HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY STRIDER!

TAKE DOWN

A presidency that "restores honor and dignity to the White House"?!?! My pampered ass it is!

Scooter Libby, Cheney's Chief of Staff has resigned having been indicted on
- 1 count obstruction of justice
- 2 counts false statement
- 2 counts perjury

Fitzgerald has a press conference scheduled for 2pm EST and Joe Wilson's attorney following that. My initial thoughts. I'm dissapointed that Rove wasn't indicted today, but he's not out of the woods yet. Even still, think about this. If Libby doesn't plead and this goes to trial, Cheney is at the center of this and will have to testify. The Vice President of The United States. And in doing so, guess what they'd go digging for? Records pertaining to the the administration's carefully crafted "justification" leading up to the war in Iraq.

OH HAPPY DAY

After a wonderful breakfast out and fall shopping with my pal Bulldog, I'm back and ready to delve into a couple of today's headlines.

Chicago White Sox - 2005 World Series Champions!



I'll admit it. I'm a bandwagon ChiSox fan. How could one not be? I mean, this team won their final eight games in a row, went 11-1 in their 12 postseason games, and last night they became just the third team in history to sweep a World Series after a season in which they were in first place every day of the season. Impressive stats yes, but what impressed me more and secured my seat on the bandwagon was their humbleness, gratitude and their genuine love of the game. But I don't think anyone's happier with their win than our blogger buddy and die-hard fan Doug. It was fun rooting along with Doug and the rest of my fellow blogger bandwagoners.

Harriet Miers Withdraws Supreme Court Nomination



Not a surprise, though I am kind of surprised it took this long. Check out Dubya's mug - not a happy camper. And check out this statement:

"Let's move on," said Republican Sen. Trent Lott of Mississippi. "In a month, who will remember the name Harriet Miers?"

For a myriad of reasons...wow.

I LOVE THE ONION!

Trick-Or-Treaters To Be Subject To Random Bag Searches
October 26, 2005 Issue 41/43

WASHINGTON, DC - Responding to "a possible threat of terror and fright," Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced Monday that trick-or-treaters will be subject to random bag searches this Halloween season.

"Individuals concealing their identities through clever disguise, and under cover of night, may attempt to use the unspecified threat of 'tricks' to extort 'treats' from unsuspecting victims," Chertoff said. "Such scare tactics may have been tolerated in the past, but they will not be allowed to continue this Halloween."

"This is yet another misguided and unfair example of profiling by our nation's law enforcement," said ACLU spokesperson Marilee McInnis. "It's doubtful that many G.I. Joes will be searched, but Aladdins, genies, and belly dancers should expect a huge crimp in their Halloween fun."

read the rest of tharticleal here

WORD PLAY WEDNESDAY

It's Wednesday again. That means, unless there's something more exciting to post, it's time to play...

Free Word Association: IDENTITY

Take the word identity and write a comment about what this word brings to mind for you, be it a single word, sentence, phrase or rant.

Civil Rights Pioneer Rosa Parks Dies at 92

thank you rosa for all you did.

you were a very brave women.

TWISTED

I was still living in California and in 6th grade when the Rubix Cube craze first hit. Seemed everyone had one and we'd sit around at lunch and between classes twisting those cubes trying to match and restore them to their original, perfectly aligned colors. Sure, it was a fad, but they were fun. At least for awhile. Then they got annoying. Fun times gave way to frustration as we all wondered how hard could it possibly be to line up whites with whites and blues with blues and thought wait I just had it, and damn this thing sucks! Well I shouldn't say all of us. I'll never forget there was this one kid, Robert, who could solve them with the ease of tying his shoelaces. It was insane. You could hand him your cube and after a few fast flips and twists, he'd have it completely aligned like new. It was impressive and a little freaky.

So when I saw a basket of Rubix Cube keychains for .25 cents at a local fair recently, I couldn't resist and got myself one. It's perfectly aligned. I've thought about starting it a few times now, but I just haven't been able to bring myself to do it. I'll probably wind up frustrated, and there'll be no freaky Robert to restore it. Damn this thing sucks!

Everyone, please join me in congratulating

our blogger buddy Maine and his wife Rachel

on the birth of their beautiful baby girl, Ava.

(feel free to leave any tips for the new parents in your comments as well)

U.S. lawmakers are urging the Bush administration to resist a push from other countries to shift control of the Internet to the United Nations, arguing that such a move would stifle innovation and free expression. (story here)

Though no one country controls the Internet as a whole, the U.S. Commerce Department maintains final authority over the domain-name system that matches easy-to-remember names like "example.com" with the Internet Protocol numbers that are assigned to each computer on the Internet. That system is overseen by a California-based nonprofit group called the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN.

Since it was founded in 1998, ICANN has introduced competition into the market for domain names and expanded the number of names available by introducing new suffixes like .info and .biz. as alternatives to standbys like .com and .org.
But the nonprofit body has also been plagued by infighting, charges that it does not operate in a transparent manner, and the perception that it is cowed by the U.S. government.

Wait for it.....

ICANN agreed to suspend work on a proposed .xxx domain name for sex sites after the Bush administration objected in August. Despite the nonprofit group's flaws, "I don't think anyone would argue that there is any demonstrated effort to limit access, to control content, to limit growth. If anything ICANN has overseen a tremendous positive expansion," Coleman said.

Well there you go!

2005 RICHMOND ZOMBIE WALK

this looks like it was a lot of fun and it was right down the road from sar at the carytown mall.

(it was supposed to be at short pump but the zombies were told they would be arrested if they went to short pump. I guess they are a bunch of uptight stiffs at short pump.)

you should have gone sar...I am sure it would have been a lot of fun to watch even if you didn't want to participate.

I think next year I am coming down for this sar and I will be dressed as a zombie!

who's in?

YOU GO GRANDMA!

18 grandmothers arrested at Iraq war protest

October 17, 2005, 8:18 PM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) _ Eighteen grandmothers were arrested and face charges of disorderly conduct after they showed up at a military recruiting center and said they wanted to enlist, a protest group said.

Police arrested the women, ranging in age from 49 to 90, Monday afternoon after they sat down in front of the Times Square recruiting station to protest the war in Iraq, police said. When the 18 women, including Marie Runyon, who is 90 and blind, tried to enter the station, they found it locked, said Joan Wile, 74, director of
Grandmothers against the War.

BEST LINE FROM THE ARTICAL?

"We tried to ring the bell at the booth, but no one answered," Wile said. "I saw a head poke up from behind the counter every once in a while and then duck back down."

THEY WERE AFRAID!!!!

hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

WHEN YOU'VE GOTTA HAVE IT YOUR WAY

A 78-year-old Wisconsin man whose car ran into the front entry of a Burger King backed away, parked and went in for breakfast, officials say. After he backed up, parked and went inside, he was served his food, and police called to the scene found him eating at a table. There was no word on what he ordered and because the accident was on private property, the man was not cited.

At least McDonald's has clearly labeled parking.

IT PAYS TO RANT

You know the old adage "sometimes things have to get worse before they can get better"? I believe that's often true. And I sure as shit hope it's true as it applies here in America, where things continue to worsen with each passing week under the influence of the Bush administration. Well, that turn for the better just might be upon us.

Ben & Jerry's, the ice cream brand whose image and marketing was built on social consciousness, tonight revives that tradition in its first TV ad campaign in a decade. The ads focus on issues, not ice cream.

The campaign comes as some ad giants are spending more on social responsibility programs and ads:

GE in May announced its Ecomagination program - a $1.5 billion program of research for less-polluting technologies - and is running a corporate ad.

Starbucks, which already offers coffees that promote fair pay for growers and environmentally sound cultivation, recently announced it will donate $10 million over five years for clean drinking water around the world through sales of its Ethos bottled water.

British Petroleum has been advertising its environmental awareness and is spending $350 million over several years to create energy-efficient products.

Such spending is a cost of doing business in a global economy with consumers connected by e-mail and blogs, says Steve Lippman, vice president of social research at Boston-based Trillium Asset Management, which invests in socially responsible funds and companies.

Did you all get that? Even while still under the oppressive reign of the boy king, we, the socially conscious bloggers, have been heard and are recognized as a key marketing demographic!

Now, if I could just swing me a free pint of Butter Pecan with a cappuccino chaser, I'd be golden.

2%

The United States Postal Service has created a stamp with a picture of President George W. Bush to honor his first term achievements. Unfortunately, the stamp has not been sticking to the envelopes. This has enraged the President, who has demanded a full investigation into the matter.

After a month of testing, a special Presidential Commission has made the following findings:

1. The stamp is in perfect order.
2. There is nothing wrong with the applied adhesive.
3. People are spitting on the wrong side.

(Thanks to our wonderful Aunt in OR for the inspiration!)

OVERKILL?

Pro boxing is 'legalized killing': Catholic press

The Jesuit-run "Civilta Cattolica" (Catholic Civilization) weekly slammed boxing in a six-page editorial in an edition which hits Italian news outlets on Saturday.

"(Professional boxing) goes against the natural moral and divine principle of not killing, and as a consequence, not to voluntarily and knowingly inflict injury, which could in the end cause death."

I've never been a fan of boxing. Personally, I think it's completely barbaric. But I'm not sure I'd go so far as to say it's legalized killing. Now, the death penalty on the other hand, is legalized killing, yet I don't see Catholic-led uprisings over that.

VOTE

WHAT SHOULD STRIDER BE FOR HALLOWEEN?

THIS?



OR THIS?

WORD PLAY

I won't be around much today and don't have time to prepare a proper post. So, I though it might be fun to try something different today.

Free Word Association: DRIVE

Take the word DRIVE and write a comment about what this word brings to mind for you. Have fun & I'll catch up with you all again this afternoon.

SAY NO TO ROSY GLASSES

Familiar with the Orweillian style of leading by instilling fear? It's certainly been adopted by this administration. And why shouldn't they? It obviously worked for them, right? It netted support for a long duration after 9/11. It netted support for the Iraqi war. It netted re-election.

But they didn't bank on natural distasters upsetting the apple cart. They had and exercised no control over the recent hurricanes. They couldn't spin the hurricanes into terrorists, so they looked for other ways to take advantage of the situation (aside: check out Mike's post today for more on that). Suddenly folks started sliding down their rosy glasses, and started seeing with clarity the whole of the debacle that has come as a result of Bush's poor choices. And guess what else continued sliding down? Bush's approval rating. Coincidence? I think not.

So what to do? Be humble and attempt to unite the country in our time of distress as any good parent, teach, or leader would, or look for the next Orweillian tactic? Sadly, it seems they opted for the latter. Call me crazy, but I think the sudden interest in a potential bird flu pandemic hitting the US is not a coincidence either. I watched Bush mumble and fumble his way through his news conference last week. But when he was asked about this topic, he was annimated and insistent.

The question I now have is how will this affect the slide of rosy glasses?

5 THINGS

If you read the comments from the previous post, you saw that our friend JJ tagged me. So, not wanting to let down the the little mohwak that could, here we go.

Five things I plan to do before I die:

Jeesh, this sounds ominous. I'm only 35. Should I be thinking about the long-term plan now? And how do you plan that far in advance? And what if I accomplish said plan, would that then signal I'm all set, ready to pack my bags, & check out? So how about 5 of the many things I'd LIKE to do before I die.

1. Learn to speak French & do so in France
2. Visit the Louvre
3. Travel and experience Europe (yes, even beyond France)
4. Ditch the mommy mobile for a regular car
5. Finish this damn list!

Five things I can do:

Do you know how hard it is to answer this? Really, out of all the stupid and maybe not so stupid things I can do, I have to select 5. I have no idea. So here's the first 5 that come to mind.

1. Dream vividly in color
2. Evoke a smile
3. Whistle loudly with my fingers
4. Fold my arms either in front or behind my back
5. Cross all of my fingers at the same time

Five Things I can'’t do:

Well this is a little easier, but again just 5. I assure you, I'm quite incapable of much more.

1. Whatever I want, whenever I want
2. Respect and trust George Bush & his administration of croonies
3. Hold a grudge
4. Drive a stick shift
5. Pee standing up

Five Things that attract me to the opposite sex:

With my fantasy crushes - bingo!

1. Intelligence
2. Clever wittiness
3. Sense of humor
4. Physical strength
5. Sexy bedroom eyes

Five Things that I say a lot:

This list could be easily be completely comprised of my usual rants against Bush; primarily like "can anyone really be that ignorant". It could also just as easily be comprised of the mundane statements I regularly make to the girls like "cereal or waffles?". But that's nothing new or interesting. So here are 5 things, equally uninteresting though maybe new to you, that I say on a regular basis.

1. Why not?!
2. Are you kidding me?!
3. Fantastic!
4. Mm-bye.
5. Ooh, a new comment.

********************************

Now I think I'm supposed to give a link back list, and since it's supposed to include ours, no problem there (I'm just as shameless, JJ). And name 5 new people to play. Hmph. Well, I could choose 5 people that I'd specifically like to learn more about. Or I could pick 5 people so as to purposely get under their skin because I know they don't dig these things. But how to whittle each option down to just 5...*sigh*...what's a girlie girl to do?

Simple. I'll just leave it open to everyone. You want to play - go for it! And if you do, make sure you let me know so I can check it out.

1. Third World County
2. The English Guy
3. Diane’s Stuff
4. The Churning
5. Sound Destruction
   

AWWW YEAH

Sound Destruction parents are in the hizzouse! Mine to be specific.

You think I'm an advocate for individual rights? You should meet our mom.

You think I'm sarcastic and clever? You should meet our pop. Well, mom is too.

Everyone say hello to the parents of Sar, Strider, & The Brother!

HUMAN TOUCH

do you hate pressing buttons on your phone when all you want to do is talk to a real person?

we all do...

maybe one day when you really need to get through to a real person this will help.

it's a site with major companies and the easy path to a human.

i love the human touch. it's more fun to bitch to a real person about a problem then to a damn computer.

just remember to thank your friendly neighborhood do-gooder strider when it saves you hours of aggravation.

I'm always pleasantly surprised to see people from across the US checking out our little blog here, but I'm honestly blown away when I see folks from across the globe checking in from the likes of Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, Slovenia, Switzerland, Singapore, France, The Netherlands and Malaysia...just to name a few. I have to give a nod of appreciatation and say you people (and of course those across the US as well) seriously rock! Please leave a comment and say hello. Our growing group of folks who regularly comment here are quite entertaining and won't bite. And, contrary to what you might believe, neither will I.

Which leads me to this picture that our blog friend Ev made and encouraged me to post. I'm not sure it's an accurate depiction of me though. I mean afterall, I do talk about tv sometimes. What do you all think?

KARMA COMEDIAN

Last week I was randomly chosen to prescreen a potential new sitcom. So after the courier came yesterday with my video and pamphlets, I diligently watched this potential sitcom. Here's the thing, C Thomas Howell was one of the stars in it. I had a huge pre-teen crush on him. You're thinking automatic green light from me, right? Sadly, no. He was horrible and so was the show. In fact, it was downright painful to watch.

I have to say though, it was incredibly surreal filling out the pamphlets and giving feedback, MY feedback, knowing it could have a direct impact on C Thomas Howell. He sure had an impact on mine, especially when he broke my little pre-teen heart by responding to my heartfelt fan mail with nothing more than a mass-produced, stamped autograph postcard.

I PREDICT MORE BUSHISMS

Today Bush is supposed to be holding his first news conference since May.

Tell me, am I the only one who cringes with anticipation, much like one does when watching a horror flick, of Bush's pursed lips, beady eyes and furrowed brow along with his shiftiness and little heh heh laughs, that follow his inevitable tripping over his own tongue? Really, I find it so difficult to watch Bush speak.

Well, at least we can all find entertainment in his Bushisms.

SHINING

update:

I just realized the link was wrong. I see why 'maine' was confused.

watch HERE.

now you can understand what I meant by 'shining'.

sorry for the confusion.

a little editing and a change of music and you have a cameron crowe movie.

see what I am talking about here.

also see how some movie should have ended here.

I like the 'seven' one.

HAVE A SEAT....AGAIN

Taking a stroll down blogmemory lane, remember this post about the woman who burned her bum on a toilet seat? Remember how Araider enlightened us all about the sanitation of public toilets? I was reminded of it when I saw this article.

Delegates to the annual World Toilet Summit in Northern Ireland's capital Belfast could be forgiven for feeling flushed this week after sitting down for a three-day debate on the finer points of public sanitation. Some 350 experts met at the Annual World Toilet Summit this past week to discuss such pressing subjects as anti-social behavior in rest-rooms, portable toilets, and facilities for the blind. Raymond Martin, director of the Irish Toilet Association, said that with hundreds of toilet experts gathered in one place lavatorial humor was unavoidable. "But what you actually find is that when the punning and joking is over people actually take toilets very seriously. It's a subject that's close to everyone's heart."

An annual toilet summit. With delegates. And punning and joking. How do you think that goes down? *snicker* Oh, and the image above? Found it surfing for toilet pix (the things I to do entertain you people) and thought it was too funny to pass up.