Awwww!
Happy New Year to one and all!

And kudos to Gregg for defending the prose. As J. Michael Straczynski properly noted: The words *matter.*

Great picture!! Nothing like lounging in bed with the dog!

well, Lucy just knows the power of cute.

Just wishing you and Gregg a happy and prosperous new year, Amy!

Amy,

Here is an article about how feminism has morphed into misandry and is harming both genders.

The author declares this the defining issue of the new decade.

Gregg should consider himself lucky that Lucy is so tiny. I have 2 Boxers who both weigh about 70 pounds. They get in bed with my daughter all the time and one usually ends up on her head. It's pretty funny when she starts yelling for help.

Lucy, as far as I can tell, isn't a feminist. Lucy walks on my head, too -- charming quality in a dog! -- but as of yet, Gregg hasn't been there at the moment to capture it in a photo.

Since Lucy clocks in at around 3 lbs, it wouldn't be so bad if she didn't have those cute little black toenails!

That dog is going to turn your boyfriend gay, and it will be your own damn fault for all the pink bows and chartreuse doggy-jackets and zippy hairdos.

On the other hand, if we're going to breed these beasts to be blinded by their own coats, we oughta do what we need to do to restore their sight... OK, I take that last part back. And I'm sorry about Gregg. But frankly, some of us had doubts ever since you said you'd met at the Apple store... OSX is a pretty effeminate operating system.

________________________

Eh?

Oh, right... Happy New Year to you, too.

Mmmmm? Me? I was in Vegas, and thanks for asking. No, not to party, but to watch one of the women I love and admire most in the world get married. No no, it's not like that... The bride was svelte and resplendent, and I cried my eyes out. It was wonderful.

But as long as we're talking about this, can I just say fuck the TSA?

FUCK THE T.S.A. — FUCK THE T.S.A. — FUCK THE T.S.A. — FUCK THE T.S.A. — FUCK THE T.S.A. — FUCK THE T.S.A.

Fuck them for the bullshit appearance of their game-show 'seal'. I know enough about graphic design to know that image wasn't culled from design trends of olden days in DC, the mints and printing shops of centuries past; that logo was composed for television, and everything on television is designed to pander. That's how the bills get paid. Is a President from the Chicago Machine ever going to resist having a bunch of idiot government employees on the payroll, unionized or not?

Fuck them for calling it "Homeland security". America is the one nation in the world that isn't about territory or goopy-gloppy feelings of attachment to a "home". America is about IDEAS... Specifically, America is about having the individual faith that you're courageous enough and smart enough to make something more of your life than what you were born into, and being horny enough for it to give up everything to go out and earn the fulfillment of your dream... Surrendering language, traditions, friends, whatever. The American idea has worked everywhere it's been tried, whatever it's been called, and it's the reason that the United States Constitution is the core model for almost every new (or reforming) nation in the last twenty decades.

Fuck them for their unwillingness to start a new line, no matter how many of their staff are standing around, until 20 minutes after it's obviously needed.

Fuck them for their disproportionate, unathletic, soon-to-be diabetic bodies. (Specifics follow in separate, well-earned entries.)

Fuck them for their weak chins (as seen on staffers of every age).

Fuck them for the way older staffers double down on the weak chin with between one and five ADDITIONAL chins underneath.

Fuck the way those older staffers dye their hair in coarse, inhuman, discontiguous (but not amusing) hues.

Fuck them for the buck teeth of their younger staffers.

Fuck the way this multi-chinned cunt (Ok, multi-chinned female TSA agent) calls out to queue members (lost in their annoyance) with the cloying tones of a kindergarten teacher.

Fuck them for using eye contact as if we were supposed to be grateful to them.

Fuck them for their HIDEOUSLY bogus badges, as if any authority who admired human life would license these illiterate turds to even drive, let alone supervise airline safety.

Fuck them for exchanging their deservedly-humiliating maroon uniforms of 2004 to a nearly-dignified, and wholly-unearned, royal blue.

Fuck them for carrying themselves as if this was all some burden for which they shouldn't be held accountable; as if we'd agree that a working stiff has to do what he's told, no matter how odious the assignment.... That was the excuse offered by the monsters who released the Zyklon-B gas at Auschwitz, for fuck's sake. You are never, ever excused by saying "I'm just doing my job." Ever. FUCKING EVER.

Fuck them for so very, very nearly smirking as they hold up the Swiss army tool which I carried into that selfsame terminal on the inbound flight just twenty-four hours earlier with near amazement: "This is a KNIFE!" Yes it is, you simpering fuckwit , and if the shit goes down on this flight, I'm the guy you're going to WANT toting a boy scout blade, no matter how old I am, and no matter how much wine has been served.

And fuck them and their godforsaken epaulets.

_________________

Napolitano was right last week, you know. It was the perfect example of the Kinsley principle: "A gaffe is what happens when a politician tells the truth."

Shw was right because the system did work, truly: OTHER PASSENGERS took care of it, and government had to stay out of the way.

Is there any evidence that TSA has ever done anything for anyone? Ever?

And whatever happened with all those undercover air marshals who were said to be flying after 911, the soccer-mom looking people at all that? Not only have they never seemed to have STOPPED anything bad from happening, they've never even gotten in trouble for showing up late (or drunk) to work. What are the odds of that?

It's like the joke "That's so mistaken it's not even wrong"; the air marshals haven't even failed. Do they even exist?

Goddamit I am not done.

Listen, you may live to be ten thousand years old. (Why not? What do I know?)

But if you do, EVEN IF YOU LIVE TO BE TEN THOUSAND YEARS OLD, you much never let any fucker tell you that the inconvenience at airports was caused by Bin Laden or some other terrorist. They were never that bright, and they're not this lucky.

This is being done to Americans by other Americans, and they're not good people. It should be stopped.

I knew I'd forget something. There may be more later.

Fuck them for those hideous videos they show on big-screen TVs to their captive audience as we snake around the stanchions. No, we don't think the skits are cute, even with ones with Special Guest Appearances by Wayne Newton; the smart people don't want to have to –as we stand in line– pretend to laugh at them along with the stupid people for whom they're written, especially when actual humor from a traveling citizen in that context can land that citizen in jail.

I don't want my tax dollars spent making stupid videos.

I don't want my tax dollars spent on big-screen TVs.

I don't want my tax dollars spent by you to convince us we're in this together. (You're corrupt; I'm on my own.)

Crid, rare fucking form!

Especially this:

But if you do, EVEN IF YOU LIVE TO BE TEN THOUSAND YEARS OLD, you much never let any fucker tell you that the inconvenience at airports was caused by Bin Laden or some other terrorist. They were never that bright, and they're not this lucky.

This is being done to Americans by other Americans, and they're not good people. It should be stopped.

Oh, and Gregg loves it. It takes a big man to walk -- and be walked on by -- a little dog. If you're at all fey, you have to rent a German shepherd.

Must never, not much never. Thanks for your understanding.

I know Gregg's tall and butch, but hanging out with that dog is a risk.

Aw Crid, now you're scaring me. I gotta fly out to the west coast in a couple of weeks, and you're making it sound like it's gonna suck more than ever before!

Happy New Year, everybody -- have a great 2010!

ORD - My advice - fedex your clothes, computer, and everything else to your destination, show up dressed like The Dude with nothing but your wallet, passport, and boarding pass.

A White Russian or two might help.

It's gotten to the point where if I cannot get there by road or rail, I'm not going.

Which is probably what "they" want.

ORD, It is. It is going to suck MUCH more than ever. Because the government is here to help. Brian is right. Fedex everything and try to appear as much like a terrorist as possible so you won't be "profiled". If you're extremely fortunate, these measures will keep one of the aforementioned diabetic, quadruple-chinned, epauletted, government employees' fingers out of your ass.

Well, the FedEx tactic I can see, but if I started drinking, it would be just my luck the plane's bathroom would be out of order. That happened on a flight I was on about this time last year. Oh, the agony...

On the other hand, flying from Tokyo to Detroit this past summer, I popped a couple of Dramamine. After I finally came to, I looked out the window and spotted coastline. Oh, I thought, we're over the Pacific Northwest. Wrong, the shoreline was Lake Michigan. I'd been out for hours and hours!

I just think Crid is the bees knees.

Crid, I wish you'd stop being so damn shy.

I crawled for those people! Because I didn't want to go to jail and just wanted to get on the fricking airplane, I blushed and cowered and did as I was told, just like tens or hundreds of thousands of other travelers over the holidays. Americans. Taxpayers.

'I didn't want to go to jail and just wanted to get on the fricking airplane'

I hear you. They are also authorities on marriage, relationships, dating, whatever....they have no reservations at all when it comes to butting into private conversations. I posted here before about a TSA female getting all in a huff because my husband put his shoes in my basket because he hadn't taken them off fast enough, they'd already pushed his stuff through. She grumbled the entire time we were in line, I was splitting a gut laughing by the time I headed for the gate. When they're not discussing traveler's relationships they are busy,busy,busy discussing their own plans for the weekend and critiquing other worker's date plans, and giving/receiving advice on handling the men in their lives.

I feel so damned protected!

And, a belated Happy New Year to Amy and all of you here! Japanese new year is a huge deal, the rellies just went home yesterday, this is my first time online in the new year. I hope you all had a great time!

Wow, Crid! A hijacking just occurred; of the subject of this post! Good one, though!

I have to share that at least one TSA minion has a sense of humor ... while being frisked because my little cigar-puncher caused much consternation in the 'ol X-ray line, I asked the agent if this [close physical contact] meant he had to buy me a cigar (vs dinner); he quipped, "No, but you might want one after!"

And Crella - I'm always amazed how one airport's champions of safety yell at me if I do NOT put my shoes in the bin; another chastises that "other passengers don't want a bin dirtied by your shoes - put them on the belt!"

> A hijacking just occurred; of the
> subject of this post!

Amy doesn't police topics, which is one reason to hang out here. It's a metaphor; if someone in the cabin gets out of hand, she's confident that those nearby will take care of things. .

Mr.Teflon, she was crabbing because he put them in my bin, like he was imposing on me somehow. I said "That's the "worst" thing he's done in 30 years, I have nothing to complain about..." she wasn't happy that I wasn't agreeing with her.

Best photo ever!

(and high five on the yummy bedding too)