Friday - and this one is for KT

h/t: jewels

Keep or drop? Viacom wants more than 20% overall increase for these channels

(MTV, MTV Hits, MTV2, MTV Jams,) (VH1, VH1 Classic, VH1 Soul,) (Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., TeenNick, NickToons, Nick2,) TV Land, Comedy Central, Spike TV, CMT, Logo, Palladia HD, Tr3s, and CMT Pure Country.

What do you think? Worth the money? Or worthless? The comments thread indicates people are going with worthless. And really, is 4 versions of the POS MTV, 4 versions of the POS VH-1 and 5 versions of Nickelodeon really giving you more for your money? Or just more worthless re-runs or increasingly bad programming?

◼ Latest Viacom Information Suddenlink Cable provider

Update: Viacom seeks a significant overall increase, more than 20% and still demanding payment for a new channel with R-rated programming... in the meantime, customers have asked us, if we lose some Viacom channels, can we keep others. We would like to do that, but every Viacom offer so far has demanded payment for their new network with R-rated programming, and they have never made a realistic offer for only some of their channels. For instance :If we wanted to keep only Nickelodeon, the cost for that one channel would be three times more than what Viacom charges today for seven of their channels.

If we wanted to keep Nickelodeon, TV Land, MTV, and Comedy Central, the cost of those four channels would be five times more than what Viacom charges today for twenty channels, including their digital channels. (Imagine the price of a gallon of gas increasing five times, from around $2.80 to $14.)

"he's just trying to squeeze in more time with his family"

◼ Obama extends vacation until Tuesday

Leaving aside the fact that he seems to be on vacation more often than not - why doesn't he just spend less time on the golf course? ◼ In response to learning of Obama's 50-plus rounds of golf since taking office, Kim wrote, "that's more than me! But then again, my job is ... golf. Wait, that doesn't seem right."

How many vacations have there been anyway? I have lost count.

The Five Best Arguments Against Sharia in the United States

◼ The Five Best Arguments Against Sharia in the United States at zombietime
1. U.S. law is the “supreme law of the land,” no exceptions.
2. Sharia, as “divine revelation,” is inherently undemocratic.
3. Many aspects of Sharia are flagrantly unconstitutional.
4. Sharia is fundamentally religious law, and should be inapplicable to U.S. criminal or civil law.
5. Subjectively, Sharia is a discriminatory and cruel legal system.

Should be required reading.

The Dog Torturer

◼ Obama phoned the owner of the Philadelphia Eagles to praise him for hiring Michael Vick 19 months after Vick's leaving prison for his role in a horrific dogfighting ring that killed pit bulls by electrocution, hanging and drowning.

"He said, 'So many people who serve time never get a fair second chance,' " said Lurie, who did not indicate when the call occurred. "He said, 'It's never a level playing field for prisoners when they get out of jail.' And he was happy that we did something on such a national stage that showed our faith in giving someone a second chance after such a major downfall.'

So many thoughts come to mind - top amongst them "I bet he won't be doing that for a white redneck dog torturer." and a close second is that Obama seems attracted to criminals, from tax cheats like Geithner to bombers like Ayres, to this, pimping for an animal torturer.



◼ Obama Is Glad Eagles Signed Michael Vick
While some are praising Obama for reaching out and making a statement about the stigma former prisoners often face, others argue that Obama’s call came more than a year too late, since Vick was picked up by the Eagles in August 2009. Now that Vick is playing well and enjoying a resurgence in popularity, the timing of the call could be deemed safe.

The whole THING is ludicrous. A sick, nightmarish ludicrous.

In the Marketplace of Ideas, CNN and MSNBC Found Woefully Lacking

◼ It would appear that CNN's ratings now trail airport radar and the big glass sudsing window at the laundromat. Doug Ross at The Journal
◼ Fox Utterly Destroys Cable News Ratings Competition in 2010

Harry Reid is a notorious cheater - and he isn't done yet

Remember when the Texas Democrats didn't get their way so they walked out and refused to show up for work? More recently, under Reid and Pelosi, Democrats decided to deem and pass rather than debate and compromise. They are incapable of working together. They squeal about reaching across the aisle when they suddenly find themselves in the minority, but they executed a perfect shutout when they were in power.

The Pelosi/Reid era will be remembered as one the most despicable examples of depraved politicians - the kind who should be jailed and barred from holding any office again in their lifetimes.

Now, this disgusting cadaverous creature seeks to change the rules in his last desperate act of power. It's not about serving the people for Harry Reid. It's about power all the way.

◼ Reid's Rules Scheme To Rewrite Defeat

The Democrats are trying to change the Senate rules so that they can ram through their agenda when their majority shrinks next week from 59 to 53 seats.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has been scheming behind closed doors to use his slim majority to vote on January 5 for the most drastic rules changes since 1975.

"...Democrats lost the election. Their power has been weakened significantly. So they are trying to do a Washington-insider tactic to try to grab power..." If Reid endorses the rules change, it would be the first time in history that a Majority Leader has opted to cut off debate on a Senate rules change by a majority vote," said Marty Gold, a long-time Senate leadership aide and now an attorney at Covington and Burling.

Currently, the Senate needs 67 votes to end debate on a rule, then 51 votes for the rule itself. Since Reid's rules do not have Republican support, he will need to do a historic end-run around the 67-vote bar (two-thirds of the Senate) to pass them....

When someone burglarizes your home, you suddenly think maybe cutting off the hands of thieves isn't such a bad idea after all. Harry Reid is a prime example of why there are bloody coups in other countries. And his flouting the law is the most serious threat to our thin-veneer of civilization that prevents just that.

Oh. And By The Way... CHRIS MATTHEWS IS A BIRTHER

Simply raising the question is all it takes, therefore, he is one. Must be a raaaaaacist as well...
◼ Chris Matthews: Why Doesn't Obama Just Release The Birth Certificate?
"Why has the president himself not demanded they put out the original documents?" Matthews wonders.

And the college grades, papers.... how much has it cost to keep all that stuff sealed anyways? Only fitting that it be revealed since he got into office by revealing someone else's sealed divorce records. Sheesh. No there's something wrong with this meme coming up from this source. Something is up.

◼ Hawaii's governor wants to reveal Obama birth info yahoo
◼ Hawaii’s Governor Takes On ‘Birthers’ nyt
◼ Chris Matthews and liberal panelists: Where’s the birth certificate? hotair
◼ Chris Matthews and the White House go to plan B datechguy
◼ The Bizarre "Birther" Intellectual Dance legal insurrection
◼ QUESTION: “Why doesn’t Obama just release his birth certificate?”. ANSWER: There is something embarrassing to him politically that’s written on it hillbuzz

A number of good points here

◼ Animal Farm keeps on teaching… Orwell was and is right. truthandcommonsense
...Is Obama a strong man? No, not hardly. In a real world, not the encapsulated world he’s in, he would last about ten seconds before he was eaten. Probably protesting the whole way. “Don’t you know who I am?” That is why Putin and the others are stealing his lunch money and kissing his girlfriend at every turn. Obama’s response? “You, you, you just wait until my mommy gets home.” It hardly instills confidence....

Hummers, up close and personal

◼ Behind the Many Faces of Innovation, 2010 NYT
◼ :--2<: ™ Wearable Hummingbird Feeder (pronounced "eye 2 eye")
◼ Wearable Hummingbird Feeder, Intro May 08
◼ Chris Makes a New Friend
◼ Roy Road Fish Company "Hummingbird Hat"

Related post - ◼ try this at home

Probably shouldn't be laughing and cheering about the coming ice age

even if it is such a wonderful refutation of Al Gore's pompous "Inconvenient Truths" - even if it is just so delicious it is irresistible, even if we want to inundate our friends with the unfolding stories... BUT!... here goes

◼ The white Christmas in the South was one for the record books. Columbia, S.C., had its first significant Christmas snow since weather records were first kept in 1887. Atlanta had just over an inch of snow—the first measurable accumulation on Christmas Day since the 1880s.

And how many of your friends blithely pass it off as "well, this is WEATHER, and Global Warming is CLIMATE, and causes weather like this. See? Global Warming will bring in a new Ice Age. It just proves Al was right, don't you see? The debate is over."

◼ Blizzard in the Making
Meteorologists refer to this type of a storm as a "bomb," due to crashing atmospheric pressure and resultant increasing winds. A dynamic storm of this caliber can bring thunder and lightning with the snow in coastal areas!

◼ Moscow's main airport closed after overnight snow
Hundreds of travellers spent an uncomfortable Christmas in airport queues after icy weather grounded and delayed many flights in Europe, with Paris and Brussels airports the worst affected.

Case in point -
◼ Bundle Up, It’s Global Warming
Over the past few weeks, subzero temperatures in Poland claimed 66 lives; snow arrived in Seattle well before the winter solstice, and fell heavily enough in Minneapolis to make the roof of the Metrodome collapse; and last week blizzards closed Europe’s busiest airports in London and Frankfurt for days, stranding holiday travelers. The snow and record cold have invaded the Eastern United States, with more bad weather predicted.

All of this cold was met with perfect comic timing by the release of a World Meteorological Organization report showing that 2010 will probably be among the three warmest years on record, and 2001 through 2010 the warmest decade on record. The author here is Judah Cohen - the director of seasonal forecasting at an atmospheric and environmental research firm. ◼ AER is a subsidiary of ◼ Verisk Analytics Information and industry expertise to help you measure, manage, and reduce risk... they have a ◼ family of companies... ... who knows, but you need to follow the trails sometimes to see who profits from what...

Merry Christmas

Fail not to call to mind, in the course of the twenty-fifth of this month, that the Divinest Heart that ever walked the earth was born on that day; and then smile and enjoy yourselves for the rest of it; for mirth is also of Heaven's making. ~Leigh Hunt
From Rides A Pale Horse

They never sleep - bypassing Congress, new government by fiat

◼ EPA moving unilaterally to limit greenhouse gases
Clamp down, control, a whole new array of fees and taxes, but mostly control, money and power.

Christmas Eve

"She is charming and very likable.'"

◼ Oprah Winfrey says of Sarah Palin

"The best news I have heard out of Congress in a long time"

OR - with all that is going on in the world, it's nice to know our (CA) Congressmen know what is really important./

◼ TV ads to turn down the volume

President Barack Obama this week signed the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act -- known as the CALM Act -- which will prevent television advertisements from playing at a volume noticeably higher than the programs during which they air. An original version of the act was co-sponsored by North Coast Congressman Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena.

”For decades, viewers have been inconvenienced by the wildly fluctuating volumes played during the commercials of their favorite television programs,” Thompson said in a news release. “The CALM Act is a long overdue fix to this problem faced by millions of television watchers. I am proud to have been the first co-author of Congresswoman Ann Eschoo's legislation, which has now been signed into law.”

The new law will require the Federal Communications Commission to limit the volume of audio on commercials transmitted by television broadcast stations, cable operators and other multi-channel video programming distributors, according to the release. Under the act, the FCC must begin enforcing these new rules within one year.

Forget the economy, never mind reading a bill before you vote on it, never mind saddling future generations with debt they will never be able to afford, never mind the refusal to discuss tort reform, never mind terrorism... thank God we have Anna Eshoo (D-Calif) and Mike Thompson (D-Calif) on our side.

◼ Obama signs Eshoo's bill that will turn down the volume on TV commercials
◼ And Now, a Somewhat Quieter Word From Our Sponsor NYT
◼ CALM Act Signed Into Law - Measure allows FCC to regularize volume between programming and commercials broadcastingcable.com

Whoo Hoo! We're safe from loud TV commercials.

And, frankly, the broadcast media have only themselves to blame. The complaints about this have gone on for decades, and they could have fixed it WITHOUT triggering a federal law. Stupid, stupid, stupid all the way around. This is not the kind of thing Congress should be wasting time on, and industry would do well to learn a lesson.

Love & Marriage - and divorce, the NYT - disgust and narcissism

Following trails...
◼ The lovers who left—and were featured in the NY Times neoneocon
◼ Ex Blasts NY Times Over ‘Vows’ Story: ‘Revisionist History’ Forbes
◼ Groom regrets scandalous NYT wedding feature - yahoo news
◼ N.Y. Times wedding announcement raises scandalized eyebrows yahoo
◼ Carol Anne Riddell and John Partilla NYT, the story at the root of it
◼ The Story Behind That Controversial NYT ‘Vows’ Column forbes
◼ "He bounds into a room... He doesn’t walk in, he explodes in."/"She’s such a force... She rocks back and forth on her feet as if she can’t contain her energy as she’s talking to you." althouse
◼ "No, I wasn’t contacted or interviewed or given any opportunity to opine on any of it, including having my seven-year-old daughter’s picture in the paper." althouse

It's interesting. Who's right and who is wrong?

Count their lucky stars

Time lapse video of Winter Solstice Lunar Eclipse

Winter Solstice Lunar Eclipse from William Castleman on Vimeo.

◼ at vimeo

7.4 Pacific quake off Japan islands sparks tsunami alert

◼ A tsunami alert has been issued after a 7.4-magnitude earthquake in the Pacific Ocean off southern Japan, the US Geological Survey (USGS) says. The epicentre of the earthquake was 155km (95 miles) off the Bonin Islands, some 1,000km south-east of Tokyo, the USGS said.
◼ Strong earthquake hits off southern Japan

Blue Thunder

◼ Houston Police Use Secret Drones to Spy on You
◼ Trash collectors to serve as eyes and ears in the street for police - msnbc
◼ Govt 'creating vast domestic snooping machine' breitbart - Washington Post
◼ Government builds vast domestic spying network: report breitbart - Washington Post
"It opens a door for all kinds of abuses," Michael German, a former FBI agent at the American Civil Liberties Union, told the paper. "How do we know there are enough controls?"

Go out and buy an SUV! Crank up that thermostat! By God, we need some Global Warming RIGHT NOW!

Australia's summer interrupted by snow...  * Hikers at Charlotte Pass lookout in the NSW Snowy Mountains were greeted with 10cm of fresh snow as a cold snap hits the eastern coast of Australia. Picture: Steve Cuff

◼ 'Epic proportions' of snow could fall in Colo. mountains... - 9news
◼ There's a mini ice age coming, says man who beats weather experts - smh.com.au
◼ Record rain in West... West Coast Drenching and Feet of Snow - weather.com
◼ Dramatic satellite image shows huge storms heading toward L.A... - latimes
◼ Winter disruptions turn travel bitter and chaotic... - news.yahoo
◼ Misery at Heathrow... - dailymail
◼ BRITAIN CRAWLS TO A HALT... - independent
◼ Joke - Schwarzenegger says he’d like a job working for Obama combating another mythical opponent, Global Warming
◼ In Australia, summer interrupted - Bitter summer freeze bites eastern states as summer gives way to snow and cold

◼ Global Warming Junk Scientists Insist Record Cold Weather Is Proof of Actual Heating

Do you understand what beauty is?

Look at these pictures, and you will see a beautiful woman - one who thought she was ugly and needed plastic surgery. Now even with the scars, she is still a beautiful woman, but why did she feel the need to do this, and why does she still feel ugly?

◼ Jagged red lines, bald patches and lumpy flesh: Heidi Montag reveals the shocking scars from her 'botched' plastic surgery

Hilarious - Your Daily Julian Assange Update: The Left’s ‘Mind-Bending Contradictions’

◼ “Fancy that! The Left is at war with itself over Mr WikiLeaks.”
For it believes certain things as articles of faith which cannot be denied. One is that America is a force for bad in the world and so can never be anything other than guilty. Another is that all men are potential rapists, and so can never be anything other than guilty. . . .

One the eve of the eclipse

Reason.tv's 2010 Nanny of the Year

Priorities

◼ OBAMA ADMINISTRATION proposes cellphone ban for truck drivers

◼ 157 U.S. banks brought down this year by the struggling economy and soured loans.
◼ Payrolls Drop in 28 States, Joblessness Rises in 21...

North Carolina led the nation with 12,500 job cuts last month, followed by Massachusetts with 8,600 dismissals, and Ohio with 7,800, figures from the Labor Department showed today in Washington. Joblessness increased most in Georgia and Idaho, while workers in Nevada faced the highest rate in the country at 14.3 percent.

Ignoring what they can't solve, the government increasingly turns to tightening the screws on you, because it CAN control you. That's easy. Dealing with serious issues? Not so much.

◼ The end of middle America? Working class white families are unraveling before our eyes

Foreclosures, plant closings, offshored jobs, underwater mortgages, miserable rates of unemployment, stagnating incomes: Is there any end to the woes of the struggling American middle? Apparently not, because now comes news of a trend guaranteeing trouble ahead for the more than half of the nation that make up the moderately educated and moderately earning middle — even if the economy improves.

That seismic shift, outlined in a new report from the National Marriage Project and the Institute for American Values, is towards more divorce, more out of wedlock births and, ipso facto, fewer kids with a hopeful future.

Family breakdown, to put it simply, has hit white middle America big time.

Government has failed. We have allowed it to be taken over by the Nanny Staters and greedy slugs like Barney Frank and Nancy Pelosi. The end result is that government has failed in its most basic charge - to ensure the prosperity of the people.

really sweet!

It's 15 minutes long, so save it for when you have time to watch it, well worth the wait. Very sweet. h/t: PD

COSMIC!

◼ Solstice-eclipse overlap first in 456 years montrealgazette

The celestial eccentricity holds special significance for spiritualities that tap into the energy of the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year and a time that is associated with the rebirth of the sun.

"It's a ritual of transformation from darkness into light," says Nicole Cooper, a high priestess at Toronto's Wiccan Church of Canada. "It's the idea that when things seem really bleak, (it) is often our biggest opportunity for personal transformation....

Cooper said Wiccans also see great significance in the unique coupling of the masculine energy of the sun and the feminine energy of the moon — transformative energies that she plans to incorporate into the church's winter-solstice rituals.

◼ Lunar eclipse and winter solstice to coincide, first time since the year 1378 wattsupwiththat

See for yourself on Dec. 21st, the first day of northern winter, when the full Moon passes almost dead-center through Earth’s shadow. For 72 minutes of eerie totality, an amber light will play across the snows of North America, throwing landscapes into an unusual state of ruddy shadow.

The eclipse begins on Tuesday morning, Dec. 21st, at 1:33 am EST (Monday, Dec. 20th, at 10:33 pm PST). At that time, Earth’s shadow will appear as a dark-red bite at the edge of the lunar disk. It takes about an hour for the “bite” to expand and swallow the entire Moon. Totality commences at 02:41 am EST (11:41 pm PST) and lasts for 72 minutes.

If you’re planning to dash out for only one quick look - it is December, after all - choose this moment: 03:17 am EST (17 minutes past midnight PST). That’s when the Moon will be in deepest shadow, displaying the most fantastic shades of coppery red.

◼ Cosmic Calendar Month of December, 2010 salina rain, astrologer

Full Moon at the last degree of Gemini is the 3rd among 5 (full) lunations in a row at a completion stage which the last degree of each sign indicates. We're required to pay more attention in our lessons these days since this is last chance for integrating the highest possibilities before we start off into the next stage of growth. This lunation is also a Total Lunar Eclipse just hours before the Winter Solstice point, one of the most magical and sacred moments of the year. We're enveloped in the deep, velvety darkness, the silent stillness nurturing our visions and dreams, and without which we proceed on a fairly aimless and random path. More and more we're groomed in our current cultural insanity to fear this state of nothingness. Be sure to give yourself the space at this potent lunar/solar point in time to sink into the silence.

◼ Winter Solstice Eclipse - deafpagancrossroads

Once feared as harbingers of doom, eclipses were blamed for everything from the death of a king to the destruction of crops; the maddening of livestock to the malevolence of war. Even today, they still fill us with awe and wonder, and many still believe that eclipses tie in with cyclical changes that are reflected on both a personal and political level. Indeed, eclipses often symbolize change and transition, and while they can indeed foretell that doom and gloom, more often they signal a need to prepare for the challenges which lie ahead of us, yet to also be open to those turning points which might have a significant effect on your life.

◼ So What Does the Solstice Symbolize? deafpagancrossroads

...the Sun will transition from Sagittarius to Capricorn during the late afternoon/early evening hours, something it does every year on or around the solstice. From the fiery flames of the archer, the sun moves into the earthy groundedness of the goat. Sagittarius is a fire sign – Fire rules the watchtowers of the South, representing the passion and spirit that motivates our will; that driving force to make things happen and create change. Capricorn on the other hand is an earth sign – Earth at the North watchtowers governs both our body and our budget; representing money, health, physical labor, work and employment.... Sagittarius represents that final month of pregnancy; as the Goddess with her full belly prepares to give birth to the child of wonder, who brings light and warmth to the world. Once that child – the sun king – is born on the Winter Solstice, the Earth rejoices with the promise of hope and new beginnings. Thus the Sun moves into the earth sign of Capricorn, symbolic of that promise and of the planet’s celebration.

Sounds like that transformative change may not be what Obama and co, were hoping for.

(Wollf, this one's for you LOL)

Bach - 111.Kantate - Chor & Choral - Karl Richter, with sheet

h/t: PD

oh, c'mon, garters for droopy pants

◼ New Garter Belt Sags Pants Just Right - ktvu
getting alot of video press, but can't find a site link.

Death Panels Begin: Reaction to FDA’s Decision to Begin Rationing the late-stage cancer drug Avastin for breast cancer patients

◼ Big Government has reaction from a variety of sources, including the Wall St. Journal: Yesterday the Food and Drug Administration moved to revoke its regulatory approval of Avastin for metastatic breast cancer. Withdrawing a cancer treatment is almost never done, and though the decision was expected, that does not make it any less reprehensible.

Passing bills at hyper-speed

BREAKING NEWS: House Passes Bill Extending Bush Tax Cuts for Millions and Renewing Unemployment Aid

HARRY PULLS IT! WOW!

◼ Senate Dem leader drops nearly $1.3T spending bill Breitbart
Democrats controlling the Senate have abandoned a 1,924-page catchall spending measure that's laced with homestate pet projects known as earmarks
◼ McConnell: Dems Using "Christmas Break As An Inducement" To Pass Omnibus Real Clear Politics

◼ VICTORY… Harry Reid Pulls Pork-laden $1.1 Trillion Omnibus Bill (Video) - Gateway Pundit
Reid says nine Republican senators approached him today to tell him that while they would like to see the bill passed, they could not vote for it. He did not reveal the names of the nine. A top Senate source tells National Review Online that “it looks like Harry Reid buckled under the threat of Republicans reading [the bill] aloud.”
◼ Reid Punts on Omnibus Spending Bill - RedState
◼ Harry Reid Pulls The Plug On His Credibility and Power - Legal Insurrection
◼ Disgusting: Democrats yet again say bills should be passed without voting members reading them - Hillbuzz
◼ The Omnibus Bill’s ‘Hit Parade’ of Senatorial Theft - Roger L. Simon at Pajamas Media

"We've been here a DAY..." duh...

◼ Video - John Kerry Complains About "Reading" Omnibus "Rather Than Working On It" RealClearPolitics
"Why would we have to read something?" "Now there's an idea!! Let's keep the Senate up reading a bill..."

And to think - he wanted to be President.

Barbra Streisand doesn't get it

◼ Barbra Streisand Shares Her Disappointment In President Obama With Larry King

It's not the messaging, Barb. The Democrats are ALL about messaging. How many 'messaging' outlets has MoveOn.org funded? All with Lakoff inspired 'messaging.' Not to mention the slavering media, the JournOlists on your 'side.'

It's the spending, stupid. It's the arrogance, stupid. It's the not reading the bill, stupid.

"We had to cut the unthinkable to prevent the unbearable."

◼ Gregoire budget would slash programs, cut $4 billion Seattle Times
OLYMPIA — Gov. Chris Gregoire on Wednesday proposed unprecedented budget cuts that wipe out some state programs to the poor, slash spending on education, cut pay for state workers, close prisons and reduce ferry runs.

No corner of the budget appeared left untouched.

State Arts Commission, gone.

State tourism office, gone.

The Basic Health Plan, which provides subsidized insurance for the working poor, gone.

Also eliminated under the proposal: Disability Lifeline, a program that provides cash payments to the disabled poor; programs for gifted students in public schools; McNeil Island Corrections Center; and the Maple Lane School for juvenile offenders in Rochester.

Tuition at colleges and universities would continue to increase at a double-digit pace to partially offset across-the-board cuts.

Funding for state parks from the operating budget would be almost entirely eliminated in two years. Park visitors would be expected to pick up the tab.

The bleeding goes on and on for nearly 30 pages. And that's just the summary.

"This is a budget that is meant for the worst economic downturn in eight decades. It uses the word eliminate about 80 times," Gregoire said at a morning news conference. "We had to cut the unthinkable to prevent the unbearable...."

◼ Gregoire plan: Merge state agencies, eliminate boards Seattle Times

Are you listening, California?

Added: I guess not... Tone Deaf Democrats To Ask Voters, Once Again, To Tax Themselves

Now What?

◼ Victor Davis Hanson

No creativity

◼ ‘No Labels’ Accused of Ripping Off Their Logo

You can see why they had to rip it off..

◼ Democrats' new logo: Change you can sell?

◼ Diane von Furstenberg Designs Limited Edition Nancy Pelosi Tote Bag

But, really, you should know more about this latest attempt at a phony "grassroots" group. The Dems have used them for YEARS, but faced with a REAL one in the form of the Tea Party, they are struggling to regain their mojo... here's some of the facts:
◼ "No Labels, a group that aspires to build a grass-roots movement for political independents and independent-minded voters in both parties..." NOT EXACTLY! That' the feel good rhetoric... Althouse has it: Every couple of months we get something like this, don't we? It's the "Coffee Party" all over again — isn't it? — an attempt by elite Democrats to create the impression of a grass-roots movement. It never works. [Remember "One Nation"?] And "No Labels" is such a silly... uh... label. It has a certain nostalgic 60s vibe: I ain’t lookin’ to... analyze you, categorize you, finalize you or advertise you.... But I came from the 60s, and I'm sick of that vibe when it's used to advertise to me.... Who's behind it and what are they up to? She's got that too.
◼ More at The Reference Frame No Labels, No Point
◼ Marooned in Marin has it too... "No Labels"--Liberals Next Try At Not Being Honest About Who They Are
◼ So does Jonah Goldberg ‘No Labels’: Political Correctness by a Different Name
◼ And Stanley Kurtz The stated aim of No Labels is to combat the “hyper-polarization” of American political debate by “calling out” politicians, media personalities, and opinion leaders who “recklessly demonize” opponents. Unfortunately, their announcement gives us reason to fear that No Labels will only increase the level of political acrimony by attempting to constrain debate, thereby exacerbating the very polarization the group claims it seeks to combat.

◼ Peeling Back the Label of the “No Labels” Group - flopping aces

◼ A large dip in the jet stream taking hold in the East behind a storm which brought blizzard conditions to the Midwest.

Stay warm, guys.

Citizen Concepts announces the launch of PatriotAppTM

◼ iPhone snitch network launched
...Much like the new DHS program ‘If you see something, say something’ this app is meant to turn average citizens into a network of spies feeding information back to the federal government....

Orwell saw it all.



Like we are living in a weird sci-fi movie.

Part of this is silly. Anyone who knows anything about artists should know...

I don't know about the numbers and the possible Da Vinci Code they've discovered... that's all well and good, but the jumping up and down about the Mona Lisa being a self portrait is silly beyond belief. When people draw characters, especially people, they invariable draw in a bit of themselves, the face they draw will tend to look like them. As sure as family resemblance and as sure as people looking like their pets. Don't know why, but this: "Genius: Historians believe that Da Vinci's love of riddles led him to paint himself as a woman - with some believing the Mona Lisa is a self-portrait is silly, but this is worse: They're "seeking permission to exhume da Vinci’s remains from his tomb at Amboise Castle in France’s Loire Valley.
They want to see if the artist’s skull is there so that they can try and recreate his face and establish if the Mona Lisa – owned by the French government and on display in The Louvre – is in fact a twist on a self-portrait of the artist as some believe." Occam's razor, even in the case of Da Vinci, the simplest explanation is probably accurate.

◼ The real-life Da Vinci Code: Historians discover tiny numbers and letters in the eyes of the Mona Lisa

"at first I barely noticed the advertisements that pay for the service"

◼ ...within a second of the email being sent, a column of adverts had appeared down the right hand side of my Gmail screen...

Good man.

◼ The "60 Minutes" profile of John Boehner.

Damn! Gotta love this woman! (the one on the right)

◼ Condoleezza Rice Corrects Katie Couric on Her Far Left Iraq War Revisionism (Video) at Gateway Pundit, complete with transcript.



Incredible stuff.
H/T: ploome

amazing embryonic photographs from National Geographic Documentary “Extraordinary Animals in the Womb”

◼ The show’s producer, Peter Chinn, used a combination of three-dimensional ultrasound scans, computer graphics and tiny cameras to capture the process from conception to birth. They are the most detailed embryonic animal pictures ever seen.

...more at the link - spectacular!

Where we are today - We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise.

◼ ...We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful....

If that doesn't describe where we are today - I don't know what does.

And that's what comes of following links...
◼ Kaboom: Another Palin-hater self-combusts

pretty cool

KT ◼ My Take on the Obama - Clinton News Conference

Click through the links - you'll be glad you did.

Great idea!

◼ Skeptical Stocking Stuffers at wattsupwiththat!

Indicators...

◼ POLL: Most Americans Say They’re Worse Off Under Obama... - Bloomberg
◼ Home Values May Drop by $1.7 Trillion This Year... - Bloomberg
◼ US Treasuries hit by biggest sell-off since LEHMAN... - Financial Times
◼ Oil tipped to bubble over $100 barrel... - Financial Times
◼ Food Stamp Rolls Continue to Rise... - Wall St. Journal
◼ SHOCK POLL: Americans Believe China Has Surpassed USA in Economic Strength... - National Journal
◼ 'U.S. fiscal health worse than Europe's'... - Reuters

This weeks headlines on Drudge, articles from all over the place, and all pointing in the same direction. And Obama walks out. Has to get to a party. Can't keep his wife waiting. The whole world waits.

What's the point of spam comments on blogs?

What does it gain anyone? Why do they do it? Both Blogger and Wordpress catch most of them, but even beyond that, what's the point?

Keeping up with the Joneses... who knew? Congressman are the new yachts

"THEY don't just use it to buy yachts and boats and more houses - they use it to buy Congress people."

◼ DEM REP CALLS FOR CHRISTMAS CRISIS TO FORCE GOP ON TAX DEBATE



More class warfare, more hate, more talking points that tell you this man doesn't have a CLUE about the real world. He is a partisan POS. I am so tired of hearing these people speak as if they have moral superiority.

What is so dishonest about letting people keep the money they earn?

Do they have any idea what it means when a society, a government turns on its successful people? Does he think about what it would mean if we all went on unemployment for three years? Why work?

What's the end result of his plan? Why doesn't the government just print money and make us all millionaires, nobody has to work or earn anything anymore, it's so simple. Why not?

When will people wake up and vote these worthless culls out of office?

This is the weirdest thing

He LEAVES, says he is keeping Michelle waiting and has to go to a party. LEAVES. It's unreal. Clinton covers and does the heavy lifting, covering for this inept man yet again. That's what Obama knows, someone will always cover for him, and pave his way. But watch Clinton's face and imagine what he is thinking... "wtf are you going?!"



◼ Obama Ditches Tax Cut Presser After Bill Clinton Takes Control - Real Clear Politics

◼ Obama abdicates: makes Bill Clinton President again for the day - Hillbuzz
From the comments: I was listening on the radio and thought when he excused himself or his wife would be mad,that it was a clip from Saturday Night Live!!!
Who does that? What if he was in serious negotiations with some other world leaders.”Mr. President we are about to bomb Iran.” Obama-”Hey fellows,its been great,but gotta go can’t keep the Mrs. waiting...”

The Drudge pic says it all:

◼ Caption This: Obama Ditching Press Conference to Attend Party… - weaselzippers
◼ Clinton Takes Charge; Obama Takes a Powder - Michelle Malkin
◼ Did Obama just quit? - Daily Caller
◼ Obama Names Bill Clinton to Presidential Post - Iowahawk
"Let's face it, it's obvious I'm in way over my head here," explained Obama. "Anyone paying attention knows I am a disaster waiting to happen, and who can blame them? I mean, just look at the stock market. That's why I think it's in the best interest of the country that I hand over the reins to people who, whatever their ethical shortcomings, at least have a faint clue about what they're doing. Come on, man. I've got a 401-k, too."
◼ Give Obama a Break - Ace
◼ Barack Obama Resigns And Leaves Bill Clinton In Charge - Ace
◼ Sanders Filibusters/Clinton Takes Over! - the Anchoress
This astonishing scene does draw attention away from the filibuster. And Clinton must know how bad it makes Obama look; Obama could not demonstrate that he’s not up to par any more clearly....

◼ Help Me Bubba-Wan, You’re My Only Hope (Video Added)
◼ ‘Something Very, Very Weird is Going on in Washington’

"His statement was startling in the breadth of its animosity."

◼ From Audacity to Animosity - Peggy Noonan
President Obama was supposed to be announcing an important compromise, as he put it, on tax policy. Normally a president, having agreed with the opposition on something big, would go through certain expected motions. He would laud the specific virtues of the plan, show graciousness toward the negotiators on the other side—graciousness implies that you won—and refer respectfully to potential critics as people who'll surely come around once they are fully exposed to the deep merits of the plan.

Instead Mr. Obama said, essentially, that he hates the deal he just agreed to, hates the people he made the deal with, and hates even more the people who'll criticize it. His statement was startling in the breadth of its animosity. Republicans are "hostage takers" who worship a "holy grail" of "tax cuts for the wealthy." "That seems to be their central economic doctrine."

As for the left, they ignore his accomplishments and are always looking for "weakness and compromise." They are "sanctimonious," "purist," and just want to "feel good about" themselves. In a difficult world, they cling to their "ideal positions" and constant charges of "betrayals."

Even a city councilman knows better than to blast off like this - Obama shows his thin-skin and his lack of statesmanship. He was never prepared for this job, and is used to people paving the way for him, covering for him, and removing obstacles for him by doing things like unsealing private divorce records. There's no there there. It's even becoming evident to his supporters. No moral core. None.

Hilarious!… Green Activists Fall For the Old “Dihydrogen Monoxide” Petition Prank at Cancun Global Warming Summit

◼ (Video)

break out the popcorn - the show is getting interesting

image source

◼ Dems Gone Wild: ‘F*%k the President’ - big government
◼ omg! - Ed Driscoll
◼ Oh my: House Dem drops F-bomb on Obama at caucus meeting on tax cuts - HotAir
I join with Ace in condemning this shocking example of extremist hatemongering incivility.
◼ Profanity, Anger Spill Over in House Democratic Caucus Meeting
◼ Democratic Hate/Racism/Incivility/Undermining the Foundations of Democracy Watch: Frustrated Democratic Representative Says "Fuck the President" - Ace is calling for popcorn, too!
◼ set to music
That's a big step up from "You lie!" or a little Joker war-paint. Will the New York Times Editorial Board castigate Democrats for allowing partisan fury to overcome reason, or for creating a dark mood that increases the chance of political violence?

Bwahahahahahahahaha

On the other hand - I guess it is only fair to pardon Jim Morrison for profanity charges - since now we have members of the legislature profaning all over the place... is indecent exposure next?

***

More reactions:
◼ From Audacity to Animosity - Peggy Noonan

“Gore Effect” strikes again - In Cancun

◼ “Gore Effect” strikes again: new coldest ever December record low temperature in Cancun - wattsupwiththat
According to the Mexican National Meteorological Service, the record low temp for December is(WAS) 12°C (53.6F)

Now it is 50°F.

Now who's the Party-of-NO?

◼ Dems reject tax-cut deal

We thought that it might be possible for Terri to have an MRI at the Cleveland Zoo in the machine used for the elephants and rhinos

◼ ...but the zoo does not have a license for humans.

Oh for crying out loud - get a waiver.

As for losing weight, she can't even roll over on her own - so it ought to be easy to control how many calories she gets. Simple fix. There's just no excuse for this.

Snow shuts Paris airport, bus system...

◼ Heavy snowfall is unusual in Paris. Some shop owners are busy sweeping slush off the sidewalks, while Parisians and tourists alike are cautiously braving the slippery roads.

◼ England has coldest opening week of December since 1659...
PREPARATION FOR RENEWAL OF EXTREME COLD FROM FRANCE TO SCANDINAVIA AND WEST THROUGH THE UK SHOULD BE MADE.

◼ 'Once in a lifetime' cold grips ice-bound UK...
Forecasters warn Christmas could be cancelled as cold weather grips UK
Christmas will have to be put on hold this year as the ‘once in a lifetime’ cold snap threatens to tighten its grip on ice-bound Britain, forecasters are warning.

Just more o' dat Gorebull Warming. I seriously had a person tell me that you know this is an effect of Global Warming, it gets colder. It's "part of the cycle."

Last week: ◼ Freezing temperatures and often blinding snowfall shuttered airports across Britain on Thursday, delayed flights across Europe and forced thousands of passengers in Germany to spend the night in trains.
(Polish officials) urged Poles to report any homeless or drunk people on the streets to officers in hopes of saving their lives....

◼ Shredding the “climate consensus” myth: More Than 1000 International Scientists Dissent Over Man-Made Global Warming Claims – Challenge UN IPCC & Gore

◼ “Gore Effect” strikes again: new coldest ever December record low temperature in Cancun - wattsupwiththat
According to the Mexican National Meteorological Service, the record low temp for December is 12°C (53.6F)

The night Chris Matthews told the truth

◼ at Don Surber's blog

h/t: windbag

How much DOES Keith Olbermann make? More importantly how much does he donate to the government?

Because, you know, anything over $250,000 he does not need. I expect to see him write a big fat check, right along with Warren Buffet.

◼ Keith Olbermann Punk-Smacks Obama in the Best ‘Special Comment’ EVAH! RS McCain has the FULL transcript of Olbermann's latest hate-filled diatribe. This one's funny, though. Funnier than usual. Poor guy. He's beginning to understand. Painful as it is, like Neo coming out of the cocoon. Only he will choose to go back in. Get the plugs ready.

It gets better.
◼ More MSNBC Awesomeness: Obama Gets Pimp-Slapped by Rachel Maddow
Reverse Gandhi "First you win. (catapulted to the Presidency by the brilliance of his campaign) Then they fight you.(wah wah wah) The President this week face-planted. This Presidency is at risk of becoming a punch line. A joke. Then they laugh at you. Then they ignore you.

As to her lament about the sanctity of the Presidency - OMG, where has she been for the last 10 years.The hypocrisy is stunning.

Obama's presser

◼ Obama's Most Harmful Broken Promise? Doing The Right Thing On Taxes Ace
◼ Obama Press Conference Ace
◼ Byron York: For All Their Wailing About Obama Selling Out, Congressional Democrats Could Have Passed Their Preferred Tax Cuts -- If They Had the Balls Ace
◼ Economists Predict Payroll Tax Deduction Will Have Significant Stimulus Effect. UPDATE: Reid Not Thrilled, Pelosi Didn't Know Obama Was Going To Go Public? Ace
Obama is taking credit for the payroll tax cut idea and calming it is part of the concessions he got from the GOP as part of the overall agreement to keep tax rates steady but that’s simply BS.
◼ Obama Begs Supporters to, Uh...Support Him Ace

◼ Clearing the Browser Tabs The Other McCain
Organizing For American, the shadow 2012 Obama campaign, released the president’s video explanation of the tax-cut compromise, FWIW. LOL

◼ "I’ve said before that I felt that the middle-class tax cuts were being held hostage to the high-end tax cuts." Althouse

You can post national secrets, but not post the accusers' names and photos? Get real.

Here's one of them...

◼ Meet Wikileaks Founder's Alleged Sex Victim
Meet Anna Ardin, the political secretary and press officer of the Swedish "Brotherhood Movement," a group of Christians from the Social Democratic Party controversial for inviting anti-Semitic speakers to the country. Another of their invited speakers: Assange, who lectured on the group's behalf in Stockholm this month right before he was hit with sex charges from two different women, charges ultimately dismissed by Swedish police and derided by Assange as "dirty tricks." Ardin appears to have helped coordinate Assange's travel around the country; in addition to arranging the Stockholm event, she reportedly tried to arrange places for Assange to stay through her Twitter account (she has apparently since deleted the tweets and has locked her WordPress blog).

◼ The Wikileaks sex files: How two one-night stands sparked a worldwide hunt for Julian Assange daily mail
◼ Meet Wikileaks Founder’s Alleged Sex Victim defamer

Here's the other one:

◼ at Huffington Post
“The second accuser, Sofia Wilen, 26, is Anna’ friend. Here is a video of an Assange press conference where one can see the girls together. Those present at the conference marveled at her groupie-li ke behavior. Though rock stars are used to girls dying to have sex with them, it is much less common in the harsh field of political journalism . Sofia worked hard to bed Assange, according to her own confession ; she was also the first to complain to police. She is little known and her motives are vague. Why might a young woman (who shares her life with American artist Seth Benson) pursue such a sordid political adventure?”
◼ at pravda
The second accuser, Sofia Wilen, 26, is Anna’ friend. Here is a video of an Assange press conference where one can see the girls together. Those present at the conference marveled at her groupie-like behavior. Though rock stars are used to girls dying to have sex with them, it is much less common in the harsh field of political journalism. Sofia worked hard to bed Assange, according to her own confession; she was also the first to complain to police. She is little known and her motives are vague. Why might a young woman (who shares her life with American artist Seth Benson) pursue such a sordid political adventure?
Who had it first? Huffington Post? Or Pravda? Funny.

◼ Case Wikileaks: The fine dirt and big politics

Semi-related comment on Ace thread about Obama's presser: 22 The one thing you absolutely won't hear me talk about today is the fact that that Aussie-bastard is behind bars in London. Nope. Not a word. Michelle has advised me that it wouldn't be good for the children to point and laugh at the irony that he fucked both the U.S. and those two women and that only the two women fucked him back.
Posted by: Obama, Look at ME!!! ◼ Obama Press Conference

These principles are unlikely to be proved wrong in two years.

Republicans were unified around a set of principles easier to explain and defend: don’t raise taxes in a recession; don’t increase taxes on employers if you want more employment; don’t ask the public, which is fairly crying out for you to cut spending, to send you $700 billion more to spend. These principles are unlikely to be proved wrong in two years.
◼ The Tax Deal: Politics and Principles

It's not rape - if this account is accurate

◼ The Wikileaks sex files: How two one-night stands sparked a worldwide hunt for Julian Assange

Never forget

Thanks to Rides a Pale Horse

He Was Addressing Daily Kos, NYT and MoveOn

◼ Krauthammer on Obama's Televised Tax Announcement: He Was Addressing Daily Kos, NYT and MoveOn newsbusters

Obama agrees to do the right thing, refrains from enacting the biggest tax increase in our history - trades it for letting people stay on unemployment for 3 years.

FREE MONEY - a $50,000 check! All you have to do is be black.

◼ Topic: Pigford: Obama’s Down Payment on the 2012 Rural South Vote
...As of today, the American taxpayer is now on the hook for an additional $1.2 billion of payments to black “farmers,” whom did not have to provide proof of:
-Having ever farmed or having attempted to farm
-Having ever had a loan at the USDA
-Having ever filled out paperwork for a farm loan
-Having ever attempted to get a loan.

The only burden of proof requirement was filling out a form stating that they had “attempted” to farm, and have a family member vouch for that assertion.

The U.S. government would then send a $50,000 check to these “farmers....”

◼ A Black Farmer Blows the Whistle on the Black Farmer Settlement - biggovernment
Pigford is the biggest rip-off this country has ever known, and there are lots of people in positions of power that know it. Politicians are using it to buy votes. Trial lawyers are using it to get rich.

I personally know of people who have no connection to farming at all who got Pigford checks. People with potted plants in their apartments claimed to be farmers and got paid. I saw an instance where eight Pigford checks went to one house. There are drug addicts and pushers who have received payments who have never farmed a day in their life....
◼ Before anyone asks the question: Yes, everyone involved in this Pigford scam needs to go to jail…and that includes many high-ranking Democrats - Hillbuzz

Obama's regulatory imperialism will cripple the economy further

◼ Examiner Editorial: Defying the will of the people, Obama governs by regulation
Washington Examiner - ...At the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, for example, Administrator Lisa Jackson is moving forward with a massive new program to subject the entire U.S. economy to an anti-global warming regulatory straitjacket aimed at reducing carbon emissions. Obama warned Congress last year that EPA would do this if the legislature failed to enact an Obama-supported version of cap and trade. Cap and trade passed the House in 2009 but never got out of the Senate because of intense public opposition... and that's just the beginning. He doesn't need Congress, or the Senate, or the Constitution. He has Czars and Executive Orders, and he doesn't care if it is right or wrong.

Unofficial dictator. Has a nice ring to it, he thinks.

The whole justification for the Democratic Party — the welfare state — is one giant Ponzi scheme that makes Madoff seem like a piker.

◼ And everybody knows it. All across the world, from Portugal to Japan, the system is in free fall. And the only thing that could possibly save it (and even that may not be able to ) is the free market - Roger L Simon

Like he wasn't going to release them?

◼ Assange warns that any government that tries to curtail his activities risks triggering a new deluge of state and commercial secrets.

The "Insurance file" - One of the key files available for download — named insurance.aes256 — appears to be encrypted with a 256-digit key. Experts said last week it was virtually unbreakable.

Here's the thing - and it is why Obama's friendship with Bill Ayers was so telling and should have disqualified him from becoming President - A President has to identify, hunt down, capture and kill people like Ayres (and Assange), and terrorists from other nations who seek to kill the President's countrymen and threaten the nation's security.

In this case it is even worse, this man, Assange, is endangering allies around the world, not just heads of state, but people in neighborhoods who risk their lives to help us. He is endangering our national security, possibly world security.

Yet - this is where Obama's sympathies lie.

If it brings about our destruction, we will have no one to blame but ourselves, 52% of ourselves anyway. Plus the media who people trusted to act as watchdogs, and who failed at almost every level.

◼ Newt Gingrich: The Leaks Show Obama Adminstration Is Shallow and Amateurish (Video)

◼ Wikileaks and the Limits of Law and Patience
A second concern is criminalizing espionage in a manner that is likely to bite us in the rear at a later date. It is hard to see how one makes Assange’s acts illegal without also placing in jeopardy the operatives, and indeed the heads, of foreign intelligence services.,

◼ Don’t Look, Don’t Read: Government Warns Its Workers Away From WikiLeaks Documents - is this a joke?

◼ President Barack Obama should resign if it can be shown that he approved spying by US diplomatic figures on UN officials, the founder of WikiLeaks said in an interview published Sunday. at Sweetness and Light

Assange. A strange archangel/demon with an odd ascetic fierce morality? Is it morality? What is it?

There is no valid method - none whatsoever! - for an Alinskyite to take a solemn oath to uphold the nation's highest law

◼ Howard Dean Admits the Truth About Progressives: Overthrow of the U.S. Government Is Our Aim

Christmas Food Court Flash Mob, Hallelujah Chorus - Must See!

via Drudge
BE HERE NOW.
Companion ◼ Fountain Square Christmas Flash Mob
◼ Sound of Music | Central Station Antwerp (Belgium)

WikiLeaks cables reveal how US manipulated climate accord

◼ WikiLeaks cables reveal how US manipulated climate accord
...Hidden behind the save-the-world rhetoric of the global climate change negotiations lies the mucky realpolitik: money and threats buy political support; spying and cyberwarfare are used to seek out leverage....

Who can you believe anymore?

How do you know who is telling the truth? Politics... health... science... any kind of statistical claims... how do you separate fact from fiction?

Phenom - if you haven't see it yet click on the links

◼ Eye of the storm: The jaw-dropping image of an enormous 'supercell' cloud Lots more shots at the link.

You may not realize it, but you and your family are continually exposed to a hazardous class of chemicals called perfluoroalkyls

◼ A Newly Discovered Reason to Avoid Fast Food and Popcorn

Common, everyday sources of exposure include:
Drinking water
Air
Cord blood and breast milk
Dust

and:
Microwave popcorn
Non-stick pots and pans and
Food packaging / Fast food wrappers

According to recent survey results, these chemicals can be detected in nearly all people in the US, including children!

Should this article be re-titled: "A Newly Discovered Reason to Avoid Drinking Water, Air and Breast Milk"?

While in general I would say you are better off staying back-to-basic - the more processed something is the worse if probably is for you - I just find that little factoid in this article to be interesting. It's in water, air and breast milk. So, it's bad? Penn & Teller will have a field day.

Police in Berlin alone counted 121 accidents Thursday morning...

◼ Freezing temperatures and often blinding snowfall shuttered airports across Britain on Thursday, delayed flights across Europe and forced thousands of passengers in Germany to spend the night in trains.
(Polish officials) urged Poles to report any homeless or drunk people on the streets to officers in hopes of saving their lives....

Southeastern Denmark was also badly hit, and heavy snow falls and icy winds severely hampered road and rail traffic across much of the country. The Danish army has been mobilized to help emergency vehicles, using tracked armored personnel carriers to help ambulances and other emergency vehicles cut their way through mounds of snow....

The cold has also taken a solid grip over Sweden, with the lowest temperatures overnight Thursday measuring minus 29.6 Celsius (85.28 Fahrenheit) in Lillhardal in the center of the country. In the Netherlands, a light dusting of snow also led to chaos and long traffic jams on the roads.
In southeastern Europe, meanwhile, Bosnian authorities declared a state of emergency and ordered evacuations after heavy rainfall caused severe flooding on the Drina river.
Schools closed, and half of the town has no electricity, city water is no longer drinkable. In nearby Gorazde, the federal army had to help evacuating people.

our price: $19.95

The WORST idea in the world (channeling Olbermann)

On the other hand" A collector's item illustrating the degradation of the American presidency. Memorabilia for the post-American collector. Buy one and keep it Mint In Box.

Happy Hanukkah

(image source)
◼ Hanukkah 2010: Jewish festival of lights begins worldwide tonight...
Time for Latkes!