Staying with the theme of ’70s-style Christmas oddities, please enjoy this particularly funky yuletide gem I grabbed from the awesome Christmas music blog (oh, there are many of them!) Musical Fruitcake. In a spectacular example of Me Decade values, Santa and Rudolph decide that gift delivery is for squares… so they plan a disco-style Christmas Eve instead. (Note: I couldn’t find album art for this particular song, so I chose what I thought was an appropriate photo to accompany this post. The “Yuletide Disco” album itself can be downloaded here.) 

 

 The Universal Robot Band - "Disco Christmas": Play Now | Play in Popup

It’s time once again for your semi-regular fill of press release fantasia. In this edition, Walmart — hyphenless and loving it — reminds you to buy local this holiday season. What’s next, Burger King espousing the benefits of vegetarianism … wait, they have what?

Go to metacritic.com, find its list “Wide Releases Now in Theaters,” click “sort by score” and there you have a pretty good idea of the lack of decent film offerings as of late: “Wall-E” and “Dark Knight” — both summer releases — still claim the top ratings spots, with “Milk” sliding in only a week ago. While there has been some quality limited release offerings, those tend to have the shelf life of an un-refrigerated carton of milk at New Orleans theaters. But fear not, moviegoers, because with the influx of gifts, confections and unabashed gluttony that comes with the holiday season also comes (usually, at least) an influx of quality, mainstream film. Finally, something worth the 8-dollar Diet Coke.

However, as a fairly avid movie-goer, I find the annual offerings to be pretty formulaic. In fact, I’ve found that all of the Oscar hopefuls (and wannabe hopefuls) can usually be grouped in the following categories:
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(Gregory Kahn expressed his disappointment in Gambit’s endorsement process in the runup to last Saturday’s election. He was invited to respond in writing.)

As the Libertarian Party candidate for the Second Congessional District, I must express my profound disappointment at the lack of professionalism and integrity in your endorsement process. At the candidate interviews, I answered fully all your questions and, in addition, provided specific written substantive policy positions on many other issues. In your editorial, I was summarily dismissed as the candidate with the weakest grasp of Washington issues as evidenced by my response not to name any subcommittee on which I might desire to be appointed. I explained that as the only Libertarian member of Congress I would not want to be relegated to some unimportant committee but instead would ask of my colleagues the courtesy to participate as a non permanent member on any committee considering legislation of significance to Louisiana and the Second Congressional District. As a career federal civil servant who worked in Wasington and helped prepare testimony for Congressional committees I am keenly aware of Washington issues, and how the House committees are structured. Most who become Libertarians do so because they are familiar with Washington issues and are repulsed by how the Democrat and Rebublican Parties handle them. Perhaps, my positions on Washington issues are not those of Gambits but that should not have led to your accusation that I have a weak grasp of the issues. Your non endorsement editorial was virtually pointless and nihilistic. However, it might have been an improvement over your endorsement of Cedric Richmond in the first Democratic Primary as he has now had his law license suspended for perjury and over your endorsement of Helena Moreno in the Second Democratic Primary as her grasp of Washington issues was clearly not evident. One of your paramount responsibilities is to inform your readers, not misinform them.

Sincerely,

Gregory W. Kahn

By Clay A. Smith

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On a Sunday afternoon when the stars appeared to have come out early — Heralded Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush, MVP candidate Drew Brees, rookie sensation Matt Ryan, and explosive running back Michael Turner — who would have guessed it would be an undrafted kid out of Illinois who would eclipse them all and literally run away with the game?

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The Saints came into Sunday’s contest against Atlanta with a 6-6 record and desperately needed a win to keep their fading playoff hopes alive. But while Bush ripped off eight yards a carry including a career-long 43-yard run, it was Pierre Thomas who carried the Saints to their seventh win of the season. Thomas had a game-high 102 yards rushing, two touchdowns, and an eighty-eight yard kickoff return to set up the go-ahead score.

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So says Anh “Joseph” Cao, the newly elected Representative for Louisiana’s Second District, in an interview with the Associated Press:

The first Vietnamese-American elected to Congress doesn’t have a long list of policy beliefs. Aside from one major issue, Republican moderate Joe Cao says he’s open on everything else.

“The only thing I am certain of is that I am anti-abortion,” Cao said Sunday morning after defeating Democratic U.S. Rep. William Jefferson in a race that marked a major shift in New Orleans politics by ending a 30-year stand for Jefferson, dogged by corruption allegations.

During the campaign, there wasn’t a word about abortion on Cao’s Web site, nor did it even place on the candidate’s “action agenda,” which focused on promoting economic development, preserving the Louisiana wetlands, and reducing wasteful spending. Cao did, however, make his position on social issues more clear to writer Deal W. Hudson in an interview with the Web site Inside Catholic:

Few candidates for public office are as forthright as Cao when asked about their position on abortion. “I am very anti-abortion,” he told me without hesitation. Cao would like to overturn Roe, but in the meantime, “We have to find a way to defeat Roe without having to overturn it.”

And Human Events reports:

Cao also described himself as “strongly pro-life” and volunteered that “I don’t agree with any exceptions [to the right to life].”

Which makes Adam Nossiter’s profile of Cao in Sunday’s New York Times seem a bit strange:

He is only a recent convert to the Republican Party, having been a registered independent for most of his adult life, and has no position — at least not one he cares to share yet — on President-elect Barack Obama’s agenda. His politics seem less a matter of ideology than of low-key temperament and a Jesuit-inspired desire to “help and serve people,” as he put it….

“I don’t want to conform to any ideology, to be put into a little corner,” Mr. Cao said….

Besides, he said, “I truly espouse Aristotle’s definition of virtue: To walk in the middle line.”

On this one issue, Cao’s middle line squares exactly with that of Gov. Bobby Jindal, who told The Times-Picayune in 2003 that “I am 100 percent anti-abortion with no exceptions. I believe all life is precious” — and not with the GOP’s other rising star, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who seems willing to make an exception when the life of a woman is at risk: “I am pro-life. With the exception of a doctor’s determination that the mother’s life would end if the pregnancy continued.”

Gov. Bobby Jindal’s new initiative to reform the way health care is delivered to the state’s citizenry, entitled “Louisiana Health First,” is focusing first on the regions with the greatest needs. That means places like Acadiana, Houma-Thibodaux and large portions of north Louisiana aren’t part of the picture. Read the rest of this entry »

President-elect Barack Obama met with most of the nation’s governors last week in Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, where he discussed how the national recession is impacting individual states. Obama also wanted to get feedback on what could be his first official act as president in January — signing into law a stimulus package, estimated to be as much as $700 billion, to help cash-strapped states. Louisiana faces a $1.3 billion budget “shortfall” when the new fiscal year begins on July 1, 2009. We’re not alone. Another 20 states already have cut $7.6 billion from their current budgets and 30 others have identified additional shortfalls totaling more than $30 billion. Read the rest of this entry »