David Drake

Written in 1944 by vocalist Mel Tormé and Bob Wells. According to Tormé , the song was written during a blistering hot summer. In an effort to "stay cool by thinking cool," the most-performed (according to BMI) Christmas song was born.

"I saw a spiral pad on his piano with four lines written in pencil," Tormé recalled. "They started, `Chestnuts roasting ... Jack Frost nipping ... Yuletide carols ... Folks dressed up like Eskimos.' Bob (Wells, co-writer) didn't think he was writing a song lyric. He said he thought if he could immerse himself in winter he could cool off. Forty minutes later that song was written. I wrote all the music and some of the lyrics."

Without a steady paycheck, Kucinich fell behind in his mortgage payments, nearly lost his house in Cleveland, and ended up borrowing money from friends, including [actress Shirley] MacLaine, to keep it. [13] On his 1982 income tax return, Kucinich reported income of $38.

In the aftermath of the April 16th shooting in Blacksburg, Virginia, Kucinich is proposing a plan to address violence in America. Kucinich is currently drafting legislation that includes a ban on the purchase, sale, transfer, or possession of handguns by civilians.[27]

Over 400 prominent scientists from more than two dozen countries recently voiced significant objections to major aspects of the so-called "consensus" on man-made global warming. These scientists, many of whom are current and former participants in the UN IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), criticized the climate claims made by the UN IPCC and former Vice President Al Gore.

[...]

This blockbuster Senate report lists the scientists by name, country of residence, and academic/institutional affiliation. It also features their own words, biographies, and weblinks to their peer reviewed studies and original source materials as gathered from public statements, various news outlets, and websites in 2007. This new" consensus busters" report is poised to redefine the debate.

Many of the scientists featured in this report consistently stated that numerous colleagues shared their views, but they will not speak out publicly for fear of retribution.

[...]

Former Vice President Gore has claimed that scientists skeptical of climate change are akin to a "Flat Earth society members," and similar in number to those who, "believe the moon landing was actually staged in a movie lot in Arizona."

[...]

The distinguished scientists featured in this new report are experts in diverse fields, including: climatology; oceanography; geology; biology; glaciology; biogeography; meteorology; oceanography; economics; chemistry; mathematics; environmental sciences; engineering; physics and paleoclimatology. Some of those profiled have won Nobel Prizes for their outstanding contribution to their field of expertise and many shared a portion of the UN IPCC Nobel Peace Prize with Vice President Gore.

The fastest eco-boat on the planet will attempt to break the round the world speed record using fuel made from human fat.

Pete Bethune, the New Zealand skipper of Earthrace, said the attempt to circumnavigate the globe would begin from Valencia in Spain on March 1 next year.

[...]

From the start in Valencia the boat will cross the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans and travel through the Panama and Suez Canals..

From there the boat will cross the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans as it thunders along the planet's circumference at a maximum speed of 40 knots.

Rapid blinking or "eyelid flutter" signals a sensitive topic. [9] Officers carefully should observe the speaker's eyes, which can alert to the possibility of deception.

Another supposed sign of lying is rapid blinking. It's true that when we become aroused or our mind is racing, there's a corresponding increase in our blinking rate. Our normal rate is about 20 blinks per minute, but it can increase to four or five times that figure when we feel under pressure. When liars are searching for an answer to an awkward question, their thought processes speed up. In this kind of situation, lying is frequently associated with blinking. But we need to remember that there are times when people have a high blinking rate, not because they're lying, but because they're under pressure.

Rapid blinking blocks vision and can be an arrogant signal, saying 'I am so important, I do not need to see you'.'

The most notable study of eyelid blinking and thought process was in Nixon’s infamous “I’m not a crook” speech, in which his eyelid blinking was noticeably faster than normal during certain segments, indicating to some that he was lying.

You ever noticed [sic] how easy it is to transform "Satan" from "Santa"? Just move the "n" to the end. And presto! "Satan" appears.

[...]

Most parents would never teach their beautiful little children such a lie as Santa Claus. Most parents would never openly lie to their children. Especially something that is a blasphemous imposter of the Lord Jesus.

H.P. Blavatsky, the mother of the new age movement, said on page 350 of her book, The Secret Doctrine, Vol. 2: "The name isn't important. It is the letters". "Santa" has the same letters as "Satan"!

Americans blame both Republicans and Democrats for the impasse.

By more than 2-to-1 margins, they give the president, congressional Democrats and congressional Republicans unfavorable ratings in a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll released Monday. While Bush's ratings have been poor for most of the past two years, the two parties in Congress hit new lows in the poll.

"The American people just decided that Washington is either incompetent or irrelevant," said Frank Luntz, who has conducted polls for Republicans. "Republicans made promises they didn't keep, and Democrats made promises they couldn't keep. And now it's a pox on all their houses."

Republican John McCain is having quite a moment. He's rising in the polls. He's got major newspaper endorsements in Iowa and New Hampshire. And now he's getting help with this state's legions of independent voters from Joe Lieberman, the contrarian who was Democrat Al Gore's running mate in 2000.

[...]

The decision by the Senate's best-known independent to snub the Democratic Party could help McCain win a bigger share of the tide of independent voters who have been expected to flow to the Democratic field in New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary on Jan. 8.

Independents outnumber Republicans and Democrats here, and the state is key to McCain's hopes for the GOP nomination.

Sen. Joseph Lieberman said Monday his endorsement of Republican John McCain's presidential bid was not intended as payback for fellow Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd, a 2008 White House hopeful who supported Lieberman's rival during his 2006 fall re-election race.

"This honestly doesn't have anything to do with last year," Lieberman, I-Conn., said in a telephone conference call with reporters. "I think Chris and I are over that."

Lieberman said he made a "respectful decision" partly owing to wide differences with Dodd on issues like Iraq, Iran and terrorism.

"This is a decision made based on comparing John McCain to all the other candidates," he said.

A message seeking comment was left for Dodd's presidential campaign.

After losing the 2006 Democratic primary in Connecticut to political newcomer Ned Lamont largely because of his support for the Iraq war, Lieberman defied party leaders and ran as an independent in the general election to hang onto his seat.

The move rankled Democrats who questioned the senator's party loyalty. Top Democrats, including Lieberman's longtime friend Dodd, abandoned him after the primary defeat and backed Lamont.

Lieberman has said his feelings were hurt by Dodd, who campaigned for Lamont in the general election and filmed a campaign commercial with him. Since then, Lieberman and Dodd have said they are working to repair their ruptured relationship.

"I consider Chris Dodd to be my friend," Lieberman said. "We work together on a lot of matters here in Washington for Connecticut."

Reader Dennis in Arlington alerted me that our favorite loser is going to be endorsing McCain. Big surprise. Lieberman lost his mind, and his loyalties, long ago. All that he's interested in now is starting as many wars in the Middle East as possible. And in that regard, Lieberman is right to pick McCain. No one can guarantee getting us into more wars than another Republican candidate.

I really can't wait until we get just a few more Democratic Senate seats in the next election so we can tell Lieberman to take a hike and join the Republicans where he'll be happily irrelevant working in the minority. Then see how much good he is to whomever it is he's truly loyal to.

Art exhibits spark controversy at UMD
(By) Jana Hollingsworth
Duluth News Tribune - 12/14/2007

Cries of censorship were heard this week at the University of Minnesota Duluth after a graduate art student’s exhibit at the Tweed Museum of Art was shut down for a day because of explicit content.

That came on the heels of controversy over a student art club’s display case and its use of a small nude mannequin some perceived as a child.

Neal Peterson’s exhibit, “Thirteen Pieces of Paper,” is a series of images juxtaposed to raise questions about how people perceive images separately and in relation to each other. It includes four images of nudity in different contexts: a graphic sex scene from “Hustler” magazine, Michaelangelo’s Adam and Eve, an Anne Geddes photo of a nude mother with child and a Jeff Koons photograph aiming to portray pornography as art. It also includes pictures of dead pigs in a slaughterhouse, Pope John Paul II next to a dollar bill and burned bodies from the 1915 Armenian genocide.

The exhibit was covered Wednesday after a group of fifth- and sixth-grade students from AlBrook School arrived at the museum. Tweed director Ken Bloom said the content wasn’t appropriate for children and it was covered before any of them saw it.

Peterson said he was upset that his work was covered for the entire day. He planned to dismantle the exhibit Thursday but changed his mind when he found it had been uncovered. The exhibit remains open through Sunday.

“I think they weren’t expecting something of this nature and may be avoiding the issue of the work being provocative so it doesn’t look like censorship,” Peterson said.

The real issue, according to Bloom, was that Peterson misled museum employees about the exhibit.

Peterson was to show his graphic art thesis work in the museum — an exhibit on lyrical mapping — next week. He was allowed the additional week to show the “Thirteen Pieces” exhibit because employees thought it was part of his thesis and approved by the art and design department at UMD.

“If my name has to stand in front of the museum, the curator in front of the gallery … it seems we should be aware of what he is doing,” Bloom said. “If I thought it was a censorship issue, I would be the first one on the barricades screaming my head off. It is material that is definitely challenging, but that’s not the issue here.

“The process depends on trust,” Bloom said. “I had assumed it had been reviewed by faculty and it would have been appropriately presented.”

Sarah Nitschke, the chairwoman of Peterson’s thesis committee, said she didn’t see the work because it wasn’t part of his thesis. She said she had discussed the “Thirteen Pieces” project and its nature with Peterson, and she and other faculty approved the basic intention of the project. The Tweed, however, has the right to display or not display a student project, she said.

“There was a suggestion to put up an artist’s statement to further contextualize the work as an artist’s expression, and to put up clear warning signs,” Nitschke said.

Peterson met with Bloom before he installed the exhibit and told him it contained provocative content. Bloom also instructed him to display warning signs outside the exhibit and put up walls arranged to make entry to the exhibit purposeful. When he found out the exhibit wasn’t related to his thesis, Bloom told Peterson he felt he had misrepresented his work, Peterson said. Peterson disagreed.

“I’m just trying to show my art and invoke discussion,” he said. “I certainly don’t think young kids should see something like that, but it’s not my responsibility to stand at the door for an entire week.”

Bloom maintains the issue is academic and has been magnified because Peterson believes he was censored.

“It is conceivable that had it not been provocative material it would have been a minor hubbub, because then it just would have been a bureaucratic matter,” Bloom said. “If you want to make a statement, how about doing it the right way? No one has been censored.”

The Art Guild, a club that fills display cases with its work, drew ire at UMD recently because of a naked mannequin that some perceived as a child.

Visitors to a UMD blog discussed the issue, and arguments arose as to what constitutes art and whether the mannequin was even a child. One blogger saw a link between the mannequin and pedophilia.

Topher McCulloch, a member of the guild, said the display case was filled with supplies and art projects to show the club’s lack of storage space. The group added items every day for a week until it received an e-mail from the art department saying it needed to conclude the display. The guild’s protest wasn’t the most effective way to ensure the group’s future, McCulloch said they were told.

“We read that as a threat,” he said.

The group covered the display case with paper, tearing it in front of the mannequin to show a bit of the display inside, and wrote several statements, including: “beware of art” and “kids will be kids.” After that, the art department sent an e-mail to the guild saying a complaint had been received about the mannequin, McCulloch said. The display was taken down after its two reserved weeks were up.

“We were never officially censored, but the pressure felt heavy,” McCulloch said.

Messages left for art and design department Chairwoman Virginia Jenkins Wednesday and Thursday were not returned.