Amd Now for Something Relatively Different

Molto politico lately, & long items too, so let's break it up a little, w/ yet another completely tasteful (i. e., no nipples) shot of Maggie Gyllenhaal doing her lingerie contract thing, & quite possibly violating God's dress code. Hey, we can spell "Gyllenhaal" w/o looking now.

Ho, Ho, Ho Chi Minh! NLF is Gonna Win!!

Today in History - Dec. 19

By The Associated PressAP - 1 hour 16 minutes ago

Today is Friday, Dec. 19, the 354th day of 2008. There are 12 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

In 1843, "A Christmas Carol," by Charles Dickens, was first published in England.

On this date:

In 1777, Gen. George Washington led his army of about 11,000 men to Valley Forge, Pa., to camp for the winter.

In 1813, British forces captured Fort Niagara during the War of 1812.

In 1907, 239 workers died in a coal mine explosion in Jacobs Creek, Pa.

In 1932, the British Broadcasting Corporation began transmitting overseas with its Empire Service to Australia.

In 1946, war broke out in Indochina as troops under Ho Chi Minh launched widespread attacks against the French.

In 1957, Meredith Willson's musical play "The Music Man" opened on Broadway.

In 1972, Apollo 17 splashed down in the Pacific, winding up the Apollo program of manned lunar landings.

In 1974, Nelson A. Rockefeller was sworn in as the 41st vice president of the United States.

In 1986, Lawrence E. Walsh was appointed independent counsel to investigate the Iran-Contra affair.

In 1997, a SilkAir Boeing 737-300 plunged from the sky, crashing into an Indonesian river and killing all 104 people aboard.

Ten years ago: President Bill Clinton was impeached by the Republican-controlled House for perjury and obstruction of justice (he was later acquitted by the Senate). Two days after his confession of marital infidelity, Bob Livingston told the House he wouldn't serve as its next speaker. President Clinton halted airstrikes against Iraq after a fourth day of attacks.

Five years ago: Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi agreed to halt his nation's drive to develop nuclear and chemical weapons. Design plans were unveiled for the signature skyscraper - a 1,776-foot glass tower - at the site of the World Trade Center in New York City. Death claimed actress Hope Lange at age 70 and actor Les Tremayne at age 90.

One year ago: President George W. Bush signed legislation increasing fuel-efficiency standards for vehicles and requiring wider use of ethanol. An explosion and fire at a chemical plant in Jacksonville, Fla., killed four workers. An express train derailed in southern Pakistan, killing at least 40 people. Former Hyundai CEO Lee Myung-bak won South Korea's presidency. Rescuers found Frederick Dominguez and his three children, who had been lost in the mountains for three days during a snowstorm, in a northern California ravine.

Today's Birthdays: Country singer Little Jimmy Dickens is 88. Composer-lyricist Robert Sherman ("Mary Poppins") is 83. Actress Cicely Tyson is 75. Rhythm-and-blues singer-musician Maurice White (Earth, Wind and Fire) is 67. Actor Tim Reid is 64. Paleontologist Richard E. Leakey is 64. Rock singer Alvin Lee (Ten Years After) is 64. Actress Elaine Joyce is 63. Musician John McEuen is 63. Singer Janie Fricke is 61.Jazz musician Lenny White is 59. Actor Mike Lookinland is 48. Actress Jennifer Beals is 45. Actress Kristy Swanson is 39. Model Tyson Beckford is 38. Actress Amy Locane is 37. Actress Rosa Blasi is 36. Actress Alyssa Milano is 36. Actor Jake Gyllenhaal is 28. Actress Marla Sokoloff is 28. Rapper Lady Sovereign is 23.

Thought for Today: "Politics is the art of preventing people from taking part in affairs which properly concern them." - Paul Valery, French poet and critic (1871-1945).

More Maggie

Typing as we just were about females named Maggie, we still have some underwearlingerie shots of Maggie the Gyllenhaal in the hard drive, right next to the ones of Maggie the Elephant. Isn't the alphabet wonderful?

Obligatory Daily Post

Alright, maybe more later (Do not hold your breath, though.) but let's amuse ourselves w/ more Maggie Gyllenhaal pimping for underwear.

Sunday (Light) Bondage Blogging

Alright, this is the last of the "Maggie Gyllenhaal pimping for Agent Provacateur underwear" pictures:Bet you're all glad that's over. Now we'll go back to dames in their late forties (& up).

Not So Little (Or Young) Anymore

Today is Wednesday, December 19th, the 353rd day of 2007. There are 12 days left in the year.
On this date:
In 1732, Benjamin Franklin began publishing Poor Richard's Almanac.
In 1776, Thomas Paine published his first American Crisis essay, in which he wrote, "These are the times that try men's souls." [What times aren't? — Ed.]
In 1777, General George Washington led his army of about 11,000 men to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, to camp for the winter.
In 1813, British forces captured Fort Niagara during the War of 1812.
In 1843, "A Christmas Carol," by Charles Dickens, was first published in England.
In 1907, 239 workers died in a coal mine explosion in Jacobs Creek, Pennsylvania.
In 1932, the British Broadcasting Corporation began transmitting overseas with its Empire Service to Australia. ["London calling." — Ed.]
In 1946, war broke out in Indochina as troops under Ho Chi Minh launched widespread attacks against the French. [Ho Ho Ho Chi Minh, NLF is gonna win! And they did, too! — Ed.]
In 1972, Apollo 17 splashed down in the Pacific, winding up the Apollo program of manned lunar landings.
In 1974, Nelson A. Rockefeller was sworn in as the 41st vice president of the United States.
In 1986, Lawrence E. Walsh was appointed independent counsel to investigate the Iran-Contra affair.
In 1998, President Clinton was impeached by the Republican-controlled House for perjury and obstruction of justice (he was later acquitted by the Senate).
Ten years ago: A SilkAir Boeing 737-300 plunged from the sky, crashing into an Indonesian river and killing all 104 people aboard. In Milwaukee, postal clerk Anthony Deculit killed a co-worker he'd feuded with, wounded a supervisor and injured another worker before taking his own life. James Cameron's epic film "Titanic," the highest-grossing film ever made, opened in US theaters.
Five years ago: Secretary of State Colin Powell declared Iraq in "material breach" of a U.N. disarmament resolution. After a prosecutor cited new DNA evidence, a judge in New York threw out the convictions of five young men in a 1989 attack on a Central Park jogger who had been raped and left for dead. Roh Moo-hyun won South Korea's presidential election.
In 2003, Muammar al-Qaddafi of Libya announced that his country would discontinue development of weapons of mass destruction.
One year ago: A Libyan court convicted five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor of deliberately infecting 400 children with HIV and sentenced them to death. (The six later had their death sentences commuted, and were transferred to Bulgaria, where they were pardoned and set free.)
Today's Birthdays: Country singer Little Jimmy Dickens (photo) is 87. Composer-lyricist Robert Sherman ("Mary Poppins") is 82. Actress Cicely Tyson is 74. Baseball Hall of Famer Al Kaline is 73. Rhythm-and-blues singer-musician Maurice White (Earth, Wind and Fire) is 66. Actor Tim Reid is 63. Paleontologist Richard E. Leakey is 63. Rock singer Alvin Lee (Ten Years After) is 63. Actress Elaine Joyce is 62. Singer Janie Fricke is 60. Basketball Hall of Famer Kevin McHale is 50. Actor Mike Lookinland is 47. Actress Jennifer Beals is 44. Actress Kristy Swanson is 38. Actress Alyssa Milano is 35. Football player Warren Sapp is 35. Football player Jake Plummer is 33. Actor Jake Gyllenhaal is 27. ["Hey Meester, joo wanna see dirty peectures of my seester?" — Ed.]
Others, Now Dead, Born this Date:
Ford Frick, NL president, commissioner of baseball (1894); Sir Ralph Richardson, actor (1902); Leonid Brezhnev, political leader (1906); Jean Genet, playwright (1910); Edith ["The Little Sparrow"] Piaf, cabaret singer (1915).
The Black Hole of Show Bidness:
In 1955, Carl Perkins recorded "Blue Suede Shoes" at Sun Records in Memphis.
In 1957, Meredith Willson's musical play "The Music Man," starring Robert Preston as charming con man Harold Hill, opened on Broadway.
In 1975, the C.W. McCall single "Convoy" went gold in the US.
In 1980, Dolly Parton's first movie, "9 to 5," opened nationwide.
In 1985, country singer Johnny Paycheck was arrested for shooting a man during a fight in Hillsboro, Ohio. He was released from jail in 1991.
In 1991, Oliver Stone's controversial film "JFK" premiered in Dallas, where President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963.
In 1995, one person was killed and several others injured on the set of the Disney movie "Gone Fishin'." A boat used in a stunt went out of control and landed on a group of people.
In 1997, the movie "Titanic" opened. It was the most expensive movie ever made.
In 2000, musician Pops Staples of The Staple Singers died at his home outside Chicago at the age of 84. He had been recovering from a concussion suffered four weeks earlier. That same day, guitarist Rob Buck of 10,000 Maniacs died of complications from liver failure. He was 42.

Early Sunday Morning Flesh Blogging

Maggie Gyllenhaal modeling underwear for an underwear co. Who says they can't recreate the illusion of "Hollywood glamour?" All it takes is a turban, fake eyelashes & some drop earrings. Or a garter belt. Further flesh @ the underwear co.'s website.

Sexy Saturday

Maggie Gyllenhaal getting her breasts pushed up for Agent Provocateur underwear fashions. A turban, some fuck-up-your-lobes earrings, & false eyelashes & you too may look '30s glamourous.

(Yes, we're totally out of ideas, & are reduced to purging photos from the hard drive. How could you tell?)

16 November: Tiberius, W. C. Handy Born; Hubert Sumlin Still Kickin' At 76; Sherman Marches (Again); Canadians Have Rebels, & Execute One‽ Dr. Shepard Acquitted In Retrial; Milton "The Monster" Friedman Dies, Yrs. Too Late; First 11-10 Score In NFL HIstory

Today is Monday, Nov. 16, the 320th day of 2009. There are 45 days left in the year. The almost pointless UPI Almanac.AP Highlight in History:
On Nov. 16, 1864, Union Gen. William T. Sherman and his troops began their "March to the Sea" during the Civil War.

[So the Rev. Moon's UPI Almanac is as much of a joke as the Washington Times. No surprise there. — Ed.]
On this date:
In 1776, British troops captured Fort Washington in New York during the American Revolution.
In 1885, Canadian rebel leader Louis Riel was executed for high treason.
In 1892, the University of Chicago, a founding member of the Big 10 Conference, won its first football game, beating Illinois, 10-4.
In 1907, Oklahoma became the 46th state of the union.
In 1917, Georges Clemenceau again became prime minister of France.
In 1933, the United States and the Soviet Union established diplomatic relations.
In 1961, House Speaker Samuel T. Rayburn died in Bonham, Texas, having served as speaker since 1940 except for two terms.
In 1966, Dr. Samuel H. Sheppard was acquitted in his second trial of murdering his pregnant wife, Marilyn, in 1954.
In 1973, Skylab 4, carrying a crew of three astronauts, was launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on an 84-day mission. President Richard M. Nixon signed the Alaska Pipeline measure into law.
In 1982, an agreement was announced in the 57th day of a strike by National Football League players.
In 1988, Estonia's parliament declared the Baltic republic sovereign.
In 1989, six Jesuit priests, a housekeeper and her daughter were slain by army troops at the University of Central America Jose Simeon Canas in El Salvador.
In 1995, Attorney General Janet Reno disclosed that she had Parkinson's disease.
In 1997, Chinese pro-democracy campaigner Wei Jingsheng arrived in the United States after being released on medical parole after nearly 18 years in prison.
In 1999, Nathaniel Abraham, at 13 one of the youngest murder defendants in U.S. history, was convicted in Pontiac, Mich., of second-degree murder for shooting a stranger outside a convenience store with a rifle when he was 11. (Nathaniel was sentenced to juvenile detention until his 21st birthday; he was released in January 2007. However, he was sentenced in January 2009 to at least four years in prison for a drug-related conviction.)
In 2001, Congress passed an aviation security bill mandating that airport screeners be federal employees. Investigators found a letter addressed to Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., containing anthrax.

In 2004, President George W. Bush picked National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice to be his new secretary of state, succeeding Colin Powell. Al-Jazeera television said it had received a video showing a hooded militant shooting a blindfolded woman in the head; it's believed the woman was kidnapped aid worker Margaret Hassan. Sunni Muslims in Iraq expressed anger over videotape showing the fatal shooting of a wounded and apparently unarmed man in a Fallujah mosque by a U.S. Marine. [Two wrongs: Do they make a right? — Ed.]
In 2006, African, Arab, European and U.N. leaders agreed in principle to a joint African Union-United Nations peacekeeping force for Sudan's Darfur region. Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman died at age 94.
In 2008, Iraq's Cabinet overwhelmingly approved a security pact with the United States calling for American forces to remain in the country until 2012. Space shuttle Endeavour linked up with the international space station. The Pittsburgh Steelers rallied to beat the San Diego Chargers 11-10, the first such final score in NFL history.
Today's Birthdays: Actor Clu Gulager is 81. Blues musician Hubert Sumlin is 78. [A few good stills of the birthday boy pickin' w/ The Wolf here. — Ed.] Journalist Elizabeth Drew is 74. Blues musician W.C. Clark is 70. Actress Joanna Pettet is 67. Actor Steve Railsback is 64. Actor David Leisure is 59. Actor Miguel Sandoval is 58. Actress Marg Helgenberger is 51. Rock musician Mani is 47. Country singer-musician Keith Burns (Trick Pony) is 46. Retired tennis player Zina Garrison is 46. Retired MLB All-Star pitcher Dwight Gooden is 45. Jazz singer Diana Krall is 45. Actor Harry Lennix is 45. Rock musician Dave Kushner (Velvet Revolver) is 43. Actress Lisa Bonet is 42. Actress Tammy Lauren is 41. Rhythm-and-blues singer Bryan Abrams (Color Me Badd) is 40. Actress Martha Plimpton is 39. Actor Michael Irby is 37. Actress Missi Pyle is 37. Olympic gold medal figure skater Oksana Baiul is 32. Actress Maggie Gyllenhaal is 32. Pop singer Trevor Penick is 30. NBA player Amare Stoudemire is 27.
Today In Entertainment History November 16
In 1956, Elvis Presley's film debut, "Love Me Tender," opened in New York.
Today's Highlight in History:
On Nov. 16, 1959, the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "The Sound of Music," inspired by the real-life story of the Trapp Family Singers, opened on Broadway with Mary Martin as Maria and Theodore ("Rance Muhammitz") Bikel as Capt. von Trapp.
In 1960, actor Clark Gable died of a heart attack at age 59. He had just finished shooting the movie "The Misfits" with Marilyn Monroe. Also in 1960, Patsy Cline recorded the song "I Fall To Pieces" in Nashville. She also recorded the songs "Shoes" and "Lovin' In Vain" during that same session.
In 1973, David Bowie's first TV special, "1980 Floor Show" aired on NBC.
In 1987, actress Lisa Bonet and musician Lenny Kravitz got married. They separated in 1990, and they divorced in 1993.
In 1988, Stan Love, former Beach Boys manager and brother of singer Mike Love, was sentenced to five years' probation for embezzling more than $900,000 from the group. [Not to be confused w/ Mickey Hart's father, who fucked the Dreadful Grate when he was their manager, accountant or something. — Ed.]
In 2001, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" opened nationwide. It brought in a record 90 million dollars its first weekend.
In 2008, the final episode of "Total Request Live" aired on MTV.
Thought for Today: "No matter how dull, or how mean, or how wise a man is, he feels that happiness is his indisputable right." — Helen Keller, American author and lecturer (1880-1968).

19 December: Franklin, Paine, Publish; G. W. Moves To Valley Forge; Ho Chi Minh Sets Out On Righteous Path To Eventual Victory Over Western Imperialist Powers; Rockefeller Sworn In As 41st Veep; Total Mining Deaths This Date: 266; Clinton Impeached

Today is Saturday, Dec. 19, the 353rd day of 2009. There are 12 days left in the year. UPI version.
Today's Highlight in History:
On Dec. 19, 1843, "A Christmas Carol," by Charles Dickens, was first published in England.
On this date:
In 1732, Benjamin Franklin began publishing Poor Richard's Almanac.
In 1776, Thomas Paine published his first American Crisis essay, in which he wrote, "These are the times that try men's souls." [What times aren't? — Ed.]
In 1777, Gen. George Washington led his army of about 11,000 men to Valley Forge, Pa., to camp for the winter.
In 1813, British forces captured Fort Niagara in upstate New York during the War of 1812.
In 1907, 239 workers died in a coal mine explosion in Jacobs Creek, Pa.
In 1932, the BBC began transmitting overseas with its Empire Service to Australia.
In 1946, war broke out in Indochina as troops under Ho Chi Minh launched widespread attacks against the French.
In 1958, the U.S. satellite Atlas transmitted the first radio voice broadcast from space, a 58-word recorded Christmas greeting from U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower.
In 1972, Apollo 17 splashed down in the Pacific, winding up the Apollo program of manned lunar landings.
In 1974, Nelson A. Rockefeller was sworn in as the 41st vice president of the United States.

[Note well: Two of the last Republicans who were at least sane, if not the brightest bulbs in the chandelier. — Ed.]
In 1984, a fire at the Wilberg Mine near Orangeville, Utah, killed 27 people. Britain and China signed an accord returning Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty on July 1, 1997. Also, the United States formally withdrew from UNESCO in a effort to force reform of the U.N. cultural organization's budget and alleged Third World bias. [Bogus outrage about racial stuff: It's nothing new. — Ed.]
In 1986, the Soviet Union announced it had freed dissident Andrei Sakharov from internal exile and pardoned his wife, Yelena Bonner. U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese said U.S. President Ronald Reagan didn't know that money Iran paid for U.S. arms was going to Nicaraguan rebels.
In 1996, the school board of Oakland, Calif., voted to recognize Black English, also known as "ebonics." [See 1984. Outrageous! — Ed.]
In 1997, a SilkAir Boeing 737-300 plunged from the sky, crashing into an Indonesian river and killing all 104 people aboard. In Milwaukee, postal clerk Anthony Deculit killed a co-worker he'd feuded with, wounded a supervisor and injured another worker before taking his own life.
In 1998, President Bill Clinton was impeached by the Republican-controlled House for perjury and obstruction of justice (he was later acquitted by the Senate).

Two days after his confession of marital infidelity, Rep. Bob Livingston, R-La., told the House he wouldn't serve as its next speaker. [A-hem. — Ed.]
In 1999, space shuttle Discovery and seven astronauts roared into the night toward the crippled Hubble Space Telescope. Macau spent its last day under Portuguese control before being handed back to China, ending 442 years of colonial rule. Cleveland Browns offensive tackle Orlando Brown was ejected for pushing referee Jeff Triplette to the ground during a game against Jacksonville after accidentally being hit in the eye with Triplette's weighted penalty flag.
In 2000, the U.N. Security Council voted to impose broad sanctions on Afghanistan's Taliban rulers unless they closed terrorist training camps and surrendered U.S. embassy bombing suspect Osama bin Laden.
In 2002, Secretary of State Colin Powell declared Iraq in "material breach" of a U.N. disarmament resolution. After a prosecutor cited new DNA evidence, a judge in New York threw out the convictions of five young men in a 1989 attack on a Central Park jogger who had been raped and left for dead. Roh Moo-hyun won South Korea's presidential election.
In 2003, Muammar al-Qaddafi of Libya announced that his country would discontinue development of weapons of mass destruction.
In 2004, in Iraq, car bombs tore through a Najaf funeral procession and Karbala's main bus station, killing at least 60 people and wounding more than 120 in the two Shiite holy cities. In Baghdad, three Iraqi election officials were killed execution-style by insurgents. Time magazine named President George W. Bush its Person of the Year for the second time. Opera singer Renata Tebaldi died in San Marino at age 82.
In 2005, Afghanistan's first democratically elected parliament in more than three decades convened.
In 2006, a Libyan court convicted five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor of deliberately infecting 400 children with HIV and sentenced them to death. (The six later had their death sentences commuted, and were transferred to Bulgaria, where they were pardoned and set free.) U.S. President George W. Bush said he would increase the number of Americans in the military to deal with terrorism worldwide. Bush acknowledged that U.S. military forces were stretched too thin.
In 2007, conservative Lee Myung-bak won the South Korean presidential election.
In 2008, citing imminent danger to the national economy, President George W. Bush ordered an emergency bailout of the U.S. auto industry. An unwavering Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich served notice he had no intention of quitting over his corruption arrest, declaring: "I have done nothing wrong." Militants in Gaza fired rockets into Israel as Hamas ended a six-month truce. Also in 2008, a landmark $200 billion program intended to support consumer credit will allow hedge funds to borrow from the Federal Reserve for the first time. And, Mark Felt, an FBI official who became known as the Washington Post journalists' shadowy source "Deep Throat" in the Watergate scandal, died at the age of 95.
Today's Birthdays: Country singer Little Jimmy Dickens (left) is 89. Composer-lyricist Robert Sherman ("Mary Poppins") is 84. Actress Cicely Tyson is 76. R&B singer-musician Maurice White (Earth, Wind and Fire) is 68. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak is 68. Actress Elaine Joyce is 66. Actor Tim Reid is 65. Paleontologist Richard E. Leakey is 65. Rock singer Alvin Lee (Ten Years After) is 65. Musician John McEuen is 64.Singer Janie Fricke is 62. Jazz musician Lenny White is 60. Actor Mike Lookinland is 49. Actress Jennifer Beals is 46. Actor Scott Cohen is 45. Actor Robert MacNaughton is 43. Magician Criss Angel is 42. Rock musician Kevin Shepard is 41. Actress Kristy Swanson is 40. Model Tyson Beckford is 39. Actress Amy Locane is 38. Actress Rosa Blasi is 37. Actress Alyssa Milano is 37.  Football player Warren Sapp is 37. Football player Jake Plummer is 35.  Actor Jake Gyllenhaal is 29. Actress Marla Sokoloff is 29. Rapper Lady Sovereign is 24. [Whatever happened to her? — Ed.]
Others, Now Dead, Born this Date: Mary Livermore, women's suffrage leader (1820); "Pollyanna" author Eleanor Porter (1868); Ford Frick, NL president, commissioner of baseball (1894); Sir Ralph Richardson, actor (1902); Leonid Brezhnev, political leader (1906); Jean Genet, a pioneer in the theater of the absurd (1910); Edith ["The Little Sparrow"] Piaf, cabaret singer (1915).
Today In Entertainment History December 19In 1955, Carl Perkins recorded "Blue Suede Shoes" at Sun Records in Memphis.
In 1957,Meredith Willson's musical play "The Music Man," starring Robert Preston, opened on Broadway.
In 1975, the C.W. McCall single "Convoy" went gold in the US.
In 1980, Dolly Parton's first movie, "9 to 5," opened nationwide.
In 1985, country singer Johnny Paycheck was arrested for shooting a man during a fight in Hillsboro, Ohio. He was released from jail in 1991.
In 1991, Oliver Stone's controversial film "JFK" premiered in Dallas, where President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963.
In 1995, one person was killed and several others injured on the set of the Disney movie "Gone Fishin'." A boat used in a stunt went out of control and landed on a group of people.
In 1997, the movie "Titanic" opened. It was the most expensive movie ever made.
In 1999, Actor Desmond Llewelyn, who'd starred as the eccentric gadget expert Q in a string of James Bond films, was killed in a car crash in East Sussex, England; he was 85.
In 2000, musician Pops Staples of The Staple Singers died at his home outside Chicago at the age of 84. He had been recovering from a concussion suffered four weeks earlier. That same day, guitarist Rob Buck of 10,000 Maniacs died of complications from liver failure. He was 42.
Thought for Today: "I never could see why people were so happy about Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol' because I never had any confidence that Scrooge was going to be different the next day." — Dr. Karl Menninger, American psychiatrist (1893-1990).