Cartoon of the Day

Source: http://cagle.com

Bush Begins to Cave?

According to the Washington Post, President Bush unleashed a plan on how to handle the situation in Iraq in the wee hours of the morning, a plan that included the gradual withdrawal of troops from the area over the next year. The document states that the withdrawal will ensue as the "political process advances and Iraqi security forces grow and gain experience."

Bush still insists that the war has been going to plan, which gives me reason to suspect that he is either deeply in denial or working for Al Qaeda. Whatever the reason, I am grateful that some troops will get to spend Christmas at home next year, and that we will have more troops here, protecting us on our own ground. It seems that the more troops leave the U.S., the more ambitious this administration gets. The WMDs (Workers to Mutilate Democracy) are in our own backyard.

Cartoon of the Day

Source: http://cagle.com

Ann Coulter Strikes Again

I discovered this gem on Alabama Democrat. I cannot confirm the source, but given Coulter's history, I personally believe it:

Coulter on Murtha: He Longs “To See U.S. Troops Shot, Humiliated”

Columnist Ann Coulter had this to say about decorated Vietnam War veteran Rep. Jack Murtha and others who think it's about time that U.S. troops come home from Iraq: "It is simply a fact that Democrats like Murtha are encouraging the Iraqi insurgents when they say the war is going badly and it's time to bring the troops home...[T]hey long to see U.S. troops shot, humiliated, and driven from the field of battle. They fill the airwaves with treason...These people are not only traitors, they are gutless traitors."

Courtesy of ThinkProgress

I should not give this genius the time of day, but it tickled me to death that someone who has never even trick-or-treated as a soldier could criticize one. The NeoCons have her and they dare to mention Michael Moore?

So Much for Advertising...

This was a little too much to keep to myself.

From News of the Weird:

"Police in Memphis, Tenn., reported in October that they had closed down a crack house on Rosamond Street, a task made easier because the resident usually announced the start of business hours by hanging out a sign reading, 'Crack House.'"

Cartoon of the Day

Source: http://cagle.com

Top 10 Gifts from Hell

10. Ann Coulter talking doll
9. Speech lessons from Arnold Schwartzenegger
8. Scooter Libby's job
7. Scooter Libby's name
6. Enron 401K plan
5. An aviary
4. Beach-front property in the Gulf
3. An Army recruiter jumping out of a cake
2. Nude photos of Dick Cheney
1. An SUV with no gas

Freaky Cat

I am going offline for a couple of days to do this Thanksgiving thing, but I will leave you with this interesting image: This appears to be a normal cat doing normal things.



Guess again.


Source: Unknown

Happy Thanksgiving (I did what I could to get rid of the pink photo border)!

Cartoon of the Day

Source: http://cagle.com

Bush Considered Bombing Al-Jazeera?

According to the Mirror, one of the UK's most popular newspapers, our beloved president had thoughts of bombing Arabic news network Al-Jazeera, which has not exactly hid its opinion of the Bush administration. At first even I was going to give POTUS the benefit of the doubt and say that the words were probably just expressed in anger. That changed after I saw a following report that the British government "has warned media organi[z]ations they are breaking the law" if they published any details of this alleged memo. What better way to give legitimacy to a story than to use the power of government to try to ban it? I do not know what Bush was smoking when he made this statement, but considering how journalists are now on the chopping block here, the idea of him thinking about bombing a network that disagrees with him may be frightening, but not surprising.

Cartoon of the Day

Source: http://cagle.com

How the Retailers Stole Thanksgiving! (and Halloween...)

My sisters' children have dubbed me "Auntie Grinch," and rightfully so, because I openly loathe and despise Christmas. Aside from the fact that you are burned out after freely giving time, money and blood (literally) for 11 months and therefore are not too thrilled to see the Salvation Army bellringers by Month 12, retailers have taken it upon themselves to start shoving it down our throats in October. Now the sight of plastic Santas makes me pyromaniacal. Halloween is my favorite holiday. It is the only time of the year when you get to choose your identity and get away with it. But do I get to savor that? No! Before you get a chance to carve a pumpkin, here comes Christmas, courtesy of Dillard's et al.

Down with Holiday Imperialism! Consumers of the world, unite!

Sheri's Random Act of Rebellion

Since retailers are meshing holidays and I did not get to participate in Halloween this year, this is my mini-protest by forcing Halloween unseasonably:

Cartoon of the Day

Source: http://cagle.com

One Bad Murtha

Representative John P. Murtha of Pennsylvania is probably going to be the most Googled politician today, especially after his call for 153,000 American troops to be pulled out of Iraq within six months. After reading this Vietnam combat veteran's history, it appears that any creakings from this "hawkish" ex-Marine are taken quite seriously, and this is almost the Congressional equivalent of the Sermon on the Mount. The cheeky rep also made the biting dissent that many condemning Iraq War critics were legal draft dodgers. Cheney was deferred from serving five times. The response? Some Republicans are comparing this decorated war hero to Michael Moore, stating that Democrats are being liberal and are fleeing from terrorists who "kill innocent Americans."

Has anyone else noticed that they are swimming back to the "War on Terrorism" excuse and the coin "liberating the Iraqis" is becoming less used?

Cartoon of the Day

Source: http://cagle.com

Patriot Act Revisited

MSNBC is reporting that Congress is reevaluating the Patriot Act, and that the Democrats and the Republicans struck a deal to edit its contents. Here is my complaint: the Patriot Act was never necessary to gather intelligence. Under Executive Order 12333 (EO 12333) established by Reagan in December 1981, these organizations already had these rights through a very clear guideline provided to the Intelligence Community via the National Security Council. It was an excellent system. The only difference is that the guidelines were much stricter. The Patriot Act strips away those guidelines, giving agencies carte blanche to monitor anyone. This is less of a defensive devise and more of a way for Cold War dinosaurs to relive the McCarthy era.

On a final note, despite what politicians and the media tell you, I cannot express how much work is done by the Intelligence Community to protect our lives, and how much they have to suffer on a personal level to have this responsibility. These people literally give up their rights as citizens to protect ours - they have the highest suicide rates of government work. They are unsung heroes. They can provide all the intelligence in the world, but it is the choice of White House to listen to it.

Cartoon of the Day

Source: http://cagle.com

Rice's World Tour

I am very pleased that Secretary Rice has taken it on herself to try to start peaceful negotiations between Israel and Palestine (how many times has the U.S. tried that already?).

But seriously - the fact is that although Palestine is sending fresh batches of suicide bombers into Israel, it pales in comparison to the brutal bombings sponsored by Israel in attempts to "clean out terrorists." And although I do not have official confirmation, word around the campfire is that Rice is making the situation even more confusing for the leaders of the respective lands by beating around the Bush. We are talking about decades of strife that we are expecting these two countries to just "get over." The only successful Arab-Israeli discussions were the 1978 Camp David Accords, and how did we manage that? We pay Egypt bribes every year, but the Accords could not have been that popular because Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was shot almost two years later.

But I guess Bush did what he had to do to get her out of the White House.

Cartoon of the Day

Source: http://cagle.com

The Church Chronicles

Yesterday I told my pastor that I was seriously considering switching denominations. He concluded that I was just stressed out and gave me permission to skip church for two months.

Put that in your hookah and smoke it!

Cartoon of the Day

Source: http://cagle.com

A Tribute to Veterans

To my fellow veterans, and to those that are still actively keeping their promise to this nation, even though their leaders choose to ignore their oaths, I salute you from cyberspace. You are constantly in my thoughts and prayers.

Your eternal sister-in-arms,

S

Sheri's Weekly Rant - Ann Coulter Talking Doll

Ann Coulter has a talking doll? Who the hell came up with this idea? As if the real thing was not bad enough, here we are with mass-produced Barbie ripoffs with even more ridiculously big hair that spew unstructured rants. I realize this product is not new, but when I heard about it ages ago, I genuinely thought it was a bad joke. The subtitle on the box is "America's Real Action Heroes." Ok...so now she and Bush supersede not only our Armed Forces, but apparently G.I. Joe as well. This is the ultimate gag gift - and no, I mean "gag" as in an action related to illness, not funny-ha-ha "gag."

On the bright side, at least now I have something to burn in effigy during the Senate elections. Hmm...I wonder if they have one for Condoleeza Rice?

Cartoon of the Day

Source: http://cagle.com

A Little Alito (Pt 1)...

Dear Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr., defended two of his past rulings, which involved corporations and firms of which he was affiliated, saying that he violated no laws, according to the Washington Post. In both cases, Alito ruled in favor of the groups in which he was associated with, which were Vanguard Group Inc. and Smith Barney Inc. The White House is justifying this behavior stating that a "courthouse 'computer screening program' had failed to alert Alito to step aside in the Vanguard case." Apparently Alito is one the few people in the legal system that is only able recognizes his chums when he is personally notified by his secretary. This is the lamest excuse yet. Karl Rove obviously did not come to work today.

As for Alito's rulings: illegal? Perhaps. Unethical? Undoubtedly.

Cartoon of the Day

Source: http://cagle.com

Cartoon of the Day

Source: http://cagle.com

Donkeys Kick Ass in Gubernatorial Races

Apparently every paper is leading with the Democratic wins of the Virginia and New Jersey. Virginian candidate Jerry Kilgore (R), who was supported by President Bush, suffered a sound defeat to the tune of 107,348 votes. The Washington Post writes that Democratic fever spread to the Virginian House of Delegates where they picked up several seats. A last minute visit by President Bush did not help New Jersey candidate businessman Doug Forrester (R) secure the bid for governor, in fact USA Today is hinting that Sen. Jon Corzine's (D) victory was the result of New Jersans reacting to problems associated with the current administration. Bloomberg managed to save his job in New York, but by 20 points.

So what does this mean? This humble blogger's final analysis is that these are signs that the country is sick of being Bushed.

Paris au Flambé

I am probably the only blogger that has not addressed the devastation of the riots in France, but hopefully I can make that up today. The French wrote the book on rioting and revolution (although they severely mellowed out between WWI and II), and once again the chefs du pays choose to ignore the source of the violence and concentrate solely on the violence itself. French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin and Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy have adopted the simplified notions of Gustave LeBon that the rioters are criminals, or as Sarkozy so eloquently put it, "scum and riffraff." What amazes me about State leaders that adopt this mentality is that they fail to realize their contribution to political violence. I personally believe that most people resort to violence as a final resort. When the system fails, what other option is there? Has France forgotten its history? The French Revolution stemmed from the same types of problems that resulted in the 12-day riots occurring now.

Villepin's problems are just beginning. Until the French government addresses the "whys" instead of focusing on the "whats," they can look forward to their dissenting population becoming more organized and eventually substituting Molotov cocktails for more sophisticated explosives.

Cartoon of the Day

Source: http://cagle.com

What's In Your Wallet? - The Power of Globalization

I am of the opinion that if you want to watch a country change, the following recipe is ideal: provide Internet access to the masses, build a factory, a mall, a McDonald's and wait. Today I read an article about how fashion retailers are beginning to tap into the Muslim market, and I found it terribly amusing. Teeth have to be pulled in order for UN inspectors to penetrate parts of the Muslim world, but Nordstrom's et al are plowing through there with seemingly little effort. I view globalization as being a Pandora's Box that seems perfectly harmless at first glance, but once it is opened, it is unstoppable. Foreign and domestic policies are soon up for sale because capitalism is a fickle mistress that does not like to be restrained. It is the perfect weapon, just ask China. Deng Xiao Ping killed Mao's dream when he loosened up policies for the sake of expanding China's economy, and now current leader Hu Jintao is promoting a "cloaked capitalism."

I guess the conclusion that I am drawing is that if the Bush administration truly wants to democratize the world, instead of sending in the Marines, maybe he should just send in some trendy stores.

Cartoon of the Day

Source: http://cagle.com

Surviving the Survivor of a Crime

As much flack as we give the French, they have a mentality that is reflected in their legal system that I greatly admire and was a first-hand witness to when I visited Paris this summer. I was not the victim of a crime, but I witnessed one, yet they treated me like a victim as well, because in their legal system, seeing a crime is on the same level as being actually criminalized. Under Parisian law, I had the right to press charges. They refer to it as Le Menace.We as Americans completely disregard the survivors of the survivor. There are no pamphlets for them, and as a result that actually makes the healing process for the survivor worse because we do not acknowledge that the people around them are going through an adjustment period as well. I wish I could find a study that compares post-crime suicide rates for victims that have adequate support systems vs those who do not. I did a brief stint as a crisis counselor a few years ago, and this is what I have for those that do not know how to support a crime victim:

1. Do not act as an amateur psychiatrist. There is no cookie cutter behavior for crime victims, and not all victims sit at home catatonic in a corner with their thumbs in their mouths or spend all day sobbing and suicidal. Some go back to work the next day like it never happened, because that their way of gaining control over the situation. Each victim has their own coping mechanism, some that you may never understand.

2. Do not say "I understand what they are going through." Even if you have experienced the same type of crime, you may be able to relate to them, but you will never know exactly what they are going through, and to make such a statement trivializes the magnitude of emotions that they are experiencing.

3. Just be there for them. Whether you believe them or not, or think that they "asked for it" (which makes me question whether or not you are really their friend), the best thing you can do is help the victim feel comfortable coming to you for support.

Cartoon of the Day

Source: http://cagle.com

Say Hello to My Little Friend!: Senate Rule 21

The Democratic Party finally showed some cahunes by forcing the Senate into a closed session by pulling the Rule 21 card without warning. I will not lie to you, I had never heard of Rule 21 prior to yesterday, but as of today I have the entire Standing Rules of the Senate bookmarked. The Washington Post asserts that the hotspots of the session ranged from tainted intelligence claims that led to the Iraqi war to Scooter Libby's indictment. I am curious to what else went on during the two hours behind closed doors because apparently discussions resulting from the invocation of Rule 21 are expanded by Rules 25 and 31, which provide the invokers a fun assortment of privileges that otherwise may have been denied.

The SS Dubya is starting to look like the SS Titanic...