dig.

Even for a woman who once warned that President Obama was "reaching down the throat and ripping the guts out of freedom," that's a lot of dough. In fact, it's almost exactly how much her stake in the family farm is worth.

"Bachmann’s financial disclosure forms indicate her stake in the Wisconsin farm is worth up to $250,000," noted Politico's Glenn Thrush. "Her income from the farm has grown from $2,000 a year a few years back to as much as $50,000 for 2008."..................

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my best wishes to steven

number one, he's part of a GREAT band and number two, he was very nice to me (and that counts in my book)

Aerosmith’s Tyler enters rehab

By Mark Shanahan, Globe Staff

Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler has entered rehab to treat an addiction to pain killers. The flamboyant frontman issued a statement late Tuesday to People and Rolling Stone magazines saying he plans to resume work with his band, but first must deal with his drug problem.

“With the help of my family and team of medical professionals I am taking responsibility for the management of my pain and am eager to be back on the stage and in the recording studio with my bandmates Joe Perry, Joey Kramer, Tom Hamilton and Brad Whitford,’’ Tyler said in a statement........

pic: by me

my bruins

Over the Glass and Into Lore
By DAVE SEMINARA

When Catherine Kaptain turned on the evening news and saw her son John being struck with his own shoe in a fight with the Boston Bruins, her disdain for the sport her family loved never seemed more justified. “I screamed, ‘They’re beating up my babies!’ ” she said.

Thirty years ago, on Dec. 23, 1979, Bruins defenseman Mike Milbury whacked John Kaptain, a Rangers fan from New Jersey, with a shoe during a bizarre altercation in which all but one Bruins player went over the glass and into the stands at Madison Square Garden. The incident, after a 4-3 Bruins victory, resulted in three players being suspended, lawsuits and the installation of higher glass in the arena. It remains one of the most memorable fan-athlete confrontations in sports.

It all unfolded after Phil Esposito of the Rangers smashed his stick on the ice and skated off to the locker room after failing to convert a breakaway in the waning seconds. When the buzzer sounded, Al Secord, Boston’s rugged left wing, decked the Rangers’ Ulf Nilsson.............

pic: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

The Bruins' Mike Milbury being restrained. He and all but one of his teammates went into the stands after a victory over the Rangers.

note: espo was a RANGER (ewwwwwwwwwwwwww) when the melee took place. i'd NEVER post a pic of him in a RANGER uniform

want

gingerbread castles

sarah, you're my sistah grrrlfren'

we both know it's important to trim our bushes!

this is kinda cool

and something i didn't know

All about numbers

Why 1 is one and 2 is two and 3 is three…

The numbers we all use (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.) are known as “Arabic” numbers to distinguish them from the “Roman Numerals” (I, II, III, IV, V, VI, etc). Actually the Arabs popularized these numbers but they were originally used by the early Phonecian traders to count and keep track of their trading accounts..............

larisa over at 'at largely' points us to

a repug blug

that wishes death on those who are not of the same opinion. i don't think that's mighty christian do you? (the writer is allegedly a christian, not me)

AND he's proud of wishing death on a us senator: "

"How Dare You Wish Our Klansman to Die! Die, Rethuglican!

It seems our friends on the political left are all but soiling themselves over a post I wrote last night, where I wished West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd to do his nation a favor and go into the light before the Senate votes to destroy the American health care system.

Matt Yglesias seems to think my musings are on par with that of a senator, and his friends Andrew Sullivan are attempting to claim that I speak for the entire political right. Not to be out-done, Larisa Alexandrovna chose to weave in a comparison to a anti-gay dog-park stalkerette in an effort to demonize Christians as well.

While I'm flattered by their attention, I suspect they've overestimated my political clout or my ability to accurately serve as a totem of whichever particular group they'd like to demonize today.

I take full responsibility for posting a blog entry that calls for Senator Robert Byrd to die at a politically-convenient moment, and I won't attempt to walk it back and pretend that I said or meant anything else. I still would find it quite convenient if the senior Senator from Pangea expired prior tothe Senate Democratic plot to force through rushed, potentially catastrophic legislation."

that from confederate yankee's response to all those up in arms over his original death posting.

here's larisa's take:

Wishing death on political opponents...

Posted by Larisa Alexandrovna
This kind of ugly rhetoric is precisely why the far right-wing is destroying the entire GOP. The mainstream Republican party will not cut away this gangrene, so it is stuck with the ramifications of having in their party such violent positions so openly displayed. Just take a look:.................

i want to use the c word and the t word BUT

it's the festive holiday solstice season and i should be nicer than i normally am (ho ho ho ha ha ha)

Palin contradicts herself with illegible climate tweets
By Stephen C. Webster

Former lawmaker Sarah Palin was for man-made climate change before she was against it.

Or to put that another way, Alaska's ex-governor appears to think that she is "Arrogant&Naive".

Ah, the joys of abbreviation.

On Friday just before 3 a.m., Palin unleashed a Twitter volley at reality, slamming anyone who believes mass emissions of greenhouse gasses can have an effect on Earth's atmosphere and climate.

"Copenhgen=arrogance of man2think we can change nature's ways.MUST b good stewards of God's earth,but arrogant&naive2say man overpwers nature", she quipped (direct quote).................

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ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh shite

ON THE OTHER HAND, if EVERYONE was high, there may not BE a war

Video: Afghanistan’s Toking Troops Not Exactly Battle-Ready

By Noah Shachtman

tuesday humor

but it's a real article


'Spy drones' may have been Santa's sleigh: Colombia

Colombia has dismissed Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's claims that drones flying from Colombia are spying on him, with a senior official saying Venezuelan troops instead may have seen "Father Christmas's sleigh".

Mr Chavez, a staunch critic of the United States, said on Sunday the United States was spying on his government with unmanned drones that fly from Colombia as well as the islands off Venezuelan's Caribbean coast.

The Venezuelan President called the incursions by the unmanned planes "acts of war" and ordered his air force to shoot them down if they are seen again.

"Colombia does not have those capabilities he describes," Defence Minister Gabriel Silva said.

"Perhaps the Venezuelan troops confused Father Christmas's sleigh with a spy plane."...................

pic i believe is from thomas cook

Technorati Tags:venezuela, columbia, gabriel silva, father christmas, hugo chavez,
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they have al franken

but they also have bachmann and THIS gatsu piedi. perhaps i'll stay in da land o' da liebs after all

Minnesota Gov. wants to protect kids from cross-dressing elementary-school teachers

By Diana Sweet

Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty has been busy working to shore up the support of his conservative base as he mulls a run for the GOP presidential nomination in 2012.

This could explain his views in the following Newsweek interview, in which he enumerates his belief in creationism and announces that while he once may have supported gay equality, he doesn't any more. He even recants a past vote in support of anti-discrimination legislation.

Pawlenty's main reason for recanting the anti-discrimination support? He wants to protect kids from cross-dressing elementary-school teachers.

From the Newsweek interview:

Let me ask you about social issues your party has been dealing with. In her book, Palin claims that McCain's handlers wanted her to be silent about her belief in creationism. How would you describe your view?................

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eff them and the wooden horse from 1809 they

rode in on

i didn't know about this. but if MEN get to ski jump in the winter olympics WOMEN MUST too. i guess that's not how the olympic committee sees it though

it's an ap story so i can't print any part of it BUT the women ski jumpers sued and went to the supreme court of canada. they turned down the request. no women ski jumpers

WHICH IS EFFING ABSURD

Top Court Refuses to Hear Appeal Ski Jump Appeal

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i'm in there at least 3 times a week

i can attest to this being ABSOLUTELY TRUE

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i have EVERY video ever made by a norwegian band

this by far is the best!

(in all seriousness, i like it a great deal.)



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i don't want to be an afterthought

and i sure as hell do NOT want to be segregated

“And So Do Girls”: Girls as an Afterthought

by lisa
This 1959 ad for an airplane toy throws in girls as an afterthought in the final seconds (”Every boy wants a RemCo toy… and so do girls”). It’s easy to dismiss the ad as quaint and representative of a different time, but today’s advertising seems equally gendered, with girls thrown in as an afterthought (like in this dinosaur toy website) or neatly segregated (see here, here, and here)............



and here's some ads and gender stereotypes i found:

this is

cool cool and cool









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black desi and white wanda

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another angle on women in the military

sex in a war zone, abortion in the military, birth control and PUNISHMENT (as in SHE is the one likely to be punished)

i also wrote about something in this vein a few postings ago

Women Soldiers Forced to Resort to Back-Alley Abortions: Why Are Their Reproductive Rights Denied?
By Kathryn Joyce, Religion Dispatches.

"You hear these legends of coat-hanger abortions," a 26-year-old former Marine sergeant told me recently, "but there are no coat hangers in Iraq. I looked." Amy (who prefers not to use her real name) was stationed in Fallujah as a military journalist two years ago when she discovered she was pregnant. As a female Marine, a distinct minority in the branch, Amy was fearful of going to her chain of command to explain her situation.

For military women, who lack all rights to medical privacy, facing an unplanned pregnancy is a daunting obstacle. Thanks to anti-abortion forces in Congress, military hospitals are banned from providing abortion services, except in cases of life endangerment, rape, or incest (and for the latter two, only if the patient pays for the service herself). Amy says her options were "like being given a choice between swimming in a pond full of crocodiles or piranhas."

"I have long been aware of the stigma surrounding this circumstance and knew my career would likely be over, though I have received exceptional performance reviews in the past," Amy explains. Although Fallujah has a surgical unit, and abortion is one of the most common surgical procedures, Amy knew that if her pregnancy were discovered, she would be sent back to her home base at North Carolina’s Camp Lejeune, where she would then have to seek a private abortion off-base, or she could request leave in Iraq and try her luck at a local hospital. She also knew she could face reprimands from her commanding officers for having had sex in Iraq (part of a broader prohibition on sex in war zones), and that she might not be promoted as a result: a potentially career-ending situation in the Marines, where failure to obtain regular promotions results in being discharged. Moreover, as a woman in the military, accustomed to proving herself to her male peers over her six-year career, Amy was wary of appearing a "weak female."...................

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separate then together!

here's a lot more info on the snowball fight

in dc WHERE A DETECTIVE PULLED OUT A GUN. yes, at a snowball fight. yes, there is much evidence HE DID EXACTLY THAT.

it was a PLANNED SNOWBALL FIGHT. it was a FUN SNOWBALL FIGHT. until a cop pulled a gun.

i didn't post about it yesterday, but today with more info (as in it was all planned out beforehand. a flash mob type of thing), i found the story even MORE interesting.

the wapo article doesn't name the detective BUT he names himself in one of the videos. it's detective BAYLOR

D.C. snowball fight 'fun and games' until gun appears

By Matt Zapotosky

Washington Post Staff Writer

The call went out on a Web site and over Twitter, and hundreds of 20- and 30-somethings, tired of being cooped up, gathered at 14th and U streets NW on Saturday for a little restless indulgence.

Snowball fight!

People squealed as they hurled balls of snow across the largely deserted road. Then, a snowball or two slammed into a Hummer. The driver, a plainclothes detective whom D.C. police refused to identify, got out, drew his gun and exchanged angry words with revelers, according to video footage and witnesses.

Police said initially that the detective had not flashed his weapon. On Sunday, the officer was placed on desk duty after Twitter, blogs and YouTube appeared to show otherwise.,,,,,,,,,,,

Cop Admits to Pulling Gun on Snowballers

Cop says on video he pulled a gun because he was hit with a snowball

By TERESA MASTERSON

A plainclothes police detective allegedly pulled his gun out and waved it at a large group of people in a snowball fight at the corner of 14th and U streets NW Saturday afternoon.

An off-duty member of the Metropolitan Police Dept. was reportedly driving his personal car in the area when the car was suddenly pelted with a barrage of snowballs, according to a statement from the MPD.

The detective stopped his car, got out and approached a crowd of people that might have thrown the snowballs. He then got into a verbal fight with members of the crowd, according to police.............

pic: michael pergam

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who is worse

mr wong and mrs wong OR the people who buy from them?

oh they caught him, they arrested him, they jailed him. he's out and about and killing and/or capturing and selling all sorts of endangered animals STILL

boing boing points us to a national geographic article on an illegal wildlife dealer

asia's wildlife trade

The Kingpin

An exposé of the world's most notorious wildlife dealer, his special government friend, and his ambitious new plan

By Bryan Christy

Photograph by Mark Leong

On September 14, 1998, a thin, bespectacled Malaysian named Wong Keng Liang walked off Japan Airlines Flight 12 at Mexico City International Airport. He was dressed in faded blue jeans, a light-blue jacket, and a T-shirt emblazoned with a white iguana head. George Morrison, lead agent for Special Operations, the elite, five-person undercover unit of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, was there to greet him. Within seconds of his arrest, Anson (the name by which Wong is known to wildlife traffickers and wildlife law enforcement officers around the world) was whisked downstairs in handcuffs by Mexican federales, to be held in the country's largest prison, the infamous Reclusorio Norte..............

photo: mark leong
Confiscated at a market in Bangkok, Thailand, slow lorises are held as evidence at a police station. An international treaty prohibits trade in these nocturnal forest animals. Popular in Japan and Russia, they can sell for a thousand dollars each.

Technorati Tags:endangered species, wong keng liang, george morrison, us fish and wildlife service, anson wong, sungai rusa wildlife
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bar tricks bar tricks bar tricks. i think i know what i'll be doing today

(IF i can get out of the driveway that is)

you GO grrrls!

via

i UNDERSTAND why someone shouldn't

become pregnant if they're serving in the us military and stationed in iraq. i really do. BUT us service members are human beings. human beings have intercourse. that's a fact. there is NO law in the entire cosmos that is going to stop or ban that. NONE

so, i guess the us military is advocating birth control AND is pro-choice. it sure would appear that way to me

COURT MARTIAL? you can TELL someone is pregnant (in almost all cases) by looking at them. you sure as shite CANNOT TELL who did the impregnating by looking at them. if courts martial are really going to be issued, which gender is the one who is going to get screwed (so to speak)?

Army general in Iraq issues pregnancy ban
U.S. personnel in the north could face court-martial, jail for failing orders
NBC News

The Army general of U.S. forces in Northern Iraq has banned pregnancy among military personnel in his command, NBC News reported on Friday.

Anyone who becomes pregnant or impregnates another servicemember, including married couples assigned to the same unit, could face a court-martial and jail time, according to an order issued by Maj. Gen. Anthony Cucolo.

The order, which went into effect on Nov. 4, was first reported by the military publication Stars and Stripes..............

Technorati Tags:women in the military, pregnant soldiers, stars and stripes, maj. general anthony cucolo, women's bodies, women's issues
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more on al franken's amendment

regarding government (defense) contractors.

What Changed? White House Now Supports Franken Rape Amendment

Rachel Slajda

Sen. Al Franken's (D-MN) "rape amendment," which guarantees that rape victims who work for defense contractors can pursue charges against their employers, has been championed by many but opposed by Obama's Department of Defense. The Pentagon initially called the measure unenforceable. But the provision, part of the defense appropriations bill, made it through conference committee and is now supported by the White House.

So what changed?

A senior administration official explains to TPM: The White House was concerned about the original language, which would have prohibited the DoD from using companies whose employment contracts contained an "arbitration clause," which would keep employees from taking the company to court for Title VII offenses, which include rape, sexual assault, harassment and false imprisonment. That language, the official said, may have forced the government to reneg on multi-billion-dollar contracts. Because of a clause in many of those contracts, the government would still have to pay the contractors, even though the work wouldn't be performed..........

Technorati Tags:senator al franken, defense contractors, white house, arbitration clause, sexual assault, rape
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when good senator al franken told asshole senator da liebs to stfu

(my words not the good senator's) msm carried it and pretended to be SHOCKED AND HORRIFIED. they loved whining crybaby pissed off mccain's reaction of OUTRAGE. mmmmmm how soon THEY ALL forget wow.......................

now this comes out and i didn't see it in ONE msm outlet (i've not looked at ALL of them granted, but quite a few)

Flashback: McCain Refused To Grant 30 Seconds Of Time During Iraq War Debate

By Faiz Shakir
Yesterday, Sen. Al Franken (D-MN), acting on the orders of the Senate leadership, refused to grant Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) “an additional moment” to continue speaking on the Senate floor after his 10 minutes expired. Franken’s objection caused Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) to groan about how Franken’s move was unprofessional, unprecedented, and disrespectful:

McCAIN: I’ve been around here 20-some years. First time I’ve ever seen a member denied an extra minute or two to finish his remarks. … I just haven’t seen it before myself. And I don’t like it. And I think it harms the comity of the Senate not to allow one of our members at least a minute. I’m sure that time is urgent here, but I doubt that it would be that urgent.

Unfortunately, McCain’s memory is suffering. In fact, McCain has engaged in the very same behavior that he was criticizing Franken for yesterday.

On October 10, 2002 — just ahead of the looming mid-term elections — the Senate rushed a debate on a war authorization giving President Bush the power to use force against Iraq. The resolution ultimately passed the Senate after midnight on an early Friday morning by a vote of 77-23.............................

..................

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator’s time has expired.

Mr. DAYTON. I ask for unanimous consent that I have 30 seconds more to finish my remarks.

Mr. McCAIN. I object.....................

Technorati Tags:senator al franken, faiz shakir, john mccain, joe lieberman, the senate floor, hypocrisy
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happened across these

photos by terry o'neill