You drank what!

Instead of devouring a 15 pound bird to get your holiday meal fix this Thanksgiving Day, why not down a bottle of turkey and gravy flavored soda? Or how about a nice pea-flavored soda, followed by one that tastes like sweet potatoes?

That’s right, thanks to the Jones Soda Company in Seattle, you can now drink your Thanksgiving dinner — well, that is, if you can stomach it.

Peter van Stolk, chief executive of Jones Soda, admits that not even he can stand the taste of his company’s unique holiday beverages; still, the mishmash drinks have become a cult phenomenon since their introduction in 2002, even without the approval of the CEO’s taste buds.

This years offerings include green pea, along with other unusual sodas such as turkey and gravy, dinner roll, sweet potato and antacid flavor. The gift sets will be part of the company’s $10 to $15 “holiday pack” of bottled drinks available nationwide.

I’ve always wanted to try one of these sodas, but I never felt right about shelling out $15 for something I’m pretty sure would make me want to throw up. I saw several of the gift packs recently at Target in Little Rock and came close to snatching one up, if for no other reason than to say I tried it.

The sodas come in all different types of flavors and are packaged in nice glass bottles with unique labels. In past years, the sodas have caused bidding wars on online auction sites like Ebay, as holiday shoppers scrambled to try the hip new drinks.

This year, though, they seem to be selling a little less briskly.

Other holiday oddities include the Turducken. If you don’t know exactly what a Turducken is, you’ve probably at least heard the name. It’s a de-boned turkey stuffed with a de-boned duck, which itself is stuffed with a small de-boned chicken. The cavity of the chicken and the rest of the gaps are filled with highly seasoned bread crumbs or sausage meat.

The Turducken is a uniquely American dish and is believed to be Cajun in origin, although it may have originated in eastern Texas or northern Louisiana. Lake Charles, La., claims that Turduckens were invented there.

Like the famous Jones sodas, the Turducken is also something foreign to my palate, but I’d be more than willing to try it. If you ask me, all you need to have yourself a great Thanksgiving feast this holiday season is a bottle of green pea soda and a Turducken. Just don’t forget the antacid...soda. Enjoy.

Playstation 3 madness

John Strother, manager of the El Dorado Wal-Mart Supercenter, is thankful. Unlike dozens of other stores across the country, which were mobbed early Friday morning by people seeking the scarce Playstation 3 game console, his store was relatively quiet.

The El Dorado Supercenter had just 10 units available for purchase, and people began camping outside the store as early as Wednesday evening hoping for a chance to buy one of the much-coveted gaming machines, which promise “cutting edge graphics.”

Just before midnight, Wal-Mart handed out vouchers to the first 10 people in line, all but ensuring an orderly crowd, Strother said.

“We had seats numbered, and they had to stay in those seats,” he said. “We then gave the first 10 a coupon, which they had to present in order to purchase (the Playstation 3). We didn’t have a single problem here.”

Strother said that the Playstation 3, priced at more than $500, definitely ranks at the top of ultra-hot “must have” items this holiday season.

With Sony promising only 400,000 systems for the nationwide launch, the chance of disappointment was high. While retailers tried to keep expectations low, lines snaked around the block at many stores — even those that didn’t begin sales until later Friday.

“It’s what everyone wants,” Strother said of the game system. “People want it not so much for themselves, they want to sell it on eBay it seems.”

A check of the online auction site Friday afternoon showed at least two Playstation 3 units in Smackover. The price? A cool $4,000 for one unit if you use the site’s “Buy It Now” feature. One of the highest “Buy It Now” Playstation 3 prices Friday was a whopping $25,000.

Dr. Marshall Horton, associate professor of economics and finance at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, said the phenomenon surrounding the Playstation 3 launch is known to economists as a “speculative bubble.”

Every year, almost without fail, such bubbles occur when items like the Playstation 3, Tickle Me Elmo or Cabbage Patch Doll became the “it” item for Christmas.

Many who stand in line for days at a time never plan to actually use these items — they only hope to resell them for as much as 100 times the purchase price.

But before you rush out and buy a Playstation 3 with hopes of making three times what you paid for it, Horton said you might want to make other plans.

“Like all of the others, this bubble will surely burst,” he said. “People just better hope they can sell their items at a higher price before it does.”

The Playstation 3 madness came to a head Friday morning in Putnam, Conn., where two armed thugs tried to rob a line of people waiting to buy the game system, according to the Associated Press. At least one man was shot when he refused to give up his money, authorities said.

Another shooting occurred in Lexington, Ky., where police were investigating a drive-by involving BB pellets that peppered four people outside a Best Buy store. Only minor injuries were reported, the AP said.

In Palmdale, Calif., authorities shut down a Wal-Mart Supercenter after several shoppers got rowdy late Wednesday. And in West Bend, Wis., a 19-year-old man was injured when he ran into a pole racing with 50 others for one of 10 spots outside a Wal-Mart.

Hearing reports like this, Strother is happy that things were calm at his El Dorado store Friday morning, but he’s sure this won’t be the last hot item that sends shoppers into a frenzy.

“We had to do this before with things like the new Gameboy or Playstation 2,” said Strother. “And we will be ready again.”
Strother refused to speculate on when the El Dorado Supercenter would receive another shipment of Playstation 3 units. Just don’t expect them anytime before Christmas.

RePUGnant!

PHOTO CREDIT: Moses, above, looks menacing with his jagged teeth jutting out. But he's really a sweetheart in disguise.
I wrote this story for the El Dorado News-Times. Enjoy.

SMACKOVER — Moses really isn’t all that ugly. He has a cute face, a shiny black coat and a happy, jagged-tooth smile. But according to the “National Inquirer,” this mutt’s mug is the worst in America.

Dubbed the “Ugliest Dog in America” on Nov. 6, Suzanne Burson’s 3-year-old Chihuahua/pug mix has garnered a lot of attention ever since — everyone from NBC’s “Today Show” to the “Arkansas Democrat-Gazette” has featured Moses’ prize-winning photo — and the two are definitely enjoying the limelight.

“I love it,” Burson, 18, proclaimed last week as she sat in her living room in Smackover. “I’m hoping maybe we can get on a national show, but I don’t think he would like the plane ride. It would be really cool, though.”

The photo appearing in the tabloid depicts Moses in a somewhat menacing pose, with his mouth opened slightly as if he’s about to growl. In this position, he looks more like a bat than a dog, which is most likely why he won the contest. Burson said Moses often looks that way when he’s relaxing.

So one day when Moses was kicking back after a hard day, Burson’s boyfriend snapped a picture of the pooch for the contest; as a result, she won $200 and the right to call her dog the ugliest in America.

On a recent afternoon, Moses, his bright orange sweater clinging to his pudgy body, trotted around Burson’s home looking for attention from his master. Moses always has liked the spotlight, and he gets really jealous if he isn’t the center of attention.

“The cats don’t like to be around him, and if they are getting the attention, he really doesn’t like that,” Burson said. “He doesn’t like to be on a leash, so he’s always running around wherever he wants.”

Moses also gets cranky if he doesn’t have his favorite snack — a McDonald’s cheeseburger with ketchup. But hold the pickles, please. Moses hates pickles, Burson said.

Spoiled? Yes. But that’s OK with Burson.

“He is part of my family,” she said, smiling. “He’s my kid, and he’s beautiful.”

Oh, Christmas tree, put thyself away until December

My column, which won't appear until tomorrow's edition of the El Dorado News-Times:

It’s Nov. 16 — one week before Thanksgiving. But if you look around, you’d think it was one week ’til Christmas. The stores have long been chock full of Christmas items, and just about every aisle seems packed with shoppers who’ve put on their “Merry Christmas” faces.

It’s a scene straight out of a holiday movie, complete with gingerbread men, egg nog and those hideous tins full of multi-colored popcorn. You know the ones I mean: They have little puppies, kittens and festive holiday decorations on them. Aren’t those tacky?

I say enough already. It’s not even Thanksgiving yet; you still have plenty of time to find that special Christmas cheer.

It severely cheapens the holiday when stores rush out Christmas items more than a month before Dec. 25., and what’s worse, millions of people actually fall for it.

I preach this every year, but it seems like everyone is in need of another good sermon on when and when not to begin thinking about Christmas. The rule, as I have always understood it, has been the day AFTER Thanksgiving. That’s fair game. You can deck your halls, put lights in your trees, and shop ‘til you drop on Nov. 24.

But not before then — not one day, not one hour, not one minute.

What pushed me over the edge this year was a healthy dose of “It’s a Holly Jolly Christmas” as I shopped for new pants inside an area clothing store. I cringed, wishing that the speakers would explode so I wouldn’t have to be part of their little plot to get me into the Christmas spirit before I’m ready.

And even our own county is taking part in the much-too-early Christmas celebrations by lighting the Union County Courthouse tonight. Come on local officials, wait until our Thanksgiving turkey has digested before you throw the switch next year, please.

Someone has to take a stand and put Christmas back where it belongs — in December.

No other holiday is celebrated two months in advance, although this year I did see Halloween decorations out by mid-September. The only reason is so that stores can capitalize on even more sales, thus proving my point that the commercialization of holidays is sucking the fun right out of them.

In the words of Charlie Brown, who, in his Christmas special lamented about the commercialization of the holidays, “good grief!”

Poignant commentary

Photo caption: George W. Bush sits on his father's shoulders. Photo courtesy of the George Bush Presidential Library.

I've been finding many good commentaries on the Web today. Here is one from Newsweek that illustrates the brassiness that George W. Bush often portrays. I don't think he can help it, none-the-less, it most often is not welcomed.

Patti Davis: Bush’s Father Issues
Father issues still haunt George W. Bush.
WEB-EXCLUSIVE COMMENTARY
By Patti Davis
Special to Newsweek
Updated: 6:00 p.m. MT Nov 9, 2006

Nov. 9, 2006 — A few years ago, during my father’s memorial service at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., I saw a telling moment between the two George Bushes. Bush 41, the former president, had just finished his eulogy, a poignant, touching tribute that hit all the right notes—soft humor, sadness and a clear affection for the man he was there to remember. The current President Bush followed him, and though father and son passed each other so close their shoulders almost brushed, George W. Bush passed his father as if he were invisible, keeping his eyes straight ahead and walking briskly to his destination. To me, it looked like there was some trepidation in the eyes of Bush the Elder, as if he knew his son would slight him.

I thought about that scene as the midterm election results came in Tuesday night. In the wake of a stinging defeat for his party that has clearly put the president in a terrible mood, it seems a good time to ruminate on the story of Oedipus. In the Greek tale, Laius, believing a prediction that his son would one day kill him, had his infant boy hobbled with nails driven into his ankles and then taken to the mountains and left there. Laius believed he had successfully killed his son long before Oedipus could grow up and murder him. Of course, he was wrong, and years later a roadside altercation between the two men resulted in the prophecy coming true.

After getting into more trouble by unwittingly marrying his mother and after she hanged herself upon discovering the truth, Oedipus was so overcome with remorse he blinded himself with the pin of her brooch. Granted, it was a dramatic way to show humility and shame, but at least he did come around.

Which is more than we can say for the president. I’m not suggesting George W. Bush reach for a brooch and blind himself, but I am saying that life is always inviting us to be more humble. Whether we accept the invitation is a matter of choice. What we saw in Bush’s post-election statement Wednesday was an angry man reading from a prepared speech that was supposed to sound conciliatory but didn’t at all because his voice bristled with resentment. No humility there, no reflection or introspection on the dissatisfaction of a majority of Americans. And, the irony of ironies, with the firing of Donald Rumsfeld, W. finds himself working closely with many of his father’s old advisors.

The term "oedipal" has fluttered around the younger Bush’s presidency from the beginning. Much has been made of the psychology behind the scene of the competitive son marching onto the battlefield his father had vacated, determined to win a war Dad walked away from. When the son raised his fist (symbolically) and cried out, “Mission accomplished!” it wasn’t just about the statue of Saddam being dismantled, ripped to ruins in the center of Baghdad. It was about (again symbolically) conquering his father.

If the purpose of life is that we grow wiser, more open and receptive, more willing to step back and learn from mistakes, more willing to change, then there are three words that should come to mind for this president today: Mission not accomplished.

© 2006 Newsweek, Inc.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15642593/site/newsweek/

Paul Krugman speaks the truth

This column speaks volumes about what our country has experienced over the past decade. And it's 100 percent true.

November 10, 2006
Op-Ed Columnist for
The New York Times

The Great Revulsion

By PAUL KRUGMAN
I’m not feeling giddy as much as greatly relieved. O.K., maybe a little giddy. Give ’em hell, Harry and Nancy!

Here’s what I wrote more than three years ago, in the introduction to my column collection “The Great Unraveling”: “I have a vision — maybe just a hope — of a great revulsion: a moment in which the American people look at what is happening, realize how their good will and patriotism have been abused, and put a stop to this drive to destroy much of what is best in our country.”

At the time, the right was still celebrating the illusion of victory in Iraq, and the bizarre Bush personality cult was still in full flower. But now the great revulsion has arrived.

Tuesday’s election was a truly stunning victory for the Democrats. Candidates planning to caucus with the Democrats took 24 of the 33 Senate seats at stake this year, winning seven million more votes than Republicans. In House races, Democrats received about 53 percent of the two-party vote, giving them a margin more than twice as large as the 2.5-percentage-point lead that Mr. Bush claimed as a “mandate” two years ago — and the margin would have been even bigger if many Democrats hadn’t been running unopposed.

The election wasn’t just the end of the road for Mr. Bush’s reign of error. It was also the end of the 12-year Republican dominance of Congress. The Democrats will now hold a majority in the House that is about as big as the Republicans ever achieved during that era of dominance.

Moreover, the new Democratic majority may well be much more effective than the majority the party lost in 1994. Thanks to a great regional realignment, in which a solid Northeast has replaced the solid South, Democratic control no longer depends on a bloc of Dixiecrats whose ideological sympathies were often with the other side of the aisle.

Now, I don’t expect or want a permanent Democratic lock on power. But I do hope and believe that this election marks the beginning of the end for the conservative movement that has taken over the Republican Party.

In saying that, I’m not calling for or predicting the end of conservatism. There always have been and always will be conservatives on the American political scene. And that’s as it should be: a diversity of views is part of what makes democracy vital.

But we may be seeing the downfall of movement conservatism — the potent alliance of wealthy individuals, corporate interests and the religious right that took shape in the 1960s and 1970s. This alliance may once have had something to do with ideas, but it has become mainly a corrupt political machine, and America will be a better place if that machine breaks down.

Why do I want to see movement conservatism crushed? Partly because the movement is fundamentally undemocratic; its leaders don’t accept the legitimacy of opposition. Democrats will only become acceptable, declared Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform, once they “are comfortable in their minority status.” He added, “Any farmer will tell you that certain animals run around and are unpleasant, but when they’ve been fixed, then they are happy and sedate.”

And the determination of the movement to hold on to power at any cost has poisoned our political culture. Just think about the campaign that just ended, with its coded racism, deceptive robo-calls, personal smears, homeless men bused in to hand out deceptive fliers, and more. Not to mention the constant implication that anyone who questions the Bush administration or its policies is very nearly a traitor.

When movement conservatism took it over, the Republican Party ceased to be the party of Dwight Eisenhower and became the party of Karl Rove. The good news is that Karl Rove and the political tendency he represents may both have just self-destructed.

Two years ago, people were talking about permanent right-wing dominance of American politics. But since then the American people have gotten a clearer sense of what rule by movement conservatives means. They’ve seen the movement take us into an unnecessary war, and botch every aspect of that war. They’ve seen a great American city left to drown; they’ve seen corruption reach deep into our political process; they’ve seen the hypocrisy of those who lecture us on morality.

And they just said no.

It's really over

Whew! The elections are officially over. No more nasty campaign ads promising this or that, no more yard signs beside the highway, and no more automated phone calls asking for your vote.

Isn’t it great?

I won’t go into too many specific races or outcomes in this column — I know you’re all pretty tired of hearing about these things right now, sort of like the day-after-Thanksgiving warmed over turkey.

But I will say that even though I’m a Democrat, and the Democrats won control of the House and Senate, I hope that all parties — Democrats, Republicans and Independents — can work together for the common good of our nation.

The problems we are facing today go far beyond the partisan issues that crop up each election cycle: Our nation’s military is hunkered down in Iraq, fighting tooth and nail with extremists who want nothing more than to kill every U.S. soldier and hang them from the highest tree; our nation’s healthcare system is laughable, with millions choosing between medicine and food; and our morale seems to be dwindling.

I think everyone involved in politics can see these symptoms, even the president, who said Wednesday that he pledges to work with the Democrats on issues that are important to America. Of course, he has no choice now that the Democrats are in power, but one hopes that he is sincere in his statement.

Our nation can’t take two more years of partisan squabbles. We must come to terms with the situation in Iraq, and the president and his new Secretary of Defense must be straight with the American people about the war.

Let’s face it, it isn’t going well, otherwise Rumsfeld wouldn’t have stepped down Wednesday. It’s now up to Rumsfeld’s replacement, former CIA chief Robert Gates, to form a plan for Iraq that will see the United States winning the war and restoring some semblance of peace to that region.

I’m trying to be optimistic with the outcome of the 2006 elections, and I truly hope that President Bush can step forward and work alongside the Democrats. I also have hope that the new Congress will propose solid ideas and work with the president.

It’s time for everyone to realize that our government should no longer focuson which party holds the most power because, in the end, we’re all going to have to work together if we ever want things to change.

Obama: A new hope?

I stood on the steps of the Arkansas State Capitol waiting for him, the man many call “the new hope for America.” There were 3,000 others just like me; we didn’t know what to expect, but we hoped that all the hype about this man was true.

Barack Obama introduced himself to Arkansas last Saturday with the same charm and brilliance that has made him famous throughout the United States. For a junior senator from Illinois, Obama is making huge splashes everywhere he goes.

He spoke at the capitol on behalf of Arkansas gubernatorial candidate Mike Beebe, the Democrat many predict will be the next governor of the Natural State.

Obama clearly stole the crowd’s enthusiasm from the very beginning, as hundreds of people chanted “Obama! Obama!
Obama!” and waved his latest book “The Audacity of Hope” in the air.

Wilma Donley, 52, of Little Rock, was one of the thousands who voiced support Saturday for the Democratic party’s shining star. She said that she’s been following Obama since his famous speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, an event that put him on the political radar across the nation.

“That was a wonderful, beautiful, revealing speech, and he is on tap with what we need for our nation, and not only for our nation, but around the world,” Donley said. “His time is coming, and when it happens, it will be just right.”

Like so many others around the country, Donley can see that the United States is facing a broad internal crisis that begins with partisan bickering and ends with Americans being caught in the middle.

She said that Americans are under an “umbrella of frustration,” and most everyone is fed up. “A lot of things are happening that are dividing this country,” she said. “I have been following politics for a long time...I never thought I would live to see the day when we would be facing so much illness in our nation.”

Donley believes that Obama could be the cure for that illness, and she pledged to support him in whatever office he decides to seek; there are countless more who feel exactly like her.

I haven’t seen this much excitement surrounding a political candidate since Bill Clinton ran for president in 1992. Then, Clinton was the new kid in town — he brought a new face and fresh ideas to stodgy Washington D.C., and people ate it up.

So, too, are people feeding from the hand of Obama.

What’s impressive about this man is that he’s truly knowledgeable about issues that matter to America — ending the war, bringing more dollars to those who actually need them, healthcare and education for all.

He spoke about the divide in America today, and how everyone needs a voice in this great political experiment called democracy.

It was refreshing to hear someone sharing ideas about how to make our nation better rather than attacking the other party with aimless lines about how “they” can’t get the job done.

Everyone in Washington today is bickering back and forth, and that’s precisely why nothing ever gets done. It’s time for a change.

I think more and more people are beginning to realize that Obama could be one of the most viable presidential candidates in 2008, at least on the Democratic ticket. Some say he’s too green, that two years in the U.S. Senate isn’t enough time to run for president.

I say why not? Obama can’t do any worse than what other administrations have done over the years, and he’s already gaining plenty of political capital that can be spent in 2008.

But like any candidate whose eye is on the White House, Obama has at least one major obstacle that stands between him and the presidency: He’s half-African-American. Obama’s father was Kenyan and his mother was a white woman from Kansas. I think this could be an issue for many unprogressive voters, and that’s sad.

It’s sad that this country may ignore a brilliant political mind simply because he appears different than most of the stiff suits that line the beltway.

But maybe, just maybe, America can look past someone’s skin color for once and realize that it’s what’s inside that makes the person. I sincerely hope that Obama will be just as warmly received as the man from Hope was, and surely America will realize that he’s just what this country needs.