Come for a Tango or two...

Welcome to the New Year's Ball!

...The Debs have come out in full glamorous goodness, with a heart-felt Cotillion of reflection, as a fitting adieu to the passing year. I am your host, Wonder Woman, and I will be serving the punch from my home at A North American Patriot.

The last 12 months have wrought many changes...A nation of people suffering under tyranny, defied the threat of death to participate in the birth of a democracy...The heart of America suffered the devastating force of nature, and became better acquainted with the true nature of generosity and heroism...and villainy...My own northern nation has caught a glimmer of hope, that the power of corrupt government may wield power, no more...and the world has borne witness to widespread racial rioting in France, the democratic revolutions, both Orange and Cedar, and the rise of the specter of a new and very volatile nuclear power.  An event-filled year, indeed...

The Ball begins with the first dance going to the most fearless of all the debutantes...our very own  Jane at  Armies of Liberation.  she has defied many a threat from those who don't make threats lightly, to bring truth and perspective to the days events, from the heart of the Middle East.  This week, she has a powerful and crucial analysis of the current state and the future of Yemen.

Yemen may be on the verge of state failure or it may be on the verge of an authentic, self-constructed democracy. One critical factor is whether a broad public consensus and peaceful political mobilization can be achieved in the context of elite domination of the mass media.

It is clear that the nation of Yemen stands on the precipice, and Jane has done an admirable job of chronicling each event with fierce, honest commentary...a must-read for a glimpse of the truth, in a region that has become so adept at hiding it.

However, not everyone has an appreciation for the "citizen journalist" as a new breed of information sources.  The saucy and sexy Janette, Queen of Common Sense Runs Wild, brings us a tale of Praise & Scorn For Citizen Journalism...

Blogger Jeremy Hermanns was a passenger on an Alaskan Airlines flight 536 on Monday when soon after the flight departed Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on its way to Burbank CA there was a loud pop as a foot-long hole ripped open along the plane's fuselage. At 30,000 feet the plane had depressurized and passenger oxygen masks were deployed to Hermanns and the other 139 people on board.

Hermanns pulled out his camera phone, shot photos to document the situation and the next day he blogged about it...

And now he's facing criticism, for it - Undoubtedly, from the same people who would decry the lack of information, had things gone differently.  If Jeremy had been a reporter from the New York Times, and wrote an article about the experience, would he face the same criticism?  Or are there still people out there who believe that only the elite MSM is capable of objective reporting?  Janette wants readers and bloggers to weigh in, on how they feel...give her some feedback!

On the topic of reader feedback, Little Miss Attila wants to know a little bit more, about her readers.  Take the time to answer a few short questions, and she promises a reward!

On a less than light note, my fellow Canadian debutante, the formidable Right Girl has been watching Too Much TV.  And it hasn't been Seinfeld or old re-runs of Three's Company.  Oh, no...because she's a glutton for punishment, she's been watching anti-gun rallies on the news and the CBC casting their ultra-biased "Passionate Eye" on the events at the Munich Olympics...it's enough to make the most hardened heart cry out for mercy!...

I am a blogger. It means I'm obsessed by the news, and watch it all the time. But this was one of the few times I let something really get to me. As a matter of fact, it was one of three times. September 11th; hurricaine Katrina - specifically the story of Mr. Jackson, whose house tore in two while he and his wife were on the roof, and he clung to his grandchild while he watched his wife get washed away; and this film One Day in September.

I suppose I'll have to drag her masochistic ass out, for a Margarita-fest soon, to help her drown out the memory of Olivia Chow's voice...but that's what Cotillion sisters are for!...

Equally sombre, is a story that Merri brings to the Ball, about a most vile creature who believes that the wholesale slaughter of his own daughters, amounts to the reinstatement of his family honor...

Honor, blemished by the idea that his step-daughter committed adultery.  And because of that, the other three girls had to be eliminated because they would likely do the same thing.[..]

Honor killings?  Bah.  This man has no honor.  He is a vile, disgusting pig of a living organism.  I can't even call him human.

Amen to that, Merri!  I am a big proponent of the concept of honor, but honor never comes from the blood of the innocent.  And that seems to be the only measure of honor that is truly valued by the "Religion of Peace" and it's constituency of nihilists.  Where are the "Peace" Nazis who are so quick to decry the deaths of innocent children?  Where are the protests?...

For a reminder of who and why we fight these bloodthirsty monsters, we turn the floor over to the lovely Rightwingsparkle, and the story behind a single image - frozen in time...

A gunman, center left, holds a pistol to the head of an Iraqi election worker lying in Baghdad's Haifa Street on Sunday. The man kneeling at right is also an election worker who was pulled from the car.

An instant of violence, captured forever, and a glimmer of hope from a nation of people who would face such violence head-on, for the chance to grasp freedom.  The tide is beginning to turn, in Iraq, but it's no thanks to the psychos in charge of the basket-case tyrannies surrounding them...

Which brings me to a beautiful piece of snark to bring back the gaiety of the Ball, dispensed by the wonderfully erudite Dr. Sanity, as a prescription to cure sycophantic idiocy...or at least make it taste better!  So, ready your writing tool, and take down the recipe for Axis of Evil Fruitcake...

Handled properly, a variety of candied fruits and nuts can be extremely delicious after they are all democratically mixed together and baked in an oven possessing a steady temperature

*snicker*  Careful with that talk of ovens, Doctor..they might start calling us Nazis, again!

And while we're in the kitchen, let's sit down for a slice of pie with Bobo Blogger, and run down the list of her Top 10 People of 2005.  I have always believed that the highest honor to be had, is the knowledge that you have made a positive difference in someone else's life.  To be able to list 10, is a privilege, indeed.  How many can you name?...

Speaking of privilege, Florida Cracker takes the last waltz with Picture of the Year - a double-shot of Cassandra Rogers with the ultra-cool Dusty Hill of ZZ Top, while the band was visiting the Walter Reed Military Hospital.  It does my heart good, to see celebrities that are doing something positive, for a change, and besides..."every girl's crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man..." - sorry, I just HAD to slip that one in...

I'd take a trip on the dance floor myself, but my entire dance card is reserved for my favorite Superhero  *swoon*  and to find out that not only does he still visit me, but he digs heat-packing Pam, too...be still my beating heart...it's enough to knock loose the gardenia from my hair!

2006 is due to bring many more changes and challenges.  Count on the fine ladies of the Cotillion, to be there each step of the way, to shed our coy smiles and feminine guile on the events that shape our days and our world.  Who says conservative gals aren't hot?!  We are all that, and more...smart, saucy and sexy...

Welcome to the Ball...Please check your coat at the door, and take a lovely Deb for a dance...

Happy New Year, from The Cotillion and A North American Patriot.