G.O.P. parlor game: guess Lieberman's height

The Republicans have a sort of office pool going, betting on Senator Joe Lieberman's height. Suspecting that the Senator will shortly become one of them, they appeared to reassure themselves that he won't cast too long a shadow for the Grand Old Party.


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Krispy Kreme chicken sandwich (with honey)

Click Chicken Charlies photograph to enlarge

I don't know what you did last weekend, but if you had been in Southern California, you might have been lucky enough to attend the Orange County Fair. And if you'd been extra lucky, you might have stumbled onto Chicken Charlies traveling deep-fry shack, where they proudly serve: deep fried oreos, deep fried Twinkies (chocolate or raspberry), deep fried vegetables, lemon garlic battered deep fried avocados with ranch dipping sauce, deep fried pickle chips, and what has to be their crown of creation: a chicken sandwich served on a Krispy Kreme [tm] doughnut with honey on the side. I can't tell if they split the doughnut, or use two. And, for some reason, seeing the slice of cheese peek out from the glazed doughnut just about tripled the hurl factor for me



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Raul Castro takes the reigns in Cuba

Cuba attempted to whistle in the dark today, pretending all was normal on the first day in 47 years without Fidel Castro running the show. A Cuban official insisted Castro's final moment was "very far away," despite his handing over power to his brother after surgery.

Parliament Speaker Ricardo Alarcon said the Cuban leader is known for fighting to the very end and that his "final moment is still very far away," the government's Prensa Latina news service reported.

Raul Castro, the island's acting president, was nowhere to be seen as Cubans began to worry about what comes next and exiles in Miami celebrated a development they hoped signaled the death of a dictator. Cuban dissidents kept a low profile while watching for signs of Castro's condition.

Not everyone knows that Raul is the spooky one in the family. Don't bet on any riots breaking out while he holds the reigns of power. While Fidel will reason with dissenters first and then kill them, Raul apparently kills first and doesn't bother asking questions. . .

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Auto-porn: I Humped Your Hummer Dot Com

This web site showcases what is rapidly becoming America's favorite pastime: Hummer Humping. The Hummer has attracted such diverse constituencies as: soccer moms, drug dealers, professional athletes and other celebrities.

For those of us who cannot or do not care to own a Hummer, there is still a fun and easy way to be a part of this craze.

Participating in the act of Hummer love can be as a political statement, performance art, or an amusing activity to engage in as you're walking down the street. I only wish they had some reaction shots. . .where the owners of the soiled Hummers came charging out, hell-bent on destruction.

If ever there was a victimless crime, this has to be it. It beats horses, I guess.
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Second Amendment Poster, 3rd in the series

click poster to enlarge
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Comandante Fidel Castro steps down?

Once again, the sometimes hopeful, sometimes hysterical rumors about Cuban leader Fidel Castro's health, began making the rounds following the announcement that he was handing power to his brother Raul before he underwent surgery for "an acute intestinal crisis with sustained bleeding."

A professor of Latin American Studies at Dalhousie University in Halifax, John Kirk, said the tone of the official proclamation and the "ominous ring" of his statement that "imperialism will never be able to crush Cuba," suggested his condition was dire. All the articles you will read on this subject are completely speculative. . .there is no news from Cuba, other than the official statement.

Is this the beginning of the end or merely a lacuna in The Comandante's nearly fifty-year reign? Click here to read the Reuters story.
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The 50 greatest movie endings of all time

Filmcritic.com has put together a fascinating list. Of the movies I know--The Godfather, Citizen Kane, All That Jazz, A Clockwork Orange, 8 1/2, Dr. Strangelove, et al, they hit the nail on the head... a good read. Click here to see the list.

15. The Godfather (1972) - Derelicts will argue the second one is better, but the ending of the Godfather is everything it should be, foreshadowing all the dark, murky secrets that would be dragged from the depths in Part 2. Kay finally asks about Michael's business and he lies, outright, as the door closes on a good kid who turned into the ultimate family man, and a brooding, calculating monster. -CC

13. Citizen Kane (1941) - Well, we kind of have to put this one on the list, don't we? One of the earliest examples of don't-spill-the-secret endings and also I've-been-robbed anti-climax, that little wooden sled explains everything and explains nothing about Charles Foster Kane, but it's the elusive piece of the jigsaw that drives one of the greatest movies ever made. -AG

ed. note: Wikipedia (take it for what it's worth) says says that "rosebud" allegedly was a "nickname used by William Randolph Hearst to refer to the clitoris of his mistress", Marion Davies.)






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Karl Rove calls the kettle black

On Saturday, Karl Rove ripped into journalists on the political beat. They want to draw attention away from the "corrosive role" their own coverage plays in government, he said.

"Some decry the professional role of politics, they would like to see it disappear," Rove told graduates at the George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management. "Some argue political professionals are ruining American politics--trapping candidates in daily competition for the news cycle instead of long-term strategic thinking in the best interest of the country." "It's odd to me that most of these critics are journalists and columnists," he said. "Perhaps they don't like sharing the field of play. Perhaps they want to draw attention away from the corrosive role their coverage has played focusing attention on process and not substance."

It is fascinating to hear this cynical and ruthless manipulator of voters take on the press for exactly what he practices every single day of his life (except when he was laying low, hoping to dodge an indicment for perjury).
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Catapult the propaganda!::::::::Another Presidential Poster (free to our customers!)

Click poster to enlarge...
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Catapult The Propanganda!! Another letter to the President

July 30, 2006

Dear Mister President:

It's been fourteen months since you uttered those words about catapulting the propaganda. The problem may be that you were catapulting not "the truth," but a bushel-full of bulls**t, Bushisms, calumny, deceit, myths, misstatements, fibs, fish stories, whoppers, disinformation, distortion, evasion, hyperbole, terminological inexactitude, perjury, hype, shuck and jive. Yeah, with what you're peddling it's going to take a whole lot longer to sink in than the truth.

You said "You got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in," but how many times do you have to repeat it when you're peddling wholesale lies? It's been fourteen months since you said that and now you're facing even more quagmires. Baghdad is again enveloped in chaos; Lebanon is caught in the middle of another war; our partners in the coalition are slowly packing up and going home. You have Saddam Hussein on a feeding tube!

We blown $300 billion and 2600 soldiers' lives like drunken sailors on three day shore leave. We embarked on a half-baked war with virtually no planning. And we're no closer to our goals than we were sitting on our hands.

Now, we should be in Darfur, and in Israel, Lebanon, and the Gaza strip, we cannot afford to go. We are unable to act. The great giant is silenced. You, Mister President, asked the United Nations (and organization you abhor) to handle it. Just when the U.S. could do some good, our hands are tied behind our backs in Iraq. In other conflicts like this, the United States would charge in with diplomats, and with troops when necessary. The one thing the United States was sometimes good at is not available to us, because you have the money and troops attempting to hold Iraq together.

It's about time for you to dislodge you head from your sphincter and figure out how to disentangle ourselves from your Iraq adventure. We've got places to go and people to see. You have proven we are not miracle workers. It's time to get back to doing what we do right. We'd prefer not to wait for your retirement for that.

Your buddy, friend and pal,

Jack Brummet
Seattle, Wash.

Crosslink: George Bush's letter to All This Is That.
Crosslink: Catapult the propaganda poster
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All This Is That Poster: men in black

click poster to enlarge

One of four posters/handbills I am exchanging with a coalition of art and poetry bloggers
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Poster 2: repeal the 2nd amendment

click collage to enlarge
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