Obama and the Secret Service

Obama receives Secret Service detail earlier than any other presidential candidate in history:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18474444/

Florida man arrested for threatening Obama:

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/08/07/man-arrested-in-florida-for-threatening-to-kill-obama/

Man arrested outside Obama's home:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080925/ap_on_re_us/obama_home_arrest

The latest: ATF arrest 2 neo-Nazi's for plot to assasinnate Obama:

http://blogs.abcnews.com/george/2008/10/obama-agents-no.html

McCain to Supporter at His Own Rally: "Obama is not an Arab"

Why oh why on God's green earth would McCain have said something like that? Well, because just moments earlier a female supporter at a rally for his campaign, that somehow was handed a microphone said, "I can't trust Obama. I have read about him and he's not, he's not uh — he's an Arab. He's not — ". Then McCain snatched the microphone from this yahoo and responed, "No, ma'am. He's a decent family man [and] citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues and that's what this campaign's all about. He's not [an Arab]."

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/14479.html

This type of untrue and misguided sentiment is indicative of the beliefs and feelings of at least some of the people that have been gathering for McCain/Palin rallies. See post 3 on this blog for more. Now more than ever the Republican model of campaigning to and inspiring fear has reached new heights. The McCain of 2000 is rearing his head when he sees first hand what the McCain of 2008 has inspired and felt compelled to correct this ignorant woman. McCain also said to her and the crowd, "I have to tell you. Sen. Obama is a decent person and a person you don’t have to be scared of as president of the United States." He said it to boos from the crowd. Maybe McCain is scared by what his campaign has fomented. Maybe his conscious, finally, is making him act. Either way it's about time. What is sad is very likely she didn't and doesn't believe him, even after McCain told her that Obama is not an "Arab".

Why would she if, for example, she's a person that only gets her news and information from chain emails. Emails like the ones that make wild allegations about Obama. For an example of these strange, wild and highly inaccurate accusations made in these atrocious emails you have no further to look than here:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/muslim.asp

That same McCain supporter would probably lose a small fortune if she received an email plea for help from a Nigerian prince requesting her banking information so that he could transfer his vast wealth to an American bank. Too bad for her that McCain probably won't be there to try to stop her from believing that email too. The sad thing is she probably wouldn't believe McCain if he told her the Nigerian prince wasn't real either.

Side Note: "Never Get Involved in a Land War in Asia and Never Go In Against a Sicilian When Death Is on the Line"

http://slapshot.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/11/a-misplaced-hockey-mom-moment/

Or, Oh, That's Why You Don't Send a Candidate to a Sporting Event During Election Season, Much Less a Sporting Event in Philadelphia

Apparently, "The Hockey Mom," Governor Palin was not appreciated by some fans when she dropped the first puck at the Flyers' home opener. By the way, Pennsylvania is a swing state this election. By the way again, Philly fans are notoriously rude. The McCain campaign should have known better. Or maybe they're that out touch that they didn't know about Philly fans.

Side Side Note: The "Reverse Bradley Effect"?

Regarding the "Bradley effect" some new research indicates that in some states' Democratic Primaries there may be evidence of a "reverse Bradley effect". Bad news for the McCain campaign, see Post 3. on this blog.

http://www.physorg.com/news142862643.html

Lessons from the McCain Campaign: How to NOT Vet a VP Pick

They vetted Sarah Palin? Really?

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/14481.html

Speilberg Borrowing Again

Speilberg sued over Disturbia. Suit alleges it's a rip off of Rear Window

http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/lawsuit-and-every-film-critic-says-disturbia-ripped-off-hitchcocks-rear-window/

What about the wrong man movie Eagle Eye borrowing themes from North By Northwest?

How To Rig an Election: Confessions of a Republican Operative (ISBN 1-4165-5222-7)

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/22/rigging.election/

McCain and Hispanics

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/14444.html

McCain Out of Money?

OK, not really. As far as I know his personal finances are fine and his campaign has plenty of money to make it the rest of the way to November 4th. But in relation to Obama's campaign, the McCain campaign appears to not have as much to spend.

Keep in mind that McCain took public funding, restricting his ability to raise and directly accept money for his campaign once the primaries and party conventions concluded. Obama did not.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/19/obama.public.financing/index.html

Plus, there are the 527 organizations and the Republican National Committee that can run their own ads and raise money. Obama also has 527 organizations behind him/against McCain. Moreover, both candidates can help raise money for their respective party's national committee. But McCain has a lot more incentive to do so because of the inability for him to receive donations directly.

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/09/quietly_obama_campaign_flashes.php

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-09-09-prezmoney_N.htm

But, what is a 527? It's an organization formed to comply with section 527 of the tax code. 527's are usually the attack dogs of a campaign. Let me put it this way, the "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth", the organization that really hurt Kerry's chances at the presidency, was a 527.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/527_group

Obama's campaign is setting records for fundraising, fueled in no small measure by small, online donations.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122143631954734245.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

But that fundraising by Obama has not come without controversy and scrutiny.

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-money9-2008oct09,0,6439990.story

We'll see if the RNC gets their way and the FEC has to audit every single donation received by Obama. Again, the Obama campaign claims that a third of the nearly 500 million dollars it has raised came from donations of $200.00 or less. If the FEC does at some point decide to audit the donations it'll take an army of forensic accountants a little while to track where all those donations came from.

The RNC may just want to throw something else against the wall and just put out the idea that even a small percentage for Obama's received contributions were against the rules or worse, from nefarious sources.

In the short term here's the point. Relative to Senator Obama's campaign coffers, if spending on tv commercials is any indication, McCain's not doing so well :

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/10/obamas_spending_edge.html

Obama has recently begun outspending McCain 3-1 on tv ads. Not to mention the radio ads Obama is running. Couple that with McCain having to defend states that usually are no problem for the Republicans to win, like North Carolina and you have McCain spending more in more places than he and his campaign could have possibly contemplated a few months ago.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/14304.html

Now to add insult to injury, at least when it comes to spending money on the campaigns, Obama is buying half hour segments on major networks, in prime time, on October 29, days before the election and on the anniversary of Black Tuesday, the Wall Street downturn that marked the beginning of the Great Depression.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/53722.html

In other words, McCain's campaign apparatus and finances are being stretched. And on top of everything else not going McCain's way (take for example the economy, Palin's favorability rating falling like the Dow, and his performances in the debates) he appears not to have as much to spend as Obama does.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/28/palins-favorability-drops_n_130027.html

So the McCain campaign's not broke, but it probably has fundraising envy when it looks and sees how much the Obama campaign is spending.

Nobody Wants to Talk About It - Kind Of

Nobody wants to talk about what the McCain campaign may or may not be doing in reference to the new rhetoric coming from Senator McCain and Governor Palin. Or they do but they don't know what to say about it.

Governor Palin doesn't mind or have much trouble inciting people to yell "terrorist", "treason" or "kill him" at her rallies. Some of her supporters at these rallies have taken out their anger on the press following her and have let racial epitaphs fly as well:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/06/AR2008100602935.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/07/obama-hatred-on-display-a_n_132572.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/06/mccain-does-nothing-as-cr_n_132366.html

What is puzzling is that McCain doesn't need to rally the base any more. If they get any more rallied up by Palin they're going to want to reconvene the Republican Convention tomorrow and at the very least switch the order of the ticket if not just leave McCain off it altogether. McCain needs to be reaching out to the middle-class and talking about specific policy proposals that will affect them. His call for the Treasury to buy up bad mortgages is a try at that, but again that is a discretionary power that was already included in the bailout bill passed earlier this month. It's not new plus it doesn't go over well with the Republican base.

McCain, as far as I can recall, has yet to utter the phrase, "middle-class" in either debate and Palin, I believe, said it only once or twice in her debate. Instead McCain's asking rhetorical questions like, "Who is the real Barack Obama?", while Palin attempts to answer the question by saying he, "pals around with terrorists", present tense, plural, and, "he's not like us".

It's not like the candidates, on the fly, come up with these lines. A group of paid political strategists and operatives sit around and think about and come up with this stuff.

Each individual will have to decide for themselves what the McCain campaign's over all rhetoric means to them. What is the McCain campaign's thinking behind using phases and questions like, "Who is the real Barack Obama", "he pals around with terrorists", and Obama, "is not like us".

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1847376,00.html

Racism? Is it or isn't it? Overt or subtle? Intended or not? Pandering to it? Is it something else, like alleging that Obama is un-American? Or is it really just the McCain campaign asking innocent questions, giving innocent answers and throwing everything against the wall that it can given the polls it sees each day. Maybe the rhetoric is just, "Obama is scary and unknown". Each individual that hears the rhetoric will decide what it conjures in their own minds. Like in all things, what an individual brings to the table, such as their background, will influence how they interpret or perceive these types of remarks. A person's personal background including, but not limited to, race, ethnicity, religious affiliation, if any, party affiliation, if any, and interaction and tolerance of those different than them will affect how such remarks are taken by an individual.

Whatever the case may be, the rhetoric of the McCain campaign is something strange, negative and uncomfortable. Like a Supreme Court Justice once said or wrote about pornography, you just know it when you see it. Maybe in this case, you just know it's out of the ordinary when you hear it. And each individual takes it in, absorbs it and decides what it is to them, individually.

The polls reflect that the above talking points the McCain campaign has been using haven't helped. Maybe McCain is counting on "the Bradley effect" to win and the polls are wrong.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95430213&ft=1&f=1102

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/08/persistent-myth-of-bradley-effect.html

As to the intent behind the rhetoric and what the intended impact of such rhetoric was meant to be on the campaign and voters, only those that came up with these lines can answer that. Maybe someday the McCain Republican strategists and operatives will let us know how, when and why they thought this up and what they hoped it would accomplish.

The rhetoric has arguably already had some impact. Take for instance the inspired McCain supporter Bobby May, a county representative to the McCain campaign in Virginia, who expressed his thoughts on an Obama presidency in an editorial in a local paper. The author defends it as a parody. The McCain campaign relieved this author of his post with the campaign. You be the judge:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/10/john-mccain-bac.html

http://www.latimes.com/media/acrobat/2008-10/42750415.pdf

Of course others combat people like the above Mr. May:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081009/pl_afp/usvoteobamarednecks

Obama has written two books and there's only been 18 months of public, magazine, newspaper, books, tv, bloggers, and "any other type of media you can think of" scrutiny and digging through his background with a fine tooth comb. Ask Senator Hillary Clinton. I don't know if the "Obama is scary and unknown", line of campaigning (taking the rhetoric in he best possible way) is going to play to the middle-class and undecided voters but it will sure fire up the Republican base. Unfortunately or fortunately depending on your political leanings, the Republican base alone isn't enough to get McCain to the Oval Office, at least according to the latest polls. But we'll be talking about their rhetoric for a while.

Presidential Debate #2 - The Disdain

I don't think that Senator John McCain cares much for Senator Obama.

In last night's debate McCain referred to Obama as, "that one", and it didn't come off as funny, it seemed weird at best and condescending at worst:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNzA9LfMlmU&feature=user

At another point Senator Obama was talking about his readiness to be Commander-in-Chief when Senator McCain interrupts to say, "Thank you very much" to a weird compliment Obama paid McCain in order set up Obama's point about McCain's inflammatory rhetoric regarding foreign relations and war. I think you can see steam coming out of McCain's ears when you see him in the background:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qJu_bkX4SU&feature=user

By the way, the policy McCain unveiled during the debate about the Treasury Department buying up bad mortgages is a discretionary provision in the bailout that passed last week, he would just order the Treasury Secretary to do it asap.

Then, after the debate while the candidates and their spouses were making the rounds shaking hands with the audience you had what I thought was a tense moment. Here is the sequence of events as I observed them: Senator McCain tapped Senator Obama on the shoulder; Senator Obama turns and extends his hand to Senator McCain; Senator McCain sees Senators Obama's extended hand and points him to Mrs. McCain; Senator Obama turns to Mrs. McCain and shakes her hand and then Senator Obama and his spouse high tail it away from the McCains. You look and tell me if I'm wrong:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WI0iIOqPGak

Apparently, this is not the first time Senator McCain has had a problem shaking Senator Obama's hand:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/02/mccain-chilly-to-obama-on_n_131126.html

If McCain has trouble looking Obama in the eye and shaking his hand how would McCain, if he wins the presidency, ever be able to meet a head-of-state or other diplomat that he either doesn't like or disagrees with? I would guess that meeting would either not happen or would not go so well.

I'm going to play mind reader here: Senator McCain's body language in relation to Obama and lack of eye contact with him in the last debate and to some extent this one (what was he writing down every time Obama spoke?) may have something to do with McCain's inability to comprehend how in the world he is losing to a freshman senator with little track record and a weird name. McCain goes on and on about who he's met, where he's been, the negotiating tables he's been at. But at times it comes across as exactly what it is, someone talking about great things he or she has done long ago, but with no attempt or ability to relate them cogently to the issues of the day. McCain seems to believe that talking about Ronald Reagan, Tip O'Neil, Teddy Roosevelt, and Herbert Hoover will somehow, someway resonate with undecided voters. As a pundit said, to paraphrase, Senator McCain was playing 20th century politics, unfortunately it's not the 20th century. To go one step further, Senator McCain was talking 20th century politics and not connecting with 21st century realities.

Opening Thoughts Regarding This 2008 Presidential Election

I've been talking to and emailing numerous folks about different aspects of this presidential campaign for awhile. I've been sharing links to articles or websites generally and talking about issues/opinions with friends quite a bit. I decided to centralize all that here.

For example this first post is essentially a message I sent to an old friend fleshed out some.

Why does John McCain come across as "The Penguin" played by Danny DeVito in the second "Batman" (Tim Burton's) movie?

Bottom line, these debates don't matter to Democrats. Democrats are puzzled why there are still undecided voters because if any of the following had been revealed to be true about Senator Obama or his running mate Senator Biden the campaign would be over:

1) the candidate has a teen, unwed daughter.

2) the candidate had not been out of the country or held a passport until two years ago - http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/30/us/politics/30veep.html

3) the candidate had been personally blessed against witches and witchcraft by some type of priest on camera - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwkb9_zB2Pg&feature=related

4) the candidate's spouse had been a member of an organization that at one time advocated that their home state secede from the United States of America. - http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26524024/

5) the candidate allegedly believes that the earth is literally six thousand years old and people like you and me walked alongside dinosaurs. - http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-palinreligion28-2008sep28,0,3643718.story?track=rss

6) the candidate had attended a sermon, again on camera, where a guest preacher, preached that those that follow the Jewish faith need to be converted to Christianity. - http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13098.html

7) the candidate had not been able to name one newspaper or magazine the candidate reads on a daily or regular basis, and bailed out on the answer by saying “all of them”. - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9go38MgZ4w8

One has to wonder what the Republican reaction would have been had any of the above been true of Senator Obama or Senator Biden.

But of course all the above is supposedly true, as reported by various media outlets, about Vice Presidential candidate Governor Palin, picked by Republican Presidential nominee Senator McCain.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who are you?
I'm just a person who has some thoughts on politics and uses this forum to share them. I don't share my personal information here for various reasons. For example, this is a hobby for me. I have a day-time profession. Plus, look at some of the comments on sites like Fox News or Politico. I wouldn't want those folks to know who I am and how to contact me.

Who posts at TTRB?


How's this site different from other Rangers blogs?

What's with the tone of the blog?


Do you make money from the blog?


How do you choose the advertisements?


How often is this blog updated?


Political Affilation?


Appear on TV or radio?


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make money on blog?

Contact Info

Do you want to comment on a post directly? If you do just click the "AFTERTHOUGHTS ABOUT THE ABOVE POST" link at the bottom of each post. You can even comment anonymously if you'd like. If you have general questions, comments, suggestions, criticisms or even (gulp) compliments just email me at the address listed below:

email : contact@AfterThoughtsNow.com

Take it easy,

JG

Why I Put Up This Blog

UPDATE CIRCA NOVEMBER 2021

As you can tell by the date of the posts it's been sometime since I've posted here or on the other blogs (OurPets & TheTexasRangersBlog) but I've kept them online because I'm weird like that. But now my good friend Charles and I are doing a podcast about comic books called, strangely enough, Jav & Charles Talk Comics. He suggests a comic book story/arc for me to read and vice versa. I usually suggest something I remember fondly from the 80's that maybe or maybe not doesn't hold up so well. He usually suggests something I haven't read that's much more recent and much better. And then we talk about it. We have fun doing the podcast and I hope if you give it a listen you enjoy it too. 

(back from 2008 below)

afterthought : 
from Merriam-Webster Dictionary circa 1661
1 : an idea occurring later

2 : something (as a part or feature) not thought of originally : something secondary

from American Heritage Dictionary circa 2000

- An idea, response, or explanation that occurs to one after an event or decision.

Short version: AfterThoughts Now - ATN is where I post my thoughts on a wide variety of topics (including, but, not limited to entertainment, pop culture stuff, sports, science, scifi, comic books, politics and other miscellaneous things) in the form of original political cartoons, non-political original cartoons / webcomics and other stuff I write, draw or find that makes me laugh/smile and/or I think is interesting.  I've lessened the political stuff on ATN recently because I just got tired-head from the same old, same old.  I think that a little levity regarding even serious subjects is a good thing. If you don't think it's funny I fart in your general direction. If you like what you see/read here please, pass it along to others that you think might enjoy it.

Long version: Why the blog (short for "web log"- I seriously didn't know that's what it stood for)? I used to email different folks here and there about things related to politics. I followed the 2008 presidential election from the primaries on pretty obsessively. And I likely follow politics more closely than most as it is. So I finally just put up a blog called PoliticalThoughtsNow.com about politics instead of bothering folks with my emails. For example, my first blog post ever (although I did have a short lived site before - jgcomicstrips.com, now defunct) was essentially an email I sent an old college roommate around the time of the second presidential election debate in 2008. FYI, I don't like pinning myself down as to a particular political persuasion. For example, I'm not a registered member of any party. That said, generally (and I dislike generalizing) I am left-of-center to liberal on most issues.

I also used to forward folks non-political stuff I'd find that would make me smile or laugh and I'm sure that at least some were annoyed by the frequency at which I'd forward them stuff and were too nice to tell me to quit. So, I figured I'd use a blog/website called ForYourViewingPleasureByJG.com / fyvpblog.com and post links and other things here that made me smile/laugh as the occassional break from politics. And if my friends want to check it out they can. Now I don't send them as many emails. I went ahead and back dated (cheating? maybe, but it goes back, in part, to the now defunct jgcomicstrips.com site) some of the posts to when I first saw the subject of the post or when I drew/wrote the cartoon (yes, I actually save stuff that makes me laugh, I have a special email folder for it).

I also write/draw some non-political cartoons and comic strips, like Our Pets and Episode. The characters from Our Pets and Episode may appear here in the future. Plus, there'll be the one-off solo cartoon every once in a while. In fact, I have a blog just for the Our Pets comic strip called OurPetsComicStrip.com. I didn't write/cartoon/post at the fyvp.com or OurPetsComicStrip.com sites often and I decided it was silly that I had 3 sites. At first I consolidated everything at PoliticalThoughtsNow.com but, not all the content was related to politics. So I moved and consolidated everything from PoliticalThoughtsNow.com, fyvpblog.com and OurPetsComicStrip.com here at ATN.

Our Pets is a comic strip in blog format (webcomic) about our pets, our 2 cats, Primo and Cindy, and our 2 dogs, Gilda and Gene.

Episode is an original, goofy comic strip about a scientist's first contact with some ET's.

If there's something that makes you laugh and want me to post it, let me know.

I write and draw (poorly - I am in no way a trained artist/cartoonist/illustrator) the cartoons that appear in this blog unless otherwise noted. I've always been a fan of the political cartoon and comic strip.

Also, I, along with some friends, blog about the Texas Rangers baseball team at TheTexasRangersBlog.com.

So basically, ATN is a blog where I share my thoughts through cartoons and stuff I write as well as posting things that I find funny.

Take it easy,

JG

Why I Put Up This Blog

I used to forward folks stuff I'd find that would make me smile or laugh and I'm sure that at least some were annoyed by the frequency at which I'd forward them stuff and were too nice to tell me to quit. So, I figured I'd use a blog and post links and other things here that made me smile/laugh and if my friends want to check it out they can. And I stopped sending them so many emails. I went ahead and back dated some of the posts to when I first saw the subject of the post (yes, I actually save stuff that makes me laugh, I have a special email folder for it). I also will throw in some cartoons and comic strips by me plus some sports stuff. I have 2 original comic strips that appear here ("Our Pets" and "Episode"). If there's something that makes you laugh and want me to post it, let me know. By the way, as you can tell I'm not a trained artist so please, go easy on my cartooning.

"Our Pets" still has it's own blog/site (www.ourpetsthecomicstrip.com), plus I started another blog about the Texas Rangers that's no longer active. That's all been consolidated here. In the interest of full disclosure I do have another blog, politicalthougthsnow.com, that's just about politics.

So basically, FYVP is where I post stuff that makes me laugh (if you don't think its funny I fart in your general direction) as well as my thoughts on entertainment (especially sci fi/comic book stuff and music stuff) and some of my cartoons.

Take it easy, JG.

Everyday Normal Guy Rap Song

Everyday Normal Guy Rap Song - watch more funny videos

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/c4a43aff11/everyday-normal-guy-rap-song-from-jon-lajoie

Failbog

It'll make sense once you check it out:

http://failblog.org/

Letterman's Top 10 W. Moments

LASER CATS!!!!!!!!!

http://www.hulu.com/watch/16387/saturday-night-live-snl-digital-short-laser-cats-3#s-p1-so-i0

XMas Time Is Here! SNL Style

Don't ask me why but this Christmas song on SNL performed by Horatio Sanz and Jimmy Fallon with Chris Kattan holding the keyboard and Tracy Morgan just dancing next to them makes me smile/crack up every time:

SNL Christmas Song

http://christmasshariomusicblog.blogspot.com/2007/12/snl-christmas-time-is-here.html

Death By Chocolate

http://www.hulu.com/watch/17137/saturday-night-live-death-by-chocolate-1-3

Will Ferrell as Neil Diamond

Neil Diamond Storytellers
Uploaded by JimGoodwine - See more comedy videos.

Jimmy Kimmell, Sarah Silverman, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and others...

First, Jimmy Kimmell runs out of time for Matt Damon at the end of the show:

Then, Sarah Silverman has a song featuring Matt Damon:

Then, Jimmy Kimmell has a song featuring Ben Affleck, amongst others:

Animator vs. Animation

Animator vs. Animation by *alanbecker on deviantART

http://alanbecker.deviantart.com/art/Animator-vs-Animation-34244097

Legalese Version of "The Night Before Xmas"

The Night Before Christmas, Legally Speaking

Whereas, on or about the night prior to Christmas, there did occur at a certain improved piece of real property (hereinafter "the House") a general lack of stirring by all creatures therein, including, but not limited to a mouse.

A variety of foot apparel, e.g., stocking, socks, etc., had been affixed by and around the chimney in said House in the hope and/or belief that St. Nick AKA/St. Nicholas AKA/Santa Claus (hereinafter "Claus") would arrive at sometime thereafter.

The minor residents, i.e., the children, of the aforementioned House were located in their individual beds and were engaged in nocturnal hallucinations, i.e., dreams, wherein visions of confectionery treats, including, but not limited to, candies, nuts and/or sugar plums, did dance, cavort and otherwise appear in said dreams.

Whereupon the party of the first part (sometimes hereinafter referred to as "I"), being the joint-owner in fee simple of the House with the parts of the second part (hereinafter "Mamma"), and said Mamma had retired for a sustained period of sleep. (At such time, the parties were clad in various forms of headgear, e.g., kerchief and cap.)

Suddenly, and without prior notice or warning, there did occur upon the unimproved real property adjacent and appurtenant to said House, i.e., the lawn, a certain disruption of unknown nature, cause and/or circumstance. The party of the first part did immediately rush to a window in the House to investigate the cause of such disturbance.

At that time, the party of the first part did observe, with some degree of wonder and/or disbelief, a miniature sleigh (hereinafter "the Vehicle") being pulled and/or drawn very rapidly through the air by approximately eight (8) reindeer. The driver of the Vehicle appeared to be and in fact was, the previously referenced Claus.

Said Claus was providing specific direction, instruction and guidance to the approximately eight (8) reindeer and specifically identified the animal co-conspirators by name: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen (hereinafter "the Deer"). (Upon information and belief, it is further asserted that an additional coconspirator named "Rudolph" may have been involved.)

The party of the first part witnessed Claus, the Vehicle and the Deer intentionally and willfully trespass upon the roofs of several residences located adjacent to and in the vicinity of the House, and noted that the Vehicle was heavily laden with packages, toys and other items of unknown origin or nature. Suddenly, without prior invitation or permission, either express or implied, the Vehicle arrived at the House, and Claus entered said House via the chimney.

Said Claus was clad in a red fur suit, which was partially covered with residue from the chimney, and he carried a large sack containing a portion of the aforementioned packages, toys, and other unknown items. He was smoking what appeared to be tobacco in a small pipe in blatant violation of local ordinances and health regulations.

Claus did not speak, but immediately began to fill the stocking of the minor children, which hung adjacent to the chimney, with toys and other small gifts. (Said items did not, however, constitute "gifts" to said minors pursuant to the applicable provisions of the US Tax Code.)

Upon completion of such task, Claus touched the side of his nose and flew, rose and/or ascended up the chimney of the House to the roof where the Vehicle and Deer waited and/or served as "lookouts." Claus immediately departed for an unknown destination.

However, prior to the departure of the Vehicle, Deer and Claus from said House, the party of the first part did hear Claus state and/or exclaim:
"Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!"
Or words to that effect.

Law School Song

Amazing

Peyton Manning Being Funny Again

Even More Darth Vader Humor

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/41977/?pc=56655

Utah Property Dispute Turns Ugly

http://www.snopes.com/photos/risque/ventcover.asp

"The Landlord" starring Will Ferrell

The Landlord from Will Ferrell

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/74/the-landlord-from-will-ferrell-and-adam-ghost-panther-mckay