Finger of the day No. 9- from Awkward Family Photos

By Mona Goldwater, Society Editor
And Pablo Fanque, National Affairs Editor






This is the winning photograph from Awkward Family Photos holiday contest, and our finger of the day.  We actually think the winner should have been the disturbing photo below this...but, for some reason--and probably because the other one is far more disturbing--this one won.

click to enlarge

click to enlarge

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Alien Lore No. 189 -- UFOs and Aliens Over Kent, Washington

By Jack Brummet
Alien Lore & Paranormal Editor

Kent, Washington, the former farm town (pop: 3,200 when I was born), and now suburb (pop: 114,218), where I grew up, has become a hotbed of UFO sightings and activity.  In fact, UFORC (the UFO research center) is located there (this is not NUFORC, another group entirely). 

Here are a few of the Kent UFO reports from the last few years.  Unfortunately, there have been no reports that I can find of Visitors/Greys/EBEs/Aliens.  Apparently they like to fly over, but not actually stop in Kent. 

Kent, Washington sighting. August 11, 2010 - Report from NUFORC.  "A man steps out of his truck at his place of employment, and sees an object passing overhead in the sky. His initial reaction was that it was a conventional aircraft, but he quickly realized that it was a triangular-shaped craft. He estimates that it was visible for approximately 10 seconds." The illustration the witness provided of the object can be seen above.

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A recent report from UFOs Northwest on an October sighting in Kent:

Date of Sighting: October 29, 2010.  Time of Sighting: 2 PM PDT.  Location of Sighting: Kent, Washington

Description: I saw a small speck (very distant). It seemed to be gradually moving farther away. It was metallic in color with what looked like some haze or halo around it. I spotted the object in the North or Northeast sky.

Note: Sometimes regular aircraft are mistaken for UFOs when they are long distance away. It is not known if this is the case here.  

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Following are NUFORC logs of UFO reports in Kent, Washington 1999-2005.  NUFORC is a national UFO reporting group located in Seattle, Washington.

http://www.nuforc.org/webreports/041/S41713.html 2/1/05 09:25.  Shape: Sphere.  Duration: 3 min.
Summary: This was a spherical object adjacent to an airplane contrail


http://www.nuforc.org/webreports/038/S38459.html  8/1/04 21:00.  Shape: Fireball. Duration: less then a minute.
Summary: I was traveling north on the Valley Freeway (SR167) Kent, Wa this past sunday night Aug 01,04 @ 2100 hrs (9-PM), and a very small obj

http://www.nuforc.org/webreports/037/S37316.html 5/24/04 00:10. Shape: Triangle.  Duration: 2 sec.
Summary: Transparent triangle over Kent Washington

http://www.nuforc.org/webreports/033/S33929.html 12/14/03 00:46. Shape: Circle. Duration: 1-min.
Summary: I saw another green object exactly 20 min after the first sighting, while driving North on the Valley Freeway SR-167.

http://www.nuforc.org/webreports/028/S28702.html" 5/6/03 23:00.  Shape: Flash. Duration: about 3 minutes.
Summary: Bright craft slowly came toward me from over the neighbor's house (thought it was a star at first)

http://www.nuforc.org/webreports/026/S26809.html 12/18/02 19:30. Shape: Triangle. Duration: 25 seconds.
Summary: Black Triangle over Kent, WA

http://www.nuforc.org/webreports/026/S26586.html 12/11/02 06:15. Shape: Other. Duration: 5 mins.
Summary: I was dropping my wife at work (Boeing Kent Space Center) made left turn to her building She said to look ahead at about 20 degrees...

http://www.nuforc.org/webreports/025/S25341.html 10/1/02 05:45.  Shape: Unknown.  Duration: 10 SECONDS.
Summary: STREAK OF LIGHT ACROSS THE SKY

http://www.nuforc.org/webreports/040/S40968.html 9/27/02 19:30.  Shape: Sphere. Duration: 6 1/2 min.
Summary: I really saw a dark grey sphere hovering motionless then moved slowly got smaller and dissapeared!!!!!

http://www.nuforc.org/webreports/034/S34370.html 6/15/02 17:00.  Shape: Oval. Duration: 6 minutes.
Summary: round dark grey sphere motionless then slowly left smaller smaller till gone as left size proportionate

http://www.nuforc.org/webreports/019/S19865.html 10/15/01 20:22. Shape: Circle.  Duration: 1 sec.
Summary: Green ball of light

http://www.nuforc.org/webreports/015/S15970.html 1/16/01 00:30. Shape: Light. Duration: 1 Hour
Summary: Bright lights seen moving in the sky executing 90 degree turns, and flickering colors between red, blue, and bright white

http://www.nuforc.org/webreports/014/S14674.html 10/24/00 06:45,  Shape: Other.  Duration: 2 - 2 seconds
Summary: Seattle - Blue-Gren object in NNW Horizon

http://www.nuforc.org/webreports/013/S13641.html 7/31/00 12:05.  Shape: Other.  Duration: UP TO 1 SECOND
Summary: Noon 7/31/00 a 3 1/2 foot long torpedo or football shaped object flying horizontally at a high speed by freeway underpass Blue color

http://www.nuforc.org/webreports/011/S11855.html  2/2/00 20:00.  Shape: Cigar.  Duration: 20 seconds
Summary: I saw two craft in the sky headed northwest, on a precise landing path for Boeing Field in Seattle They reappeared ten minutes later

http://www.nuforc.org/webreports/011/S11488.html 12/19/99 18:30.  Shape: Oval.  Duration: 15 min
Summary: two objects passed east to west at an altitude of about 1000 feet No noises and no lights propulsion method not obvious objects dark

http://www.nuforc.org/webreports/011/S11241.html 12/2/99 21:00.  Shape: Circle.  Duration: 10 seconds
Summary: Between 9 pm and 10 pm an amber colored circle passed over my house

http://www.nuforc.org/webreports/011/S11223.html 11/23/99 18:00. Shape: Light. Duration: ?
Summary: Saw 2 red pulsating objects traveling in opposite directions


http://www.nuforc.org/webreports/010/S10433.html 11/4/99 22:50.  Shape: Disk.  Duration: 3 mins
Summary: Observed three stationary/almost stationary UFO's emitting variety of colors in clear skies

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Link to a video on Flickr that purports to show a UFO over Kent, Washington.

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A red ball of light seen in Kent, Washington on August 28, 2008, as reported on the UFO Village blog.
Witness: Nate.  Location: Kent, WA.  Date of Sighting: August 28, 2008

"A couple of friends and I were sitting outside of a park in Kent, Washington. After sitting for a while, I started spacing out and looking into the sky off in the distance while my other two friends were talking. Let me say that I have never really been a firm believer of aliens and UFOs but what I saw just puzzled me and it's the only conclusion that I can make of what I saw with my own two eyes. Also, let me say that I was sober at the time."

"This red ball of light came into the open patch of sky I was looking at and just stood there in a dead stand still for a minute or so and then dropped down to the ground out of sight behine some trees. Because of the distance, I did not know the size of the object."


"That is basically all that happened but at the time there wasn't even words that could describe what I was seeing. I've never heard of nor seen anything that could do that and I'm 100% sure of what I saw. I'm not making this up. I ruled out everything from helicopter to planes to reflections of light beams."

"Whatever I saw is definitely not from Earth and, if it is, the government has some explaining to do. This might not have been the most mind-blowing report but I definitely saw what I saw clearly. Even if UFOs and aliens aren't real there is some aircraft that has been top secret. I'm a 100% believer of that. No question."

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Nirvana wishes you a very Merry Christmas

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Uh-oh. Is Senator Lindsey Graham about to be outed?

Gay rights activist Mike Rogers, a professional outer of closeted, hypocritical gay politicians (and I freely admit, a worthless P.O.S. in his own right), claims to have "pictures of a man who spent the night" with Sen. Lindsey Graham. He's supposedly meeting with his lawyer today before releasing them.

From Gawker:  "Rogers' previous outings of Ex-Rep. Mark Foley, Ex-Sen. Larry Craig and Ex-RNC chair Ken Mehlman, among others, once earned him the completely arbitrary title of 'most feared man on the Hill.' He keeps a list, and there are still many names on it."

"Lindsey Graham has been hounded by gay rumors since his first runs for Congress in the '90s. He has never been married, which, to some, proves everything. The rumors still come up regularly, like when another South Carolina politician let it slip in a 2009 interview. And the New York Times Magazine asked him about it in a big profile earlier this year, to which Graham responded, "I ain't gay."

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Finger of the day No. 8 - Jimmy Hoffa gives the finger to Bobby Kennedy at a hearing

By Jack Brummet, Social Mores Editor
substituting for Mona Goldwater and Pablo Fanque


Jimmy Hoffa gives the finger to inquisitor Bobby Kennedy at a hearing.

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Poem: Takebacks

Takebacks

by Jack Brummet

1
You can withdraw it
Marginalize it
Forget it

Hide it
Lie about it
And deny it three times before the cock crows.

2
You can snigger about it
Weep about it
Shout about it

Hide it under a bush (oh no)
Sing the blues about it
And sweep it under the rug.

3
You can get an ulcer over it
Jump off the Aurora Bridge over it
Lose your family over it

Lose your shorts or mind over it
And pretend
It never happened.

4
You can dream about it
Run away from it
Rationalize it

Psychoanalyze it
And drink it away
But you can't take back love.

(previously published, 2009, in Triple Threat; revised Dec. 2010)
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Middle Finger of the day No. 7 - starring Vito Spatafore, Carmen Diaz, Al Pacino, and more

By Mona Goldwater and Pablo Fanque
Folkways Correspondents

Vito Spatafore from The Sopranos - click to enlarge

Charlize Theron - click to enlarge

Desmond Morris writes in Gestures: Their Origins and Distribution that the "infamous or indecent finger" is mentioned several times in Ancient Roman literature. . .including Martial: "Laugh loudly, Sextillus, when someone calls you a queen and put your middle finger out. . .but you are no sodomite nor fornicator either, Sextillus, nor is Vetustina's hot mouth your fancy."  Suetonius, writing about Augustus Caesar, says the emperor "expelled [the entertainer] Pylades . . . because when a spectator started to hiss, he called the attention of the whole audience to him with an obscene movement of his middle finger."  Interestingly, most people seem to believe the finger originated sometime in the 20th century.

Morris also that claims Caligula, as an insult, would extend his middle finger for supplicants to kiss.  We've read Suetonius too, and, actually, it wasn't just his middle finger Little Boots proffered for kissing.

Al Pacino - click to enlarge

Carmen Diaz - click to enlarge

Officer Whatsit - click to enlarge

click to enlarge Paul Prudhomme Dom DeLuise

Beats us who this is - click to enlarge

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Ben Franklin on the tea party, rabid democrats, rabid republicans, the press, and erosion and slippery slopes

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A great aerial shot of Ballard/North Beach (Seattle)

By Jack Brummet
Seattle Metro Editor


This is a nice aerial shot of Ballard (my neighborhood) in Seattle.  The waterway you see at the bottom is the Ship Canal that leads up to the Government Locks.  Near the top, the bulge in the land is Golden Gardens.  North and west of Golden Gardens is the North Beach neighborhood.

click to enlarge -- Photo by Dcoetzee (released to the public domain)

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Video Clip: Dr. Steve Brule "for your health"

Another great "for your health" segment from Dr. Steve Brule...



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Finger of the Day No. 6 - George W. Bush caught on video clowning with his finger

By Mona Goldwater
and Pablo Fanque,
Folkways Editors






George W. Bush clowns around during a videotaping session, and gives the finger that would come back to haunt him when he ran for President. You can hear the audible gasps from the crew and handlers.  They weren't shocked he gave the finger; they were shocked he did it while the cameras rolled ("that's just my one-finger victory salute").

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Middle finger of the day No. 5 - Eight actors with fingers sticking up (Lohan, Ledger, Fox, Luke Perry, Jodie Foster, Kirstie Alley, and Mickeys Mouse and Rourke

By Mona Goldwater & Pablo Fanque
Hollywood and Society Correspondents
for All This Is That

Actors seem to give the finger frequently to the paparazzi.  We're not quite if this is because the 'razzi are so annoying, or because a photograph with the finger can only be distributed to and published by a limited number of venues?

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