Quote of the Day

She's old enough. She's a U.S. citizen.

~ Republican John Harris, Alaska's speaker of the House,
on Sarah Palin's qualifications for Vice President

Okay, I'm obsessed

There are rumors all over the internet that Sarah Palin didn't really have a baby earlier this year, that her pregnancy was faked to cover up the fact that her 16 year old daughter Bristol was pregnant. The rumors are largely based on this picture taken in March that shows Bristol with a round tummy that could be a baby bump, and many pictures of Sarah with no apparent bump, as well as photos of Sarah during her previous pregnancy when her belly was huge.

At the time Palin announced her pregnancy, she said she was 7 months along and it came as a shock to everyone, including her staff. Also, Bristol didn't attend school for 5 months before the birth because (they told the school) she had mono.

I discounted the story at first but who knows? To me, the most convincing "evidence" is this picture from Sarah's previous pregnancy compared to what she looked like this time. What keeps me from believing it - aside from the fact the whole story is convoluted - is this: If they were really trying to cover up a pregnancy, Bristol wouldn't have worn a sweater that clung to her belly, would she?

McCain and Palin are touting her record for saying no to the Bridge to Nowhere. The problem is, she said yes at first. She changed her mind after people in the lower 48 started bitching about it.

As for the question of whether or not she's qualified to be commander in chief, this morning Cindy McCain said:

Alaska is the closest part of our continent to Russia. So, it's not as if she doesn't understand what's at stake here.

Serioulsy, that's their talking point? One of the Fox News airheads said the same thing last week, and now it's coming directly from the campaign. How stupid do they think we are?

Oh wait - we elected Dubya twice.

More about the GILF

Okay, well, I know I have to stop calling her that. After all my bitching about the sexist treatment Hillary got, I've become quite the hypocrite.

From Politico:

So unconventional was McCain’s choice that it left students of the presidency literally “stunned,” in the words of Joel Goldstein, a St. Louis University law professor and scholar of the vice presidency. “Being governor of a small state for less than two years is not consistent with the normal criteria for determining who’s of presidential caliber,” said Goldstein.

“I think she is the most inexperienced person on a major party ticket in modern history,” said presidential historian Matthew Dallek ...

“It would be one thing if she had only been governor for a year and a half, but prior to that she had not had major experience in public life,” said Dallek of Palin. “The fact that he would have to go to somebody who is clearly unqualified to be president makes Obama look like an elder statesman.”

And Alaska is a much smaller state than Illinois, the political base of Barack Obama, whom Republicans have repeatedly criticized for being inexperienced, having served nearly four years in the U.S. Senate after eight in the Illinois state Senate ...

“The first thing that hits me,” said Stephen Hess of the Brookings Institution," is that it suggests that John McCain is a gambler. This is a high roller decision.”

“The next thing you have to ask yourself: Is it worrisome to have a gambler in the Oval Office? That’s an important question," he said, “perhaps more important than anything else today.”

Looking for your eye candy, Seattle?

Benjamin Bratt (not naked but still) and James Purefoy. You're welcome.

More eye candy

Barra-COO-da

The other night when I was with friends, the topic of John Edwards' affair came up. Someone asked why we didn't hear about this before the primaries. I said, "Well, I posted it on my blog in December." I had also mentioned it in October.

People I know in real life make fun of me for having a blog and reading gossip columns. But don't you remember Working Girl? Melanie Griffith came up with a great business deal, kicked Sigourney Weaver's bony ass and won Harrison Ford's heart because of something she read in a gossip column.

I'm also proud to say I posted about Sarah Palin as a possible VP pick 2 weeks ago. At the time, I thought she was out of the running but so did everyone else. But I did say "Grumpy McSame has to throw the fundies a bone," and that's exactly what he did.

Palin is somewhere to the right of Bush. She's an evangelical Christian, a creationist, against same-sex marriage and a lifetime member of the NRA. She wants to take polar bears off the endangered species list so the oil men can kill them by drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. She's opposed to abortion even in cases of rape and incest. NARAL says:

John McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate proves just how rigid and extreme his administration would be when it comes to a woman’s right to choose.

Andrew Halco, Palin's opponent from the gubernatorial race, says:

This shocking choice says more about McCain's desperation than it does about Palin's qualifications.

Tonight on Countdown, Rachel Maddow pointed out that Palin and Cindy McCain are both former beauty queens and maybe this says something about what McCain likes in a woman. Based on the all-too short video clips I've seen of her, she's an airhead.

She was nicknamed Barracuda in high school but others have coined a new nickname for her - GILF (governor I'd like to fuck). There's a rumor her hubby could give Bill Clinton and John Edwards a run for their honeys.

And can you really trust someone who names her children Track, Bristol, Willow, Piper and Trig? Those might be good names for puppies - or horses.

Critics are saying she's Dan Quayle in a dress. The scary thing is - Quayle became Vice President. Even scarier - John McCain is 72 years old and he's already been diagnosed with cancer - twice.

Never thought I'd say this, but I'd rather have Romney. He's too busy looking in the mirror to start World War III.

Selecting Sarah Palin as a running mate is a slap in the face to Hillary Clinton and Kathleen Sibelius and Kay Bailey Hutchinson and all the other women out there who ARE qualified to be vice president. It's a slap in the face to all women, even though some of them are too stupid to realize it.

I wonder if Obama is sorry now that he didn't put Hillary on the ticket. If he loses this election, he has only himself to blame.

Enough?

My thoughts on Obama's speech last night: It was inspiring. He said things I wanted to hear and I agree with most of the policies he spelled out. One I don't agree with is giving every family $1000. The only thing Bush's "economic stimulus package" accomplished was to increase the national debt.

In July, personal income took the biggest drop it's taken in 3 years, at a rate that was 7 times what economists had predicted. At the same time, when rising prices are factored in, consumer spending also dropped. There's your economic stimulus right there.

Sure, I'd love to get another $300. Who wouldn't? But look at the big picture. It's no different that buying stuff with a credit card. It's fun until you get the bill. Guess who's paying for those stimulus packages?

What did others think of the speech? David Gergen said, "... it was less a speech than a symphony."

Republican Bennett Keller, a 48-year-old engineer from San Diego County, California, said: "If McCain wins it won't be that good and if Obama wins it won't be that bad.''

From RealClearPolitics:

Obama's demeanor remains cool and aloof. Bill Clinton could feel people's pain. Obama who, as Michael Barone has pointed out, has spent his entire adult life living in university communities, appears to view people's pain with concerned detachment ...

Throughout the week, Democrats were far too polite towards John McCain. Yes, he's a war hero but, as Wesley Clark correctly if impoliticly pointed out, that doesn't in itself qualify him to be President, and there's no need to honor McCain's service every time his name is mentioned ...

Obama has allowed McCain to get under his skin and inside his head. He mentioned McCain 21 times in the speech. In 1988, George H. W. Bush didn't use the name Michael Dukakis once. In 2000, the words Al Gore crossed George W. Bush's lips precisely once.

And that thing I said about starting to like Pat Buchanan? Scratch that. He's back to his blubbering, fear-mongering ways:

Would the defeat of Barack Obama be taken as an affront to black America? Could we be in for a time of deepening racial division rather than healing? Could we be in for a long, hot autumn like the long, hot summers some of us recall from 40 years ago?

I've had MSNBC on for the last 2 hours. What are they saying about Obama's speech? Nothing - all they're talking about is McCain's VP pick.

By the way, I don't agree with the graphic at the top but I've been seeing it all over message boards, even before last night's speech. That's the new Republican meme - comparing Obama to Hitler, Democrats to Nazis. Classic fall back for people who have no rational support for their positions.

There's no such thing as free money

The American Republic will endure until the day Congress
discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money.

~Alexis de Tocqueville

Quote of the Day

Here's my take on the experience factor:

You have two teachers. One is older, seasoned, been doing it for years, and has an idea and a preconceived notion of how things should be based on past experience. The other is brand new, only a year under her belt, not a lot of experience, but has the ability to choose excellent people around her to counsel her in her decisions. Bring in the student who is struggling with some things. Which teacher will be the best for the situation?

There's an old saying - some people may be doing a job for 30 years, but they are repeating the same year 30 times. That doesn't make them excellent, it makes them repetitive.

~ seen on a message board for expectant mothers

I want to believe

This is why my bed never gets made

As soon as I leave my bed, it ceases to be my own.

The trouble with Obama

Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell put his finger on one of Obama's problems:

Barack Obama is handsome. He's incredibly bright. He's incredibly well spoken, and he's incredibly successful -- not exactly the easiest guy in the world to identify with.

Every time Dubya tripped over the English language or made one of his monkey faces, he endeared himself to a (sadly) significant portion of Americans. People don't like to be bossed around by someone who thinks they're smarter than they are but they'll follow a dumbass all the way to hell. That's why Dubya was the perfect puppet for Cheney and his cohorts.

The trouble with Obama is that he's too good for America but he needs to convince us that he doesn't think so.

One thing I do like is the in-your-face attitude he's showing the Republicans. Accuse the guy of being a rock star? Well, he'll show you. He'll play a sold out stadium and he'll bring in a couple of stadium rockers like Bon Jovi and Springstein to back him up.

Let's see you top that, "George" McCain.

Americans are so enamored of equality
that they would rather be equal in slavery
than unequal in freedom.

~ Alexis de Tocqueville

Bum rap

Critics are saying Bill Clinton redeemed himself last night at the Democratic convention. Bullshit. He had done nothing he needed to be redeemed for. The press demonized him to begin with and now they've got a different story to tell.

Roger Simon from Politico says:

Although his reputation had survived impeachment virtually untarnished — at least among Democrats — it did not survive his wife’s campaign. Never famous for self-control in private, he showed a lack of it in public, delivering finger-wagging accusations in New Hampshire that Obama’s campaign was a “fairy tale” and making racially tinged comments about Obama in South Carolina.

Clinton never said Obama's campaign was a fairytale. He said the press was treating it like a fairytale. He said they weren't being fair to Hillary with the way they covered the story. And he was right.

He never made racist comments about Obama. He was responding to things the press and Obama himself were saying about South Carolina - how it would be historic for a black man to win a primary in the South. All he did was point out the fact that Jesse Jackson had done it before. Jackson earned that recognition - he didn't get extra help from the press fawning over him.

It also would have been historic for a woman to win a primary in the South, the land of hoop skirts and Scarlett O'Hara swooning behind her fan. It was historic for a woman to win a primary in ANY state - THAT had never been done before. But the press didn't want to talk about that - they were only interested in promoting their favorite son. That's why Bill was wagging his finger at them. He scolded them and they had it coming. But they turned it around on him.

When you give Bill Clinton a microphone and put him in front of a camera and let him speak about his beliefs without being censored - let people hear what he has to say, not someone else's interpretation of what he has to say - he will always come out on top.

Quote of the Day

People the world over have always been
more impressed by the power of our example
than by the example of power.

~ Bill Clinton at the Democratic Convention

Today's post brought to you by gerbil wheels

I'm supposed to be working on a story right now but it's not going well. I'm so frustrated I feel like slashing my wrists so I'm looking at pictures of hairy chests and blogging instead.

Lots of quickies:

• Sometimes headlines tell the story: Would-be robber shoots himself in foot, gets stabbed, then arrested

• Sometimes headlines don't tell the story: Body ID'd as Professor Accused of Fondling Students' Breasts in Exchange for Higher Grades

Was the body coincidentally ID'd at the same time the professor was accused? Is the professor a suspect in the death? Why would a prof need to get better grades? I mean, I'd let him fondle me but still.

No, the story is that a University of Iowa prof was accused of fondling students and he's dead now. Police suspect suicide.

• Tragically bizarre: A 22 year old guy in Charlotte, NC, accidentally locked his 2 young children in the car. He ran up to his apartment and grabbed a butcher knife to try to pry the window open but he fell down the stairs, stabbed himself in the chest and died. Meanwhile, his wife had found the spare keys and got the kids out.

• Maybe I picked the wrong time to start a savings account. The FDIC is warning that as many as 100 banks may fail in the next year which might deplete the reserve fund.

• Police state: A Texas high school suspended more than 150 students because their belts weren't up to code:

The belts are supposed to be plain black or brown with a standard buckle. Anything else -- like holes in leather -- is considered a decoration, and a violation ...

If the belts were flashing neon and playing obnoxious ringtones, I can understand. But otherwise, WTF?

• Police state or a case of horny administrators feeling sorry for horny boys? Cheerleaders at an Ohio high school are no longer allowed to wear their uniforms to class on game days.

• 'You can't treat me as a criminal for wearing a bra.' That's what a woman told TSA officials in Oakland, CA, when her underwire bra set off an alarm. Unfortunately, they can. The ACLU says:

"They can't find bombs in checked luggage, and they're essentially doing a pat-down of private parts. This is a security apparatus that is out of control."

• They can also treat you like a criminal if you wear a lesbian.com t-shirt. A security guard in California ejected a woman from a federal building because he didn't like her shirt. She was trying to pick up a Social Security card for her son. The guard told her he could do it because of the Rules and Regulations Governing Conduct on Federal Property. He was wrong, and in this case, DHS sided with the woman.

• The Catholic church is in a tizzy because one of their future saints may have been gay. When Britain's Cardinal Newman died in 1890, he asked to be buried next to his longtime companion, fellow priest Ambrose St. John. Now, the church is moving his body to prepare for his beatification. A gay activist says they're trying to re-bury the truth.

• Critics are going after Elizabeth Edwards for aiding and abetting Mr. 99% in his campaign coverup. I agree with them but I feel for her.

• Fark headline of the day: "Armed men were never a threat," said the U.S. Attorney. Adding, "Everyone knows The Obama is impervious to bullets."

• Looks like Obama's rubbing that whole "celebrity" thing right in John McCain's face. The night Obama speaks at the convention, Jennifer Hudson is singing the national anthem; and the O's speech will be sandwiched between performances by Jon Bon Jovi and Brooooce. That's one way to get people to tune in.

I wonder who McCain can scrape up. Maybe Paris Hilton? Her parents donated to his campaign. She could sing her smash hit, Stars Are Blind. It's one of those songs that grows on you and kills brain cells in the process. And you'd have to be brain dead to vote for McCain.

• Check out Jon Stewart's take on the media's campaign coverage. He says the cable news networks are "gerbil wheels."

Turn ons: Jon Bon Jovi, with fur and without
Turn offs: I have to add a blog label for "police state."

Hump day

Hugh Jackman. I wasn't sure the one with the glasses was really him but the chest hair matches. Eye candy isn't quite as good as chocolate but I'm trying to keep my blood sugar down.

A class act

After Hillary gave her convention speech Tuesday night, Olbermann said maybe if she'd given a speech like that during the primaries, she would've won.

She was giving speeches like that, day after day. You guys were so busy worshipping The Chosen One that you weren't paying attention but 18 million other people heard her.

Yeah, I'm still bitter. I'll vote for Obama because the alternative is Armageddon.

My favorite part of Hillary's speech was when she pointed out her husband's successes as president. I can't wait to see his speech tonight.

Oversight

Let's declare a new war on terror

I'm liking Pat Buchanan a little more every day. Last night, he sounded like the voice of reason during MSNBC's convention coverage. And now, I've found this op-ed he wrote about Randy Scheunemann, who is McCain's chief foreign policy advisor:

He is a dual loyalist, a foreign agent whose assignment is to get America committed to spilling the blood of her sons for client regimes who have made this moral mercenary a rich man.

From January 2007 to March 2008, the McCain campaign paid Scheunemann $70,000 — pocket change compared to the $290,000 his Orion Strategies banked in those same 15 months from the Georgian regime of Mikheil Saakashvili.

What were Mikheil's marching orders to Tbilisi's man in Washington? Get Georgia a NATO war guarantee. Get America committed to fight Russia, if necessary, on behalf of Georgia.

Scheunemann came close to succeeding.

Had he done so, U.S. soldiers and Marines from Idaho and West Virginia would be killing Russians in the Caucasus, and dying to protect Scheunemann's client, who launched this idiotic war the night of Aug. 7. That people like Scheunemann hire themselves out to put American lives on the line for their clients is a classic corruption of American democracy ...

Scheunemann's resume as a War Party apparatchik is lengthy. He signed the PNAC (Project for the New American Century) letter to President Clinton urging war on Iraq, four years before 9-11. He signed the PNAC ultimatum to Bush, nine days after 9-11, threatening him with political reprisal if he did not go to war against Iraq. He was executive director of the "Committee for the Liberation of Iraq," a propaganda front for Ahmad Chalabi and his pack of liars who deceived us into war.

Now Scheunemann is the neocon agent in place in McCain's camp.

The neocons got their war with Iraq. They are pushing for war on Iran. And they are now baiting the Russian Bear.

Is this what McCain has on offer?

We're not out of the woods with Georgia. The war mongers are still itching for Armageddon:

President Bush yesterday telegraphed in the clearest possible way that he's not interested in turning down the heat on the simmering geopolitical conflict with Russia. Quite the contrary. He's sending Vice President Cheney to harry Russia's borders.

Why do they care about Georgia, aside from the fundie desire for Rapture? Thar's oil in dem dare hills.

Maybe it's time to declare a new war on terror. The Fuck Fox News marchers in Denver could join ranks with the Hillary harridans, who'll be looking for a new cause. We could all march on Washington and confront the real terrorists.

I should watch Fox News more often

John Edwards has allegedly been calling former supporters and begging forgiveness:

Many are bitter and disillusioned after swallowing his lies about his affair with a campaign staffer and vouching for his credibility with friends and journalists. Some ignore his plaintive phone entreaties and don't call back - even when Edwards leaves follow-up messages. A few return his calls - and give him a piece of their angry minds.

When Edwards reached one longtime confidant asking for advice, he was cut off with a terse: "I don't want you to call me again" ...

Many think he's still not telling the truth.

"As painful as it will be for him, he needs to come clean," one of them said. "There's an overwhelming view that he's still lying."

A few quickies:

• Here's another reason the border fence is a stupid idea, besides the fact it won't work and it costs too much: It's so poorly designed that it's acting as a dam and causing floods.

• For cat owners: Check out Africam, a live feed from a nature preserve in Africa. At times, you'll see zebra, wildebeests and other heavenly creatures, most often at dusk and early morning (African time). During the day, the bird sounds drive my cats nuts. They jump up on my desk and poke their noses everywhere trying to find those damn birds. (Scroll down at the link.)

• Live on Fox News: Yesterday when a Fox reporter walked into the middle of a left-wing protest march in Denver and thrust his microphone in their faces, most of the marchers refused to answer his questions. Then the crowd started chanting "Fuck Fox News."

Warmed my cold and bitter heart.

I guess you have to dream it before you can do it

Fundies in Arkansas are trying to pass a law that will ban unmarried couples from adopting or fostering children. It's aimed at gay couples, as a response to the Arkansas Supreme Court decision that struck down the law that specifically banned gays from being foster parents. The new proposal would ban hetero unmarried couples as well.

Brilliant move at a time when there's already a shortage of foster parents. Ranks right up there with the military kicking out gay translators of Arabic and Farsi:

Last year, the Army gave moral waivers to 106 applicants convicted of burglary, 15 of felonious break-ins, 11 of grand-theft-auto, and eight of arson. It also admitted five rape/sexual-assault convicts, two felony child molesters, two manslaughter convicts, and two felons condemned for “terrorist threats including bomb threats."

Helps explain why female soldiers are more likely to be raped by fellow soldiers than to be killed by the enemy, huh? More:

Conversely, expelled military personnel include Arabic linguists and intelligence specialists who help crush America’s foes in the War on Terror. “Don’t Ask” has ousted at least 58 soldiers who speak Arabic, 50 Korean, 42 Russian, 20 Chinese, nine Farsi, and eight Serbo-Croatian — all trained at the prestigious Defense Language Institute. Al-Qaeda intercepts need translation, and Uncle Sam may need people who can walk around Tehran with open ears. Yet these dedicated gay citizens now are ex-GIs.

As Keith Olbermann says:

The U.S. military, the presidential administration, and our nation as a whole are officially more afraid of American gays than of Middle East terrorists ... That is insane.

My favorite line from Ted Kennedy's speech tonight:

Barack Obama will close the book on the old politics of race and gender and group against group and straight against gay.

It's a nice dream.

Did NBC journalism die along with Tim Russert?

My thoughts on the first night of the Democratic convention:

There was nothing remarkable about Ted Kennedy's speech, except for the fact it might be the last time he gets to speak at a convention. I admire him and I'm grateful for everything he's done in the Senate. I was disappointed in the video they did about him, but he certainly deserved the recognition and respect he was shown.

Michelle Obama's speech was good but it wasn't nearly as good as Olbermann and Matthews thought. The Obama daughters were cute as hell though.

Nancy Pelosi? Despise her. The achievements of the current Congress? Nothing to brag about. Not a great speaker. Couldn't wait for her to shut up.

I was upset that Jimmy Carter didn't get to speak. They paraded him out on stage and he waved. That was it? From one of the great diplomats of our time? From a true humanitarian who represents the best of the Democratic party? From someone who has strong ties with evangelicals, some of whom are looking for a new political home?

I was only about half an hour into MSNBC's coverage before I was sick of Matthews and Olbermann fawning over every speaker. It's great to have them around to do commentary, fine. But they should not be anchoring the broadcast.

Whatever happened to news? Whatever happened to journalism?

I'm a liberal. I enjoy hearing the liberal point of view, I usually enjoy Olbermann's Countdown show. But I'd rather have someone who could maintain some objectivity, like Brokaw or the late great Tim Russert (god, I miss him). Brokaw was there tonight but he should have been anchoring instead of shoved off into a corner.

MSNBC is no better than Fox, and we don't need another Fox. We need honest, unbiased reporting.

Fly, my pretties, fly

I haven't done any quickies for awhile. Here goes:

• Still not convinced we're living in a police state? Kids in San Antonio, TX, with a history of skipping school will be required to wear GPS ankle bracelets around the clock.

The justice of the peace who's running the program says, "We can either educate or incarcerate."

• Tragic: The suicide rate among preteen and teenage girls rose to its highest level in a decade, and hanging surpassed guns as the preferred method, federal health officials reported Thursday.

• Also tragic:

U.S. women are dying from childbirth at the highest rate in decades, new government figures show. Though the risk of death is very small, experts believe increasing maternal obesity and a jump in Caesarean sections are partly to blame ...

Three different studies indicate at least 40 percent of maternal deaths could have been prevented.

• This story is amazing and amusing, and every word of it is true. Read at least as far as the third paragraph.

• You might be a redneck if: You're having sex with your husband while your live-in boyfriend sits in the next room. And both guys end up getting arrested because the boyfriend got mad.

• An Australian study has shown that people who practice BDSM might be happier than those who don't. And contrary to popular opinion, they're no more likely than anyone else to feel sexually deficient or to have been abused in the past. (If you don't know what BDSM is, bend over because you need a spanking.)

• "Darling, I think they might have gotten it." That's what actress Kate Beckinsale told her husband when she suspected paparazzi had taken a picture of her bare coochie as she climbed out of a car at a premiere. She once said:

I've only ever had about three boyfriends. Only a handful of people have seen into the Pharaoh's Tomb ... My best feature is unfortunately a private matter, although I'm told it is spectacular. But you can't really walk it down the red carpet.

Apparently, not for lack of trying.

• Now here's a worthy opponent for Batman: Cher is in talks to play Catwoman in the Dark Knight sequel.

• Hot monkey love!

• Today's Jeopardy answer: Two pennies, cigarette lighters, and a bike. The question: What did the guy offer the cop who was posing as a prostitute? (Must've been one ugly cop.)

• Fark headline of the day: Fly, my pretties, fly.

The story is about Hillary releasing her delegates at the convention.

Trouble the Water

Follow up on Lovin' Kanye, where I quoted the speech Kanye West made right after Katrina ("George Bush doesn't like black people.")

I just read about this documentary, Trouble the Water, based on home videos shot by a woman who stayed in New Orleans during Katrina. Kimberly Rivers Roberts lived in the Ninth Ward. From the article:

... it's clear from the outset of this gripping film that few in Roberts' community can do much about the fact that the city has abandoned them. They've been told to evacuate. But they don't have cars or money to leave. So they laugh in the face of horror. Little girls on bikes taunt the storm; old men serve up false bravado; corner drunks carry on drinking; and everybody takes up the usual front-stoop post to speculate about what tomorrow will bring ...

When the rain subsides, Roberts keeps her camera rolling, documenting the heroic efforts of one man—a neighbor named Larry—who turns a punching bag into a floating rescue raft. He wades house-to-house, pulling elderly and disabled people to relative safety in a common home with dry upper floors. Larry even becomes the public information system the city failed to implement ...

Larry, burly and unapologetically in charge, is also the sort of man that law enforcement and reporters subsequently labeled a "looter." Trouble the Water turns that idea on its head. At every turn, Roberts and her neighbors appeal to the authorities for help and are treated like criminals. The Coast Guard leaves them in the flooded streets on the first night, but directs them to the Navy barracks. When they arrive at the barracks, the Navy sees a mob rather than a horde of stranded citizens and turns guns on them. When Roberts tries to get word to her brother in jail about her safety—and the deaths of her uncle and grandmother—she's told he doesn't have "phone privileges." It's pretty clear who the real criminals are in all of this.

Quote of the Day

There are only two things wrong with America:
Republicans and Democrats.

~ from a discussion thread on Fark

Weighing in

The state of Alabama has a new program where it will start charging state employees an extra $25 a month for health insurance if they're fat:

The State Employees’ Insurance Board this week approved a plan to charge state workers starting in January 2010 if they don’t have free health screenings.

If the screenings turn up serious problems with blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose or obesity, employees will have a year to see a doctor at no cost, enroll in a wellness program, or take steps on their own to improve their health. If they show progress in a follow-up screening, they won’t be charged. But if they don’t, they must pay starting in January 2011.

At first glance, it doesn't sound so bad. Everybody should take care of their health, right? And the state's paying for it. But think about it - do you really want your boss to know whether or not you have high cholesterol or high blood pressure?

The information will go into your employee records. How will that affect you if you apply for another job, or if you're trying to get a raise or a promotion? Sorry, Bob, but management is real stressful and you already have high blood pressure. Wouldn't want you to have a stroke and raise our health costs.

Also, consider this:

The board has not yet determined how much progress a person would have to show ...

So they're asking employees to meet a certain goal but nobody knows what that goal is. Yeah, real fair.

A college prof who runs workshops on body acceptance says:

“I’m big and beautiful and doing my best to keep my stress levels down so I can stay healthy ... That’s big, not lazy, not a glutton and certainly not deserving of the pompous, poisonous disrespect served up daily to those of us with more bounce to the ounce.”

Emphasis added by me. The treatment fat people get does as much damage as the fat itself. It makes me not want to leave the house and makes me feel hopeless, like it won't do any good anyway so why try? It only makes me want to eat more.

My health issues should be between me and my doctor. An employer has absolutely no right to know whether or not I have high cholesterol or high blood pressure.

Alabama is already charging employees who smoke an extra $24 a month. Where does it stop? They'll be going after the skinny minnies next because studies have shown being underweight can cause as many health problems as being overweight.

This is also from the article:

A recent study suggested that about half of overweight people and nearly a third of obese people have normal blood pressure and cholesterol levels, while about a quarter of people considered to be normal weight suffer from the ills associated with obesity.

I can attest to that. Two of my paternal aunts had high cholesterol and high blood pressure that was worse than mine is now, and they were both slender all their lives. My maternal uncle had high blood pressure that led to heart bypass surgery and he had also been slender all his life. My skinny paternal grandfather died of a heart attack at 41. My maternal grandfather died of a heart attack at 54 and he was never fat. He never smoked either - in fact, he detested smoking.

How is it fair that my family should be penalized for having bad genes? What's next? Chromosome screenings for everyone to determine what health issues you're at risk for and insurance premiums based on that?

If you have the gene for breast cancer or colon cancer, will they insure you at all, or just specify they won't cover those illnesses.

And what about guys with erectile dysfunction? Those guys get depressed, which can lead to other health problems. Maybe they should have to pay a penalty too.

Just how far will Big Brother go? Are we ever going to stand up and say no?

My pathetic excuse for a life

Welcome to my pity party. I'm feeling really down tonight. The depression has been creeping up on me for the last couple of weeks, getting a little bit worse day by day. I should be feeling better - I slept 10 hrs on Saturday. It's been weeks since I slept more than a few hours at a time. I went to sleep at 9 a.m. and woke up at 7 p.m. I felt like I wasted the whole day but really, sleeping was probably the most productive thing I could've done.

My cats were starving when I finally got up though. I've been a really bad mommy lately. Neither one of them has been as peppy as usual. I think I'm making them depressed too.

On second thought ...

I'm glad I don't have a cell phone. Text messages sent out at 3:30 a.m. to announce your VP choice? Seriously? Is that any way to run a campaign???

The only thing he's done right in the last month is choose Biden. Then they managed to fuck up the announcement.

God, the more I see and hear from Obama, the more I hate him. I didn't start out hating him. I started out thinking he was great, thinking that if Hillary weren't running, I might vote for him. He was inspiring. He was energetic. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy who cared about people, smart enough to listen to good advice, able to think on his feet.

Now he seems like just another rich guy caught up in his own little world where the stars revolve around him. He cares about people who give him money and everybody else can go to hell.

Just now, I visited his website. The first full page is a form to fill out to make a contribution. My email address and city were already filled out. I had signed up for their newsletter a few weeks ago but canceled when I got 3 requests for donations on the first day, but they've still got me in their files. (I really need to delete my cookies.)

Once I got past the first page, the first thing I saw was a side bar that said "Welcome Hillary Supporters." Do you know what you get when you click that? Another form to fill out. Not a single word about why I should support Obama.

Why not a note saying something like "We know you're disappointed that Hillary didn't win, but here's how we'll fulfill the same goals she had." That would get my attention. That would make me feel enthusiastic about Obama.

They are too damn sure of themselves! Just because I visit your website doesn't mean I'm ready to jump in. I want to be persuaded. I want to be convinced.

I have volunteered for every Democratic presidential candidate in the last 30 years. I've knocked on doors asking for donations, registered voters, manned the phones, driven all over town hanging flyers, walked through parking lots sticking them on windshields, delivered yard signs, stood at fairgrounds greeting everyone who drove in and offering to put bumper stickers on their cars, and spent entire election days as a poll watcher.

I don't think I'll be volunteering this time. The Republicans already have the voting machines rigged anyway.

And you know what pisses me off the most? The so-called feminists on slate.com will call me a Hillary Harridan and the commentators on MSNBC will dismiss me as a racist hick.

I am neither, but I totally understand where Bertha was coming from when she torched Rochester's house. Lock me in the attic if you want but I have matches.

Bond boys

More eye candy: George Lazenby, Pierce Brosnan, Daniel Craig. Doesn't it look like Lazenby stuffed some socks in his tighty whiteys?

Eye candy for the weekend

My Seattle "fiend" says I owe him some nakies since I didn't post any last weekend. Here's John Mayer for starters.

Misplaced priorities

Dr. Drew Pinsky, who bills himself as a sex doctor, also runsa a high-priced rehab center in Pasadena. In the last 4 months, two patients in the chemical dependency unit died of drug overdoses. Another substance abuse patient died by hanging himself from a wooden beam.

Who leaves exposed wooden beams at a psychiatric facility? Where people are suicidal?

The day after the guy hanged himself, a 14 year old girl was raped by another patient, a 16 year old, while staff members and the rapist's probation officer were sleeping nearby.

WTF?

This is not the norm for psychiatric facilities. And here's where I think the problem lies:

... the hospital advertises on its website such amenities as a tennis court, swimming pool and manicured garden ... It recently created a deluxe treatment center, offering concierge service, a "personal healthcare attendant" and access to a flat-screen high-definition TV.

Yeah, because that's what addicts really need - to be pampered and indulged. It's not like they've ever had a problem with over-indulgence.

He's such a tease

Obama has been dropping hints all week that he'll be announcing his VP choice soon but he won't say who and he won't say when. Yesterday he said the person has to meet 3 requirements:

Prepared to be president, able to help him govern and willing to challenge his thinking.

Which made me think maybe he's going to choose Hillary. But of course he won't because she's a little too prepared to be president and she'd be only too willing to help him govern and challenge his thinking. And, dammit, she should be the one who should be choosing HER running mate now.

I'm so sick and tired of that smug smile on his face. I wonder if his hint-dropping will piss off other Hillary supporters - we all know she's the one who's best prepared to be president.

Another thing that pisses me off: He's announcing his VP by sending text messages to his supporters. I don't have a cell phone so I can't be one of few, the proud, the Obamanians.

To me, it's another sign of elitism - at least it can (and will) be interpreted that way. It shows that he's out of touch with a big chunk the Democratic base - working class people who either never had a cell phone or had to give it up to buy gas and put food on the table, as well as older white women who are less likely to be into that new-fangled technology. Hillary voters.

It seems like his campaign is so hung up on appealing to the young - who've never been reliable voters - that he's forgetting the bread and butter voters like me. He's taking us for granted.

And he - and Olbermann and Matthews and the liberal (i.e. minority) media - are seriously underestimating how many morons there are in this country. I'm amazed by all the McCain supporters I run into, in real life and on the 'net. The polls reflect what I'm seeing - McCain is almost even with Obama.

Another thing I've noticed - Iraq is not in the news. I'm hardly hearing anything that's going on over there, and the few things I do hear make it sound like the surge worked and Bush/McCain were right. I find myself forgetting that there's even a war going on.

The only good news is another McCain blunder. Yesterday, someone asked him how many houses he owns and he said he'd have to check with his staff. (By the way, the link has a great explanation about the difference between rich and middle class and the gray area in between.)

This is from another op-ed worth the read:

Barack Obama has decided upon a vice-presidential running mate. And while I don’t know who it is as I write, for the good of the country, I hope he picked Joe Biden.

Biden is the only choice on the known short list who would improve my opinion of Obama. He's well known, well liked, and he has the knowledge and experience in areas where Obama is lacking. Plus, he's good at going after opponents, which is another area where Obama is lacking.

Simply beautiful

In every sense of the word. I received this pic in email along with this story:

Only women of a certain era will fully appreciate this.... True story. (If you don't understand this, tell your mother, she'll get it!)

A Michigan woman and her family were vacationing in a small New England town where Paul Newman and his family often visited. One Sunday morning, the woman got up early to take a long walk.

After a brisk five-mile hike, she decided to treat herself to a double-dip chocolate ice cream cone. She hopped in the car, drove to the center of the village and went straight to the combination bakery/ice cream parlor.

There was only one other patron in the store: Paul Newman, sitting at the counter having a doughnut and coffee. The woman's heart skipped a beat as her eyes made contact with those famous baby-blue eyes. The actor nodded graciously and the star struck woman smiled demurely.

Pull yourself together! She chides herself. You're a happily married woman with three children, you're forty-five years old, not a teenager!

The clerk filled her order and she took the double-dip chocolate ice cream cone in one hand and her change in the other. Then she went out the door, avoiding even a glance in Paul Newman's direction. When she reached her car, she realized that she had a handful of change but her other hand was empty.

Where's my ice cream cone? Did I leave it in the store? Back into the shop she went, expecting to see the cone still in the clerk's hand or in a holder on the counter or something! No ice cream cone was in sight. With that, she happened to look over at Paul Newman. His face broke into his familiar, warm, friendly grin and he said to the woman, "You put it in your purse."

My aunt Janis told me the same story years ago. In her version the beautiful blue eyes belonged to Clint Eastwood, and it took place in Iowa while he was filming "The Bridges of Madison County."

Snopes.com has it listed as an urban legend. Still, the picture was worth it.

Not my vulva, mind you

Tonight, for the first time ever, I seriously considered getting rid of my cats.

In the past, that only crossed my mind when I was planning to kill myself. I read a news story once about a woman who hung her cats before she hung herself, so that's always been an option. What stopped me was not wanting to be one of those tragic lunatics who drown their babies but chicken out before they kill themselves.

About 2 hours ago when I was ready to go to bed, I had to clean the litter box. No choice about that because when I sleep with it stinking, I have nightmares of being trapped in a building flooded with sewage.

So I'm bent over the box scooping out clumps of urine mud and poop encrusted with gravel, and it occurs to me that my life might be easier without cats. My house would stay cleaner and I could save money on supplies. It's the first time I've ever really thought about that.

Other people have told me to get rid of them. My mother never really saw the benefit of having pets. She's convinced I could get a nicer apartment if I didn't have them. Many years ago, a therapist told me I should give my cats away because my only income at the time was food stamps and you can't buy cat food with those. But Carolina, Clancy and Casey, all long since passed, thoroughly enjoyed their diet of raw eggs, tuna, rice and bread.

My cats have always saved my life. I can't even begin to count how many times I was ready to kill myself but stopped because I knew no one would take care of my cats and I was too wimpy to take them with me.

But tonight I thought about getting rid of them long enough to calculate exactly how much they cost - less than $20 a month for food and litter. In the last 2 years, it's been less than $100 total for the vet. They're a helluva lot cheaper than cable TV and far more entertaining. And the cable guy won't even lick my ear.

What does this all mean? I'm more depressed than I've been in awhile.

By the time I finished cleaning the litter box, I was wide awake again. It's going to be another all-nighter. I slept 2 hours this afternoon and that's it for more than a day and a half now. In the last week, I've been averaging less than 3 hours sleep a day. I'm getting paranoid and seeing things that aren't supposed to be there. That's sleep deprivation. Some people might call it spiritual awareness.

The whole point of the weird collages I posted earlier this week was to show the dark circles around my eyes. In the process, I learned that when my ear is attached to a mirror image of itself, it looks like a vulva.

I'm wandering.

Ad Aware sucks (Nortons sucks, part 5)

Ever since I installed Norton Internet Security a year ago, my computer has been giving me fits. When NIS does an automatic update, which is several times a day, my computer slows to a crawl for 15 minutes or longer while it processes the updates. I have to wait for it to finish then reboot to get my computer back up to normal speed. And NIS drastically slows down the reboot.

When I turned off auto updates, NIS still contacted the mother ship several times a day and held my browser hostage. It became very temperamental about manual updates so I had to turn auto update back on.

Well, this morning I started futzing around, trying to figure things out because my computer was running slower than ever and some of my Jpeg files were overwriting each other. I rebooted in Safe Mode and did a virus scan. Nothing. I updated Ad Aware and scanned for spyware. Nothing. I uninstalled several programs I never use, then ran disk cleanup and defragged. Nothing.

In fact, it was getting worse. I checked the task list and found that Ad Aware was running at the top when normally it doesn't even show up in the list. I tried opening the program to turn it off but it wouldn't open because it said it was already running. Duh!

So I uninstalled the fucker. And guess what? My computer is running faster and better than it has in the last year. Motherfucking AdAware. I'm not sure if AAW by itself was the problem or if it just doesn't get along with NIS. Probably the latter because I never had problems with AAW until I "upgraded" to NIS 2008.

My computer is still freezing up during NIS updates but hell, I'll take anything I can get.

Turn ons: Figuring stuff out

Turn offs: Microsoft sucks too

The peach didn't fall far from the tree

Random thoughts:

• I love Al Gore. I have to start with that disclaimer because I just watched An Inconvenient Truth and the truth is, the movie was less about global warming than it was about Al Gore. Which wouldn't be so bad if it was a documentary about Al Gore. I would enjoy seeing a movie that was supposed to be about Al Gore, if it was other people talking about Al Gore. Especially if it pointed out how different the world would be today if the Supreme Court hadn't deposed Al Gore. But the truth is, I still get very drowsy whenever I listen to Al Gore.

• Speaking of global warming, check out this story about Bill Clinton and T. Boone Pickens uniting to solve the energy crisis. My favorite part was this:

Clinton spoke first. He arrived Monday, direct from Little Rock, where he'd helped eulogize his friend, Arkansas Democratic Party Chairman Bill Gwatney. The heartache was still etched in his face ...

With few notes and no prepared speech, the former president outlined a comprehensive strategy to spur economic growth and create millions of new jobs while moving America away from fossil fuels and toward saving the planet.

It was a tour de force: so deep in the details that the propeller-heads were swooning, yet simple and compelling enough that I could follow it. On the day before his 62nd birthday, I couldn't help cursing the 22nd Amendment, which limited Clinton to two terms. Heck, he's still 10 years younger than McCain.

• Add another to the list of celebrity babies with weird names. Gwen Stefani just gave birth to Zuma Nesta Rock Rossdale. I'm not kidding but I hope they were when they issued the press release.

• Speaking of weird celebrity baby names, that's Peaches Geldof with her father Bob. Peaches has a drug problem. Her mother, Paula Yates, died of a drug overdose. And it looks like Daddy has a problem too.

Peaches' full name is Peaches Honeyblossom Michelle Charlotte Angel Vanessa Geldof and she has sisters named Fifi Trixibelle and Pixie. She has a half-sister named Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily Hutchence. Tiger Lily's father Michael Hutchence, the lead singer of INXS, died of autoerotic asphyxiation. Which led to a reality show I thoroughly enjoyed, Rock Star: INXS, where the band was looking for a new lead singer.

I warned you this post was random.

Coeur d'Alene

Remember the case from 3 years ago in Couer d'Alene, Idaho, where a guy killed a woman, her fiance and her son and kidnapped 2 younger children, Dylan and Shasta? He's pleaded guilty to murder. Now he's on trial to determine whether or not he should get the death penalty. From CNN:

Jurors cringed, cried and some desperately looked away as they were shown a series of deeply disturbing and graphic videos taken by a convicted child killer ...

The videos and photos taken at the cabin show Duncan forcing the boy to perform a sex act, whipping him with a belt and hanging him with a wire noose until the boy passed out.

The 2 children were held hostage and tortured for weeks before Duncan shot 9 year old Dylan point blank in the head while Shasta watched. She was rescued when Duncan took her back to Coeur d'Alene and a waitress recognized her.

Duncan objected to the videos being shown, as should be expected. But the father of the children also objected - he asked the judge to close the court room to all but essential personnel and one representative from the news media but the judge said no:

Steven Groene left the courtroom just before the video was played. Before he did he approached some spectators, angrily motioning them out and making an obscene gesture when they stayed put. At one point he threatened to make a citizen's arrest of anyone watching, saying viewing child pornography is a crime.

Once the video had been shown and he returned to the courtroom, Groene confronted some of those who had stayed, asking bitterly if they enjoyed it.

He has a point. I felt dirty just reading the article after I found out how the father felt about it. How horrible to lose a child that way, to be left with another child severely traumatized by extreme abuse, and then have gawkers watching your dead child's suffering and humiliation.

I think the judge made the right decision - the courts have to be open to public scrutiny, especially when the death penalty is involved. But I'm not sure, even if it was my job to report the news, that I would have stayed in that court room after the father asked me to leave.

Gnashing & gnarling

From Dahlia Lithwick at Slate:

You know her. She's got wild eyes and rumpled hair. At some point she stopped caring about the stains on her blouse. She's hurt, angry, rejected, and she's willing to take the whole damn place down with her. She is Lady Macbeth. She is Jane Eyre's deranged pyromaniac Bertha Mason. She is Cruella DeVil and the biblical Lilith. She is Snow White's wicked stepmother, Miss Havisham, and Emily Bronte's ghostly Catherine Earnshaw. She is the oldest literary type around—the bitter madwoman, hellbent on revenge and willing to act against her own interest to win some respect. And now, to hear the media tell it, she is a Hillary Holdout ...

Political campaign coverage is always driven by stereotypes. Blue-collar men, soccer moms, and latte-sipping liberals are the blocks on which election stories are built. But the rise of the "Hillary Harridan" is a disturbing development. It unearths a creepy literary type that harms women a lot more than it helps them. The suggestion that irrational, emotional, self-referential women are swinging the election is not a theme any woman should endorse.

Lithwick then goes on to blame the women themselves - women like me - for being perceived that way. She's telling us to shut up and stand by our man. She and all the other Obama-mamas want to lock us in the attic until election day.

Well, listen up, Dahlia, and call your pals Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann and tell them to listen too. WE ARE NOT THE PROBLEM!

You people are the problem. Every time I start to get over my bitterness, every time I try to embrace Obama, I read something like this from one of you morons. You people - the mainstream media - are the ones we're mad at. If you would just STFU and leave us alone to lick our wounds, will be fine.

When you keep poking sticks at wounded animals, guess what? They bite.

Did she surrender too soon?

Actress Christina Applegate chose to have a double mastectomy after cancer was found in one breast. The procedure was entirely prophylactic because the cancer was contained. A lot of women have been doing that lately.

I know everyone has to make that decision for herself and I can't possibly understand what she was going through.

But the whole thing makes me squeamish. Not just the idea of the pain and suffering women must be going through and the terror that would lead someone to take such drastic action.

It's our society's attitudes about breasts that bother me. Most of these stories are very reassuring - don't worry, she'll have reconstructive surgery and her breasts will look better than ever. Christina joked, "I'm going to have cute boobs 'til I'm 90."

But there's a lot more to breasts than looks. They have a natural function - not just attracting a mate or feeding babies. They're tied in with female sexuality - it feels good to have them touched. Some women can have orgasms from breast stimulation alone; others can only have orgasms if their breasts are stimulated along with other parts. And those nipples are good for signalling your brain that you're cold - or frightened - or turned on.

It left me wondering - how often does a man with testicular cancer tell the doctor to cut off both his balls? How often does a doctor suggest it? If the guy's already had all the kids he wants, he doesn't really need balls. He can get testosterone injections. But everybody knows they're not entirely for show - they signal a guy if he's cold or frightened or turned on. And they are an essential part of male identity.

As breasts are for women.

A double mastectomy is no guarantee that a woman will never get cancer again. The same gene that's a risk for breast cancer also causes ovarian cancer. And ovarian cancer is much more difficult to detect - and therefore deadlier - than breast cancer. Even if she gets her ovaries yanked out too, there are still hundreds of other ways to suffer and die.

My boobs aren't pretty or perky or admired by anyone, but I can't imagine myself ever saying, "Yeah, doc, go ahead, chop 'em off."


I wonder if all these women would have double mastectomies if they waited 6 weeks or 6 months, until they get past the initial shock of a cancer diagnosis. Once the deed has been done, there's no going back.

It's Not What You Think It Is

It's an ear - actually the same ear flipped around and then melded together. I swear to God. I'm not crazy enough to put THAT on the internet.

Original artwork © Debbie Does Nothing

Don't Get Your Nose Out of Joint

This is me. I'm feeling artistic. Perhaps a little insane.

Original "art" © Debbie Does Nothing

There will be no sequel

Win / Win

I'm an idiot, of sorts

I lost a day

My sleep has been really screwed up lately. I've been up pretty much around the clock the last couple of days with just a couple of naps in the afternoons. I thought today was Monday but just realized it's Tuesday.

I don't have anything interesting to say so I'm just going to post a few pictures. This one is French diver Alexandre Despatie.

A false leg for a beloved horse

Have you ever noticed that pigeons cooing sound a lot like people having sex? For a long time, I thought my next door neighbors were having a really good time. Then, I realized it was just the birds.

I remembered that when I read about the guy in London who's been banned from visiting his girlfriend's apartment because they were too noisy having sex.

Elsewhere in the U.K., a woman got evicted from her apartment for flushing her toilet too often.

Some quickies:

• In Australia, a woman has been convicted for emailing images of children engaged with sexual acts with animals and adults. What happened to the children in some of the videos would make any normal person sick.

• Remember Booger? That's the little dead dog who was cloned, which led to the exposure of his owner's background as a beauty queen and accused kidnapper who forced a Mormon missionary to become her sex slave. This story keeps on giving.

Now, Joyce Bernann McKinney has been linked to a case in Tennessee, where she allegedly got a 15 year old boy to break into a house because:

... she needed the money to buy a false leg for a beloved horse.

Beware the language police & other Nazis

Every once in awhile, I read something that gives me hope for our country. The University of California refused to give students credit for some of the classes they took at private Christian high schools. The school says classes such as "Christianity and Morality in American Literature" lacked academic merit, while the high schools claimed it was religious intolerance. A federal judge upheld UC's decision.

• I am Spartacus! That's the message from hundreds of Obama supporters who have adopted his middle name as their own on blogs and Facebook profiles. Jeffrey Hussein Strabone wrote We are all Hussein:

I don't know about you but I am sick of Republicans pronouncing Barack Obama's name like it was some sort of cuss word. It is a national embarassment that American political discourse stretches so far to the extremes of xenophobia and puerility that a candidate's name can become an object of propaganda.

• Note to self: Don't say 'fuck' at Walmart. When a woman complained to her mother that the batteries were "all fucking gone" from the shelf of a Texas Walmart, a man in a uniform came around the corner and told her to watch her mouth. There's a dispute about how many times she dropped the F-bomb after that, but the guy dragged her out of the store and handcuffed her. He was an assistant fire marshal.

When did the fire department become the language police?

• "Nazi storm troopers." That's how the owner described the police who raided his Georgia grocery stores with guns drawn. They confiscated pallets of stolen cookies and crackers the owner had bought from a distributor. He didn't know they were stolen.

Turn ons: Walmart
Turn offs: Walmart

We are a post-literate society

That's media critic Eric Burns' explanation for why "The Obama Nation" is a #1 New York Times bestseller. 'The Abomination' is full of factual inaccuracies and lies, a rehash of right-wing propaganda against Obama.

Most of the press is coming down on author, Jerome Corsi, who also wrote Unfit for Command, which led the swift-boat attacks on Kerry. But why isn't the media going after the publisher? It's not some fly-by-night vanity press. It's Simon and Schuster, more specifically a division of S&S, Threshold Editions, which is run by Mary Matalin. You know, Karl Rove in drag.

Don't publishers have a legal and ethical obligation to fact check non-fiction?

If you really want to feel sick to your stomach, check out the other titles that come up when you search Amazon for Obama Nation:

Result #1: The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality

Result #2: The Case Against Barack Obama: The Unlikely Rise and Unexamined Agenda of the Media's Favorite Candidate

Result #3: Fleeced: How Barack Obama, Media Mockery of Terrorist Threats, Liberals Who Want to Kill Talk Radio, the Do-Nothing Congress, Companies That Help Iran, and Washington Lobbyists for Foreign Governments Are Scamming Us ... and What to Do About It

Note the long titles. These people know the target audience aren't exactly critical thinkers. They're not literate enough to read beyond the front cover.

Oh, and check out obamanation.com. It's run by "Christians" for Social "Justice." In other words, the Klan without the sheets.

More on Mr. 99% Honest

From AP:

An associate of John Edwards says the former presidential candidate's political action committee paid his mistress $14,000 after she stopped working for it ... the committee made the payment to obtain 100 hours of videotape she shot but didn't use in producing short Web movies. She already had been paid $100,000 for the programs.

According to The National Enquirer, they started sleeping together again after he first told to Elizabeth. Edwards' buddies are still paying Rielle $15,000 a month, and she left L.A. by private jet 2 days before he appeared on Nightline to 'fess up. He secretly visited Rielle and the baby at the Beverly Hilton on 3 separate occassions this year.

The Enquirer also says he was well aware of the fact that his finance director was sending her money.

I think we can all agree he was a fraud, but campaign fraud is a whole other story.

Conventional wisdom

Mike Huckabee just got a step closer to becoming McCain's VP choice. The grumpy old man pissed off the fundies with an offhand comment that he might pick a pro-choice running mate.

I don't think Huckabee's really in the running but Grumpy McSame has to throw the fundies a bone and they like the Huck.

Speaking of possible McCain runnng mates: Alaska governor Sarah Palin, who's seen as a rising star and was mentioned as a VP possibility, is being investigated for firing Alaska's public safety director after he refused to fire her ex-brother-in-law as a state trooper.

At first glance, it's just another corrupt politician. This is Alaska, home of Ted "Bridge to Nowhere" Stevens. But some of the details might tell another story:

In 2005, before Palin ran for office, the Palin family accused Wooten [the brother-in-law] of drinking a beer while in his patrol car, illegal hunting and firing a Taser at his 11-year-old stepson. The Palins also claimed Wooten threatened to kill Sarah Palin's father.

The state director of boards and commissions says:

"From that point on I've had a concern this person could fly off the handle and do something terrible to the governor, to her family or to the public."

On the other side of the same coin, Detroit mayor and Democratic superdelegate Kwame Kilpatrick just got disinvited from the convention. He's been indicted on 8 felony counts, including perjury and assault on a police officer. It all stems from his affair with his chief of staff and their subsequent lies about it. Obama's camp says Kilpatrick would be a distraction.

Today, the judge in the perjury case ruled Kilpatrick could take off his electronic monitoring bracelet and attend the convention. But later, the judge in the assault case told him to put it back on. He's not going anywhere.

I would say Obama's people are pretty efficient but I've been following Kilpatrick's "career." He pissed off the second judge by crossing the Canadian border, and when he got tossed in jail for that, he assaulted a cop.

Kwame's mommy, a Michigan congresswoman, will be at the convention. She's a superdelegate.

God, he was cocky even back then

I forgot about Marvin and Dorothy. But get a load of Dubya. Is that a cigarette in his left hand?

The family dynamics are fascinating - I've always heard that Jeb was Daddy's favorite and Dubya was Mom's. You can see it in the picture.

He ran for president to one-up Jeb and he invaded Iraq to one-up his dad. And we're the losers who let him get away with it.

The perfect grilled cheese sandwich

Usually when I make a grilled cheese, the bread is turning black by the time the cheese melts. Tonight, it was perfect. The bread was lightly toasted and the cheese was gooey. Then I dropped the damn thing. The 5 second rule applied - I just had to pick the cat hair off it.

Microsoft sucks! When I downloaded a Windows update a few weeks ago, it apparently changed my settings so that it's doing automatic updates now. I hate auto updates - they start without notice and slow my computer to a crawl.

Tonight I was away from my desk during the auto update. When I came back, there a pop up that said my computer was going to restart in 2 minutes and it was counting down. I had about 4 windows open with a story and notes I was working on that I hadn't saved.

If I hadn't come back when I did, Microsoft would have erased my work. Assholes. I clicked the "Restart Later" option, but now I'm getting a pop up with a countdown to restart about every 5 minutes. Fucking assholes. As soon as I'm done working and do the restart, I'm going straight to the Microsoft website to block auto updates.

Oh, and my antivirus program is refusing to download new updates again. Nortons sucks too.

The new med I started 2 weeks ago is making me constipated. The antidepressant I stopped taking 2 weeks ago was apparently helping my compulsive eating. I was doing really good about not overeating, without making much of an effort. Now I'm hungry all the time and can't seem to stop myself. Between that and the other problem, in the last few days I've gained back 7 of the 15 pounds I'd lost since June.

Way more than you want know about me?

A few quickies:

• Actor/comedian Dane Cook isn't happy with the poster for his new movie so he posted a rant on his blog. The rant is probably funnier than the movie - and everything he said is true.

• The new iPhone has a secret (until now) kill switch that allows Apple to remotely remove software from the devices without the owners' knowledge or approval. They said they did it in case their company inadvertently allows malware to be installed. A tech analyst said:

"To my way of thinking, the issue is that you don't really know what your phone might be doing or not be doing."

You gotta know some geeks are out there now trying to hack the kill switch.

• Things aren't looking up for Tom Cruise. First off, he's starting to look a little chubby and middle aged, like the guy at the country club desperately clinging to his trophy wife and his youth. The last few movies he starred in have underperformed and another "Valkyrie" still hasn't seen the light of day because it's reportedly so bad.

Now Angelina Jolie is going to replace Tom in a spy thriller he was set to make. They're rewriting the screenplay to change the character to a woman.

Image is everything

The Chinese government is insane. Every day, there are more stories of censorship and repression and more cracks in the porcelain face they're trying to show the world. Some of the fireworks in the opening ceremonies were fake. And now, it's come out that the little girl was fake too.

The girl on the left is the one who appeared on camera but she was lip-synching. The girl on the right is the one who actually sang. A Chinese official said:

"The main consideration was the national interest. The child on the screen should be flawless in image, in her internal feelings, and in her expression."

The funny thing to me is that Perez, who posted the story, says that would never happen in the U.S. Hello, have you ever been to a Britney Spears concert? Or how about Mariah Carey or Pink or Ashlee Simpson or any of the dozens of low-talent pop stars out there. They all lip synch. None of them can perform live. (Well, Mariah used to but apparently she can't anymore). They mouth the words to electronically enhanced sound tracks.

Not to mention all the movies, especially musicals, where one star appeared onscreen, lip-synching to pre-recorded vocals from someone else. My Fair Lady, anyone?

Meanwhile:

Several Chinese reporters had their notebooks and at least one tape recorder confiscated after a news conference held by the US men's volleyball team.

The players had been discussing the impact of the murder on them. The victim was the father-in-law of team coach Hugh McCutcheon and the father of former national team member Elisabeth McCutcheon ...

Such removal of notebooks and equipment is a common occurrence for Chinese journalists covering protests or other undesirable activities, but it is the first time this has happened at an Olympic venue. Earlier, reporters covering a small protest in Tiananmen Square by pro-Tibet US Christians were manhandled by plainclothes police who tried to take away microphones and notebooks.

On this story, Perez said he's thankful for the freedoms we have in this country.

Really? Like how protesters are never allowed anywhere near the venues or motorcade routes where Bush will be appearing. Like how the FBI can read every email we send and find out every website we visit. Like how Customs agents can seize your laptop and your cellphone anytime you cross the border.

But I guess our government doesn't have to censor the media - they're doing a pretty damn good job of censoring themselves.

At least we can still count on Dubya to make us proud.