Funny Santas

It's that time of year now.
Kids with Santa.
Always funny stuff. Especially if:
a) it ain't your kid
b) you're not the Santa
c) you're lol online, not IN line to see Santa.
This is classic.
Apparently, according to the cutn'dapaste job here - the kid on the left had the kid on the right - it'd only be funnier if her kid had her left hand up as well.

Is that the Pope, or Satan?
These two look a little squishy to me. I swear I didn't Photoshop or nuthin'!

That kid is either scared out of his mind or he's leaving a present for Santa's lap.
Maaa! Santa smells like Peperment Schnapps... just like you!
The kid on the left has the best face evar!
Satan Klaws will squeeze you until you pop, little girl!
Picture's worth a thousand words. The brother's take on the situation is priceless. It's kind of an "Oh Sh*t, not again..." kind of look.

Send in your pix with Santa - We'll post 'em.

Plastic or Real?

This issue comes up, oh, about once a year. It's the kind environmental chicken or the egg/cloth or plastic diapers philosophical stuff that needs to be weighed in. Here's a cutn'dapaste that you might find useful in your personal discussion...

Oh Christmas tree, oh green Christmas tree?

Nothing says "Christmas" like the smell of pine in your living room on a winter morning! But is that smell really "green" or is it bad for the planet? Is it more environmentally responsible to buy a fake tree and use it year after year? What about keeping a live tree for Christmas? Let's look at the options one by one.

If you want a tree for the holiday, the experts at Grist and TreeHugger say it's actually better to buy a cut real Christmas tree than an artificial tree.

Why? In a word, plastics. Fake trees are made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Producing this type of plastic creates a lot of pollution, and PVC is difficult to recycle.

Plus, lead has been found in PVC. According to a report (PDF) in the Journal of Environmental Health, lead levels are higher in older artificial trees. You've probably heard about lead in children's toys, so just imagine the kiddos hanging around lead-tainted branches of your fake Christmas tree. Not a merry scene.

Farmed Christmas trees are ultimately a renewable resource. Growing trees absorb carbon dioxide, and after the holidays, the trees can be recycled into mulch. Check Earth 911 to see where to take your dead tree after the 25th.

What about a live tree? This is often promoted as the ultimate eco-friendly holiday option. Well, it's not that simple. First, you have to live in the right climate to plant a tree after Christmas. If the ground is frozen outside, you can't do it.

Then, you can only keep a live tree indoors for a few days, either 4 to 10, depending on the type of tree. You can't have this tree up after Thanksgiving and around till New Years, or you'll kill it.

Some types of live trees can be kept outside in containers for a year or two. Others grow fast and must be planted in the ground sooner. Either way, this isn't a long-term solution to your Christmas decorations -- what do you do the following year? Pretty soon, the tree won't fit in the house.

Also, you must carefully consider how much space you have in your yard to plant trees. Remember, these trees may grow up to 60-feet tall.

So, the most practical solution for earth-friendly folks who celebrate Christmas is to look for a locally grown tree. Ask if the farm uses integrated pest management instead of tons of chemicals

If you can, find a cut-your-own Christmas tree farm. It's good family fun too.
Here's my .01 Euro thought on this entire thing. How about you research WHY you put a dead tree indoors - realize it's a pagan ritual from the Vandals in Germany adopted into the Christian tradition, and really ought to just go away? There's no need for PVC's, and there's no reason to cut down and truck a perfectly good tree.

What got me thinking about this is the "Green Tree" in Rockefeller Plaza in NYC - part of GE/NBC's b.s. Green thing they're pretending to do -- remember when they shut off the lights on Bob Costas a couple weeks ago - but left the 72" Plasma plugged in behind him? Yeah. B.S. Back to the tree... it's a giant tree, trucked in, filled with lights and plugged in next to a ice skating rink - how is that 'green?' Oh, you're describing the color? All I know is that if you don't put aspirin in the water it'll be a brown tree.

Axis & Allies

Do you hear a drum beat? No? You think that because a U.S. intelligence finding that Iran was NOT building an atomic bomb, this is over? Iran said it felt vindicated. Of course George W. Bush said Tehran remained dangerous and international pressure should continue.

The National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) published on Monday took U.S. friends and foes by surprise after years of strident rhetoric from Washington accusing Tehran of pursuing a covert nuclear weapons program.

Iran said the report supported its long-standing assertion that its nuclear program had only peaceful civilian aims, such as electricity generation. And I have some beautiful bridges for sale.

In the fog of war, it literally is a fog. And just because you don't see it - don't mean it ain't there. And on top of it all - it's probably just a bunch of bull from the State Department (not big fans of George Bush)

Here's a deep thought on the Iranian Nuke-u-lar stalemate by American Thinker:
Suppose you're a cop, and you have to stop a well-known Mafia hit man on a dark night, driving his Cadillac. You know he's recklessly dangerous - he's threatened you every day, in public, for the last 30 years. (What do you think "Death to America!" really means?) So you call the dispatcher and ask them to tell you as much as they know about the suspect. Specifically, does he carry a loaded gun? You tell them it's urgent. This is not a normal traffic stop.

This is a nerve-wracking business. You call for backup, to be able to hit the suspect with overwhelming force if you need it. But you know the lawyers will be after you if you overreact. It's damned if you do and damned if you don't.

Headquarters calls back. To the best of their intelligence, they tell you, the chances that the suspect has a loaded gun is "plausible but unlikely."

What do you do?

That's exactly what President Bush is facing today. Our Intelligence Community has labored mightily and brought forth a camel --- a Cover-Your-Ass committee judgment on the most dangerous rogue regime in the world today: The Khomeini cult and its mouthpiece Ahmadi-Nejad. A'jad has been completely clear about his murderous intentions. He means to kill and blackmail you and all your allies, not just Israel but the Arab states as well, notably Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, sitting on the oil faucet for half the world. Just for good measure, he has directly threatened Britain, France and Germany, as well as the good ole USA.

The UN agency, the IAEA, says that with 3,000 centrifuges running the Natanz plant can produce enough fissionable material for a nuclear Bomb in one year. The US intelligence community puts it at three to eight years.

But the Iranians have consistently lied about their nuke actities, so the chances are near-perfect that they are lying and understating their programs today. Israel just bombed to smithereens a secret joint Syrian-Iranian-North Korean plant on the Euphrates river, which is believed by one of the foremost Israeli authorities to have imported plutonium from North Korea, ready to be molded into a Bomb.

What does the fresh National Intelligence Estimate tell us? A secret Iranian nuclear project, one that we don't know about, but which may already have produced a Bomb, is "plausible but unlikely."

As Michael Ledeen just wrote, this is exquisite CYA. If Iran already has a nuke, the spooks can't be faulted, because they said it was "plausible." If it doesn't have a nuke, they can't be criticized either, because they said it was "unlikely."

By God, it's good to have a 100 billion dollar intelligence bureaucracy that can really protect us. Isn't it, though?

Here's the kicker: If Iran already has fissionable material, they are invulnerable to attack. So the spooks have thrown their hot potato right back at the White House and the Pentagon. Our soldiers' lives are on the line, right next door in Iraq. "Plausible but unlikely." I bet the Pentagon is really grateful.

Anyone wonder why Mock Mood is laughing?
Remember when Democrats didn't believe anything intelligence said because Bush and Darth Cheney cooked it? Well, now that the NIE says what they want it to say, it's infallible.

This is getting dangerous.

And, as I suggested yesterday - the NIE was created and released by disgruntled State Department workers. They are either
a) trying to make a name for themselves or
b) think they're going to stop a war
c) should be hung for treason.
Time will tell.

Meanwhile, The Bush Administration claims it has new, secret information about Iran's weapons program that differs from the public NIE report that was just released. Hmmm... does this sound familiar to anyone? And the Israelis are also shouting No - No - No!

Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak directly challenged the new assessment in an interview, and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the new finding wouldn't deter Israel or the United States from pressing its campaign to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapons capability.

"It seems Iran in 2003 halted for a certain period of time its military nuclear program, but as far as we know, it has probably since revived it," Barak said.

That would be called "Shock and Awe" ladies and gentlemen. The Iranians saw that and went "Daaaammmmm." But since then, after a couple years of picking at the open wound of Iraq, they probably felt that the US wouldn't have the stomach to blow the hell out of Iran. Why not "wipe Israel off the map?"

And not even waiting a day out of the news cycle - Mock Mood has shouted 'Victory!' What? Victory for what? If you don't have nukes, than you should have egg on your face. If you do, then - oh, yeah. Maybe that's it?

Now with the NIE causing a stir, flawed or spot on, doesn't even matter. Now the negotiation and diplomatic pressure are out the window, and sanctions aren't going to hold any water. Not with the Democrats, or China, or Russia. No negotiation? No pressure? What does that leave you? Only a military response.

I would contend, that if the NIE was written and handed out to prevent a war - it may have very well accelerated it.

High School High

Michigan City considers separate high schools for each clique. Jock High vs Emo High football game should be a million laughs... and a million tears.

Another option would do away with the comprehensive high school concept entirely and create eight smaller high schools, probably in the old buildings. Each would have a focus: the rigorous International Baccalaureate curriculum in two, and high schools centered on performing arts high school, business, health/science and the military. There would also be a virtual high school and a university or college prep school.

A third option would be essentially a combination of the two: keep two comprehensive high schools as they are and have four smaller high schools, including the existing City High.

To your right, the Emo School's Quarterback - who's a real lady killer.