Bad Guy of 2006: Bush; Good Guy of 2006: Bush (by guest blogger Julia)

In an AP poll asking people to name heroes and villains of the year, Bush won for both hero and villain. But the percentages naming him villain (25%) were higher than the percentages naming him hero (13%), and he outdistanced Osama bin Laden for the villain title. Then again, this comes from a pool of people whose pick for “best entertainment role model” was Oprah.

The Name Thing (by guest blogger Julia)

Like everyone else on the planet, I was musing recently on Barack Obama’s name, in particular his middle name Hussein, which I guess he has the taste to not include in the full name he uses — at least for now. I, for one — like many Americans, who are decent to a fault — would have disavowed that name decades ago, so that anyone who discovers that I once had the name “Hussein” would also learn that I officially changed it by the age of 18.

But this isn’t the era of decency. Quite the opposite. Which, I guess, is why there’s a local doctor named Osama somebody who still gets business and advertises his name on a marquis without shame. Should an innocent medical healer practicing in America have to change his name when he personally has nothing to be ashamed of and had nothing to do with the man whose name is the icon of the current battle against civilization? Of course not. But I would. Then again, I’m American, so my sense of decency is stronger than my sense of defiance. I also know of a guy whose last name is Hittler, and I’m pretty sure I’d change that too.

When encountering such names, rather than react to them as if they were any sort of affront, we’re supposed to just shrug and embrace the diversity and act as if we’re not bothered by it, least of all have any expectation that someone would change their name over such a little thing as global jihad.

But until they do change their names, it also shouldn’t bother anyone that a lot of them miss their flights because their names appear on the no-fly list.

Lesbian Land (by guest blogger Maia)

Imagine a place where for a week you can make macrome hats, sing Kumbaya and embark on a fun filled psychodrama. Well this is the place: Lesbian Summer Camp.

Pi-No-Che! (by guest blogger Julia)

Upon Augusto Pinochet’s death earlier this month, Front Page Mag’s Jacob Laksin wrote:

Whatever else may be said of Pinochet, he was not in the same league [as the much less reviled "Uncle Joe" Stalin and Mao Zedung]. Thus it does not trivialize their tragedy to point out that [most] of the deaths attributed to his rule occurred in the weeks immediately following the 1973 military coup that brought Pinochet to power, when his army forces were clashing with Communist insurgents allied with deposed president Salvador Allende…[Pinochet] not only prevented the country from plunging into anarchy and civil war but saved it from what was, by all the early warning signs, a far more menacing force in the form of Allende’s Marxist regime.

…Allende pledged to “destroy the bourgeois state” and impose “total, scientific Marxist socialism” on the country…Foreign companies and domestic farms alike were seized by the government while gangs of leftist marauders, armed by the authorities, stalked the countryside…It was this germinating tyranny that the 1973 coup uprooted. That fact alone earned Pinochet the Left’s undying scorn. Less forgivable still was that, even as he brutally crushed the Marxist vision, he set Chile on the road to economic prosperity through the free market.

So can we finally set the historical record straight and put an end to the rumors? Augustine Pinochet did not “torture and kill” people. He tortured and killed Communists.

But who will Mavericks support in ‘08? (Karol)

An email I got today:

December 28, 2006 
 
Friends of Maverick PAC,
 
 
On behalf of Maverick PAC, I am writing to invite you to attend 
the National Maverick PAC Conference in Austin, Texas on March 2-4, 2007.  Please make your plans to join us at the Hyatt Lost Pines 
Resort.  We are pleased to announce we have confirmed Mayor Rudy 
Giuliani, Governor Mitt Romney, the 5th ranking Republican in the U.S.Senate, the Honorable John Cornyn, and Jack Oliver, 
Senior Advisor at Lehman Brothers & Chairman of Bryan Cave Strategies !  While the above represents a preliminary list of speakers, 
invitations have also been extended to Senator John McCain, Senator 
Kay Bailey Hutchison, senior White House officials, political 
strategists, and other top elected 
officials.  The weekend themes for discussion are the 2008 
Presidential Election, the broader GOP in 2008, and Border Security 
and Immigration.  Needless to say, you do not want to miss this great opportunity and a great national network of next 
generation Republicanleaders like yourself.

 
PAC Background 

The Maverick PAC (“MAV PAC”)-a Federal non‐connected political action committee was organized by 11 Bush&Cheney ’04 Mavericks from Texas.  MAV PAC has three main 
purposes: (i) support the election of Republican incumbents and 
candidates to state and federal offices; (ii) promote the interests ofthe Republican Party; and (iii) advocate the involvement of members 
in state and federal government.  MAV PAC is the only group of its 
kind in the country and has grown quickly in number and represents 
all next generation republicans, generally under the age of 45. Its 
members currently hail from the Austin, Dallas, Ft. Worth, Houston, 
San Antonio, and the Washington, D.C. areas.
 
 
During the 2004 campaign, President Bush’s team organized 90 
Mavericks from across the country-supporters under the age of 40 committed to energizing other young 
professionals and raising funds for the President and the Reublican 
National Committee (RNC).  Instrumental to the President’s successful re-election, these 90 Mavericks raised and contributed more 
than $13.5 million–10 times the targets set by the Bush campaign.  
In Austin, Dallas, Ft. Worth, Houston, San Antonioand Washington, D.C
www.maverickpac.com mavpac@maverickpac.com

All contributions to Maverick PAC USA may be used for federal election purposes. Paid for by Maverick PAC USA and not authorized by
any candidate or candidate’s committee. Contributions to Maverick PAC USA are not deductible for federal income tax purposes.
January 2005 during the President’s inauguration, the national Bush 
Mavericks convened and discussed the permanent organization and 
expansion their proven GOP networks.  The Texas team has formed an 
independent PAC and the group has now been successfully operational 
for nearly 2 years.  Please visit our website for more information at www.maverickpac.com.

 
Sorry if this post looks funny, I have limited internet access and copied it from an Adobe document.

Why would the ex-leader of a European nation have to come to the U.S for his health checks? (Karol)

Berlusconi in US for heart checks

Berlusconi undergoes US surgery

Can we admit yet that socialized medicine is an utter failure? Or are we going to pretend that it’s a coincidence that America has the best doctors and hospitals in the world? This isn’t some Italian peasant, this is an ex-Premier, who, presumably, has access to the best doctors in all of Italy. Or, failing that, all of Europe. So why is he having his surgery in the U.S.?

I wish Berlusconi a speedy recovery. I’m sure our evil, capitalist health-care system will see to it.

That Ahmadinejad Rabbi (by guest blogger Julia)

…is supposed to be on Neil Cavuto pretty soon. Why is everyone making such a big deal about one rabbi embracing a will-be Jew killer? I’m sure we can come up with one imam who embraces Jews, can’t we? Anyone? …Anyone? …Bueller? …Bueller?

Think twice before you enter the bathroom (By guest blogger Maia)

A 41 year old pervert tries to enter a girls bathroom stall but ends up getting nearly run over by one of the girl’s fathers. Although he survived enough to run across a freeway, he is on the loose.
Source: Obscure Store

I’m Supposed To Guest Blog Too (by guest blogger Peter)

So here’s some randomness:

- Am I a bad person for thinking of this old SNL skit immediately after seeing a “Former President Gerald Ford Dead at 93″ headline?

- I was going to make some snarky comment about Pakistan building an apartheid wall, but I didn’t realize their plans call for landmines. Well…they had me at the fence part.
On a related note, I was in Israel last month and saw their fence. Seeing it in person makes the whole international outrage over it seem ridiculous. It’s just a fence, and I actually didn’t even notice it until our guide pointed it out to us. Since its construction, though, terror attacks dropped by over 80%. I may write more about this if I get the chance. But to summarize like a caveman: Fences good. Landmines bad.

- Konichiwa, Igawa-san!

- This wouldn’t be an Alarming News post without a gratuitous Dawn Summers link. Oh, and 50 Cent! Ronald Reagan! Brooklyn! Poker! Don’t forget to check out the poker blog. Hopefully Dawn is holding down the fort while Karol’s away. If not, I may have to guest blog over there and tell the tale of my trip aces which were cracked by a flush on the river. Bad beat!

Let’s see now, I was a Senator for one term and then I ran as VP, yep, I’m definitely ready to lead the free world (Karol)

John Edwards joins Democratic presidential race:

Former Democratic vice-presidential nominee John Edwards jumped into the presidential race Wednesday a day earlier than he’d planned, prodded by an Internet glitch to launch a candidacy focused on health care, poverty and other domestic issues.

The North Carolina Democrat’s campaign accidentally went live with his election website a day before an announcement Thursday that was scheduled to use Hurricane-ravaged New Orleans as a backdrop.

The slip-up gave an unintended double-meaning to his campaign slogan on the John Edwards ’08 website: “Tomorrow begins today.”

The Wrong 1970s President Died! (by guest blogger Julia)

Well someone screwed up. As Karol has already informed, the Angel of Death just took the wrong ex-president.

I got into this country during a Ford presidency, only to have to suffer through a Carter presidency that didn’t even want me here. Former Carter speechwriter Patrick Anderson mentioned in his 1994 book Electing Jimmy Carter: the Campaign of 1976 that Carter would become impatient at the mention of the plight of Soviet Jewry, and didn’t see why this was something he had to worry about, much less take a position on.

On the bright side, Carter did succeed Ford to the presidency, so maybe at Ford’s funeral, Carter will catch the bouquet — I mean wreath. And then, rather than fixate on Israel to end terrorism the way Carter wants, we can just arrest all the terrorists who show up at his funeral.

Freedom of Speech (By guest blogger Maia)

Andrei Chira has the right to wear a a Nazi armband because of the First Amendment. What do you think?

Men Really do Think with their Penises! (by guest blogger Julia)

From one of those Newsmax health alerts: “Male Hormones May Slow Alzheimer’s”

New research indicates that treating victims of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) with male sex hormones might delay its progress. Earlier research had shown a link between Alzheimer’s and the loss of testosterone, the primary male sex hormone, in men due to aging….low testosterone levels in older men may be a risk factor for Alzheimer’s, and…treatment with androgens, a group of steroid hormones that includes testosterone, might slow progression of the disease.

OK, so maybe they don’t think with their penises, but definitely with their testicles.

Global Concerns (by guest blogger Julia)

Despite new, moving, 4D ultrasound images showing 12 to 20 week-old fetuses sucking their thumbs, kicking, stretching, leaping, opening their eyes, yawning and making “crying” faces, British scientists say it provides no scientific evidence for determining when the unborn can feel and therefore doesn’t justify lowering England’s 24-week limit for abortion.

Huseyin Mehmet, a reader in developmental neurobiology at Imperial College London, said: “I worried when I saw those images. These images do not prove that those human qualities can be attributed to a foetus of 12 weeks.”

In other words, just because it looks human, that doesn’t prove it’s human.

At the same time, more and more links between cancer and hormone therapy are being found:

A new analysis reveals that U.S. breast cancer rates plunged more than 7 percent in 2003 and strongly suggests that the reason is less hormone use…Estrogen-sensitive tumors declined twice as much as tumors that are not fueled by estrogen.

So estrogen increases chances of breast cancer, but all the estrogen that’s in birth-control pills must be somehow different, since it doesn’t get talked about or studied for cancer connections that could put it out of business the way the menopause meds are going out of business.

Babies aren’t people and oral contraception doesn’t lead to cancer — but if you drive an SUV, you’ll die of global warming.

So even though breast cancer is much more likely to kill you than any remote, future, worst-case-scenario of global warming, the ‘reality’ of global warming is emphasized over the reality of breast cancer from birth-control pills or the reality of a human in the womb. Because having plenty of unencumbered sex is a core liberal value. Obviously, if sex caused global warming, we’d never have heard of global warming.

7 most offbeat stories of the day (By guest blogger Maia)

1. If you’re a S. Korean man, you can get paid for not having sex.

2. Be aware Trojan buyers. If you steal a condom it will beep.

3. Being a gigolo in Jamaica can have its perks.

4. This handbag will make sure your cellphone butts in even more into your life..

5. A man breaks a crack pipe and cuts a finger and then gets arrested.

6. Can a penis cartoon really save the world?

7. A dog was shot in the head but survived.

GNR Lies (Karol)

I’m not sure if I have more or less hope of ever hearing “Chinese Democracy” after reading this open letter to Guns-N-Roses fans by Axl Rose.

Hat-tip Charles Star.

The Ugly Mean Puppy (By guest blogger Maia)

The Ugly Mean Puppy

“He’s like a puppy…an ugly mean puppy!” This is how the announcer introduces Jason Rantz on his talk show.
  Rantz, 24 going on 25, has been in the radio business for years. He is very politically incorrect and not afraid to express his unorthodox views on “fat chicks.” The one thing that pisses him off is the mantra that says, “If at first you don’t succeed, try try again.” In one of his radio shows, he expresses his frustration with his former high school allowing a fat girl getting into the cheerleading squad. Rantz mocks political correctness in the face by ‘bitch’as a synonym for the ‘fat chick’.

  Looking at Jason Rantz’s website, one would assume he has a fascination with fat women, political correctness, ‘overly sensitive people,’ going to the mall and complaining about eager salesmen, and the latest Play Station 3.

   From looking at his homepage, Rantz is the modern day equivalent to the smartass clown in class who will never take no for an answer. His arms are crossed, and his eyes scream, “Don’t mess with me!”

    However his voice still shows he is youthful and filled with gusto. He can easily assume the identity of a mad fat woman and back again.