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From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE...
From Time Magazine: `Blogs Have Their Day:'
Before this year, blogs were a curiosity, a cult phenomenon, a faintly embarrassing hobby on the order of ham radio and stamp collecting. But in 2004, blogs unexpectedly vaulted into the pantheon of major media, alongside TV, radio and, yes, magazines...
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There's just something about the rhythm and pace of a blog that feels intuitively right. You don't have to sit through fake-cheerful news-team chitchat or wade through endless column inches. ... This is news Jetsons-style. If it were any neater and quicker, it would come in a pill.
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Conventional media may have more readers than blogs do, but conventional media can't leverage those readers the way blogs can. Want a glimpse into the future of blogs? The more popular blogs are, the stronger they get. And they're not getting any less popular.
I am a Proud American Blogger. Cheers and Jeers starts in the Extended Copy section... [Swoosh!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!]
Cheers and Jeers for Wednesday, December 22, 2004...
By the Numbers:
Days `til Christmas: 3
Days `til 2005: 10
Percent of Americans who say they would watch the televised execution of Osama bin Laden: 30%
Percent who say they would choose winning the lottery if they could have one wish granted: 38%
Percent who say they would choose world peace: 1%
Percent who believe Madonna can make a comeback in films: 3%
(Source for the above 4 stats: Newsweek)
Amazon.com rank of `Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: 1
Weeks `til `Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' is released: 29
Your Puppy Pic of the Day: All I want for Christmas is an Acme Dog-Fart ShifterTM: http://www.funny-dog.com/coolpics/fanearsdog.jpg. No need to box it up, thanks...we can't wait `til the 25th.
CHEERS to the C&J Lefty of the Year. In yesterday's run-off poll, Howard Dean beat Barack Obama 56% to 43%. Dean forged his Excalibur for several years in Vermont, and still wields power even after his primary defeat. Barack will have his day (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6732724/site/newsweek/), but for now the Golden Spine Award is all yours, Governor.
JEERS to assface editors. Time magazine's year-end quotations page transcribes Dean's famous Iowa rallying cry this way: "Arrggghhhh!" Sorry, assfaces, that's not how you spell "Yeahhhh!" But we're sure you regret the error. Assfaces.
JEERS to the Insurgents Who Stole Christmas. Among the victims in the Mosul mess hall massacre yesterday were members of Maine's 133rd Engineer Battalion---two died and 12 were injured. Our thoughts go out to the families. Our anger goes out to the rats who did it...and the rats who sent our kids there in the first place.
CHEERS to finally winning a recount. Looks like Democrat Christine Gregoire squeaked out a win in the Washington governor's race. The margin of victory---8 butt hairs: http://apnews.myway.com/article/20041222/D874FN2O0.html. In the shredder today: photos from Republican loser Dino Rossi's premature victory party. Hahahaha!!!
CHEERS to the grande dame of the Democrats. Wow---today is Lady Bird Johnson's 92nd birthday. People thought she was a bit nutty when she led the campaign to create the Highway Beautification Act of 1965. But today she's regarded as one of our nation's most devoted environmentalists. This is for you, ma'am: http://www.jumbo-psp.com/Tutorials/Lesjes/Lijsten/Texas/Rose-of%20Texas.jpg.
CHEERS to green, blue, yellow, orange, red and white. On December 22, 1882, the first string of Christmas tree lights was created by Thomas Edison. But then Bzzzt! One bulb burned out...and all he could do was weep.
CHEERS to We the People. The Census Bureau says 3 million people joined our ranks last year, bringing the total U.S. population to 293.7 million...but people are leaving blue states to live in the red ones: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/census/2004-12-22-sun-belt_x.htm. Three words from C&J to the DNC: "Fifty State Strategy." In the spirit of the holidays we'll waive our consulting fee.
JEERS to focking disappointments. As in, `Meet the Fockers' (opening today), a shoulda-been-a-slam-dunk sequel that appears to be a waste of time: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/meet_the_fockers/. We'll meet `The Manchurian Candidate' on DVD instead, thanks.
CHEERS to snubbing your base. This is fun. Conservatives are mad as hornets in a blender because the White House Christmas displays---and their official song selection---leave out a certain Jesus H. Christ (link via Gadflyer.com): http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=42027. Let's just sit here and enjoy the moment. Want a candy cane?
JEERS to "What the F- -k! Economics." Dawn Nielson was $55,000 in debt. So she came up with a plan that would make Alan Greenspan proud: First she got down on her knees in front of her TV screen during a Pat Robertson `message of salvation.' Then she courageously gave up drinking Coca-Cola so she could give the 20 bucks a week in savings to the Christian Broadcasting Network: http://www.700club.com/partners/profiles/RickDawn_Nielson.asp. The fact that her husband finally got off his ass and started making money in the specialized field of motorcycle-building had nothing to do with it. Dawn, you're an inspiration to us all.
CHEERS to the Meeting of the Titans. 63 years ago today---two weeks after America was attacked at Pearl Harbor---President Roosevelt met with Winston Churchill in Washington, DC to plan their strategy against Germany and Japan. Ahh...the good old days when declaring war was justified.
JEERS to bogus "turning points." The Carrier/Codpiece Photo-op. Uday/Qusay killed. Saddam captured. Sovereignty. Police/Army training. "Taking back" Fallujah. All were events that the neocons promised would mark the end of the insurgency in Iraq. Boston Globe journalist Tom Oliphant---via the Al Franken Show---begs to differ: "There is no turning point. It's becoming more obvious by the day. There is no end in sight and no way out." [Sigh] See you at the mall...
CHEERS to stocking stuffers for 401ks. The Dow shot up 97 points yesterday, closing at a 3½ year high. Memo to profit-takers: It's happy happy Christmastime, so paws off the sell button.
CHEERS to small victories. C&J noticed while defragging our PC yesterday that the process takes a fractured field full of red ("bad") files and turns it into a unified carpet of blue ("good") ones. Add this to C&J's Christmas wish list: a "Defrag America" button.
Cheers and Jeers 6-month Flashback: June 22, 2004
JEERS to ready-fire-aim justice. A new report shows that many of the Guantanamo prisoners who Cheney calls "the worst of a bad lot" are neither bad nor worst...but innocent. Please...someone haul in Judge Wapner to bring some sanity to this nonsense.
JEERS to outsourcing God. Catholic parishes in America are so short-staffed, some have hired telemarketers in India to handle paid requests for special prayers, says the New York Times. I wonder if they answer the phone, "Welcome to the Kwik-E-Mass!"
And just one more:
CHEERS to the unvarnished truth: http://www.funnypictures2.com/gallery/Kids/mommysass. Out of the chalk sticks of babes...
To those of you traveling: Safe journeys! Floor's open. What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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