Per the request from a reader, an afternoon palate cleanser.

How about some real bunnehs instead of Talibunny?

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Hours before President Obama is to arrive in Tucson for a memorial service for the six people killed in Saturday’s rampage targeting Rep. Gabrielle Giffords — and showing that even with six dead and 14 injured, in her narcissistic mind it’s all about her — Talibunny released an eight minute video in which she fires back (so to speak) at those pointing out her past use of violent imagery and placing gun sights on Giffords’ district during the 2010 campaign.

Palin says of those who criticized her and other politicians and pundits for a toxic political environment, that “journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn.”

Blood libel? Did I hear a high-pitched whistle? Or is that the sound of someone nailing herself to a cross? Or both?

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WARNING: Vegetarians, animal lovers, or squeamish folks, read this post at your own risk.

Intrepid reporters from Canada City report that Sarah Palin and her father will not be subject to an investigation by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game for possible violation of a state law that prohibits the “wanton waste of big-game meat,” described as “an extremely serious offense punishable by a fine of up to $10,000 and one year in jail.”

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The college football game tonight pits Virginia Tech against Stanford at the Orange Bowl in Miami. Bettors are giving The Tree a 3-1/2 point edge over Los Hokies.

Not taking the field tonight is The Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band (LSJUMB), described by the Miami Herald as the “most outrageous marching band in the land,” as Orange Bowl organizers decided they didn’t want to risk the band doing something scandalous at the halftime show.  Instead, the band will be limited to a six minute pre-game show, which LSJUMB has announced is entitled “Recent Events in the Pro Sports World in Miami.”

Kick off is at 8:30 pm Eastern, but it’s unclear whether the networks will show the performance beforehand.  LeBron James may be breathing a sigh of relief.

[MSNBC: Stanford Band Banned from Halftime Tonight]

Distinguished character actor Pete Postlethwaite, best known for his roles as Daniel Day-Lewis’s father in In the Name of the Father and as Kobayashi in The Usual Suspects, died Sunday of cancer.  Steven Spielberg once described him as “the best actor in the world.”

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[NYT/AP]

A story self-evident to anyone personally experiencing (or who knows someone experiencing) the effects of the Great Recession. However, it is a revelation to the editors at the Gray Lady:

Career Switch by the Jobless Can Lower Living Standards

Geraldine Hoff Doyle, who as a young woman was the model for the Rosie the Riveter image of WWII, died on Sunday from complications of arthritis.  She was a 17-year-old metal-presser at a factory outside of Detroit when an Associated Press photographer took a picture of her at work.

She quit two weeks after the photo was taken, as she was a cellist and didn’t want her hands crushed like another woman’s were in a factory accident. She took a job at a soda fountain, where she met her husband. They had 5 children and were married 66 years.

A few liberties were taken with the image by a graphic designer (she wasn’t flexing her guns in the photo), and was used by Westinghouse as part of a campaign to deter strikes. In the mid-70s it was embraced by the feminist movement.

[WaPo and NYT]