I hope the new year brings blessings and joy to you all. And sex, lots and lots of sex. Sex for everyone in 2008.

Me? I want a bunny.

I'm at a party and there's a blizzard coming! WooHoo! Totally fucks up my plan to get drunk for the first time in years. Oh well, I'll have a martini here and then drink some champagne at home. Maybe I'll even drunk blog - I'm damn funny when the spirits move me.

Age only from the neck up or neck down?

The time has come for me to finally give up my fancy with Marlboro's. [sigh]

I've been ready to quit smoking for a while but I didn't because I was stressed out and I didn't think I'd be successful. I've cut down over the last couple months pretty drastically. In October, I was smoking almost 2 packs a day. Now, I'm barely smoking a half pack a day. The fact that I have to smoke outside helps a lot. It's hard to enjoy a good smoke, when, it's so cold that your nipples could cut glass after a couple minutes. Brrrrr.

I also knew that I didn't want to quit smoking and get fat. So, on that end, I've successfully beaten my potato chip addiction. I replaced my favorite chips (Lay's Wavy and Flamin' Hot) with Pilates. That's a plus-plus. My ass has thanked me repeatedly and so have the construction workers. A "nice ass" shout out goes a long way guys.

So here I am, on New Year's Eve, my last pack of Marlboro Menthol Lights are in my coat and my Nicoderm Patches are on my kitchen counter. I've got about 6 packs of Orbit gum ready to go but I have one concern. Is gum going to be enough to curb my oral fixation? It's a pretty intense desire and I really don't want to start chewing ice cubes again. Or carrots, or celery or any other nasty raw veggie or calorie laden food. Maybe I could just suck on the ice cubes...

Either way, that is my big public resolution. I'm quitting smoking. I have a few others but those are private. Very private. ;-)

Gen. Petraeus is The Sunday Telegraph's Person of the Year.

But the reason for picking Petraeus is simple. Iraq, whatever the current crises in Afghanistan and Pakistan, remains the West's biggest foreign policy challenge of this decade, and if he can halt its slide into all-out anarchy, Gen Petraeus may save more than Iraqi lives.

A failed Iraq would not just be a second Vietnam, nor would it just be America's problem.

It would be a symbolic victory for al-Qaeda, a safe haven for jihadists to plot future September 11s and July 7s, and a battleground for a Shia-Sunni struggle that could draw in the entire Middle East. Our future peace and prosperity depend, in part, on fixing this mess. And, a year ago, few had much hope.

Exactly right.

I couldn't resist.

Another reason I love dogs. Now, they wouldn't eat your shoes, if, you kept them stocked up in raw hide type treats. Puppies teethe and you have a choice - give them a chew toy or they will find their own. My dog never once ate a pair of my shoes. Maybe it was the spiked heels. It could have been because the only other leather shoes I had, besides my "fuck me pumps", were Doc Martens. We'll never know for sure.

Raw hide, people. Say it with me.

About me: I have a thing for men with accents. Not all accents but just a few particular ones. The right accent has a similar affect on me as really good foreplay.

What is something nobody would ever guess about you?

Just hours after news broke of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, Clinton and Obama issued statements about the killing and their ability to handle a crisis. Clinton went on about her personal relationship with Bhutto and drew a comparison between herself and the slain former PM of Pakistan.

"I have known Benazir Bhutto for more than 12 years; she's someone whom I was honored to visit as first lady when she was prime minister," Clinton said at a campaign event in a firehouse in western Iowa. "Certainly on a personal level, for those of us who knew her, who were impressed by her commitment, her dedication, her willingness to pick up the mantle of her father, who was also assassinated, it is a terrible, terrible tragedy," she said.

The Obama camp made remarks that insinuated Clinton, Bush, The United States and the War in Iraq were to blame for the assassination.

In an especially charged moment, senior Obama adviser David Axelrod would later tie the killing to the Iraq war — and Clinton's vote to approve it, which he argued diverted U.S resources from fighting terrorism in Afghanistan and Pakistan, both al-Qaeda hotbeds.

"You can't at once argue that you're the master of a broken system in Washington and offer yourself as the person to change it," Obama said. "You can't fall in line behind the conventional thinking on issues as profound as war and offer yourself as the leader who is best prepared to chart a new and better course for America." [...]"Obama opposed the war in Iraq explicitly because he feared it would divert our attention from al-Qaeda, Pakistan, the whole region," Axelrod said. "It underscores the fact that you have to have a president who understands the world, who is going to analyze these events, and who will chart the right course, counter to the conventional thinking."

Man, I wish I were a fly on the wall when Hillary heard about those comments. Benazir Bhutto was elected the Islamic world's first woman prime minister in 1988, but was fired 20 months later on corruption accusations by the country's military-backed president. She was elected again in 1993, only to be removed again three years later. Bhutto was murdered yesterday by a suicide attacker while campaigning to become PM for a third time. Looks to me like she was a marked woman long before we went to Iraq. Of course, that's just me. Maybe I'm just blinded by my obsessive love for Bush, Clinton and shoes.

The Center for Media and Public Affairs at George Mason University released their Election Study and they found something very interesting.

Who’s Fair and Balanced?: Fox News Channel’s coverage was more balanced toward both parties than the broadcast networks were. On FOX, evaluations of all Democratic candidates combined were split almost evenly – 51% positive vs. 49% negative, as were all evaluations of GOP candidates – 49% positive vs. 51% negative, producing a perfectly balanced 50-50 split for all candidates of both parties. On the three broadcast networks, opinion on Democratic candidates split 47% positive vs. 53% negative, while evaluations of Republicans were more negative – 40% positive vs. 60% negative. For both parties combined, network evaluations were almost 3 to 2 negative in tone, i.e. 41% positive vs. 59% negative.

They also found that Hillary Clinton is the favorite target of all on air news. Negative target, that is...

Some researchers think that the lack of rape by IDF soldiers of Palestinian women has more to do with fear of creating more arabs than anything else.

That seems a bit racist against the Israeli soldiers, if you ask me. Maybe, just maybe, Israeli soldiers find rape to be repugnant or maybe even SINFUL...

Some things are just too funny to ignore.

ROME — Pope Benedict XVI reinforced the Vatican’s growing concern with protecting the environment in the traditional midnight Christmas Mass on Tuesday, bemoaning an “ill-treated world” in a homily given to thousands of pilgrims here in the seat of the world’s billion Roman Catholics.

On the day Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ some 2,000 years ago, Benedict referred to one early father of the church, Gregory of Nyssa, a bishop in what is now Turkey. “What would he say if he could see the state of the world today, through the abuse of energy and its selfish and reckless exploitation?” the pope asked, according to the Vatican’s English translation.

He loves South Park. What of it?

I just have one thing to say to the bitching and moaning lefties who think the pathetic and ineffective "journalists" we have today suck. Welcome to the party boys!

That's why we blog, duh. The MSM sucks ass and has for years.

If you could have dirty, guilt-free sex with anyone (real or fictional)? No morality police, please. You get 1 hour with anyone your heart desires, no diseases, no pregnancy, fictional characters are real and for that 1 hour it's not cheating on your spouse (if married).

Who would you choose?

The new Green Party Presidential candidate...Georgia's own Cynthia McKinney!

Some scientists now believe that the closest evolutionary cousin to whales, dolphins and porpoises is an extinct deer that was the size of a raccoon. Others disagree but that's what I dig about science. That and the jokes we get to make about raccoon sized deer being cousins to whales. You know yer a redneck if yer a dolphin whose aunt is a raccoon sized deer...

You know things are bad when Mike Huckabee starts gaining on you.

Rudy is ramping up efforts in Iowa and New Hampshire now that his national poll numbers are taking a nosedive. Initially, his plan was to blow off Iowa and New Hampshire, in favor of New York and Florida. That was a miscalculation but you can't blame Rudy. Who seriously thought the Huckster was a contender?

"Working people frequently ask retired people what they do to make their days interesting. We really have no trouble in finding interesting things to do. For example, the other day I went downtown to go to the newsstand, for the Wall Street Journal so I could track my investments. I was only in there for about 5 minutes.

When I came out, there was a cop writing out a parking ticket. I said to him, 'Come on, man, how about giving a retired person a break'? He ignored me and continued writing the ticket. I called him a 'Nazi.' He glared at me and wrote another ticket for having worn tires. So I called him a 'doughnut eating Gestapo.' He finished the second ticket and put it on the windshield with the first. Then he wrote a third ticket. This went on for about 20 minutes. The more I abused him, the more tickets he wrote.

Personally, I didn't care..... I came downtown on the bus. The car that he was putting the tickets on had a bumper sticker that said 'Hillary in '08.' I try to have a little fun each day now that I'm retired. It's important to my health."

Everyone does it. I hate apologizing when I'm not sorry. People who force apologies out of other people don't deserve real apologies. I apologize when I'm actually sorry, not when someone demands one from me. Why would politicians be any different?

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton apologized personally to Senator Barack Obama on Thursday for a top adviser’s public suggestion that Republicans would go after Mr. Obama for his youthful drug use.

This came a day after Mike Huckabee apologized to Mitt Romney, a Mormon, for remarks that suggested Mormons believe that Jesus and Satan are brothers.

They aren't sorry they said what they said. They "apologized" because they were forced but by giving the non-apology apology, they can continue slurring their opponent. Real apologies are given from the heart, the surest way to get one is to allow a person time to ponder. The surest way to get a fuck you non-apology apology is to demand one.

Via: Dean's World

I love these awards more than all the Hollywood ones combined!

#5. "An American teenager was in the hospital recovering from serious head wounds received from an oncoming train. When asked how he received the injuries, the lad told police that he was simply trying to see how close he could get his head to a moving train before he was hit."

#4 "After stopping for drinks at an illegal bar, a Zimbabwean bus driver found that the 20 mental patients he was supposed to be transporting from Harare to Bulawayo had escaped. Not wanting to admit his incompetence, the driver went to a nearby bus stop and offered everyone waiting there a free ride. He then delivered the passengers to the mental hospital, telling the staff that the patients were very excitable and prone to bizarre fantasies. The deception wasn't discovered for 3 days."

#3 "A man who shoveled snow for an hour to clear a space for his car during a blizzard in Chicago returned with his vehicle to find a woman had taken the space. Understandably, he shot her."

#2 "The chef at a hotel in Switzerland lost a finger in a meat-cutting machine and, after a little shopping around, submitted a claim to his insurance company. The company expecting negligence sent out one of its men to have a look for himself. He tried the machine and he also lost a finger. The chef's claim was approved."

And the winner is...

When his 38-caliber revolver failed to fire at his intended victim during a hold-up in Long Beach , California , would-be robber James Elliot did something that can only inspire wonder. He peered down the barrel and tried the trigger again. This time it worked.

USA! USA! USA!

"Rodents Of Unusual Size? I don't think they exist." Or do they...

"Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have ... The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases."

These are the best pierogi you'll ever taste. My mom and I have perfected this recipe over many years and every person that has ever tried them - loved them. This recipe makes about 10 dozen large pierogi. If you want less, use your math skills and do so.

Pierogi Dough:

• 6 cups yogurt (3c plain/ 3c vanilla)
• 14 cups flour
• 6 TBSP melted butter
• 6 eggs plus 3 yolks
• 6 teas. salt
• 6 TBSP oil

Kraut filling:

• 2/3 cup chopped onion
• 3TBSP butter
• 3 cups sauerkraut (canned preferred)
• 4TBSP sour cream
• salt/pepper

Rinse and drain the sauerkraut until some of the sour is gone - do it to your taste. Saute onion until golden and then add the rinsed kraut to the pan. Cook for about 5 minutes on med-low temp. Turn off heat, add sour cream and salt and pepper to taste.

Potato filling:

• 1 cup onion
• 4 TBSP butter
• 1 teas salt
• 1/2 teas pepper
• 4 cups mashed potatoes (instant works fine, just make them according to pkg)

Saute onions in butter for about 3-5 minutes until lightly golden (don't burn). Stir in the salt and pepper. Combine the onion mixture with the mashed potatoes. Blend well.

Potato cheese filling: Follow above recipe and add 1 cup shredded cheddar to the potato/onion mixture. If you like more cheese, go for it.

Feel like cooking? I have typed up my pierogi recipe and I will publish it for the world to see...tomorrow morning.

I have no idea what is happening in news. I haven't been online in since Monday and I haven't had time to watch the news. What's been happening? Who can I call stupid this week?

Somebody update me, please...

by Jerry

A little of both. This morning during one of my many snooze clicks, I heard a blip about Google Maps Street View Detroit being unveiled at 10:00am. I had forgotten about it, until a co-worker mentioned something about it. So I decided to check it out.

I figured it would only be downtown Detroit or something. Boy, was I wrong. I found my street in Garden City in the "blue". Basically when you click Street View in Google Maps, if the street is outlined in blue you can get a 360 view.

It was all fun and games until I saw MY CAR in front of my neighbors house.

At what point does all this information become TOO MUCH information??

It's a cool novelty, but do we really need a 360 view of residential side streets? I can see getting a view of main roads so you can scope out where certain stores are and such, but not personal homes. If you can't find house J between blocks 1 & 3, thats your problem. Do you REALLY need a picture??

Check out the Queen and My childhood home:

View Larger Map

Cool.. but a little freaky..

Some people have short memories, thanks to YouTube our memory can be verified.

You can't rewrite history in the age of television and video.

I haven't blogged since Thursday. Crap, I've been busy. Also, Draco is becoming a bit of a computer hog. If anyone is on it and he wants it, he tells us to "die". I think he picked that up from his brother, who can be heard saying - "oh man, I died", daily. Also, Drake has gotten very good with the mouse and computer, he can make you "die" if you aren't quick enough...

Anywhoo, Granny and I made about 10 dozen pierogis for Christmas today. If you've never had a real pierogi, you should try to. No, "Mrs. T's" don't count, they are crap. There is no comparison between homemade and store bought. If anyone is interested, I can post the recipe(s).

I have to go pack Jake up for his school camping trip. Yes, a winter camping trip. Sounds pretty cool to me.

You don't have to support it and you don't have to tell me why it will ruin the economy. I just want to know this. Do any of you know what The Fair Tax is? Because it appears the commenters at Balloon Juice don't have a flipping clue.

Michael has the patience of a saint (even though he doesn't believe in them). :-)

In case you don't, you can read about The Fair Tax here.

I just took the ABC News: Match-o-Matic 2008 Presidential match quiz.

My top 3 Candidates according to the issues are:

• #3 Barack Obama

• #2 Mike Huckabee

• #1 Mike Gravel

What? That's insane! Or maybe I'm just bi-political or bi-curious...

And I'm heading for a cup of coffee. My eyes are blurred and I hear my mom utter from her computer..."Obama's leading in Iowa?" She couldn't believe that Hillary slipped in the polls. She then said, "what is wrong with these people? Obama can't win. I'd never vote for him, what is their problem?"

Without even opening my eyes, I say in passing. These are the same people that thought John Kerry was a good nominee, do you really have to ask? They are idiots.

Then I just laughed and got my coffee. After coffee, I consoled her with the knowledge that there is very little difference between Hillary and Rudy. So, if she can't have one, she can certainly have the other.

To STFU!

Hugo Chavez = L-O-S-E-R

The New Republic investigates the Beauchamp stories and says oops. After 14 pages of reading we get this:

In retrospect, we never should have put Beauchamp in this situation. He was a young soldier in a war zone, an untried writer without journalistic training. We published his accounts of sensitive events while granting him the shield of anonymity--which, in the wrong hands, can become license to exaggerate, if not fabricate.

When I last spoke with Beauchamp in early November, he continued to stand by his stories. Unfortunately, the standards of this magazine require more than that. And, in light of the evidence available to us, after months of intensive re-reporting, we cannot be confident that the events in his pieces occurred in exactly the manner that he described them. Without that essential confidence, we cannot stand by these stories.

We the public, thank you. Thank you for letting us know that you can't stand by the story published almost a year ago and the two others that published six and seven months later.

I saw this and it reminded me of this deranged bitch that keeps emailing me.