LOL Obama ?!?

In honor of his recently announced Nobel Peace Prize, I present to you, LOL Obama (been awhile since I've done a 'Commentary by Means of LOL Speak', though there isn't any actual LOL Speak in the caption, if I made a caption that suggested Pres. Obama spoke in LOL style bad grammar, I'd probably be accused of racism...)

(the original can be found, here)

(and I'm ignoring the White House's interpretation of their copyright on this photo, besides, this is a satirical reinterpetation of the original photograph, and falls under fair use as far as I'm concerned)

Your Daily Photo (PETA Trolling-Lioness Edition)

Trollcats, new to the interwebs within the past week, definitely offensive, possibly funny. This post is my 'big cat' version of a trollcat.

UPDATE: My trollcat has made it on to Trollcats, I fell so honored. Go forth and vote my PETA-trolling lioness higher than that horrible holocaust denial trollcat, please.

UPDATE, Part II: Wow, I'm doubly honored now. First Trollcats makes me their first reader submitted trollcat, and now Althouse links to this immodest post while guest posting at Instapundit (sometimes it pays to promote oneself in her 'feel free to talk about whatever you want in the comments to this photo' posts). Woohoo! This photo was taken from my LA Zoo set which can be seen at Flickr, and if you want to see past LOL style captions, the Commentary by Means of LOL Speak tag will light the way (it's a gimmick I didn't stick with for very long, but I think some of them are still funny, even if they are already dated).

LOL Los Angeles Water Cops?!?

For more on this story, see LA Observed. Also, it wasn't at City Hall itself where they were breaking their own rules, but that building is the symbol of city government in Los Angeles, so it'll do, plus it makes the quote inscribed on the side of City Hall, "THE HIGHEST OF ALL SCIENCES AND SERVICES - GOVERNMENT" just that much more ironic, don't you think?

Unaltered photo, part of this photo set.

Previous post pointing to that quote here (along with link to who said it, picture at link makes inscription much easier to read)

Here's the Drought Busters Program highlights . . .

According to Los Angeles’ Prohibited Water Use Ordinance, customers cannot:
• Use water on hard surfaces such as sidewalks, walkways, driveways or parking areas (with the exception of water brooms)
• Water lawns between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. during April through September, and between 11a.m. and 3 p.m. during October through March.
• Allow excess water from sprinklers to flood gutters.
• Use water to clean, fill or maintain decorative fountains unless the water is part of a recirculation system.
• Serve water to customers in eating establishments, unless requested.
• Allow leaks to go unattended.

LOL Edwards ?!?

Edwards comes out of the closet (the Obamite closet, that is . . .)

(original photo stolen from this April 17, 2007 post at TimesOnline by Robbie Millen pointing to this post by Politico's Ben Smith about Edwards' styling habits)

So Drudge seems to think this might mean an Obama/Edwards '08 ticket. Folks who still have their Kerry/Edwards bumperstickers on their Priuses (Prii?) can just cover up the Kerry and they're good to go.

It's all about saving the planet through recycling.

Is Edwards really going to help Obama kill the whole effete elitist crap, though? Or win back pissed of Clintonites? Or prevent the return of the Reagan Democrat?

And now that The Obama has given up cigarettes, has he exchanged that addiction for a serious nimbus addiction? Just check out the current splash page on his official website.



I'm worried about him, I think he has a serious nimbus addiction, is there a 12 step program for that?

LOL Ahmed Angerpuss?!?

Meet Shakeel Ahmad Bhat as profiled in the Daily Mail (hat tip LGF). How did Callimachus at Done With Mirrors know that guy's middle name was "Ahmed" back when he first called him "Ahmed Anger"? (Dude is an even better reporter/editor than he realized).

I've been calling him "Ahmed Angerpuss" ever since. Even after the puff piece on him, the name still fits, "Islamic Rage" sells well within and without the Islamic community, the well of anger seems deep and endless. Seems the slightest provocation (and even a perception of provocation without any actual facts) is capable of enflaming passions and setting off a round of pointless street theatre. Our media eats it up, then tut-tuts and tsk-tsks when people in the advanced, civilized and tech-savvy parts of the globe (yes, I'm making a value judgement and saying that we in the "west" are better off and just plain better than the angry Islamic "street") see the pictures they transmit as being indicative of the sentiment within a too large portion of many Islamic communities.

Many in the press want it both ways, they want to grossly exaggerate the level and widespread nature of anti-western feeling in Islamic communities while blaming the root cause on our western insensitivity and cultural imperialism, while at the same time castigate us for believing that this rage might constitute a problem and a danger to our way of life.

I think the problem is greatly exaggerated, and it's a real problem (I guess I want it both ways, too). Most people who follow the Last Prophet are peaceful, but they are too tolerant of the nasty fringe within their faith, and they will pay the consequences along with their radical brethren if things get out of hand. The great thing about technology is that each generation of new tech makes using the old tech that much easier and accessible to greater and greater numbers of people, and that's technology's great danger, too. What's true for computers, is also to a degree, true of WMD. It's getting more and more accessible for smaller and smaller groups of committed nuts to get a hold of something big and nasty that can effect tens of thousands, if not millions of people in a single attack. With that reality, waiting for something to happen is not an option, allowing states to tolerate terrorists within their midst is not an option, and failing to do every diplomatic, intelligence, and when all else fails, military trick in the book to diminish, isolate, and eventually destroy extremist groups of any kind, is not an option.

It's an odd irony that the MAD strategy during the Cold War years helped keep an uneasy peace between the two main spheres of influence while also taking WMD out of the mix of acceptable tactics, that the apparent collapse (I say apparent, cause I still don't entirely trust that Russians won't embrace some crazed autocrat at some point in the next 25 years and restart the Cold War) of the threat of total annihilation has actually increased the likelihood of a major city being attacked in this manner.

The Appropriate Reaction?!?

Picture stolen from I Can Haz Cheezburger, truly this cat is worth LOL-ing at.

And what the hell is J.K. Rowling doing saying this, anyway? What other expanded back stories will we get?

My guesses:

• Mrs. Weasley was a popular stripper (stage name, Cherry Bush) before she married (and the ravages of childbirth changed her body).
• Harry did indeed use his invisibilty cloak to check out the female students in the showers and locker rooms, just like any other red blooded (hetero) male his age would.
• Hagrid was featured in a series of "Bear" videos (non-sex, just him posing . . ., naked . . ., with real bears)
• Hermione had "an experience" with the hot French chick during the Wizard competitions in Goblet of Fire, but didn't get past "second base".

Any others I'm missing?

LOL Leonard?!?

No Mr. King, sorry, you can't haz a fag.

This is a snap of Leonard King, the poor sod who got nicked for smoking in his lorry.

(I loaded up this post with Britishisms, despite my aversion to their creeping into American English, cause it sounds funnier, and I'm all about teh funny)

LOL Serena?!?

In numbers too large to ignore, oh what the hell, below is some YouTube-age of Helen Reddy singing (and three young woman dancing), cause you know you want to hum along...

And yes, this video is a horrible and corrosive subversion of the sentiment expressed by Helen Reddy's song . . ., I love it, and it's kind of brilliant. These young woman and amazing athletes like Serena Williams are illustrative of all the doors that are now wide open to women in our culture.

Random photo of Serena courtesy the AFP.

LOL Random Kilt Wearing Guy?!?

Now men too can ask a variation of that important question, "Does this skirt make my ass look fat?" (picture snapped by Amy Alkon, her post here).

The Crocs in public would be bad enough, the shirtlessness would be bad enough, the greasy blonde hair would be bad enough, but combine all those things with a kilt too, and you have a perfect storm of suck. In otherwords anonymously random kilt wearing guy (who I've seen walking around Santa Monica on occasion, but never bothered to photograph), yes your skirt does make you look like an ass.

LOL Osama?!?

LOL Edwards?!?

A SHOCKING NEW REVELATION ABOUT EDWARDS-CARE

(figured I'd give DRUDGE his headline up front)

Original image courtesy the Edwards 2008 Flickr page (the Iowa- Labor Day set), and big mistake allowing "remix" ing in the creative commons license for these images. Not all remixers are your friends. Some might even find your ideas regarding subjects such as health care rather astonishing.

LOL Norsk Gangsta?!?

Bendik Stuevold Enger is big pimpin', he's a norsk gangsta!!! I guess at Bjørnsletta School in Oslo he can get away with a smile like that and still be gangsta (article about a newly established dresscode, from which I borrowed this photo, can be found here).

If he wants to bring his pimp game to the United States, two things he needs to work on, first, lose the smile, work on the sullen glare, second, slouch more, his posture is far too good for a proper gangsta pose.

(I'm not going to comment about the girls by his side, cause there's no possible comment within the template of the popular pimp game tropes that wouldn't make me sound like a vile dirty old man)

OK, I'll just make one comment by way of quoting the article:

Young women at the school, meanwhile, note that bare stomachs are out of style now. Some rather enjoy showing off their bustlines, however, in low-cut tight-fitting tops. "It's just fashion, and our way of dressing," said 14-year-old Ingvild Peersen. "And there's a difference between school and work."

(emphasis mine)

Also, when an individual school tries to ban this behavior on campus, it's no big deal, but when a city council tries to pass LAWS making it illegal to dress in a certain manner for all citizens, then that's just plain stupid. And here's a pro-sagging column from police Lt. Steve Rose in today's Atlanta Constitution Journal.

LOL Lutz?!?

This makes a lot more sense if you imagine that GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz, has a habit of speaking about himself in the first person like Sen. Bob Dole.

Why am I picking on GM today?

No good reason. Just liked the photo when I saw it at Autoblog, it was calling out to be defaced. GM has actually done pretty well this year sales wise, but that's mainly cause the sharp downturn in SUV and truck sales in the first quarter reversed itself in the 2nd quarter (and sales look strong in those segments for the 3rd quarter). Once gas prices stabilized then slid back, GM's fortunes rebounded.

The company still has massive structural problems, massive image problems across their brands, but especially at their 'luxury' divisions of Buick and Cadillac, and despite making a better product of late, lag in perceived value against their rivals.

Looks like Toyota won't take over #1 in worldwide car sales in 2007, but it almost definitely will in 2008.

Bob Lutz has done a good job, but he is 75 years old, and the company he helps run is still in a lot of trouble. Still, at least they're not as bad off as Ford or DaimlerChrysler.

LOL Hillary?!?

How I suffer for my art. I went through Sen. Clinton's appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman last night, frame by frame to find just the right image with which to add a caption.

(OK, i didn't really go through the whole performance (and it was a performance) frame by frame, I just figured a moment when they were both laughing would fit the caption I already had in mind, but it sounds more dramatic if I claim to have gone through this appearance as if I were some Kennedy assassination conspiracy nut studying the Zapruder film)

Drudge had a headline screaming (with a question mark) that Sen. Thompson will finally announce officially his run for presidency on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. When Arnold Schwarzenegger made his official announcement for his run at the California Governorship on Leno, it was done well, all the copycats since, have been lame.

The two main latenight shows have become important stops on the campaign circus circuit. Nobody seems to give Jimmy Kimmel, Craig Ferguson, Conan O' Brien or Carson Daly any love. I think they're making a mistake. All those guys are better interviewers than Leno or Letterman (each in their own way). Kimmel is very sharp, and he'd be a good challenge. Ferguson when matched with the right guest is brilliant, and if you were willing to respond honestly and follow the conversation however it goes, could flesh out a lengthy anecdote better than anyone, Conan can switch from whacky to serious the best of all the late night hosts, but he's committed to whacky, so if the purpose of the appearance is to show your humor, then he'd bring it out, and finally Carson is the ultimate sycophant, whatever you have your people tell him to ask you, he'll do, he'd give you the easiest appearance to control (yet without the obviously staged managed feel of a Leno or Letterman appearance where the difference between how they handle politicians and their normal persona is so obvious, not that either are tough on the starlets and stars on their shows, but there's still a big difference).

I left out the cable shows in this equation, though the Daily Show has become a major stop for politicians, and so long as your politics lines up with his, Stewart will treat you very well (when Sen. Obama was on, I was pretty sure that despite being straight, Jon Stewart was fully prepared to sex him up, but good).

I'm not going into the usual whine about how this makes the whole political process as unserious and publicity driven as pushing the latest TV show or feature film. I'm not going to write about how politicians are trying to sell themselves as celebrities rather than engage in policy discussions. I'm not even going to complain about how wooden, stiff and boring most of these folks are when they try and do their 'I can laugh at myself' schtick during one of these appearances.

Nope, not even going to mention any of that.

But, I will mention that few people look good captured in the middle of a wide grin with their head tilted downward (Sen. Clinton and Mr. Letterman being no exception).

LOL Pinter?!?

Harold Pinter's play The Birthday Party, and Harold and the Purple Crayon were both written 50 years ago. Coincidence?

(inspired by the comment section at this So Quoted trivia question post (which I ruin by giving away the answer))

(and I figured it would be even more "pinter-esque" if the 'crayon' Pinter was holding wasn't really purple at all, even though he says it is . . .)

LOL Halonen?!?

Pictured above, Finland's President Tarja Halonen (not Conan O'Brien, though any confusion may be understandable).

Why is it that Finland is Rootin' Tootin' too? On this survey (small pdf at link, here's the link to the surveyor's website)that's been making the rounds (greeted with predicatbly tut-tuttiness in certain circles), with regards to firearms, they come in third on a per capita basis.

I think any country in the top ten should be considered part of the Rootin' Tootin' club, though they do all pale both in sheer number, and in per capita terms with the Rootin' Tootin'-est people on the planet, the good folks of the U S of A!!!

May we long be the Rootin' Tootin'-est.

LOL AYB?!?

For context, visit here.

it made me laugh, maybe not out loud, but the thought of this particular juxtaposition is at least chuckle worthy, and for more on AYB, here's the AYB Wiki

(also, think of this as a semi-homage to Ed Ruscha, if you must)

LOL Opus?!?

Sorry, Berkeley Breathed, you can't even mention Islam in any sort of humorous context. Salon is 'bravely' hosting these 'controversial' comics online (they've been hosting Opus online for some time, they just didn't join WaPo in keeping this from the public eye). Yesterday's comic wasn't really even about Islam, it was about the Lola Granola spiritual seeker types and fadishness in faith. Washington Post can do what they will with their pages, but they're being particular stupid in this case (and as Breathed's distributor they are sending a stern message to him with regards to what they expect from him content-wise by keeping him off their flagship paper when he dares to mention Islam in a humorous context, even when that context doesn't make fun of Islam at all).

Bloom County was pretty damn good, Opus not so much, but when it comes to the fear of riling the easily offended within the Islamic community, Washington Post is entirely cowardly and predictable, and Breathed is most likely dumbfounded as to how this strip could possibly be considered offensive to Islam.

Though, maybe it's the Lola Granola community that WaPo is trying to protect . . .

More on this at Malkin, Volokh, and Captain's Quarters. I looked around for some lefty defenders of free speech and agitators against religiously inspired censorship, and outside of Joan Walsh at Salon, all I'm hearing is crickets chirping.

And good going LA Times, you printed the comic in question, so far no flames and protests in the street around here as far as I can tell . . .

LOL Broad?!?

That caption is so inappropriate considering all the good works Eli Broad is responsible for. A nice article in today's LAT on Broad (photo I deface is also from the LAT, credited to Don Kelsen).

Still it would be hilarious to imagine Eli Broad quoting Dave Chappelle, and Broad is indeed RICH (#42 on Forbes' most current list of wealthy Americans, will he rise or fall in Sept when the new list comes out?).

He's almost 4 times richer than Oprah, and he's got Mayor Bloomberg beat by about half a billion, that's seriously RICH.

(and if you live outside of LA, you probably hadn't heard of him before)

LOL Fidel?!?

Perez Hilton is right, the bastard is dead (at least I hope he's right, if not, he's been as good as dead ever since they admitted his illness last year, the original photo I've defaced, also from last year).