Oscar Peterson Dead At 82

With all the ┼mas hullabaloo, I completely missed this. Peterson was a giant.

NY TIMES: Oscar Peterson, whose dazzling piano playing made him one of the most popular jazz artists in history, died on Sunday night at his home in Mississauga, Ontario, outside Toronto. He was 82 .

...Mr. Peterson was one of the greatest virtuosos in jazz, with a piano technique that was always meticulous and ornate and sometimes overwhelming. But rather than expand the boundaries of jazz, he used his gifts in the service of moderation and reliability, gratifying his devoted audiences whether he was playing in a trio or solo or accompanying some of the most famous names of jazz. His technical accomplishments were always evident, almost transparently so. Even at his peak, there was very little tension in his playing.

Proof That There Is No God

Bill Kristol Hired By New York Times

This is ludicrous. Bill Kristol, co-founder of Project for the New American Century and the warmonger who hasn't gotten one thing right when it comes to Iraq is being hired by the New York Fucking Times.

This is the same dipshit that came up with this gem:

"There's been a certain amount of pop sociology in America ... that the Shia can't get along with the Sunni and the Shia in Iraq just want to establish some kind of Islamic fundamentalist regime. There's almost no evidence of that at all. Iraq's always been very secular."

Iran was secular because of Saddam Hussein, you fuckwad. Remember him?

Guess I'll be cancelling my subscription to the Times.

Rudy Official: Rudy Will Chase Muslims Back To Their Caves

Yes, you read the title right.

John Deady, Co-Chair of Veterans for Rudy tells us why Ghouliani is the only capable person for the job of President: "...we need to keep the [Muslims'] feet to the fire and keep pressing these people ‘til we defeat them or chase them back to their caves, or in other words, get rid of them."

And don't miss taking a quick look at all the frightened citizens of New Hampshire supporting Rudy because they "don't want a Palestinian coming in and wipe out a pizza parlor."

Is this what America needs? Perpetual war with an undefinable enemy? Yet another reason why Iowa and New Hampshire being first on the block to shape the field of candidates for the rest of the country is not such a great idea.

Low Wall To Blame For SF Tiger Escape

Well this gives me pause. I'm sure zoos all over the country are now checking their walls to verify the standards.

SAN FRANCISCO — The director of the zoo where a teenager was killed by an escaped tiger acknowledged Thursday that the wall around the animal's pen was just 12 1/2 feet high _ well below the height recommended by the accrediting agency for the nation's zoos.
San Francisco Zoo Director Manuel A. Mollinedo also admitted that it is becoming increasingly clear the 350-pound Siberian tiger leaped or climbed out of its open-air enclosure, perhaps by grabbing onto a ledge.

"She had to have jumped," he said. "How she was able to jump that high is amazing to me." Mollinedo said investigators have ruled out the theory the tiger escaped through a door behind the exhibit.

According to the Association of Zoos & Aquariums, the walls around a tiger exhibit should be at least 16.4 feet high. But Mollinedo said the nearly 70-year-old wall was 12 feet, 5 inches, with what he described as a "moat" 33 feet across.

I'm Benedict. Fly Me.

Tired of that ol' "goin' to hell" feeling? Want to spend less time in purgatory? Well now you can with this great offer:

Pope Benedict XVI has authorised special indulgences to mark the 150th anniversary of the Virgin Mary's reputed appearance at Lourdes.
Pilgrims to the shrine in south-west France will receive "plenary indulgences" from the Pontiff, which the Church says reduce the time spent being "washed" of sin after death. The indulgences will be available from this weekend until Dec 8, 2008.

Yes, that's right. You too can stop worrying about the amount of time you'll spend in eternity paying for your residual sins with this special offer. And don't worry about the hassle of booking the trip. Just use the special code "Ratzi the Nazi" and you'll be whisked away on fabulous Mistral Airlines, specifically handling all the Pontiff's travel needs.

Also, don't forget that while traveling, rules are rules. According to BoingBoing, after the Vatican launched its chartered air service for pilgrims headed to Lourdes ...travelers on the way back had to dump their precious bottles of holy water. The headrests may be emblazoned with the Latin words for "I search for your face, oh Lord," but even those on a mission for God can't carry more than 100ml of liquid, holy or not, onto the plane.

Didn't some crazy guy nail something to the door of a church and start a new Christian sect because of the sale of indulgences? And some wonder why the Roman Catholic church is falling apart.

This Is Why I Worry

Times-Republican: Supporters of Barack Obama living on 25th Street reported a number of racial slurs and derogatory comments had been spray painted on their property. Further, the family’s Christmas presents were all stolen from a vehicle and a garage.

Chief Lon Walker confirms the police received the report Monday morning.

“We found vandalism to the house. When we got there, we found some racial things regarding presidential candidate Barack Obama,” he said.

So these racists decided to be thieves as well. Events like this is my prediction of what will happen all over the country if Obama wins the Democratic Party's nomination. There are so many (including myself) who say they will vote for Obama provided he's the candidate, but the underlying racial factor cannot be ignored. As enlightened as we all think we are or wish to be, there are still far too many people in this country that believe race or gender matters.

I wonder how many death threats Obama has already received that the public doesn't know about. Things like that are never reported. And I seriously fear for Obama's safety as his campaign continues.

Bhutto Assassinated

Associated Press: RAWALPINDI, Pakistan — Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated Thursday in a suicide attack that also killed at least 20 others at a campaign rally, aides said.

The death of the 54-year-old charismatic former prime minister threw the campaign for the Jan. 8 parliamentary elections into chaos and created fears of mass protests and violence across the nuclear-armed nation, an important U.S. ally in the war on terrorism.

The attacker struck just minutes after Bhutto addressed thousands of supporters in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, 8 miles south of Islamabad. She was shot in the neck and chest by the attacker, who then blew himself up, said Rehman Malik, Bhutto's security adviser.

At least 20 others were killed in the attack.

New York Times: The assassination also adds to the enormous pressure on the Bush administration over Pakistan, which has sunk billions in aid into the country without accomplishing its main goals of finding Osama bin Laden or ending the activities of Islamic militants and Taliban in border areas with Afghanistan.

Christmas With Mike Gravel

This is just bizarrely funny.

BIll Kristol's Predictions for 2008

Kristol does his best Jeanne Dixon impersonation and predicts that Republicans will win the White House in 2008.

"...I think Republicans win in November, and if it's not Dick Cheney, McCain/Romney, McCain/Lieberman... there are some very good Republican tickets."

This guy has been full of shit for years now, and somehow he's still considered a "pundit" for Fox News, hopefully the only network that will carry him. I wonder if Kristol predicted Time Magazine was going to can him for his amazing lack of credibility?

Happy Holidays!