Resistance is futile!

Thirteen years

Thirteen years ago this minute, the world changed.

Have we reverted back?

Could it happen again?

I can think of no bettter tribute to give than the one I gave this day, five years ago. Please go back and read it again.

Also, this.

BEWARE THE IDES OF MARCH!

Because a plain old paper card is so last millennium...

... so I opted instead to say "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!" in front of the whole wide Internet, for all the world (well, all 3 people who still look at this site) to see!

Don't worry... there is still a real present in the mail...

Trying to get a thing going...

I am trying to get a theme going across blogs, facebook and twitter. Post your own "dear Obama" message warning him that the Muslim Brotherhood is doing some trivial thing democrats waste time accusing Republicans or the Tea Party of doing. Here are some I've already thought up:

Dear President Obama: the Muslim Brotherhood does not provide women with free contraception.  Please send Sandra Fluke to negotiate.

Dear President Obama: the Muslim Brotherhood has over a billion dollars of taxpayer money, and some of it might be invested in a Swiss bank. You should check that out while you are investigating Mitt Romney's tax returns.

Dear President Obama: I heard the Muslim Brotherhood might require members to have a photo ID. You should look into that.

Dear President Obama: children of the Muslim Brotherhood are eating more and more high fructose corn syrup. Please, think of the children!

Dear President Obama: I hear the Muslim Brotherhood is bitterly clinging to guns and religion. You may want Eric Holder to look into that.

Dear President Obama: I hear the Muslim Brotherhood may be supporting a War on Women. How about cutting their funding and donating it to breast cancer research instead?

Dear President Obama: I think the Muslim Brotherhood may not have all their tires properly inflated. They may be contributing to global warming. Please look into this!

Dear President Obama: I don't think the Muslim Brotherhood has enough Latino members. Maybe you should ask your Diversity Czar to check into that?

Dear President Obama, I think that some members of the Muslim Brotherhood actually believe in "legitimate rape." Please check into that.

Dear President Obama: I saw your allies, if that's what you think they are today, in the Muslim Brotherhood driving large, gas guzzling SUVs. Maybe you should buy them Chevy Volts instead!

That's enough to get you started. Share these, post your own to blogs, facebook and twitter, make them go viral!

Those scary tea party terrorists

This is a must watch:

The Waco reference really helps put things in perspective.

A threat to national security

Pop quiz time.

Which of the following would you say is the greater threat to national security?

A) Radical moslem fascist terrorism

B) Iranian nuclear ambitions

C) Russian opposition to a missile defense shield

D) Childhood obesity

Now, most of you folks might look at this and think "gosh, more than one of those is a real threat... it is hard to pick one out."  Well, most of you are obviously stupid, weak-minded fools incapable of understanding the nuance of the situation.  Fortunately, you need not worry your feeble little minds, because we have the Obama administration in charge and ready to tackle what is obviously the gravest danger for us.  Clearly, childhood obesity is the greatest threat of these choices - not only is Michelle Obama ready to call out this killer for what it really is, but that she is actually going to DO something about it (as opposed to the other three non-issues the administration is ignoring).

Cell phone use in restaurants

No, I am not posting about how rude it is to talk on a cell phone in a restaurant.  I am, however, posting about something that involved using my cell phone in a restaurant.  Just not to call.

Gullybabe and I met some folks at a local chain family restaurant.  I don't like to name names, so let's just say it starts with an "M" and rhymes with "hairy calendar."

Normally, we wouldn't even go there.  But it wasn't our pick.  We were meeting others.  So I looked through the menu and found something that sounded acceptable: a gorgonzola salad.  Note, that is the actual name of it.  A salad of gorgonzola.  So, one would expect a fairly large portion of the meal to be, well, gorgonzola.

Sadly, this is what came:

Now, in case you couldn't tell, there actually is some gorgonzola there.  Here, perhaps this will help:

And here is a close up:

See, there is, in fact, gorgonzola.

However, I did not believe this was the image of gorgonzola the restaurant intended to convey through the use of a name like "gorgonzola salad."  So naturally, I wanted to complain.  And naturally, our waiter completely failed to return to check up on us.

We did manage to get the attention of a manager, who at least offered to return with some extra gorgonzola.  I didn't need much.  Just enough to actually register to anyone familiar with the substance that it was, in fact, part of the dish.  He did come back with a small container of the elusive cheese - enough that, combined with the original dose, the sum total may have approached perhaps two teaspoons of the magical substance!

I was not thrilled.  You see, this was not the only problem we had.  I don't like to toss around accusations like this, because of the concern of making a mistake and falsely brandishing someone, but I am pretty sure our waiter was not exactly what one would call "operating with the full use of his mental faculties."  Infer from that what you will.  Drinks were not delivered.  Orders were not taken properly.  There was general disappointment from the dinner party.  So the manager heard all about it.  And, to give the manager some credit, he did spring for dessert.

Still... not going back.  The service was abysmal.  The food failed to live up to expectations.  The manager was apologetic, but that wasn't much consolation.

Memo to restaurant executives: in today's world, an unhappy customer might have a cell phone camera and a website.  You have been warned!

Comrade Sherman on the march?

This is clearly a failure of the Bush administration to keep America safe by sending our troops off to an illegal war in Iraq when they should be here protecting our own people. If I am elected your Senator, I will ensure that no Soviet forces invade our great state of Oregon the way they have invaded Georgia.

Wait... what?

The new face of starvation

Do these people look hungry to you?

Not to make light of their economic situation, which you can read about in this NPR sob story about poor people in Ohio (no doubt meant to make the people of Ohio long for "hope" and "change"), but do they actually look like they have had a hard time obtaining food?

If you are going to write an article on the plight of the poor starving masses, try finding some to photograph who look more like "starving" than "masses."

I had to do some searching, but I finally found this photo that I first saw in a college course on communication through art:

  

What do you think of this picture?  Does it shock you?  It shocked the hell out of me.  I heard the photographer later committed suicide, after winning a pulitzer prize.  Would this child have loved to have had the chance to grow up in Ohio?  We can never know (although, according the photographer, the girl was rescued... but her identity and final fate remain a mystery).

Just think about this next time someone tries to sell you a sob story about the hungry people in Ohio...

Enjoy refreshing Bacardi

In what might wind up being one of the worst public relations blunders ever by a major international company, Absolut vodka envisions an "absolut world" where Mexico reconquistas the American Southwest.  This is NOT a photoshop:

Well, it's a free country and Absolut is entitled to whatever message it wants to share and all.  But then, that makes me free to choose as well...

So next time you feel like a screwdriver, consider an alternative: