happy thanksgiving everyone!

i'm up early to start preparing my prize winning turkey again, scallop lasagna, yummy mashed potatoes etc. and drink lots and lots of wine! here's a little inappropriate political humour cartoon for you! enjoy your day! and "thank you" for reading my blog!

love beams,

chauncey d

man tries to pay bill with drawing of a spider

below is an actual email exchange that happened...it's so, so, so funny!


From: Jane Gilles
Date: Wednesday 8 Oct 2008 12.19pm
To: David Thorne
Subject: Overdue account

Dear David,
Our records indicate that your account is overdue by the amount of $233.95. If you have already made this payment please contact us within the next 7 days to confirm payment has been applied to your account and is no longer outstanding.

Yours sincerely, Jane Gilles


From: David Thorne
Date: Wednesday 8 Oct 2008 12.37pm
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Re: Overdue account

Dear Jane,
I do not have any money so am sending you this drawing I did of a spider instead. I value the drawing at $233.95 so trust that this settles the matter.

Regards, David.



From: Jane Gilles
Date: Thursday 9 Oct 2008 10.07am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Overdue account

Dear David,
Thankyou for contacting us. Unfortunately we are unable to accept drawings as payment and your account remains in arrears of $233.95. Please contact us within the next 7 days to confirm payment has been applied to your account and is no longer outstanding.

Yours sincerely, Jane Gilles


From: David Thorne
Date: Thursday 9 Oct 2008 10.32am
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Re: Overdue account

Dear Jane,
Can I have my drawing of a spider back then please.

Regards, David.


From: Jane Gilles
Date: Thursday 9 Oct 2008 11.42am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Overdue account

Dear David,
You emailed the drawing to me. Do you want me to email it back to you?

Yours sincerely, Jane Gilles


From: David Thorne
Date: Thursday 9 Oct 2008 11.56am
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Overdue account

Dear Jane,

Yes please.

Regards, David.


From: Jane Gilles
Date: Thursday 9 Oct 2008 12.14pm
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Overdue account

Attached


From: David Thorne
Date: Friday 10 Oct 2008 09.22am
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Whose spider is that?

Dear Jane, Are you sure this drawing of a spider is the one I sent you? This spider only has seven legs and I do not feel I would have made such an elementary mistake when I drew it.

Regards, David.


From: Jane Gilles
Date: Friday 10 Oct 2008 11.03am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Whose spider is that?

Dear David, Yes it is the same drawing. I copied and pasted it from the email you sent me on the 8th. David your account is still overdue by the amount of $233.95. Please make this payment as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely, Jane Gilles


From: David Thorne
Date: Friday 10 Oct 2008 11.05am
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Automated Out of Office Response

Thankyou for contacting me. I am currently away on leave, traveling through time and will be returning last week.

Regards, David.


From: David Thorne
Date: Friday 10 Oct 2008 11.08am
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Re: Re: Whose spider is that?

Hello, I am back and have read through your emails and accept that despite missing a leg, that drawing of a spider may indeed be the one I sent you. I realise with hindsight that it is possible you rejected the drawing of a spider due to this obvious limb ommission but did not point it out in an effort to avoid hurting my feelings. As such, I am sending you a revised drawing with the correct number of legs as full payment for any amount outstanding. I trust this will bring the matter to a conclusion.

Regards, David.



From: Jane Gilles
Date: Monday 13 Oct 2008 2.51pm
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Whose spider is that?

Dear David, As I have stated, we do not accept drawings in lei of money for accounts outstanding. We accept cheque, bank cheque, money order or cash. Please make a payment this week to avoid incurring any additional fees.

Yours sincerely, Jane Gilles


From: David Thorne
Date: Monday 13 Oct 2008 3.17pm
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Whose spider is that?

I understand and will definately make a payment this week if I remember. As you have not accepted my second drawing as payment, please return the drawing to me as soon as possible. It was silly of me to assume I could provide you with something of completely no value whatsoever, waste your time and then attach such a large amount to it.

Regards, David.


From: Jane Gilles
Date: Tuesday 14 Oct 2008 11.18am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Whose spider is that?

Attached

so tired of being an unintentional cupid

ok...i realized..i spend a lot of time making blog posts about politics, current events, and weird anomalies of nature...i spend time posting hot dance tracks and freaky videos but i think it's time to start posting more about how i feel personally and here it goes....


'i'm so sick and fucking tired of playing the unintentional cupid"
there i said it...

time and time again, i, for some scientifically unexplained reason, am always the damned catalyst for other people finding love and i'm always left befuddled and alone. i have this magic penchant for connecting two people that have never met before and then they go off and have a sordid love affair or become soul fucking mates...or at least they date for a year or so. unfortunately, it seems that this is my calling in life and the only way i can possibly do this according to the rules is stay single and alone for the rest of my life. i know...cue violins...but seriously...it has happened so many times i can't even count anymore! and yes...you guessed it...it happened again.

just the other night i went to a show with a new friend that i definitely had a little fancy for but was using the night to get to know him to see if i wanted to pursue him for more than a friendship. i did my best to not have any expectations and i think i was kind of successful and the most exciting part of it all is that it may have been the start of a new and exciting friendship. alas, as the night progressed i was feeling those special sparks and since it has been so, so long since anyone affected me in that way i wasn't sure how to go about letting that person know. yes...i was out of practice you could say. i also was faced with the conflict of possibly ruining the possible new friendship by throwing in the dilemma of me saying that i was interested and then them not be interested and that pushing him away as a possible friend. since i have little to no major former relationships to fall back on or if i do start dating someone it always lasts a few weeks, i tend to want to feel the other person out and see if they are interested first so i know whether it would be worthwhile to progress onward with my testimony. again i was trying not to throw a stick into the spokes and look for hints or figure out any kind of signs...i just wanted to have a relaxing fun time getting to know the guy. i felt like we hit it off pretty famously. we are both djs and we both have similar taste in music. it's actually how we met. i was djing and he came to find out who the dj was because he was enjoying the music so much. i was certainly attracted to him but because of my towering self esteem (sarcasm of course) i always guess that the other person must fall for me because of my wit and sense of humour and startling intellect and humbleness (haha) because i guess in my head my looks are for getting simply laid not a boyfriend. although it sounds ridiculous...i don't necessarily think it is. sex is so easy to get in nyc if you know where to go and how to play the game, but meeting someone you can have sex with and talk for hours on the phone, share a good film, dinner, art installation, song and most of all silence with is the hardest thing to come across. that's the way it seems for me at least. i've grown into a 'type'...shaved head, goatee, hairy and stocky...it's all the rage in nyc to be a chubby, manly bear so i'm definitely not on a lot of people's short list but behind this bear is a lot more.
i'm going off on a soap box tangent....sorry
so after we see a show we go to my favourite bar to wait for his friend to meet us and then go a couple blocks east to go hear a friend of mine spin at one of the newest bars in the east village. i introduce him to my friends and he stays for one more drink and then leaves. i'm on a lovely high, having just spent a wonderful night with someone i'm just getting to know and wondering the rest of the night whether he's thinking of me in that special way or not...my favourite kind of torture. my biggest mistake was not peeing on him to mark my territory or at least (haha) letting any and all of my single friends that i was interested in him because i find out two days later that somehow one of my friends exchanged numbers with him without me knowing and they end up spending the next two nights together hanging out and basically falling in some form of "intense"ness.
naturally, anger and jealousy pump through my veins and i'm completely furious at another one of my unintentional stupid cupid moments. should i have been more upfront with the guy i hung out with? should i have run ahead and warned everyone that i was going to meet up with that the guy i'm with is someone that i'm interested in when i was still in the midst of sharing the night with him? should i have grabbed him and kissed him before he left? should i have expected my 'friend' to pull me aside or text me the next day and ask me whether i was on a date with the guy or at least interested? i don't know. all i know is that another one got away possibly because they weren't interested in me anyway, i hesitated too much or simply thought too much of my friends...i don't know. all that remains is my frustrating questions that will probably never be answered. i'm trying to make peace with the situation but the most annoying thing about it is i haven't heard from the new friend since saturday night when the past two days and nights were filled with a back and forth text assault that got me excited about this possible journey in the first place. and initially, he is the one who gave me his number first on myspace. i know, as usual, i'm making a huge ordeal out of this entire situation but honestly, i haven't felt that giddy in a long time about someone i just met and before i could even find out whether something might have happened...the opportunity gets ripped out from under me like a sloppy magician..leaving all my glasses and dishes broken on the linoleum (how's that for a metaphor haha). as you can see i can do nothing but keep my sense of humour alive in the situation because this ain't my first time at the rodeo. i'm trying my best to not be bitter but that's the only flavour in my mouth at the time....i guess i could try a little harder.
i'm just so completely over somehow getting left out of the magic...i'm sick of it...i'm tired of it...it's making my blood boil as we speak...that's why i had to write this here...to excorcise it out of me even just a little bit. when is it proverbially my turn?

ok back to your regularly programmed show...

i have given in to the single ladies mayhem!

and it's replies, comments and parodies! oh my god! the original video is fantastic and i'm really impressed by it awesome references to Fosse but you HAVE to see these three immediately! the first one is by an obvious well trained male dancer from new york and the other two need to be watched to be believed. prepare to be shocked, entertained and befuddled...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGemjUvafBw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCYc9zM6R3Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eidpOdDX8Qg

meteor in alberta!

this is just fantastic! i wonder what they will find at the site that it landed? how do the bible thumpers explain this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSL3b6bCR7s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcAGHkEvkDU

fuerza bruta : boys night!

i got a free ticket for tonight's show! cannot wait!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRCnBFC9Jo4

can someone shoot mike huckabee please?

seriously...this is the kind of stuff that really makes every inch of my skin crawl...how could anyone be so fucked up and wrong and still stay alive and have a job in the government? it doesn't make any sense to me!

Huckabee: Gays Haven't Crossed Civil Rights "Violence" Threshold Yet

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee was on The View talking about same-sex marriage and declaring that gay rights are not civil rights because gays have not had violence inflicted upon them like Blacks have.

Said Huckabee: "People who are homosexuals should have every right in terms of their civil rights, to be employed, to do anything they want. But that’s not really the issue. I know you talked about it and I think you got into it a little bit early on. But when we’re talking about a redefinition of an institution, that’s different than individual civil rights. We’re never going to convince each other...But here is the difference. Bull Connor was hosing people down in the streets of Alabama. John Lewis got his skull cracked on the Selma bridge."

No doubt Harvey Milk, Matthew Shepard, Teish Cannon and the thousands of other victims of anti-gay hate crimes would beg to differ, if they could. As Think Progress notes, "Huckabee’s lame violence threshold is nothing more than a shoddy attempt to conceal his deep and fundamental homophobia."

Watch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UkXo9tCv48

go to Think Progress here for more of the story

betty white is a frisky lady!

found this on my facebook friend bobby's page...it is hysterical! they broke the mold when they made betty for sure!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxL7MKsGoPo

vintage madonna commercials

i've never seen these before! japan really is its own universe isn't it?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90aKro2QNjc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MJcIyZQw2o

slash and his wife for equal rights

this is great! its nice to see support from the rock and roll community...now all we need is some rappers do the same!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bun4J3OhwQc

mgmt - kids

i play this song a lot and love it but haven't seen the video yet. my new west coast crush mr. m posted it on my myspace page and i just had to share it with ya'll. thanks my sexy mr. m!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgtAYctYSVA

chicken lady goes to the strip club!

funny, funny shit!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YwnAdT9I_o

i hearby call upon a prince boycott!!!

i am disgusted by this and never want to play another prince song again!

Prince Says God Against Homosexuality

By Ryan Tate, 7:50 AM on Mon Nov 17 2008

It's been known for more than five years that Prince is a Jehovah's Witness who goes door-to-door trying to win converts to the austere faith, as mentioned in this week's New Yorker. Less appreciated: the musician's growing distance from the liberal artistic values that pervade show business, despite his move to Los Angeles seven years ago. As Claire Hoffman writes, Prince has a budding relationship with Christian conservative media mogul Philip Anschutz, of Denver, and seems to be opposed to gay marriage and adoption. These can' be popular views among Prince's fellow California-based rockers:

When asked about his perspective on social issues—gay marriage, abortion—Prince tapped his Bible and said, “God came to earth and saw people sticking it wherever and doing it with whatever, and he just cleared it all out. He was, like, ‘Enough.’ ”

If Prince wants to get attention for his views, airing them amid nationwide demonstrations against the passage of a California anti-gay-marriage initiative will probably do the trick. What that does for the "celibate" musician's sales and popularity is another matter.

i love judge judy!

it's nice to see her displaying such honest intelligence and encouraging morality towards the current situation. sending her major love and props!

thank you judge judy!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7hStSRMAgQ

olberman on prop 8 - tear jerker

wow...wow...wow...i wish this could be broadcast on every news channel simultaneously. my pal guy ruben posted this on myspace and i just had to throw it up on the blog.
this man is a true soldier! the quiver in his voice really got me all choked up. i love this man and i love that one of the first thing's he speaks about is that he has no personal stake in this issue....check it out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4xfMisqab8

protest in nyc on wednesday!!!

mormon temple protest this wednesday, november 12th on the upper west side at 6:30pm! please come and help make a difference and scare a mormon while you're at it!

Date:	Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Time:	6:30pm - 8:00pm
Location:	New York Manhattan Mormon Temple
Street:	125 Columbus Ave at 65th Street
City/Town:	New York, NY
	View Map Google MapQuest Microsoft Yahoo

Contact Info

Phone:	6462464848
Email:	cojo63@aol.com

Description

Tens of thousands of our brothers and sisters are in the streets in California and Salt Lake City and around the country protesting the votes banning same-sex marriage in California.

Join them! Make your voices heard right here in New York City.

We will tell the Mormon Church how we feel about its relentless campaign to condemn and control our lives. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
was, by far, the biggest financer of California's heinous and hateful
Proposition 8. The Mormon Church begged their members to donate money to Prop 8, pouring 20 million dollars into the campaign. And their attacks on us didn't start there and aren't about to end. They're plotting right now to bring their money and influence to bear against the LGBT community everywhere in this country, including trying to prevent marriage equality in New York.

Join us in speaking out against hate and discrimination! Stop them taking away your rights!

PEACEFUL DEMONSTRATION - BRING SIGNS -- ALERT THE MEDIA

Media Contact: Corey Johnson - (646) 246-4848

dirty chauncey treat - the white flash

it's time for another dirty chauncey treat...this one is by a group called modeselektor featuring guest vocals by thom yorke of radiohead. the song is remixed by chauncey favourite trentemoller and is gorgeously grimey. it starts off with a fidgetty beat and then slowly transforms into a voilent stomper! i'll definitely be playing it this friday at the eagle for the gruff party!

modeselektor featuring thom yorke - the white flash (trentemoller remix)

people have the power

i don't know why obama didn't pick this as his campaign song...it's absolutely perfect for today! here's a live version of patti smith's "people have the power" and i posted the lyrics below so you can sing along as you listen and really get the song at first listen! enjoy! power to the people!

patti smith - people have the power (live)

I was dreaming in my dreaming
of an aspect bright and fair
and my sleeping it was broken
but my dream it lingered near
in the form of shining valleys
where the pure air recognized
and my senses newly opened
I awakened to the cry
that the people / have the power
to redeem / the work of fools
upon the meek / the graces shower
it's decreed / the people rule

The people have the power
The people have the power
The people have the power
The people have the power

Vengeful aspects became suspect
and bending low as if to hear
and the armies ceased advancing
because the people had their ear
and the shepherds and the soldiers
lay beneath the stars
exchanging visions
and laying arms
to waste / in the dust
in the form of / shining valleys
where the pure air / recognized
and my senses / newly opened
I awakened / to the cry

Refrain

Where there were deserts
I saw fountains
like cream the waters rise
and we strolled there together
with none to laugh or criticize
and the leopard
and the lamb
lay together truly bound
I was hoping in my hoping
to recall what I had found
I was dreaming in my dreaming
god knows / a purer view
as I surrender to my sleeping
I commit my dream to you

Refrain

The power to dream / to rule
to wrestle the world from fools
it's decreed the people rule
it's decreed the people rule
LISTEN
I believe everything we dream
can come to pass through our union
we can turn the world around
we can turn the earth's revolution
we have the power
People have the power ...

got milk? harvey milk that is...

this is just what i needed...what we need right now! enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pvfexvihri8


and here's a lot more to think about!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vknHKTy1MLY

britney joins madonna on stage!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKPLC4OCN7w






and watch how madonna has the power to make young kids dance and strip naked! gotta love the future fag behind the camera (he sounds like me when i was a little kid haha)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3noQGQHWAzc

comic relief - private banana plus

here's a little break from all the dark, gloomy political stuff i've been posting but it's still war related haha...a shame it's such a short clip...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gKS2YV62Sg


and here's another really funny yet strangely sexy clip that i know you'll hate to admit you enjoy haha

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s651jrL6fh8

thanks to my similarly dirty-minded pal jason for leading me to the way of these delightful vids

mormons stole our rights!

go to www.mormonsstoleourrights.com and sign the petition and learn more about what they are capable of and what they have done to glbt rights so far!

melissa etheridge is my hero!

Etheridge : No Marriage? No Taxes!

Understandably upset over her fellow Californian's decision to prohibit gay marriage, aurally-inclined lesbian Melissa Etheridge has vowed to withhold the buckets of money the state would have reaped from her taxes. Writes Etheridge at the Daily Beast:

"Okay. So Prop 8 passed. Alright, I get it. 51% of you think that I am a second class citizen. Alright then. So my wife, uh I mean, roommate? Girlfriend? Special lady friend? You are gonna have to help me here because I am not sure what to call her now.…

Okay, so I am taking that to mean I do not have to pay my state taxes because I am not a full citizen. I mean that would just be wrong, to make someone pay taxes and not give them the same rights, sounds sort of like that taxation without representation thing from the history books.

Okay, cool I don't mean to get too personal here but there is a lot I can do with the extra half a million dollars that I will be keeping instead of handing it over to the state of California. Oh, and I am sure Ellen will be a little excited to keep her bazillion bucks that she pays in taxes too. Wow, come to think of it, there are quite a few of us fortunate gay folks that will be having some extra cash this year. What recession? We're gay!"

why gay marriage was defeated in california

By JOHN CLOUD John Cloud – Thu Nov 6, 2:30 am ET
TIME Magazine

Nov. 4 may have been a joyous day for liberals, but it wasn't a great day for lesbians and gays. Three big states - Arizona, California and Florida - voted to change their constitutions to define marriage as a heterosexuals-only institution. The losses cut deep on the gay side. Arizona had rejected just such a constitutional amendment only two years ago. It had been the first and only state to have rebuffed a constitutional ban on marriage equality. In Florida, where the law requires constitutional amendments to win by 60%, a marriage amendment passed with disturbing ease, 62.1% to 37.9%.

And then there was California. Gay strategists working for marriage equality in this election cycle had focused most of their attention on that state. Losing there dims hopes that shimmered brightly just a few weeks ago - hopes that in an Obama America, straight people would be willing to let gay people have the basic right to equality in their personal relationships. It appears not.

The California vote was close but not razor-thin: as of 10 a.m. P.T., with 96.4% of precincts reporting, gays had lost 52.2% to 47.8%. Obama did not suffer the much-discussed "Bradley effect" this year, but it appears that gay people were afflicted by some version of it. As of late October, a Field Poll found that the pro-gay side was winning 49% to 44%, with 7% undecided. But gays could not quite make it to 49% on Election Day, meaning a few people may have been unwilling to tell pollsters that they intended to vote against equal marriage rights.

Gays are used to losing these constitutional amendment battles - as I said, Arizona was the only exception - but gay activists cannot claim they didn't have the money to wage the California fight. According to an analysis of the most recent reports from the California secretary of state, the pro-equality side raised an astonishing $43.6 million, compared with just $29.8 million for those who succeeded in keeping gays from marrying. The money the gay side raised is surprising for two reasons: first, the cash-Hoover known as the Obama campaign was sucking down millions of dollars a day from the nation's liberals. Many gays expected it to be difficult to raise money to fight Proposition 8 and its plan to outlaw same-sex marriage from Democrats eager to give to Obama and to the outside 527 groups supporting him. As recently as August, one of the nation's top gay political givers told me that he expected the gay side to raise no more than $25 million.

But a series of high-profile Hollywood donations, as well as a frantic, nationwide push for gays to get out their checkbooks, turned out to be quite successful in the short term. East Coast gays had been lulled into inaction by the Oct. 10 Connecticut Supreme Court decision granting gay couples the right to marry - a decision that hadn't required gays to write a single check. But gay people in Los Angeles and San Francisco cajoled and shamed their Eastern friends into opening their wallets. Thousands of California gay couples got married in the past few weeks, and I didn't see a single invitation to a gay ceremony that didn't include a plea to donate to the pro-equality campaign in lieu of buying wedding gifts.

Still, even though gays were fighting to preserve a basic right, it was the anti-equality side in California that seemed to have the most fervor. A symbolic low point for the gay side came on Oct. 13, when the Sacramento Bee ran a remarkable story about Rick and Pam Patterson, a Mormon couple of modest means - he drives a 10-year-old Honda Civic, she raises their five boys - who had withdrawn $50,000 from their savings account and given it to the pro-8 campaign. "It was a decision we made very prayerfully," Pam Patterson, 48, told the Bee's Jennifer Garza. "Was it an easy decision? No. But it was a clear decision, one that had so much potential to benefit our children and their children."

You could argue that marriage equality has little to do with children, but Patterson seemed to speak to Californians' inchoate phobias about gays and kids. On the Friday before the Bee story appeared, a group of San Francisco first-graders was taken to city hall to see their lesbian teacher marry her partner. Apparently the field trip was a parent's idea - not the teacher's - but the optics of the event were terrible for the gay side. It seemed like so much indoctrination.

That news came around the same time the pro-amendment forces were running a devastating ad showing a self-satisfied San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom shouting wild-eyed at a rally that same-sex marriage was inevitable "whether you like it or not." The announcer then said darkly, "It's no longer about tolerance. Acceptance of gay marriage is now mandatory." Many fence sitters were turned off by Newsom's arrogance; blogger Andrew Sullivan attributed mid-October polls against the gay side to the "Newsom effect."

Gays came back in some polls, but they couldn't pull out a win. Part of the reason is that Obama inspired unprecedented numbers of African Americans to vote. Polls show that black voters are more likely to attend church than whites and less likely to be comfortable with equality for gay people. According to CNN, African Americans voted against marriage equality by a wide margin, 69% to 31%. High turnout of African Americans in Florida probably help explain that state's lopsided vote to ban same-sex weddings.

Gays did win some victories yesterday. A new openly gay member of Congress, Jared Polis of Colorado, will go to the House in January. And thanks in part to the Cabinet, the group of elite gay political donors I wrote about recently, Democrats took the New York senate. The entire New York legislature is now in Democratic hands, and New York's governor, David Paterson, is one of the nation's most eloquent pro-marriage-equality representatives. He is also, by the way, African American. Perhaps he can help bridge the gap between gays and blacks that widened on Nov. 4.

africa is a continent?

palin didn't know continents vs. countries: mc cain leak



Failure may be an orphan, but McCain campaign veterans seem to be doing their best to pin blame for defeat on their MAVERICK VP choice Sarah Palin. Fox News Channel political correspondent Carl Cameron today disclosed the first of what he predicts will be an "avalanche" of unflattering stories about the Republican vice presidential nominee: Off-the-record tips from McCain aides that Palin did not know Africa was a continent or the constituent countries in the NAFTA treaty. He later told Bill O'Reilly that Palin didn't know the constituent nations of North America, either. More damning, from a campaign perspective?

Far worse for the campaign was that Palin did not allow aides to prep her for her disastrous interview with Katie Couric, thus exposing her ignorance — or "lack... of knowledgeability" as Cameron diplomatically puts it — to the general public. This intractability was supposedly followed by Palin temper tantrums when things, inevitably, went poorly.

If bitter ex-McCain people are trying, as it seems, to torpedo Palin's chances of running in 2012 or 2016, it's hard to see how these leaks will accomplish that. If repeated on-camera stupidity by Palin wasn't enough to destroy those hopes, unverified and anonymously-sourced tales from the campaign trail are hardly going to do the trick.

But they'll sure be entertaining!

and here she actually sounds almost human and unscripted...god, allah and mohammed forbid she even considers running in 2012!

nobody wants bush's memoirs

You know what's next for any lame duck president: the inevitable post-presidency memoir. Only problem, other than the fact that he struggles with basic grammar and syntax: Bush is a hugely unpopular outgoing president, and most of the country hates him. Publishers are wondering what the market for a potential Bush memoir would be, and the consensus is: um, awkward! No publisher is clambering to give him $15 million like they did Clinton; certainly "the foreign rights interest will be considerably less," says the SF Chronicle. How have other unpopular presidents handled their memoirs?

The current wait-time from moving out of the White House to publishing a book appears to be about two years. Taking into consideration the time it takes to write (or ghostwrite) a book and put it through the slow publishing process suggests that most presidents have gotten their book deals right after leaving office. Here's what past unpopular presidents did with their memoirs:

Jimmy Carter: left office in 1981; Keeping Faith: Memoirs of a President was published in 1982. The New York Times verdict? "Dry and passionless." Post-presidency, Carter wrote twenty-four books, including a poetry collection and a historical novel. He also wrote a children's book that his daughter illustrated, called The Little Baby Snoogle-Fleejer.

Gerald Ford: Out of office in '77, he published his autobiography, A Time to Heal, in 1979. Review from Foreign Policy: "This is the shortest and most honest of recent presidential memoirs but there are no surprises, no deep probings of motives or events. No more here than meets the eye".

Lyndon B. Johnson, who didn't run for re-election in 1968 after Vietnam overwhelmed his presidency, published his memoirs, The Vantage Point, in 1971. Everyone still blames him for fucking up that war.

Nobody really liked Harry Truman when he left office in 1953. Nevertheless, his two-book memoirs were published in 1955 and 1956. The New York Times Book Review called it a "volume of distinction"!

Herbert Hoover, unpopular Depression-era president for whom the "Hooverville" homeless encampments were named after: he left office in 1933, and published The Memoirs of Herbert Hoover in 1952. Wrote the Times that year, "THERE is no doubt that Mr. Hoover always has had a case in defense of his ill-starred administration; but when he comes to make it it turns out too good a one. This is the third — and we hope not the final — volume of a fascinating series of memoirs."

my new favourite website is for slate magazine!

Left at the Altar

What happens now to gay marriage, in California and elsewhere?

By Kenji Yoshino

Also in Slate, Farhad Manjoo asked whether Barack Obama helped push California's gay-marriage ban over the top.

On Tuesday, California voters passed Proposition 8, the amendment to the state constitution that eliminates the right of same-sex couples to marry, scuttling a California Supreme Court ruling in May that granted that right. The amendment's passage represents a serious setback to the right of gays and lesbians to marry.

But how serious? Prop 8's consequence can be best understood by examining its effects on three different groups: gay couples who seek to marry in California in the future, gay couples who entered into legal marriages in California before the amendment passed, and gay couples in other states who are wondering when same-sex marriage will be legalized where they live.

The effects of Prop 8 on gay couples who seek to marry in California in the future are clear. California will have a moratorium on same-sex marriage for the foreseeable future. Although a state Constitutional challenge was filed today, the only plausible legal challenge to Prop 8 is a federal constitutional one. But gay-rights groups will be loath to bring such a challenge, as it could be reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court, which is not viewed as a friendly audience. A more likely response would be another proposition to reverse this one, offered through California's relatively flexible referendum process. But that political remedy will likely be some years away, given the political and financial capital expended on this last fight.

The effects of Prop 8 on the more than 16,000 gay couples in California who got married after the state high court authorized them to do so is much less clear. California Attorney General Jerry Brown has opined that he believes those marriages will not get washed out by Prop 8. His position comports with the general intuition that retroactive legislation should not deprive people of vested rights like marriage.

However, that intuition will not necessarily be vindicated. As I have pointed out elsewhere, there is a surprising dearth of federal constitutional authority that would protect existing same-sex marriages from retroactive attempts to undo them. It may well be, as California constitutional-law professor Grace Blumberg of UCLA has argued, that the California Constitution would preclude the retroactive application of Prop 8. But as most experts agree, the outcome here is uncertain.

This is in part because a court might find that Prop 8 does not even constitute retroactive legislation. The amendment states that "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." A court could find that the pre-election marriages remain in existence but that California cannot recognize their validity going forward. Under that interpretation, a California same-sex marriage that was valid before today could be recognized by another state but not in the Golden State itself. Indeed, a state like New York that recognizes out-of-state same-sex marriages—even though it doesn't yet grant same-sex marriages—might be required to recognize a pre-election California marriage because of a state court decision that ordered the recognition of same-sex and cross-sex marriages.

Finally, the effects of Prop 8 on the national movement for same-sex marriage are significant but not devastating. Before Tuesday, court opinions legalizing same-sex marriage in Massachusetts, California, and Connecticut suggested that the right was gaining traction. The passage today of constitutional bans on same-sex marriage not just in California but also in Arizona and Florida provides a counterpoint.

Nonetheless, generational and global trends both ultimately favor full marriage equality in this country. The situation here is similar to the two-steps-forward, one-step-back trajectory that led to the legalization of interracial marriage. To be sure, Prop 8 represents a large step back. But the nation's march toward marriage equality won't stop.

cindy mc cain "like any other female human"?

Cindy McCain Claims She's Just Like Any Other Female Human

rice makes nice!

way, way, way, way too little way, way, way too late...cannot wait till she goes on trial for war crimes with the rest of bush's henchmen...

WASHINGTON -- An emotional Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reveled Wednesday in Barack Obama's election, calling it an "extraordinary step forward" for the nation.

A child of the segregated deep South who became the highest-ranking African-American woman ever in American government and was once considered a potential Republican presidential nominee, Rice called the Democratic president-elect "inspirational" and said his victory was proof of America's promise.

"This was an exercise in American democracy of which Americans across the political spectrum are justifiably proud," she said.

"As an African-American, I'm especially proud," said Rice, her eyes glistening with emotion, "because this is a country that's been through a long journey, in terms of overcoming wounds and making race" less of a factor in life. "That work is not done, but yesterday was obviously an extraordinary step forward."

"One of the great things about representing this country is that it continues to surprise," she told reporters at the State Department at a hastily arranged briefing just hours before leaving Washington for the Middle East on a peacemaking trip. "It continues to renew itself. It continues to beat all odds and expectations."

Born and raised in Birmingham, Ala., at the height of the civil rights struggle, Rice herself overcame numerous obstacles and stereotypical low expectations. She speaks frequently about how improbable her rise to the corridors of power may seem. But she also notes that she succeeded the first black secretary of state, Colin Powell, and the first female to hold the job, Madeleine Albright.

"You just know that Americans are not going to be satisfied until they really do form that perfect union," she said, referring to the preamble of the Constitution, which begins: "We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union ..."

"And while the perfect union may never be in sight, we just keep working at it and trying," Rice said.

Aides said Rice would likely call Obama, as well as vanquished Republican presidential nominee John McCain, later Wednesday.

She said McCain had been "gracious" in defeat and called him "a great patriot."

"I want to note that President-elect Obama was inspirational and I'm certain he will continue to be," Rice said.

She never said who she planned to vote for, but had hinted broadly that she would support McCain by repeatedly stressing that she is a Republican.

hasselbitch concedes on the view!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8K41g2ttyK4

i think this might be the first time in her life she actually said something that makes sense! and sherri's story was amazingly touching!

america is alive again!

it happened! and we have the distinct pleasure of witnessing it. not only have we elected the first black president of the united states but fourteen million more voters went out and voted yesterday! it is a year of triumph! a magical moment in history has come and has rejuventated not only every single american but people are rejoicing all over the world! i'll write more about how i feel later but i just wanted to post this snazzy pic of me voting yesterday!

madonna has a lot on her mind

i got the chills watching that!

top six reasons to vote in new york!

The Top 6 Reasons To Vote In New York
Or: Why It Still Means A Thing Even If It Ain't Got That Swing

1. Big margin = big mandate. The popular vote doesn't put anyone in the White House, but it affects what presidents can do when they get there. Want Obama to be able to actually do the stuff he's been talking about? Pass universal health care? End the war? Then we need a landslide.
   
   
2. The other things on the ballot matter! For example: Congress. Without more support in the House and Senate, Obama will have a hard time getting progressive laws passed. Plus, there are other important local races and ballot questions in some places.
   
   
3. If you don't vote, everyone can find out. Voting records are public. (Not who you voted for, just whether you voted.) Pretty soon, finding out whether you voted could be as easy as Googling you.
   
   
4. Help make history. You could cast one of the votes that elect the first African-American president. If we win, we'll tell our grandchildren about this election, and they'll tell their grandchildren. Do you really want to have to explain to your great-great-grandchildren that you were just too busy to vote in the most important election in your lifetime?
   
   
5. In New York, you can vote Obama on the Working Families line (Row E). Barack Obama will appear on your ballot twice in New York—first under the Democratic Party, and then again on Row E, the ballot line of New York's growing progressive third party. Voting for Barack Obama on the Working Families Party line counts exactly the same for the presidential race—and it also strengthens one of the most important efforts in the country to push Democrats to be more bold and progressive.
   
   
6. People died so you'd have the right to vote. Self-government—voting to choose our own leaders—is the original American dream. We are heir to a centuries-long struggle for freedom: the American Revolution, and the battles to extend the franchise to those without property, to women, to people of color, and to young people. This year, many will still be denied their right to vote. For those of us who have that right, it's precious. If we waste it, we dishonor those who fought for it and those who fight still.
   
   Live your values. Love your country. Vote.

Click here for information about where to vote, what to bring, and when polls close:

http://www.voteforchange.com

being registered is not enough!

you need to go out and vote! if you just moved make sure you find out where you are registered so you can make sure you're there!

go to vote for change to see where you are registered today so you don't have to worry tomorrow!

here's a video by my friends over at raw deal for their song 'american idle'! VOTE!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhIolLjW3TY

are you hairy?

my pal ultra man rickster posted this on myspace and i decided to snag it for the cerebral jester because it poses some good fodder for thought and asks such simple questions. the comments on youtube are surprising to me. i would have expected more negative reactions but a decent amount of them are positive. i'm also a hairy beast and have combatted that internally and obviously externally over the years. luckily, the bear movement that has happened over the last four or five years in nyc has helped me deal with it and accept it i have also encountered a lot more people that either really get off on the fact that i'm hairy or it really doesn't make a difference to them because it's just 'hair'!

i remember years ago i had my entire back waxed and it might have been the most painful experience of my life! i woke up the next day with tiny blisters in every single pore of my back where i guess either the wax was too hot or the person did something wrong (i wasn't sure). i did it one more time (because you should always try something twice to see if you really don't like it haha) and the same thing happened so i vowed to never do it again. in the summer i usually buzz it down because it's a lot more comfortable in the disgustingly hot city summers but the rest of the year i have grown proud of my 'tight sweater' hahah

i'm also in LOVE with this guy...he is fucking adorable! haha. (he's got that slight jewish voice that i find so strangely sexy...) woof!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy57dje4xbI

what do you think?

madonna hollywood parody

i think cheech and chong got the same girl pregnant and this girl coacha is the end result somehow haha....didn't expect it to be as funny as it was. check it out!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59h95SIRd0M

let the right one in

new critically acclaimed horror movie coming soon...i definitely want to see this! it looks so fantastic and horrifying! it is based on a book so i'm going to try to read that first before watching it! check it out!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvOdM20CWrY


and here's the trailer for the remake of friday the 13th...it looks creepy but i don't think it should have been remade just yet but alas...the absence of originality is a disease in hollywood as of late...thank god movies like the one above are still being made.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VYZGEkh6qk

damage control

vatican urges psychological tests on future priests, to weed out homosexuals

By Philip Pullella Philip Pullella – Thu Oct 30, 7:31 am ETVATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Candidates for the Catholic priesthood should undergo psychological tests to screen out heterosexuals unable to control their sexual urges and those with strong homosexual tendencies, the Vatican said Thursday.

A new document was the second in three years to deal with the effects of a sexual abuse scandal that rocked the Church six years ago.

It said the early detection of "sometimes pathological" psychological defects of men before they become priests would help avoid tragic experiences.

Seminary rectors and other officials should use outside experts if they cannot handle the screening themselves, it said.

"The Church...has a duty of discerning a vocation and the suitability of candidates for the priestly ministry," said the document from the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education.

"The priestly ministry...requires certain abilities as well as moral and theological virtues, which are supported by a human and psychic -- and particularly affective -- equilibrium, so as to allow the subject to be adequately predisposed for giving of himself in the celibate life," it said.

Vatican officials told a news conference the tests would not be obligatory but decided on a case-by-case basis when seminary rectors wanted to be sure a man was qualified for the priesthood.

The testing by a psychologist or psychotherapist should aim to detect "grave immaturity" and imbalances in the candidates' personality.

"Such areas of immaturity would include strong affective dependencies; notable lack of freedom in relations; excessive rigidity of character; lack of loyalty; uncertain sexual identity; deep-seated homosexual tendencies, etc. If this should be the case, the path of formation will have to be interrupted," it said.

A sexual abuse scandal that was first uncovered in the United States in 2002 and then spread throughout the world involved mostly abuse of teenage boys by priests.

The document said it was "not enough to be sure that (a candidate) is capable of abstaining from sexual activity" but also to "evaluate his sexual orientation."

Gay groups have accused the Church of using homosexuals as scapegoats for the abuse scandals.

The document said men with strong homosexual tendencies should not be admitted to the priesthood but it also made references to control of heterosexual urges.

Men should be barred from entering the priesthood if psychological testing makes it "evident that the candidate has difficulty living chastity in celibacy: that is, if celibacy, for him is lived as a burden so heavy that it compromises his affective and relational equilibrium."

Rectors could not force candidates to undergo psychological testing, but the main purpose of the document seemed to be to encourage its use to avoid future scandals.