11 Year Old Boy Hasn't Stopped Wearing His Brett Favre Jersey Since Christmas Four Years Ago

Now this is what you call a die-hard fan. His parents could probably afford the trip to Lambeau Field with all the money they didn't spend on clothes.

David Witthoft, 11, of Ridgefield, Conn., who hasn't stopped wearing his Brett Favre jersey since Christmas four years ago, finally attended his first Green Bay Packers game Sunday.

11-Year-Old Boy Wearing Brett Favre Jersey Since 2003 Sees First Packers Game

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The boy who hasn't stopped wearing his Brett Favre jersey since Christmas four years ago finally attended his first Green Bay Packers game.

David Witthoft, 11, of Ridgefield, Conn., traveled with his family to Lambeau Field to watch the Packers' 34-13 victory over the Detroit Lions Sunday.

Witthoft admits he will probably soon have to hang up the jersey, which he received for Christmas in 2003.

"I thought I would keep wearing it as long as I could get it over my head," Witthoft said after the game. "But I'll probably take it off in the next year, certainly. Then I'll hang it up in a frame or maybe send it to the (Packers) Hall of Fame."

His mother, Carolyn, washes the jersey every two days and has had to do some mending of the jersey.

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The Telegraph Gets It Right: Names General Petraeus Person of the Year

That's right. A UK newspaper saw fit to do what TIME Magazine would not...recognize success in Iraq. This British newspaper gets it, and created a first-time-ever award to demonstrate it.

General Petraeus: man with a message of hope

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For a man whose critics say he is far too fond of the television cameras, General David Petraeus, commander of US forces in Iraq, has been rather out of the limelight this Christmas.

The sprightly, media-friendly 55-year-old is not perturbed, however, that his face is no longer number one item on the US networks. As he said last week, where Iraq is concerned, "No news is good news."

Today, we put him in the spotlight again by naming Gen Petraeus as The Sunday Telegraph's Person of the Year, a new annual accolade to recognise outstanding individual achievement.

He has been the man behind the US troop surge over the past 10 months, the last-ditch effort to end Iraq's escalating civil war by putting an extra 28,000 American troops on the ground.

So far, it has achieved what many feared was impossible. Sectarian killings are down. Al-Qaeda is on the run. And the two million Iraqis who fled the country are slowly returning. Progress in Iraq is relative - 538 civilians died last month. But compared with the 3,000 peak of December last year, it offers at least a glimmer of hope.

Nonetheless, why should we choose to nominate Petraeus

There has, after all, been no shortage of other candidates this year. President Nicolas Sarkozy has impressed many with his determination to reform France, while George Osborne reinvigorated politics in this country by daring to put tax cuts back on the agenda - though both men still have much to prove.

There are plenty of brave figures thrust into the limelight who handled themselves with dignity, such as Gillian Gibbons, the teacher jailed in Sudan; the Glasgow airport luggage-handler John Smeaton; and Kate and Gerry McCann. Sporting stars such as Paula Radcliffe and Lewis Hamilton have inspired millions of fans.

There has also been great British military leadership and bravery on display this year, not least in Helmand, where British troops are now fighting a Taliban foe as fierce as anything their American counterparts encountered in Baghdad or Fallujah.

But the reason for picking Petraeus is simple. Iraq, whatever the current crises in Afghanistan and Pakistan, remains the West's biggest foreign policy challenge of this decade, and if he can halt its slide into all-out anarchy, Gen Petraeus may save more than Iraqi lives.

A failed Iraq would not just be a second Vietnam, nor would it just be America's problem.

It would be a symbolic victory for al-Qaeda, a safe haven for jihadists to plot future September 11s and July 7s, and a battleground for a Shia-Sunni struggle that could draw in the entire Middle East. Our future peace and prosperity depend, in part, on fixing this mess. And, a year ago, few had much hope.

To appreciate the scale of the task Gen Petraeus took on, it is necessary to go back to February 22, 2006. Or, as Iraqis now refer to it, their own September 11. That was when Sunni-led terrorists from al-Qaeda blew up the Shia shrine in the city of Samarra, an act of provocation that finally achieved their goal of igniting sectarian civil war.

A year on, an estimated 34,000 people had been killed on either side - some of them members of the warring Sunni and Shia militias, but most innocents tortured and killed at random. US casualties continued to rise, too, but increasingly American troops became the bystanders in a religious conflict that many believed they could no longer tame.

Except, that is, for Gen Petraeus. Despite his well-documented obsession with fitness - he starts his 18-hour days with a five-mile run - he is the opposite of the brawn-over-brain image that has dogged the US military mission in Iraq.

Top of the class of 1974 at West Point Military Academy and the holder of a PhD in international relations, he is the co author of the US military's manual on counter-insurgency, a "warrior monk" for whom the messy intrigues of asymmetric warfare hold more interest than the straightforward challenges of 2003's invasion.

Simply being the best and brightest soldier of his generation, however, would not be enough for Iraq in 2007, where a major part of the "surge" involves reconciling Iraq's warring political tribes.

When the White House called, confirming him for the job, President Bush was looking not just for an outstanding leader but also a diplomat, a politician and a negotiator. It seems he got them all.

"Petraeus has a rare combination of great geopolitical skills as well as tactical and military ones," says retired General Jack Keane, a fellow architect of the surge strategy. "He is good at working with ambassadors, with the Iraqi government, and he also knows how to cope with uncertainty and failure, which is what you get in an environment like Iraq."

Lest Gen Keane seem a little biased, it should be pointed out that British commanders hold Gen Petraeus in similarly high regard.

Several Northern Ireland veterans who worked with him in Baghdad this year came away with the opinion that it is now America, not Britain, that is the world leader in counter-insurgency.

As Petraeus toured some of Baghdad's abandoned, bullet-scarred Sunni neighbourhoods last February, his own comrades were not the only ones predicting he might fail spectacularly.

Among the US public, the clamour grew for the troops to be brought home altogether, and Iraq to be declared a lost cause unworthy of further American sacrifice.

The surge's "boots on the ground" strategy would simply force the militias into temporary hiding, critics said, wasting thousands more Americans lives in the process.

The strategy's chances of success were commonly put at only one in three - and those were the odds quoted by its supporters. Indeed, when The Sunday Telegraph visited Baghdad in the spring, US troops were candid about their expectations.

"Sure, the bad guys will go into hiding," said one commander in Jamia, an al-Qaeda-infested neighbourhood with 30 murders a month. "All we can hope is that things will have improved by the time they come back, so they're no longer welcome."

Nine months on, things do seem to have improved, thanks largely to Petraeus's extraordinary coup of turning Sunni insurgents against their extremist allies in al-Qaeda.

With the chief accelerant in the civil war gone, Shia militias such as the Mehdi Army have also been deprived of their main raison d'être, and with extra US troops on the streets, Iraqis who had previously felt vulnerable to the gunmen now feel safe enough to return home.

Things are far from perfect but, after four years in which events did nothing but get worse, the sight of a souk re-opening, or a Shia family being welcomed back home by their Sunni neighbours, has remarkable morale-boosting power.

Where once Iraqis saw the glass as virtually empty, now they can see a day when it might at least be half full.

True, post-Saddam Iraq has had a habit of confounding even the most cautious of optimists.

Iraq's Shia-dominated government is not alone in worrying that the most controversial of Gen Petraeus's policies - the co-opting of former Sunni insurgents into "concerned local citizens" schemes to fend off Shia militias - may create new, better-organised forces for a renewed civil war once the US finally departs.

Many coalition officials fear such a scenario. Were it to occur, it would confirm the charges of Petraeus's critics that at best he has secured only a hiatus in the collapse of Iraq.

Ultimately, that may prove to be the case.

But it should not overshadow his achievement this year: he has given another last chance to a country that had long since ceased to expect one. And for that, Gen Petraeus is Person of the Year.

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Pat Sajak Questions Man-Made Global Warming

Pat Sajak proves that he is much more than a game show host with his analytical, common sense questioning of Man-Made Global Warming. Now, He is not a scientist -- and he doesn't even play one on TV -- but there are some gaps in the logic of it all that make him skeptical.

Man-Made Global Warming: 10 Questions

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The subject of man-made global warming is almost impossible to discuss without a descent into virulent name-calling (especially on the Internet, where anonymity breeds a special kind of vicious reaction to almost any social or political question), but I’ll try anyway. I consider myself to be relatively well-read on the matter, and I’ve still come down on the skeptical side, because there are aspects of the issue that don’t make a lot of sense to me. Though I confess to have written none-too-reverentially on the subject, I want to try to put all that aside and ask ten serious questions to which I have been unable to find definitive answers:

1. What is the perfect temperature?

If we are to embark on a lifestyle-altering quest to lower the temperature (or at least minimize its rise), what is our goal? I don’t ask this flippantly. Can we demonstrate that one setting on the global thermostat is preferable over another? If so, what is it, and how do we get there? And, once there, how do we maintain it? Will we ever have to “heat things up” again if it drops below that point?

2. Just what is the average temperature of the earth?

At any one time there are temperature extremes all over the planet. How do we come up with an average, and how do those variations fit in with our desire to slow global warming?

3. What factors have led to global warming in the past, and how do we know they aren’t the causes of the current warming trend?

Again, I don’t ask this in a judgmental way. There is no argument that warming cycles (or cooling, for that matter) have been a part of earth’s history. Why are we so sure this one is different?

4. Why is there such a strong effort to stifle discussion and dissent?

I’m always troubled by arguments that begin, “Everybody agrees...” or “Everyone knows...” In fact, there is a good deal of dissent in the scientific world about the theory of man-made global warming. A large (and growing) segment of those who study such things are questioning some of the basic premises of the theory. Why should there be anything wrong with that? Again, this is a big deal, and we should have the best information and opinion from the best minds.

5. Why are there such dramatically different warnings about the effects of man-made global warming?

Predictions of 20-foot rises in ocean levels have given way to talk of a few inches over time. In many cases, those predictions are less than the rises of the past few centuries. Whatever the case, why the scare tactics?

6. Are there potential benefits to global warming?

Again, I don’t ask this mockingly. Would a warmer climate in some areas actually improve living conditions? Would such improvement (health, crop production, lifestyle) balance any negative impact from the phenomenon?

7. Should such drastic changes in public policy be based on a “what if?” proposition?

There are some who say we can’t afford to wait, and, even if there’s some doubt, we should move ahead with altering the way we live. While there are good arguments for changing some of our environmental policies, should they be based on “what it?”

8. What will be the impact on the people of the world if we change the way we live based on man-made global warming concerns?

Nothing happens in a vacuum; there are always unintended consequences to our actions. For example, if we were to dramatically reduce our need for international oil, what happens to the economies of the Middle East and the populations that rely on oil income? There are thousands of other implications, some good and some bad. What are they? Shouldn’t we be thinking about them and talking about them?

9. How will we measure our successes?

Is the measuring stick going to be temperature, sea level, number of annual hurricanes, rainfall, or a combination of all those things? Again, do we have a goal in mind? What happens when we get there?

10. How has this movement gained such momentum?

We’ve faced environmental issues throughout our history, but it’s difficult to remember one which has gained such “status” in such a short time. To a skeptic, there seems to be a religious fervor that makes one wary. A gradual “ramping down” of the dire predictions has not led to a diminution of the doomsday rhetoric. Are these warning signs that the movement has become more of an activist cause than a scientific reality?

Just asking.

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Washington's “Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians”

It is not surprising, the Top Ten includes a total of 4 candidates currently running for the office of President of the United States. I can think of more than ten corrupt Politicians! How about dumping 99% of the House and Senate?

Judicial Watch Announces List of Washington’s “Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians”

Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, released its 2007 list of Washington’s “Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians.” The list, in alphabetical order, includes:

1. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY): In addition to her long and sordid ethics record, Senator Hillary Clinton took a lot of heat in 2007 – and rightly so – for blocking the release her official White House records. Many suspect these records contain a treasure trove of information related to her role in a number of serious Clinton-era scandals. Moreover, in March 2007, Judicial Watch filed an ethics complaint against Senator Clinton for filing false financial disclosure forms with the U.S. Senate (again). And Hillary’s top campaign contributor, Norman Hsu, was exposed as a felon and a fugitive from justice in 2007. Hsu pleaded guilt to one count of grand theft for defrauding investors as part of a multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme.

2. Rep. John Conyers (D-MI): Conyers reportedly repeatedly violated the law and House ethics rules, forcing his staff to serve as his personal servants, babysitters, valets and campaign workers while on the government payroll. While the House Ethics Committee investigated these allegations in 2006, and substantiated a number of the accusations against Conyers, the committee blamed the staff and required additional administrative record-keeping and employee training. Judicial Watch obtained documentation in 2007 from a former Conyers staffer that sheds new light on the activities and conduct on the part of the Michigan congressman, which appear to be at a minimum inappropriate and likely unlawful. Judicial Watch called on the Attorney General in 2007 to investigate the matter.

3. Senator Larry Craig (R-ID): In one of the most shocking scandals of 2007, Senator Craig was caught by police attempting to solicit sex in a Minneapolis International Airport men’s bathroom during the summer. Senator Craig reportedly “sent signals” to a police officer in an adjacent stall that he wanted to engage in sexual activity. When the police officer showed Craig his police identification under the bathroom stall divider and pointed toward the exit, the senator reportedly exclaimed 'No!'” When asked to produce identification, Craig presented police his U.S. Senate business card and said, “What do you think of that?” The power play didn’t work. Craig was arrested, charged and entered a guilty plea. Despite enormous pressure from his Republican colleagues to resign from the Senate, Craig refused.

4. Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA): As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee's subcommittee on military construction, Feinstein reviewed military construction government contracts, some of which were ultimately awarded to URS Corporation and Perini, companies then owned by Feinstein's husband, Richard Blum. While the Pentagon ultimately awards military contracts, there is a reason for the review process. The Senate's subcommittee on Military Construction's approval carries weight. Sen. Feinstein, therefore, likely had influence over the decision making process. Senator Feinstein also attempted to undermine ethics reform in 2007, arguing in favor of a perk that allows members of Congress to book multiple airline flights and then cancel them without financial penalty. Judicial Watch’s investigation into this matter is ongoing.

5. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R-NY): Giuliani came under fire in late 2007 after it was discovered the former New York mayor’s office “billed obscure city agencies for tens of thousands of dollars in security expenses amassed during the time when he was beginning an extramarital relationship with future wife Judith Nathan in the Hamptons…” ABC News also reported that Giuliani provided Nathan with a police vehicle and a city driver at taxpayer expense. All of this news came on the heels of the federal indictment on corruption charges of Giuliani’s former Police Chief and business partner Bernard Kerik, who pleaded guilty in 2006 to accepting a $165,000 bribe in the form of renovations to his Bronx apartment from a construction company attempting to land city contracts.

6. Governor Mike Huckabee (R-AR): Governor Huckabee enjoyed a meteoric rise in the polls in December 2007, which prompted a more thorough review of his ethics record. According to The Associated Press: “[Huckabee’s] career has also been colored by 14 ethics complaints and a volley of questions about his integrity, ranging from his management of campaign cash to his use of a nonprofit organization to subsidize his income to his destruction of state computer files on his way out of the governor’s office.” And what was Governor Huckabee’s response to these ethics allegations? Rather than cooperating with investigators, Huckabee sued the state ethics commission twice and attempted to shut the ethics process down.

7. I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby: Libby, former Chief of Staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, was sentenced to 30 months in prison and fined $250,000 for lying and obstructing the Valerie Plame CIA leak investigation. Libby was found guilty of four felonies -- two counts of perjury, one count of making false statements to the FBI and one count of obstructing justice – all serious crimes. Unfortunately, Libby was largely let off the hook. In an appalling lack of judgment, President Bush issued “Executive Clemency” to Libby and commuted the sentence.

8. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL): A “Dishonorable Mention” last year, Senator Obama moves onto the “ten most wanted” list in 2007. In 2006, it was discovered that Obama was involved in a suspicious real estate deal with an indicted political fundraiser, Antoin “Tony” Rezko. In 2007, more reports surfaced of deeper and suspicious business and political connections It was reported that just two months after he joined the Senate, Obama purchased $50,000 worth of stock in speculative companies whose major investors were his biggest campaign contributors. One of the companies was a biotech concern that benefited from legislation Obama pushed just two weeks after the senator purchased $5,000 of the company’s shares. Obama was also nabbed conducting campaign business in his Senate office, a violation of federal law.

9. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA): House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who promised a new era of ethics enforcement in the House of Representatives, snuck a $25 million gift to her husband, Paul Pelosi, in a $15 billion Water Resources Development Act recently passed by Congress. The pet project involved renovating ports in Speaker Pelosi's home base of San Francisco. Pelosi just happens to own apartment buildings near the areas targeted for improvement, and will almost certainly experience a significant boost in property value as a result of Pelosi's earmark. Earlier in the year, Pelosi found herself in hot water for demanding access to a luxury Air Force jet to ferry the Speaker and her entourage back and forth from San Francisco non-stop, in unprecedented request which was wisely rejected by the Pentagon. And under Pelosi’s leadership, the House ethics process remains essentially shut down – which protects members in both parties from accountability.

10. Senator Harry Reid (D-NV): Over the last few years, Reid has been embroiled in a series of scandals that cast serious doubt on his credibility as a self-professed champion of government ethics, and 2007 was no different. According to The Los Angeles Times, over the last four years, Reid has used his influence in Washington to help a developer, Havey Whittemore, clear obstacles for a profitable real estate deal. As the project advanced, the Times reported, “Reid received tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Whittemore.” Whittemore also hired one of Reid’s sons (Leif) as his personal lawyer and then promptly handed the junior Reid the responsibility of negotiating the real estate deal with federal officials. Leif Reid even called his father’s office to talk about how to obtain the proper EPA permits, a clear conflict of interest.

Tips For Terrorists Hiding In Caves: Winning At Rock, Paper, Scissors

Here is a little something for Osama Bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahri and the boys to help pass the time while they wait for their eventual demise.

Scissors is the 'psychological winner' out of rock and paper in playground game, scientists say

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Most of us know that stone blunts scissors, scissors cut paper and paper covers stone.

What is less well-known, however, is how to win the popular playground game.

Now stalwart players have come up with a strategy: Start with scissors.

Research shows that stone is the most popular of the three possible moves in the game of quickfire hand gestures.


If your opponent expects you to pick stone, they will choose paper to outwit you.

Therefore, by going with scissors, you will win, because scissors beat paper.

The scissors strategy is so successful that it secured auction house Christie's a £10million deal in 2005.

A wealthy Japanese art collector could not decide which firm of auctioneers should sell his cache of Impressionist paintings.

Torn between Christie's and rival auction house Sotheby's, he asked them to play stone, paper, scissors to decide.

Christie's consulted its employees for strategies and settled on scissors on the advice of a director's 11-year-old daughters.

The girls, who regularly played the game - known as rock, paper, scissors in the U.S. - at school, reasoned that "everybody expects you to choose rock".

This would lead to Sotheby's choosing paper, to beat rock, meaning Christie's should opt for scissors.

As predicted, Sotheby's went for paper - and lost the deal to Christie's and its scissors.

While scissors may be the best move to start a game, there are various ways of securing success once play has got going.

This week's New Scientist magazine suggests: "You could try the double bluff, where you tell your opponent what you are going to throw - then do it.

"No one believes you'll do it, so they won't play the throw that beats the throw you are playing."

Alternatively, you could go for the move that would have been beaten by your opponent's previous move.

The logic here is that players tend to subconsciously try to beat their own previous move.

Therefore, if your opponent had played scissors, they are likely to try to beat it by going for stone next time round.

By choosing paper - which would have been beaten by scissors - you will ward off stone.

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Osama Bin Laden's Son House Hunting In England

I wonder if his dad will come to the house warming party.

Bin Ladens hunting for a house

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OSAMA Bin Laden's son could be coming to live in a street near you. Omar Bin Laden, 26, married former Calderdale resident Jane Felix-Browne, 52, earlier this year and the couple are now house-hunting.

In an exclusive interview with the Courier, Jane – now known as Zaina Muhammad – re-vealed the pair are wanting to settle in England, possibly in Calderdale.

"We'd like to set up home in England," she said, speaking from a secret location outside Britain. "I've got family here and that's where we want to be," she said. "We might move back to Calderdale."

Zaina used to live in Fellside, Lee Bottom Road, Todmorden. The world's most-wanted terrorist's son is her sixth husband.

Despite reports that Zaina was divorcing her husband because she feared they would be murdered, the couple say they are enjoying married life and want to campaign for peace.

"We want peace. We both want peace," she said. "Omar wants to be an ambassador for peace and I'm behind him."

They say they do not know where Osama bin Laden is. Omar talks about his father but has not spoken to him since the 2001 terrorist attacks in the US.

When she lived in Calderdale, Zaina was married to Cornholme biker John Metcalfe, but says the marriage lasted only six weeks.

She said she lived a quiet life during her time in Calderdale, while working as an interior designer at Manchester Airport.

She has suffered multiple sclerosis since she was 11 and says she raised a lot of money for charity while she lived in Britain.

Zaina claims many media reports about her since she married Omar are untrue and slammed a recent BBC documentary about the couple. She said: "They filmed about 300 hours but it was edited so much, it was unbelievable." She added: "We're filming another one for Al Jazeera and that will be accurate."

Zaina – also known as Paula Joy Hanson – says her three sons and five grandchildren have met Omar and have a good relationship with him.

"One of my sons has spent a lot of time with him. They get on great," she said.

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Liberal Fantasy: Global Warming Will Save America from the Right

Dave Lindorff forgets a few things in this liberal wet dream. The red states happen to control the lion's share of America's food, weapons, fuel, and real estate. The typical liberal mind-set always tends to exclude vital elements from the equation.

Here is another thing for this cat loving girly man to consider, I hear Liberals taste just like chicken. In the event of societal collapse and mass hysteria I would not want to be a tofu-eating, tree-hugging, sissy.

This commentary is evidence that Mr. Lindorff isn't in the 38% of Democrats that report having excellent mental health.

Global Warming Will Save America from the Right...Eventually

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Say what you will about the looming catastrophe facing the world as the pace of global heating and polar melting accelerates. There is a silver lining.

Look at a map of the US.

The area that will by completely inundated by the rising ocean—and not in a century but in the lifetime of my two cats—are the American southeast, including the most populated area of Texas, almost all of Florida, most of Louisiana, and half of Alabama and Mississippi, as well as goodly portions of eastern Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. While the northeast will also see some coastal flooding, its geography is such that that aside from a few projecting sandbars like Long Island and Cape Cod, the land rises fairly quickly to well above sea level. Sure, Boston, New York and Philadelphia will be threatened, but these are geographically confined areas that could lend themselves to protection by Dutch-style dikes. The West Coast too tends to rise rapidly to well above sea level in most places. Only down in Southern California towards the San Diego area is the ground closer to sea level.

So what we see is that huge swaths of conservative America are set to face a biblical deluge in a few more presidential cycles.

Then there’s the matter of the Midwest, which climate experts say is likely to face a permanent condition of unprecedented drought, making the place largely unlivable, and certainly unfarmable. The agribusinesses and conservative farmers that have been growing corn and wheat may be able to stretch out this doomsday scenario by deep well drilling, but west of the Mississippi, the vast Ogallala Aquifer that has allowed for such irrigation is already being tapped out. It will not be replaced.

So again, we will see the decline and depopulation of the nation’s vast midsection—noted for its consistent conservatism. Only in the northernmost area, around the Great Lakes (which will be not so great anymore), and along the Canadian border, will there still be enough rain for farming and continued large population concentrations, but those regions, like Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois, are also more liberal in their politics.

Finally, in the Southwest, already parched and stiflingly hot, the rise in energy costs and the soaring temperatures will put an end to right-wing retirement communities like Phoenix, Tucson and Palm Springs. Already the Salton Sea is fading away and putting Palm Springs on notice that the good times are coming to an end. Another right-wing haven soon to be gone.

So the future political map of America is likely to look as different as the much shrunken geographical map, with much of the so-called “red” state region either gone or depopulated.

There is a poetic justice to this of course. It is conservatives who are giving us the candidates who steadfastly refuse to have the nation take steps that could slow the pace of climate change, so it is appropriate that they should bear the brunt of its impact.

The important thing is that we, on the higher ground both actually and figuratively, need to remember that, when they begin their historic migration from their doomed regions, we not give them the keys to the city. They certainly should be offered assistance in their time of need, but we need to keep a firm grip on our political systems, making sure that these guilty throngs who allowed the world to go to hell are gerrymandered into political impotence in their new homes.

There will be much work to be done to help the earth and its residents—human and non-human—survive this man-made catastrophe, and we can’t have these future refugee troglodytes, should their personal disasters still fail to make them recognize reality, mucking things up again.

It should be considered acceptable, in this stifling new world, to say, “Shut up. We told you this would happen.”

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Evil Eye Baby

I thought this was good for a laugh. This baby has the amazing ability to give the evil eye on command.

Palestinian Terrorists New Mission To Protect President Bush

I find it hard to believe that the Secret Service has turned the life of President Bush over to Palestinian terrorists. Why would the Secret Service do such a thing? I'm not buying it.

Terrorists' new mission: Protect President Bush

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According to Israeli security officials coordinating deployments of forces with the PA for Bush's Ramallah visit, members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Fatah's declared military wing, have been called upon by the PA to participate in the protection of Bush's convoy and in securing the parameter during the meeting with Abbas.

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Trace Bundy Performs Carol Of The Bells

I thought that it would be fitting to close out the Holiday posts with performance by Trace Bundy. In case you don't know who he is or have never heard of him, Trace is an instrumental acoustic guitar player who lives and performs in Boulder, Colorado. He is specially known as "The Acoustic Ninja" for his finger tapping skills.

All Paths Lead To Bacon

This is possibly the greatest flow chart in the history of the world.

click to enlarge

Remember if you don't eat bacon the terrorists win.

Speaking of terrorists... this would be the perfect gift for any radical Muslim this Christmas. It's a bacon scented candle.



Flow Chart courtesy of Fark

Under The Cover Of Darkness: The Democratic Congress Removes The Secure Fence Act

The Liberal elites in Washington have repeatedly shown their disdain for the wishes of the American people. The only explanation is that they are all totally corrupt. Next year, 2008 promises to see a number of incumbents seeking new employment, and this is just the beginning. When our leaders can’t agree that English is the official language of the USA you can tell they just do not live on the same plane of existence that the common working man does.

It is time to close the door on them. Perhaps they’d all find Mexico more to their liking.

De-Fence, De-Fence

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Congressional Democrats, and some Republicans, gut the Secure Fence Act in the omnibus spending bill against the wishes of the American people. In a bill with 9,000 earmarks, border security takes a back seat.

The Secure Fence Act of 2006 required the construction of 700 miles of border fence, modeled on the success of the border barriers in the San Diego sector of the U.S. border. The operative word is "secure."

That legislation specifically called for "two layers of reinforced fencing" and listed five specific sections of the border where it should be built. The omnibus spending bill removes the requirement for two tiers and the specific list of locations.

The two-tier fence in San Diego runs 14 miles along the border with Tijuana, Mexico. The first layer is a high steel fence, with an inner high anti-climb fence with a no-man's land in between.

It has been amazingly effective. According to a 2005 report by the Congressional Research Service, illegal alien apprehensions in the San Diego sector dropped from 202,000 in 1992 to 9,000 in 2004.

As local congressman and presidential candidate Duncan Hunter notes, "The success of the San Diego Border Fence demonstrates the overall effectiveness of the double-layered approach and the importance of extending this infrastructure across the southern land border."

It is that very success, we suspect, that frightens the open-border crowd and their representatives in Congress. How else to explain that, as the citizen watchdog group Grassfire (grassfire.org) notes, just five miles of fence that meets specifications has been built in the first year after the Secure Fence Act was passed.

The spending bill was written by Democrats and passed 253-154 with mostly their votes. Democrats say they weren't deliberately dropping the two-tiered fence or the locations specified. They say they were merely adopting language that passed the Senate several times this year.

Indeed, in the Senate version is a curious amendment by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, R-Texas, that was added on a voice vote. Her amendment reads:

"Nothing in this paragraph shall require the secretary of Homeland Security to install fencing, physical barriers, roads lighting, cameras and sensors in a particular location along an international border of the United States, if the secretary determines that the use or placement of such resources is not the appropriate means to achieve and maintain operational control over the international border at such location."

Hutchinson's office says the amendment merely gives DHS flexibility. What it provides, however, is an excuse to do nothing at all and a license for open-border politicians to pressure DHS.

DHS is on record as preferring in many instances "pedestrian fences" or "virtual fences" that are essentially a look-but-can't-touch version of border security.

"By eliminating the double-fence requirement, the Democratic Congress is going to make it easier for drug and human smugglers to cross our southern land border," said Hunter.

"This goes against the interests of any family that has been touched by illegal drugs or any American who has seen their job taken by an illegal alien."

Congress has also made it easier for terrorists to sneak their operatives into the U.S.

This is in a nation that won two world wars and put men on the moon. The border fence would have been farther along if we'd just given the Minutemen a federal grant in the form of a gift certificate to Home Depot. (NYSE:HD)

So the next time you hear candidates for any office say they support border security, give them a post-hole digger and point 20hem toward Mexico.

---

A Soldier's Silent Night

This piece is generally credited to a Marine stationed in Okinawa, Japan. However, the original version, entitled "Merry Christmas, My Friend," was written by Lance Corporal James M. Schmidt in 1986. It was later published in Leatherneck (Magazine of the Marines) in December, 1991. As usual, Urban Legends Reference Pages is the place to go when you need something cleared up.



Here is the link to the MP3 audio version (3.5MB) of "A Soldier's Silent Night" - you can either stream it or right click and save as.

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Twas the night before Christmas, he lived all alone,
In a one bedroom house made of plaster & stone.
I had come down the chimney with presents to give
And to see just who in this home did live.

I looked all about a strange sight I did see,
No tinsel, no presents, not even a tree.
No stocking by the fire, just boots filled with sand,
On the wall hung pictures of far distant lands.

With medals and badges, awards of all kind
A sober thought came through my mind.
For this house was different, so dark and dreary,
I knew I had found the home of a soldier, once I could see clearly.

I heard stories about them, I had to see more
So I walked down the hall and pushed open the door.
And there he lay sleeping silent alone,
Curled up on the floor in his one bedroom home.

His face so gentle, his room in such disorder,
Not how I pictured a United States soldier.
Was this the hero of whom I’d just read?
Curled up in his poncho, a floor for his bed?

His head was clean shaven, his weathered face tan,
I soon understood this was more than a man.
For I realized the families that I saw that night
Owed their lives to these men who were willing to fight.

Soon ‘round the world, the children would play,
And grownups would celebrate on a bright Christmas day.
They all enjoyed freedom each month of the year,
Because of soldiers like this one lying here.

I couldn’t help wonder how many lay alone
On a cold Christmas Eve in a land far from home.
Just the very thought brought a tear to my eye,
I dropped to my knees and started to cry.

The soldier awakened and I heard a rough voice,
"Santa don’t cry, this life is my choice;
I fight for freedom, I don’t ask for more,
my life is my God, my country, my Corps."

With that he rolled over and drifted off into sleep,
I couldn’t control it, I continued to weep.
I watched him for hours, so silent and still,
I noticed he shivered from the cold night’s chill.

So I took off my jacket, the one made of red,
And I covered this Soldier from his toes to his head.
And I put on his T-shirt of gray and black,
With an eagle and an Army patch embroidered on back.

And although it barely fit me, I began to swell with pride,
And for a shining moment, I was United States Army deep inside.
I didn’t want to leave him on that cold dark night,
This guardian of honor so willing to fight.

Then the soldier rolled over, whispered with a voice so clean and pure,
"Carry on Santa, it’s Christmas Day, all is secure."
One look at my watch, and I knew he was right,
Merry Christmas my friend, and to all a good night!

---

God Bless America again!

Porky Pig Performs Blue Christmas

The song Blue Christmas was originally recorded by Elvis but I would like to present a much better version, sung by one Porky Pig.



Porky Pig - Blue Christmas.mp3

This song was actually recorded by North Carolina disc jockey Denny Brownlee. When he was threatened by Warner Brothers with a lawsuit, the song was re-released and attributed to "Seymour Swine and the Squealers."

The Jingle Cats Perform White Christmas

And now for your viewing pleasure... This weekend's entertainment The Jingle Cats.

This is quite possibly the most terrifying music video ever made.

Free Jessica Simpson Mask for Panthers Game Saturday

Being a Philadelphia Eagles fan, I truly hate the Dallas Cowboys so when I saw this, I put my support behind it.

Milwaukeeworld is offering a free Jessica Simpson cutout mask, for Carolina Panther and Green Bay Packer fans. This Saturday, the 12-2 Dallas Cowboys travel to the Bank of America stadium in Charlotte, N.C. to take on the 6-8 Carolina Panthers. The game will be televised on the NFL Network at 8 p.m. (EST).

DO-IT-YOURSELF JESSICA SIMPSON MASK

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Twenty-first century siren Jessica Simpson threw Tony Romo's game into turmoil last week because her boyfriend just can't keep her off his mind. Even Romo's teammate Terrell Owens said the pulchritudinous blonde should keep her distance so the man from Burlington, Wisconsin can win this game for the Dallas Cowboys.
Those of us who remain true to the Green and Gold feel it would not be fair for the young Rom(e)o to be deprived of the beauty of his inamorata, so milwaukeeworld offers you this do-it-yourself Jessica Simpson cutout mask. Make sure your friends in Ol' Carolina print these beauties out and wear them to the game at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte on Saturday at 8 p.m. (EST). You'll help preserve the Panthers' playoff chances, and you'll guarantee home-field advantage for the Pack on the road to the Superbowl. Click on the link below for your very own Jessica mask!

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If Someone Triple-Dog Dares You To Stick Your Tongue To A Frozen Metal Pole — Don't

Anyone who has ever seen the movie "A Christmas Story" knows that there are two important life lessons in it.

1. Don’t stick your tongue to a frozen pole.

2. BB guns are dangerous.

"Are you kidding? Stick my tongue to that stupid pole? That's dumb!"


Will Your Tongue Really Stick to a Frozen Flagpole?

---

The next time someone triple-dog dares you to stick your tongue to a frozen metal pole — don't. Your tongue will be joined to the pole, and you'll have plenty of time to ponder the thermal conductivity of metal while you await the rescue squad.

Your tongue is covered with moisture, which beings to freeze if its temperature drops below 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Your body counteracts the freezing by pumping warm blood to your tongue.

Heat from your blood warms the moisture through a process called conduction. Heat energy from the blood excites atoms in your tongue. The atoms absorb energy and vibrate. The more they vibrate, the more their temperatures increase. This incites vibrations in neighboring atoms, which take the energy and pass it up the line like a hot potato and eventually warms the surface moisture.

So why is the Fire Department on its way?

"It's because of the high thermal conductivity of the pole," explains Frank J. DiSalvo, director of the Cornell Center for a Sustainable Future and co-director of the Cornell Fuel Cell Institute. "The metal is a much better conductor than your tongue (up to 400 times more powerful). The metal takes heat faster than your body can replenish it."

The atoms in solid metals are packed tightly and transfer thermal energy more readily. They also have free electrons that boost conductivity. Free electrons are free to move from atom to atom. The electrons absorb heat energy and move through the flagpole, stirring up other atoms.

As your tongue touches the flagpole, the moisture on your tongue is robbed of heat. The temperature of the moisture drops. Water freezes inside tiny pores and surface irregularities on your tongue and the pole. You're stuck.

So now your thinking, "Maybe if I just pull hard it will come off." Yes, it will — a piece of your tongue, that is.

Kent Sperry is a 911 dispatcher at a place where people know about cold and snow — Boulder, Colorado. He offers a less painful alternative, assuming you happen to have the necessary remedy at hand: "Pour warm water on the area where the tongue meets the pole, and the tongue should come free."

---

Windows Vista Has Fewer Flaws Than Mac OS X

All of those smug Mac lovers who point to Windows vulnerabilities now have something to worry about. A top security researcher claims that Windows Vista is more secure than Mac OS X.

In my opinion, one reason Apple has such a shiny reputation has nothing to do with its platform, and everything to do with its masterful marketing.

Mac versus Windows vulnerability stats for 2007

---

So this shows that Apple had more than 5 times the number of flaws per month than Windows XP and Vista in 2007, and most of these flaws are serious. Clearly this goes against conventional wisdom because the numbers show just the opposite and it isn’t even close.

Also noteworthy is that while Windows Vista shows fewer flaws than Windows XP and has more mitigating factors against exploitation, the addition of Windows Defender and Sidebar added 4 highly critical flaws to Vista that weren’t present in Windows XP. Sidebar accounted for three of those additional vulnerabilities and it’s something I am glad I don’t use. The lone Defender critical vulnerability that was supposed to defend Windows Vista was ironically the first critical vulnerability for Windows Vista.

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Headline Of The Day: Chinese Ladies Like It In The Ice Hole

This is an actual headline that is really hysterical if you remember the movie "Johnny Dangerously". If not, watch the clip below.

Chinese ladies like it in the ice hole

Mindless Arrogance On Display At The United Nations Climate Conference In Bali

Liberal elitism rears it's ugly head again.

These mindless arrogant liberal communists have used more carbon footprints this year to promote the "Great Global Warming Swindle" than all the rest of us have in the past ten years. When are all the idiots going to wake up and see it for what it is - a money-making machine. Meanwhile Al Gore is laughing all the way to the bank.

Answer to hot air was in fact a chilling blunder

---

AMID talk of offsetting the hefty carbon footprint of the United Nations climate conference in Bali, organisers missed a large elephant in the room.

The air-conditioning system installed to keep more than 10,000 delegates cool used highly damaging refrigerant gases - as lethal to the atmosphere as 48,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide, and nearly the equivalent of the emissions of all aircraft used to fly delegates to Indonesia.

With hawk-eyed representatives of more than 100 green organisations present, it was probably the worst place in the world to commit an environmental faux pas.

Staff from Australia's Natural Refrigerants Transition Board and the London- and Washington-based Environmental Investigation Agency noticed the stockpiled cylinders of hydrochlorofluorocarbons - a refrigerant likely to be phased out over the next few years because it devours ozone in the upper atmosphere.

In addition, the refrigerant is a potent greenhouse gas, with each kilogram at least as damaging as 1.7 tonnes of carbon dioxide.

Investigators at the Balinese resort complex at Nusa Dua counted 700 cylinders of the gas, each of them weighing 13.5 kilograms, and the system was visibly leaking.

The air-conditioning system, which used two kilometres of plastic pipe, serviced the European pavilion, the UN Secretariat offices, the media centre and other temporary areas.

After a fortnight of discussions with its Indonesian hosts and the contractors who installed the air-conditioning, the investigation agency proposed sending experts to safely recover the HCFC emissions by storing the refrigerant gas in sealed containers.

Australian officials were contacted and offered to help. The information was also sent to the staff of the former US vice-president Al Gore, and Yvo de Boer, the executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

By Friday the Indonesian Department of Environment decided to commit its own staff to a careful clean-up.

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David Coulthard Considering NASCAR Future

Having watched both NASCAR and Formula One religiously for years, I can tell you this David Coulthard will be welcomed here in the USA. Unlike Formula One, NASCAR is for real racers. That is why guys like Juan Pablo Montoya and Jacques Villeneuve are finding it so fulfilling. They are both guys that just want to race and Coulthard falls into that category.

Lately, Formula One has come down to the man with the best car wins regardless of driver talent. Most of the time, passing is nonexistent and it is like watching follow the leader. Don’t get me wrong, I still like to watch Formula One mainly for the technology and the Soap Opera like drama that surrounds the teams. I think Lewis Hamilton is a natural born racer and I can see him coming to NASCAR someday.

With drivers like Jimmy Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Juan Pablo Montoya, Jacques Villeneuve, Dario Franchitti, Sam Hornish, and Patrick Carpentier, NASCAR is quickly becoming the real Race of Champions.

Coulthard will consider NASCAR when F1 days are over

---

Formula One veteran David Coulthard is open to the thought of a future move to NASCAR, but not until his F1 days are solidly over.

"I would consider something like NASCAR," Coulthard said just before practice for the Race of Champions. "I don't think I would consider IRL. The only thing is, America, you have to commit to it absolutely. Which means you move out there, take your family there.

"But I'd certainly consider it. This will be my 15th season in Formula One. After that ... I'll do this as long as I'm having fun, as long as they keep saying 'Would you like to continue?'"

Coulthard said NASCAR's lengthy 38-week schedule is of no concern to him. He said he has in the past raced every week but Christmas weekend, "and that wasn't a problem. It's not hard to get in private planes."

He also feels the influx of foreign driving talent, like his former F1 mates Juan Pablo Montoya and Jacques Villaneuve, into NASCAR bolsters the perception of stock car racing internationally.

"I think it's checking the box of NASCAR," he said. "Generally, people in Formula One haven't really been that aware of NASCAR, and of what we have been aware of we've probably higher respect for NASCAR than what we have for the oval racing IRL.

"That may come as a surprise, but as a single-seater racer in Europe, the perception in Europe is if you're fat on a super speedway, yes there's tactics, but how is that more challenging than driving Monaco? That's a simplistic view, I know, and I've not done it. But [Jacques] Villaneuve's a friend of mine who's obviously won over there [in IRL], come over to F1 and won in F1. I just know it's a different challenge."

As Coulthard's F1 colleague Jenson Button described it, "it's like comparing football and cricket."

"NASCAR is so different, and any of us in a touring car would find how difficult they are relative to a single-seater," Coulthard continued. "So all it does is keep checking the boxes [for NASCAR].

"If they keep getting, it doesn't have to be European drivers, but if they keep getting foreign drivers in the championship it's only a matter of time before it becomes more and more [followed] around the world.

"From a NASCAR point of view, from what I can see they're not fumbling with the business model to make money and everyone's doing very well. But it can't hurt any business to expand. And yeah, maybe it's frowned upon by some of the good ol' boys. But the Jimmie Johnsons, the consistent talented guys, will still be there and mixing it with these drivers from other formulas -- and beating them."

Coulthard explained the NASCAR dynamic overseas as such:

"I don't think it's a lack of respect, certainly not from me," he said. "When I mention NASCAR to people I don't get any [negative] perception to NASCAR. 'Oh, [expletive] NASCAR?' I don't get that at all. I think it's a lack of knowledge.

"I think that what we Europeans struggle with a little bit is sort of the high-fiving, chest-bouncing, hey buddy ... That type of thing is not part of [our culture]. So I think it's more about entertainment and people have got more confidence to express their joy and happiness. In the States that's the whole sports culture."

---

Global Warming May Force Santa To Wear Shorts

This qualifies as the Asinine Global Warming News Of The Day and you, being that gullible idiot, are supposed to buy into it hook line and sinker. Meanwhile, parts of Canada are digging out from a monster snow storm that set a record for the most snow in a single December day.

What a hand-wringing hoax!

Global warming may soon see Santa don shorts

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If the most dire climate forecasts come true the tourism industry in Europe's far north, already feeling the effects of global warming, may find itself promoting a Santa in shorts and a camel-drawn sleigh.
Each year at the end of autumn, residents, shopkeepers, travel agencies, reindeer herders and even politicians in the Finnish Arctic town of Rovaniemi -- home to Santa Claus' Village, one of the biggest tourist attractions in Finland -- look to the skies in the hopes of a snowy winter.

"Everyone working in tourism here is worried. The past three or four years have been difficult for us," says Jarmo Kariniemi, owner of the Santa Claus' Office in Rovaniemi which each year attracts 340,000 visitors eager to meet the "real" Father Christmas.

This December, with only a few weeks to go before Christmas, there are only 20 centimeters (seven-and-a-half inches) of snow on the ground, just enough for snowmobiles and dog- and reindeer sleighs.

But the rivers and lakes, which normally freeze over in winter and are used to take tourists on snowmobile or sleigh rides, have not turned to ice yet, and that's bad news.

Tourism generates some 235 million euros (345 million dollars) of direct and indirect revenue in Finnish Lapland, of which about 60 percent comes during winter.

It is an enormous amount of money for the region, hit hard by high unemployment and the rural exodus to bigger towns.

"The winter tourism period in the Nordic countries will be shorter and shorter, both at the beginning and towards the end, and it will go fast and it will be huge," climatologist Heikki Tuomenvirta told AFP.

Average temperatures in Finland will rise by three to six degrees Celsius in winter by 2050, and by four to eight degrees by 2080. The average winter temperature in Rovaniemi will rise from 15 degrees Celsius below zero (five degrees F) to eight below (18 F).

"Precipitation in winter will increase, with both rain and snow, and then there will be more rain," Tuomenvirta said.

More rain will melt the snow that normally covers the vast region from November to April, she added.

Towns further north of Rovaniemi are already making the most of the first effects of global warming to attract tourists.

"The amount of snow varies from year to year in Rovaniemi, while here the snow is guaranteed," said Carina Winnebaeck, a hotel manager in Enontekioe.

This village of 2,000 people, located a three-hour drive north of Rovaniemi, has already succeeded in persuading British tour operators to bring planefulls of holiday tourists seeking a winter wonderland to their town.

While global warming presents several short-term advantages -- lower energy bills, greater agricultural possibilities, a longer summer tourism season -- the long-term effects are dire for the region's fauna, flora and local population.

Reindeer herding, the traditional activity and main income for the 70,000 indigenous Sami people spread out across the Arctic, is also at risk.

"Last year we were in northern Russia following the reindeer migration, and it went from -28 degrees C to above zero (-18 to above 32 degrees F)," said Bruce Forbes, a biogeographist at Rovaniemi's Arctic Institute.

Then "it snowed and rained and went down to minus 40," he said, explaining that the temperature swings led to alternating layers of thick snow and ice which the reindeers could not break through to get to the lichen they eat to survive through the winter.

"The herders had to physically break the ice to help the animals," he said.

Sami Ruismaeki is one of Finland's 7,000 reindeer herders whose livelihood has become more and more precarious.

"When it doesn't rain, there are no mushrooms and the reindeer aren't able to build up their body fat before the long winter. Then the lichen disappears under the heavy layers of ice," he said.

The reindeer "have to be fed with grain or hay, and we have to bring water from home. It's not profitable anymore," he said.

---

Previously:
Asinine Global Warming News Of The Day: Divorces Contributing To Global Warming ~ Evaluation
Asinine Global Warming News Of The Day: Ireland To Ban Incandescent Lightbulbs ~ Evaluation
Kangaroo Farts Could Save The Planet From Global Warming ~ Evaluation
Environmentalists Encourage Jews To Light One Less Candle For Hanukka To Help The Environment. ~ Evaluation

Evaluation Holiday Theater Presents: The Reinfather

Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Godfather Style)

Evaluation Holiday Theater Presents: Raging Rudolph

Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Goodfellows Style)

Forget The Turducken: Meet The Monster Roast

Chef Phillip Corrick samples the monster roast
The Monster Roast is a turkey stuffed with 12 different birds, that costs more than $1,000 and serves 125 people. As Alton Brown would say, "Now that's good eats".

It serves 125, takes eight hours to cook and is stuffed with 12 different birds ... now that really IS a Christmas dinner

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For decades, a few simple slices of turkey were all it needed. But now even the traditional Christmas dinner has been supersized.

Multi-bird roasts, where different types of bird are stuffed inside a larger one, have become the thing to carve this year - and the more birds involved the better.

One of the top-sellers is the Waitrose four-bird roast: guinea fowl, duck and turkey breast stuffed inside a goose. Demand has soared 50 per cent this year - even though each roast costs an eyewatering £200.

The surge in popularity may have something to do with TV chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's creation of a ten-bird roast on his show two years ago.

He stuffed an 18lb turkey with a goose, duck, mallard, guinea fowl, chicken, pheasant, partridge, pigeon and woodcock - producing a remarkable Russian doll-like dish.

But now his effort, inspired by recipes dating from Tudor times, has been dwarfed by a behemoth containing no fewer than 48 birds of 12 different species.

This massive roast, the proud creation of Devon farmer Anne Petch, weighs almost four stone (more than most airlines' baggage allowance), costs £665, and has enough meat to serve 125 people.

It contains about 50,000 calories and takes more than eight hours to cook in an industrialducksized oven.

Anne, who runs the Heal Farm shop near Kings Nympton, said: "The True Love Roast has a bird for each of the 12 days of Christmas.

"It uses skinless breast meat from several birds of each species with flavours that work well together."

The roast contains turkey, goose, chicken, pheasant, partridge, pigeon squab, Aylesbury duck, Barbary duck, poussin, guinea fowl, mallard-and quail with herb and fruit stuffings.

Anne added: "It takes about 45 minutes to build the roast. However, it takes at least three hours before that to bone the birds and another couple of days to make all the stuffings.

"We've been making smaller multibird roasts for a while, but I wanted something with a real wow factor.

"It was only when I was halfway through the first prototype that I realised what a crazy idea it was. But I still think that next year we'll have something even more spectacular, perhaps a 21-bird roast.

"These sorts of things used to be made with great bustards and swans, but they are protected birds now."

To put the True Love Roast to the taste test, we took it to the Royal Automobile Club in Pall Mall, London - home to a mammoth convection oven capable of cooking our monster.

Chef Phillip Corrick said: "I was taken aback by the sheer bulk of meat. Something of this size is difficult to cook because it could get very dry, but in the end, I was surprised.

"It was very moist and had an interesting mix of textures and flavours. All the citrus stuffings cut through the strong gamey flavours really well.

"I'd happily eat this on Christmas Day. But I found that although the game has some powerful flavours, it's difficult to distinguish-which is which because the flavours mingle together.

"I think a better result could be achieved by simply taking the four most distinctive-tasting birds - the goose, the Aylesbury duck, the turkey and either the pheasant or partridge.

"As it is, this is more interesting than turkey, but not very practical.

"There's no doubt it's a very impressive thing to serve. But much as I enjoyed it, the impression is better than the taste."

Food historian Ivan Day said that despite popular opinion, multi-bird feasts were historically cooked in pies, rather than roasted because with the real fires of the era, rather than ovens, the outer meat would have become dry and tough.

"These pies would have given Bill Oddie nightmares," he said: "There was one baked for the Earl of Lonsdale in 1753 after which there must have been not a single bird singing for miles.

"It had dozens of things like yellowhammers in it and weighed 20 stone."

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Saudis Give Millions To Bill Clinton's Library

This is pure corruption. Accepting money from foreigners when your wife is running for the most powerful position in the world. Our country is corrupt. This should not be legal.

Clinton Library Got Funds From Abroad

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Bill Clinton's presidential library raised more than 10 percent of the cost of its $165 million facility from foreign sources, with the most generous overseas donation coming from Saudi Arabia, according to interviews yesterday.

The royal family of Saudi Arabia gave the Clinton facility in Little Rock about $10 million, roughly the same amount it gave toward the presidential library of George H.W. Bush, according to people directly familiar with the contributions.

The presidential campaign of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) has for months faced questions about the source of the money for her husband's presidential library. During a September debate, moderator Tim Russert asked the senator whether her husband would release a donor list. Clinton said she was sure her husband would "be happy to consider that," though the former president later declined to provide a list of donors.

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This Will Get You In The Christmas Spirit

Get the Kleenex out, your about to have a Bambi moment.

The Good the Bad And The Ugly Bollywood

What do you get when you cross a Spaghetti Western with Bollywood with a Music Video?

The answer: This weekend's entertainment.

Enjoy!

When Ordering "Speak English"... ¿No Comprende?

I agree with and support Joey Vento 100 percent. The common language of this country is ENGLISH. Fluency is not expected or demanded, only the bare bones basics. If you can't comply, go home!

Don't read this unless you can speak and read English!

Geno's: When Ordering Speak English

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The Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations is holding a public hearing to address a controversial sign at the popular Geno's Steaks that has gained national attention.

The hearing was scheduled after allegations were made accusing Geno's Steaks of discrimination for posting a sign that reads: "This is America. When ordering speak English."

Geno's owner Joey Vento said it is "free speech."

"Since we have a little problem in the country with the language, it is also telling people at Geno's Steaks, all we speak is English," Vento said.

Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations (PCHR) does not see it that way and alleges Geno's is in violation of the Philadelphia Fair Practices Ordinance - Chapter 9 Section 9-1105 (A) (1) (b) of The Philadelphia Code.

The commission believes the sign discourages patronage by non-English speaking customers.

"Individuals who operate in a place of public accommodation cannot post signage or express messages that might have the resulting affect of making any group, any ethnicity, and any national origin person feel unwelcome," said Nick Taliaferro, Human Relations Commission.

Philadelphians have varying opinions.

"It doesn't matter. This is America and you can have any kind of take on what ever you want," said customer Andrew Tyson of South Philadelphia.

Amar Vyas of Roxborough disagrees.

"I like the food at Geno's but I believe it is discriminatory towards people of other ethnic backgrounds."

Ventos said either way you will be served.

"It's a request. And if you don't speak the language, how's it offensive? You don't understand it anyway."

Vento, along with his supporters and opponents, are arguing their point at a public hearing at the Arch Street Meeting House, 320 Arch Street. The meeting went on late into the day on Friday. A ruling was not expected to be handed down on Friday.

"There's no way I'm backing down," said Vento.

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Your Tax Dollars: Putting A Billion Into Perspective

I'm not one to believe much (if any) of what I get in an email. I often do a little research myself. So in this case, I visited Urban Legends Reference Pages to get the scoop on this. Yep, it is pretty close on all counts.

Except worse!

According to Urban Legends Reference Pages, Washington is actually spending twice as much as this email states, which would mean a billion dollars ago was only 4 hours and 10 minutes.

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How to understand what a "billion" really is:

The next time you hear a politician use the word "billion" in a casual manner, think about whether you want the "politicians" spending YOUR tax money.

A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of its releases.

A. A billion seconds ago it was 1959.
B. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.
C. A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.
D. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.
E. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it.

While this thought is still fresh in our brain, let's take a look at New Orleans It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division . .

Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (D), is presently asking the Congress for $250 BILLION to rebuild New Orleans. Interesting number, what does it mean?
A. Well, if you are one of 484,674 residents of New Orleans (every man, woman, child), you each get $516,528.
B. Or, if you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans , your home gets $1,329,787.
C. Or, if you are a family of four, your family gets $2,066,012.

Washington, D.C .. HELLO!!! ... Are all your calculators broken??

Tax his land,
Tax his wage,
Tax his bed in which he lays.
Tax his tractor,
Tax his mule,
Teach him taxes is the rule.
Tax his cow,
Tax his goat,
Tax his pants,
Tax his coat.

Tax his ties,
Tax his shirts,
Tax his work,
Tax his dirt.

Tax his tobacco,
Tax his drink,
Tax him if he tries to think.

Tax his booze,
Tax his beers,
If he cries,
Tax his tears.

Tax his bills,
Tax his gas,
Tax his notes,
Tax his cash.

Tax him good and let him know
That after taxes, he has no dough.

If he hollers,
Tax him more,
Tax hi m until he's good and sore.

Tax his coffin,
Tax his grave,
Tax the sod in which he lays.
Put these words upon his tomb,
"Taxes drove me to my doom!"

And when he's gone,
We won't relax,
We'll still be after the inheritance TAX!!

Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL License Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Perm it Tax
Gasoline Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax),
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax),
Liquor Tax,
Luxury Tax,
Marriage License Tax,
Medicare Tax,
Property Tax,
Real Estate Tax,
Service charge taxes,
Social Security Tax,
Road Usage Tax (Truckers),
Sales Taxes,
Recreational Vehicle Tax,
School Tax,
State Income Tax,
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA),
Telephone Federal Excise Tax,
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fe e Tax,
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax,
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax,
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax,
Telephone State and Local Tax,
Telephone Usage Charge Tax,
Utility Tax,
Vehicle License Registration Tax,
Vehicle Sales Tax,
Watercraft Registration Tax,
Well Permit Tax,
Workers Compensation Tax.

STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?
Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago,
and our nation was the most prosperous in the world.
We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.

What happened? Can you spell 'politicians!'

And I still have to "press 1" for English.

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Hat tip Check Family

Hillary Clinton: An Analysis Worth Reading

by Dick Morris, former political advisor to President Bill Clinton.

Go to www.hillaryclinton.com and check out Bill Clinton's syrupy five minute ad for Hillary. He introduces the commercial by saying that he wants to share some things we may not know about Hillary's background. His version of her biography is about as reliable as if it appeared in Pravda!

So, I wanted to make a few corrections:

Bill says: Hillary never wanted to run for public office, but she did want to work at public service.

The true facts are: When Clinton was considering not running for another term as Governor of Arkansas in 1990, Hillary said she would run if he didn't. She and Bill even had me take two surveys to assess her chances of winning. The conclusion was that she couldn't win because people would just see her as a seat warmer for when Bill came back licking his wounds after losing for president. So she didn't run. Bill did and won. But there is no question she had her eye on public office, as opposed to service, long ago.

Bill says: In law school Hillary worked on legal services for the poor.

The true facts are: Hillary's main extra-curricular activity in law school was helping the Black Panthers, on trial in Connecticut for torturing and killing a federal agent. She went to court every day as part of a law student monitoring committee trying to spot civil rights violations and develop grounds for appeal.

Bill says: Hillary spent a year after graduation working on a children's rights project for poor kids.

The true facts are: Hillary interned with Bob Truehaft, the head of the California Communist Party. She met Bob when he represented the Panthers and traveled all the way to San Francisco to take an internship with him.

Bill says: Hillary could have written her own job ticket, but she turned down all the lucrative job offers.

The true facts are: She flunked the DC bar exam and only passed the Arkansas bar. She had no job offers in Arkansas and only got hired by the University of Arkansas Law School at Fayetteville because Bill was already teaching there. She only joined the prestigious Rose Law Firm after Bill became Attorney General and made partner only after he was elected Governor.

Bill says: President Carter appointed Hillary to the Legal Services Board of Directors and she became its Chairman.

The true facts are: The appointment was in exchange for Bill's support for Carter in his 1980 primary against Ted Kennedy. Hillary became chairman in a coup in which she won a majority away from Carter's choice to be chairman.

Bill says: She served on the board of the Arkansas Children's Hospital.

The true facts are: Yes she did. But her main board activity, not mentioned by Bill, was to sit on the Wal-Mart board of directors, for a substantial fee. She was silent about their labor and health care practices.

Bill says: Hillary didn't succeed at getting health care for all Americans in 1994 but she kept working at it and helped to create the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) that provides five million children with health insurance.

The true facts are: Hillary had nothing to do with creating CHIP. It was included in the budget deal between Bill Clinton and Republican Majority Leader Senator Trent Lott. I helped to negotiate the deal. The money came half from the budget deal and half from the Attorney Generals' tobacco settlement. Hillary had nothing to do with either source of funds.

Bill says: Hillary was the face of America all over the world.

The true facts are: Her visits were part of a program to get her out of town so that Bill would not appear weak by feeding stories that Hillary was running the White House. Her visits abroad were entirely touristic and symbolic, and there was no substantive diplomacy on any of them.

Bill says: Hillary was an excellent Senator who kept fighting for children's and women's issues.

The true facts are: Other than totally meaningless legislation like changing the names on courthouses and post offices, she has passed only four substantive pieces of legislation. One set up a national park in Puerto Rico. A second provided respite care for family members helping their relatives through Alzheimer's or other conditions. And two were routine bills to aid 9-11 victims and responders which were sponsored by the entire NY delegation.

Here is what bothers me more than anything else about Hillary Clinton. She has done everything possible to weaken the President and our country when it comes to the war on terror:

1. She wants to close GITMO & move the combatants to the USA where they would have access to our legal system.

2. She wants to eliminate the monitoring of suspected Al Qaeda phone calls to/from the USA.

3. She wants to grants constitutional rights to enemy combatants captured on the battlefield.

4. She wants to eliminate the monitoring of money transfers between suspected Al Qaeda cells & supporters in the USA.

5. She wants to eliminate the type of interrogation tactics used by the military & CIA where coercion might be used when questioning known terrorists even though such tactics might save American lives.

I can't think of a single bill Hillary has introduced or a single comment she has made that would tend to strengthen our country in the War on Terror. But, I can think of a lot of comments she has made that weakens our country and makes it a more dangerous situation for all of us........She goes hand in hand with the ACLU on far too many issues where common sense is abandoned. She is a disaster for all Americans.

Step Right Up And See Celebrities Age Before Your Very Eyes

Oh My God… My Eyes!

Aging disgracefully: for some celebrities, denial ain't a river in Egypt. It's a look.

Forever young

Enjoy!

Farrah Fawcett in 1979
Farrah Fawcett in 2005
Burt Reynolds in 1980
Burt Reynolds in 2005
Joan Rivers in 1999
Joan Rivers in 2007
Mickey Rourke in 1984
Mickey Rourke in 2007

Previously:
Celebrity Plastic Surgery Disasters: Joan Van Ark Is The Latest Example
Where Are They Now: Brigitte Bardot

Christmas Junkie: Woman Has 42 Christmas Trees In Her Home

I've heard of old ladies with dozens of cats in their house but not dozens of Christmas trees.



With 42 Christmas trees, she's an "ornament junkie

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Cindy Johnson never decorates her Lyndon Township home for Halloween or Valentine's Day or Easter.

How could she? During that time span, she's busy putting up or taking down Christmas decorations. She decks the halls with 42 trees, as well as a large collection of other decorations, in what amounts to a six-month challenge.

"It just got out of control," admits Johnson, who works as an IT operations supervisor at the Borders Group corporate office in Ann Arbor. "I'm an ornament addict, a Christmas junkie."

She already owns 2,000 Hallmark ornaments and 500 "generic" ornaments, but knows that when the after-Christmas half-off sale begins, she'll be hitting Dayspring Gifts in downtown Chelsea for about 100 more.

"They know me by name in there," she said.

She started buying dated ornaments in 1975. When she ran out of room on the tree for more of those, she decided to buy another tree, then another and another. (Who says a house can have only one tree?) People have given her their old trees, and she calls these cast-offs her Charlie Brown trees.

A sentimental collector who remembers where she got every ornament, she loves the thrill of the hunt - and eBay has become her hunting ground. Each ornament is carefully wrapped in its own box, which is why the process is so time-consuming.

Asked to choose a favorite ornament, she said that would be akin to choosing a favorite child. But it's easy to name the ornament she covets the most - the rare 1982 Hallmark Frosty Friends ornament, which is heavily bidded on eBay and over her budget.

Each room of the small ranch - except for one of the two bathrooms - is heavily decorated, including the basement.

"I have a very understanding husband," she said. "But deep down, I think he loves it just as much as I do."

Her largest tree takes prominence in the family room, and is 7.5 feet high. The smallest - and the one she's not sure she should even count except that she does decorate it with its own teeny ornaments - is 6 inches. Most of the smaller ones are 2 feet high. Each tree has a theme, which could be Winnie-the-Pooh or romance or cartoon characters.

"It's getting pretty hard after 42 trees to make them all different," she says.

Despite the fact that she's crazy for all things Christmas, Johnson is not sad to start packing up after New Year's Day. By then, the dog and four cats have knocked down a few things.

"Some people tell stories about their kids," she says. "I talk about my trees. They all think I'mhttps://edit-blog.advance.net/mt-static/images/formatting-icons/link.gif crazy."

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