December 2007 Archives

As has been previously reported, the mercenaries in the employ of Blackwater, a private security firm doing business in Iraq on our behalf, have gotten into hot water over shooting random civilians in the course of their duty, which seems to be shooting random civilians.

But now, they've gone too far.

They shot the New York Times' dog.

Reuters reports: "Staff at the newspaper’s Baghdad bureau said Blackwater bodyguards shot (the dog named) Hentish dead last week before a visit by a U.S. diplomat to the Times compound.

"Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell said the dog had attacked one of Blackwater’s bomb-sniffer dogs while a security team was sweeping the compound for explosives.

"'The K-9 handler made several unsuccessful attempts to get the dog to retreat, including placing himself between the dogs. When those efforts failed, the K-9 handler unfortunately was forced to use a pistol to protect the company’s K-9 and himself,' she said in an e-mail to Reuters.

OK, killing civilians is one thing. Killing a dog is another. I predict Blackwater will be in a world of trouble over this one.

Last Sunday, if you recall, unless you have Direct TV and the Sunday Ticket satellite package or ventured out to a sports bar, you were unable to watch the Steelers-Jags game. That's because the NFL deems this area a secondary market for the Ravens, requiring the CBS affiliate in Harrisburg, WHP-TV, to air Ravens' away games here instead of Steelers' contests.

So instead of watching an exciting game between two playoff-bound teams -- it wound up 29-22, Jags, on a last-minute touchdown scored after the Steelers made a big second-half comeback -- viewers in this area were treated to the crapfest staged in Miami between the Ravens and the Dolphins. That game needed overtime to determine which team wanted to lose it more -- which turned out to be the Ravens, handing the Dolphins their first victory of the season.

Interesting fact: According to Gregg Easterbrook, ESPN"s Tuesday Morning Quarterback, the Steelers-Jags game was aired in Iran. Viewers in Tehran were able to see this game while fans in this area were shut out.

What makes it even worse is that Middle East TV lets viewers vote on which game they want to see. Sunday, they chose the Steelers-Jags. If it were put up to a vote in this area, it's pretty obvious that Steelers fans would have prevailed.

So, to review, in Iran, they use a democratic process to select which NFL game viewers will be able to see over broadcast TV. Here, the NFL dictates it.

Doesn't seem right.

Here it is, from last year, one of my favorite YouTube videos of Santa Claus coming to town. Enjoy.

Now, I know this is politically incorrect, but it's pretty funny. I found it on the Telecaster discussion page, but I imagine it's been circulating for some time. I apologize ahead of time to anyone offended by it. But it is funny.

Schizophrenia - Do You Hear What I Hear?

Multiple Personality Disorder - We Three Queens Disoriented Are

Amnesia - I Don't Know if I'll Be Home for Christmas

Narcissistic - Hark the Herald Angels Sing About Me

Manic - Deck the Halls and Walls and House and Lawn and Street and
Stores and Office and Town and Cars and Buses and Trucks and Trees and
Fire Hydrants

Paranoid - Santa Claus is Coming to Get Me

Borderline Personality Disorder - Thoughts of Roasting on an Open Fire

Personality Disorder - You Better Watch Out, I'm Gonna Cry, I'm Gonna
Pout, Maybe I'll Tell You Why

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder - Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle
Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle
Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle
Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells ...

Agoraphobia - I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day but Couldn't Leave My
House

Senile Dementia - Walking in a Winter Wonderland Miles from My House in
My Slippers and Robe

Oppositional Defiance Disorder - I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus So I
Burned Down the House

Social Anxiety Disorder - Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas While
I Sit Here and Hyperventilate

Here is a video of the original "Christmas in Fallujah," written by my friend Jeff Lebo two years ago and performed by Jefferson Pepper and the Varmints in Heaven.

I think it's better than Billy Joel's version, but then again, since I played on it, I'm not exactly objective about it. Still, it's a good video, dedicated to Jeff's neighbor and friend, David, an Army medic.

The Orioles' Jay Gibbons was suspended for 15 days for violating Major League Baseball's steroid policy. The league alleged that Gibbons bought human growth hormone and other steroids from a Florida company, in violation of the league's ban on performance-enhancing substances.

Gibbons is a career 2.60 hitter.

Not exactly a ringing endorsement of better baseball through chemistry.

This is from a story about a robbery reported in York Friday morning:

"Stephanie L. Perez, 41, told police she was at the Exxon convenience store in the 1000 block of West Market Street when two men approached laughing and demanded money as she was getting out of her car, police said.

"Fearful she was going to get hurt, Perez turned over her wallet and that of her mother just after 9 p.m.

"Perez ran into the convenience store, told the clerk she was robbed and asked to use the phone to call police. The clerk told her to go outside and use the pay phone, police said. Police arrived to find Perez on the pay phone."

You know, if that store clerk were to let her use the phone, all the people who get robbed outside the store would want to use to the phone.

Right? Right?

OK, maybe we have a nominee for Keith Olbermann's Worst Person In The World!