Sundries

The Royal Wedding

2011-04-29T03:12:00.009-04:00

I, more than likely, will not be able to post as I wish, due to my live-commenting commitments at other sites. But let me get the ball started on Sundries for the Royal Wedding of Prince William of Wales (will he be created a Duke today or soon?) and Miss Catherine Elizabeth Middleton of the Home Counties.

I'm watching the BBC coverage, and it might interest you Americans to know who are the journalist equivalents of Meredith Vieira and Matt Lauer, who will be covering the wedding via NBC.

Huw Edwards is the long-time news presenter of both the morning shows and News at 10 O'Clock. His Welsh accent is warm, instantly relaxing the viewer. I do miss him.

This is Sophie Raworth, the head afternoon newsreader of the BBC. She came after my time in the UK, but she seems to have been given plumb duties at the Abbey.

Is the Royal Wedding garnering the same kind of intense enthusiasm that Prince Williams' parents wedding did thirty years ago? No.

Look at Hyde Park. In 1981, you couldn't MOVE in London because of the dense crowds. Hyde Park was packed to the gills. Not so much this morning. Just look at those gaps! I don't even recognise the park.

But look how the Prince and Princess of Wales' marriage turned out. If this low turnout is a harbinger of anything, it's that this couple will be given far more breathing room to live. That can only be a good thing.

First guests have arrived.

Everyone looks excellent in their morning suits and hats, just as expected. And whoever could be that dishy chap behind the RAF officer? In another shot, you can see Douglas Hurd behind him, so perhaps a son.

More later. Hopefully!

And Now For Something Completely Different

2010-05-13T01:10:00.007-04:00

Meet Britain's greatest double-act...

...since everyone's very beloved Morecambe and Wise. At least, according to the front page of Thursday's rubbishy tabloid, "The Sun", who actually may have riffed the idea (to put it politely) from a fellow blogger.

In fact, what was most striking about yesterday's truly cosy-as-chips photo call and dual press conference, was that the Prime Minister looked far more enamoured of his Deputy, than the other way around. See for yourself next time, when traipsing around the front pages of the British dailies. The look on Cameron's face speaks volumes -- whereas Cleggy just looks bemused by Cam's attention towards him, like a Quarterback being wooed by the swotty student government president.

If I could, I would have a word in David Cameron's shell-like and whisper, "He's just not that into you" before things really get serious.

Yes We Cam

2010-05-11T20:30:00.023-04:00

It was once said of monarchy, that there is no more stark dividing a line between yesterday and today, than when a King dies.

The phrases, "out with the old and in with the new", as well as the peculiarly British idiom, "yesterday's news" are witnesses to the fact that in any field of governance, what was is always immediately forgotten in the light of what is.

In fact, so strong is the pull of power, that it can draw in a disparate set of people, previously impossible to imagine as working together, because a crown, a mitre, or a sash is difficult to reject.

These two concepts of past power and the need to join forces to achieve power neatly sums up the preceeding five days lived by the British people.

It has been a tense, often bewildering time for a populace used to seeing one Prime Minister leave Number 10 Downing Street within minutes of hearing voting results, indeed with moving vans parked at the back, ordered by the PM's wife on the Friday BEFORE an election -- a custom characteristically British in modesty and lack of presumption, as well as innately tongue-in-cheek. But post-voting day Friday came and went without this age-old tradition being enacted due to a change of leadership: a leadership, furthermore, immediately accused of squatting like an old age pensioner not quite right in the head, hazy about his next move when finally given the sack by his old boss, the butt of jokes and sneers even by his erstwhile supporters.

Meanwhile, the presumptive leader was seen scrambling in undignified haste, trying to sell to his own troops, not to mention to those of his potential ally's, the idea of joining forces (to use that noxiously noble phrase) for the good of the country.

This might be all very well in Germany, with their singular lack of electoral humour (or any other kind of humour) or in New Zealand, who have dumped their Anglo-Saxonic "first-past-the-post" voting system for proportional representation; in any case, a cheery nation more comfortable with sheep than with the heady decision-making of what is still a world power -- but it is not common in the UK, and is certainly not the British Way.

It is this lack of clarity that is at the heart of the British liking of tradition.

In a world where uncertainty is the rule, tradition provides a helpful steadying hand. The play may be a tragedy or a comedy, the actors may change roles from one moment to the next, but at the end of the day, everyone exits, stage left.

As everyone knows, nature abhors a vacuum. And that's precisely how media came about, to fill it.

The rumours of who, what, where, and when allowed television and print media to have a field day with speculation, and half-truths, vividly revealed in tweets via Blackberries to their attendant followers.

One moment, we were being tweeted at that talks had gone swimmingly between the leaders of the Conservative and Liberal-Democrat Parties, only for others to counter-tweet that the Lib-Dem leadership had basically stabbed the Tory one in the back, by horsetrading its way unto power with the losing Labourites.

Who's to know what really transpired at the end of the day, because journalism is not history. It's merely short-term hearsay.

What we do know is that negotiations broke down between Labour and the Lib-Dems, allowing for the Conservatives to resume talks (perhaps now clearer about what they could offer) finally able to form a coalition government, the first in Britain for 70 years since Labour PM Ramsay MacDonald was given the nod so to do by none other than George V, the present Queen's grandfather.

Unlike that heady time, or during the Alec Douglas-Home appointment, the Queen herself didn't play any kind of role in choosing the Prime Minister. This was truly a more hands-on approach by the leadership of all three Parties.

Yet, so sudden was the decision to resign effective immediately his charge of Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury, this Tuesday, that it is said David Cameron didn't realise he was about to become PM until three minutes after Gordon Brown started on his way to Buckingham Palace, having received a tardy phone call from Number 10! Goodness only knows where the third member of this poli-sci comedy, Nick Clegg, was at that moment. Perhaps in the shower shaving his peachfuzz baby-face or picking out another orange tie to wear for his close-up, Mr. DeMille.

Let me just say that the Rt. Hon Dr James Gordon Brown gave a moving, and gracious exit speech in front of his old digs, his red-headed wife at his side.

His wife, I like a lot. She's long been known to soothe the savageness of that beast, Gordon Brown. If "The Queen" is ever remade about this election, I hope they choose Cynthia Nixon to play Sarah Brown. Her partner, Christina Marinoni could even play Gordon Brown, with a bushy salt-and-pepper Scottish wig, as she already has a nice array of neckware to offer.

At long last, Britain had its head of government, and whilst awaiting his arrival at hallowed Number 10, I had predicted in real-time that "Dave's" maiden speech as PM would be drowned out by the jeers and fingers-up by Labour "supporters" just outside the gates -- a prediction I am sad to say, was fulfilled all too vividly.

For if there is anything you can count on, it is the abject sore-losership and sour grapeyness of those on the left-of-centre politically. It's almost as if they believe that they have a Fate-given right to perpetually lead a country, and should the opposite occur, the cruel, unfair and deluded world needs to hear them squeal in toddler-like distaste. All those of you who remember the Inauguration of President GW Bush in 2001, looong loooong before Iraq, will understand what I mean.

Elections will probably be called as soon as Autumn (September-October?) because this hastily assembled coalition may soon see its first fissures before Summer recess.

But never mind.

Today, Britain can at last go back to doing what it does best. Put the kettle on, and worry about today, tomorrow.

Good luck you two. Err, three. No wait! Four. I think.

UPDATE: Sigh. You win some, you lose some.

Related Reading

Conservative Party Leadership (September 23 2005)
RIP Ivan Cameron
When They Were Young

Resolute And Messy

2010-05-11T19:00:00.008-04:00

A quick compare/contrast of two very different powerful men's desks.

Outgoing British PM Gordon Brown's workmanlike desk, with his boys' finger-paintings hanging on the walls and a nice photo of his wife ON his desk.

And then there's this minimalist-with-a-passion desk favoured by the US President, Barack Obama.

I don't know about you, but I know which one I find less creepy.

Thank You, Massachusett(e)s

2010-01-20T00:00:00.008-05:00

At 11:40 PM EST on 19 January, almost two hours after the losing Democratic candidate for Senator from Massachusetts, Martha Coakley, gave her concession speech, this is how the two most prominent Bostonian newspapers' front-pages looked like.

BOSTON GLOBE

BOSTON HERALD

Nope. No sore losers here. Just media, the bitter clingers of hate.

Congratulations, Senator-Elect Brown!

Because Every Monday 8

2009-03-30T01:56:00.001-04:00

Should start out with a laugh.

Because Every Monday 7

2009-03-09T00:00:00.000-04:00

Should start out with a laugh.

Because Every Monday 6

2009-03-02T13:00:00.000-05:00

Should start out with a laugh.

Three Words

2009-03-01T16:54:00.005-05:00

Don't. Buy. Dell.

As you can imagine, my absence is partly due to my computer's Hard Drive being fried.

I was completely happy with the fact that I had installed that PSU myself a while ago, but I confess, though I have tried every hint in the book: trying to boot it up with a disk, and trying Safe Mode. It just does not want to work. Chkdsk stops midway in stage 2.

I am therefore in your blogging debt.

That desktop computer was my last one working, seeing as how my laptop is fried too.

I refuse to take it back to the sillies who charged me a fortune to install a new Hard Drive only last year (conveniently now OVER the warranty), so I have to hunt around to see who can fix it, and cheaply.

This may take a while, guys, so please make yourselves at home on the blog. At least, I have the Kindle's web browser, so I can read Sundries that way, even if I can't email.

Grumble. Grumble. Harumph.

Ah well, such is life, right?

P.S.: I'll schedule a few posts, to keep you tied until I get back. I really do miss blogging...

Dennis Miller Takes Down Nancy Pelosi

2009-02-26T00:16:00.003-05:00

"When there's money involved she's up and down like a seal at Seaworld."

(Via Instapundit)

Everything You Needed To Know About Portuguese Water Dogs

2009-02-26T00:12:00.005-05:00

Thankfully, we weren't afraid to ask the resident dog breeder extraordinaire, Peggy Gero DaValt. Here is her delightful reply, full of insight and tips, as usual. I just hope President Obama and family read it one day!

"The Portugese Water Dog is an excellent choice.

Here are my reasons:

(1) It is a purebred dog. It's not a designer dog.

As a purebred dog owner and breeder, so much time and effort goes into genetic research/pedigree preparation/public education. It is pure.

Most purebreds are registered by the American Kennel Club or the United Kennel Club.

Naysayers will say, but there are so many dogs that need homes.

This is true and I applaud anyone that rescues a homeless dog...but a shelter dog got there because people did not spay or neuter dogs that were not intended to be bred.

A designer dog, such as the GoldenDoodle is a Mixed Breed dog. It's a very expensive Mixed Breed dog. I will bet you that people pay more for a GoldenDoodle than they would for one of my purebred Gordons.

A GoldenDoodle has a parent that is a Golden Retriever and a Poodle (most likely a Standard Poodle). So, when you combine those two breeds you have a Mixed Breed dog. You also have a dog that has the potential for health issues associated with the Goldens and/or Poodles or a combination of both. So rather than having just one set of health issues for one breed to contend with, you've opened up Pandora's genetic box by combining two different breeds.

(2) The Obamas made it clear that they need a dog that sheds little if any due to child allergies. I think this dog is a wise choice.

When I suggest to people a type or breed of dog to purchase, you need to take into account: trainability/life style/commitment to the dog.

Any dog in the sporting/working/herding groups produce dogs that are meant to work with man.

As a member of the Working Group, the Portugese Water Dog is no exception. It is a moderate sized dog and with the lifestyle of the President and his family, I think this is a great selection.

They are good with kids and they will be content playing with the Obama girls and who knows may even accompany the President on a jog or two as the puppy matures and his growth plates have closed.

(3) I had some very good breeder/handler friends who raised "Porties" and I loved them and their dogs. Judy died last February and Bruce died about 7 months later. When I see a "Portie" I will always think of them. There are also some great breeders in the Chicago area that I know, too.

For more information I would suggest these web sites:

American Kennel Club - Portguese Water Dog Standard

Portugese Water Dog Club of America Website

Quiz - How Much Do You Know about a PWD? This is from the Portugese Water Dog Club's web site. Have fun!!

Each breed of dog in the AKC has a standard that the parent club has put together with what they see as the "perfect" dog for that breed. Each breed has a standard to which it is judged/evaluated. As a breeder, we know there is no such thing as a "perfect" dog, but it's the standard to which we strive to improve our lines upon generation after generation.

Thanks, Victoria, for asking for my opinion. I hope that I haven't offended anyone and have offered valuable educational information about this breed and dogs in general.

Peggy :)"

...no, Peggy. Thank you. You are a hidden ace up the Sundries sleeve, and I am very grateful to you for taking the time to compose this for the readership!

Kenneth The Page Responds

2009-02-26T00:00:00.012-05:00

I don't know who this internet chatter character is, this Kenneth the Page, as I don't watch television, but from this clip I can see what they are trying to suggest.

Ann Althouse suggested there was an undercurrent of racism about the personal attacks on Governor Bobby Jindal's speech. After all, it was just a speech, and some people bomb in them. He did last night, stylistically, but given the instantaneous diarrhoea of posts his performance got (possibly as much as the actual and much more important State of the Union), you'd think he had slain three kittens on national TV.

Althouse asked.

"Why the urge to paint him as a white white man? Where did that come from?"

Probably the critics will mention that his regionalism and conservative religion made the connexion evident, but she is going for something deeper here.

There is a programme on IFC called "The Whitest Kids You Know".

A blogger described such kids as:

"The whitest kids I know all sort of look like Ashton Kutcher, listen to Jack Johnson, think Dane Cook is funny, and dig Adam Sandler movies."

I think what many people don't like about Jindal is that he doesn't talk like Apu, doesn't look like he could break into a Bollywood dance routine, and therefore isn't the "other" that is cool because of cultural expectations. Take it into another level, and they are also inferring that he is a race traitor by being a poseur, this Republican Southerner Indian fella.

What I BELIEVE Althouse is saying is that he fails to live up to some kind of stereotype they refuse to acknowledge they have deep inside themselves.

He acts like just another vanilla geeky white guy, like Kenneth the Page. More Millionaire, than Slumdog, if you will.

And that makes him the fairest of game.

Sure, he did himself no favours with that speech.

But if Obama had stunk up the joint, and others had criticised him so savagely, don't you think that his supporters wouldn't have claimed racism as a possible reason for the derision?

You bet they would have.

ADDED: Some journalists are not even hiding their references about Jindal and his Indianness.

“Bobby Jindal was ‘pitiful,’ Helen Thomas tells film crew, right before making a ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ crack.”

That is Helen Thomas, the doyenne of the press corps who practised unbiased reporting all those years, you know.

IN THE COMMENTS: I mean, after Chris Matthews admitted he uttered that infamous "Oh God", and stating that the GOP CPAC conference this week will resemble a Star Trek convention (you know, more uncool geeky white guys), what do we expect anymore.

But JSU reminds us of his latest Jindal crack.

There was definitely something rotten in Matthews' "outsourcing" remark.

Obamas Choose First Pooch

2009-02-25T15:08:00.005-05:00

Thankfully, I have lighter news to relay to the readership today. The First Family have chosen that highly anticipated puppy dog.

It's a Portuguese Water Dog. Behold.

Cute. But he looks like a shedder. Peggy Gero DaValt will weigh in about this, hopefully.

RIP Ivan Cameron

2009-02-25T06:18:00.006-05:00

Another sad bit of breaking news on this busy Wednesday morning.

Ivan Cameron, aged only 6, has passed away as a result of Ohtahara Syndrome (often confused with cerebral palsy). He was the son of opposition Tory leader, David Cameron.

Here the poor lad is being cradled most lovingly by his dad. My deepest condolences to the Camerons.

Losing a child, any child, is unimaginable. I hope there is no media circus about this, or any child of a notable personality.

BREAKING: No Miracle On The Amstel

2009-02-25T05:58:00.004-05:00

Unlike the unbelievable landing on water by an US Airways plane, a Turkish airliner crash landed in Amsterdam's Schiphol* airport a few moments ago -- breaking the plane in three.

1 person is already confirmed dead, possibly 80 passengers are safe according to reports, in a total of 135 passengers. Horrifying.

Let's hope it turns out as best as the situation can.

*If you ever have a spare 2 or 3 hours, try to get a Dutch person to teach you how to pronounce "Schiphol" correctly.

As Seen On TV

2009-02-25T03:27:00.003-05:00

Meet the new Snuggie pitchwoman, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is already hard at work.

State Of The Union Word Cloud

2009-02-25T01:58:00.007-05:00

Think you caught some words in President Obama's State of the Union debut, occuring more than others? Let's see if you were right.

According to one source, Curtiss on Althouse, here were some word count stats.

- Crisis: 11
- Bank: 12
- Jobs: 19
- Economy: 22
- I: 73
- Freedom: 1

Here is a retrospective on some past State of the Union word clouds.

PRESIDENT GEORGE WASHINGTON, 21 January 1790

PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 3 December 1861

PRESIDENT HERBERT HOOVER, 3 December 1929

PRESIDENT FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT, 3 January 1934

PRESIDENT HARRY S. TRUMAN, 21 January 1946

PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY, 30 January 1961

PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN, 26 January 1982

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH'S AMALGAMATED STATES OF THE UNION

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA, 24 February 2009

(Latter via Jason Griffey)

Somewhere Deep In Alaska A Woman Is Laughing

2009-02-25T01:57:00.009-05:00

Governor Bobby Jindal gave the Republican response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address, the first time each for both men.

There is a long tradition in both Parties that an up-and-coming politician is allowed to respond to the adminstration of the day, after such a speech. For example, then Governor Clinton responded after President Reagan, and Obama did it for Bush's final State of the Union, only last year.

Since the spotlight is on them, a priceless few minutes face-to-face with the remaining viewers left watching (but more importantly, with the journalists who will digest the rebuttal and come to conclusions about the person and the speech, influencing Americans' opinions of it later), this allows them to have A Star Is Born moment, if they are capable of delivering it.

Problem is, Bobby Jindal didn't deliver tonight.

By choosing him, though, were the GOP signalling that Bobby Jindal, and not Sarah Palin, is the presumptive front-runner in the Republican Presidential stakes? I think so.

Bobby Jindal, despite the need some people have to look at his skin colour and origins, is the archtypical kind of politician chosen to run on the Republican ticket (something neither McCain nor Palin could be said to be, for various reasons).

He is a serious family man, with undazzling personality but having rock steady ideals, who furthermore exudes professionalism. From Eisenhower on down, that has been the candidate template the Republicans tend to follow whenever possible, usually with unfathomable success for the opposition.

I think it's premature to count out Bobby Jindal because he had a disappointing outting last night. But the one thing that you cannot afford to be with such a partisan media who have long ago abandoned any pretense at neutrality (see post below), and are frankly cheering on their man, Barack Obama, is to be ridiculous in some way.

And when Jindal traipsed into camera view last night, it was almost as if a pimply-faced Student Government President was making his debut, courtesy of the AV department sophomores.

Geeky is one thing, though that's deadly enough in America, the land which invented "cool", but he and his advisors misjudged the importance of the speech by making him sound like an infomercial pitchman. That weird cadence he had was outrageously upbeat to the point of distraction.

He wasn't wearing a beanie, a pocket protector, nor was he wearing Bob Gates smudged up glasses, but it wouldn't surprise anyone if he did privately.

Here I would just like to point out that I mentioned these very traits to Sundries' readers, after the Republican Governor's Association conference in downtown Miami last November.

In the blogpost, Crashing Into Sarah Palin, I wrote this about Governor Jindal:

After a while, so as to draw attention away from my lolly-gagging around, I went to the Indigo restaurant downstairs. To my astonishment, as I sat near the bar, about 20 feet away, almost as if he were in a cubicle, there was I do believe Governor Bobby Jindal. He is much younger-looking than you can imagine. He looks like he's a college freshman, and actually, in profile looked bizarrely similar to a young JFK. He was utterly alone, and since I didn't want to stare, I am not sure if he was having a quiet moment to catch up with news, or if he were on his laptop or what.

What an ascetic air he has!

There is a problem with Jindal's chances to run for the Presidency in 2012, as I see it.

There are some people who give off a certain something (more on that in a bit). Jindal didn't at all give me that impression. He seemed utterly unmagnetic, and though not ordinary, perhaps I was expecting more. Frankly, he was nerdy-looking.

To become a genuine threat to run for the Presidency, especially given the adoration of his followers, and the presence that President-Elect Obama gives off (which is genuine, he truly is impressive up close), I believe you need to be a charismatic person. Jindal looks like a rather earnest priest.

I'll stand by my words after last night's response, especially the last sentence.

Look, it was ONE speech, and the Governor has three years to work on delivery, wardrobe, speech-writing, and all the rest.

But those who thought Jindal is the strongest Republican candidate in the early early handicapping for the 2012 race, should start backing off just a tad.

Full Text Of Governor Jindal's Response

The Football Arrives

2009-02-25T01:37:00.000-05:00

I did not know the briefcase containing the nuclear codes had to follow the President even to the State of the Union address. Here it is, carried by an unnamed military aide, arriving at Statuary Hall.

Thanks to Wikipedia, we learn the following about the so-called "football":

The case itself is a metallic, possibly bullet-resistant, modified Zero Halliburton briefcase which is carried inside a black leather "jacket." The entire package weighs approximately 40 pounds (18 kg). A small antenna, presumably for the SATCOM radio, protrudes from the bag near the handle. A common misconception is that the football is handcuffed to its carrier. Rather, a black cable is employed that loops around the handle of the bag and the wrist of the aide.

That's a sobering thought. Perhaps much more reassuring than also learning via Wiki of something that happened back when, to President Jimmy Carter.

"Jimmy Carter once left nuclear launch codes in his suit when it was sent in for dry cleaning."

Never mind "ineffectual". Try incompetent.

You Don't Mess With Joe!

2009-02-25T01:19:00.002-05:00

I don't know, maybe President Andrew Johnson called for a spitoon to lob chewing tobacco once, but for me, this is the single-handed most un-Presidential moment in any State of the Union I have ever witnessed. Both in the giving, and in the receiving.

Who Said 'Oh God' Just Before Jindal's Speech

2009-02-24T23:07:00.007-05:00

Given that Governor Bobby Jindal gave a most lacklustre rebuttal speech, I want to know if the person who is audibly muttering, "Oh God" can read palms too.

He's obviously a fortune teller.

(Via Allahpundit)

Incidentally, if Bobby Jindal were black and not brown (as Juan Williams of Fox constantly likes to point out that he is) and I were a Democrat who loves to read these things into every moment, I would say what Olbermann - or whomever - said, has a racist tinge to it.

Too bad no one watches MSNBC else people would be justifiably outraged.

ADDED: Just in case anyone thinks the 'Oh God' was not about Jindal, I say nuts. Check out the inside laugh by an MSNBCer in the studio, just after the dismissive phrase.

As I Climb Into Bed

2009-02-24T04:30:00.007-05:00

I am saddened by the lack of quality and passion seen in the "Monday of carnival" by Rio's escolas de samba.

Usually the camarotes, the high-priced private balconies inside Sambodromo, are full hours ahead of time. But this time, you could see gaping holes where obviously nobody had shown up (or had not been able to afford to rent them). On the other side, in the bleachers section, the crowd looked like they had been double-ticketed, they were so packed. That tells me that the recession has well and truly arrived even in the most anticipated touristic event in Brazil's calender.

So far, only Salgueiro have what I consider to be an outstanding overall presentation.

Comically, Ronaldinho Gaucho and Pato of AC Milan called up the Globo presenters to say they were gathered with a group of carnival aficionados in Milan, even at that late hour. They called in specifically to say they were impressed by Salgueiro's band.

I'll post some photos for you to see -- though as Sundries readers know, the photos of the carnival always look fantastic. It's the narration that people like me provide, that separates the mediocre from the outstanding.

Unfortunately, I will have to shuck the chaff from the wheat this year.

It's late, there are still two escolas left to go at 4:30 AM EST, so please forgive me if I am not on time on Tuesday.

Obama Just Assured Himself A New Running Mate

2009-02-23T19:22:00.006-05:00

What a sneaky move by the President, to pass this untenable hot potato to his second-in-command, ripe as he would then be for criticism if something goes wrong, or it doesn't work out. But I cannot believe Vice-President Joe Biden would accept responsibility for overseeing the implementation of the Stimulus Package.

Is he that desperate to remain in the mix?

Whatever happened to the more discrete Vice-President (a cutting snipe about Dick Cheney's role) that both men promised us Biden would be?

"The fact that I'm asking my vice president to personally lead this effort shows how important it is for our country and future to get this right," [President Obama] said.

Even Gore would not been given such oversight in Clinton's term. What a crock.

The Red Carpet

2009-02-23T13:32:00.017-05:00

Last night's Oscars might've been deadly dull in the first two hours, only hitting their stride in the last, but they did have a certain welcome glamour not seen in previous editions.

I think its due to the transition from the older generation of Hollywood luminaries of Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor to the younger generation of Kate Winslet and Hugh Jackman, finally coming into its own.

It's not surprising that the dresses seen on the Red Carpet this year reminded one of the 1950s more than any other era, one captivating in its silky elegance, with its Marilyn Monroe off-the-shoulder dresses, chignons and beauty marks.

Perhaps the only intrusion into this reverie were some of the tattoos to be seen on the various body parts...not of the men, but of the women who otherwise bedazzled the eye.

Ah well. It can't be 1950 forever.

THE ACADEMY AWARDS 2008-2009

THE QUEEN - Kate Winslet

THE KING - Hugh Jackman

ANNE HATHAWAY

Bad taste in men, terrific taste in clothes.

ANGELINA JOLIE

Actually, she was a bit of a let down. The dress was too simple and the hair looked like something I do when I'm in a hurry to go out, but don't want to look too ratty. And the tats...

EVAN RACHEL WOOD

...ruin even the most delicate of complexions and dress fabric.

AMY ADAMS

Flawless. Impeccable. My favourite ensemble of the night.

AMANDA SEYFRIED

I'm not exactly too up on Miss Seyfried's contributions to the silver screen, but I must say that despite knowing the fashionista critics will not like her dress, I adore it. And my, but doesn't she look like Bette Davis facially though?

JAMES FRANCO

Does he even try? Newfangled "tux". Didn't go to the barbershop for a haircut. Needs teeth whiteners. Catastrophic. How anyone can find him handsome, is beyond me.

NOT A JUDITH LIEBER CLUTCH

NATALIE PORTMAN

She somehow achieves a great look, despite wearing that particular shade of pink that very small women should stay away from. It is her natural beauty which allows it to succeed.

MILEY CYRUS

She's young, and she tried her best to look good (she does) but she needs to learn about good posture. Hannah Montana looks like she's on the holler with two babies on her hips.

MICKEY ROURKE

You might think, "Oh no, Vic is going to skewer Rourke for looking like a schlepp" but I'm actually not. He doesn't look like he rolled out of bed at all. He's just unconventional. I liked it.

MARION COTILLARD

From the side, gorgeous. From the front, the dress looks too shiny and unfortunately makes her look twice her size. Considering she was so nervous in her (touching) presentation, I'll give her a break by saying excellent effort.

QUEEN LATIFAH

Wonderful. Sleek hair and a flattering floor-length dress which shows you that big-boned gals can look good if they know what flatters them.

SOPHIA LOREN

You wish you looked so good at 75.

SARAH JESSICA PARKER

She achieves what she is expected to by her legion of fans. Tastefully sophisticated. I'm just not sure she looks happy.

(She also is beginning to resemble Bette Midler!)

SETH ROGEN

Proving for the millionth time that any man, no matter what kind of a schlubb he is, is improved significantly by such classic attire. I even like Seth's glasses.

BEYONCÉ

Will you tell Daryl Hannah her flippers are missing, or will I?

PHILIPPE PETIT

Give the guy a break. He walked in between the Twin Towers. Mindboggling.

PENELOPE CRUZ

Penelope, it's not your quinces party. This is the Oscars. Come on now.

TINA FEY

Such old world glamour she has. And it's when she puts her hair up that you realise just how much she DOESN'T look like Sarah Palin.

TILDA SWINTON

I'm not sure if it's the haircut, but Tilda looks like my great-uncle Ballard in that frock.

TARAJI HENSON

My third favourite look of the night, after Kate and Amy. Simplicity is best when you have such a naturally radiant face.

THE CAST OF SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

How India must be proud. A credit to dignity everywhere.

ADDED: Close-up of those strange pins Mickey Rourke was wearing with his suit. I was half wanting to inquire if those were MIA pins or what-have-you.

But no. They're lockets containing a photo of his late chihuahua, Loki. Did I tell you that Mickey Rourke is practically my neighbour in South Beach?

The irrepressible walker-of-wires, Philippe Petit, accomplishes something no one is said to have done before. Balancing the Oscar statuette on his chin.

Wow.

My Latest Obsession

2009-02-23T13:26:00.003-05:00

Is not, as rumour has it, Twitter but learning how to spin a pen or pencil around in my hand. You can see just how intricate it is, in this pen spinning tutorial below.

(They have a tutorial for everything on Youtube. It rocks!)

...are you intrigued enough to try?

Let me counsel you to put on a pair of glasses, a thick coat, and for God's sake, do not wear flip-flops. Also, get rid of any pets unless you don't mind blinding them either.

Because Every Monday 5

2009-02-23T13:21:00.001-05:00

Should start out with a laugh.

Follow Me Twitter

2009-02-23T01:31:00.013-05:00

When I joined this internet telegraphing service, I had no idea to whom I would be communicating. But handy old Twitter had a stack of ideas for me in their handy who-to-Twitter list.

Defamer LA.
Guardian Tech.
NYT.
NPR Politics.
Al Gore.
Ana Marie Cox.
Whole Foods Market.
George Stephanopoulos.

...gee, liberal much, Twitter? Oh wait! How could I have I misjudged them so?

John McCain.

No wonder we lost.

Oscars Night

2009-02-22T20:20:00.034-05:00

BUMPED: Please scroll down and check the comments section for Oscar 2009 Night Live-Chatting.

Regrettably, Twitter is out, but I will be here and possibly over at Althouse to live comment.

I am extremely annoyed that the Oscar winners have possibly been leaked, since usually I would tell you my predictions beforehand. But the winds seem to have been cut out of my sails, rather, now.

Here is the leaked letter, showing the winners. It's been debunked, of course, but I don't know. The picks look precisely what the Academy would honour.

For a person like me, who so disliked "Slumdog Millionaire" for reasons I have stated innumerable times, it's a disaster if true. Also the fact that "Waltz with Bashir" is not leaked as having won Foreign Picture leaves me cold.

On the other hand, I was fairly sure Kate Winslet would have won for Best Actress, with Amy Adams almost definitely getting the Best Supporting Actress award.

The latter is not because she was so amazing (Adams was good, but her colleague Viola Davis is more deserving), but because she fits the bill perfectly for actresses often honoured by that statuette -- good character actresses, who have an impressive body of work behind them or who give a standout one-time performance, aka the Marisa Tomei Nomination (she already surprised once; I doubt she would repeat) The only other one which qualifies for the body of work is Penelope Cruz, mostly in the Spanish language, and she was going to be my surprise pick.

Mickey Rourke for Best Actor, I can see.

Jenkins is the token "Just Happy to be Nominated" actor, Langella is more suited to the Best Supporting Actor category, whereas Penn has already won it. That leaves Pitt or Rourke, and there is no way Brad Pitt should get anywhere near an actual Oscar win. He's not quite as bad an actor as Tom Cruise, but it's close. Heath Ledger, may God rest him, is a lock for Best Supporting Actor, and we have known that since The Dark Knight debuted.

Instapundit wondered if anyone watches the Oscars anymore. Hardcore fans like me do, but each year has seen an utter decline in viewership.

It's because Hollywood doesn't honour mainstream films as much anymore. Indies are fantastic for people like me, but most could care less about a film like Frozen River. Now, Iron Man even my father would know about. It was a decent film, which furthermore was a box office hit, but it wasn't judged to be worthy of inclusion.

If these popular, worthy films are left out, the Oscars then become a night for insiders to preen, almost as if they didn't need an interested audience. That's why Oscars night have lost their appeal. We are completely superfluous to the process.

I rather suspect this year will be different though. Maybe it's Brangelina being dually nominated, with the casual tabloid turners tuning in. Or maybe it's the fact that I suspect this year people want glamour and fun when our national edifice is so stressed.

It's like Halloween 2008.

I have never seen a livelier Halloween than last year's. Sunday night will turn out a different class of witch, warlock and broomstick all together.

OSCARS 2008-9 NIGHT LIVE-BLOGGING

8:26 PM: The first mention of the night of Louis Prima. I'm sure it won't be the last.

8:29: Amy Adams (Doubt) and her necklace arrive at the Oscars on February 22nd. That's a Harry Winston necklace or my name isn't Ethel McGillicuddy.

8:30: Commenter Laurie has a new crush -- Aussie actor, Hugh Jackman (which has always sounded rather sophmoric to me, like Hugh Arse). He's our host for the evening and personally I couldn't be happier. He seems just the right type of antidote to the Billy Crystal/Whoopi Goldberg/Jon Stewart wisecracks.

Good Lord, he's launched into song. Somewhere up there, near the hanging icicles above the stage, an angel called Ethel Merman is smiling.

8:34: First reference to pubic hair at the Oscars since that streaker interrupted David Niven...

8:35: After a sweet musical number and a quick shower (by me, not Jackman/Hathaway!) we have the first three ex-Best Supporting Actresses up on stage, including last year's winner, Tilda Swinton. Unusually, it is usually one presenter of the opposite sex, who turn up, so this is a change.

8:47: PENELOPE CRUZ! My surprise pick to win this year. And now we have absolute knowledge that the leaked list was totally fake. Starless knew it all along.

Incidentally, is the broadcast rather strange? It looks unusually delayed and therefore static.

8:57: The ex-Mormon screenwriter for MILK wins for Best Original Screenplay, and he's giving a sentimental acceptance speech about living his sexual lifestyle and encouraging kids out there who are in that position, to have hope.

9:00: Simon Beaufroy wins for Best Adapted Screenplay (Slumdog Millionaire). Something strange happened just before. When Langella/Nixon said he orders cheeseburgers, in the excerpted screenplay, something inside me clicked. So I'm off for a moment to grab a burger! I'll be back for the major Awards later.

9:07: WALL-E wins! Of course. That and Ledger winning are the biggest locks this year.

9:28: I asked the restaurant attendant who brought the burger to my car, "are you watching the Oscars inside?". "They are, but I am not. From what I hear, it's really bad." "Heh, yeah, you're not missing much." "I don't even know who is nominated, other than Brad and Angelina."

Says it all, really.

9:29: Digital Animation being honoured, but already there was a reference to Jerry Lewis -- who is finally getting his honourary statuette today.

9:43: James Franco: "Who do you think is the better actor: Ronald Reagan or Barack Obama?"

Sarah Palin, of course.

9:58: I'm not sure if the musical is back, but I sure know the Oscars would be back if they had more Jackman/Beyoncé musical numbers. That was perfect.

10:04: Best Supporting Actor coming up and Laurie has an apposite remark about one of the presenters.

"Lord! I thought Joel Grey was dead!"

10:08: Well done, Heath! You stripped the Joker bare, and what we got was the Ur-Joker -- reinventing the comic book heavy for all time.

Rest In Peace, boyo.

10:15: Philippe Petit, the man who walked between the Twin Towers, got up there and reminded us why the movies work -- magic.

If only others would be more whimsical, and not nearly as too-cool-for-all-of-you, we would have an inkling of what Hollywood used to be like.

10:20: Does Brad Pitt have this Clark Gable look happening? There was a quick shot of him as Benjamin Button's awardees were up on the podium for Visual Effects.

10:30: In an absolutely touching moment, Oom the Sound got a dedicatory Oscar.

10:42: They say (who? sorry a little Wikifying there) Jerry Lewis is a singularly unpleasant person, and has been for years. Nevertheless, he is an American institution, and his good work for his extreme dedication every Labour Day during his telethon should be rewarded. And he is.

Ooh, shot of Sophia Loren. I had no idea she was there, God bless her.

11:21: Danny Boyle is accepting in the spirit of Tigger from Winnie The Pooh. That sums up this quixotic night perfectly.

As for the new format, with the Director award going before the Big Actor/Actress ones, what can I say -- do not like.

11:33: Kate Winslet's dad just whistled, and we have an iconic Oscars moment right now.

I do not like the format change, but I admit that having the 5 legendary actresses presenting each individual nomination for each actress made it perfect. They are five Oscars incarnate.

11:39: Robert DeNiro: Talking about Penn who "advises world leaders", oh God. That includes Saddam Hussein. Jesus Christ.

Peggy commented:

I noticed that Marion had the envelope...and Kate won...does this mean that Frank Langella will win? Michael Douglas has the envelope?

Let's see!

11:44: You Commie, homo-loving sons of guns says Penn on accepting his Oscar, besting Mickey Rourke in the category.

I'm bereft, but not because Penn didn't deserve it. It's just that he's won before...incidentally, TIBORE totally called it before.

Okay... I have this funny feeling that Sean Penn's going to upset Mickey Rourke for Best Actor.

Hate to say it, but that's the vibe I'm getting.

The Fake List is well and truly fake.

11:55: Finally, Slumdog Millionaire wins for BEST PICTURE, and all is all right in the world again.

I have to say that ultimately, I thought this tidy Oscars was an unusual mixture of graciousness and grappling awkwardness. I do not think it does anything for a generation which is each time further removed from the Old Hollywood Glamour of actors whose names they do not even know anymore.

It's very little wonder then, that the Oscars are still waited with baited breath abroad, but most people have long since turned in for the night?

Not Sundries commenters though. And here I would like to add a very humble thanks to all who turned this thread into a monumental success.

I couldn't have reached 200 plus comments without you all. Thank you SO MUCH for honouring this blog with your presence.

Carry on, guys!

ADDED INFO: My Twitter page. When Peggy Gero DaValt joined, I found a little Dutch courage by pouring a G and T, and joined too. All of that is true, except the Gin and Tonic.

When Did Rahm Emanuel

2009-02-22T15:35:00.008-05:00

Turn into Karl Lagerfeld?

From Gatekeeper to Cryptkeeper, with one fine lunge of the knife.

Hold The Pepperoni

2009-02-22T01:57:00.002-05:00

I am not too keen on the ACLU, but they certainly show us how pizza-ordering might be in the future.

CLICK HERE.

Dame Stella Rimington recently said that the British government have turned the island-nation into a security fortress since she was head of MI-5. It starts incrementally, with the best of intentions, CCTV protecting the populace from thugs, national ID cards to effectively mete out bureaucratic goodies, etc. etc. but it always starts. More importantly, it never ends.

Meanwhile In Dublin

2009-02-22T01:51:00.004-05:00

120,000 people showed up to protest the government's proposed pension tax on civil servants.

It's funny how the dynamics of these various protests are shaping up, according to our cultures, don't you think?

In the USA, where taxation without representation launched our American Experience over 200 years ago, many of us are still upset about taxes -- this time about bailing out irresponsible parties, who are mortgaging our children's future. To that end, we too are planning countrywide protests.

In Ireland, and no doubt in other places in Europe, the protests are about the perceived greedy businessmen who ironically transformed the Celtic Tiger from a sleepy, terror-ridden island into a marvel of upward mobility. Ditto for Latvia, whose prime minister just resigned.

When things get a little rough, everyone starts pointing fingers of blame, bouyed by entrenched unions whose lifeblood is class conflict.

I don't feel scared when I see America struggling. I know the internal problems we have are fixable, and not the product of age-old social struggle. It's when old Europe starts to flounder, that I start worrying.

It's been 41 years since the streets were filled with red flags and unemployed youths marching in the streets, setting up barricades and throwing down gauntlets.

Who will be this year's Daniel Cohn-Bendit?

Talkin' 'Bout A Revolution

2009-02-22T01:37:00.002-05:00

Find your city here.

Would you go to American Tea Party near you? Count me in.

HBO -- One Step Forward, Two Backwards

2009-02-21T21:25:00.007-05:00

As you know, HBO just transmitted a Sundance selected film about a Marine's coming home, after having been killed in action in Iraq. "Taking Chances" was exceptional because without in the least being pro-Iraq, it gave a person's life sacrifice its due without editorialising.

That is unusual not only for HBO, but for the current movie industry in general.

But just when you thought HBO would leave the topic alone for a while, its cable subscribers like myself are about to be treated to Will Ferrell's one-man Broadway show about the outgoing President Bush.

"You're Welcome America - A Final Night with President Bush" will be televised live from its Broadway stage, so you too can enjoy seeing a large penis of George W. Bush being superimposed on the screen.

That was the scene which prompted many first-nighters to leave and ask for their money back.

Gee, I can't wait.

It's nice to know HBO is looking out for the little people's interests, those of us stuck in the boonies who would otherwise miss out laughing with the sophisticates in New York City.

Set your TiVo for March 14th at 9 PM.

Canny Comment

2009-02-21T12:42:00.002-05:00

One of the best comments on the current economic situation is via Daily Pundit. The blogger had wondered out loud about George Soros:

I wonder what this predatory vulture of a wrecker is shorting now?

To which one commenter replied that bankers are suffering from "Visigoth Syndrome" (heh), fearful of being sacked and left ravaged.

The cheerfully named Pink Pig replied (interestingly enough, Geithner's role was very much on my mind, after having watched Frontline's segment on the "Meltdown" this week):

"The Visigoths didn’t sack Rome. The Vandals (Alaric) sacked Rome, in 411 AD. And no, Rome was only sacked once. It collapsed in 476 AD, and the Visigoths took over. Nowadays, we call them Europeans.

Soros doesn’t need to short anything. He already sold out his equity holdings for megabucks early last year. I might watch out, though, if I cared about the Euro. Forex forwards are almost an exact replica of the underlying money markets (they have to be, because of arbitrage). The dollar and pound are paying a much lower interest rate these days than the Euro, but it would be fair to say that it is the Euro that is out of line. Eventually, Euro interest rates have to drop, which will also cause the Euro to tank with respect to the dollar and pound. The US 30-year bond is now trading about 40 basis points above the 30-year swap market (i.e the eurodollar market). I’ve never seen this before, and it has to change. I saw no stronger evidence that Geithner was a nitwit than when he claimed that the money market dollar was rated too highly against the US Treasury. Sorry, but it’s the other way round (unless, like other nitwits, you are only interested in the short term). If you were to build a financial model on the single premise that the US government was clueless, you’d make a fortune.

If in fact, US swap rates rise while the corresponding Euro rates drop, then the Euro will plunge against the dollar. Soros, who whatever his politics is no idiot when it comes to the financial markets, may bet this correctly, and if he does (either by shorting the Euro or buying the dollar), then he will be even richer.

Personally, I think it’s a nobrainer. I just wish I had the kind of money that Soros has."

Paging Dust Bunny Queen.

Thank You, Wisconsin

2009-02-21T01:00:00.007-05:00

The State of Wisconsin's sons and daughters in the National Guards are headed to Iraq, in the largest deployment since World War II. They have been in training for this mission for 14 months.

MADISON, Wisc., , Feb. 20, 2009 – Citizens of Wisconsin gathered this week to send the 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team off to Iraq with tears and smiles in the Wisconsin National Guard’s largest operational deployment since World War II.

Thousands of family members and more than a hundred civilian and military officials converged Feb. 17, 2009, at Dane County Veterans Memorial Coliseum to bid farewell to some 3,200 members of the 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team on its way to service in Iraq.

“Not since World War II has so much been asked of our Soldiers,” said Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle. “Almost every Wisconsin county can name a student, a mother, father, son or daughter, who is part of the 32nd.”

The brigade is the direct descendant of the 32nd Division, which earned its “Red Arrow” patch by piercing every enemy line it faced in four World War I campaigns.

The division also logged 654 days of continuous combat in World War II, more than any other U.S. Army division in any war, and played a key role in capturing the enemy stronghold at Buna, Papua New Guinea, in early 1943.

After service at Fort Lewis, Wash., during the Berlin Crisis of 1961-62, the 32nd Division was deactivated and reorganized as the 32nd Separate Infantry Brigade.

Since Sept. 11, 2001, many of the brigade’s units and individuals have deployed for duty in Iraq or Afghanistan, to the extent that about half of the Soldiers deploying now are veterans of one or more recent combat deployments.

More than 14,000 members of the National Guard and Reserve have been called to active duty from Wisconsin communities since 9-11.

The brigade has trained intensively for its mission in Operation Iraqi Freedom, since it received the first alert order in late 2007.

“They have been training relentlessly for 14 months now as we mobilize under a new model that forces us to complete many training requirements prior to entering active status,” said Col. [...]

The Adjutant-General of Wisconsin, Brig-General Don Dunbar, spoke about the deployment of the famous 32nd Infantry Brigade, which many might resent.

"Many have said, ‘It’s not fair’ — And you know? It’s not fair. It’s never been fair. That’s what makes these Soldiers special.""

May God keep you in His sights, Wisconsinites.

She Was Losing Him

2009-02-21T00:53:00.000-05:00

...and she didn't know why.

I Am King Of The Matrix

2009-02-21T00:50:00.005-05:00

What would happen if you combined two of the most iconic movie moments of the 1990s, in the form of Titanic and The Matrix?

This.

Sweet Caroline

2009-02-21T00:35:00.004-05:00

Tell me, why did my beloved Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg decide to go as Pippi Longstocking to the Inauguration?

Oy-chhh, come on Caroline. It's not 1960 anymore.

Jay-Z, Your Car Is Ready

2009-02-21T00:03:00.000-05:00

We just had the Boat Show in Miami Beach last week, but the one I look forward to is the Auto Show later this year.

I just better not see this Mercedes-Benz SL600 there, at least as it appeared in the Tokyo Auto Show in January. It's customised with over 300,000 Swarovski crystals.

Ugh, hideous ratty paste job. I'm surprised they didn't use a Be-Dazzler.

Jindal's Decision

2009-02-21T00:01:00.002-05:00

Louisiana Governor, Bobby Jindal, has rejected the 98 million dollars in Stimulus money for his State. It is a principled move, but also a canny one.

In one fell swoop, I think he has checkmated Governor Palin in the 2012 stakes.

It will be interesting to see her reaction, as Alaska has long been the most massive porkers in our Union. There is only so much she can do in one term to reverse that historical course.

(I am so very embarrassed that Governor Crist of my home state of Florida campaigned for the Stimulus Bill's passage openly, never mind not rejecting it as Jindal has done. I am sick to death of RINOs)

IN THE COMMENTS: Ron is sensible, cautioning me not to jump to conclusions too early.

mmm...It's a marathon, not a sprint. This is a good move on his part, but checkmate? Perhaps a good pawn capture, but not a mate, surely. Way too early for such things, and nothing he's done has matched Palin being the VP candidate. He's yet to be tested under national fire yet.

I'm more interested in what Palin will do in the next 6 months to a year...As yet I have no real inkling outside of setting up a PAC, which is an interesting turn. If she can be ready with a compelling narrative when Barry has a more glaring miscue that even the press can't quite paste over, then we'll see.

Palin-Jindal? Possible in your view or not?

In response to the first paragraph, I think you are right about the lack of experience on the national level, but for some reason, I think he is not the kind that would be rattled by the spotlight (as Palin was, at times). He is an unusually calm person, projecting a staid competency that is very reassuring.

In response to the last question, do I think Palin-Jindal is a possible ticket in 2012 -- I suspect it would be double-jeopardy for oh so many people.

Two social and fiscal conservatives, but one almost quintessentially American, folksy, who has unbelievable amounts of star power with Republican voters; the other adding the much-needed minority clout to broaden the Party in the world's eyes and from a crucial Southern State, to boot.

I think it is a more formidable ticket than many Democrats think.

Please Watch "Taking Chance" On HBO

2009-02-20T16:25:00.007-05:00

"Taking Chance stars Kevin Bacon as LtCol Michael Strobl, USMC, in the story of a fallen Marine's final journey home. The 2009 Sundance Film Festival Official Selection premieres Saturday, February 21 at 8pm - only on HBO."

(Via WakeUpAmerica)

I always had thought Kevin Bacon looked good in an uniform since his part in A Few Good Men. But this poster is just brilliant.

When the airline agent rasped out emotionally, "Thank you for your service", I started to choke up. That's some powerful trailer.

INFO: That haunting song is by Greg Laswell, called "Comes and Goes (In Waves)". I just purchased it on iTunes.

The Extinction Of The Republican Party

2009-02-20T03:52:00.004-05:00

The Democratic Underground forum didn't think the post suggesting that the Republican Party be "eliminated" was too outré for them -- free speech giving birth to another kind of death wish, presumably.

Thus encouraged, their collaborators tried to outdo each other in hatred for their political counterparts.

However, one gentle soul wrote a poem capturing his feelings instead.

From: Mike Malloy: The Republican Party needs to be eliminated.

POETIC EXTINCTION...desperate , grasping
barely holding....unexplained convulsions of logic
....Lashing out fierce screams of blame...........
........thinking of survival, Wailing Flailing.....

lying dealing death to survive
Screams..... Pain.....hate....agony

Fear, oh yes FEAR

Eating one's own, you know that kind of Fear
......The fear of nightmares.....
Camouflage it....hide behind it....meta morph it

puffing plumage...raising hackles... loudly barking
..changing colors...altering strategies ..

smokescreens of stench

hungry predators...following the trail...searching

weakened hiding running Scared
hoping hoping predators circling
focused dedicated hungry
backed into a corner

Cowering Sniveling Crying

THE EXTINCTION OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY:

by Proud Patriot

(...smokescreens of stench. I have to remember that)

I think it's good that they're not hiding their inner dictator anymore. It feels cleaner.

UPDATED: Of course, with doctored videos via HuffPo, you can be forgiven for thinking the other side is nuts.

This is the original saved video which Huffington Post already retracted.

I think that could be the nail in their reputation coffin. What little they had to begin with.

The Return Of Snooty Face

2009-02-20T03:50:00.013-05:00

President Barack Obama was in Ottawa (aka Iowa) during his first foreign tour this Thursday, when one of his most recognisable "tricks" made a return. Snooty Face is baaaack.

Behold, the arrogant American abroad.

Dude, go to a chiropractor or something.

ADDED: Snootyfacepalooza!

EXIT QUESTION: You think this tendency, perhaps also wholly innocent, will be pointed out negatively by the world, as President George W. Bush's swagger was?

What am I thinking...

IN THE COMMENTS: Birdie Bob is reminded of another politician, with a severely jutting chin.

Looking at those photos reminded me of the newsreel preening poses of Benito Mussolini. For whatever that's worth.

Whew, I've seen this many times, of course, but I get the willies watching it again, alongside wanting to laugh my head off. He looked like a deranged clown.

At least Obama is just arrogant, not sociopathic.

TARP Visualised

2009-02-20T03:03:00.002-05:00

Read it all.

I am not Instapundit, but I do play him on TV.

(Note: The photograph has a Snopes page)

Sego And Sarah

2009-02-20T01:59:00.004-05:00

Having set up Diam's La Boulette for you, as well as Florence Foresti, now I can show you a compare-contrast which you will get.

Here is Sègoléne Royal, the first female candidate for the French Presidency, dancing (awkwardly) to La Boulette.

In fact, none other than Florence Foresti parodied her, in a very famous cutting skit.

It is said this little dancing performance by "Sego" led to her declining popularity with the French public, as it made her look superficial, unpresidential, and pandering too obviously to political correctness.

This reaction is funny, you know, since a very game Sarah Palin was able to gain back a little momentum in popularity, after she appeared in the infamous SNL rap skit with Amy Poehler.

Both ladies were taken less than seriously by their respective voting public, in part due to their good looks, but Palin came out the better of the two.

Must've been that rhythm.

Bon Cop, Bad Cop

2009-02-20T00:59:00.001-05:00

Canadian police certainly have an unusual way of arresting a suspect. I won't even imagine the reaction in the US, were this to have happened here, knife and all.

Scheduling Conflict

2009-02-20T00:36:00.004-05:00

As you know, I never miss a Brazilian carnival nor do I miss the Oscars. Unfortunately, this Sunday I will have to miss largely one or the other. It's first day of the famous Samba Schools Grupo A in the Sambodromo float parade, as well as Oscar Night!

I am actually interested in this year's Oscars, too, as I believe 2008 was especially a good year in film. But who can resist the pull of the heady sensual Rio carnival?

Share your opinions about which one I should watch live. As I have a DVD-R (not a DVR), it's very much an either/or situation, I'm afraid.

In other words, do my readers want more of this?

Or this?

I'll Have What She's Having

2009-02-19T14:15:00.002-05:00

Of course, it could be argued that a mere slip-of-the-tongue doesn't warrant such technological effort the creator of this video must've required. But being CNN, it's still funny.

Those Excessively Handsome Blond Men

2009-02-18T01:52:00.025-05:00

I don't like blond men. Let me explain.

My previous post on racially different sets of twins sparked a desire in me, to revisit why I am not attracted to fair-haired examples of our species. I have long thought that it was because I also tend towards fairness (helped along by Miss Clairol), and womanlike, I didn't think dating a blond man would make me look good in contrast.

It could also be because most males in my family are blond, and Mother Nature being sage as ever, puts in us a natural gap stop from being attracted to one's own cousins; thus preventing me from a fate worse than death -- AKA inbreeding.

Then there is this thought I have about blond men.

Have you noticed how they remain excessively fair of cheek for way way too long?

Whatever age they are, they easily appear 10 even 15 years younger than their actual age. That's fine when they are truly young, but the look of extreme youth on a man you know is at least 40 is very disconcerting. Other than paedophiles and Jonas Brothers fans, who wants to be attracted to a boy of 15?

Finally, there is this.

Blond men are often very handsome. Not just boy next door handsome, but chocolate-box pretty handsome. You know?

The kind that makes you think of fairy tale princes in 18th century velveteen hose, sitting on a swing or strumming on a lute in one of those oppressively cute Watteau outdoorsy scenes.

So today, for your viewing pleasure, I have decided to illustrate my points with a sampling of some blond men, perhaps some of whom you may know, but certainly all of whom have blazed across the history pages one light-haired follicle at a time.

(I'll try to make this as un-gay as I can, promise)

KING LEOPOLD III OF THE BELGIANS

If Walt Disney ever had a prototype for his various cartoon princes from Cinderella to Snow White, this chap would be he.

The future King Leopold III is shown on his wedding day, looking like a 12 year-old playing dress-up. His extreme beauty (there is no other word) pierces the monitor even after 80 years, those soft ringlets brushed away from his forehead, and his small Clara Bow bee-stung lips, almost defying the viewer to ogle him.

It's a shame he had a bad end, after he surrendered his country to the Nazis, not to mention having been guilty of manslaughter of his wife Astrid when he careened his car into a tree. He also cheated at golf, according to the Duke of Windsor. And having mentioned the latter, all I can say is, hold that thought.

ANTHONY EDEN

Now largely forgotten, Anthony Eden in his day was the equivalent of a political crown prince. Eden waited in the wings for Winston Churchill to hand over Conservative power to him, going on almost 25 years. During that time, he impressed the various continentals with his good-looks, almost a caricature of the "English gentleman" of aristocratic imaginings. It is even said that Göring kept a sketch on his bathroom wall of Eden sunbathing...heh, okay, that's not true, but you can almost PICTURE it, can't you?

I think Rab Butler, one of his adversaries and a tutor to Prince Charles, said it best about Eden, whose handsomeness was matched by a fiery temper:

"Half mad baronet, half beautiful woman".

CHARLES LINDBERGH

If we had a dollar for every time the word "baby-faced" was used for the famous aviator, I think President Obama would probably not have needed to sign the Stimulus Bill.

I can see why my grandmothers were so in love with this guy, back in their adolescence. He's not just handsome -- there is a purity about his features that looks almost ascetic. Or is that "acidic"...?

For unlike the delicately brought up European males above, there is a touch of farm boy about his prairie looks. It's also a judgemental face. In another time and place, he could have been a Lutheran pastor in Sweden, cane in hand about to administer a whipping, as Bergman always had it.

As it was, he was America's first truly homegrown international hero after Dougie Fairbanks. Not a bad act to follow.

RUPERT BROOKE

The following lines are from his poem, "The Beginning".

Some day I shall rise and leave my friends
And seek you again through the world's far ends,
You whom I found so fair
(Touch of your hands and smell of your hair!),
My only god in the days that were.
My eager feet shall find you again,
Though the sullen years and the mark of pain
Have changed you wholly; for I shall know
(How could I forget having loved you so?),
In the sad half-light of evening,
The face that was all my sunrising.
So then at the ends of the earth I'll stand
And hold you fiercely by either hand,
And seeing your age and ashen hair
I'll curse the thing that once you were,
Because it is changed and pale and old
(Lips that were scarlet, hair that was gold!),
And I loved you before you were old and wise,
When the flame of youth was strong in your eyes,
-- And my heart is sick with memories.

Any man who can speak so convincingly about the touching of hands and smelling of hair is NOT to be trusted.

Yes, he's handsome, with his open visage and lazily tied necktie, all very recherché and poetic I'm sure, but he strikes me as not the kind of man who is in it for the bad times, as well as the good. First sign of trouble, whether a relationship or World War I, and he's out of there.

Anyway, his poems from the battlefield allowed a whole generation of men to look on their youth in the trenches as a time to drink away. I'm not exactly sure we have quite overcome that self-pitying destructive malaise yet.

EDWARD VIII (THE DUKE OF WINDSOR)

I literally had my pick of dozens, even hundreds of photographs to show you of the Duke of Windsor. Almost all of them showed his stunted boyish good-looks, that dazzling toothy smile (which later turned yellow and twisted with smoking), and long blond eyelashes, a kind of male Greta Garbo for girls to swoon over.

He was the original "fairy prince", not that I'm implying that he played for the other team, you understand. Mind you, as a notorious womaniser, I have always thought that was product of a guilty conscience somewhere along the line.

Like many handsome men, who furthermore are very aware they are handsome, his looks were a constant source of comfort for him. He was a clotheshorse because of it, slaving away in fittings with tailors and dieting to preserve his figure, something which drove his unprepossessing and jealous father mad.

Even with the distance of 73 years after the fact, I still can't believe this man, who could've had any woman in the world, finally plunked down with that dykish twice-divorced American, Wallis Simpson. Adela Rogers St. John, the now overlooked famed journalist, once observed that Wallis Simpson could play linebacker for the Green Bay Packers. Hut-hut, indeed.

The Duke will feature in a forthcoming blogpost I have about Famous Playboys, so you know, I have to hold something back here. Stay tuned.

JEAN MARAIS

I remember watching Cocteau's "The Beauty and the Beast" and thinking, you know, I think I prefer Jean Marais as the beast. It's because when he was out of costume and makeup (which required a sacrifice of 4 hours), he was almost distractingly handsome. The kind which leaps out from the screen or photograph, and practically invades your space.

And yes, I too think I'm a good candidate for psychoanalysis about this, but you know it's true.

Prettiness is about symmetry, as Aristotle explained. Nature adds a wrinkle to the mix, by making sure there is an element of uniqueness to that of desirability -- in this case, blondness. But plainly God has a sense of humour, because in Marais' case, there was no chance he was going to reproduce, being as he was, gay.

HONOURARY MENTION

CAPTAIN ALFREDO ASTIZ

It's difficult to include this person, who is a modern-day monster, but after the insipid-looking blonds above, who all have a frail femininity about them, I had to include at least one which was handsome, blond, but who was utterly loathesome.

For those of you who have never heard of him, he is an Argentinian naval captain at the heart of that country's "Guerra Sucia" (Dirty War). Argentinian politics is difficult to characterise, because at the time, it was a holdover from the Fascism which looks Rightist, but in many respects is very Left.

This fetching military man had, as a young ensign, a shock of white-blond hair which was the delight of older Argentinian women, leading him to be called "El Angel de la Muerte" (the Angel of Death). Using said blond looks, he infiltrated many of the leftist organisations as a member of the secret service. After denouncing them, he was personally responsible for many atrocious torture acts, such as the famous "death flights -- a prisoner went up in a helicopter, and was pushed out to his or her death. Yep, this man allegedly was one of the pushers.

Ugh, awful. A pox on his house.

...hmm. Maybe, you know, that is the source of my disaffection for blond men. Perhaps I think that sometimes that which glitters is not really gold?

MODERN EXCESSIVELY HANDSOME BLOND MEN

By now, you might be wondering why I haven't chosen any photos in colour. Well, apart from that being too easy, I also think the men above are often not spoken of these days. There's always a historical angle with my posts, as you know.

But just so that you ladies (and some gentlemen) out there may have colourful eye-candy, these are my selections of blond guys who are just too cute for my taste.

That's from top to bottom, two actors, Rupert Penry-Jones (Spooks, Cold Comfort Farm) and Ryan Phillippe (Flags of My Fathers, Gosford Park) as well as footballer and general poster-child of metrosexuality, David Beckham.

Incredibly, given the fact that most women drool over them, these men do nothing for me.

Mind you, neither does this guy.

All I do when I look at this photo of Reggie Bush's rippling physique is think, "Jesus, can you just inflate that bloody thing already?".

I'm a complicated blonde.

What He Said

2009-02-18T00:49:00.008-05:00

I chanced on a curious blog yesterday, called Head Wide Open, which made me laugh and gasp in turns. The blogger certainly has an original take on life, which I appreciate because I think I do too. Of course, people like us won't always please everyone -- but that's rather the fun of life, don't you find?

When reading over his post on the Israel/Palestinian question (about which I do not comment a lot on Sundries) I am struck by how much I agree with him about this. Not everything, therefore requiring a comment below; but enough.

I reproduce the blogpost called "Plight Makes Right", which furthermore, is a perfect title for the situation.

The line between left-fascism and right-fascism gets blurrier every day. I refer to the recent proto-Kristallnacht in Venezuela. I am not of the belief that anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism are synonymous, but there is no doubt that the left has been cheerfully exploiting if not subsuming the latter sentiment under the guise of the former for some time. This shouldn't be all that surprising. The left's attitude to Jews may be summarized by a line from a Leonard Cohen song: "You loved me as a loser, but now you're worried that I just might win." Leftism is a Christian heresy, and as such attributes automatic virtue to the beaten party. As the Jews in general, and Israel in particular, stopped being so beaten and learned to do some beating themselves, the left transformed the Jew on the crucifix into the Palestinian on the crucifix; with the added bonus that there was a large cultural mine of Jew-as-crucifier motifs to draw on. That the Palestinian on the crucifix would be happy to crucify the Jew if their places were switched does not affect leftist thinking. For leftists, whoever has more power is automatically in the wrong, and whoever has less power is automatically in the right.

This makes the current alliance between disaffected leftists and disaffected Islamists all the stranger. Leftists back the Palestinians because they are victims; Islamists back the Palestinians because they are Muslims. The Iranian revolution also began as an uneasy alliance of convenience between leftists and Islamists. Yet once the Islamists took power, the leftists were persecuted and exiled. The alliance was always uneasy because one side, the left, opposed the Shah for the sake of being a dictator; the other side, the Islamists, opposed the Shah for the sake of being an insufficiently Muslim dictator. Dictatorship itself was not the problem for them. Similarly, the Islamists don't have a problem with persecution of minorities (Iran's persecution of Bahai's, to give one example), they have a problem with persecution of Muslim minorities. This is particular so because Muslims have traditionally never been minorities in non-Muslim countries, so even the idea of a Muslim minority is offensive to them. Leftists have not been able to grasp the concept that some minorities, some beaten parties, are not content to wear a crown of thorns forever; they don't oppose power, they oppose not having power.

How then does left-fascism arise, when fascism is distinguished by idolization of the strong? The answer can be found in the human capacity for self-delusion. The vandals of the Venezuelan synagogue no doubt thought of themselves as protecting the weak (the Palestinians) from the strong (the Israelis), even though in actual fact they were terrorizing a small and weak group (Venezuelan Jews) from the standpoint of the strong (the ruling party). Similarly, the Soviets imagined themselves protecting weak peasants from strong oppressors as they persecuted the kulaks (in actual fact slightly less poor peasants). The difference between minority and majority, oppressor and oppressed is often a matter of perspective. Israel looks like a powerful oppressor when the map is simply of it, the West Bank and Gaza; when the map is zoomed out to include the surrounding, larger Arab countries, it looks much less powerful. Yet the question of who is comparatively weaker and thus more deserving of sympathy leads to a pageantry of competing victimhoods that does not settle the question of who is in the right, because losing does not equal being right.

I must add that winning does not equal being right either. Rather than might makes right or plight makes right, I prefer the ideal of noblesse oblige. The Dictionnaire de l’Académie française defines it thusly: Whoever claims to be noble must conduct himself nobly. From this perspective I may be critical of Israel's treatment of the Palestinians, or France's treatment of Algerians. However, this is because those nations hold themselves to a higher standard than say, Iran does with its minorities. Left-fascists feel normally despicable acts are justified if the aggressor has some claim to be oppressed; right-fascists feel normally despicable acts are justified if the aggressor has some claim to be naturally superior. However, under the ideal of noblesse oblige, it is not that a majority is automatically wrong and a minority is automatically right, but that a civilized majority is marked as such in part by how it treats its minorities. That being said, as Muslim countries have extremely poor records when it comes to treatment of minority groups, regard for noblesse oblige requires one to ask: when the Muslim population of France is bigger than the non-Muslim population, will it conduct itself as nobly?

If the answer is no, this creates a number of political and ethical problems which the left is not equipped to deal with. The sometime feminist view that burqas are actually liberating from the tyranny of the male gaze is one such muddled response. Another is that Islamophobia is equivalent to anti-Semitism; a comparison which is useful up to a point, that point being that Jews were never in a position to become numerically dominant in Christian countries with low birthrates. Since leftists are resentful of all claims to nobility, they are loathe to recognize how dependent they are on the noblesse oblige of the society they criticize. When they lose sight of this they lose sight of the elementary fact that there is always a majority and a minority in any given society, and some majorities treat minorities better than others. Thus a leftism consistent in its concern for minorities would, for instance, criticize Israel while taking into consideration that its checkered noblesse oblige is better than Hamas's complete lack. More typical is Hugo Chavez worship; a left-fascism which is completely different than right-fascist Augusto Pinochet worship because, of course, Chavez is opposed by the Americans and has darker skin.

I recall reading that anti-semitism was almost non-existent in the (Far) East, although in India, Jewish dynasties had been a part of their trading empire for hundreds of years.

That is, it was non-existent until the Left began injecting anti-semitism in the form of "rich capitalist pig" rhetoric into each country. That was the case with Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam, as well as incredibly, Mao Tse-Tung in China. Their Jewish populations were miniscule, even entirely unknown, but the perceived economic and intellectual superiority of the Jewish man made him suspect for them. And as the blogger suggests, it's not so much money that bothers leftists, but the wicked triumphalism of anything considered "superior".

When something triumphs, even if it is good, goes Leftist thinking, one has almost reflexively to think of those who are vanquished in the process. Unfortunately, this leads to a paralysis of morality which was recently never more apparent than the days leading up to the Iraq invasion.

This mindset is what allowed Oscar Award winning actor, Sean Penn, as well as the blustery buffoon of the British Left, George Galloway to visit Saddam Hussein, a butcher of millions, a sadist with no love of democracy, to treat him and anything he had to say about the situation, with respect, even kindness.

This mindset is what allowed Oscar Award winning British actress, Glenda Jackson, to have a booth at an anti-war rally which sought volunteers to act as human shields for Iraqi buildings -- the same Iraqi buildings which were Ba'athist torture chambers, including Abu-Ghraib, need I add...

All because, in their twisted analogies, Saddam was the one at the time being oppressed by the hated American Empire.

But back to the blogpost above.

The claim of Leftism as a Christian heresy is, of course, hyperbole. It makes for a good declarative sentence and as such, I admire its style.

The further imagery of the modern Jew being crucified is no less, but that on the other hand, has more meat on its philosophical bones.

As Joschka Fisher, the German Foreign Minister under Gerhard Schröder once noted, young Germans who detest their nation's Nazi past are almost unwittingly reproducing it by their utter collective contempt for the State of Israel. The same vitriol leveled by Nazis towards Jews as unfairly moneyed, has now given way to the contempt of the unfairly landed.

This attitude goes across party lines, but no where is more visible today than in the Left.

I also agree with the blogger that anti-semitism and anti-Zionism are not one and the same, but the lines are extremely blurred when anything touches Jews.

(I half recoil when I have to write the word "Jews" like that. Almost reflexively, I want to "soften" the word, but find "Jewish people" and such to be clunky in the English language. But this feeling I have is partly a product of my own political philosophy, one which has a delicacy towards anything Jewish)

The sentence, "For leftists, whoever has more power is automatically in the wrong, and whoever has less power is automatically in the right" I think is also hyperbolic.

Clearly, Leftists are supportive and enthusiastic whenever they gain power.

You have to look no further than the election of Barack Obama as US President, to see that in action. Overnight, countless slogans in blogs and posters that "dissent is patriotic" and the flinging of Dr. Samuel Johnson's aphorism that patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel, transformed themselves into anti-Obama heresy, and those of us who dislike the President's POLICIES were chided for being unpatriotic (!). The hypocrisy. It kills.

That much vaunted dissent they had clamoured about for 8 years, has become as silent as a breeze.

But it's not exactly patriotism that they are backing now, but rather, and this is a crucial difference, the path a nation is going when there is suddenly a Leftist at the helm. It now becomes a nation that is subservient to the precise political philosophy it practises, having had its ills cleansed by purity of jargon. It may even behave similarly, so long as it doesn't speak similarly.

You'll notice that very little anti-China sentiment was offered by said groups before that enormous country, which is still nominally Communist, allowed itself to become a runaway capitalist success. Same country, nearly the same political actors, different attitude the moment it careened away from acceptable ideology.

It is slightly different with the USA, given that it is still a "hyperpower" in the phrase of de Villepin, because of its current historic nature, but at least people around the world perceive that Obama's election has set it on a right course. What that 'right' course is, however, is disputable. There is an almost unspoken belief that a more Leftist President is less nationalistic, more internationalist, and therefore will make it weaker as a singular power.

In other words, it has been weakened from within, and its implosion as a hyperpower is that much more likely with a Leftist at its helm. Anything which debilitates it, such as the cost of a social welfare system, including nationalised health care, the eunuching of business, and redress owed towards oppressed peoples in terms of reparations but also of wide-open immigration, can only lead to its downfall as a military power -- as it did with most of Western Europe.

Britain, once the loathed hyperpower of its day, is now seen as a rather inocuous little island, generous to all newcomers, harbouring those who frankly hate it, content to play second-fiddle to its former child across the sea. The same people are there, the same political ethos reigns over it, but once they let go of their empire, they transformed themselves from pariah to paragon.

(Or at least to peons, to continue the alliterativeness)

Unlike the USA and the United Kingdom, a mere cleansing of the political palate is not enough for dear little Israel. Oh no. For many Leftists, their unholy alliance with Islamic peoples who wish a different kind of "change" for Israel, does not allow them to see past a shared idea that Israel is a bully in the area, backed by a preening USA, which gives them money to survive.

That's a combination of actual strength PLUS money, the two most deadly sins in the eyes of hard-line progressives.

Never mind that they would be the first to be marched up the guillotine, if they didn't have the protection of sharing the majority of people's beliefs about Israel, because their views on the socially progressive would make them instant targets for death.

No, at this moment, the two have cosy shared world view about Israel.

Perhaps on one side, many Leftists around the world wish nothing more than for Israel to give back all the land they "took" from the Palestinians after World War II, whereas the others wish quite simply for the total annihilation of the State of Israel (and nothing less will suffice or be tolerated, so don't kid yourselves).

This first view includes many Jewish people around the world, who do not wish to remember that an Holocaust was able to happen PRECISELY BECAUSE they had no "homeland" to be transported to, and were at the mercy of nations who didn't want to risk war with a blackmailing rogue power.

"Just give the land back! Maybe we can have peace then", said one 70-something Jewish friend of my mother, who voted for Obama, echoing the thoughts many other Jewish people around the world have about this. Interestingly, her daughter also voted for Obama but less enthusiastically, and is less sanguine about the State of Israel. I think she was raised to believe that Jewish people were always politically on the side of the oppressed, being themselves an oppressed people, but casting a glance at the surrounded Israeli State, she doesn't see its geographic realities or history as neatly as her mother does.

This is what the blogger referred to, quite correctly, as competing victimhoods.

Who is more the victim here...

Is it the traditionally reviled 'wandering Jew', kicked out if they are lucky, killed if they were not, who have a tradition of elevating themselves despite every vissicitude, but whose power then became hated and whose people became suspect in one god-awful daisy chain of history? Or is it a querellous tribal people whose oil now gives them untold modern wealth and that unquantifiable power known as "leverage", and a faith which once tolerated the Jew as dhimmi, but only because they were top dogs?

Now let me pose a question:

For an Iranian mullahs, can Israel exist if every Jewish person there would suddenly cease to practise Judaism? No. It would still be offensive since unbelievers desecrate previously held Muslim land.

Because this situation is and yet isn't about the Jewish faith, nor its practioners, per se. That's why it can be defined as yet another anti-Semitic outburst, and yet, not. In turn, this is cynically used to muddy the waters of anti-semitism by those who claim they are against the political entity that is Israel, not Jewish people themselves.

The blogger above has got it slightly wrong.

For many, it's not the Jew who is impaled on the modern cross that is Israel. It's the Arab who has been dispossessed, kicked and brutalised, with Pontius Pilate looking on as a powerful, and yet distant American abitrator. This modern passion play is what motivates each party to behave the way it does, but the only catch this time is, the one expected to sacrifice is not the crucified but the crowd.

A mere man is born, lives, dies and is buried. But land...land to many is what gives man his meaning on earth.

Arabs have always lived on theirs, and their sense of self is tied to it almost in toto. (The Christians in Lebanon are a response to those who think it's only about Islam). This goes a long way to explain the desperation of wanting their land back, since nomadism is one thing, but loss of face due to conquest is another.

Jewish people, on the other hand, have ample experience in ceding an inch to all cultures, losing much face in the process. What they do not have is experience in ceding acres.

I fear for Israel and the safe haven it represents for so many, given this mindset to see victims all around. There is no good guy, and bad guy here, people. There is no triumphalism versus the oppressed. Strong versus weak.

There is just legality, property, legitimacy.

Deal with the factual, and the esoteric will have less chance to prey on your consciences, like they have for centuries.

Survival is not just for the fittest, it is for those who are willing to do anything to survive.

Hitler once tried to eradicate a whole people, having no nation willing to accept them en masse, he claimed. I have news for you -- he would've tried to exterminate Jews even if Israel had existed. So don't presume that Iran "merely" wants to eradicate the State of Israel, or if Israel should happen to be extinguished again as a nation, that all will be well. So long as one Jewish person survives, the fact that Israel could come back as a nation-state will be a silent threat to them.

That's why this situation isn't really about anti-semitism...and yet it is.

Coke Adds Style

2009-02-18T00:01:00.000-05:00

Introducing the new limited line of Diet Coke, as designed by Nathalie Rykiel (Sonia's little girl).

Wait, aren't horizontal stripes fattening?

We've All Been There

2009-02-17T12:56:00.007-05:00

What, didn't you flip out when you didn't board your flight containing your Pekingnese dog?

...since I don't speak Cantonese, I am not sure if the dialogue is NSFW, but I would certainly be hurling epithets in various languages. Might wear a different hairdo, though.

ADDED: Since I have a "two-fer" thing going on on Sundries today, let me add another one. Below is an Indian gentleman wigging out in a Canadian flight, with air marshalls trying to restrain him.

"I am going to die! Shoot me! Hit me! You guys are cheating!"

(There is another of an Italian doing something similar, culled from the first three hits on Youtube using my string search "airport passenger flipping out". What, there's no one from Peoria or Blackpool getting angry on planes? It's just Hong Kong grande dames and Italian baritones?)

Happened Again!

2009-02-17T12:37:00.007-05:00

Generally fraternal twins look disimilarly, obviously, but when dealing with parents who are of different races, the results can be even more amazing. Now, when it happens TWICE, you know you have yourself a very unusual family indeed.

These little lovelies, twins themselves, are holding their baby brothers, also twins.

And here are the lucky parents!

It's amazing how much the darker girl looks like her father, whereas the moppet with the ginger hair came out looking like her own mother's clone...and yet, I can see BOTH parents in their faces, to a remarkable degree.

What a fascinating example of phenotypes at work.

Related

Remember this photo of two little twin girls, one black and one white? Their parents were themselves each the product of a white mother and black father.

In the article about them, it is said the chances of such children being born of one race each, is 1,000,000 to 1 (a rather convenient and not very believable sounding stat). Nevertheless, it is a very rare occurence indeed to have two sets born like that.

Slightly Different

2009-02-17T12:28:00.004-05:00

What happens when you take one of the world's most notorious couples, take photos of them on the beach, then in their skivvies in bed, then compare those to a famous magician and his wife, doing the same?

THE BECKHAMS

PAUL DANIELS & DEBBIE MCGEE

(I don't know about Posh, but Miss McGee looks like she's channeling Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra)

Laura Norder

2009-02-16T01:24:00.010-05:00

You may be wondering who this lovely lady might be, this Laura Norder. It's not a woman at all, but refers to the way many Brits pronounce "Law & Order".

(Think of it like JFK's Cuber, and yes, sometimes I too add the superfluous -er to words ending in a vowel sound. One which makes me wince when I hear myself saying it, is insomnier)

I only say this because it would seem ITV will be joining forces with the famed American franchise television series and will finally come out with the British version, set to premiere next Sunday, 23 February.

It'll be called, rather unimaginatively, Law and Order: UK.

The famous intro has been jiggered juuuust a wee bit to fit a different set of realities.

"In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups. The police who investigate crime, and the Crown Prosecution Service who prosecute the offenders."

Oh dear, the Crown Prosecution Service. Hee. Hee.

This clip above is interesting for it reveals to me that something I always thought was true about the Law & Order series, might yet prove to be a fallacy.

I always thought that L&O was a "plug and play" series, which worked regardless of the actor or character.

It was like the Denver Broncos of television shows.

No matter which running back you put out there, he was sure to run for 200 yards, and score 2 TDs every game. It wasn't the player which made it work, you see -- it was the system.

But the teaser reveals a charmless cast of actors, all politically correct, flatfooted and scrubbed up, quite different from the streetwise partnership of the late lamented Jerry Orbach and Chris Noth (my favourite cop duo in the series), snarky Sam Waterston or that amazon, Jill Hennessy.

Eh, who knows. I'll give it a chance and watch it online. And so can you, if you find away to change your IP by proxy...

P.S.: Ooh! You know what the clip didn't play? The addictive Laura Norder doink-doink.

They better.

Paging Norman Rockwell

2009-02-16T00:03:00.006-05:00

Little Jacob and Mary Czaja are seen offering their homemade muffins to New York State Trooper Mike Ballow, amongst one of dozens of personnel working non-stop to recover the remains of Continental Flight 3407 in upstate New York.

To me, this photo is Americana at its best. It manages to combine two of Norman Rockwell's iconic sketches.

The homespun bounty of "Freedom from Want".

As well as the transparently trusting faces of the children saluting the heroes who made it all possible, one star and stripe at a time.

Dear Foreign Office

2009-02-16T00:02:00.005-05:00

Below is the first draft of a letter composed by President Barack Obama, having been found by a White House janitor crumpled up in a corner of the Oval Office.

"Dear Foreign Office,

I won! (I just love saying that) Please find enclosed a bust of Sir Winston Churchill, which had been allowed use by the Foreign Office until the 13th of February instant. Unfortunately, I have no further need of this bust, being as it is an oppressive reminder of the British Empire's heydey, one which enslaved my father's people in Kenya for more than a hundred years, forcing them to become wastrels, drunks and family abandoners. It is not one which I wish to look at for the next four to twelve years (if my new Bill works out).

I am, however, interested in a bust of Keir Hardie. And have you one of Tony Benn, too?

P.S.: Please tell Sir Nigel Sheinwald that I heard that he's a cold wet noodle.

Very sincerely yours,

B. Obama, 44"

Seriously though, of all the media generated non-stories out there, this is the lamest so far in this young Presidency. So he's returning Winnie's bust, big whoop! The man has a right to display whatever image he wants in his quarters.

Anyway, Winston won't mind.

The greatest British Prime Minister has better things to do than to look at the mug of an amateurish one-term American President.

LOL Theory (Why Am I Always The Last To Know)

2009-02-16T00:01:00.016-05:00

Have you ever heard of the LOL Theory? I only just came across it, and I confess, I have been laughing my head off since.

LOL Theory is explained as "the internet abbreviation lol being placed at any part in any sentence, making said sentence lose all credibilty and seriousness."

ex 1
Doctor: We need to operate on your colon lol, you have cancer.

ex 2
Jesus: Take this all of you and eat it, it is my body, lol.

ex 3
Juliet: Romeo Romeo lol wherefore art thou Romeo?

ex 4
Marx: Workers of the world lol!

ex 5
Abe Lincoln: Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth lol on this continent.

Oh God, tears are pouring down my face as I type; my mind trying to find the most pompous sentence to carve up with 'lulz'. I suspect it appeals to the (irreverential) silliness of British humour.

It is almost as good as when Ruth Anne Adams revealed the secret of adding the word "in bed" to any fortune cookie saying.

"You will find a bushel of money [in bed]"

LOL.

IN THE COMMENTS: Blake just provided me with more endless hours of LOLing.

The "in bed" thing is so old, it's inverted. Now you say, "except in bed."

"You will have a great adventure, except in bed."

Meanwhile, Ron comes up with an amazing idea.

Maybe Vic's version of this phrase could be "with Sarah Palin."

Something like...

"Smiling makes you look younger [with Sarah Palin]"

Or this "real" one.

"May you someday be carbon neutral [with Sarah Palin]"

HAH!

Iron Dog Valentines

2009-02-16T00:00:00.010-05:00

The Iron Dog Challenge of 2009 is officially in the books, and you'll be happy to know Todd Palin and his partner finished the gruelling race, 6th overall.

After one week of being away from each other, this is how the Governor of Alaska greeted her athlete husband on Saturday, 14 February.

It must've been one heckuva Valentines.

Because Every Monday 4

2009-02-16T00:00:00.005-05:00

Should start out with a laugh.

...a tie-in to my political yearbook photos, as according to a few sites, this is these crazy kids' high school yearbook photo. Yeah right. There isn't one school in the land that would allow this to be printed in their yearbook, even Barbizon.

And also, doesn't she know that he's gay?

Where are you NOW?

2009-02-15T14:06:00.010-05:00

Tell me, where is the National Organisation For Women today as a woman in Buffalo, New York lies dead, BEHEADED, by her husband?

Silence, utter silence.

Not a word to condemn this most brutal act of violence against a woman's person -- perhaps the most unforgiveable moment of cowardice I have ever seen by feminist groups and leaders in my entire life in the West.

Look closely at this woman, standing next to her husband in "better times", who eventually killed her (I wonder just good the times were under the surface). Her name was Aasiya Hassan.

This is the face of your friend next door: an intelligent, well-dressed, modern woman like any other. Her death should be covered and spoken about with as much alacrity as Nicole Brown Simpson, another victim of a senseless slaughter with overtones of domestic violence.

I suppose NOW's front page at the time of writing says it all:

Singer Rihanna's assault consisted of a despicable battering by her boyfriend, leaving her with a swollen face, and she gets first mention. Aasiya Hassan's HEAD was severed off her ENTIRE body by her husband for daring to request a divorce, and is this worthy of comment by NOW? No.

My God, what is wrong with these people?

I'm sick and tired of these organisations and groups who adhere to a purely liberal ideological line, using women as their fulcrum, championing and ignoring women according to their whims.

All because they are scared witless that if they wade into anything Islamic, the violence meted out to the late Mrs. Hassan will somehow be visited on their person.

This is America. You have freedom of speech, and your political credo commands you to defend the most vulnerable amongst us, which most certainly includes women who are victims of oppressive husbands.

Speak up. Speak loudly. Make sure it doesn't happen to another woman again in America!

(...crickets)

When They Were Young

2009-02-14T09:29:00.032-05:00

Boy, Yearbook photos can yield some doozies, can't they? I'm not talking of famous people's high school or college photos, but our own!

Fortunately, I will never have that ignominious pleasure of ~~laughing~~ looking at myself one day, because senior yearbook photos are an Americanism.

In my school, we had a "bulletin", which was handed to all six-formers -- but mostly concentrating on clubs, prizes, and group photographs, the latter of which Brits are obsessed. Go to any British club or pub, and you will see miles of group photos, sedately posed, captured for immortality. In my country, we don't leave anything to chance and giggles.

But I say, well done, Americans!

I love the Yearbook custom, because it allows us a peak at how people were before they became high and mighty -- usually with hilarious consequences.

Today, a blog called Veto Corleone has culled together a photo trove of politicians at their pimply worst. Here they are! (Click on link for more)

HILLARY CLINTON

If I didn't know any better, I'd say this rather bouncy blonde girl was from California, headed to Berkeley to major in sun and fun.

My word, but doesn't Hillary look great here. It's like, what happened? When did the onset of feminazism overcome this poor creature?

Curiously, it makes me appreciate Bill Clinton less. I admired him for having the courage to marry a sour, scrubless, ugly feminist -- but with his fine perceptive eye for women, he knew this lovely was lurking underneath.

NANCY PELOSI

The last time a mayor's daughter was so carefully brought up and so much was expected of her, was Rose Fitzgerald in Boston. But Nancy Pelosi didn't want to just grow up to be a rich man's wife. She wanted power of her own.

This studio portrait of then Nancy D'Alessandro says it all:

Eyes on the prize, Nancy. Eyes on the freaking prize.

(I will refrain from mentioning that she killed at least two rainforests using Ultra Hold AquaNet)

Our female politician trifecta closes out with the absolutely scrumptious Sarah Palin. This girl has mom, apple pie and huskey bobsled written all over her.

She's just naughty enough to be popular (check out the frilly dark lace on her - prom? - dress), but her tomboy spirit is evident with the unfussy hairdo. You don't get the sense of that simmering ambition, nor her future wowsers in looks in this photo, at all.

Nope. Sarah Louise Heath is just everyone's little sweetheart. Go Warriors!

...now, if I were playing retrospective matchmaker, which contemporaneous politician would I hook her up with? I can think of two.

ROD BLAGOJEVICH

BARRY OBAMA

Rod Blagojevich actually looks like he could be Sarah Palin's younger, rascally Serbian brother, so that's out. No, it's clearly the good-looking chap with the leisure suit, semi-big-ass 'fro and dazzling pearly white smile. And then there's the game of hoops they could indulge in, after the photographic session.

(My money's on the chick)

MIKE HUCKABEE

Unrecognisable.

And.What.IS.He.Wearing.On.His.Head? That is never his real hairdo, surely? Maybe it's a fried squirrel.

But speaking of unrecognisable future pols...

DICK CHENEY

DON RUMSFELD (Not in Veto Corleone's line-up)

Dick! Rummy! Wow, were they über right-wing, Johnny Unitas flattop look-a-likes even when young. I just can't get over Dick Cheney, though. This was before his smile became all evil and apoplectic. He even has this odd resemblence to Heath Ledger, poor thing (Heath, not Dick).

Now Rumsfeld. Well, he just looks like a dick.

BILL CLINTON

"Thank you. Thank you, very much. You're a beautiful audience, ladies and gentlemen."

AL GORE

"Well. Shoot. I can't believe I am in Harvard, my daddy's a Senator, and I still can't get laid."

JOE BIDEN

This is the face of an all-American Irish working class kid from that butthole Scranton, PA. He tries hard to be liked, and it's working. Somehow. For now.

BONUS

MICHELLE OBAMA

As my Cuban friends say, coño..............

Okay, so I can't make fun of that collarless poly-cling blouse, because I actually had a few in my day (that day was still around in the 90s). I'm obviously not going to call myself unfashionable and uh, dorky -- so let's concentrate on that hair instead.

What, pray, was Michelle Robinson going for with that look? She looks like a cross between Princess Leia and a wimple-wearing countess of the Flemish school.

This is not the girl you befriend at school. This is the girl who gives you the stinkeye as she passes you down the school corridor, clutching her non-ruled notebook tightly to her sweater...because you're something she'll never ever be and she knows it.

EXTRA EXTRA BONUS

BORIS JOHNSON (seated, right) DAVID CAMERON (second from left, standing)

Behold, the kind of group photo I mentioned up top. These two exemplars of the British ruling classes are David Cameron and Boris Johnson, the two most famous Conservative politicians in the UK at the moment.

Their poncy yet still rather dazzling dress refers to the fact that they are members of Oxford's most exclusive (dining) club, the Bullingdon. I tried to get in, but was prevented on account of my ovaries.

Not that I'm bitter or anything.

But I do believe both these men are retrospectively asking for a punch round their self-satisfied mushes, don't you?

Rummy, you around?

UPDATE: Veto Corleone actually linked to a great set of celebrity yearbook photos. PAULA ABDUL!

UPDATE #2: Commenter JAL asks if there is one out there of Condoleezza Rice. Why, yes there is!

You know, this is annoying. The woman hasn't aged one whit. I think I prefer the Family Guy version of young Condi in college (those of you who remember, knowwhattatalkinbout, wink).

When Googling for Condi's photo, I strangely also found one of Senator Lurch Kerry's Yale yearbook photo. Chickenlittle said we dodged a bullet in 2000. You know, I'm getting rather the same impression in 2004.

Just what the hell.

Now Reagan in 1928, showing off his varsity letter from Dixon High School, that's eerie. Is it JFK...

...or Ronnie?

Handsome Irish beggars.

MORE: I just can't stop! Here are former First Ladies Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy (very topical today on Sundries) in her senior high school picture, and Laura Bush, the same in Midland.

Both pert misses, although it's a bit curious culturally how Laura Bush is wearing Jacqueline Kennedy's bouffant hairdo of a later time. Meanwhile, the latter's generation is influenced by...Veronica Lake?? Paging Ron!

IF YOU ARE STILL READING THIS: One more. It's too good!

JOHN & ELIZABETH EDWARDS AT LAW SCHOOL

Elizabeth is insanely beautiful here, but John Edwards leaves me speechless...

He went from Gay Porn Star to Breck Girl.

First Lady Recipe

2009-02-14T09:19:00.007-05:00

Take one pose in a White House sitting room.

Add two shakes of shantung strawberry colour.

Subtract genuine charm and star quality.

And stir.

Related

Laura Bush's Disco Pants

"You Are Getting Sleepier. SLEEPIER."

2009-02-14T09:02:00.004-05:00

Photo caption contest!

It's Only Fair

2009-02-13T12:45:00.013-05:00

Yesterday was a wild day, compounded by a freak sickness which thankfully seems abated today. Though weak, I had to go out to my local high-end grocery store, because they sell the best homemade Jewish-style chicken I know, "Chicken on the pot".

Not only was I sickly, but so were my parents. As they age, it is I who has to assume the responsibilities of the house, which I do with alacrity. It gives me a chance to pay them back just a little, for everything they have done for me in my life.

My parents had allowed me, as a child, to lose myself for hours reading inside my room, under trees along the park, in various hiding places in our home. In turn, I was one of those children who miraculously never gave them trouble and who, equally miraculously, was never punished just to be punished by overly strict parents.

Of course, my father was very strict, all the same.

I was given just one full-hour from the ages of 7 to 16, to watch television. But being essentially fair-minded, he said I could choose whatever programmes I wanted, and could break them up in blocs of 10-15-20 minutes if I so desired.

(In the UK, as you know, we don't always start our programmes on the half-hour, or full hour as in America. Thus I could watch, say, from 9:20 AM to 9:45 and so forth)

To that end, he gave me a little booklet which I needed to fill out -- which I confess, as I grew older, I did so less and less. And as he grew older, he too checked it every night, less and less. Yet, our pact never stopped being in effect. No matter how speedily the teenage years started flying past, I still obeyed him.

He was still My Father, the unquestioned head of our household, the man who, after having worked 16 hour days, came home to kiss his wife, hug his daughter, stick his nose in an enormous medical book for a few hours, then fall asleep to do it all again the next day. Year after year, country after country, this was our home life.

This was almost everything I knew, until I in turn was sent off to boarding school, another well-regimented, absolutely fair-minded institution with quaint little rules, the likes of which I'm convinced, only the British can do truly well.

The key to being strict is being fair, you see.

Consistency. Reasonableness. Duty. And most importantly, the ability to laugh at the pompousness of the whole thing, if only for a moment.

This is our heritage, my birthright, and what my father inculcated in me by example.

For a people who live entirely by ego, but are at pains to make sure everyone knows they don't like it, the British are notable for their fair spirit in rule-making, which only really makes sense to themselves.

When I tear my hair at seeing my old country turning a strange cultural corner, by allowing Shar'ia Courts to exist side-by-side with our venerable legal system (which, really, is our greatest gift to the world), I have to pause and remind myself that they do so, at heart, because they believe the practise to be fair.

The idea is to instill that spirit of fair-play, and hope it'll somehow rub off on the next person -- that's the basis of an entire culture, you see: leading by example.

Of course, the British make a fetish of extinguishing themselves on the altar of fairness.

That's what allows chavs, neds, and each generation's latest group of reprobrates to run around practically unchallenged by ordinary people, and shockingly, even less challenged by authority figures.

Think of this when you see a gang of hooligans inside a train in the Tube, rapping old people on the head, going up and down the aisles, screaming and hollering abuse whilst grown men stare down intently into their newspapers and allow this fracas to happen. This despite that back in the day, at least, absolutely no guns would be involved, and one grown man could easily have dispatched these reedy punks in short order.

Other nationals would see this spectacle and think, "Ah, the British are so weak". Yet others would try to psychoanalyse the situation and say, "Ah, they feel guilty about the working classes [or insert group du jour here]".

It's possible, but I think it unlikely.

We're just a nation of people who hope things sort themselves out.

After all, give people a skeleton of strict rules, add a bit of common sense, plus the ability to shame people with sarcastic panache, and bob's your mother's brother, you have a nation called Britain.

Or indeed, you have a family like mine.

A daughter who, if she doesn't work 16 hours taking care of her family, certainly would be ready to do so in case it were needed. As her father lies in bed, his nose now firmly ensconced in ESPN, he hopes that his increasingly frail body won't be a burden to his family, particularly to his only child. She shouldn't have to take care of him.

Perhaps he has forgotten the most important thing he taught me in life, the thing which others debase for their own ends, raising its spectre when they want to change the world, that poor manipulated word which lies dormant until Man awakens it.

"It's only fair."

Fairness is more than a doctrine to some of us. Within its energetic little letters, lies a promise given by a father to its child.

It's indecent and wrong to use the word to manipulate anything. Our children would never forgive us.

Related

Nostalgia

Do You Think Katie Couric Would Look As Thrilled

2009-02-13T12:39:00.005-05:00

If Vice-President Sarah Palin had been kissing her at the Abraham Lincoln celebrations, instead of President Barack Obama?

IN THE COMMENTS: Starless comments on the different Courics available for popular consumption.

Aside: I think it's really cute that Katie thinks she's a real journalist now. She puts on her big girl professional suit and her "serious" face. Its just adorable.

You mean, this face...?

The Death of Miss Perky is much longer drawn out than even I thought it would be.

Welcome To The Rahm-Bo Era

2009-02-13T12:31:00.003-05:00

Thumbing their noses at the American public since January 20, 2009.

Boris Johnson Gets Wikijacked

2009-02-12T13:02:00.021-05:00

There is a fine old tradition on Wikipedia of altering entries with every intent to either amuse or fraudulently claim something about the subject at hand. To be expected, given that it's user-generated content -- this allows for the modern equivalent of the old Chinese whisper campaign and general hijinks.

Anonymity just seems to bring out the worst in humans, alas.

Maybe it's my rotten luck, or maybe it's far more common than I imagine it to be (who controls these things?), but often when I'm looking up a conservative politician or famous figure, their entry has just had some funny business done to it.

I call this phenomenon Wikijacking.

In the past, I have been around at the right time for Margaret Thatcher's reputed date of death. Let's not forget the time I posted on Benedict XVI's entry reflecting his reputedly unusual method of election (which Dan Brown should call "Secrets of the Gay Opus Dei Conclave" and make another fortune).

And now, Boris Johnson joins this distinguished list of conservatives who some people simply cannot keep from altering with their dirty typing paws.

Behold, Boris Johnson's Wikipedia entry, of a few moments ago!

Lovely.

Can you imagine if some wag uploaded a photo of Barack Obama like that? My dears, we'd never hear the end of it.

But for the wispy, blond-haired toff Mayor of London, well, he's just fair-game, isn't he?

Actually, knowing Boris as we all do, he'd probably be the first to laugh. I too laughed. Similarly, I am not suggesting someone SHOULD put up a photo of President Obama in such a guise. Only the terminally obtuse would think that.

What I am suggesting is that conservatives are quite often the targets of monkey business, err, so to speak, done to their entries on Wikipedia.

Furthermore, if an exactly similar entry was fudged by someone about say, Fidel Castro's date of death, or putting up a gorilla photo on President Barack Obama's Wiki entry -- that we'd never hear the last of those "hateful, racist conservatives" and their appalling deceitful behaviour.

See, it's not the fact of Wikijacking that bothers me, though as an historian I confess it rather does. It's the double-standard associated with it.

No worries though.

I'll keep posting on this activity so long as I catch it and, as the saying goes, shame the devil whilst I'm at it.

Extra

POPE BENEDICT'S WIKIJACKED ENTRY

MARGARET THATCHER'S WIKIJACKED ENTRY

UPDATE: As of 13:24, almost 20 minutes after I first noticed it, the ape pic is still up. LATER: 13:32...finally rectified.

ADDED: What brought me to Wiki BoJo? Simple, I was watching a BBC series called "Who do you think you are?" -- a genealogical programme which shows famous people's attempts to locate their ancestors.

As everyone knows, Boris is particularly cosmopolitan, being the descendant of a journalist/politician in Turkey, who was executed for daring to oppose their beloved talismanic President, Mustafa Kemal. The programme had just gotten to the part where he uncovered that his great-great-grandmother was the illegitimate daughter of Prince Paul of Württemberg when I said, "Aha, interesting. I think that is Queen Mary's ancestor, wonder if it's the same chap. Maybe Wikipedia has more information?".

The rest, as they say, is bingo what's my name-o.

I'm about to watch the Jerry Springer episode, though you'll be happy to know his Wikipedia entry is virgin. Democratic ex-mayor of Cincinnati, don't you know.

Hey Viejo Chocho -- It's Called HEBREW

2009-02-11T00:57:00.014-05:00

Immanuel or Emmanuel or Imanu'el (Hebrew עִמָּנוּאֵל "God [is] with us" consists of two Hebrew words: אֵל (’El, meaning 'God') and עִמָּנוּ (ʻImmānū, meaning 'with us'); Standard Hebrew ʻImmanuʼel, Tiberian Hebrew ʻImmānûʼēl).

Dear God, Fidel Castro has come out with a kind of op-ed piece in the Cuban news organ (think Pravda), Granma.

I refuse to link to that sack of smegma, so here is a blogpost that does.

In this piece, el Comandante-en-barba muses out loud about the possible origins of the name "Rahm Emanuel". Get this -- his first thought was that it appeared Spanish! You know, like Manuel the porter. ¿Qué?

"WHAT a strange surname! It appears Spanish, easy to pronounce, but it’s not. Never in my life have I heard or read about any student or compatriot with that name, among tens of thousands."

...what a diseased, parochial mind, dios mio.

Next he'll be telling us about how funny that he met an Arab girl called Fatima, because he always thought that was Portuguese.

But just so that Chris Matthews gets a tingle up his leg about his thought processes, Castro adds this little gem, remembered from his Jesuit boarding school teachers, no doubt.

"Where does it come from? I wondered. Over and over, the name came to mind of the brilliant German thinker, Immanuel Kant, who together with Aristotle and Plato, formed a trio of philosophers that have most influenced human thinking. Doubtless he was not very far, as I discovered later, from the philosophy of the man closest to the current president of the United States, Barack Obama."

What the bloody hell kind of logic is this?

It reminds me of reading a Woody Allen biography, which mentioned his real name was Allen Konigsberg, immediately segueing that it's no wonder Woody Allen is so interested in philosophy -- because Königsberg was the birthplace of (you guessed it) Immanuel Kant!

Castro wasn't done.

Not only did he use his squirelly logical skills to make snide inferences about the forthcoming American implosion, but he actually had the gall to reference Kant's aphorisms.

"Of course, it was not the only objective or the only inspiring idea, but what is certain is that after the triumph of the revolution in our homeland on January 1, 1959, I still recalled some of the German philosopher’s aphorisms:

“A wise man can change his mind. A stubborn one, never.”

“Do not use others as a means to your end.”

“Only through education can a man finally be a man.”

Ain't that funny, Fifo!

Especially since you're stubborn as the muck stuck to the sole of one's foot; you've used everyone and I do mean EVERYONE to get and keep yourself in power for 50 years; and you deny your people the basic human right to have an education.

Oh, don't tell me that because your educational system is free, that it's worthy, because that's another slap to our faces. When your own people cannot go into a library and check out non-approved literature, have no access to the internet unless they are higher-ups in the government, and have to samizdat their way to enlightenment, that is no education worth speaking of.

Hipocrita. Viejo chocho. Caso perdido!

Keep your thoughts to yourself next time, why don't you.

Related

Reflections From The Twilight Zone
Rahm Emanuel Is Driving Fidel Castro Crazy
From The Department Of Delirium

70 Year-Old Is Top Dog

2009-02-11T00:34:00.005-05:00

Stump just proved a 70-year old can be Top Dog in 2009. Hear that, John McCain?

And proving I'm not the only one who injects politics into everything, Blogs.com (which linked to Peggy's Westminster cheatsheet) references last year's superstar doggie:

"'Last year's Best in Show was a beagle, Uno. Gothamist reports, "Uno's owner Caroline Dowell donated $20,000 in promotional proceeds for canine health research; she told Bloomberg News, 'Uno and I decided what to do with the money. He agreed with my recommendation that the money should benefit dogs.' She also implied perhaps why she didn't visit the White House last May: 'There is a sign at my ranch that says, 'Uno supports Obama-Biden.'"

Arf. I mean, barf.

This reminds me of Mary Carillo and her tight-waisted co-host constantly mentioning Obama and family, using this event to bring his name up about their future dog choice.

Meanwhile, not even a mention about the most famous Scottie to occupy the Oval Office since Fala -- Barney (and Mrs. Beazley). They had a perfect opportunity tonight, given that a Scottie was in contention. Meh. You can't win with these people.

Related

Westminster Dog Show Cheatsheet Via Peggy

Happy 45th, Governor Palin!

2009-02-11T00:30:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Ron, I was reminded that today is Sarah Palin's forty-fifth birthday. I hadn't planned anything major on Sundries, but please join me in sending the busy Governor much deserved good wishes on her birthday!

Incidentally, when I Googled her Wikipedia entry, a strangely typed up blurb from the AP greeted me. Check out the highlighted portion of the truncated post.

YOU WISH, AP.

Appropriate Music For The Death Of Muzak?

2009-02-11T00:10:00.001-05:00

Now taking suggestions from Sundries readers, seeing how the elevator music folks known as Muzak have declared bankruptcy.

This sour economy got even the people who turned "Like a Virgin" into a business-setting song mournful enough to ride up to the penthouse. Yikes.

Leg Tingle Alert

2009-02-11T00:02:00.002-05:00

Warning: Self-satisfied liberal sneering by Rachel Maddow at the beginning of clip.

Chris Matthews @ 3:25 -- "I love to think with him".

ALL.SENIOR.CITIZENS.SHOULD.HAVE.LEG.TINGLE.ALERT.

Spidey In Florida

2009-02-11T00:00:00.000-05:00

Tiger's Cub

2009-02-10T01:29:00.005-05:00

Congratulations are in order for Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren, the latter of whom just gave birth to the couple's second child, and first son. Tiger confirmed the news on his website a few moments ago.

"Elin and I are thrilled to announce the birth of our son, Charlie Axel Woods, who was born on Sunday 8 February 2009. Both Charlie and Elin are doing great [...]."

Well done, you two.

Now please get well so you can go back to the links, Tiger!

Bedsheets And Purebreds

2009-02-10T00:51:00.012-05:00

I think PETA have finally lost it. They staged a protest outside the Westminister Dog Show wearing white KKK robes, likening dog breeders to "master race" conscious racists...

Their goal, according to a post on the PETA website, was to draw a parallel between the KKK and the American Kennel Club. "Obviously it's an uncomfortable comparison," PETA spokesman Michael McGraw told the Associated Press.

But the AKC is trying to create a "master race" when it comes to pure-bred dogs, he added. "It's a very apt comparison."

The group passed out brochures implying the Klan and AKC have the goal of "pure bloodlines" in common.

I almost feel like letting this bit of insanity speak for itself, and close the blogpost with it. But let me delve into the topic a bit.

Not everyone who is a PETA supporter leans left politically, but they share a similar mindset with many progressives -- specifically, they take an idea which could at face-value be estimable in intent, and stretch it out to it's most ridiculous conclusion.

It's a plug-and-play logic that is so ridiculous, that it ends up alienating more people than garnering supporters.

E.G.:

They take a notion, such as animal breeders are going for a "master race" (which they are, that's the whole point of the animal kingdom, raw survival by the the fittest exemplars), and then look around for an human equivalent action.

Since they wish to suggest that animals should be given the same legal protections as humans, such as protection from race superiority, they chose the Ku Klux Klan as their imagery -- perhaps a little voice reminding them of Godwin's Law said that's more acceptable than the more "rational" allegory, Nazis. They were the ones who had a Lebensborn programme, not the Klan, morons.

Look, I realise they are doing this for effect to draw attention to their cause, and perhaps they don't really believe Peggy Gero DaValt is the new David Duke. But come on, give me a break.

Like Code Pink, they have a collective screw loose.

Scold-In-Chief

2009-02-10T00:00:00.015-05:00

President Barack Obama scaring Americans straight at his first press conference. Can you imagine four years of Uh-Ahh-Uhhs passing for articulation of policy? Oy. And they made fun of poor Caroline Kennedy, not to mention the-one-who-must-not-be-named.

Best analogy of the night about it came from a Roger Simon Politico commenter:

Does anybody else have the sense that America is clickety-clacketing up a very steep rollercoaster hill, and that the ride ahead of us has some railings that are desperately in need of inspection before the train takes the plunge?

I usually love rollercoasters, but this one (which America stood in line for two-plus years to board, enduring a vast and ceaseless barrage of political jibber-jabber) does not promise any fun...only cold-sweat, white-knuckle fright.

Now I can't get the rollercoaster clickety out of my mind.

ADDED: Rollercoasters must be in vogue, as I just read on Althouse a quote by Dita Von Teese:

"You can have a roller coaster ride with a nice guy in a sweater."

Yeah, only Obama isn't a sweater guy. He's Members Only all the way.

(Wow, is that Malia Obama on the left? She has that loping tomboy look many teen girls in transition go through, albeit age-wise she has a ways to go. She favours her father completely, though)

MORE: I keep thinking about this press conference. It's one thing to disagree with a man about policies, but I just can't shake the sense that he is in WAY way over his head. I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking that, but it's frightening me all the same.

Can some tech genius out there make a Youtube vid superimposing Christian Bale's rant over Barack Obama's press conference?

Especially this bit:

F***'s sake man, you're amateur.

Westminster Dog Show Cheatsheet Via Peggy

2009-02-09T17:01:00.008-05:00

I had casually asked Peggy Gero DaValt, a noted dog show handler and breeder herself, to give Sundries readers a few tips ahead of tonight's 2009 Westminster Dog Show.

My word, but she outdid herself, and so by her leave (I hope!) here is her very impressive reply.

"Greetings, Victoria and Westminster KC fans!!

As an avid dog show exhibitor myself (and now for my shameless brag...a dog I co-own and handle...earned his 7th and 8th Best in Show awards in UKC competition this weekend!!....not bad for a 3+ year old male, Gordon Setter). [edit: Congrats!]

Okay...now for the nuts and bolts...

The Westminster KC is held annually in NYC the 2nd Monday/Tuesday of February. The show is open ONLY to champions of record. They limit the number of dogs that can enter to 2500 I believe.

In each breed, during the course of the year, statistics are kept at two levels - all-breed and breed. All-breed refers to the number of dogs you beat outside your breed. Breed competition refers to how many dogs you beat of your own breed. If your dog is ranked in the Top 5 of the breed, you will gain an automatic invite to Westminster, where you don't have to jump through hoops to get to make their lottery deadline.

With that said, today's competition featured breed judging of: Hound, Terrier, Non-Sporting and Herding and you can easily see all of the individual breed competition and results on this web site: Westminster Kennel Club. They stream video for each breed competition.

Tomorrow night will feature: Sporting, Working, Toy and Best in Show competition. I will be watching and cheering for the Gordon Setter winner in the Sporting Group. The #1 Gordon Setter, Nike, retired after the Gordon Setter National Specialty. Nike was not only the #1 Gordon Setter, but he was the #4 Sporting Breed dog.

For more information on the Top Dogs of 2008, you can check out the Canine Chronicle.

There are a lot of top dogs out there and a lot of my armchair quarterbacking will come after I see all the winners of the groups. There are often upsets in the Garden and a dog that may be a favorite may not even get out of breed. Even in hobby sports, politics abounds. And....as we all know, that little "extra" that a dog has pushes him/her to win that coveted Best in Show ribbon.

I have had the pleasure of attending Westminster in 1999 with Judy Browne who owned Kirby, the great Gordon Setter, Ch. Bit o' Gold Titan Treasure. Kirby repeated as the Group 1 winner of the Sporting Group in 1997, 1998 and 1999. This was only done previously by a Smooth Fox Terrier in 1906, 1907 and 1908.

One of my goals is to be able to show at the Garden. I am hopeful that next year or the year after, that River will get that automatic invite and then we will get him there...as it is very expensive endeavor....but one of those opportunities that can't be passed up!

The atmosphere at the Garden is exciting....and one that dog lovers everywhere should witness at least once in their lifetime. The first thing that I noticed was the green astroturf and how small the rings truly are.

I hope that you all enjoy the show tonight and tomorrow. I will be at my mom's house watching on cable with two Gordon Setter friends as we cheer everyone on in the Sporting Group!!

The list of esteemed judges are:

Sporting - Mr. Robert Ennis of Angola, NY
Hound - Mrs. Patricia V. Trotter of Carmel, CA
Working - Mrs. Paula Nykiel of Washington, MO
Terrier - Mr. Peter Green of Bowmansville, PA
Toy - Mr. Fred Bassett of Broken Arrow, OK
Non-Sporting - Mrs. Charlotte Patterson of Destin, FL
Herding - Mr. Robert Slay of Cary, NC

The Best in Show judge for 2009 is Sari Brewster Tietjen of Rhinebeck, NY.

This is a huge honor for judges to judge anything at this show. I believe that at some point in time I have shown to all but two of these judges.

Good luck everyone and enjoy!!

Hug your pooches -

Peggy :-)"

Wow, thanks Miss Peggy! I know I'll be using this info tonight. I used never to miss a Cruft's dog show back in the day.

ADDED 10 February: Peggy kindly writes up another doozy of a followup.

Tonight the Sporting Group (my favorite) will take center stage at the Garden.

The setters will be well-represented. The English Setter is breeder-owner-handled and is a multiple Best in Show winning dog.

The Gordon Setter is a DUAL champion. That means that he has won his field trial championship as well as his show championship. He is birdy and pretty. He has a Best in Show title to his name. The handler of the English Setter put the Best in Show title on E.T.

In the setter world, we like to say that a well-balanced dog has a title on both ends.....

Champion goes on the front end and companion dog, junior, senior, master hunter goes at the end of the name....I think you get the picture.

The new setter breed making its debut is the Irish Red and White Setter. I personally know the first Irish R & W to finish its AKC championship belongs to a friend in Wisconsin!!

The Irish Setter winner is not one that I personally know, but huge congratulations to "her." The Best of Opposite belongs to a good friend of mine from MN who I do her website for. Dante graces the home page along with his grandfather, Hunter, who is the father of my Irish Setter.

I digress....there are pointers, retrievers and spaniels in the group as well. I love the Flat-Coated Retriever breed which is my "wish" breed.

Watch for those overall balanced dogs; the ones who can do what they were bred to do and that is to hunt and move.

I'm not 100% sure who will take the group, but watch for the English Setter to make a "cut" as well as the Irish Red & White since it's new to the group...

The Golden is always a crowd favorite......

On a more somber note, a long-time dog show handler and gentleman, Andrew Doyle, died from injuries he sustained at his home after returning home from a specialty. Mr. Doyle was a well-respected handler of sporting dogs and other dogs as well. He had shown Irish Setters and even made a video of how to groom an Irish for those of us who need help in that area. Mr. Doyle was not even 50.(9/30/61-02/09/09). May the shamrocks and heather fall softly for this man.

Enjoy the show tonight and may the best dog win!!

CORRECTED PORTION: Peggy adds a correction, plus she actually mentions the eventual winner. What talent!

The Irish Red & Whites cannot be shown this Westminster because, *duh* they weren't allowed to compete for championships until January 1, 2009....so everyone...consider that a glimpse into next year's Westminster sporting group.

And....that Sussex that won has lots of "power" behind him....having won the group 5 years ago and now comes back as a 10-year old veteran!! Amazing!!

ADDED: Meet this year's youngest Westminster dog show handler, 10-year-old Rachel Glenn. Amazing.

Yakety O

2009-02-09T15:56:00.009-05:00

As a commenter put it, everything is funnier when put at double time, and synched with Yakety Sax.

This includes President Obama bumping his noggin when entering Marine One.

...any chance of Fred Armisen, the current (dismal) Obama impersonator on SNL, adding a Presidential tendency for bloopers in his schtick?

You know, shades of Chevy Chase and Gerald Ford.

I mean, the faux pas are beginning to pile up, and I'm not just talking of the mangled Oath.

ADDED: Heh. The link asking for captions produced some great ones.

- “Pentagon cuts overhead”

- Note to Self: Put Amendment in Stimulus for larger Marine One

- How does Karl Rove keep doing these thing?

- A Marine One pilot attempts to knock some sense into the new president….

- The unfortunate cost of raised expectations.

- Racist helicopters still living in the past.

We're Not Amused

2009-02-09T14:36:00.013-05:00

Like all Brits under 57*, I have grown up only knowing one sovereign the whole of my life. The amount of visuals about this Queen throughout my life have been absolutely overwhelming.

I have seen the Queen smile. I have seen the Queen laugh. I have seen the Queen annoyed. I have seen the Queen look earnest. I have seen the Queen look impish. I have even seen the Queen give her dogs what for.

But I have, until now, never seen the Queen look like this.

Blimey, the famous royal stare which I have been told by courtiers, once seen is never to be forgotten (or to want to have repeated).

This is the look of a woman completely disapproving of the spectacle before her. Check out at minute 0:18 how she is piercing the ether with that thousand-yard stare. Curiously, instead of the usual spectacular blue tint of her eyes, which I have seen in person and are an absolutely compelling hue, they are an odd opaque colour here -- almost green-black, the colour of an angry sea. Then she looks down and up very quickly at minute 0:20 in a gesture very reminiscent of my late grandmother.

That was the look she gave anyone when she had had "quite enough of that".

I cannot know what was really going through H.M.'s mind as she listened to the Quran's 55th Chapter called "The Beneficent" being chanted, back in May '08, but as the saying goes, if looks could kill.

...what a contrast she will seem to Charles III.

*Almost 57 years to the day of my post. She ascended on 6 February 1952.

ADDED: Uncanny, no? I never noticed the resemblence of that look of thunderous disapproval before.

Please note that there have been candid snaps of the Queen annoyed in the past.

NONE of them reflect the added layer of discomfort mixed in with, oh I don't know, disgust? shown in the video.

Fear Itself

2009-02-09T03:34:00.024-05:00

I recently pounced on a peculiar pro-Obama board called, "The Obama Forum".

Let me tell you, it's a doozy of a place. Like discovering Youtube that first time, you can lose yourselves in there for hours.

Any forum which features a section called "OBAMA NATION WATCH ~ Keeping an eye on our enemies" is itching for an Instalanche, or a Hot Air Ballooning (coinage!). At the very least, they should expect horrified readers wondering what on earth they are banging on about.

The thing of it is, The Obama Forum is clearly a parody site. Clearly.

You know why I know that? Apart from the fact that I have a brain, can use it to think, and I didn't fall out of the turnip truck yesterday or even the day before that, it's evident that what they say is done for effect. Think of it like the Onion, only with less carbonated burps.

The question then becomes, who owns the site, and what is their motivation for maintaining it? I can think of a few reasons.

Let's pretend the moderators are Democrats. They could either (a) want to poke fun at other Democrats who take Obama worship too far.

- or -

(b) Hope those not savvy enough to realise it's a parody site, who they believe would invariably be Republicans or those against Obama, would write-up an outraged piece on it. This would lead the anti-Obama crowd to look doubly stupid, and humourless when someone leaked the truth. The Obama Forum folks could then point and snigger at them because they behaved in the expectedly gullible/paranoid way, and much fun would be had at HuffPo by all.

Now let's pretend the moderators are Republicans.

Most people can instantly come up with many more reasons for this version, all invariably narrowing down to "they want to make Obama supporters look bad".

Additionally, they could be apolitical creatures who just want to have a little fun at the expense of all concerned. In other words, jerks with time on their hands.

I think I like that scenario the best, don't you?

By now, if you haven't clicked on the link above to The Obama Forum itself, you are wondering just how egregious their posts could be. Well, even though it's a parody site (I allege), certain incovenient posts have a tendency to fall off the face of the earthscapade, especially when it relates to anything to do with Barack Obama.

So for your convenience, I've made screencaptures of that one particular thread which first caught my eye.

It's called:

"List enemy license plates here"

I want you to click on the images below so you can read them yourselves. On the off-off-off-chance these are real licence plates, I don't want to contribute to their dissemination on Sundries, capiche?

Plus, I've always liked a slow reveal. It's sexier.

THE FORUM SUB-FORA

THE LORD OBAMA AND HIS MINIONS ARE WATCHING YOU!

THREAD MISSION STATEMENT

OMG LULZ!!1! HE KEYED SOME1'S CAR ALREADY

A FREEBIE TWO-FER OF HATE

OH SWEET IRONICAL FORUM ID, AND YES I KNOW IRONICAL ISN'T A WORD, DON'T EMAIL ME

THE MASK BEGINS TO SLIP (Chauffered Mercedes, indeed)

THIS POOR N00B STILL DOESN'T GET IT

IN ANOTHER THREAD, A LITTLE DAYLIGHT OF TRUTH PEEPS OUT

Of course, you could ask why there are very few blogposts exposing this forum, by either gullible righties or appreciative lefties. Good question. I don't know. I did find an article about it on the NoBama blog.

The poor blogger didn't know what to make of the thing.

It could be a parody site…at least, I certainly hope so. If you can stomach it, here’s the link.

The board’s social groups include:

* Black Panther Party (”dedicated to protecting the black race, and the extermination of all whites”),

* Jewish Posters Union (”Any goyim gentiles are not allowed in our group. We are racist because G-d is racist.) ,

* People’s Independence Movement for Progress - P.I.M.P. (”We struggle for the good of all under the principles of Marx, Obama, Mao, Stalin, and Ashley Judd. We plan to lead the U.S.S.A. for the common good of all men, no matter how lazy.)

Dude, get a clue. P.I.M.P. Ashley Judd. 'Nuff said.

Of course, the fact that the owners of this site began it as a parody site, doesn't mean that every one of the 1800 registered users are in on the joke themselves. More than once in a while, you get the sense in a reply that they are down with worshipping Obama.

In a private sub-forum, which is visible briefly to you on registering, you are given the opportunity to learn how to worship the Lord Obama via the:

Temple of Latter Day Universalism ~ A Place Of Worship For OBAMATOLOGISTS

The regulars like to browbeat outraged newbies, most of them Christian, urging them to accept Barack Obama as their saviour.

The Christians in turn claim they have no need for Jesus-Barack; they believe in the real one who died for our sins, who had He lived, would certainly have been a registered Republican, thankyouverymuch.

It's all very amusing to observe these exchanges, in an outer Socratic circle kind of way.

Having exposed this hilarity to you, let me now change gears a bit.

Let me ask any of you out there reading this blogpost if you disagree with me, and think this is a genuine site, and all these outlandish posts are, on the contrary, very real indeed?

Or even better, if you are a Democrat, and had you found a similar forum lavishing praise on Bush (or being patently against Obama), would you automatically think it were real, and it never ever could be a parody?

Because I have news for both sets of people.

You are the kind of person who tends to believe the worst about those who oppose your political beliefs. This makes you weak intellectually, and liable to fall for any hoax, conspiracy theory, or libel out there.

I tend not to think in these terms about those I disagree with, however strongly.

This is why people like me are able to ascertain within a degree of certainty just exactly what is what therefore being less likely to fall prey to these tricks, and look like raving looneys.

My admission is not some pat on the back, even if it may sound it. On the contrary, I am saddened by the need for this ability. For in this day and age, such an ability almost ranks as a gift from God.

The pitfalls, especially for the young or impressionable, are overwhelming at the moment. They are exacerbated on both sides by rank hatred for the opposing viewpoint.

But I have also noticed it doesn't help if you come from or were raised in a closed society, where truth was rarely obtainable, and doubt was your mother's milk. Heck, I too might've come out that way if the Arab street had been my playground. I understand whilst never condoning.

No, the Obama Forum doesn't pass the smell test.

The EightMaps site, on the other hand...well, that's another kettle of fish.

Their goal is to list every address of all the donors who contributed to the anti-Prop 8 campaign in California. Though no one has explicitly given any orders, already there are reports that people are being harassed at their domiciles.

What other outcome could there possibly be, but harassment, repression, or even God forbid, possibly the death of a person targeted by these lunatics?

What other conclusion can there be, other than this group wants to make sure you know your life will be laid bare in future, should you behave the same way again?

Unlike the Obama Forum, the Eightmaps site's intent is crystal clear. That's the one you should fear, and blog about 'til you're blue in the face.

Up and at 'em.

This is no time for giving the benefit of the doubt.

Go Todd!

2009-02-09T00:58:00.004-05:00

Man has Greta van Susteren been lying down on the job recently. Not one peep about the First Dude, Todd Palin, in the past month! That's gotta be some record for the lady who is patently a little sweet on Sarah Palin's man.

I reckon Monday's telecast might change that though.

Sunday, 8 February 2009, marked the beginning of the gruelling Alaska race on "snowmachines", known as the Tesoro Iron Dog Challenge.

That's 1971 grizzly miles in sub-zero temperatures, often at a 100 mph clip, across the landscape of the Great State of Alaska. They start off in Big Lake Alaska, work themselves around to Nome, and supposedly will finish this year in Fairbanks.

Will Todd Palin and his partner, Scott Davis, be able to five-peat as champs? We shall see.

Here is Governor Sarah Palin giving her old man a good luck kiss before setting off. Piper seems amused.

Palin gives the green 'go' flag.

I just hope no one is hurt this year, as Todd Palin broke his hand last year, nevertheless finishing the race. John McCain seemed almost mesmerised by this fact, and mentioned it constantly on the campaign trail.

Hey, Todd Palin may not be a "maverick" but he is one tough hombre, he seemed to say.

(Yeah? So why didn't they use this chap to the fullest of his potential during the campaign? What a crock)

Good luck, Todd!

Related

More about Todd and the Iron Dog via FNC

Jonathan Ross' Bafta Lispth

2009-02-09T00:11:00.012-05:00

I had forgotten just how annoying Jonathan Ross' lisp was, after emigrating from the UK.

I am currently watching the Baftas, which were handed out just a few hours ago -- where he as host gave a little shoutout to Kate Winslet in the audience, not just teasing her about her two nominated films, and I quote:

"The Weader and Wevolutionawy Woad"

...but about her melodramatic weepiness at the Golden Globes.

"As long as you do it in a crisp 30 seconds, we're not going to complain. And just in case emotion does get the better of you -- and I think you know who I am talking about...KATE.

Camera pans to Winslet trying to fake-laugh her way through the joke.

And yes that is Robert Downey Jr. showing his gum to the world through parted lips. You stay classy, Robert.

However, Team Brangelina looked less amused. Brad Pitt has the face of a guy of our generation being stuck in a Joey Heatherton roast during the Buddy Hackett segment.

I'll be back with more thoughts after I finish watching it on the DVD-R. By way of spoiler, though, let's just say that Slumdogging is all the rage at the moment. Blech.

Related

The 2008 Oscars Nominations

Because Every Monday 3

2009-02-09T00:01:00.001-05:00

Should start out with a laugh.

Okay. One more.

And one more plus 2!

Ahh, kitties. I can haz Monday giggles?

ADDED: Ooh. Lolsaints! I can haz a halo?

I'll Stop Making Fun Of Obama

2009-02-08T04:04:00.025-05:00

When an ex-SNL alum goes on Broadway to lampoon President Obama by, amongst other things, projecting a photo of the presidential penis on the stage.

Don't hold your breath because unlike what occured to ex-President George W. Bush, it just won't happen.

The New York Times via Gateway Pundit:

So far six audience members have stormed out midperformance of the Broadway show “You’re Welcome America. A Final Night with George W Bush,” the comedian Will Ferrell’s lampooning of the 43rd president, according to those keeping count at the Cort Theater. But they haven’t been leaving after a particular Ferrell quip.

They’ve been standing up, instead, after the projection of a supersize photo on the backdrop of the stage. A photo of a penis. Specifically, as Mr. Ferrell (who plays President Bush) leads the audience to believe, the president’s penis. Except that’s not quite right.

“It’s an anonymous but age-appropriate public domain Internet penis,” said Adam McKay, the play’s director. “We went on the Web and got a penis.”

“It’s not the president’s penis, as far as I know [edit: Heh. Heh. Just how would he know?], and Will is 41, so we weren’t going to use his,” Mr. McKay added. “What I do know is that the photo gets one of the great shrieks of delight from the audience, and it’s also the one moment that is followed by people walking out.”

It's not just my sense of lese-majesté horning in. I loved Spitting Image puppets, and howled for hours at the various interpretations of my heroine, Maggie T, and the royals.

When I read in the NYT that the Lebanese had a similar show called "Democracy" (bit vanilla, no? But then, so is "48 Hrs"), which poked gentle fun at the politicians of the day, I clucked approvingly when the show's creator said that everyone is fair game, except the President, since it's against the law to poke fun at the head of government.

Thank God that's not the case in the West, save for ex-Soviet satellites, uncoincidentally enough...

"Mr. Bou-Gedeon becomes grim when asked about the role of comedy, and dramatic art in general, in Lebanon. Only shallow work is possible, he said, because the Lebanese are always trying to escape themselves.

“Shakespeare said, ‘Show a mirror to the people,’ ” he said. “But people do not want to see themselves here. They want an image that is false, not the truth."

No one should be above comedy, especially our leaders. It's a healthy society which can poke fun at those who would rule us. Moreso, when there is absolutely no punishment for doing that.

But with Bush, and with conservatives, it's never gentle, it's never even-handed, it's never even funny -- it's always this side of juvenile, and demented (hello Margaret Cho).

Theirs is no mirror they wish to show us. It's an iron maiden, and yet we're supposed to be both Torquemada and torture victim.

QUICK QUIZ

Is this funny?

How about this?

A) Hellz yeah.
B) How dare you?!

If you answered differently for each, you've got an hypocritical sense of humour.

Look, either both are funny, or none are. You can't have it both ways. That's why some of us are upset -- because you only want it one way. Your way.

Sorry, kids. It's our turn now. Being in opposition is fun.

Aww Mush

2009-02-08T02:47:00.013-05:00

I was really upset when some right-wing bloggers dared to question whether this photo was a staged shot of the Presidential couple, showing a lot of affectionate body language towards each other.

Guys, this below is real. THIS was phony. I mean, can't you tell?

The other fact which stuck out for a lot of bloggers, mostly male themselves, was that the men riding in the elevator with the First Couple looked like they wanted the lift to open up and swallow them whole.

Men are strange that way. They would gawp at a couple on a screen having hot sex, but the first sign of tender affection right in front of them, and they're all like "get me out of here".

Mind you, it wasn't always that way. Grandpapa and his generation seemed to enjoy watching a couple making out. Look at the guy with the cigarette and the Fairbanks 'tache.

70 years later, and you can still hear his silent, "awww".

...give the Obamas a break, okay? They genuinely love each other, and I don't know about you, but that's what I want in a President and his old lady, I mean!, First Lady.

EXTRA: Oh. Remember? Ouch.

IN THE COMMENTS: Chickenlittle says he's down with the Prez and Wifey being genuinely in love, but queries where on earth Mrs. Obama got that dress.

Well, Chicken, I don't know about the provenance of her ostrichy ball gown, but the one she wore to the Inauguration I think came from this.

As Ace put it, "Who shot the curtains?". Heh, right-wing bloggers rule.

Rosetta Stoned

2009-02-08T01:00:00.015-05:00

Poor old Michael Phelps. Not only has he totally let himself go (noes!), but he was recently outed as a stoner by a South Carolinian snitch who sold the photo to that guttersnipe tabloid, News of the World.

When I was a wee girlie, about 12 or so, I got it into my head that I wanted a huqqah collection.

I even dragged one back from a trip to Turkey, where my mother had performed one of her magic haggling acts at the famous Istanbul souk, to buy me a beauty in blue glass for just a few dollars. You can imagine the sight of a pre-teen girl lugging a bong from an airplane, alongside her two glamourous parents. Try that in post-9/11 airports.

In time, I think I had about 8 of them, which I lined up in my very big girlhood bedroom, next to the princess four poster bed, decked out in Hello Kitty pillows and Pratesi sheets. I had a nightlight which I turned on before sleeping, and I loved to look at the sparkly reflections they cast all over the walls, reds, greens, blues, ambers -- a carousel of iridescence.

I loved those huqqahs, which sadly I lost sight of in my many moves.

The thing of it is, like many many people in this world (far more than popular society would have you believe), I have never actually done any drugs in my life -- including that charming gateway drug, Mary Jane.

Mind you, I probably qualify as a second-hand smoker, like that first snowboarding gold medalist sheepishly claimed once, so I'm leaving myself that out.

But no, in real terms, your humble Sundries blogger is a weed-toking virgin.

This is why Phelps' photo above leaves me completely untouched with either outrage, or approbium. I look at it like others would a vintage car rally. Potentially full of fun, just not my scene.

So I went in search of bong photos which raised more emotion in me, than a gentle shrug of the shoulders. I think I found some beauts!

Let me walk them through with you.

It's the second glance that kills, because the first has you mesmerised. The contrasting textures: that dark wood, the whiteness of the sweeping calf, the matching seafoam green everywhere else just makes this photo leap out at you.

Then you notice her footsie ring (sooo Goa 1996), the pseudo-hippie paint on her feet, not to mention those hip-hugging Pucci pants, just before you ugh loudly at the blue Bic resting on her boob. I mean, at least get a Ronson.

This is what I imagine Claud Rains would look like if the Invisible Man were a stoner.

You know what I hate most about bong photos? That most of the people in these photographs are surely no strangers to the activity -- but almost without exception, they and the people around them look like they're seeing one of the great wonders of all time, for the very first frikkin' time. That look of delight mixed with amazement and near reverence should really only be given when beholding the Sphinx, or a child's smile.

Sillies.

Also, that gal's bra strap is showing. THUNDEROUS DISAPPROVAL.

This is either that girl's father, dragging the embarrassed Chloë Sevigny wannabe for a hit of the bong alongside dear old dad, or one of those school counsellors we all had in high school, who wanted nothing more than to hang around with the kids to show how cool and with-it he was.

And yes, I did take note of the Dolphins hat. Go Fish...

Sorry. I got nothing. It's just a crazily hair-dyed Oregon girl inside a messy kitchen, toking on a bong. You've seen one, you've seen the entire Pacific Northwest.

Anyway, I'm much more interested in her espresso maker in the back. Paging Chickenlittle!

No, it's not Nana McCain. I checked.

I Dream of Jeannie with the long bong hit.

She looks like she's in some kind of trance [edit: oh yeah, it's called "getting high"], and I actually love this photo because it only shows you half of her face. If she were about 20 lbs chubbier, we could assign her Odalisque status, minus the hovering black Sudanese mammy, and the bleeding dove, obviously.

Also, me like the colour of her duvet, though I am saddened to see no hint of Hello Kitty anywhere.

Stop the presses!! This is THE BONG PIC to end all bong pics. There is just so much there.

Okay, I'll go first. Impressed that he has a photo on his wall of Al Capone, and not the requisite one of Che Guevara. But that's about it as far as thumbs uppage goes.

If it's not the boom box with the Jack In The Box antenna fob (don't let Jack die!), it's the Schlitz bottle shading the root beer next to it, not to mention the tawdry awfulness of his graffiti-laden couch. You gotta know they must practise their drawings on it first.

Poor guy, he must live in a studio apartment with at least two other guys who think taking another bong hit will make the rat nest sounds go away.

...there but for the grace of God goes Michael Phelps though. He looks bloody awful in that photo above.

Message to Mike: When you start looking like Ben Roethlisberger even without the bong, it's time to sort yourself out, mate.

World War II In 7 Minutes

2009-02-08T00:34:00.000-05:00

"OMG dont be gay gimmie nuculer secrets"

The Darkest Knight

2009-02-08T00:13:00.002-05:00

Christian Bale's rant is now up there with the Yeaaahhhhhh! of Howard Dean, in terms of remixes, and funny edits.

"Oh goooooood! For youuuu! And how was it?"

(His Welshie accent has definitely become Americanised. He'll be in Catherine Zeta-Jones territory in a moment)

Hey, Whatever Happened To That Nice Barack Obama?

2009-02-07T01:15:00.027-05:00

(Strewth, my second Instalanche in as many days! Thanks, Glenn, and welcome all! ADDED: Welcome Ace of Spades HQ readers!)

You remember him? This guy.

That cool cat with the million dollar smile. The post-partisan uniter of all Americans, the guy who was going to cure our nation's ills with his wonderful speeches, and steady calm hand. Mr. Cute Puppies, Happy Rainbows and Chocolate Chip Cookies. HIM.

Because when he took his first Air Force One trip to Williamsburg, VA (9 minutes one-way from D.C.; take that carbon credits!) to address the House Democrats' retreat, he belted forth with such angry frustration at the Stimulus Package meeting resistance, that I had to blink.

Surely someone had told him that winning a Presidential election does not equal to a general assuming Supremo command, and expecting everyone to follow orders. Right?

Or do you reckon that in the 47 years of his time on earth, no one had actually, really told him "no", "you can't", "you have to wait", "hey, what's your hurry", and lastly, "settle down, you're behaving like a brat throwing a tantrum" and, "Oh my God, did you just totally give me the bird"?

Because that would explain his petulant, almost Reverend Wrightish delivery, with that strange preacher cadence he assumed on the campaign trail -- which is so very at odds with his new Office.

Alas, I'm afraid I've come to the conclusion that Barack Obama is a rather spoilt man, unused to waiting for anything he wanted, unused to real challenge after having been everyone's darling since the time he was very young.

He will find it very difficult to control his temper, and his emotions, if he doesn't learn grace under fire.

Because right now, he's very, but very unpresidential.

You know, I'm not sure his mask had never slipped before, though. Come to think of it, I've seen Barack Obama looking angry in the past. But just in case you yourself missed it, here's a little refresher.

THE MANY ANGRY FACES OF BARACK OBAMA

I don't blame you for not remembering him ever looking pissed off though. Media weren't exactly rushing out those stories.

Nope. This is the Obama we were told we were going to get.

Welcome to reality.

IN THE COMMENTS: Orion sums up the underlying threads perfectly.

Some of that "anger" is an act. He's almost certainly focus-grouped it and been told that "acting tough" scores him more points than being polite. Trouble is, he really doesn't have much bite behind that bark. The congressmen he sneered, "I won." to, also won, some by larger margins than he did. And they'll be there after he's gone.

I think we're going to see the most blatantly partisan president in decades for at least the next 2 years. He's going to bully and hector the GOP and get increasingly frustrated when they ignore him - or worse, start winning arguments with him. Because the Democrats in marginal seats in Congress are NOT going to want to go over the cliff with him. He hasn't figured that out yet.

Ironically, President Obama is not as proficient at acting as his Democratic counterpart, President Bill Clinton, was.

When the latter was given the near-hourly polls of each given topic, he knew how to fine-tune himself to reflect the latest nuance in public opinion to a remarkable degree.

Obama is too green in politicking and also temperamentally unable to know how to do that. This might be at the root of his famous faux-pas when going "off-script" (the Green Lantern reference, the Weezy mistake, Nancy Reagan's necromancy).

His only point-of-reference seems to be assuming a Reverend Wright-like persona, whereupon he plays to the crowd, the crowd then laps it up, immediately giving him a false sense of momentum. That only leads to him acting even more out of control.

It's a recipe for destruction. In real-time...

So I Called Washington Friday

2009-02-07T00:45:00.006-05:00

Specifically, I called the soi-disant "Wobbly Republicans" who are alleged to be amenable to this Stimulus insanity.

I had, in the past, trusted the handy email delivery system to voice my concerns with legislators. Since I am fortunate to live in a State, and in a region with a Republican Governor, three Republican congressmen and woman, not to mention a Republican Senator, my correspondence with them was by force, practically nonexistent.

They were doing most things right, according to my thinking, anyway.

But when I found out that Senator Mel Martinez, a guy I had voted for with enthusiasm, was on the weebly-wobbly list, I almost hit the roof. He would have to be on a reverse Pedro Pan flight, just to escape my wrath.

So I called his office, and spoke to an assistant there. This is more-or-less how the convo went.

Her: "Senator Mel Martinez' office, may I help you?"
Me: "I'm calling from Florida to voice my concerns against the Stimulus Package. To whom may I speak about this?"
Her: "To me. My name is Heather. I can note down your opposition."
Me: "Thank you, Heather."
Her: "May I have your zip code?"
Me: "33139"
Her: "Is there anything you would like to add?"

(I wasn't expecting to hear that, for some reason. Though I am quick on my feet, and know exactly what I dislike about this Porkulus Bill, I became a little nervous. I stuttered my way through it)

Me: "I--iii, first of all, I realise Senator Martinez has announced his decision not to seek re-election. When I heard he was amongst the Republican senators who were, mm-mmore or less on the side of voting for the package, I was aghast. Perhaps he doesn't think he has anything to lose, in terms of votes.

Please let him know in no uncertain terms that I and my family are vehemently opposed to him voting 'yes' for this Bill. At the very least, I expect him to fillibuster it. It's a ridiculous, insulting piece of legislation, and completely unfair to future generations."

Her: "Thank you for your call. I will pass it along."
Me: "Thank you, goodbye."

...having gotten a taste of what it was to call one's legislator, I decided to try my hand at being an Alaskan too. I called up Senator Lisa Murkowski's office.

Him: "Hello, Senator Murkowski's office."
Me: "I would like to voice my opposition to the Stimulus Package, and urge Sentor Murkowski to vote No, instead of the rumoured Yes she is considering. To whom may I speak about this?"
Him: "My name is Ephrem. Are you from Alaska?"
Me: "Err, yes. (quick look at the list) From 99501. Anchorage." (thinking, 'damn, that sounded unconvincing')
Him: "Thank you for your call." (click, thinking 'damn, why do I always get the fakes?')

Despite my joking reference above, I didn't intend on passing myself off as an Alaskan. That would've been very funny, given my regard for Governor Palin. No, I just wanted to be amongst the many people around the country, urging legislators to vote against this Bill. In the heat of the moment, I relocated myself, perhaps under the influence of a very cold spell we've been having down here.

Hey, it was in the 30sF! Close enough.

As my old grannie used to say, in for a penny, in for a pound, so with that in mind, I also tried calling Senators Collin and Snowe of Maine, plus Voinovich of Ohio, and lastly, dear old Arlen Specter.

Didn't get through to a single one of 'em.

Senator Collins, last seen being very upset at Democrats for running a bitterly fought campaign against her last year, actually had an answering machine on.

"You have reached Senator Collins' office. This mailbox is full. Goodbye."

Sheesh. I haven't gotten such a curt, short message on a voicemail since I called my last ex-boyfriend.

But I felt I had at least tried to do my civic duty, although I think I'll send Senator Specter a singing telegramme.

At this point, can't hurt, can it?

IN THE COMMENTS: Michael S, a blogger colleague from Illinois, relates his mother's phone call to Steny Hoyer (D-MD-5) in a blogpost named, Fed Up. She had asked him to vote no, and the helpful congressman staffer actually took down her name, address, and promised a return letter -- very impressive. None of this was done to me.

Michael S. continues.

"I asked my mom about making the call -- I had never known her to be passionate about politics and suspected that this was exceptional. She said that she was just sick of the wasteful spending of our tax dollars, all the 'pork' being proposed. She said it wasn't a 'party' issue, she always voted for the candidate that she felt would best represent her and do the best job. But the more she learned about HR 1, the angrier she got and she just had to tell her elected officials how she felt -- for the first time in her life.

Mom, you're not alone."

To put it mildly.

The Power Of The Instalanche

2009-02-07T00:40:00.002-05:00

One link by Glenn Reynolds, and pfft! I get a Blogad. One I really can put all my support behind, too.

Hope you can help out by clicking on it, every once in a while. Thanks guys.

"I Think I Made The Wrong Decision"

2009-02-07T00:10:00.009-05:00

Whatever qualms I may have about President Obama and his political ideology, is as nothing compared to people who genuinely have a stake in the matter, whose lives and sacrifices are more than just misgivings.

Like the mother of James McDaniels, Diane.

Her naval son died in the USS Cole attack. She is directly affected by President Obama's decision to close down the Guantanamo detainee camp, and in fact, now regrets her decision to vote for him.

"My son was blown up along with 16 others. I buried body parts for three years," she told FOX News. "I'm still suffering and now he's withdrawing the charges?

Brutal, absolutely brutal. Poor woman.

(Via Picketlines)

Seventeen U.S. sailors died on Oct. 12, 2000, when Al Qaeda suicide bombers steered an explosives-laden boat into the Cole, a guided-missile destroyer, as it sat in a Yemen port.

The Pentagon last summer charged al-Nashiri, a Saudi Arabian, with "organizing and directing" the bombing and planned to seek the death penalty in the case.

In his Jan. 22 order, Obama promised to shut down the Guantanamo prison within a year. The order also froze all Guantanamo detainee legal cases pending a three-month review as the Obama administration decides where -- and whether -- to prosecute the suspects who have been held there for years, most without charges.

Two military judges granted Obama's request for a delay in other cases.

But a third military judge, Army Col. James Pohl, defied Obama's order by scheduling a Feb. 9 arraignment for al-Nashiri at Guantanamo.

Watch her become a media and progressive aisle darling like Cindy Sheehan in 3...2...1...actually, in "never". Her pain at losing her son is devalued because she dares not to toe their line.

Thank you for your son's service, Mrs. McDaniels. May he rest in peace, since justice may be out of the reach of fate.