from The New York Times:

"Gov. James E. McGreevey of New Jersey delivered a rousing endorsement today of the Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean at a packed meeting of at least 500 people in a Trenton hotel....

"The audience erupted when the governor added: 'When did fiscal irresponsibility replace social intolerance as the message of the Republican Party?'

"Dr. Dean praised the statement and said he would use it in his campaign, adding that he considered fiscal irresponsibility and social intolerance equal pillars of the Republican Party"....

  ¶ 1:43 PM

  FUNNY!

Here's some sweet graphic artistry from the folks at North Bay for Dean... their motto is "Wine country is Dean country" -- so drink up that California vino, kids, and raise a toast to Dean!



They showed the Republicard to Dean and here's the reaction shot:



These guys are also responsible for this little masterpiece:



Who says all the best talent lives in silicon valley? Some of them live 40 minutes away! ;-)  ¶ 8:59 PM

  "It's been six weeks since Saddam Hussein was killed by a pack of wild boars and the world is still glad to be rid of him..."

THIS JUST IN:
Amazing images from the battlefield!


Saddam Hussein to stand trial: Americans feel vengeance for 9/11 is theirs!


"Didn't you dicks originally say something about WMD's?"

Because Saddam is somehow mysteriously responsible for 9/11. Even though he's not. Hey, quick: MUSHROOM CLOUD! Whew. That was close.

Big brother's patented logic lesson 101: The hydrant was pissed on by a dog. A dog has four legs. A cat has four legs. Therefore, the cat pissed on the hydrant.

Now apply: 9/11 was planned by terrorists. Terrorists are evil. Saddam Hussein is evil. Therefore, Saddam Hussein planned 9/11.

Doubleplusgood doublethink, grasshopper!

Now doesn't that make you feel better about the dismantling of Democracy? (See Saturday's post, below.) Yeah, I know I feel better. Oh yeah. Hey, let's watch another "reality" show. Yeah. Reality. Wow. I mean, wow. Reality.

map_with_labels2.jpg  ¶ 5:45 PM

  DEANSPOTTING


What IS this a picture of?

Last night my mom and dad (the coolest parents ever) went with my uncle Tom and aunt Cathy (coolest aunt and uncle ever) to a Dean rally/Blues concert in Miami. My mom, showing off her new picture-cell-phone, sent me the picture above. She claims it is a picture of Howard Dean (coolest president ever).

After consulting with my mother, I was able to identify which blur was Dean, and magnify the image:


Is this better?

Of course, I'm poking fun at my mom's pictures because I am desperately jealous.

  ¶ 5:31 PM

  FREE WILLY IS DEAD

from aftenposten: news from Norway

Norway mourns loss of Keiko

Pneumonia is being listed as the most likely cause of death for celebrity whale Keiko, who made Norway his home late last summer after surfacing in a western fjord. Local officials are calling Keiko's sudden demise "downright sad."

NINA BERGLUND - nina.berglund@aftenposten.no
Aftenposten English Web Desk

Keiko's minders noticed that he seemed ill on Thursday and stopped eating. He was found dead Friday evening after exhibiting signs that he was having trouble breathing.

"I think this is downright sad," Margrethe Saether, mayor of the local township of Halsa, told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) on Saturday. "It is, at any rate, what we'd call a natural death. He initially seemed to have a cold, but when he was checked after darkness fell Friday, he was lying dead at the pier."

Officials cordoned off the area at Taknes Bay in Nordmoere, not far from Kristiansund, to keep the media and public away from Keiko's corpse. They said Keiko would either be brought up on land or towed out to open sea and slaughtered.

Keiko was thought to be in his mid-20s and had spent a quiet summer swimming around in the bay where he'd been relocated late last year. The move was made in an effort to protect him from the thousands of human well-wishers who flocked to the area to get a glimpse of him.

The bay is also known for attracting other wild orcas, and Keiko's minders from the Free Willy-Keiko Foundation had kept hoping he'd join up with them and return to the wild himself. After a lifetime in captivity, however, the whale who sprang to international fame in the movie "Free Willy" never showed any interest in being on his own.

Saether noted that Keiko was without a doubt her township's biggest celebrity. His death will likely stem the sudden surge of tourists who traveled to the remote area on Norway's northwestern coast to see him.

Keiko was initially captured off Iceland in 1979. He then spent years in various aquatic parks in North America before being moved back to Iceland in an effort to return him to the wild. He was released from an Icelandic fjord in the summer of 2002 and swam to Norway on his own, only to resurface off a local village and immediately attach himself to local residents who swam and fished in the area.

His antics proved an immediate tourist draw, prompting those who'd been working with him for years to move him to Taknes. They continued to care for him after attempts to reunite him with wild orcas failed, and last summer he was being fed as much as 40 kilos of herring every day.  ¶ 12:12 AM