silveradept | Zip, zip, zoom!

In the season of the VEWPRF, and something that will probably annoy the War on Christmas people (and a lot of others, if I think about it), A Playboy model spread that takes the religious iconography of the Virgin Mary, putting sex and religion togeter, perhaps uncomfortably close for some, despite the origins of many a belief where sexual activity is sacred.

Speaking of the War on Christmas, Washington State has put a moratorium on displays in the Capitol building, after Fred Phelps wanted in on the fun. The Catholic League blames the Governor for not forcing the atheism sign to display in another place or at another time, so that everyone's free speech could be respected, but nobody ever had to worry about opposed viewpoints coexisting and thus drawing the ire of Bill'O and others.

The church that Sarah Palin attended has been torched. Currently investigated as an arson case. If that is true, and someone burnt it down, I have one phrase for you: Stupid, stupid rat creatures.

Of less violent and potentially awe-inspiring matters, pictures of the Hajj and the festival that marks its end. They should probably be put up against masses where the Bishop of Rome is presiding in comparison.

And finally, those hoping to put their faith on their license plates will have to wait, as a federal judge has found that establishing faith-based license plates by government law might very well violate the establishment clause, considering licensing is a government function.

Internationally, the outgoing administrator basically admits that the invasion of Iraq was the catalyst for the subsequent terror and fixing operation of the last six years, says "So What?". Which might explain the pair of shoes thrown at the outgoing administrator by an Iraqi journalist. Who has since been imprisoned, it appears, and has not been set free, despite calls for the government to demonstrate it knows what "free speech" means. The General has his own take on the incident, trying to find a way to absolve the outgoing administrator from blame because the shoes hit the flag. Even after all of this, troops will be staying longer than previously thought, and as opposed to what the deal requires. That's not stopping the surge of new volunteers into the Iraqi security forces. At least the bounties on top terrorists are going down.

In Afghanistan, the outgoing administrator feels there's been progress made, as the President-elect intends to focus more time and troops there.

Elsewhere in the world, former president Carter continues trying to make peace in the Israel-Palestine part of the world, as Moscow crushes an anti-Kremlin demonstration, and apparently, Israel can rest easy - the United States will revenge-nuke Iran if Israel gets nuked first.

Domestically, rumors that TARP funds would be used to help the automakers once the Senate said no to a direct bailout, but after the numbers are run, the reserves left made for reluctance, if my hearing on commentary programs and NPR is correct. The Detroit automobile-based economy may be on its way to total destruction. At least that's the sense I'm getting.

Some rock musicians object, others are proud, that their music is used as a form of psychological torture at Guantanamo Bay. When it comes to prisoner abuse, though, Rumsfeld gets blamed, others get blamed, but the outgoing administrator is apparently blameless, at least not in this report.

Speaking of, the outgoing administrator is doing an awful lot to make his image more positive before he has the historians deciding whether he's been bad or good. Much of this involves deflecting focus away from the land wars in Asia toward all the other actions of this administration,

The President-elect may have his first chance to burnish his image on the domestic front through adopting and sticking to smoking cessation. I can see the ad campaign - "The President quit. You can, too."

In the opinions, Anna Quindlen talks about the obsession of Americans with stuff and how hard economic times will give us a reminder of what we really need and encourage us to get rid of our unused, unwanted junk. Because most of us aren't really hurting - we just spent too much on frivolous things, and now we're paying the price for it. Shame on us all for our wanton consumer ways. [Bad username or site: http://ldragoon.livejournal.com/329740.html @ livejournal.com]One Withering Sarcasm and Stop Guilt-Tripping Me, Mom warning, coming up, courtesy of

ldragoon. Just remember all that library usage you got when times were down when times come back up and there's a millage request on the line. And most people want to thwack Ms. Quindlen for forgetting - medicine, divorce, and joblessness are the three biggest expenses in most people's lives, and those tend to drive people destitute much faster than consumer shinies.

Austin Cline gives his farewell to the outgoing administrator by pointing out where he's headed, where he came from, and how the suburbs raise people who like staying homogeneous and push out others who don't fit. All this indicates the the outgoing administrator was trying to make the country into a big suburb, because it was good for him and potentially all he knew.

The WSJ praises those who post and sign "Charter '08", a document calling for the end of Communist Party rule in China and the institution of multiparty constitutional democracy.

Bill'O tosses around some names of people that could vie for the person of most impact for 2008, before settling back on the United States military as his choice. Adding on more, Mike Gallagher gushes about the forgiveness of a man whose family was cruelly taken away from him when a failed military jet crashed into their neighborhood, while pointedly waggling his finger at the people who want to investigate the cause and some imaginary group, Code Pink, apparently, that would want to bring the pilot up on murder charges. Okay, plane experiencing trouble, pilot ejects. I doubt any prosecutor would be able to find a murder charge in there, unless he wants to try and prove that the pilot aimed and attempted to crash his jet into that specific house. Shame on Mr. Gallagher for using the accident to try and hammer his ideological opponents with straw men.

Austin Hill seems happy that the President-elect is talking about things like national security in relation to visiting Islamic countries, believing that it means the President-elect understands that Islam is a terrorist religion and that he has to deal with that, with force if needed. From the quotes provided, it sounds more like the President recognizes, as we all do, that there are extreme positions of any religion, that Islam is currently in the crosshairs of the fear-fear-terror, and so he has to be careful so as not to legitimize terrorist aspects while continuing to pursue good relations with the majority of peaceful Muslims.

Takis Michas on the riots in Greece - and how the government has basically let them happen without stepping in.

Ken Connor starts talking about corruption, and ends with a screed on how good a public servant George Washington is, how our corruption scandals are a reflection of our national character, and that it's all because we mock Judeo-Christian values. For a slightly more sane take, Scott Simon talks about how even the moral relativists of Illinois are appalled by the actions of Blagojevich. John fund thinks the current move to stop governors from appointing vacancies is a way of letting the Daley Machine control who goes in, and stopping the Lt. Gov. from appointing someone the machine doesn't control.

Finally, doing his best to try and connect the President-elect to the corruption of Illinois, Michael Reagan rants about the Daley Machine and how, if the President-elect ever benefited or participated in the machine, he should be blamed for everything the machine has ever done or will do. And, speaking of spectres that should be long-dead, Diana West devotes column space to the Obama birth-certificate matter, ostensibly as an example of how the President-elect is never near or around or participating in scandalous matters, from Jeremiah Wright to Bill Ayers to the latest corruption in Illinois. And, of course, the willing MSM lapdogs who immediately believe the official version, no matter what else contradicts it. Still, the idea that the President-elect should release a document that is private and privileged just to satisfy those who believe that he is foreign-born, probably appearing from the same mindset that believes him a Muslim and is cowering in fear at the inevitable God-sent disaster that is coming, is rather silly.

Peggy Noonan on the new spirit of togetherness and restraint in America, after our fabulous wealth sort of... vanished. So not quite so much for spending privately, but a want to spend more governmentally to build concrete things. For Martin Neil Baily and Matthew J. Slaughter, the secret to success is in raising productivity by removing regulations. Throw it open wide, and let the engine run in competition everywhere! We'll all benefit from unfettered capitalism. Plus, the President should be able to negotiate treaties without actually having to run them through Congress, y'know, the people actually constitutionally authorized to make treaties. In all cases, for these gentlemen, the market is all.

Perhaps a subset of that idea is the WSJ's suggestion that traditional teacher certification be forced to compete with alternative certification methods, because those alternative methods produce great teachers and better student learning, and are traditionally stocked with more minorities than the union-favored and college-requiring traditional certifications. What would be a good argument for "get teachers, however possible, who are good" becomes a union bash and denigrates courses about education and development that may be rather handy and helpful to teachers so that they understand the audiences they're trying to get to understand.

Last out of the opinion section, A former Justice Department official complaints about the editorialization by prosecutors and FBI Agents in the Blagojevich case, stating that such comments are a breach of ethics for them, and that prosecutors and agents are restricted only to the facts and no opinions about them.

In technology, Wired is giving away a goodie bag to some lucky person, research indicating the virus behind cold sores may also be behind Alzheimer's, leading to the possibility of treatments and potentially, vaccinations. Frankly, I'd love to have some way of permanently getting rid of cold sores, and if it helps to beat Alzheimer's, too, even better! There's also demos of generating power from the foot traffic of pedestrians, and the possibility that Europa has strong tidal flux, which generates some nice heat.

In the art section, Falling blocks as art installation. Reminds me of the ? blocks hanging from the power lines and trees. Hopefully without quite as much panic that they're somehow explosive devices. Also, a bright pink millipede, which is both pretty and dangerous, a epic collection of sci-fi rayguns, many which are functional Airsoft weapons, public art in Delhi raising awareness of the city's climate difficulties, albinism in the wild, which makes for striking figures, Historic Decay, taking photographs of old buildings falling apart, and the Cracked crowd rewriting the Twilight script to be shorter and more honest.

Last for tonight, pit bull takes three shots for family, was still trying to attack intruder. Dog still alive, but family needs help paying medical bills. Intruder also still alive, and the police would like several words with him. Staring with "You have the right to remain silent..."