Happy War on Christmas

I see the War on Christmas has started and as usual it was started by the Christianists. "I won't shop anywhere that says Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas". "Keep the 'X' out of Christmas". This last one really amuses me because their reasoning is the 'X' means people are taking Jesus out of Christmas. Xmas has been in use for several centuries, but now it's unacceptable???

The photo is from the article "War on Christmas" in Psychology Today.

I never used to have a problem with any of the standard greetings at this time of year. "Merry Christmas", "Happy Holidays", "Seasons Greetings" were pretty much interchangeable and were accepted as such. Then a few years ago the Christianists and Fux Noise machine started the "War on Christmas", to what avail I haven't a clue. Now I'm more likely to say "Bah, Humbug"!!


The question I have is this; how can any group where over 80% of the people in the country in believe the basic tenet of their belief (that there is a god) claim to be oppressed and persecuted???????? If such a small minority can oppress and persecute such a large majority, then what's the point of belonging to the majority???(Other than Martyrdom???) If someone saying "Happy Holidays" or a store having a sign that says "Happy Holidays" or "Merry Xmas" is an affront to your religion, then your faith is so weak that it is worthless.


All of the holidays at this time of year have pretty much become commercialized, but Christmas especially so. Lots of people buying stuff they can't afford to give to people who more than likely don't want the gift that is given to them. If the Christianists have other meanings to attach to the holiday, then fine, go celebrate however you want to, just don't try to cram your beliefs down everybody else's throats!!

Bottom photo from a website called Defend Christmas.
Their last line says it well........then we will be a voice of reason for both sides of the debate and serve to provide simple reminders of "Peace on Earth, goodwill to all men."

Alien Ice Circle Amasa, MI

Your guess is as good as mine as to what caused this. Saw the picture and decided to post it.

This picture was on the Yooper Gallery.

Snowplow Upgrade??

Below is a picture(one of the earliest digital pictures we have. It was on a 3 1/2" floppy that the camera used to store pictures, not like the little memory cards these days.) of me plowing snow with my old Jeepster. The reason it is topless is that I rolled it about 20 years before this picture was taken and as the top was the most solid part of the vehicle, it got bent out of shape and so I removed it. It is now parked in the field directly behind where it is in this picture.

Below is the same Jeepster as it looked this past summer. Maybe next summer I'll see if I can fire it up again and drive it out of the field. It's only been parked here for about 7-8yrs, but I think I can get it running again. It wouldn't be the first time it sat for years and I got it running again. I might need to air up the tires.

Below is the plow rig that is going to replace the Jeepster. It's a '79 Jeep J20. I bought it last year and this past summer I fixed the brakes, replaced the flexible joint at the steering gear box because it broke after I raised the cab on the driver's side and changed the angle of the shaft in the steering column. Changed oil & filter, put in new platinum spark plugs, and replaced the accelerator pump because it was leaking. I replaced the 16.5" wheels and tires with 16" ones as 16" are easier to find and cheaper than the old-style 16.5"are.

I still need to work on the driveline. I think the chain that goes from the transmission to the transfer case is stretched and worn and is jumping teeth under a hard pull or hard acceleration. I hope it's that and not the output shaft on the transmission that is worn as the chain is easier to replace than the shaft because the tranmission doesn't have to be removed. Either way it'll be another couple hundred dollars to get it ready to plow snow next year. The total for what I paid for the truck and what I will have put into fixing it will be less than a thousand dollars which ain't bad. I figure the plow rig alone is worth what I paid for the truck.

More Wacky Adventures Of The Palins

There is an ad banner at the bottom of the screen and you have to click on the "X" to get rid of it in order to read the subtitles.

H/T to the Rude Pundit for the link to this video. Love the way the Taiwanese use animation for their news footage.

Check out the monkey ghost writer for Palin's book!!

Cookie Monster Audition

Cookie Monster wants to host SNL and this is his audition tape.

There is a facebook page where people can like this. I guess it's like the one for Betty White.

H/T to Skippy for the link.

Leading Economic Indicator??

Victoria's Secret push-up bra sales may predict Holiday spending. The prices range from $49 to $200.


Supposedly if women are buying expensive lingerie for themselves, they will also buy more other stuff.
In the 70s Greenspan came up with the men's underwear index. During good times men buy underwear and when times are bad, they hold off replacing their underwear. I guess I'm like most men in that I wear them until they don't stay up anymore or they get too religious(holey)!!

Sour Milk

One of the things that pisses me off is all these FuckingRepublicans and some BlueFuckingDog Democrats trying to keep you and I from getting any of the benefits that they receive. I mean, here they are merrily sucking away on the government tit, but so we won't think they're the parasites they actually are, they are telling us the milk is sour!!! They are firmly latched on to the tit while acting like they are jumping on a grenade to protect us!! Can you say Hypocrite, boys and girls??
(I like to suck on a tit or two myself [try to switch off for equal time], but how long are they going to keep that milk tooth???)

The TeaBaggers are right to be angry(I'm angry too, obviously), but their anger is misguided. Those behind the push to get people riled up want the TeaBaggers to go after those that would actually help them. They have the TeaBaggers supporting those who fucked things up in the first place. That's the way The Owners want it.(Call them what you want, Big Money, The Powers That Be, etc,etc. George Carlin had it right years ago, it's The Owners against the rest of us.)

If only they would wake up and smell the coffee, but you know that ain't going to happen. The TeaBaggers are safely in their little circle-jerks insulated from reality e-mailing each other the propaganda The Owners have put out for them.

Addendum: What got me thinking about sucking the government tit was Fmr. Sen. Alan Simpson saying that Social Security was a government tit with 310 million nipples which is pure BULLSHIT!! Social Security is something that everyone who draws Social Security benefits has paid into Social Security.

Housecat Flu

H/T to Crooks and Liars where I got this vid.

Nuff Said

Magical Underwear

Tried to add this video to the previous post and got several different videos but not this one. That was from the MSNBC site. Got this from youtube.

The thing that comes to mind about these magic underwear is that if it blocks the scanner, security will want to know why it was blocked and what is behind the area that is blocked. That way you will get to go through both the scanner and a full body pat-down to make sure you aren't hiding anything in the blocked out areas.

And the thing with the inserts to put in the bra kill me. Like seeing nipples on a X-ray screen is such a big deal!! How up-tight about your body can you be?? Can you say PURITAN??

Update; just had a thought(and yah it hurt!!), wear the underwear backwards and when they ask to see what's under the fig leaf, you can moon them!!

Why All The Fuss About Airport Security??

All of a sudden there's all this talk about the indignity of airport screening. Can't do the full body scan as someone may laugh at your junk and if you refuse the scan, you get a full body pat-down and someone may touch your junk. These people didn't worry about losing their civil liberties when the Patriot Act was passed because they never imagined it would apply to them, just those barbaric Muslins!! What a bunch of Maroons!! Or is it Morans??

If you don't want to go through the screening, take the bus or the train. But, but, the train doesn't go where you want, then maybe we need to work on making the train system better!!

Here's another cartoon about airport screening from Jan. '04
Miss Paddywacker, prostrate patoddler please.

George Carlin Tells It Like It Is

The last line is the best, "They call it the American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe it"!!

Here We Go Again

By John Cole, Scranton Times/Tribune.

Global Warming

Melons

H/T to pygalgia. This blog has a thing about Boobies, especially Blue-Footed Boobies!!

Wizometer

One local TV station's weather graphic. The Wizometer, doesn't that sound like a couple of young boys seeing who can piss the farthest???

At least they ain't promising us "Severe Weather"!!

Don't Touch My Junk

Luckovich at the AJC.

If It's Got A Dome It's Got To Be A Mosque, Right??

There is a group in Phoenix building a church, but when the framework for the dome started showing, some people thought it's a mosque and started complaining about it. KPHO has the story.

They actually had to put up a sign saying that it is a Christian church!!

My Latest Toy For UP On The Tundra

Last week I went to Harbor Freight and bought this truck crane. I plan on mounting it in the back of a '73 Dodge 4/4 pickup. I'm getting too old to muscle heavy things up into the back of a truck.

On the way to Harbor Freight, we drove thru the city of Tucker and that reminded me of an old joke, from before my time actually.

Three guys were discussing buying cars for their wives.
The first guy says, "I'm going to buy her a Kaiser and surprise her."
The second guy says, "I'm going to buy her a Fraser and amaze her."
The third guy says, "I'm going to buy her a Tucker."

Snow Causes Accidents, Doh!!

Last Saturday morning there were several accidents UP on the Tundra. They weren't caused by ice, they were caused by wet slushy snow. When the temperature is around the freezing point, that is when you have the least traction on snow.

What I find interesting is that all of the accidents in the newspaper article involved SUVs and a pickup truck. The laws of Psychics also apply to SUVs and pickups, Ya Think????

Patriotism Or Platitudes?????

Yesterday everywhere you looked, TV, ads in newspapers, internet, blogs, social networks, etc, etc, there were things saying how much they appreciate the veterans and troops. But what if anything are they actually doing to help the veterans and troops???? I guess some would say they are praying for the troops, Fine, that's a way to pretend you are helping without actually doing JACKSHIT!!!!

In recent years it has become SOP(Standard Operating Procedure) at sporting events and other media events to trot out a handful of people in uniform, usually camo and say the same old platitudes about how we love the troops for protecting our freedoms, because of them we are able to do the things we do everyday, etc, etc, fucking etc!!! I hope they get into these events for free, it's the least they could do for using them in this way. It's nice to see the troops getting some of the respect they deserve, but I always get the feeling that they are being used by those putting on the events. Maybe I'm cynical, but I get the feeling that it's all about going thru the motions to show how patriotic they are when all they are doing is jumping on the band wagon so they can say, "Ain't we Patriotic???" Now buy more of our shit!!

Now if they really loved the veterans and troops, they would be fighting to see that they are taken care of properly. That they get the medical treatment they need, whether still in the military or a veteran. That those that are serving our country don't have to depend on food stamps to feed their families and that they have decent affordable housing for their families. (Back when I was in the military, the old saying was, "If Uncle Sugar had wanted you to have a family, you would have been issued one!! Even tho we were paid slave wages, seemed like those with families got by somehow, but as bad as it was then, it has gotten worse over the years.)

If we really love the troops, we would see to it that any veteran that asks for medical help would only be asked, "Are you a veteran and what is the problem???" Those that are serving should receive the best medical care, not shuffled off into an old dilapidated barracks to wait in hopes of getting treatment someday. Some of these facilities on military bases weren't up to snuff a decade ago and now with two wars going on, they are overwhelmed. And guard and reserve should not be treated like second-class people because they are not regular military. They should be treated like any other casualty, and all should be treated better and quicker.

This Veterans' Trust Fund is an interesting idea and a start in the right direction.

We have one party that claims to love the troops and claims the other party is soft on defense. Well, near as I can figure out, the party that claims to love the troops actually loves the Military-Industrial Complex and could give a fuck about the troops. If they loved the troops they would see to it that their needs come first instead of spending billions on more shock-bang toys!! (Like when a senator pushed thru a huge ship costing billions the Navy didn't want and would be stretched thin to man, simply because it would be built in his state) Of course the Military-Industrial Complex gives them millions in return, while the troops can't afford to give much if any because they(the party that loves the troops) have seen to it that they can barely survive on the pay and benefits they get.

This rant has been building for quite some time and may be continued in the future.

Revisionist

Bennett at the Chatanooga Times Free Press.

Willing to bet that not only did someone write his memoirs, someone had to read it to him, at least that's how dumb aWol would have us believe he is even tho he has an Ivy-League edumacation!!

Sad But True

Bennett at the Chattanooga Free Press.

Hevosen Pasca

About all you hear on the so-called news channels today is the high cost of Obama's trip to India and Asia. Fux Spews has been going on and on 24/7 about how the trip is costing $200 million a day and 1/10 of the Navy's warships and 40 airplanes and 30 dogs (as Jon Stewart said on the Daily show, 30 dogs, who's going to fly the other 10 planes??) to sniff out bombs or drugs or something. And their source for this information???, the Drudge Report. He pulls shit out of his ass and says, "Look at this shiny apple". Horse apples is more like it as it is still shit regardless of what he calls it. To top it off the "So-Called Librul Media" gets on the band wagon and talks about the cost like it is real news, like no other president made any trips overseas before.

My mother-in-law rarely curses and when she does, she says, "Hevosen Pasca"!! That's Finnish for Horseshit!!! Nuff said!!

More Of The Same

Luckovich at the AJC.

Blogging

H/T to Jazzabumpa at Retirement Blues.

Barracuda

I've been doing some research online and discovered I can register and insure my old car for less than $200 a year. That will give me some incentive to fix the old gal up to make it drivable.

First thing I need to do is patch the floorboards, they are rusted through on both sides in front. On the driver's side it is probably from salt and water from the driver's boots. The passenger side is because the heater core sprung a leak and it sat with a puddle of coolant soaking the carpet for too long. Or I could leave it the way it is and if the brakes fail I can stop it like the Flintstone's car.

I can get full coverage collector car insurance for around $130 a year and get a Historical plate for $30. If I want to use the correct year plate (the one from 1965 currently on the front), it'll cost me $35.

Besides the floorboards and some bodywork, it needs work under the hood. The engine uses almost as much oil as gas. The plugs only last for about a 1000 miles before they need to be cleaned or replaced. I do have another engine (318 V8) in a '79 Plymouth that I could put in it and that would allow me to use unleaded gas. The original engine (273 V8)was designed to use leaded gas and it's a pain in the ass to have to use a lead substitute to keep from burning the valves. Or I could spend a couple of grand rebuilding the engine that's in it and have the heads worked so it can run on unleaded.

I've always liked these cars (bought my first one 40 years ago which is now a parts car for this one and have had this one for over 28 years) and can't understand why they aren't more popular like the Mustangs and Camaros. Maybe it's because it doesn't have the long hood, short trunk style. It kinda looks like a sedan with a huge rear window. At least it ain't a Rambler Marlin!!!

America Has Spousal Abuse Syndrome

Looking at the results of yesterday's election, you have to wonder what were the voters thinking?? Some pundits have said they weren't thinking, instead they were going by their feelings. Those feelings have been fed by their abusers for the last two years or four in some cases.(Some have been serial abusers for the last 30 years.) It's like the voters are spousal abuse victims saying, "But they said they wouldn't abuse me again!!"and take them back again, again and again. Question is, how long will it be before the abuse starts all over again. Or maybe it's like a drunk totaled your car and you haven't gotten it completely fixed but you are giving that drunk the keys to your car again and they are still drunk and unapologetic.

Saw a post that compared the voters to those with ADD and/or Stockholm Syndrome. The ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) fits as when it comes to politics, most voters can't remember what happened last month. The Stockholm Syndrome may or may not be a stretch.

If the voters were pissed at the lack of action in Washington over the last 2 years, there'll be even less in the next 2 years. The Party of No will spend most of their effort on "Smoke & Mirrors" and create diversions while accomplishing nothing. But obviously that's what the majority of the voters want!!!!!!!!!!!

The Ball's In Their Court

Luckovich at the AJC.

TeaBagger

H/T to Crooks and Liars.

The only thing scarier than the TeaBagger candidates is their supporters!!

For Those That Remember And Especially Those That Don't!!

H/T to Brilliant at Breadfast where I stole this vid.

This Sign Says It All