all is optional

The best the NYPost has to offer is this photoshopped image of Nancy Pelosi. But Madame Speaker can rock out with her non-existant cock out. Ethan Phillips put it best when he said Pelosi was in charge of the biggest “good-old boys” club in the country. And, here she is, bitchslapping them with beans

Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the House speaker, said Mr. Bush should “calm down with the threats,” and Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader, said his impression was that Mr. Bush “doesn’t want anything other than a confrontation.” - Bush Rules Out Bid by Congress for Iraq Pullout

U.S. Speeds Up Bomb Delivery for the Israelis
courtesy of the NYTimes so subscription might be required.

Denouncing Iran and Syria for supposedly supplying Hezbollah while saying nothing of your own deeds.

Pot calling the kettle black. How nice.

Oh well, you’re all idiots.

How’s this for narcissism? An article in every section of the paper sans Centennial, which was an unexpected section. If that wasn’t enough, I log in to college publisher today to see three of the four amongst the most popular articles. This is almost as crazy as Katy Desmond landing a pad off Central Park West.

News: Review of University Budget Reveals Projected Deficit of $3.2 Million
Features: Rock Lovers Displeased with P.A.C.E. Board’s Hip-Hop Monopoly
Arts & Entertainment: Harlem Wizards Whiz Past Pace All-Stars
Editorial: There Is Something Rotten in the State of the University*

unsigned editorial

The New York Times (via AP) is reporting that Tom DeLay will be resigning. DeLay chose to resign after House GOP called for his resignation in light of his ongoing problems with conspiracy and money-laundering charges.

DeLay is battling campaign finance charges in Texas and was forced to step aside temporarily as majority leader last fall after he was charged in his home state. He has consistently maintained his innocence and said he intended to resume his leadership post once cleared.

Christmas spirit reigns supreme in Karachi and Islamabad, too.

Mmhmm, a Muslim nation celebrates Christmas to honour their fellows of another religion. (You still want to tell me it’s not a commercial holiday?) Oh, and don’t get me started on those Muslim terrorists.

In the past twenty four hours, I have received numerous “Merry Christmas” wishes by numbers unidentified on my mobile, by screen names on my AIM buddy list; both leave me wondering what in the hell are these people thinking? By what stretch of the mind do I strike you as a human being who celebrates Christmas in any respect: the supposed religious one or the overcommercialised one?

That’s all I got.

donations opportunities available at: Red Cross (redcross.org), Salvation Army (salvationarmyusa.org), National Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster (nvoad.org), Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (la-spca.org)

As far as I know, each of these foundations are special interest-free, which is why I am recommending them. There are many others to choose from as well, including several religiously based ones.

It’s a pity what has happened. While I don’t buy into the cockamaime bullshit of how New Orleans will never be the same, I do symapthise with its people and their trials in the upcoming months. Of course, it won’t be the same. Places and things and people aren’t intended to be the same for the entirety of its/their respective existences.

The family went earlier this summer and each of us, despite being different ages and having different interests, thoroughly enjoyed our visit. In fact, Mom contemplated relocating once her contract finishes up in Eudora.

I’ll be doing my part to help bring the colour back to New Orleans with at least two visits scheduled to help spark the local economy (not single handedly of course but every little bit helps). The family is sending clothes and non-perishable food items alongside monetary donations.

recommended reading: throwingstardna’s blog entry on president bush in the face of katrina

“As I recall, three years ago these guys were wandering around with their hands out looking for someone to save them,” said Mike McGuire, an analyst at Gartner G2. “It’d be rather silly to try to destabilize him because iTunes is one of the few bright spots in the industry right now. He’s got something that’s working.”
— Apple, Digital Music’s Angel, Earns Record Industry’s Scorn via NYTimes

Will the greed never end? What is wrong with today’s artists and their labels?

Shouldn’t the record industry and the artists aim to tackle the problem of “illegal” downloading instead of making it harder for those who are downloading music legally? Why make it more expensive for people who are doing things right, the way you want them done?

These people have no concept of the fact that they are getting to live their dreams. Countless people piss away their lives, trying to to have one tenth of the life you people live and you’re still not satisified.

On the left, they’re calling it radical. On the right, the buzzword is bold. Either way, South Carolina is proposing major changes in Medicaid, the giant federal-state health insurance program for the poor and disabled.

The state says its proposal to establish personal health accounts for most of the state’s 850,000 Medicaid recipients will “redefine health care in the United States.” The account would be used to purchase private health insurance, or pay for care directly. And the amount of money allocated to each account would depend on the person’s age, sex and physical condition.

Infants have been stopped from boarding planes at airports throughout the United States because their names are the same as or similar to those of possible terrorists on the government’s “no-fly list.”

It sounds like a joke, but it’s not funny to parents who miss flights while scrambling to have babies’ passports and other documents faxed.

Bolton appointed US envoy to UN

US President George W Bush has formally appointed John Bolton as US ambassador to the United Nations, without waiting for approval from the Senate.

Mr Bush said Democrats had forced him to bypass Congress by using “shameful delaying tactics” to prevent a vote.

“This post is too important to leave vacant any longer, especially during a war and a vital debate about UN reform,” Mr Bush said.

In layman’s terms, our president elect just appointed a man, who hates the very idea of the United Nations, as the country’s spokesperson to an international body dedicated to bettering foreign relations, being the watchdog for human rights violations, and furthering economic development in our war-torn world.

Defined here
democracy: a political system in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens who can elect people to represent them
a form of government whose head of state is not a monarch; “the head of state in a republic is usually a president”
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

A republic, in its basic sense, is a state in which sovereignty derives ultimately from the people (however defined), rather than from an hereditary principle.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic

Historical Linkage:
Profile: John Bolton
Bolton denied Senate vote again 21 June 2005
US Senate delays vote on Bolton 27 May 2005
Bush pressured to drop UN choice 13 May 2005