It is commonplace to spend the month of December reflecting on the year that has passed. This year (at least when it comes to reflecting on the liberal/independent media) Alternet has done that reflection for you. Check out their Top 10 Best Environment Stories, Top 10 Rights & Liberties Stories, Top 10 Sex & Relationship Stories, and Top 10 Reasons Why I broke up with God of 2007.

More after the jump.

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We’re in the eye of the storm. Channukah just ended, and X-mas is right around the corner. It’s a beautiful time for the many products of intermarriage.

For some help getting through the season, check out these public service announcements on stuff and buying stuff, courtesy of our friends at Adbusters.

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I feel compelled to update my post from yesterday, Governer Carcieri <3 Our Troops, with this photo. How could I let this slide? It’s too good to be true.

Thanks to William Pierce for slammin’ this baby up on the Facebook.

In an interview with MTV News, Paul Reubens discusses plans for not one, but two new Pee-Wee feature films.

“I get mail that just says, ‘Pee Wee Herman, Hollywood.’ It’s like ‘Miracle on 34th Street,’ ” (MTV News)

There’s always something amusing about going back to TV shows, movies and books from childhood and reexamining them from your new position of uber-liberal enlightenment. You’re bound to find some strange racist and sexist undertones in what you once considered innocent child entertainment. Cracked.com recognizes the humor in this, and they have released their list of the “9 Most Racist Disney Characters.”

Who made the cut?

9. The Merchant from Alladin
8. Sebastian from The Little Mermaid
7. The crows from Dumbo
6. The Siamese Twin Gang from Chip n’ Dale
5. King Louie from the Jungle Book
4. Sunflower the Centaur from Fantasia
3. The Indians from Peter Pan
2. Uncle Remus from Song of the South
1. Thursday from Mickey Mouse and the Boy Thursday

The logic behind the list is pretty good. For example, on The Little Mermaid:

In this 1989 film, a Jamaican-sounding crab teaches Ariel that life is better “Under the Sea,” because underwater you don’t have to get a job. Up on the shore they work all day / Out in the sun they slave away / While we devotin’ / Full time to floatin’ / Under the sea!

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Noticeably absent from this list are the Siamese Cats from Lady and the Tramp, every character from Pocahontas and Mulan, and a bunch of Africanized animals (particularly the hyenas and monkeys) from The Lion King. Also, I would say that Snow White contains some fierce anti-dwarf sentiments, and that the Hunchback of Notre Dame had its share of anti-Victor Hugo propaganda. But this list will do. And if you feel demoralized after scoping the list, check out their 9 Most Badass Bible Verses.

We all know about Rudy’s stint as a prosecutor, but at this holiday season, I’d like to remember all the good he did. Check out Michael Powell in the NYTimes.

Mr. Giuliani, who was 38 when he became United States attorney in 1983, threatened his targets with long prison sentences, and he infuriated judges with leaks of grand jury testimony to the press.

His agents handcuffed Wall Street arbitrageurs before prosecutors investigated them. Apology was weakness; skeptics were “jerks.”

[...] Mr. Giuliani armored himself with a tight band of lawyers and investigators, men known as the “Yes Rudys!” One of them tended to the prosecutor’s political future, another to the deputies, a third handled leaks to the press. They shared cigars and drinks in the evening.

I don’t know about you, but I’m thinkin’ he’s just the guy to keep America safe from the terrorists.

Not that I was ever a die-hard fan, but someone’s gotta give ‘em props for their Energizer-Bunny-like stamina. Ben Ratliff reports in the NYTimes:

LONDON, Dec. 10 — Some rock bands accelerate their tempos when they play their old songs decades after the fact. Playing fast is a kind of armor: a refutation of the plain fact of aging, all that unregainable enthusiasm and lost muscle mass, and a hard block against an old band’s lessened cultural importance.

But Led Zeppelin slowed its down a little. At the O2 arena here on Monday night, in its first full concert since 1980 — without John Bonham, who died that year, but with Bonham’s son Jason as a natural substitute — the band found much of its old power in tempos that were more graceful than those on the old live recordings.

I have a feeling today is going to be a good day. So with that in mind, sit back and enjoy the first 6 minutes of the funniest movie ever made. Definitely NSFW

Blazing Saddles

Can a local comedy group change the world?
Tuesday at 6pm at the Black Rep:

Greetings RI…We have had the privilege and the pleasure of meeting a good deal of you over our last four-years as a community-based, social-change comedic troupe. Some of you have been to our shows during this time. Some of you haven’t. Some of you might not have even heard of our group at all. Regardless, we are reaching out to you via email today, and probably via phone in the next few weeks to get you more familiar with the Powerful vision and mission of In House Freestyle, New England’s only all-black sketch comedy group. Please ponder this… more »

Okay. I’m still thankful for Obama, but OH MY GAWD this is even bigger.

Salt-n-Pepa are a team again????!!!?? Maybe we’re living under a rock over on Congdon Street without cable, but I had no idea that S-n-P had reunited for a Vh1 series–The Salt-n-Pepa Show–until I enviously searched the offerings on my parents Comcast OnDemand. Seems like it’s old news, though. How did I not pick up on this back in September?

The show, which premiered on October 14, runs at 10 pm (9c) on Vh1. It covers issues as diverse as NYC real estate, Pep’s love life, past rap drama, and the Jena Six. Check out this Vh1 interview with Salt-n-Pepa about being back together on the screen. Here, People gets up close and personal with Cheryl “Salt” James and her family. Seems like she has more than bounced back since her bout with Bulemia and her abrupt departure from the successful hip-hop duo.

And those of you who feel like Spinderella never got enough cred, don’t worry…. She’s back, too.

About a week ago, the Huffington Post, long an intelligent bastion of well informed and unapologetically left-leaning news about everything from politics to business to the media itself, launched their new “humor” site, the very weakly named 23/6. Their slogan: “Some of the News, Most of the Time.” Meh. The addition of a humorous sub-site to the HuffPo isn’t a big surprise, the Huffington Post has always had opinion blogs written by very funny people like Alec Baldwin, Larry David, and Bonnie Fuller, and tends to obsessively cover The Daily Show and The Colbert Report as if they were Face The Nation. Okay, yes, these two shows are kind of our generation’s funny Meet The Press and I get that, but the difference is that John Stewart and Stephen Colbert do current event comedy pitch-perfect all of the time, The Huffington Post, not so much. Consider a few “comedy news” headlines they have up today… more »

FRIDAY NIGHT LIVE! November 9 @ 7pm
SPONSORED BY THE ESPOSITO FAMILY!
Hilarious Improv Comedy featuring live music from Bertrand Laurence!
All Ages Show! Families always welcome!!!

Get beside yourself with FNL’s interactive scenes and on-the-spot musicals, featuring improvised song, dance, and skits! Performances are intended for audiences of all ages, personality types, and food groups. Friday Night Live unites a diverse cast of veteran Everett artists, young up-and-coming performers, and live guitarist/composer Bertrand Laurence, in the production of fun, funny, creative, and meaningful performances!

$5 at the door
At The Carriage House (7 Duncan Ave. Providence, RI)
For more info call (401) 831-9479 or visit www.everettdancetheatre.org.
Would you like to sponsor a Friday Night Live show?