Jay Leno: The goodbye show
Calls for death of Teddy Bear teacher
Hostage crisis at Clinton camp over
..WHILE CHUCK NORRIS LOOKED ON..The You Tube debate produced a tense night between Guiliani and Romney .. But that's it. Nothing else. Ron Paul wasn't permitted to talk much.. When he did the audience responded with a rush of boos each time.. Thompson had trouble putting together phrases, let alone sentences. McCain was dour and sour, but smiled enthusiastically when he repeated the same tired campaign lines that he does everywhere else.. Huckabee presented a church sermon--with his smile. And Chuck Norris looked on. Really.. I think it's time to give You Tube back to the oddities of society and next time keep them away from politics.. The Democratic You Tube debate gave us the high-pitched snowman worried about melting.. This debate produced two memorable videos, one a man loading a gun almost as a defiant stand against anyone who would propose gun laws, and near the end of the debate a young man asking about the Confederate flag--all the while he sat it front of the flag hanging in his room. God bless us all. I go to You Tube for music videos or flashback memories to Nick at Nite promos from the 1980s.. And of course, I go to You Tube and watch Ron Paul videos. They are slickly produced. What can I say. It's the new addictive trend online. But candidates answering questions from people that want 15 clicks of fame? Nah. Didn't work. Give us You Tube back, CNN. Get rid of the logos all over the page.. take away the advertisements.. And finally.. Mr. Anderson Cooper.. we already know who the media wants to see matched up during the election.. no matter what the You Tube tube.. My dour and negative feelings aside, some other thoughts from the online world tonight: Huffington Post live blogNational ReviewAndrew Sullivan quick reactions
Thompson going negative... but no facts to back him up. It appears the writers strike is hurting him! Did anyone tell him he should practice?
Interesting debate. Thompson confused. Rudy rude. Mccain dour. Paul blowing them all away.. when they let him speak..
You Tubers don't have the script
..It's the You Tube debate between the Republicans.. The You Tubers do NOT have the script.. The debate getting nasty early.
Pregnant and proud
 In your face cover of Christina Aguilera on the January 2008 Marie Claire magazine shows her baby-belly for 'Sexy Mama' article..
The glasses didn't help: Video of the Bush pronunciation botch-up
Bush gets his photo op
  But he almost didn't.. When he tried to shakes hands behind the podium today at the Israel-Palestinian Peace Conference at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, he was reminded by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to move away from the podium so photographers can see.. This was after Bush mispronounced the names of both gentlemen in the photo op ... Olmert told Bush, "If you move from the podium they will see us shaking hands." Hopefully video will come later. I know it was on Keith Olbermann tonight.. I am waiting for my YouTubers and LiveLeakers..
Intrigue in the weather circles
Storm coming this weekend to the East Coast.. new models showing the storm may be strong... Developing story in weather rooms across the Eastern half the United States..
X X RANDOM RAKINGS X X
Carson Daly seeking jokes from "celeb friends" "golfing pals" or "random peeps"
Carson Daly seeking scabs to write his jokes! Daly is not a member of the Writers Guild.. he is also going to begin taping new shows this week which will air next week! No comment at this point from the Writers Guild.. But there may be now. The Smoking Gun website released a document tonight showing that Daly set up "joke hotline" to get material for his comeback.. Another showcase example of how much writers are necessary. For some.. I have some vague mememories of David Letterman making toast during the writers strike back in the old days when he was doing his Late Night program. There were no writers, and no material, but he was oddly funnier. Not the same hopes for Carson Daly, but it's more than interesting that he's the first and so far only late night talk show host to come back on air during the strike..
Bam! "Good things come to an end" for Emeril Live
 The headline may be misleading.. Millionaire chef Emeril Lagasse has his show canceled.. But he's still under contract and most likely poised to take it up a notch sometime soon in the future.. Not that a new show will make him any more watchable than he already is now.
Another day, another drug warning
Stephen King talks to TIME mag.. Jenna Bush waterboarding, TIME persons of the year. .apparently nothing was off the table
Among the interesting Q&A banter between the author and the magazine, King suggested that Lindsay Logan and Britney Spears should be Persons of the Year.. More controversial, though, will be his assertion that Bush's daughter Jenna be waterboarded! More from King not THE KING: " So I said something to the Nightline guy about waterboarding, and if the Bush administration didn't think it was torture, they ought to do some personal investigation. Someone in the Bush family should actually be waterboarded so they could report on it to George. I said, I didn't think he would do it, but I suggested Jenna be waterboarded and then she could talk about whether or not she thought it was torture. And then the guy from Nightline said, "Well, obviously you've not been watching World News Tonight with Charlie Gibson." But I do — I watch 'em all!"Also interesting was his further take on why Britney & Scandal fame company should be the TIME PofY: "Britney Spears is just trailer trash. That's all. I mean, I don't mean to be pejorative. But you observe her behavior for the past five years and you say, "Here's a lady who can't take care of her kids, she can't take care of herself, she has no retirement fund, everything that she gets runs right through her hands." And yet, you know and I know that if you go to those sites that tell you what the most blogged-about things on the Internet are, it's Britney, it's Lindsay. So I think it would be terrific [to have them as TIME Persons of the Year]. There would be such a scream from the American reading public, sure. But at the same time, it's time for somebody to discuss the difference between real news and fake news."Agree on that point, Mr. King. Perhaps not the TIME persons of the year, but maybe the Schmucks of the year? Maybe.
Drink up, deflame your vessels
Another story on the health aspects of wine.. This time Reuters reporting that a study may show that women drinking two glasses of wine a day lowers levels of certain inflammatory substances in their blood.. Apparently this study did not include men. But I am certain that will not stop them from drinking away.. raising a glass. And hoping that inflammation will pass. Or at least lower.  By the way, my choice tonight, while not the best, Taylor Port.
Bust a nut with Hillary
 The hottest political toy of the year is a Hillary Clinton nutcracker. .or the stupidest gift of the year, depending on what you read..But there is a certain ironic beauty in theory with the Mrs. Clinton commidity. .after all, can the irony truly escape you? The possible first women president cracking nuts on your Christmas? My father hopefully will enjoy this item. I bought him one. It's most likely made in China and will either contain harmful lead or will break on the first nut, but the humor will be unescapable. Stupid.com may have rated the Hillary Clinton cracker as the 2nd dumbest gift of the year.. but within 2 to 4 postal business days I will have her. To crack nuts.. And will not feel stupid... At least I don't think??
Gore in the White House .. and Raw video from FOX NEWS
Matt Drudge gives interview to SKY NEWS
The man who sits quietly behind his laptop while his words loudly scream out to the public, gave an interview to SKY NEWS and answered a great question about how to trust the new generation of news online: Keep it live and get to know who you can trust.. With the amount of bloggers and vloggers and online radio hosts, it's tough to get to know your host. SO meet me. Bryan. The Schmuckraker. Trust me. Not with your life, but just with your click.
Extra Extra, YOUR wife files for divorce, hear it here first
 Reporter informs Hulk Hogan that his wife files for divorce against him..Hogan responded, after looking at divorce papers that St Petersburg TIMES reporter reporter showed Mr. Terry Bollea, "Thank you for the great information. My wife has been in California for about three weeks. ... Holy smokes. Wow, you just knocked the bottom out of me." What a way to find out. A reporter.
CONCERNS OVER TAMIFLU AND RELENZA
Is the stem cell war over?
Getting worse in Bangladesh
Major changes down under
 A preview of a worldwide revolution in politics? Will America be next in 2008? Upheavel in Australia today as Prime Minister John Howard suffers a defeat.. SKY NEWS is calling the defeat "humiliating".. The new Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. He promised to get troops out of Iraq. He promised to have Australia sign the Kyoto Protocol, something the United States has refused to do. The new pattern in worldwide elections: The more conservative the leader, the harder they fall. A lesson for '08?
Random wrap up
Washington POST Friday: Secret warrants are being granted without probable cause for feds to get real time cell phone tracking records.. TITANIC 2007: BUT THIS TIME PASSENGERS AND CREW GET OUT ALIVE..The M/S Explorer hit an iceberg and starting sinking off King George Island in Antarctica .. Doctor who operated on Kanye West's mother walks off set of Larry King Live.. HPV vaccine mandated in UK.. United States military asking for sign on bonuses back from wounded service personnel because -- obviously -- they are unable to serve out committements.. I think we all agree.. if it would have been a different gender, Hillary Clinton's husband would have kept the photo... Search Google for "Soliloquy VII" at your own risk .. Old suspects new all over again: Police arrest Joran van der Sloot and two Surinamese brothers in the Holloway case .. Former Attorney General Gonzales heckled in Florida..
Marilyn Manson's interesting purchases
 A lawsuit brought about by Keyboardist Stephen "Pogo" Bier for breach of contract against Marylin Manson accuses the singer of wasting away the band's profits on articles such as a child's skeleton, and masks made of human skin.. Many of the items listed in the lawsuit are illegal in the United States. And those that aren't are most likely just plain frightening and disgusting.. The lawsuit also alleges that he used band money to pay for Nazi memorabilia.. But on the issue of that pesky child skeleton purchase, Manson told MTV: "And I would never spend my money on a Chinese girl skeleton. That would be crossing the line. It's a Chinese boy, for the record." Thanks M.M. for clearing that up..
Red, black, or gray. It was still a Friday
Official numbers not in yet, but the New York TIMES reporting that America wasn't flocking to big stores but instead were heading out on Black Friday to discount outlets.. Cheap is in, in 2007. Snobby high-nosed analysts that would never bring themselves top shop in --how could we!?-- WalMart, Target, or Best Buy, have dubbed the 2007 Christmas shopping season as the "trade down" holiday season..
iWant aLot for cHristmas
 Shrug off those high gas prices. To hell with the lead painted toys. There are material possessions to get.. and so little time to claim them. The average and typical shopping area today is more like an arena.. Gladiators (shoppers) matched up at the door, raging anger in their eyes while they search the store for their prize: That Wii, that iPhone.. that iMac, that X BOX. The struggle begins. The doors open, the alarm sounds. Who will win? A knockdown, drag out affair.. the victor claims the gift and the sound knowledge that he has won this match up on this Black Friday. He got his Wii. So here we are, the day after a warm Thanksgiving.. and now on Black Friday, a cold wave has swept the nation. But those busy stores are full and warm. The shopping season's hot gifts are most likely made in China. God hope there's no recalls by January. I think Christmas came out of nowhere this year--unlike previous years. It just showed up. It's ready for us even if we're not ready for it. So let the cash flow fast. Let those debit cards and credit cards burn up until midnight. Shop until you drop. And get up and shop again. And then you can get the rest of it Cyber Monday--the even BIGGER shopping day of the year.. Maybe if you finish shopping early enough you can focus on what Christmas really means.
Thanksgiving myths and legends
The AFP offers us a great history lesson on Thanksgiving past and present and how we got here..As some may realize, Thanksgiving, originally, was probably in late September or early October.. There most likely wasn't much alcohol. There was no butter for pie, just pumpkins.. The main course was probably not turkey, but instead duck and geese.. Abraham Lincoln changed the date of the Thanksgiving tradition to November in the midst of the Civil War .. Lincoln proclaims the fourth Thursday of November the day to give thanks. (Only after pressure from Sarah Josepha Hale who lobbied hard for the last Thursday holiday) The first Thanksgiving: Native Americans sharing their harvest with Pilgrims that needed some extra help. If only the Natives would have been clairvoyant enough to see the future years ahead of their peoples.. Perhaps that first Thanksgiving would not have happened as it did.. But in America, 2007, as the AFP story points out, America has turned its tired and L-tryptophan-ed eyes towards quarterbacks on TV.. their faces full of thanks (or just food) .. each year. We watch MACY'S parades now .. it's warm in New York today, too. No coats necessary for this year's giant balloons and floats. So, as so typical with thoughts of post-modern history, we can ask: Have Americans lost their sense and sensibility of history? The question at heart is fine. Americans too often do lose their ability to think of past events, or even recent events. Busy lives and real problems like the housing market or declining dollar don't effect us immediately but have a long-lasting impact on everything. But it's the long-lasting impact we always don't understand at first. But the question is unfair, too. Americans are thankful for more each year. Even during wartime we be proud of our fighting force--though most Americans in 2007 aren't too happy they allowed the war to happen through popular support. In 2003 the majority of Americans were willing and ready for that 'long struggle' in the war on terror. We become weary quickly. This day Republicans, Democrats, children, adults, Christians, athiests unite under one common bond: Joy and thanks. All of us, from coast to coast, taking a little break from life. And thankful for it, even if it's just happiness for a day off in a world where people seem to work every day of their lives. In our own way. Our new world way. Football, television sets, turkey and trimmings, and laughter and liquor. Nothing wrong at all with that. With all of America's imperfections it's still the perfect nation: The rule of law still prevails. Constitutional liberties--though more worries exist for the future of them--are still being fought for by millions of honest and hard working Americans of all points of view. This Thanksgiving, maybe more than recent years, is one filled with even more reasons to be thankful. Every now and then America has an identity crisis. But when we regain our senses, we become stronger and better. It's those imperfections that make us better. It's those imperfections and honest errors that make us have better choices for the future.. So we go into another Thanksgiving with the hope that next year we will still have all the same reasons to be thankful--and more. It's Thanksgiving 2007. Eat up. Then shop... and shop.. and shop. One of more interesting traditions that Lincoln most likely never envisioned with his Civil War proclamation.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2007Life is too good not to be thankful for something.. We have so much to be thankful for. Every now and then a fuel injector costs a few hundred bucks on a car, butu we have cars. Now and then our food is cold . But we have microwaves.. Even when the service at a restaurant is slow.. we're at a restaurant. Eating. Like so many in the world don't. Even when our families make us angry, we have families.. We have love in our lives. We have beauty all around us. Give thanks, America. And if you see someone who doesn't have much to give thanks for, give them a reason to give thanks. We are a strong and helpful nation. We will only get stronger as we flow throuh the river of history. Thanksgving. 2007. xx Thank you Tara. I love you.
Thanksgiving Eve 2007: Random Rakings Wrap Up
Let the parties begin
The biggest party night of the year upon the United States ..Thanksgiving.. Driving. All meaningless tonight to the avid crowds of party-goers that are ready to paint their own towns red. And brown. With beer. And mixtures. Enjoy life. Be careful. Have something to be thankful for tomorrow.
That strange Thanksgiving tradition .. giving us that warm feeling all over again
Always remember, Chuck Norris was first
Sweet Caroline .. not about my cousin..
Scott McClellan says he "unintentionally misled the public"
 The revelation comes in Scott McClellan's new memoir .. McClellan writes that he unintentionally misled the public about the leak of Valerie Plame's name because of misinformation given to him by President George W. Bush, Karl Rove and other top officials in the Administration.. The new book causing a stir in Washington .. intrigue amongst the press. .what else will Scott say in his new book? The publisher today generating press and interest with its release of three paragraphs in relation to the CIA leak case.. McClellan wrote, "I stood at the White House briefing room podium in front of the glare of the klieg lights for the better part of two weeks and publicly exonerated two of the senior most aides in the White House: Karl Rove and Scooter Libby. There was one problem. It was not true." The book not scheduled to be released until April of 2008.....just in time for a presidential race.
Twisted ending
Thanksgving week on the open highways
Travelers... traveling... not fun The open highways are open to clutters.. congestion .. long waits.. Leave early. Put ice on the turkey. It's gonna be a long drive home. PHOTO: SCHMUCKRAKER INTERSTATE 81, PENNSYLVANIA
Obama's fresh ideas, and fresh new polls
Snow
Roads aren't too great in Northeast Pennsylvania, and probably other places too.. be careful, it's Thanksgiving week
I miss my wife
The unpredicted snow has kept us apart this cold Sunday night. I don't like this at all.
Random raking wrap up
I still can't get over this (Plus the line "there's no chin behind Chuck Norris' beard, only another fist")
Chuck Norris: The endorser
To my friends and family...
I never said it would not snow AT ALL this year! Even in the warmest we get a storm or too.. as far as today's snow .. ok .. a little wrong, I admit it. Maybe I will listen to Henry Margusity more often instead of just saying a "dusting" will fall...
SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW
 It's snowing. It's really snowing.. A report from my wife this morning at her place of business in Northeast PA is that there is more than 2 inches of snow on the ground and on the road.. At Schmuckraker home base, it's only on the grass but coming down fast.. There's a secret part of me that likes this a lot. Maybe it's because no matter what age we all are, we get that quick glimpse of our feelings as they were as a child during the first snow.. the time when you first looked up to the sky and watched those flakes coming down. As our lives grow older, we have a different view on flakes--and are surrounded by them a lot more than just the natural weather kind in the winter.. We all have our memories.. The visual appearance of the first snowfall in Northeast PA is beautiful .. it is falling on top of leaves that have not yet fully fallen to the ground.. But of course, it's the first snow. By the second we're tired of it. And the third we want to move to a warmer climate. So for those that despise it, we're being told the world of tomorrow may have no snow, or life itself..
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Random rakings
The fight for life and humanity in post-Cyclone Sidr continues in Bangladesh .. the battle is getting harder as a bridge 
It was the night before Thanksgiving .. 
Mike .. what are you doing!?