Rand Paul Takes Swipes At Gingrich, Fox News

The guy who made Aqua Buddha a household name is making power moves.

Gangstas & Rednecks: Long-Lost Cousins?

Maybe.

Oh Conan...

Take Away The Last Panel of a Peanuts Strip, and It Becomes More Depressing...

...and I didn't think that was possible.

Warner Bros. Freaks Out Over Marvel's Avengers Movie, Plans Justice League Film

About flippin' time.

Marvel's Deadpool Calls For Help

You see, the guy's broke and...

Amy Adams To Play Lois Lane In New Superman Movie

Congratulations.

Around The Internets

(pic via)

1. Like some vast, predatory bird...
2. "The genius of journalism is the cleverer you are in obtaining your story, the more successful you are."
3. Juan Williams never saw the video "Self Destruction." Maybe Bill Maher has a point.
   
4. Why does Homeland Security seem to attract people of questionable credentials?
5. They bring good things to light.
6. The conservative "Mosquerade."
7. Vermont shows us how it's done.
8. As if I didn't already fell old...
   

WWII Gets Shock: He's Not a US Citizen

I understand why this story may upset some people, but going by their logic, does this mean that anyone fighting for America in a war should be granted citizenship? Or just people who fought for America in WWII?

Hollywood Homely = "Frumpy"

Am I the only one who thinks Taylor Swift's "nerd" look is basically a young Kim Basinger?

Rest In Peace...

...to both Loletta Holloway and Elizabeth Taylor.

School's Out Forever...

Guess I need to get my MBA asap:

Wisconsin government workers aren’t the only ones feeling the pinch because of budget cuts. Governors of cash-strapped states are now putting public colleges on the chopping block.

Forty-three states have cut higher education since the start of the recession in December 2007, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. And many states are now considering more drastic measures such as closing departments or entire campuses, curtailing student enrollment and laying off staff — even tenured professors.

Tuition hikes are inevitable, so students will be paying more for more crowded classrooms and fewer services.

UMCP is already in Year 3 of Furloughs, I believe. I guess in that since they're lucky.

Around the Internets

1. Shorter East Texas middle school principal: "If it weren't for the black students, our test scores would be higher."
2. I'm shocked that a nut who tried to run for New York's governor seat with a baseball bat has decided not to pay his campaign staff.
3. The short answer to this question is "yes."
4. the short answer to this question is "viewers are materialistic."
   
5. With all the living Democrats Rick Santorum could have picked on, he decides instead to attack JFK.
   
6. "Boyfriend Appreciation Night?" Hopefully this will catch on...
7. They should have their own reality show.
8. I'll just say that I don't disagree with all of these...
   

Why Start a Beef With Grant Hill?

Look, I'm a Terp and even I don't hate on the guy. Good thing Jalen Rose wised up.

You Think Congress Is Crazy Now?

Time to go down Memory Lane, Cracked-style.

Homemade Transformers?

Oh, YES.

No Main Topic

1. “We don’t know the nature of the damage,’’ said Minoru Ohgoda, spokesman for the country’s Nuclear Industrial Safety Agency. “It could be either melting, or there might be some holes in them.’’
2. We rate Moore’s statement True.
3. “We’re waiting for TMC to complete an assessment of suppliers in Japan and our suppliers’ suppliers,” said Goss, who’s based in Erlanger, Kentucky.
4. “This is another indication of the constant exploration of different options that we have to increase the pressure on the Qaddafi regime as we go forward,” the White House press secretary, Jay Carney, said Tuesday.
5. “You should know that the current status of the Collective Bargaining Agreement will not disrupt our preparation for the 2011 season or swerve our focus from the Redskins' objective - WINNING.”

Riddle Me This...

If a majority of these Alaskan militia members were Muslim, how would the media treat this story?

We're Ones To Talk

Before anyone gets all chest-puffy about being ready for a radioactive showdown:

As Japan struggles to bring its spiraling nuclear catastrophe under control, a new study in a journal published by the American Medical Association (AMA) finds that, from a public health standpoint, U.S. states are "poorly prepared" to respond to a major radiation emergency.

No Main Topic

1. Re-education.
2. Rihanna either doesn't know the definition of "sexy" or she doesn't know the definition of "kids."
3. I would say this is true for anyone of any race or culture who have a strong sense of identity.
   
4. Revenge of the Heat.
5. Tyra Banks is still at Harvard.
6. If you have a party, don't invite everybody. Here endeth the lesson.
   

There's Always More Than One Motive...

Why are Wisconsin Republicans getting more restrictive as to who can do what? Is it all about killing the unions, who are the biggest organized donors to the Democratic Party? Financially-speaking: probably so.

But there may also be a demographic element at play. According to 2000 Census information:

1. White people made up 90% of the population
   
2. Black people made up 6.1% of the population
3. Asian people made up 1.9% of the population

In 2009, those demographics were:

1. White people: 89.4%
   
2. Black people: 6.2%
   
3. Asian people: 2.2%

And the Latino population? It went from 3.6% in 2000 to 5.3% in 2009.

Tarkin Has Taken Over Wisconsin, Apparently

The Movies:

Governor Tarkin: The Imperial Senate will no longer be of any concern to us. I have just received word from Coruscant that the Emperor has dissolved the council permanently. The last remnants of the Old Republic have been swept away forever.
General Tagge: But that's impossible! How will the Emperor maintain control without the bureaucracy?
Governor Tarkin: The regional governors now have direct control over their territories. Fear will keep the local systems in line. Fear of this battle station.

Reality (for now):

The saga of the "Wisconsin 14" -- the state Senate Democrats who fled the state in an attempt to block the three-fifths budget quorum on Gov. Scott Walker's anti-public employee union proposals -- isn't over just because Republicans used a parliamentary end run to pass the bill with a simple majority quorum last week, and the Dems have since come home.

As WisPolitics reports, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R) sent a letter to his fellow Republicans, reminding them that they had previously found the Democrats to be in contempt of the chamber -- and as such, they are not to be allowed to vote on committees...

From Faith-Based Economics to Faith-Based Politics

Via Democratic Underground:

Over decades this ideology has been invested with false value. Framed on lies, covered in bias, and inflated by countless blowhards, this ideology has been bought into by millions of working class schleps with no real understanding of markets, let alone politics or social philosophy. The 'value' of this ideology is not, obviously, in direct currency, but rather an 'indirect' currency; LICENSE. With 'license', granted by the high level of deliberate ignorance which is the buy-in for this particular commodity, those who spent literally hundreds of millions of real dollars inflating the value of this mass-ignorance are at 'liberty' to act as they see fit and take what they want. In particular; the bill just passed in Wisconsin allows industry/billionaires to buy public property for pennies on the dollar. THIS is the ROI the forces behind the mass-mindscrubbing of America are going for... and they're doing it NOW. They have to. Wisconsin is the bellweather here. The waking up of the middle-class hasn't occurred yet. It's only just beginning. Those that have bought into the ideology are more likely to go 'all in' than they are to wake up. So watch for the giant spike in rhetoric selling more bankrupt bullshit coming from all media sectors. The attacks on NPR and PBS are part of the need to mitigate information that could deflate the value during this last big putcsh.

Watch for every sector where corporate interests intersect public policy. Look for the big rush to strip social programs and create a desperate and profitable low-cost work force. Keep an eye out for budget-busting measures that will force states and municipalities to sell off public assets. Be on guard for anything that will give corporations and billionaires a massive return on investment from their minions and their message.

They are about to cash in.

When they do, the bubble will burst, and hard. In the light of facing reality and seeing so many more millions of Americans than they've been told they 'surround' out in the streets, they will realize the worthlessness of the message on the airwaves. It might be years, or better; decades before more people so easily buy the Right-Wing Message again.

There's more, of course...

Let Them Eat iPads

People with enough money to buy everything they want don't understand people who barely have enough money to buy everything they need.

Around the Internets

(pic via)

1. Oldie But Goodie: Wendell Potter discusses the health care industry's plan to help every sick American grab as much cash as they can.
2. THE Definitive Reason To Have Unions in America: "I started working for GM back when I was 20 years old making two dollars an hour. I joined the Union so I wouldn't RETIRE making two dollars an hour."
3. Curvy vs. Fat.
4. I'd imagine it would be a world of happier, better-informed individuals.
5. Coffee can be good for you.
6. Pac-Man revealed.
7. Dealing with the Seven Deadly Sins.
8. Celebrity Pokemon.
   

Good vs. Bad: It Depends on the Glove

No, seriously.

Anything You Want

Take a look at these...innovative vending machines.

Life Imitates Art

An actress from "The Wire" is arrested (along with a bunch of other people) in a drug raid.

The Rule of Small

Those who are comparing what went down in Wisconsin yesterday to what Senate Democrats did for the Health Care Reform Bill are missing something crucial: Obama campaigned on reforming health care; Walker said nothing during his campaign for governor about getting rid of collective bargaining. What the Wisconsin GOP did was actually what liberals wanted the Democratic-led US Senate to do: use their majority to push what the base was clamoring for.

In results in both cases were also different: Democrats in the US Congress compromised all they way until they realized that the GOP was trying to destroy the legislation piece-by-piece (and they're still going at it). In Wisconsin, there was little to no evidence that compromise was a factor in what ended up being voted on.

Even the crowd reaction (and the reaction to the reaction) are night and day. Anti-health care advocates were/are being financed, in large part, from the health insurance industry (who stood to lose a lot of money if there was a true universal health care system). Pro-union advocates are being financed by, well, unions; so the funding is in-house.

And here's the most surprising thing about this move: if signed, this means now that the Governor has more control over the lives of everyday Wisconsinites. In other words: the government has taken over. Where are the people who believe that government should stay out of the way?

The GOP says they follow the rule of law, and they also say they want small government. I think the truth is a twisted mix of these two platforms: they want the rule of small, aka government where the power is consolidated to a select few. And they want to be the selectors.

Poll-Leh-Tical, Part 2

1. Media Matters: Fox News on the protests back then vs. the protests now.
2. Michael Moore: "According to the most recent information, the Forbes 400 now have a greater net worth than the bottom 50% of U.S. households combined."
3. TPM: Newt Gingrich's rationale for cheating on his wife (which one? not sure.)
4. C&L reminder: A tally of liberal and government targets since 2008.
   

I May Have To Start Buying Comics Again...

...because apparently IDW has a mega, inter-dimensional crossover where uber-zombies invade the universes of Transformers, G.I. Joe, Ghostbusters and Star Trek (TOS, pre-reboot). Each group deals with this issue in their own way, and from what I can tell the crossover is the product of a vampire becoming a zombie (wait; what?).

But how did that happen, you ask? Typical industrial-military complex nonsense: some dumb-ass general decides to invade a zombie world, eradicate all the zombies, and use the resources of that "Earth" for their own. Seriously.

I'm not sure what's worse; that a character, even in a comic, actually thought that such a plan would be successful or my feeling that there's a good chance some yahoo would probably want to do this in real life.

The Awesomeness Of This Must Be Shared With All

If you ever played and RPG and/or loved Chrono Trigger, you'll click this link.

No Main Topic

1. Ain't no congestion like D.C. congestion.
2. Meet the Army's youngest member.
3. The Lakers talk about crying.
4. Lawsuits make the man.
5. Montgomery Co. isn't as safe as it once was.
6. Wizards release the rookies.
   

Quote Of The Day

So where are the hordes of fawning hairdos gushing breathlessly away over the birth of an organic, fresh, exciting, entirely new, totally unexpected grassroots political movement rising in response to governmental oppression of the common people?

NCSteve 3.0, asking the question that this story poses: Where are the media lapdogs who were dry-humping the hell out of the Tea Party anti-health care protests?

We're Going to Need A Real Life Batman Soon...

...because some people are just plain sick:

A Moreno Valley man sought on suspicion of fatally shooting his ex-girlfriend and burning her body in front of her children surrendered to Los Angeles police Monday.

Tyrone Harts, 38, of Riverside, is charged with murder and assault with a gun for the Feb. 22 killing of Brandi Morales, 35. She was shot at her home on Wild Flax Lane off Ironwood Avenue in Moreno Valley.

An affidavit filed in support of an arrest warrant named Harts as a possible suspect.

Six children, from 6 to 15 years old, said they saw her body burning on the staircase. Four of the children extinguished the body while the killer fled, the affidavit said.

Harts recently had moved out of the house, ending a three-year relationship with Morales. Relatives said he had been sending her odd text messages but no threats, court records state.

On the night of the killing, Morales' 7-year-old son told police Harts called to say goodnight and asked him to leave the sliding glass door open.

Morales' oldest son said a man entered the house later that night and attacked Morales.

The man shot at the teen when he tried to help his mother.

The boy fled the house with his 13-year-old brother, the affidavit stated.

An autopsy showed Morales died from a single gunshot wound to the abdomen that clipped her heart.

No Main Topic

1. “Qaddafi has brought African soldiers to kill some of them, so if they see black people they beat them,” said Samson Adda, 31, who said residents of Zawiyah, a rebellious city, had beaten him so badly that he could no longer walk.
2. "If this is what it had to come to, to get me out of those silly shirts, then so be it. So maybe I'll wear one, just on the final day when I go and remove all of their bazillions."
3. "I do intend, if this man is released anywhere in my vicinity, or if I can find him after the fact, I do intend to kill this man."
4. “One of the things that I have to understand is that if I run, I walk away from a pretty good income,’’ Huckabee told reporters in Washington recently, at an afternoon tea hosted by the Christian Science Monitor. “So I don’t want to walk away earlier than I have to.’’
5. Gitmo redux.
6. The Taliban is still around.
7. Subway dethrones McDonald's.
   

AKA, "Class Warfare"

(Via) when you look at this chart, it's pretty clear where the battle lines are.










Also, Micheal Moore let's Madison (and America) know what the deal is:

ALIENS!!!

It was only a matter of time:

That astonishingly awesome claim comes from Dr. Richard B. Hoover, an astrobiologist at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, who says he has found conclusive evidence of alien life — fossils of bacteria found in an extremely rare class of meteorite called CI1 carbonaceous chondrites. (There are only nine such meteorites on planet Earth.) Hoover’s findings were published late Friday night in the Journal of Cosmology, a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

“I interpret it as indicating that life is more broadly distributed than restricted strictly to the planet earth,” Hoover, who has spent more than 10 years studying meteorites around the world, told FoxNews.com in an interview. “This field of study has just barely been touched — because quite frankly, a great many scientist would say that this is impossible.”

Hoover discovered the fossils by breaking apart the CI1 meteorite, and analyzing the exposed rock with a scanning-electron microscope and a field emission electron-scanning microscope, which allowed him to detect any fossil remains. What he found were fossils of micro-organisms (pictured below), many of which he says are strikingly similar to those found on our own planet (pictured above).

Around the Internets

1. "We're looking forward to your next album cover, which will presumably just be a picture of Justin Bieber eating some organic yogurt."
2. A real-life Megatron Transformers tank.
3. 6-must ask job interview questions.
4. I'm sure down the road Farrakhan will deny saying all this crap too.
5. Gotta give Lady Gaga credit: she doesn't believe in putting on any half-assed shows.
6. Men can fail and still come out on top.
7. Sadly, this is not shocking.
   

Hillarious In Hindsight

In "Scary Movie 3," Charlie Sheen played a character that spoofed Mel Gibson's character.

So in case anybody's wondering whether those two have any connection: you're welcome.

Hip-FOX-Crisy

No Main Topic

1. A poll to pay attention to.
2. Roger Goodell doesn't know what he's doing.
3. A doctor over-prescribing pills for profit? Now why would he need to do that?
4. The best way to change minds is by being an example.
   

Guess Who's Part of a Union?

Hint: they've been hypocritically bashing unions during the whole Wisconsin thing.

Hot Anchor-On-Guest Action, Political-Style

The sexual tension was palpable.

Love and Basketball

Sometimes the two doesn't mix.

What a Couple

Kathy Griffin and The Old Spice Guy? Whoa.

"...And If You Discount Republicans, President Obama's Poll Numbers Should Be Flying High"

Such is the silliness invoked when trying to adhere to one of Bill O'Reilly's logic farts, aka, "Union people should be polled in polls regarding Unions."