Open Thread – Santa Con
Sitting at the Taproot Cafe this evening over a glass of wine, I noticed a strange phenomenon. A steady stream of Santas, some with elves in tow began to filter in. Then came reindeer. And a grinch. I learned from those more knowledgeable than myself that this very night was “Santa Con” in Anchorage. I had no idea what Santa Con was, but apparently it’s a yearly event that I somehow missed. Large masses of people dressed as our favorite Christmas icon parade in the street, and pop in at local watering holes across the nation.
And as luck would have it, I got to enjoy the mass Santa-fest this year, completely by chance. There were rumors that the elves were going to organize and form a union, I heard. But tonight it was only fun as dozens reveled in the jollyness of the season and hit the dance floor.
Not only does $arah promote misunderstanding and incite fear here in the US, she continues it overseas!
My G-d!, can the woman not keep her demned mouth shut? I sure hope the State Department (or someone!) takes her @ss to school for this:
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[snip] At the news conference, Palin created some confusion when she referred to a potential drawdown of U.S. assistance to Haiti.
“I know that there’s been some discussion of U.S. aid perhaps being lifted from this area,” she said. “Again — not to get political — but if some of the politicians would come here and see the conditions, perhaps they would see a need for, say, a military airlift to come bring supplies that are so needed here.”
It was not clear what she was referring to, and a Palin spokeswoman declined to elaborate.
U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, who is chairman of a Senate subcommittee that oversees appropriations for Haiti, recently called for the suspension of direct budget support to the Haitian government until a solution is found to an electoral crisis that has sparked riots in recent days. But his spokesman said Sunday that he was not referring to humanitarian aid or reconstruction money.
Palin spoke about seeing firsthand the challenging economic, political and environmental conditions in which Haitians live and advocated “fundamental changes,” including the need for job creation in agriculture and tourism sectors. [/snip]
from: “Palin: Haiti needs ‘military airlift’ of supplies” — http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101213/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cb_haiti_palin
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Her two days of tightly-controlled ‘touring’ with Samaritan’s Purse has now made her an “expert” on what Haiti needs, too? Gives her the gravitas to address the issue as if she has a clue in the world as to what the US Military has done there, what it continues to do there, and what it no longer can do there because of other circumstances/conditions? What a braying donkey!
Saint preserve us! What an ugly, ugly, mean-souled and mean-spirited woman. She is dangerous! Also a moran and maroon, also, too. beth.
Obviously SP has never heard of Mazlo’s triangle. You need to meet the basics like clean water, enough food, a real roof over your head, etc before going on about tourism and agriculture jobs. To say nothing of a stable, less corrupt govt. She obviously hasn’t watched the movie on Haitian history. These people are just trying to stay alive.
you just can’t fix stupid
Last year, I headed out for a walk/errand run in my neighborhood. There were hundreds of Santas and elves on a sprawling bar crawl, as well as hanging out in Tompkins Square Park. I did not have an adult beverage, so perhaps I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as our dear AKM (who needs all the adult beverages she can get, considering the book she’s blogging). Santa Con’s a hoot, but I’d bet it’s more fun the farther north one goes. (Has anyone seen Olive the Other Reindeer? There’s a scene in a north Alaskan bar that will crack you up.)
Well, it looks like the gas pipeline is moving forward. Is this why we are in Afghanistan?
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/12/world/asia/12pipeline.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
Yes, that is exactly what our soldiers and Afghan civilians are dying for.
Before the invasion, this is the deal W’s emissaries offered the Taliban (before 9/11, of course): If you let us build a pipeline, it will rain gold. If you don’t let us build a pipeline, it will rain bombs. Just like the invasion of Iraq (home to 12% of the world’s known oil reserves), it was planned well in advance, and needed only an excuse, which the WTC/Pentagon/PA crash provided. Needless to say, the Taliban turned down the pipeline deal.
This is something that you don’t see every day…a thoughtful, intelligent republican (and I know there are more of them out there it’s just that they either don’t speak up or are not garnering media attention):
http://thinkprogress.org/2010/12/12/whitman-palin/
What a different country it would be if you could have intelligent dialogue instead of insane talking points.
Bubbles tries out her new teefs:
http://i.imgur.com/BOD26.jpg
and takes a dip:
http://blogimg.goo.ne.jp/user_image/41/2c/5eb3633c2dd61934aca94d7e23d66cfb.jpg
Oooohh, Bubbles, no swimmies???? Be careful in that deep water! 🙂
Those are great images…thanks.
you quack me up, bubbles…
please pass the Bailey’s!
South Paw—-this one really takes the cake!!! Whew!!!!
Her remark about the people of Haiti being full of joy?? I am sure they are thinking she is full of S##*&!!!!!! .
$arah thinks they think she’s an angel of mercy – light hair and cookies and all that.
A friend just forwarded this to me…
“Hi. This is Sarah Palin. Is Senator Lieberman in?”
“No, governor. This is Yom Kippur.”
“Well, hello, Yom. Can I leave a message?”
*snort*
That’ll have me chuckling for a while.
The Guardian’s coverage of Palin’s trip and a mini expose on her BFF organization: Samaritan’s Purse:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/12/sarah-palin-haiti-visit
(the photo caption is priceless)
It’s just the kind of organization that Sarah would support.
I love that the article featured a photo of Palin getting her hair fixed. Perfect.
On the bottom left, you can see the curve of Bristol’s fundus is larger than her breasts.
Yes, in that picture I can see Sarah complaining to her hairdresser as she tries to adjust Sarah’s bumpit (bumpit is that thing that Sarah wears under her hair to prop it up six inches in the back to make people think she’s not going bald),
Sarah: “Ouch, that hurt, I can really identify with the suffering of these people”
Based on another picture earlier and the scarf, I think the “hairdresser” might just be Bristol.
Ah, yes. Her bum pit.
And here I thought conservatives were supposed to be frugal. She’s got several hundred homeless kids, and some homeless adults as well, in her backyard here in Wasilla, lots of local charities that could use some extra support in this time of need, like the Food Pantry, and instead of helping them, she’s expending lots of other people’s money just getting to photo ops in Haiti? If anyone sees a follow up report of what aid they actually provided while there, please share.
What a great article! My favorite part was right at the end:
“…Samaritan’s Purse has been accused during other humanitarian crises of putting its evangelical mission ahead of more tangible assistance to those in need… During the 1994 Rwandan refugee crisis, Samaritan’s Purse was criticised by other aid organisations for spending large amounts on luxury accommodation for its staff and providing only minimal assistance as tens of thousands of people died of cholera. That assistance principally consisted of sending stretcher bearers to carry the sick for treatment as a third person ran alongside the victim reading passages from the Bible.
In 2001, Samaritan’s Purse was scorned for requiring victims of El Salvador’s earthquake to attend prayer meetings before they could receive aid.”
Why am I not surprised that this is the type of “relief” SP wanted to bring to Haiti? Samaritan’s Purse should be banned from emergency zones across the world.
from OMG’s link to the guardian:
During the 1994 Rwandan refugee crisis, Samaritan’s Purse was criticised by other aid organisations for spending large amounts on luxury accommodation for its staff and providing only minimal assistance as tens of thousands of people died of cholera. That assistance principally consisted of sending stretcher bearers to carry the sick for treatment as a third person ran alongside the victim reading passages from the Bible.
In 2001, Samaritan’s Purse was scorned for requiring victims of El Salvador’s earthquake to attend prayer meetings before they could receive aid.
Franklin Graham ought to be jailed for defrauding its contributors. this charity is nothing but a scam.
Another great article – I would have laughed if the whole thing weren’t so pitiful.
http://www.politicususa.com/en/community-organizer-sarah-palin-calls-ravaged-haiti-joyful
ADN has a series of photos of the Haiti visit. Palin’s contact seems to be primarily with the (white) medical workers, and she looks into the tents where the Haitian people are as though she’s looking into a zoo exhibit. One of the reports I read mentioned that she ‘touched a child’s hand’. If her personal contact is so limited that merely touching a child’s hand warrants a mention, she is clearly demonstrating her utter lack of compassion and proving that the trip was ONLY made for purposes of a photo op.
A comment on another site compared her behavior to that of Princess Diana when she visited with AIDS patients in Africa, and how Diana’s touching and embracing them was so instrumental in changing people’s perception of the disease. Of course, Diana was there to actually help and comfort the people, not get her picture taken as part of a political checklist.
* Photo with people (preferably of another skin color) suffering after a natural and/or manmade disaster – check!
Okay, what’s next on the list???
http://www.adn.com/2010/12/11/v-gallery2/1599481/sarah-palin-in-haiti.html?/2010/12/11/v-gallery2/1599482_a1599588/sarah-palin-in-haiti-39990-12.html
She is also shown in other photos slathering herself with antiseptic gel. Must’ve been right after she touched that child’s hand.
shrub in a skirt
meh
I compared sister Sarah to Princess Diana (AIDS) and there is no way our resident from Alaska even comes close. Sarah has no compassion or empathy for others…especially when it comes to black people! Remember, she proved herself to be racist during her half term as governor in Alaska, while on the national campaign trail w/McCain and and since President Obama has been elected.
The woman is not what she tries to project. She has a dark, dark soul in my opinion.
Brilliant link!
“We are so fortunate in America and we are responsible for helping those less fortunate.”
This may not go down well with those in her Tea Party movement who regard aid to foreign countries as unnecessary.
“The organisation raises large sums of money from US Christians but the proceeds are not always visible on the ground.”
“During the 1994 Rwandan refugee crisis, Samaritan’s Purse was criticised by other aid organisations for spending large amounts on luxury accommodation for its staff and providing only minimal assistance as tens of thousands of people died of cholera. That assistance principally consisted of sending stretcher bearers to carry the sick for treatment as a third person ran alongside the victim reading passages from the Bible.”
Wonderful British understated sarcasm.
Here it is, the sound bite that has me fuming mad and wanting to spit: Palin on Haiti: “These people are so full of joy.”
This just makes me sick. Who is she to trivialize the plight of these people? I wish someone would go down there to Camp Cholera and get the real story, make her look like the fool she is. Giraldo? Walters? Couric? Gibson?
*kicks something*
Hope $he stays there and gets a boatload of the joy. Cholera.
I saw a picture of her at lunch with the staff of that pseudo-foundation. All of them were caucasian – at least in the picture. Surprise.
Good morning, Pups! Coldcoldcold here. Snow is floomping all over the place, and the winds are picking up. We will be having gusts of 50+ mph by evening. I don’t know about you all, but I think that is totally unnecessary.
Pretty much a guarantee that something is going to smack into a power line somewhere pretty soon, so Himself is bringing in wood to the garage, and I am cursing winter. Good division of work if you ask me.
Have a safe and wonderful day!
I’m sure that everyone there knows to stock the pantry, the candles, and the jigsaw puzzles well before November ends each year?? For some reason, here in Kansas people freak out the day before a predicted storm and buy up all the bottled water and soup. No one thinks ahead and puts away a few extra cans of something through out the year. Then when if and when the storm hits, everyone has to get out and go somewhere for something, wreaking havoc on the roads.
Don’t feel bad —in Washington DC area the same thing happens BUT it is TP and milk, in any form!!
Four-wheel driven vehicles cause the same havoc in the narrowest of streets!
After two days of limited travel the malls go nuts as parents are dying for ANY PLACE to get out of the house with the kids!!
Yep. We are ready. It is just another day around here. Winters are brutal in this part of the country. Something to do with the fact that the Mississippi River is so wide here, and we get lots of inversions. Ergo, snow, wind, ice. 30 miles north? Not so much. St. Louis proper? Not so much, either. Crazy!
I so love the new word you told me! Floomping added to vocabulary right now.. $arah floomping all over Haiti ! Wonderful word,great mind images,Thanks.
I saw a picture of $arah et al on a bench – Bristol next to Todd – definitely has a very large abdomen. Covered with a scarf.
Wondering if you can have a fish-picker from Haiti.
I am glad you liked that word! Floomp is the sound big gusts of wind and snow make hitting the kitchen window.
Speaking of elves who need to get organized, I’ve wanted to forward a link to the following series of articles to my fellow Mudpuppies.
The Fresno Bee has run an excellent series on Immigration that explores the subject in depth. It’s one of the best pieces of journalism I’ve seen in a long time. If you want to educate yourself on the many issues involved give it a look.
http://www.fresnobee.com/indenial/index.html
Fresno is in the Big Ag, red state part of CA. It’s so red the R Congressman, Kevin McCarthy, ran unopposed in the last election. The articles also explains while the R’s love to rant about “illegals”, they will never do anything constructive about it because that just might hurt the profits of their corporate masters.
As a CA born, farm raised and tempered by living in some urban centers of the world these are great!!
Funny that this is the ‘red’ part of the state when many farmers need reasonable labor pools, low energy costs and many times partake of subsidies.
This issues are complex and can’t be solved by a wall or fence. Our legislators need to buckle up for a ride and get to work. Working on it would be good for jobs and the economy as it would give people hope and those so scared of the issue something to rally behind.
Hope you will help spread this around. I couldn’t agree more as to just how truly complex the issues are for all interested parties. Dumbing the discourse down to fear really serves no ones best interests except those who want the USA to fail.
This elf union stuff has been tried before but it never works. Elf unions have no power because when they go on strike, people just smile, gather in a big circle, hold hands and sing that infernal Welcome Christmas (Fah who for-aze) song… If the grinch didn’t always get so boozed up at these Santa cons, he could explain to them it’s a futile effort…
I’m so glad the elves have finally decided to form a union. I hear they don’t get healthcare or vacation. And the only dentist they ever had left the village with some gold/silver miner. And as far as how they treat people with disabilities up there, we’ll, you’ve all seen Rudolph, right?
Hey – Nares-Challenged, all right?
Of course we know that no one there would let anyone in with only their long underwear. Right?
Darlin i am hoppin them them back door flaps was a not poppin open!
My son took pictures and posted to Facebook from Chicago, where he encountered a gaggle of more than slightly inebriated elves. They must have just come from voting for that union!