Dear Miami,
The Saints are coming. And so are we, their loyal, long-suffering and slightly
discombobulated Super Bowl-bound fans.
While there's still time to prepare -- although a few hard-core Who Dats will be trickling in early, most of us won't arrive until Thursday or Friday -- we thought we'd give you a heads-up about what you should expect.
First things first: You need more beer.
Yeah, we know. You ordered extra. You think you have more than any group of humans could possibly consume in one week. Trust us. You don't.
New Orleans was a drinking town long before the Saints drove us to drink. But it turns out beer tastes better when we're winning. (Who knew?) So let's just say we're thirsty for more than a championship; adjust your stockpiles accordingly.
And look. When we ask you for a go-cup, be nice to us. We don't even know what "open-container law" means. Is that anything like "last call"?
It's Carnival season in New Orleans (that's Mardi Gras to you), and we'll be taking the celebration on the road. So don't be startled if we throw stuff at you as we walk past; that's just our way of saying hello.
Oh, and sorry in advance about those beads we leave dangling from your palm trees. We just can't help ourselves.
February is also crawfish season, and you can be sure that more than one enterprising tailgater will figure out a way to transport a couple sacks of live mudbugs and a boiling pot to Miami.
When the dude in the Who Dat 2010 The National Football League All Rights Reserved T-shirt asks if you want to suck da head and pinch da tail, resist the urge to punch him. He's not propositioning you. He's inviting you to dinner.
And if you see a big Cajun guy who looks exactly like an old Saints quarterback walking around town in a dress " don't ask. It's a long story.
We know that crowd control is a major concern for any Super Bowl host city. Our advice? Put away the riot gear.
Reason No. 1: Indianapolis is going to lose, and their fans are way too dull to start a riot.
Reason No. 2: New Orleans showed the world on Sunday that we know how to throw a victory party. We don't burn cars. We dance on them.
Reason No. 3: Even if we did lose, which we won't, leaving the stadium would be like leaving a funeral, and our typical response to that is to have a parade.
Speaking of which: If you happen to see a brass band roll by, followed by a line of folks waving their handkerchiefs, you're not supposed to just stand there and watch. As our own Irma Thomas would say: Get your backfield in motion.
And hey, Mister DJ! Yes, we know you've already played that stupid Ying Yang Twins song 10 times tonight, but indulge us just one more time.
To us, "Halftime (Stand Up and Get Crunk)" isn't just a song; it's 576 points of good memories. It's the sound of a Drew Brees touchdown pass to Devery Henderson, a Pierre Thomas dive for first down on 4th-and-1, a Garrett Hartley field goal sailing through the uprights in overtime.
It's what a championship sounds like. You may get sick of hearing it. We won't. Encore, dammit.
Inside Sun Life Stadium, you may find your ears ringing more than usual. We're louder than other fans. Seven thousand of ours sound like 70,000 of theirs.
Don't believe us? Ask the 12th man in the Vikings huddle.
Some people think it's just the Dome that heightens our volume. But you're about to discover a little secret: We can scream loud enough to make your head explode, indoors or out.
It's not the roof. It's the heart.
Well, OK, and the beer.
Don't be surprised if there are more Saints fans outside the stadium than inside. A lot of us are coming just to say we were part of history, even if we can't witness it up close. The Saints are family to us, and you know how it is with family: We want to be there for them, whether they really need us or not. Because we know our presence will mean something to them, whether they can see us or not.
Come to think of it, seeing as how you're taking us in for the week, we pretty much regard you as family, too. So we're warning you now: If you're within hugging distance, you're fair game.
Hugging strangers is a proud Who Dat tradition, right up there with crying when we win.
Most sports fans cry when their teams lose. Not us. We've been losing gracefully and with good humor for 43 years. Tragedy and disappointment don't faze us. It's success that makes us go to pieces.
Hurricane Katrina? We got that under control. The Saints in the Super Bowl? SOMEBODY CALL A PARAMEDIC!!!
So anyway, don't let the tears of joy freak you out. We're just " disoriented.
OK. Let's review:
Order more beer. Throw me something, mister. Suck da heads. Wear da dress. Stand up. Get crunk. Hug it out. Protect your eardrums. Pass the Kleenex. Hoist the trophy.
See y'all at the victory party.
Faithfully yours,
The Who Dat Nation

THE SAINTS ARE COMING!! U2 and Greenday http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDWndjwEamQ

"Who Dat" trademark holder speaks out NFL
By: Karen Dalton-Beninato

As the Saints march toward the Super Bowl, there's a chill in the midst of the Who Dat Nation. The National Football League has issued cease and desist orders to various New Orleans merchants, including for infractions as small as a fleur de lis in the middle of the "o" in #whodat. When you're covering something this important to our city, you go to the source. As far as trade marks for WhoDat are concerned, that's Sal and Steve Monistere.

Steve recorded the Who Dat chant in 1983, and using that chant, he recorded the original "Who Dat" single with members of the Saints offensive line and singer Aaron Neville (photo of the original single above). Then, together, the Monistere brothers immediately embarked on one of the most ingenious marketing campaigns in sports history. And the Who Dat Nation was born.

Steve Monistere, a founding member of New Orleans party band The Topcats, read about the recent NFL actions regarding the use of Who Dat in my article on New Orleans.com. "I had heard about the cease and desist, and had seen this article," Monistere said. When reading the comments, he mentioned that "the third from the top is right on." (That comment describes the Monistere's hit song and the registration for trademarks of Who Dat).

As far as the intellectual property, Monistere explains that, "Sure, a fleur de lis can belong to the Saints, but in very specific usage, and everybody knows what that is," Monistere explained. "If you go back to 1967, to date, they have registered and used the fleur de lis in a very specific way. They put it on the Saints helmet and on the Saints shield. Its colors are very specific -- they're old gold and black.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/karen-dalton...

Believe me, the "Who Dat" nation is up in arms about this today. The NFL has stirred up a hornet's nest by trying to co-opt unique symbols of New Orleans. The Fleur-de-lis cannot be copyrighted, it is a symbol of France as well as other countries, organizations etc. and has been in use for over 1000 years!!

Subject: Just shut up already!!
Message:
Just Shut Up!

Josh Marshall | January 19, 2010, 8:07PM



Message of the day to all Dems, Coakley, Rahm, Celinda Lake, national Dem committees, Axelrod, whoever, whatever: Shut the *$%& Up! I don't know how else to say it. I'm watching MSNBC and hearing all the key players dumping on each other. As I've said, the Coakley campaign seems to have been run just terribly. And that's just the beginning of it. But really, with all that's at stake, the White House political office left this to Coakley, unsupervised? Really? I just have very little patience hearing all the people who are by definition all to blame have an argument about who's most to blame.

What I'm seeing -- and this isn't just based on public comments but our reporting behind the scenes -- is that there's a lot more energy going into dodging blame for this unforced error of galactic proportions than there is going into the real issue: closing the loop on the health care bill. Which is the only issue in policy terms and political terms. That's it. Everything else is water under the bridge.

And the key is this: this nonsense arguing is very reminiscent of 6 months of chatter and wasted negotiations that prevented this from getting done in the early summer instead of letting it get to this point. Which was n-e-e-d-l-e-s-s.

Jon Chait has this right. The Dems need to relax, get to work, pass the bill and move on.

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/... ...



Suck it up and move forward!! This 60 vote supermajority is a smokescreen. Jon Stewart had a great piece on it the other night about Democratic crybabies and how Bush and his Republican majority Congress rammed legislation down the throats of Americans with a simple 51 vote majority in the Senate. If the Democrats want to get any real change accomplished, they'll have to start growing a set and get over it. Work with the majority you have, not the majority you wish you had. Pelosi, Reid etc. will have to start doing their jobs as majority leaders and start playing hardball, get Democrats in line to vote as a bloc and use the House and Senate rules to the majority party's advantage!! Start acting like a majority party for once Democrats!! Otherwise just shut the fuck up!!

Has-been Dick Cheney's rants vs. President Obama politicize war on terror

Mike Lupica - News

Monday, January 4th 2010, 4:00 AM

The new year begins even worse than the last one ended. Only this time it isn't a debate about health care showing how lousy and mean partisan politics have become in America, it is the debate over the war on terrorism.

As usual it starts with a has-been like Dick Cheney acting as if that war is some party issue, as if the country is somehow more vulnerable to fanatics because Democrats have the White House and the Congress, as if all those who hate America and want to kill Americans see this tremendous opening to do that because Barack Obama is in charge now.

The idea is dumber than that television show about the Jersey Shore.

Still there was Cheney - who once was able to hide almost as well as Osama Bin Laden - out in front after a failed attempt to blow up a Northwest airplane on its way into Detroit on Christmas Day, like he wanted to be the first Obama hater to take his swings.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2...

GOP Voted To Delay Funding For Troops -- As Part Of Health Care Debate?
Eric Kleefeld | December 21, 2009, 3:05PM

Everybody knows the health care debate has become more and more contentious, and dominated by a Republican parliamentary effort to delay the debate. But an under-appreciated aspect of this whole controversy -- exceedingly rare, if not unprecedented -- is the fact that it's even affected defense spending, with Senate Republicans having worked to hold that up, too!

Late on Thursday night, the Senate voted 63-33 to break a Republican filibuster of the defense appropriations bill. Only three Republicans voted against this delay of military spending: Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX), Olympia Snowe (ME) and Susan Collins (ME). The filibuster was part of a Republican effort to further delay the health care bill.

So think for a second about what happened here. The Senate GOP sought to hold up military spending -- and not because of an argument with the defense appropriations bill itself or something in it that might have been offensive to them, but in an attempt to block a domestic political debate. It was an especially interesting position for a party that repeatedly accused then-Senator Barack Obama, during the 2008 campaign, of trying to "defund the troops" when he voted against a military funding bill because it didn't include a timeline to withdraw from Iraq.

Is there even a precedent for this sort of thing? We put that question to Thomas Mann, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, and also asked whether it would be accurate to look at this and say that funding for the military was being held hostage in a domestic political dispute.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/12...

"Dear Mr. Grim Reaper, So far this year you have taken away my favorite dancer, Michael Jackson, favorite actor Patrick Swayze, favorite actress Farrah Fawcett, favorite comedian, Soupy Sales, favorite pitchman, Billy Mays, and favorite sidekick, Ed McMahon. Just so you know, my fav...orite President is Barack Obama. And my favorite Senator is Nancy Pelosi."


Mr. Grim Reaper, may I add that my 2 favorite politicians who I absolutely adore are Dick Cheney and George W. Bush??

And I'll bet they are sure to find Klingons!!

//www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/Explor...

Yup!! Eat this candy and you'll go straight to hell!! Don't say I didn't warn you!!


Huffington Post | Alex Leo & Katla McGlynn

Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network posted a blog by Kimberly Daniels recently that warns Christians to forgo celebrating Halloween because of its evilness. Daniels specifically calls out candy as a source of soul-molestation:

"During this period demons are assigned against those who participate in the rituals and festivities. These demons are automatically drawn to the fetishes that open doors for them to come into the lives of human beings. For example, most of the candy sold during this season has been dedicated and prayed over by witches."

Obviously, we shouldn't be buying Halloween candy, but what about getting it by trick-or-treating?

"Curses are sent through the tricks and treats of the innocent whether they get it by going door to door or by purchasing it from the local grocery store. The demons cannot tell the difference."



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/29/c...

Four states adopt 'no-smiles' policy for driver's licenses

By Thomas Frank, USA TODAY
Stopping driver's license fraud is no laughing matter: Four states are ordering people to wipe the grins off their faces in their license photos.

"Neutral facial expressions" are required at departments of motor vehicles (DMVs) in Arkansas, Indiana, Nevada and Virginia. That means you can't smile, or smile very much. Other states may follow.

The serious poses are urged by DMVs that have installed high-tech software that compares a new license photo with others that have already been shot. When a new photo seems to match an existing one, the software sends alarms that someone may be trying to assume another driver's identity.

But there's a wrinkle in the technology: a person's grin. Face-recognition software can fail to match two photos of the same person if facial expressions differ in each photo, says Carnegie Mellon University robotics professor Takeo Kanade.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-0...

Rush is the leader of the Republican Party now, the Repukes are just too ashamed to admit it!! Let's get them out of the closet and into the light of day!!

http://js.polls.yahoo.com/quiz/quiziframe....

Spirit airlines to launch fee for simply buying a ticket
Tue Mar 3, 2009 4:42PM EST

Airlines have nickel-and-dimed their way through what feels like dozens of fees over the last few years. Fees for meals. Fees for water. Fuel surcharges. Fees for paper tickets. Fees for blankets and pillows. And of course a fee for each bag you'd like to take with you.

Now comes the very pinnacle, the mother of all airline fees: An extra fee for buying a ticket.

You can thank Spirit Airlines, a cheapie outfit which seems to spend more time coming up with new fees it can levy than it does flying planes, for this one. The U.S. Department of Transportation, which has oversight over what airlines can and can't charge by way of add-on fees, has approved Spirit's introduction of a "passenger usage fee," which will be levied against all ticket buyers unless they are standing in person at a Spirit airport ticket counter. The Wall Street Journal has the sordid details.

The fee -- up to $10 a ticket (though I've seen $4.90 quoted elsewhere) -- is ostensibly designed to "cover reservation-booking costs." But the real reason should be obvious to anyone who's flown recently: It gives Spirit a way to raise prices without having to tell you about it in advance. That's because reservation systems don't disclose most fees when you're shopping for a flight, and very few customers delve into the fine print on the airline's website to find out that their $250 flight is really $320 (each way, natch) after all the fees are tallied.

Spirit hasn't announced when it will start charging the fee, but it's likely to be soon. The company tried launching a series of similar fees last year but the DOT put a stop to them, fining Spirit $40,000 as well. The DOT didn't have a problem, however, with Spirit's "seat assignment fee," wherein you pay $5 extra to reserve a middle seat and $12 for a window or an aisle. The Wall Street Journal piece linked above has an excruciating rundown of many of the other shady practices at Spirit, along with the frustration that many travelers are experiencing there.

http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/127531

Sad but true. He is a right wing hard core Repuke and for years have been bickering back and forth. I joined Facebook 3 months purely for the social aspect and reconnecting with old grade school, high school, college and old work and social related friends who I have lost touch with over the years. It has been great and not once has anyone who I added as a "friend" ever taunted or baited me because of my personal profile. And, may I add, quite a few of them describe their political beliefs as "Conservative" or "Republican Party". That does not matter to me; I joined simply to reconnect in a social online setting. Until yesterday. Imagine my surprise when I noticed that my brother wanted to invite me as a "friend". Thinking this may be a huge mistake (I said as much to my son), I accepted his invitation. Well, his first wall post was filled with taunts and ridicule because I described myself as a "moderate democrat". I won't go into the details of the wall post, but I immediately "uninvited" him as a "friend". This morning he sends me a message in my inbox, whining "WHY did you delete me as a friend?", to which I simply replied "You're smart, you'll figure it out". To which he then messaged me "I know why. Can't you take some ribbing? My watch partner could not believe you put that comment about America on your page either! He is GONE can't you liberals let it go!" (This was in response to this comment in my profile:

"Dear World:
The United States of America, your quality supplier of the Ideals of Liberty
and Democracy, apologizes for its 2001 - 2008 service outage"

I then sent him this message:

"****, I joined facebook 3 months purely for the social aspect of reconnecting with long lost friends. I have no intention of using the site to discuss politics and each person's page is a reflection of his/her personal beliefs. I have absolutely no desire to discuss politics with you and I absolutely was not going to start especially with YOU. No one else has discussed and/or commented on my personal feelings or beliefs and I haven't done this with anyone else, though quite a few of my facebook friends describe themselves as "conservative" or "Republican Party". Leave it and let it go. I did not invite you as a "friend" to discuss or argue politics and political beliefs, but simply as a family member. Since your first post was more of the same crap we have been doing for years (and for the record, I have long ago decided not to discuss politics with others in these types of forums), I uninvited you as a "friend". You're welcome to call or e-mail me at any time, but know that I will not discuss politics with you any longer and will not reply to any of your taunting and baiting"

Sad, but I have had enough. I have decided not to be baited by this asshole any longer. If he wants to pretend that we are still 10 years old, so be it. I then took the step of totally blocking him. I may also have to block his e-mail address so I do not receive any more bullshit from him.

Has anyone else had any problems like this with family members? I hate to have taken these drastic steps, but I no longer wish to listen to his drivel and stupidity. I do not have the time or patience for any of this.

Sorry for the long rant, but just had to vent!!

"What we need is another Thomas Jefferson,he is the true founder of Conservatism and exactly what this country needs about now. We have lost our moral compass and are losing our Capilistic society. Jefferson knew way back then that a liberal way of thinking was detrimental to our way of life and must always be put in check and battled"


I wouldn't consider Jefferson a founder of Conservatism, would you? Discuss.

Everyone by now should know who changed their names and what their former names were. I want my sig line back. Anyone know when this will happen?

McCain Blasts 'The View'
By Mike Krumboltz - Y! Buzz | Wednesday, February 18, 2009, 5:30 PM

John McCain's appearance on "The View" last September was one of the more interesting moments from the presidential campaign. Throughout the interview, the Republican candidate was asked (and not in a nice way) why he chose Sarah Palin as his running mate. During the broadcast, McCain seemed to be in good spirits, but that may have been an act. Apparently, the Arizona senator is holding a grudge.

Various sources within the Buzz, including Portfolio, are reporting that Barbara Walters saw Sen. McCain at a Washington event. During the encounter, Walters expressed hope that the senator would return to her daytime TV show. McCain promptly shot her down. Quoth the senator: "Not anytime soon." Such an obvious diss should give the ladies something to gab about for a few months.

After word of McCain's rebuff hit the Web, folks began searching for video of his awkward "View" appearance. Queries on "john mccain video the view" rocketed upwards. Additionally, lookups surged on McCain's months-old spat with David Letterman. Poor McCain. Either he's mad at the talk show hosts or they're mad at him. Guess that's all part of being a maverick.

http://tv.yahoo.com/blog/mccain-blasts-the...