I'm Beginning To Think That The Washington Times Doesn't Like President Obama

Call it a hunch.

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1. Kelly Clarkson supports a variation of Ron Paul. 
2. What's the worse that could happen?
3. Yeah; that's fair.

Around the Internets

1. X-Men...with googly eyes!
2. Billionaire bedfellows. 
3. The forgotten racism in some famous works. 
4. Celebrity couples that last: what's the secret? 
5. Credit myths.
6. 12 Lies of Christmas...
7. The press briefing that should be given.
8. Update your resume.
   

Yes, Virginia; There Is a Santa Claus

And he apparently has little love for Gingrich and Perry.

Can't Say Obama Isn't Confident

While it's nice to see that the President isn't suffering from low self-esteem, his re-election campaign may be easier if he talked more about his accomplishments.The fact of the matter is the average person needs constant reminders; otherwise, they'll just believe the malarkey his detractors are pushing.

About 3 Minutes of Dumb

The White House Talks Payroll Taxes

Find out what you might loose.

You Can Tell Who's Up For Re-Election In "Purple" Areas...

...by who's for and who's against the temporary payroll tax resolution.

Every Year Has It's Collection Of Bad Movies

Here's a list for 2011. Note that these movies also star known actors.

Sarah Palin Need More Money

She's decided to tease her followers for a little while longer.

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1. Not the interview Pier Morgan wanted.
2. Gingrich attacks fellow candidates for attacking him.
3. R.I.P., Eva Ekvall.
4. Apparently, Oprah doesn't buy into Kim Kardashian's supposed altruism.
5. A victory for Apple.
6. The Bono wedding ain't gonna happen.
7. Hines Ward's role in the upcoming Batman movie.
8. The power of Super PACs.
9. Once again, Germany may decide Europe's fate.

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1. No more "Dear Leader."
2. No shit.
3. More on Kobe-gate.
4. The cause behind the Will & Jada rumors.
5. Ah; to have the celebrity life.
6. I'm seeing a Fox News attack on Twitter forming over the next few months.
7. Stephen King does some good.
8. Future Batman Villain.

Around the Internets

(pic via)

1. Sleep myths.
2. (belated) Congrats to the new Miss DC!
3. It's hard out there for child actors.
4. She ain't Hannah Montana any more.
5. This is one trend that needs to be reversed.
6. Kinda like "1408" but with a boat.
7. We need to bring pigtails back.
8. First Date Mistakes.
9. Sex myths.
10. Every now and then, Keira Knightly would like to make us laugh.
    

Back To Court For Kobe Bryant

His wife got a divorce lawyer.

Media Matters: The 10 Stupidest Moments of Fox & Friends

I'm surprised they were able to narrow it down.

The "No Backbone Association?"

Did the NBA fire someone for sticking up for women who were harassed at work?

At Least Someone's Getting Charged

Better than nothing:

WASHINGTON—The Securities and Exchange Commission has brought civil fraud charges against six former top executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, saying they misled the government and taxpayers about risky subprime mortgages the mortgage giants held during the housing bust.

Those charged include the agencies' two former CEOs, Fannie's Daniel Mudd and Freddie's Richard Syron. They are the highest-profile individuals to be charged in connection with the 2008 financial crisis.

Mudd and Syron led the mortgage giants when the housing bubble burst in late 2006 and 2007. The four other top executives also worked for the companies during that time.

The case was filed in federal court in New York City. Lawyers for Mudd and Syron couldn't be reached for comment.

According to the lawsuit, Fannie told investors in 2007 that it had roughly $4.8 billion worth of subprime loans on its books. The SEC says that Fannie actually had about $43 billion worth of products targeted to borrowers with weak credit.

Riddle Me This...

Why is it OK for a man to speak on abortion issues yet taboo for an unmarried woman to support Plan B?

Everybody Hates Newt

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

R.I.P., Joe Simon

Together with Joe Kirby, he brought Captain America to life (Stan Lee was responsible for making him an Avenger).

Can't Let a Little Thing Like Murder Interrupt Our Holiday Shopping, Right?

Stay classy, Walmart!

In Italy, A Right Wing Author Goes Gun-Happy

I'm sure Fox News will dismiss this as yet another isolated incident.

NBC Commissioner David Stern Approves of Chris Paul Trade To Less Star-Studded LA Team

Apparently the interchangeable parts from the Clippers hold more value than the interchangeable parts from the Lakers.

Picture This: Why Fox News Viewes Are Misinformed

 

(pic via)

UPDATE: It's been fixed.

Once Again, TIME Magazine Plays It Safe

Guess who their "Person of the Year" is?

(Not that I disagree; I just wish they'd pick a specific person instead of a group. If they believed this all started with the actions of one particular person, why not use that person?)

Ann Coulter Would Rather Support A Cannibalistic Serial Killer Than The Current POTUS

That's all you need to know about her.

What's In A Name?

From Blackwater to Xe to Academi, it's all the same.

Chapter 11

Donald Trump leaves the Newsmax Debate; says he may still run as an independent (read: I'll show those jerks for not committing to attend my spectacle!).

"All-American Muslim" Show Gets a Helping Hand

Guess who stepped up?

Chauncey Billups Might Not Be Happy

The Clippers claim him off waivers...after he sent out a statement stating that he wants to go to a contender.

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1. New Jersey Nets owner to challenge Vladimir Putin for president of Russia.
2. U.S. cuts off Pakistan's allowance.
3. Lindsey Vonn: I'm not dating Tim Tebow.
4. The Supreme court takes up the Arizona immigration law.
5. At least one Kardshian is willing to move with her basketball husband.
6. Another NFL coach bites the dust.
7. When it comes to military defense, money's no object.
8. Moms are better at multitasking.
9. Abu-Jamal hasn't been paying attention to all the support he's been getting; this was probably the best scenario for his situation.

Anti-Gay Christian Conservative Republican Caught Selling Sperm To New Zealand Lesbians

And he was almost elected governor of Alabama, too.

Santa Claus Invaded "Dinosaur Comics"

And it is GLORIOUS.

Rude Pundit: The Obama Administration Is Like "The X-Files" For Liberals & Progressives.

You know what, he has a good point. But I think it goes a little deeper: Obama campaigned in 2008 in such a way that the majority of every Democratic-leaning group -liberals, progressives, union members, environmentalists, civil rights advocates, etc.- saw a reason to vote for him. He said just enough to convince people that change wouldn't just happen, but it would be sweeping.

And that's the part where I think some have become frustrated: we know it wouldn't be easy and we know we'd have to do some heavy lifting, but we expected Obama to use the bully pulpit to say, "Guys, I still got your back." We expected to him to be at best a promoter and at worst a filter for our ideas.

Sadly, like many others before him, the goal of winning a second term involves campaigning during your first one. In this respect, Obama needs to convince his base that he'll actually do something sweeping should he get a second term. I think his people will be telling him to do what he did before: just say enough to convince them.

Problem is, for some of the louder voices in the liberal spectrum, "good enough won't be good enough."

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1. "Eventually, I see a whole fleet of these robots being sent home with patients."
2. "You have good exit and you have good holiday playtime coming up, so you hope you'll hold up well as you get closer to the very lucrative holiday playtime."
3. "Mr. Attorney General, if you try to bring this guy back to the United States and put him in civilian court, or use a military commission inside the United States, holy hell is going to break out. And if we let him go and turn him over to the Iraqis, that is just like letting him go. I think this would be a huge mistake."
4. "To be honest with you, I don't like it." AND "We are all sad but positive energy gets you farther then negative."

Around the Internets

1. Credit card secrets .
2. Timing is everything for Fox & Friends.
3. I wouldn't buy HCG diet products if I were you.
4. A Female Apocalypse? Cool!
5. Way to increase your credibility, PayPal. 
6. Better than forcing real women to be anorexic, IMHO.
7. Making the most of Paris.
8. Yes, ladies; guys do notice these things. 
9. The word cloud version of Obama's Kansas speech. 
10. Don't date investment bankers. Seriously, don't do it!

Karl Rove Is Lying About Elizabeth Warren

But it's not like anyone expected him to do anything else.

Donald Trump Needs a Reality Check

Seriously. I'm tired of this guy taking swipes at people for not kissing his ass, even if they include Republicans whose positions I don't share. I let his immature comments slide with Romney and Huntsman, but for him to go after Michelle Bachmann is just plain petty. For him to lament about her not being "loyal" -as if she owed him something for suggesting that he should be her running mate- is beyond ridiculous. The man is incapable of just letting any perceived slight against him go; he reaction is just to admonish whatever shortcomings they have (like falling poll numbers).

That's why I wish someone who is clearly more successful than this man -like Warren Buffet or Bill Gates- would just get in front of a mic and tell Donald to STFU and pay attention to his business ventures and stop trying to hold the GOP hostage. His petulant meddling is one of the reasons that the party has been saturated with arrogant foolishness for the past three years, and his so-called "debate" is only going to make the circus that is the GOP Primary look more like a reality show spectacle.

The funny thing is, the only person the GOP's base would probably lesson to at this point is Rush Limbaugh; he could easily regulate Trump to background status. Problem is, he's pushing for Newt Gingrich now...and Gingrich (along with Rick Santorum) plans on being at the Trump-sponsored debate.

Picture This: Occupy Arrests

Someway, somehow, things took a weird turn.

(h/t)

Is Leon Panetta Fearmongering for the Military-Industrial Complex

It sure sounds that way.

The Lakers Aren't Playing Around (UPDATED)

They were involved in a big trade announced a few hours ago. Giving up two talented big men for an awesome point guard is risky, but if they get Dwight Howard before the season starts, it will be worth it.

UPDATE: Looks like the commissioner has nixed the deal.

Picture This: Rick Perry's Fail

Another Shooting @ VA Tech

As this rate they're gonna call this school "Virginia Tek."

Quote Of The Day

“Ask Osama bin Laden and the 22 out of 30 top Al-Qaeda leaders who have been taken off the field whether I engage in appeasement… or whoever’s left out there.”

-- President Barack Obama, responding to foolishness. 

Kids Will Be Kids

There are some things that are inevitable when it comes to children.

Ah, Michelle Bachman...

She says her daughters aren't allowed to ask boys out, and that they have to wait at home until one calls.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

Future Batman Villian Alert: "The Banker"

For your consideration: Exhibit A and Exhibit B. 

Sometimes, Politics Is Thicker Than Blood

At least in the case of the House of Gingrich.

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1. This is what scares me about maintenance people having access to every apartment.
2. Gene Simmons is apparently not a fan of Madonna.
3. I'm sure it took a lot of in depth reporting to find this out.
4. The secretary of Health and Human Services uses her authority regarding the morning after pill.
5. Now this is a two-fer: this guy was both a CEO and Senator and he still can't explain what happen to the money that's gone missing in a company he ran.
6. So much for the Tea Party being a group of fiscally- and morally-conscious people.
7. The Nets make a rather awkward jersey change.
8. Lose-lose scenario for Great Britain?

Don't Push the Panic Button on Teen Sexting Just Yet

A new study is out:

Over all, the new report found, 149 youths interviewed for the study, or 9.6 percent, said they had sent or received images that included full or partial nudity in the previous year. Just over 2 percent of those who engaged in sexting said they had appeared in the pictures or had taken them themselves, and 7.1 percent said they received sexual images from someone else.

In most cases, the motivations for sending or forwarding sexual texts were not malicious. Most of the youths who sent such messages said that they did so with someone they were involved in a relationship with, or that their messages were flirtatious gestures to someone they had a romantic interest in.

Bill O'Reilly Does Not Understand Black Politics

But then again, he doesn't understand black culture either.

"I Fought the Law..."

1. Mumia Abu-Jamal's sentence has gone from execution to life in prison.
2. Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) gets 14 years.
3. Jerry Sandusky is arrested...again.

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1. I guess Justin Long wasn't enough to save Zooey Deschanel's new show.
2. President Obama may have a future WNBA player in the family.
3. Seriously; it would have grown back.
4. Some good news on the breast cancer front.
5. Newt continues to grow.
6. Not your typical welfare story.
7. Mitt Romney must be nervous.
8. It's been 70 years since Pearl Harbor.
9. Also, water is wet.

Child Labor, The Trump/Gingrich Edition

I don't think I was the only person who heard Trump say "apprenti" and thought he said "Apartheid."


Right?

Flushed.

See, sometimes the law does work the way it's intended to:

Former Prince George’s County Executive Jack B. Johnson, the Maryland Democrat who told his wife to flush a check down the toilet and stuff thousands of dollars of cash in her bra as FBI agents knocked on the door of their home, was sentenced to 87 months in federal prison on Tuesday. He was also given three years of supervised release and ordered to undergo alcohol counseling and pay a $100,000 fine.

Quote Of The Day

"There it is again in nutshell. Republican arrogance, journalistic sloth. The end."

-- "Ugg the Repug," on the Donald Trump/Chris Dodd "interview."

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1. To go where no one has gone before.
2. Afghanistan.
3. Chillin' out in New Mexico.

Nancy Pelosi's Bottom Line

The media really should vet Newt Gingrich.

Picture This: Double Standards Regarding Occupy Wall Street

Around the Internets

1. Celebrities who look like Muppets.
2. Gift-shopping can be hard.
   
3. At least he's being honest.
4. Lady Gaga on her relationships.
   
5. An interesting theory regarding the current Batman movie Trilogy.
6. Even Aquaman has had his moments of awesome.
7. Coffee can be used to repel ants.
8. What most people remember about college.
   
9. Animated comic book covers? Whoa!
10. Dr. Drew: domestic violence takes many forms.
    

On Customers & Karma

I'll give you a tease intro:

My wife and I were out to dinner the other night to celebrate her birthday. I took her out for sushi(her favorite) at her favorite sushi joint. We only get to eat there about 2 or 3 times a year($$$$$!!!!!). It is a very nice place and we have never had a bad experience there. This evening was no different.

This particular place is quite nice, they know our names and preferences. Needless to say they go the extra two steps for every customer. I had made reservations 2 weeks prior to insure I could get us a booth away from the hibachi grills(it can get noisy). When we showed up, Amy at the front pedestal verified our reservation and asked that we take a seat for just a quick moment while we wait for the manager(I forget his name) to guide us to our seat.

While we sat down a large party of 8 early 20' somethings walked in behind us and wanted a table. They did not have a reservation and the place was packed. They also were expecting 6 more people to join them. I overheard Amy explain that they may have to wait about an hour for a table. They do not have a table for 14 and they need to wait for 3 tables to be free so they can join them together. This did not sit well with the alpha male in the pack as he exclaimed something about them not knowing how to run an establishment. My thinking is that this is exactly how you run an establishment. I was raised knowing that if you have a large party, you make a reservation, otherwise you wait. However this was all I could overhear, as 30 seconds after we sat down, the manager came over and took us to our seat.

The food was awesome. The service was above my expectations. However, only about 10 minutes after we were seated, the staff started pulling tables together for the party, right next to our booth. So much for being quiet. I commented to our waiter how fast they got the table together, and he told me that they had 2 cancellations. The two cancels were in his section.

After the tables were pulled together, only 3 people in the party sat down. The waiter took their drink orders and I overheard the 3 saying that they did not want to wait for the rest of the group before they ordered their dinner. I also heard the waiter ask if everything was going to be on one check. One of them said yes after a short discussion. Remember this for later. 

More here...

No Main Topic

1. Tennessee traffic collision.
2. Another day, another family shooting in Texas.
3. 8.6%.
   
4. Chris Paul wants to go to NY.
   

Michelle Bachmann Thinks Donald Trump Would Make a Good VP

This alone should disqualify her as a presidential candidate: the belief that someone who's never held any kind of political office -whether elected or appointed- should be a heartbeat away from controlling America's nukes.

And this is one of the biggest problems with the GOP: they constantly push people who have more celebrity appeal than political experience to run for key government positions...then turn around and complain that government doesn't work correctly.

Quote Of The Day

"The kids coming out of the schools and basically doing what I did when I was a kid, which is voting as a liberal. That’s what kids do — they don’t have life experience, and they just vote their feelings."

-- William O'Brien (R), Speaker of the House for New Hampshire.

From The "Not Surprising" Files...

If you didn't already know how violent video games can affect a person's behavior, you may also require some help.

Frank Luntz Has Some Advice To The GOP Regarding OWS:

Lie.

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1. The Mclawyers strike a win.
2. Doc Rivers doesn't have much to work with, but he's happy to be back.
3. Michele Bachmann needs to brush up on her embassy trivia.
4. This professor was either a fan of Frankenstein or just very, very lonely.
5. Meanwhile, in Texas...
6. Banks to bailout Europe?
7. In other words: Magic Johnson isn't cured; he just knows how to handle himself better than the average infected person.
8. Ah, celebrity love.