Joshuah Bearman

The Great Delegator

We've all seen it before, but I find myself still shocked by watching Bush in action. Here, he laughs off a thoughtful question about the mercenary armies running amok in Iraq. It's a dated clip, referring to the thankfully departed Donald Rumsfeld, but it condenses all of Bush's failings into 90-seconds.He has no idea how to answer a question about a policy for which he is responsible. "I don't want to dodge the question," he says, doing just that. "But I'd have to ask Rumsfeld. That's what delegation is."

Bobby on Xmas

Our Gross National Product, now, is over $800 billion a year. But the GNP--if we should judge America by that--counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and jails for those who break them. It counts the destruction of our redwoods and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm and the cost of a nuclear warhead...and the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children.

Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages; the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage...it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile. And it can tell us everything about America except why we are proud to be Americans.

--Robert F. Kennedy
March 18, 1968

Snobracake!

Halloween on a five week turnaround:

Aftermath:

Chocolotron

Just got an email about Richart's new festive garden collection, yet somehow Ronni already got a hold of a box last week. I think she has some special gland in her brain that makes her sense when there's been a new chocolate innovation anywhere in the world. Even though this is Richart, former proprietors of a chocolate successfully flavored with tobacco, the festive garden is quite a leap. Carrot and potato coulis, caramalized celery, cassis de dijon ganache -- sounds a bit dubious maybe, but our box is long gone already. My favorite: tomato coulis on a bed of basil ganache. As we picked over the empty box Ronni forbid me from ever picking up a peanut butter Kit Kat again.

Super Stamps

Is this silly? I think it is. Very silly. That's why I'm ordering 100.

Saw doesn't seem so scary

Like this.

Want to waste another 30 seconds X 40 = 20 minutes? Here's the rest of the bunny reenactments.

Monkey Santa Don't Want No Milk And Cookies!

Woman Spots Monkey Attacker From Lineup, the headline says. The picture:

Hannukah Ham

Woops!

Tiggywinkles?

Finally an adorable environmental disaster: abandoned baby hedgehogs.

Be sure to click through for an even more adorable baby hedgehog on the mend. As my friend Kelly Sears says:

Oh dear!  My black heart just warmed and melted...but I can't believe I just read this sentence and it was not a dream: Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.