Ladies and gentlemen, when a gauntlet like this one gets thrown down, well, I've found myself with little choice but to post a THIRD DAMN TIME on the SAME DAY for the FIRST TIME EVAH, just to bring you this bit of hollerday cheese. Put on your yarmulkes:



Update, 12:44 PM: I double dog dare ya not to laugh at Scout's latest. Even though it's probably hopeless at this point, I'm gonna throw in some cheesy Chanukah gangsta rap. WARNING: Watch out for falling munster!:



And, is it just me, or is this really, really sad? This one's quite the melancholy classic, too.

Update, 3:33 PM: Oyster declared himself da winnah, no doubt with help from Katherine Harris. He paid noooo attention to a late, great entry from Greg Peters. We must all bow to the maestro. Oy vey to the world, y'all...

Update, 4:52 PM: All RIGHT...one mo' time, since some people can't let this go. Like moi, for instance...

5:55 PM: Fine, Greg, FINE. Kick us while we're down. I think I'm gonna be sick.

Oh, and while you're at it, embed this in your blogs to protest the ultra-orthodox in Israel having it yanked from the airwaves. These folks have NO sense of humor. (Thanks to Failed Messiah) For more on how the Jewish ultra-orthodox sects tend to overreact to this kind of thing, head to this article.:

I have seen too often the fallout from using verbal overkill, from branding the inappropriate “assur” rather than leveling with people and urging them to refrain from what might technically be permitted, but is not in the spirit of the Torah. The technique may work for most (but clearly not all) members of an insular and disciplined society like haredi Israel, but it does not work as well in open societies, or even ones with walls, if those barriers are semi-permeable as they usually are in the West. Teens in particular are resentful of being told that something is absolutely prohibited, only to find out later that there are others who permit the same activity. Feeling manipulated, the next step is often much more serious transgression.

Many Israelis are poisoned against any kind of Torah restriction, no matter how it is phrased. The appeal of this commercial, however, suggests that even the secular public can detect that there is something wrong with the abuse of words, with the proliferation of exaggerated condemnations, with shrill and angry denunciation of too many things. We should stop and think what impression the same words have on our children – or even upon ourselves.