Tony Snow exits in style

Tony Snow isn't the first man to jump the rapidly sinking Bush administration. Karl "Turd Blossom" Rove announced he was stepping down to "spend more time with his family". Alberto "I don't recall" Gonzalez resigned in disgrace after realizing -- 6 months after everyone else -- that his presence was unproductive. But no one, I believe, has ever come up with as good of an excuse as Tony Snow for why they had to leave. The NYTimes lays it out:

Mr. Snow, 52, said two weeks ago that he would not stay on until the end of the Bush presidency, and that he was leaving because of financial pressures. The father of three, Mr. Snow earned $168,000 a year as an assistant to the president...

Someone explain this to me. This guy is making $168,000, and he is leaving because he is making too little?! Please, NYTimes, give me some context:

...much less than he made as a conservative pundit and talk-show host on Fox Radio who occasionally criticized President Bush.

Now I hate to be the first one to point this out -- and I've been watching TV news all day so I'm pretty sure I actually am the first person to point this out -- but isn't the fact that he used to have a much higher paying job a reason why he should be able to stay? I mean, presumably Tony Snow did save some of the million he earned as a pundit, radio, and TV host over the years before taking his oh-so-drastic pay cut to $168,000 a year. And it is not like the guy doesn't have a ready made excuse: he does have cancer, after all.

(Anyone who wants to discuss the irony of this administration's hesitance to raise the minimum wage is free to insert their sarcastic remarks here)

Ah well. Take care Tony. You will be missed. Not as much as Ari Fleischer, but far more than Scott McClellan.

The long eye of the law

The BBC is reporting that prison guards, in defiance of court orders, have walked out on their jobs as part of a pay dispute. (Dear UAW: taking notes?). Among the numerous disturbances, fires, and kinks in the prisoners' feeding schedules that the BBC lists in its impact section is the following:

Cardiff prison where inmates locked in their cells have taunted a picket line in the car park with shouts of "You're breaking the law"

British prisoners: you officially win.

Take it off, Mr. President!

Well, I didn't meet Anderson Cooper on my vacations, but thanks to M and GoogleNews, I have found the perfect news story to welcome me back. M sent me this article from the India-based TimesNow.
Yep. Vladimir Putin without his shirt on.

Now that is pretty sexy, but let's leave it to the U.S. media to really provide the classy context that we the people need to fully understand this important news item. First things first: no partial shots. Give me the full body shot of Vladdy P:
But wait. Barak Obama is from Hawai'i. We must have at least one shot of him in a sexy bathing suit:
And to be fair and balanced, if there is one of a sexy liberal politician who campaigns on the theme of hope, we need one of a picture of an evil conservative fatty who nearly destroyed the world. (Yeah. I went there during election season):
And, of course, what discussion of sexy world leaders would be complete without the mac daddy himself, the Pimp in Chief, the Man, the Legend, William Jefferson Clinton:
Hmm. Actually, he looks a bit flabby in that 1993 shot of him. A bit Reagan-esque if I may (that's twice, for those counting my Reagan baching). But wait. He is still The Comeback Kid:
OH YOU SEXY BEAST! Nineteen-Ninety-Eight is your year boy. And Hildog is showing off her future Presidential aspirations here as well. (As an aside, the scary part is that it was just suggested to me that Hillary could pull off a one-piece if the current contenders held a bathing suit contest.)

So there you have it. ABC wins the most ridiculous news analysis of the --

--wait, I'm sorry. I'm getting late word (courtesy of M) that a new contender has won the title. Hit me with your best shot AP/Pravda:

Komsomolskaya Pravda reported that women who visited its Web site posted comments on Putin's "vigorous torso" and said they "were screaming with delight and showering (him) with compliments."

Russian gay chat rooms and blogs were particularly intrigued by the photos: Some claimed that Putin, by stripping to his waist, was somehow pleading for more tolerance of homosexuality in Russia - where gays and lesbians are for the most part forced to remain closeted.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a winner!