From the Great Orange Satan: Bush and McCain in 2005

Look at those pictures.

On the heels of my last post, here's something for you to watch:

Tom Lehrer turned 80 this week, amazing.

I suggest you go look at this, the Tom Lehrer channel at YouTube.

It's kinda scary how relevant his songs still are today.

It's a brilliant encapsulation of the American Yahoo.

The Cardinals t-shirt, the bandana, the mullet, the mis-spelled sign.

The only thing missing is an early-80's Camaro in the background.

After getting all of Pope Benedict's luggage loaded into the limo, (and he doesn't travel light), the driver notices the Pope still standing on the curb.

"Excuse me, Your Holiness," says the driver," Would you please take your seat so we can leave?"

"Well, to tell you the truth," says the Pope, "they never let me drive at the Vatican when I was a cardinal, and now that I'm Pope, I'd really like to drive today."

"I'm sorry, Your Holiness, but I cannot let you do that. I'd lose my job! And what if something should happen?" protests the driver, wishing he'd never gone to work that morning.

"Who's going to tell? Besides, there might be something extra in it for you," says the Pope with a smile.

Reluctantly, the driver gets in the back as the Pope climbs in behind the wheel. The driver quickly regrets his decision when, after exiting the airport, the Pontiff floors it, accelerating the limo to 105 mph.
(Remember, he's German.)

"Please slow down, Your Holiness!" pleads the worried driver, but the Pope keeps the pedal to the metal until they hear sirens. "Oh, Dear God, I'm gonna lose my license -- and my job!" moans the driver.

The Pope pulls over and rolls down the window as the cop approaches, but the cop takes one look at him, goes back to his motorcycle, and gets on the radio.

"I need to talk to the Chief," he says to the dispatcher.

The Chief gets on the radio and the cop tells him that he's stopped a limo going a hundred and five.

"So bust him," says the Chief.

"I don't think we want to do that, he's really big," said the cop.

The Chief exclaimed," All the more reason!"

"No, I mean really important," said the cop with a bit of persistence.

The Chief then asked, "Who ya got there, the Mayor?"

Cop: "Bigger."

Chief: " The Governor?"

Cop: "Bigger."

Chief: "The President?"

Cop: "Bigger."

"Well," said the Chief, "Who is it?"

Cop: "I think it's God!"

The Chief is stumped, " You been drinking, John? "

Cop: " No Sir."

Chief : " Then what makes you think it's God?"

Cop: "He's got the Pope as a chauffeur."

Nectarine






Lime







Lemon






another cymbidium






wild currant






monkey flower






cherry

Hmm: FBI Admit they improperly spied on our phone calls, emails, etc.

Excerpts:

The FBI acknowledged Wednesday it improperly accessed Americans' telephone records, credit reports and Internet traffic in 2006, the fourth straight year of privacy abuses resulting from investigations aimed at tracking terrorists and spies.

Ya don't say?

The breach occurred before the FBI enacted broad new reforms in March 2007 to prevent future lapses, FBI Director Robert Mueller said. And it was caused, in part, by banks, telecommunication companies and other private businesses giving the FBI more personal client data than was requested.

I feel reassured, don't you? It's all the phone companies' faults!


Read the whole thing.

Camelia

Cyclamen

Daffodil

Daisies

Peach

Tulip Tree (Magnolia variety)

Loon, in winter coat, Princeton by the Sea Harbor, CA.

I saw this on Matt Yglesias' blog:

So, today, all Starbucks closed for three hours.

I think I've heard about this before.

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Suck this:

A blast from the past!