Robert Basler

People say to me, "Bob, what are YOU thankful for on this Thanksgiving?" and I tell them plenty of stuff, because I am truly blessed.

I'm thankful for family, friends, home and health, and a chance to entertain people with this blog, which I may actually start doing any day now.

I'm also thankful that as of 2:30 p.m. today I haven't caught even the briefest glimpse of the Macy's Parade, and that I live in a country where nobody can force me to listen to ukulele music.

But I guess most of all, I'm thankful that I'm not either of these guys in these pictures... Life is great!

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Left: Detroit Lions fan wears a turkey hat on his head before the start of the Thanksgiving Day NFL football game against the Green Bay Packers in Detroit, Michigan November 26, 2009.

Right: Green Bay Packers fan wears a cheese head hat with a fake turkey on top before the start of the game.

REUTERS photos by Rebecca Cook

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Blog Guy, I heard on the news that some poor man died a fiendishly horrible death a couple of days ago over there in Spain. Do you know what I'm talking about?

Yes, and we have a photo from the unspeakably tragic scene. Some sensitive readers may wish to stop reading at this point.

Is it really true that the guy...

Yes, he was sucked into a huge cotton candy machine at a carnival, and there was no way to turn it off in time.

This once again focuses on the hideous danger of cotton candy machines, which kill about 40,000 people a year world-wide and pull off countless arms and legs, spinning and flossing them into a macabre "treat."

I had no idea...

Why do you think most cotton candy is the color it is? It doesn't start out that way, if you catch my drift. It's from the body parts that are in the mix.

Where do you think the phrase "pinky" comes from, and the expression "in the pink."

Blog Guy, I think this is more of your made-up horse poop.

You may be right. My fact-checker isn't working today, and I'm off to have some turkey.

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Manuel Bandera performs during a rehearsal of the musical "Chicago" in Madrid November 19, 2009. REUTERS/Nacho Doce

A child eats cotton candy during a temple fair in Beijing January 19, 2009. REUTERS/Jason Lee

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FX nabs rights to air "Twilight" saga

Summit has yet to green-light production on "Breaking Down," an adaptation of the fourth book in Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" series.

Just wanted to let you know that your article "FX nabs rights to air "Twilight" saga", has a typo.

The fourth book is called "Breaking Dawn" not "Breaking Down".

Learn to do your research better and learn to read, jeez.

Duke

Lots of readers noticed this mistake in a Hollywood Reporter story which moved in our entertainment feed. We corrected: GBU Editor

Actor Robert Pattinson, star of the new film "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" poses at the film's Los Angeles premiere, November 16, 2009. REUTERS/Fred Prouser

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In New York, job winners will tweet from toilets

They won a contest that included aspiring actors, students and even a businessman hoping to seed his enterprise for the jobs to greet and chat with tourists and hoards of holiday shoppers visiting the Manhattan restrooms.

In this article the author uses the word "hoards" when he should have used the word "hordes".

I quit reading CNN.com because of the large number of spelling and grammar errors. And now I'm starting to notice a few errors on Reuters as well. If these errors aren't being caught, then it really makes me wonder about your fact checking as well.

Cheez

We did indeed use the wrong word: GBU Editor

A toilet is displayed at a promotional event for Charmin Restrooms in New York's Times Square, November 23, 2009. REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly

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It's that time of year again, when college seniors start asking me for career advice.

"Bob," writes one student at a northeastern college, "I picked up a glossy pamphlet on the exciting field of professional frisking.

"I'm good with my hands, so I thought this might be an option for me."

Well, I get this question a lot, and of course there is much to be said for this glamorous career. You do get to grope interesting people, and use phrases like "Spread 'em," "You know the drill," and "Up against the wall, pond-scum!"

Best of all it's mostly night work, which leaves your days free to do whatever it is you thought you were going to do with that Art History degree.

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Top: A suspect is frisked by a policeman patrolling the slum district of Petare in Caracas, November 21, 2009.

Left: A 15-year-old girl is searched for weapons by a policewoman during a raid near a hospital at the slums of Petare in Caracas, November 22, 2009.

REUTERS photos by Carlos Garcia Rawlins

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Hold it right there, Blog Guy! I'm calling you out on something! Yesterday, you had a supposed beauty pageant shot where the contestants were all standing in front of a faraway building. Was that the ONLY picture you had from that event?

No, of course not. In addition to the So Far Away They Look Like Ants photo, we did cover the other portions of that pageant. Have a look:

• Contestants stand akimbo in a dimly-lit interrogation room
• Contestant inspects empty office space
• Contestants jammed into Over-Capacity Glass Elevators smile as they hurtle to certain death

There, does that answer your concerns?

No, I'm also concerned you used the word akimbo in a blog where we're never supposed to learn anything.

Well then, whatever you do, don't click on it.

Miss Sevilla slideshow

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Top left: Contestants of the Miss Sevilla pageant wearing traditional Sevillana dresses wait backstage before a presentation in Seville, Spain, November 24, 2009.

Top right: A contestant of the Miss Sevilla pageant wearing a traditional Sevillana dress walks during a presentation.

Contestants of the Miss Sevilla pageant wearing traditional Sevillana dresses stand in elevators during a presentation.

REUTERS photos by Marcelo del Pozo

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Blog Guy, you seem to know a lot about nature. Can swans fly?

No. They can neither fly nor swim.

What? Hold on, I've SEEN swans swimming in lakes and rivers and stuff!

No, you've seen swans, which have very long legs, PRETENDING to swim. Mostly, though, they prefer to travel by boat.

Is that right? And where are they going in these photos?

Well, first they're going to the doctor, and then for a treat they're going to the ballet.

Which ballet?

"Swan Lake," of course.

Sigh. I know I'll regret asking this, but why are they going to the doctor?

Don't you read the papers? It's time for swan flu vaccinations

Blog Guy, that's moronic even by your standards.

Yeah, but I have tickets to a good show, so this will have to be my...

No! Don't say it!

Swan song...

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Swan keeper Olaf Niess watches swans sitting in boats after he and council workers rounded up them from Hamburg's inner city lake Alster November 23, 2009. Every year the swans are collected from waterways around the northern German city of Hamburg and taken to winter quarters where they are fed and cared for until the spring. REUTERS/Christian Charisius

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Quick quiz: The photo above shows...

1. a popular Village People tribute group
2. a Las Vegas City Council meeting
3. an actual Hubble Telescope photograph of heaven
4. a cheap, desperate, pathetic attempt to boost blog traffic by running a vulgar commercial event into the ground

Hey, congratulations to you readers who correctly identified the Vegas City Council!

Come back tomorrow for photos of a Las Vegas School Board meeting!

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Above: Models wave after presenting creations at the 2009 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in New York, November 19, 2009.

Below: Model Marisa Miller presents a creation during the fashion show.

REUTERS photos by Lucas Jackson

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Transsexual in Italian political scandal murdered

ROME (Reuters) - A Brazilian transsexual caught up in a scandal which prompted the resignation of a senior Italian politician -- the center-left governor of Lazio region, which includes Rome -- was found burned to death in his home Friday.

I find it shocking that in this day and age, you still refer to a male-to-female transsexual as a "he". I find this both old fashioned and disrespectful to the person you are reporting about.

Whether she was a prostitute or not, she was presenting herself as a female - likely because that's what she felt she was. Most publications in the US honor this nowadays. You should, too!

Nicole

The deceased is a transsexual *woman*. Referring to her with male pronouns or as a person of indeterminate gender is inaccurate as well as demeaning. I honestly expected better from Reuters as a major news organization.

Chancellor

A Brazilian transsexual ... found burned to death in his home Friday."

His? Shame on you. This is transgender week of remembrance. I'm astonished that Reuters of all organizations could do this.

Liz

A number of readers objected to our choice of pronouns. In the past we have used "she" to describe her, and we will do so in future stories: GBU Editor

Brenda, one of two Brazilian transsexuals who were involved in a political scandal last month with the former governor of Lazio region, is seen in Rome, in this October 24, 2009 file photo. REUTERS/Stringer/Files

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Blog Guy, I'm back again. It's me, the aspiring photojournalist you've been mentoring.

How do you keep finding me? I've had my death notice put in several newspapers!

DNA doesn't lie. Anyhow, I was assigned to shoot a beauty pageant in Spain, and I wanted you to critique my photo.

Hmmmm. The pageant was in Spain, but where were you?

Morocco. I used a very long lens.

Here's a tip. It works better if you're in the same country as the contestants. All I see here is a building with some balconies, with shrubbery on the ground floor.

Those are the women! In swimsuits. Between the shrubs.

Let me ask a question. Why didn't you get back even further away from the women?

Because then I would have been in Algeria. That would be stupid!

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Contestants in the Miss Sevilla pageant pose during a presentation in the Andalusian capital of Seville November 17, 2009. REUTERS/Marcelo del Pozo

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