Operation fat middle-aged white American politician's fantasy thrusting engorged steel-hard cock surge

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The Village Voice; What's In a Name?
John Pike's excellent and exhaustive site, globalsecurity.org, lists the "Iraq Pacification Operations." It's not a complete list — for example, right now the latest "surge" is Operation Arrowhead Ripper, directed at rebels in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad. What's in a name? Armies always do this kind of thing. Back in 2004, there was even an Operation Giuliani. No, it wasn't a series of high-paying motivational speeches playing off 9/11.
Here's a (small) selection:

Operation Iron Bullet; Operation Iron Hammer; Operation All American Tiger
Operation Bayonet Lightning ; Operation Panther Squeeze; Operation Arrowhead Blizzard
Operation Iron Justice; Operation Choke Hold; Operation Resolute Sword; Operation Tombstone Pile Driver; Operation Iron Fury; Operation Iron Fury II; Operation Soprano Sunset; Operation Swift Sword ; Operation Stallion Run

They sound like a cross between WWW wrestlers and titles for Sylvester Stallone movies. At least the people thinking up these names have a sense of irony. There was 'Operation Restoring Rights' a while back and another one called 'Operation Therapist' which was either a nod to the mental state of their comander-in-chief or a typo for 'The Rapist'.


Don't do as I say...

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Dennis The Peasant: I Hear From The Mean Lady!

There is a moron with big tits 'right-wing pundit' in the US called Debby Schussel who seems to have spent good money getting some 'glamour shots' done of herself. Denis posted some of these pics on his blog and shortly thereafter received a 'cease and desist' email from 'lawyer' Debs.

I checked out her blog and noticed that there are LOTS of images! Some where from Associated Press, some from Magnum, the world famous photo agency and others were clearly picked up via Google images etc. Clearly, Schlutsall did not hold the copyright to any of these images and hadn't sought permission to publish them.

Now, my position on such matters is perfectly clear and can be found in the sidebar, simply put it is that reproducing low-res images here for non-commercial purposes is covered by the definition of fair-use. Having said that I am happy (usually) to remove an image should someone strongly object. Threaten legal action and you might get a different (and obscene) response.

It's happened twice. Once when a blogger was concerned that he might be recognised from his image (rather strange as he regularly appeared on internet television but, no matter, he seemed concerned so I acceded to his -polite - request) and the other was an agent looking for cash for his photographer client. As I had posted a small sample image of the work his client was showing at an exhibition, together with a link to a review and details of the venue, I rather thought that if there was to be any money changing hands it should be in MY favour! But, after pointing out the daftness of the agents position, I took the image down anyway, for spite. Fuck your client, I thought, there are 20 billion other pictures out there.

Anyway, back to Miss Strudell. I sent her a couple of emails asking for clarification of her policy on image posting. Were the copyright laws only applicable to her glam shots? Were big-breasted blondes exempt from certain laws in the US? I am awaiting a reply. I'm not hopeful.

For those of you who are unaware of Miss Shoeshop here is a short profile from her Yahoo Group page:
Attorney, Columnist, and Hip, Conservative Info-Babe Commentator, Debbie Schlussel is the VRWC's latest and greatest sexy, blonde, and beautiful (sic) commentator. With a law degree, MBA, long blonde tresses (sic), and sports acumen to boot, she's a red-blooded American guy's dream.
Yes, in short, A JOKE!

And here are some images of Miss Schlurpface for which she doesn't own the copyright and which clearly explain the desire on her part to obtain some, ahem, photoshopped glamour pics.




Is my car ready yet?

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Centennial time capsule car found ruined


A car buried half a century ago in a time capsule had been transformed into a hunk of junk by the time it was unveiled on Friday as part of Oklahoma's Centennial. The concrete vault, built in 1957 and meant to be opened this year to celebrate Oklahoma's Centennial as a state, has leaked in the intervening 50 years and most of its contents were ruined, to the dismay of those hoping to find a pristine, gold '57 Plymouth Belvedere. Would-be auto restorers unwrapped 1950s-era protective covering from the mud-caked relic onstage Friday evening at the Tulsa Convention Center, revealing a ruined hulk with rotting upholstery, collapsed suspension, flat tires and an engine that appeared to be a solid chunk of rust. 

Why would anyone want to bury a new car? Lewis Roberts, chairman of the Tulsarama committee was asked, way back in 1957. "The 'Tulsarama!' committee," he replied, "decided on the event after looking for a method of acquainting the citizens of the twenty first century with a suitable representation of 1957 civilization."

"In our judgment," commented W.A. Anderson, Jubilee chairman, "Plymouth is a true representative of automobiles of this century - with the kind of lasting appeal that should still be in style fifty years from now.... Tulsans think big. And we feel we can over come any technical difficulties we encounter'.


As part of the "Tulsarama!" festivities, citizens of Tulsa were asked to guess what the population of Tulsa would be in the year 2007. The guesses were then recorded on microfilm and sealed in a steel container buried with the car. The person, whose guess is closest to Tulsa's 2007 population is to be awarded the Belvedere. If that person is dead, the car is to be awarded to his or her heirs.


Bernard Manning dead

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Bernard Manning Obituary



I'll leave it to others to discuss his alleged racism and bigotry. One thing is certain, he was a master comedian admired even by professionals who were appalled by some of his content. He was up there with all the great British comedy giants. Perfect comic timing and flawless delivery is what made him great, as well as some blindingly funny material, much of which had no racial overtones at all.

He's been called the last of the joke tellers and joke telling has become so old hat, darhlings. It's all observation and comedic narrative now. All I know is this. Given a choice of a Manning gig or one with Jeremy Harding, Mark Thomas, Marcus Brigstocke or Eddie Izzard, I'd take Manning every time.

He wasn't always predictable either as the obit points out:
...while Manning's routine made little attempt to be topical, he could occasionally hint at subversion. As when, soon after the Falklands war, he told his audience that two soldiers from the conflict were present. As the jingoistic cheers rang out, Manning embarrassed the audience by adding: "They're Argentinians."
Although that account doesn't do him justice. He cranked the audience up by telling them that two brave young lads were amongst them , Fauklands veterans who had fought for their country under appalling conditions and had seen their pals killed alongside them etc etc. Then he demanded applause from the audience for the two lads and as the cheering and whooping died down he turned and with perfect timing added the throw away line , "They're Argentinians."
No politically right-on, anti-Thatcher alternative comic of the time could have done it better.

BernardManning.com






Laugh? I nearly got my breasts out!

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Laughter improves breast milk's health effect
Famed for its restorative powers, it now seems that laughter also helps breast milk to fight skin allergies. Breastfed babies with eczema experienced milder symptoms if their mothers laughed hours before feeding them, according to a study by Hajime Kimata at the Moriguchi-Keijinkai Hospital in Osaka, Japan.

He showed breastfeeding mothers either a feature length Charlie Chaplin movie or bland footage of weather information, and took samples of breast milk at regular intervals afterwards. Two milk feeds later, he also measured their babies' allergic reactions to dust mites and latex. Those infants whose mothers had laughed had markedly reduced reactions (Journal of Psychosomatic Research, vol 62, p 699).

All participating babies and some of the mothers suffered from mild atopic eczema - the most common type. Kimata also found significantly higher levels of melatonin in the laughing mothers' milk. The hormone is associated with relaxation, and levels are reduced in people with eczema.



Touched

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Extreme empathy
A group of highly empathetic individuals with the condition mirror-touch synaesthesia is helping researchers understand how humans are able to put themselves in another's shoes.

Michael Banissy at University College London, UK, and colleagues investigated this extreme form of empathy - people with the condition have the sensation of being physically touched when they see someone else being touched.

A brain study of 10 volunteers with mirror-touch synaesthesia revealed they are also especially sensitive to other people's emotions. "They all scored higher in standard questionnaires to measure emotional empathy, which means they had better gut instincts for what others feel," says Banissy.




Got it taped

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I know I'm going on about it but I'm having a blast transferring my old audio tapes to Mp3. Most of the compilation tapes are between ten and fifteen years old. Listening to them again after so long and re-recording them in a way that actually makes them sound better is an absolute joy!. To say nothing of being able to ditch most of that ageing, fading and vulnerable media.

It's going better than I expected as well, with about five or six tapes being completed, deonised and edited every day. The actual work involved only takes a few minutes per tape, the rest is just playing time. It's a set it and leave it process. Painless.

Viva Amadeus Pro!


Sheath that pork sword!

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Pigs With Cellphones, but No Condoms


In a commercial for Trojan condoms that has its premiere tonight, women in a bar are surrounded by anthropomorphized, cellphone-toting pigs. One shuffles to the men’s room, where, after procuring a condom from a vending machine, he is transformed into a head-turner in his 20s. When he returns to the bar, a fetching blond who had been indifferent now smiles at him invitingly...

Fox and CBS both rejected the commercial. Both had accepted Trojan’s previous campaign, which urged condom use because of the possibility that a partner might be H.I.V.-positive, perhaps unknowingly... 

In a written response to Trojan, though, Fox said that it had rejected the spot because, “Contraceptive advertising must stress health-related uses rather than the prevention of pregnancy.”
In its rejection, CBS wrote, “while we understand and appreciate the humor of this creative, we do not find it appropriate for our network even with late-night-only restrictions.”

“It’s so hypocritical for any network in this culture to go all puritanical on the subject of condom use when their programming is so salacious,” said Mark Crispin Miller, a media critic who teaches at New York University. “I mean, let’s get real here. Fox and CBS and all of them are in the business of nonstop soft porn, but God forbid we should use a condom in the pursuit of sexual pleasure.”



O Roneo, Roneo! wherfore art thou Roneo?

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I'm sure there will be plenty of piffle from the right about the forthcoming report on 'BBC bias'.

Balance. balance and more poxy balance is the cry. Oooh, they didn't have a 'rounded debate' on the Make Poverty History campaign. Oooh, they showed a clip of the Make Poverty History video in The Vicar of Dibley, Oooooh.... oh bollocks! If this lot had had their way there would have been no Cathy Come Home, indeed there would probably have been no Wednesday Play slot at all.

And let's remember which organisation was vilified by that cunt Campbell for pointing out that the WMD story was a pack of lies. Indeed, the only heads that rolled over the whole WMD affair were BBC employees (and poor David Kelly, if you count suicide as head-rolling).

So who produced this report? Let me tell you. The sort of people who, in 2007, can come out with this:

“There is a tendency to ‘group think’ with too many staff inhabiting a shared space and comfort zone,” says the report.  It goes on to highlight a “Roneo mentality” where
staff  ape each other’s common liberal values.

A Roneo mentality? Roneo!? Rone-ee-fucking-o! Jeeez, what decade are these people living in? How many people even remember what a Roneo was?

I don't have to read any more. These people are twats. Full stop. End of story. Thank you very much and goodnight.