::
December 30, 2006

Hussein Hanged

Although I have mixed emotions whenever I consider the death penalty, and the end of anyone's life is always, for someone, a sad event, if there ever was a man that truly deserved death by hanging, it was Saddam Hussein.

And now it's over:

Hundreds of Shiite Muslims danced in the streets in Baghdad's Shiite enclave of Sadr City and others fired guns in the air to celebrate the dictator's death. The government did not impose a curfew, as it had done last month when Saddam was convicted. Meanwhile, people in the Sunni-dominated city of Tikrit, once a Saddam power base, mourned his death...

Justice was served.

Jules Crittenden thinks we should drink up:

So we're rid of him. Plenty of time later to contemplate the significance, the path forward, what it all means. This is just a moment to contemplate how much death and horror this man brought into the world. Hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of men, women and children dead because of him.

The reports also indicate the witnesses to his execution danced around his body. CNN reports a witness described "fear on his face." Good. We already knew he was a coward, and we know how many deaths a coward dies.

I've filled my shot [gl]ass and raised it. Don't be shy about raising a glass yourself. The world is a better place rid of this filthy murderer.

I suspect about now Saddam is meeting those 72 Virginians and wondering what went wrong.

::
December 29, 2006

Mac Seasonal Ads

Those of you that know me know I'm a diehard Apple evangelist. That aside, I really enjoy the current Mac ad campaign. In case you somehow missed the two TV ads that ran during the holidays, I've posted them below. You've got to admit, it's an entertaining series...

Want more, you say? You can view the entire series here. Go ahead, say it... I'm insufferable... But I'm having fun!

::
December 29, 2006

Saddam to Swing by Sunday

Hanging is brutal, I know, but it's a fitting reward for one who brought so much horror to so many people. The Jawa Report posted the story yesterday:

According to an NBC report, brutal Iraqi tyrant Saddam Hussein will be hanged by this Sunday:

According to a U.S. military officer who spoke on condition of anonymity, Saddam will be hanged before the start of the Eid religious holiday, which begins at sundown Saturday.

The hanging could take place as early as Friday, NBC’s Richard Engel reported. 

CBS reports that Saddam's journey to hell will be videotaped:

"We will video everything," National Security adviser Mouffak al Rubaie said. "All documentation will be videoed. Taking him from cell to the execution is going to be videoed, and the actual execution will be documented and videoed."

Saddam's necktie party was upheld by the Iraqi courts on Tuesday.

Couldn't happen to a nicer fellow.

::
December 28, 2006

Christmas at Arlington National Cemetery

I received this image a couple months ago in a forwarded email from my Aunt Barbara. Turns out it, along with an accompanying photograph, was taken by Air Force photographer Master Sgt. Jim Varhegyi for a December 19, 2005 story published on Air Force Link, the official online news service of the U.S. Air Force. It documents the 14th annual Christmas wreath laying event at Arlington National Cemetery, a practice that had escaped my awareness until receiving Barbara's email.

The tradition, I've since learned, was started in 1992 by Morrill Worcester, owner of the Worcester Wreath Company in Harrington, Maine. That year, he donated four thousand surplus wreaths and brought a group of volunteers who helped him decorate the gravesites of America's fallen soldiers at Arlington. Every year since, in what has become known as The Arlington Wreath Project, he has set aside several thousand wreaths especially for that purpose, driving to Arlington in December with a truck full of wreaths and dozens of volunteers to distribute them to five thousand gravesites selected by the director of the cemetery. The Project's plan is to cover all the areas of the park over a number of years.

This year, Mr. Worcester hopes to expand the Arlington Wreath Project into Wreaths Across America, an effort to place memorial wreaths at more than 230 state and national cemeteries and veterans monuments across the United States. This year's placing of the wreaths at Arlington was December 14.

The seven minute video below is of past wreath laying ceremonies. It was put together by Worcester Wreath to show what the Arlington Wreath Project and Wreaths Across America are all about:

 Rest easy, sleep well my brothers.
Know the line has held, your job is done.
Rest easy, sleep well.
Others have taken up where you fell, the line has held.
Peace, peace, and farewell...

::
December 27, 2006

Frosty the Snowman

The Rumor Mill recently released The Rumor Mill's Christmas on Clinton St. The album features the usual holiday standards, although they are sung under the "dark and stormy" influence of a potentially globally-warmed planet. I've sampled the album and, while some of the songs sound quite refreshing, others seem uncomfortably dark.

The "Frosty the Snowman" video is a well done stop action animation short accompanied by Angela McCluskey's chilling rendition of the song. While the video breaks with the usual cheeriness of the holiday season, it's clearly aimed at increasing awareness of global warming. Whether or not you believe in the existence of global warming, I found Angela's vocal mesmerizing.

As a footnote, a percentage of profits from The Rumor Mill's Christmas on Clinton St., which is available exclusively on iTunes, benefit StopGlobalWarming.org. And to top it off, the album is "carbon neutral"; emissions were offset by purchasing credits at Native Energy. How very green.

::
December 26, 2006

Holiday Eating Tips

1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door where they're serving rum balls.

2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. Like fine single-malt scotch, it's rare. In fact, it's even rarer than single-malt scotch. You can't find it any other time of year. So drink up! Who cares that it has a thousand calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an eggnog-aholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it. Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas!

3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.

4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.

5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Christmas party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello?

6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing  else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a ten-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.

7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again.

8. Same for pies. Apple. Pumpkin. Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or, if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?

9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards!

10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Reread tips. Start over. But hurry, January is just around the corner.

::
December 25, 2006

Merry Christmas

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be

upon his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor,

the Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

                                              - Isaiah 9:6

The Mystical Nativity

Sandro Botticelli, c. 1500-1501

Dawn and I have been blessed with a wonderful life together, devoted family and wonderful, cherished friends. On this day of joy and celebration, we wish each of you a very merry Christmas and a safe, healthy and prosperous New Year.

::
December 24, 2006

So You Think You Know Carols?

"Your TOTAL SCORE is: 92%. You know your seasonal songs! Treat yourself to an extra slice of fruitcake."

Think you're pretty savvy about your holiday carols? This 25-question quiz from the Chicago Tribune tests your knowledge of the lyrics of some our most famous winter holiday songs. Go ahead, give it a try! I missed numbers 7 & 16...

Thanks Dave!

::
December 24, 2006

HO HO HO

H.T. to Dan

::
December 23, 2006

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus

You've all heard that well worn quotation but I'd wager few of you remember its origin. Well, it delights me to so inform you, faithful readers, by way of an article from the editorial page of The New York Sun, written by Francis P. Church, Sept. 21, 1897:

"Dear Editor — I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, 'If you see it in The Sun, it's so.' Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?"

VIRGINIA O'HANLON

115 W. 95th St.
New York, N.Y.

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds.

All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy.

Alas! How dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias.

There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished. Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies!

You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus.

The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond.

Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding. No Santa Claus! Thank God he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

See how much you can learn reading AFP?

::
December 23, 2006

A Modern Day Good Samaritan Story

The Christmas spirit is alive and well and, at least as far as Stacey Kible is concerned, Santa drives a Ford Windstar.

Kible was despairing that her son Matt, a 20-year-old Marine, wouldn't make it home for Christmas. Stationed in Japan, he was stranded at San Francisco International Airport after being told he probably wouldn't get a flight to Denver until Christmas Day.

And Matt wasn't alone. While scouring the airlines for a flight home, he met three fellow Marines, two returning from Iraq, all of them trying to get home to Denver to be with their families on Christmas Eve. As they considered their plight, the realization that they might not make it home in time began to settle in. They tried to rent a car but were too young. The blizzard that had descended on Denver seemed about to ruin their family holiday plans.

Then a stranger came bearing gifts. "We thought we were out of luck, and then this guy named Paul, out of nowhere, just walked up to us," Matt Kible said. "He told us he lives in Englewood and could rent a car..."

It's a nice story, especially at this time of year. Read the rest of it in the Rocky Mountain News.

::
December 22, 2006

Maria's Christmas Decorations

Our entire local family gathered last Saturday night at Shannon & Doug's home for some holiday cheer. The party was delightful, but the highlight was the surprise Shannon had in store for us when we took a walk to see neighborhood holiday decorations. It seems that Shannon & Doug's neighbor, Maria, goes all out decorating her yard and the surprise was seeing how she incorporates photos of all the neighborhood children into her creation. She graciously invited our entire clan into her home and allowed me to photograph everything. She's truly a gifted artist! I've posted some of the images; click here or on the image below to view them. Enjoy!

::
December 19, 2006

You are my Holiday

Susan Greenbaum has created a cute video and original song to help lift holiday spirits. A nice sentiment for everyone. Truth be told, I wouldn't mind a little snow on Christmas Eve...

::
December 18, 2006

Cloud Gate

Cloud Gate, on Chicago's AT&T Plaza, is British artist Anish Kapoor's first public outdoor work installed in the United States. The 110-ton elliptical sculpture is forged of a seamless series of highly polished stainless steel plates, which reflect the city's famous skyline and the clouds above. A 12-foot-high arch provides a "gate" to the concave chamber beneath the sculpture, inviting visitors to touch its mirror-like surface and see their image reflected back from a variety of perspectives.

::
December 18, 2006

Help Rebuild the Krzyston Family

This family apparently lost all their belongings - everything they owned - when their moving truck, parked in the secured parking lot at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, was stolen.

Some good folks sympathetic to their plight have donated a web site to help them try to recover their possessions and to provide a means by which people wishing to help can send donations.

As you finish wrapping that last Christmas present, you might want to consider adding the Kzrystons to your gift list. Their story seems authentic and, Lord knows, it could have happened to any of us.

::
December 15, 2006

Friday Flyby

Thought you airplane buffs might appreciate this photo from Bob of a C-117 Globemaster landing...

::
December 15, 2006

Operation ELF

ORLANDO, Fla. -- In Orange County, the problem isn't dashing through the snow. It's cars darting down the street at high speeds. So the Orange County Sheriff's Office is doing something about it, launching Operation ELF: Enforcing Limits and Fining speeders.

Here's how it works: A sheriff's deputy dressed as an elf clocks cars using a radar gun then dispatches a motorcycle deputy to pull them over and issue the driver a ticket. More than 150 tickets were written in just over two hours. ...

Thanks, Pat. Now, can you explain the elf costume? An inside joke? Another crazy "Florida" thing? Ho ho ho, here's your ticket? Sounds to me like the Grinch is trying to steal Christmas in Orlando.

::
December 15, 2006

Stocking Stuffer

Looking for a children's book for conservative little Jimmy this Christmas? Well, here's a novel idea: Help! Mom! There are Liberals Under My Bed! Yes, it's a real children's book apparently aimed at teaching youngsters the value of hard work and the evil of taxes. I'm serious. No, really. It's available here.

::
December 14, 2006

Time Best Photos of the Year 2006

Time has listed their picks for best photos of the year and invited readers to vote for their favorites. Most are related either to the war or politics or both. Here's my favorite:

::
December 14, 2006

Steve Imbesi, one of my scuba diving buddies, sent me this Christmas poem. It circulates via email around this time every year, usually incorrectly attributed. It's a wonderful poem by Michael Marks that deserves another read by us all.

A Soldier's Christmas

The embers glowed softly and, in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
my daughter beside me, angelic in rest.

Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree, I believe,
completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.

My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
secure and surrounded by love I would sleep
in perfect contentment, or so it would seem.
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream. ...

Continue reading

::
December 14, 2006

Blair: Adopt our values or stay away

Tony Blair gave a speech Friday that I wish George Bush had given. In it, he formally declared Britain's multicultural experiment over as he told immigrants they had ''a duty" to integrate with the mainstream of society. The Daily Telegraph has the story and the full text of the speech. The highlights:

Wow! To paraphrase, if you come here for freedom, fine, then respect it for others. It's not that difficult to understand, is it?

George Bush should be giving this speech regarding both our problem with illegal aliens and with radical imams, with emphasis on this paragraph:

We're a nation of immigrants, true. But we're not a nation of idiots. We have buttons that imams should be careful not to press too often. They should remember that the same president that addressed the Daughters of the American Revolution as “fellow immigrants” (FDR) also opened the interment camps for American citizens of Japanese descent in World War II. Said Blair:

Everyone must respect the rule of law. If not, toss them in prison and then out of the country. A great speech. Give it a read.

::
December 14, 2006

Guayabera Boys in the News

Well, it was only a matter of time; the media has somehow gotten hold of a photo showing the "Guayabera Boys" - Larry, Michael and me - enjoying some fine stogies and vino in Michael's recent "cigar room" addition. Cigar Advisor gave us a blurb in their current Cigar Sightings feature. Truth be told, I suspect Michael may have submitted the photo but I'm not saying a word. Anyway, we're famous now so we can all quit our day jobs...

::
December 13, 2006

A Moose story

As the story goes, when this particular moose was quite young, he lost his mother and required human foster parenting. A Fish and Game Ministry employee brought him to Wendall and Debbie in rural Newfoundland and asked that they raise him to a safe age and then turn him loose to return to the wild. So Wendall and Debbie bottle fed and took care of him, named him Buddy and eventually put him with their cows. Last spring, when he was a year old and they felt he was ready to return to nature, they opened the gate and let him go.

Buddy stayed away all summer but in the fall came back to be with the cows. He probably thinks he is a cow. Everyone was happy to see him and delighted to find that he was still quite friendly. He loves honey buns, it turns out, and will eat them right out of your mouth if you let him.

Now, Wendall and Debbie live up in the mountains, so the time came for them to bring their cows down to the valley to graze. Well, Buddy apparently became lonely and headed down the mountain in search of another herd of cows. About a week later, a neighbor called and asked Wendall to please come and get his moose. Wendall drove over with his horse trailer, a bucket of grain and, of course, a honey bun and drove Buddy back home.

He's free to leave anytime he wants but, at least for the time being, he's happy with Wendall and Debbie. Come spring, though, when he's feeling the call of the wild, that may change. But for now, Buddy's content just being a cow.

Think I made this story up? Well, here are the photos that go with it.

Thanks, Michael, for the setup.

::
December 12, 2006

Twelve shopping days left

I say every year that you won't catch me near a shopping mall during the holidays and most years I've managed to steer clear of mall crowds. But despite my resolve, Dawn and I have found ourselves in the "crunch" of it this season. I'd thought we were pretty much finished with Christmas shopping - I started on (shudder) Black Friday - but there are still a few straggler gifts we need to procure so, much to my chagrin, I'll be out "in it" again today. The worst part, I think, will be standing in line. I'm a poor line stander, especially if I'm alone. But if I'm lucky today...

The image below is of the retail side of the Christmas season. It's not what Christmas is really about, but you certainly wouldn't know it at the malls. And the traffic! Don't get me started! But I'm remaining cool and calm and trying to stay focused on the true meaning of Christmas.

Dawn and I always feel like we've officially kicked off the season after seeing The Singing Christmas Tree at church. It's become a tradition we look forward to each year. This is the Tree's fiftieth year in production, each a little different but always wonderful. We went last Friday night and it helped us refocus.

More than 25,000 people will see and hear the tree Tree year. If you're in the area and get the chance, by all means go. It's quite wonderful.

::
December 12, 2006

FlickerTime

From hottoast's Site of the Day comes this very cool timekeeper for your desktop. It utilizes your Flicker images (two tags max) and "drops" them into a mosaic clock showing your system time. It's fun to watch! Move your curser over any thumbnail and get a larger view. Click on it and you're linked to the Flicker site from which it came. Verrry clever.

::
December 12, 2006

Been busy lately. I'm...

Downloading the Internet

::
December 8, 2006

More of Phil Sidran's work

Phil Sidran, my brother Larry's kayaking buddy, is also a talented photographer. Here are eight of his favorite images.

I also posted some of his recent work last month.

::
December 8, 2006

Jerome Murat

Jana sent the link to this video of a performance by Jerome Murat, a French mime and magician, that will have you mesmerized. Enjoy!

(Thanks Jana!)

::
December 8, 2006

Thought du jour

Milton Friedman passed away last month at age 94. He was an American economist and public intellectual who made major contributions to the fields of macroeconomics, microeconomics, economic history and statistics while fiercely advocating laissez-faire capitalism.

In 1976, he was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize for his achievements in the fields of consumption analysis, monetary history and theory and for his demonstration of the complexity of stabilization policy. He is considered, along with John Maynard Keynes, to have been one of the two most influential economists of the 20th century and, especially during the seventies and eighties, he helped shape my understanding of economics and the free market system.

I had great respect for Friedman. He once said, "Given our monstrous, overgrown government structure, any three letters chosen at random would probably designate an agency or part of a department that could be profitably abolished." It was true then and, sadly, is even more so today.

::
December 7, 2006

Remembering Pearl Harbor

"...a date which will live in infamy...". And today we remember. If you've not visited the Memorial at Pearl Harbor and stood above the sunken tomb that was the USS Arizona to pay tribute to the men who lost their lives aboard her on that fateful day 65 years ago today, it should certainly be near the top your list of important things to do. It's a reverent, almost spiritual experience you will long remember.

You may not realize that, every year, the ranks of veterans who lived through that horrific day grows thinner. They are old men now. Their memories are still tinged with the sadness that comes from the realization that soon they will all be gone and, as with other landmarks in American history like Gettysburg and Antietam, it will be up to the rest of us to keep the remembrances alive and never, ever forget what happened on that impossibly beautiful Sunday morning when the world turned upside down and changed all of us forever.

0755, 7 December, 1941.

Air Raid Pearl Harbor. This is no drill.

Shortly before his untimely death earlier this year, John Renn sent me a series of photos taken during and immediately following the air raid on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. I'd not seen them before and posted them in July. I'm posting them again here as a reminder of the death and devastation that wakened "the sleeping giant" and caused Congress, the following day, to declare war against the Empire of Japan. The war lasted nearly four years and was indeed costly by every measure. But it taught us that, when our cause is just and we possess the will to fight, we will be victorious. We must never forget.

Janet put together this nicely produced tribute video. It's about five minutes long. Take a few minutes to watch it. And remember.

::
December 7, 2006

Phishing for what's in your wallet

.

,

I suspect you've all heard the term, phishing. It's a scam to lure folks into divulging personal information (bank account numbers, passwords, PINs, social security numbers, etc) by posing as a legitimate entity, usually via email or the Internet. Most of us recognize phishing attempts and simply delete them, but an increasing number of folks are fooled into revealing their personal information to nefarious scammers.

For those of you who've not seen phishing in action, above is an example I received yesterday via email. Looks fairly real, doesn't it? And many folks who receive this, especially those actually having an account with CapitalOne, will be fooled into clicking on the link and filling out a questionnaire disclosing their personal information, all the while thinking they're protecting themselves.

But if you look more closely, you'll see flaws in their devious scheme. The first and most obvious is the fact that, at least in this case, I don't have a banking relationship with CapitalOne. The second is the "challenged" grammar which, not surprisingly, is common with phishing expeditions, although some are becoming more sophisticated. The third is the unlikely URL link.

Software was developed to thwart phishing emails by scanning the text in their content to detect known phishing phrases, but savvy crooks quickly learned to use images of text rather than actual text in their messages to fool scanning software. For example, there is little actual text in the above email; just an image of text.

Your best defense against phishing is knowledge. You can learn more about phishing and how to protect yourself from it, here, here and here. Be prepared. Be safe.

::
December 7, 2006

The Gift of Giving

Looking for good stocking stuffers? Don’t get desperate, give Charity Checks. Charity Checks is a giving program that lets you make contributions to any charity in the name of a family member or friend.

But what goes in the stocking? Charity Checks sends you a certificate and blank check that can be cashed by any nonprofit organization. You give it to your gift recipient, who decides which charity benefits.

Besides helping a worthwhile person or cause (the charity gets 100% of the amount on the certificate), your friend or family member gets an enormous infusion of holiday spirit, and you get a tax deduction for the year if you purchase your gift before December 31st (Charity Checks ship overnight).

Charity Check co-founders Victor Dorff and Lisa Sonne point out that “pre-paid giving” is a holiday win-win-win for you, for your gift recipient and for the benefiting charity. Which begs the question: Does your dad really need a reindeer tie?

::
December 6, 2006

Santa's Butt Banned In Maine

This is big news, at least among beer drinkers and civil libertarians. Shelton Brothers, a beer distributor, says the state of Maine is being a Scrooge by barring it from selling a beer bearing a label depicting Santa Claus enjoying a pint of brew. More specifically, Maine denied Shelton Brothers' applications for the Santa's Butt label along with two others depicting exposed women's breasts.

Maine says the illustrations are inappropriate for a variety of reasons. Shelton Brothers is calling it artistic censorship and has involved the Maine Civil Liberties Union Foundation who, last Thursday, filed a lawsuit claiming government censorship after the Maine Bureau of Liquor Enforcement refused to allow Massachusetts-based Shelton Brothers to sell Santa's Butt and two other beers with label illustrations that the agency deemed "undignified or improper." The MCLU claims the denial is a First Amendment violation restricting freedom of expression.

State law requires beer distributors to register labels with the liquor enforcement bureau. Maine State Police Lt. Patrick Fleming said the agency reviews 10,000 to 12,000 applications a year and typically denies about a dozen. Applicants who are denied are given a chance to alter the label and reapply, he said. The Santa's Butt label depicts Santa Claus from behind, sitting on a barrel. It is intended to have a double meaning, Shelton said, in that "butt" is also a term used to identify the 126-gallon barrel on the label.

I don't practice law and I personally think the Santa label is humorous, but I'd have to side with Maine if it's the Bureau's directive to approve beer labels' suitability. And the distinction should be noted that Maine isn't restricting Shelton's free expression - they can express themselves all they want - but rather restricting their right to distribute their "art" wherever they like, in this case in the beer coolers of Maine's grocery stores and liqueur marts.

Still, it's a funny illustration and the double meaning of "butt" is clever. I'll be interested to see whether the state of Maine thinks it's important enough to fight over or if they let the MCLU roll over them. I hate when you believe you're right but it's economically unfeasible to do battle. I'm betting Maine beer drinkers will be hoisting Santa's Butt by Christmas.

::
December 6, 2006

Dear God

These are part of a collection of letters apparently written by young children to God, perhaps as part of a Sunday School exercise. They are precious! Click here or on the image to view all eleven.

If anyone knows the story behind these, or their origin, please let me know.

::
December 6, 2006

Making a Mockery of our Military

No, I'm not going into one of my rants although I'm certainly tempted. But Jack Kelly penned a far more eloquent article than I could have written in Sunday's Post-Gazette, so I'll ask that you read his instead.

Following Senator John Kerry's now famous "Stuck in Iraq" speech, Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., who'll be chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means committee in the next Congress, raised eyebrows and ruffled feathers when, on Fox News (Sunday November 26), he declared,

The statistics certainly don't support Charlie Rangel's position (or should I called it his ideology.) It's a well written article. I hope you'll read it.

::
December 5, 2006

Another enlightening personality quiz

Hmmm... I thought for sure I'd be a gracefully aging B-52. Probably should've answered, "Bomb the poo out of 'em."

Thanks Bob! 

::
December 5, 2006

Win A Million Dollars

Alex Tew, creator of the Million Dollar Homepage, is reportedly back with a new project dubbed pixelotto. The new site, launched earlier today, will pay out a million dollars to one lucky user who clicks the right ad.

Tew’s Million Dollar Homepage introduced the concept of pixel advertising and earned him a cool million dollars in a few short months. But can he repeat that success or has the novelty worn off? To his credit, the pixelotto project adds an interesting element to the Million Dollar Homepage concept. This time around, advertisers will pay two dollars a pixel and one lucky user will walk away with a million dollars for clicking the winning pixel, hence the lotto bit in the name.

According to early reports, Tew solicited the same advertisers from Million Dollar Homepage to purchase advertising space on Pixelotto prior to today's ’s public launch, apparently to give loyal customers the first shot at that prime pixel real estate in the center of the page. Seems only fair. I seem to recall that his brother was the site's first customer.

With the chance at a million dollar pay-out driving users to view the advertisements, pixelotto could be even bigger than the Million Dollar Homepage. So, are you feeling lucky? Well, are you? (Shannon, this has your name all over it!)

Prefer to start a pixel-selling frenzie of your own? The grim reality is that, unless you're Microsoft, copycat ideas rarely make the splash enjoyed by the originals. But if you think yours might be an exception, Million Dollar Script offers software allowing you to "start a website similar to the 'Million Dollar Homepage.'" Knock yourself out.

Via blog.wired

::
December 5, 2006

Photobucket Hits 30 Million Users

Photobucket, the image and video hosting site, hit the 30 million registered user mark Friday. If you're not familiar with Photobucket, the service is used extensively by MySpace users, LiveJournal bloggers and sellers on CraigsList and eBay. It's an easy short-term solution for publishing photos to the web if you don't have a web hosting account or if you aren't a member of Flickr or Yahoo Photos.

The site offers 1GB of of free storage and 10GBs of free bandwidth to registered users. They also offer a paid service for $25 per year that ups the storage to 5GB with unlimited bandwidth. Photobucket recently added video hosting to its lineup of services. If that sounds like something you might need, check it out.

Via blog.wired

::
December 4, 2006

Share and coordinate wish lists

A great suggestion from Michael...

Christmas and birthday wish lists can be hard to coordinate amongst relatives and friends. This is especially true for large families spread across several states. Some families coordinate kids' wish lists via phone or e-mail. Neither works particularly well. Post those lists online, however, and everyone gets the same information.

A-TADA List can help you create and share gift (or to-do) lists. The lists stay online, so they're accessible anywhere there is an Internet connection. The only software you need is a Web browser. You can share your lists with the world or with specific people. Each person you invite can check items off the list. This is especially handy for gift lists. One glance shows which gifts are already taken care of. 

Shared lists can be included in RSS readers. That allows everyone to stay up to date without the trouble of viewing the lists daily. And TA-DA List is FREE. It works with the latest versions of Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari.

Ta-da! Sounds like a great idea!

::
December 4, 2006

NM Christmas Book

In a quandary trying to find the perfect gift for that special someone? The annual Neiman Marcus Christmas Book may provide some sterling inspiration. If you didn't receive your personal copy, there's an online version on the NM site. Just click on the tabs on the bottom of each page to turn the pages or use the links at the top of the page or the left and right arrows to move through the book. You might also enjoy watching the short video showing how the photo shoot was done. And no, all those Macs being used did'nt escape my notice.

Oh, and if you're having difficulty deciding on a gift for me (if the trip into outer space is already spoken for), I'm easy to shop for; anything on pages 86-97 will be fine.

::
December 4, 2006

Holly Valance - Bond Girl?

Holly Vallance may have failed to make the final cut for the "Bond girl" role in Casino Royale, the latest movie incarnation of Ian Fleming's 007 spy novel, but this video clip of her in action in DOA: Dead or Alive convinced Michael that she'd have made a good one. See what you think...

::
December 1, 2006

The first remarkable close-up pictures of animals in the womb

An unborn elephant, tiny but perfect in every way. A dolphin swimming in the womb, just as it will have to swim in the ocean the moment it is born. An unborn dog panting. Each one amazing and now, thanks to these remarkable pictures, they can be seen for the first time.

Amazing! I'm looking forward to the National Geographics special.

::
December 1, 2006

Just in time for Christmas...

...from herobuilders.com, "Largest creator of all political talking action figure dolls and pop culture action figure dolls."

::
December 1, 2006

'You're an Idiot,' and Other Festive Holiday Greetings

In his Washington Post article, Eric Weiss discusses a phenomenon that plagues us all, especially during the holidays - rude, careless, obnoxious drivers. Of course, it's not us; it's them. But, as he points out, there are some ways we can, shall we say, vent our frustration. Some ideas mentioned in the article include:

• platewire.com, an online service that allows motorists to post the license plate numbers of offending drivers on the Internet and tell the world what a moron that guy was on the Capital Beltway

• Mika Larson's "Road Rage Cards", a book of signs designed to send more immediate messages such as "GET OUT OF THE FAST LANE, MORON!" and "YOU'RE AN IDIOT!" among the more family-friendly signs

Of course, law enforcement discourages use of any of Weiss' suggestions saying that they could make matters worse, even lead to confrontations. But you know, if I had an extra $199, I might just opt for that MobileLED MD-550. Of course, I'd need a co-pilot to operate it while I kept my eyes on the road. And Lord help us all if other angry folks started trying to key in messages while driving on the Interstate...

Okay, so maybe it's not such a good idea after all.

::
December 1, 2006

The Twelve Rules of Christmas®

Unfortunately, Christmas has become a time of controversy over what can or cannot be done in terms of celebrating the holiday. In order to clear up much of the misunderstanding, the following twelve rules are offered, compiled by attorneys for The Rutherford Institute, complete with legal references:

• Public school students’ written or spoken personal expressions concerning the religious significance of Christmas (e.g., T-shirts with the slogan, “Jesus Is the Reason for the Season”) may not be censored by school officials absent evidence that the speech would cause a substantial disruption.

• Public school students’ written or spoken personal expressions concerning the religious significance of Christmas (e.g., T-shirts with the slogan, “Jesus Is the Reason for the Season”) may not be censored by school officials absent evidence that the speech would cause a substantial disruption.

• So long as teachers are generally permitted to wear clothing or jewelry or have personal items expressing their views about the holidays,  Christian teachers may not be prohibited from similarly expressing their views by wearing Christmas-related  clothing   or jewelry or carrying Christmas-related personal items.

• Public  schools  may  teach  students  about  the Christmas  holiday, including its religious  significance, so  long  as  it is taught objectively for secular purposes such as its historical or cultural importance, and not for the purpose of promoting Christianity. ...

Read the entire list.