Update:  Quoting Boehnner at his 5:30pm presser, “It may not have been politically the smartest thing in the world to wage this ultimately futile war.”  Understatement.

Update:  Looks like not all Republicans are on board with Boehnner’s plan to pass this quietly via unanimous consent.

Great….the optics couldn’t have been better.  President gives a presser surrounded by an adoring crowd of middle-class taxpayers demanding action, then within the hour, the Republicans cave making it look even weaker than it is.  Is anybody still talking about Keystone anymore?   Oh, and just a thought…what if Boehnner doesn’t have the votes to pass this?  Is he done as Speaker?   But is Boehnner really the one we should be blaming?  It looks to me like Boehnner went out on a limb over this, and Mitch McConnell just cut him off.

(ABCNews)… House Republican leaders have decided to accept a short-term extension of the payroll tax cut, sources told ABC News this afternoon, preventing a hike in taxes just nine days before the tax break expires for 160 million Americans.  (more…)

Listen to the clip below, and I bet you’ll find it oddly mesmerizing.  The Music is “Sugar Plum Fairy” by Tchaikovsky and it’s being played on the “glass harp”, an instrument played by running moistened or chalked fingers around the rim of glasses.  Each glass is tuned to a different pitch , either by grinding the glass to a specified pitch, or by filling the glass with water until the desired pitch is reached.   Close your eyes and listen.   It sounds like you’re listening to a quartet.  Well you are….a quartet of hands.

BREAKING NEWS:  It didn’t take them long…

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – A series of explosions struck Baghdad Thursday, the first apparently coordinated attacks on Iraq’s capital since a crisis erupted between its Shi’ite-led government and Sunni rivals after the withdrawal of the last U.S. troops, police said.   (more…)

Fear of evil killer rabbits….YES.  Fear of evil communist dictatorships….not so much. 

(BusinessInsider)…The Korean Central News Agency, an official arm of the North Korean government, said in a statement today that former U.S. President Jimmy Carter sent a message of condolences on the death of the country’s dictator Kim Jong Il.

We’ve reached out to a Carter spokesperson for confirmation.

Take this with a grain of salt, given the former “axis of evil” nation’s penchant for inventing news.

Here is the statement from state news agency:

Pyongyang, December 21 (KCNA) — Kim Jong Un, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party of Korea, received a message of condolences from Jimmy Carter, ex-president of the U.S. on Dec. 19.   (more…)

Tebow-mania reaching new heights…

(Yahoo.com)…Tim Tebow. Underwear. Million dollars. It’s the stuff of which SEO(and my) dreams are made.

Jockey announced Thursday that it will offer $1 million in prizes if Tebow leads the Denver Broncos to a Super Bowl victory. One winner will take home $15,000 if that happens and thousands more will receive free $25 gift cards to shop on the clothier’s website. It’s a pretty solid publicity stunt, though you’d think Jockey could have thrown in a meet-and-greet with the man himself, or at least a signed pair of tightie-whities.

Tebow signed an endorsement deal with Jockey before ever taking a snap in the NFL. (more…)

I can hear his defense now.  I couldn’t help it…I had a terrible “crush” on this woman.

Tennessee Man Crashes Into Store While Trying to Run Over Ex-Girlfriend…

(ABCNews)…A convenience store owner in Tennessee is lucky to be alive today after being hit by a truck that plowed into his store during a dispute between the driver and a female friend.

(more…)

People and faces are everywhere.  Can you find them all?

(more…)

Sorry about the embedded video thing….CBS really needs the $$$ I guess.  Oh, and be sure to take a minute and click back to Raw Story’s site.  Read a few of the fine comments coming from the atheist crowd.

(RawStory)…Only hours after noted author Christopher Hitchens died of cancer, several of his famous Christian friends were declaring that the atheist would finally know that God is real.  “He was left, I was right, but we had great debates, great drinking bouts,” conservative radio host Bill Bennett said on CBS Thursday. “And I hope as the big atheist that he was, he’s in for a big surprise.”

(more…)

An Indian woman is celebrating her 18th birthday by winning the title of world’s shortest woman from the Guinness World Records and saying she wants to be an actress…

(Telegraph)…Guinness representatives on Friday measured Jyoti Amge at 24.7 inches (62.8 centimeters) tall, 2.76 inches (seven centimeters) shorter than the 22-year-old American who had held the title since September.